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Warriors Convert Ty Jerome, Anthony Lamb To Two-Way Contracts

October 15th, 2022 at 5:59am CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors have made a series of roster moves in advance of the regular season deadline, announcing that they’ve converted guard Ty Jerome and swingman Anthony Lamb to two-way contracts while waiving guards Jerome Robinson and Pat Spencer (Twitter links).

All four players were in training camp on Exhibit 10 contracts, which can be converted to two-way deals or can make a player eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K if he spends at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate. Robinson and Spencer look like candidates to take the latter route and join the Santa Cruz Warriors if they clear waivers.

The 24th pick in the 2019 draft, Jerome spent his rookie season with the Suns before being sent to the Thunder as part of the Chris Paul trade. The 6’5″ guard, who helped Virginia win an NCAA championship in 2018/19, spent the last two seasons with Oklahoma City, averaging 8.6 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 2.6 RPG on .410/.353/.790 shooting in 81 total games with the Thunder (19.6 MPG). He was traded to Houston last month and was subsequently waived by the Rockets.

Lamb went undrafted out of Vermont in 2020 and signed a two-way contract with the Rockets during the ’20/21 season, appearing in 24 games (17.3 MPG) while averaging 5.5 PPG and 2.9 RPG on .390/.324/.857 shooting. He spent most of last season in the G League with Houston’s affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, averaging 17.3 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 4.8 APG and 1.3 BPG on .466/.390/.757 shooting in 31 regular season games (34.4 MPG).

Jerome and Lamb will provide depth in the Warriors’ backcourt and are eligible to play in up to 50 regular season games on their two-way deals. They’ll earn $508,891 apiece this season.

While it’s possible Golden State will sign-and-waive more players on Saturday, the team’s roster looks fairly set for the regular season. The Warriors will keep the 15th spot on their standard roster open to start the year, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

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Warriors Sign Ty Jerome, Anthony Lamb To Camp Deals

October 5th, 2022 at 2:22pm CST by Rory Maher

OCTOBER 5: Lamb’s deal is also now official, the Warriors announced (via Twitter).

OCTOBER 4: Jerome’s deal is now official, according to the Warriors (Twitter link). As we noted on Monday, McClung and Trevion Williams have been waived to create room on the roster for the incoming players.

OCTOBER 3: The Warriors are waiving Mac McClung in order to sign Ty Jerome to a training camp deal once he clears waivers later today, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links).

Golden State will also sign Anthony Lamb to a training camp contract and he’ll be given a chance to compete for a roster spot, sources tell Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic. The team will have to waive another player to make room for Lamb, as the 20-man roster is currently full.

The 24th pick of the 2019 draft, Jerome spent his rookie season with the Suns before being sent to the Thunder as part of the Chris Paul trade. He spent the last two seasons with Oklahoma City, but was part of the eight-player deal that sent Derrick Favors to Houston, and was subsequently waived by the Rockets.

Jerome, a 6’5″ guard who helped Virginia win an NCAA championship in 2018/19, averaged a combined 8.6 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 2.6 RPG on .410/.353/.790 shooting with in 81 games with the Thunder (19.6 MPG). Slater and Charania reported on Sunday that the Warriors were talking to Jerome about joining the defending champions on a camp deal.

Lamb went undrafted out of Vermont in 2020 and signed a two-way contract with the Rockets during the ’20/21 season, appearing in 24 games (17.3 MPG) while averaging 5.5 PPG and 2.9 RPG on .390/.324/.857 shooting. He spent most of last season in the G League with Houston’s affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, averaging 17.3 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 4.8 APG and 1.3 BPG on .466/.390/.757 shooting in 31 regular season games (34.4 MPG).

The 24-year-old wing made two brief appearances with the Spurs on a 10-day hardship deal in January and Houston gave him another two-way contract at the end of March, but didn’t extend him a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent. Lamb most recently competed with Team USA at the Americup tournament, finishing in third place after falling to Argentina, the eventual champions, in the semifinal.

