Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Klay Thompson: "Miami was always on my mind. My agent and I approached Dallas with the buyout because things change a lot when I signed there in 2024. They were great in honoring our request and understanding that those things did happen and that I'm on the back end of things. They understood I wanted a chance to really make a deep postseason run. I'm not saying they won't do that, but I think just Miami was way better position for that. It wasn't too stressful though. I knew I always had a chance to end up here and I'm just happy it all worked out." Cyro Asseo: I asked Klay Thompson on adapting his game to age/new roles & why the Miami Heat are a great fit: "As you get older, you train differently... With Coach Erik Spoelstra & his staff, I was just really attracted to the fact that they built such a well-rounded roster." @hoopshype

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[HoosierDaddyKid]

Shams Charania: Free agent forward Georges Niang has agreed to a one-year, $3.9 million deal with the Golden State Warriors, Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman of @PrioritySports tell ESPN. Niang -- a career 40% 3-point shooter -- enters his 11th NBA season after missing 2025-26 due to injury. Golden State's two open regular-season roster spots filled with Niang and Brandon Williams agreements Tuesday. Both were targeted over the last month for the Warriors and now land on one-year minimum deals.

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[HoosierDaddyKid]

APHoops: Bennedict Mathurin is expected to either be sign-and-traded to the New Orleans Pelicans or opt-in to his qualifying offer to remain with LA, per @JakeLFischer via B/R. New Orleans has been the one aggressive suitor for Mathurin.

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[HoosierDaddyKid]

APHoops: Jalen Duren is still expected to re-sign with the Detroit Pistons for a deal that is expected to be upwards of 4-years, $160+ million, per @JakeLFischer via B/R.

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[HoosierDaddyKid]

Michael Scotto: The Sacramento Kings are stretching DeMar DeRozan’s remaining $10 million salary for the 2026-27 season; league sources told @hoopshype. As a result, DeRozan will be on Sacramento’s books for $3.33 million each of the following three seasons. This gets the Kings under the luxury tax line, and they now have enough space to fill their last two roster spots with minimum deals without exceeding it. Teams have until Saturday to stretch a player’s 2026-27 salary.

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[Chicagojk]

APHoops: Bennedict Mathurin is expected to either be sign-and-traded to the New Orleans Pelicans or opt-in to his qualifying offer to remain with LA, per @JakeLFischer via B/R. New Orleans has been the one aggressive suitor for Mathurin.

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Interesting to see what the Clippers could get back.  Besides Nico calling you for a trade, I would guess having the Pelicans interested in one of your players is a close second.

[Chicagojk]

APHoops: Jalen Duren is still expected to re-sign with the Detroit Pistons for a deal that is expected to be upwards of 4-years, $160+ million, per @JakeLFischer via B/R.

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So why hasn't this deal been signed yet?    Anything close to 40 million would be awesome for Duren.  I would not sweat over a few million.   If he thinks he deserves more, he can hold it against Detroit in 4 years when he is still under 30 and leave. That is life changing money and if he produces he is still in prime earning years for his next contract.

[Chicagojk]

Michael Scotto: The Sacramento Kings are stretching DeMar DeRozan’s remaining $10 million salary for the 2026-27 season; league sources told @hoopshype. As a result, DeRozan will be on Sacramento’s books for $3.33 million each of the following three seasons. This gets the Kings under the luxury tax line, and they now have enough space to fill their last two roster spots with minimum deals without exceeding it. Teams have until Saturday to stretch a player’s 2026-27 salary.

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The Kings are a depressing bunch.   They better hope Acuff is awesome.  He is their one ray of hope currently.

[Chicagojk]

ELI5...does this mean he is a Pelican or can the Clippers match?


https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/2092629547237716189

[Smitty]

ELI5...does this mean he is a Pelican or can the Clippers match?


https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/2092629547237716189

Sheesh. The NBA is telling us that they no longer value this player archetype. I will need to adjust my own view of player value going forward. I've been way off on a number of contracts this off-season.

[mvossman]

Sheesh. The NBA is telling us that they no longer value this player archetype. I will need to adjust my own view of player value going forward. I've been way off on a number of contracts this off-season.

Yea.  I hated the idea of him near 20 mil, but 8 seems really cheap.  Mavs could actually offer more than that and stay under the tax.

[Smitty]

@KeithSmithNBA
New Orleans will use some of the NTMLE to sign Bennedict Mathurin. In order for them to stay below the tax, and now a first-apron hard cap, some other salary will have to be shed first. @JakeLFischer reported that they were looking for trades for the $7M salary of Jordan Hawkins.

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I'd take Hawkins expiring for some SRP's and just waive him.

[Mavs2021]

Yea.  I hated the idea of him near 20 mil, but 8 seems really cheap.  Mavs could actually offer more than that and stay under the tax.

