- Marks also has the specifics (via Twitter) on Cameron Johnson‘s four-year contract with the Nets, which includes several incentives and declines in years two and three before rising again in year four. Johnson has base salaries of $24.5MM, $22.5MM, $20.5MM, and $22.5MM, with annual bonuses of $4.9MM, $4.5MM, $4.1MM, and $4.5MM. Currently, a total of $4.4MM of those incentives are considered likely, while the other $13.6MM are unlikely.
JULY 6: The Nets have officially re-signed Johnson, the team confirmed today in a press release.
“Re-signing Cam was our top priority throughout this free agency period, and we are thrilled to have him remain in Brooklyn as a core member of the Nets for years to come,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. “Since the moment he arrived last season, Cam immediately embraced a leadership role both on and off the court. His versatile skillset as a two-way wing has proven to be an ideal fit with our roster, and we look forward to the positive impact he will continue to bring to our team and the Brooklyn community.”
JUNE 30: Restricted free agent forward Cameron Johnson wasted no time in coming to a contract agreement with the Nets, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Johnson will sign a four-year, $108MM contract to remain in Brooklyn, agent Steven Heumann tells Wojnarowski.
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype clarifies (via Twitter) that Johnson will be able to earn up to $108MM with incentives, so it sounds like the base value of the deal will be a little lower than that.
The 11th overall pick in the 2019 draft, Johnson immediately emerged as a rotation player for the Suns as a rookie and has steadily improved since then, increasing his scoring average in each of his three subsequent seasons.
Johnson, who was dealt from Phoenix to Brooklyn in February’s Kevin Durant blockbuster, saw his 2022/23 season debut delayed by a knee injury, but played well after returning, averaging 15.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 28.5 minutes per night across 42 appearances for the Suns and Nets.
Johnson’s shooting is his calling card. His shooting line this past season was an impressive .470/.404/.842, and he has made 39.3% of 5.6 three-point attempts per game over the course of his career. And while he’s not an elite defender, he has the size and versatility to guard either forward spot.
The Pistons were rumored to be considering a play for Johnson in free agency, but they reached an agreement with the Nets earlier in the day on Friday to acquire Joe Harris in a trade. That move essentially took the Pistons out of the running for Johnson, since Harris gave them the shooter they sought while taking up a significant chunk of their cap room. The move also gave the Nets more flexibility below the luxury tax line to make a strong offer to Johnson.
With Mikal Bridges locked up for the next three seasons and Johnson secured for the next four, the Nets are poised to build around the two former Suns forward who came over in the Durant trade.
JULY 7: The pick the Nets received in the trade is their own 2024 second-rounder with top-55 protection, reports Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Houston acquired Brooklyn’s 2024 second-rounder in a prior trade and will retain it if it lands between 31-55 next June.
JULY 6: The Nets and Rockets have officially completed their trade sending guard Patty Mills to Houston, according to a pair of press releases from the clubs.
Along with Mills, Houston acquired the Bucks’ 2028 second-round pick. The Rockets sent a protected future second-rounder to Brooklyn. While the exact details on that pick aren’t known, it’ll have top-55 protection, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic.
Mills will only be a Rocket temporarily. He’s being flipped to the Thunder as part of Houston’s Dillon Brooks sign-and-trade acquisition, as Adrian Wojnarowski first reported over the weekend.
Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link) suggests Oklahoma City will be receiving three second-round picks as part of its deal for Mills, though we’re still waiting for clarity on the full terms of that trade agreement. According to Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Rockets will actually send two second-round picks to Oklahoma City and will amend the terms of a previously traded second-rounder.
A veteran combo guard who will turn 35 next month, Mills was no longer a major part of the Nets’ rotation last season — his 14.3 minutes per game represented his lowest average since the 2012/13 season. He averaged 6.2 points and 1.4 assists in 40 appearances, with a shooting line of .411/.366/.833.
“Patty was an exemplary representative of the Nets during his two years in Brooklyn, both for his contributions on the court and his impact in the community,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. “We thank Patty for all he has brought to our organization and wish him and Alyssa nothing but the best in their next chapter.”
Mills is earning $6.8MM on an expiring contract in 2023/24. By acquiring him using cap space and using him as a salary-matching piece in a subsequent deal, the Rockets will be able to preserve a bigger chunk of cap room before eventually abiding by salary-matching rules to go over the cap in their sign-and-trade for Brooks. That deal is expected to involve four or five teams, including the Grizzlies and Hawks — as noted above, the full details aren’t yet known.
It’s not clear if the Thunder plan to hang onto Mills once they acquire him. If they cut him, he’d be eligible to sign with any team besides Houston (including Brooklyn).
JULY 6: The trade is official, the Nets and Pistons confirmed in a pair of press releases. Detroit received Harris, the Mavericks’ 2027 second-round pick, and the Bucks’ 2029 second-rounder from Brooklyn in exchange for cash ($110K).
