• June 30: James informed the Lakers he would play elsewhere in the 2026-27 season.

• July 3: Rich Paul discussed suitors like the Nuggets, Timberwolves, Sixers, Heat, Cavaliers, and Warriors on the Game Over podcast.

• July 24: James announced he is signing with the Philadelphia 76ers.

This is the longest he has taken to make a free agency decision in an offseason in which he switched teams, according to Sam Quinn. It made sense for him to take time, considering he only started this process at the beginning of free agency once he knew he would not return to the Lakers. But free agency has been at a standstill for weeks now. What else did he need to know?

The Warriors and Cavaliers, the two teams most prominently discussed for James, held up their offseasons and kept their flexibility open in case he chose them. James Harden and Draymond Green declined their respective player options to preserve the possibility of paying James the $15 million mid-level exception. Last month, Kevin O’Connor reported that the Warriors were hoping to acquire Anthony Davis to lure James. Two days ago, he reported that the league-wide belief was that James was more likely to choose the Cavaliers if they could acquire Kyrie Irving.

Not only does this make a ton of basketball sense, but it is also in line with how James has operated in free agency before. In 2010, he joined a stacked Heat team featuring Hall of Fame players Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. In 2014, he joined a Cavaliers team with Irving that was also loaded with assets to make additional moves. After signing with them, they traded first overall pick Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love.

It turns out this was first and foremost a basketball decision. James is signing with the Sixers on a two-year veteran minimum deal worth $8 million. He will earn $3.9 million in 2026-27 and has a $4.1 million player option for 2027-28. He will count at the full amount rather than the $2.4 million veteran minimum for a player with two years of service because he did not sign a one-year deal.

Most of James’ suitors could only offer him the veteran minimum. The Nuggets are working on multiple fronts right now, have not made a single move to address any of their long-term questions yet, and still need to deal with the uncertainty of Nikola Jokic hitting free agency in 2027. The Timberwolves make a ton of basketball sense, but they are out of tangible assets to make additional trades. The same goes for the Heat, who traded nearly all of their draft picks and young players for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Sixers also could only offer the minimum since they used their mid-level exception on Dean Wade and Anfernee Simons. With money not a factor, joining Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, and Joel Embiid in the Eastern Conference seems like a no-brainer. For what it is worth, they could still trade their 2033 first-round pick and three first-round pick swaps to make additional moves. They also have 14 second-round picks for marginal additions.

James gives the Sixers a much better chance at competing for a championship with the added savings of the veteran minimum. A $3.9 million cap hit for a player who still produced at the value of a 25 percent maximum player would instantly make him one of the greatest value signings in NBA history.

The roster has the personnel to be a top-ranked offense, but it still has a ton of defensive questions. They attempted to address them by acquiring Brown and signing Wade, but James will now eat into Wade’s minutes. Another potential issue the Sixers faced after acquiring Brown is usage. There will not be enough touches for all of their starters, which is why they should look into Joel Embiid trades. These are all good problems to have, and they will likely go into the season to see how the roster looks before making additional moves.

The Sixers will need to waive a player on a non-guaranteed salary before signing James. Although they have an open roster spot, signing James would put them above the $209 million first apron hard cap. The most straightforward path is waiving either Dalen Terry, who is non-guaranteed, or Jabari Walker, who has a $250,000 partial guarantee. They could also acquire Bronny James with one of their trade exceptions, but they would need to waive the other of Terry and Walker to create the apron space for him.

So if the Warriors and Cavaliers needed to make additional moves to accommodate James, why did they not do so? The price tag could have been justified as the cost of acquiring Davis or Irving in addition to James on the veteran minimum. The influx of revenue with James is music to owners’ ears.

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Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics

Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers

Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz

Phoenix Suns and Charlotte Hornets

Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets

Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks

You can follow Yossi on:
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After that, the main topic dominating conversations in Vegas — the Kawhi Leonard deal being held up and the Gary Trent Jr. contract — have to do with salary cap circumvention.

