NBA Rumors - HoopsRumors.com

Heat Waive Bryson Warren, Malik Williams

September 12th, 2024 at 12:43pm CST by Rory Maher

The Heat have waived Bryson Warren and Malik Williams, the team announced (via Twitter). Both players were signed to Exhibit 10 contracts on Wednesday.

As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald points out (Twitter link), the moves were procedural, as both players are expected to spend the upcoming season with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s NBA G League affiliate. If they spend at least 60 days with the Skyforce, each player could earn a bonus worth up to $77.5K on top of their regular NBAGL salary.

Warren, a 6’3″ guard, spent all of last season with Sioux Falls, averaging 6.9 PPG and 1.8 APG on .376/.325/.800 shooting in 27 total games (17.4 MPG). The 19-year-old turned pro early, previously playing in the Overtime Elite league, but technically didn’t declare for the NBA draft until this year, when he went undrafted.

Williams, a 6’11” center, spent most of last season with Sioux Falls before receiving a 10-day contract and a rest-of-season deal from Toronto at the end of ’23/24. Overall, the 26-year-old big man played in 42 games with the Skyforce and seven with the Raptors. He went undrafted out of Louisville in 2022 and spent his first pro season in Poland.

The Heat are back down to 19 players under contract, two shy of the offseason maximum.

Heat Notes: Jaquez, Adebayo, Rozier, Jovic

September 12th, 2024 at 10:52am CST by Dana Gauruder

Jaime Jaquez Jr. is looking at a number of areas for improvement, the Heat guard told Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, with three-point shooting being a high priority.

“My three-point shooting, that’s an area that I really wanted to improve,” Jaquez said. “I feel like I needed to improve if we wanted to, as a team, make the strides and jumps that we need to try to win a championship. And just really honing in on mechanics and getting a bunch of reps up.”

Jaquez, the 18th pick of the 2023 draft, averaged 11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 28.2 minutes per game during his rookie campaign. His perimeter shooting is a work in progress — he made just 32.2% of his 3-point attempts last season.

We have more on the Heat:

Bam Adebayo was rewarded with a three-year max extension this summer. Now, the Heat center and captain is focused on his leadership responsibilities. “I think a leading man isn’t only a scorer,” Adebayo told Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I feel like everybody, when they think of a leading man, they think of scoring. I feel like that’s not the only thing a leading man can do.” What’s is the biggest thing a leader can bring to an organization? Adebayo has a pointed answer. “Being a leading man simply means win, no matter how that looks,” he said. “Winning takes care of all the other things that people want to put a narrative behind.”
Terry Rozier was sidelined by a neck injury late last season. He’s still working his way back but should be ready by training camp, according to Chiang. “Where I’m at right now is just about fully, fully, fully cleared to play 5-on-5,” Rozier said. “But I am doing every on-court activity, playing a little bit of 3-on-3. So I figure in the next couple weeks, I’ll be graduating to 5-on-5. I feel great.”
Nikola Jovic revealed he suffered a “little fracture” in his left ankle early this summer. He expects to participate in training camp but might have to play it cautiously with his left ankle and foot to avoid any setbacks. “We’re making sure that my foot is good after every practice because the injury I had is of course not a joke and we really don’t want any new problems with it,” said Jovic, per Chiang. “So during training camp, I wouldn’t say I’m going to sit down or anything, but of course you just want to make sure that everything is good. If something starts hurting by any chance, I’ll probably need to step away.”

Southwest Notes: Thompson, Jackson, Wembanyama, Thompson

September 12th, 2024 at 9:34am CST by Dana Gauruder

Rockets head coach Ime Udoka says that second-year swingman Amen Thompson stands out among the players that look stronger heading into training camp, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Thompson is ready to have a much improved season after appearing in 62 games last season and averaging 9.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals in 22.4 minutes per night as a rookie.

“I feel a lot different,” Thompson said. “Just getting stronger, getting faster, getting more athletic. Just a lot of growth this summer, and I feel like that’s translated to the court.”

