| The Waive and Stretch Welcome back to The Waive and Stretch Newsletter, after a holiday week off. A quick shameless plug to note that I am looking to work in basketball in any capacity and would love to connect with anyone in the industry or trying to break in. Please feel free to share this with anyone who you might find it interesting. Let's get into it! What Caught My Attention This Week The Beginning of Pre-Agency We are starting to enter into a period that I like to call pre-agency. Teams start to get a feel on where they stand this season and what kind of value their players have. They also get a feel on what certain players are going to do with regards to player options or unrestricted free agency going into next year as well. Knowing this, these teams can look to deal players they know that are either going to opt out of their player options and are looking to sign lucrative new contracts, or unrestricted free agents who are likely to leave town. This way, teams can still try to recoup value. On the flip side, sometimes it is smart for teams to acquire soon-to-be free agents. If a team has no upcoming cap space, they can trade for a player and then acquire their bird rights in order to keep him around. Additionally, they can trade for one of the extension eligible rookies that weren't extended so that they can have the right of first refusal in restricted free agency. Or they can trade for a player on a rookie scale contract who will be extension eligible in the summer, a good way for capped out contenders to bring in young talent. There's been some chatter about potential deals caused by a players upcoming free agency, with Brian Windhorst discussing Kyle Kuzma garnering interest around the league, with the Wizards worried about Kuzma turning down his player option, and Zach Lowe discussing the possibility of the Raptors trading Fred Van Vleet due to the likelihood of him turning down his player option and becoming a free agent this offseason as well. I will get into the Pre-Agency player watchlist below, but keep an eye on any transactions that may be related to what is going to happen in the offseason. Three Things To Keep An Eye On This Season 1. Veteran Extensions That Can Still Be Traded This Year Al Horford's most recent contract extension for 2 years, $19.5 million marks another player who was extended but can still be traded this year. Any player who signs an extension for no more than two new years and no more than 5% raises is not trade restricted for six months. Horford joins players like Bojan Bogdanovic, Steven Adams, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope,that have signed extensions that have kept them trade-eligible. I wonder if this is something that teams like to keep as a sticking point in extension negotiations, to maintain flexibility going forward this season. But I think that players agreeing to extensions should try to negotiate a raise of more than 5% just to ensure that they can't be trade this season, similar to what Larry Nance did in his deal. 2. Andrew Nembhard Andrew Nembhard is looking like a nice find in the second round for the Indiana Pacers. He's averaging 7.8 points and 4.2 assists per game on a very solid 58.2% True Shooting. He's started half their games and has proven to be at the least a solid rotation guard and a plus defender, which you can read about here by the great Caitlin Cooper. As he was the 31st pick in the draft, Nembhard was able to secure a pretty strong contract for a second round pick. He got a full three years, or $6.4 million, guaranteed at signing. It will be interesting to see down the line if the team picks up that fourth year team option or if they decline it so that Nembhard could enter into restricted free agency instead of unrestricted a year later. It is a while off, but we could see another Jalen Brunson scenario with Nembhard. 3. Checking In With Bol Bol I previously wrote about Bol Bol here in the very first Waive and Stretch. At the time, I wasn't sure if what we were seeing was real or just a flash in the pan. Through 24 games, there is no doubt that Bol is legit. He's averaging 12.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game on a ridiculous 67.4% True Shooting. He has been one of the best players on the Orlando Magic this year. He's 4th in the league in total blocks and is one of two players in the league to have hit at least 15 threes this year while blocking at least 45 shots, along with Brook Lopez. And he still has at least one insane highlight every game. Check this one out: The Magic appear to have struck gold with Bol, but unfortunately he only has one more season under contract after this year before he is an unrestricted free agent. The Magic cannot extend him either as he only signed a two year deal. I'm intrigued to see what kind of deal Bol gets down the line once he hits free agency. Pre-Agency Player Watchlist Here is a look at the players that could be on the move before they hit free agency this offseason, by category. The Rookie Scale Guys Who Weren't Extended PJ Washington Rui Hachimura Matisse Thybulle Coby White Jaxson Hayes Grant Williams Cam Reddish Cameron Johnson The Guys Who Have A Player Option But Not Really Because They Are Going To Turn It Down And Get Paid Fred Van Vleet Kyle Kuzma Khris Middleton The 50/50 Player Option Guys Kristaps Porzingis Gary Trent Jr Josh Hart The Guys Who Their Current Team Might Not Want To Pay Harrison Barnes Dillon Brooks Terrence Ross Jae Crowder Nikola Vucevic Reggie Jackson Myles Turner D'Angelo Russell Josh Richardson Fake Trade of the Week Dallas Mavericks Receive: Terry Rozier Charlotte Hornets Receive: Davis Bertans, 2026 DAL 1st, 2027 DAL 2nd Estimate Player Value Updates Current Year Top Ten Full list here Life of Contract top ten Full list here |