This is not the first time the NBA has dealt with multiple major violations of the CBA. Roughly 10 years ago, the league was dealing with rampant tampering. The CBA prohibits teams and upcoming free agents from negotiating contracts before the start of free agency. Tampering also extends to teams discussing potential future contracts with players who are under contract with other teams. Team personnel can even be fined simply for publicly commenting on a player who is not on their team.

The speed at which contracts were being agreed to ahead of free agency accelerated to the point that there was no logical explanation other than tampering. Too many deals were already done by the time negotiations were officially allowed to begin. It was obvious both sides were engaging in contract talks well before the opening of free agency, and several signings over the years were even reported before they were allowed to be. Teams were penalized for it, including the Knicks, who lost a second-round pick for tampering with Jalen Brunson.

While tampering is against the rules, it is also a natural byproduct of the times. As technology advances, communication advances with it. It only makes sense that a team or player representative would get ahead of free agency to see what options are available. And if someone else is doing it, then it becomes difficult not to do the same. The market now has to be assessed 365 days a year because of how competitive it is.

The NBA understands that dynamic and adjusted its rules in the 2023 CBA to be more lenient. Teams can now negotiate with their own free agents as soon as the Finals end and can even come to an agreement. One could say the league has accepted tampering, but it has really just redefined it. The NBA cannot fully police communication, nor does it seem to want to. The unwritten understanding is simple: don’t publicly report agreements with free agents who are not on your roster before June 30, and you’re fine.

The reality is that salary cap circumvention is starting to become the slippery slope that tampering was back then. The methods and implementation may be difficult for the NBA to penalize teams without proof beyond a reasonable doubt that they circumvented the cap. If the league’s due process cannot identify circumvention and punish it appropriately, and teams do not stop now, then this is on the fast track to becoming normalized.

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The main cap casualties came by trading veterans like Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis for salary relief. They also let Al Horford and Luke Kornet leave in free agency for deals well above the minimum. They could’ve gone further by trading Jaylen Brown or Derrick White for a haul of draft picks and young players. It would’ve set them back further temporarily, but if executed well, it could’ve potentially set up the second half of the Tatum era really well.

They chose to keep Brown and White and roll with their group rather than position themselves for a high lottery pick. That decision looked brilliant as they dominated the Eastern Conference during the regular season. They locked in the second seed and were viewed by many as the top team in the East with Tatum returning just in time for the playoffs. Their regular-season success didn’t translate in the playoffs, as they blew a 3-1 lead to the Sixers in the first round.

Despite the disappointing loss, they set themselves up for long-term success. The Celtics found a way to get under the luxury tax line before the playoffs without giving up any additional core players or a single first-round pick. Their trade deadline moves also put them in a position to duck the tax in the upcoming 2026-27 season. Doing so would get them out of the repeater tax and put them in position to spend deep into the luxury tax in the three subsequent seasons.

Those plans will need to be adjusted after trading Brown to the Sixers for Paul George and two first-round picks. A trade wasn’t surprising since it was rumored to be a possibility and even seemed like an eventuality. It’s the destination, a division rival they just lost to in the playoffs, and the return, an aging former All-Star and just two first-round picks, that is shocking to fans.

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You can follow Yossi on:
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Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

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The Raptors are trading Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round picks, a first-round pick swap, and two second-round picks for Leonard. It took some time for the pick details to be reported, but Toronto is sending unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, along with a 2027 pick swap. Two distant first-round picks is a steep price for a 15-year veteran, especially considering Leonard would be entering his 20th season by the time the first pick conveys.

So why did the Raptors give up more value for an older Leonard now than they did in 2019? They paid a rental price for him back then because he would not commit to an extension. It was a one-year risk that paid off, and even if they had not won the championship, they still would have come away relatively unscathed. They were reportedly the only team he was willing to extend with, which kept other teams from making serious offers.

