More contract details continue to trickle in as the 2019 free agency period winds to a close. Below are some additional reports regarding signings for the Jazz, Magic, Thunder, and Wizards:
11:18am: Jefferson’s new contract with the Magic will be another two-way deal, tweets Roy Parry of The Orlando Sentinel. Josh Magette will reportedly fill Orlando’s other two-way contract slot.
9:25am: The Magic and free agent forward Amile Jefferson have agreed to a new one-year deal, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Orlando made Jefferson an unrestricted free agent by withdrawing his two-way qualifying offer, but will bring him back anyway.
Jefferson, who spent the 2018/19 season on a two-way contract with the Magic, saw the majority of his playing time for the Lakeland Magic, Orlando’s G League affiliate. The former Duke Blue Devil averaged 18.1 PPG, 11.3 RPG, and 3.4 APG in 34 G League games (33.2 MPG), earning a spot on the All-NBAGL Third Team.
The details of Jefferson’s new deal aren’t yet known, but I wouldn’t expect the 26-year-old to get much – if any – guaranteed money from the Magic. An Exhibit 10 contract or even another two-way deal seem to be the likeliest possibilities.
According to RealGM’s transactions log, the Magic have withdrawn their qualifying offer to two-way player Amile Jefferson. As a result of the move, Jefferson becomes an unrestricted free agent, free to sign outright with any team.
The Magic’s decision on Jefferson isn’t altogether surprising given the unlikelihood of him grabbing a spot on the 15-man roster, but the team does still have one of its two-way slots open after signing Josh Magette yesterday.
Jefferson, 26, was a two-way contract recipient last season, appearing in just 12 games with Orlando. He spent much of his time in the G League for the Lakeland Magic, where he was named Third-Team All NBAGL.
JULY 10: Birch’s deal with the Magic is now official, according to a press release from the team (h/t to Josh Robbins of The Athletic).
JULY 9: Khem Birch will return to the Magic on a two-year, $6MM deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).
Adding Birch on a modest deal will allow Orlando to remain under the tax. After applying his $3MM salary, the team is approximately $672K below the luxury tax line.
Prior to free agency, it was reported that Birch would draw substantial interest, though the market may have been slow developing because of his restricted free agency status — with cap room and exceptions drying up around around the NBA, few teams were in position to put together an aggressive offer sheet.
Birch showcased a developed game during his sophomore season in Orlando, seeing a role after 2018 No. 6 overall pick Mohamed Bamba injured his leg and was lost for the season. Birch improved his true shooting to 64.0% and his player efficiency rating to 19.2. He’ll turn 27 before the start of the season.
The Magic have now reached deals with all of their most important free agents — they’ll retain Nikola Vucevic, Terrence Ross, and Michael Carter-Williams in addition to Birch.
JULY 10: Carter-Williams’ new deal with the Magic is official, per a press release from the team (Twitter link). Terms were not disclosed, but it figures to be a minimum-salary arrangement with Orlando up against the tax line.
JULY 1: The Magic have agreed to a one-year contract with free agent point guard Michael Carter-Williams, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
Carter-Williams, who turns 28 in October, joined Orlando on two 10-day contracts in March and impressed the team with his play. He signed for the remainder of the season on April 4 and was a key cog off the bench entering the playoffs.
Carter-Williams joins D.J. Augustin and Markelle Fultz as current point guards in the Magic’s projected rotation, with the club also reaching free-agent agreements with Nikola Vucevic, Terrence Ross and Al-Farouq Aminu during the first day of free agency.
Named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2014, Carter-Williams has played for the Sixers, Bucks, Bulls, Hornets, Rockets and Magic across his six year-career. He was selected 11th in the 2013 draft by Philadelphia.
Representatives from nearly half of the league’s teams were in attendance for a workout that included former NBA stars Amar’e Stoudemire and Monta Ellis, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets.
The Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Knicks, Thunder, Bucks, Pistons, Kings, Nuggets, Blazers, Magic, Hawks, Wolves and Wizards were all in attendance. Haynes adds that 15 international teams from Europe and Asia also had representatives in Las Vegas for the workout.
Here’s more from around the league:
Veteran swingman Terrence Ross was one of the first players to come off the board after the free agent period officially opened on the evening of June 30, opting to return to the Magic on a four-year deal that will pay him a reported $54MM. However, remaining in Orlando was hardly Ross’ only option.
As John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com details, Ross said he received either serious interest or a contract offer from the Lakers, Jazz, Mavericks, Pacers, and Kings while he was a free agent. Like teammate Nikola Vucevic though, Ross preferred to stick with the Magic.
“I felt like for us, we both had a lot of other suitors, but our main focus all along was here (with the Magic),” Ross said. “It was one of those things where we were like, ‘Hey bro, wanna go and run it back?’ And we both were like, ‘Yeah.’ It worked out pretty quick because we were on the same page and it worked out perfectly.”
The Magic have scrapped any notion of rebuilding and are building off of last season’s playoff appearance, Josh Robbins of The Athletic contends. Orlando made $179MM in contractual commitments to re-sign Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ross and add forward Al-Farouq Aminu. That approach could backfire because the franchise will have minimal salary-cap flexibility in upcoming summers and little chance to chase top-notch free agents, Robbins continues. It was also a vote of confidence that the young players on the roster will show significant growth, Robbins adds.
The free agency deals began a week ago, but the details of those arrangements are slowly trickling in as they become official. Let’s take a look at some contract notes from players around the league: