Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hornets Sign Moussa Diabate To Two-Way Contract

July 31st, 2024 at 5:33pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 31: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

JULY 29: The Hornets and free agent big man Moussa Diabate have agreed to terms on a two-way contract, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Diabate, 22, was the 43rd overall pick of the 2022 draft out of Michigan. The 6’10” French center has spent his first two professional seasons on two-way contracts with the Clippers, appearing in 33 total NBA games during that time.

Diabate’s contributions at the NBA level have been modest — he has averaged just 2.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 7.8 minutes per game for Los Angeles. However, he has been a regular starter for the Ontario Clippers in the G League during those two seasons. In 2023/24, he averaged 15.5 PPG, 10.2 RPG, and 1.9 BPG in 19 Showcase Cup and regular season NBAGL games (30.0 MPG).

The Clippers opted not to tender Diabate a qualifying offer in June, so he became an unrestricted free agent on July 1, clearing the way for him to sign freely with any NBA team.

Diabate will fill the third two-way slot in Charlotte. The Hornets are currently carrying Leaky Black and 2024 second-round pick KJ Simpson on two-way deals.

Devonte’ Graham Signs Non-Guaranteed Contract With Blazers

July 31st, 2024 at 1:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 31: The signing is official, the Blazers confirmed today in a press release. Graham’s contract is non-guaranteed, Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian confirms (via Twitter).

JULY 30: Free agent guard Devonte’ Graham has agreed to a one-year deal with the Trail Blazers, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Graham appeared in 46 games with the Spurs the past two seasons.

Graham wound up on the free agent market after the Spurs traded him to the Hornets earlier this month and Charlotte waived him. Graham’s $12.65MM contract was only partially guaranteed for $2.85MM before he was cut loose.

Terms of the contract with the Blazers haven’t been revealed, but Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report believes it’s a camp deal, noting the Blazers currently have all 15 roster spots filled. One of those players, Dalano Banton, has a partially guaranteed contract. His $2.2MM salary is only guaranteed for $217,533 if he’s waived before opening night.

Graham, 29, played sparingly with the Spurs last season, averaging just 5.0 points per game on a .352/.301/.813 shooting line. He appeared in only 23 contests, logging 13.6 minutes per night.

Graham began his NBA career with the Hornets, for whom he played from 2018-21. He spent 2021/22 and part of ’22/23 with the Pelicans before being traded to San Antonio midway through that season. During his best year, 2019/20, Graham finished fifth in Most Improved Player voting, averaging 18.2 points, 7.5 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game.

Yuki Kawamura Has Exhibit 10 Agreement With Grizzlies

July 30th, 2024 at 6:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Guard Yuki Kawamura, a member of Japan’s National Team, has agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract with the Grizzlies.

Kawamura’s agreement was announced in a press release by the Yokohama B-Corsairs, his current team.

Kawamura is scheduled to sign the NBA contract with the Grizzlies in September. He’ll continue to play for the Japanese team until he signs the contract. He averaged 20.9 points and 8.0 assists per game for the Yokohama B-Corsairs last season.

Kawamura, 23, had a stellar game in the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, posting 29 points, six rebounds and six assists in Japan’s near-upset of France. The 5’8” Kawamura was whistled for a controversial foul call which led to Matthew Strazel‘s four-point play in the closing seconds of regulation. France won in overtime, 94-90.

Exhibit 10 deals, which are non-guaranteed, can be converted to two-way contracts. They can also ensure a player receives a bonus worth up to $77.5K if he’s waived before the regular season begins and then spends at least 60 days with his club’s G League affiliate.

Knicks Re-Sign Precious Achiuwa On One-Year Contract

July 30th, 2024 at 4:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks have re-signed Precious Achiuwa, according to a team press release.

Achiuwa signed a one-year, $6MM contract, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets. He qualified for a no-trade clause upon re-signing a one-year deal but agreed to give up that right, Katz adds (Twitter link).

Achiuwa became a free agent when the Knicks failed to extend him a $6.3MM qualifying offer. They wound up re-signing him for slightly less than that amount.

New York was motivated to pass on the qualifying offer because it may have affected its hard cap situation as it tried to work out the details of the trade to acquire Mikal Bridges from Brooklyn.

The Knicks acquired Achiuwa in late December as part of the OG Anunoby deal. He wound up playing a significant role amid long-term injuries to Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson, among others. Achiuwa appeared in 49 games after the trade, making 18 starts and averaging 7.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in 24.2 minutes per night.

Following the free agent departure of Isaiah Hartenstein, Achiuwa and Jericho Sims are the top options to back up Robinson.

