With the beginning of free agency now nearly 24 hours away, the NBA rumor mill his really heating up. Ahead of the motion officially starting (Thursday at 6 p.m. ET), here’s a have a look at a few of the latest intel from across the league, including some notes on the futures of Damian Lillard and Victor Oladipo. (We now have more here on Bradley Beal, James Harden and Dejounte Murray).
Blazers to supply Lillard big extension
The Trail Blazers went full tank mode last season, but that was only a short-term solution to a few of the team’s problems — most notably, Damian Lillard’s abdominal surgery. Now, with Lillard healthy once more, the Blazers are hoping to re-tool their roster and get back into the playoffs.
After all, attempting to win is not the only avenue towards keeping Lillard glad. As well as, the Blazers are set to supply him a two-year extension price over $100 million, in response to Jake Fischer. Lillard is currently in the midst of a four-year deal that runs through 2025 (with a player option for the ultimate season). If he signs this two-year extension, that may keep him in Portland through 2027.
Barring a trade request in some unspecified time in the future over the subsequent few seasons — something Lillard hasn’t been considering pushing for thus far — such an extension will likely be sure that he finishes his profession with the Blazers. He might be 37 in the summertime of 2027.
Oladipo prone to leave Heat
Victor Oladipo underwent one other surgery on his quad tendon in May of 2021, and missed most of last season while he went through rehab. He finally returned in March, but played sparingly through the top of the regular season. While he earned more minutes within the playoffs, because the Heat went to the Eastern Conference finals, his playing time was still understandably sporadic.
Though clearly not the player he was pre-injury — Oladipo shot 36.8 percent from the sector within the playoffs — he did have his moments. He scored 40 points within the Heat’s regular season finale, and made an impact on the defensive end, especially within the ECF against the Celtics.
Because of this, Oladipo is anticipated to have multiple suitors as he hits free agency this summer. The Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons are among the many teams interested, per Jake Fischer. Oladipo just isn’t expected to return to the Heat.
Magic won’t make qualifying offer to Bamba
Mo Bamba’s tenure with the Orlando Magic appears to have come to an end. Despite Bamba coming off the perfect season of his profession, the team just isn’t expected to make a qualifying offer to the large man, which is able to make him an unrestricted free agent this summer, in response to Khobi Price.
Bamba, the No. 6 overall pick within the 2018 NBA Draft, has not lived as much as expectations so far. Nevertheless, he appeared to figure some things out last season and put up 10.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, while shooting 38.1 percent from 3-point land — all career-high marks.
Even when he is not going to be a star, Bamba still has the potential to be a productive player and is simply 24 years old. It’s no surprise, then, that he’ll have a ton of interest across the league. The Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors, Recent York Knicks, Houston Rockets, Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves have all registered interest, per Price.
Mavericks not giving up on Brunson sign-and-trade
Late on Tuesday night, the Recent York Knicks pulled off one other trade with the Detroit Pistons. This time, they sent Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel to Detroit together with two future second-round picks and $6 million in money so as to clear more cap space for his or her pursuit of Jalen Brunson.
That deal, combined with their draft night move to shed Kemba Walker’s contract, means the Knicks now have around $30 million in cap space this summer. That might be good enough to sign Brunson to a four-year deal price somewhere around $110 million, and so they at the moment are considered the favorites for his signature.
Because they’ve cleared the requisite room, it appeared the Mavericks’ hopes of salvaging a sign-and-trade from the situation were gone. Nevertheless, the Mavs haven’t given up hope on that possibility, per Tim Cato. Whether or not they’ll have the option to achieve this stays to be seen now that the Knicks have all of the leverage, nevertheless it could be far superior to letting Brunson walk for nothing.
