Chuma Okeke Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Sixers Promote Jared Butler To Standard Roster

February 13th, 2025 at 7:54pm CST by Luke Adams

7:54 pm: The Sixers have officially signed Butler to a standard contract, the team announced in a press release.

To make room on the roster, Okeke has been released early from his 10-day contract. He’ll become a free agent immediately, without passing through waivers.

5:16 pm: The Sixers are converting Jared Butler‘s two-way contract to a standard deal and will promote him to their 15-man roster, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

According to Charania, Butler is receiving a two-year contract. It will be worth the minimum, since that’s all Philadelphia can offer at this point.

Butler, a 6’3″ guard in his fourth NBA season, was traded from the Wizards by the Sixers, along with four second-round picks, at last week’s deadline in a deal that sent Reggie Jackson and a first-rounder to Washington. This will be the first instance in league history of a team trading for a player on a two-way deal and then promoting him to a standard contract.

A former Baylor standout, Butler averaged 6.9 points, 2.6 assists, and 1.3 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per game across 32 outings off the bench with the Wizards, posting a shooting line of .483/.366/.778.

The 24-year-old has been part of the rotation in his first three games as a Sixer, earning a start on Wednesday in Brooklyn. He has averaged 10.0 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 2.7 RPG in 17.1 MPG so far for his new team.

The 76ers currently have a full 15-man roster, but two of those 15 players are on 10-day contracts. Chuma Okeke‘s deal runs through Sunday, while David Roddy‘s runs through next Thursday. Since Okeke’s contract will expire before the club’s next game, it seems likely Butler will be taking his spot on the roster.

Another Sixers two-way player, Justin Edwards, was promoted to the standard roster last week on a two-year, minimum-salary contract of his own — that deal included a second-year team option, which the club could decline this summer in order to re-sign Edwards to a longer-term contract as a restricted free agent.

It’s possible Butler’s new deal will also include a team option for 2025/26, though that’s just my speculation, since we don’t know the full details yet.

Chuma Okeke Joins Sixers On 10-Day Contract

February 7th, 2025 at 8:42am CST by Arthur Hill

February 7: Okeke’s 10-day contract is now official, the 76ers announced in a press release.

February 6: The Sixers will sign Chuma Okeke to a 10-day contract, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

The 26-year-old forward is currently playing with the G League’s Westchester Knicks, where he’s averaging 17.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 16 regular season games.

He was in training camp with New York on an Exhibit 10 contract, but was waived before the start of the season.

Okeke was taken by Orlando with the 16th pick in the 2019 draft and spent four seasons with the Magic. He appeared in 189 games, made 55 starts and averaged 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per night.

If Okeke’s signing is finalized in time for Friday’s contest at Detroit, he will be eligible for four games before next week’s All-Star break. He will be able to sign a second 10-day deal with Philadelphia when this one expires.

The Sixers will have multiple open roster spots after their series of deadline deals are official, so no corresponding move will be necessary to bring Okeke aboard.

Begley’s Latest: Magic, White, Vucevic, Smart, Knicks

February 6th, 2025 at 8:19am CST by Luke Adams

The Magic are among the teams that were talking to the Bulls about guard Coby White earlier this week, sources familiar with the situation tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv. It’s unclear if the two sides remain engaged in conversations.

White, who turns 25 later this month, has developed into a reliable backcourt scorer over the last couple seasons and is averaging 18.5 points, 4.6 assists, and 3.3 rebounds per game for Chicago in 2024/25. He’s also a solid three-point shooter, having made at least 37.2% of his attempts from beyond the arc in each of the past four seasons. That would appeal to an Orlando team that ranks last in the NBA in three-point makes and three-point percentage.

As K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network tweets, the Bulls have a crowded backcourt and may be looking to trade one or more of their guards either before Thursday’s deadline or during the offseason. None of them are on long-term deals, but White, Ayo Dosunmu, Dalen Terry, and newly extended Lonzo Ball are all under contract for next season, while Jevon Carter will likely pick up his player option and Josh Giddey will be controllable as a restricted free agent.

