After spending 11 days in Las Vegas for NBA Summer League, my notebook was overflowing. I succeeded in my annual goal of talking to at least one front office executive (in addition to coaches and scouts) from all 30 teams, and often times multiple of each. In exchange for anonymity, I was able to get a lot of interesting information from these executives. In addition, several agents were willing to share thoughts as well.
When something was a quote from someone in the NBA world, it’ll be notated as such. When an item is my own opinion, it won’t be quoted. There will be more of the former than the latter.
Below are a handful of notes from each Eastern Conference Team (Western Conference is coming soon!). However, before we get there, let’s lead off with some notes on some general NBA topics that were brought up in almost every conversation around Summer League!
Second Apron
"Call it what it is: a hard cap. It’s pretty clear what the objective here was. The owners wanted to set an upward boundary on spending. Mission accomplished." - A long-time agent of NBA players
"It’s tough, but not as much about the aprons, but by how many things can cause you to have a hard cap at the first or second apron. We’ve rarely gone deep into the tax like you have to for the second apron. But so many things can hard cap you at the first apron now, that you have be really cautious. Twice over the past few years, we put an extra player in a trade, just to make sure we didn’t trip a first-apron hard cap. That’s not a great place to be." - An Eastern Conference executive
"We’ve made it harder for fans - not even casual ones, but regular fans - to follow the league now. You know the old joke? ‘I was told there would be no math.’ Well, I’m hearing fans complain about having to do so much math to follow the league now. That can’t be a good thing." - An Eastern Conference executive
"You have to be smarter about building your team. If you want to have more than a three- or four-year run, you have to plan for several years in a row. Hitting on draft picks and your developmental system are more important than ever. I think the G League has never been more important too. So, in a way, that’s a good thing. It’s now kind of a 60-franchise league vs the G League just being an additional thing. It has real importance now." - A Western Conference executive
"Between the aprons and the third two-way spot, we’ve killed off chances for players to catch on as the 15th man. No one fills that spot until we’re deep into the season now. It’s pretty ridiculous. 10 Day deals are becoming something to backfill for injuries only now. I used to counsel my players against taking a two-way contract, but now they don’t really have a choice." - An agent
"Look, the league, meaning the owners, wanted parity. They wanted all 30 teams to have a chance to win. That exists now. Eight different champs in a row? Teams moving up and down the standings, even without major injuries? Players picking small markets because they want to win? This is what they wanted. I think it’s probably good for the game vs. having a rotating group of five or six contenders." - A Western Conference executive
"Whenever one team is upset because the apron caused them lose Jaylen Brown or the OKC guys (Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins) or Mitchell Robinson, 29 other teams are happy because they have a chance to get those guys. The balancing of talent around the league has never been more apparent." - A Western Conference GM
Lack of Rookie Scale Extensions
"This is the clearest sign yet of how cautious teams are being. You can’t just hand out 25% max deals based on hope and potential anymore. It used to be that by the time we got to Las Vegas, five or six guys had a 25% max deal. Now, we have Victor Wembanyama not even pushing for the 30% max. It’s a different world." - An Eastern Conference GM
"When Wemby said he didn’t need the 30% of the cap max escalators, it killed the rest of the class. If that guy, who is an MVP, DPOY and All-NBA guy if he’s eligible, doesn’t take 30%, why would any team offer a lesser player even 25%?" - A longtime agent
"I get why Wemby did what he did. The Spurs need to sign (Stephon) Castle and (Dylan Harper) soon too. But here’s what no one is talking about: Now Wemby and the Spurs don’t need to push him to hit the game markers and all that to be eligible for 30%. If he’s hurting, they can rest him. So, the Spurs benefit on the cap sheet and on the floor, with Wemby not playing hurt or tired just to hit the games-played threshold." - A Western Conference executive
Lessened Cap Growth
"Yeah, that was a bomb dropped in there for everyone. We internally planned for 7%-to-8% growth for a few years. Dropping below that is rough." - A Western Conference GM
"I’m worried about contract growth outpacing cap growth. The vast majority of contracts still grow by 8%. If the cap is only growing by 5% or so, that’s going to make all the margins tighter. On the plus side, look for more creativity in contracts." - An Eastern Conference GM
