Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Alex Len Signs One-Year Deal With Kings

July 1st, 2023 at 9:33pm CST by Arthur Hill

July 10: Len’s new deal is official, the Kings announced (Twitter link via James Ham of TheKingsBeat.com).

July 1: Alex Len will stay with the Kings on a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. It will pay him $3,196,448.

The 30-year-old appeared in just 26 games last season, averaging 1.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in 6.2 minutes per night. He claimed a role as the team’s backup center late in the season, but his playing time was sporadic in the seven-game playoff series against the Warriors.

There may be a clearer path to regular minutes for Len in 2023/24 following Sacramento’s trade of Richaun Holmes and the free agent departure of Chimezie Metu.

However, with the offseason far from over, the team also may still bring in another big man to be Domantas Sabonis‘ primary backup.

Len was the fifth pick in the 2013 draft, but he has never been able to live up to that status. He returned to the Kings as a free agent in 2021 after briefly playing for them during the 2019/20 season.

Ibou Badji Re-Signs With Trail Blazers On Two-Way Deal

July 1st, 2023 at 9:12pm CST by Rory Maher

Restricted free agent center Ibou Badji has re-signed with the Trail Blazers on a two-way contract, per NBA.com’s official transactions log.

It seems likely that Badji simply accepted the two-way qualifying offer that Portland issued him a couple days ago in order to secure the right of first refusal.

A 7’1″ Senegalese center with a 7’9″ wingspan, Badji played in Spain from 2019-22 and joined the Wisconsin Herd (the Bucks’ G League club) to begin the 2022/23 campaign after going undrafted last year.

In seven games with the Herd, Badji averaged 7.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks in 17.6 minutes per contest, impressing the Blazers with his ability to protect the rim. Portland signed him to a two-way deal in November.

The Blazers didn’t have a G League affiliate of their own last season (they do now), so Badji didn’t play any more NBAGL games after joining Portland.

The big man could have suited up for the Blazers or been assigned to another team’s G League affiliate, but he was listed on the team’s injury report for a few months with left knee soreness before undergoing surgery in March. He was expected to be out for eight weeks, so he should be go to go for training camp this fall.

Trevor Hudgins Accepting QO From Rockets

July 1st, 2023 at 8:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

Rockets two-way player Trevor Hudgins has accepted his qualifying offer from the team, his agent tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The offer will amount to another one-year deal as a two-way player with a small salary guarantee.

Hudgins signed with Houston last summer after going undrafted out of Northwest Missouri State. He spent the season almost entirely in the G League, where he averaged 19 PPG for Rio Grande Valley, but he did see minimal playing time in five NBA games.

The new Collective Bargaining Agreement has given each team a third two-way player, so Hudgins’ spot on the roster may be secure.

The Rockets also made a qualifying offer to Darius Days, their other two-way player from last season.

Sixers Officially Sign Terquavion Smith, Ricky Council To Two-Way Deals

July 1st, 2023 at 8:32pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers have officially completed a pair of two-way contract agreements that were reported shortly after the 2023 draft ended last week, having put out a press release confirming that they’ve signed undrafted rookies Terquavion Smith and Ricky Council to two-way deals.

Smith earned All-ACC honors as a sophomore at NC State this past season after averaging 17.9 points and 4.1 assists in 33.6 minutes per game across 34 appearances. The 6’4″ guard was a 35.2% three-point shooter in his two college seasons.

Council, who began his college career at Wichita State, transferred to Arkansas for his junior year in 2022/23 and averaged 16.1 PPG in 36 games (34.1 MPG) for the Razorbacks. The 6’6″ wing declared for the draft as an early entrant.

Teams will be permitted to carry three players on two-way contracts for the first time in 2023/24, and the Sixers had a clear idea after the draft about how they wanted to fill those slots. Besides reaching deals with Smith and Council, they also agreed to sign Arizona State’s Azuolas Tubelis. His signing hasn’t been finalized yet, but there’s no reason to believe it won’t be.

The 76ers opted not to tender two-way qualifying offers to last season’s two-way players, Louis King and Mac McClung, making them unrestricted free agents.