Leonard will receive a six-month trade restriction that limits his maximum allowable extension to three additional years, a 120 percent raise off his $50.3 million salary, and 5 percent annual raises. That restriction is mostly negligible because he is already earning a near-max salary, making him eligible to sign an extension worth up to three years and $123.7 million. He could instead wait until January 6, when he would become eligible for a 140 percent raise and 8 percent annual raises, bringing his maximum extension value to $126.7 million.

No matter which extension Leonard takes, he will be limited to adding only two additional years because of the Over 38 rule. The rule includes mechanisms meant to disincentivize teams from signing a player to a contract exceeding three total years that runs past his age-38 season. It applies to Leonard now because he turned 35 last week.

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You can follow Yossi on:
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“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.”

This quote followed a flurry of speculation about his future. Did he want out of Los Angeles? His $52 million salary was a tough match for any team he might have been interested in, such as the Warriors, Cavaliers, or Mavericks. It turned out to be the beginning of the end of his tenure as a Laker, since they did not offer him an extension that would have replaced his player option.

Luka Doncic fell into their laps at the 2025 trade deadline, but the roster was not equipped for him. Their best chance to overhaul the roster with players who could complement him would come through free agency with cap space. The Lakers declined to add years to James’ contract because they wanted to maintain salary cap flexibility. That would allow them to add the big man and perimeter defensive wings they need without giving up assets.

Fast forward one year, and the Lakers have just undergone their biggest roster shift in nearly a decade. James decided to continue his NBA career elsewhere. He gained some agency by getting that announcement out first, but it seems like the Lakers were the side that wanted to end the relationship. They would not have been able to execute their cap space ambitions if they had paid him a significant salary.

The Lakers’ plan started to emerge: use a portion of their cap space to sign one of the top big men in restricted free agency. They met with both Jalen Duren and Walker Kessler. Third Apron co-host Sam Quinn suggested that the Lakers sign one of them to a short-term max offer sheet. The idea is to make the potential contract so uncomfortable for the Pistons or Jazz that they force their hand. It felt like this was going to drag on, since teams cannot officially match an offer sheet until after the moratorium ends on July 6.

The Jazz didn’t wait. Yesterday, they agreed to sign-and-trade Walker Kessler to the Lakers on a four-year, $130 million contract with a player option and a 15 percent trade bonus. They received an unprecedented haul of draft equity for a restricted free agent, featuring unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, along with first-round pick swaps in 2028 and 2030. The Lakers got their long-coveted big man, but it cost them all of their remaining draft equity. They can’t trade any first-round picks anymore.

That was followed by the rest of the Lakers’ free agency, with deals for Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Collin Sexton. With that, the Lakers do not have room for any of their current free agents beyond a minimum salary. They could also pursue upgrades through trade.

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You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamQuinnCBS

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

You can follow Sam on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamQuinnCBS

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

You can follow Sam on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamQuinnCBS

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

You can follow Sam on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamQuinnCBS

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

Earlier this week, the Hornets surprised everyone by trading LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to the Wolves for Naz Reid, an unprotected 2033 first-round pick, and other minor draft equity. Today, they followed that up by trading Miles Bridges and a 2029 first-round pick to the Suns for Royce O’Neale, Grayson Allen, and an unprotected 2033 first-round pick. That pick is easily one of the most valuable traded draft picks in the league given Phoenix’s outlook, and the Hornets got it for a player who has never made an All-Star team.

The Suns understand that the value of their 2033 first-round pick is worth more than Bridges. So to balance the trade, they are also acquiring a lesser first-round pick in 2027, the least favorable of Utah, Cleveland, and Minnesota. Funnily enough, they originally traded that pick to the Hornets last year in exchange for Mark Williams. They are now left with a maximum of two tradeable first-round picks, in 2027 and 2029, and both are the least favorable of those same three teams’ selections.

