Normally, the NBA's deadline for teams to pick up team options on their rookie-scale contracts is Halloween. As the end of October came on a weekend this year, however, it was pushed to Monday. This deadline is usually relatively uneventful. Former first-round picks living up to expectations, or with obvious paths to improvement in the near future, have their third- and fourth-year options picked up. Obvious busts tend not to.
Of course, teams inevitably get these decisions wrong from time to time, and that sends promising players to unrestricted free agency at the end of the season in question. The most notable recent example came in 2021, when the Phoenix Suns declined their third-year option on Jalen Smith, whom they'd selected at No. 10 overall ahead of players like Devin Vassell and Tyrese Haliburton less than a year earlier. Smith has since grown into one of the NBA's better shooting big men for the Chicago Bulls.
I bring this up because a handful of notable team options were declined ahead of Monday's deadline, setting some interesting prospects up for unrestricted free agency next summer. The NBA is more financially cautious than it has ever been thanks to the aprons, forcing teams to make hard decisions on young players before their futures are fully written. There will inevitably be more Jalen Smiths in the years to come, and a few declined options from the past few days stand out as candidates.
Thunder seemingly giving up on a former lottery pick
There's a degree of validation that comes with being drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Sam Presti thought Nikola Topić was worth the No. 12 overall pick in 2024, and while Presti is hardly infallible, he's the NBA's best general manager by a wide margin and his instincts are usually worth imitation. Oklahoma City didn't decline Topić's 2027-28 option because he's played poorly. They declined it because he's barely played at all.
He missed his rookie season with a torn ACL. He missed most of his second getting treated for testicular cancer, only appearing briefly in 10 games. He has not yet played this season because of back surgery. It is entirely possible that Topić simply never stays healthy enough to reach his potential as a player. It is also entirely possible, especially on a Thunder team that suddenly needs minutes wherever they can find them, that he starts living up to that potential the moment he returns to floor.
Oklahoma City's injuries represent the greatest opportunity of Topić's career. The team that drafted him averaged 66 wins in his first two seasons. There weren't going to be many minutes available for him anyway. Now, if he can just make it back onto the court, he should get real on-ball reps for the team with the best player-development track record in basketball. He can set himself up for a real opportunity in unrestricted free agency next summer.
The Thunder were never going to be able to afford him long-term considering all of their other obligations, so in that sense, they've arguably done Topić a favor. If they'd picked up his option and then cap dumped him later, he might have wound up in a bad basketball situation. Now, he has the rest of the season to show what he can do and the freedom to shop his services to the teams that need them most.
Jazz ready to move on from backup point guard
Guard minutes were readily available for the Utah Jazz over the last two seasons. Isaiah Collier took plenty of them, averaging over 25 minutes per game in each of his first two seasons. Even with Darryn Peterson in the fold this year and Ace Bailey taking on a bigger role next to Keyonte George, Collier has still been featured pretty heavily by backup standards. Case in point: through six games, he is averaging the most minutes on the roster (18.5) of anyone who has not yet started a game.
Yet the Jazz surprisingly decided to decline his option for the 2027-28 campaign on Monday. What this means for the Jazz next season still isn't clear. Utah still has plenty of room below next season's projected luxury tax, but that space could evaporate quickly if they elect to re-sign restricted free agent Brice Sensabaugh and/or use a mid-level exception. Perhaps the Jazz want to seek out a veteran backup. They may also prefer to minimize their investment in ball-handlers to ensure that both George and Peterson play on the ball when the other rests. The Jazz have plenty of shot-creation in the front court. They can afford to be stingy at backup point guard.
Collier arrived in the NBA as a high-level playmaker. His scoring and defense just haven't kept up. But he was once the No. 1 recruit in his high school class, and there's plenty of tape on him already for other teams to study. The talent is here even if the role potentially wouldn't have been in Utah.
Hornets decline option on former No. 6 pick, but there's a path back
Tidjane Salaün was the highest draft 2024 Draft pick (No. 6 overall) to have his fourth-year option declined, but that probably works in favor of a potential reunion between him and the Charlotte Hornets over the summer if both sides want to pursue one. When a player has a rookie-scale option declined, his original team can still re-sign him in free agency ... but only up to the salary he would have made on that option. Salaün's fourth-year salary would have been $10.4 million or so.
That's a much heftier figure than later picks, and it creates a bit of a win-win scenario for the Hornets. If Salaün doesn't live up to that figure, they aren't forced to pay it to him and could try to keep him at a lower rate. If he does, however, then they are at least getting a productive player at a scarce position for this season. If nothing else, that's a valuable trade chip at the deadline.
Salaün's overall minutes have gone down in each of his NBA seasons thus far, but he's playing better than he ever has in that smaller role this year. That's not saying all that much, but his combination of physical traits, theoretical ball-handling and shooting and willingness to play hard at least offer the outline of a useful, all-around wing. This is a player archetype that teams are usually eager to take chances on. Whether it's with Charlotte or somebody else, Salaün will probably get another chance.