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Wizards Sign Kira Lewis, Jaylen Nowell, Leaky Black

August 30th, 2024 at 6:45am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 30: Over a month after agreeing to terms with them, the Wizards have officially signed Lewis, Nowell, and Black, having listed all three players as part of their 21-man training camp roster.

AUGUST 28: The Wizards have reached contract agreements with free agents Kira Lewis, Jaylen Nowell, and Leaky Black, league sources tell Josh Robbins and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

According to Robbins and Charania, all three players will sign Exhibit 10 contracts with Washington and will be given an opportunity to compete in training camp for regular season roster spots.

Lewis, 23, was the 13th overall pick in the 2020 draft, but only appeared in 131 games across his first four NBA seasons due in large part to injuries, including a torn ACL he suffered during the 2021/22 season. The 6’1″ guard has averaged 5.2 points and 1.8 assists in 13.3 minutes per game for the Pelicans, Raptors, and Jazz. Last season, he was traded three times – from New Orleans to Indiana to Toronto to Utah – before reaching unrestricted free agency when the Jazz declined to issue a qualifying offer.

Nowell, a 6’4″ shooting guard, spent his first four NBA seasons in Minnesota from 2019-23, averaging 9.1 points per game on .447/.322/.798 shooting in 184 appearances for the Timberwolves. Despite showing promise as a scorer, Nowell was unable to find a regular NBA job last season — he was waived by Sacramento ahead of opening night, then signed two 10-day contracts apiece with the Grizzlies and Pistons during the season. The 25-year-old spend most of the 2023/24 campaign with the Stockton Kings in the G League.

Black, 25, spent his rookie season with the Hornets after going undrafted out of UNC in 2023. The 6’6″ forward saw limited action in 26 NBA games while on a two-way contract with Charlotte. He played a larger role for the Greensboro Swarm in the NBAGL, posting averages of 7.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 24.8 MPG across 25 total Showcase Cup and regular season outings. His two-way deal covered two seasons, but he was waived by the Hornets about four weeks ago.

Exhibit 10 contracts allow players to earn bonuses worth up to $77.5K if they’re waived by their NBA teams and then spend at least 60 days with the club’s G League affiliate, so it’s possible Lewis, Nowell, and/or Black will end up playing for the Capital City Go-Go. Exhibit 10 deals can also be converted to two-way contracts prior to opening night, but Lewis and Nowell have more than three years of NBA service and are therefore ineligible to be two-way players.

The Wizards currently have 16 players on standard contracts (15 guaranteed), with a pair on two-way deals. While Black figures to be in the mix for the team’s open two-way slot, it will be an uphill battle for Lewis or Nowell to make the standard regular season roster unless Washington intends to trade or waive a player with a guaranteed contract.

Stephen Curry Signs One-Year Extension With Warriors

August 29th, 2024 at 6:33pm CST by Rory Maher

6:33pm: Curry has signed the extension, the team’s PR department announced (via Twitter).

11:28am: Two-time MVP Stephen Curry has agreed to a one-year, $62.6MM extension with the Warriors, agent Jeff Austin tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Curry was limited to a one-year extension due to the Over-38 rule. He was already under contract for the next two seasons, with salaries of $55.8MM in 2024/25 and $59.6MM in 2025/26. His new extension will cover the 2026/27 campaign, meaning he won’t hit free agency until 2027.

Curry’s salary on the one-year extension won’t be affected by where the ’26/27 cap lands, since he’ll be eligible for a 5% raise on his previous salary, even though that figure will exceed that season’s league-wide maximum.

Widely regarded as the greatest shooter in basketball history, Curry holds career averages of 24.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.5 steals on .473/.426/.910 shooting in 956 regular season games (34.2 minutes per contest). The 10-time All-NBA guard, who has won four championships and made six NBA Finals appearances, has spent his entire 15-year career with Golden State.

