Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jazz Sign Former Heat Center Omer Yurtseven

July 17th, 2023 at 4:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Jazz have signed former Heat center Omer Yurtseven, according to a team press release.

It’s a two-year contract with a starting salary of $2.8MM, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets.

According to The Athletic’s John Hollinger, Utah had $2,841,448 cap space remaining and apparently used it to sign the Turkish big man (Twitter link).

The seven-foot Yurtseven is entering his third NBA season. He has averaged 5.2 points on 53.3% shooting and 4.9 rebounds in 65 career games (12 starts). He has also appeared in 17 postseason contests the past two seasons.

Yurtseven became an unrestricted free agent when Miami declined to extend him a qualifying offer. Yurtseven’s QO was only worth a projected $2.22MM but the Heat, burdened by luxury tax issues, chose to let him test the market.

Yurtseven projects as the third center behind Walker Kessler and Kelly Olynyk. Utah had been in the market to improve its frontcourt depth. The club made an offer sheet to restricted free agent Paul Reed but the Sixers matched it.

Raptors Waive Joe Wieskamp Before Contract Guarantee

July 17th, 2023 at 4:34pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Raptors have waived Joe Wieskamp, Blake Murphy of Sportsnet tweets.

Toronto now has one open roster spot and is $3.96MM below the luxury tax threshold.

The 23-year-old swingman, who signed with Toronto in February, agreed to move the guarantee date for his $1.927MM salary for next season from June 29 to July 18. The Raptors ultimately decided on roster flexibility rather than guaranteeing Wieskamp’s contract.

He only appeared in nine games with Toronto last season and averaged just 5.6 minutes in those appearances. During previous season, he saw action in 29 games off the bench for San Antonio, which drafted him with the No. 41 pick in 2021 out of Iowa.

Wieskamp appeared in four Summer League contests this month and averaged 13.5 points in 23.9 minutes per game. The team’s decision was anticipated, given that the Raptors drafted another wing, Gradey Dick, in the lottery.

Spurs Waive Lamar Stevens

July 17th, 2023 at 2:23pm CST by Rory Maher

The Spurs have waived forward Lamar Stevens, the team announced in a press release.

Stevens’ contract for 2023/24 was partially guaranteed at $400K. San Antonio is waiving him before his full $1.93MM salary becomes guaranteed today.

Stevens, who turned 26 last week, was sent to the Spurs by Cleveland as part of the Max Strus sign-and-trade. His contract for next season was previously non-guaranteed, but he received $400K as part of the deal to adhere to the NBA’s salary-matching rules.

The combo forward went undrafted in 2020 after four college seasons at Penn State, later signing a two-way deal with the Cavaliers. He was promoted to a multiyear standard contract in April 2021, the end of his rookie season.

Overall, Stevens averaged 5.3 PPG and 2.8 RPG on .467/.281/.710 shooting in three seasons with the Cavs (165 games, 16.0 MPG). He’s an energetic, athletic and physical player who is known as a tenacious defender, though he struggles with scoring efficiency.

The Spurs have a roster crunch, and evidently Stevens wasn’t part of their long-term plans, so they decided to release him. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent in a couple days if he clears waivers, but won’t be eligible to sign with Cleveland for a year after the team traded him.

Moussa Diabate Signs Two-Way Deal With Clippers

July 17th, 2023 at 1:23pm CST by Rory Maher

Moussa Diabate is signing a two-way deal with the Clippers, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). The move is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

A French big man who spent his lone college season at Michigan, Diabate spent his rookie season on a two-way deal with the Clippers after being selected 43rd overall in the 2022 draft. He received a qualifying offer last month, making him a restricted free agent.

As a rookie in 2022/23, Diabate appeared in 22 games with L.A., holding most averages of 2.7 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 8.9 MPG. He received much more playing time for the team’s G League affiliate, the Ontario Clippers, averaging 15.9 PPG, 12.4 RPG, 1.8 SPG and 1.1 BPG in 18 regular season games (32.6 MPG), earning a spot on the NBAGL All-Rookie Team for his efforts.