Here’s more from Begley ahead of today’s deadline:

As of Wednesday, the Bulls maintained a high asking price for Nikola Vucevic. Begley reports that Chicago wants a first-round pick that isn’t too heavily protected and wouldn’t turn into second-rounders if it doesn’t convey.
Several teams have spoken to the Grizzlies about possible Marcus Smart trades, according to Begley, who notes that moving off of Smart’s $21.6MM guaranteed salary for 2025/26 would put Memphis in better position to re-sign restricted free agent Santi Aldama and potentially to extend star big man Jaren Jackson Jr.
The Knicks still hadn’t engaged in substantial Mitchell Robinson trade talks as of Wednesday night, Begley writes. If they don’t make any additional details beyond their Jericho Sims/Delon Wright swap, the Knicks would remain on track to add a 15th man under the hard cap as of March 1. In that scenario, Begley expects G League standouts T.J. Warren and Chuma Okeke to receive consideration.

Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Claxton, Raptors, Knicks, Towns

October 30th, 2024 at 2:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Following up on the NBA’s announcement that the Sixers were fined $100K for violating the league’s player participation policy, Sam Amick and Joe Vardon of The Athletic attempt to parse the somewhat vague language of the NBA’s statement, which said the team was penalized not for resting Joel Embiid but for “public statements inconsistent with Embiid’s health status.”

One league source told The Athletic duo that Embiid didn’t re-injure his surgically repaired left knee during the Olympics, but that there were concerns about the stability of the knee and the possible risk of further damage if he had played last week. In other words, the big man is dealing with a legitimate knee issue despite the team’s insistence that there were no offseason setbacks.

One significant factor in the league’s decision to fine the Sixers was the team’s messaging that the playoffs were a top priority and that the regular season wasn’t, per Amick and Vardon. Sixers president Daryl Morey, head coach Nick Nurse, and Embiid all spoke publicly this fall about their plan to rest the star center frequently – including in back-to-back sets – in order to ensure he’s ready to go for the postseason.

We have more from around the Atlantic:

Nets center Nic Claxton, who is still ramping up his conditioning after missing the entire preseason with a hamstring injury, will sit out Wednesday’s game against Memphis, the second of a back-to-back set, writes Ted Holmund of The New York Post. Claxton hasn’t experienced any setbacks, according to head coach Jordi Fernandez. “It’s basically part of the return to play with his minutes, back-to-back, being cautious with his body and this was part of the plan,” Fernandez said. “So he did a great job. He played those, those extra minutes at 26 (on Tuesday vs. Denver). Right now, we need a good rest and recovery, and then we’ll take the next step. So again, very, very happy with him.”
After officially announcing their training camp roster on Monday, the Raptors 905 – Toronto’s G League affiliate – made a trade to acquire Charlie Brown Jr.‘s returning rights, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. The deal sent the rights to Marques Bolden and three future G League draft picks, including a 2025 first-rounder, to the Osceola Magic in exchange for Brown, who was cut by Charlotte earlier this month.
The Westchester Knicks (New York’s G League affiliate) also announced their training camp roster this week. The squad has no shortage of players with NBA experience, including forwards T.J. Warren, Chuma Okeke, and Matt Ryan, guard Landry Shamet (who is rehabbing a dislocated shoulder), and center Moses Brown.
The Knicks essentially never ran plays on offense for big men Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein over the past couple seasons, so they’re still trying to figure out how best to get new center Karl-Anthony Towns involved on that end of the court. Peter Botte of The New York Post takes a look at those efforts.

Knicks Waive Landry Shamet, Chuma Okeke, T.J. Warren

October 19th, 2024 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

3:53pm: The Knicks announced that they’ve officially waived Shamet, Okeke, and Warren (Twitter link).

Okeke and Warren were always considered long shots to make the team once Shamet emerged as the frontrunner, but if Shamet requires a lengthy recovery process, it’s possible one of them could return to the Knicks 14 days into the season when they need to add a 13th man (Ariel Hukporti is expected to be promoted from his two-way deal to become the 14th man).

