Lakers forward LeBron James (23) is exercising his $52.6-million option and is on track to play his 23rd NBA season. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Lakers superstar LeBron James will once again make NBA history by playing in his 23rd NBA season.
James exercised his player option for $52.6 million to play for the Lakers during the 2025-26 season, his agent and CEO of Klutch Sports Rich Paul told The Times on Sunday morning.
James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, had been tied with Vince Carter for the most seasons played in the NBA at 22. This will be James’ eighth season with the Lakers.
James, 40, is 50 games away from breaking Hall of Famer Robert Parish’s record for the most games played in the regular season.
James averaged 24.4 points per game last season, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds.
Fellow Laker Dorian Finney-Smith reportedly declined his $15.3-million player option and will pursue free agency, a person with knowledge of his decision told The Times. Finney-Smith, who is coming off a strong season with the Lakers, is expected to be pursued by multiple teams. He could still return to the Lakers. ESPN was first to report Finney-Smith's decision.
Last week, Austin Reaves declined the team’s maximum offer of four years for $89 million, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
Reaves, 27, still has two years left on his deal, for $13.9 million next season and $14.9 million in the 2026-27 season, and he holds a player option for the last year of his deal.
Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and teammate Austin Reaves react to a referee's call during a 2025 NBA playoff game against Minnesota. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
He was third on the Lakers in scoring last season, averaging career-highs in scoring (20.2), assists (5.8), rebounds (4.5) and minutes per game (34.9). He shot 46% from the field and 37.7% from three-point range.
With the James and Smith player option questions resolved Sunday, the Lakers are focused on filling out their roster. They added an athletic wing player when they acquired Adou Thiero in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who drafted him with the 36th pick in the second round.
The most pressing need for the Lakers remains a center, and they’ll have to look into free agency or via trade to acquire one.
The Lakers have the taxpayer mid-level exception of about $5.65 million to spend.
“As I said at the end of the year, we know one of the things we have to address is the center position and that’s clearly going to be one of our focuses as we begin the free-agency period,” Rob Pelinka, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations, told Spectrum SportsNet after the second round of the draft Thursday. “... “So, we’re looking forward to just putting in the hard work and making sure we take care of all the needs on the roster to give [Lakers coach] JJ [Redick] the tools he needs for this team to be great next season.”
“Very humbling,” he said at the time. “A step toward my goals, what I’m trying to accomplish. Still processing it all, to say the least. It still feels like a surreal moment to be so close to home, being in Philly of all places. So I’m taking it one day at a time, just staying present, doing what I’ve got to do for the team and playing to the best of my capabilities on the floor.”
He was sidelined by a concussion he suffered in mid-March but otherwise a regular for the injury-stricken Sixers. Walker averaged 12.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists over 20 games. He shot 42 percent from the field, 35.4 percent from three-point range and 80 percent from the foul line.
The 26-year-old two-guard showed his shotmaking chops late in the season and matched his career high with a 31-point performance in the Sixers’ final game vs. the Bulls.
As had been rumored for a few weeks now, LeBron James has picked up his $52.6 million player option to return to the Los Angeles Lakers next season. Sunday was the deadline for LeBron to pick up his option.
"LeBron wants to compete for a championship," Paul told ESPN. "He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we've had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.
"We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what's best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what's best for him."
In the last few years in Los Angeles, LeBron would opt out of that final year and then re-sign with the Lakers on a new two- or three-year deal with a player option at the end, which helped LeBron leverage in the organization. Choosing to opt into his player option and be a free agent next summer is a change in strategy, and the tone of Paul's statement was, essentially, "let's see what this looks like a year from now."
A year from now, LeBron James will be 41 and there is some speculation that this season, his 23rd (while wearing No. 23, and with the All-Star Game in Los Angeles) could be his last. LeBron has said nothing about this yet other than that he and his family need to discuss it. He is far more likely to make that announcement and embark on a farewell tour of sorts, rather than simply decide to walk away, as Tim Duncan did.
The Lakers are in a transition phase after the stunning trade for Luka Doncic — the 25-year-old is now the future of the franchise. The Lakers are making offseason moves to bring in players who will thrive next to Doncic (such as a rim-running center, the team's top offseason priority). The Lakers can offer Doncic an extension on Aug. 2 and will make a max offer to him then.
