NBA Clubs Head Toward Training Camp With the Fewest Guaranteed Deals
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With most offseason business winding down, only four of the NBA’s 30 franchises are carrying 11 or fewer fully guaranteed contracts as of Friday, September 5. League-wide, seven teams already have the maximum 15 guaranteed deals, nine others sit at 14, and 10 carry 12 or 13. The remaining quartet—Atlanta, Cleveland, Golden State and New York—faces different roster questions before opening night.
Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta has 11 players on guaranteed money and four more on partial or non-guaranteed agreements. Swingman Vit Krejci appears safe thanks to a rotation role and a $1.5 million guarantee on his $2.35 million salary. Rookie center N’Faly Dante holds an $85,300 partial guarantee after signing an offer sheet Atlanta pried away from Houston, a sign the club intends to keep him.
Forward Caleb Houstan (40 percent from three last season) and 2023 second-rounder Mouhamed Gueye are on non-guaranteed minimums. Releasing any of the four would open a roster slot, but the Hawks could simply carry all 15 contracts into the season.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers also list 11 guaranteed salaries. Veteran forward Dean Wade owns a sizable partial guarantee, while guard Craig Porter Jr. is on a non-guaranteed minimum after productive spot minutes. That brings Cleveland to 13 standard contracts.
The club still needs a 14th player yet remains reluctant to push payroll higher than necessary; the Cavs already top the NBA salary chart and face a significant luxury-tax bill. Expect a partially guaranteed or fully non-guaranteed deal, likely for a guard or wing while Darius Garland (toe surgery) and Max Strus (foot surgery) recover. A non-guaranteed pact without an early trigger date would allow flexibility until the league-wide guarantee deadline of January 7.
Golden State Warriors
Golden State’s offseason is effectively on pause. The Warriors have only seven fully guaranteed contracts—four fewer than any other team—after finalizing draft-night trades on July 6. Both Trayce Jackson-Davis and Gui Santos are expected to stick on non-guaranteed deals, and restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga would be the 10th player once his situation is resolved.
The front office reportedly has handshake agreements with several free agents, led by Al Horford (taxpayer mid-level exception) and De’Anthony Melton (minimum). Additional names rumored include Seth Curry, Gary Payton II, and Malcolm Brogdon, plus second-round picks Will Richard and possibly Alex Toohey. Whether Golden State ultimately carries 14 or 15 players hinges on Kuminga’s next contract: an $8 million qualifying offer would leave far more room under the hard cap than the reported offer sheet beginning at $21.75 million.
New York Knicks
New York lists 11 guaranteed contracts and a 12th spot held by non-guaranteed center Ariel Hukporti. Waiving Hukporti is unlikely because his $1,955,377 cap hit provides crucial breathing room below the second-apron hard cap; a veteran minimum ($2,296,274) would squeeze that margin.
Given their limited flexibility, the Knicks can add one veteran on a minimum deal and one draft-rights player at the rookie minimum before bumping into the apron. Unless they shed salary via trade, New York cannot afford a 15th man until late in the season. Frequent churn of non-guaranteed contracts—a tactic teams such as Atlanta might use—would quickly burn the Knicks’ scarce cap space, explaining the deliberate pace in choosing their 13th and 14th players.
All four franchises must finalize decisions in the next six weeks, when training camps open and regular-season rosters lock at a maximum of 15 standard contracts.
Source: Hoops Rumors
