Rival NBA executives and agents alike are curious about what the Nets will do with their remaining cap room, writes Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). While general manager Sean Marks has aggressively signed restricted free agents to offer sheets in previous offseasons, that has not been the case this summer, Fischer notes.
According to Fischer’s sources, Brooklyn has yet to “significantly engage” in contract discussions with its own RFA, Cam Thomas.
As Brian Lewis of The New York Post tweets, the Nets are still below the minimum salary floor and could create about $25MM in cap space if they waive a handful of players on non-guaranteed (or lightly guaranteed) contracts. While some fans are “fretting” about Thomas’ situation, Lewis hears from a source (Twitter link) that neither the Nets nor the 23-year-old guard are in a rush to reach an agreement.
Here’s more from Fischer on a few noteworthy restricted free agents:
- The agents of Bulls guard Josh Giddey “have not wavered” in their desire to secure their client a deal that would pay him $30MM per year. However, to this point, Chicago’s front office has presented offers “much closer” to $20MM in annual average value, sources tell Fischer.
- While the Sixers have expressed a desire to retain Quentin Grimes, a deal has yet be finalized. Still, there’s an expectation that will eventually happen, according to Fischer, who writes that the 25-year-old wing is likely to sign a contract covering at least three years.
- We highlighted in a separate story Fischer’s report that the Suns have expressed “exploratory interest” in Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga but a sign-and-trade seems unlikely. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 confirms (via Twitter) that Phoenix is intrigued by Kuminga and says he isn’t entirely ruling out a deal coming together, but acknowledges the odds of it occurring are “in the low range.”