NBA free agent rumors roundup: Chris Paul postpones deadline, LeBron drops out and then re-signs

The The 2024 NBA Draft is behind uswhere somehow the No. 55 selection surpassed the deserved number 1. The The Knicks have already made their bold move in the offseason and signed Mikal Bridges and become a real threat to the Celtics.

And NBA free agency hasn’t even started yet. It officially kicks off at 6 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, but to state the obvious: The NBA is a manipulative league and talks are already underway, which means rumors are flying. And a few deals have already been made. Here’s all the latest from the NBA free agency rumor mill.

• Chris Paul and the Warriors agree to move the guarantee date to Sunday. In a sign that the Warriors are looking for ways to complete a trade that includes Chris Paul, the Warriors and CP3 have agreed to move his $30 million guaranteed contract to Sunday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported. Paul’s guarantee deadline was today (Friday, June 28), and if push came to shove, Golden State likely would have let him go. Paul probably gets a little money for agreeing to this, but it’s also in his own best interest.

Golden State will look very different next season, with Klay Thompson in a different place — it will just be weird to see him in a different jersey — and Paul is probably gone, too. The question is, who’s coming in to replace them? Don’t be shocked if a big transfer is on the way.

• Paul George remains the biggest domino in free agency. George wants the full four-year, $221 contract the Clippers can offer him. That is not on the table, something that is and has never been a secret repeated the well-connected Tomer Azarly of Clutch Points.

The Clippers’ offer for George remains a three-year contract, slightly less than the three-year, $149 million extension Kawhi Leonard signed in January 2024, league sources tell ClutchPoints. Leonard took a roughly $10 million pay cut over the life of the deal and opted to sign for one year less, for a total of three years after declining his option for the 2024-25 season…

That never happened, and in recent weeks it has become increasingly likely that George will either extend the final year of his contract to allow a trade to a team that will offer him the four-year deal he wants, or opt out and test the free agency market. Either way, his time with the Clippers appears to be coming to an end.

League sources NBC spoke with are leaning toward the opt-in and trade scenario. The question is which team will come up with a package of players and picks — totaling $48 million to offset salaries — that the Clippers will agree to. Would a trade with the Warriors (Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga and picks) complete the deal, or will Steve Ballmer and Co. refuse to make a trade in their division? Many questions remain.

• LeBron James is expected to give up $51.4 million and then re-sign with the Lakers. History suggests that LeBron James will use his potential free agent this summer as leverage to get the Lakers to improve the roster in the short term and do anything else he wants (like hiring a certain coach or perhaps a certain draft pick at number 55), and then re-sign with the team. That’s what Chris Haynes of TNT/Bleacher Reports said in a chat on Friday that he had heard thatand that was the expectation of many people around the league. If he opts out and re-signs, the Lakers can offer him a maximum of three years and $162 million (compared to $164 million if he had opted in and extended the contract), and the Lakers can give him a no-trade clause. There has been speculation that LeBron could take less than the maximum, which would allow the Lakers to use the full mid-level exception to expand the roster — maybe he wants to win, but that wouldn’t suit him given his past behavior.

Good luck finding anyone in the league who believes LeBron is leaving the Lakers. It’s considered a foregone conclusion.

• Charlotte is without Seth Curry, but is the favorite to re-sign the sharpshooter. Seth Curry, one of the league’s best pure shooters, had a $4 million team option for this season and Charlotte has decided to waive him, but they want to bring him back, Wojnarowski reports.

• The prospect of D’Angelo Russell exercising his $18.7 million option to stay with the Lakers is increasing. Nothing is certain, but the dynamics may have shifted to where Russell decides to exercise his option and stay with the Lakers. Here is ESPN’s Brian Windhorst speaks on “First Take.”

“To be honest, I don’t have a good feeling about what’s going to happen. About a month ago, I thought D’Angelo was going to get out. Now I think there’s a chance, a bigger chance, that he’ll get in because the market isn’t looking so good right now. We can talk about that later, but I’m kind of leaning that way now.”

Russell probably thought he was getting a multi-year deal worth over $20 million per season, but that may not be possible, so he can return to the Lakers for $18.7 million and prove his worth. Russell can shoot baskets, last season he averaged 18 points and 6.3 assists per game, but there are some around the league who doubt how much he adds value to those around him. Changes are coming to the Lakers, we’ll see if Russell is part of it.

• Toronto acquires a $23 million option for Bruce Brown. The second year of Bruce Brown’s two-year, $45 million contract – the one that signed him away from the Nuggets – was a team option. The Raptors, who acquired Brown from the Pacers in the Pascal Siakam trade, will exercise that option, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. The hope is for a comeback year for Brown, and salary will play a major role in many potential trades the Raptors consider this summer and next season.

• James Borrego withdraws from the race for the Pistons’ coaching position. This isn’t exactly a free agent rumor, but it’s interesting. From the moment Monty Williams was fired, Borrego was a favorite for the Detroit job because of his ties to New Orleans and new GM Trajan Langdon. Now comes a report from Chris Haynes that Borrego has dropped out of Detroit. Interesting. It could be face-saving for Borrego because the Pistons were in the process of hiring someone else, but it could also be something else entirely. Look for another top assistant like Micah Nori (Minnesota) and Sean Sweeney (Dallas) to get the job.

• PJ Tucker stays with the Clippers. As expected, PJ Tucker exercised his player option worth $11.5 million.

• Evan Fournier will not return to the Pistons. It’s also not surprising that the Pistons will not pick up Evan Fournier’s $19 million team option, and he’s expected to return to Europe to play.

• Jason Richardson returns to Heat. Josh Richardson is exercising his $3 million player option and returning to Miami, reports Shams Charania at The Athletic. Richardson missed the final months of the season with a shoulder injury.