Re-signing Achiuwa to a $6MM salary keeps the Knicks below the second tax apron, which represents their hard cap. His willingness to give up the no-trade clause could facilitate a deal down the road. As a first apron team, the Knicks are not allowed to acquire more salary than they send out in a trade. If they had re-signed him at a lower figure, it would have reduced the pool of players they could acquire for him.

New York now has 13 players on guaranteed standard contracts and another on a partial guarantee — Sims’ $2.1MM contract becomes guaranteed if he on the roster past Aug. 16, ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (Twitter link).

Hawks Waive Bruno Fernando

July 30th, 2024 at 2:28pm CST by Luke Adams

2:28pm: The Hawks have officially cut Fernando, according to a press release from the team.

1:08pm: The Hawks are waiving big man Bruno Fernando, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The move will let Atlanta off the hook for Fernando’s $2,717,391 salary for the 2024/25 season. That money was set to become fully guaranteed if the 25-year-old remained under contract through this Thursday. By waiving him before then, the Hawks will be able to remove it all from their cap, taking the team’s salary below the luxury tax line.

Fernando’s salary guarantee date was originally set for June 29. He and the Hawks reached an agreement to move it back to July 10, then pushed it back again to August 1.

Given that Atlanta likely would have waived him on June 29 or July 10 if he hadn’t agreed to move back his guarantee date, Fernando had some incentive to play ball in the hopes of receiving his full salary, like he did a year ago after the team postponed his guarantee deadline, then ultimately hung onto him.

It looks like it won’t work out for him this year though, and it may be more difficult for him to find a new NBA home this late in the offseason, with fewer roster spots available around the league. Still, the free agent market for centers has been picked pretty clean, so he should immediately become one of the most intriguing options available.

A five-year veteran who was a second-round pick in 2019, Fernando began his NBA career with the Hawks and was traded back to Atlanta in February 2023.

After playing eight games for the Hawks down the stretch of the 2022/23 season, he didn’t play much at all in the first half of ’23/24, appearing in just 13 of Atlanta’s first 49 games for an average of 6.5 minutes per contest. However, he was thrust into a larger role in the second half due to a series of frontcourt injuries, averaging 7.6 PPG and 5.2 RPG while shooting 59.4% from the floor and 70.1% from the line over his final 32 games (18.7 MPG).

Assuming the Hawks officially waive Fernando before 4:00 pm CT on Tuesday, he’ll be on track to clear waivers on Thursday. A team interested in placing a claim would have to commit to guaranteeing his 2024/25 salary.

Nuggets Sign Spencer Jones To Two-Way Contract

July 30th, 2024 at 2:22pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 30: The Nuggets have officially signed Jones to a two-way contract, they confirmed today in a press release.

JULY 19: The Nuggets will fill their open two-way contract slot by signing undrafted rookie free agent Spencer Jones to a two-way deal, reports Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Twitter link).

A 6’7″ forward, Jones spent all five of his college seasons at Stanford from 2019-24, starting 139 of his 146 games during that time. As a super-senior last season, he averaged 11.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.4 steals in 29.1 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .438/.409/.645.

Jones was a 39.7% three-point shooter on 5.4 attempts per contest across his five seasons with the Cardinal, setting a school record with 315 career made three-pointers. Denver likes his combination of size, skill, and shooting, according to Durando.

Jones was on the Trail Blazers’ Summer League roster in Las Vegas. He came off the bench in Portland’s first game last Saturday, but was ruled out for Monday’s contest due to an illness and hasn’t played since.

Denver filled its other two-way slots earlier this month by signing two other undrafted rookies, Trey Alexander and PJ Hall. Once they complete their reported signings of Jones, Russell Westbrook, and DeAndre Jordan, the Nuggets will have 15 players on guaranteed standard contracts and three on two-way deals, so they’ll essentially be set for the regular season.

A player who spends the entire 2024/25 season on a two-way deal will be eligible to appear in up to 50 NBA regular season games and will earn a salary of $578,577.

Hawks Sign Dominick Barlow To Two-Way Deal

July 30th, 2024 at 2:18pm CST by Luke Adams

4:41pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

2:18pm: The Hawks and free agent forward Dominick Barlow have agreed to terms on a two-way contract, agent Todd Ramasar tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Barlow, 21, spent most of the past two seasons on two-way contracts with the Spurs, earning a promotion to San Antonio’s standard roster in early March. The Spurs signed Barlow to a rest-of-season contract that expired this summer and then didn’t issue him a qualifying offer in June, so he became an unrestricted free agent.

Barlow appeared in 61 NBA games with the Spurs across his two seasons with the club, averaging 4.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assist in 13.6 minutes per contest. The former Overtime Elite prospect impressed at the G League level, putting up 23.7 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 1.7 APG with a .569 FG% in 19 Showcase Cup and regular season games (33.2 MPG) for the Austin Spurs in 2023/24.