With Doncic, LeBron and Austin Reaves, the Lakers have a core that can make noise in the Western Conference next season if they have the right depth around them. Los Angeles won 50 games and finished as the No. 3 seed in the West last season (only to fall to Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs). A similar regular season finish, combined with a better playoff run, is the team's goal next season, they seen themselves as contenders.
LeBron has spent the start of his offseason recovering from a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee, which he suffered in the Lakers' final playoff game against Minnesota.
The Kings will exercise their team option on guard Keon Ellis, sources confirmed to NBC Sports California’s Tristi Rodriguez on Sunday.
The Sacramento Kings have exercised their team option on Keon Ellis, sources tell me, locking him in at a salary of $2.3 million for the 2025-26 season.
The undrafted 25-year-old has seen his role with Sacramento increase season after season since signing a two-way contract with the Kings after going undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft. Sacramento converted Ellis’ two-way contract to a three-year deal towards the end of the 2023-24 NBA season.
The University of Alabama product averaged 8.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game this past season with the Kings while playing in 80 games – starting in 28 of them.
Ellis also has shown an ability to knock down the long ball for Sacramento, shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range in all three of his seasons with the Kings – most recently shooting 43.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Ellis’ defensive tenacity has made him a fan-favorite in Sacramento and has helped keep him on the floor for the Kings while covering some of the opposing team’s top offensive weapons.
The 6-foot-5 guard also averaged 1.5 steals per game last season, and his 121 total steals were good for fifth-most in the league.
While the decision comes as a surprise to some fans due to the fact that Ellis now will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, the Kings still could sign the guard to a contract extension to avoid him testing free agency in 2026.
After falling short in their first Eastern Conference Finals in a quarter century, the Knicks are looking for any means of improvement to overcome that hurdle next year, including firing their head coach days into their offseason. With free agency just around the corner, New York has a chance to bolster their depth, albeit with limited options at their disposal.
Their biggest weapon? The $5.7 million taxpayer mid-level exception. They’ll have a shot at convincing a needle-moving role player to sign for that before having to resort to veteran minimum deals.
Here are the Knicks top five realistic targets at the taxpayer MLE figure:
Chris Paul
This may be a stretch at the Knicks’ price point, but what a dream acquisition this would be for the perfect playoff run. Even if Paul is well past his prime, he still brings an ultra steady presence to the offense, jump shooting, defense, plus high-IQ craftiness and agitation to the court.
He’s coming off an 82-game season in which he shot 37.7 percent from three and averaged 7.4 assists to 1.6 turnovers. He’s been in the biggest of games and can both lead bench units and play alongside Jalen Brunson.
Al Horford
A solution to their frontcourt depth, Horford may not be attainable by the Knicks for the taxpayer MLE, but would be a worthy target if so. He can play both center as a stretch five or give Karl-Anthony Towns some size at the four position.
Horford shot 40 percent from three in last year’s playoffs and is also a veteran of deep runs. Already having a relationship with KAT is a plus and in terms of sheer talent, there aren’t many better options on the table.
Luke Kennard
Giving the wings added depth and the Knicks a top-flight shooting option, Kennard would be a nice diversifying piece in a position of need. His career 44 percent clip from three is nearly unmatched across the league, and this rotation is missing some of that pure shooting ability.
It also got stuck overplaying the starting wings with mostly guards backing them up, so Kennard provides better optionality in the rotation. There’s a chance someone swoops in at a higher bid, but if not Kennard should be in New York’s sights.
Dennis Schroder
Schroder is a highly dependable bench point guard that pestered the Knicks in the first round of last year’s playoffs. He’ll consistently bring you pesky defense and paint touches, and would be a clear upgrade over many of New York’s bench guards from last season.
He’s had many postseason battles and isn’t afraid to get into it with foes while averaging double-digit scoring at every stop along his career. The prevailing rumor has him ending up in Sacramento, but perhaps the Knicks being closer to contention give them an edge.
Malcolm Brogdon
Another veteran guard that can bring the Knicks solid production off the bench, Brogdon toiled away through multiple injuries in Washington last year and is due for a bounce-back year with a higher-purpose team. He’s a career 39 percent shooter from deep and still only 32 years old, just two seasons removed from winning Sixth Man of the Year.
Injuries have been his biggest hurdle, but if he can stay healthy in a limited role, he’d be a big boost at this contract level.
