Hoops Rumors Originals

One of the most notable additions to the NBA’s most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement, which went into effect at the start of the 2017/18 league year, is the two-way contract.

As we explain in depth in our FAQ, two-way contracts allow NBA teams to carry two extra players in addition to the 15 on their regular season roster. These players spend most of their time with the club’s G League affiliate, but are eligible to join the NBA roster for up to 45 days per season, and remain under team control — they can’t be poached by rival franchises.

Since the inception of the two-way deal, several two-way players have proven crucial to their respective teams’ success. Quinn Cook, Tyrone Wallace, Danuel House, Allonzo Trier, Gary Clark, and Edmond Sumner are among those who have parlayed two-way contracts into NBA deals over the last two years.

NBA teams have begun to fill in their two-way slots for the 2019/20 league year, so we’ll track all those deals in the space below. Some two-way players from 2018/19 inked two-year contracts and remain under contract for this season, while others have been newly signed.

If a signing hasn’t been officially announced as a two-way contract, but has been reported as such, we’ll make a note of that, and update the info as necessary. Players who are in the first year of two-way contracts that cover two years (the maximum length), will be noted with an asterisk once that info is confirmed.

This tracker will continue to be updated throughout the 2019/20 league year, and can be found anytime in the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site, or in the “Features” menu on our mobile site.

Here are 2019/20’s two-way players:

Updated 6-30-20

Atlanta Hawks

1. Charlie Brown Jr., G/F
2. Empty

Boston Celtics

1. Tremont Waters, PG
2. Tacko Fall, C

Brooklyn Nets

1. Chris Chiozza, PG
2. Jeremiah Martin, PG *

Charlotte Hornets

1. Kobi Simmons, PG
2. Ray Spalding, PF *

Chicago Bulls

1. Adam Mokoka, SG
2. Max Strus, SG

Cleveland Cavaliers

1. Matt Mooney, G *
2. Empty

Dallas Mavericks

1. Antonius Cleveland, SG
2. Josh Reaves, SG

Denver Nuggets

1. Bol Bol, C *
2. Tyler Cook, PF
   • Signed as substitute player for summer restart.

Detroit Pistons

1. Louis King, SF
2. Jordan Bone, PG

Golden State Warriors

1. Empty
2. Empty

Houston Rockets

1. Michael Frazier, SG
2. William Howard, G/F

Indiana Pacers

1. Brian Bowen II, G/F
2. Naz Mitrou-Long, SG

Los Angeles Clippers

1. Amir Coffey, G/F *
2. Johnathan Motley, F/C

Los Angeles Lakers

1. Kostas Antetokounmpo, F
2. Devontae Cacok, F/C *

Memphis Grizzlies

1. Yuta Watanabe, G/F
2. John Konchar, SG
   

Miami Heat

1. Gabe Vincent, PG
2. Kyle Alexander, PF

Milwaukee Bucks

1. Cameron Reynolds, SG
2. Frank Mason, PG

Minnesota Timberwolves

1. Jordan McLaughlin, PG
2. Kelan Martin, SF

New Orleans Pelicans

1. Zylan Cheatham, F
2. Josh Gray, PG

New York Knicks

1. Kenny Wooten, PF *
2. Jared Harper, PG

Oklahoma City Thunder

1. Kevin Hervey, PF
2. Devon Hall, SG
   • Signed as substitute player for summer restart.

Orlando Magic

1. B.J. Johnson, G/F
2. Vic Law, F

Philadelphia 76ers

1. Marial Shayok, G/F *
2. Ryan Broekhoff, G/F
   • Signed as substitute player for summer restart.

Phoenix Suns

1. Tariq Owens, PF
2. Empty

Portland Trail Blazers

1. Jaylen Hoard, F
2. Moses Brown, C

Sacramento Kings

1. Kyle Guy, G *
2. DaQuan Jeffries, G/F

San Antonio Spurs

1. Drew Eubanks, F/C
   
2. Quinndary Weatherspoon, SG

Toronto Raptors

1. Oshae Brissett, F
2. Paul Watson, SG *

Utah Jazz

1. Jarrell Brantley, PF
2. Justin Wright-Foreman, PG

Washington Wizards

1. Garrison Mathews, SG
2. Johnathan Williams, C

With free agency underway and news of contract agreements breaking all week, Hoops Rumors is here to help you keep track of which players are heading to which teams this July. To this end, we present our Free Agent Tracker, a feature we’ve had each year since our inception in 2012. Using our tracker, you can quickly look up deals, sorting by team, position, free agent type, and a handful of other variables.