Welcome back to The Waive and Stretch Newsletter, after a holiday week off. A quick shameless plug to note that I am looking to work in basketball in any capacity and would love to connect with anyone in the industry or trying to break in. Please feel free to share this with anyone who you might find it interesting. Let's get into it! | |
What Caught My Attention This Week | |
The Beginning of Pre-Agency
We are starting to enter into a period that I like to call pre-agency. Teams start to get a feel on where they stand this season and what kind of value their players have. They also get a feel on what certain players are going to do with regards to player options or unrestricted free agency going into next year as well. Knowing this, these teams can look to deal players they know that are either going to opt out of their player options and are looking to sign lucrative new contracts, or unrestricted free agents who are likely to leave town. This way, teams can still try to recoup value. On the flip side, sometimes it is smart for teams to acquire soon-to-be free agents. If a team has no upcoming cap space, they can trade for a player and then acquire their bird rights in order to keep him around. Additionally, they can trade for one of the extension eligible rookies that weren't extended so that they can have the right of first refusal in restricted free agency. Or they can trade for a player on a rookie scale contract who will be extension eligible in the summer, a good way for capped out contenders to bring in young talent. There's been some chatter about potential deals caused by a players upcoming free agency, with Brian Windhorst discussing Kyle Kuzma garnering interest around the league, with the Wizards worried about Kuzma turning down his player option, and Zach Lowe discussing the possibility of the Raptors trading Fred Van Vleet due to the likelihood of him turning down his player option and becoming a free agent this offseason as well. I will get into the Pre-Agency player watchlist below, but keep an eye on any transactions that may be related to what is going to happen in the offseason. | |
Three Things To Keep An Eye On This Season
| |
1. Veteran Extensions That Can Still Be Traded This Year
Al Horford's most recent contract extension for 2 years, $19.5 million marks another player who was extended but can still be traded this year. Any player who signs an extension for no more than two new years and no more than 5% raises is not trade restricted for six months. Horford joins players like Bojan Bogdanovic, Steven Adams, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope,that have signed extensions that have kept them trade-eligible. I wonder if this is something that teams like to keep as a sticking point in extension negotiations, to maintain flexibility going forward this season. But I think that players agreeing to extensions should try to negotiate a raise of more than 5% just to ensure that they can't be trade this season, similar to what Larry Nance did in his deal. | |
2. Andrew Nembhard
Andrew Nembhard is looking like a nice find in the second round for the Indiana Pacers. He's averaging 7.8 points and 4.2 assists per game on a very solid 58.2% True Shooting. He's started half their games and has proven to be at the least a solid rotation guard and a plus defender, which you can read about here by the great Caitlin Cooper. As he was the 31st pick in the draft, Nembhard was able to secure a pretty strong contract for a second round pick. He got a full three years, or $6.4 million, guaranteed at signing. It will be interesting to see down the line if the team picks up that fourth year team option or if they decline it so that Nembhard could enter into restricted free agency instead of unrestricted a year later. It is a while off, but we could see another Jalen Brunson scenario with Nembhard. | |
3. Checking In With Bol Bol
I previously wrote about Bol Bol here in the very first Waive and Stretch. At the time, I wasn't sure if what we were seeing was real or just a flash in the pan. Through 24 games, there is no doubt that Bol is legit. He's averaging 12.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game on a ridiculous 67.4% True Shooting. He has been one of the best players on the Orlando Magic this year. He's 4th in the league in total blocks and is one of two players in the league to have hit at least 15 threes this year while blocking at least 45 shots, along with Brook Lopez. And he still has at least one insane highlight every game. Check this one out: | |
The Magic appear to have struck gold with Bol, but unfortunately he only has one more season under contract after this year before he is an unrestricted free agent. The Magic cannot extend him either as he only signed a two year deal. I'm intrigued to see what kind of deal Bol gets down the line once he hits free agency.
| |
Pre-Agency Player Watchlist
Here is a look at the players that could be on the move before they hit free agency this offseason, by category.
The Rookie Scale Guys Who Weren't Extended
PJ Washington
Rui Hachimura
Matisse Thybulle
Coby White
Jaxson Hayes
Grant Williams
Cam Reddish
Cameron Johnson
The Guys Who Have A Player Option But Not Really Because They Are Going To Turn It Down And Get Paid
Fred Van Vleet
Kyle Kuzma
Khris Middleton
The 50/50 Player Option Guys
Kristaps Porzingis
Gary Trent Jr
Josh Hart
The Guys Who Their Current Team Might Not Want To Pay
Harrison Barnes
Dillon Brooks
Terrence Ross
Jae Crowder
Nikola Vucevic
Reggie Jackson
Myles Turner
D'Angelo Russell
Josh Richardson
Fake Trade of the Week
Dallas Mavericks Receive: Terry Rozier
Charlotte Hornets Receive: Davis Bertans, 2026 DAL 1st, 2027 DAL 2nd
| |
Estimate Player Value Updates
Current Year Top Ten
| |
|
|
| |
|
