Newsstand Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jalen Smith Signs Three-Year Contract With Bulls

July 1st, 2024 at 8:31am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 8: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

JULY 1: Free agent center Jalen Smith will join the Bulls on a three-year, $27MM contract, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Smith became an unrestricted free agent on Friday by declining his $5.42MM player option for next season. The 24-year-old, who ranked 44th on our list of the top 50 free agents, winds up with a nice raise and a longer deal in Chicago.

Smith is expected to be the Bulls‘ new backup center after Andre Drummond agreed to terms with Philadelphia on Sunday night. With no available cap space, Chicago will likely sign Smith with a portion of its $12.8MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Whether they use the MLE or acquire him via sign-and-trade, the Bulls will be hard-capped at the first tax apron of $178,132,000.

After being selected by Phoenix with the 10th pick in the 2020 draft, Smith was sent to Indiana at the 2022 trade deadline. He became a valuable backup in two-and-a-half years with the Pacers and played rotation minutes as the team reached the Eastern Conference Finals.

He averaged 9.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 61 games this season while shooting 59.2% from the floor and 42.4% from three-point range.

The addition of Smith is one of several recent moves the Bulls have made to create a younger, more athletic roster and become less reliant on veterans. They traded for Josh Giddey last week and agreed to terms on a new five-year deal with free agent Patrick Williams over the weekend.

Aaron Wiggins Signs Five-Year Deal With Thunder

July 1st, 2024 at 8:21am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 7: Wiggins has officially signed the contract, Joel Lorenzi of Oklahoma Sports tweets.

JULY 1: Aaron Wiggins will return to the Thunder on a five-year, $47MM contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 25-year-old shooting guard became a restricted free agent on Saturday after Oklahoma City declined his $1.989MM option for next season and tendered him a qualifying offer.

That move was a prelude to a long-term deal. Wiggins has become a valuable rotation member during his three years with the team, and the Thunder wanted to lock him down for the future.

The No. 39 player on our list of this summer’s top 50 free agents, Wiggins appeared in 78 games last season, making four starts and averaging 6.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 15.7 minutes per night. He also posted .562/.492/.789 shooting splits as OKC tied for the best record in the West at 57-25.

Wiggins was selected with the 55th pick in the 2021 draft after three seasons at Maryland. He turned out to be a bargain on his original four-year, $6.4MM deal, so the team decided to reward him and make sure he’s part of what appears to be a very bright future in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City also agreed to re-sign Isaiah Joe to a long-term deal after declining his option on Saturday. The Thunder will be able to keep both Wiggins’ and Joe’s modest cap holds on their books while using up their cap room, then go over the cap to re-sign them.

Thunder Sign Isaiah Joe To Four-Year Contract

July 1st, 2024 at 8:14am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7: The deal is now official, per a team press statement.

JULY 1: The Thunder and swingman Isaiah Joe have agreed to terms on a new four-year contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the deal will be worth $48MM.

Joe has spent the past two seasons in Oklahoma City after being waived by the Sixers in 2022. During that time, he has been one of the Thunder’s most reliable shooters off the bench, averaging 8.8 points per game with a .412 3PT% in 151 outings (11 starts; 18.8 MPG).

The Thunder held an extremely team-friendly option on Joe for the 2024/25 season. However, the club opted to decline that $2.165MM option in order to sign the sharpshooter to a longer-term contract.

While Oklahoma City could have exercised the option and then negotiated an extension with Joe, turning down the option – which technically allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent – ensured that he’ll receive a raise in ’24/25 and won’t compromise the Thunder’s offseason cap room. They can keep his minimum-salary cap hold on the books until they’ve used all that room, then go over the cap using his Early Bird rights to officially re-sign him to his new deal.

The maximum amount the Thunder could have given Joe on an Early Bird contract was about $58.2MM over four years, so this deal will come in a little lower than that.

The Thunder took a similar route with another rotation player, Aaron Wiggins, declining his minimum-salary team option for 2024/25, making him a restricted free agent, and agreeing to terms with him on a new five-year, $47MM deal.

Joe was the No. 23 free agent on our top-50 list.

Sixers Re-Sign Kelly Oubre On Two-Year Contract

July 1st, 2024 at 12:51am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

“Kelly was one of our most important contributors last season, bringing physicality, energy, and toughness to the table on a nightly basis,” top executive Daryl Morey said. “We’re excited to have him back and believe he’ll play a key role in our pursuit of a championship.”

