Philly Front Office

The Free Agent window opens at 6pm, but that’s barely even the main event today. Teams are going to be jockeying for players all day and night in an attempt to either improve their roster or to avoid (or at least limit the damage of) the feared luxury tax. I’ll be updating all day. For a recap on everything that has gone down already this week, CLICK HERE.

NBA Offseason 2026

Day 2

9p – LeBron to Philly?

What initially started as a pipedream has suddenly become very possible. King James has said that salary is not something he is worried about with his current free agency and that he’s looking for a contender. The Sixers have become just that with the edition of Jaylen Brown.

The Sixers have roughly $10m to spend but the most they can offer to LBJ is around $6m with the remaining MLE. If LeBron would truly take the minimum, all the easier to continue to build out the roster.

As a Sixer, LeBron would likely start at power forward and would only need to play around 20 minutes per night during the regular season. He would not be the primary option and would have an easy path to saving himself for the playoffs. The one thing this team is lacking right now is wing depth. Moving newly acquired Dean Wade to the bench would seriously boost the second unit and give the team a TON of flexibility.

Just saying, Mike Gansey knows LeBron not just from his second stint in Cleveland, but from the two finishing first and second in the 2000 Ohio high School player of the year voting.

6:20p – The Sixers have Trade for Jaylen Brown!!!

Brown comes to Philly in exchange for Paul George, two first round picks, and two seconds…more to come when I put my brain back together!!!

I was just writing about possible ways to use the rest of the minimal money the Sixers have to improve the team, but all that doesn’t matter now. Brown is a polarizing player who I have crushed for insecurity in the past, but he is also a very proud competitior which should go over well in red white and blue rather than that putrid green he has been wearing.

On paper, he fits the Sixers like a glove. He will slot into the SF spot as a two way presence ready and willing to take big shots but not expected to be the ball handler. The Sixers have possibly the best starting lineup in the East right now with the Knicks

2:55p – Kelly Oubre is Gone

Oubre signs with the Pacers for 2/$17m. This is not much. I was hoping he would come back to the Sixers for around 3/$30m. I guess the Sixers didn’t value him like that – OR – they want to stay below the luxury tax while the rest of us are hoping they get to the 1st Apron. They could have easily fit this contract within the 1st Apron budget. If they sign nothing but minimum guys they can probably stay under. If we are done, this really stinks.

12:10p – Lakers are Lakersing

After the news that Walker Kessler was headed to the Lakeshow, three more deals have trickled out of Tinseltown:

• Quentin Grimes leaves the Sixers for 4/$60m (LOL)
• Colin Sexton joins for 2/$19m
• Sandro Mamukelashvili gets 4/$52m to leave the Raptors

How are they able to do all this? It is all about timing. The Kessler and Reeves deals are agreed to, but they are not official yet meaning they do not count against the cap yet. Because Lebron said he was leaving, they renounced his rights meaning no cap hold. Essentially, Luka Doncic and a smaller cap hold for Reeves were the only things on their salary cap. This lets them sign Sandro and Sexton with cap room then sign Grimes with the MLE, then extend Reeves, then trade for Kessler and use his Bird Rights to extend him. Love those NBA financial rules!

11:35a – Walker Kessler Traded to Lakers, Signs Extension

Shams is reporting that the Utah Jazz have traded from their front court surplus by sending Walker Kessler to LA for unprotected 1sts in 2031 and 2033 plus unprotected swaps in 2028 and 2030. From there, Kessler gets 4/$130m from the Lakers who will their very thin front court ahead of Austin Reeves and Luka Doncic. The Lakers were always going to move their chips in and they do it for Kessler.

11:30a – Celtics Sign Mitchell Robinson

The Knicks have lost fan favorite Mitchell Robinson to the Celtics for the full MLE, 3/$47.4m. After getting bounced by the Sixers last year, they have brought in one of the guys who defends well against Joel Embiid and certainly has animosity towards Philadelphia. While this is a blow to the Knicks title retention hopes, they had to know Robinson was likely going to leave for a contract around this level. I bet they were probably hoping it wouldn’t be to Boston though.

10:05a – Sixers Sign Ariel Hukporti

The Sixers have a new high energy backup center in former Knick Ariel Hukporti who signs for 1/$3.4m. Hukporti is a 2nd year player from Germany who only averaged about 10 minutes per night last year but is known for his high energy. While his per game averages are essentially nothing, this doesn’t take into consideration how buried he was on a loaded Knicks team. No idea if his game will translate with more minutes, but his per 36 minute averages suggest that he is an excellent rebounder and shot blocker. This likely eats into the Sixers remaining $6m in MLE unless they used another avenue like the bi-annual exception to make the signing.

Hopefully, this means Andre Drummond is gone.

10a – Morning Update: Norman Powell, Marcus Smart, and John Collins

After a low impact first night in free agency, things are starting pretty early on Day 2:

• John Collins goes to the Pistons for what looks to be the full mid-level exception and then some at 3/$51m. This is a weird deal in that only the first season is guaranteed, but there has to be something else going on because the full MLE over 3 years maxes out at a little over 3/$47m. He must have a buyout or some kind of incentives in Year 4 that gives it a little extra juice or there is a sign and trade coming with the Clippers. This could be a clever move by Detroit.
• Norman Powell leaves Miami for Chicago on a 2/$45m deal. Chicago, Brooklyn, and LA are the only teams that could have offered him a deal like this straight up. As for Miami, they technically could have offered him this, but it would have made roster building impossible due to the Aprons.
• Marcus Smart gets 2/$13m with the Rockets. I thought Smart was essentially basketball dead, but he resurrected his career last year in LA, becoming his typical defensive pest self again.

Day 1

11p – Smaller Deals

Going to keep track of smaller deals in the same spot and move it up the timeline as the night goes on:

• Tim Hardaway Jr to Miami Heat for 1/$6.5m. Hardaway coming to his dad’s city finally.
• Luke Kennard to Phoenix Suns on a 2/$13m contract
• Kristaps Porzingis back to Golden State, 2/$40m
• Bogdan Bogdanovic to Houston on the minimum
• Keon Ellis to the Nets, 2/$18m, but with a player option on Year 2.

10:45p – Sixers Sign Dean Wade

Just when I was about to call it a night, Shams reports that the Sixers have come to terms with power forward Dean Wade, formerly of the Cavs where new Sixers GM Mike Ganset was also formerly employed. The deal is 4/$39m which should start at around $9m in year 1, then $9.5m, $10m, and finally around $10.5m if he has standard 5% raises.

The Sixers will still have around $6m left on the MLE with this deal. We can also assume that at least one of Quentin Grimes and Kelly Oubre is now gone. Right now, the team is operating at around $190m in payroll and around $11m under the tax and $19.5m under the first apron. $6m can go to another player while we have Oubre’s Bird rights. The Sixers are now hard capped at that 1st Apron

As for Wade, he is a glue guy type who can pass, rebound, and shoot just enough to get buy on offense while playing stellar defense. The defense will be why he’s here as he will draw the better assignments on all the good teams in the East along with VJ. On a team with high level offense players, he should fit into the starting lineup nicely at the 4 spot. Don’t look at his stats despite me providing a link, they don’t look good. Remember, he was only playing about 20 minutes a night for the Cavs but she that go up a bit on the needy Sixers.

6:15p – Tampering was the Best; Numbers

We used to have deals flying in immediately at the 6pm bell (and midnight before that) but now because of Daryl Morey getting a little too cozy with James Harden and friends, we have to wait out the first deals of free agency for a little while until agents feel the cost is clear. Oh well.

The NBA has announced official numbers for the coming season that will tell us just how big these contracts can be: (numbers from Hoops Rumors)

• Salary cap: $164,961,000
• Luxury tax line: $200,428,000
• First tax apron: $209,015,000
• Second tax apron: $221,686,000
• Non-taxpayer mid-level exception: $15,044,000
• Taxpayer mid-level exception: $6,064,000
• Room exception: $9,366,000
• Bi-annual exception: $5,477,000
• Maximum salaries:
  • 6 years or fewer: $41,240,250
  • 7-9 years: $49,488,300
  • 10+ years: $57,736,350

What you need to know from this is, the max contract the Sixers can offer a free agent is 4/$64.7m (non-tax payer MLE), broken down like this: (from Sixers Adam)

• Year 1 – $15m
• Year 2 – $15.8m
• Year 3 – $16.5m
• Year 4 – $17.3m

The Tax Payer MLE is only 2/$12.4m

• Year 1 – $6m
• Year 2 – $6.4m

3:45p – Kawhi the North

UPDATE: Unprotected 2031 and 2033 1sts, 2030 and 2033 2nds, 2027 pick swap

I jumped the gun with that update. Toronto indeed throws in the extra draft pick along with two 2nds to bring Leonard back into the purple and red. The idea is for him to sign a contract extension, but it’s not exactly unprecedented for the Raptors to trade for Kawhi with no guarantee to keep him long term. He gives them the #1 option they have been missing.

