Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Suns Re-Sign Saben Lee To Two-Way Deal

July 13th, 2023 at 7:41pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Suns are bringing back point guard Saben Lee on another two-way deal, having officially signed him to a new contract, the team announced in a press release (Twitter link via Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports).

Lee inked his first two-way contract with Phoenix in January of this past season.

“Saben plays with toughness and aggression on both ends of the court,” team president James Jones is quoted as saying in the press statement. “His point guard instincts and ability to attack the rim are critical traits for us as we seek to build a better team.”

This move was not entirely unexpected, as the 6’2″ vet received a two-way qualifying offer from the Suns earlier this summer, effectively giving the club extra optionality to retain him as a restricted free agent.

Across 23 regular season contests with the Suns last year, the 24-year-old out of Vanderbilt averaged 6.3 PPG on .393/.379/.737 shooting splits, along with 2.8 APG, 2.0 RPG and 0.8 SPG. This will be the last season that he’s eligible to play on a two-way contract.

The Suns still have a pair of two-way slots available after re-signing Lee.

Warriors Sign Dario Saric To One-Year Deal

July 12th, 2023 at 4:47pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 12: Saric is officially a Warrior, the team announced (via Twitter).

JULY 8: The Warriors and free agent forward Dario Saric have reached an agreement on a one-year contract, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

While Wojnarowski doesn’t specify the financial terms, the Warriors’ cap situation means they’re limited to minimum-salary offers for free agents who weren’t with the team last season. As a seven-year veteran, Saric will earn $2,709,849 on a minimum deal, while Golden State will take on a cap hit of $2,019,706.

Saric missed the entire 2021/22 season due to an ACL tear, but returned to action this past season. He appeared in 37 contests for Phoenix and – following a trade-deadline deal – 20 for Oklahoma City, averaging 6.4 points and 3.6 rebounds in 14.1 minutes per game with a shooting line of .458/.391/.829.

A 6’10” forward who has made 36.0% of his career three-pointers, Saric is known for his ability to stretch the floor from the frontcourt. In Golden State, he may take on a role similar to the one JaMychal Green played this past year.

The Warriors were named by multiple reporters as Saric’s most likely landing spot in the hours leading up to free agency last week. Marc Stein indicated on Friday that the 29-year-old may have been waiting to see if offers worth more than the veteran’s minimum materialized before agreeing to join Golden State.

With Saric and Draymond Green set to officially sign contracts, the Warriors’ roster count is up to 13 players on standard contracts. That leaves two openings on the 15-man roster and three available two-way slots.

The club may just roll with 14 players on standard deals to open the 2023/24 season for financial and flexibility reasons. Lester Quinones is a good candidate to return in some form — he’s a restricted free agent after being issued a two-way qualifying offer.

Celtics, Kristaps Porzingis Finalize Two-Year Extension

July 12th, 2023 at 3:44pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 12: Porzingis’ two-year extension with the Celtics is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

The deal, which is worth exactly $60MM, will pay the big man approximately $29.3MM in 2024/25 and $30.7MM in ’25/26, Hoops Rumors has learned.

JUNE 30: The Celtics and newly acquired big man Kristaps Porzingis are expected to finalize a two-year contract extension worth $60MM, reports Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT (Twitter link).

Porzingis, who was acquired by Boston in a trade last week, is extension-eligible but can only tack on a maximum of two new years to his current deal due to the NBA’s extend-and-trade restrictions. Marc Stein reported multiple times that Porzingis was likely to receive an extension from Boston.

A former All-Star with the Knicks, Porzingis has dealt with a series of injuries throughout his career, including a torn ACL that sidelined him for the entire 2018/19 season. However, he enjoyed his finest NBA season in ’22/23 with the Wizards, averaging 23.2 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 2.7 APG, 0.9 SPG and 1.5 BPG in 65 games (32.6 MPG).

In addition to his strong rim protection at 7’3″, Porzingis was also a very efficient scorer last season, posting a .498/.385/.851 shooting line, good for a 62.7% true shooting percentage, which accounts for twos, threes and free throws. He isn’t a traditional back-to-the-basket big man, but he excelled in the post in ’22/23 by using his size to shoot over opponents.

While the 27-year-old had a great season, it’s a major risk to add another $60MM to Porzingis’ contract. With Jaylen Brown highly likely to receive a super-max extension this summer (it will kick in next year) and Jayson Tatum certain to receive the same in 2024 (it would start in 2025), the Celtics are looking like a repeat taxpayer for the foreseeable future.

Still, if they can break through and win a title (or titles) in the coming years, I’m sure ownership will be happy to foot the bill.