The other value Phoenix is receiving comes from getting off the negative-value contracts of Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale. Both players have two years remaining on their deals and likely were going to see marginalized roles on the Suns next season. The way to look at this trade from Phoenix’s perspective is that it traded a 2033 first-round pick for Miles Bridges, a 2029 first-round pick that will likely land in the early-to-mid 20s, a 2027 second-round pick, the ability to move off Allen and O’Neale, and significant immediate savings.

The Suns were about $4.3 million below the second apron hard cap after re-signing Mark Williams. Since they are still in the repeater tax, their 15-man roster, which was $16.4 million above the tax line, resulted in a $61 million tax penalty. This trade reduces their payroll by $6.2 million, which lowers that tax penalty by roughly $30 million. They are still slightly above the first apron, but they are close enough that they could effectively operate as if they are below it.

They can structure this as two trades.

Trade 1: Grayson Allen ($18.1 million) for Miles Bridges ($22.8 million).

They can use the $9,098,000 expanded trade exception to take back up to $27.2 million for Green.

Trade 2: Royce O’Neale ($10.9 million) for nothing.

This would allow them to create a trade exception worth up to that amount. It would require them to operate within the first apron hard cap, which they are now in a position to do. This would also open up access to the $15 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception, but the Suns would still need to shed significantly more salary to use any additional exceptions.

When the Suns waived and stretched Bradley Beal, they put themselves in a position with limited roster-building flexibility in free agency. They were left to choose between using the mid-level exception and re-signing Collin Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin, and Mark Williams with their Bird rights. The latter was the better decision because it gave them more depth, but it also left them with few other options outside of trades that reduce payroll.

The Suns are now roughly $10.3 million above the luxury tax line. It seemed unlikely they would pay a $60 million penalty after mainly retaining role players, let alone finish the season as a taxpayer. They are probably not done and will likely look not only to get under the tax entirely, but also to make an additional upgrade to their starting lineup with their remaining tradeable draft picks.

As co-host Sam Quinn notes, Bridges has benefited from playing next to an elite playmaker like Ball. The Suns have been without an above-average starting point guard since trading Chris Paul three years ago. They might as well go even further in on this group with an upgrade at guard to try to put it all together offensively. In fact, that could also be their avenue to getting under the luxury tax line.

The Suns could look to trade Jalen Green in a move that lands them such a guard while further reducing payroll. As one example, trading him to the Bulls for Josh Giddey would give them a new starting point guard and get them under the tax. He has now shown he can be more of a viable off-ball player after two straight seasons of shooting well from three-point range on decent volume.

Other names they could target include Dejounte Murray, Immanuel Quickley, Jrue Holiday, and Tyler Herro, but those moves would not get them fully under the tax line. They would have to make additional cost-saving maneuvers around the trade deadline to finish the season under the tax. Alternatively, they could remain a tax team and see if they can package Green with Khaman Maluach and their two tradeable first-round picks for a more expensive guard like Darius Garland.

The Suns are mostly done with their offseason and will next focus on extensions for their starting frontcourt. Bridges will become extension-eligible starting on July 6 for a maximum of four years and $143 million. Third Apron projects him to receive a contract around his current annual salary. Dillon Brooks will also be extension-eligible for a similar amount, but he is projected to receive something in the $25 million annual range.

Meanwhile, the Hornets continue to sell high off their successful season and now possess two of the most valuable traded draft picks in the league after moving Ball and Bridges. They correctly identified the Wolves and Suns as desperate teams willing to go further in and trade their respective 2033 first-round picks as soon as those selections became available. It was strong work by Charlotte to move the players those teams desired and come away with those picks.

The Hornets still have 11 future first-round picks, but they significantly improved the quality of them by swapping that 2029 first-round pick for the Suns’ 2033 first. Both the Wolves and Suns are already heavily leveraged, with no control of their draft picks through 2033. Edwards is not yet under contract through then, though that will likely change with a supermax next offseason. Booker also is not under contract that far out and will likely be out of his prime by then.

The trade is simple from Charlotte’s perspective:

Trade 1: Miles Bridges ($22.8 million) for Grayson Allen ($18.1 million) and Royce O’Neale ($10.9 million).

