As you’ve probably heard, the NBA is stuck in a holding pattern right now. Damian Lillard and James Harden reportedly want out of their respective organizations, shoving other potential transactions that could have a meaningful impact on the 2023-24 season to the back burner. Until there’s a resolution to both trades, no teams are in a rush to finish their own business, for fear of missing out on an opportunity to participate in a blockbuster deal or take advantage of any unforeseeable ripple effects.

But aside from those two league-twisting trades, which feel inevitable at the moment but may not even happen—the NBA’s summer tradition is to punish anyone who lets themselves believe a 99.9 percent probability is 100 percent certain—more news is on the way. There are still playoff-bound rosters with roster-building tools at the ready, along with unsigned free agents who are worthy of rotational minutes.

Look at what the Mavericks—a pretty good, transparently flawed team—did on Wednesday. Coming off a solid few weeks in which they didn’t lose Kyrie Irving, scooped up Seth Curry, bolstered their frontcourt with a hodgepodge of dance partners for Luka Doncic, and added a couple of low-cost, high-pedigree role players (Dante Exum is back!), Dallas found itself a few million below the tax, with its full midlevel exception unused. 

The Offer Sheet

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The Mavs were also hard capped (a by-product of their acquisition of Curry with the biannual exception), but they still executed a couple of smart moves to directly improve a defense that could’ve otherwise been one of the NBA’s least competent. Enter Grant Williams, who was acquired from Boston in a three-team trade. A rock-solid 3-point shooter who had Stan Van Gundy wondering aloud during last year’s playoffs whether he’s the best defender in the league, Williams might be the most ideal role player Doncic and Irving could ask for. 

Dallas also extended an offer sheet to Matisse Thybulle, who made the All-Defensive second team in 2021 and 2022. Thybulle makes a lot of sense as a pesky deflections machine who can generate easy looks for more talented teammates while potentially assuming the same offensive responsibilities in pick-and-rolls as a rim-running center. 

Maybe Dallas will pry him away from a Blazers front office that’s focused on more important matters. If Portland doesn’t match, the Mavs will bring in a 26-year-old who broadens an area where they’re currently thin while giving them another contract to trade down the line. If Portland matches, though (and it should), Dallas may still want to shore up its wing depth. Does proffering Kelly Oubre Jr. on, say, a two-year, $18-million deal make sense right now if it bumps the team into the tax? What about Terence Davis or Justise Winslow on a cheaper pact?

The Grizzlies are another rising club in the Western Conference with similar goals and comparable questions. They’re about $15 million below the tax with both the $12.4 million full midlevel and the $4.5 million biannual left in the tool belt. Ja Morant is suspended for the first 25 games of this season, but they’re still deep enough to build like a contender would. Unfortunately, Memphis also has no roster spots. That reality can always change with a trade, though. And with a dynamic big like Christian Wood still left on the market—a snug fit in a rotation that wouldn’t leave him dangling at the 5—Memphis may want to consider making some room. 

With a sizable luxury tax bill coming in 2025—along with the presumable return of a healthy Brandon Clarke—there shouldn’t be an appetite for any agreement longer than two years, but Wood can be good enough in the role he’d fill to positively impact Memphis’s title odds. The Grizzlies are young and have their three core players—Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr.—locked up for the foreseeable future. But their championship window is open right now, and it doesn’t hurt to act like it. 

Wood would allow them to stay huge while spacing the floor—significant for an offense that routinely struggles to space the floor and just added Marcus Smart. Wood was sensational in pick-and-rolls with Doncic last year and would give Smart, Bane, and Morant another lob threat who can pop behind the arc and drag opposing bigs outside the paint. Adding Wood for the veteran’s minimum—as several contenders are surely banking on—would be ridiculous. 

Other teams with some exceptions to burn are less predictable or urged to act. The Nets are in the thick of Lillard rumors and are unlikely to make a move before that dust is settled. They also have so much flexibility, with the full midlevel, an open roster spot, tons of draft picks, two large trade exceptions, overlapping skill sets, and tradable midsize contracts. They also have the need for more size. Dario Saric would be perfect here as a big body who can make plays out of the short roll; run dribble handoffs with Cam Johnson, Mikal Bridges, Spencer Dinwiddie, and the incoming Dennis Smith Jr.; and, most important, create second-chance opportunities crashing the offensive glass. 

If the Nets want to spend elsewhere, they could beef up their ball handlers by throwing something like a four-year, $40 million offer at Ayo Dosunmu. It’d push Chicago into the tax after it just spent half of its own midlevel exception on Jevon Carter, another guard. Maybe the Bulls will match, but the smart money is on the scenario where their owner doesn’t spend a dime more than he has to. (Dosunmu is also a valuable asset on that hypothetical contract.)

P.J. Washington might be the best remaining free agent, but given his restricted status, it’s hard to see a situation where he leaves the Hornets. A sign-and-trade is always viable, but the only teams with enough cap space to deliver competitive offer sheets don’t have any real need for him. The Rockets have just over $12 million in cap space to play with, but even if they use it to splurge on Washington, Charlotte will match. 

The Spurs have cap space but no roster spots or need for more frontcourt depth. (Semi-related: This is a shame, since Bol Bol in San Antonio would be wingspan heaven.) The Jazz can open up some roster spots, but the decision to renegotiate and extend Jordan Clarkson all but filled up most of their cap space. 

Does that mean no teams will at least test the Hornets with an annoying extension offer for Washington? The Hawks can theoretically fit him into the trade exception that was created for John Collins, but it’s more likely for hell to freeze over than for Atlanta to go back into the luxury tax. The Nets have a huge trade exception from their recent Joe Harris deal. Maybe they’ll sneak in as a spoiler for Washington. 

Some of this action can go down any second, and some won’t occur until all the drama surrounding Lillard, Harden, Portland, and Philadelphia dissipates. We obviously don’t know when that will be, but right now, there are too many practical possibilities still on the board for NBA teams to stay whisper quiet.

Michael Pina

Michael Pina is a senior staff writer at The Ringer who covers the NBA.