NBA free agency rumors roundup: Chris Paul pushes back deadline, LeBron to opt-out then re-sign

Apr 7, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Chris Paul (3) celebrates after beating the Utah Jazz at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports

The 2024 NBA Draft is in the rear-view mirror, where somehow the No. 55 pick outshined the deserving No. 1. The Knicks already made their bold offseason move to acquire Mikal Bridges and become a genuine threat to the Celtics.

And NBA free agency hasn't even started. Things officially tip-off Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern, but to state the obvious, the NBA is a tampering league, and talks are already going on, which means rumors are flying. And a few deals are already made. Here is all the latest from around the NBA's free agency rumor mill.

• Chris Paul, Warriors agree to push back guarantee date until Sunday. In a sign that the Warriors are looking for ways to make a trade that includes Chris Paul, the Warriors and CP3 agreed to push back his $30 million contract guarantee deal until Sunday, a story broken by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Paul's guarantee date was today (Friday, June 28), and if push came to shove, Golden State probably would have let him walk. Paul likely gets a little money for agreeing to this, but it's also in his interest.

Golden State is going to look very different next season, with Klay Thompson somewhere else — it's just going to be weird to see him in any other jersey — and Paul likely gone as well. The question is who comes in to replace them? Don't be shocked if a big trade is coming.

• Paul George remains the biggest domino in free agency. George wants the full four-year, $221 max contract the Clippers can offer him. That's not on the table, something that's not a secret and was echoed by the well-connected Tomer Azarly of Clutch Points.

The Clippers offer for George remains a three-year deal worth slightly under the three-year, $149 million extension that Kawhi Leonard signed in January 2024, league sources tell ClutchPoints. Leonard took a roughly $10 million pay cut over the life of the deal and elected to sign for one fewer year at three total years after declining his option for the 2024-25 season...

That never got done, and in the last few weeks, it's grown increasingly likely that George will either opt into the final year of his deal in order to facilitate a trade to a team willing to offer him the four-year deal he desires or opt-out and test the free agency market. Either way, his time with the Clippers appears to be nearing an end.

League sources NBC has spoken with lean toward the opt-in and trade scenario. The question becomes what team is going to step forward with a package of players and picks — totaling $48 million to match salaries — that the Clippers will agree to. Would a trade with the Warriors (Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga and picks) get the deal done, or is Steve Ballmer and company shooting down a trade in their division? A lot of questions hang out there.

• LeBron James expected to opt-out of $51.4 million, then re-sign with Lakers. History suggests LeBron James will use his potential free agency this summer as leverage to get the Lakers to upgrade the roster in the short term and anything else he may want (like hiring a specific coach or maybe making a specific draft pick at No. 55) then re-sign with the team. That's what TNT/Bleacher Reports’ Chris Haynes said in a chat Friday he has heard will happen, and it's been the expectation from a lot of people around the league. If he opts out and re-signs, the max the Lakers can offer is three years, $162 million (down from $164 million if he had opted in and extended), and the Lakers can give him a no-trade clause. There has been speculation LeBron could take less than the max, allowing the Lakers to use the full mid-level exception to add to the roster — maybe, he wants to win, but that would be out of character with his historical behavior.

Good luck finding anyone around the league who thinks LeBron is leaving the Lakers. It's seen as a foregone conclusion.

• Charlotte waives Seth Curry but is a favorite to re-sign sharpshooter. Seth Curry, one of the best pure shooters in the league, had a $4 million team option for this season and Charlotte has chosen to waive him, but they want to bring him back, reports Wojnarowski.

• Momentum growing toward D'Angelo Russell exercising $18.7 million option to stay with Lakers. There is nothing certain about this, but momentum may have shifted toward Russell deciding to pick up his option and stay with the Lakers. Here is ESPN’s Brian Windhorst talking on “First Take.”

"To be honest with you, I don't have a great feel for what this is going to be, I thought maybe a month or so ago, D'Angelo would opt out. Now, I think there's a chance, a stronger chance he will opt in, because the market isn't looking so great right now. We can talk about that later, but I'm now kind of leaning that direction."

Russell likely believed he would get a multi-year deal worth north of $20 million a season, but that may not be out there, so he can return to the Lakers for $18.7 million and show his value. Russell can get buckets, he averaged 18 points and 6.3 assists a game last season, but around the league some question now much he lifts up those around him. Changes are coming to the Lakers, we'll see if Russell is among them.

• Toronto to pick up $23 million option on Bruce Brown. The second year of Bruce Brown's two-year, $45 million deal — the one that pulled him away from the Nuggets — was a team option. The Raptors, who acquired Brown from the Pacers in the Pascal Siakam trade, will pick up that option, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The hope is both for a bounce-back year for Brown, and that salary will be valuable in a lot of potential trades the Raptors will look at this summer and into next season.

• James Borrego pulls out of running for Pistons coaching job. This isn't directly a free-agent rumor, but it's interesting. From the moment that Monty Williams was fired Borrego became a frontrunner for the Detroit job because of his New Orleans ties to new GM Trajan Langdon. now comes a report from Chris Haynes that Borrego has pulled out in Detroit. Interesting. It could be face-saving for Borrego because the Pistons were about to hire someone else, it could be something else entirely. Look for another top assistant such as Micah Nori (Minnesota) and Sean Sweeney (Dallas) to get the job.

• P.J. Tucker staying with the Clippers. As expected, P.J. Tucker picked up his $11.5 million player option.

• Evan Fournier not returning to Pistons. Also not surprisingly, the Pistons will not pick up Evan Fournier’s $19 million team option. He is expected to return to play in Europe.

• Jason Richardson returning to Heat. Josh Richardson is picking up his $3 million player option to return to Miami, Shams Charania reports at The Athletic. Richardson was out the final months of the season with a shoulder injury.