Latest news with #JohnHollinger
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NBA Insider Explains Luka Doncic's Roadmap To $406 Million Contract Extension In His Lakers Future
NBA Insider Explains Luka Doncic's Roadmap To $406 Million Contract Extension In His Lakers Future originally appeared on Fadeaway World. Luka Doncic's contract extension is now widely considered the biggest decision due for the Lakers this summer. On August 2nd, Doncic will become eligible to sign a five-year $228 million extension with the Lakers. There have been several questions around how the Lakers plan to let this play out, considering they need the financial flexibility. Advertisement NBA Insider John Hollinger believes that if the Lakers' star takes a short-term extension at first and waives the player option he has on his contract next season, then in 2028, he will become eligible for a $406 million extension. "Contractually, Doncic is a rarity: a superstar who was traded before his second contract ended. That makes him ineligible for the supermax deal that most players of his ilk can sign at the end of their second contract. Thus, the massive deals for Jayson Tatum and Gilgeous-Alexander the last two summers aren't there for Dončić … yet." "However, if he were to void his player option in 2026 and sign a three-year, $161 million extension with the Lakers with a 2028-29 player option, he would be a 10-year vet in the summer of 2028. At that point, he could sign a monstrous five-year deal worth up to approximately $406 million to remain in L.A.," explains Hollinger. Hollinger is not the first to suggest that Doncic take a pay cut in terms of taking a short-term contract instead of a long-term commitment that is worth a lot more than these short-term contracts. Right after the Playoffs ended, ESPN's Bobby Marks also anticipated that Doncic could take a short-term $165 million contract instead of the $228 million completely. Advertisement Doncic played only 28 games for the Lakers this season, where he averaged 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.5 assists; he is almost certainly becoming the franchise cornerstone for the Lakers' future. While it will be favorable for the Lakers to agree on a long-term contract to make Doncic the cornerstone of the team, Doncic may not agree to a long-term deal for mainly two reasons. He already took a significant hit on his potential earnings, and if he figures out that this way, a much larger contract comes his way sooner, it is unlikely that he will agree to a long-term contract. Luka Doncic nearly lost $100 million in potential earnings after the Mavericks traded him to the Lakers. Will he now take a financially friendly deal for the Lakers to help them build a contending roster around him? Or will he adamantly ask for the money he almost certainly deserves? Too many unanswered questions lie in Luka Doncic's future. Related: "I Play Fortnite 24/7, Bro. I Don't Sleep At Night": Deandre Ayton's Conversation With Luka Doncic From 2018 Goes Viral This story was originally reported by Fadeaway World on Jul 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
NBA expert casts doubt on Bronny James' future with Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron James has spent the past seven seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, but after he opted into his $52.6 million player option for 2025-26, there are questions about whether he's eyeing another locale in the near future. The same goes for Bronny James, whose future is inevitably tied to his father's ties with the Lakers too. While Bronny's contract is much different from his dad's in that he's entering season two of a four-year, fully guaranteed contract, the full deal is only worth $7.9 million, a fraction of LeBron's salary. This essentially makes it easy for the Lakers to wipe their hands clean of Bronny if LeBron decides he'd rather play elsewhere. Advertisement According to The Athletic's John Hollinger, 'it's hard to see' the Lakers keeping Bronny on the roster once/if LeBron does eventually move on, whether it's retirement or to a new team. Bronny posted respectable numbers while representing the Lakers' G-League team, the South Bay Lakers, averaging 21.9 points, 5.4 assists, and 5.2 rebounds per game last season. However, he only played in 11 games, so he'll need to continue proving he not only belongs, but is capable of elevating his play to the highest form of competition, where his father has starred for the past 22 years. For now, Bronny is on a good track. He's still just 20 years old, and he has a key spot on the Lakers, where he has access to world-class trainers, coaches, and facilities that help him maximize his skillset. Related: Report suggests LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers may be on bad terms Related Headlines
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
John Hollinger blasts Rockets for ‘no wings' team-building strategy
The post John Hollinger blasts Rockets for 'no wings' team-building strategy appeared first on ClutchPoints. The Houston Rockets have turned heads this 2024–25 NBA offseason, with their biggest move being the stunning trade for Kevin Durant. The franchise, after a 52-30 season and a seven-game first-round playoff exit to the Golden State Warriors, made it clear that mediocrity would no longer be tolerated. However, despite aggressive moves, former NBA executive John Hollinger has raised serious concerns about the team's construction, specifically, its lack of traditional wings. Advertisement Appearing on The Zach Lowe Show, Hollinger, the former Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Memphis Grizzlies, sharply criticized Houston's roster balance. 'There are no real wings on this team,' Hollinger asserted. 'And there is one point guard that they trust.' He stressed that the Rockets' current lineup leans heavily on bigs and forwards, rather than versatile, two-way perimeter players typically categorized as wings. In response, The Ringer's Zach Lowe challenged Hollinger's stance by citing players like Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, and newly acquired Dorian Finney-Smith, all of whom are expected to play significant minutes on the wing. Still, Hollinger remained unconvinced, arguing that in a vacuum, those players project more as power forwards than true wings. Advertisement The Rockets have indeed added high-profile talent. The centerpiece acquisition, Kevin Durant, averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game last season while shooting 52.7% from the field. His elite scoring and experience as a 14-time All-Star immediately elevate Houston's championship aspirations. However, the cost was steep, as Houston sent Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, and five second-round picks to the Phoenix Suns. Houston also re-signed veterans Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams and secured Finney-Smith on a four-year, $53 million deal. Finney-Smith, who averaged 8.7 points per game and shot 41.4% from 3 during stints with the Nets and Lakers, brings needed 3-and-D capabilities. They also reacquired former center Clint Capela for $21.5 million over three years. Thompson posted strong numbers in his sophomore season with 14.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. Eason added 12.0 points and 1.7 steals per contest, forming a disruptive defensive duo with Thompson. Still, Hollinger argues that while versatile, these players are better suited to the four-spot than as classic wings. GM Rafael Stone and owner Patrick Fertitta have doubled down on their core, extending head coach Ime Udoka and holding onto valuable supporting players like Jeff Green, Aaron Holiday, Jae'Sean Tate, and Jabari Smith Jr. Advertisement Ultimately, while the Rockets have compiled impressive individual talent, there are still concerns about whether their lineup is built to match up with the wing-heavy teams out West. Related: NBA rumors: Rockets-Suns Kevin Durant deal could expand to historic 7-team trade Related: Rockets' Kevin Durant promises to 'troll on Twitter' until he 'expires'
New York Times
02-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
How can Bucks afford Myles Turner? Explaining the salary cap mechanics of waiving Damian Lillard
On Tuesday, the Milwaukee Bucks made one of the more shocking moves in recent NBA history by planning to waive nine-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard and then agreeing to sign free agent Myles Turner to a four-year, $107 million contract. The Bucks, who entered the offseason as a team that could use some smart cap maneuvers to create enough space for the non-taxpayer midlevel exception, managed to create enough cap space to sign one of the most expensive free-agent centers on the market. Advertisement How? I asked John Hollinger, The Athletic's resident front office and salary cap expert, to explain to me how the Bucks went from being constrained by the cap to pulling off a shocking roster transformation. All right, John, where would you like to start? Hollinger: Let's start with the fact that they needed to generate cap space to do anything involving Turner, unless they could get the Pacers to participate in a sign-and-trade, which wasn't plausible for a Bucks team that has basically no draft capital to insert into a deal. (Ironically, Indiana may now have an incentive to turn this back into a sign-and-trade, but that didn't exist when the Bucks were imagining this outcome.) Nehm: It is amazing to think that the Bucks wound up signing him with cap space instead of trading for him, because the former felt impossible. I tried to walk through the salary cap calculations for my free agency primer, but creating cap space was a bridge too far — especially the cap space necessary to sign someone such as Turner. So, let's talk about the largest waive-and-stretch of all time because that is what made all of this possible. Take me through the mechanics. How much cap space did it create for the Bucks? And how long will they feel the pain? Hollinger: The stretch provision is for the remaining amount of the contract times two plus one year, turning Lillard's two-year contract for a total of $112.6 million into what is essentially a five-year deal. That makes his cap hit $112.6 million divided by five, or about $22.52 million each season through 2029-30. The only comparable instance I can think of with a player going through the stretch provision with this much time and money left on his deal is when the Detroit Pistons waived and stretched Josh Smith early in the 2014-15 season. Since Smith still had two full years left on his deal beyond that season, the total of $30 million the Pistons owed him didn't come off Detroit's books until 2020. Advertisement By doing this, and other smaller cap moves, the Bucks created the roughly $24.8 million in room they will need to sign Myles Turner to a four-year, $107 million deal. But this one alone did the bulk of the work; everything else we're going to discuss was small potatoes to create the last few dollars to