A few notes on the tracker:

• During the July moratorium (July 1-6), most of the information you’ll find in the tracker will reflect tentative agreements, rather than finalized deals. As signings become official, we’ll continue to update and modify the data as needed.
• Similarly, contract years and dollars will be based on what’s been reported to date, so in many cases those amounts will be estimates and approximations rather than official figures. Salaries aren’t necessarily fully guaranteed either.
• A restricted free agent who signs an offer sheet won’t be included in the tracker right away. We’ll wait to hear whether the player’s original team will match or pass on that offer sheet before we update our tracker in order to avoid confusion.
• If you’re viewing the tracker on our mobile site, be sure to turn your phone sideways to see more details.

Our 2019 Free Agent Tracker can be found anytime on the right sidebar of our desktop site under “Hoops Rumors Features,” and it’s also under the “Tools” menu atop the site. On our mobile site, it can be found in our menu under “Free Agent Lists.”

The tracker will be updated throughout the offseason, so be sure to check back for the latest info. If you have any corrections, please let us know right here.

Our lists of free agents by position/type and by team break down the players who have yet to reach contract agreements.

Note: This post was updated in February 2020 to reflect the NBA’s latest cap projection for 2020/21.

One of the most lucrative new deals agreed up on this week was a five-year, maximum-salary contract extension for Nuggets guard Jamal Murray. Ben Simmons is expected to soon finalize a similar extension with the Sixers. Those deals were reported as having total values of $170MM apiece, but that number is just an estimate for now.

Because Murray’s new contract won’t go into effect until the 2020/21 season and the NBA won’t finalize the ’20/21 salary cap until the start of next year’s free agency, we can only ballpark what maximum-salary contracts will look like based on the NBA’s latest cap projections.

When the NBA confirmed its salary cap data for the 2019/20 season on June 29, the league also updated its cap estimates for the following two years. The current projection for the 2020/21 cap is $117MM, though that number could fluctuate over the course of the next 12 months or so.

[UPDATE: It has fluctuated multiple times since then — a September projection put the 2020/21 estimate at $116MM, while a January update moved it to $115MM]

For now, we’re basing our maximum-salary estimates on the presumed $115MM cap figure. Listed below are the early maximum-salary projections for 2020/21, based on a $115MM cap. The first chart shows the maximum salaries for a player re-signing with his own team — a player’s previous club can offer five years instead of four, and 8% annual raises instead of 5% raises. The second chart shows the maximum salaries for a player signing with a new team.

A player’s maximum salary is generally determined by his years of NBA experience, so there’s a wide gap between potential earnings for younger and older players. Unless they qualify for a more lucrative extension by meeting certain performance criteria, players with no more than six years of NBA experience are limited to a starting salary worth up to 25% of the cap. For players with seven to nine years of experience, that number is 30%. For players with 10 or more years of experience, it’s 35%.

Here are the the early max-salary projections for 2020/21:

A player re-signing with his own team (8% annual raises, up to five years):

The “6 years or less” column here is what Murray’s and Simmons’ new extensions would look like, assuming those deals don’t meet certain Rose Rule triggers.

The second column reflects what a player like Anthony Davis could get if he re-signs with his own team as a free agent next summer.

The third column applies not just to players with 10+ years of experience, but also to players who meet the Designated Veteran Extension criteria (Davis would have been eligible for that amount if he had signed an extension with the Pelicans).

