With the 2024 NBA Draft over, the league’s transaction market is expected to continue to be active over the weekend, league sources told Yahoo Sports, as several clubs look to add players for next season or adjust salaries ahead of the fiscal year. 2024-25 which begins when free agency opens at 6pm EST on Sunday.
The second round of Thursday’s draft has already seen the Denver Nuggets, for example, send three future second-round picks to Charlotte, in order to move Reggie Jackson’s $5.2 million salary, sources said. This is a move that would open up needed flexibility for Denver as the NBA staff prepares for Nuggets player Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to exit via free agency after the veteran declined his $15.4 million player option on Thursday.
There are several other important player-option and contract-guaranteed decisions looming over the next 48 hours, perhaps none more significant than Paul George’s $48.7 million option to remain with the Clippers — which he could technically decline and join Caldwell-Pope on the open market. Another winger to consider in this mix of surrounding talent, Brandon Ingram, is expected to become available for a trade in New Orleans, league sources tell Yahoo Sports, if Ingram’s representation and the Pelicans’ front office fail to find a long-term extension agreement before Ingram enters the final year of his current deal in 2024-25.
David Griffin told reporters after the first round on Wednesday night that the Pelicans hope to retain Ingram and that Ingram wants to stay with New Orleans. However, the Pelicans have never paid a luxury tax, and New Orleans will likely have to draw a line at some threshold below Ingram’s potential salary cap.
Sources have reported that Ingram is listed among Philadelphia’s targets this season, somewhere behind George, though it’s not entirely clear where Ingram ranks among Philadelphia’s ideal wing target pool between Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. If George rejects Philadelphia, Philadelphia could easily acquire Ingram in $60+ million in salary cap space, but could Philadelphia’s three first-round picks be enough for Ingram?
Cleveland is still being mentioned by league staff as a potential replacement for Ingram, but there is no direct path to making such a deal work with the Cavaliers. While Cleveland is interested in Ingram and values his skill set, sources said, the Cavs’ staff has maintained its reluctance to dismantle the team’s core of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, as NBA figures continue to prepare for Mitchell to sign a lucrative deal. extension. Without parting ways with Allen, who has been on New Orleans’ radar for a long time, it’s difficult to find a way to bring Ingram to Northeast Ohio. (Another center the Pelicans were eyeing, Nets big man Nick Claxton, is now committed to four more years for $100 million in Brooklyn.) Sources said Cleveland doesn’t want to part ways with Garland either, even if his representation in Klutch Sports is trying to advance his own business.
Atlanta is another popular figure in the league that Ingram mentioned, but there have been no substantive talks between the Hawks and Pelicans, sources said, since the two teams discussed trade scenarios involving Dejounte Murray before the February trade deadline. Atlanta was so focused on selecting the No. 1 pick in this week’s draft, sources said, that the Hawks were then determined to trade up in the second round, with Atlanta ultimately taking Nikola Corisic. The Hawks are now certainly expected to gauge trade possibilities for Murray, All-Star guard Trae Young, Clint Capela and the rest of their roster players not named in Jalen Johnson and Zachary Reisacher, sources said. League sources told Yahoo Sports, as well as the Spurs and Lakers, that Young has the Pelicans in mind for potential next-favorite teams, but Young’s fit never made sense for a New Orleans position that currently includes C.J. McCollum in its backcourt.
One team that will be keeping an eye on Ingram will be Sacramento. The Kings have been examining paths to acquire various wings, from Kyle Kuzma to Zach LaVine, and Ingram could be another option for Sacramento to explore, sources said. The Kings have veteran wings Harrison Barnes and Kevin Huerter, who Sacramento placed on the trade market at the recent deadline, and their salaries combine in a nearly perfect matchup to meet Ingram’s expiring number of $36 million for 2024-25, sources said.
Next Steps for Utah
The Jazz could have more than $40 million in salary cap space, plus veteran salaries like John Collins and Jordan Clarkson and a reserve of future capital, to add any player on the market, from Ingram to George. That’s why Utah entered the competition for Mikal Bridges, a source said, before the Nets eventually sent their 27-year-old winger to New York.
The Jazz find themselves in a similar position to Brooklyn before they traded Bridges: a non-competing roster with a 27-year-old player on a valuable contract that the entire league was interested in. In Utah, that would be Lauri Markkanen, who has already been named an All-Star unlike Bridges and will enter the final year of his contract if he doesn’t find an extension with Utah in the coming days and weeks. At this point, the Jazz are expected to prioritize finding an extension with Markkanen, according to sources, and Utah officials made that clear in their approach to Bridges. That won’t stop rival teams from calling and registering interest in Markkanen, in the hopes that Utah will decide to kick the bucket like Brooklyn — if the Jazz can’t secure someone close to a second star for Markkanen.
Utah State is clearly looking to be opportunistic. There are concrete discussions between the Jazz and Hawks regarding Murray at the trade deadline, sources said. What big moves might eventually come from Utah this summer, other than dealing with the Markkanen situation, could present one of the most interesting circumstances of the NBA offseason.
Meanwhile, the Nets are open to working with veteran players like Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith, sources said, even after re-signing Claxton.
The Bucks continue to be mentioned by league personnel as a team to watch in the trade market. Milwaukee was able to acquire potential center of the future in Tyler Smith with the 33rd pick in the second round on Thursday. Smith could potentially help replace Brook Lopez as soon as this offseason, if Milwaukee does part ways with its veteran center who is about to enter the final year of his contract. Pat Connaughton and Bobby Portis are also still being mentioned as trade candidates, sources said.
The Warriors face another interesting sports problem. Golden State has reportedly agreed to increase Chris Paul’s guaranteed money for the 2024-25 season in order to postpone the team’s actual deadline to retain his $30 million salary for next year. Golden State has already guaranteed $8 million for Kevon Looney after Gary Payton II exercised his $9.1 million player option. These three players, along with Andrew Wiggins, are considered potential contracts for the Warriors’ departure, as Golden State attempts to reshape a contending roster around Stephen Curry.