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Rockets’ Cam Whitmore Named Summer League MVP

July 17th, 2023 at 2:46pm CST by Rory Maher

Rockets forward Cam Whitmore has been named the Las Vegas Summer League Most Valuable Player, the NBA announced (via Twitter).

The NBA also announced its All-Summer League First and Second Teams, which are as follows (Twitter links):

First Team

Keyonte George, Jazz (Backcourt)
Sam Merrill, Cavaliers (Backcourt)
Orlando Robinson, Heat (Frontcourt)
Hunter Tyson, Nuggets (Frontcourt)
Cam Whitmore, Rockets (Frontcourt)

Second Team

Max Christie, Lakers (Backcourt)
Javon Freeman-Liberty, Bulls (Backcourt)
Xavier Moon, Clippers (Backcourt)
Emoni Bates, Cavaliers (Frontcourt)
Jabari Smith, Rockets (Frontcourt)
Jalen Wilson, Nets (Frontcourt)

According to the NBA (Twitter link), Christie and Moon received the same amount of votes, which is why there is an additional backcourt player on the second team.

Whitmore, a projected lottery pick in last month’s draft who fell to Houston at No. 20, averaged 20.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.2 APG and 3.0 SPG on .465/.293/.625 shooting in his five Vegas Summer League games, per NBA.com.

Houston faces Cleveland at 8 p.m. CT tonight in the Summer League championship game. Both teams are undefeated, holding identical 5-0 records.

Spurs Waive Lamar Stevens

July 17th, 2023 at 2:23pm CST by Rory Maher

The Spurs have waived forward Lamar Stevens, the team announced in a press release.

Stevens’ contract for 2023/24 was partially guaranteed at $400K. San Antonio is waiving him before his full $1.93MM salary becomes guaranteed today.

Stevens, who turned 26 last week, was sent to the Spurs by Cleveland as part of the Max Strus sign-and-trade. His contract for next season was previously non-guaranteed, but he received $400K as part of the deal to adhere to the NBA’s salary-matching rules.

The combo forward went undrafted in 2020 after four college seasons at Penn State, later signing a two-way deal with the Cavaliers. He was promoted to a multiyear standard contract in April 2021, the end of his rookie season.

Overall, Stevens averaged 5.3 PPG and 2.8 RPG on .467/.281/.710 shooting in three seasons with the Cavs (165 games, 16.0 MPG). He’s an energetic, athletic and physical player who is known as a tenacious defender, though he struggles with scoring efficiency.

The Spurs have a roster crunch, and evidently Stevens wasn’t part of their long-term plans, so they decided to release him. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent in a couple days if he clears waivers, but won’t be eligible to sign with Cleveland for a year after the team traded him.

Magic Trade Three Second-Rounders To Suns For 2026 Pick Swap

July 17th, 2023 at 1:05pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 17: The draft-pick trade is now official, the Magic announced (via Twitter).

JULY 16: The Magic and Suns have agreed to a draft-pick trade that will send three second-rounders from Orlando to Phoenix in exchange for a 2026 first-round pick swap, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The Suns have already given the Wizards the right to swap first-round picks in 2026 as part of their Bradley Beal blockbuster, so the Magic will get the opportunity to swap their own 2026 first-rounder for the least favorable of Phoenix’s and Washington’s two picks. The Suns will end up with the worst of the three picks.

The three second-round picks headed to Phoenix in the trade are as follows, per Wojnarowski and ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link):

The Nuggets’ 2024 second-rounder.
The least favorable of the Magic’s, Pistons’, and Bucks’ 2026 second-rounders.
The Celtics’ 2028 second-rounder (top-45 protected).

It’s a fascinating deal, and the third one of its kind that we’ve seen made this offseason. The Suns and Grizzlies completed a similar trade involving three second-rounders and first-round pick swaps in 2024 and 2030. The Spurs gave up multiple second-rounders in a three-team deal with Dallas and Boston in order to gain the right to swap 2030 first-round picks with the Mavericks.

The Suns are essentially betting on their own continued success in order to replenish their collection of second-round picks, which was depleted in the Beal trade. As long as Phoenix is among the NBA’s best teams, those swaps should’t amount to much, in which case the Suns are essentially adding second-round picks for free.

The Magic, meanwhile, are betting on their own ascent, and gambling against the sustained success of the Suns and the retooling project in Washington. The hope in Orlando is that the Magic will have moved up far enough in the standings by 2026 that they’ll get to take advantage of their swap rights in order to move up at least a few spots in the first round of the draft.

