Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Knicks Sign Josh Hart To Four-Year Extension

August 10th, 2023 at 12:20pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 10: Hart’s extension is official, the Knicks announced (via Twitter).

“Josh’s immediate impact on our team last season — both on and off the court — cannot be understated. … The leadership and competitiveness Josh brings fits perfectly with the culture we are building,” president Leon Rose said.

AUGUST 9: The Knicks and forward Josh Hart are finalizing a four-year contract extension worth $81MM, his agents at CAA Basketball tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Hart, who was traded from Portland to New York on February 9, was ineligible to sign an extension that tacked on more than two years to his expiring contract until at least six months after he was dealt. He and the Knicks are wasting no time in getting something done.

According to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), the two sides are working through the final details of an agreement, which can be officially completed as soon as Thursday.

Hart had the opportunity to reach unrestricted free agency this summer by turning down a $12.96MM player option but decided to pick up that option, creating some extra short-term spending flexibility for the Knicks, who took advantage by signing Hart’s former Villanova teammate Donte DiVincenzo in free agency.

While the Knicks and Hart may not have had a formal agreement in place at the time he exercised his option, there was likely an understanding that they’d work out a longer-term contract once he became eligible to sign one.

The NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement allows Hart to receive a raise of up to 40% on his current salary, with subsequent 8% annual increases. That would work out to a maximum starting salary of $18,144,000 and a four-year total of $81,285,120, which lines up with Wojnarowski’s reporting. We’ll have to wait to see whether the deal is fully guaranteed or includes any options.

Hart averaged 10.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.4 steals in 30.0 minutes per game across 25 regular season appearances after being acquired by the Knicks at February’s trade deadline. He was also an important part of the club’s playoff rotation, starting five of 11 games and averaging 32.1 minutes per night.

The 51.9% three-point percentage that Hart posted after the trade is unsustainable, but he’s capable of knocking down an outside shot (.350 career 3PT%) and is a talented, versatile defender who is a strong rebounder for his position and size (6’5″). The 28-year-old is considered a good fit for head coach Tom Thibodeau‘s system, so it’s no surprise that the team was eager to lock him up for the long term.

Hart was the only member of Team USA’s 12-man roster that didn’t play in Monday’s exhibition game against Puerto Rico, but he’ll likely see some action once he officially signs his new contract. The U.S. team has tune-ups against Slovenia and Spain on tap this weekend, followed by exhibition contests vs. Greece and Germany next week before the World Cup officially tips off later in the month.

Hart’s extension will make him ineligible to be traded for six months. That trade restriction won’t expire until after this season’s deadline, as we detailed on Tuesday.

Kings Re-Sign Neemias Queta On Standard Contract

August 8th, 2023 at 9:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

9:40pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

7:35pm: The Kings are re-signing Neemias Queta to a standard contract, James Ham of The Kings Beat tweets.

Queta has been on Sacramento’s roster the past two seasons, appearing in a total of 20 NBA games. The 7’0” Queta was a second-round pick in 2021 out of Utah State.

Queta entered the summer as a restricted free agent after finishing last season on a two-way deal. He was eligible for another two-way contract but ineligible for a two-way qualifying offer after having played on a two-way with the Kings for consecutive seasons.

As a result, Queta’s qualifying offer was equivalent to a one-year, minimum-salary contract with a $75K partial guarantee. It’s unclear whether he’s accepting that QO or if he negotiated different terms with Sacramento.

Queta’s health is a question mark. He was diagnosed with a stress reaction and a metatarsal capsule sprain in his right foot last month. That injury occurred during a Summer League game against the Clippers.

Queta only appeared in five NBA games for Sacramento last season, but thrived at the G League level, earning a spot on the All-NBAGL First Team and finishing second in MVP voting. He averaged 16.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.9 blocks in 27.7 minutes per game across 29 regular season appearances for the Stockton Kings.

Prior to the agreement with Queta, Sacramento had 13 players on guaranteed deals and another — Nerlens Noel — on a partially guaranteed contract.

Suns Sign Udoka Azubuike To Two-Way Deal

August 8th, 2023 at 8:17pm CST by Dana Gauruder

AUGUST 8: The signing is official, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets via a team press release.

“Udoka possesses imposing size and the ability to finish around the rim,” GM James Jones said in a statement. “His strength and physicality help add to our team’s depth.”

JULY 31: Free agent center Udoka Azubuike has agreed on a two-way contract with the Suns, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

The 23-year-old out of Kansas spent his first three seasons with the Jazz. He appeared in 36 games last year, including four starts, averaging 3.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per game.

Overall, he’s appeared in 68 NBA games and has never scored more than 13 points. His career shooting percentage is 76.9%, with most of his buckets coming on layups, dunks and putbacks. The 6’10” Azubuike has never attempted a 3-pointer.

A former first-round pick (No. 27 overall in 2020), Azubuike has dealt with multiple significant ankle injuries, which has impacted his development. Utah declined its fourth-year team option on him before last season started, which is how he wound up in the free agent market.

He played for the Celtics’ Summer League squad this month.

The Suns had two openings for two-way players. Guard Saben Lee occupies the other two-way slot.

Azubuike will have to work his way up the depth chart with the NBA club. He’ll be behind starter Deandre Ayton, Drew Eubanks, Bol Bol and Chimezie Metu.

Pistons Sign Stanley Umude To Camp Contract

August 8th, 2023 at 3:25pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have officially signed free agent guard Stanley Umude, per RealGM’s transaction log. According to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link), it’s a non-guaranteed training camp contract.

Umude, who went undrafted out of Arkansas in 2022, signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Detroit last September and was waived before the regular season began. He spent most of his rookie year as an affiliate player for the Motor City Cruise, the Pistons’ G League team, earning a brief NBA call-up when he signed a 10-day contract with Detroit in February.

Umude appeared in just one NBA game, but was a rotation regular for the Cruise throughout the NBAGL’s Showcase Cup and regular season. He played in 43 total games for Motor City, averaging 15.4 points and 5.1 rebounds in 27.5 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .414/.369/.775.

The Pistons are carrying 14 players on guaranteed standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals, so it’s possible Umude will given the opportunity to compete for the final 15-man or two-way spot on the regular season roster. If he’s waived before the season begins, the 24-year-old looks like a good candidate to rejoin the Cruise as a returning rights player.

Mavs Agree To Camp Deals With Greg Brown, Joe Wieskamp

August 8th, 2023 at 12:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent forward Greg Brown and wing Joe Wieskamp have agreed to sign training camp contracts with the Mavericks, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The 43rd overall pick in the 2021 draft, Brown spent his first season-and-a-half as a pro in Portland, appearing in 64 games for the Trail Blazers during that time. He didn’t establish himself as a regular rotation player, averaging just 4.0 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per night with a shooting line of .422/.294/.636.

Because the Blazers didn’t have a G League affiliate of their own during Brown’s time with the team, they couldn’t send him to their own NBAGL program for developmental purposes. The 21-year-old ended up being waived in February to accommodate Portland’s trade deadline moves, then finished the season with the Ontario Clippers in the G League.

Wieskamp was drafted two spots ahead of Brown in 2021 and appeared in 29 games for the Spurs as a rookie, but he wasn’t retained for a second season in San Antonio. He inked a pair of 10-day contracts with the Raptors in January of this year, then signed a multiyear deal in February. That contract was only guaranteed for the rest of the 2022/23 season though, so he was waived by Toronto last month before his 2023/24 salary became guaranteed.

Wieskamp, who will turn 24 later this month, has only made 30.9% of his 55 three-point shots at the NBA level in 38 appearances, but has shown his ability to stretch the floor at the G League level, hitting 38.0% of 237 attempts across 32 NBAGL regular season contests.

Dallas currently has 14 players on guaranteed standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals, so adding Brown and Wieskamp on camp deals would bring the team’s total roster count to 18 players, leaving three open spots.

Clippers Sign Jordan Miller To Two-Way Deal

August 7th, 2023 at 3:10pm CST by Rory Maher

The Clippers have signed Jordan Miller to a two-way contract, the team announced (via Twitter).

A versatile guard/forward, Miller was the 48th overall pick of June’s draft. He was one of six 2023 second-round picks who had yet to sign an NBA contract; that list is now down to five players, two of whom are expected to play overseas.

Miller, 23, had a strong “super senior” season for Miami (FL) in 2022/23, averaging 15.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals on .545/.352/.784 shooting in 37 games (35.0 minutes per night). He helped the Hurricanes reach the Final Four of the NCAA tournament, where they fell to eventual champion UConn.

The Clippers currently have 16 players on standard contracts, with 15 of those deals being guaranteed. Miller will occupy the second of three possible two-way slots; Moussa Diabate holds the other.

Anthony Davis Signs Three-Year Extension With Lakers

August 6th, 2023 at 4:11pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 6: Davis’ new three-year extension is now official, the Lakers announced (Twitter link via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin). According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the final year is a player option (Twitter link).

AUGUST 4: The Lakers and star big man Anthony Davis are in agreement on a three-year, maximum-salary contract extension, agent Rich Paul tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The two sides wasted little time in reaching a deal after Davis became extension-eligible on Friday.

Although Wojnarowski refers to it as a $186MM extension, the exact value of the three-year contract won’t be determined until June 2025. Davis will earn a starting salary worth 35% of the salary cap in 2025/26, with subsequent 8% annual raises.

As we outlined earlier today, in order for the deal to be worth $186MM, the cap would have to increase by the maximum allowable 10% in each of the next two seasons, reaching nearly $164.6MM by ’25/26. That would be a best-case scenario, but the NBA is currently projecting more modest cap increases. If the cap is instead at $150MM in ’25/26, for example, Davis’ three-year deal would be worth about $170MM.

Either way, the long-term agreement – which was reached quickly and seemingly without any drama – is good news for both Davis and the Lakers, who are now tied to one another through the 2027/28 season.

Davis has shown a tendency in the past to take long-term guaranteed money when it’s on the table rather than trying to maximize his earnings with shorter-term deals. He’s sticking to that approach here, accepting a max extension offer when it’s available rather than playing out the 2023/24 season in the hopes of signing a bigger deal as a free agent in 2024, when he would have been eligible to opt out of his current contract.

It’s possible that accepting an extension now will cost him a little money in the long run, but for a player who has battled injuries throughout his career, it’s hard to argue with the decision. Davis has been limited to 132 of 236 regular season games over the past three years and hasn’t played more than 62 games in a season since 2017/18.

For the Lakers, meanwhile, it’s a massive investment in a player who has Davis’ injury history, but it’s an investment that could pay dividends, given that the alternative may have been negotiating a maximum-salary free agent contract of up to five years in 2024.

By signing Davis to an extension now, Los Angeles ensures that he’s locked into his current deal through the 2024/25 season, when he’ll be earning a salary ($43.2MM) well below his potential maximum. The team also won’t have to commit to him beyond 2028, when he’ll be 35 years old.

And when healthy, Davis has continued to be one of the NBA’s most dominant two-way stars. The 30-year-old averaged 25.9 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 2.0 blocks per game in 56 appearances (34.0 MPG) during the 2022/23 season, shooting 56.3% from the floor.

Davis is also an elite rim protector whose performance on that end of the court was a major factor the Lakers’ run to the Western Conference Finals this spring. He ranked first in the postseason with 14.1 RPG and 3.1 BPG.

Davis will earn $40.6MM in 2023/24, so he’s now in line to make up to approximately $270MM over the next five seasons if the cap continues to rise by 10% annually.

Davis and LeBron James have been the cornerstones of the Lakers over the last few seasons, including in the 2020 championship season. James’ future with the team beyond the 2023/24 season remains up in the air, since he has the ability to opt out of his deal and – at 38 years old – has alluded to the possibility of retirement. But whether or not LeBron remains in Los Angeles for the long term, it appears the franchise is committed to building around Davis for the foreseeable future.

Souley Boum Signs With Nuggets

August 5th, 2023 at 8:21pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Nuggets have signed free agent guard Souley Boum, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. It’s a training camp contract with no guaranteed money, a source tells Smith. The signing was completed on Thursday, per RealGM’s transaction log.

Boum, 24, went undrafted out of Xavier this year after averaging 16.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists as a super senior. He began his college basketball career at San Francisco before transferring to UTEP for three seasons.

Boum played for the Kings during Summer League, averaging 7.3 PPG in three games.

The defending champions are now at the summer maximum with 21 players under contract.

Hornets Signing R.J. Hunter

August 5th, 2023 at 6:45pm CST by Arthur Hill

Free agent shooting guard R.J. Hunter has reached an agreement with the Hornets, agent Daniel Hazan tells Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter link). It’s a one-year, non-guaranteed deal, tweets Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer.

The 29-year-old last played in the NBA in 2018/19 when he appeared in one game with the Celtics on a two-way contract. He had short stays with a series of overseas teams since then, but sat out last season with a ruptured left patellar tendon he suffered in 2022 while playing in Australia for the Sydney Kings.

Boston selected Hunter with the 28th pick in the 2015 draft, but he was waived after just one year. He signed with the Bulls before the start of the 2016/17 season, but only got into three games before being released. He also appeared in five games with the Rockets on a two-way deal.

The addition of Hunter, along with the recent signing of Frank Ntilikina, will bring Charlotte up to 16 players on standard deals. They also have a pair of players on two-way contracts.

Frank Ntilikina Signs With Hornets

August 5th, 2023 at 9:56am CST by Luke Adams

AUG. 5: Ntilikina’s deal with the Hornets is official, per team release (Twitter link).

AUG. 4: The Hornets are signing free agent guard Frank Ntilikina to a one-year contract, agents Sam Rose and Olivier Mazet tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Wojnarowski says that Ntilikina’s deal will be partially guaranteed, while Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link) hears that it will be non-guaranteed — we’ll have to wait for more clarity on the exact details, but it’s a safe bet it’ll be worth the veteran’s minimum.

Ntilikina, who turned 25 last week, was selected eighth overall in the 2017 draft by the Knicks. He spent his first four NBA seasons in New York before joining the Mavericks for the last two years.

Ntilikina has never developed into much of an offensive threat at the NBA level, averaging a modest 4.8 points and 2.2 assists per game in 316 career contests (17.1 MPG), with a shooting line of .371/.323/.760. However, he’s considered a strong perimeter defender.

While Ntilikina’s partially guaranteed contract won’t necessarily assure him of a regular season roster spot in Charlotte, he has the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of another former Knicks guard who was drafted in the 2017 lottery – Dennis Smith Jr. earned regular playing time in the Hornets’ rotation last season due to his strong defensive play. He parlayed that showing into a guaranteed contract with Brooklyn this offseason.

Charlotte only has 12 players on fully guaranteed contracts – not counting restricted free agent P.J. Washington – and doesn’t have much point guard depth behind starter LaMelo Ball, so Ntilikina should have an inside track on a 15-man roster spot as long as he performs well in training camp. It’s also worth noting that two-way player Theo Maledon is still a restricted free agent, so his potential return could affect Ntilikina’s role in Charlotte.

If Ntilikina doesn’t claim a spot on the Hornets’ 15-man roster, it will be interesting to see whether the Frenchman catches on with another team or considers a move back to Europe. As Sportando relays, there had been rumors that French club ASVEL Basket made an offer to Ntilikina.