The Warriors had an up-and-down season in ’23/24. They went 46-36 and were eliminated in the play-in tournament by the Kings. The 36-year-old still performed at a very high level though, averaging 26.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists on .450/.408/.923 shooting in 74 regular season games (32.7 minutes). Curry earned an All-NBA Third Team nod for his efforts.

Curry is coming off a star showing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, when he was dominant in both the semifinal (vs. Serbia) and final (vs. France) en route to his first gold medal with Team USA. He had struggled for much of the tournament leading up to those games, but obviously stepped up in a major way when he was needed most.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, Curry will surpass $500MM+ in career on-court earnings with the new extension, joining LeBron James and Kevin Durant as the only players to reach that threshold.

Curry, general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr., and owner Joe Lacob have all expressed a desire for the 6’2″ guard to remain with the Warriors for the rest of his illustrious career. The extension agreement has both sides one step closer to achieving that goal.

Sixers Sign Guerschon Yabusele To One-Year Contract

August 29th, 2024 at 3:58pm CST by Rory Maher

After parting ways with Real Madrid, forward Guerschon Yabusele has officially signed with the Sixers, Philadelphia announced in a press release.

The 76ers did not disclose the terms of Yabusele’s contract, but reporting from a couple weeks ago — when the news first broke that he would be landing with Philadelphia — indicated that the 28-year-old would sign a one-year, minimum-salary deal. Since he has two years of NBA experience, his salary for 2024/25 will be $2,087,519.

The 16th overall pick of the 2016 draft, Yabusele spent a year as a draft-and-stash prospect in China, then played for the Celtics for two seasons from 2017-19. He appeared in 74 games with Boston and had a modest role, averaging 2.3 points and 1.4 rebounds in 7.1 minutes per contest.

While his first NBA stint didn’t go the way he hoped, Yabusele has thrived overseas in recent years, winning a EuroLeague title (2023) and two Spanish League (Liga ACB) titles (2022, 2024) with Real Madrid after claiming a French League (LNB Pro A) championship with ASVEL in 2021. He was also one of the key contributors to the French national team that won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics this summer.

Last season with Real Madrid, Yabusele appeared in 64 Liga ACB and EuroLeague games, averaging 9.7 points and 4.0 rebounds, with a shooting slash line of .531/.445/.813. In six games with France at the 2024 Olympics, he averaged 14.0 points and 3.3 rebounds on .519/.286/.815 shooting, earning second-team honors for the tournament.

The Sixers now have 17 players under contract, four shy of the offseason limit.

Real Madrid, Guerschon Yabusele Officially Part Ways

August 29th, 2024 at 7:57am CST by Luke Adams

Real Madrid and forward/center Guerschon Yabusele have reached an agreement to end his contract with the Spanish club, the team officially announced today in a press release. The move helps clear the way for Yabusele to finalize his reported deal with the Sixers.

Yabusele’s contract with Real Madrid included an NBA-opt out clause with a buyout reportedly worth $2.5MM. NBA rules allow the 76ers to contribute up to $850K of that amount without it counting toward their cap, but that left $1.65MM still to cover.

A team with more cap flexibility could’ve accommodated that remaining amount within Yabusele’s cap hit (e.g. paying him a $3MM salary and taking on a $4.65MM cap charge). However, because Yabusele is signing a veteran’s minimum contract with Philadelphia, his salary will be just $2,087,519, so taking the $1.65MM from that amount would essentially wipe out his NBA earnings for 2024/25.

Yabusele and Madrid were said to be negotiating the terms of his buyout. No details have been reported yet, so it’s unclear if the Spanish team may have agreed to reduce the $2.5MM total or worked out some sort of payment plan. Either way, the situation has been resolved, putting Yabusele on track to officially sign with Philadelphia once he receives FIBA clearance.

Yabusele didn’t emerge as a regular rotation player during his previous NBA stint from 2017-19 in Boston, but has thrived overseas in recent years, winning a EuroLeague title (2023) and two Spanish League (Liga ACB) titles (2022, 2024) with Real Madrid after claiming a French League (LNB Pro A) championship with ASVEL in 2021. He was also one of the key contributors to the French national team that won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics this summer.