They can use the $9,098,000 expanded trade exception to take back up to $31.9 million for Bridges. This would hard cap them to the first apron, but they are already set to be hard capped there by using an expanded trade exception in the Ball trade.

The Hornets increase their payroll slightly, but they are still $41.8 million below the tax line, a threshold they will not exceed this season. They retain their $40.8 million trade exception and could still use all of it without crossing the tax. Expect them to remain active in deals where they take on more bad money with draft equity attached.

They also have even more future flexibility now by moving off Ball’s remaining three years and no longer needing to re-sign or extend Bridges. That creates even more room to focus on extending Brandon Miller. He will be extension-eligible for a rookie-scale extension until the start of the regular season.

With plenty of time remaining before this trade can be executed on July 6, don’t be surprised if it gets looped into the pending four-team deal between the Wolves, Hornets, Bulls, and Nets. That could allow the Hornets to take back fewer salaries if they reroute either Allen or O’Neale, or to take on more bad money with additional draft picks attached. O’Neale would make some sense for the Wolves, who need a forward.

Speaking of pending trades, the Antetokounmpo trade cannot happen until January 6. This is a deal the Heat would probably love to expand so they can potentially keep Norman Powell.

Last week, the Bucks agreed to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to the Heat in a deal that included Tyler Herro, several players on rookie contracts, and draft equity. The trade was structured so the Heat could send the minimum salary needed to acquire Antetokounmpo. Because of that, they would absorb Portis into an old trade exception. Both of those mechanisms hard cap the Heat to the first apron.

If the trade is executed as currently constructed, the Heat cannot exceed $209.1 million in team salary for the rest of the season. They are effectively $19 million below that figure after declining Jahmir Young’s team option, even when factoring in a likely rookie minimum contract for Ryan Conwell. That could be a sensible starting salary for Powell. However, they would not be able to pay him that amount because they still need to fill four additional roster spots.

This apron predicament is why many around the league do not expect the Heat to retain Powell. They would need to reduce payroll significantly to make that work. For example, offloading Nikola Jovic would open up the flexibility needed to re-sign Powell and even use a portion of their mid-level exception to add another player. Still, that seems unlikely since they have all but one first-round pick available to trade, and even moving that selection is complicated because it only conveys if Miami’s lottery-protected 2027 first-round pick conveys.

There is another pathway to re-signing Powell: expanding the trade to create a 100 percent salary match. They could include Davion Mitchell in the deal and send him to a third team, which they reportedly tried to do in the Antetokounmpo trade. But moving him would open another hole on a roster that already lacks playmaking.

The other way to create a 100 percent salary match would be by signing and trading several of their free agents. For example, they could sign and trade Simone Fontecchio, for whom they have Bird rights, to a three-year deal with only the first year guaranteed. They could push his starting salary as high as $9.97 million, which is the most they can give him before Base Year Compensation reduces his outgoing amount for trade purposes to his previous $8.3 million salary. Then they could throw in a minimum-salary player like Myron Gardner, and they would be sending out 100 percent of Antetokounmpo’s salary.

They would also need to expand the trade in a way that does not bring back Portis, since absorbing him into an old trade exception also creates a first apron hard cap. If they can include Fontecchio and Gardner as described, and reroute Portis to a different team without taking any salary back, the Heat would have nearly $50 million in room below the $221.7 million second apron. That assumes Andrew Wiggins picks up his $30.2 million player option and that Conwell signs.

If the Heat could somehow pull all of this off, then they could comfortably re-sign Powell at any reasonable number, such as a starting salary in the low $20 million range. Not only that, they could use the $6 million taxpayer mid-level exception on a veteran, ideally a backup big man, since they would no longer be getting Portis. Andre Drummond and Mo Wagner would make sense here.

While discussing crazy sign-and-trade scenarios, they could also attempt to sign and trade their remaining free agents for a veteran in the $8-10 million range. Two years ago, the Knicks signed and traded their two-way free agents to make up that much money to satisfy salary-matching requirements for Karl-Anthony Towns. The Heat could try something similar for a player earning around that amount.

