LAS VEGAS — As NBA franchises progress into the full week of Las Vegas Summer League at Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion, team officials are spending time watching their respective squads, scouting players and monitoring the league’s landscape as rosters round out. The major free agents have been signed, and the remaining tier of available players are resolving their next steps — but larger offseason issues are still outstanding.
For the past several weeks, all eyes have been on the Utah Jazz and Lauri Markkanen. The Jazz have operated in concurrent lanes with Markkanen’s future: open to listening to trade offers from serious suitors while maintaining interest in keeping him as a franchise centerpiece. Markkanen is eligible for an extension Aug. 6. The Jazz are in a rebuild, so rival teams have wondered about Markkanen’s fit moving forward. Utah officials want to keep the 2023 NBA All-Star and Most Improved Player unless a team truly wows it with an offer.
The Golden State Warriors have been the most engaged team for Markkanen in recent weeks, as league sources tell The Athletic they have discussed a proposal around Moses Moody, multiple first-round picks, multiple pick swaps and multiple second-round picks. The Jazz, however, have asked for the bulk of young talent and capital the Warriors possess, including Moody, Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski, along with picks, which has been a non-starter thus far for Golden State, league sources said.
Markkanen — who would be the most coveted 2025 free agent in the prime of his career — has an amount of leverage in all of this as well. Any team willing to give significant assets for the 7-foot big man would likely desire assurances that he would have interest in a long-term deal.
For Markkanen, a renegotiation-and-extension allows him to receive more money now. For him to reach his maximum salary in 2025-26, the Jazz would need to raise his 2024-25 salary to at least $33,138,600, which requires at least $15.09 million in cap space for the current season. One component to watch for: Markkanen is eligible to be traded next season if he signs the extension on the first day of eligibility Aug. 6 — but not tradable if signed after that date.
Another former All-Star entering the final year of his deal has been in the middle of similar trade inquiries: Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram. Both sides have remained open to a future together, but Ingram’s desire for a high-priced extension has meant the Pelicans must at least maintain dialogue with him and his representatives on whether he stays in New Orleans or moves elsewhere.
“Brandon wants to stay here,” Pelicans executive vice president David Griffin said in late June. “He believes in what we are building. That’s meaningful to him. That’s meaningful to his agent.
“At the same time, there is a financial reality that we all deal with.”
Multiple teams across the league believe the trade market is currently limited for Ingram, as two interested teams in Sacramento and San Antonio made offseason moves for forwards DeMar DeRozan and Harrison Barnes, respectively, and most teams are finalizing their rosters for the summer.
Griffin retooled the Pelicans this offseason, acquiring All-Star guard Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks to complete one of the more well-rounded New Orleans rosters in recent memory. The Pelicans could gauge the necessity of a roster move into the regular season, allowing the production of players and team record to determine the move(s) necessary.
Beyond the Jazz and Pelicans having major, hundred-million-dollar decisions to come, the league’s clubs have focused on their internal dynamics and shoring up their rosters. As one high-ranking team official said in Las Vegas, “It might be one of the more quiet summers.”
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The Clippers and Russell Westbrook plan to part ways this offseason, and the franchise continues to discuss trades for the former NBA MVP, team and league sources said. The Denver Nuggets are a front-runner to sign Westbrook if he becomes a free agent.
The Grizzlies are discussing deals to move 2021 lottery draft pick Ziaire Williams, league sources said.
The Bucks are in the market to sign a shooting guard and are expected to conduct a workout this week in Las Vegas. Eleven-year NBA veteran Will Barton will be among the players working out for the Bucks this week, league sources said.
Milwaukee is also among several contenders pursuing the top free agent remaining, Gary Trent Jr., league sources said. Trent, the 25-year-old who averaged 13.7 points on 39.3 percent 3-point shooting for Toronto last season, is taking a patient approach to find the best opportunity for his seventh NBA campaign. The Raptors never made an offer for Trent to return this offseason, clearing the way for him to seek a new home. As the league’s harsher salary-cap rules with the second apron take an increasing effect, the landscape has left talented players such as Trent on the market because some franchises with salary-cap space are electing to use the room in ways other than free agency.
Fresh off signing a contract extension with Adidas that pays over eight figures per year, Timberwolves All-NBA guard Anthony Edwards is apparently a major star of the new NBA show on Netflix set to release in the fall, according to industry sources. Edwards is expected to be the breakaway act of Netflix’s first NBA documentary series that includes LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler and Domantas Sabonis. James’ SpringHill Company led the production of the series along with Barack Obama’s Higher Ground Productions and Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions. The show is modeled after Netflix’s NFL “Quarterback” series.
(Photo of Lauri Markkanen and Brandon Ingram: Alex Goodlett and Barry Gossage / Getty Images)