Orlando Robinson Signs Standard Deal With Heat

July 1st, 2023 at 8:20pm CST by Rory Maher

8:20pm: Robinson inked a minimum-salary contract and it is now official, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

7:58pm: Orlando Robinson will be signing a standard contract with the Heat, a league source tells Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).

While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel strongly implies (via Twitter) that the 7’0″ center will be receiving the veteran’s minimum. The move will also free up a two-way slot, as Robinson spent 2022/23 — his rookie season — on a two-way deal and was a restricted free agent after Miami issued him a qualifying offer.

As Winderman explains, moving Robinson to a standard deal creates room for the Heat to sign Jamaree Bouyea, Dru Smith and Jamal Cain to two-way contracts. The deals for Bouyea and Smith are already official, while Cain remains a restricted free agent for now.

Robinson, who turns 23 later this month, went undrafted in 2022 out of Fresno State. He originally signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Heat, was waived before the season started, signed a two-way deal, was waived, and then inked another two-way deal for the rest of the season in December.

There was talk of converting Robinson’s two-way deal into a standard contract when he became a rotation regular due to injuries, but that didn’t come to fruition after the Heat signed veterans Kevin Love and Cody Zeller. Love re-signed with Miami, but Zeller remains a free agent.

Overall, Robinson averaged 3.7 PPG and 4.1 RPG in 31 games (13.7 MPG) for the Heat last season. He also had strong performances with their G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

Miami already agreed to terms with another free agent center, Thomas Bryant, and has Love as another option in the middle. Robinson will have to earn his stripes in training camp in order to secure rotation minutes behind Bam Adebayo.

Brandon Miller Signs Rookie Deal With Hornets

July 1st, 2023 at 7:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

Brandon Miller has signed his rookie scale contract with the Hornets, the team announced in a press release.

The No. 2 pick in this year’s draft is eligible to receive 120% of the rookie scale, which would amount to $10.88MM in his first season. He can make more than $49MM on his four-year deal.

Miller earned first team All-America honors during his lone season at Alabama and was named SEC Player of the Year and NABC Freshman of the Year. He led the SEC in scoring at 18.8 PPG, ranked second in three-point percentage at 38.4% and was fourth in rebounding at 8.2 per game.

Miller rose up the draft ranks throughout the college season and was eventually able to surpass G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson for the second overall pick. The Hornets considered both players, but were swayed by Miller’s size and outside shooting, along with his more natural fit alongside LaMelo Ball.

Miller may make his Hornets debut on Monday when the team takes part in the California Classic Summer League.

Ty Jerome Joins Cavaliers On Two-Year Deal

July 1st, 2023 at 7:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 6: The Cavaliers have officially signed Jerome, the team announced today in a press release.

Golden State withdrew its qualifying offer to Jerome, making him an unrestricted free agent and clearing the way for him to sign with Cleveland.

JULY 1: The Cavaliers will sign shooting guard Ty Jerome to a two-year, $5MM contract, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Jerome received a minimum-salary qualifying offer from the Warriors this week, making him a restricted free agent. However, Cleveland was able to put together a package that Golden State doesn’t plan to match, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Jerome spent one season with Golden State after signing a two-way contract last October. He appeared in 45 games, averaging 6.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 18.1 minutes per night.

The former Virginia standout was the 24th overall selection in the 2019 draft and started his career with the Suns. He also played two seasons with the Thunder, but spent much of his time in the G League.

There were rumors late in the season that the Warriors might convert Jerome to a standard deal so he could be eligible for the playoffs, but Golden State opted to make that move with Anthony Lamb instead.

Jerome will add depth to a Cleveland backcourt that features Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Ricky Rubio and the newly acquired Max Strus.

Lakers Sign D’Angelo Russell To Two-Year Deal

July 1st, 2023 at 6:48pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

July 7: Russell’s new contract is now official, the Lakers announced (Twitter link via Jovan Buha of The Athletic).