Another professional athlete could be in trouble over sports betting.
Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley is under investigated by the U.S. District Attorney’s office over gambling allegations for NBA games, ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported Sunday.
“We are cooperating with the federal prosecutors’ investigation,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement.
Beasley, 28, is set to be a free agent on Monday after a breakout season with the Pistons. He averaged 16.2 points and didn’t miss a single game for Detroit, which had a drastic turnaround with Beasley leading the second unit.
Over nine NBA seasons since being drafted in 2016, Beasley has played for the Denver Nuggets (2016-20), Minnesota Timberwolves (2020-22), Utah Jazz (2022-23), Los Angeles Lakers (2023), Milwaukee Bucks (2023-24) and Pistons (2024-25). In 2021, he was sentenced to 120 days in jail over a felony charge of threats of violence and was eventually suspended for 12 games by the NBA.
Charania reported that Beasley and the Pistons were in “serious talks” on a three-year, $42 million contract to bring him back to Detroit. Those talks reportedly are on pause as the investigation takes place, but Beasley is free to negotiate with other teams starting Monday at 6 p.m. ET.
“An investigation is not a charge,” Beasley’s attorney Steve Haney told ESPN. “Malik is afforded the same right of the presumption of innocence as anyone else under the U.S. Constitution. As of now he has not been charged with anything.”
The probe into Beasley comes more than a year after Jontay Porter was banned from the NBA over prop bet investigations. He eventually pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud, with sentencing set for this December as prosecutors estimate he could get up to four years in prison.
This past season, Terry Rozier — then of the Charlotte Hornets — was under investigation for activity related to unusual betting patterns surrounding him in a March 2023 game. Now with the Miami Heat, Rozier hasn’t been charged with any crime or faced sanctions from the NBA.
Another professional athlete could be in trouble over sports betting.
Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley is under investigated by the U.S. District Attorney’s office over gambling allegations for NBA games, ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported Sunday.
“We are cooperating with the federal prosecutors’ investigation,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement.
Beasley, 28, is set to be a free agent on Monday after a breakout season with the Pistons. He averaged 16.2 points and didn’t miss a single game for Detroit, which had a drastic turnaround with Beasley leading the second unit.
Over nine NBA seasons since being drafted in 2016, Beasley has played for the Denver Nuggets (2016-20), Minnesota Timberwolves (2020-22), Utah Jazz (2022-23), Los Angeles Lakers (2023), Milwaukee Bucks (2023-24) and Pistons (2024-25). In 2021, he was sentenced to 120 days in jail over a felony charge of threats of violence and was eventually suspended for 12 games by the NBA.
Charania reported that Beasley and the Pistons were in “serious talks” on a three-year, $42 million contract to bring him back to Detroit. Those talks reportedly are on pause as the investigation takes place, but Beasley is free to negotiate with other teams starting Monday at 6 p.m. ET.
“An investigation is not a charge,” Beasley’s attorney Steve Haney told ESPN. “Malik is afforded the same right of the presumption of innocence as anyone else under the U.S. Constitution. As of now he has not been charged with anything.”
The probe into Beasley comes more than a year after Jontay Porter was banned from the NBA over prop bet investigations. He eventually pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud, with sentencing set for this December as prosecutors estimate he could get up to four years in prison.
This past season, Terry Rozier — then of the Charlotte Hornets — was under investigation for activity related to unusual betting patterns surrounding him in a March 2023 game. Now with the Miami Heat, Rozier hasn’t been charged with any crime or faced sanctions from the NBA.
The Warriors will exercise their team options on former second-round draft picks Quinten Post and Gui Santos for the 2025-26 NBA season, The Athletic’s Anthony Slater reported Sunday, citing a source.
The Warriors will exercise their team options on Gui Santos and Quinten Post for next season, per source. Santos is on the books for $2.2 million (non-guaranteed) and Post at $1.9 million. Pair of late second round picks who have made a rotation impact.
Both Santos and Post found consistent minutes with Golden State this past season, as Santos played more than 13 minutes per game at forward for the Warriors and Post played just over 16 minutes at center.
The Warriors selected Santos in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft before joining the G League Santa Cruz Warriors. He averaged 14.3 points per game with the developmental team during his two years there.