For example, they could attempt to sign and trade a combination of Keshad Johnson, Jahmir Young, Trevor Keels, and Vlad Goldin for a player like Caleb Martin, a former Heat player. The idea would be for those players to earn $1 above their respective minimum salaries to get around the one-minimum-player aggregation rule, then create a 100 percent match that way. The Mavericks’ incentive to do such a deal would be getting off Martin’s contract a year early, while all of the players the Heat sends out would only need to be guaranteed for one season.

To be clear, all of these scenarios are wishful thinking at best. The Heat do not have enough draft equity to satisfy every team that would be taking on their free agents in sign-and-trades, even if all of those players are guaranteed for only one season. But at the very least, they may need to find a taker for Portis or Jovic because the dropoff between Powell and whoever they could get in free agency is significant.

You can also see my work on:

• Third Apron podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, and all podcast providers

• CapSheets to view all my salary cap data

• Twitter and BlueSky for instant transaction analysis

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

You can follow Sam on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamQuinnCBS

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

You can follow Sam on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamQuinnCBS

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

This morning, Ball was traded to the Wolves along with Josh Green. In return, the Hornets will receive a package featuring Naz Reid and an unprotected 2033 first-round pick. They’ll also receive first-round pick swaps in 2028, 2029, and 2030, as well as second-round picks in 2029, 3032, and 2033. They are completely out of draft equity to trade other than a 2030 second-round pick from the Grizzlies that is unlikely to convey (31-55 protected).

Earlier this week, the Wolves agreed to trade Julius Randle and the 28th pick in the draft (Joshua Jefferson) to the Nets for the 33rd pick in the draft (Isaiah Evans). The move cleared $66 million of their books and created a $33 million trade exception. It was unclear if this move was the prelude to something bigger or simply a move to get them under the luxury tax line. At a minimum, they were going to add more depth with that trade exception or the $15 million mid-level exception.

This trade, which can’t be official until July 6 since the Bulls required cap space to acquire Nic Claxton, will be expanded to include the Wolves’ acquisition of Ball for several reasons. The first is that Reid’s $23.3 million salary isn’t enough to match Ball’s $41.25 million individually. Randle’s $33.3 million salary is ($9,098,000 trade exception). Then they could simply trade Reid for Green and create a trade exception worth the difference in their salaries.

However, the Wolves can no longer function as a below-apron team. Ball’s $41.25 million salary is too high for them to field a roster below the first apron while factoring in Ayo Dosunmu’s new five-year, $112 million contract. It is expected to start at $19.3 million, the lowest it could be with standard raises. They now must operate as an above-apron team so they can fill the rest of the roster, meaning they must do a 100 percent salary match.

The trade is simple:

Ball ($40.8 million + $479,480 from trade bonus) + Green ($14.7 million) = $56 million

Randle ($33.3 million) + Reid ($23.3 million) = $56.6 million outgoing salaries. So this works from the Wolves’ perspective.

The Wolves are now hard capped to the $221.7 million second apron as a result of aggregating multiple salaries while taking back fewer salaries than they’re sending out. They project with $11 million in room below the hard cap to fill up at least four roster spots. They effectively have $9.6 million to spend on three if one of those spots goes to Evans on a rookie minimum salary ($1.35 million).

The once supersized Wolves are now looking very thin in the frontline. They will have a difficult time finding an upgrade with no draft picks left to trade. They might need to part with one of Terrence Shannon Jr. or Joan Beringer to get a team interested. Otherwise, they’re looking at starting a lineup featuring LaMelo Ball, Ayo Dosunmu, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, and Rudy Gobert.

The Wolves would have limited options for upgrading the frontcourt. They will no longer create a $33 million trade exception and lose access to all trade exceptions created last season, including the $10.8 million one. They also lose the $5.5 million bi-annual exception and get the reduced $6 million taxpayer mid-level exception instead of the $15.5 million one. They are highly unlikely to get a starter with that amount.