July 1: The Lakers and point guard D’Angelo Russell have reached an agreement on a two-year contract that will be worth $37MM, his agents at CAA Basketball tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. According to Wojnarowski, Russell will hold a player option for 2024/25 as part of the deal.

Los Angeles acquired the 6’4″ vet, whom the Lakers initially drafted with the second pick in 2015, from the Timberwolves this past February. The Russell acquisition headlined a flurry of tactical moves designed to improve the club’s positional balance and add more shooting around stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

The 27-year-old performed exceptionally well as a supplemental scorer and passer upon being installed as L.A.’s starting point guard. Across his 17 healthy regular season contests with Los Angeles, he averaged 17.4 PPG on .484/.414/.735 shooting splits, plus 6.1 APG and 2.9 RPG.

The playoffs were a different story. His jump shooting took a major dive, and opposing teams often targeted him on defense. Russell averaged 13.3 PPG on a .426/.310/.769 slash line, 4.6 APG, 2.9 RPG and 0.7 SPG in the playoffs.

Yesterday’s announced signing of ex-Heat point guard Gabe Vincent, a better defender who enjoyed a much better postseason, made Russell’s future in Los Angeles seem a bit more tenuous. Though Russell’s contract makes it seem like he will at least begin the season as the team’s starter, one wonders if that will be the case at the end of the season.

Rockets To Trade Kenyon Martin Jr. To Clippers

July 1st, 2023 at 6:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers have agreed to trade for Rockets forward Kenyon Martin Jr., according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that Houston will receive two second-round picks in the deal.

The two second-rounders will be the Clippers’ own 2026 pick and the Grizzlies’ 2027 pick, tweets Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times.

The Clippers have a $2,134,843 trade exception they can use to absorb Martin’s salary.

Martin spent three years in Houston after being acquired from the Kings, who selected him with the 52nd pick in the 2020 draft. He served as a valuable bench player for most of his time with the rebuilding Rockets, but became a full-time starter by the end of last season. He posted career highs with 12.7 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 56.9% from the field.

Martin is also an electrifying leaper who frequently posted highlight-worthy slams. He participated in this year’s Slam Dunk Contest, but didn’t get past the preliminary round.

The 22-year-old forward will get his first experience on a contender in L.A. He’ll provide additional depth behind Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, who both have a long history of battling injuries.

On Thursday, the Rockets picked up Martin’s $1.93MM option for 2023/24, so he’s set to be unrestricted free agent next summer. He will become eligible to sign a four-year extension worth up to $75MM six months after the trade is finalized.

ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk points out that Clippers president Lawrence Frank has a connection to Martin after being his father’s coach with the Nets (Twitter link).

Raptors Sign Jalen McDaniels To Two-Year Deal

July 1st, 2023 at 6:00pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: The Raptors have officially signed McDaniels, per a team press release.

“Jalen is a hard-working, defensive-minded player who we believe has tremendous potential for growth,” team president Masai Ujiri said in a statement. “He brings versatility to both ends of the floor, and we’re excited to see him develop as a member of the Raptors.”

JULY 1: The Raptors have reached an agreement on a deal with free agent forward Jalen McDaniels, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

According to Charania, McDaniels will sign a two-year, $9.3MM contract with Toronto. Those figures suggest the team will complete the signing using its bi-annual exception, which starts at about $4.5MM.

A former second-round pick, McDaniels spent his first three-and-a-half seasons in the NBA with the Hornets before being traded to the Sixers at the February deadline. The 6’9″ forward is a 34.5% career three-point shooter and has the length and athleticism to guard multiple positions, so he should fit right in with the Raptors and their collection of rangy wings.

The No. 34 free agent on our top-50 list, McDaniels averaged 9.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.0 steal in 23.9 minutes per game (80 appearances) for Charlotte and Philadelphia in 2022/23.

The Raptors suffered a major loss on the first day of free agency when Fred VanVleet opted to leave Toronto for Houston. That generated some spending flexibility below the luxury tax line for the Raps, who committed their full mid-level exception to point guard Dennis Schröder.

With their bi-annual exception ticketed for McDaniels, the Raptors will be limited to minimum-salary signings and/or trades for the rest of the offseason.