We have more from the Southwest Division:

Grizzlies forward GG Jackson underwent foot surgery on Sept. 4 and Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal spoke with an orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon to get an estimated timeline for when Jackson might get back on the court. The expert believes a three-month recovery period sounds reasonable. “Three months is a pretty safe number,” Dr. Kenneth Jung said. “He’s just got to be able to get into basketball-shape physically and mentally. Whether he’s back to full expectations of what the fans and coaches expect, that may be a different number.”
Big things are expected of Victor Wembanyama in his second NBA season. The Spurs big man is the co-betting favorite with the Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley to win the Most Improved Player award. Wembanyama is also the heavy favorite to take Defensive Player of the Year honors, according to Grant Afseth of DraftKings Network.
On his Substack page, Dallas Sports Journal, Afseth takes an in-depth look at how Klay Thompson can play off of Mavericks star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Afseth anticipates Thompson will significantly bolster the team’s offensive arsenal with his ability to stretch the floor and take quick-trigger shots, among other skills.

Central Notes: Thompson, Pistons, Bulls, Bucks

September 11th, 2024 at 10:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Tristan Thompson‘s new one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Cavaliers is non-guaranteed, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. That will give Cleveland some flexibility with Thompson’s roster spot — while the veteran center seems likely to open the regular season with the team, he could be waived on or before January 7 if the team wants to avoid locking in his full-season salary.

Thompson also waived his right to veto a trade as part of his deal with the Cavs, Hoops Rumors has learned. Players who re-sign with their previous teams on one-year contracts are typically awarded veto rights for the season, but the player can forfeit that right as part of his agreement with his club. Thompson is the 12th player this season to do so, as our tracker shows.

Here’s more from around the Central:

Will the additions of Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley, and Tim Hardaway Jr. be enough to make the Pistons a solid outside shooting team after they finished 26th in three-point percentage (34.8%) and 29th in makes per game (11.0) last season? Keith Langlois explores that question in an article for Pistons.com, noting that a full season of trade-deadline acquisition Simone Fontecchio should also help in that department.
Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic poses five burning questions facing the Bulls this season, including whether Lonzo Ball can actually make it all the way back after two-and-a-half seasons lost to knee injuries, what the future holds for veteran trade candidates Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, and what sort of impact Josh Giddey is capable of having in his new situation.
In a mailbag for The Athletic, Eric Nehm explores a handful of Bucks-related topics, including whether the incoming trio of Gary Trent Jr., Delon Wright, and Taurean Prince represents a significant upgrade over departing role players Beasley, Patrick Beverley, and Jae Crowder.

Atlantic Notes: Walker, Celtics, Raptors, Brunson, Bridges

September 11th, 2024 at 10:05pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

New Celtics Exhibit 10 signee Lonnie Walker IV, who has probably done enough to warrant a roster spot on a rebuilding team this year, is instead looking to prove that he’s worthy of a roster spot with the defending champions in 2024/25, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

Walker is a solid shooter who has enough offensive talent to play in the NBA, but he’ll likely have to show improved defensive awareness to stick in Boston, according to Weiss, who speculates that the veteran wing could serve as a possible roster option in the event second-year swingman Jordan Walsh and rookie guard Baylor Scheierman need further seasoning.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

All of the Celtics’ top nine players from their run to the 2024 title are returning for an encore next season. With those champs’ places in the Boston hierarchy more or less set in stone, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston speculates as to which player will emerge as the club’s 10th man.
Appearing on ESPN’s First Take on Wednesday, ex-Raptors forward DeMar DeRozan said he believes his former team still would have won a championship in 2019 if he and Jakob Poeltl had remained on the roster instead of being traded to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green (Twitter video link). “I felt, off the year we had before, we just needed one more piece to kind of push us over the top, and that piece came to be LeBron (James) going to the West,” DeRozan said. “I didn’t get an opportunity to see what would’ve happened, but I have the utmost confidence within myself. I have no doubt in my mind the same outcome would’ve happened.”
Knicks All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson showed true leadership in agreeing to a below-market contract extension, writes Steve Popper of Newsday. Popper also opines that the team took a major swing in trading for All-Defensive small forward Mikal Bridges this summer, in the hopes that he can help them match the Celtics and the East’s other top clubs. Finally, Popper considers the fate of Julius Randle, a critical piece who has yet to be locked up beyond 2025, leaving his long-term future in doubt.

Magic Sign Jarrett Culver, Two Others To Exhibit 10 Deals

September 11th, 2024 at 7:34pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

7:43pm: The Magic have confirmed the new signings in a press statement (Twitter link).

7:34pm: Free agent journeyman guard Jarrett Culver has agreed to a deal with the Magic, his agents BJ Bass and Cam Brennick inform Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel reports (via Twitter) that Culver’s contract will include Exhibit 10 language and reveals that free agent forwards Tre Scott and Jalen Slawson are also signing Exhibit 10 training camp deals.

The Suns selected Culver, a 6’6″ shooting guard/small forward out of Texas Tech, with the No. 6 pick in the 2019 draft and sent him to the Timberwolves in a draft-night deal. The 25-year-old has since also suited up for the Grizzlies and Hawks. Across 144 regular season NBA contests (43 starts), Culver has averaged 6.5 points on .401/.276/.509 shooting splits. He also registered averages of 2.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.7 steals per game.

Scott, 27, has mostly suited up for G League affiliate teams since going undrafted out of Cincinnati in 2020. All told, he has appeared on one 10-day hardship deal with the Cavaliers during the 2021/22 season, earning minutes in a pair of NBA games.

The 24-year-old Slawson was drafted by the Kings out of Furman with the No. 54 pick in 2023. Sacramento inked the 6’7″ wing to a two-way contract. He played in 12 games for the Kings during the 2023/24 season, averaging a scant 3.1 minutes per contest.

Orlando has a tandem of two-way contract slots available heading into training camp. According to Beede, Scott and Slawson will now compete against previously-announced signings Myron Gardner and Mac McClung for those two openings. As Beede tweets, Culver will be ineligible to compete for a two-way deal because he has too many NBA years of service.

Exhibit 10 deals can be converted into two-way agreements ahead of an NBA season. If, however, a player is waived by a team, they’ll still have access to a bonus worth as much as $77.5K — provided they spend at least 60 days with their club’s G League affiliate.

Nuggets Sign Jamal Murray To Four-Year Max Extension

September 11th, 2024 at 6:30pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 11: Murray’s extension is official, the Nuggets confirmed in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 7: The Nuggets and star guard Jamal Murray have reached an agreement on a four-year, maximum-salary contract extension that will begin in 2025/26, agents Jeff Schwartz and Mike George tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Assuming the salary cap increases by the maximum allowable 10% next summer, as projected, Murray’s four-year deal will be worth $207,845,568. Taking into account his $36,016,200 salary for the ’24/25 season, the 27-year-old is now on track to earn just shy of $244MM over the next five seasons.

Murray is considered perhaps the most accomplished active player not to have made an All-Star team. He holds career averages of 17.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.7 rebounds in 30.7 minutes per game, with a .452/.380/.867 shooting line across 469 total appearances for the Nuggets, who drafted him with the seventh overall pick in 2016.

Murray has been even better (24.2 PPG, 6.2 APG, 4.9 RPG, .459/.389/.911 shooting) in 65 postseason contests and played a key role in helping Denver win the 2023 championship.

Last season, he matched his career high with 21.2 PPG. His 6.5 APG and .425 3PT% were also career bests, though he was limited to 59 games due to health issues.

Word broke in late June that Murray and the Nuggets were expected to finalize a four-year max extension. When more than two months passed without a deal, there was speculation that Denver may be rethinking that $52MM-per-year investment, especially after the veteran guard struggled in the 2024 postseason and at the Paris Olympics as a member of the Canadian national team.

However, it seems the Nuggets’ commitment to Murray hasn’t wavered. His new contract will make him one of the NBA’s highest-paid guards and will run through the 2028/29 season.

Murray, superstar center Nikola Jokic, and forward Michael Porter Jr. will earn a combined $140MM for Denver in 2025/26, with that total increasing to roughly $150MM in ’26/27. Jokic and Porter are each eligible to reach unrestricted free agency in 2027 (Jokic holds a ’27/28 player option).