Their best path to acquiring a new starting-level forward is through trade. Green’s $14.7 million and Donte DiVincenzo’s $12.5 million salaries can be traded for players earning up to those amounts or less. If the Wolves acquire Green, they would be unable to aggregate his salary for a more expensive player. This means their options could be limited to players like Naji Marshall, Jalen Smith, Royce O’Neale, Obi Toppin, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Grant Williams, who would’ve made sense for the Wolves to be included in the deal.

They could get a more expensive forward if they expand the trade further. That would mean the Hornets reroute Green to another team, while the Wolves include DiVincenzo. This would put them in play to acquire more expensive options like P.J. Washington, Keldon Johnson, Kyle Kuzma, Santi Aldama, and Cameron Johnson. Miles Bridges also would be a nice addition, but the Hornets held onto him as well.

Most of the swaps traded to the Hornets aren’t likely to convey. The Wolves already owe their top-5 protected 2029 first-round pick to the Jazz. The only way the Hornets get it is if the Wolves miss the playoffs in 2029. The Hornets would then have a solid chance of that selection moving up after lottery reform flattened odds and increased the number of teams to 16.

Meanwhile, the Wolves already swapped out their 2030 first-round pick a couple of years ago. They will receive the lesser of their own, the Mavericks, or the Spurs first-round pick that year. The swap can only convey to the Hornets if the Wolves are worse than all teams involved and the Spurs get to make a swap first.

Most of the second-round picks should convey to the Hornets. The only one that might not is the 2029 second-round pick, which would go to Utah if the Wolves’ 2029 first-round pick falls in the top-5 protection range. But that would be a good thing since it means the Hornets are getting a top-5 pick.

This trade continues a trend of the Wolves’ going all-in with their draft equity as soon as it becomes available to them. They traded all their first-round picks for Rudy Gobert in 2022. They traded their 2031 first-round pick as soon as it became available to trade in 2024 for Rob Dillingham. And now they do the same with their 2033 first-round pick for Ball.

This time, it feels like there’s an added layer of desperation. Not only do they trade their first-round pick, but also Reid. It may not seem like a great return for Ball, but it’s a lot for the Wolves to give up. It’s a risky move that, if it backfired, could shut the competitive window for this team.

But if there’s a reason the Wolves are taking this risk now, look no further than Anthony Edwards. He will be extension-eligible this season for a two-year deal, but he is unlikely to accept it. That’s because he will become eligible for a four-year, $300 million supermax extension next offseason if he makes an All-NBA team. He would’ve qualified for it, had he qualified for the 65-game rule this past season.

There is already starting to be a lot of noise about Edwards’ future in Minnesota. They built a good team that should make the playoffs and win a series or two, but their lack of trade flexibility seems to cap them there. Now they have a chance to increase their ceiling with Ball, and if Edwards can make another leap to being an MVP candidate. Either way, this move was partly a Hail Mary to show Edwards they are still serious about maximizing their window around him in hopes of securing a supermax extension next summer.

The Hornets will reduce their payroll by $30 million with this trade. They’re able to take back so few salaries because the multi-team framework has the Nets and Bulls taking back significantly more salaries. After re-signing Coby White to a three-year, $74 million contract, they have roughly $50 million in space below the luxury tax line. They won’t exceed that threshold this season.

The Hornets are now below the $165 million salary cap, but they’ll operate as an over-the-cap team. They’ll have more spending power that way since they could re-sign White with his Bird rights, and use the $15 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception on a free agent or as a trade exception. They could also take on more salaries in a trade or sign-and-trade.

They are also set to create a $40.8 million trade exception in this trade, which would be the biggest in NBA history. The trade will be structured as follows:

Josh Green ($14.7 million) for Naz Reid ($23.3 million). They can use the $9,098,000 expanded trade exception to take back up to $23.8 million for Green.

