Newsstand Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pistons’ Bogdanovic, Morris To Miss Multiple Weeks

October 24th, 2023 at 11:10am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons will be missing multiple rotation players to start the season, announcing today in a press release (Twitter link) that forward Bojan Bogdanovic, guard Monte Morris, and forward Isaiah Livers will all remain sidelined for at least the next few weeks.

According to the team, Bogdanovic will be reevaluated in four weeks due to a right calf strain, while Morris will be reevaluated in three weeks after straining his right quad during a recent rehab session (he had been recovering from lower back soreness).

It’s an unfortunate turn of events for a Pistons team that enters this season with aspirations of moving up the Eastern Conference standings after winning no more than 23 games in each of the past four seasons. Cade Cunningham is back in action this fall after a leg injury limited him to 12 appearances a year ago, lottery pick Ausar Thompson appears poised to play a significant role, and new head coach Monty Williams has a track record of turning lottery teams into playoff contenders.

Bogdanovic’s and Morris’ injuries won’t necessarily derail the Pistons’ year – they could both be back in action before the end of November – but the two veterans had been projected to play key roles for the team to open the season.

Bogdanovic led the Pistons in 2022/23 with 21.6 points per game, posting an impressive shooting line of .488/.411/.884 in 59 games (32.1 MPG). Morris, acquired from Washington in an offseason trade, averaged 10.3 PPG and 5.3 APG on .480/.382/.831 shooting in 62 games (27.3 MPG) and brought some additional veteran stability to Detroit’s backcourt.

As for Livers, his diagnosis – a Grade III left ankle sprain – isn’t new. Detroit announced at the start of training camp that he would miss at least six-to-eight weeks as a result of the injury. The club’s announcement today indicates that Livers will be reevaluated in four weeks, at the same time as Bogdanovic.

Hawks Sign Onyeka Okongwu To Four-Year Extension

October 23rd, 2023 at 5:46pm CST by Luke Adams

5:46pm: The deal is official, the Hawks have confirmed in a press release.

4:47pm: The Hawks have reached an extension agreement with center Onyeka Okongwu, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), who hears from agent Sam Goldfeder that the two sides are completing a four-year, $62MM deal.

Okongwu, who will turn 23 in December, was the sixth overall pick in the 2020 draft. He has primarily come off the bench in his first three professional seasons, starting just 28 of 178 games for Atlanta.

However, Okongwu has gradually taken on a more significant role each year, setting new career highs in points (9.9), rebounds (7.2), and minutes (23.1) per game in 80 appearances in 2022/23 and posting impressive offensive rebounding numbers following the arrival of Quin Snyder, per Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). He projects to take on more responsibilities in the Hawks’ frontcourt this season with big man John Collins no longer on the roster.

While $15.5MM per year is a substantial price to pay for a reserve, it could turn out to be a bargain if Okongwu continues to improve and eventually replaces Clint Capela as Atlanta’s starting center. Capela’s name popped up in trade rumors this offseason and it wouldn’t be a surprise if that happens again in the coming months now that the team has made a long-term commitment to Okongwu.

His long-term contract agreement with the Hawks ensures that Okongwu becomes part of a record-setting class of rookie scale extension recipients in 2023. He’s the 14th players to agree to a rookie scale extension this year, blowing away the previous record of 11, which was set in 2021 and matched in 2022.

Hawks forward Saddiq Bey was also among the players eligible to sign a rookie scale extension by Monday’s 5:00 pm CT deadline, but he didn’t reach a deal with the team, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Wolves Sign Jaden McDaniels To Five-Year Extension

October 23rd, 2023 at 5:18pm CST by Rory Maher

5:18pm: The Timberwolves have officially announced McDaniels’ extension, issuing a press release to confirm the deal.

2:53pm: McDaniels’ new deal will actually be worth $131MM, with another $5MM available via incentives that are currently considered unlikely, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN.

1:20pm: The Timberwolves and forward Jaden McDaniels are in agreement on a five-year rookie scale extension worth $136MM, agents Nima Namakian and Bill Duffy tell Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link).

As Charania notes (via Twitter), by agreeing to give McDaniels a significant contract extension, the Wolves project to be a taxpayer starting in 2024/25, which is when the new deal kicks in. Minnesota hasn’t been a taxpaying team in almost 20 years, Charania adds.

McDaniels will make $3.9MM this season in the final year of his rookie contract.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe recently said on his Lowe Post podcast that the five-year, $135MM+ extension that Spurs wing Devin Vassell signed threw a “grenade” into some other rookie scale extension negotiations around the NBA, including McDaniels’ talks.

While Lowe believed that McDaniels would be warranted in seeking an annual salary of at least $30MM per year, his ESPN colleague Bobby Marks suggested that an extension worth in the neighborhood of $134MM over five years (just below Vassell’s deal) might make sense for both the player and the team. Marks turned out to be almost exactly right.

When I covered McDaniels’ extension candidacy in late June, I projected he could get about $25MM annually. If the deal is fully guaranteed, he’ll make a couple million per year more than that.

The 23-year-old is one of the top wing defenders in the league. He’s coming off a career year in which he averaged 12.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.9 SPG and 1.0 BPG on .517/.398/.736 shooting in 79 games, all starts (30.6 MPG). McDaniels also posted a career-best 58.8% two-point percentage in ’22/23, with a major leap in scoring efficiency (61.1% True Shooting percentage, vs. 55.2% and 55.3% in his previous two seasons).

Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News and Skor North was speaking to Wolves owner Glen Taylor on Monday and he said a deal would be completed prior to the 5:00 p.m. CT deadline (Twitter link). Taylor also said the Wolves were able to lower McDaniels’ asking price, with Vassell’s contract cited in talks, according to Wolfson.

McDaniels is the 11th former first-round pick to agree to a rookie scale extension this offseason, tying the record of the past two years. The full list of players who have signed new deals — as well as those who remain eligible — can be found right here.

Rockets Waive Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

October 23rd, 2023 at 5:10pm CST by Luke Adams

5:10pm: The Rockets have officially waived Robinson-Earl, per NBA.com’s transaction log. The club also converted Williams to a two-way contract and cut Darius Days in order to set its regular season roster.

1:18pm: The Rockets will waive center Jeremiah Robinson-Earl ahead of the regular season, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Robinson-Earl, who will turn 23 in November, was the 32nd overall pick in the 2021 draft. He spent his first two NBA seasons in Oklahoma City, averaging 7.2 points and 4.9 rebounds in 20.7 minutes per game across 92 appearances, with a shooting line of .427/.344/.781.

The Thunder included Robinson-Earl last week in the trade that sent Victor Oladipo to Houston in exchange for Kevin Porter Jr. and a pair of future second-round picks. Robinson-Earl had fallen behind Jaylin Williams on OKC’s frontcourt depth chart and was projected to have his role reduced further in 2023/24 with Chet Holmgren healthy. As such, he became a victim of the Thunder’s preseason roster crunch.

While I speculated at the time of the trade that the Rockets might keep Robinson-Earl and waive the injured Oladipo, they’ll go the other direction, preferring to keep Oladipo’s $9.45MM expiring contract on their books for potential trade purposes rather than adding the healthy Robinson-Earl to their group of developing young players.

Houston already has Jock Landale and Boban Marjanovic as projected backups behind starting center Alperen Sengun and presumably saw no need to add a fourth big man to that mix, despite Robinson-Earl’s modest salary. He’ll earn a guaranteed $1.9MM salary this season, but the Rockets won’t be on the hook for his $1.99MM team option for 2024/25.

Unless a team uses cap room a trade exception to claim Robinson-Earl off waivers, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent later this week, free to sign a standard contract with any team except Oklahoma City or a two-way deal with any team besides the Thunder or the Rockets. A team can’t sign a player it traded away if his new team waives him; additionally, a club that cuts a player is ineligible to re-sign him to a two-way contract if he was owed more than $75K in guaranteed money.

Houston now has 16 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals, so one more move will be necessary today to set their roster for the regular season. Jeenathan Williams, who is on an Exhibit 10 contract, seems likely to be converted to a two-way deal, in which case the Rockets would have to waive one of their current two-way players.

Mavs Sign Josh Green To Three-Year Extension

October 23rd, 2023 at 4:58pm CST by Rory Maher

4:58pm: The Mavericks have officially announced Green’s extension (Twitter link).

2:44pm: The Mavericks are finalizing a three-year, $41MM rookie scale extension with Josh Green, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the deal is agreed upon (Twitter link).

A 6’5″ wing who hails from Sydney, Australia, Green was the 18th overall pick of the 2020 draft after one college season at Arizona. His both his production and efficiency have improved over the course of his three NBA seasons.

As a rookie in ’20/21, Green only appeared in 39 games for an average of 11.4 MPG, and wasn’t very effective when he did play, posting a .452/.160/.565 shooting slash line. He started to turn the corner in ’21/22, playing 67 games (15.5 MPG) while averaging 4.8 PPG and 2.4 RPG on .508/.359/.689 shooting.

Last season, the 22-year-old emerged as a valuable rotation regular, averaging 9.1 PPG and 3.0 on .537/.402/.723 shooting in 60 games (21 starts, 25.7 MPG). According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), Green was one of only five players to convert at least 60% of his twos and 40% of his threes in ’22/23 (minimum of 100 attempts for each shot type).

