Latest news with #NBA-record
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cade Cunningham's All-NBA nod made him extra $45 million: How it affects Pistons cap space
Cade Cunningham just made himself an extra $45 million. Cunningham was officially named third-Team All-NBA on Friday, May 23, before Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. It means Cunningham's five-year, $224 million contract extension signed in July 2024 has ballooned to $269 million over five years. Advertisement The All-NBA honor puts a golden stamp on the breakout season for the 23-year-old Cunningham, in which he earned an All-Star berth and led the Detroit Pistons to their best season in 17 years. Free Press Pistons beat writer Omari Sankofa II voted Cunningham to the second team on his official ballot cast immediately after the regular season. LOOKING AHEAD: Jalen Rose has simple offseason plan for Detroit Pistons: 'Just get healthy' It was a career year for Cunningham, the 2021 No. 1 overall pick out of Oklahoma State, who averaged 26.1 points, 9.1 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game to firmly establish himself among the top guards in the NBA. The Pistons finished 44-38 — tying their best record since 2007-08 — and snapped a 17-year streak without a playoff win. Advertisement Cunningham averaged 25 points on 42.6% shooting, 8.7 assists (to 5.3 turnovers) and 8.3 rebounds in the six-game first-round playoff series loss to the New York Knicks, but helped the Pistons steal two road wins, stopping the franchise's NBA-record 15-game playoff losing streak. He's the first Piston to make an All-NBA roster since Blake Griffin was named third-team All-NBA in 2018-19, which was the last time the team made the playoffs until this season. Cade Cunningham max contract increases with All-NBA nod Pistons guard Cade Cunningham celebrates his blocked shot with forward Tobias Harris at the buzzer, leading to a 122-121 win against the Atlanta Hawks at Little Caesars Arena on Nov. 8, 2024 in Detroit. Cunningham is due for a massive raise next season, which will be the first season of the maximum rookie extension he signed last summer. His five-year, $224 million contract — 25% of the NBA cap in Year 1 — will increase to 30% of the cap because of the "Derrick Rose" rule, which a player qualifies for if they make an All-NBA team before the extension kicks in. Advertisement It bumps the total value of Cunningham's max contract to $269 million, a $45 million increase in all, or $9 million per year on average. That's an increase from $44.8 average annual value to $53.8 million. Cunningham's starting salary in 2025-26 will increase from $38.6 million to $46.4 million. Cunningham made $45.6 million over his four-year rookie contract. He was the first Pistons draft pick to sign a max rookie extension with the team since Andre Drummond signed did so in 2016 for five years and $127 million. ANALYSIS: How Pistons can crush 2025 offseason and earn 'A' grade Pistons cap space affected by Cade Cunningham contract Cunningham's All-NBA nod reduces the Pistons' cap space in the 2025 offseason from around $27 million to roughly $19 million. Advertisement The Pistons have enough money and resources to bring back some of their veterans, with Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., Dennis Schröder and Paul Reed all entering unrestricted free agency. It's ultimately a good problem to have, but it will make navigating their cap down the road a little tricker as center Jalen Duren, guard Jaden Ivey and other young players become eligible for their own rookie extensions. [ MUST WATCH: Make "The Pistons Pulse" your go-to Detroit Pistons podcast, listen available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ] Follow the Pistons all year long with the best coverage at Advertisement Submit a letter to the editor at and we may publish it online or in print. Follow the Detroit Free Press on Instagram (@detroitfreepress), TikTok (@detroitfreepress), YouTube (@DetroitFreePress), X (@freep), and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook (@detroitfreepress). This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cade Cunningham contract: How All-NBA nod affects Pistons cap space
Edmonton Journal
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Edmonton Journal
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins NBA MVP, now Canada's best ever
Article content The Thunder outscored opponents by an NBA-record 12.9 points per game, which meant Gilgeous-Alexander sat out a number of entire fourth quarters because the team's lead was so comfortable. Gilgeous-Alexander also has plenty of runway. He's only 26, while Nash was 31 when he won MVP for the first time. By then Nash was done playing for the Canadian national team. Gilgeous-Alexander helped them win bronze at the World Cup two summers ago and qualify for the Olympics for the first time since the Nash-led team made it in 2000. They will try again for a medal in Los Angeles in 2028. Expect Gilgeous-Alexander to pick up plenty more hardware before then as he builds his case as the best Canadian baller ever. He wasn't going there about a year and half ago when he told reporters in response to Stephon Marbury saying he was the greatest: 'I appreciate that, but Steve is still ahead of me. I'm going to try to catch him, but he's still ahead of me.' With Wednesday's win and Oklahoma City on the precipice of a trip to the NBA Final and perhaps more, that's no longer the case.