JUNE 30: The Nets have reached an agreement on a trade that will send Joe Harris to the Pistons, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links), Brooklyn will also send two second-round picks to Detroit in the deal and will generate a traded player exception worth $19.9MM, the amount of Harris’ 2023/24 salary.
The picks being acquired by the Pistons are the Mavericks’ 2027 second-rounder and the Bucks’ 2029 second-rounder, per Charania (Twitter link).
No players are going from Detroit to Brooklyn in the trade, tweets James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. The Pistons are instead sending the Nets $110K to complete the deal, per Edwards (Twitter link). That’s the minimum amount of cash a team can include in a trade.
While the deal looks like a simple salary dump on the surface, it’s a fascinating agreement that will have a major ripple effect on both teams’ offseasons. The Pistons had frequently been cited as a potential suitor for Nets restricted free agent Cameron Johnson in the weeks leading up to free agency and there had been a belief that they could make life difficult on Brooklyn by signing the forward to a lucrative offer sheet.
By convincing the Pistons to take Harris instead, the Nets will gain more financial flexibility to re-sign Johnson and stay out of luxury tax territory. They also may take their biggest competitor for Johnson’s services out of the mix, since Harris will take up a significant chunk of Detroit’s cap room and will reduce the need for the Pistons to go out and acquire another sharpshooter.
It’s not a bad arrangement from the Pistons’ perspective either. Rather than potentially overpaying Johnson on a four-year, nine-figure offer sheet and hoping the Nets won’t match it, they’ll get one of the NBA’s best outside shooters on a short-term contract, retaining long-term flexibility and picking up a pair of future second-rounders in the process.
[UPDATE: Nets, Cameron Johnson agree to four-year deal]
Injuries limited Harris to just 14 games in 2021/22, and he played a reduced role when he returned to action this past season, averaging just 20.6 minutes per game, his lowest mark since ’15/16. However, he remains as effective as ever from beyond the arc, knocking down 42.6% of his three-point attempts in 74 games last season. He has now hit at least 42.4% of his threes in five straight seasons, leading the NBA in three-point percentage twice during that time.
In his latest podcast, Patrick Beverley said he consulted with former Sixers coach Doc Rivers before deciding to sign with Philadelphia (video link from Barstool Sports). Beverley describes Rivers as a “mentor” and said he often reaches out to him before making important decisions.
“This is a Hall of Fame coach who just got fired, and his exact words: ‘I love Philadelphia for you; they need you,'” Beverley said. “‘You will be great with Joel (Embiid). James (Harden), he respects you, you will be great with him. If I had you last season, we would have been a different team.'”
Beverley, who agreed to a one-year, minimum-salary deal, said he was planning to talk to the Celtics and Wizards, but changed his mind after getting Rivers’ endorsement of the Sixers.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Nets and guard Edmond Sumner have agreed to push back his salary guarantee date, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Sumner’s $2,239,943 non-guaranteed salary for 2023/24 had previously been on track to fully guarantee if he wasn’t waived today, as our tracker shows. His new guarantee date is July 15, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
- Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey showed good judgment by not letting his fondness for Harden affect what’s best for the team, writes Marcus Hayes of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Morey has a long relationship with Harden going back to Houston, but he wasn’t willing to give the 34-year-old former MVP the pricey long-term contract he wanted. Hayes states that the first indication that Morey wouldn’t give in to Harden came when he hired Nick Nurse as his new head coach instead of Mike D’Antoni, a longtime Harden favorite.
- Under different circumstances, the Celtics might have been willing to give Grant Williams the four-year, $54MM deal he received from the Mavericks, suggests Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. Forsberg believes the Celtics would have paid that price for Williams before last season started or if they had been able to unload Malcolm Brogdon‘s salary. But the addition of Kristaps Porzingis affected Boston’s financial picture and likely would have reduced Williams’ role on the team. Forsberg points out that the Celtics are about $7MM below the second apron and have limited options to replace Williams, which should result in more playing time for Sam Hauser and other young players.
- Eric Koreen of The Athletic looks at potential deals for the Raptors after losing point guards Fred VanVleet and Dalano Banton in free agency. The most prominent name is Brogdon, whom Koreen believes might be available in exchange for Gary Trent Jr. Koreen also eyes trades involving Delon Wright, Ricky Rubio, Devonte’ Graham, Payton Pritchard, Killian Hayes, Cole Anthony and Kira Lewis.
The Nets have filled one of their two-way contract slots by signing second-round pick Jalen Wilson to a two-way deal, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
Wilson, who helped the Jayhawks win a national championship in 2022, led the team in scoring (20.1 PPG) and rebounding (8.3 RPG) as a redshirt junior in 2022/23. He was named a first-team All-American and the Big 12 Player of the Year.
The Nets used their own second-round pick – No. 51 overall – to snag Wilson, who will join RaiQuan Gray as the players on two-way contracts with the club.
NBA teams are permitted to carry up to three players on two-way deals beginning in 2023/24, so Brooklyn still has one slot available.
