2026 NBA Offseason

[INFORMER]

Seems like a make good deal after Trent signed for the minimum last year

Well he certainly gave a minimum performance.

[Mori Chu]

That smells like a promise they made him last year. As others pointed out, he signed super cheap for them last season. Nothing about his performance that year indicates that he was worth 4/$64m. But it'd be hard to prove anything.

[Split T]

Ya, they’ll just say it was a lost year and he has a track record of being a good player and they believed in his previous years more than the last year.

Also, is it against the rules? I get that you can’t put it in writing, but can you not say…”here’s the situation…we’d pay you this year if we could, but are limited to the vet min. If you sign with us, we’ll pay you next summer.”

Didn’t the suns do something similar with Danny Manning and even paid him after he got hurt? I was little and don’t remember all the context, but that’s a story I’ve heard.

[Superbone]

Ya, they’ll just say it was a lost year and he has a track record of being a good player and they believed in his previous years more than the last year.

Also, is it against the rules? I get that you can’t put it in writing, but can you not say…”here’s the situation…we’d pay you this year if we could, but are limited to the vet min. If you sign with us, we’ll pay you next summer.”

Didn’t the suns do something similar with Danny Manning and even paid him after he got hurt? I was little and don’t remember all the context, but that’s a story I’ve heard.

Yeah, but 16M a year for four years?! For those numbers?!

[Mori Chu]

Also, is it against the rules? I get that you can’t put it in writing, but can you not say…”here’s the situation…we’d pay you this year if we could, but are limited to the vet min. If you sign with us, we’ll pay you next summer.”

I do believe it is against the NBA's rules to do what you just described.

https://atlhawksfanatic.github.io/NBA-C ... ntion.html

It shall constitute a violation of Section 1(a) above for a Team (or Team Affiliate) to have a financial arrangement with or offer a financial inducement to any player (not including retired players) not signed to a current Player Contract, except as permitted by this Agreement.

...

13.2
a. At no time shall there be any agreements or transactions of any kind (whether disclosed or undisclosed to the NBA), express or implied, oral or written, or promises, undertakings, representations, commitments, inducements, assurances of intent, or understandings of any kind (whether disclosed or undisclosed to the NBA), between a player (or any person or entity controlled by, related to, or acting with authority on behalf of, such player) and any Team (or Team Affiliate):
i. concerning any future Renegotiation, Extension, or other amendment of an existing Player Contract, or entry into a new Player Contract; or

I think there are players who sign with teams on a short or low-dollar contract with a hope, an implicit semi-understanding, that if they play well, they are very likely to be offered a second contract for much more money/years. But there is a big difference between that, and literally promising the player you'll hook them up with a second contract if they just come for the first one.

It can be hard to prove that the team and player have any sort of predetermined agreement, especially if there's no smoking gun text message saying "we'll give you 4/$64 next contract dude". (The CBA document linked above talks a bit about enforcement and penalties.) I don't think the league could use contract amount as its only evidence of wrongdoing; it's too circumstantial. If they didn't have clear evidence that something was done to violate the rules, maybe the team and player get away with it. But that doesn't mean it is legal by the CBA rules, just that they didn't get caught.

As a side note, this section of the CBA seems to also cover the Aspiration stuff that Kawhi violated, because it talks about endorsement deals and outside sponsorship that is deemed to be in excess of the fair market value of such services by the player. Paying Kawhi $50m to do literally no media, no ads, no appearances for Aspiration seems to be a pretty blatant violation of Article XIII.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Trent is the right level of player that can exploit this type of cap circumvention. There would be a lot of upset owners if he were an All-Star level player.

It's still a slippery slope and not a good look for the league for anyone paying attention.

[JJ Slim]

Sources: Warriors to hire Frank Vogel as associate head coach

The Golden State Warriors agreed to hire longtime NBA coach Frank Vogel as the associate head coach under Steve Kerr, league sources told ESPN's Shams Charania, filling the void left by the departing Terry Stotts.