This means they’re trading Ball’s $40.8 million salary for nothing, thus creating the big trade exception. The Hornets still have enough space to use it and most of the mid-level exception while remaining under the tax line. Using the expanded trade exception will hard cap them to the first apron, but that’s okay since they won’t exceed the tax anyways.

So why would the Hornets do this? They wouldn’t have gone as far as they did last season without Ball having a borderline All-NBA caliber season. They are seemingly taking a step back by trading their All-Star and the best player in the trade.

The Hornets appear to be getting ahead of a couple of things. The first is the potential of a regression or, at least, another injury-riddled season. Ball only played in 57 percent of potential games in the previous three seasons. This was likely the best chance for them to maximize value for him, and they capitalized.

They also just didn’t want to be in the Ball business anymore. He is entering the third year of a five-year maximum contract. He will become extension-eligible this summer, but probably wasn’t getting considered for one until at least 2028 when he’s expiring. After seeing Trae Young receive a maximum contract in Washington, the Hornets are getting ahead of a potential gulf in extension negotiations with Ball.

With Ball’s contract off the books, the Hornets now have more cap flexibility to fit Brandon Miller’s next contract. He is extension-eligible for a rookie scale contract this offseason, and Third Apron projects him to receive slightly below the maximum. It is worth 25 percent of the salary cap and is currently projected at five years, $251.2 million. If extended, he would be their biggest commitment to their payroll at over 20 percent of the salary cap, while White and Reid make well below that.

The Hornets also now have one of the biggest surpluses of draft picks in the league. They have 12 first-round picks and a whopping 18 second-round picks through 2033. At some point, they could consolidate some of them to pursue an All-Star. They still could use a significant upgrade to the frontcourt at both the 4 and the 5.

While we’re still on this four-team trade, it’s worth noting that the Nets could spend their cap space, then use the $9.1 million expanded trade exception to swap Nic Claxton ($23.3 million) for Julius Randle ($33.3 million). However, they would come up about $915,000 short of the salary matching. This means they’d need to send out a small salary. The easiest solution is trading one of Josh Minott or Malachi Smith, both of whom are on non-guaranteed salaries, and partially guaranteeing their salaries for that amount.

You can also see my work on:

• Third Apron podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, and all podcast providers

• CapSheets to view all my salary cap data

• Twitter and BlueSky for instant transaction analysis

That concludes what felt like the longest trade saga in NBA history. Was it actually the longest transaction saga ever? It depends on when you want to start counting. The longest may technically be the two years between 2008 and 2010, when LeBron James’ free agency loomed, and the lead-up to him signing with the Heat took over the league.

The difference with Antetokounmpo is that there was never a firm start date because there was never a public trade request. The most appropriate starting point for this saga is May 1, 2025. That is when Shams Charania published his initial report that Antetokounmpo was open to playing elsewhere. He was traded 407 days after that report. That makes this trade saga by far the most drawn-out in modern NBA history, topping ones like the Dwightmare, Melodrama, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and others.

The Heat became a frontrunner for Antetokounmpo for two reasons. The first is that he is effectively on an expiring salary, with the ability to reach free agency in 2027 by declining his $62.8 million player option. He held some leverage in choosing his destination since any team acquiring him would want assurances that he was interested in re-signing.

The second reason is that the Heat maintained cap flexibility. They had positioned themselves to have maximum cap space each year and still had a path to it in 2027. Cap space is no longer primarily a means to sign top players. It is now more often a means for teams to leverage another team into trading its star to them.

From that point, it was on the Heat to put together a trade package that would satisfy the Bucks. There was no guarantee Antetokounmpo would remain interested in joining Miami a year from now. The Heat risked him spending a full season with another team, building familiarity, developing chemistry, and having success there. Ultimately, they had to trade everything they did to secure him.

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You can follow Yossi on:
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Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

You can follow Sam on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamQuinnCBS

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

You can follow Sam on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamQuinnCBS

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com