Clippers will match that, would be mental not to, even if it is just a one year deal. I certainly think the NBA overcorrected on the "chuckers" market that are not advanced stats darlings. Of course all these guys basically signed one year contracts.  There is value to be had and I find it crazy the Mavs did not sign a single one as a Kyrie workload protection, if their intent is to win this year.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Mathurin getting 2/$16 million
Kuminga still unemployed

Teams are finally learning

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Jake Fischer: Being told the Clippers haven’t yet withdrawn their qualifying offer to Bennedict Mathurin, but Los Angeles will indeed work with Mathurin and New Orleans to get him to the Pelicans. This deal still has some pieces to sift through. When the Clippers made the Ivica Zubac trade, Lawrence Frank was pretty open that it was primarily about the picks. LA was happy to get Bennedict Mathurin, and he had some good moments, but there clearly wasn’t a huge urgency to keep him. I'm told that the agreement that Bennedict Mathurin has with the New Orleans Pelicans is contingent upon one tricky detail The LA Clippers would have to withdraw Mathurin's qualifying offer. Mathurin is a restricted free agent. And it sounds like the Clippers did not want to do that but would eventually choose to let him go.

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[Mavs2021]

Mathurin getting 2/$16 million
Kuminga still unemployed

Teams are finally learning

Imagine how much more the Mavs could have won, if they understood that JET, JJB and Stevenson were losers.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

I'm not falling for that bait son.

You gotta be able to shoot or be willing to play defense. If you can't do either, you're a bum.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

These guys think they're interviewing for CEO when the team is really looking for a janitor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rulLByF38TE

[F Gump]

IIUC the offer being reported is merely a handshake deal of intent, and not an actual offer. And I'm not sure it's an actual workable deal.

I am away from laptop to look up and verify, but I think the following obstacles are still unresolved if I understand the reports
1 he is RFA, so NO must make a written offer that LAC can match ... rather than come to an agreement without that
2 an offer to a RFA must have at least TWO hard years in the deal, this is only a 1+1
3 as reported it is about the same as the QO that LAC has on the table ... iirc its 8.xM QO ... and NO offer is really just the same 2/16 but yr 2 is just an option
4 FWIW if Mavs had any interest they could EASILY have offered way more, and obviously have not in light of the small size

It seems like Mathurin wants to only be committed for 1 year and then be a FA again, but as a FA the only way thats possible is to sign the QO. If LAC will remove the QO, then he can sign that 1+1 with NO, but LAC loses control.by doing so and theres no trade or compensation, so it's quite an unrealistic going-nowhere ask. The NO front office under Dumars again seems incredibly unware of the rules and their nuances.

[Smitty]

IIUC the offer being reported is merely a handshake deal of intent, and not an actual offer. And I'm not sure it's an actual workable deal.

I am away from laptop to look up and verify, but I think the following obstacles are still unresolved if I understand the reports
1 he is RFA, so NO must make a written offer that LAC can match ... rather than come to an agreement without that
2 an offer to a RFA must have at least TWO hard years in the deal, this is only a 1+1
3 as reported it is about the same as the QO that LAC has on the table ... iirc its 8.xM QO ... and NO offer is really just the same 2/16 but yr 2 is just an option
4 FWIW if Mavs had any interest they could EASILY have offered way more, and obviously have not in light of the small size

It seems like Mathurin wants to only be committed for 1 year and then be a FA again, but as a FA the only way thats possible is to sign the QO. If LAC will remove the QO, then he can sign that 1+1 with NO, but LAC loses control.by doing so and theres no trade or compensation, so it's quite an unrealistic going-nowhere ask. The NO front office under Dumars again seems incredibly unware of the rules and their nuances.

@BrettSiegelNBA
Was just informed that the Clippers are in the process of pulling Bennedict Mathurin's qualifying offer, which will allow him to become an UFA and sign his new 2yr/16M deal with the Pelicans.

Mathurin's side has been pushing for such to happen so he could join the Pelicans, a team that has pursued him for over a year and view him as a long-term piece of what they are building.

Lead executive Joe Dumars was the main recruiter in getting a deal done with Mathurin this summer.

Mathurin's Year 1 salary will be right around the qualifying offer with LAC ($8.8M).


There is NOT a sign-and-trade for Mathurin. He will be signing his contract with the Pelicans straight up as an UFA once his QO is officially rescinded by the Clippers.

Mathurin’s contract is 2yr/$16M and has a player option for the 2027-28 season.


Sources say the Bulls were among the most aggressive of several teams interested in a Bennedict Mathurin sign-and-trade this offseason, but signing with the Pelicans offered him a spot where he's coveted long-term and can get to UFA quicker.

The Year 2 player option also adds a layer of insurance for Mathurin.