"Everything is tighter. I had a player who could have gotten straight 8% raises. Would have gotten them in any other offseason. This summer, the team wanted to do 5% or less. And, of course, they didn’t want to start higher and go flat. My guy still got paid, but we had to give a little. It is what it is." - A longtime agent
Atlanta Hawks
"On the offseason: This summer was about adding depth, especially on the wing. We love our guards, but we had to put more wing help around Jalen Johnson. Getting Aaron Wiggins helps that, and we think Zuby Ejiofor is going to help a lot. Zuby can defend 1-5 we think, while Aaron is a proven scorer." - A Hawks front office executive
"On adding Lu Dort: Beyond excited to have him in. His defense is going to be huge for us. We can put him on anyone. And now Dyson (Daniels) and Nickeil (Alexander-Walker) can roam a bit more. We’ll have some fun deploying those guys together in lineups too." - The same Hawks front office executive
"On what still needs to be done: We could use more size up front. Onyeka (Okongwu) is awesome. We view him as a long-term starter. Happy to have Jock (Landale) back too. (Henri) Veesaar is a project. He’s not years away, but he’s probably not ready this season. But we’ve still got some cards to play." - A Hawks front office executive
"On Kingston Flemings: He’ll be in the backup mix from Day 1. He gets to learn under C.J. (McCollum), which is awesome apprenticeship. We also added Ryan Nembhard, which will add to the competition. That’s probably the biggest thing we have this year: competition. Our camp and preseason, then into the regular season, should be exciting. No one is going to be gifted minutes." - A Hawks front office executive
Boston Celtics
"On swapping Jaylen Brown for Paul George: Brad said what needed to be said. We had to face the reality of having two guys making 70% or more of the cap for the next several years. That said, we’re excited for PG (Paul George). He’s excited to be in Boston. We think he’s learned over the years how to play off other on-ball guys, and he’s an outstanding passer." - A Celtics front office executive
"On a potential extension for Payton Pritchard: That’s probably next up. We’ve more or less done our offseason moves. Maybe something comes up that isn’t out there now, but we’re filling out the roster now vs. doing anything big. Payton is an important player for us. On those nights when we need a little juice, he’s already there. And he’s proven he can play a big role on a title team. We have to manage the cap and tax, but keeping Payton around is something we hope to do. We’re going to try to get Jordan (Walsh) extended too. That’s a bit more pressing because he’s in the final year of his contract. But we feel good about getting that one done." - A Celtics front office executive
"On the Celtics from 2024 to now: The second apron comes for everyone, right? They were just one of the first to get dinged. But here’s the thing: Look at how many good, younger players they have. Hugo Gonzalez looks ready for a big season for them. He was really good on ball here (at Summer League) and for Spain. And he’s going to get more reps. (Baylor) Scheierman can play. He’s never going to be an All-Star, but he’s a top-eight rotation guy. (Sam) Hauser is one of the best shooters in the game. We had Chris Cenac a little higher on our board than where he went. Heck, even Dillon Mitchell is a player and he’ll probably spend the year in the G League." - A rival GM
"Related to the above: Hugo Gonzalez shot poorly at Summer League, but he mostly played in an on-ball role. The off-the-dribble shot clearly needs a lot of work, but those won’t feature for him with Boston. Both for the Summer Celtics and Spain, Gonzalez shined as a playmaker. And his defense and rebounding both remained good to very good too." - N/A
"It’s unclear how big of a role Chris Cenac Jr. will have this season. He’s got to get past Neemias Queta, Mitchell Robinson (the plan is for him to come off the bench for now) and Luka Garza, not to mention Amari Williams (the Celtics are very excited to have him back on a two-way). One Celtics coach told me that Cenac might see a lot of work at the four in Maine, alongside Williams." - N/A
"Keep an eye on John Tonje snagging a two-way spot again. He was arguably the Summer Celtics best scorer. As one Boston assistant coach said: ‘Tonje can shoot the cover off the ball. The best part? He did it on self-created shots too.’" - N/A
Brooklyn Nets
"On where the roster stands now: What we’re excited about is the depth of legitimate NBA rotation players and potential rotation players we have now. Not to speak ill of last year’s team, but we were down to rookies and non-NBA-level players by the end of the year. This year, we’ve got depth and the kids are improving too." - A Nets assistant coach
"More on the roster: It’s a work in progress. Unless you are the Thunder or the Spurs or the Knicks, I don’t know how you feel like you roster is ‘done’," - A Nets front office executive
"We probably still lean a little too young, to be honest. The good news is that adding guys like Julius (Randle), Keon (Ellis) and Moe (Wagner) will help these guys grow up a lot. Those are real, physical, sometimes nasty, NBA guys. I can’t wait to watch them help our young guys grow." - A Nets front office executive