Sixers Sign Filip Petrusev

July 17th, 2023 at 9:57am CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers have signed draft-and-stash prospect Filip Petrusev, the team announced (via Twitter). Terms haven’t been released, but it will be a standard contract rather than a two-way deal, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Philadelphia selected the 6’11” center with the 50th pick in the 2021 NBA draft. He made a positive impression during Summer League after spending the last two years playing for teams in Turkey and Serbia.

Petrusev, 23, was named West Coast Conference Player of the Year with Gonzaga in 2020 and earned second-team All-American honors from the NABC. He was a member of the EuroLeague champions in 2022 and the Serbian League and Serbian Cup winners this year.

Petrusev is the latest backup center to be added to a Sixers team that recently signed Mohamed Bamba, matched an offer sheet for Paul Reed and is expected to re-sign Montrezl Harrell. Once the deal with Harrell becomes official, Philadelphia will have 14 players with standard contracts.

Mavericks’ Olivier-Maxence Prosper Becomes Final First-Round Pick To Sign Contract

July 17th, 2023 at 7:56am CST by Arthur Hill

The Mavericks have signed Olivier-Maxence Prosper to his rookie-scale deal, the team announced in a press release early Monday morning. His signing means all the first-round picks in last month’s draft are now under contract.

As the 24th selection, Prosper is eligible to receive $2,733,720 in his first season and can earn $13,870,583 over the four-year contract, as our breakdown of rookie scale salaries shows.

The 21-year-old forward was one of the top beneficiaries of this year’s pre-draft process. A strong showing at the NBA Combine in Chicago, followed by impressive individual workouts, moved him into the first round.

Prosper was officially selected by the Kings, but Dallas acquired his rights in a draft-night trade that didn’t become official until the moratorium was lifted on July 6.

“O-Max was considered one of the best wing defenders in college basketball last year and plays with tremendous energy,” said Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison. “We are excited to put pen to paper and officially sign him.”

Prosper played his first collegiate season at Clemson before transferring to Marquette in 2021. He averaged 12.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game last season.

Darius Bazley Signs One-Year Deal With Nets

July 16th, 2023 at 4:53pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 16: Bazley has officially signed with the Nets, the team’s PR department tweets.

JULY 14: The Nets are signing free agent big man Darius Bazley to a one-year contract, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Bazley was the No. 23 overall pick of the 2019 draft. He spent his first three-plus seasons with the Thunder prior to being traded to Phoenix at the February deadline.

Like all former first-round picks who have all four years of their rookie scale contract exercised, Bazley was eligible for restricted free agency had the Suns given him a $6.2MM qualifying offer.

They chose not to, making him unrestricted and free to sign with any team. It wasn’t surprising given that Bazley had limited role with Phoenix, only appearing in seven games and a total of 61 minutes down the stretch.

Overall, the 6’8″ forward/center has averaged 9.1 PPG and 5.3 RPG on .411/.310/.673 shooting in 218 career games (118 starts, 3.6 MPG) with the Thunder and Suns. Bazley is still just 23 years old, a high leaper, and has shown flashes defensively. He also handled his inconsistent playing time last season with Oklahoma City very professionally.

Brooklyn technically hasn’t used any of its mid-level exception or bi-annual exception, but I’m guessing Bazley will be on a minimum-salary deal, given the timing of it (two weeks into free agency) and the Nets’ proximity to the luxury tax.

The Nets have focused on youth and athleticism this offseason, also signing Lonnie Walker and Dennis Smith Jr., two more former first-round picks.

As Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes, Bazley will fill Brooklyn’s 15th and final standard roster spot for now. However, the Nets could have another spot open soon. Guard Edmond Sumner, whose non-guaranteed contract becomes fully guaranteed tomorrow after he agreed to push back the guarantee date, sent out a tweet talking about overcoming adversity.

Jay Scrubb Signs Two-Way Contract With Celtics

July 15th, 2023 at 8:43pm CST by Arthur Hill

8:43pm: The signing is official, the Celtics confirmed in an email.

5:17pm: The Celtics have reached an agreement on a two-way contract with Jay Scrubb, tweets Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report.

The 22-year-old guard impressed team officials with his performance during Summer League, averaging 16.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in four games.

Scrubb finished last season with the Magic after signing a two-way contract in late March, but he was waived in June. Scrubb appeared in two games for Orlando late in the season, but spent most of his time in the G League. He has also played for the Clippers, appearing in a combined 22 games over two seasons.

The Celtics also have JD Davison signed to a two-way contract, so the team will have one two-way slot open once Scrubb’s deal become official.

