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Jazz’s Williams, Collier Sign Rookie Scale Contracts

July 2nd, 2024 at 7:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Jazz have signed first round picks Cody Williams and Isaiah Collier, according to a team press release.

The 10th pick in last week’s draft, Williams will make $5,469,120 in his first season, assuming the usual 120% of the rookie scale figure given out by most teams to first-rounders. He’s due to make $24,897,090 during his first four years in the NBA.

Collier, the 29th pick, is eligibile to receive $2,512,680 in his first year and a total of $12,903,788 through his first four seasons.

Rookie scale contracts are guaranteed for the first two years, with team options on the third and fourth years.

The 6’8” Williams posted averages of 11.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 28.4 minutes per contest as a Colorado freshman. The 6’5” Collier, a 2023-24 Pac-12 All-Freshman team honoree at USC, averaged 16.3 points, 4.3 assists, and 1.5 steals in 27 games.

Celtics Sign Xavier Tillman To Two-Year Deal

July 2nd, 2024 at 7:08pm CST by Luke Adams

7:08pm: Tillman has officially re-signed with the Celtics, the club confirmed in a press release.

“When we got Xavier at the trade deadline, he came with the reputation of a winner and great teammate,” president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said in a statement. “Xavier is a hard worker who brings grit, toughness, and a team-first mentality that we appreciate. We are excited that Xavier has chosen to come back to the Celtics.”

4:04pm: Another free agent center is returning to Boston, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Xavier Tillman has agreed to a two-year deal with the Celtics. It’ll be a fully guaranteed minimum-salary contract, per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter links).

Tillman is the third Celtics free agent big man to reach a contract agreement with the team since the start of free agency, joining teammates Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta. Thirteen of the 15 players who finished the 2023/24 season on the Celtics’ standard roster now appear poised to return for ’24/25, with only Svi Mykhailiuk and Oshae Brissett unsigned.

Tillman spent his first three-and-a-half seasons in Memphis before being sent to the Celtics at February’s trade deadline. The 25-year-old didn’t see a ton of action down the stretch in Boston, averaging 4.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.0 assist in 13.7 minutes per contest across 20 regular season appearances. He then logged just 69 total playoff minutes during the team’s title run.

Still, Tillman is a solid interior defender showed in Memphis that he was capable of playing a slightly larger role than the one he had in Boston.

While the Celtics will have no shortage of frontcourt options with Kornet and Queta also returning, Kristaps Porzingis is expected to miss at least the first month or two of the season while recovering from leg surgery and the team won’t want to lean too heavily on Al Horford, so there will be minutes available.

Luke Kornet Re-Signs With Celtics

July 2nd, 2024 at 7:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 2: The Celtics have re-signed Kornet, the team announced in a press release. Since free agent contracts worth more than the minimum can’t be finalized during the July moratorium, this is official confirmation that Kornet’s deal is a minimum-salary contract.

“Luke has been an integral part of our team over the past few years,” president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said in a statement. “He is the ultimate teammate and his attitude and spirit have a contagious effect on our team. On the court, Luke had his best season as a Celtic and played a big role in helping us win. We are excited about the impact he’ll have moving forward.”

JUNE 30: The Celtics have reached an agreement with Luke Kornet on a one-year contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Terms of the deal weren’t released, but given Boston’s financial restrictions, it’s almost certainly another veteran’s minimum contract. With seven years of NBA experience, Kornet is projected to make $2.8MM next season.

The 28-year-old center has played an important role off the Celtics’ bench over the past two seasons and saw regular rotation minutes throughout this year’s championship run. He appeared in 63 games during the regular season, making seven starts and averaging 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15.6 minutes per night.

Re-signing Kornet became a bigger priority after the announcement that Kristaps Porzingis will be sidelined five-to-six months after surgery, which means he’ll miss the start of next season. The team doesn’t want to overwork 38-year-old center Al Horford, so it needs productive big men off its bench.

Kornet began his NBA career with New York in 2017 and spent time with Chicago, Cleveland and Milwaukee before coming to Boston. He will be an unrestricted free agent again next summer.

Kyle Anderson Headed To Warriors Via Sign-And-Trade

July 2nd, 2024 at 5:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Free agent forward Kyle Anderson is headed to the Warriors via a sign-and-trade transaction with the Timberwolves, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link). He’ll be signing a three-year, $27MM contract. The third year is non-guaranteed, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets.

The Timberwolves will receive a future second-round pick swap and cash in the sign-and-trade, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).

Anderson will slot into the traded player exception created in the Klay Thompson three-team deal with Dallas and Charlotte. The acquisition will put the Warriors a projected $3.2MM below the $170.8MM luxury tax line with 13 players rostered, cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets. They’ll be hard-capped at the first tax apron ($178.1MM).

It had been speculated that Anderson, always a solid role player, would be difficult for Minnesota to retain due its salary-cap issues. The Timberwolves are a second-apron team, severely limiting their flexibility. They won’t be able to use the TPE generated by the Anderson sign-and-trade because of the restrictions for second-apron teams under the current CBA.

Rated No. 30 on our list of top 50 free agents, Anderson will jump right into the Warriors’ rotation. He appeared in 79 regular season games last season, including 10 starts, averaging 6.9 points and 4.2 rebounds in 22.6 minutes per contest.

The 30-year-old is highly regarded for his defensive versatility, intangibles, and ability to serve as a secondary ball-handler, though he doesn’t provide much offensive punch. Anderson averaged double digits in points just once in a career that began in the 2014/15 season and is a 33.8% career 3-point shooter.

Ryan Dunn Signs Rookie Scale Contract With Suns

July 2nd, 2024 at 5:18pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Ryan Dunn has signed his rookie scale contract with the Suns, according to the NBA transactions log.

The 28th pick in last week’s draft, Dunn will make $2,530,800 in his first season, assuming the usual 120% of the rookie scale figure given out by most teams to first-rounders. He’s due to make $12,998,353 during his first four years in the NBA.

Rookie scale contracts are guaranteed for the first two years, with team options on the third and fourth years.

Dunn played two years at Virginia before declaring for the draft. A defensive-minded forward, he averaged 8.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 1.3 steals in 34 starts last season.

Suns Sign Collin Gillespie On Two-Way Deal

July 2nd, 2024 at 5:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 2: The signing is official, according to a press release from the Suns.

JULY 1: Collin Gillespie has agreed on a two-way deal with the Suns, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Gillespie played for the Nuggets last season but didn’t receive a qualifying offer this past weekend, making him an unrestricted free agent. The point guard appeared in 24 games with Denver last season but only averaged 9.4 minutes in those appearances.

He also appeared in 12 total regular season and Showcase Cup games with the G League’s Grand Rapids Gold, filling the stat sheets with averages of 20.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 10.8 assists and 1.8 steals per contest.

After going undrafted in 2022 out of Villanova, Gillespie suffered a lower leg fracture. He still received a two-way contract from Denver that offseason and remained on its roster despite the injury. The Nuggets then retained him on a two-way deal for 2023/24.

Gillespie averaged 15.6 PPG for the Wildcats in his final college season, shooting 41.5% from three-point range.

Reed Sheppard Signs Rookie Scale Contract With Rockets

July 2nd, 2024 at 4:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Guard Reed Sheppard has signed his rookie scale contract with the Rockets, according to the NBA transactions log.

The third overall pick in the draft, Sheppard will make $10,098,960 in his first year, assuming the usual 120% of the rookie scale figure given out by most teams to first-rounders. He’s due to make $45,853,024 in his first four years in the NBA.

Sheppard is the highest pick in this year’s draft thus far to sign his rookie deal.

Rookie scale contracts are guaranteed for the first two years, with team options on the third and fourth years.

Sheppard wasn’t even a starter in his lone college season at Kentucky, but he averaged 28.9 minutes per game as the Wildcats’ sixth man and impressed NBA evaluators with his shooting, play-making, and good hands on defense.

In 33 games, Sheppard averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per contest while making 53.6% of his field goals, including 52.1% of his three-point tries. He also shot 83.1% from the free throw line.

Scotto’s Latest: Markkanen, Achiuwa, Knicks, Kessler, Vucevic, Sixers

July 2nd, 2024 at 3:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The expectation around the NBA, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, is that the Jazz will only seriously consider trading Lauri Markkanen if they receive a huge offer similar in value to the one Brooklyn got for Mikal Bridges, which included four unprotected first-round picks, an unprotected first-round swap, and one more lightly protected first-rounder.

The decision on Markkanen is viewed as an inflection point for the Jazz, who could accelerate their timeline by trying to find another star to join him in Utah or extend their timeline by moving the star forward and continuing to stockpile assets ahead of a loaded 2025 draft.

In addition to confirming the four teams previously reported to have interest in Markkanen (the Warriors, Spurs, Kings, and Timberwolves), Scotto adds the Pelicans to the list of potential suitors for the star forward. However, he says New Orleans has been reluctant to discuss valuable young role players like Trey Murphy and Herbert Jones.