- The cost of acquiring a star like Damian Lillard or a top-notch offensive player like Tyler Herro might not be in the Nets’ long-term interests, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Brooklyn isn’t close to contending for a title and even a perennial All-Star Lillard won’t change that, so the team would be better off exercising patience rather than taking on either of those multiyear contracts, Lewis concludes.
The Heat didn’t go beyond their initial offer to Max Strus, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).
Strus attracted plenty of attention on the free agent market and Miami eventually agreed to a sign-and-trade with the Cavaliers that turned into a three-team swap. Strus wound up with a four-year, $63MM contract, far more than the Heat were willing to pay him. The Heat will get a traded player exception worth approximately $7MM in the deal.
Miami did make a counter-offer for Gabe Vincent, Winderman adds, but it couldn’t stop him from agreeing to a three-year contract with the Lakers for more money.
We have more on the Heat:
- Orlando Robinson has signed a standard minimum-salary contract but he has some work to do to earn the full value for 2023/24, Winderman tweets. There are conditional elements to the contract, including guarantee dates. One of those stipulations is that he must make the opening-night roster.
- The Nets have been contacted regarding the possibility of acquiring Tyler Herro in order to facilitate a Damian Lillard deal between the Trail Blazers and Heat, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets. This confirms another report that the Nets were interested in Herro, whose four-year, $120MM extension kicks in next season.
- Herro may be weary of hearing his name in trade rumors. For what it’s worth, Herro has removed “Miami Heat Guard” from the header on his Twitter feed and replaced it with “Slow motion,” NBA Central relays (Twitter link).
- Jamaree Bouyea, recently signed to a two-way contract, believes he can become the next Heat success story among undrafted players, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald tweets. Bouyea played on separate 10-day contracts with the Heat and Wizards as an undrafted rookie last year. “I like how they just invest, they invest in their young guys,” he said. “Obviously, they have a bunch of undrafted talent that got paid this offseason and offseasons before this, as well.”
JULY 10: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
JULY 2: The Nets are signing free agent swingman Lonnie Walker on a one-year contract, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
The Lakers were interested in re-signing Walker but he could find more playing time in Brooklyn. Walker made $6,479,000 in his one season with the Lakers and he became an unrestricted free agent after the season.
The 24-year-old Walker, who played four seasons with San Antonio, appeared in 56 regular-season games (32 starts) with the Lakers. He averaged 11.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 23.2 minutes. He also appeared in 13 postseason contests, averaging 6.2 points in 13.8 minutes.
How exactly Walker slots into Brooklyn’s rotation remains to be seen. The Nets have a glut of wings, so the addition of Walker could signal some other moves.
The team has also parted ways with Patty Mills and Joe Harris this offseason, so there could be a path to minutes even without further roster shuffling, though fellow newcomer Dennis Smith Jr. also figures to have a role in the backcourt.
JULY 2, 1:00pm: Mills will be heading to the Thunder, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Oklahoma City will receive unspecified draft compensation as part of the deal.
JULY 2, 8:58am: Mills’ eventual destination remains a mystery for now. Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian (Twitter link) says his understanding is that the veteran guard won’t be headed to the Grizzlies.
According to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle, the Rockets traded for Mills in order to acquire an extra second-round draft pick. That’s not quite the same as saying the Nets are sending a single second-rounder to Houston as part of the deal, but that’s our working assumption for now.
JULY 1, 9:02pm: Mills won’t be staying with Houston, according to Iko, who tweets that the veteran guard will be included in an expanded version of the Brooks sign-and-trade and will be rerouted to a different team. It’s not clear at this point if that team will be the Grizzlies or another club.
JULY 1, 5:39pm: The Rockets continue to fill out their previously youth-heavy roster with more seasoned additions early in the 2023 offseason.
Shams Charania and Kelly Iko of The Athletic report (Twitter link) that Houston is putting the finishing touches on a trade for sharpshooting Nets veteran combo guard Patty Mills.
It’s unclear exactly what the Rockets are sending to Brooklyn in the deal, but the Nets aren’t taking back any players, per NetsDaily (Twitter link).
The 6’1″ vet remains a reliable catch-and-shoot option even 14 years into his NBA career. Last season for a playoff-bound Brooklyn team, the 34-year-old Saint Mary’s alum averaged 6.2 PPG on .411/.366/.833 shooting splits, 1.4 APG and 1.1 RPG across 14.2 MPG, his lowest output since the 2012/13 season.
Mills was a huge bench contributor on two NBA Finals-bound Spurs clubs in 2013 and 2014, winning it all in ’14. A deal for him would mark just the latest move clearly made with an eye towards expediting Houston’s timeline.
The Rockets, a team already loaded with recent lottery picks, have also inked experienced free agents Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Jock Landale during this free agency period. Houston also signed controversial former Celtics head coach Ime Udoka with an eye toward professionalizing its locker room identity.