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Grizzlies Sign Shaquille Harrison, GG Jackson

August 31st, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Rory Maher

In a pair of press releases (Twitter links), the Grizzlies officially announced the signings of Shaquille Harrison and GG Jackson II.

While the terms of Harrison’s contract were not disclosed, Memphis has used its third and final two-way opening on Jackson, who was one of the few remaining 2023 draft picks who had yet to ink a contract, as shown by our tracker.

Harrison, 29, is a six-year NBA veteran who was waived by the Lakers in June before his salary for 2023/24 became guaranteed. He had eight brief playoff cameos for the Lakers in 2022/23 after signing on the last day of the regular season. Harrison had just finished a 10-day hardship deal with Portland prior to his stint in L.A.

Overall, the guard has appeared in 180 regular season games with Phoenix, Chicago, Utah, Denver, Brooklyn and Portland, holding career averages of 5.3 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.7 APG and 1.0 SPG on .435/.281/.718 shooting in 15.4 MPG. Harrison also signed a 10-day hardship deal with the Grizzlies in ’21/22, though he never played a game for Memphis.

Known as a strong defender, Harrison spent the majority of the past two seasons in the G League, winning NBAGL Defensive Player of the Year in ’21/22 and finishing third last season. A report last month indicated he was drawing EuroLeague interest, but instead he’ll be returning to Memphis.

As Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian tweets, Harrison could be in line for NBA minutes once the Grizzlies receive an extra roster slot. Memphis will be able to move guard Ja Morant to the suspended list, opening up a 15-man slot, after the fifth game of his 25-game ban.

Jackson was the 45th pick in June after one college season at South Carolina. He was a highly touted prospect entering college and one of the youngest players in his draft class after reclassifying, but had an uneven freshman season for the Gamecocks.

Overall, the 18-year-old averaged 15.4 PPG and 5.9 RPG in ’22/23, posting a subpar .384/.324/.677 shooting line in 32 games (31.9 MPG). Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal previously wrote that Jackson would likely receive a two-way deal and spend most of the upcoming season in the G League.

The Grizzlies have reached the offseason maximum of 21 players under contract, and they’ll have to make some roster moves ahead of training camp. 17 of their players are on guaranteed standard deals, which means they might have some dead-money cap hits this season unless they make a consolidation trade.

Jazz Sign Taevion Kinsey, Romeo Langford, Nick Ongenda

August 30th, 2023 at 4:19pm CST by Rory Maher

The Jazz have officially signed Taevion Kinsey, Romeo Langford and Nick Ongenda, per a team press release.

While the terms of the contracts were not disclosed, the Jazz said the trio of free agents were added to their training camp roster, so they’ll likely all be on Exhibit 10 deals — it has already been reported that Langford will receive an Exhibit 10 contract.

Kinsey, a 6’5″ guard, went undrafted in June after five college seasons, all at Marshall. As a “super senior” in 2022/23, he averaged 22.1 PPG, 5.4 APG, 4.9 RPG and 1.7 SPG on .542/.404/.744 shooting in 32 games (37.8 MPG), earning Sun Belt Player of the Year for his efforts.

Ongenda, a 6’11” center, also went undrafted in June. He spent all four of his college seasons at DePaul, averaging 12.5 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.1 SPG and 4.4 BPG in 2022/23. However, those numbers came in a small sample size — the Canadian big man was limited to just eight games (30.5 MPG) this past season due to a wrist injury.

Both Kinsey and Ongenda played for the Jazz during Summer League action in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.

The Jazz have now reached the offseason maximum of 21 players under contract, with 15 players on standard deals (12 guaranteed) and all three two-way slots filled.

If Kinsey and Ongenda signed Exhibit 10 contracts and are waived before the season starts, they could each receive a bonus worth up to $75K if they spend at least 60 days with the Salt Lake City Stars, Utah’s G League affiliate. Exhibit 10 deals can also be converted into two-way contracts, though as we previously noted, Langford is ineligible for a two-way deal because he has already played four NBA seasons.