In 2023-24, Santos split time between Santa Cruz and Golden State before getting a full season with the NBA squad.
The 23-year-old Brazilian played 56 games with the Warriors in 2024-25 and averaged 4.1 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.
Santos will cost the Warriors about $2.2 million in 2025-26 with $225,000 being guaranteed on Sept. 25 and the entirety being guaranteed on Jan. 10, 2026, according to Spotrac.
As for the 7-foot center Post, he also was taken by the Warriors in the second round, but of the 2024 NBA Draft.
The Boston College product played 42 games for Golden State in 2024-25 and made 14 starts while averaging 8.1 points per game and 3.5 rebounds per game.
Post’s ability to stretch the floor was incredibly beneficial for the Warriors as the big man shot better than 40 percent from 3-point range.
While the Warriors have some question marks still ahead in NBA free agency, reportedly exercising Santos and Post likely was an easy decision given the cost and the fact that both provided good minutes for coach Steve Kerr’s team last season.
Kelly Oubre Jr. has reportedly decided to pick up his Sixers player option.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Sunday that Oubre is exercising his option to return to the Sixers for the 2025-26 season. According to Spotrac, his option is for approximately $8.4 million.
The 29-year-old wing has been a consistent Sixers starter the last two years. He averaged 15.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 steals in the 2024-25 campaign. Three-point shooting remained a significant weakness for Oubre, who went 29.3 percent beyond the arc.
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse appreciated Oubre’s effort during the Sixers’ dismal, perpetually shorthanded season.
“I think the first thing about Kelly is he’s out there every night playing hard,” Nurse said on Feb. 26. “He’s out there every night competing and playing hard, and that goes a long way, first and foremost. I think he continues … to get to the front of the rim. With or without certain guys, his priority of being a scorer elevates for us. I think he continues to improve at that. I like that part of his game where he’s getting to the front of the rim and finishing.
“And he competes, man. Nobody can question the effort that he’s giving every single night.”
Oubre missed the Sixers’ final month of the season with a right knee injury but said at his exit interview that he felt “pretty good” and was “just looking forward to this offseason and attacking it head-on.”
He joins Andre Drummond as a Sixers veteran to exercise his player option in the lead-up to free agency, which officially starts Monday at 6 p.m. ET.
“At the end of the day, I’m happy,” Oubre said on April 13. “And I feel like I like to finish what I start, and I don’t feel complete.”
Rob Pelinka, left, the Lakers' general manager and president of basketball operations, and coach JJ Redick will have a new controlling owner in Mark Walter that they will answer to. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Now that you’re the majority owner of the Lakers, everyone is expecting you to whack their two most prominent leaders in hopes of transforming the basketball team into your baseball team, but you should instead initially act in terms your Dodgers would understand.
Agreed, this might be a tough call, and certainly there could be temptation to immediately can the two Lakers employees who most epitomize the incestuous decisions that have dragged the once-shining championship organization into dull mediocrity.
Pelinka, the president of basketball operations and general manager, was hired eight years ago because he was the agent and confidant of Kobe Bryant.
Redick, the head coach, was hired last summer because he was LeBron James’ podcast bro.
Neither man came to their current positions with strong qualifications. Both men were beneficiaries of a post-Jerry Buss culture in which daughter Jeanie would surround herself with friends and family.
It is a culture that led to outsized decision-making roles for the likes of Linda and Kurt Rambis. It is a culture that is diametrically opposed to the meritocracy that has made this town’s other glamour team so great.
Now that the Dodgers have basically swallowed the Lakers whole, it might be a foregone conclusion that Pelinka and Redick would be among the first to disappear.
Memo to Mark Walter:
Mark Walter, the controlling owner of the Dodgers, recently became a majority stakeholder in the Lakers. (Emma McIntyre / Getty Images)
Hold up rounding third.
Both Pelinka and Redick have earned a chance to show their strengths in a new system in which there will certainly be increased scouting, advanced analytics and a new professionalism for an infrastructure that had been difficult for any official to succeed.
Ned Colletti was the Dodgers' general manager when Walter’s group bought the team in the spring of 2012. He lasted two more seasons, Guggenheim Partners pouring money into the team and giving him every chance to succeed before firing him.
Pelinka deserves at least half that chance.
Don Mattingly was the manager when Walter bought the team. He lasted four more seasons, finally parting ways after the 2015 season.