Brandon Ingram, the most obvious trade candidate on the Pelicans’ roster, wouldn’t be a logical target for Utah in a Markkanen trade. New Orleans is including a pair of first-round picks in its deal for Dejounte Murray but could still offer as many as four first-rounders (2025, 2027, 2029, and 2031) in a package for a player like Markkanen.

Here’s more from Scotto:

Unrestricted free agent Precious Achiuwa – who is drawing interest from multiple contenders, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv – liked playing in New York and remains open to re-signing with the Knicks, Scotto writes. The Knicks’ search for help at center has also involved making trade calls to the Jazz about Walker Kessler and the Hornets about Nick Richards, according to Scotto, who says rival executives think the Jazz are more willing to listen to inquiries on Kessler than they would’ve been a year ago.
With DeMar DeRozan seemingly on the verge of leaving Chicago, there’s a belief around the league that the Bulls may look to trade Nikola Vucevic and make the roster even younger, league sources tell Scotto.
Providing several Sixers-related updates, Scotto says Philadelphia is expected to either trade or waive Paul Reed and his $7.7MM non-guaranteed contract, has exploratory trade interest in Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith, and wants to add more shooting and guard depth, with Lester Quinones and Kyle Lowry among the players on its radar. Additionally, second-round pick Adem Bona is expected to get a standard contract and a place on the 76ers’ 15-man roster, Scotto reports.

Cavaliers Notes: Atkinson, Mobley, Allen, Garland

July 2nd, 2024 at 3:18pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kenny Atkinson was eager to pursue the Cavaliers‘ head coaching job after the team fired J.B. Bickerstaff in May, writes Tom Withers of The Associated Press. Atkinson recognizes that Cleveland has the potential to become a serious contender in the East after two straight playoff appearances, as he explained at Monday’s introductory press conference.

“The first thing I said (was), ‘I want this job, I’m going for it and I’m going to be aggressive,’” Atkinson told reporters. “I knew all the great things that were in place.”

This is the second head coaching job for Atkinson, who compiled a 118-190 record while overseeing a rebuilding project in Brooklyn before being let go in 2020. Since then, he spent one season as an assistant to Tyronn Lue with the Clippers and three years on Steve Kerr’s staff with the Warriors. He compared that experience to “getting your doctorate in basketball.”

“It’s a partnership,” Atkinson said. “Ty was great at it. Steve was a master at it. When you’re making big decisions, sure, you’re the ultimate decision-maker. But you have talked that through with your best players. In my experience, they might say: ‘No, why don’t we do this in the pick-and-roll? Why don’t we do this?’ So really, it’s a true partnership, and that means you better be a great listener when you do have those one-on-ones.”

There’s more from Cleveland:

Getting the chance to coach Evan Mobley was one of the things that attracted Atkinson to the job, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. In his discussions with Cavs’ management, Atkinson described his detailed plan to develop Mobley’s offensive skills in hopes of making him one of the league’s top five players. “I do think we can schematically get the ball in his hands more quite honestly,” Atkinson said. “It’s going to be in multiple ways. I think when you have a guy that versatile, it could be him in transition bringing the ball up, it could be him handling in a five out situation or him handling in pick and roll. I think there’s creative things we can do to help him.”
Appearing on ESPN Cleveland, Brian Windhorst (Twitter video link) says teams “definitely” have interest in trading for Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen, but Atkinson wants to keep him. “I don’t think they’re trading him,” Windhorst said. Atkinson previously coached Allen during his time with the Nets.
Windhorst also expressed skepticism that the Cavaliers will look to move Darius Garland (Twitter video link), who has been the subject of trade speculation related to Donovan Mitchell‘s contract extension. “I don’t think the market is there for Darius Garland. … I think it’s a terrible time to trade Darius Garland,” said Windhorst, who added that he’s not convinced the point guard will even want a trade.

Dalton Knecht Signs Rookie Scale Contract With Lakers

July 2nd, 2024 at 2:36pm CST by Arthur Hill

First-round pick Dalton Knecht has reached a contract agreement with the Lakers, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

L.A. was delighted to see the Tennessee sharpshooter slip to No. 17 in last week’s draft and reportedly has plans for him to be an immediate contributor. Although he’s old for a prospect at 23 and there are questions about his defense, his shooting is an obvious skill that should translate into the NBA.

Knecht played two years at Northern Colorado before transferring to Tennessee last summer. He was a consensus first-team All-American and was named SEC Player of the Year in his lone season with the Volunteers, averaging 21.7 points per game with .458/.397/.772 shooting stats.

Knecht’s four-year contract is expected to be worth about $18.5MM with a first-year salary of $3.8MM as our breakdown of this year’s rookie scale salaries shows. He’s now ineligible to be traded for 30 days.