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Hoops Rumors Live Chat: 7/17/2025
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Luke Adams
2:01
Hey guys, appreciate all the early questions! Still sifting through all of them but will get underway in a second.
teddygreen
2:02
Do you think CP3 will be joining Bradley Beal in the city of Angels and play for the Clippers?
Luke Adams
2:03
My guess is that the Clippers would be happy to offer CP3 a minimum deal, their 14th roster spot, and a bench role. Others could offer more money and/or a larger role, but if playing close to his family is as important as it's been made out to be for Paul, that seems like it could be a good fit.
Impatient dubs fan
2:03
It seems like the market has stalled over the past week and half or so. Do you anticipate a flurry of moves happening at some point in the near future, or will certain dominos have to fall in order for teams to sign these mid-level free agents?
Luke Adams
2:06
The Beal domino was one that had to fall, but it certainly hasn't created a flurry of action in the last 24 hours. The restricted free agent inactivity has contributed to slowing things down -- a few of those teams (especially the Warriors) have other business they could conduct once know exactly what's happening with their RFAs.

I think it's probably more likely that the rest of the free agent activity happens gradually in the coming weeks rather than a string of moves all happening in a row over the course of a couple days.
Jalen Johnson
2:06
If you had to bet on it right now, will Jalen Johnson be an all-star this year playing alongside TY and KP?
Luke Adams
2:07
If I had to bet on one of the other, I'd take "not All-Star" over "All-Star," but he's absolutely a solid dark-horse -- the Hawks should be pretty good this year and he could get a lot of credit for it if he can stay healthy and put up the kind of numbers he was posting last year.
Sac0
2:07
Who says no? Kings send Malik Monk to the Bulls for Patrick Williams
Luke Adams
2:09
I don't love it for either side. That Williams contract is a tough one for a player who still hasn't really established himself as a reliable contributor, but the Bulls don't really need another guard like Monk.
DJ
2:09
Do you feel the new CBA is good for the league from a roster construction standpoint?  Has this offseason changed how you look at that at all?
Luke Adams
2:11
It has accomplished what it was meant to, which was making it difficult to maintain a championship-level roster for the long term and making it difficult for the league's biggest spenders to continue making moves.

Whether that's "good for the league" is a matter of debate. If you like seeing a new champion every season instead of four straight years of Warriors/Cavs finals, the answer's probably yes, but those kind of rivalries/dynasties have appeal.
All-Stars
2:12
Instead of East/West or USA/World, any chance the NBA could ever go to a 2 vs 2 or 3 vs 3 tournament (similar to Big 3) first to 11 for the All-Star competition?

It'd be awesome to see a team like Giannis/Jokic vs. LeBron/Curry or Luka/Tatum vs Shai/Wemby
Luke Adams
2:12
I think we're probably a few failed iterations of the game away from seeing anything like that -- sounds like U.S. vs the World will be next.
Zac
2:12
Does Jeremi Grant have any trade value? With portlands young fowards it seems like he's bound for the bench.
Luke Adams
2:15
I really dislike the way Portland has handled Grant's trade market in the past couple years. They were apparently holding out for two first-round picks for him at one point! I can't see them getting one at this point unless they took back a really terrible contract.

He may still have some value to certain teams, but at this point, if the Blazers could just take back matching salaries with fewer years on them, they'd be doing well.
Chance99
2:15
In your opinion, what's the reason no team has offered Charles Bassey as much as a training camp invite?
Luke Adams
2:16
Do we know that? I feel like there would probably be a bunch of teams willing to give Bassey a shot on an entirely non-guaranteed deal, but he probably still thinks he can do better than that, and maybe he can -- there are a lot of pretty accomplished unsigned free agents still out there. Whether he gets guaranteed money or not, I expect him to be on an NBA roster for training camp.
Byron Parker
2:17
Do you think the Charlotte hornets will acquire a center before training camps
Luke Adams
2:19
It's not a sure thing. It may not be the most inspiring group, but they do have a few centers already -- Mason Plumlee, Moussa Diabate, and Ryan Kalkbrenner.

To me, that's the sort of group of centers you'd roll out there if you're soft-tanking, and it seems like the Hornets have greater aspirations than that, so maybe they make one more addition. But maybe they just have a lot of faith in what Diabate and Kalkbrenner are ready to provide.
CGG
2:19
What could the Celtics realistically get for Anfernee Simons?
Luke Adams
2:23
If the goal is to cut costs, they're not going to get a player better than Simons, but maybe they could turn him into someone comparable.

Like, would the Hornets (who have a bit of a roster crunch) move Sexton and Nick Smith Jr. for Simons? Sexton and Simons are somewhat similar players, and Sexton/Smith earn about $6MM less than Simons does.

