Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Clippers Sign First-Rounder Kobe Brown

July 3rd, 2023 at 6:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers have signed late first-round pick Kobe Brown, according to the team’s PR department.

The 6’7” forward played four seasons at Missouri. He averaged 15.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals last season for the Tigers.

As the last first-round selection in last month’s draft at No. 30 overall, Brown will make $2,413,320 in his rookie season. His four-year rookie scale contract will total $12,394,178.

The salary figures represent 120% of the rookie scale amounts for 2023’s first-round picks. Rookie scale contracts are guaranteed for the first two years, with team options on the third and fourth years.

The 23-year-old Brown has much more experience than a typical rookie and the Clippers could look to get him some meaningful minutes early in his career.

Malik Beasley To Sign One-Year Contract With Bucks

July 3rd, 2023 at 6:07pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Free agent guard Malik Beasley is signing a one-year contract with the Bucks, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

A seven-year veteran, Beasley is signing for the veteran’s minimum of $2,709,849, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Milwaukee will carry a cap hit of $2,019,706.

Beasley entered the free agent market when the Lakers declined their $16.5MM option on his contract for next season. Beasley had multiple suitors who were seeking a low-cost perimeter option and the Bucks’ interest in him had previously been reported.

A long-range shooting specialist who holds a career mark of 37.8% from deep, Beasley shot just 35.7% last season, including 35.3% with the Lakers. He was acquired from Utah at the trade deadline in the deal involving Russell Westbrook.

Overall, the 26-year-old appeared in 81 games last season, including 27 starts (25.8 MPG). He was a non-factor in the postseason, appearing in 11 games while shooting 26.9% from long distance in 8.3 MPG.

If he regains his previous form, Beasley could play major minutes as the backup shooting guard behind Grayson Allen. Beasley was a 2016 first-round pick for Denver and spent three-and-a-half seasons there before a two-and-a-half-year stint with Minnesota. He’s averaged 10.8 points in 21.9 minutes through 417 regular-season games.

Warriors Sign First-Round Pick Brandin Podziemski

July 3rd, 2023 at 6:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors have signed first-round draft pick Brandin Podziemski to a rookie scale contract, the team’s PR department tweets.

The No. 19 selection in last month’s draft, Podziemski started 32 games for Santa Clara this past season and averaged 19.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.8 steals in 36 minutes per game. He was named West Coast Conference Co-Player of the Year after transferring from Illinois.

Assuming he received 120% of the rookie scale amount — which virtually every first-rounder does — he will make $3,352,440 in his first season. The total value of Podziemski’s four-year contract will be $16,239,818.

Rookie scale contracts are guaranteed for the first two years, with team options on the third and fourth years. The 6’5” Podziemski, 20, figures to spent most of his rookie campaign in the G League.

Lakers Sign Castleton, Hodge To Two-Way Deals

July 3rd, 2023 at 5:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers have signed center Colin Castleton and guard D’Moi Hodge to two-way contracts, the team announced in press releases.

Both rookies went undrafted last month and the two-way agreements were previously reported. They’ll also suit up for the Lakers’ Summer League squad.

The 6’11” Castleton started 26 games for Florida last season, averaging 16.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 3.0 blocks in 31.2 minutes per contest. He was named to the All-SEC First Team. Castleton had a five-year college career at Florida and Michigan.

Hodge played his final collegiate season at Missouri, where he averaged 14.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.6 steals in 29.1 minutes per game. Prior to last season, Hodge played at Cleveland State(2020-22) and the State College of Florida (2018-20).

Under the new CBA, two-way contracts are worth half the rookie minimum, which comes out to $559,782 for each player. They can be partially guaranteed for up to $75K at the time of their signing.

Wong, Tshiebwe Sign Two-Way Contracts With Pacers

July 3rd, 2023 at 4:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Guard Isaiah Wong and power forward Oscar Tshiebwe have inked two-way contracts with the Pacers, the team’s PR department tweets.

Both rookies will look to eventually earn their way to a spot on the 15-man roster.

Wong was chosen with the No. 55 pick of this year’s draft. He played four seasons for Miami (Fla.) and led the Hurricanes to the Final Four this past season. He averaged 16.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals in 37 games last season. He also displayed a solid perimeter game (38.4% on 3-pointers).

Tshiebwe went undrafted despite a stellar college career at Kentucky. He averaged 16.2 points and 13.7 rebounds for the Wildcats last season. Tshiebwe’s agreement with the Pacers was previously reported and now it’s official.

The 6’9″ big man was a consensus All-American Second Teamer with the Wildcats last season and a consensus All-American First Teamer in 2022.

Under the new CBA, two-way contracts are worth half the rookie minimum, which comes out to $559,782 for each player. They can be partially guaranteed for up to $75K at the time of their signing.

Bucks Sign Robin Lopez

July 3rd, 2023 at 4:13pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: Lopez is back with the Bucks. His deal with Milwaukee is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

JULY 3: The Bucks are reuniting the Lopez twins, having agreed to sign free agent center Robin Lopez, according to Shams Charania of the Athletic (Twitter link).

Milwaukee reached a two-year, $48MM deal with Brook Lopez on Saturday. While Charania didn’t specify the terms of Robin’s agreement, Brook’s brother will likely earn the minimum salary, given the team’s cap constraints and the fact that he’s coming off a minimum deal.

A 15-year NBA veteran, Robin spent the 2022/23 campaign with the Cavaliers, playing limited minutes in a frontcourt led by Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. He appeared in just 37 games, averaging 3.0 points and 1.4 rebounds in 8.1 minutes per night. Those numbers were all career lows.