JULY 1: Kelly Oubre is returning to Philadelphia, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the free agent forward is in agreement with the Sixers on a new two-year, $16.3MM deal. The contract will include a second-year player option, Wojnarowski adds.

After averaging 20.3 points per game with the Hornets in 2022/23, Oubre accepted a one-year, minimum-salary contract with Philadelphia last summer and played a significant role for the club this past season, averaging 15.4 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 1.5 APG in 68 games.

An athletic, versatile defender with good size, Oubre made 52 starts and averaged 30.2 minutes per night, logging more total minutes in ’23/24 than any Sixer besides Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris. He came in at No. 31 on our list of this year’s top 50 free agents.

The terms of Oubre’s new deal suggest he’ll be re-signed using Philadelphia’s room exception once the team has used up its cap space. As we outlined earlier, based on the $140.59MM salary cap for 2024/25, that exception for cap-room teams will start at just under $8MM and can be worth up to about $16.37MM over two years.

The 76ers have had a busy first day in free agency, reaching contract agreements with Andre Drummond (two years, $10MM), and Eric Gordon (veteran’s minimum) in addition to Oubre. Philadelphia is also the strong frontrunner to land star forward Paul George after the Clippers issued a statement on Sunday announcing that George will be signing with a new team.

Clippers Sign Derrick Jones To Three-Year Deal

June 30th, 2024 at 11:01pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 9: The Clippers have officially signed Jones, per the NBA’s transaction log.

JUNE 30: The Clippers are signing free agent forward Derrick Jones to a three-year, $30MM contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic that the agreement is fully guaranteed with no player or team option. Jones will also receive a 5% trade kicker, Iko adds (via Twitter).

It’s possible that Jones could be acquired in a sign-and-trade, but if not, Los Angeles will use most of its non-taxpayer mid-level exception to complete the deal. Either scenario will hard cap the Clips at the first tax apron, which is set at $178.1MM.

After playing a fairly modest role off the bench with Chicago from 2021-23, the high-flying Jones was one of the NBA’s best bargains last season while on a minimum-salary contract with the Mavericks. He started 66 of his 76 regular games with Dallas in 2023/24, averaging 8.3 PPG and 3.3 RPG on .483/.343/.713 shooting.

Jones was a key role player as the Mavs advanced to the NBA Finals, averaging 9.1 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 1.0 BPG on .481/.369/.733 shooting in 22 postseason contests (29.4 MPG). He was frequently tasked with defending opposing teams’ top scorers.

A former undrafted free agent who played one year of college ball at UNLV, Jones has made previous stops with Phoenix, Miami and Portland in addition to Chicago and Dallas. The 27-year-old won the dunk contest back in 2020.

Jones’ free agency was supposed to be complicated by the fact that he recently changed agents, but evidently that didn’t stop him or his representatives from working out a deal with the Clips. The Mavericks reached a three-year, $27MM deal with free agent wing Naji Marshall before Jones’ deal with L.A. was reported.

Ironically, while Marshall was reportedly a fallback option in case Jones left Dallas, Jones himself is a consolation prize of sorts for the Clippers, who are losing Paul George. The nine-time All-Star is expected to sign a four-year max contract with the Sixers.

Mavericks Sign Naji Marshall To Three-Year Deal

June 30th, 2024 at 9:04pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 6: Marshall has officially signed with the Mavericks, the team announced today (via Twitter).

JUNE 30: The Mavericks are signing free agent wing Naji Marshall to a three-year, $27MM contract, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter).

A former undrafted free agent who played college ball at Xavier, Marshall has spent his entire four-year NBA career with New Orleans, initially starting out on a two-way contract. Known for his energy and tenacious defense, the 26-year-old had a career year from deep in 2023/24, converting 38.7% of his three-point looks, though it was on very low volume (2.3 attempts per game).

Notably, Marshall was one of the Pelicans’ top performers in their first-round loss to the Thunder, averaging 9.0 points and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 40% from long distance in 21.0 minutes per contest. He averaged 7.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in 19.0 minutes across 66 regular season appearances last season, almost entirely off the bench (he made one start).

It’s a huge raise for Marshall, who finished last season on a minimum-salary contract. A report last month indicated New Orleans didn’t expect Marshall back next season due to financial reasons.

Marshall was considered a fallback option for Dallas if the team was unable to re-sign starting forward Derrick Jones, whose free agency was complicated by the fact that he recently switched agents. Veteran reporter Marc Stein confirms the Mavs are preparing to move on from Jones, citing league sources who say the team is still focused on landing Klay Thompson in a sign-and-trade with Golden State (Twitter links).

ESPN’s Tim MacMahon says (via Twitter) the Mavs are using a significant portion of their non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Marshall. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks has noted, there’s an expectation that Dallas will use its bi-annual exception to acquire Quentin Grimes from Detroit, creating a trade exception worth Tim Hardaway Jr.‘s full outgoing salary (nearly $16.2MM). If a deal comes to fruition, Thompson’s contract would fit into that new TPE.

The 2024 offseason is the first time that the MLE and BAE can be used to acquire players in trades or waiver claims, not just to sign free agents.

The first tax apron for the 2024/25 league year ($178,132,000) will be the hard cap for any team that acquires a player via sign-and-trade, signs a player using more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception, signs or acquires a player using a bi-annual exception, uses any portion of its mid-level exception to add a player via trade or waiver claim, acquires more than 100% of the outgoing salary in a trade, or uses a trade exception generated prior to the start of the 2024 offseason. The Mavs will meet several of those criteria, which means they cannot exceed the first apron salary threshold.

Marshall came in at No. 33 on our list of 2024’s top 50 free agents.

Chris Paul Intends To Join Spurs After Clearing Waivers

June 30th, 2024 at 7:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Chris Paul intends to sign with the Spurs once he clears waivers, Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report tweets.

Paul was waived by the Warriors at the start of free agency. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent once he goes through waivers but he didn’t wait that long to choose his new team.

He’ll sign a one-year deal worth more than $11MM, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Earlier on Sunday, Marc Stein (Twitter link) reported that San Antonio has “strong” interest. The 12-time All-Star figures to be a natural, if short-term, pick-and-roll partner for Victor Wembanyama.

It’s unclear whether the Spurs intend to use Paul as their starting point guard or if they’ll have him coming off the bench, as he did a majority of this past season in his one year with the Warriors.

San Antonio used a variety of players to initiate the offense in Wembanyama’s rookie season with Tre Jones getting a majority of the starts at that position. Still, given that the Spurs seemed reluctant to make Jones their starter and didn’t do so until January, it seems unlikely that he would get the nod in next year’s starting five over the veteran Paul.

San Antonio’s cap space gave it an advantage over some other potential suitors for Paul. The Spurs could sign him without waiving Devonte’ Graham, whose guarantee date was pushed back to July 8.

Graham’s contract is already partially guaranteed for $2.85MM for next season, but it will increase to $12.65MM if the Spurs retain him. If they waive Graham and their other non-guaranteed players, they would still have a $16MM in cap space at their disposal to sign Paul, cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets.

At the moment, the Spurs are considered an over-the-cap team. If they stay that way, they could instead sign Paul by using a majority of their $12.8MM mid-level exception, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets.

Golden State had to make a decision today whether to guarantee Paul’s $30MM salary for the 2024/25 season. Both the Warriors and Paul agreed to push back the guarantee date from Friday to Sunday. The Warriors had attempted to include Paul’s contract in a blockbuster deal, including a potential swap with the Clippers for Paul George. However, they were unable to pull anything off.

Paul, who turned 39 in May, remained productive in 2023/24, averaging 9.2 points, 6.8 assists, and 3.9 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per game in 58 appearances (18 starts) for the Warriors. He posted a shooting line of .441/.371/.827.

Paul George To Leave Clippers, Likely Headed To Sixers

June 30th, 2024 at 7:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers were unable to gain any traction in negotiations with Paul George‘s representative and the veteran forward will sign elsewhere, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link)

Aaron Mintz of CAA, George’s agent, and Clippers president Lawrence Frank spoke a short time ago, Woj reports, but there was no new movement on a contract and George is prepared to join a new team. The Clippers have released a lengthy statement confirming the news, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN relays (via Twitter).

“Paul has informed us that he is signing his next contract with another team,” the Clippers announced. “… We negotiated for months with Paul and his representative on a contract that would make sense for both sides, and we were left far apart. The gap was significant. We understand and respect Paul’s decision to look elsewhere for his next contract. We explored an opt-in and trade scenario, but it would have left us in a similar position under the new CBA, with very little asset value to justify the restrictions.