It's a somewhat uninspiring return for Boston, and I'm not even sure the Hornets would do it. To get anything more exciting for Simons, they'd probably need to attach a draft pick.
Once and MLB fan
2:23
So this feels a lot like the NBA offseason is becoming more like the MLB one. You think this is just a one year blip with no cap space, or are we looking at the Boras crawl going forward?
Luke Adams
2:25
It's not uncommon for one or two RFA situations to drag on for most of the summer. it's a little odd for there to be 3-4 of them, and for so many solid UFAs to still be out there. But you could argue that the latter is a result of the former holding things up, and the lack of cap room is definitely a major factor in the RFA slow-down. So yeah, I'd say this is more likely to be an outlier than the start of a trend. I do think the new apron rules have resulted in teams negotiating these contracts a little more aggressively though, since bad long-term deals hurt more than they once did.
R. Alan
2:25
Once you get past CP3 and Al Horford, who are the best remaining unrestricted free agents? And is everyone waiting for the restricted free agents Kuminga and Giddey to sign before scooping up people like Brogdon, Horford and C. Paul?
Luke Adams
2:29
Besides those three guys you mentioned, we had Rusell Westbrook, Chris Boucher, De'Anthony Melton, Amir Coffey, and Precious Achiuwa in our top 50, and Trey Lyles just outside of it. Cameron Payne, Ben Simmons, Gary Payton II, and Landry Shamet are a few more guys that are interesting. Damian Lillard worth mentioning too, though his circumstances are unique.
2:30
I believe one hold-up with some of those UFAs is the RFA teams not wanting to hard-cap themselves. If the Warriors gave Al Horford any portion of the MLE right now, for instance, it would leave them vulnerable to losing Kuminga if a team found room to give him an aggressive/front-loaded offer sheet. Once they get his situation resolved, they'll have a better sense of how much spending room they have left and how much of their MLE they can use.
2:31
Philadelphia is another team that COULD have its taxpayer MLE available if Grimes' first-year salary comes in low enough, but they can't do anything with it for now (which is why they lost Yabusele).
Randola
2:31
I was thinking the Wizards swap Smart for Simon... Would save BOS $6M.
Luke Adams
2:32
That could be another option, though Smart's value is pretty low right now and I'm not sure the Wizards want another ball-dominant guy to take the ball out of the hands of their young players.
Pacer fan
2:32
Do you think the move the Pacers made to get back their first round pick before game 7 was purely tax related to 2025/26? Any chance it was insurance on a Haliburton injury? Maybe a way to open up options to make a bigger trade a send out more first round picks down the line?
Luke Adams
2:33
If they accurately predicted they'd need insurance for a season-ending Haliburton injury, uh, well done(?), I guess. But it made enough sense on the surface for tax/roster reasons that I wouldn't assume there were a bunch of ulterior motives as well.
Kim
2:33
Good afternoon. What do you think happens with Trae Young extension? Do they offer him the max, below the max, or just wait and see how he performs with the team they’ve finally built to help him succeed? Thanks!
Luke Adams
2:36
I wouldn't expect them to sign him to another max deal this offseason (if they were going to do that, it'd probably be done by now). I feel like there will be more negotiations happening with some of the guys who may have been handed max extensions in the past, like Young, De'Aaron Fox in San Antonio, etc. It seems like teams are becoming less inclined to give out those max deals to players who aren't impact guys on both ends of the court.

If Trae is willing to take something a step or down down from the maximum, I could see them figuring out something before opening night, but I don't think the Hawks would be unwilling to take that situation into the season and seeing how Young looks with the remade roster.
arcman
2:36
is there any word on Chris Boucher signing anywhere? He seems like a perfect fit for the warriors.
Luke Adams
2:38
I just checked our Boucher player page to confirm, and (as I suspected) we've had literally no news to pass along on him since free agency opened. A little surprising -- I thought there would be more interest in him, but I wonder at this point if he'll be settling for a minimum-salary deal next season.
Walleye Wade
2:38
Twolves options for PG are?????    Conley aged fast last year.   Finch doesn’t let rookies play many meaningful minutes so dillingham may not be ready for prime time yet?   I was hoping for Tyus but that options gone.
Luke Adams
2:39
I think I mentioned it in a previous chat, but I love Brogdon for them. Between him and Conley, you could hopefully manage their minutes enough to keep them healthy and effective by the spring.

Cam Payne is another point guard who might make sense for Minnesota. I prefer an established veteran like Brogdon or Payne in that role for them, but Jared Butler would be an under-the-radar young guy who might fit.
Shane
2:40
Do you think Josh Giddey will sign a long term contract with Chicago  I see he is asking for 30 million what is a reasonable amount you think he may get?
Capital tankers
2:40
is the Giddey situation going to get to the point where he takes the QO offered and becomes a free agent in 2026?
Luke Adams
2:41
I expect the Bulls and Giddey to reach a longer-term deal at some point. Maybe something like four years, $110MM with a fourth-year player option? That'd be almost the same deal that Myles Turner got, which seems fair for a player like Giddey.
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