Restricted free agency updates, roster rumbles and a tale of international intrigue
All via the Jake Fischer Latest
Around-the-league NBA notes on a Friday?
Out of my notebook exclusively?
The Kawhi Leonard story is the one truly dominating leaguewide discussion — as I covered extensively in this Thursday piece below — but there is also still plenty of the more customary transactional buzz to share.
To my latest on numerous restricted free agency topics, roster rumbles from New York and Sacramento that you haven't heard ... plus of a tale of international intrigue from EuroBasket:
Two restricted free agents down. Two to go.
Cam Thomas was the first off the board. He has decided to play out the 2025-26 season in Brooklyn on a one-year, $6 million qualifying offer after league sources say that the Nets never made a long-term proposal to retain their 2021 first-round pick.
Will Thomas get the opportunities he needs to showcase himself for next summer's marketplace? Fair question. The Nets have entered a full-fledged rebuild, which will feature a staggering five first-round picks from June on their roster this coming season, leaving Brooklyn with seemingly little incentive to prioritize a 23-year-old who now can leave them without compensation next summer. It's a team in a completely new place compared to the squad Thomas joined in 2021 that featured Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden.
As for Josh Giddey …
As I reported in early August, Chicago made a four-year, $80 million offer to Giddey at the start of free agency. The Bulls then held firm on that valuation for two months ... while also signaling that they had no intent to field sign-and-trade offers for the Australian point guard after trading Alex Caruso to get him.
I'm told that there was no real movement in talks throughout July and August. Then ESPN's Bobby Marks suddenly revealed last week that the Bulls had moved their offer into the four-year, $88 million range.
Giddey's side, meanwhile, spent the summer holding out for a figure much closer to $30 million in average annual value, which has become a common benchmark among starting-level players — particularly for those seeking their second NBA contract — ever since Immanuel Quickley scored his five-year, $175 million deal with Toronto in late June 2024.
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