San Francisco Chronicle
17-05-2025
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Celtics have an uncertain future with Jayson Tatum's injury, huge payroll to confront
BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Celtics entered this season with hopes of ending the NBA's six-season drought without a repeat champion. With a mostly unaltered roster led by All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they looked like a team poised to do it after romping through the regular season and posting their second straight 60-win season while earning the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. But it all thudded to the surface in the postseason, cemented by Boston's 4-2 conference semifinals loss to a New York Knicks team that it had previously dominated this season. The Celtics are now the sixth consecutive NBA champion to fail to make it out of the second round the following season. Just as painful as getting dethroned at NBA champions was the devastating ruptured Achilles tendon injury to Tatum late in Game 4, which sidelined him for the final two games of the series. The 27-year-old is now staring at a rehabilitation process that will knock him out for most, if not all, of next season. It casted a pall not only over the remainder of the New York series but has thrust the Celtics' future into uncertainty heading into the offseason. That sentiment was clearly on Brown's mind in the aftermath of their elimination as he tried to offer Boston's fans some hope. 'This journey is not the end. It's not the end for me. I look forward to coming back stronger. You just take this with the chin up,' Brown said. 'I know, Boston, it looks gloomy right now obviously with JT being out, and us ending the year, but there's a lot to look forward to. I want the city to feel excited about that. This is not the end.' But it may not be that simple. Boston's payroll this season put it over the salary cap and will make them a luxury-tax team for the third consecutive season. It means they will be hit with a 'repeater tax' penalty for being over the cap threshold in three out of four seasons. With payroll for next season on track to come in around $225 million, next year's tax bill would be at almost $280 million. The combined potential $500 million total price tag would be a league record. It is unclear whether the team's incoming ownership will want to keep paying those hefty penalties to maintain the current roster after agreeing to a purchase in March that is expected to have a final price of a minimum of $6.1 billion. It could mean belt tightening in some fashion this offseason with 11 players currently under contract. Tatum signed an NBA-record five-year, $314 million contract last July that will begin next season and pay him $54 million. Brown is playing under a five-year, $304 million deal that kicked in this season. He will make $53 million next season. That is followed by Jrue Holiday ($32 million), Kristaps Porzingis ($30 million), Derrick White ($28 million) and Sam Hauser ($10 million). Of the top nine rotation players this season, only veteran Al Horford and Luke Kornet are free agents. But there are concerns beyond the financial ones. Porzingis's health will also be in the spotlight after he was hampered throughout the latter part of the regular season and playoffs with a lingering viral illness that sapped him of strength and rendered him a virtual nonfactor against the Knicks. Though he said he doesn't think it will be a long-term thing. 'The best thing I need right now is just to rest. Just get somewhere in the sun and just let the rest of my system even itself out,' he said. One positive sign is that he said he plans to still play for home country Latvia in EuroBasket this summer. Then there's Brown, who entered this postseason dealing with a right knee issue but was able to play through it. He has said he's unsure whether it will require surgery this offseason. Even with that uncertainty, Brown's optimism remains high, although he acknowledged tough times may be ahead. 'Losing to the Knicks feels like death,' he said. 'But I was always taught there's life after death.'
17-05-2025
- Sport
Celtics have an uncertain future with Jayson Tatum's injury, huge payroll to confront
BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics entered this season with hopes of ending the NBA's six-season drought without a repeat champion. With a mostly unaltered roster led by All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they looked like a team poised to do it after romping through the regular season and posting their second straight 60-win season while earning the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. But it all thudded to the surface in the postseason, cemented by Boston's 4-2 conference semifinals loss to a New York Knicks team that it had previously dominated this season. The Celtics are now the sixth consecutive NBA champion to fail to make it out of the second round the following season. Just as painful as getting dethroned at NBA champions was the devastating ruptured Achilles tendon injury to Tatum late in Game 4, which sidelined him for the final two games of the series. The 27-year-old is now staring at a rehabilitation process that will knock him out for most, if not all, of next season. It casted a pall not only over the remainder of the New York series but has thrust the Celtics' future into uncertainty heading into the offseason. That sentiment was clearly on Brown's mind in the aftermath of their elimination as he tried to offer Boston's fans some hope. 'This journey is not the end. It's not the end for me. I look forward to coming back stronger. You just take this with the chin up,' Brown said. 