Reports throughout the offseason indicated that Dallas and Green had mutual interest in getting a deal done. Assuming the extension is fully guaranteed, he’ll earn an average of $14MM from 2024-26. Green will make $4.77M in ’23/24, the final season of his rookie contract.

Green is now the 13th player to agree to a rookie scale extension this offseason, breaking the record of 11 that was set and then tied over the past two campaigns.

The full list of rookie scale extension recipients can be viewed right here, while the remaining candidates are listed here.

Wizards Cut Taj Gibson, Xavier Cooks

October 23rd, 2023 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards have reduced their roster from 17 players on standard contracts to 15 by waiving big man Taj Gibson and forward Xavier Cooks, reports Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Washington faced a roster crunch this fall, with all 17 of their players on standard contracts owed fully guaranteed salaries in 2023/24. Neither Gibson nor Cooks projected to have a significant rotation role in D.C. and neither one was owed any guaranteed money beyond this season, making them logical candidates to be the odd men out.

Gibson, who has 14 years of NBA experience under his belt, spent last season with the Wizards, averaging 3.4 points and 1.9 rebounds in a career-low 9.8 minutes per game across 49 appearances. After reaching unrestricted free agency, the 38-year-old earned a new one-year, minimum-salary contract from Washington, but was unable to claim a regular season spot.

Assuming Gibson goes unclaimed on waivers, the Wizards will remain on the hook for his $2,019,706 cap charge and the forward/center will earn his full $3,196,448 salary.

As for Cooks, the Australian-born forward had spent most of his professional career playing for the Sydney Kings after going undrafted out of Winthrop in 2018. After helping lead the Kings to a National Basketball League title earlier this year, Cooks signed a four-year contract with the Wizards in March that included two guaranteed seasons — last year and this year.

Cooks’ $1,719,864 salary will remain on the Wizards’ books for 2023/24, but the team won’t have to pay his $2,019,699 salary for 2024/25 or his $2,187,451 team option for ’25/26.

Having signed center John Butler to a two-way contract earlier today, Washington now has a full 18-man roster entering the regular season — 15 players on standard deals and three on two-ways.

Sixers Waive Montrezl Harrell

October 23rd, 2023 at 3:44pm CST by Luke Adams

3:44pm: The Sixers have officially waived Harrell, the team confirmed in a press release.

3:02pm: The Sixers are waiving big man Montrezl Harrell in order to reach the regular season roster limit, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Philadelphia had been carrying 16 players on standard contracts and needed to get down to 15 before opening night. Harrell was one of 14 Sixers players whose salary for 2023/24 is fully guaranteed, but he underwent knee surgery in August after tearing his right ACL and medial meniscus, making him an obvious candidate to be released.

Harrell wasn’t a significant part of Philadelphia’s rotation last season, averaging 5.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in just 11.9 minutes per game across 57 appearances.

That made it a bit of a surprise when the 29-year-old re-signed with the 76ers on a one-year, minimum-salary deal this summer, especially since the club also added Mohamed Bamba and Filip Petrusev to its frontcourt while retaining restricted free agent Paul Reed.

It’s possible that Harrell anticipated the team’s head coaching change could create an opportunity for more minutes. In his previous five seasons, he had put up 14.5 PPG and 5.9 RPG in 361 games (23.3 MPG), earning Sixth Man of the Year honors in 2020.

Although an ACL tear is an injury that has sidelined a handful of NBA players for a full year – or longer – in recent seasons, Harrell is hoping to return sometime after the All-Star break, according to Charania. That’s an aggressive recovery timeline — we’ll have to wait and see if he can achieve that goal. For what it’s worth, the 76ers will continue to support Harrell in his rehab and recovery plan, Charania adds (via Twitter).

Assuming Harrell goes unclaimed on waivers, which is a safe bet, the veteran forward/center will earn $2,891,467 while Philadelphia carries a dead-money cap hit of $2,019,706. The move clears a path for Petrusev and Danny Green – neither of whom has a fully guaranteed salary – to make the Sixers’ 15-man regular season roster.

Cole Anthony Signs Three-Year Extension With Magic

October 23rd, 2023 at 3:43pm CST by Luke Adams

3:43pm: Anthony’s extension is official, the Magic announced (Twitter link via Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel). Bobby Marks of ESPN shares the structure of the contract, tweeting that it’s technically worth $39.1MM and features a third-year team option.

2:34pm: The flurry of rookie scale extensions ahead of Monday’s deadline continues, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that the Magic and guard Cole Anthony have reached an agreement on a three-year deal. The extension will be worth $39MM, agents Jeff Schwartz and Javon Phillips tell Wojnarowski.