Warren plans to join the Westchester Knicks and will be a candidate for a promotion at some point this season, Ian Begley of SNY.tv confirms (via Twitter).

3:44pm: The Knicks are waiving injured guard Landry Shamet, sources tell Shams Charania and Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).

As we covered in detail this week, Shamet left Tuesday’s preseason game against Charlotte with an injury and was subsequently diagnosed with a dislocated right shoulder. Prior to going down in that game, he appeared on track to make the Knicks’ roster on his non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract, having enjoyed a solid preseason in which he averaged 10.8 points per game in four appearances.

However, the Knicks have very little roster and financial flexibility — after accounting for their 12 players on guaranteed contracts, they’re only about $3.58MM away from their hard cap, which they can’t surpass at any point during the 2024/25 season. As such, hanging onto Shamet and continuing to pay him while he recovers from his shoulder injury isn’t the best use of the team’s limited resources.

According to Charania, the Knicks will likely open the season with just their 12 players on standard guaranteed contracts. They’re allowed to carry fewer than 14 players for up to two weeks at a time and for up to 28 total days during the 2024/25 season, so they’ll have to add 13th and 14th men during the first week of November. They’d like to eventually bring back Shamet when he recovers from his shoulder injury, Charania adds.

Because Shamet had Exhibit 9 language in his training camp contract, the Knicks were protected in the event of a preseason injury and will only owe the 27-year-old just $15K rather than having to continue to pay his minimum salary until he’s healthy.

While Charania and Marks didn’t explicitly report it, Charania’s claim that New York will likely open the season with just 12 players on standard deals suggests that the team will also waive Chuma Okeke and T.J. Warren, the other veterans on non-guaranteed contracts.

Knicks Re-Sign Chuma Okeke

October 2nd, 2024 at 5:20pm CST by Luke Adams

5:20pm: Okeke is officially back with the team on a new Exhibit 10 contract, the Knicks announced on Twitter.

10:14am: Free agent forward Chuma Okeke, who was waived over the weekend by the Knicks, will be re-signing with the team once the Karl-Anthony Towns trade is official, reports James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Okeke, 26, was the 16th overall pick in the 2019 draft. He was stashed in the G League for a season while recovering from a torn ACL, then signed his rookie contract with the Magic in 2020.

Across four seasons in Orlando, the former Auburn standout made a total of 189 regular season appearances, averaging 6.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 20.3 minutes per game. Known more for his defense, Okeke struggled with his shot, making just 38.3% of his attempts from the floor, including 31.8% of his three-pointers.

Okeke signed an Exhibit 10 contract with New York in August, but had to be waived to allow the club to open up enough roster spots to sign-and-trade several players to Charlotte as part of the Towns deal with the Timberwolves and Hornets. After that trade has been formally completed, which should happen soon, the Knicks will be able to refill the several open spots on their 21-man offseason roster.

Okeke will occupy one of those spots, likely on a new Exhibit 10 deal, but he’ll have an uphill battle to make the regular season roster. Due to its hard cap situation, New York will be able to retain no more than one veteran who is in camp on a non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract — Landry Shamet appears to have the upper hand for that spot.

Marcus Morris, who was waived along with Okeke over the weekend, would also be eligible to return to the Knicks on a new camp deal, but has reportedly decided against it and will seek a new NBA contract elsewhere.

Knicks Waive Marcus Morris, Chuma Okeke

September 28th, 2024 at 4:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks have placed forwards Marcus Morris and Chuma Okeke on waivers, the team announced on Twitter.

Both players had non-guaranteed camp contracts, so New York won’t have any future financial obligations to either of them. Morris signed an Exhibit 9 deal two weeks ago, while Okeke inked an Exhibit 10 contract in August.

The moves are a prelude to the looming Karl-Anthony Towns trade with Minnesota. As our Luke Adams explained this morning, the Knicks’ financial situation will likely require multiple sign-and-trade deals before Towns can be acquired, so roster spots had to be opened to make those moves possible.

