NBA draft, trade rumors, news roundup: Middleton opts out, Lakers trying to trade No. 17 pick

Things are moving fast as the NBA draft is less than 24 hours away. We’ve already had a couple of massive trades — Bradley Beal headed to Phoenix and now Kristaps Porzingis to Boston — with more moves to come.

Here is a roundup of the latest news and notes from around the NBA:

Khris Middleton opts out of $40.4 million, becomes free agent

At age 31 and coming off a season where he played just 31 games due to injury, Khris Middleton wants a little security. He wants a longer-term deal. To get it he has declined his $40.4 million player option for next season, something expected by most and a story officially broken by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The most likely outcome of this is Middleton re-signs with the Bucks, he is still a core part of what they do and this team is not a contender without him (or without Brook Lopez, another free agent this summer). Middleton is a three-time All-Star, an Olympic Gold Medalist, and a crucial part of the clutch offense around Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Middleton may have other options, although the other contenders would need to do a sign-and-trade (he’s not headed to Houston as a free agent). The Bucks front office has to pay up, but this is fast becoming an old and expensive team and changes will be coming. Eventually. Probably just not this summer.

Lakers look to package No. 17 pick with player (Bamba, Beasley) for Hield, Turner, others

It wouldn’t be a trade season if the Lakers weren’t linked to Buddy Hield and Myles Turner.

That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, but they are going to try. Heading into Thursday night’s draft the Lakers are more likely to trade the No. 17 pick in the draft than use it, looking for short-term upgrades to their win-now roster. The ideal situation, as laid out by Jovan Buha at The Athletic, is to combine the No. 17 pick with a player such as Mo Bamba or Malik Beasley to land a starter-caliber player, or maybe a little more than that. What kind of player? Myles Turner and/or Buddy Hield from the Pacers, Dorian Finney-Smith or Royce O'Neale of the Nets, Gary Trent Jr. of the Raptors. My sense talking to people around the league is the pick and Beasley (who has value as a shooter) is not enough to land the guys mentioned, although Finney-Smith and O’Neal out of Brooklyn may be close. It only takes one GM to make it work. Either way, look for the Lakes to trade the pick.

It looks more and more like Hornets take Brandon Miller with No. 2 pick

This isn’t a surprise, but there were questions. Buzz had circulated almost since the night of the NBA Draft Lottery that the Hornets were leaning toward taking Brandon Miller No. 2 over Scoot Henderson. That has only picked up steam in the last 24 hours, with people such as Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN saying as much.

We have Miller going No. 2 in our consensus NBA Mock Draft of the lottery.

Denver adds 29th, 32nd pick in draft through trade with Pacers

While Phoenix is busting through the second tax apron to try and build a contender through raw spending power, the Denver Nuggets have figured out how to play the game with the new CBA: Lock up your core and surround them with young, promising, inexpensive players. Guys like Christian Braun, who played key minutes in the playoffs for Denver.

Which is why the Nuggets traded a first-round pick in 2024 and the 40th pick this season to the Pacers for the 29th and 32nd picks in this draft, a story reported by Tim MacMahon of ESPN. If Denver can hit on a contributor on one of those two picks, they have added affordable depth to a roster, allowing them to keep more of their core together. Expect a lot of contenders to make similar moves in the coming years, but it requires good drafting by the front office and player development by the coaching staff.

76ers getting calls about Tobias Harris, asking a lot in return

If James Harden returns to Philadelphia — as expected around the league — the 76ers have a question to answer: How much do they want to pay their fourth offensive option?

Tobias Harris is about to make $39.3 million in the final year of his contract, and the 76ers are getting calls about him, reports Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Who is calling? The Indiana Pacers are the frontrunners, but the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons have checked in as well. The report says the 76ers are asking for “outrageous packages in return,” which sounds like Daryl Morey and also how every negotiation begins.

Nets told Mikal Bridges they will not trade him

The Nets see Mikal Bridges as a foundational part of their future. So much so they are not willing to give him up even for the No. 3 pick in this draft — and they told Bridges as much, the young guard told Brian Lewis of the New York Post.

No doubt teams have told players, “We’re not going to trade you” only to turn right around and trade them before, but it doesn’t sound like the Nets are going down that road.

NBA informs teams of new salary cap numbers, they are a little higher than expected

It turns out that teams will have a few more million dollars to spend in free agency. The NBA informed teams of the new salary cap numbers in a memo and it’s good news for the teams’ pocketbooks (and player pocket books). Shams Charania of The Athletic sums it up nicely.

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NBA draft, trade rumors, news roundup: Middleton opts out, Lakers trying to trade No. 17 pick originally appeared on NBCSports.com