Anthony, the 15th overall pick in the 2020 draft, has spent his first three years in the NBA in Orlando, appearing in 172 total regular season games during that time.

While he started 99 of 112 games in his first two seasons, Anthony came off the bench almost exclusively in 2022/23 and enjoyed his best year in terms of shooting effiency, boosting his rates to a career-best .454/.364/.894. In 60 games (25.9 MPG) last season, he averaged 13.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 3.9 APG.

The Magic project to have a crowded backcourt in 2023/24, with other recent lottery picks like Markelle Fultz, Jalen Suggs, Anthony Black, and Jett Howard all vying for minutes. However, this investment in Anthony suggests Orlando envisions him continuing to play a substantial role in the rotation going forward.

Anthony’s deal is right in the range of the deal signed by another young guard, Coby White, who was a restricted free agent this summer. The Bulls guard received a three-year, $36MM contract that can be worth up to $40MM with incentives. It remains to be seen whether Anthony’s extension features any incentives or options.

Based on the reported terms of Anthony’s deal, Orlando still projects to have at least $30MM in cap room in 2024, notes Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Anthony is the 12th players to agree to terms on a rookie scale extension so far in 2023, with the deadline just hours away. The previous record for most rookie scale extensions in a single season was 11, set in 2021 and matched in 2022, so that record is on track to be broken today.

The full list of rookie scale extension recipients can be viewed right here, while the remaining candidates are listed here.

Wizards Sign Deni Avdija To Four-Year Extension

October 23rd, 2023 at 1:37pm CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 23: Avdija’s extension is now official, the team announced today in a press release.

“Deni has many of the characteristics that we value in the players who represent our organization. He has a team-first mentality, works hard on his craft, competes with toughness, and is committed to improving the community,” Wizards general manager Will Dawkins said in a statement. “That hard work has resulted in the year-to-year development of his overall game and we’re excited to have him continue that progress as a Wizard.”

OCTOBER 22: The Wizards and forward Deni Avdija have agreed to a contract extension, agents Doug Neustadt and Matan Siman-Tov tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), the deal will be worth $55MM over four years and is fully guaranteed.

There are no incentives or options in the deal, adds Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter links).

The No. 9 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Avdija has appeared in 212 games for Washington over the last three seasons, averaging 8.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 24.8 minutes per game during that time and posting a career shooting line of .431/.310/.734.

Given that his numbers haven’t increased substantially since his rookie year (his .297 3PT% in 2022/23 was a career worst) and the Wizards have overhauled their front office since drafting him, Avdija didn’t look like one of the top candidates to receive a rookie scale extension in 2023. However, he and the team came to an agreement ahead of Monday’s deadline, making him the ninth player to agree to a rookie scale extension so far this year.

Avdija’s new deal is nearly exactly in line with the value of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Based on the NBA’s latest cap projection for 2024/25 (a 4.4% increase), a full four-year MLE deal next season would be worth $55.69MM.

When our Rory Maher explored Avdija’s case for an extension back in July, he used the MLE as a point of reference, writing that the forward probably wasn’t in position to get more than the mid-level on the open market.

The contract will cut into Washington’s projected cap room for the 2024 offseason, but the club should still be in position to create at least $22MM in space, and potentially more than that, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype.

After missing the first two games of the preseason due to back tightness, Avdija appears good to go for the regular season and may be part of the Wizards’ starting five alongside Tyus Jones, Jordan Poole, Kyle Kuzma, and Daniel Gafford. If the team instead opts to start rookie forward Bilal Coulibaly, Avdija would be one of the first players off the bench.

Aaron Nesmith Lands Three-Year, $33MM Extension With Pacers

October 23rd, 2023 at 11:24am CST by Arthur Hill

11:24am: Nesmith’s extension is official, the Pacers announced in a press release.

9:33am: The Pacers have agreed to a three-year, $33MM extension with Aaron Nesmith, agent Mike Lindeman tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The 24-year-old forward thrived in his first season with Indiana, moving into the starting lineup and averaging 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 73 games. Today’s extension shows that management considers him part of the team’s young core as it tries to become a playoff contender.

The Pacers acquired Nesmith from Boston last summer as part of the Malcolm Brogdon deal. The Celtics selected him with the 14th pick in the 2020 draft, but he wasn’t able to earn a regular rotation role in his two years with the team.

Nesmith will earn $5,634,257 in the final year of his rookie contract before the extension kicks in next season. Once the deal is finalized, he will be under contract through 2026/27.

Today is the final day for members of the 2020 draft class to sign rookie scale extensions. The deadline is set at 5:00 pm Central time, and you can track them all here.

Nesmith is the 10th player to agree to a rookie scale extension so far this year, as our extension tracker shows.