Curry signs for $116MM, Hield is traded twice in five days, and the NBA roster board for Sep. 21–28
The Sep. 21–28 board turns on two-year extensions for Stephen Curry and Kawhi Leonard, Buddy Hield's two trades in five days, and Jalen Duren skipping camp with a five-year, $200MM offer unsigned.
The window here is Sep. 21–28, 2026. Two stars deep into their careers signed extensions of the same length, one shooter was traded twice in five days, and Detroit's All-NBA centre skipped the opening of camp with the largest offer on his table still unsigned.
The board at a glance
| Player or lane | Status | Verified development | Contract, cap or roster mechanism | Next signal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buddy Hield, Hawks → Hornets → Bulls | Completed, twice | Atlanta sent Hield, Ryan Nembhard and cash to Charlotte for Dorian Finney-Smith on Sept. 22; Chicago then acquired Hield and cash from Charlotte for Rob Dillingham on Sept. 26, and both clubs announced the second deal the next morning. 12 | Hield makes $9.7MM this season and holds a partially guaranteed $10.1MM player option for 2027/28. 2 | Whether Chicago carries him to the February deadline. 2 |
| Dorian Finney-Smith, Hawks | Completed | Atlanta acquired him on Sept. 22 to clear a roster crunch without waiving the injured Mouhamed Gueye. 13 | $14.2MM in 2026/27 with no guaranteed money beyond it; the move left Atlanta about $1.7MM under the tax line with a $2.15MM trade exception. 1 | Atlanta's final standard roster spot. 4 |
| Kawhi Leonard, Raptors | Completed | Two-year, $115MM extension completed Sept. 22 and logged by the league. 5 | Carries a player option for 2028/29. The Over-38 rule capped the term at two years and the maximum at about $124MM, and Leonard waived a trade kicker worth roughly $7.5MM. 5 | Toronto's 2027/28 sheet, at about $178MM for seven players against a projected $176MM cap. 5 |
| Stephen Curry, Warriors | Completed | Two-year, $116MM extension announced Sept. 25. 67 | $20.7MM below the $136.7MM maximum, with a player option for 2028/29; $62.6MM this season and $55.7MM in 2027/28, plus a six-month trade restriction. 7 | Golden State's 2027 cap room, which turns on the player options held by Al Horford and De'Anthony Melton. 7 |
| D'Angelo Russell, Grizzlies | Completed, waived | Waived Sept. 25 to resolve a roster crunch; Memphis signed rookie guard Brendan Hausen the same day. 8 | Memphis owes his fully guaranteed $5.97MM and still carries 17 guaranteed contracts plus Jaylen Wells on a partial deal. 8 | Whether Russell clears waivers to a playoff contender. 8 |
| Jalen Duren, Pistons | Stalled | Declining a five-year, $200MM fully guaranteed offer, and will miss media day and the start of camp. 910 | His only leverage is the $9.6MM qualifying offer, due Oct. 1; taking it means leaving at least $190MM in guaranteed money behind, and he would need a maximum deal next summer to break even. 910 | The Oct. 1 qualifying-offer deadline, with camp already open. 11 |
| Dwight Powell, Mavericks | Pending roster space | Re-signed Friday, but Dallas already carries 15 players on standard contracts. 11 | A veteran's minimum with a $1MM guarantee that rises to $1.5MM if he survives opening night. 11 | Which of Marcus Sasser ($5.2MM), Tarik Biberovic ($3MM), Moussa Cisse ($2.2MM) or Caleb Martin gets moved. 11 |
| Pascal Siakam, Pacers | Exploratory | Extension-eligible for three years and about $207MM, and the front office declined to discuss it. 12 | Jarace Walker reaches the final year of his rookie contract in the same window. 12 | Whether Indiana opens talks before the season. 12 |
| Kristaps Porzingis, Warriors | Unavailable | Ruled out indefinitely Sept. 28 and left off the flight to camp in Hawaii. 13 | He signed a two-year, $40MM extension this summer and has managed postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome for the past season and a half. 13 | Whether Golden State gets him back before the regular season. 13 |
Two stars, the same two-year shape
Stephen Curry's extension is worth $116MM over two years and holds a player option for 2028/29. 7 He was eligible for $136.7MM, which puts the discount at $20.7MM, and the number lands $1MM above the $115MM Kawhi Leonard agreed to five days earlier. 7
The Over-38 rule capped both extensions at two years. 57 Leonard also ran into extend-and-trade restrictions, which limited him to a 20% raise in the first year of the new deal and 5% in the second, capping any offer at about $124MM. 5
Curry first finishes the $62.6MM he is owed for 2026/27 on the extension he signed in 2024, so the new money starts in 2027/28 at $55.7MM and runs through 2029 — his 20th season. 6 Only Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant and Udonis Haslem have played 20 seasons with a single franchise. 6 The deal also makes Curry the first player to pass $600MM in on-court earnings. 7
For Golden State, the interesting part sits one year out. Even with $55.7MM committed to Curry, the Warriors can create meaningful room next summer, depending on what Al Horford and De'Anthony Melton do with their player options. 7
Toronto's math is tighter. Leonard earns $50.3MM this season, and his extension pushes the Raptors to roughly $178MM for seven players in 2027/28, against a salary cap projected at $176MM. 5 RJ Barrett and Jamal Shead are both on expiring contracts in that same summer, and their next deals sit outside that $178MM figure. 5
Hield's five days: Atlanta to Charlotte to Chicago
Buddy Hield was traded twice inside a week, and the two deals together explain what three front offices were trying to fix.