Jazz, Romeo Langford Agree To Exhibit 10 Deal

August 30th, 2023 at 3:06pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz have agreed to sign free agent wing Romeo Langford to an Exhibit 10 contract, sources tell Tony Jones and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Langford, who will turn 24 this October, was drafted 14th overall by the Celtics in 2019 when current Jazz CEO Danny Ainge was Boston’s head of basketball operations.

The former Indiana Hoosier spent his first two-and-a-half NBA seasons in Boston before being traded to San Antonio, where he has played since February 2022. He became an unrestricted free agent on July 1 after the Spurs opted not issue him a qualifying offer.

Langford is a solid defender, but has struggled to make much of an impact on the offensive end of the floor. In 141 career regular season games, he has averaged 4.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in 16.1 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .430/.288/.659.

Since he has four years of NBA service under his belt, Langford will be ineligible to have his Exhibit 10 contract converted into a two-way deal. However, if he doesn’t earn a spot on Utah’s standard 15-man regular season roster and then spends at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, he’d be in line for a bonus worth up to $75K.

With 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals, the Jazz currently have three open spots on their 21-man offseason roster, so no corresponding move will be necessary to create space for Langford.

Mavericks Officially Waive JaVale McGee

August 29th, 2023 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks have officially requested waivers on center JaVale McGee, the team announced today (via Twitter). McGee will clear waivers in about 48 hours, becoming an unrestricted free agent on Thursday.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported a week ago that Dallas intended to waive McGee and use the stretch provision on his remaining salary. As we outlined last Wednesday, August 31 is the deadline to waive a player if his club intends to stretch the player’s current-year salary across multiple seasons.

Assuming the Mavs’ plan to stretch McGee’s salary remains unchanged, that means that instead of counting against the cap for $5.7MM in 2023/24 and $6MM in ’24/25, his cap hits will be spread across five seasons at a rate of about $2.35MM per year. His dead money will be on the team’s books through ’27/28.

McGee signed a three-year, $17MM+ contract with Dallas last offseason, but only spent seven games in the starting lineup and subsequently fell out of the rotation altogether. The 35-year-old averaged 4.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in a career-low 8.5 minutes per game across 42 appearances during his second stint as a Maverick.

The Mavs shopped McGee in various trade talks throughout the offseason, but were unable to find a taker, given the negative value of his contract. By stretching his remaining salary, they’ll become ineligible to re-sign him until the 2025 offseason, after his deal would have expired.

Dallas reportedly intends to sign free agent forward Markieff Morris to replace McGee on its projected 15-man regular season roster. Prior to signing Morris, the team’s salary is $5.5MM below the luxury tax line, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Reducing McGee’s 2023/24 cap hit will give the Mavs some additional breathing room to maneuver below the tax this season.

Hornets Sign P.J. Washington To Three-Year Contract

August 29th, 2023 at 3:36pm CST by Tristan Tucker

AUGUST 29: The Hornets have officially re-signed Washington, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

AUGUST 26: Restricted free agent forward P.J. Washington has agreed on a new three-year, $48MM deal to stay with the Hornets, LIFT Sports Management agent Kevin Bradbury and Washington Sports Group’s Paul Washington Sr. tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Washington was the only standard unsigned restricted free agent this summer and one of the most prominent available names in all of free agency, ranking 11th on our top-50 list.

There was some concern earlier in the offseason that Washington and the Hornets wouldn’t be able to come to terms on an agreement. Forward Miles Bridges and Charlotte didn’t agree on a long-term deal and he ended up signing his qualifying offer, putting himself on track for unrestricted free agency next year. Washington was believed to have been considering a similar route.

Other teams, such as the Cavaliers, were also monitoring the Washington situation. Now, the Hornets will bring back the 25-year-old on a three-year deal that pays $16MM annually.

Washington is an integral part of the Hornets’ promising young core that includes LaMelo Ball, 2023 No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller, Mark Williams and more. The Kentucky product averaged a career-high 15.7 points per game last season. The Hornets drafted Washington with the No. 12 overall pick in 2019 and he started 73 games for Charlotte last year.

