The San Antonio Spurs are pulling the qualifying offer for Lonnie Walker IV, which will make him an unrestricted free agent.

Walker is expected to receive serious interest in free agency.

Walker was the 18th pick by the Spurs in 2018.

The San Antonio Spurs will waive Danilo Gallinari following their trade of Dejounte Murray.

Gallinari will become a free agent and is expected to sign with a contending team.

The San Antonio Spurs have hired Brett Brown as an assistant coach. 

Brown was fired by the Philadelphia 76ers as head coach in 2020 after joining the franchise from the Spurs in 2013. Brown joined the Spurs as an assistant coach in 2007.

The Spurs have lost a number of their top assistant coaches in recent years in Ime Udoka, Becky Hammon and Will Hardy.

Part of the San Antonio Spurs motivation to trade Dejounte Murray may have been the guard's insistence that he would not sign an extension. The Spurs have agreed to trade Murray to the Atlanta Hawks for a package including three first-round picks, rights to swap another first-round pick and Danilo Gallinari.

Speaking on The Hoop Collective, ESPN's Brian Windhorst said, “(Murray) and his agent, Rich Paul, made it known that he was not going to extend his contract with the Spurs this summer.”

In Murray's defense, the Spurs could only offer him a 20% bump in salary off his current $16.6 million deal. That's well-below market value for the All-Star guard. Murray will likely let his current contract play out, then he'll hit free agency in the summer of 2024.

The Atlanta Hawks were closely monitoring the Kevin Durant situation with the Brooklyn Nets before they executed a trade for Dejounte Murray, sources tell Chris Kirschner and Sam Amick of The Athletic.

Like many other teams around the NBA, the Hawks were seriously preparing for the possibility that Durant might ask for a trade if Kyrie Irving would have left in free agency. When Irving decided to opt in for his $36.5 million contract for 22-23, the Hawks were able to move forward with the Murray trade.

With the Hawks sending out multiple future first round picks to the Spurs for Murray, their ability to make a trade for the star like Durant now becomes a practical impossibility. 

The Atlanta Hawks have agreed to acquire guard Dejounte Murray from the San Antonio Spurs for Danilo Gallinari, three future first round picks and a future first round pick swap.

Atlanta will pair Murray with All-NBA player Trae Young in a dual-point guard backcourt. Murray has two seasons and $34.3 million left on his contract.

The Spurs will reportedly acquire a protected 2023 first round pick from the Charlotte Hornets via the Hawks. They will also acquire the Hawks first round picks in 2025 and 2027, as well as the right to swap picks in 2026. Gallinari is in the trade to provide salary-matching and he may be waived by San Antonio.

We say it every summer, but this year’s NBA free agency has the potential to be one of the wildest in recent memory. Though Kyrie Irving’s decision to opt into the final year of his contract with the Brooklyn Nets — taking him off the board as the league’s most coveted free agent — there’s still a chance he could be on the move if GM Sean Marks wants to cut his losses. In typical NBA fashion, a trade could dictate how everything else plays out.

For instance, what happens if Jaylen Brown get dealt? Or Kevin  Durant?

There’s plenty of intrigue with this year’s free agency, which begins on Thursday, June 30, at 6 p.m. ET. We’ve already heard rumors of the first domino falling, with John Wall expected to be bought out by the Houston Rockets and then sign with the LA Clippers.

Sports betting apps see Wall’s addition — and the impending return of a healthy Kawhi Leonard — as big enough news to vault the Clippers near the top of the NBA title odds list. With Wall’s signing and the expectation that Irving stays, here’s where oddsmakers have pegged title favorites:

2023 NBA Title Odds

Odds via BetMGM; check out the BetMGM bonus code REALGM for a $1,000 risk-free bet

Which NBA Free Agency Moves Could Move Odds

Though we don’t expect Irving, Kevin Durant or James Harden to be swapping uniforms on Thursday, there are some big names who should make headlines shortly after the clock strikes 6 p.m.

We expect that the Bulls (+2500 title odds) will retain Zach LaVine with a five-year maximum deal, but the Phoenix Suns (+1000) seem reluctant to pay former top pick Deandre Ayton. Jalen Brunson may have priced himself out of Dallas (+1400) with a strong postseason, while the Hornets (+10000) will need to decide what Miles Bridges is worth as they rebuild around LaMelo Ball.

In terms of what moves could swing title odds most, the Suns would likely see a dip if Ayton leaves — but one would expect GM James Jones to have a backup plan to replace his 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds. Arizona sports betting apps might see a spike in activity, depending on how things play out.

It would sting for the Mavericks to lose Brunson after he played alongside Luka Doncic to get Dallas to the Western Conference Finals, but they also traded for Christian Wood and drafted Jaden Hardy a week ago. They aren’t going anywhere as long as No. 77 is upright.

The Warriors are the defending champs and seem intent on running it back. Both Kevon Looney and Gary Payton II are expected to re-sign with Golden State when free agency begins, meaning Steve Kerr’s group will return seven of its top eight rotation players from last year’s title squad.

Other contenders could make giant splashes that we’re not sure exist right now, but it’ll be tough for any group to surpass the Warriors as title favorites.

Spurs-Hawks Swap could Shake Up East

More trade rumors abound as we near the start of free agency, and the latest involves one of the top young guards in the league. Dejounte Murray could be heading to Atlanta, where he’d form an intriguing — and stellar — backcourt duo with Trae Young.

The Hawks (+6600) struggled last season, but adding Murray, who finished second in the Most Improved Players voting behind Ja Morant, would give them the potential to earn a top-4 seed in the East. The Spurs feel content to rebuild, and it could be the Hawks who wind up as big winners because of it.

Stick a Fork In the Lakers?

The Lakers are just +1400 to win next year’s NBA title, an almost unthinkable set of odds considering they’ll once again be led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis. But last year’s injury-riddled, Russ Westbrook-tanking season didn’t leave oddsmakers any choice. T

here was a thought that Irving would sign for the Mid-Level Exception in LA, but that’s no longer an option. Instead, the Lakers will need to get creative to fill some serious holes — and decide what to do with Westbrook — without much cap flexibility.

Rob Pelinka has built a title roster before, but this might be asking a lot.

The San Antonio Spurs have fully guaranteed Zach Collins' contract for the 2022-23 season. Collins will be on San Antonio's books for $7.35 million for next season.

After missing all but 11 games of the prior two seasons, Collins had a successful comeback year with the Spurs. He made his San Antonio debut on February 4 and played in 28 of the team's final 29 games.

Collins averaged a career high 7.8 points, to go along with 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 17.9 minutes per game, mostly off San Antonio's bench. The 6-foot-11 big man also shot a career-best 49% from the field, including 34% from behind the arc.

It's late-June and there's been no formal announcement from the San Antonio Spurs or Gregg Popovich on his coaching future. But there are hints Popovich will be back on the sidelines for the Spurs next season.

San Antonio had three first round picks at the 2022 NBA Draft and Popovich was the one who called each player to welcome them to the franchise. The Spurs drafted Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley with the #9, #20 and #25 picks, respectively.

Rumors have persisted that Popovich might step down, but he seems to still be in the fold to continue leading the Spurs. The upcoming season would be his 27th season as San Antonio's head coach.

Several teams remain interested in EuroLeague MVP point guard Vasilije Micic, sources told Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.

The Nuggets' interest in Micic is reportedly driven by Nikola Jokic, with the Spurs, Bucks, and Bulls also linked with the player.

The Nuggets are also said to be receiving trade interest for current point guard Monte Morris.

The Thunder currently hold the 28-year-old's rights.