Redick deserves at least a portion of that leash.
Although both men have been viewed as overmatched both in this space and by NBA insiders across the landscape, each has done well enough to not be summarily beheaded the minute Walter walks through the door.
Start with Pelinka. You do know he has an NBA championship on his resume, right? While Alex Caruso dismissed the 2020 title as phony last week after he won another ring with Oklahoma City, that first one still counts, and Pelinka still deserves credit for overseeing it.
Yes, Pelinka is the villain who ruined everything by letting Caruso walk while gutting the title team to acquire Russell Westbrook. But he’s also perhaps the only executive in NBA history to acquire three players the likes of LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis.
He had lots of help there — Magic Johnson recruited James, and James recruited Davis, and Nico Harrison handed him Doncic — but still, he was the final cog in making it happen.
Pelinka also engineered the splendid undrafted free agent signing that was Austin Reaves, which led to the Lakers finishing this season as the third seed in the West.
You don’t fire a decision-maker the same year his rebuilt team finishes third in basketball’s most competitive neighborhood. You don’t fire a decision-maker two years after his team reached the Western Conference finals. And you certainly don’t fire a decision-maker until you know what’s happening with his best employee.
It seems clear that James is going to opt in to his $52.6 million contract this week and remain with the team — and son Bronny — for at least one more season. If that’s the case, then Pelinka should get the chance to add the rim protector he’s been seeking to maximize Doncic and give James one more opportunity at a ring.
However, if James unexpectedly turns down the money to seek better title opportunities elsewhere — not a bad decision for the Lakers, honestly — then the ensuing roster chaos will not be the right time to make a change at the top.
Either way, the situation is fluid enough that Pelinka should be allowed to see it through.
The same goes for Redick, who did an admirable job in his first regular season before melting down in the playoffs.
Granted, some would consider his first-round series game management against the Minnesota Timberwolves a fireable offense, particularly in Game 4 when he used the same five players for an entire second half. He didn’t do himself any favors when he later reacted to criticism of that decision by bristling at a reporter’s question before stalking away from a pregame news conference.
During the most important moments of the season, Redick was in over his head. But as he admitted, he’ll learn, he’ll grow, he’ll get better, and he did well enough during the regular season to believe him.
Redick coached one team before the arrival of Doncic and the departure of Davis. He coached another team afterward. He deftly handled both of those teams while smartly disarming the potentially divisive distraction that was Bronny. Redick also empowered Reaves to become a legitimate third threat before Reaves joined his coach in a playoff disappearing act.
All of which brings this surprisingly sugary piece to this upcoming week, the start of the NBA’s summer madness, and the pressure is on.
Like it or not, Pelinka and Redick are a pair now, a tandem joined by the appearance of a new owner with new expectations.
Pelinka needs to find a big man who can help carry them deep into the playoffs. No matter who Pelinka acquires, Redick has to scheme around Doncic and make it all work.
They won’t get many chances under a new Dodger regime that demands sustained success, but they deserve at least one chance to take advantage of the massive changes that this new ownership group will surely create in returning basketball’s greatest franchise to new glories.
Memo to Mark Walter:
Keep Pelinka's and Redick’s names in the lineup card.
Another professional athlete could be in trouble over sports betting.
Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley is under investigated by the U.S. District Attorney’s office over gambling allegations for NBA games, ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported Sunday.
“We are cooperating with the federal prosecutors’ investigation,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement.
Beasley, 28, is set to be a free agent on Monday after a breakout season with the Pistons. He averaged 16.2 points and didn’t miss a single game for Detroit, which had a drastic turnaround with Beasley leading the second unit.
Over nine NBA seasons since being drafted in 2016, Beasley has played for the Denver Nuggets (2016-20), Minnesota Timberwolves (2020-22), Utah Jazz (2022-23), Los Angeles Lakers (2023), Milwaukee Bucks (2023-24) and Pistons (2024-25). In 2021, he was sentenced to 120 days in jail over a felony charge of threats of violence and was eventually suspended for 12 games by the NBA.
Charania reported that Beasley and the Pistons were in “serious talks” on a three-year, $42 million contract to bring him back to Detroit. Those talks reportedly are on pause as the investigation takes place, but Beasley is free to negotiate with other teams starting Monday at 6 p.m. ET.
