NBA Rumors - HoopsRumors.com

Pelicans Sign Elfrid Payton, Josh Oduro

October 11th, 2024 at 11:59am CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 11: The Pelicans announced they signed both Payton and Josh Oduro on Friday morning. Nearly a month after the original report, the deal with Payton becomes official a day after both Matt Ryan and Adonis Arms were waived.

As we originally wrote, the Pelicans have a spot on their 15-man roster open. With Ryan out of the picture, Payton could theoretically make a push for that slot. However, it seems more likely that this signing is a precursor to Payton joining the team’s G League affiliate in Birmingham.

The Oduro signing hadn’t previously been reported. He played four collegiate seasons at George Mason before transferring to Providence for his final year. He averaged 12.9 points and 6.6 rebounds across 148 college games (128 starts). Oduro went undrafted in 2024 but suited up for New Orleans in summer league, making two appearances.

While the terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, several reports indicated both are signing non-guaranteed training camp contracts that presumably include Exhibit 9 language and likely Exhibit 10 as well. If the latter is true for both, they’ll each be eligible for a bonus worth up to $77.5K if they spend at least 60 days in Birmingham.

SEPTEMBER 19: The Pelicans have agreed to sign free agent point guard Elfrid Payton to a non-guaranteed training camp contract, reports Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link).

Payton, the 10th overall pick in the 2014 draft, has 500 regular season appearances under his belt across eight NBA seasons with the Magic, Suns, Pelicans, and Knicks. However, he hasn’t been in the league since suiting up for Phoenix during the 2021/22 season. The 30-year-old played in Puerto Rico in 2023 and then spent last season with the Indiana Mad Ants, the Pacers’ G League affiliate.

A Louisiana native who played college ball for the Ragin’ Cajuns in Lafayette, Payton has never been a great shooter, with career averages of 44.7% from the floor and 28.7% from beyond the arc. However, he’s a talented ball-handler and play-maker who averaged 10.1 points, 5.7 assists, and 4.0 rebounds in 26.8 minutes per game over the course of his NBA career.

Payton had been working out at the Pelicans’ practice facility in Metairie this offseason, notes Christian Clark of NOLA.com (Twitter link).

While the Pelicans are only carrying 14 players on standard contracts, they seem likely to leave their 15th roster spot unfilled to start the season due to luxury tax concerns, so Payton is probably a long shot to make the club. If New Orleans is open to carrying a 15th man, he’d presumably vie with Matt Ryan and other camp invitees for that spot. Otherwise, Payton may end up back in the G League this fall.

Once Payton’s deal is official, the Pelicans will have a total of 19 players under contract, including two-ways, leaving a pair of openings on their 21-man preseason roster.

Northwest Notes: Wolves, Strawther, Braun, Walker, Avdija, George

October 11th, 2024 at 11:17am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Timberwolves are taking a risk by completely changing their roster makeup in the aftermath of the Karl-Anthony Towns trade. However, AthlonSports’ Mark Medina reports that the coaching staff and players are all feeling optimistic about the change.

“There will be a pretty big learning curve,” head coach Chris Finch said. “I’m pretty confident that there are going to be rough edges that we want to smooth out.”

Minnesota reportedly coveted Donte DiVincenzo for a while, and he’ll address any spacing questions after a career year with the Knicks. Julius Randle‘s fit is a bit more interesting, as all indications point toward the Wolves leaning on Naz Reid more. It will be fascinating to see who winds up getting minutes in the closing lineup.

“I see us fitting together extremely well,” Randle said. “If you look at my career and the places that I’ve been and the things that I’ve done. I think the biggest thing I pride myself on is adaptability.”

According to Medina, Finch plans to grant Randle more play-making responsibility this season.

“My only thing is I want to help in any way needed. There’s a tremendous amount of talent here,” Randle said. “Finchy is a great coach. So whatever is asked of me, I’m going to do. I just want to help get us over that hump and win. At this stage of my career, all that matters is winning. I’ve accomplished a lot of great things on the individual scale. But I want to win at this stage of my career. I’m extremely excited and blessed to have this opportunity.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