Rory Maher contributed to this story.

Bulls Sign Second-Round Pick Julian Phillips

July 12th, 2023 at 2:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls have officially signed second-round pick Julian Phillips to his first NBA contract, the team announced today (via Twitter).

There’s no word yet on the terms of Phillips’ deal, but players drafted as high as he was (No. 35) typically sign standard contracts, and the Bulls’ announcement doesn’t say anything about it being a two-way pact. I imagine the club used the new second-round pick exception to sign him to a three- or four-year contract that includes at least one or two guaranteed seasons.

[RELATED: 2023 NBA Draft Pick Signings]

A 6’8″ forward, Phillips spent just one year in college before declaring for the draft as an early entrant. As a freshman at Tennessee in 2022/23, he averaged 8.3 points, 4.7 points, and 1.4 assists in 24.1 minutes per contest (32 games), earning SEC All-Freshman honors.

Phillips ‘ shot needs work (he made just 11-of-46 three-pointers at Tennessee), but he possesses intriguing length and athleticism.

Assuming Phillips signed a standard contract, the Bulls will have 13 players on their 15-man roster once Torrey Craig officially completes his reported deal with the team. That roster count includes Carlik Jones‘ non-guaranteed contract, but doesn’t include Ayo Dosunmu, who is still a restricted free agent.

Mavs Acquire Grant Williams In Three-Team Sign-And-Trade

July 12th, 2023 at 2:40pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 12: The Mavericks, Celtics, and Spurs have put out press releases officially confirming that their three-team deal is official. The terms of the deal are as follows:

Mavericks acquire Williams (via sign-and-trade), the Spurs’ 2025 second-round pick, and the Spurs’ 2028 second-round pick.
Spurs acquire Bullock and the right to swap 2030 first-round picks with the Mavericks.
Celtics acquire either the Pelicans’ or Bulls’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is more favorable; from Spurs), the Mavericks’ 2030 second-round pick, and the right to swap the most favorable of the Wizards’, Warriors’, and Pistons’ 2025 second-round picks with the Mavericks’ 2025 second-round pick.

JULY 5: The Mavericks, Celtics and Spurs are finalizing a three-team trade that will send restricted free agent forward Grant Williams to Dallas, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links).

According to Charania, the Spurs will receive Reggie Bullock and an unprotected 2030 pick swap from the Mavs, while the Celtics will receive multiple second-round picks.

Charania hears Williams will receive a four-year, $54MM contract as part of the transaction, while ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has heard (via Twitter) it’s $53MM. The deal is fully guaranteed and does not feature any options, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

The Celtics and Mavericks will each receive two second-rounders as part of the trade, Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link). According to Adam Himmselsbach of The Boston Globe, the Celtics will also receive a 2025 second-round pick swap (Twitter link).

Interestingly, the reported figure Williams will receive is the value of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which will be worth $53.34MM over four years. However, since the Mavs are acquiring him via sign-and-trade, they will preserve their MLE and still have “strong interest” in using it to sign restricted free agent Matisse Thybulle to an offer sheet, per Marc Stein (Twitter links). Dallas will be hard-capped at the first luxury tax apron due to the sign-and-trade, Stein notes.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks has a detailed list of the cap complications from the deal (via Twitter). The Mavs are approximately $9MM below the first apron, so they’ll have to clear some additional cap space to have access to the full MLE, which starts at $12.4MM in 2023/24.

They could open up an additional $3.4MM — the exact difference between those two figures — by releasing JaVale McGee and using the stretch provision on his contract, Marks adds. Dallas will also generate a $10.5MM trade exception, equivalent to Bullock’s outgoing salary.

The Celtics, meanwhile, will create a $6.2MM trade exception of their own, which is half of Williams’ projected salary. It would have cost Boston $40MM against the luxury tax to pay Williams’ salary, per Marks.

As for the Spurs, they’ll use some of their cap room to accommodate Bullocks’ $10.5MM salary, according to Marks, who notes they’ll have about $12.5MM in space remaining after the deal.

Himmelsbach was the first to point out (via Twitter) that Williams’ contract is right in the ballpark of what he was rumored to be seeking in an extension before the ’22/23 season started. Jared Weiss of The Athletic hears (Twitter link) the Celtics were willing to meet Williams’ asking price in the fall, but only if the deal included incentives.

Williams, 24, just completed his rookie scale contract and hit restricted free agency after four seasons with Boston. He turned himself into a valuable 3-and-D player in recent years, playing an important role in helping the Celtics make the Finals and Eastern Conference finals the past two seasons.

Since the start of ’21/22, Williams averaged 8.0 PPG and 4.1 RPG on .464/.403/.829 shooting in 156 games (44 starts, 25.1 MPG). His versatile defense was particularly essential in the postseason, and he could be a nice complementary fit next to Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, who aren’t known for their play on that end. It’s also worth noting that Williams is from Houston, about 240 miles from Dallas.

Veteran wing Bullock, 32, is another 3-and-D player who often guards top perimeter players, though his defense slipped a bit last season to my eyes (Bullock’s 116.5 defensive rating was 0.4 worse than the team’s 25th-ranked D at 116.1). He has been a rotation regular over the past two seasons for Dallas and is a career 38.4% shooter from behind the arc.

As Marks noted, paying Williams would have been exorbitantly expensive, but he will be missed. His departure seemed likely after the Celtics acquired Kristaps Porzingis and his $36MM deal in a trade. They’ll reportedly receive some draft compensation to try and recoup some value in the sign-and-trade (they were rumored to be looking for a first-round pick).

Raptors Sign Dennis Schröder To Two-Year Contract

July 12th, 2023 at 2:23pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 12: The Raptors have officially signed Schröder, the team confirmed today in a press release.

“Dennis is fierce, he’s creative, and above all, he’s competitive,” Raptors president Masai Ujiri said in a statement. “We’re excited to welcome Dennis to Toronto, and are looking forward to seeing him on the Scotiabank Arena court.”

JUNE 30: After losing Fred VanVleet to Houston, the Raptors have moved quickly to add a point guard in free agency. Toronto has agreed to sign Dennis Schröder to a two-year, $26MM contract, agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The terms suggest that the Raptors will be signing Schröder using their full non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which would be worth about $25.4MM over two years. The deal is fully guaranteed, per Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).

As Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype tweets, the Raptors are about $10MM below the luxury tax line after the signing, with 14 players on standard deals. Toronto could choose to waive Thaddeus Young‘s partially guaranteed contract (it’s only guaranteed for $1MM but has a total value of $8MM — the guarantee deadline is today) to create more flexibility, but they’ll still have the bi-annual exception to work with, Gozlan notes.

Schröder brings plenty of experience to table, having just completed his 10th NBA season. The veteran guard is still only 29 years old, however, and won’t turn 30 until September.

The 17th pick of the 2013 draft out of Germany, Schröder spent his first five seasons with the Hawks. He’s bounced around quite a bit since then, playing for the Thunder, Lakers (twice), Celtics and Rockets over the past five seasons.

While Schröder isn’t a great outside shooter (33.7% from three career), he’s solid from mid-range, has a nice teardrop floater, can draw fouls, and is a good pick-and-roll ball-handler. He also played excellent on-ball defense with the Lakers in 2022/23, playing an important role during the club’s run to the Western Conference Finals.

Still one of the quickest players in the league, Schröder averaged 12.6 PPG, 4.5 APG and 2.5 RPG on .415/.329/.857 shooting in 66 games (30.1 MPG). Those numbers don’t tell the whole story, as the Lakers were much better when he was on the court in both the regular season and the postseason.

Schröder was playing on a minimum-salary deal last season, so he got a nice raise for his solid second stint with Los Angeles.

Thunder Trade Patty Mills To Hawks For Three Players, Second-Round Pick

July 12th, 2023 at 1:11pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 12: The trade is official, according to a press release from the Hawks.

The Thunder’s press release indicates that OKC is receiving a 2026 second-round pick in the deal. Atlanta previously traded away its own ’26 second-rounder, but controlled Golden State’s second-rounder for that year, so that’s presumably the one headed to the Thunder.

JULY 8: The Thunder have agreed to trade guard Patty Mills to the Hawks in exchange for guard TyTy Washington, forward Rudy Gay, big man Usman Garuba, and a second-round pick, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

This trade agreement will likely be separate from the five-team sign-and-trade deal that will send Dillon Brooks to Houston, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype.

Mills, Washington, and Garuba – who are all still technically Rockets for the time being – are all expected to be involved in that Brooks trade, with Mills ticketed for Oklahoma City and Washington and Garuba on track to land in Atlanta.

However, they probably can’t simply be rerouted to new destinations within the same transaction, since the Thunder don’t have the cap room necessary to take on the additional salary, Gozlan notes. OKC would be able to salary-match and go over the cap using Mills ($6.8MM) in a separate deal.

Having initially agreed to take on Washington ($2.3MM) and Garuba ($2.6MM) in a salary-dump trade that netted them two second-round picks, the Hawks will still come out ahead by sending one second-rounder to the Thunder and will shed Rudy Gay‘s unwanted expiring contract ($6.5MM) in the process.

