Gary Trent Jr. and the Milwaukee Bucks have agreed to a four-year, $64 million deal. Trent will earn $15.2 million in Year 1 of the deal.
Trent spent the past two seasons with the Bucks, which allowed him to sign for a larger contract with early Bird rights. Last season, Trent averaged 8.1 points, 1.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 21.2 minutes in 65 games.
Trent will be entering his age-27 season.
Malachi Smith has been waived by the Brooklyn Nets. Smith signed a multi-year contract with the Nets in April and Brooklyn picked up their team option before the start of free agency.
Smith appeared in 15 games last season, averaging 8.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 23.9 minutes.
Smith went undrafted out of Gonzaga in 2023 and has accrued 127 total games in the G League over the past three seasons. In 2025-26, Smith averaged 14.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.7 assists in 28.7 minutes across 39 games with the Long Island Nets.
Nikola Jokic plans to wait until unrestricted free agency in 2027 to resolve his contract status, leaving the Denver Nuggets to manage that uncertainty over the next year.
Nuggets general manager Jon Wallace addressed the situation directly.
"We feel confident," said Wallace on ESPN's Summer League broadcast via Bennett Durando of the Denver Post. "We trust him. We've got no choice but to."
Jokic can sign a four-year, $278 million contract with Denver this offseason. Waiting until 2027 would make him eligible for a five-year, $359.5 million max contract that includes a no-trade clause.
Jokic also holds a player option worth $62.8 million for the 2027-28 season.
Jokic averaged 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists in 34.8 minutes over 65 games in his age-30 season as he finished second in MVP voting. Jokic has finished first or second in MVP voting in six straight seasons dating back to 2021.
The Nuggets haven't advanced out of the second round since winning the championship in 2023.
The Portland Trail Blazers have claimed forward/center Micah Potter off waivers, shortly after he was waived by the Indiana Pacers.
Potter appeared in 47 games with seven starts for the Pacers during the 2025-26 season and averaged career highs of 9.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 19.3 minutes per game.
The forward shot 51.5 percent from the field last season, along with 42.3 percent from three-point range and 84.2 percent from the free throw line.
Over five NBA seasons with the Detroit Pistons, Utah Jazz and Pacers, Potter has appeared in 111 career games with 17 starts. He holds career averages of 6.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 17.0 minutes per game.
Potter's career shooting numbers stand at 49.0 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from three-point range and 84.0 percent from the free throw line.
Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs have agreed to a five-year, $252 million rookie scale contract extension with a player option for Year 5.
The extension is at 25 percent of the salary cap instead of opting to be eligible for a 30 percent extension worth $303 million over the same five-year period. Even if Wembanyama qualifies for the escalator by making an All-NBA team or winning Defensive Player of the Year, he has given up the opportunity for the higher value contract.
By comparison, Wembanyama will earn $43.5 million in the first season of his contract compared to $52.2 million had he signed for the 30 percent max.
Wembanyama and the Spurs worked closely together on various scenarios with this one giving the front office more flexibility to build a sustainable roster around him.
San Antonio will have critical extension discussions with Stephon Castle in 2027 and with Dylan Harper in 2028 with Wembanyama establishing a precedent within the franchise.
The Spurs offered Wembanyama the opportunity to sign for the full 30 percent max.
Jalen Brunson similarly signed a reduced contract with the New York Knicks that has helped them maintain their supporting cast around him.
Wembanyama appeared in 64 regular season games last season, averaging 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.0 steals and 3.1 blocks with a PER of 29.4. Wembanyama finished third in MVP voting and unanimously won Defensive Player of the Year.
Wembanyama went on to lead the Spurs to the NBA Finals. During the playoffs, Wembanyama averaged 23.8 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.0 steals and 3.5 blocks with a PER of 27.4.
Wembanyama is represented by Bouna Ndiaye.
Victor Wembanyama is considering signing for less than his potential maximum rookie scale contract extension value with the San Antonio Spurs, reports Jake Fischer. Wembanyama can sign for at least 25 percent of the salary cap or up to 30 percent of the cap if he is either an All-NBA selection or Defensive Player of the Year award winner during the upcoming season.