get Turner's deal to the finish line. Nehm: As you mentioned, the work was not done. The Bucks agreed to give up two future second-round picks to send veteran shooting guard Pat Connaughton to Charlotte for Vasilije Micić. How can that help them create more cap space? Hollinger: Connaughton ($9.4 million) makes only slightly more than Micić ($8.1 million); certainly not a big enough difference to bother sending two second-round picks to Charlotte. The real value is that Micić is headed back to Europe this year, which made it easy to get back a considerable amount in a buyout negotiation. It is highly likely, in fact, that this amount was already negotiated between Charlotte and Phoenix when the Suns needed to guarantee Micić's contract to complete the draft-night Mark Williams trade. We don't know the exact amount yet, but if it was $2.04 million or less, the Bucks can also stretch that sum and whittle it down to roughly $680,000 per season. The Bucks could not stretch Micić at any number higher than that because a team can't have more than 15 percent of the season's salary cap in stretched contracts on its books at any one time, and Lillard's whopper doesn't leave much room for any others. The margins are tight — tight enough that Milwaukee needed to pull Ryan Rollins's $2.6 million qualifying offer, since he could have messed everything up by signing it, adding about $1.3 million to the Bucks' cap number. (Rollins is still eligible to return on a minimum deal.) The Bucks also had to renounce every other free agent on the roster, even the ones they will end up re-signing, to get them off the cap sheet until Turner signs. Instead, the league puts in 'minimum cap holds' for $1.2 million for every empty roster spot if a team has fewer than 12 players on their cap. In Milwaukee's case, they had five of those to go with the seven players under contract (Chris Livingston, Andre Jackson Jr., Tyler Smith, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kyle Kuzma, A.J. Green, and Bobby Portis's new contract). Advertisement Wait, there's more. We don't know exactly how much Micić's cap hit will be. If it's more than $2 million, the Bucks might have to do some other light surgery. It's possible they would have to waive the non-guaranteed Livingston's $2.2 million or trade Smith's $1.9 million deal (either would be replaced with a $1.3 million cap hold) to get this to the finish line. Nehm: OK. So, once all of this cap maneuvering is through, how many players would the Bucks have on their roster? And what will their avenues be for filling out the remaining spots? Hollinger: Once Turner signs, then the Bucks can backfill the roster using the various exceptions at their disposal. In this case, operating as a 'cap room' team to sign Turner, they have three mechanisms: the minimum contract exception, the second-round pick exception and the room midlevel exception. The most important of these is the room midlevel exception, because it is worth $8.8 million and can be split among multiple players. In this case, the Bucks did just that, giving about $5.5 million of it to Kevin Porter Jr. and then the other $3.3 million to Gary Trent Jr. After that, the minimum contract exception allows for a one- or two-year deal at the league's minimum salary, which varies by years of experience. The Bucks used that to complete two-year deals with Taurean Prince, Gary Harris and Jericho Sims. All three are on the cap at different amounts because of their differing years of service, but each will be a minimum exception signing. Rollins, if he returns, would have to be a minimum exception signing as well, as would any other player the Bucks attempt to sign, except one. That one is Bogoljub Marković, because he is subject to the second-round pick exception. Any player signed under this doesn't count against the cap for 30 days, allowing a team to complete the rest of its offseason business without sweating a second-rounder's contract. (The original motivation of this, if you're curious, was so that it wouldn't delay them in the run-up to Summer League or keep them out of it entirely.) If the Bucks bring him over, the contract would be for the minimum or an amount not much above the minimum, and it can run for up to four years. Either way, the Bucks now have added the original seven contracts, plus at least six new ones: Turner, Porter, Trent, Harris, Sims and Prince, bringing the roster to 13 players for the moment. The Bucks can sign at least two more players and projects to be more than $15 million below the tax threshold when they are done. Advertisement Nehm: Looking at the roster, it appears the Bucks still could use a point guard, so what about adding Lillard back into the mix next season? Or maybe the season after that, once he closes out the 2025-26 season with another team? Hollinger: Not so fast. Lillard is ineligible to reunite with the Bucks until the tenure of his original, stretched contract runs out in 2027. Never say never, but he'll be 37 by then and his Cream City days will be far off in the rearview mirror. Nehm: In our story about the Bucks' big offseason move, we reported about a robust market that has developed for Lillard's services around the league. As we've talked about quite a bit over the last few days, the Bucks have roughly $22.5 million of dead money on their books each of the next five seasons. Does Lillard signing a big contract with another team help out their cap situation? Hollinger: The Bucks do get set-off if Lillard signs with another team either this year or next