The Nuggets’ roster may get even more expensive if the team is able to work out a new contract with its other starting forward, Aaron Gordon. Gordon will earn $22.8MM in 2024/25 and holds a player option worth the same amount for ’25/26. He’ll become extension-eligible later this month and would be able to negotiate a new deal at any time this season.

Hamidou Diallo Reportedly Joins Chinese Team

September 11th, 2024 at 5:25pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Free agent swingman Hamidou Diallo has reportedly agreed to a deal with the Shanxi Loongs of the Chinese Basketball Association, per CHN Hoops (Instagram link; hat tip to Dario Skerletic of Sportando).

The 45th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Diallo began his NBA career in Oklahoma City, where he played a modest role during two-and-a-half seasons with the Thunder, averaging 6.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 16.9 minutes per game across 129 outings (11 starts). He also won the Slam Dunk Contest at the league’s 2019 All-Star Weekend.

The Thunder traded the 6’5″ wing to the Pistons midway through the 2020/21 season and he established himself as a more regular rotation piece in Detroit, putting up 10.3 PPG and 4.3 RPG on 51.9% shooting in 134 games (20.4 MPG).

Diallo signed on with the Wizards ahead of the 2023/24 season, but was quickly waived and joined the club’s G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go. He cameoed with Washington proper on a 10-day deal midway through the season before returning to Capital City.

Last season with the Go-Go, Diallo posted impressive stats of 20.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.7 blocks per game in the NBAGL regular season.

Markieff Morris Re-Signs With Mavericks

September 11th, 2024 at 5:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

SEPTEMBER 11: The agreement is now official, the Mavericks have announced. It’s a one-year, non-guaranteed deal for Morris, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

The deal includes an Exhibit 9 clause for Morris, who gave up his right to veto a trade as part of the agreement, Hoops Rumors has learned.

SEPTEMBER 7: Markieff Morris has reached an agreement to return to the Mavericks, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The deal was confirmed by Morris’ agent, Yony Noy of LAA Partners, Charania adds (Twitter link).

Even though he didn’t see much playing time, the 35-year-old power forward was a strong veteran leader for Dallas during its run to the NBA Finals. Morris appeared in 26 games during the regular season and averaged 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 8.3 minutes per night. He was only used in one postseason game.

Re-signing Morris was an offseason priority for the Mavs, Charania states. They currently have 14 players with fully guaranteed contracts, along with A.J. Lawson, whose $2.1MM salary for this season is non-guaranteed until the league-wide guarantee date of January 10.

Dallas will be at the limit of 21 players for training camp once Morris’ new deal is finalized.

This will be the 14th NBA season for Morris, who was selected by the Suns with the 13th pick in the 2011 draft. After four and a half seasons in Phoenix and three years in Washington, Morris has become somewhat of a journeyman, spending time with six teams in the past five years.

He came to the Mavericks from Brooklyn at the 2023 deadline as part of the trade that sent Kyrie Irving to Dallas. He was also a free agent last summer and signed a one-year deal in September.

Heat Sign Bryson Warren To Exhibit 10 Deal

September 11th, 2024 at 4:55pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Free agent guard Bryson Warren has signed with the Heat, the team has announced (Twitter link).

Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (via Twitter) confirms that the deal is an Exhibit 10 training camp contract, which will put the Heat’s preseason roster at a capacity 21 players.

Following his sophomore high school season at Arkansas’ Little Rock Central HS, Warren opted to go pro, signing a deal with Overtime Elite in 2021.

He spent two seasons with OTE, then was selected with the No. 13 pick in the 2023 NBA G League draft by Miami’s NBAGL affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. In 2023/24, Warren averaged 6.9 points, 1.8 dimes, 1.4 boards, and 0.6 steals per game across 27 contests (two starts) between the G League’s regular season and Showcase Cup.

Warren played for the Heat’s Summer League squad this season. The 6’3″ guard averaged 7.9 minutes per game across his three appearances.

Exhibit 10 signees are eligible for bonuses worth as much as $77.5K, should they be waived by the team that signs them and subsequently log at least 60 days with that team’s G League affiliate club.