McClung was an undrafted rookie in 2021. He signed a couple of 10-day hardship contracts with the Bulls in December and January, but only appeared in one NBA game for just three minutes. He also played one game for the Lakers at the end of his rookie season on a two-way deal, but wasn’t extended a qualifying offer.

The 23-year-old guard spent the majority of last season in the G League with the Lakers’ affiliate, South Bay, where he was named NBAGL Rookie of the Year. He appeared in Summer League action for the Warriors a few months ago, averaging 13.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 4.8 APG and 1.0 SPG on .456/.500/.818 shooting in five games (24.4 MPG), per RealGM.

Golden State has 14 players on guaranteed contracts after the return of Andre Iguodala and is expected to keep its 15th slot open due to luxury tax concerns. Jerome and Lamb are likely competing for two-way contracts, and those are currently held by Lester Quinones and Quinndary Weatherspoon.

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Team USA Announces Camp Roster For AmeriCup

August 19th, 2022 at 11:56am CST by Luke Adams

At the same time that 24 European nations will be competing in this year’s long-awaited EuroBasket tournament, Team USA will be going for gold in the 2022 AmeriCup, another event that hasn’t taken place in five years. The U.S. team won the 2017 AmeriCup and was preparing to defend its title in 2021 before the event was pushed back a year due to the delay of the Tokyo Olympics.

With the 2022 AmeriCup around the corner, Team USA has announced the 15 players who will take part in training camp from August 23-27 in Las Vegas before the squad chooses a 12-man roster for the September event. Those 15 players are as follows:

While not every player on Team USA’s training camp roster has NBA experience, many do, including Meeks (539 regular season games), Cole (360), McCaw (199), Clark (170), Johnson (103), Mason (103), and Pargo (86). Sword, Cheatham, Lamb, and Zimmerman have also made brief NBA appearances.

The U.S. team will be coached by Jazz assistant Alex Jensen.

The AmeriCup, also known as the Americas Basketball Championship, used to be part of the qualifying process for the Olympics and the FIBA World Cup, but now it’s a stand-alone event.

This year’s tournament will take place from September 2-11 in Recife, Brazil. Sixteen teams have been divided into four groups of four teams apiece. After each team plays three round robin games within its group, the top two teams in each group – along with the two best third-place teams – will move onto the quarterfinals.

Team USA will be seeking its eighth overall AmeriCup gold medal and its first back-to-back golds since winning the event in 1997 and 1999.

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QO Decisions: Nwora, T. Brown, Rockets, Moon, More

June 29th, 2022 at 10:41pm CST by Rory Maher

The Bucks have tendered a qualifying offer to Jordan Nwora, making the 23-year-old a restricted free agent, a league source tells Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link). Nwora’s QO for 2022/23 is worth a projected $2,036,090.

The 45th pick of the 2020 draft, Nwora saw his role expand in his second season with Milwaukee, appearing in 63 games (19.1 MPG) with averages of 7.9 PPG and 3.6 RPG on .403/.348/.837 shooting. He’s No. 43 on our list of top 50 free agents.

Let’s round-up some more qualifying offer decisions…

  • The Bulls won’t extend a QO to Troy Brown ($7,228,448), making him an unrestricted free agent, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter). Brown, who turns 23 on July 28, was the 15th pick of the 2018 draft but didn’t leave much of an impression with Chicago, averaging 4.3 PPG and 3.1 RPG on .419/.353/.769 shooting in 66 games (16 MPG) in ’21/22.
  • The Rockets aren’t giving qualifying offers to either Bruno Fernando ($2,228,276) or Anthony Lamb (two-way), according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Fernando, the 34th pick of the 2019 draft, has seen scant NBA minutes, appearing in 119 contests with an average of 9.2 MPG over his three seasons with Atlanta, Houston and Boston. His QO was worth more than the minimum and the Rockets have lots of players already under contract next season after sending Christian Wood to Dallas for the No. 26 pick and four veterans.
  • Xavier Moon (two-way) won’t receive a qualifying offer from the Clippers, as Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times relays (via Twitter). Moon will be an unrestricted free agent after reaching the NBA as a 27-year-old rookie last season. He has plenty of international experience, having made stops in France, England, Israel and Canada before earning three 10-day hardship deals and later a two-way contract with L.A. in ’21/22.
  • A couple of two-way players received QOs from their respective clubs, sources tell Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter links). Nathan Knight received his offer from the Timberwolves, while the Magic extended a QO to Admiral Schofield. Both players will be restricted free agents.
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NBA G League Announces 2021/22 All-NBAGL Teams

April 18th, 2022 at 2:37pm CST by Luke Adams

Rockets two-way player Trevelin Queen, who was named the NBA G League MVP and the G League Finals MVP this season, has added two more honors to his impressive 2021/22 résumé.

Queen headlined this year’s All-NBA G League First Team and also earned a spot on the NBAGL’s All-Defensive team, as the league announced today in a press release.

The complete list of the 2021/22 All-NBA G League teams, along with the All-Rookie and All-Defensive squads, is below. Players who finished the season on NBA contracts are noted with an asterisk (*), while those on two-way contracts are noted with a caret (^).

All-NBAGL First Team

All-NBAGL Second Team

All-NBAGL Third Team

NBAGL All-Rookie Team

  • Charles Bassey (Delaware Blue Coats) *
  • Luka Garza (Motor City Cruise) *
  • Carlik Jones (Texas Legends)
  • Mac McClung (South Bay Lakers) ^
  • Micah Potter (Sioux Falls Skyforce)

NBAGL All-Defensive Team

  • Charles Bassey (Delaware Blue Coats) *
  • Braxton Key (Delaware Blue Coats) ^
  • Tacko Fall (Cleveland Charge)
  • Shaquille Harrison (Delaware Blue Coats)
  • Trevelin Queen (Rio Grande Valley Vipers) ^

All 19 players who earned a spot on one of the G League’s All-NBAGL, All-Rookie, or All-Defensive teams this year were on some form of standard, two-way, or 10-day NBA contract during the 2021/22 season.

Of those 19, Tillman is the only player who has yet to make his NBA debut, as he didn’t appear in any games after signing a 10-day deal with Atlanta in December.

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Rockets Sign Anthony Lamb To Two-Way Deal

March 23rd, 2022 at 2:43pm CST by Luke Adams

2:43pm: The Rockets have officially signed Lamb to a two-way contract, the team announced today (via Twitter).

7:32am: The Rockets are signing forward Anthony Lamb to a two-way contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’ll be the second time in two seasons that Houston has signed Lamb to a two-way deal.

Lamb, 24, played in the G League bubble with the Canton Charge and Rio Grande Valley Vipers in 2020/21 after going undrafted out of Vermont in 2020. His solid showing for Houston’s G League affiliate (the Vipers) earned him a two-way contract with the Rockets last March.

He averaged 5.5 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 24 games (17.3 MPG) for Houston, then accepted his two-way qualifying offer during the offseason. However, he was waived in October so the Rockets could claim Garrison Mathews.

Lamb subsequently returned to the Vipers for the 2021/22 season, earning a 10-day call-up with the Spurs in January before rejoining Houston’s G League team. In 26 regular season games (33.9 MPG) for Rio Grande Valley, he has averaged 16.9 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 4.4 APG, and 1.3 BPG on .467/.398/.764 shooting.

The Rockets have had a two-way opening since promoting Daishen Nix to their 15-man roster last month, so no corresponding move will be necessary to create room for Lamb.

Many of the players who have signed late-season two-way deals have agreed to tack on a second year to their new contracts. It’s unclear at this point if Lamb’s deal will include a second year or if he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency this offseason.