year, but it doesn't matter except for the luxury tax. Set-off isn't calculated until the end of the regular season, so it won't increase the Bucks' cap space even if Lillard signs with another team for the max tomorrow. If you're curious, the amount of set-off is whatever Lillard's next salary is minus the one-year veteran minimum of $2.05 million. As a practical matter, this also means that Lillard's next contract will almost certainly be for the minimum. With the Bucks paying the freight on his deal, any additional money beyond his 10-year veteran minimum of $3.6 million is just helping the Bucks, not Lillard, because all of it is going to set-off. As a result, the most the Bucks can realistically benefit from set-off is by $1.55 million each of the next two years. And again, it affects only their luxury tax calculation. Advertisement Nehm: At the start of the offseason, I spent a lot of time breaking down the Bucks' options with the midlevel exception and then talked about what the Bucks could do with their $7.2 million trade exception from the Middleton trade. The Bucks could still use a point guard, but now those options are off the table, despite Milwaukee being well below the tax line. Why is that? Hollinger: Once a team uses cap space to acquire a player, it forfeits all of its existing trade exceptions. So that $7.2 million exception from the Middleton deal will be vaporized once they sign Turner. The Bucks still have their minimum exception to add another point guard. The best available option, based on my free agent point guard rankings, is Chris Paul, who I'm guessing wants a bit more scratch than that to deal with a Wisconsin winter. Other top names are Russell Westbrook, Jared Butler, Monte Morris, and old friend Cameron Payne. Finally, a name to watch who isn't technically a free agent yet: Cole Anthony, who seems headed toward a buyout in Memphis. (Photo of Myles Turner and Damian Lillard: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Los Angeles Lakers Could Bring Back Jaxson Hayes On A Team-Friendly Deal
Los Angeles Lakers Could Bring Back Jaxson Hayes On A Team-Friendly Deal originally appeared on Fadeaway World. In a pivotal NBA free agency, the Los Angeles Lakers plan to make some upgrades to the frontcourt and find a suitable replacement for Jaxson Hayes. As the big man hits free agency, he was considered a lock to leave the organization, but the latest intel suggests that he may actually re-sign with the Lakers on a relatively affordable contract ($10-15 million over three years). Advertisement 'The Lakers likely will try to do better here, and Hayes will likely try to find a place where he's more appreciated, but I'm not sure we should rule out a reunion," wrote John Hollinger of The Athletic. "Between L.A.'s early Bird rights on Hayes and the limited money on the market for supplemental centers like him, these two may find that continuing their uncomfortable marriage remains better than the alternative.' After finishing third in the West standings this season, the Lakers had high hopes for the upcoming playoffs. Unfortunately, they matched up against the Timberwolves in the first round, who proceeded to beat them in five games en route to the Western Conference Finals. Now, the Lakers are focused on the offseason and building a proper team around their young superstar, Luka Doncic. His arrival has marked the start of a new era for the organization, but it also came at a cost: Anthony Davis. Without Davis or anyone to replace him, the Lakers had to rely on Hayes throughout the season, which led to mixed results. In 56 games, he averaged 6.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.0 assists on 72.2% shooting. He made 35 starts for the team, but his role took a shift in the playoffs, when he went from 19.5 minutes per game down to just 7.8 minutes. He fell out of JJ Redick's rotation and was deemed unplayable against the Timberwolves, who abused the Lakers' lack of depth at the position. Advertisement As an unrestricted free agent this summer, many fans assumed the Lakers would just let Hayes walk and never look back. In reality, they may end up bringing him back, depending on their signings in a limited market. As it stands, there are several trade candidates the Lakers are expected to consider, including Nic Claxton and Daniel Gafford. In free agency, however, there aren't many centers available. If the Lakers are short on money and Hayes is still on the board, they could just bring him back to fill out the frontcourt. At the very least, he could be brought to play a backup role, which is much better-suited to his level. Hayes' future really depends on what contracts teams will offer this summer. If the market is low enough that he's still affordable for the Lakers, he may be their best choice to help fill out their frontcourt and provide a steady rim presence for Luka Doncic. Ideally, the Lakers will be making other moves as well, and their roster could look drastically different by the time it's said and done. The important thing is that they fill every position and find the kind of players who will thrive under JJ Redick. Best of all, at just 25 years old, Jax still has time to grow and develop his game to become more of what the Lakers need. Unless they can find someone better, they'd be better off keeping him around for the foreseeable future. Related: LeBron James Credits Jaxson Hayes For Holding The Lakers' Frontline Without Anthony Davis This story was originally reported by Fadeaway World on Jun 22, 2025, where it first appeared.
