Cam Whitmore is back on the open market, and for a 22-year-old who was once viewed as a possible top-five pick, that still counts as a notable turn. The forward cleared waivers Sunday after being waived by the Cavaliers, officially becoming an unrestricted free agent, according to the RealGM transaction log.
Cleveland cut Whitmore loose on Friday and plans to stretch his $5.46 million salary over three seasons. That move was aimed at opening the space needed to finish the rest of the team’s roster work. Whitmore, meanwhile, is left hunting for his next stop.
His path has already taken a few sharp turns. He averaged 12.3 points as a rookie, saw his role shrink in his second season, and was later acquired by Washington last summer.
His year ended in January after he was diagnosed with a blood clot in his right shoulder. After that, he landed in Cleveland as part of the Cavs’ maneuvering surrounding the Peyton Watson trade.
But he never really became part of the Cavaliers’ plans. He was more of a financial move than a basketball one, and now he’s looking for a fresh opportunity.
He’s still eligible for a two-way contract, though a standard one-year prove-it deal looks like the more realistic path. For a player his age with actual NBA production on his résumé, it’s not hard to see why another team might take the swing.
In Golden State, Stephen Curry became eligible for another extension over the weekend, and ESPN’s Bobby Marks thinks the Warriors should ask him to do something simple: wait.
A max extension would put Curry’s first-year salary at about $65.7 million, and Marks said signing right away could tie Golden State’s hands heading into next summer. “I would say to Curry, you’ve got to wait this out,” Marks said, adding that the Warriors could reassure him the money will still be there if they don’t land another major piece.
The idea is straightforward enough: preserve flexibility now, sort out the money later. Curry could sign the extension down the road, and in theory he could even take less, though there’s not much reason for the greatest player in franchise history to volunteer for a steep discount.
Golden State is trying to make the most of what’s left of Curry’s championship window. Jimmy Butler is working his way back from injury, and the roster still includes Draymond Green and Kristaps Porzingis among its veteran pieces. Curry has already made clear he wants to be a Warrior for life, so the real question isn’t whether the team wants to pay him.
It’s whether waiting a bit could help the Warriors build something better around him first.
In Chicago, Noa Essengue is already giving people something to think about. The No. 12 overall pick in the 2025 draft missed most of his rookie season after shoulder surgery, and Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Essengue has been spoken to about his lack of physicality and warned about his emotions on the court.
New Bulls coach Tiago Splitter also benched him in the second half of Essengue’s first summer league game.
“He’s got to maybe bring a little more force in everything he does,” Splitter said. “That’s something we’re working on.”
Essengue finished with 6.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in four games in Las Vegas. The bigger wrinkle, though, is organizational: Chicago’s front office and coaching staff have no real attachment to him, since both groups changed after he was drafted.
Cowley suggested that if the 19-year-old keeps playing passively through training camp and into the season, he could wind up as a trade candidate before February. That may be jumping ahead a bit, but for a lottery pick heading into Year 2, training camp suddenly feels pretty important.
In Other News...
Billy Donovan Just Raised A New Concern Around Bulls Prospects
The college-to-pro path keeps getting messier, and Billy Donovan thinks the line should be a lot clearer. The former Bulls coach, now an assistant in San Antonio, said he has seen college coaches reach out to players in the G League about returning to campus basketball, even as those players have already made the jump into the professional ranks. His view is simple enough: once a player leaves college for a pro league, he ought to stay there.
Donovan did draw a distinction for undrafted players who are trying to find their way back into school ball, saying he is supportive of that route. What makes the issue feel more immediate for Chicago is the way Donovan framed the broader recruiting reality around the Bulls G League sphere, where teams are now navigating a market that did not exist in anything like this form a few years ago. The names he had in mind were not identified, but the concern he raised is one plenty of front offices are now watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Linked To Intriguing Role In Proposed Lakers Mavs Trade
The Lakers miss on Jonathan Kuminga has already sent the rumor mill into a new gear, and one proposed response would drag the Bulls into the picture as a facilitator. NBA insider Jake Weinbach floated a three-team framework that would send P.J. Washington from Dallas to Los Angeles, while Chicago would be the third club helping make the math work in a deal centered on roster reshuffling and future flexibility.
For the Bulls, the appeal in a setup like that is less about headline talent and more about being the team that can smooth out the transaction for everyone else. The idea is still entirely speculative, but Chicagos role would be part of the same familiar trade landscape that often emerges when one team wants to simplify its books and another needs a clean path to the player it wants. [Read more 🡒]
Caleb Wilson Is Giving Bulls Fans A Reason To Dream Early
Caleb Wilson did not wait long to make himself noticed in a Bulls uniform. The rookies Summer League debut turned heads with a 35-point burst, and that showing has only added to the buzz building around a player who already had team sources talking about his early impact. For a Chicago team in the middle of significant offseason change, any sign of upside matters, and Wilson has quickly become one of the more intriguing names in the mix.
What makes the early optimism more interesting is how much work sits behind it. Wilson battled injuries during his college season, then spent the offseason rebuilding his shot with relentless repetition, putting in marathon days from deep to sharpen the part of his game the Bulls believe can translate. The questions now are less about whether he can capture attention and more about how quickly that promise can become something useful once the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]