“An investigation is not a charge,” Beasley’s attorney Steve Haney told ESPN. “Malik is afforded the same right of the presumption of innocence as anyone else under the U.S. Constitution. As of now he has not been charged with anything.”
The probe into Beasley comes more than a year after Jontay Porter was banned from the NBA over prop bet investigations. He eventually pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud, with sentencing set for this December as prosecutors estimate he could get up to four years in prison.
This past season, Terry Rozier — then of the Charlotte Hornets — was under investigation for activity related to unusual betting patterns surrounding him in a March 2023 game. Now with the Miami Heat, Rozier hasn’t been charged with any crime or faced sanctions from the NBA.
That's why they are bringing him back. The Heat and Mitchell have agreed to a two-year, $24 million contract that will keep the restricted free agent in Miami, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN and confirmed by Heat reporters.
Mitchell was traded from Toronto to Miami at the trade deadline as part of the five-team Jimmy Butler trade. In 30 games with the Heat, half of them as a starter, Mitchell averaged 10.3 points and 5.3 assists a game while shooting 44.7% from 3 (that number is an outlier for him, Mitchell shot 35.9% from 3 the first half of the season in Toronto, which may be closer to his range). In the playoffs, Mitchell started three games and averaged 15 points and 6.3 points a night against Cleveland. He gives Miami a quality perimeter defender who can hold his own on the offensive end of the court.
This almost certainly means the Heat will not pick up the team option on Duncan Robinson's $19.9 million contract for next season. He is still guaranteed $9.9 million, but the $10 million saved gets the Heat below the luxury tax line. That will make Robinson an unrestricted free agent.
The Cleveland Cavaliers surveyed what is expected to be a down East next season and see their opportunity. With that, they are looking for roster upgrades, pushing all their chips in on a 64-win team that learned some hard lessons in the playoffs.
Cleveland found one upgrade on Sunday: Trading Isaac Okoro to the Chicago Bulls for Lonzo Ball, a trade broken by Shams Charania of ESPN and quickly confirmed by other reporters. This is a straight-up trade of two players, no draft picks or other compensation moving between the teams.
If Ball can stay healthy, this is a win and an upgrade for Cleveland on the court. The versatile guard averaged 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists a game in 22 minutes a night off the bench last season, but the counting stats undersell the kind of little winning plays he makes. Ball is a smart facilitator who knows how to run an offense, he shot 36.6% on 3-pointers, and is also a solid defender.
The concern is health. Ball returned last season after missing more than two full seasons and undergoing three knee surgeries. Ball's minutes have to be limited. He played in just 35 games last season, averaging 22 minutes per night. However, Chicago trusted his health enough to sign him to a two-year, $20 million contract extension that kicks in next season (the second year of that, 2026-27, is a team option).
Bringing in Ball suggests that Cleveland is not bringing back free agent Ty Jerome. This is somewhat of a cost issue, with this trade the Cavaliers are about $8.9 million over the dreaded second apron and have four roster spots still to fill.
For Chicago, Okoro fits the mold of young players (24) with experience that the team is trying to bring in, veteran NBA writer K.C. Johnson notes. Okoro likely comes off the bench on the wing, playing minutes behind Coby White/Josh Giddey (whichever you consider the two guard) and Ayo Dosunmu. Okoro was not a favorite of new Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson last season and averaged 6.1 points a game, mostly coming off the bench for less than 20 minutes a night. When selected No. 5 overall the hope in Cleveland was that Okoro would fill the team's need on the wing, but he never developed into that player. He's a good (but not elite) wing defender, but his offense has been inconsistent and not what the Cavaliers needed. Chicago is making the bet in their system, playing off White and Giddey, Okoro will live up to his potential.
Financially, this trade hard caps the Bulls at the first apron, but that's more of a technicality than a concern. Chicago is $54 million under that cap number with just a couple of roster spots to fill, it should not be an issue.
Clippers guard James Harden and Lakers forward LeBron James, chasing after a loose ball during a game last season, have until Sunday to inform their respective teams if they will pick up contract options for next season or test free agency. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The Lakers and Clippers put in the work during the NBA’s two-day draft that was completed Thursday night and now they will turn their attention to shaping their rosters.
The first key dates are Sunday, when LeBron James and Dorian Finney-Smith have to inform the Lakers and when James Harden has to inform the Clippers of their decisions to opt in or out of their contracts, and Monday, when the NBA free-agency period begins.
