As the NBA world speeds along toward free agency and other concurrent roster moves, the picture will start to become clearer and clearer. This time of the year, one of the biggest and most reliable news-breakers and rumor-mongers around the league is Marc Stein.
Stein has been an NBA beat writer forever but now he writes a weekly substack and cohosts a podcast with Chris Haynes; both are great sources for NBA transaction content. On Sunday, Stein unloaded a plethora of intel, mostly related to the upcoming free agency cycle.
It’s NBA Draft Week Eve and so, for the second night in a row, here are lots and lots of around-the-league notes for you: https://t.co/NjOQdbIODN https://t.co/wbK2AEStGy pic.twitter.com/GB3gRiBkoW
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 23, 2024
He focused on some of the marquee names like Paul George, Brandon Ingram, and Jimmy Butler, but he also shed some light on a situation that is near and dear to Nuggets fans; what’s next for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope?
Caldwell-Pope likely to decline player option
As we all know by now, KCP has a $15.4 million player-option for next season which he must decide on before the end of June. All signs point to him opting out and becoming an unrestricted free agent, which was further confirmed by Stein.
He stated that it is “increasingly expected” that KCP will decline his option, hitting free agency to “field richer offers” on the open market. He also mentioned a report from Haynes indicating that KCP and the Nuggets will try to come to terms on a long-term extension before unrestricted free agency begins next Sunday.
76ers and Magic interested in acquiring Caldwell-Pope
Stein also called Caldwell-Pope one of the free agents who will be “most in-demand” this summer and specifically mentioned the 76ers and Magic as two contenders with cap space who are primed to offer big deals to KCP.
Overall this is a mixed bag of news and shouldn’t make Nuggets fans any more nervous than they already were. We’ve known that Caldwell-Pope was almost certain to opt-out, we’ve known that teams with cap space (like Philly and Orlando) would likely make a run at him, and we’ve known he’d be one of the most coveted free agents in a weak class; none of this is breaking news.
But it is nice to hear that the teams are expected to be negotiating up until next Sunday and it offers hope that the two sides might be able to reach an agreement on a long-term extension that keeps KCP in Denver without him ever hitting the market. Stay tuned; this story likely has a long way to go!