Cavaliers Sign Luke Travers To Two-Way Deal

August 28th, 2024 at 4:30pm CST by Luke Adams

4:30pm: The signing is official, according to the Cavaliers.

3:39pm: Draft-and-stash prospect Luke Travers has agreed to sign a two-way contract with the Cavaliers, agent Daniel Moldovan tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Travers, who will turn 23 next Tuesday, was the 56th overall pick in the 2022 draft. Rather than signing an NBA contract at that time, however, he continued to play professionally in his home country of Australia, suiting up for the Perth Wildcats in 2022/23 and Melbourne United in ’23/24.

A 6’7″ wing, Travers enjoyed a strong season in Melbourne this past year, averaging 12.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 26.3 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .516/.327/.671, across 25 appearances. He has also suited up for Cleveland’s Summer League team in each of the past three offseasons, averaging 7.4 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.9 APG, and 1.4 BPG in 15 outings (24.7 MPG) in Las Vegas.

Word broke earlier this month that Travers had left Melbourne United to pursue NBA opportunities, and while a two-way deal with Cleveland always appeared to be the most likely outcome, that wasn’t considered a certainty until now. The Cavs could’ve traded his NBA rights to another team or used a 15-man roster spot to sign him.

Instead, Travers will begin his NBA career in Cleveland on a two-way contract that will pay him $578,577, half of the rookie minimum. He’s eligible to appear in a maximum of 50 NBA games while on that deal, though if the Cavs hold an open spot on their standard 15-man roster, they’ll be limited to 90 total NBA games for their three two-way players (Travers, Emoni Bates, and JT Thor). As a result, the Australian wing will likely spend plenty of time in the G League with the Cleveland Charge.

Once their reported deals with Travers and Thor are official, the Cavs will have 15 players under contract — 12 on standard deals and three on two-ways, with Isaac Okoro still a restricted free agent.

Suns Waive Nassir Little, E.J. Liddell

August 27th, 2024 at 6:50pm CST by Tristan Tucker

AUGUST 27: The cuts are official, according to PHNX Sports’ Gerald Bourguet (Twitter link). Both players will become unrestricted free agents if they clear waivers later this week.

With just one year of service, Liddell is eligible for a two-way contract with any team besides the Suns. Little, with five seasons of experience, is not two-way eligible.

AUGUST 21: The Suns are waiving forwards Nassir Little and E.J. Liddell, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Both players will become unrestricted free agents.

Liddell being waived doesn’t come as much of a surprise. He looked like the odd man out for the projected 15-man regular season roster after the Suns acquired him a few weeks ago in a salary dump of David Roddy.

The former Ohio State forward missed his rookie season due to an ACL tear, but played in eight games with New Orleans last season. He was sent from the Pelicans to the Hawks in the Dejounte Murray trade this offseason before being rerouted to Phoenix.

Liddell is still just 23 and had a tremendously impressive junior season in college before his injury (19.4 PPG, 2.6 BPG, .374 3PT%) and he played well in the G League last year, averaging 17.3 points per game). The No. 41 overall pick from the 2022 draft is a candidate to catch on elsewhere.

Little being waived is more surprising, since he’s owed $21.75MM over the next three years and seemed like a candidate to be traded for salary-matching purposes down the line. However, the Suns will instead use the stretch provision in removing him from the roster.

There were rumblings in July that Phoenix cutting Little was a possibility. As Charania writes, the Suns moved forward with that plan in order to open up a roster spot and to create more flexibility for signings or trades.

A former first-round pick, Little wasn’t a huge part of Phoenix’s roster last season, averaging 3.4 points in 45 appearances. He was acquired from the Trail Blazers in last September’s three-team Damian Lillard trade after spending the first four years of his career in Portland. In 237 career games, Little holds averages of 5.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. The 25th pick in the 2019 draft, Little is still just 24 and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him earn another guaranteed contract down the line.

In addition to creating more roster flexibility, the Suns are now better positioned to give Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro an opportunity to earn immediate minutes, according to Charania, who notes that the team is high on both rookies (Twitter link). Phoenix landed Dunn 28th overall and Ighodaro at No. 40 in June’s draft.

With Little and Liddell waived, the Suns have 14 players on standard contracts and three players on two-way deals, so their opening day roster looks to be mostly set.

The Suns had until Aug. 31 to waive Little and stretch his contract through 2030/31 while reducing his $6.75MM cap hit this season. Under the stretch provision, his remaining salary will be paid over twice the number of seasons remaining on his contract, plus one year. Because he had three years left on his contract, Little’s remaining $21.75MM will be paid out equally over the next seven seasons (through ’30/31), for an annual hit of about $3.1MM.

While reducing their team salary by $3.65MM might not seem worth it at face value, given the long-term impact, the Suns are drastically reducing their tax burden by moving Little. They’re over $36MM over the second tax apron, so the tax savings on that $3.65MM will be significant. Based on their current payroll, stretching Little’s salary will save the Suns approximately $40MM in tax penalties across the next two seasons, tweets John Hollinger of The Athletic.

Matt Ryan Re-Signs With Pelicans On Camp Deal

August 27th, 2024 at 4:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

AUGUST 27: Ryan’s new deal with the Pelicans is now official, as Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.

Ryan’s non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract includes Exhibit 9 language (protecting the team in the event of a preseason injury), but not Exhibit 10 language, Hoops Rumors has learned.

That means it can’t be converted into a two-way deal and won’t award Ryan a bonus if he’s waived and then spends time with the Birmingham Squadron, New Orleans’ G League team.

AUGUST 26: The Pelicans are re-signing Matt Ryan on a reworked one-year contract, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Ryan was waived on Friday.

Ryan, 27, appeared in 28 games for New Orleans in 2023/24, averaging 5.4 points and 1.4 rebounds while shooting 45.1% from three-point range in 13.9 minutes per contest. He missed several weeks of action last season due to a right calf strain and a right elbow injury, which required surgery in December.

New Orleans claimed Ryan off waivers last October, inheriting the two-way contract he signed with Minnesota shortly before the start of training camp. He also had brief stints with the Celtics and Lakers earlier in his career.

The Pelicans converted Ryan to a standard contract at the very end of last season, making him playoff-eligible. However, his three-year deal — which featured a significant end-of-season payday in ’23/24 — was non-guaranteed for the ’24/25 and ’25/26 seasons.

Ryan’s salary for ’24/25 would have become guaranteed if he had remained under contract through the start of the regular season. While we don’t know the details of the new contract yet, it’s likely another minimum-salary deal that won’t become guaranteed until the league-wide date of January 10. It should also have a cap hit of $2,087,519 instead of $2,196,970.

The Pelicans now have 15 players on standard contracts, with 13 players on guaranteed salaries.

Grizzlies Waive Mamadi Diakite

August 27th, 2024 at 11:24am CST by Luke Adams

11:24am: The move is official. The Grizzlies have formally announced that Diakite has been waived (Twitter link).

11:21am: After acquiring him from Brooklyn last month, the Grizzlies will waive big man Mamadi Diakite, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Diakite, 27, finished last season with the Knicks, then was traded to Brooklyn in the Mikal Bridges blockbuster last month. He was flipped from the Nets to the Grizzlies in a subsequent deal that sent Ziaire Williams to Brooklyn and allowed Memphis to re-sign Luke Kennard while staying out of luxury tax territory.

A 6’9″ forward/center who played his college ball at Virginia, Diakite has appeared in a total of 55 regular season games for the Bucks, Thunder, Cavaliers, Spurs, and Knicks since making his NBA debut in 2021. He holds career averages of 3.1 points and 2.3 rebounds in 9.6 minutes per contest.