James has a player option for $52.6 million and Finney-Smith has one for $15.3 million.
“At that point, we’ll know the tools we have to go out into free agency and fill out the roster with the draft ending tonight,” Rob Pelinka, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations, told Spectrum SportsNet after the second round of the draft Thursday. “The work for that has already begun, but the focus now will turn from draft focus to free agency and we won’t rest until we get it right.”
Harden, who has a player option of $36.3 million, also has the same day to let the Clippers know his desires.
“He’s our No. 1 priority,” Lawrence Frank, the Clippers’ president of basketball operations, told the media after the first round of the draft Wednesday night. “We’re super hopeful that James is here and he’s here for a long time. He has a player-option, so he can opt-in … or he can opt-out and hopefully we can do a deal that makes sense for both sides. But James, as you guys know, was phenomenal and we hope to continue to see his play.”
The Lakers were able to add an athletic wing player when they acquired Adou Thiero in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who picked him with the 36th pick of the second round.
The most pressing need for the Lakers remains a center, and they’ll have to look into free agency or via trade to acquire one.
The top big men are Indiana’s Myles Turner, Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez and Atlanta’s Clint Capela.
Turner, who made $19.9 million last season, is probably headed back to the Pacers and will do so at a price the Lakers can’t offer him. The Lakers have the taxpayer mid-level exception of about $5.65 million to spend.
“As I said at the end of the year, we know one of the things we have to address is the center position and that’s clearly going to be one of our focuses as we begin the free-agency period,” Pelinka said on the Lakers’ TV show. “And that’s right around the corner.
"So, we’re looking forward to just putting in the hard work and making sure we take care of all the needs on the roster to give [Lakers coach] JJ [Redick] the tools he needs for this team to be great next season.”
Though the Clippers drafted a center in the first round with the 30th pick, getting Yanic Konan Niederhausher of Penn State, Frank said his team “probably will have at least three centers.”
The Clippers can use their non-taxpayer mid-level exception that’s projected to be about $14.1 million on a player or two, and perhaps even find a center.
They will also perform due diligence by calling other teams to see about trade opportunities.
“You’re always in constant contact with all the teams,” Frank said. “You have a good sense of the things that you can be involved with and other things that you’re not.”
Free agency begins Monday at 3 p.m. PDT, but players can’t sign contracts until July 6.
Also, Clippers wing Norman Powell is eligible for a contract extension. He has one year left on his deal that pays him $20.4 million next season.
“At the appropriate time, we’ll sit with Norm and his representatives to talk about what kind of an extension and what it would look like and how it would fit in the bigger picture,” Frank said.
Gary Payton II, a fan favorite beloved by his teammates, might have played his last game with the Warriors.
Payton will become an unrestricted free agent on Monday, and his return to Golden State is in serious jeopardy, multiple NBA sources told NBC Sports Bay Area on Friday and Saturday.
“It’s looking doubtful,” one source said Friday.
“Golden State still likes him, and there’s still a chance he’s back,” another source said of the Warriors. “But they have a lot of moving parts as they work through the Jonathan Kuminga situation, so Gary could land elsewhere next season.”
A key member of Golden State’s 2022 NBA championship team, Payton is coming off a season of inconsistency while battling several nagging injuries. The 6-foot-3 forward appeared in 62 games (11 starts), with per-36-minute averages of 15.5 points (on 57.4-percent shooting from the field, including 32.6 from distance), 7.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.0 steals.
Payton made $9.1 million in salary last season, the final year of a three-year $26.1 million contract he originally signed with the Portland Trail Blazers in July 2022. The Warriors reacquired him seven months later and he has since been a fixture in the rotation.
A superior athlete on a roster lacking athleticism, GP2 has been the team’s best point-of-attack defender. He routinely is assigned to such stars as Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard and Phoenix’s Devin Booker. But availability has been an issue with Payton. He missed 20 games last season and 38 games in 2023-24.
If Payton is not re-signed, Golden State will prioritize adding an elite perimeter defender.
NBA free agency officially begins at 3 p.m. Monday, when teams can negotiate with those on the market. The direction the Warriors take with their rotational unrestricted free agents – Kevon Looney is the other — will be influenced by the outcome of Kuminga’s restricted free agency.