As for the Clippers, getting two 1sts and two 2nds plus a possible trade chip in Brandon Ingram is a nice haul for a team going nowhere. Remember, they owe an unprotected pick up the Sixers in 2028. Waiting to see what years and if any protections on the picks they just received

3:30p – Leonard Trade Almost Done

So far, The Raptors are up to sending Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, and a 1st to LA for Leonard. Apparently, the Clippers want more than this like either Jamal Shead or another 1st round pick. (Brett Siegel) I don’t really blame them considering Ingram has $40m and $42m (PO) coming to him the next two seasons and isn’t anything more than Norman Powell with an injury history. The best thing about Gradey Dick is his name. If this is what brings the two sides close, then a deal is going to get done. We aren’t talking a wide gulf or some bridge too far.

12:35p – Jock Landale staying in Atlanta

The Hawks are bringing back their deadline backup center acquisition from last year, Jock Landale, for $14m. Landale was a presumed target for the Sixers, but at that price he would eat up nearly the full MLE. The Hawks only had something called non-Bird rights on Landale which would not allow for a contract this large. Considering Atlanta has a pretty full roster already, they could afford to splurge on a good shooting big man, especially since it does not cripple their cap sheet down the road. That was probably the motivation for this larger than expected deal.

12:15p – LeBron Leaving LA

Shams just reported that LeBron James is not planning on returning to the Lakers. Whether that means he is going to sign somewhere as a free agent or pursue a sign-and-trade deal with his old team is still up in the air. As I said below, he can really do whatever he wants. Not only has he earned it, but a loud group is going to have a problem with whatever he chooses.

Early rumors of his next destination include the usual suspects like Golden State and reunions in either Miami or Cleveland.

If he is making an announcement like this to LA, that probably means he knows where he’s going. If LeBron knows where he’s going, then his agent Rich Paul probably knows where a lot of other guys are going too. Remember, he is also the agent for Anthony Davis, Draymond Green, and Moses Moddy.

Rich Paul Client List

10a – Main Characters

The main characters for the day are Kawhi Leonard, Jaylen Brown, and probably LeBron James. Leonard is going to move, Brown needs to move, and no one has any idea what LBJ is going to do. Here’s my read on all three:

• Leonard – Leonard is in the final year of his contract which pays around $50. When he plays, this is a bargain as he is still one of the top 2-way players in the league. However, he did turn 35 yesterday. The Clippers are very aware that their window of contention is VERY closed, as evidenced by their staying put at #5 in the Draft rather than trading it to supplement their roster. Getting something for Leonard while he still has significant value is a must. They know this. Rumor has him going to the Raptors. While I would much rather him go to a place like San Antonio if he is playing the hits, the Raptors need to upgrade their roster. I had them as a potential Joel Embiid landing spot because they are flooded with role players masquerading as top options. Scottie Barnes is a #2. Barrett and Ingram are #3s at best. Leonard properly drops everyone down a peg in the pecking order, kind of like a legitimate closer moving to the back of a bullpen puts the setup guys where they should be.
• Brown – I’ve heard two sides to the Jaylen Brown situation in Boston. Some are saying he should not feel slighted being offered for one of the best players of all time in Giannis. Others understand that he was always going to be upset at the disrespect for not being considered a foundation piece himself. Both of those are reasonable, but they neglect to consider that maybe Boston simply doesn’t want him anymore? We just saw this in the NCAA/NFL with Brendan Sorsby, the QB suspended for gambling. Once he started appealing and threatening other litigation with the NCAA, the NFL and CFL shut the door on him. Instead of taking responsibility for breaking the rules, he became a problem that the leagues did not want to deal with. I’m not passing judgment there, but I can’t help but see the same situation unfolding with Brown to a lesser extent. After losing to the Sixers in the playoffs, Brown went on a childish media tour where he blamed everyone but himself for losing. Whether his complaints were valid or not, that’s not what max contract leaders are supposed to do. Now he’s doing the same thing again with “analytics.” Man, stop wrestling with pigs, you’re the one getting dirty! Since he is incapable of taking that advice, it’s possible that the Celtics just want him and his salary gone, regardless of his talent level.
• James – LeBron has put himself into a nice spot. He can do anything he wants right now from staying in LA, to signing for the MLE, to having a minimum contract retirement tour. At the same time, he is going to get shit for whatever he decides. If he stays in LA, he isn’t serious about winning. If he demands a max and a trade, he is only in it for the money. Go to the Warriors or wherever else on the cheap, he’s chasing titles. I’m pretty sure he does not care one little bit about any of those narratives. While he isn’t anywhere near his peak anymore, he can still make a difference as one of the best #3 options in the league. It will be very interesting to see what he decides, as it always is.

Zach Lowe gave me the idea for the term “main characters”