NBA News and Rumor Roundup 9/4/2024
More offseason extensions, a Jimmy Butler problem, and Steph pockets even more cash
Aaaaand we’re back!
We are now 48 days away from the regular season, which means that in under a month, we’ll be hit right across the jaw (the Draymond Special, you might say) with some nice preseason basketball. This late into the offseason, we usually don’t get much major news, especially with the majority of the big signings and extensions finished up. And yet, we’ve got some big news to talk about this week and some more niche signings to go with them — let’s get right into it, shall we?
The Chef Cooks Up Some Cash
In a somewhat surprising development this late into the offseason, Stephen Curry has signed an absolutely massive 1-year extension with Golden State, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
While primarily showing Curry’s continued commitment to the Warriors during a period of roster turnover (pun intended), the deal also has incredible ramifications for Curry’s lifetime earnings and place in NBA history from a purely financial standpoint. Steph now joins LeBron James and Kevin Durant as the only three players in NBA history to pass the $500 million mark in career earnings, which is only bound to grow over the next few years as contract values inflate.
Despite being 35 years of age, Curry is still producing absurd offensive numbers, which you can chalk up to both his greatness and well-aging playstyle. According to Dunks and Threes’ EPM metric, Curry still ranks in the 97th percentile in offensive production and in Win Shares generated, putting him in an echelon that includes Kyrie Irving, Giannis Antetokoumpo, and Tyrese Maxey, despite all of those players being at least 4 years younger than The Chef — and, in Maxey’s case, more than a decade older. You don’t need convincing — this is Steph Curry after all — but the numbers are as tantalizing as ever.
This also potentially puts a pin on the theoretical timeline as to when Curry will retire. With the deal expiring after the 2027 season — notably, the year Warriors front office favorite Brandin Podziemski will start earning major money on a new contract — it seems all likely that Curry will hang up his shoes at the age of 38, though he could continue. Regardless, for a man who’s changed the game, being sent off into the sunset with an extra $62.6 million in his pocket is a pretty sweet deal and is even sweeter considering the era of player movement that we are witnessing right now.
The Role Player Extensions Continue
Over the past week, we’ve seen a key duo of role players sign some decently sized extensions, though we’ll likely see a few more in the coming weeks. First up is Pacers guard T.J. McConnell, who agreed to a 4-year, $45 million deal with Indiana to return for what the team hopes is a contention-level run this season. The deal will begin in 2025-26, so the money won’t be on the books till then, but this is an absolutely phenomenal deal for the Pacers given the current contract inflation that we’re seeing around the league.
This past season, McConnell averaged 10 points, 5.5 assists, and 1 steal per game while playing just 18 minutes off the bench (that’s 20 points and 10 assists per 36 minutes!), making him the perfect offensive engine for the team to slot in behind All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton. McClutchell — as his Basketball Reference profile nicknames him — has a knack for creating points out of collapsed plays, such as this ridiculous falling-out-of-bounds assist:
From a cap space standpoint, the Pacers will now need to keep an eye on their 2025-26 payroll. While the McConnell deal is a steal at just $15 million per year, the Pacers only have about $25 million till they hit the dreaded first apron and the restrictions that come with it. With the floor-spacing block-party big Myles Turner hitting unrestricted free agency in 2025-26, the team would have to pay a pretty penny to retain him based on the current market. Plus, with also-very-good big Isaiah Jackson being extension eligible for a 2026-27 deal, Indiana will have to make some big decisions relatively soon.
The other major role player who just signed an extension is Ivica Zubac, who got a 3-year, $58.6 million deal with the Clippers, which is something of a tougher pill to swallow than McConnell’s. For what it’s worth, Zubac, who is in his prime at 27, averaged 11.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks last season on nearly 65% shooting from the field. Though he doesn’t space the floor, he’s got great touch in the lane and does a lot of the dirty work; he’s also pretty reliable from a health standpoint, which is something that you don’t get out of every 7-foot big man.
The money, of course, feels somewhat significant for a one-dimensional big but is still within the range of reasonability. The Clippers are suddenly more flush with cap space due to Paul George’s departure, yet still feel too reliant on Kawhi Leonard’s health to get them on a true Finals run. Plus, with James Harden’s status for 2025-26 up in the air (he has a player option), this team could very well combust within the next 6 to 12 months. Either way, locking up Zubac now was likely a better move than waiting for him to his unrestricted free agency, when he would have probably commanded an extra premium due to market competition.
The Shadow of Jimmy Butler
The Miami Heat have a bit of a conundrum on their hands, though we haven’t really talked about them much this offseason. Like most conundrums in the NBA, the primary issue is money, though it’s a little more nuanced than that.
Since the end of the 2023-24 season, there were rumblings that Heat star player Jimmy Butler would look to decline his player option in 2025-26 and go into free agency. Like always, there wasn’t a lot to go off of, though we have a bit more intel now, even if it should be taken with a grain of salt. According to Brian Lewis of the New York Post, if Jimmy were to leave Miami, he would like to go to the Nets, possibly. While I’m sometimes wary of trusting reports from local (and, as a result, sometimes biased) sources, this isn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. After all, the Nets could have as much as $66 million in cap space for the 2025-26 season, though they don’t expect to be contending by any means. Still, if a cash grab is what Jimmy Butler is after, they’d be a good suitor.
For the Heat, there really aren’t many great options at the moment. Butler opting into his player option would put the Heat at just $215,000 under the first apron with a roster that is unlikely to make another Finals run. If Butler opts out and doesn’t get involved in a sign-and-trade, however, the Heat will have Bam Adebayo and, uh, Tyler Herro to steer the ship — and while I trust the former, the latter still scares me as a primary option.