Diakite has a $2,273,252 cap hit for the 2024/25 season, but only $1,392,150 is guaranteed, so the Grizzlies will be on the hook for that partial guarantee if he goes unclaimed on waivers. While they have the option of carrying the full amount on this season’s cap, they instead intend to stretch it across three seasons at a rate of $464,050 through 2026/27, according to Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian (Twitter link).

Using the stretch provision on Diakite’s partial guarantee will create a little extra spending flexibility below the luxury tax line, giving Memphis enough breathing room to sign a 15th man without becoming a taxpayer, as we recently noted in our look at the club’s offseason.

Once the move is official, the Grizzlies will have 17 players under contract — 14 on guaranteed standard salaries and three on two-way deals.

Bruno Caboclo Reportedly Working Out With Warriors

August 27th, 2024 at 7:50am CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA forward Bruno Caboclo is working out with the Warriors this week as he continues to seek a new opportunity in the league, agent Daniel Hazan told Sports Channel in Israel (hat tip to BasketNews.com).

“He will train with the Golden State Warriors until Thursday with the aim of signing a contract, and he believes he will succeed,” Hazan said of his client.

The 20th overall pick in the 2014 draft, Caboclo spent parts of seven seasons in the NBA, but appeared in just 105 total games for the Raptors, Kings, Grizzlies, and Rockets from 2014-21. He averaged 4.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per contest.

Caboclo has been more effective on the international stage, winning a German League (BBL) title in 2023 with Ratiopharm Ulm and earning All-EuroCup Second Team honors that season. He also represented Brazil in this year’s Olympics, leading the national team with 17.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in 22.1 minutes per game across four outings.

Although Caboclo said during the Olympics that he expected to return to KK Partizan for another season after playing for the Serbian club in 2023/24, it now sounds like he may end up elsewhere.

The Warriors could offer him a potential path to a regular season roster spot, since they only have 12 players on guaranteed salaries, with Lindy Waters and Gui Santos (both on non-guaranteed deals) currently penciled in as the 13th and 14th men. Golden State doesn’t currently have enough room under its hard cap to carry a full 15-man roster into the regular season, but could replace Waters or Santos with Caboclo.

If he doesn’t receive an NBA offer, the 6’9″ forward may pursue a deal with Hapoel Tel Aviv. The Israeli team made him an offer earlier this month, and while reporting at the time suggested Caboclo had a small window to accept that offer, his agent told Sports Channel that Tel Aviv remains a possibility.

“We are in negotiations, we are making good progress,” Hazan said. “It’s definitely an option worth keeping.”

EuroLeague May Be An Option For Robin Lopez

August 25th, 2024 at 9:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Free agent Robin Lopez is willing to consider playing in Europe if he doesn’t get an offer from an NBA team, writes Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. The 36-year-old center has been on the open market since the Kings acquired and waived him at last season’s trade deadline.

“I’d absolutely consider it,” Lopez responded when asked about the possibility of joining the EuroLeague. “I know how passionate the fans are and how high the level of basketball is.”

Lopez signed with the Bucks last summer to give them another big man off the bench and to join forces with his twin brother Brook Lopez. He saw limited playing time in 16 games before Milwaukee shipped him to Sacramento along with cash considerations on February 8 to open a roster spot and reduce its tax bill. The Kings released him the same day.

Lopez has turned into a journeyman late in his career, changing teams every offseason since 2019. He has played for nine teams since being selected with the 15th pick in the 2008 draft and has career averages of 8.4 points and 4.7 rebounds in 992 games.

Lopez spoke to reporters Saturday after participating in Goran Dragic‘s farewell game in Slovenia. They both started their NBA careers in Phoenix in 2008.

“We were rookies together, and he was somebody I could look to because he had been a professional before in Europe,” Lopez said. “Gogi was somebody I could always look up to and model myself after.”

After watching Dragic close out his career, Lopez acknowledged that retirement may not be far away for him as well.

“If it happens, it happens,” he said. “I’ve had a great career so far, not as good as Goran’s, but I’m thankful for everything I’ve been given.”