Morris, 35, is a 13-year NBA veteran. He split last season between Philadelphia and Cleveland, averaging 6.4 points and 2.7 rebounds in 49 total games.

Okeke, 26, spent the past four season with Orlando after being selected with the 16th pick in the 2019 draft. He averaged 2.3 points and 1.7 rebounds in 47 games with the Magic last season.

It’s unclear whether or not the Knicks plan to bring back Morris and/or Okeke after the Towns trade is officially completed.

Checking In On Early 2024/25 Roster Battles

September 14th, 2024 at 11:03am CST by Tristan Tucker

Each year, a handful of teams prefer to bring in players to battle it out for the last remaining spots on a given roster. Let’s take a look at a few training camp battles that are already brewing ahead of October.

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls have been busy in recent weeks, filling out their training camp roster with proven talent. The Bulls have 15 players on standard contracts, but Onuralp Bitim‘s deal is non-guaranteed. In addition, Chicago has two open two-way slots. The Bulls have four players — Talen Horton-Tucker, Kenneth Lofton Jr., E.J. Liddell and Marcus Domask — signed to training camp deals.

Exhibit 10 contracts can be converted to two-way contracts at any time. Horton-Tucker is the only player of that batch who is ineligible for a two-way contract, since he is at five years of NBA service. That gives the Bulls a handful of options for their opening night roster.

In essence, Bitim and Horton-Tucker seem to be battling it out for the Bulls’ 15th roster spot, while Lofton, Liddell and Domask all appear to be candidates for the team’s open two-way slots. Of course, if the Bulls opt to move on from Bitim on a standard deal, they could attempt to re-sign him to a two-way deal. They could also just carry 14 players on the standard roster to begin the year.

New York Knicks

As we detailed Saturday morning, Landry Shamet and Chuma Okeke appear to be battling for the Knicks’ 15th roster spot. Of course, there’s no guarantee that either player will make the roster, but each has a decent case to make the team.

Shamet is a proven three-point shooter while Okeke is a versatile forward who is a previous 16th overall pick. The Knicks will likely assess in training camp what their biggest need is and keep the player who best fits that niche heading into the year.

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers have a handful of players on non-guaranteed or partially contracts heading into the season. However, previous reporting seems to indicate that the team’s final roster spot will come down to either Kendall Brown or Cole Swider.

Brown is an athletic forward who was the 48th overall pick in the 2022 draft. He has spent the last two seasons with the Pacers but has also appeared in just 21 total games. Meanwhile, the Pacers signed Swider to a training camp contract this offseason that doesn’t include Exhibit 10 language. Swider is a known three-point shooter who spent last season with the Heat and helped Miami to a summer league championship this offseason.

James Wiseman and James Johnson each have partially guaranteed salaries with the Pacers.

The others

Other teams across the league are poised to either carry just 14 players on standard deals to begin the year or already have their 15-man rosters determined. However, some of those teams have unsettled two-way roster slots.

The Heat have their standard roster filled out, but summer standout Isaiah Stevens is on an Exhibit 10 deal. It seems like Stevens will battle Dru Smith — who currently holds a two-way deal — outright for that spot.

The Hornets have Moussa Diabate and KJ Simpson on two-way deals but have another spot open. Keyontae Johnson could be an option for that spot. Charlotte also has a potential opening on the 15-man roster, with four players signed to Exhibit 10 deals and another agreed to.

The Wizards also have an open two-way slot. Washington signed Leaky Black, Kira Lewis and Jaylen Nowell to Exhibit 10 contracts, but only Black is eligible for a two-way deal. The Wizards also have 15 players on guaranteed contracts, with Jared Butler and his non-guaranteed deal possibly on the outside looking in unless they make a trade.

The Clippers have RayJ Dennis, Kai Jones and Elijah Harkless signed to Exhibit 10 deals. The team also has an agreement with Kevon Harris for another such spot. With only Jordan Miller and Trentyn Flowers on two-way contracts, all of Dennis, Jones, Harkless and Harris are eligible for the team’s third.

Knicks Sign Chuma Okeke

August 1st, 2024 at 6:16pm CST by Rory Maher

6:16pm: The Knicks have officially announced (via Twitter) the signing of Okeke to an Exhibit 10 deal.

12:04pm: The Knicks plan to sign free agent forward Chuma Okeke, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Okeke, who played a couple of college seasons at Auburn, was the 16th overall pick of the 2019 draft. He has spent the past five years with the Magic, holding career averages of 6.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 189 regular season games, including 55 starts (20.3 minutes per contest). He posted a .383/.318/.789 shooting line over that span.

Okeke had an unusual start to his professional career, as he didn’t sign his rookie scale contract until 2020, a year after he was drafted, due to a torn ACL. That meant he hit free agency a year later than his 2019 first-round draft classmates as well. He became an unrestricted free agent when Orlando chose not to give him a $7.4MM qualifying offer.

Known primarily for his excellent work on the defensive end, Okeke has unfortunately battled injuries since he turned pro, playing between 27 and 47 games in three of his four active seasons. He was not a rotation regular in 2023/24 for Orlando, averaging a career-low 9.2 minutes per contest.

While the terms of the contract were not disclosed, it seems likely be a one-year, minimum-salary deal, perhaps with a partial guarantee. The Knicks currently have 14 players on standard contracts, so Okeke could be battling for a potential 15th spot in training camp, assuming the team decides to carry a full roster.

Knicks Notes: Randle, Sims, Bryant, Okeke

August 1st, 2024 at 2:13pm CST by Rory Maher

Knicks All-Star forward Julius Randle becomes eligible on Saturday for an extension that could be worth up to $181.5MM over four years (if he declines his $30.9MM player option for 2025/26). According to Fred Katz of The Athletic, Randle will likely need to take a discount if he’s interested in long-term security.

As Katz details, New York doesn’t want to waste the financial flexibility gained by Jalen Brunson‘s recent extension. That means offering Randle a starting salary of $40.5MM in ’25/26 on a new extension probably isn’t feasible. However, if Randle picks up his ’25/26 option and then extends off that figure for ’26/27, the Knicks would be in great shape from a cap perspective going forward.

Randle could be incentivized to agree to that deal structure because not many teams project to have cap room in 2025 when he could hit free agency, Katz writes. And nearly all of those clubs are rebuilding, making signing a player who would turn 31 before the ’25/26 season begins an odd fit.

Even if an agreement isn’t reached and Randle decides to test free agency next year, Katz says the Knicks have no interest in trading the former Kentucky standout, especially if it would make them worse, since they’re trying to win a championship as soon as possible. Perhaps that could change if Randle becomes unhappy with extension talks, but there’s nothing to suggest that will happen and the Knicks value what he brings to the table and would prefer to keep him, per Katz.

Here’s more on the Knicks:

Backup center Jericho Sims has been fully healthy this summer for the first time in the past few offseasons, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. According to Bondy’s source, Sims had previously undisclosed thumb surgery two summers ago, followed by shoulder surgery last offseason. Sims, whose minimum-salary deal becomes fully guaranteed on August 16, has been working to sharpen and expand his offensive game the past few months, Bondy adds.
According to Bondy, the Knicks plan to spend part of their training camp this fall at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. The team also spent about a week training in the same location last year, Bondy notes.
In a subscriber-only story for The Post, Bondy spoke to former NBA head coach P.J. Carlesimo to get a better idea of what new assistant coach Mark Bryant will bring to the Knicks. Carlesimo coached the former longtime NBA player when he was in college at Seton Hall.
Chuma Okeke‘s new contract with the Knicks features Exhibit 10 language, Bondy reports (via Twitter). That means Okeke’s deal covers one year for the veteran’s minimum and is fully non-guaranteed. If he’s released before the season begins, Okeke would be eligible for a bonus worth up to $77.5K if agrees to join the Knicks’ NBA G League affiliate in Westchester for at least 60 days.