Wembanyama could sign for less to give the Spurs additional flexibility to stay below the second apron while maintaining upcoming extensions for Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper.
"Spurs family, I’m here to stay. Whatever it takes🖤" wrote Wembanyama on Twitter on Friday.
Wembanyama could sign for up to $252 million over five years with an escalator worth more than $300 million over five years if he qualifies for the Rose rule max.
NBA superstars have rarely accepted meaningful discounts on their contracts, but the 2023 collective bargaining agreement added a punitive second apron system that has became a de facto hard salary cap for most teams.
The Atlanta Hawks declined their $24.3 million team option on Jonathan Kuminga for the 20226-27 season, but they are still expected to recoup some level of value with should he exit from the team via a sign-and-trade. Jake Fischer reports that a resolution will "almost certainly" be via a sign-and-trade rather than Kuminga signing outright into another team's salary cap space.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers are the two teams that have been most strongly linked with Kuminga. The Cavaliers' scenario would likely be dependent on LeBron James not signing with the franchise in the offseason.
The Lakers are interested in including their final tradeable first round pick in 2032 along with Jarred Vanderbilt in a sign-and-trade for Kuminga. The Hawks, however, have not considered taking back Vanderbilt in that type of scenario and he could be redirected to a third team.
If the Lakers were able to find a workable path under that scenario, they could improve upon their two-year, $20 million initial offer to Kuminga.
Kuminga was on a $22.5 million contract last season after a prolonged restricted free agency process with the Golden State Warriors.
With a lack of progress on acquiring Peyton Watson from the Denver Nuggets, there is a growing chance that the Los Angeles Clippers will pivot to focus on re-signing Bennedict Mathurin. Mathurin, like Peyton Watson, is a restricted free agent this offseason.
The Clippers acquired Mathurin from the Indiana Pacers as part of the Ivica Zubac trade.
Mathurin hasn't generated as much outside interest in his restricted free agency as Watson. Players in restricted free agency have to sign at least a three-year offer sheet with a rival team.
Mathurin appeared in 26 games with the Clippers to close the season, averaging 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 28.0 minutes.
The Clippers have remade their roster this year with trades of James Harden, Zubac and Kawhi Leonard. Mathurin would slot in on the wing between Darius Garland and Brandon Ingram while they also drafted Keaton Wagler with the fifth overall pick.
The Boston Celtics have waived Dalano Banton. Banton had his $2.8 million option for next season picked up by the team on June 29.
By eliminating Banton's non-guaranteed salary, Boston is now back below the luxury tax line by roughly $1.7 million. That positions the Celtics to reset the repeater tax, which applies when a team exceeds the tax threshold in three of four seasons.
Boston did not pay the luxury tax last season. The move allows the franchise to avoid triggering the harsher repeater penalty going forward.
Banton appeared in four games last season with the Celtics, averaging 1.5 points, 1.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 13.0 minutes. Banton is represented by Aaron Turner.
The Atlanta Hawks have emerged with interest in a sign-and-trade with the Denver Nuggets for restricted free agent Peyton Watson. The Nuggets have signaled they intend to match any offer sheet for Watson, but they would be open to discussing sign-and-trade scenarios.
However, the Nuggets are maintaining an asking price similar to what the Los Angeles Lakers sent to the Utah Jazz for Walker Kessler for two unprotected first round picks and two pick swaps.
The price point the Nuggets have set for Watson has been prohibitive for both the Hawks and Los Angeles Clippers at this point. The Clippers remain interested in Watson at a contract in the $25 million-plus range he and agent Rich Paul are seeking.
The Brooklyn Nets have enough cap space to sign Watson to an offer sheet, but they are currently considering other pathways with that money.
Watson emerged as one of Denver's most productive players last season, averaging 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks over 54 games. Following Nikola Jokic's knee injury in late December, Watson posted a career-best 17-game stretch before suffering a hamstring strain in February that limited him for the remainder of the season and playoffs.
Paul has had several restricted free agents go deep into the offseason before a resolution is reached such as Tristan Thompson and Eric Bledsoe.
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