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Wolves Sign Jaden McDaniels To Five-Year Extension

October 23rd, 2023 at 5:18pm CST by Rory Maher

5:18pm: The Timberwolves have officially announced McDaniels’ extension, issuing a press release to confirm the deal.

2:53pm: McDaniels’ new deal will actually be worth $131MM, with another $5MM available via incentives that are currently considered unlikely, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN.

1:20pm: The Timberwolves and forward Jaden McDaniels are in agreement on a five-year rookie scale extension worth $136MM, agents Nima Namakian and Bill Duffy tell Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link).

As Charania notes (via Twitter), by agreeing to give McDaniels a significant contract extension, the Wolves project to be a taxpayer starting in 2024/25, which is when the new deal kicks in. Minnesota hasn’t been a taxpaying team in almost 20 years, Charania adds.

McDaniels will make $3.9MM this season in the final year of his rookie contract.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe recently said on his Lowe Post podcast that the five-year, $135MM+ extension that Spurs wing Devin Vassell signed threw a “grenade” into some other rookie scale extension negotiations around the NBA, including McDaniels’ talks.

While Lowe believed that McDaniels would be warranted in seeking an annual salary of at least $30MM per year, his ESPN colleague Bobby Marks suggested that an extension worth in the neighborhood of $134MM over five years (just below Vassell’s deal) might make sense for both the player and the team. Marks turned out to be almost exactly right.

When I covered McDaniels’ extension candidacy in late June, I projected he could get about $25MM annually. If the deal is fully guaranteed, he’ll make a couple million per year more than that.

The 23-year-old is one of the top wing defenders in the league. He’s coming off a career year in which he averaged 12.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.9 SPG and 1.0 BPG on .517/.398/.736 shooting in 79 games, all starts (30.6 MPG). McDaniels also posted a career-best 58.8% two-point percentage in ’22/23, with a major leap in scoring efficiency (61.1% True Shooting percentage, vs. 55.2% and 55.3% in his previous two seasons).

Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News and Skor North was speaking to Wolves owner Glen Taylor on Monday and he said a deal would be completed prior to the 5:00 p.m. CT deadline (Twitter link). Taylor also said the Wolves were able to lower McDaniels’ asking price, with Vassell’s contract cited in talks, according to Wolfson.

McDaniels is the 11th former first-round pick to agree to a rookie scale extension this offseason, tying the record of the past two years. The full list of players who have signed new deals — as well as those who remain eligible — can be found right here.

Blazers Re-Sign Duop Reath To Two-Way Contract

October 23rd, 2023 at 5:14pm CST by Luke Adams

5:14pm: The Blazers have officially signed Reath and waived Badji, according to the opening night rosters announced by the NBA (Twitter link).

4:36pm: After being waived by the Trail Blazers on Saturday, center Duop Reath is returning to the team on a two-way contract, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Reath, 27, has played overseas since going undrafted out of LSU in 2018, spending time with teams in Serbia, Australia, China, and Lebanon over the last five years. Reath averaged 13.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in five games for Portland’s Summer League team in July, then represented Australia in the 2023 World Cup, starting at center for the Boomers.

Although Reath was on a training camp contract with the Blazers this month, his deal only included Exhibit 9 language, not an Exhibit 10 clause, so he was ineligible to be converted directly to a two-way deal. Portland had to put him through waivers in order to re-sign him to a two-way contract.

According to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Twitter link), another big man, Ibou Badji, will be waived to open up a two-way slot for Reath.

Badji, 21, spent much of last season on a two-way contract with Portland, though he didn’t appear in an NBA regular season game.

A 7’1″ Senegalese center with a 7’9″ wingspan, Badji played in Spain from 2019-22 and joined the Wisconsin Herd (the Bucks’ G League affiliate) to begin the 2022/23 campaign after going undrafted last year. He joined the Blazers last November and signed a second two-way contract with the team this July.