A player signing with a new team (5% annual raises, up to four years):

If a player changes teams as a free agent, he doesn’t have access to a fifth year or 8% raises. So if Murray had opted to sign an offer sheet next summer, he would have been limited to a four-year deal projected to be worth just shy of $124MM.

If Davis or another veteran with between seven and nine years of NBA experience wants to change teams in 2019, he would be limited to a contract worth less than $150MM.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

While potential starters like Danny Green, DeMarcus Cousins, Marcus Morris, and – of course – Kawhi Leonard remain available on the NBA’s unrestricted free agent market, many of the other most intriguing names out there are restricted free agents. As of Thursday morning, nine restricted free agents don’t yet have contract agreements in place.

[RELATED: 2019 NBA Free Agents]

Given the limited leverage that restricted free agents have, it’s not unusual for their situations to drag on throughout the offseason — a year ago, Patrick McCaw‘s restricted free agency wasn’t resolved until nearly halfway through the regular season. So it’s possible that some of the RFAs still on the board might not be reaching a deal anytime soon.

On the other hand, teams seem to be a little more receptive than usual this year to working out deals allowing their restricted free agents to find new homes — we’ve seen no offers sheets for RFAs so far this offseason.

D’Angelo Russell, Terry Rozier, Malcolm Brogdon, Tomas Satoransky, and Jake Layman will all be landing with new teams via sign-and-trade deals. Willie Cauley-Stein and Bobby Portis reached agreements with new clubs after their previous teams willingly withdrew their qualifying offers, and it sounds like that will be the case with Jordan Bell as well.

[RELATED: 2019 NBA Free Agent Tracker]

While we wait to see whether teams are willing to be as accommodating for the rest of this year’s RFAs, here’s a breakdown of the ones still on the market:

1. Kelly Oubre, F (Suns): The Suns’ cost-cutting trade for Kyle Korver was designed to allow the team to sign Ricky Rubio while still retaining Oubre’s cap hold, so it looks like Phoenix plans to re-sign him.
2. Ivica Zubac, C (Clippers): There has been little word on where things stand with Zubac, but the Clippers still have a ton of cap flexibility, particularly if Kawhi Leonard signs elsewhere, so I don’t expect them to be outbid for the young center.
3. Tyus Jones, G (Timberwolves): If the Wolves had been able to land D’Angelo Russell, the odds of Jones’ return would have dipped, but with no point guards incoming via free agency, Minnesota will probably do its best to retain Jones.
4. Delon Wright, G (Grizzlies): There are a ton of moving pieces on the Grizzlies’ roster, and Wright’s future could be tied to whether the team decides to retain Avery Bradley and guarantee his $12.96MM salary, since Memphis is inching closer to the tax line. The Mavericks and Timberwolves were said to have expressed some interest in Wright earlier this week.
5. Khem Birch, C (Magic): Birch was said in June to be an under-the-radar free agent drawing significant interest. That makes him one of the more intriguing names on this list, since Orlando looks to be right around the tax line after agreeing to lucrative new deals for Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ross. I woulnd’t think the Magic would match an aggressive offer sheet for Birch unless they could shed other salary and avoid the tax.
6. Trey Lyles, F (Nuggets): Denver remains about $11MM+ below the tax line after picking up Paul Millsap‘s team option, so the club has some flexibility to bring back Lyles if it wants to.
7. Patrick McCaw, G (Raptors): There has been little to no chatter about McCaw so far, but that’s not a surprise. The Raptors’ offseason business is on hold until Leonard makes a decision, and McCaw’s restricted free agency in 2018 showed he’s very willing to be patient.
8. Nando De Colo, G (Raptors): De Colo had been hoping to make a return to the NBA this year, but a recent Sportando report indicated that he may end up remaining overseas and joining Turkish club Fenerbahce.
9. Theo Pinson, G/F (Nets): We haven’t heard any updates on Pinson since he received his qualifying offer, but the Nets will need to maximize their cap flexibility to add Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and DeAndre Jordan, making him a candidate to be renounced.

Note: There are also five two-way restricted free agents still on the market. That list can be found here.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.