Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[michaeltex]

Bobby Marks: Speaking of paying, we're going to probably have an eye on Karl-Anthony Towns. He is extension eligible. Jay, how about this number? Four years, $272 million. That is what Towns is extension eligible for. He's got two years left. He's got a player option for that second year. They can negotiate right now and he can sign that on July 6th. That's the number to certainly keep an eye on. Remember Jalen Brunson had given back some money. Mikal Bridges, will there be a compromise with Towns? Josh Hart is also extension eligible. Also, McBride, but Towns is going to be the player to focus on when we're looking at that next big contract here.

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Knicks are in a hard spot financially. They are already at $205M+ for next season with 6 open slots and are currently sitting on $213M+ the following season with only 7 contracts. (this includes KAT's PO).

Dolan stated emphatically that he will not write checks to go over the 2nd apron, which is projected at $222M for next season. So they only have about $17M to play with. If you estimate $3M for 5 contracts, that puts you just under the apron. 

The starting 5 are all signed, but Robinson, Shamet and Clarkson are all unsigned, these are probably more than vet min players. Alvarado has a $4.5M PO for next season that I suspect he might decline to see if there is a bigger payday available.

Also, now that he has a ring, I think Brunson's going to want to get his max contract as a next step. He currently has 2 years + a PO on the current deal, which has turned into a deep hometown discount.

[Mavs2021]

Sactown Sports 1140: “[Zach LaVine and his agency] are not leaving that money on the table. So, he's not opting out." @sam_amick joined @CarmichaelDave & @JasonRoss1140 to share his intel on Sacramento Kings guard Zach LaVine's pending $49 million player option:

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Who says no? Works on the machine. Kings can throw in Monk for free, if they want more cap relief.

Lakers

Gafford

Kings

Christie
Vanderbilt
Martin
Thompson

Mavs

Lavine
#25 pick (Lakers)
#34 pick (Kings)

[FireNicoHarrison]

Kings...

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

I saw that Lavine post and thought about all the times Mavs2021 wanted him on the Mavs. Then I see he's still trying to make it happen.

[Mavs2021]

I saw that Lavine post and thought about all the times Mavs2021 wanted him on the Mavs.  Then I see he's still trying to make it happen.

Of course. Cause he´s a good player, who has always been on sh*t teams. I don´t think I want to pay Christie 20M/year for an extension, get rid of Martin, too. Win-Win. Can probably get Lavine on a bargain re-sign deal, if you want. If not 50 millions clean off the books.

[F Gump]

I saw that Lavine post and thought about all the times Mavs2021 wanted him on the Mavs.  Then I see he's still trying to make it happen.

I have less than zero interest in Lavine, who is a max-salary player who was meh impact on winning. Great stats. Huge salary. Not a lick of defense. Regular injury issues. He's a good fit for SAC and what they do.

His contract is an incredibly bad piece to try to fit in a limited-salary hard cap world.

[dirkfansince1998]

Who says no? Works on the machine. Kings can throw in Monk for free, if they want more cap relief.

Lakers

Gafford

Kings

Christie
Vanderbilt
Martin
Thompson

Mavs

Lavine
#25 pick (Lakers)
#34 pick (Kings)

Compensation for taking on the last year of Lavine's contract seems fair from a Mavs perspective. Lakers get the big Luka is asking for. Don't see why the Kings would even consider it. They aren't competing anytime soon. Lavine's contract isn't hurting them. Might as well let him expire. Maybe a desperate team offers a pick or two for him at the deadline.

[FireNicoHarrison]

Lavine is trash at team basketball but he is awesome in YouTube HLs.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Jake Fischer: Per source: D’Angelo Russell has opted in to his 2026-27 player option with the Wizards worth $6 million.

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[HoosierDaddyKid]

Barry Jackson: No team offered a first-rounder for any Heat veteran (excluding recent draft picks) before the trade deadline. If Detroit were willing to offer the 21st pick for Tyler (big if), then Miami essentially would be trading at least 6 1st rounders for Giannis (next week's pick at No. 13, two futures, Jaquez, Ware, hypothetical return for Herro). Can the Bucks actually do better than that if the Celtics don't offer Brown?