“We will miss Paul. At the same time, we’re excited by the opportunities we’ve now been afforded, including greater flexibility under the new CBA.”

The Clippers now project to operate well below the first tax apron, so they’ll have the $12.9MM mid-level exception and a $4.7M bi-annual exception at their disposal. However, they won’t have the cap room necessary to sign a player capable of replicating George’s production.

Meanwhile, the Sixers will meet with George in California this evening and are the strong frontrunners to sign him, Wojnarowski confirms (Twitter links).

A report earlier on Sunday expressed optimism on the 76ers’ front that they’d land their top free agent target. The Athletic’s Law Murray now reports that George will likely make a decision tonight and no other teams besides Philadelphia are in the running for his services (Twitter link).

Philadelphia is armed with ample cap room to sign a max-level free agent and is reportedly prepared to offer George the four-year, maximum-salary contract the Clippers were unwilling to put on the table. Throughout their negotiations with George, the Clippers remained steadfast on a three-year deal, similar to Kawhi Leonard’s contract extension. Leonard signed a three-year, $152.4MM contract in January.

Another potential suitor, the Magic, essentially took themselves out of the picture by reaching a three-year agreement with another high-level wing, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Clippers Trying To Trade Russell Westbrook

June 30th, 2024 at 6:19pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers are trying to work out a trade involving Russell Westbrook, who decided on Saturday to exercise his $4MM player option for next season, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). A potential Westbrook trade was also reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter), who says L.A. is actively looking for someone to take on the veteran guard.

Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter link) hears that the team is working with Westbrook to find a trade that benefits both of them. It’s believed Westbrook has played his last game for the franchise, Haynes adds.

League sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic that Westbrook has expressed interest in joining the Nuggets (Twitter link). Denver has an opening for a backup point guard after reaching an agreement this week to trade Reggie Jackson to Charlotte. Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports confirms (via Twitter) that the rumors of the Nuggets acquiring Westbrook are legitimate.

Westbrook adapted to a reserve role in his first full season with the Clippers, coming off the bench in 57 of the 68 games he played. He averaged 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 22.5 minutes per night while shooting 45.5% from the field but just 27.3% from three-point range.

Westbrook provided a spark for the Clippers when he signed with the team late in the 2022/23 season following a buyout with the Lakers. However, his role diminished after a trade in early November that brought in James Harden to be the starting point guard.

The Clippers are facing salary cap and apron concerns and no longer view Westbrook’s salary as a wise investment as he nears his 36th birthday.

Sixers Sign Andre Drummond To Two-Year Deal

June 30th, 2024 at 6:07pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7: Drummond has officially signed his contract with the Sixers, the team announced today in a press release.

“I am thrilled that Andre is coming back to the 76ers. A tremendous presence, and one of the best rebounders the modern NBA has seen, he made a great impact with us during his first stint in Philly and we know he’ll do the same this time around,” president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said in a statement. “Andre possesses an innate ability to attack the glass and will fortify our formidable front-court.”

JUNE 30: Free agent center Andre Drummond is headed back to Philadelphia, having reached an agreement with the Sixers on a two-year deal worth more than $10MM, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). The contract will feature a second-year player option, Scotto adds.

A few minutes before Scotto published his report, Drummond hinted at the deal himself, tweeting, “I’m in the mood for a Philly cheesesteak.”

A two-time All-Star, Drummond originally signed with the 76ers in 2021 to back up Joel Embiid and to fill in as the starter when Embiid was unavailable. However, he was sent to Brooklyn later that season as part of the trade package for James Harden.

After finishing the 2021/22 season with the Nets, Drummond has spent the past two seasons in Chicago as Nikola Vucevic‘s backup. He averaged just 15.1 minutes per game in 146 contests during his time as a Bull, well below his career average. However, he remained extremely productive on a per-minute basis, averaging 7.3 points and 7.9 rebounds in that limited role.

The Sixers, who attempted to acquire Drummond from the Bulls at the 2024 trade deadline, clearly made it a priority to land a reliable backup for Embiid, who has battled injuries over the years and appeared in just 39 games in 2023/24. Philadelphia reached a deal with Drummond just one hour into the free agent period — he’s the first FA reported to have an agreement in place with a new team.

Based on the reported terms of Drummond’s deal, it won’t necessarily need to come out of the Sixers’ $60MM+ in cap room. The team could use up that space, then sign the 30-year-old using a portion of its $8MM room exception.