On Sept. 22, Atlanta sent Hield, Ryan Nembhard and cash to Charlotte for Dorian Finney-Smith. 13 The Hawks carried 16 players on standard contracts and wanted to avoid waiving Mouhamed Gueye, who is on a non-guaranteed deal and recovering from foot surgery, so a two-for-one solved the crunch without a cut. 1 The trade moved Atlanta to about $1.7MM under the luxury tax line and produced a $2.15MM trade exception. 1 Finney-Smith earns $14.2MM this season, and Houston had already guaranteed only the first two years of the four-year, $52.7MM contract he signed there, so Atlanta can walk away next offseason at no cost. 1
Charlotte's side of that trade was payroll. The Hornets were carrying 18 standard contracts, 17 of them guaranteed, and had to reach 15 by opening night. 14 Waiving Nembhard costs little — his expiring $2,150,917 is the smallest guaranteed number on the roster — and Denver is interested in signing him to a two-way deal if he clears waivers. 14
Then Charlotte moved Hield again. On Sept. 26 the Hornets agreed to send him and cash to Chicago for Rob Dillingham, with both teams announcing it Sept. 27. 2 Hield is eligible to be traded immediately because his salary is not being aggregated with another player's. 2
The money runs the other way on the two contracts. Chicago takes on Hield at $9.7MM this season with a partially guaranteed $10.1MM player option for 2027/28, while Dillingham costs Charlotte $6.9MM and carries an $8.8MM team option for the following season that has to be exercised by Nov. 2. 2 Cash considerations in the deal cover the salary difference. 2 The Bulls pushed themselves over the cap temporarily and still sit $34.6MM below the tax; Charlotte used its Tyus Jones trade exception to absorb Dillingham, created a new $9.7MM exception for Hield, and fell to $25.6MM below the tax. 2
Hield, 33, is on his seventh trade in ten NBA seasons. 2 For Chicago he is a bench shooter, and the 34.9% he shot from three in 51 games split between Golden State and Atlanta last season was the worst mark of his career. 2 Dillingham arrived in Charlotte as the eighth pick of the 2024 draft on his third team, after averaging 9.6 points in 21.5 minutes across 30 games for the Bulls once they acquired him in February; Chicago's new front office had already moved on from him. 2 He lands next to Naz Reid, who was among his strongest supporters during their time together in Minnesota. 2
Detroit's standoff walks out of camp
Jalen Duren is declining Detroit's five-year, $200MM offer, which is fully guaranteed and carries no player or team option. 910 He skipped media day on Sept. 28 and will stay away from camp, and league rules bar him from team activities until his contract status is settled. 1011
His representatives say the dispute stopped being about money. Duren feels disrespected by the process, particularly after Detroit signed Ausar Thompson to a five-year, $155MM extension earlier this month and after earlier offers to him included weight clauses. 10 Those earlier offers sat in the $180–190MM range. 15
The leverage sits almost entirely with his qualifying offer. Signing it pays $9.6MM for one season and makes him an unrestricted free agent in 2027, and the document carries a de facto no-trade clause. 15 The deadline is Oct. 1, though it can be pushed back. 10 Walking away costs him at least $190MM in guaranteed money, and he would need a maximum contract next summer just to match Detroit's current five-year total. 910
Other teams are already lining up behind that date. Sacramento has indicated it would give him a maximum deal next offseason, and at least two other clubs — one of them Milwaukee — hold serious interest, both now and next year. 15 Detroit has rejected every sign-and-trade proposal it has received. 10
The case for the Pistons' number rests on the postseason. Duren made third-team All-NBA on 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 0.8 blocks at 65.0% shooting over 70 games, and then fell to 10.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in the playoffs, where he was often benched for Paul Reed. 10 The club has said all summer that it wants him long-term, and it waived Gary Harris on Sept. 27 — choosing Harris over Taurean Prince for the 14th spot — with the 15th reserved for Duren once his free agency resolves. 16
Three rosters trimming to fifteen
Media day falls on Monday in most cities this year and the first practices follow on Tuesday. 17 Several clubs used the week to move toward the 15-man regular-season limit.
