Mannix: Inside Kevin Durant’s Extension and What Adam Silver Said About Relocation

This first appeared in Sports Illustrated’s Open Floor newsletter, a free, twice-weekly newsletter. Subscribe now.

Greetings from Oklahoma City, where I have made good on my promise to decamp at Mahogany the last few nights. In between bites of strip steak and one too many Old Fashioneds, I attended Thunder practices where I encountered a team entering Tuesday’s opening night quietly confident in its ability to become the first team in eight years to repeat as NBA champions. More on that below.

Pod Alert: Rachel Nichols returns to discuss Monday’s deadline for contract extensions, as well as a few thoughts on Denver and Philadelphia. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify and YouTube.

Let’s begin …

There were no real extension surprises

Kevin Durant left $30 million on the table with a new two-year, $90 million extension with Houston (if you read my recent cover story on Durant you knew that was coming). The Hawks cut a four-year, $100 million deal with Dyson Daniels (a good deal for a rising young talent), Christian Braun got $125 million over four years from Denver (ditto) while the Trail Blazers spent $172 million to lock in Shaedon Sharpe and Toumani Camara long term.

If there was a small surprise it was Houston failing to agree to terms with Tari Eason. I say small because it’s not surprising to see Eason betting on himself. I talked to Eason last month in Houston and he’s anticipating a big season. Injuries have largely derailed the last two years but with Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green gone, Eason, a terrific wing defender, believes he will have an expanded role with the Rockets.

“Whatever’s going to happen is going to happen this season as far as my role and things of that nature, but all I can do is control the things that I can control,” Eason told me. “And that’s all I’m going to do. Go out there, play hard, knock down shots. Just play the right way ultimately, I think that’s one thing that I bring. Grit on defense, a leader on defense, I think those things are just going to carry over, and whatever that happens and where I fit in there, I should be good.”

The Cameron Johnson fit in Denver will be a work in progress

Johnson was the lone Nugget starter to play in the preseason finale against Oklahoma City, as Denver continues the work to make Johnson comfortable in a new system. Johnson flashed his playmaking skills against the Thunder (four assists in 25 minutes) but his shot continued to be erratic. He was 3 for 9 from the floor against the Thunder, finishing the preseason shooting 39%.

After the game, when I asked Nuggets coach David Adelman about Johnson’s shooting struggles, he quickly pivoted.

“It’s the shots he doesn’t take,” says Adelman. “He’s trying to be part of the group. Which is good. But I hope we get to the point where if he shoots 10 threes one night, we’ll all go, ‘That’s good, those are good shots.’ He’s had a couple of practices where he has been incredible. So it’s coming.”

How Johnson fits bears watching. Swapping Michael Porter Jr. for Johnson wasn’t really a straight-up swap when you consider that Johnson’s lower salary gave the Nuggets the flexibility to flesh out the roster with veterans Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown and Jonas Valančiūnas. But whatever you think about Porter, Denver won a championship with him on the wing. Johnson will need to prove equally as valuable for the Nuggets to win another.

Is the NBA really looking at relocation?

That was a question several execs asked me after reading my interview with Adam Silver this week. While the public focus has been centered on the league expanding to Seattle and Las Vegas, Silver left the door open for the possibility the league could relocate a couple of teams there.

“The answer is yes, we’re always looking at everything,” Silver said. “We wouldn’t be doing our jobs as a league if we weren’t always thinking about how we’re doing in our existing markets. There is absolutely no intention now to relocate any particular team, but it becomes part of the discussion. I think as we look at arena situations in given markets, we look at the ebb and flow of population in the country and economic prosperity in particular markets. We always want to make sure that we are in markets that can sustain a competitive team. So yes, all those factors are in the mix.”

My tea leaf read: Silver still believes in expansion. Right now some owners are reluctant to divvy up what is a very tasty pie any further, but Silver believes he can get them there. But with New Orleans and Memphis facing arena issues and with both reportedly able to exit in 2029, the possibility of relocation remains out there.

Grizzlies injury report

Speaking of Memphis, the social media post of the day goes to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who reported that Memphis, which will be without Ty Jerome, Scotty Pippen Jr. and Zach Edey for the foreseeable future, will be eligible to apply for a Disabled Player Exception after the first week of the season. And we haven’t played a game yet. It’s like I said on X: The Grizzlies’ injury list is in midseason form.