As our roster counts show, once Diabate’s signing is official, he will fill the first of the team’s three two-way slots. Jordan Miller, a second-round pick last month who remains unsigned, is a candidate for another.

The Clippers currently have 16 players on standard deals, with 15 of those contracts guaranteed. Jason Preston‘s non-guaranteed deal is set to be fully guaranteed tomorrow if he isn’t waived.

Magic Trade Three Second-Rounders To Suns For 2026 Pick Swap

July 17th, 2023 at 1:05pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 17: The draft-pick trade is now official, the Magic announced (via Twitter).

JULY 16: The Magic and Suns have agreed to a draft-pick trade that will send three second-rounders from Orlando to Phoenix in exchange for a 2026 first-round pick swap, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The Suns have already given the Wizards the right to swap first-round picks in 2026 as part of their Bradley Beal blockbuster, so the Magic will get the opportunity to swap their own 2026 first-rounder for the least favorable of Phoenix’s and Washington’s two picks. The Suns will end up with the worst of the three picks.

The three second-round picks headed to Phoenix in the trade are as follows, per Wojnarowski and ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link):

The Nuggets’ 2024 second-rounder.
The least favorable of the Magic’s, Pistons’, and Bucks’ 2026 second-rounders.
The Celtics’ 2028 second-rounder (top-45 protected).

It’s a fascinating deal, and the third one of its kind that we’ve seen made this offseason. The Suns and Grizzlies completed a similar trade involving three second-rounders and first-round pick swaps in 2024 and 2030. The Spurs gave up multiple second-rounders in a three-team deal with Dallas and Boston in order to gain the right to swap 2030 first-round picks with the Mavericks.

The Suns are essentially betting on their own continued success in order to replenish their collection of second-round picks, which was depleted in the Beal trade. As long as Phoenix is among the NBA’s best teams, those swaps should’t amount to much, in which case the Suns are essentially adding second-round picks for free.

The Magic, meanwhile, are betting on their own ascent, and gambling against the sustained success of the Suns and the retooling project in Washington. The hope in Orlando is that the Magic will have moved up far enough in the standings by 2026 that they’ll get to take advantage of their swap rights in order to move up at least a few spots in the first round of the draft.

Sixers Sign Filip Petrusev

July 17th, 2023 at 9:57am CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers have signed draft-and-stash prospect Filip Petrusev, the team announced (via Twitter). Terms haven’t been released, but it will be a standard contract rather than a two-way deal, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Philadelphia selected the 6’11” center with the 50th pick in the 2021 NBA draft. He made a positive impression during Summer League after spending the last two years playing for teams in Turkey and Serbia.

Petrusev, 23, was named West Coast Conference Player of the Year with Gonzaga in 2020 and earned second-team All-American honors from the NABC. He was a member of the EuroLeague champions in 2022 and the Serbian League and Serbian Cup winners this year.

Petrusev is the latest backup center to be added to a Sixers team that recently signed Mohamed Bamba, matched an offer sheet for Paul Reed and is expected to re-sign Montrezl Harrell. Once the deal with Harrell becomes official, Philadelphia will have 14 players with standard contracts.

Sixers Add Council, Tubelis, Smith On Two-Way Deals

July 17th, 2023 at 9:15am CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 17: The two-way deal for Tubelis is official, the team announced in a press release.

JULY 1: The Sixers have officially signed Council and Smith.

JUNE 23: The new CBA will allow for three two-way contracts and the Sixers wasted no time filling those spots.

Philadelphia are offering contracts to three undrafted players. Arkansas guard Ricky Council IV will take one of those spots, Shams Charania of The Athletic and The Stadium tweets. Arizona big man Azuolas Tubelis and North Carolina State Terquavion Smith are also being signed on two-way deals, Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com tweets.

Council, a 6’6” guard, averaged 16.3 points for the Razorbacks last season after transferring from Wichita State. His spotty perimeter game (3o.3% on 3-point tries in his college career) hurt his draft stock.