Memphis waived D'Angelo Russell on Sept. 25 after carrying 19 standard contracts into the day. 8 Russell wants to land with a playoff contender, and the timing gives him a chance to clear waivers before most camps begin. 8 The $5.97MM he was owed was fully guaranteed and stays on Memphis's books, which still holds 17 guaranteed deals plus Jaylen Wells on a partial contract. 8 Russell averaged a career-low 10.2 points on .405/.295/.717 shooting in 26 games for Dallas last season. 8
Dallas has the opposite problem. The Mavericks re-signed Dwight Powell on Friday knowing they already hold 15 standard contracts, so somebody has to leave. 11 Team officials promised Powell they would explore pathways to keep him, and the cleanest salaries to move belong to Marcus Sasser ($5.2MM), Tarik Biberovic ($3MM) and Moussa Cisse ($2.2MM) — three players Dallas would rather retain. 11 Caleb Martin is more expendable on paper, though he is owed about $20MM in guaranteed money over two years, so waiving him would cost real money even with the stretch provision applied. 11
The Clippers opened a two-way slot by waiving Jamarion Sharp on Sept. 25 and left that slot open for now. 18 Sharp, a 7'5" centre, led the G League with 3.9 blocks a game and was named the NBAGL's Defensive Player of the Year. 18 Jalen Pickett and Nick Martinelli hold the other two two-way deals in Los Angeles. 18
New York filled two of its three open two-way spots with Kevin McCullar Jr. and Tyler Nickel. 19 McCullar, a 2024 second-round pick, has spent two seasons on two-way contracts there; Nickel was the 47th pick in June out of Vanderbilt, where he averaged 13.5 points on .445/.400/.847 shooting. 19 One two-way opening remains. 19
Camp opens with three health questions
Kristaps Porzingis is out indefinitely with a health issue the Warriors have described only in general terms, and he stayed home while the team flew to camp in Hawaiʻi. 13 General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. framed it as short-term: "I'm not marking him down as being out to start the season or anything like that. He's just not available this week." 13 Porzingis has managed postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome for the past season and a half, and he appeared in only 15 games after Golden State traded for him in February, averaging 16.1 points and 5.3 rebounds in 23.7 minutes. 13 The Warriors were already planning to lean on him early while Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody work back. 13
Kon Knueppel and Grant Williams will miss Charlotte's entire preseason with hamstring injuries — the left for Knueppel, the right for Williams — and both will be reevaluated in the first week of the regular season, which puts the Oct. 21 opener in doubt. 20 Knueppel finished second in Rookie of the Year voting after averaging 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists on .475/.425/.863 shooting, and he became the first rookie to lead the league in total three-pointers with 273. 20 Charlotte has just added rotation options in Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale, Sion James, Tidjane Salaun and Liam McNeeley. 20
In Phoenix, Mark Williams is set to miss several months after shoulder surgery, which opens the starting centre job. 21 Khaman Maluach has the size and a strong Las Vegas summer behind him — 19.5 points, 12.8 rebounds and 40.0% shooting from three — while Oso Ighodaro brings the screening, handoffs and switching that Phoenix's limited playmaking can use. 22
Where the market still breathes
Pascal Siakam is eligible for an extension worth about $207MM over three years, and Indiana general manager Chad Buchanan declined to say anything about it. 12 Buchanan did talk about Jarace Walker, who is entering the final year of his rookie contract: "His role will be a little different this year than it was last year." 12
Oklahoma City spent the summer cutting salary and collecting picks. Sam Presti's annual preseason news conference confirmed the shape of it: the departures of Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins came in three separate deals that returned seven round picks with no salary going back. 23 Presti called the Dort trade a gesture toward Cason Wallace, who is extension-eligible through Oct. 19 and now has a clearer path to a starting role. 23
In Los Angeles, JJ Redick said Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler are locked into the starting lineup and left two spots open for Quentin Grimes, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle, Jake LaRavia and Sandro Mamukelashvili. 24 On the trade market, one published list of Lakers targets for 2026/27 names Derrick Jones Jr. of the Clippers and Julius Randle of the Nets. 24
Two shorter lanes worth keeping open. Miles Bridges is in the last year of a three-year contract in Phoenix and needs to show more than finishing if he wants an extension there. 22 And in Portland, the bet on Ja Morant carries a durability question that has nothing to do with talent: he has played 79 of a possible 246 games over the past three seasons, and the Blazers now have three point guards who need minutes in Morant, Damian Lillard and Scoot Henderson. 25
Fantasy and roster read
Everything in this table is analysis built on the contract terms and roster moves verified above.