Vogel, 53, has been a head coach for four different franchises spanning 12 total seasons. He led the Los Angeles Lakers to an NBA championship in 2020 and took the Indiana Pacers to two conference finals in 2013 and 2014.

Vogel's most recent head coaching stop came in Phoenix during the 2023-24 season, a brief one-year run that ended in a 49-33 record and a first-round sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Vogel spent the past two seasons as part of the Dallas Mavericks coaching staff, beginning as a consultant before moving to the front of the bench this past season.

[Mori Chu]

Vogel is a good pickup for the Warriors. Excellent defensive coach, great assistant for Kerr. We did him dirty when he was here. Getting 49 wins out of that busted squad was actually an impressive accomplishment, we just didn't know it yet.

[Superbone]

Vogel is a good pickup for the Warriors. Excellent defensive coach, great assistant for Kerr. We did him dirty when he was here. Getting 49 wins out of that busted squad was actually an impressive accomplishment, we just didn't know it yet.

Yeah, we learned big time how well he did after Bud took over and destroyed everything.

[pickle]

[Shabazz]

Show LeBron Maluach Summer League tape and this is an easy decision.

[Bucktastic365]

Good for Shai! He's making fans early.

[The Bobster]

Also, is it against the rules? I get that you can’t put it in writing, but can you not say…”here’s the situation…we’d pay you this year if we could, but are limited to the vet min. If you sign with us, we’ll pay you next summer.”

I do believe it is against the NBA's rules to do what you just described.

https://atlhawksfanatic.github.io/NBA-C ... ntion.html

It shall constitute a violation of Section 1(a) above for a Team (or Team Affiliate) to have a financial arrangement with or offer a financial inducement to any player (not including retired players) not signed to a current Player Contract, except as permitted by this Agreement.

...

13.2
a. At no time shall there be any agreements or transactions of any kind (whether disclosed or undisclosed to the NBA), express or implied, oral or written, or promises, undertakings, representations, commitments, inducements, assurances of intent, or understandings of any kind (whether disclosed or undisclosed to the NBA), between a player (or any person or entity controlled by, related to, or acting with authority on behalf of, such player) and any Team (or Team Affiliate):
i. concerning any future Renegotiation, Extension, or other amendment of an existing Player Contract, or entry into a new Player Contract; or

I think there are players who sign with teams on a short or low-dollar contract with a hope, an implicit semi-understanding, that if they play well, they are very likely to be offered a second contract for much more money/years. But there is a big difference between that, and literally promising the player you'll hook them up with a second contract if they just come for the first one.

It can be hard to prove that the team and player have any sort of predetermined agreement, especially if there's no smoking gun text message saying "we'll give you 4/$64 next contract dude". (The CBA document linked above talks a bit about enforcement and penalties.) I don't think the league could use contract amount as its only evidence of wrongdoing; it's too circumstantial. If they didn't have clear evidence that something was done to violate the rules, maybe the team and player get away with it. But that doesn't mean it is legal by the CBA rules, just that they didn't get caught.

As a side note, this section of the CBA seems to also cover the Aspiration stuff that Kawhi violated, because it talks about endorsement deals and outside sponsorship that is deemed to be in excess of the fair market value of such services by the player. Paying Kawhi $50m to do literally no media, no ads, no appearances for Aspiration seems to be a pretty blatant violation of Article XIII.

The Suns signings of Danny Manning, Wayman Tisdale and A.C. Green (and Portland's signing of Chris Dudley) to one-year contracts as free agents and then larger contracts after that was a big part of the rule being adopted.

[pickle]

[pickle]

[Superbone]

Eh. He's got a dad bod according to Marty.

[Mori Chu]

Sign Mazzulla to a 10-day!!

[pickle]

[specialsauce]

Because his 3pt shooting was a fluke

[ShelC]

Or he's the new Bruce Bowen.