"On Egor Demin: He’s a lot more comfortable going into Year 2. I think from the pre-draft process, all the way through his rookie year, we probably over-indexed on his three-point shot too much. I mean Egor, his trainers, our front office, our coaches, everyone. You saw out here (at Summer League), that he was getting downhill more. This year is about putting him in even better spots to shine as an all-around player." - A Nets front office executive
"On Mikel Brown Jr.: You’re probably going to hear this about every guy, including A.J. (Dybantsa) at No. 1, but we feel like Mikel is the steal of the draft. He was a little wild here (at Summer League) and in California (at California Classic Summer League), but that’ll round out with time. Having him go against Keon (Ellis) and Terance (Mann) every day in practice is going to be huge for him." - A Nets front office executive
Charlotte Hornets
"On the LaMelo Ball trade: When you trade someone as good and as popular as LaMelo, you have to get it right. We think we did. Coby (White) is a starting point guard. Brandon (Miller) needs a new deal and he needs the ball more. Same with Kon (Knueppel) as far as needing the ball. Getting all of those picks, plus Naz Reid to help our frontcourt, it was the right move at the right time." - A Hornets front office executive
"On where the roster stands now: (laughs) Well, we have a lot of guys! So, we’ll keep tinkering until camp. I think by the time camp starts, we owe it to our coaching staff to have things mostly in place. We’re excited about the depth we have now across all positions. That should make for a competitive camp." - A Hornets front office executive
"On Liam McNeeley’s play in Las Vegas: He showed why he was a first-round pick. Liam’s college year got messed up by a bad ankle injury. He made no excuses, but it wasn’t right for a lot of his rookie year either. This kid is a big-time shooter. There’s no shot he can’t make: off the dribble, on the move, spot-up, going to his right or left. He’s just a pure shooter and scorer. Big leap coming for Liam in Year 2." - A Hornets assistant coach
"On the big man rotation: Last year we went into the season knowing Moussa (Diabate) was better than anyone else knew. We hoped Ryan Kalkbrenner would give us something. We hoped Grant Williams would come back and give us a small-ball option at the five. All three happened. Now, we add Naz Reid and Hannes Steinbach to that mix? That’s real depth and they’re all different kinds of players. That’ll give (head coach) Charles (Lee) a lot to work with this season." - A Hornets front office executive
"Keep an eye on Sion James. Charlotte put the ball in his hands a lot in the games he played at Summer League. He didn’t shoot well on self-created shots, but his passing looked a lot better. And his defense remains terrific. Perimeter defense remains a weak spot for the Hornets, but James playing even more will help that a lot." - N/A
Chicago Bulls
"On the roster rebuild: Well, we’re just getting started. It’s going to take a bit to get thing where we want them, but we feel like we’re already building a new identity for what we want to be." - A Bulls front office executive
"On Caleb Wilson: As things became more and more clear with the draft process, we knew we couldn’t go wrong with whatever guy was on the board when we picked. That being said, Caleb is the kind of guy you dream about building your franchise around. We couldn’t be happier to have him." - A Bulls front office executive
"On the Caleb Wilson/Matas Buzelis pairing: Buzelis plays like he’s trying to destroy everyone in his path. He plays so angry, but in a good way. And now you add Wilson, who has his boulder-sized chip on his shoulder about being picked fourth. Yeah, good luck. Those guys are going to be really good together for a long time." - A rival scout
"On adding veteran talent to the roster: We want our young guys to play meaningful games. Adding guys like Nic (Claxton) and Norman (Powell) will help us stay competitive from the start of the year. We also have a bunch of vets like Tre (Jones), Zach (Collins), Jalen (Smith) and Isaac (Okoro) to help Matas (Buzelis), Caleb (Wilson), Dailyn (Swain), Rob (Dillingham) and Noa (Essengue) throughout the long year too." - A Bulls front office executive
"You don’t want to overreact to Summer League either way by being too positive or too negative. But Dailyn Swain looks like he has a long way to go. Everything looked like it was moving a little fast for him. On the flip side, Tobe Awaka is going to force his way on the floor eventually. His energy, hustle, rebounding and defense will endear him to the coaching staff immediately." - N/A
Cleveland Cavaliers
"Note: Cavs folks were reluctant to talk much, because of the uncertainty around the roster. That’s why this section might be a bit light." - N/A
"On Donovan Mitchell’s extension: Had to get him signed. He’s a superstar and he wants to be in Cleveland. We don’t take that for granted at all. I know you think the latter years might get rough, but we know how Donovan prepares himself and his body. We think he’ll age just fine." - A Cavaliers front office executive
