The Whiteboard: 5 biggest looming NBA player option decisions

Today on The Whiteboard, we're looking at the biggest player option decisions that will shape the NBA offseason.

As the NBA playoffs are rolling on, the rest of the league is preparing for the offseason. The NBA Draft on June 26 and the opening of NBA Free Agency on June 30 are the next big dates on the offseason calendar but the, sandwiched between them, is the June 29 deadline for players with player options for next season to decide whether or not to opt-in and play out the final year of the contracts with their current teams, or opt out and become free agents.

A few of these decisions have already been made — LeBron James has said he'll opt-out and explore free agency — and a few others have been broadcast pretty clearly. But nothing is official for a few more weeks and there's plenty of time for players to both make up or change their minds.

Taking LeBron at his word and removing him from the list, here are the five looming player option decisions with the biggest potential to shape the league's power structure next season.

OG Anunoby

Anunoby has been a transformative piece for the Knicks since they acquired him in a midseason trade but he has a player option for just over $19 million and the Knicks need to keep him around. His declining that option seems pretty much like a lock — he's 26 and could be looking for a near-max payday on his next deal.

The good news for the Knicks is that he seems very open to returning to New York and their current playoff run is going to help their case. Anunoby is also repped by CAA an agency that has deep ties to the Knicks' current front office. But the Knicks are building something special and if Anunoby opts out and finds a more compelling offer elsewhere it could really short-circuit their forward momentum.

Paul George

Paul George has all but said he will decline his player option for next season and explore free agency. He and the Clippers were working toward on an extension early in the season but couldn't come to an agreement and their unwillingness to offer him the max appears to have been the issue.

George will have no shortage of suitors and the Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers have already been mentioned in rumors as possible landing spots. But if anything makes George reconsider on his option it's the only real path toward chasing a title with the Clippers.

He could opt out and re-sign but that almost certainly means the Clippers aren't able to re-sign James Harden which means taking a step back from this year's team. George is just 34 it's not inconceivable to imagine him still landing a significant three-year deal next summer if he played out his contract with the Clippers.

Maybe he values the combination of money and championship odds most and looks for a new home. But if continuity, comfort and familiarity edge out either of those other two variables, opting in could be on the table.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

KCP has been a crucial piece for the Nuggets and has a player option next season at just over $15 million. It's clear from their current struggles against the Timberwolves that neither Christian Braun or Peyton Watson is ready to step into that 3-and-D wing role full time and if he opts out they'll be battling a clogged cap sheet trying to find a replacement with precious few options of equal quality.

The Nuggets will still have their two stars as well as high-level role players like Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. but be left with a significant hole as the fifth starter. The good news for Denver is that KCP is just 31 and he could play out another season hopefully chasing another ring and still land a hefty three-year deal after that. But a lot of the calculus here is likely going to come down to how the Nuggets finish their postseason run.

Russell Westbrook

Westbrook has a player option for next season at just over $4 million. The Clippers were happy with him this year and he seems willing to come back. The issue is the Clippers probably aren't going to meet his asking price if he opts out looking for a longer, more lucrative deal.

If he opts out, the Clippers are looking to rebuild their bench in addition to trying to figure out how to bring back Harden and George. If he opts in, their bench gets a boost and they maybe have a selling point for those two other stars they want to bring back.

D'Angelo Russell

Russell is the biggest outstanding option decision because the decision is unclear and the ramifications are enormous. He was a free agent last season and the best offer on the table was the two-year, $36 million deal he got from the Lakers, with the second year as an option.

Russell was much better this season but still a clear limiting factor for the Lakers in the playoffs. It's not entirely clear whether they'd prefer him to opt in for the sake of continuity or opt out and give them more flexibility to pursue other options.

From Russell's perspective, there are a lot of variables with his near-$19 million option. Is he tired of being the scapegoat on a flawed roster where he is far from the only issue? Do he and his agent believe he did enough this season to yield more lucrative offers this summer, or is another year at $19 million the best he can do right now? Are there any other contenders who are willing to take him on, making an opt-in his best chance for winning a championship? In addition, once he's opted in there's nothing to stop the Lakers from just trading him and so there's no guarantee that his decision will actually dictate what team he's playing for next season.

Any rumors about him opting out have to be taken seriously but he may not like what he finds if he does. And what he decides will be a huge factor in whether the Lakers bring back LeBron James and whether they can get back to being an inner-circle contender.

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QUICK HITTER: Who stopped Luka Doncic in Game 1?

Luka Doncic was uncharacteristically ineffective in Game 1 against the Thunder — 19 points and 9 assists but 6-of-19 from the field, 1-of-8 from beyond the arc and 5 turnovers. Looking at the defensive stats would make it seem like the defensive attention of Lu Dort was the key factor.

Dort did a great job but Doncic was 4-of-9 on the 33 possessions where Dort was his primary defender, drew two shooting fouls and racked up three assists. The problem for Dallas was that literally nothing else happened when Dort was on Doncic.

In those 33 possessions, they scored just 23 points with a couple of baskets that weren't scored or assisted on by Doncic. In all, Doncic had 20 potential assists this game but just nine were converted into made baskets by his team. Again, Dort did a good job but Doncic made some mistakes and his teammates just didn't help him out at all.

Recommended Reading:

1. For all the defense-heads: "With presumptive Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert unavailable due to the birth of his first child, the Wolves pieced together one of the greatest collective defensive performances of the past two decades. It’s exceedingly rare for defense to be rendered as anything other than rigorous and thankless labor, but on Monday it almost felt like joy. It looked like it, too:" The Timberwolves Are Squeezing the Life Out of the Nuggets

2. Luka Doncic has it all, except playoff success: "Until last week, when the Mavericks dispatched the Los Angeles Clippers in six games, Doncic had advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs just once in five seasons. And it’s not like he was bereft of help. He’d played with a young All-Star (Kristaps Porzingis), a future All-Star (Jalen Brunson), and a star-crossed former champion (Kyrie Irving). He’d become a perennial All-Star himself, and a fixture on MVP ballots. And yet Dallas has won just 57 percent of its regular-season games with Doncic since drafting him in 2018. Even more puzzling: Across Doncic’s first five seasons, the Mavs were only marginally better with him on the court than on the bench, according to advanced stats." The On-and-Off Debate About Luka Doncic

3. Recommended Watching: "Minnesota’s defense in Game 2 against Denver was absolutely outrageous — especially in a second quarter during which the Nuggets scored just 15 points on 6 of 24 shooting and turned it over 5 times. Here’s how the Wolves locked them down." Film Findings Ep. 19: How the Wolves put the clamps on the champs