NBA free agency 2024: Every signing, trade and rumor from the first week of the NBA offseason

The revision of the salary cap, luxury tax and apron amounts to roughly half a million less than previous guidance had indicated will likely not come as a shock to some of the league better bean-counters, who had priced in a slight adjustment downward after the last three rounds of the playoffs produced only 14 games instead of the maximum 21. Nonetheless, it will make life that much more difficult for the multiple teams who are trying to navigate first and second apron restrictions in the coming hours.

Obi Toppin is staying put.

The free agent forward has agreed to a four-year, $60 million contract to remain in Indiana, a league source confirmed to The Athletic on Sunday. The contract does not include any team or player options, per a league source, so Toppin will be under contract with the Pacers through the end of the 2027-28 season. The 26-year-old can’t officially ink the deal until the NBA’s free agency moratorium period ends July 6. ESPN was first to report the deal.

The Pacers acquired Toppin from the Knicks in exchange for two second-round picks last summer, and the decision to bring him back isn’t a surprise after Toppin’s breakout campaign in 2023-24. He appeared in all 82 regular-season games and averaged career highs of 10.3 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting a career-best 40.3 percent on 3-pointers. Toppin was a key reserve during Indiana’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals, averaging 10.9 points and 4.4 rebounds in 17 playoff games. He scored a playoff career-high 21 points in the Pacers’ series-clinching Game 6 victory over the Bucks in the first round.

Indiana has now retained its two most notable free agents in Toppin and All-NBA forward Pascal Siakam, who agreed to a four-year, $189.5 million max contract one day after the 2023-24 NBA season officially ended. Both moves fall in line with the team’s overall philosophy of running it back with mostly the same group after reaching the conference finals for the first time in a decade.

Less than 24 hours after the New Orleans Pelicans were eliminated from the 2024 playoffs, one question made Brandon Ingram pause longer than usual.

He was asked if New Orleans should target a traditional point guard during the offseason. After staring at the floor for a few seconds, he gave a brief answer:

“It would definitely be helpful,” Ingram said, nodding.

Perhaps Ingram, while also dwelling on his team’s first-round sweep to the Oklahoma City Thunder, was considering the possibility that pursuing a traditional point guard could spell the end of his time in New Orleans. Since that day, much of the speculation around the Pelicans has been centered on Ingram’s future and whether the Pelicans had any chance of trading him for a game-changing point guard to pair with Zion Williamson.

On Friday, just before the start of free agency, the Pelicans made their move for the floor general they’ve wanted to add for some time. They’ve acquired Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr., EJ Liddell and two first-round picks, multiple league sources confirm to The Athletic.

After making the All-Star team with San Antonio in 2022, Murray, 27, has spent the last two seasons in Atlanta, where he’s put up some of the best numbers of his career. However, his pairing with Atlanta star Trae Young, one of the more ball-dominant point guards in the NBA, never worked as seamlessly as the Hawks hoped. After finishing 10 games under .500 last season, it seemed a foregone conclusion that at least one would leaving Atlanta this offseason.

As the newest member of the Pelicans, Murray can again operate as a full-time lead ballhandler on a roster loaded with scoring options on the perimeter. Murray averaged a career-high 22.5 points last season, along with 5.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists. He also made a career-high 201 3-pointers, which will be a crucial part of him fitting next to Zion Williamson for the foreseeable future. Murray has been a below-average outside shooter for much of his career, but he made 39.2 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3-pointers last season and he’s gradually improved that side of his game over time.

Continue reading.

Finally some big news today! The NBA announced that the salary cap for the 2024-25 season will be set at $140.588 million. The 1st apron will be $178.132 million. The 2nd apron is at $188.931 million. That gives finality to teams as they figure out where their teams stand financially at the appropriate levels. The NBA had projected the cap would be $141 million but it fell a little short.

The non-taxpayer MLE is $12.822 million, the Taxpayer MLE is $5.168 million, and the room MLE is $7.983 million.

Based on Obi Toppin's reported contract, which would have a likely 2024-25 salary of about $13.5 million, the Pacers stand roughly $16 million below the first apron with three roster spots to fill; that calculus presumes they waive Kendall Brown's non guaranteed $2.1 million. If so, the Pacers have just enough room to sign second-round pick Johnny Furphy, add another veteran on a minimum deal (such as locker room sage James Johnson), and still use their entire nontaxpayer midlevel exception on a big wing or a center.

