Sports
NBA free agency 2023: Priorities, needs for all 30 teams – ESPN
With the 2023 NBA Finals and 2023 NBA draft behind us, the league’s attention now turns fully to the offseason, and free agency, which began Friday at 6 p.m. ET.
The NBA’s annual player movement moratorium — during which most contracts can’t be signed and trades can’t be made official — will begin July 1. Everything that gets reported during the moratorium can become official after the league sets the final salary cap and luxury tax numbers for the 2023-24 season.
While only a few teams enter this offseason with significant cap space to work with, all 30 teams have things they need to address this summer — and some of those priorities have already shifted in the few days the offseason action has been underway (just ask the Wizards). We have a complete team-by-team guide to free agency, including what to watch, available exceptions, key dates, current roster status and every team’s free-agent list.
MORE: Best available free agents | Spending tiers
Offseason transactions: Rudy Gay (trade) Kobe Bufkin (draft), Seth Lundy (draft) and Mouhamed Gueye (draft)
Who to Watch: Dejounte Murray, Saddiq Bey and Onyeka Okongwu
The John Collins salary cap clearing trade now opens up flexibility to pursue extensions for Murray, Bey and Okongwu.
Murray is eligible to sign a four-year, $114 million extension with a starting salary of $25.5 million in 2024-25. That salary is $17 million less than the maximum salary in the first year.
Okongwu ranked fifth in total second-chance points and in the top 10 in offensive rebounding percentage after Feb. 5. A new contract for Okongwu would start in 2024-25, the last year Clint Capela is under contract.
After being acquired at the trade deadline, Bey started six games, averaging 14.7 points, 50.7% from the field and 40.5% on 3s. He has a 56.3% effective field goal percentage under Snyder, up from 49.5% with the Pistons and Hawks before Snyder’s arrival. Both players are eligible to sign a five-year extension until Oct. 23.
Available exceptions: $12.4 million non-tax, $4.5 million biannual, veteran minimum and trade ($25.3 million and $2.6 million)
Below the $165M luxury tax: $9.3 million
Below the $172M first apron: $13.1 million
Below the $182.5M second apron: $23.5 million
Key dates:
July 21: The contract of Tyrese Martin ($1.7M) becomes guaranteed
Oct. 23: The last day to extend the contracts of Okongwu, Bey and Capela
Oct. 31: The deadline to exercise the third-year team option for AJ Griffin and fourth-year team option for Jalen Johnson.
Players under contract: 15
Two-way players: 0
Team needs:
Rim protector
3-point shooting
Extension-eligible: Murray, Capela (as of Aug. 13), Vit Krejci (as of Aug. 15), Bey (rookie) and Okongwu (rookie)
Free agent status:
Aaron Holiday | Non-Bird
Trent Forrest | Restricted | Non-Bird
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