Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Trail Blazers Sign Nassir Little To Four-Year Extension

October 17th, 2022 at 2:24pm CST by Luke Adams

2:24pm: The Blazers have officially signed Little to his extension, the team confirmed today in a press release.

“Nassir is a talented player who has grown every year and has a very bright future,” general manager Joe Cronin said in a statement. “We are very excited that he chose to extend with us, and we look forward to continuing to see him shine on and off the court.”

10:31am: The Trail Blazers have agreed to sign forward Nassir Little to a four-year, $28MM rookie scale extension, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The deal will be fully guaranteed, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The 25th overall pick in the 2019 draft, Little didn’t have much of a role in his first two seasons with the Blazers, averaging 4.1 PPG and 2.5 RPG on .450/.302/.719 shooting in 96 games (12.6 MPG).

However, he bumped those numbers to 9.8 PPG and 5.6 RPG on .460/.331/.734 shooting in 42 games (25.9 MPG) in 2021/22 and was playing especially well after entering the starting lineup in December.

Little’s breakout season in Portland came to an early end when he underwent surgery on February 1 to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. In May, he underwent abdominal surgery to repair a core muscle injury.

Little has since recovered from both of those procedures and is ready to go for the start of the 2022/23 season. He lost the battle for the starting small forward job to Josh Hart, but figures to be one of the first players off the bench for the team to open the year.

Even though Little’s new deal is reportedly fully guaranteed, it has the potential to be a steal for the Blazers. They’ll be on the hook for just $7MM per season through 2026/27 in order to lock up a 22-year-old wing who continues to improve. Even if Little doesn’t make huge strides in the coming years, that’s a very affordable price for a reliable rotation player.

For his part, Little has earned just $6.63MM through his first three NBA seasons and will make $4.17MM in 2022/23. Locking in $28MM in guaranteed money will increase his career earnings exponentially and will give him some long-term security in case he takes a step back or suffers a major injury going forward. It’s hard to fault him for accepting Portland’s offer rather than rolling the dice in restricted free agency next summer.

Little is the 10th player to agree to a rookie scale extension this season, as our tracker shows. The deadline for those deals is at 5:00 pm CT on Monday.

Rockets Sign Kevin Porter Jr. To Four-Year Extension

October 17th, 2022 at 12:08pm CST by Luke Adams

12:08pm: Porter’s extension is now official, the Rockets announced today in a press release.

“We value the player and the person that Scoot is becoming and are eager to invest in him and his journey,” Rockets general manager Rafael Stone said in a statement. “He’s expressed how happy he is to be with this organization and has shown his commitment to putting in the work both on and off the court. We are excited for the opportunity to continue to build something special with him.”

10:18am: Porter’s four-year extension will only be fully guaranteed for $15.86MM in year one, sources tell Charania (Twitter link).

ESPN’s Bobby Marks provides more details, tweeting that the Porter’s annual salaries in subsequent years will guarantee if he remains under contract through each June 30. For instance, his 2024/25 salary would guarantee if he hasn’t been waived by June 30, 2024.

Additionally, there’s language in the deal that will provide a path for Porter’s salaries in future seasons to become partially guaranteed before they become fully guaranteed, Marks adds (via Twitter).

Since Porter’s first-year salary is only worth $15.86MM, the total base value of the extension can only be worth up to about $71MM with 8% annual raises, so the $82.5MM total value (reported below) appears to include incentives. According to Marks, those incentives are related to games played and team success.

9:00am: The Rockets and guard Kevin Porter Jr. have agreed to a rookie scale contract extension, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Agent Sam Permut tells Wojnarowski that it’s a four-year, $82.5MM deal. However, according to Shams Charania and Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link), only the first season is fully guaranteed.

Wojnarowski (Twitter link) describes the extension as having a “unique” structure that will have major upside for Porter while also providing protections for the team. Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston (Twitter link) says there are partial guarantees beyond the first year. The final season is a team option, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.