Atlanta will end up with Mills – who may or may not remain on the roster and play a role in the team’s backcourt in 2023/24, per Wojnarowski (Twitter link) – and will save a little money while opening up a couple roster spots. The team is now $8.2MM under the tax line with 16 players on standard contracts, including three on non-guaranteed deals, tweets Gozlan.

Mills almost certainly wasn’t in the Thunder’s plans — they’d agreed to take him into their cap room as part of the Brooks sign-and-trade in order to acquire a pair of second-round picks. Those picks will be Houston’s 2029 and 2030 second-rounders, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).

It’s unclear if the Thunder envision Washington, Garuba, or Gay opening the season on their roster. But even if all three of those players are waived, Oklahoma City will add another second-round pick in this deal, which is presumably the priority.

This will be the third time Mills has been traded this offseason. He was sent from Brooklyn to Houston and will move from Houston to OKC before heading to Atlanta.

A veteran combo guard who will turn 35 next month, Mills was no longer a major part of the Nets’ rotation last season — his 14.3 minutes per game represented his lowest average since the 2012/13 season. He recorded 6.2 points and 1.4 assists per game in 40 appearances, with a shooting line of .411/.366/.833.

Garuba was a first-round pick in 2021 and Washington was a first-rounder in 2022, but neither player has established himself as a consistent, reliable NBA player so far. As for Gay, he has compiled an impressive career résumé across 17 seasons in the league, but he’ll turn 37 in August, so his best days are behind him.

Wizards Sign Eugene Omoruyi To Two-Way Contract

July 12th, 2023 at 1:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 12: Omoruyi has officially signed a two-way contract with the Wizards, the club announced today in a press release.

JULY 11: The Wizards have agreed to a two-way contract with forward Eugene Omoruyi, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets.

Omoruyi became a free agent when the Pistons waived him at the beginning of the month. He appeared in 17 games after initially signing a pair of 10-day deals with Detroit in early March. He averaged 9.7 points and 3.5 rebounds in 21.9 minutes per game.

Omoruyi was able to earn a contract that ran through 2023/24, but it contained no guaranteed money beyond last season.

He also appeared in 23 games with Oklahoma City last season and four games with Dallas the previous season.

The Wizards have now filled two of their three two-way slots, as our two-way tracker shows. Quenton Jackson holds one of the other two-way spots.

Nets Sign First-Rounder Noah Clowney

July 11th, 2023 at 5:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nets have officially signed Noah Clowney to a rookie scale contract, according to a team press release.

As the 21st pick in the draft, Clowney will receive $3,089,520 in his first season. The four-year contract is worth $15,146,274.

The salary figures assume that he signed for 120% of the rookie scale amounts for 2023’s first-round picks. First-rounders almost always get the maximum amount for their salary slot.

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

The 6’10” Clowney played one season at Alabama, where he averaged 9.8 points on 48.6% shooting from the field, 7.9 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 25.4 minutes per game across 36 total games (all starts).

Brooklyn signed its other first-rounder, Dariq Whitehead, on Monday. The team now has 14 players on standard contracts – including Edmond Sumner, whose salary is non-guaranteed – and a pair on two-way deals.

Magic Re-Sign Moritz Wagner

July 11th, 2023 at 4:57pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 11: The signing is official, the team’s PR department tweets. A league source tells Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link) that the second year of Wagner’s deal is a team option.

JULY 1: The Magic are re-signing unrestricted free agent forward/center Moritz Wagner, agent Jason Glushon tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Wagner will receive a two-year, $16MM contract, Woj adds.

Wagner, 26, has been a rotation regular for the Magic over the last two seasons, averaging 9.7 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 1.4 APG on .499/.321/.826 shooting in 120 games (17.2 MPG).

Returning to Orlando will give Wagner the opportunity to continue playing alongside his brother Franz Wagner, who was the Magic’s lottery pick in 2021 and has emerged as a building block for the franchise.

Because Moritz has a minimum-salary cap hold and full Bird rights, the Magic will be able to use up all their cap room before going over the cap to complete his deal, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. Orlando could also still choose to operate as an over-the-cap team this season, since Joe Ingles‘ reported two-year, $22MM deal would fit into the mid-level exception.

It’s unclear whether the second year of Wagner’s contract will be guaranteed. The Magic have made a habit during the last two offseasons of signing free agents to two-year deals with only one guaranteed year, taking that route with Mohamed Bamba, Gary Harris, and (reportedly) Ingles.