The NBA moratorium period begun. As of 6pm on June 30th, teams are permitted to begin negotiating with free agents. Verbal agreements can be reached, but are not made official until July 6th when the moratorium period ends. Many of the dominoes have already fallen. Here are some of the major updates from around the league as they relate to the CBA.



 

Dejounte Murray to the Pelicans

 

The Atlanta Hawks reportedly traded Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans for Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, a 2025 first-round pick and a 2027 first-round pick on June 29th. This trade will not officially go through however until July 1st, today, when the new season officially starts starts. This is because teams still use the 2023-2024 salaries for cap purposes until the new season begins, and the New Orleans Pelicans are just below the luxury tax - Dejounte Murray has a trade bonus which would put the Pelicans over the luxury tax line (resulting in them having to pay about $12 million) had the trade gone through before today. If a player has a trade bonus this impacts the tax bottom line, taking the total amount owed and divided by the number of years left on the contract. ESPN’s Bobby Marks reports that the Pelicans may have add another player for the trade to go through as they are short by about $2 million.

 

Paul George to the 76ers

 

At around 3AM this morning, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Paul George has agreed to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers for 4 years, $212 million. The Clippers reportedly would not offer Paul George a 4th year. Paul George joins Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to form a legitimate contender in the East. The 76ers have also re-signed Kelly Oubre and added Andre Drummond and Eric Gordon.



 

Lebron James and Klay Thompson

 

LeBron James declined the $51.4 million player option in his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. He will re-sign with the Lakers, however it has been reported that he would take a pay cut to allow for the Lakers to use their non-taxpayer MLE on one of James Harden, Klay Thompson, or Jonas Valančiūnas. James Harden has re-signed with the Clippers, and Valančiūnas has signed with the Washington Wizards (3 years $30 million). Klay Thompson’s time with the Warriors is essentially over, and he will be meeting with the Mavericks, Clippers, Lakers and 76ers. Teams are looking to use their non-taxpayer MLE which is projected to be $12,859,000. I expect Klay Thompson to demand more than that, and the Mavericks are a team in particular that can pay him more as they created a $16.2 million trade exception from the Tim Hardaway Jr. trade. They can use this in a sign-and trade with the Warriors. Perhaps the other interested teams will look to create a trade exception as well to compete with the Mavericks. As it stands, Lebron would have to take a $25 million pay cut and Klay Thompson would have to sign for the non taxpayer MLE if he were to join the Lakers. There is a fascinating race going on behind the scenes right now for Klay Thompson who could be the key piece to winning the West and possibly an NBA title.

 

Golden State Warriors

 

The Warriors waived Chris Paul who is expected to sign with the Spurs. They are also on the verge of losing Klay Thompson. They tried to use Chris Paul’s contract (which was non-guaranteed) as well as Wiggins and assets in a sign-and-trade with the Clippers for Paul George. The Clippers were not interested in taking on money. The Warriors are in a difficult position because they have to do something. They can’t bring back essentially the same roster as last season minus Klay Thompson and Chris Paul. They have an aging Steph Curry who is still performing at an All-NBA level. They have an expectation to win. We’ll see if they are able to get any sort of assets in a potential sign-and-trade with Klay Thompson. They have no cap space, and need to be creative here. They are currently under the tax threshold which would be the first time since the 2019-2020 season.

 

Los Angeles Clippers

 

The Clippers lost Paul George but have re-tooled with Kevin Porter Jr. who performed well in Greece, and they also used their non-taxpayer MLE to bring in Derrick Jones Jr. (at 3 years $30 million) who was a key role player in the Mavericks run to the finals last season. They also re-sign James Harden for 2 years and $70 million. They are rumoured to be looking to trade Russell Westbrook. They have no cap space and are currently under the luxury tax for the first time since 2019-2020.

 

KCP to the Magic

 

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope signed a 3 year, $66 million deal with the Orlando Magic. The Magic were one of the playoff teams with cap space this offseason. They were reportedly involved in the Paul George sweepstakes however they ultimately sign Caldwell-Pope with George going to the 76ers. KCP is big at 6-foot-5 and disruptive with 2.91 deflections per 75 possessions, according to data from Basketball-Index. The Magic now have 2 terrific perimeter defenders in KCP and Jalen Suggs.

 

Isaiah Hartenstein to the Thunder

 

The Oklahoma City Thunder addressed their need for size and rebounding in a major way. They sign Isaiah Hartenstein to a 3 year $87 million contract, using the rest of their cap space for this season. He's making more in 3 seasons with the Thunder then he could have made in 4 seasons with the Knicks because of their cap situation. According to Stats Williams with ESPN. There were 9 players to record at least 70 total blocks and 70 totals steals this past season. Isaiah Hartenstien and Alex Caruso were both among that group, and they are now both on the Thunder. The Thunder also recently re-signed Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins to long-term deals.

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Published July 1, 2024.