Tubelis, a three-year starter for the Wildcats, averaged 19.8 points and 9.1 rebounds last season. Smith averaged 17.9 points and 4.1 assists for the Wolfpack in his sophomore season.

Additionally, the Sixers are signing Arizona State forward Marcus Bagley on an Exhibit 10 contract. Bagley played only five games the past two seasons due to injuries and a suspension.

Mavericks’ Olivier-Maxence Prosper Becomes Final First-Round Pick To Sign Contract

July 17th, 2023 at 7:56am CST by Arthur Hill

The Mavericks have signed Olivier-Maxence Prosper to his rookie-scale deal, the team announced in a press release early Monday morning. His signing means all the first-round picks in last month’s draft are now under contract.

As the 24th selection, Prosper is eligible to receive $2,733,720 in his first season and can earn $13,870,583 over the four-year contract, as our breakdown of rookie scale salaries shows.

The 21-year-old forward was one of the top beneficiaries of this year’s pre-draft process. A strong showing at the NBA Combine in Chicago, followed by impressive individual workouts, moved him into the first round.

Prosper was officially selected by the Kings, but Dallas acquired his rights in a draft-night trade that didn’t become official until the moratorium was lifted on July 6.

“O-Max was considered one of the best wing defenders in college basketball last year and plays with tremendous energy,” said Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison. “We are excited to put pen to paper and officially sign him.”

Prosper played his first collegiate season at Clemson before transferring to Marquette in 2021. He averaged 12.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game last season.

Dalano Banton Joins Celtics On Two-Year Deal

July 16th, 2023 at 5:17pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 16: The Celtics have officially signed Banton, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 3: The Celtics will sign free agent point guard Dalano Banton to a two-year contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. It’s likely a minimum deal, and Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe reports that the second season will be a team option (Twitter link).

Banton became an unrestricted free agent last week when the Raptors decided not to tender a qualifying offer.

Toronto selected Banton with the 46th pick in the 2021 draft and signed him for two years. He appeared in 64 games as a rookie, but saw his role decrease in his second NBA season. Banton averaged 4.6 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 31 games last season and spent part of the year in the G League.

Banton met with Celtics officials shortly after free agency began on Friday. The 23-year-old will provide some backcourt depth for the team, with Marcus Smart heading to Memphis.

Darius Bazley Signs One-Year Deal With Nets

July 16th, 2023 at 4:53pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 16: Bazley has officially signed with the Nets, the team’s PR department tweets.

JULY 14: The Nets are signing free agent big man Darius Bazley to a one-year contract, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Bazley was the No. 23 overall pick of the 2019 draft. He spent his first three-plus seasons with the Thunder prior to being traded to Phoenix at the February deadline.

Like all former first-round picks who have all four years of their rookie scale contract exercised, Bazley was eligible for restricted free agency had the Suns given him a $6.2MM qualifying offer.

They chose not to, making him unrestricted and free to sign with any team. It wasn’t surprising given that Bazley had limited role with Phoenix, only appearing in seven games and a total of 61 minutes down the stretch.

Overall, the 6’8″ forward/center has averaged 9.1 PPG and 5.3 RPG on .411/.310/.673 shooting in 218 career games (118 starts, 3.6 MPG) with the Thunder and Suns. Bazley is still just 23 years old, a high leaper, and has shown flashes defensively. He also handled his inconsistent playing time last season with Oklahoma City very professionally.

Brooklyn technically hasn’t used any of its mid-level exception or bi-annual exception, but I’m guessing Bazley will be on a minimum-salary deal, given the timing of it (two weeks into free agency) and the Nets’ proximity to the luxury tax.

The Nets have focused on youth and athleticism this offseason, also signing Lonnie Walker and Dennis Smith Jr., two more former first-round picks.

As Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes, Bazley will fill Brooklyn’s 15th and final standard roster spot for now. However, the Nets could have another spot open soon. Guard Edmond Sumner, whose non-guaranteed contract becomes fully guaranteed tomorrow after he agreed to push back the guarantee date, sent out a tweet talking about overcoming adversity.