NBA free agency rumor roundup: Chris Paul delays deadline, LeBron opts out, then re-signs

The NBA Draft 2024 is overwhere somehow the No. 55 pick overshadowed the deserved number 1. The The Knicks have already made their bold offseason move to acquire Mikal Bridges and become a real threat to the Celtics.

And NBA free agency hasn’t even started yet. The official start is Sunday at 6:00 PM Eastern Time, but to state the obvious, the NBA is a rigged league and talks are already underway, which means rumors are flying. And a few deals have already been closed. Here’s the latest from the NBA free agency rumor mill.

• Chris Paul and Warriors agree to delay guarantee date until Sunday. In a sign that the Warriors are looking to make a trade involving Chris Paul, the Warriors and CP3 agreed to delay his $30 million contract guarantee deal until Sunday, a story broken by Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN. Paul’s guarantee date was today (Friday, June 28), and if push came to shove, Golden State probably would have let him walk. Paul will probably get some money if he agrees to this, but it’s also in his best interest.

Golden State will look very different next season, with Klay Thompson elsewhere — it’ll just be weird to see him in a different jersey — and Paul likely gone, too. The question is: who will replace them? Don’t be shocked if a big transaction is coming up.

• Paul George remains the biggest domino in free agency. George wants the full four-year, $221 max contract the Clippers can offer him. That’s not on the table, which is no secret and was repeated by the well-connected Tomer Azarly of Clutch Points.

The Clippers’ offer for George remains a three-year deal that’s worth slightly less than the three-year, $149 million extension Kawhi Leonard signed in January 2024, league sources tell ClutchPoints. Leonard took a pay cut of about $10 million over the life of the deal and opted to sign for one year less, a total of three years after declining his option for the 2024-25 season…

That never worked out, and in recent weeks it has become increasingly likely that George will either opt for the final year of his deal to allow for a trade with a team willing to offer him the four-year deal he desires , or for -out and test the free agency market. Either way, his time with the Clippers appears to be coming to an end.

League sources NBC has spoken to a preference for the opt-in and trade scenario. The question becomes which team will step forward with a package of players and picks — a total of $48 million to match salaries — that the Clippers will agree to. Would a trade with the Warriors (Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga and Picks) get the deal done, or will Steve Ballmer and company shoot down a trade in their division? There are a lot of questions hanging around.

• LeBron James expected to opt out for $51.4 million and then re-sign with Lakers. History suggests that LeBron James will use his potential free agency this summer as leverage to get the Lakers to make short-term upgrades to the roster and do whatever else he wants (like hire a specific coach or maybe make a specific draft pick at No. 55) and then re-sign with the team. That’s what TNT/Bleacher Reports’ Chris Haynes said in a chat Friday that he’s heard something is going to happenand it is the expectation of many around the league. If he opts out and re-signs, the most the Lakers can offer is three years, $162 million (down from $164 million if he had opted in and extended), and the Lakers can give him a no-trade clause. There has been speculation that LeBron could take less than the max, allowing the Lakers to use the full mid-level exception to add to the roster — perhaps he wants to win, but that would be inconsistent with his historical behavior.

Good luck finding anyone in the league who thinks LeBron is going to leave the Lakers. It’s seen as a done deal.

• Charlotte waives Seth Curry but is a favorite to re-sign sharpshooter. Seth Curry, one of the best pure shooters in the league, had a $4 million team option for this season and Charlotte has decided to let him go, but they want to bring him back, Wojnarowski reports.

• Momentum is building toward D’Angelo Russell exercising an $18.7 million option to remain with the Lakers. Nothing is certain about that, but the momentum may have shifted to Russell deciding to pick up his option and stay with the Lakers. Here is ESPN’s Brian Windhorst talks about “First Take.”

“To be honest, I don’t have a good idea of ​​what this is going to be. I thought a month or so ago that D’Angelo was going to pull out. Now I think there’s a chance, a bigger chance. He’s going to choose to do it, because the market isn’t looking great right now. We can talk about that later, but I’m kind of leaning that way right now.”

Russell probably believed he would get a multi-year deal worth more than $20 million per season, but that may not be the case, so he can return to the Lakers for $18.7 million and show his value. Russell can get buckets, he averaged 18 points and 6.3 assists per game last season, but some around the league are now wondering if he lifts those around him. Changes are coming to the Lakers, we’ll see if that includes Russell.

• Toronto picks up a $23 million option on Bruce Brown. The second year of Bruce Brown’s two-year, $45 million deal — the deal that signed him from the Nuggets — was a team option. The Raptors, who acquired Brown from the Pacers in the Pascal Siakam trade, will pick up that option, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. The hope is both for a bounce-back year for Brown, and that salary will be valuable in many of the potential trades the Raptors will explore this summer and next season.

• James Borrego is retiring as coach of the Pistons. This isn’t exactly a free agent rumor, but it is interesting. Ever since Monty Williams was fired, Borrego has been a favorite for the Detroit job because of his ties to new GM Trajan Langdon in New Orleans. Now comes a report from Chris Haynes that Borrego has decommitted from Detroit. Interesting. It could be a face-saving move for Borrego as the Pistons were about to hire someone else, it could be something else entirely. Look for another top assistant like Micah Nori (Minnesota) and Sean Sweeney (Dallas) to get the job.

• PJ Tucker remains with the Clippers. As expected, PJ Tucker picked up his $11.5 million player option.

• Evan Fournier will not return to the Pistons. It is also no surprise that the Pistons will not pick up Evan Fournier’s $19 million team option, which is expected to return to play in Europe.

• Jason Richardson returns to Heat. Josh Richardson is picking up his $3 million player option to return to Miami, reports Shams Charania at The Athletic. Richardson was out the final months of the season with a shoulder injury.