The Washington signing will give the Hornets a packed roster. He’ll be the 13th Charlotte player on a guaranteed deal, with JT Thor, Kobi Simmons and Frank Ntilikina all signed to non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts.

James Nnaji, the No. 31 overall pick in 2023, hasn’t officially signed (though he may be stashed). The Hornets also have two players on two-way deals (Leaky Black and Amari Bailey), and Angelo Allegri, Tre Scott, Nathan Mensah and R.J. Hunter are all reportedly joining the Hornets on training camp deals. So while Charlotte has some flexibility, there are more moves to come from the Queen City.

Bucks Sign TyTy Washington To Two-Way Deal

August 29th, 2023 at 3:35pm CST by Luke Adams

3:35pm: The signing is official, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

2:29pm: The Bucks have agreed to sign free agent guard TyTy Washington Jr. to a two-way contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 29th overall pick in the 2022 draft, Washington spent his rookie year with the Rockets, then was included as a salary-matching piece in the five-team deal that landed Dillon Brooks in Houston via sign-and-trade in July. The 21-year-old was sent to Atlanta in that trade before being flipped to Oklahoma City in a salary-dump deal that made Patty Mills a Hawk. The Thunder, facing a roster crunch, waived Washington earlier this month.

Washington appeared in 31 games with the Rockets in his first NBA season, averaging 4.7 points, 1.5 assists, and 1.5 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per night. He put up an underwhelming shooting line of .363/.238/.556 in those 31 games.

The former Kentucky standout was more effective at the G League level, averaging 23.0 PPG, 6.0 APG, and 4.6 RPG in 18 Showcase Cup and regular season games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. However, he still struggled to score efficiently, making 44.2% of his shot attempts from the field and just 31.7% from beyond the three-point line.

The Bucks, who don’t have much point guard depth behind starter Jrue Holiday, will give Washington a shot on a two-way deal that allows him to be active for up to 50 regular season games. Milwaukee would need to promote him to the standard roster in order to have him active for more than 50 games or for the postseason.

Washington will earn $559,782 on his two-way pact, assuming he remains under contract through the league-wide guarantee date in January. No roster move will be necessary for the Bucks to sign him, since they’re only carrying two players (Omari Moore and Lindell Wigginton) on two-way deals, leaving one spot open.

Blazers Sign Moses Brown To One-Year Contract

August 22nd, 2023 at 7:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

AUGUST 22: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

AUGUST 21: Moses Brown has agreed to a partially guaranteed one-year contract with the Trail Blazers, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Brown has turned into a journeyman in his NBA career, which began in 2019, and it’s come full circle with his return to Portland. He played his first nine games with the Trail Blazers during the 2019/20 campaign.

He has also had stints with Oklahoma City, Dallas, Cleveland, the Los Angeles Clippers and, most recently, Brooklyn. He appeared in two games with the Nets after signing a pair of 10-day contracts last season. Brown logged 34 games with the Clippers last season before they waived him in mid-February.

The 7’2” Brown has averaged 5.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 12.4 minutes during his 128 career games.

With only 12 other players on guaranteed deals, the Trail Blazers have ample room to add Brown. He has a chance to be the main backup behind center Jusuf Nurkic. He’ll battle John Butler, who was re-signed to a two-way deal, for minutes off the bench, unless the Blazers add another big man.

Mavs Plan To Waive JaVale McGee, Re-Sign Markieff Morris

August 22nd, 2023 at 2:21pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks intend to waive center JaVale McGee and re-sign free agent forward Markieff Morris, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

McGee signed a three-year, $17MM+ contract with Dallas last offseason, but only spent seven games in the starting lineup and subsequently fell out of the team’s rotation altogether. He averaged 4.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in a career-low 8.5 minutes per game across 42 appearances in his first – and only – season in his latest stint as a Maverick.

The Mavs shopped McGee in various trade talks throughout the offseason, but were unable to find a taker. According to Charania, the plan is to stretch the veteran’s remaining salary when he’s waived. That means that instead of counting against the cap for $5.7MM in 2023/24 and $6MM in ’24/25, McGee’s cap hits would be spread across five seasons at a rate of about $2.35MM per year.