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Spurs Sign Anthony Lamb After Four Players Enter Protocols

January 6th, 2022 at 4:27pm CST by Rory Maher

4:27pm: The Lamb signing is official, according to a team press release.

1:32pm: The Spurs plan to sign Anthony Lamb to a 10-day contract via a hardship exception after Keldon Johnson, Derrick White, Thaddeus Young and Devin Vassell entered the league’s health and safety protocols, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News was the first to break the four players entering the COVID-19 protocols (via Twitter). The good news is that Lonnie Walker has cleared the protocols and could return to action Friday against the Sixers, a league source told Orsborn (Twitter link).

Lamb, 23, played in the G League bubble with the Canton Charge and Rio Grande Valley Vipers in 2020/21 after going undrafted out of Vermont in 2020. His solid showing for Houston’s G League affiliate (the Vipers) earned him a two-way deal with the Rockets last March. He averaged 5.5 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 24 games (17.3 MPG) for Houston, then accepted his two-way qualifying offer this offseason. However, he was waived on October 18 so that the Rockets could claim Garrison Mathews.

Lamb has spent this season playing with the Vipers, putting up 15.0 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 2.8 APG on .460/.415/.821 shooting in 13 games (10 starts). The Spurs now have five players in the protocols (the fifth being Doug McDermott), and Lamb will be their third 10-day hardship deal, along with Tyler Johnson and Jaylen Morris.

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Rockets Claim Garrison Mathews, Waive Anthony Lamb

October 18th, 2021 at 5:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets have made a change to one of their two-way contract slots, waiving forward Anthony Lamb and replacing him with guard Garrison Mathews, reports Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter links). According to Iko, Houston claimed Mathews off waivers and converted his Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal.

Mathews, who was on a two-way contract with Washington for each of the past two seasons after going undrafted out of Lipscomb in 2019, emerged as a regular rotation player for Washington in 2020/21, averaging 5.5 PPG in 64 games (16.2 MPG). The 24-year-old shooting guard has displayed a reliable outside shot since entering the NBA, making 38.9% of 244 total three-point attempts.

The Celtics signed Mathews to a training camp contract this offseason and he was a candidate to be converted to a two-way deal in Boston, but he reportedly asked the team not to do so. According to Jared Weiss of The Athletic, Mathews thought it was unlikely he’d be promoted to the Celtics’ standard roster during the season if he were on a two-way deal with the team. There’s a better path to a 15-man roster spot in Houston, where the Rockets will likely try to trade some veterans this season.

As for Lamb, he played in the G League bubble with the Canton Charge and Rio Grande Valley Vipers earlier this year after going undrafted out of Vermont in 2020. His solid showing for Houston’s G League affiliate (the Vipers) earned him a two-way deal with the Rockets in March. He averaged 5.5 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 24 games (17.3 MPG) for Houston, then accepted his two-way qualifying offer this offseason. He’s a candidate to return to the Vipers.

The Rockets also completed another minor transaction, quietly signing and waiving big man Mfiondu Kabengele, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. The sign-and-waive move ensures that Houston can make Kabengele an affiliate player for Rio Grande Valley, assuming he signs a G League contract.

Kabengele, 24, was the 27th overall pick in the 2019 draft, but barely played for the Clippers in his rookie year and had his rookie scale team option for the 2021/22 season turned down. He was traded to the Kings at the 2021 deadline, then caught on with the Cavaliers after being cut by Sacramento. The 6’9″ Canadian played in 16 games for the Cavs down the stretch, averaging 4.3 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 11.6 minutes per contest.

Because Kabengele signed his Exhibit 10 contract with Houston on Sunday and wasn’t cut until Monday, he’ll still be on waivers when the regular season begins. That means the Rockets will take on a small cap hit for a couple days worth of his minimum salary.

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Anthony Lamb Accepts Qualifying Offer From Rockets

September 4th, 2021 at 6:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Anthony Lamb has accepted the qualifying offer that the Rockets made at the end of July, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.