For the second straight offseason, the Nuggets lost a key piece to free agency. For the second straight year, they’re hoping that a young player will fill the void left behind. Denver is counting on that strategy to be more successful this time around after watching the offseason growth of both Christian Braun and Julian Strawther, Tony Jones of The Athletic writes. Braun played well over the course of both of his first two seasons in the league, but Strawther hasn’t played much to this point. A skilled three-point marksman, Strawther will be leaned on but has the faith of the coaching staff and his teammates behind him. “Julian Strawther is poised and ready to have a really good second season,” Denver head coach Michael Malone said. “Julian was in the gym every day this summer. Every single day. The guy was a workhorse.“
It’s rare for the 57th pick in a draft to become a rotation so early in their career, but that’s the case for Trail Blazers forward Jabari Walker, who has made 128 career appearances, including 23 starts, and averaged 8.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game last season. He’s hoping to continue building on his early career success, Aaron Fentress of OregonLive writes. “Jabari has been doing a good job,” head coach Chauncey Billups said. “He’s been having a good camp. He was kind of hampered all summer with his knee and stuff. But he’s been back playing, and he hasn’t missed a beat at all. Obviously, he’s so tough and so competitive, his teams usually do pretty well in the scrimmages because of his rebounding and his competitiveness.”
Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija is not participating in Friday’s matchup against the Clippers as he observes Yom Kippur, he announced in an Instagram story. According to Rose Garden Report’s Sean Highkin (Twitter link), Avdija will make his preseason — and Trail Blazers — debut on Sunday against the Kings.
Jazz guard Keyonte George left Utah’s preseason game and had to be helped off the court near the beginning of the third quarter due to a leg injury, according to Mavs.com’s Eddie Sefko (Twitter link). The Jazz said George was out with a mild left knee sprain, Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune tweets. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon confirms he will get an MRI later on Friday but adds that the Jazz are optimistic he won’t miss much, if any, regular season time (Twitter link).

Warriors Notes: Thompson, Threes, Stotts, Lineup

October 11th, 2024 at 9:43am CST by Tristan Tucker

One of the longest-tenured players in Warriors history switched teams this summer when Klay Thompson departed for the Mavericks. Franchise icons Stephen Curry and Draymond Green honored Thompson’s request to not go to management to try to intervene in his decision, but it finally hit them that their former long-time teammate wouldn’t be joining them this season when they got to training camp, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk writes.

“[Klay] would usually enter the practice facility coming off of his boat,” Curry said. “With his Dockers on, whatever outfit he had on. He just had a presence about him, a lightness when he came in the room. And his one-liners were always great. … [I’m] talking about him like he died, [which is] super weird. … Life throws a lot of curve balls in sports. You’re used to seeing people change places and teams. [However] up until but a week before he decided to sign Dallas, we never really thought it was going to end.”

The Warriors added a trio of veterans to help replace Thompson’s impact from beyond the arc and on the perimeter, signing Buddy Hield, De’Anthony Melton and Kyle Anderson as free agents. Those three will compete for minutes and a spot in the starting rotation.

“One of the reasons we are excited to get Buddy Hield is because we will run some of the same stuff that we ran for Klay for Buddy,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “Draymond and Steph will be looking for him on the perimeter when they’re playing with him. And then the other new guys, Melton, Kyle Anderson — there’s a reason we targeted them too. They fit any lineup, such smart tough players that they’re easy to play with.

“So I don’t anticipate a really difficult transition basketball-wise. It’s more just the emotional void of Klay being gone after being so close with him and going through so much with him. That part is really sad. But you have to move on.”

We have more from the Warriors:

The new-look Warriors continued their habit of hitting fast threes and playing in transition when they made 28 of their 52 attempts in a Wednesday preseason game against the Kings, ESPN’s Kendra Andrews writes. That would have been a franchise record for threes in a regular season game. The Warriors were fairly good at making outside shots a priority last season, ranking fourth in the league in attempts at 38.9 per game. But as Anthony Slater of The Athletic points out, the teams that ranked first (Boston) and second (Dallas), both reached the Finals. Slater reports that the Warriors are talking like they want to lead the league in three-point attempts. “I feel like it’s a little different in that we have more guys who can shoot the three besides Klay and Steph,” Brandin Podziemski said.
While the on-court additions for the Warriors look strong already, new assistant coach Terry Stotts is also making his impact felt this preseason, Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area writes. Hield in particular should thrive with Stotts, who helped the Trail Blazers make the conference finals in 2019 behind hot three-point shooting from Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. “The stuff that we’re putting in with Terry, the Portland stuff, you saw some of that in the second half,” Kerr said. “The flares, Buddy is built for that.“
The Warriors have been cycling through several lineup combinations and possibilities in training camp and the preseason, Slater tweets. On Thursday in practice, the starters appeared to be Curry, Hield, Jonathan Kuminga, Anderson and Green. The lineup changed across both preseason games as well, with Trayce Jackson-Davis and Melton starting alongside Curry, Kuminga and Green in the first game before Kevon Looney and Podziemski took over in the second.

Thunder Sign, Waive Miller Kopp

October 11th, 2024 at 9:21am CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 11: Oklahoma City has now waived Kopp, per team PR.

OCTOBER 8: The Thunder have signed free agent forward Miller Kopp, the team announced today.

Oklahoma City had an open spot on its 21-man preseason roster, so no corresponding move was necessarily to complete the signing. The club now has a full 21-man squad, with 14 players on standard contracts (13 guaranteed), four on Exhibit 10 deals, and three on two-ways.

That count assumes Kopp signed an Exhibit 10 contract, which is highly likely. He’ll almost certainly be waived before the NBA regular season begins, and his Exhibit 10 deal will ensure that he receives a bonus worth up to $77.5K as long as he spends at least 60 days with the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G League affiliate.

Kopp, 25, spent his rookie season with the Blue after going undrafted out of Indiana in 2023. The 6’7″ forward appeared in a total of 41 Showcase Cup and regular season games for the NBAGL club, averaging 8.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in 20.4 minutes per game and posting a shooting line of .414/.349/.865.

While Kopp didn’t see much action in the playoffs, averaging just 9.3 minutes in four outings, he got some championship experience, as the Blue won the 2024 G League title.

Troy Brown Jr. Signs With Turkish Club

October 11th, 2024 at 8:15am CST by Tristan Tucker

Former NBA wing Troy Brown Jr. is heading overseas for the first time in his career, landing with Turkish club Manisa Basket, according to an announcement from the team (Twitter link).

Brown evolved into an effective role player after being selected with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2018 draft by the Wizards. He spent six seasons in the league with five different teams, including Washington, the Bulls, the Lakers, the Timberwolves and, most recently, the Pistons.

Brown holds career averages of 6.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game on a .423/.351/.783 shooting line. The 25-year-old had his most productive season in 2019/20, averaging 10.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 2.6 APG and making 22 starts.

Brown had a resurgent year in ’22/23 after signing with the Lakers, as he averaged 7.1 PPG and 4.1 RPG while making 45 starts on a team that wound up in the Western Conference Finals. However, last offseason, he signed with the Wolves and didn’t become a rotation staple. He was then traded to the Pistons at the February deadline and wasn’t retained after the season.

The Oregon product is now taking his talents to Manisa, a club that just lost Javon Freeman-Liberty to the NBA and may not have Saben Lee for long.

Manisa is competing in the Basketball Champions League for the first time this season after posting a 16-14 domestic record last year.

Pelicans Eyeing Herbert Jones As Probable Starting Center

October 10th, 2024 at 10:44pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After starting center Jonas Valanciunas departed the Pelicans for Washington in free agency and Larry Nance Jr. was included in the trade package for Dejounte Murray, New Orleans was left shorthanded in the middle heading into training camp, with minimum-salary free agent addition Daniel Theis representing the only experienced traditional center on the roster.

Rather than starting Theis, the Pelicans are eyeing versatile forward Herbert Jones as Valanciunas’ replacement heading into the 2024/25 season, ESPN’s Shams Charania told his colleagues on “The Pat McAfee Show” (YouTube video link).

“I’m told Herb Jones is essentially going to serve as the starting center for the Pelicans,” Charania said. “You look at CJ McCollum, Dejounte Murray, Brandon Ingram, Herb Jones and Zion Williamson, a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, Zion Williamson‘s playing the five.'”

However the team opts to configure its intended frontcourt of Ingram, Jones and Williamson, New Orleans will have a lot of intriguing optionality on offense.

“[Head coach] Willie Green came out the other day and said, ‘[Zion’s] not the five… We’re not talking about fives, we’re talking about [playing] position-less,'” Charania said. “I do think there’s some credence to that, but at the end of the day someone’s going to have to guard the other centers, and it’s going to be Herb Jones a lot of the time.”

Jones, 26, was an All-Defensive First Teamer during his third season in 2023/24. The 6’7″ swingman was the lone player to make the First Team who was not a center. It sounds like if he earns the distinction again this year, that may not be the case.

As for Williamson, Charania asserts that the All-Star forward – who played in a career-high 70 games last year after missing significant time due to injuries in his first four seasons – appears healthy and focused this preseason.

“Everyone around the Pelicans believes he’s primed for a big season,” Charania said. “In past years, at this point in training camp or early in the season, there’s always been an injury… I think now, he’s not playing himself into conditioning, he already is in great shape.”

Knicks Notes: Robinson, Payne, Defense, Brunson

October 10th, 2024 at 8:50pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Oft-injured Knicks reserve center Mitchell Robinson is on track to return to the hardwood in January, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.

The seven-footer is still recuperating from a pair of ankle procedures he has undergone in the past year. He had a December ankle surgery, then incurred another foot/ankle ailment during the playoffs that required surgery in May. According to Charania, the Knicks plan to have Karl-Anthony Towns and Jericho Sims play the majority of the minutes at center while Robinson is unavailable.

Robinson, 26, suited up for just 31 contests last year, averaging 5.6 points per game on 57.5% from the field and 40.9% shooting from the foul line. He also registered averages of 8.5 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 1.1 blocks per night.

There’s more out of New York:

New Knicks backup point guard Cameron Payne, whose Sixers were vanquished in a chippy first round series by New York last spring, is acclimating to his new environs, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. As Bondy notes, Payne and Jalen Brunson had a brief run-in in Game 5 of that series after Payne committed a hard foul on the Knicks star. “First thing I did was talk to JB when I got here,” Payne said, “and he’s like, ‘It’s all love.’ So it’s all love.”
The Knicks’ defensive ferocity was already well on display during the club’s Wednesday win over the Wizards, writes Ian Begley of SNY.tv. “I think we’re just learning each other some more,” new All-Defensive Team addition Mikal Bridges said. “Defensively, I think we can be really good. Just need time and being around each other more, and having practices and playing these preseason games is gonna help a lot.”
Brunson believes he should have earned a spot on the 2024 Paris Olympics men’s basketball team this summer, per Sam Schube of GQ. The 6’2″ All-Star broke his hand during New York’s Game 7 semifinal defeat to the Pacers and would have been unable to play as he recuperated, but he noted that he didn’t make the cut even before that happened. “The team was chosen before I broke my hand,” Brunson said. “The way I played last year, I thought I was deserving. I thought I could have fit in. I’ve played many roles throughout my career; I could play another. But obviously, it just wasn’t in the cards at that time.”

And-Ones: 2025 Draft Big Board, Tanking, NBAGL Trade

October 10th, 2024 at 7:01pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Now through June 2025, writers across the globe will eagerly anticipate an exciting upcoming draft class headlined by Duke forward Cooper Flagg, alongside other top talents. Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN recently paired to provide an early look at the top 100 prospects before the college season tips off (Insider link).

Flagg ranked first, but Rutgers guards Ace Bailey (No. 2) and Dylan Harper (No. 3) aren’t far behind. Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe (No. 4) and France’s Nolan Traore (No. 5) remain among the top options as well, while Duke’s Kon Knueppel (No. 6) is an early riser after an impressive offseason and preseason.

UNC’s Drake Powell, Duke’s Khaman Maluach, Spanish guard Hugo Gonzalez and UConn’s Liam McNeeley round out the remainder of the top 10.

Collin Murray-Boyles is the draft’s highest-ranked returner after making the decision to come back to South Carolina, with the ESPN duo ranking him at 12.

We have more from around the basketball world:

The top five of Sam Vecenie’s recent mock draft for The Athletic matches ESPN’s big board to a tee, with Brooklyn being slated to be the ones to land Flagg’s services in June’s draft. However, Vecenie’s mock draft deviates from there, with Illinois’ Kasparas Jakucionis coming off the board at No. 6 due to his ball and scoring skills. Vecenie mocks Georgia’s Asa Newell to the Hornets at No. 7 and Ratiopharm Ulm’s Ben Saraf at No. 8 to the Raptors, while ESPN has those players at No. 31 and No. 16, respectively.
With such a talented draft class on deck, The Athletic’s John Hollinger suspects teams will return to tanking in 2024/25. While some teams greatly underperformed in 2023/24, as in any year, there wasn’t as much incentive to lose since there wasn’t a consensus top pick like in next year’s draft. Hollinger likens the 2025 class to the 2018 class that produced the likes of Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Brunson and Trae Young in terms of the depth of talent. Hollinger’s story addresses this, but I’d contend that while teams may be blown away by the talent of the 2025 class, the Hawks had a better record than nine teams but still landed the No. 1 overall pick. Meanwhile, the Pistons had their worst season in franchise history but didn’t pick until No. 5.
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s G League affiliate, executed a six-team trade on Wednesday, per the team (Twitter link). Several picks swapped hands, but for simplicity’s sake, we’ll focus on the player rights that were moved. The Vipers acquired the returning player rights to Jermaine Samuels, who is currently in camp with the Rockets. The Valley Suns acquired Cassius Stanley‘s rights, the Indiana Mad Ants (Pacers) received Dakota Mathias‘s rights, the Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies) got both Malachi Smith and Devin Cannady‘s rights, the Mexico City Capitanes obtained Loudon Love, and Gary Clark‘s rights were re-routed to the Wisconsin Herd (Bucks). Mathias was already signed and waived by the Pacers, so this is an indication he’ll play for the Mad Ants this season as an affiliate player. It remains to be seen whether Stanley, Smith, Cannady or Clark will sign camp deals to be later waived and set up as affiliates. The Capitanes aren’t an NBA team’s direct affiliate, so while Love could still sign anywhere as an NBA free agent, his rights being moved aren’t directly correlated with him potentially being an affiliate player.

Knicks Sign, Waive Moses Brown

October 10th, 2024 at 6:45pm CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 10: Brown has been waived by the Knicks, according to a release from the team (Twitter link).

OCTOBER 9: The Knicks have signed free agent center Moses Brown to an Exhibit 10 contract, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

Brown, who will celebrate his 25th birthday on Sunday, hasn’t stuck with an NBA team for more than a single season since making his debut in 2019, but he has racked up 150 regular season appearances in stints with the Trail Blazers, Thunder, Mavericks, Cavaliers, Clippers, Nets, and Trail Blazers. He holds career averages of 5.2 points and 5.0 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game.

Brown spent the 2023/24 campaign under contract with the Blazers, appearing in 22 games for the team and posting averages of 3.4 PPG and 3.9 RPG in 9.1 MPG. He also put up 15.8 PPG and 10.5 RPG in six appearances (24.4 MPG) for the Rip City Remix, Portland’s G League affiliate.

Brown is ineligible for a two-way contract, so the Knicks likely intend to waive him before the season begins and then have him join the Westchester Knicks in the NBAGL. If he were to spend at least 60 days with Westchester, he’d be able to earn an Exhibit 10 bonus worth up to $77.5K on top of his standard G League salary.

New York had a full 21-man roster before signing Brown, so the team needed to make a corresponding move to open up a spot for him. The Knicks announced (via Twitter) that they’ve waived Boo Buie, who recently signed an Exhibit 10 contract of his own and is likely ticketed for Westchester.

Heat Sign Warren Washington, Waive Caleb Daniels

October 10th, 2024 at 6:36pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Heat have made a change to their training camp roster, adding center Warren Washington and waiving guard Caleb Daniels, according to a team release (Twitter link).

Washington went undrafted out of Texas Tech in 2024 after a five-year collegiate career that also included stops at Oregon State, Nevada and Arizona State. In 134 collegiate games, he averaged 8.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks.

After not being selected in the 2024 draft, Washington suited up for the Heat’s Summer League team. He made a total of six appearances, totaling 14 points and 13 rebounds in limited time. Presumably, Miami will waive him ahead of the beginning of the regular season. While the terms of the agreement weren’t revealed, it’s almost a certainty that he agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal. If that’s the case, he’s eligible for a bonus worth up to $77.5K if he spends at least 60 days with the Sioux Falls Skyforce (Miami’s G League affiliate).

Daniels was occupying a spot on the 21-man roster on an Exhibit 10 deal. He’s likely to head back to Sioux Falls for a second straight season. He averaged 12.3 points while shooting 36.8% from deep for the Skyforce last season across 47 games. He helped the Skyforce to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference G League playoffs last season and then was a member of the Heat squad that won the Summer League championship in Las Vegas. He averaged 6.0 points in seven summer league games this year.

Daniels appeared in one preseason game, recording eight points behind a pair of threes and nine rebounds. Miami has 21 players under contract, with Washington joining Isaiah Stevens and Zyon Pullin on Exhibit 10 deals.