| Player or lane | Changed opportunity | What to monitor |
|---|---|---|
| Buddy Hield, Bulls | A bench shooter on a team $34.6MM below the tax, in a season that follows a career-low 34.9% from three. 2 | Whether Chicago's rotation gives him the 25-plus minutes he last saw as a starter. 2 |
| Rob Dillingham, Hornets | A former eighth pick whose $8.8MM team option is due Nov. 2, landing on a roster with a crowded backcourt and a newly reunited supporter in Naz Reid. 2 | Charlotte's point-guard rotation behind Coby White, and whether the option is exercised. 14 |
| Jalen Duren, Pistons | A third-team All-NBA centre who will not practise with the team until his contract is settled, one day before his qualifying-offer deadline. 10 | Whether he signs the $9.6MM qualifying offer by Oct. 1, and how Detroit divides the minutes at centre with Paul Reed. 15 |
| Khaman Maluach and Oso Ighodaro, Suns | A starting centre job open for several months, in a frontcourt that projects as one of the league's weakest on the glass. 22 | Which of them starts in the preseason, since the two offer different skills — rim protection against screening and handoffs. 22 |
| Cason Wallace, Thunder | A starting role opened by the Dort trade, with a rookie-scale extension deadline of Oct. 19. 23 | His usage in the preseason, and whether Oklahoma City signs him before the deadline. 23 |
| Kristaps Porzingis, Warriors | A frontcourt that was going to lean on him early, now opened for other bigs while he is unavailable. 13 | Whether he is cleared before the regular season, and who takes his minutes in the meantime. 13 |
| Ryan Nembhard, free agent | A waived point guard with an expiring $2,150,917 deal and a reported two-way suitor in Denver. 14 | Whether he clears waivers and where he signs. 14 |
Next signals
- Sept. 28–29 — Media day in most cities on Monday, first practices Tuesday. 17
- Oct. 1 — Jalen Duren's deadline to sign his $9.6MM qualifying offer. 10
- Oct. 5 — Detroit opens its preseason, with or without him. 9
- Oct. 19 — Rookie-scale extension deadline, which covers Cason Wallace in Oklahoma City and Anthony Black in Orlando. 423
- Oct. 21 — Regular-season opener, the first real test of whether Charlotte's two hamstrings and Golden State's frontcourt are ready. 20
- Before opening night — Dallas must clear a roster spot to keep Dwight Powell, and Charlotte must get from 17 guaranteed contracts to 15. 211
References
- 1Hawks Trade Hield, Nembhard To Hornets For Finney-Smith\
hoopsrumors.com
- 2Bulls Trade Rob Dillingham To Hornets For Buddy Hield\
hoopsrumors.com
- 3
- 4Southeast Notes: Knueppel, Heat, Cole, Magic, Hawks\
hoopsrumors.com
- 5Raptors, Kawhi Leonard Complete Two-Year Extension\
hoopsrumors.com
- 6
- 7Stephen Curry, Warriors Finalize Two-Year Extension\
hoopsrumors.com
- 8Grizzlies Waive D'Angelo Russell\
hoopsrumors.com
- 9
- 10
- 11Stein's Latest: Powell, Mavericks, Kessler, Irving, Duren\
hoopsrumors.com
- 12Central Notes: Bulls, Cavs, Pacers, Walker\
hoopsrumors.com
- 13Kristaps Porzingis Out Indefinitely With Health Issue\
hoopsrumors.com
- 14Hornets Waive Ryan Nembhard
hoopsrumors.com
- 15Latest On Pistons Restricted Free Agent Jalen Duren
hoopsrumors.com
- 16Pistons Waive Gary Harris
hoopsrumors.com
- 17
- 18Clippers Waive Jamarion Sharp
hoopsrumors.com
- 19Knicks Sign Kevin McCullar, Tyler Nickel To Two-Way Deals
hoopsrumors.com
- 20Hornets' Knueppel, Williams Sustain Hamstring Injuries
hoopsrumors.com
- 21Suns' Mark Williams Undergoes Shoulder Surgery
hoopsrumors.com
- 22Suns Notes: Bridges, Maluach, Ighodaro, Booker
hoopsrumors.com
- 23Thunder GM Presti Discusses Offseason, Roster, Future, More
hoopsrumors.com
- 24
- 25Blazers Notes: Morant, Potter, Carlson, Arena
hoopsrumors.com
This story was produced automatically by a channel. One sentence is all it takes for Neodrop to keep producing for you.