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[HoosierDaddyKid]

Then again, the Celtics’ desperation level simply isn’t at the level of the Heat’s. By all accounts, Boston could forge ahead with the Brown-Jayson Tatum dynamic duo and look for other ways to upgrade the frontcourt. To that end, league sources say the Celtics are among the many teams with interest in the New Orleans Pelicans’ Trey Murphy III (if they don’t land Antetokounmpo). The Celtics have gone to great lengths to avoid the elephant in the room here, but Jaylen Brown would need to be part of any deal for Antetokounmpo. And if Boston had its way, it seems, the conversation would start and end there with a one-for-one swap of fellow All-Stars who are still in their respective primes (Antetokounmpo is 31; Brown is 29). Lest anyone forgets, Brown is coming off his best season yet, finishing sixth in MVP voting. It’s unclear if the Bucks would look to build around Brown as a centerpiece, as many rival executives have recently predicted, or perhaps rebuild by sending him elsewhere for young players and picks. But whichever path they might select, it’s widely believed that Brown alone wouldn’t be enough for Milwaukee. "The whole league, to a certain extent, is going to change when Giannis is moved," @Windhorstespn speaks on Giannis potentially being traded.

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New York Times

[HoosierDaddyKid]

The Knicks could keep their core together for the next 3-5 years IF Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart are willing to take a pay cut, per @WindhorstESPN. KAT is eligible for a 4-year, $272M extension. "If Karl-Anthony Towns is willing to take a little bit of a haircut, you know, $7-10 million over the course of multiple seasons and Josh Hart is also extension eligible this summer, if both of them are willing to take a little bit of a haircut, you could see this core staying together for three, four, five years." Vincent Goodwill: If I'm Karl-Anthony Towns, remember: The Knicks had the opportunity to extend him at the start of the season. They did not. It stuck with him. I don't think he's gotten over that. So, let's see how this plays out. I'm curious.



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[Mavs2021]

Barry Jackson: No team offered a first-rounder for any Heat veteran (excluding recent draft picks) before the trade deadline. If Detroit were willing to offer the 21st pick for Tyler (big if), then Miami essentially would be trading at least 6 1st rounders for Giannis (next week's pick at No. 13, two futures, Jaquez, Ware, hypothetical return for Herro). Can the Bucks actually do better than that if the Celtics don't offer Brown?

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Seems reasonable all around. Is it even legal? Only adds up to 43M on the Heat side against 62M for Giannis, plus the Bucks idea to dump Portis or Kuzma in the process. Four first round picks, and two players to form a core of

Jakucionis
Powell
Wiggins
Bam
Giannis

with virtually no bench.  I guess it could work, but the shooting on that team will be crap.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

REPOST

[Fischer] Per source: D’Angelo Russell has opted in to his 2026-27 player option with the Wizards worth $6 million.

I still can't believe yall tried to get my hyped about this dude as starting PG last year.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

[Fischer] League sources say that the Pistons' Isaiah Stewart is not merely available but outright bracing for a trade. Tobias Harris, by contrast, is a player Detroit is determined to retain. Sources say that the Bucks, Celtics, Spurs, and Heat are teams interested in Stewart.

[Mavs2021]

[Fischer] League sources say that the Pistons' Isaiah Stewart is not merely available but outright bracing for a trade. Tobias Harris, by contrast, is a player Detroit is determined to retain. Sources say that the Bucks, Celtics, Spurs, and Heat are teams interested in Stewart.

Oh Bucks, Celtics and Heat. Does Twitter have an autopost  timer function or does he have to send out the "Stewart could be part of a Giannis deal" follow up manually?

Let´s be honest Stewart ain´t far behind Draymond, when it comes to physical violence and crazy. Do you really want that headache? Maybe Spurs to protect Wembanyama makes some sense.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Oh Bucks, Celtics and Heat. Does Twitter have an autopost  timer function or does he have to send out the "Stewart could be part of a Giannis deal" follow up manually?

Let´s be honest Stewart ain´t far behind Draymond, when it comes to physical violence and crazy. Do you really want that headache? Maybe Spurs to protect Wembanyama makes some sense.

Say what you will about Stewart, he hustles, plays defense, and he would be welcomed on many teams. Every good team needs an "Enforcer or Goon" as they're called in Hockey.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

"Do you have a sense for who those teams are, who are the real contenders if LeBron doesn't come back?" Ramona Shelburne: "For me, it's pretty simple. It's either the Lakers, Cleveland, or Golden State. I would be really surprised if it's not one of those three. I think there's other teams that would make sense, but I don't see those as realistic."

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[HoosierDaddyKid]

Sam Amick on Ja Morant: "The only two teams I have heard and I will pick one of them is New Orleans and Sacramento. I will probably push it the New Orleans way."

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[HoosierDaddyKid]

Shams Charania: Memphis Grizzlies guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is exercising his $21.6 million player option for the 2026-27 season, sources tell ESPN.

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