'I know, Boston, it looks gloomy right now obviously with JT being out, and us ending the year, but there's a lot to look forward to. I want the city to feel excited about that. This is not the end.' But it may not be that simple. Boston's payroll this season put it over the salary cap and will make them a luxury-tax team for the third consecutive season. It means they will be hit with a 'repeater tax' penalty for being over the cap threshold in three out of four seasons. With payroll for next season on track to come in around $225 million, next year's tax bill would be at almost $280 million. The combined potential $500 million total price tag would be a league record. It is unclear whether the team's incoming ownership will want to keep paying those hefty penalties to maintain the current roster after agreeing to a purchase in March that is expected to have a final price of a minimum of $6.1 billion. It could mean belt tightening in some fashion this offseason with 11 players currently under contract. Tatum signed an NBA-record five-year, $314 million contract last July that will begin next season and pay him $54 million. Brown is playing under a five-year, $304 million deal that kicked in this season. He will make $53 million next season. That is followed by Jrue Holiday ($32 million), Kristaps Porzingis ($30 million), Derrick White ($28 million) and Sam Hauser ($10 million). Of the top nine rotation players this season, only veteran Al Horford and Luke Kornet are free agents. But there are concerns beyond the financial ones. Porzingis's health will also be in the spotlight after he was hampered throughout the latter part of the regular season and playoffs with a lingering viral illness that sapped him of strength and rendered him a virtual nonfactor against the Knicks. Though he said he doesn't think it will be a long-term thing. 'The best thing I need right now is just to rest. Just get somewhere in the sun and just let the rest of my system even itself out,' he said. One positive sign is that he said he plans to still play for home country Latvia in EuroBasket this summer. Then there's Brown, who entered this postseason dealing with a right knee issue but was able to play through it. He has said he's unsure whether it will require surgery this offseason. Even with that uncertainty, Brown's optimism remains high, although he acknowledged tough times may be ahead. 'Losing to the Knicks feels like death,' he said. 'But I was always taught there's life after death.'
Hamilton Spectator
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Celtics have an uncertain future with Jayson Tatum's injury, huge payroll to confront
BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Celtics entered this season with hopes of ending the NBA's six-season drought without a repeat champion. With a mostly unaltered roster led by All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they looked like a team poised to do it after romping through the regular season and posting their second straight 60-win season while earning the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. But it all thudded to the surface in the postseason, cemented by Boston's 4-2 conference semifinals loss to a New York Knicks team that it had previously dominated this season. The Celtics are now the sixth consecutive NBA champion to fail to make it out of the second round the following season. Just as painful as getting dethroned at NBA champions was the devastating ruptured Achilles tendon injury to Tatum late in Game 4, which sidelined him for the final two games of the series. The 27-year-old is now staring at a rehabilitation process that will knock him out for most, if not all, of next season. It casted a pall not only over the remainder of the New York series but has thrust the Celtics' future into uncertainty heading into the offseason. That sentiment was clearly on Brown's mind in the aftermath of their elimination as he tried to offer Boston's fans some hope. 'This journey is not the end. It's not the end for me. I look forward to coming back stronger. You just take this with the chin up,' Brown said. 'I know, Boston, it looks gloomy right now obviously with JT being out, and us ending the year, but there's a lot to look forward to. I want the city to feel excited about that. This is not the end.' But it may not be that simple. Boston's payroll this season put it over the salary cap and will make them a luxury-tax team for the third consecutive season. It means they will be hit with a 'repeater tax' penalty for being over the cap threshold in three out of four seasons. With payroll for next season on track to come in around $225 million, next year's tax bill would be at almost $280 million. The combined potential $500 million total price tag would be a league record. It is unclear whether the team's incoming ownership will want to keep paying those hefty penalties to maintain the current roster after agreeing to a purchase in March that is expected to have a final price of a minimum of $6.1 billion. It could mean belt tightening in some fashion this offseason with 11 players currently under contract. Tatum signed an NBA-record five-year, $314 million contract last July that will begin next season and pay him $54 million. Brown is playing under a five-year, $304 million deal that kicked in this season. He will make $53 million next season. That is followed by Jrue Holiday ($32 million), Kristaps Porzingis ($30 million), Derrick White ($28 million) and Sam Hauser ($10 million). Of the top nine rotation players this season, only veteran Al Horford and Luke Kornet are free agents. But there are concerns beyond the financial ones. Porzingis's health will also be in the spotlight after he was hampered throughout the latter part of the regular season and playoffs with a lingering viral illness that sapped him of strength and rendered him a virtual nonfactor against the Knicks. Though he said he doesn't think it will be a long-term thing. 'The best thing I need right now is just to rest. Just get somewhere in the sun and just let the rest of my system even itself out,' he said. One positive sign is that he said he plans to still play for home country Latvia in EuroBasket this summer. Then there's Brown, who entered this postseason dealing with a right knee issue but was able to play through it. He has said he's unsure whether it will require surgery this offseason. Even with that uncertainty, Brown's optimism remains high, although he acknowledged tough times may be ahead. 'Losing to the Knicks feels like death,' he said. 'But I was always taught there's life after death.' ___ AP NBA:
