Hoops Rumors Originals

The NBA went nearly three-and-a-half months without a single roster move being completed, as league business was put on hold during its coronavirus-related hiatus. However, that roster freeze was lifted last Tuesday (June 23), allowing the 22 teams going to Orlando this summer and the eight teams whose seasons are over to complete certain transactions during the next week.

Now that the transaction window has closed (as of 11:59pm ET on June 30), certain moves related to substitute players will still be permitted, as we detailed on Tuesday. In fact, today could be somewhat busy, as clubs who have already reached agreements with substitute players make those deals official after noon eastern time. However, the standard signings and two-way conversions that were permitted during the last week are now over for the season.

Listed below is a recap of the moves completed from June 23-30 during the NBA’s transaction window. Again, these are only transactions that become official this week, which is why substitute-player signings like J.R. Smith (Lakers) or Trey Burke (Mavericks) aren’t listed.

Brooklyn Nets

• Signed Tyler Johnson (story).
• Waived Theo Pinson (story).

Swapping in Johnson for Pinson will be the first of many changes the Nets make to their summer roster. Wilson Chandler and DeAndre Jordan have opted out and Spencer Dinwiddie‘s status is up in the air, so Brooklyn will have at least a couple replacement players to sign — Justin Anderson is expected to be one.

Johnson’s contract is a rest-of-season deal, so he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this fall.

Cleveland Cavaliers

• Signed Jordan Bell (story).
• Signed two-way player Dean Wade to a standard contract (story).

The Cavaliers entered the transaction window with a pair of open spots on their 15-man roster. They filled one with an outside signing (Bell) and promoted one of their two-way players (Wade) to occupy the other.

Both players received more than the minimum for the rest of 2019/20, with Wade getting $375K while Bell got $250K. In exchange, the Cavs get some flexibility on both contracts — Bell has a non-guaranteed salary for 2020/21, while Wade has three non-guaranteed seasons on his deal, through 2022/23.

Denver Nuggets

• Signed two-way player PJ Dozier to a standard contract (story).
• Signed Tyler Cook to two-way slot (story).

The Nuggets thought highly enough of Dozier to sign him to a new multiyear contract that includes more than $1MM in guaranteed money, which means he’ll get a significant partial guarantee on his 2020/21 salary. According to Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights (Twitter link), that partial guarantee is worth about $1.2MM and the deal includes a non-guaranteed salary for ’21/22.

Cook, meanwhile, slides into Dozier’s two-way slot as a replacement and will be a free agent at season’s end.

Detroit Pistons

• Signed Justin Patton (story).

The Pistons had a full roster when the NBA went on hiatus, but because Donta Hall‘s 10-day contract has since expired, they opened up a spot during the transaction window. They used it on Patton, whose new deal reportedly includes a non-guaranteed second year. The signing was Troy Weaver‘s first move as Detroit’s general manager.

Houston Rockets

• Signed David Nwaba (story).
• Waived Isaiah Hartenstein (story).

The Rockets made one of the more curious transactions of the last week, signing Nwaba to a two-year deal that reportedly includes $900K for this season, despite the fact that the swingman is still recovering from an Achilles tear and won’t be available in Orlando. Houston apparently viewed Nwaba as an ideal three-and-D fit and was willing to pay him nearly $1MM up front to get a team option on him for 2020/21.

Los Angeles Clippers

• Signed Joakim Noah (story).

Noah was just three days into a 10-day contract with the Clippers when the season was suspended in March. That deal was always viewed as a trial run that would likely lead to a rest-of-season commitment, so it came as no surprise when L.A. made that rest-of-season commitment last week.

Memphis Grizzlies

• Signed Anthony Tolliver (story).

Like Noah, Tolliver was on a 10-day contract before the season was suspended. And like Noah, his team – the Grizzlies – wanted to bring him back on a rest-of-season deal to fill its final open roster spot.

New York Knicks

• Claimed Theo Pinson off waivers (story).
• Claimed two-way player Jared Harper off waivers (story).
• Waived Allonzo Trier (story).
• Waived two-way player Kadeem Allen (story).

New Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose was active on the waiver wire this week, making the only two claims of the transaction window. Pinson has a team option for 2020/21, while Harper will be eligible for restricted free agency. Trier, meanwhile, had been up for restricted free agency but now hits the unrestricted market early.