Although Robin’s on-court role in Milwaukee may not be any more expansive than what it was in Cleveland, he’ll provide the Bucks with another veteran leader in the locker room and an experienced option up front if called upon.

It will be Robin’s second go-round with the Bucks. He and Brook also played together for the team in 2019/20.

Having also agreed to bring back free agents Khris Middleton and Jae Crowder, Milwaukee still has at least two or three roster spots to fill, with limited financial resources to do so. The full $5MM taxpayer mid-level exception won’t be available to the team, barring a cost-cutting move.

Rockets Sign Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore

July 3rd, 2023 at 1:37pm CST by Rory Maher

Former Overtime Elite guard Amen Thompson and Villanova forward Cam Whitmore have officially signed their rookie scale contracts with the Rockets, per NBA.com’s official transactions log.

Known as a top-tier athlete, Thompson averaged 16.4 points, 5.9 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals on .566/.250/.656 shooting last season for the City Reapers, who won the Overtime Elite championship. He was the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft, one spot ahead of his twin brother Ausar Thompson.

Whitmore was viewed as a potential top-five pick early in the pre-draft process, but his stock was said to be falling in the days leading up to June 22, as rumors of medical concerns and poor workouts circulated. He ultimately slipped all the way to Houston at No. 20 after a freshman year in which he averaged 12.5 PPG and 5.3 RPG and earned Big East Rookie of the Year honors.

As our chart of rookie scale salaries for 2023 first-rounders shows, Thompson should have a cap hit around $8.8MM this season, while Whitmore’s figures to be $3.2MM. They’ll earn up to $40MM and $15.6MM, respectively, over the course of their four-year rookie deals.

We’re tracking all of this year’s draft pick signings right here.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Mason Plumlee Re-Signs With Clippers On One-Year Deal

July 3rd, 2023 at 1:20pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 6: The Clippers have officially completed their new deal with Plumlee, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

JULY 3: Mason Plumlee is re-signing with the Clippers on a one-year, $5MM contract, agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

A longtime NBA center, Plumlee was an unrestricted free agent after his three-year, $25MM deal expired at the end of 2022/23.

He’ll be taking a pay cut to return to Los Angeles after making $9.08MM in 2022/23. According to Wojnarowski, the veteran received more lucrative offers from rival suitors in free agency.

The 22nd pick of the 2013 draft, Plumlee has played for the Nets, Trail Blazers, Nuggets, Pistons, Hornets and Clippers over the course of his 10 NBA seasons. He was having a strong season with Charlotte in ’22/23, averaging 12.2 PPG, 9.7 RPG and 3.7 APG in 56 games (28.5 MPG) as a full-time starter, before being sent to L.A. at the February trade deadline.

Plumlee’s role was slightly diminished playing behind Ivica Zubac, but he still brought solid production and size off the bench, averaging 7.5 PPG, 6.9 RPG and 1.7 APG in 23 regular season games (19.9 MPG). Overall, he shot a career-best 68% from the field last season.

A report last week stated that the Clippers might be open to moving Zubac and were comfortable having Plumlee as the starting center. It remains to be seen if that will transpire, but he’s a nice insurance policy to have either way.

The Clippers are one of the league’s top spenders, far above the luxury tax line. However, they held Plumlee’s Bird rights, so they were able to pay him more than the veteran’s minimum.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), the Clippers now have 16 players on standard contracts, including Jason Preston, whose contract is non-guaranteed. The young guard recently agreed to push back his salary guarantee date until July 18.

Plumlee was No. 36 on our list of this summer’s top 50 free agents.

Pelicans Sign Jordan Hawkins To Rookie Deal

July 3rd, 2023 at 11:29am CST by Arthur Hill

Jordan Hawkins has signed his rookie scale contract with the Pelicans, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

Hawkins was the No. 14 pick in last month’s draft after helping Connecticut win the national championship as a sophomore.

The 21-year-old shooting guard earned first-team All-Big East honors by averaging 16.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists last season.

Hawkins is eligible to receive $4,310,160 in his first season and can earn $20,599,055 over the four-year contract, as our breakdown of rookie scale salaries shows.

Hawkins is the 17th first-rounder to reach a contract agreement. You can track the status of all 58 draft picks in our round-up of signings.

The Pelicans didn’t have a second-round pick this year, so Hawkins was their only draftee.

Suns Sign Yuta Watanabe, Chimezie Metu

July 3rd, 2023 at 10:37am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JULY 3: The Suns have officially signed Watanabe and Metu to their minimum-salary contracts, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

JUNE 30: The Suns are reportedly adding two new free agents to surround their starry core of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Deandre Ayton.

Sources inform Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) that sharpshooting ex-Nets small forward Yuta Watanabe has reached an agreement to join the Suns. Meanwhile, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter) that former Kings big man Chimezie Metu is also signing a one-year deal with the team.

Exact terms of these new contracts have yet to be revealed. Presumably, both these deals would be for veteran’s minimums, due to Phoenix’s current spending restrictions.

Watanabe, a 6’9″ swingman out of George Washington, gives Phoenix some lethal long range versatility on the wing following a breakout season in Brooklyn, most of which was spent playing alongside fellow ex-Net Durant. The 28-year-old averaged 5.6 PPG on a .491/.444/.723 slash line, along with 2.4 RPG, in his 58 contests with Brooklyn.

Metu, a 6’9″ power forward/center out of USC, had spent all five of his prior NBA seasons with Sacramento. In 2022/23 under new head coach Mike Brown, he saw his numbers and role take a bit of a dip while the club improved to a 48-34 record and its first playoff berth since 2006. Across 66 contests, Metu averaged 4.9 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 10.4 MPG. He will for now serve as a key frontcourt backup.