Rockets Cut Darius Days, Convert Jeenathan Williams To Two-Way Deal

October 23rd, 2023 at 5:12pm CST by Luke Adams

5:12pm: The Rockets have officially waived Days and converted Williams to a two-way contract, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

2:27pm: The Rockets are waiving forward Darius Days ahead of Monday’s regular season roster deadline, a source tells Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).

Days, who turned 24 on Friday, had been on a two-way contract with Houston, having accepted his qualifying offer from the team at the start of the offseason. He spent the entire 2022/23 season on a two-way deal with the Rockets, appearing in just four NBA games but enjoying an excellent year for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s G League affiliate.

In 47 total regular season and Showcase Cup games for the Vipers last season, Days averaged 21.9 points and 9.2 rebounds in 33.5 minutes per contest, posting a shooting line of .487/.359/.816. He finished third in NBAGL Rookie of the Year voting and claimed a spot on the All-G League second team.

Despite Days’ strong 2022/23 campaign, he became the victim of a roster crunch this fall, as the Rockets needed to open up a two-way slot for preseason standout Jeenathan Williams, per Feigen.

A 6’5″ shooting guard, Williams put up 8.6 PPG on 63.3% shooting despite logging just 10.2 MPG in five preseason appearances. He had been on an Exhibit 10 contract but remained on the roster through Saturday, which is when virtually every other player on an Exhibit 10 deal was cut so that they could clear waivers before the regular season began. That was a signal that the Rockets intended to keep him around by converting him to a two-way contract.

Once Houston officially waives Days, converts Williams, and cuts Robinson-Earl – whose fate was reported earlier this afternoon – the team will be within the regular season roster limit, carrying 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.

Rockets Waive Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

October 23rd, 2023 at 5:10pm CST by Luke Adams

5:10pm: The Rockets have officially waived Robinson-Earl, per NBA.com’s transaction log. The club also converted Williams to a two-way contract and cut Darius Days in order to set its regular season roster.

1:18pm: The Rockets will waive center Jeremiah Robinson-Earl ahead of the regular season, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Robinson-Earl, who will turn 23 in November, was the 32nd overall pick in the 2021 draft. He spent his first two NBA seasons in Oklahoma City, averaging 7.2 points and 4.9 rebounds in 20.7 minutes per game across 92 appearances, with a shooting line of .427/.344/.781.

The Thunder included Robinson-Earl last week in the trade that sent Victor Oladipo to Houston in exchange for Kevin Porter Jr. and a pair of future second-round picks. Robinson-Earl had fallen behind Jaylin Williams on OKC’s frontcourt depth chart and was projected to have his role reduced further in 2023/24 with Chet Holmgren healthy. As such, he became a victim of the Thunder’s preseason roster crunch.

While I speculated at the time of the trade that the Rockets might keep Robinson-Earl and waive the injured Oladipo, they’ll go the other direction, preferring to keep Oladipo’s $9.45MM expiring contract on their books for potential trade purposes rather than adding the healthy Robinson-Earl to their group of developing young players.

Houston already has Jock Landale and Boban Marjanovic as projected backups behind starting center Alperen Sengun and presumably saw no need to add a fourth big man to that mix, despite Robinson-Earl’s modest salary. He’ll earn a guaranteed $1.9MM salary this season, but the Rockets won’t be on the hook for his $1.99MM team option for 2024/25.

Unless a team uses cap room a trade exception to claim Robinson-Earl off waivers, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent later this week, free to sign a standard contract with any team except Oklahoma City or a two-way deal with any team besides the Thunder or the Rockets. A team can’t sign a player it traded away if his new team waives him; additionally, a club that cuts a player is ineligible to re-sign him to a two-way contract if he was owed more than $75K in guaranteed money.

Houston now has 16 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals, so one more move will be necessary today to set their roster for the regular season. Jeenathan Williams, who is on an Exhibit 10 contract, seems likely to be converted to a two-way deal, in which case the Rockets would have to waive one of their current two-way players.