Oklahoma City Thunder

• Signed two-way player Luguentz Dort to a standard contract (story).
• Signed Devon Hall to two-way slot (story).

The conversion of Dort’s contract was one of the least surprising moves of the week, as he has emerged into a consistent starter on the wing for the Thunder. Oklahoma City got him on a pretty team-friendly four-year minimum-salary deal, which runs through 2022/23. It’s fully guaranteed for ’20/21 with partial guarantees on the final two years.

Hall, a former Thunder draft pick, slides into Dort’s vacated two-way slot and will be a free agent at season’s end.

Philadelphia 76ers

• Signed Ryan Broekhoff to two-way slot (story).

The Sixers didn’t have any openings on their 15-man roster, but had a two-way slot available to be filled. They used it to add more shooting depth — Broekhoff, who will be a free agent this fall, knocked down 40.3% of his three-point attempts in a part-time role in two NBA seasons.

Phoenix Suns

• Signed Cameron Payne (story).
• Waived two-way player Jared Harper (story).

The Suns’ release of Harper was more than three months in the making and finally became official last week. Phoenix didn’t end up filling his two-way slot, but signed Payne to a two-year deal to take the open spot on the 15-man roster. Payne will add more backcourt depth for the restart this summer and the Suns will have the option of bringing him back for 2020/21 as well.

Sacramento Kings

• Signed Corey Brewer (story).

The Kings will enter the resumption of the season 3.5 games back of Memphis for the final playoff spot in the West. With an open roster spot, they prioritized a player who could contribute immediately, settling on Brewer, who played for Sacramento last season. He’ll give the Kings more depth on the wing, having signed a rest-of-season contract.

San Antonio Spurs

• Signed Tyler Zeller (story).

Another challenger for that No. 8 seed in the West, the Spurs needed some frontcourt depth after losing LaMarcus Aldridge to a shoulder injury that will sideline him for the rest of the 2019/20 season. Zeller represents a safe veteran option. His deal with San Antonio includes a non-guaranteed salary for next season.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

It has been nearly three-and-a-half months since an NBA team made a transaction. On March 10, the Warriors signed guard Mychal Mulder to a multiyear contract. Two days later, a report indicated that the Suns had waived two-way player Jared Harper.

However, by then, the 2019/20 season had already been halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the NBA and NBPA agreeing shortly thereafter to a moratorium that halted roster activity. As a result, signings, waivers, and other transactions have been on hold for months, and Harper still hasn’t technically cleared waivers.

As a weekend report indicated, Harper will hit waivers on Tuesday, once the NBA officially opens a week-long transaction window for all 30 teams, including the eight that aren’t participating in the resumed season. That window will open today at noon eastern time and will close next Tuesday (June 30) at 11:59pm ET.

However, not every form of transaction will be permitted once that moratorium lifts in less than 24 hours. With the help of Bobby Marks’ primer at ESPN.com and a handful of other reports, here’s a breakdown of what we can expect during the league’s week-long transaction window:

Teams will be permitted to convert players on two-way contracts to standard deals.

This may not be as pressing a priority for some teams as it typically would be, since the NBA will allow players on two-way contracts to play in the postseason for this year only. That means a player like Chris Chiozza (Nets) doesn’t necessarily need to sign a standard contract to participate in the playoffs.

Still, there’s incentive for teams to do so if there’s a spot available on their 15-man rosters, as is the case with the Thunder and Luguentz Dort. Oklahoma City could potentially get Dort locked up to a more team-friendly contract, and moving him to the 15-man roster would open up a two-way contract slot.

The top 22 teams will be able to sign players to two-way contracts (as of June 27).

Normally, January 15 represents the last day that teams can sign a player to a two-way contract. After that date, no two-way signings are permitted until the new league year begins. This year, however, the teams participating in the Orlando restart will be able to sign players to two-way contracts, starting Saturday, assuming they have a spot available or can open one up.

As our two-way contract tracker shows, the Suns and Sixers currently have open two-way slots. A team like the Thunder could create one if they convert a player to their standard roster.

On the other hand, a bottom-eight team with a two-way opening, such as the Hawks or Warriors, won’t be permitted to fill it during this week’s transaction window, since the rule change is designed to give teams in Orlando some added depth.

The usual rules will apply to eligibility for two-way players, so a team won’t be able to sign a 10-year veteran to a two-way deal.