Nets Waive Edmond Sumner

July 15th, 2023 at 11:15am CST by Rory Maher

JULY 15: The Nets have confirmed that they’ve waived Sumner (Twitter link).

“When they counted me out, Brooklyn gave me a shot to prove myself again,” Sumner said in a tweet of his own. “For that it’s always love. Had a ball hooping again! Story continues.”

JULY 14: The Nets are expected to waive guard Edmond Sumner before his non-guaranteed deal becomes fully guaranteed tomorrow, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

As our tracker shows, Sumner would have locked in his $2,239,943 salary for 2023/24 had he remained with the Nets beyond July 15.

Sumner recently sent out a tweet talking about overcoming adversity, which was a hint this news was coming. However, he played pretty well last season for Brooklyn after missing all of 2021/22 following a torn Achilles tendon. The 27-year-old averaged 7.1 PPG, 1.5 RPG and 1.3 APG on .461/.356/.917 shooting in 53 games (13.9 MPG) with the Nets.

An athletic combo guard, Sumner showed he still had his quickness in ’22/23 following the major injury, and he’s expected to draw interest on the open market, according to Scotto.

Assuming he clears waivers without being claimed, Sumner will become an unrestricted free agent. Any team interested in placing a claim could do so using the minimum salary exception, but would have to be willing to fully guarantee his 2023/24 salary.

Sumner is a former second-round pick, selected 52nd overall in 2017. He spent his first four seasons with the Pacers, first on a two-way deal before he was promoted to a standard contract. He played his college ball at Xavier.

Sasha Vezenkov Signs Three-Year Deal With Kings

July 13th, 2023 at 11:00pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 13: The signing of Vezenkov is now official, per the NBA’s transactions log.

JULY 1: EuroLeague MVP Sasha Vezenkov is signing a three-year, $20MM contract with the Kings, who held his draft rights, his agents tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Reports over the past couple months have indicated that Sacramento was determined to bring Vezenkov stateside and would renew contract talks with the European star once they were permitted to following the draft. Harry Stavrou of Greek outlet Sport24.gr reported last week that the Kings offered the European star a contract for “slightly lower” than the $8.4MM Keegan Murray will make in 2023/24, and that figure turned out to be accurate.

Given his reported salary, Vezenkov will either be receiving part of the Kings’ full mid-level exception if they operate as an over-the-cap team, or he could receive most of their room exception if they choose to use cap room. Both options are on the table based on their previous moves this offseason.

Vezenkov, 27, is under contract with Olympiacos through ’24/25, but has a buyout clause believed to be worth approximately 1.5 million Euros. He talked about being “ready for new challenges” after his Greek club lost in the EuroLeague final.

The 6’9″ Bulgarian forward averaged 17.6 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists on a sparkling .546/.398/.857 shooting slash line in 33 EuroLeague games this past season (28.7 MPG). Wojnarowski says (via Twitter) the former second-round pick is expected to have a “formidable role” for Sacramento.

NBA OKs Disabled Player Exception For Bulls

July 13th, 2023 at 7:32pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA has approved the Bulls‘ request for a disabled player exception as a result of point guard Lonzo Ball‘s knee injury, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The ailment has kept Ball shelved since January of 2022 and has required three surgeries to date. Earlier this summer, team president Arturas Karnisovas indicated that Chicago expects the point guard to miss all of the 2023/24 NBA season.

A disabled player exception is granted when an NBA-appointed physician rules that a player is more likely than not to be sidelined through June 15 of that league year.

Ball will earn $20.46MM this season, meaning the Bulls’ DPE will be worth $10.23MM. It could be used to add a new free agent, bring in a player off waivers, or acquire someone as part of a trade. A free agent could only be signed to a one-year deal, while a player acquired via waivers or trade would have to be in the final year of his contract.

As K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago notes, the Bulls are currently only about $8MM below the luxury tax line. Should Chicago be inclined to make bigger moves beyond adding a veteran’s minimum signing or two and retaining restricted free agent Ayo Dosunmu, the disabled player exception could be a powerful mechanism, though using most or all of it would likely push team salary into the tax.

Ball underwent a cartilage transplant surgery in March to correct his knee issues, in what Johnson suggests was generally thought to be a final bid to salvage his pro career.

Since joining the Bulls on a four-year, $80MM contract in a sign-and-trade with the Pelicans, the former No. 2 overall pick has appeared in just 35 contests. He was a highly effective perimeter defender, passer and three-point shooter (42.3% on 7.4 attempts) for Chicago when healthy, and a big part of the club’s surprise success through the first half of the 2021/22 season.

The Bulls have underwhelmed while trying to replace Ball’s production at the position in a piecemeal fashion.