Mavs Sign Josh Green To Three-Year Extension

October 23rd, 2023 at 4:58pm CST by Rory Maher

4:58pm: The Mavericks have officially announced Green’s extension (Twitter link).

2:44pm: The Mavericks are finalizing a three-year, $41MM rookie scale extension with Josh Green, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the deal is agreed upon (Twitter link).

A 6’5″ wing who hails from Sydney, Australia, Green was the 18th overall pick of the 2020 draft after one college season at Arizona. His both his production and efficiency have improved over the course of his three NBA seasons.

As a rookie in ’20/21, Green only appeared in 39 games for an average of 11.4 MPG, and wasn’t very effective when he did play, posting a .452/.160/.565 shooting slash line. He started to turn the corner in ’21/22, playing 67 games (15.5 MPG) while averaging 4.8 PPG and 2.4 RPG on .508/.359/.689 shooting.

Last season, the 22-year-old emerged as a valuable rotation regular, averaging 9.1 PPG and 3.0 on .537/.402/.723 shooting in 60 games (21 starts, 25.7 MPG). According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), Green was one of only five players to convert at least 60% of his twos and 40% of his threes in ’22/23 (minimum of 100 attempts for each shot type).

Reports throughout the offseason indicated that Dallas and Green had mutual interest in getting a deal done. Assuming the extension is fully guaranteed, he’ll earn an average of $14MM from 2024-26. Green will make $4.77M in ’23/24, the final season of his rookie contract.

Green is now the 13th player to agree to a rookie scale extension this offseason, breaking the record of 11 that was set and then tied over the past two campaigns.

The full list of rookie scale extension recipients can be viewed right here, while the remaining candidates are listed here.

Jazz Exercise 2024/25 Options On Agbaji, Kessler

October 23rd, 2023 at 4:28pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Jazz have exercised their 2024/25 options on the rookie scale contracts of guard Ochai Agbaji and center Walker Kessler, the team announced in a press release.

It was a mere formality the options would be exercised on two of their key young players. Agbaji, the 14th pick of last year’s draft, will make $4,310,280 next season. Kessler, who emerged as Utah’s starting center and a defensive force after being picked No. 22 overall in the same draft, will collect $2,965,920 in his third season.

Agbaji played in 59 games in his first season, averaging 7.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 20.5 minutes per game. Kessler, an All-NBA Rookie First Team selection, averaged 9.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks in 74 games (40 starts).

Suns Waive Keon Johnson

October 23rd, 2023 at 4:19pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

OCTOBER 23: As expected, Phoenix has officially waived Johnson, head coach Frank Vogel confirmed today (Twitter link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic).

“Hope to be able to coach him again someday,” Vogel said of Johnson.

OCTOBER 22: The Suns plan to waive third-year shooting guard Keon Johnson as they deal with roster crunch, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Cutting the 21-year-old will allow the team trim its standard roster to the required league maximum of 15 players on standard contracts, Woj adds. Johnson was acquired in the club’s three-team deal with the Trail Blazers and Bucks that landed Jusuf Nurkic and Grayson Allen in Phoenix.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, Johnson had two years remaining on his deal, though his contract for the 2024/25 season was a team option. Should he clear waivers without being claimed by a rival team, Phoenix will be on the hook to the tune of a $2.8MM cap hit.

Johnson would be eligible for a two-way contract with a new team, but not with the Suns, since his contract was guaranteed for more than $75K (the maximum two-way protection amount).

The 6’5″ swingman out of Tennessee was selected with the No. 21 pick in the 2021 draft, and his rights were acquired by the Clippers in a draft-night trade agreement. Across 77 career NBA games logged between L.A. and Portland, Johnson boasts career per-game averages of 5.9 points, 1.8 assists, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.6 steals, with a shooting line of .362/.343/.659.