Teams will be able to sign free agents or make waiver claims using open roster spots.

Teams that don’t have full 15-man rosters will be given the opportunity to sign players to fill those open spots, whether or not they’re participating in the resumed season. Any player who played in the NBA or G League and wasn’t on a professional non-NBA roster after September 30, 2019 is eligible to sign, per Marks.

Players such as J.R. Smith and Jamal Crawford, who weren’t in the NBA this season, are also eligible to be signed, since they didn’t play in an international league. A player like Greg Monroe, who played for Bayern Munich in Germany during the 2019/20 season, wouldn’t be eligible to sign with an NBA team now.

The Nuggets, Suns, Trail Blazers, Spurs, and Thunder are among the top 22 teams with open roster spots. The Clippers, Grizzlies, and Kings also have openings, though they’re expected to be filled by Joakim Noah, Anthony Tolliver, and Corey Brewer, respectively.

Rest-of-season or multiyear contracts are permitted. Obviously, for bottom-eight teams, a rest-of-season contract wouldn’t provide any value, so if those clubs make roster additions, they’ll be multiyear deals. The Hornets, Cavaliers, Pistons, Warriors, and Timberwolves currently have open roster spots.

Rest-of-season, minimum-salary contracts will be worth 20/177th of their full-season values. Marks has the specific breakdown right here. Interestingly, Marks also notes that any free agent who signs a rest-of-season contract will become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, even if he doesn’t have four years of NBA experience.

Teams will be able to waive players.

Of course, even if a team doesn’t currently have a roster spot available, that club could open one up by waiving one of its current players. For example, the Hawks may decide that it makes sense to release retiring forward Vince Carter in order to create space to sign a promising G League prospect to a long-term deal.

Playoff teams with full 15-man rosters may also consider making a cut or two to bring in someone new. The Rockets and Mavericks are reportedly among the teams mulling a change.

A player waived after March 1 is ineligible to participate in the postseason with a new team, so that rule applies to anyone waived during the transaction window too. For instance, the Mavs couldn’t pick up Carter for a playoff run if Atlanta cuts him.

As Marks notes (via Twitter), Sunday, June 28 at 5:00pm ET will be the deadline this week to release a player, in order to ensure that the player clears waivers before the transaction window closes on Tuesday night.

Teams will be able to sign “substitute players” — under certain circumstances.

Even without an open roster spot, a team will be permitted to sign a “substitute player” to replace a player who meets one of the following criteria:

1. Tests positive for COVID-19.
2. Is deemed “protected” or “excused” from participating for health reasons related to COVID-19.
3. Voluntarily opts out of participating by June 24, forfeiting at least eight games’ worth of salary.
   • Note: A player who opts out can’t lose more than 14 games’ worth of salary, per Marks.

In other words, players like Trevor Ariza and Davis Bertans, who have voluntarily opted out, can be replaced with substitute players by the Trail Blazers and Wizards, respectively, without those teams needing to open up roster spots.

However, an injured player can’t be replace by a substitute player, meaning the Nets can’t sign free agents to replace Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving without an opening on their 15-man roster. They’ll likely designate their two-way players – Chiozza and Jeremiah Martin – as Durant’s and Irving’s replacements instead.

Substitute players are subject to slightly different rules than typical free agent signees. They can’t be signed to multiyear deals, and their salaries won’t count against a team’s cap or tax. They also can be signed as of July 1, rather than during this week’s transaction window.

Substitutes for players meeting any of the criteria listed above can be signed until August 14, the last day of the seeding games. After that, they can be signed only if a player tests positive for COVID-19. A substitute player signed after the seeding games are over must have between zero and three years of service, ruling out certain veterans. The substitute player will also have to quarantine for a minimum of seven days upon arriving in Orlando.

If a player is replaced by a substitute player, he becomes ineligible to return this summer. For instance, if the Wizards sign a player to replace Bertans, then Bertans wouldn’t be able to have a change of heart and rejoin the Wizards in the event that they claim the No. 8 seed in the East.

Teams won’t be able to make trades.

The one type of transaction that we won’t see at all this week is a trade. Because the 2019/20 trade deadline passed in February and the season isn’t over yet, those deals remain off the table for the time being, so any roster changes will have to come in the form of signings, waiver claims, or cuts.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.