The Waive And Stretch: Testy Team Options, Ducking The Tax Update, And More
Welcome back to another edition of The Waive and Stretch Newsletter. A quick shameless plug to note that I am looking to work in basketball in any capacity and would love to connect with anyone in the industry or trying to break in. Please feel free to share this Substack with anyone who might find it interesting. Let's get into it!
What Caught My Attention This Week
Decisions To Be Made On Team Options
There are a number of players that have team options this summer that could be tough decisions for their respective teams. Not necessarily whether they should remain on the roster or not, but whether the team should decline the options to make the players restricted free agents, re-sign them at a larger number but still a discount to what the player could realistically get next summer, re-sign them to a longer term deal, etc. Very similar to the situations that played out with guys like Lu Dort, Jae’Sean Tate, and Herb Jones in recent years. Lets take a look at some of the more notable ones this summer.
Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, Oklahoma City Thunder
I’ve touched on the situation with Joe and Wiggins in a prior post, but the Thunder could in theory turn down both options and make each a free agent, while they would have Early Bird Rights on Joe and Full Bird on Wiggins. Wiggins would also be extension eligible whether they turned down or picked up the team option, while Joe would only be if they opted him in. OKC could give both a significant payday for the 2024/2025 season, while being able to lock both players down long term on deals that would presumably come in under their market value going forward. They could still use their cap space by utilizing the small cap holds of these two if they were to turn them down. I’d venture a guess that both players come away with some sort of new deal this offseason that keeps them in OKC long-term.
Jose Alvarado, New Orleans Pelicans
the Pelicans played a very similar situation with Herb Jones last summer when they turned down his team option and brought him back on a four year deal that is looking like one of the better value contracts in the league. However, I’m thinking that it will play out differently with Alvarado, as they could potentially be bumping up against the luxury tax line next season. If I were the Pelicans, I’d pick up his option and either shop him in a potential trade or try to sign him to an extension.
Sam Hauser, Boston Celtics
Under normal circumstances, it would be a no brainer that the Celtics would turn down Hauser’s team option and make him a restricted free agent. But, the Celtics project to be well past the second apron next year, and it might just be untenable for them to tack on the additional salary and tax that would come with it. He is still extension eligible, but if he were to get to free agency in the summer of 2025 he would be an unrestricted free agent.
Tristan Vukcevic, Washington Wizards
Vukcevic signed a 2 year, $4.8 million in March to join the Wizards midseason. this seemed like a pretty large amount for a rookie, but it appears that it was related to his buyout overseas. Thus, I would expect that Washington would turn down this team option and re-sign Vukcevic to a 3-year minimum deal with a team option in the last year so that he could potentially still be converted to a restricted free agent if needed.
Jae’Sean Tate, Houston Rockets
I mentioned Tate earlier as one of the players that have formerly had their team option turned down, only to be re-signed at a bigger number. Well, the Rockets have the opportunity to do so again, with Tate undoubtedly deserving of yet another raise. The teams decision on his team option could signal their intentions this summer and going forward. A lack of a new deal for Tate could foreshadow a coming trade down the line by the Rockets.
Ducking The Tax Updates
I’ve added another feature to the Ducking The Tax site. Similar to the rookie extension Eligible EPV page, I’ve added a page for the Veteran Extension Eligible players here. Again, all you need to do is go to whichever player and go to their number of years section, hit the drop down and select however many years you would like. It then calculates that players extension EPV over that length of time.
Fake Signing Of The Week
Player: Isaiah Joe
Team: Oklahoma City Thunder
Deal: 4 Years, ~$56 million, max Early Bird Rights deal
This assumes they would turn down Joe’s team option and would be the most the Thunder could give Joe using his Early Bird Rights. while this is significantly lower than where I have his EPV, this would give Joe a $10 million bump over his team option next season, and would be the equivalent to a 3 year, $54 million extension if he were to opt in. This gets Joe some life-changing money, and the Thunder lock him in on a long-term value deal.