Spurs Convert Charles Bediako To Two-Way Deal

October 23rd, 2023 at 4:15pm CST by Luke Adams

4:15pm: The conversion is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

3:53pm: As expected, the Spurs are converting Charles Bediako‘s Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal ahead of the regular season, agent Daniel Green tells Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT (Twitter link).

A seven-foot center, Bediako spent two college seasons at Alabama, starting 67 of the 70 games he played for the Crimson Tide. In 2022/23, he averaged 6.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks in 20.7 minutes per games (37 games), earning a spot on the All-SEC Defensive Team.

Bediako joined the Spurs for Summer League this July, appearing in seven total games for the club in Las Vegas and Sacramento. The 21-year-old subsequently signed an Exhibit 10 contract with San Antonio and played limited minutes in a pair of preseason games.

When the Spurs kept Bediako on their roster beyond Saturday – which is when most players on Exhibit 10 contracts were cut for financial reasons – it was a strong indication that they planned to convert him to a two-way deal. With Dominick Barlow and Sir’Jabari Rice also on two-way contracts, San Antonio had one open two-way slot, so no corresponding move will be required.

Once the move is official, the Spurs will have 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-ways, making their roster ready for the regular season.

Extension Details: Avdija, Nnaji, Nesmith

October 23rd, 2023 at 4:10pm CST by Rory Maher

Deni Avdija‘s new four-year, $55MM extension with the Wizards features a declining structure, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who passes along details on a couple other recently-signed rookie scale extensions as well (All Twitter links).

Avdija will make $15,625,000 (11% of the projected salary cap) in 2024/25, which is when the deal kicks in, but that figure declines to $11,875,000 (7.2% of the projected cap) by ’27/28. As previously reported, the contract is fully guaranteed, with no team or player options.

Nuggets big man Zeke Nnaji‘s four-year, $32MM extension also descends over time, according to Marks. The deal starts at $8,888,889 in ’24/25 and Nnaji will carry identical $7,466,667 cap hits in the third and fourth years of the deal, with the fourth being a player option.

Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith, on the other hand, will receive a flat $11MM each season from 2024-26, for a total of $33MM over three years, Marks adds.

Speaking to the media on Monday, Nesmith said he was “very happy” with the agreement (Twitter video link via Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star).

“It’s a great feeling,” he said. “I’m happy to be here, I wanted to be here. I’m very happy for the opportunity to be here for the next four years. It’s awesome. I’m excited.“

Wizards Cut Taj Gibson, Xavier Cooks

October 23rd, 2023 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards have reduced their roster from 17 players on standard contracts to 15 by waiving big man Taj Gibson and forward Xavier Cooks, reports Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Washington faced a roster crunch this fall, with all 17 of their players on standard contracts owed fully guaranteed salaries in 2023/24. Neither Gibson nor Cooks projected to have a significant rotation role in D.C. and neither one was owed any guaranteed money beyond this season, making them logical candidates to be the odd men out.

Gibson, who has 14 years of NBA experience under his belt, spent last season with the Wizards, averaging 3.4 points and 1.9 rebounds in a career-low 9.8 minutes per game across 49 appearances. After reaching unrestricted free agency, the 38-year-old earned a new one-year, minimum-salary contract from Washington, but was unable to claim a regular season spot.

Assuming Gibson goes unclaimed on waivers, the Wizards will remain on the hook for his $2,019,706 cap charge and the forward/center will earn his full $3,196,448 salary.

As for Cooks, the Australian-born forward had spent most of his professional career playing for the Sydney Kings after going undrafted out of Winthrop in 2018. After helping lead the Kings to a National Basketball League title earlier this year, Cooks signed a four-year contract with the Wizards in March that included two guaranteed seasons — last year and this year.

Cooks’ $1,719,864 salary will remain on the Wizards’ books for 2023/24, but the team won’t have to pay his $2,019,699 salary for 2024/25 or his $2,187,451 team option for ’25/26.

Having signed center John Butler to a two-way contract earlier today, Washington now has a full 18-man roster entering the regular season — 15 players on standard deals and three on two-ways.