Porter, 22, was the 30th overall pick in the 2019 draft and had a promising rookie season in Cleveland. However, he had some legal issues off the court prior to his second season and was then involved in a locker room incident early in 2021 that prompted the Cavaliers to trade him to Houston.

In his two seasons with the Rockets, Porter has established himself as the team’s starting point guard, averaging 15.9 PPG, 6.2 APG, and 4.2 RPG with a shooting line of .418/.357/.672 in 87 total games (31.5 MPG). Perhaps most importantly, there’s been no indication that his past behavior off the court and in the locker room has been a recurring issue in Houston.

We’ll have to wait for more details on the exact structure of Porter’s new contract, but the fact that it’s not fully guaranteed beyond the first year means the Rockets should have an out if they ultimately decide he’s not the right fit at point guard with the rest of their young core, or if any other off-court incidents take place down the road.

Even with a lucrative new deal for Porter on their books, the Rockets will still have plenty of financial flexibility during the summer of 2023. According to Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link), the club should be able to create a minimum of $30MM in cap room, and could get to $50MM+ by waiving non-guaranteed players (including Eric Gordon).

As our extension tracker shows, Porter is the ninth player to agree to a rookie scale extension in 2022. If he earns his full $82.5MM, Porter’s deal would be the seventh-most lucrative of those extensions, ahead of Keldon Johnson and Brandon Clarke.

Nets Exercise 2023/24 Options On Cam Thomas, Day’Ron Sharpe

October 17th, 2022 at 10:22am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets have picked up their team options on guard Cam Thomas and big man Day’Ron Sharpe for the 2023/24 season, the team announced today.

Thomas and Sharpe were the 27th and 29th overall picks, respectively, in the 2021 draft. Thomas’ rookie scale contract calls for a $2,240,160 third-year salary in 2023/24, while Sharpe will earn $2,210,040. Both of those salaries are now fully guaranteed.

Thomas, who was one of the top scorers in college basketball at LSU before going pro, averaged 8.5 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 67 games (17.6 MPG) for the Nets as a rookie. He showed off his scoring prowess at this year’s Summer League, averaging 27.4 PPG in just 30.3 MPG across five contests in Las Vegas.

Sharpe played a more limited role as a rookie, appearing in just 32 games and averaging 6.2 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 12.2 MPG. However, the 6’11” forward/center made a case for an increased role this year with a strong preseason, as we detailed on Sunday.

The Nets will have to decide on Thomas’ and Sharpe’s fourth-year options for the 2024/25 season next October. If those options are also exercised, the two players will become eligible for rookie scale extensions in July of 2024.

Grizzlies Sign Brandon Clarke To Four-Year Extension

October 16th, 2022 at 7:52pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

7:52pm: Memphis has issued a press release confirming Clarke’s extension (Twitter link).

5:34pm: The Grizzlies are signing fourth-year forward/center Brandon Clarke to a four-year, $52MM rookie contract extension, Clarke’s agents Mark Bartelstein and Andy Schiffman inform Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian tweets that he anticipates $52MM is the highest possible salary Clarke could earn, implying that various likely and unlikely incentives could be baked into that figure.

Clarke was selected with the No. 21 pick in the 2019 NBA draft out of Gonzaga. Last season, his third in the league, the 26-year-old remained a reliable athletic reserve for the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed.

Across 64 games in 2021/22, Clarke averaged 10.4 PPG while nailing 64.4% of his field goals, along with 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.1 blocks and 0.6 steals in just 19.5 MPG.

Woj notes that Clarke finished within the NBA’s top five players in a variety of pertinent departments: paint points, second-chance points, and offensive boards.

Bobby Marks of ESPN adds (Twitter link) that this new deal, once it kicks in, will be pay Clarke 8.6% of the club’s projected 2023/24 available salary money under the league cap.

Memphis has already signed another of its extension-eligible players, veteran starting center Steven Adams, to a two-year, $25.2MM contract extension earlier this offseason.