The Sixers could keep De'Anthony Melton's cap hold on their books at $15.2 million and still offer nearly the full max to Paul George (they could start at $49.1 million). The Sixers would need to waive or trade Paul Reed and Ricky Council IV in order to pull this off. Otherwise, a straight max for George that starts at $49.35 million would leave the Sixers with $13 million in cap room if they waived Reed's non-guaranteed $8.1 million deal. That amount still leaves the door open for complex cap shenanigans to acquire another high-salaried player — for instance, Philly could trade for a player who makes $13 million and take him into cap space, and then deal that player to another team for a different player who makes up to $20 million.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro is a restricted free agent — and the No. 14 player in our free-agent rankings.

BORD$ value: $22,714,624

Okoro might be a good target for cap room teams looking to sign an offer sheet. Cleveland is only about $11 million from next year’s projected tax line. Matching a strong offer for the young defensive specialist would take the Cavs past the first apron unless they made another trade to drop salary (Caris LeVert and Georges Niang would be the two most likely alternatives).

Okoro is only 23 and became more comfortable shooting from the perimeter in 2023-24, hitting 39.1 percent from 3 while increasing his volume. He still needs to develop as a movement shooter and get more comfortable in off-the-dribble situations, but he projects as a starting small forward who still has some upside left.

Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan is No. 9 in our free-agent rankings.

BORD$ value: $28,843,023

DeRozan is an interesting case because the magic number is less about money than it is about years. How far into the future are you willing to go for a soon-to-be 35-year-old who leans heavily on one-on-one scoring and isn’t a notably effective option off the ball?

Other issues loom, as well. For one, DeRozan’s game isn’t a fit everywhere. But the other issue to watch is Chicago’s luxury-tax position (despite being a big market, the Bulls historically have been loath to pay the tax).

If the Bulls can’t get relief from the $21 million owed to the injured Lonzo Ball, they would likely go over the tax line if they re-signed both DeRozan and Patrick Williams at their market rates. Thus, keep an eye on Zach LaVine – if they can turn his $43 million obligation for the coming season into something less onerous, it creates a lot more wiggle room to keep the rest of the roster intact.

Power forward is the biggest position of need for the Clippers. They have to replace P.J. Tucker and keep Amir Coffey from playing power forward minutes.

Precious Achiuwa is not a strong offensive player. He’s not a shot creator for himself or others, and he shoots poorly outside of the paint and at the free-throw line. He is too short to be a center in most matchups.

But Achiuwa played plenty of power forward last season, especially once he got to the Knicks and played alongside another non-shooting big in Isaiah Hartenstein. Achiuwa showed that he can be effective as a rebounder on both ends of the floor. He is a versatile and rugged defender as well. Finding a role for Achiuwa offensively would be a lot easier if he were able to play with a floor-spacing big, but what Achiuwa does as a rebounder and defender would be a big upgrade on what the Clippers had for most of last season.

Derrick Jones Jr., a starter for the Dallas Mavericks throughout the team’s NBA Finals run, is poised to potentially enter unrestricted free agency on Sunday evening without an agency representing him, a league source said.

On Friday, longtime basketball scribe Marc Stein reported Jones was leaving his longtime agent Aaron Turner to join the Rich Paul-led Klutch Sports. Under National Basketball Player Association guidelines, however, players seeking to change representation must wait 15 days before signing with another agency, as first noted by Yahoo’s Jake Fischer.

Jones’ decision, according to a league source granted anonymity to speak freely, happened Wednesday. That move, team and league sources confirm to The Athletic, could potentially mean Jones would not have representation for teams to negotiate with until July 11, when Klutch would be permitted to take him on as a client nearly two weeks after free agency begins at 6 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.

On Sunday morning, one Mavericks source had shared optimism that this strange scenario, never before encountered, could have resolution as soon as Sunday. Jones could still negotiate his next contract through Turner, the president of Verus Management, who has represented him since entering the league. Jones and Turner could also reach a mutual agreement to waive the contractual waiting period, allowing Klutch to take him on as a client sooner.

But Jones, as of now, will not be represented by either party when free agency begins and will not immediately continue negotiations with the Mavericks, who have been allowed to negotiate with him since the Finals ended. For the first time, it casts doubt upon the likelihood he’ll return to Dallas, league sources say, which had previously been seen as a mutually desired scenario.

Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison described Jones as “priority one” in a press conference following the season. But free agency moves fast, and Dallas has other priorities that could make it difficult for the team to wait for a resolution to this situation if it lingers. The Mavericks are one of the teams expected to make a serious push for Klay Thompson, the four-time champion who’s expected to leave the Golden State Warriors after 13 seasons, as reported by The Athletic on Friday.

Under Turner’s representation, Jones signed with Dallas last summer at the league’s veteran minimum, a calculated gamble that could have earned him a total salary in the range of his $28 million career earnings.

Philadelphia 76ers shooting guard Buddy Hield is the No. 5 shooting guard in this year's free-agent class.

BORD$ value: $15,962,178

Hield is 31 and was a disappointment in Philadelphia after the Sixers traded three second-round picks to get him from Indiana midseason. With the Sixers looking to use cap room, they’re likely to renounce his rights and move on to different options.

Hield doesn’t project as a starter anymore, but he can be a very effective bench option with his volume 3-point shooting. He’ll likely have suitors offering the full nontaxpayer midlevel exception, so the question is whether he can get even more than that from a cap room team. If not, how many years are teams willing to give him at his age?

D’Angelo Russell is picking up his $18.7 million player option for next season to return to the Los Angeles Lakers, league sources told The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

How long Russell remains a Laker is another matter altogether. After failing to trade Russell ahead of the 2024 trade deadline, the Lakers are expected to be aggressive in pursuing Russell-centric trades, according to league and team sources. Russell’s expiring contract immediately becomes one of Los Angeles’ more valuable trade assets, particularly for salary-matching purposes.

Last season, Russell averaged 18.0 points and 6.3 assists, shooting a career-best 41.5 percent on 3s across 76 games. However, for the second straight postseason in Los Angeles, his production notably declined in the playoffs. Russell averaged 14.2 points and 4.2 assists in the Lakers’ five-game series loss to the Denver Nuggets in the first round. His field goal percentage dropped from 45.6 percent in the regular season to 38.4 percent in the series. Russell's 3-point percentage also nosedived to just 31.8 percent.

Internally within the Lakers, there is a sense that there is a clear ceiling to an Austin Reaves-D’Angelo Russell backcourt pairing. Reaves is younger, better defensively, a superior playoff performer and is on a team-friendly multi-year contract.

The Lakers are armed with two first-round picks (2029 and 2031), three pick swaps (2026, 2028 and 2030) and recent first-round draft picks Jalen Hood-Schifino and Dalton Knecht to offer teams in trades in the coming days and weeks.

Charania also reported that center Jaxson Hayes is exercising his $2.4 million option for next season.

Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden is an unrestricted free agent and the No. 2 point guard available.

BORD$ value: $48,522,327

This dollar amount probably strikes people as on the high side; Harden is still a very effective player, but he turns 35 in August, and his playing style is not for everybody. One of the key elements in any Harden contract is how many years to offer, especially since he’s shown signs of decline the past two years and isn’t exactly renowned for his conditioning.

On the other hand, this is a guy who scored 33 in a road playoff win over Dallas and had 61.6 percent true shooting for the series. The Clips lost to the Mavs and Harden struggled in the final two games, but it’s tough to blame that defeat on him. Finally, the Clippers are subject to the Bird rights trap and can’t replace him if he walks.

Given that Leonard is signed for three more years, I’d expect a Harden deal to line up with that and come in at a lower number than this BORD$ value — perhaps three years and $90 million to $100 million.

Here are my grades for the Dejounte Murray trade:

Pelicans: A-

Considering what the Pelicans gave up for Murray, this is a no-brainer. While Murray’s defensive impact in Atlanta didn’t resemble that of his San Antonio days, his ability to get after it on that end is still there. The 27-year-old Murray is quick, athletic and really good at anticipating. He played on a horrendous defensive team and couldn’t fix it on his own. He’s joining a Pelicans team that thrived on defense this past season, finishing sixth in the league in defensive rating. Murray is more than capable of helping maintain that ranking.

The key for New Orleans will be how Murray factors into its offense. New Orleans had a good offense (ranked 11th last season), but it should have been a lot better.

Hawks: C+

If this was just about getting picks back for Murray and splitting up him and Tray Young, I guess it’s mission accomplished? This trade just feels like the Hawks sold low on a talented guard, even if you’re not a big Murray fan. Maybe Dyson Daniels has an ascension strong enough to make this trade look a lot better down the road.

Read my full explanation here.