Assuming Kyrie Irving stays in Dallas (which seems more likely due to their Finals run), Jamal Murray extends with the Nuggets, and a major star doesn’t demand a trade, the Heat would be stuck with free agents like Brandon Ingram and, um, Aaron Gordon? There aren’t many good options outside of the above, making it difficult for the Heat to reconstruct their roster into a championship squad while maximizing Bam Adebayo’s prime.
Essentially, Butler has the Heat in the palm of his hand here. There’s a lot of goodwill between him and the city — and rightfully so — but trying to find a sign-and-trade scenario would be the only highly beneficial option for Miami, and that’s not a foregone conclusion. Even if the Nets aren’t actually a destination for Jimmy, somebody will likely cough up the money for the as-of-yet-ringless superstar.
Other News, Rumors, and Fun Facts
After a solid Olympic run and a productive NBA career, shooting guard Evan Fournier is signing with Euroleague squad Olympiacos on a 2-year, $4 million deal. Fournier recently had his team option declined by the Pistons, who he was traded to at the NBA trade deadline, which opened up the opportunity to take his talents overseas. In his 12 seasons in the NBA, 6 found the Frenchman scoring over 15 points per game, with his career-high being 18.5 PPG for the Orlando Magic in 2019-20.
Lonnie Walker IV — a player who I said needed freeing “expeditiously” at the trade deadline last season — has signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Boston Celtics, though that may be short-lived according to Shams Charania. Per Shams, the Celtics are unlikely to keep the 25-year-old Walker past training camp due to his defensive woes, though he could be funneled to the Celtics’ G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics. I stand by my praises of the still-young forward, as he would have averaged 20 points on 38% three-point shooting this past season when extrapolated to 36 minutes. While those extrapolations are rarely completely accurate, I do believe there’s a high-quality player in Walker’s fast-twitch scoring ability.
Per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Knicks star forward Julius Randle is seen as being “extraordinarily tradable” due to his measly (in today’s star environment) $29 million salary for this upcoming season. Randle averaged 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists per game as an All-Star this season (though he only played 46 games) and would be a great addition to any contending team. And yet, because the Knicks are contending, I don’t see them trading him unless a star big like Karl-Anthony Towns comes on the market — regardless of how “extraordinarily tradable” he may be.
According to reports, three-point sharpshooter Davis Bertans is working out for the Warriors in an effort to be with the team for training camp — and, if possible, the upcoming season. The forward has bounced around the league over the past few years, but his previous season with the Hornets and Thunder saw him shoot 38% from three, with his career-high being nearly 43%.
Per Shams, Grizzlies’ second-round success story GG Jackson II broke his foot while playing basketball in Dallas and will undergo surgery soon. No timeline has been given thus far, but it’s a tough blow to a Grizzlies team that struggled with injury last season.
According to reports, Cedi Osman, who played for the Spurs last season and the Cavaliers prior to that, is being targeted by Euroleague powerhouse Real Madrid for this upcoming season. With a league-leading 11 Euroleague championships, adding Osman would bolster an already incredible core that includes Mario Hezonja, Serge Ibaka, Usman Garuba, Facundo Campazzo, and more.
On this day in NBA history…not a lot happened. While yesterday was the 16th anniversary of the Seattle SuperSonics changing to the OKC Thunder, today is ominously absent of any NBA historical events. Basketball Reference says there are no events in their database, as does the NBA’s official website. So let’s pivot to WNBA history when superstar Teresa Weatherspoon hit what came to be known as “The Shot” in 1999; a halfcourt heave sending the New York Liberty to a Game 3 (in a best of 3 series) against the dynasty of the Houston Comets (RIP). The Comets ended up winning the series, but Weatherspoon’s shot is in the annals of WNBA — and basketball — history. And, like some omnipresent basketball narrator, the legendary Mike Breen was there to call it:
My Favorite Reads This Week
Not NBA-related but very relevant at the moment —
just did a write-up on the current passing of the baton that is happening at the US Open. World-beater Novak Djokovic is out (and, strangely, Carlos Alcaraz as well), we’ve got Americans in the quarterfinals on the men’s side (a rarity!), and things are absolutely wild. Go read about that here.Quite an important read for us multi-sport fans from
. Recently, Venu, Disney’s/Warner Brothers Discovery’s/Fox’s joint venture of a sports streaming platform that would significantly change the way we watch our favorite sports — including the NBA — was shot down quickly by an injuction due to antitrust law. While we don’t know how it’s going to play out, it will be one of the more interesting cases of the next year (or maybe more). Go read about that right here.Just want to take some time to appreciate
and his work, which includes the creation of Basketball Reference and, now, the attempted recording of every triple-double in NBA history. You can go read the results of the likely maddening work here, and I highly suggest you do.- just wrote a piece of his favorite X-Factors (or, as he likes to call them, history changers) for this upcoming season. If you aren’t a paid subscriber to his Substack (which you should be!), you’ll get access to two of the four players. Go read his analysis right here.
Also, please go support
(of his beloved Substack,) and help rally support for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. There’s also a chance to win a couple of tickets to a Grizzlies game this season, so if you’re in the Memphis area, go check his piece out here.
That’s it for this week’s roundup! Stay tuned for more content this weekend along with some preseason previews — we’re not that far away from the regular season!
If Miami and Butler part ways, might Zach LaVine be a target? Or would Julius Randle be a better fit?
Thanks for the shoutout!