Because Lamb was on a two-way contract, the offer is the equivalent of another two-way deal that carries a $50K guarantee. He and rookie Matthew Hurt will be Houston’s two-way players heading into camp, and they will battle for roster spots along with guards Armoni Brooks and Daishen Nix and forward Tyler Bey, who all have Exhibit 10 deals. Lamb’s signing brings the team to the training camp limit of 20 players.

After going undrafted out of Vermont, Lamb went to camp with the Pistons last December but was cut before the season began. The 23-year-old played in the G League before joining the Rockets in March. He got into 24 games, starting three, and averaged 5.5 points and 2.9 rebounds in 17.3 minutes per night.

If Lamb makes the team, Feigen speculates that his future will be as a stretch four as he shot 39.2% from three-point range over his final 15 games. Lamb has upgraded his strength and fitness, according to Summer League coach Will Weaver.

“The biggest focus this summer is defense,” Lamb said. “I just went out trying to figure out how I can make myself more versatile, being able to switch onto multiple people, guard whoever comes against me. I’m trying to use my voice and talk to make sure that I’m really effective on that end.”

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Checking In On Remaining Restricted Free Agents

August 31st, 2021 at 1:36pm CST by Luke Adams

When Lauri Markkanen finally came off the board over the weekend, it left just two standard restricted free agents who are still unsigned, as our FA list shows. Both of those players are Timberwolves free agents: Jordan McLaughlin and Jarred Vanderbilt.

Restricted free agents never have a ton of leverage, especially this deep into the offseason. Some players who remain on the market for weeks, like Markkanen, can still land player-friendly deals, but if McLaughlin or Vanderbilt have been drawing interest around the NBA as coveted sign-and-trade candidates or potential offer sheet recipients, we probably would’ve heard about it by now.

McLaughlin looked like he might be in position to secure a favorable commitment from the Timberwolves after the team traded Ricky Rubio to Cleveland, but Minnesota’s recent move to acquire Patrick Beverley adds depth to the point guard spot and clouds McLaughlin’s future.

A year ago, McLaughlin ultimately decided to accept his qualifying offer and play on a two-way contract for a second consecutive season. This time around, his QO is the equivalent of a one-year, minimum-salary deal, but only a very small portion of that offer (about $84K) has to be guaranteed, so accepting it isn’t a great option.

The Wolves are likely willing to offer a more significant guarantee in 2021/22, but probably want to tack on at least one or two non-guaranteed, minimum-salary years to any deal for McLaughlin. With two-way player McKinley Wright in the picture as a potential third point guard, Minnesota has the roster flexibility to play hardball in its negotiations with McLaughlin.

Vanderbilt may be in a slightly better negotiating position, since he’s likely a higher priority for the Wolves. He started 30 games last season, earning a regular rotation role and showing the ability to handle minutes at power forward, the team’s most glaring weak spot.

Minnesota has a few options at the four, but Taurean Prince and Jake Layman won’t move the needle much, and Jaden McDaniels remains pretty raw. Vanderbilt would be a useful depth piece at the right price, which – in the Wolves’ view – is probably something not far above the veteran’s minimum.

As we wait to see what happens with McLaughlin and Vanderbilt, it’s also worth noting that there are technically four other restricted free agents still on the market. The following four players were made RFAs after finishing the season on two-way contracts:

For these four players, accepting a qualifying offer would mean getting another two-way contract with a $50K partial guarantee.

Signing that qualifying offer would provide no security, even though the Spurs, Clippers, Rockets, and Cavaliers do all have two-way slots open right now. Given the modest guarantee, a team likely wouldn’t hesitate to replace one of its two-way players in October with a camp invitee who has an impressive preseason. And as McLaughlin’s situation shows, even playing out a second year on a two-way QO wouldn’t necessarily give a player additional leverage in his next foray into restricted free agency.

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