The Waive And Stretch: Trade Deadline, Buyout Season, Cap Space 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
Trade Deadline Musings
Somehow, we made it to the other side of the trade deadline. And what a deadline it was. We had a blockbuster, some under-the-radar deals, some financially motivated deals, and a whole lot of second rounders dealt. All in all, there were 16 deals (more or less depending on how some deals are structured). I wanted to take a look at some of the ones that caught my eye during the madness.
KD To Phoenix: This was insane to wake up to. It seemed like maybe there was a little inkling of something going on when Woj was tweeting things out like this on Tuesday.
Phoenix's new majority owner, Mat Ishbia, is fully engaged overseeing the organization and has been aggressive in pursuing ways to make a major and immediate impact. Durant has had past interest in Suns, but so far Nets are telling teams that they have no intention of moving him.ESPN story on Kevin Durant's ongoing discussions with Brooklyn ownership and management on franchise's future --- and organization's resistance so far to trading him: https://t.co/y1yW5lXIbtAdrian Wojnarowski @wojespnBut regardless, to see a player of Kevin Durant’s talent get traded is jarring. Phoenix looks like the team to beat in the league now for years to come if healthy, and always seemed like KD’s preferred destination. Despite that, I felt the Nets did a great job of getting maximum value for him. Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder (who then turned into two seconds and luxury tax relief), 4 unprotected firsts and a swap. That is a haul. An unprecedented haul for an unprecedented player. Bridges is on one of the best contracts in the league and has more room to grow in Brooklyn. Cam Johnson is a sweet shooting wing and the team now has his restricted rights. I’m intrigued to see where the Nets go from here, but they have depth and may surprise some people.
Nets Whittled Down Their Tax Bill: Staying on the Nets, I was fascinated to watch as they whittled their tax bill to just $12.8 million, all the way down from $108 million!! They shed almost $100 million in less than a week. Astounding. I was surprised they didn’t make a move to get completely under the tax. All they would’ve had to do was move Seth Curry or Royce O’Neale into the Spurs cap space. Nonetheless, watching a team shed that much money in that little time was impressive.
Philly Adds Jalen McDaniels While #DuckingTheTax: Philly dipping under the luxury tax line seemed like one of the few certainty to me heading into the trade deadline. What impressed me is that they were able to bring back Jalen McDaniels while doing so. He should fit better on the roster than Thybulle did, as he brings at least something to the table offensively. However, McDaniels is an unrestricted free agent and could be in line for a deal in the $8 - $10 million range.
Raptors Were Buyers, Not Sellers: The Toronto Raptors only move at the deadline was to bring back Jakob Poeltl, keeping OG Anunoby, Fred Van Vleet, and Gary Trent Jr despite heavy rumored interest across the league for those guys. Seems to imply that the team is still committed to this core and wants to see how they perform with a quality big man in Poeltl. However, Van Vleet Trent Jr and Poeltl will all likely be free agents this offseason, and Siakam and Anunoby will be heading into the last year of their deals next year (assuming OG will turn down his 24/25 player option which he almost assuredly will). We will see how the team performs down the stretch run of this season, but regardless the Raptors will have some hard decisions to make this offseason.
Is Portland Really All In?: The Blazers had a bit of a weird deadline. In sum, they sent out Josh Hart and Gary Payton II, two solid, win-now guys. They brought in Cam Reddish, Ryan Arcidiacono, Matisse Thybulle, and Kevin Knox II, all players who have not been a consistent presence in their teams’ rotations, though Thybulle should get a shot at real minutes in Portland. They also netted a protected first round pick and three seconds. They definitely did not get better in the short term. I would’ve felt a lot better about their deadline had they brought back Saddiq Bey instead of Kevin Knox II in the James Wiseman deal, but they chose the 5 seconds instead it seems.
Three Things To Keep An Eye On This Season
1. Buyout Season
With the trade deadline over and done with, we now shift our focus to the buyout market. Current teams that have a roster spot open and are presumably going to be active in the buyout market are: Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat (2), Milwaukee Bucks (2), New York Knicks (2), Philadelphia 76ers, and Phoenix Suns (2). Players that are expected to be bought out include: Terrence Ross, John Wall, Russell Westbrook, Reggie Jackson, Will Barton, Patrick Beverley, Danny Green, Serge Ibaka, and Dewayne Dedmon. Some other names that could end up on the buyout market are Nerlens Noel, Derrick Jones, and Dario Saric. All in all, this seems like a pretty strong buyout class, especially if you need a guard. I’m intrigued to see where everyone ends up.
2. An Updated Look At The Cap Space Teams
This trade deadline didn’t shake up this summer’s cap space landscape too bad, but did free up some more money for teams that already projected to be cap space teams this summer. As it currently stands, I project 8 teams to have real cap space. Here they are, along with their projected amount (please note these are before any draft pick cap holds).
Houston Rockets ~ $71.7 million
Utah Jazz ~ $57.5 million (assuming Clarkson opts out)
San Antonio Spurs ~ $44.8 million
Detroit Pistons ~ $35.9 million
Oklahoma City Thunder ~ $35.9 million
Orlando Magic ~ $34.5 million
Indiana Pacers ~ $33.7 million
Charlotte Hornets ~ $21 million
3. Lakers’ Deals Unlock Options In The Summer
The Lakers were very active this deadline. They finally sent out Russell Westbrook, along with Patrick Beverley, Thomas Bryant, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones, and the 2027 first round pick top 4 protected. The brought in D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Davon Reed, Mo Bamba and 2 seconds. These deals did make the Lakers better, but more importantly it gave them more optionality this offseason. Yes, they can still get to $30+ million in cap space. But if this roster plays well together, they could just as easily run it back and add another rotation player with the MLE. Or if there was still mutual interest between them and Kyrie Irving, or really any other free agent, they have the pieces to work out a sign and trade. The decision to trade Russell Westbrook wasn’t a hard one, but by making that decision they gave themselves multiple pathways to getting better now and in the offseason.
Fake Signing Of The Week
Player: Fred Van Vleet
Team: Orlando Magic
Deal: 3 Years, $110 million