As Charania notes, in order to use the stretch provision on McGee, the Mavericks will have to officially waive him by August 31, which is the deadline to stretch a cap hit for the current league year.

The Mavs currently have 15 players on guaranteed contracts, but releasing McGee will open up a spot on the projected 15-man roster for Morris, who finished last season in Dallas after arriving from Brooklyn in the Kyrie Irving blockbuster.

Morris didn’t have much of a role for the Mavs down the stretch, logging just 70 total minutes across eight regular season appearances, but the organization apparently values his toughness and veteran leadership. The 33-year-old has 12 NBA seasons and 750 regular season appearances on his résumé.

Thunder Sign Olivier Sarr To Two-Way Deal

August 21st, 2023 at 2:11pm CST by Rory Maher

The Thunder have brought back Olivier Sarr, announcing in a press release that they have re-signed the free agent big man to another two-way contract.

While Oklahoma City has an open two-way slot, the team was unable to fill it until now because it was at the offseason limit of 21 players under contract. The Thunder created a roster opening this morning when they released Usman Garuba, which allowed them to sign Sarr.

Sarr went undrafted in 2021 after four college seasons — he spent his first three campaigns at Wake Forest before finishing up at Kentucky. He signed a training camp deal with the Thunder in October 2021 and was promptly waived, spending part of 2021/22 with their G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue.

During the COVID-19 outbreak that winter, the French center signed a pair of 10-day hardship deals with the Thunder, then inked a two-way contract in February 2022. He played well at the NBA level as a rookie, averaging 7.0 PPG and 4.2 RPG in 22 games (19.1 MPG), but the Thunder opted to cut him just before the season ended in April.

Sarr caught on with the Trail Blazers prior to ’22/23, initially signing an Exhibit 10 contract which was converted into a two-way deal after he impressed during preseason. However, he sustained a torn ligament in his wrist last fall, which caused Portland to release him in mid-November.

The 24-year-old signed a G League deal with the Blue after recovering from the injury, averaging 12.8 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.9 APG and 2.4 BPG in 12 regular season games. His play in the NBAGL earned Sarr a promotion in February to a two-way deal. He finished last season with the Thunder, averaging 4.0 PPG and 3.4 RPG in nine games (12.7 MPG).

Sarr was eligible for restricted free agency this summer, but the Thunder didn’t give him a qualifying offer, making him unrestricted. Either way, he’s back with OKC on a two-way contract.

Usman Garuba Waived By Thunder

August 21st, 2023 at 10:37am CST by Arthur Hill

The Thunder have placed Usman Garuba on waivers, the team announced (via Twitter).

The 21-year-old power forward/center played his first two seasons with the Rockets after being selected with the 23rd pick in the 2021 draft. Injuries limited him to 24 games as a rookie, but he appeared in 75 contests last season, averaging 3.0 points and 4.1 rebounds in 12.9 minutes per night.

Garuba was sent to the Hawks in a five-team trade that became official when the moratorium was lifted in early July. Atlanta shipped him to OKC in a separate deal four days later.

Garuba started his career with Real Madrid and was named EuroLeague Rising Star in 2021. He gained a reputation as a strong defender and rebounder in Europe before declaring for the NBA draft.

He will now go through the waiver process, where teams will have two days to submit claims. Any team that claims him would be on the hook for his $2.6MM salary for the upcoming season, so it’s more likely that he’ll wind up signing a minimum contract somewhere. He would be eligible for a standard contract with any team except Atlanta and a two-way deal with any team except the Hawks or Thunder.

Garuba’s 2023/24 salary will remain on the Thunder’s cap if he’s not claimed, but the team won’t have to pay the $4.4MM option he had for 2024/25.

Oklahoma City is now down to 18 players on standard contracts and must get rid of at least three more by opening night. The Thunder have two openings on their offseason roster with reported camp deals looming for Caleb McConnell and Adam Flagler.