2024 NBA Free Agency

[u/Civrock]

Hornets fans and visitors,

The purpose of this mega thread is for centralized chat and discussion of anything related to the 2024 NBA Free Agency, including fan-proposed trades, rather than numerous self posts or trade machine images/links which really don't need their own threads.

Posts/articles from media or other reputable sources regarding free agency rumors and trades can still be posted as their own threads, this is primarily for Free Agency commentary and trade ideas by fans. If you have a high quality text submission, go for it.

Thank you for your cooperation. Bonk on. 🐝

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🏀 2024 NBA Free Agency 🏀

➡️ June 29

• Last day for a team or player option to be exercised
• Last day for a player to receive a Qualifying Offer

➡️ June 30

• Free agent negotiations can begin with players not on your own team (6 PM ET)

➡️ July 1

• Free agency moratorium (12:01 AM ET)
• First-round selections can sign contracts
• Minimum contracts (2 years or less) can sign
• Restricted free agents can sign an offer sheet
• Third-year and fourth-year rookie options can be exercised
• Two-way contracts can be signed and converted

➡️ July 6

• Free agency begins (12:00 PM ET)
• Teams can officially sign free agents
• Trades can become official
• Rookie-scale and veteran contracts can be extended
• Clock begins on offer sheets signed during the moratorium

➡️ July 13

• Last day to withdraw a Qualifying Offer

[u/Cubelar]

Patrick Williams who some fans wanted as a cheaper option than Miles just got 5/90. Fans are really going to have to grapple with the fact that Miles will rightfully get paid alot of money.

[u/Particular_Twist_653 → u/Cubelar]

Yeah you are right with all these wing signings Miles is definitely getting at least 30 per

[u/a_moniker → u/Particular_Twist_653]

The current cap space teams are the 76ers, Pistons, Thunder, Magic, and Utah. Of those teams, only the 76ers and Pistons seem like a realistic threat to sign him away. The Thunder organization doesn’t have a history of signing guys with character concerns, the Magic don’t have room at the forward position. Utah has an outside chance, but they seem like a team that just wants to take on bad contracts for additional assets.

As a result, Miles’s free agency completely depends on two things:

1. Do the 76ers strike out on Paul George? Cause if they do, then Bridges is probably on the short list for next options. I could definitely see them offering more than $30 Million.
2. Do the Pistons want Miles? I’m not sure about this one, tbh. They just drafted another shooter in Holland, which means that they seem to be setting themselves up for another tanking season. If I had to guess, I’d say that they either try to acquire assets in exchange for taking salary (LaVine??) or sign good shooters (37%+) which isn’t really Bridges’s game.

If the 76ers and Pistons don’t offer Bridges a contract, then there is a very good chance that we’ll either be able to bring him back for around $25 Million per year or negotiate a sign-and-trade.

In my opinion, the most likely sign-and-trade teams would be the Mavs, Kings, or the Warriors. None of those teams will be limited by the Apron (the Warriors have let Klay walk).

• The Mavs could use an upgrade on DJJ, aren’t restricted by the Apron, and can match salaries with Josh Green ($13M) + Maxi Kleber ($11M).
• The Warriors are gonna be a bit desperate, since their window with Steph is about to slam shut. Miles is also good friends with Draymond, and they can easily match salaries with CP3 ($30M Non-Guaranteed till the end of the day) + Andrew Wiggins ($26M) + Gary Peyton II ($10M).
• The Kings need an upgrade at PF, and can match salaries with Harrison Barnes ($18M). They also have the most available future picks to trade.

Conclusion:

We should know relatively quickly whether Miles is a threat to leave. The 76ers deal will be one of the first major deals completed, since their decision controls the rest of free-agency. The Pistons situation may take longer to work out, but it should be clear relatively quickly whether they offer Miles a deal.

Personally, I am rooting for a sign-and-trade though. Here are my preferences in order:

1. Trade Miles for CP3 + Moses Moody + Future 1st Round Pick(s) in time to be able to release CP3’s non-guaranteed money by the end of the day. Then use our cap space to get more assets in a salary dump.
2. Josh Green + Maxi Kleber + Pick(s) for Miles. Green starts next to LaMelo and Miller. Kleber gives us a backup Center who can stretch the floor. Use the MLE on the best SF/PF we can get. I’d also like to remove the top-2 protection on the 2027 pick.
3. Harrison Barnes + (maybe) Kevin Huerter + Pick(s) for Miles Bridges. Barnes starts at Forward for us. If we can grab Kevin Huerter (6’7”) then he gives us more wing depth.
4. Andrew Wiggins + (hopefully) Gary Peyton II + Future First Round Pick for Miles. Possibly send Wiggins to a 3rd team for more assets. Otherwise just have him start at SF. Let GP2 be our starting point-of-attack defender and help set vet culture.

[u/FurryOwlet → u/a_moniker]

only thing I want to point out is that if we were to trade for Chris Paul, his salary would become guaranteed 

[u/a_moniker → u/FurryOwlet]

Yeah, that’s what someone else said. It’s a bit unfortunate, though not a huge deal if we plan on mini tanking a bit for Flagg or Ace.

I wasn’t sure if it did or not, but I’d still be fine with taking CP3 + Moody + Future Unprotected Pick. We could just waive CP3 and then sign another wing with the MLE.

[u/FurryOwlet → u/a_moniker]

We're going to have to use part of our MLE to cover the Reggie Jackson trade (provided we can't move him somewhere) but that would still leave us with ~8mil I believe 

[u/a_moniker → u/FurryOwlet]

If we cut Bertans then we can open up close to the full MLE, and can (maybe??) take Reggie into the Room Exception to clear even more. I might be wrong about the Room Exception in the new CBA though.

Per Spotrac: $117.5M (Current Salary) - $10.5M (Bertans) + $15M (Bridges) + $7.5M (Tidjane) = $129.5 Million

$141M (Salary Cap) - $129.5M (Our Salary) = ~$11M, and we can open more by cutting McGowans or taking Reggie into the Room Exception.

[u/YizWasHere → u/a_moniker]

Man if they included Huerter I would do #3 in a heartbeat without any picks. Realistically, if they're parting with Huerter I don't think they'd offer them anyways. Those are like dream scenario type of roleplayer fits for this squad lol.

[u/a_moniker → u/YizWasHere]

Yeah, Huerter would be great. I think the Warriors are by far the most likely sign-and-trade partner though. They’re desperate for a win-now piece next to Steph/Draymond, and Draymond and Miles Bridges are good friends. The Warriors also showed they don’t care about off-the-court issues, when they rostered Anthony Lamb for a season.

One thing I’m not sure about is whether we’d have to guarantee CP3’s contract if he was the matching salary. If we don’t, then I could see that deal going down by the end of the night. It’d let the Warriors keep a Steph + Wiggins + Miles + Kuminga + Draymond starting lineup, and would let us snag a draft pick and have a ton of cap space for the rest of free agency. I’d love if we could get Moises as well, as some cheap wing depth.

[u/Cubelar → u/a_moniker]

CP3s contract has to be guaranteed to be used in salary matching figures.

[u/a_moniker → u/Cubelar]

Ah, that’s unfortunate