Basketball Wiretap

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic may again hold off on signing an extension. Jokic is again eligible to extend this offseason. He could delay that and extend either later in this season or next offseason. Jokic also holds a player option for the 2027-28 season and could re-sign with Denver at that point.

There is no sense that Jokic and the Nuggets are headed towards a breakup. Both player and team have expressed their desire to see Jokic play his entire career in Denver.

Jokic eligible to sign a three-year extension worth almost $215 million if he picks up his player option for 2027-28). If he opts out of that season, Jokic could sign a four-year extension for more than $280 million.

The Orlando Magic are waiving forward Jonathan Isaac. The Magic will eat $8 million in guaranteed money for Isaac. Orlando may choose to waive-and-stretch Isaac in order to create flexibility under the first apron.

Isaac never fully recovered from a series of injuries that kept him to playing just 45 games over four seasons from 2019-20 through 2022-23. This past season, the defensive-minded big man averaged 2.6 points and 2.5 rebounds in 10 minutes per game over 52 appearances.

Ron Harper Jr. and the Boston Celtics have agreed to a three-year, $9 million deal. The Celtics are declining their $2.6 million team option.

Harper signed a training camp deal last offseason and made the Celtics' roster on a two-way before converting to a standard NBA contract.

Harper averaged 4.2 points and 1.7 rebounds in 10.9 minutes across 29 games last season with the Celtics.

Harper spent the first two seasons of his career with the Toronto Raptors.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura is hitting the market as an unrestricted free agent this summer. A return to Los Angeles is possible for Hachimura, but that could be dependent on whether the Lakers stay over the cap or go with cap space this summer.

If Hachimura is headed elsewhere, two teams that are expected to have interest are the Brooklyn Nets and San Antonio Spurs. The Nets are showing interest in several veteran players, even after agreeing to a trade to acquire Julius Randle. The Spurs have the full $15 million Non-Taxpayer MLE to spend and could use players who can play at power forward.

The Denver Nuggets have internally discussed whether they could assemble a trade package to acquire Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics, sources tell The Stein Line. However, the Nuggets have not emerged as a viable potential trade partner for the Celtics to acquire Brown.

The Nuggets are motivated to upgrade their roster around Nikola Jokic as he waits to sign an extension, but they are also prioritizing shedding salary this offseason as they look to re-sign Peyton Watson.

Brown and Jokic are on supermax contract and will combine to make approximately $116 million next season. Brown is also eligible for a contract extension this offseason.

The Nuggets are exploring the trade market for Cam Johnson and Christian Braun to reduce salary after trading Michael Porter Jr. in a cost-saving move last offseason.

Veteran guard Lonnie Walker is looking for a return to the NBA. Walker has an out in his contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.

The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 15.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 45 games across all competitions for Maccabi Tel Aviv last season.

Walker spent the first seven season of his professional career in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers. He also spent part of the 2024-25 season with Zalgiris in Lithuania.

The Houston Rockets and Charlotte Hornets are not currently in pursuit of a trade for Jaylen Brown, sources tell The Stein Line. Both the Rockets and Hornets have been linked with Brown, who the Boston Celtics are actively engaging in trade discussions upon.

Ime Udoka coached Brown and the Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals.

However, the Rockets long insisted they were not in on a trade for Kevin Durant last year until the trade cost dropped to the point where they moved forward.

The Celtics are known to have interest in Alperen Sengun.

Charlotte has considerable future draft capital following their trade this week of LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Brown eligible for a two-year, $141.8 million contract extension in July.

The Portland Trail Blazers have been identified as the team most frequently mentioned as being involved with the Celtics in discussions on Brown.

The Denver Nuggets are confident they will re-sign Peyton Watson in restricted free agency, sources tell The Stein Line.

But the Nuggets will almost certainly have to trade at least one key member of their team to accommodate re-signing Watson. The Nuggets would prefer to trade either Cam Johnson or Christian Braun instead of Aaron Gordon or Jamal Murray, but it isn't clear whether they will be able to find a trade that both allows them to re-sign Watson while truly boosting the roster around Nikola Jokic as the former MVP waits to sign an extension.

The Nuggets prioritized an extension for Braun over Watson last offseason and it became clear during the season that Watson was the more critical piece. Braun signed a five-year, $125 million extension, but regressed last season.

Murray is entering Year 1 of his four-year, $207.8 million extension signed in 2024. Murray was both an All-Star and All-NBA selection for the first time in his career.

Gordon is also entering Year 1 of his three-year, $103.6 million extension and will be at almost 20 percent of the cap. Gordon has dealt with injury issues each of the past two seasons.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to a three-year, $10 million contract with Jaylen Clark. The Wolves will now keep Clark in the fold, as they continue their roster transition in the wake of acquiring LaMelo Ball and Josh Green for Julius Randle and Naz Reid.

Clark averaged 4.0 points and 1.8 rebounds in 13.1 minutes per game over 68 appearances. The 6-foot-5 wing has shown 3&D potential for Minnesota. As the Timberwolves retool their rotation, and with Donte DiVincenzo expected to miss most, if not all, of next season, Clark is in line for a bigger role.

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton met with the media while at his ProCamps basketball camp. Haliburton said he's feeling great with rehab from his torn Achilles' tendon and after recovering from a recent bout with shingles.

"I look back at videos of me and I can see how swollen my face is," Haliburton said. "I'm glad that's beyond me and past me now. I feel great. My body feels great. I'm able to do everything. I feel like I'm operating like I'm a healthy NBA player for the first time in a long time, which is exciting. The fact that I'm able to come here without having to answer questions from anybody in our organization about my health, that I'm just able to jump in and do some things with the kids, that means the world to me. It's something I don't take for granted after the last 12 months."

Haliburton is expected to be a full participant when the Pacers open training camp in the fall. The All-NBA guard tore his right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He then missed the entirety of last season to rehab the injury.