The Hawks previously signed Seth Lundy and Keaton Wallace to two-way deals, so Barlow will fill the lone remaining opening.

While there’s nothing to stop Atlanta from moving players in and out of those two-way slots up until (and beyond) the start of the regular season, for the time being there’s no room for second-round pick Nikola Djurisic, who underwent foot surgery last week.

Sixers Sign Reggie Jackson

July 30th, 2024 at 7:20am CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers have officially signed veteran guard Reggie Jackson, the team announced today in a press release. He received a one-year contract, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The move had been anticipated since last Tuesday, when word broke that Jackson would be cut by the Hornets and that he intended to join the 76ers after clearing waivers. The 34-year-old gave up approximately $3.3MM in a buyout agreement with Charlotte, which is the amount he’ll earn on his new minimum-salary deal with Philadelphia.

“Reggie is a playoff-tested veteran who brings leadership and experience to our backcourt,” Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said in a statement. “He’s been a dynamic offensive player throughout his 13 seasons in the league.”

Jackson spent the 2023/24 season in Denver, backing up Jamal Murray at the point. He averaged 10.2 points, 3.8 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game, posting a .431/.359/.806 shooting line in 82 outings (23 starts).

Jackson exercised a $5.25MM player option in June, but the Nuggets wanted to go in a different direction with their backup point guard spot and traded the 34-year-old to Charlotte along with multiple second-round picks in a salary-dump deal. Denver signed Russell Westbrook to fill the backcourt hole created by that trade. The Hornets, meanwhile, made that deal with Denver in order to acquire those future second-rounders rather than Jackson, who wasn’t in their plans for 2024/25.

Now that their addition of Jackson is official, the Sixers have 13 players on standard contracts — 12 are on fully guaranteed deals, while Ricky Council‘s salary is non-guaranteed. Philadelphia figures to add at least one more player on a standard contract at some point between now and opening night, though it remains to be seen if the team will fill both 15-man roster openings.

Jackson will provide additional depth in a Sixers backcourt that features rising star Tyrese Maxey, veterans Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon, and rookie Jared McCain.

Spurs Sign Harrison Ingram To Two-Way Deal

July 29th, 2024 at 3:21pm CST by Rory Maher

The Spurs have signed forward Harrison Ingram to a two-way contract, the team announced in a press release.

Ingram, 21, was the 48th overall pick of last month’s draft. He had been one of several second-round picks who had yet to sign an NBA deal, though a two-way contract was always considered the likely outcome for him.

A native of Dallas, Texas, Ingram spent his first two college seasons at Stanford. He transferred to North Carolina for his junior year, averaging 12.2 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.2 APG and 1.4 SPG in 37 games last season for the Tar Heels (32.8 MPG). He posted a shooting slash line of .430/.385/.612 in those contests.

Ingram suited up for San Antonio’s Summer League squads in California and Las Vegas, averaging 10.0 PPG and 6.6 RPG in seven total appearances (27.8 MPG). His shooting line was .382/.406/.385, per RealGM.

As our tracker shows, Ingram will fill the Spurs’ third and final two-way spot. Guards Jamaree Bouyea and David Duke Jr. are San Antonio’s other players on two-way contracts.

Spurs, Nathan Mensah Agree To Training Camp Contract

July 29th, 2024 at 1:09pm CST by Rory Maher

The Spurs plan to sign free agent big man Nathan Mensah to a training camp contract, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter).

Mensah, 26, went undrafted last year after spending five college seasons at San Diego State. He joined the Hornets last fall, initially signing an Exhibit 10 deal ahead of training camp before being waived prior to the 2023/24 season.

Mensah opened his first professional season playing for Charlotte’s NBA G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, averaging 10.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in 14 Showcase Cup games last fall (29.3 minutes per contest).

Amid multiple frontcourt injuries, the Hornets promoted Mensah to a two-way contract in December. He averaged 1.3 points and 2.6 rebounds in 25 NBA games (12.6 minutes) before he was cut in early March. He returned to the Swarm to conclude his rookie campaign.

A 6’8″ center from Ghana who possesses a 7’4″ wingspan, Mensah caught on with the Spurs for Summer League action in California and Las Vegas. Evidently he impressed the club, as he’ll reportedly be signing with San Antonio for training camp.

While the terms of the contract were not disclosed, camp deals like Mensah’s often contain Exhibit 10 language to give players an opportunity to earn a bonus if they’re waived before the season begins and then spend at least 60 days with a team’s NBAGL affiliate. In Mensah’s case, that would be the Austin Spurs.