A third Grizzlies player, 6’7″ swingman Dillon Brooks, has yet to sign a new deal with the Grizzlies. Should Memphis not reach an agreement with Brooks, his contract will expire in the summer of 2023, when he will reach unrestricted free agency. Brooks is currently set to earn $11.4MM this season.

Clarke is the eighth 2019 first-round pick to agree to a rookie scale extension, as our tracker shows. When our Rory Maher previewed Clarke’s case for an extension last month, he estimated a deal in the range of the four-year, $50MM contract Wendell Carter signed with Orlando a year ago.

E.J. Liddell Signs Two-Way Deal With Pelicans

October 16th, 2022 at 5:25pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Rookie forward E.J. Liddell, who tore his right ACL during Summer League this year after being drafted 41st overall out of Ohio State, has signed a two-way contract with the Pelicans, the team announced in a press release.

During a 2021/22 NCAA season in which the 6’7″ forward was named a Third Team All-American, an All-Big Ten First Teamer, and a Big Ten All-Defensive Team honoree, Liddell averaged 19.4 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 2.5 BPG and 2.5 APG for the Buckeyes.

Though he will most likely not be healthy until at least 2023, the 21-year-old will join Dereon Seabron in filling the team’s pair of two-way player contracts heading into the 2022/23 season. Liddell figures to rehab his ACL injury with the Pelicans and the Birmingham Squadron, New Orleans’ G League affiliate.

Looking to capitalize on a promising postseason berth with a newly healthy Zion Williamson, New Orleans is now fielding a team with 15 players signed to its standard roster, plus a pair of two-way players.

Isaiah Joe Signs With Thunder

October 16th, 2022 at 4:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

OCTOBER 16: The Thunder have officially signed Joe, the team announced in a press release. Oklahoma City won’t have to finalize its cuts until Monday and has a full 20-man roster for now.

OCTOBER 15: The Thunder are finalizing a multi-year contract with Isaiah Joe, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Swingman David Nwaba will be among the players waived to make room on the roster, sources tell Charania (Twitter link).

Joe cleared waivers earlier today after being released Thursday by the Sixers, who selected him with the 49th pick in the 2020 draft. The 23-year-old shooting guard spent the past two years in Philadelphia and averaged 3.6 points and 1.0 rebounds in 55 games last season.

Nwaba was acquired from the Rockets in an eight-player trade in September after playing 46 games for Houston last season. Trey Burke and Marquese Chriss remain on Oklahoma City’s roster, but with more cuts remaining it’s possible that all eight players in that deal will end up on waivers.

Raptors Sign, Waive Saben Lee

October 16th, 2022 at 4:06pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have signed and subsequently waived free agent guard Saben Lee, the team announced today.

The 38th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Lee spent his first two NBA seasons with the Pistons, first on a two-way contract and then on a standard deal. He appeared in 85 total games for the team, averaging 5.6 points, 2.9 assists, and 2.4 rebounds in 16.3 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .434/.265/.731.

Lee was traded from Detroit to Utah last month in the Bojan Bogdanovic deal and was subsequently released by the Jazz. After clearing waivers, he signed a training camp contract with the Suns on Tuesday, but his stint in Phoenix was short-lived — he was cut by the team on Thursday.

Despite the fact that he spent time on three rosters leading up to the 2022/23 season, Lee’s G League rights weren’t held by any team until he signed with the Raptors, his fourth club of the last month. Toronto signed Lee to an Exhibit 10 contract that will ensure he receives a bonus worth up to $50K if he spends at least 60 days with the Raptors 905.

The Raptors didn’t have to make a corresponding roster move to make room for Lee, since the 15-man limit still won’t apply until after Monday’s cut-down deadline. Since Lee won’t clear waivers until Tuesday, Toronto will be on the hook for one day’s worth of dead money for him — that portion of prorated salary figures to be worth $10,552.

Warriors Sign Jordan Poole To Four-Year Extension

October 16th, 2022 at 1:06pm CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 16, 1:06pm: The Warriors have officially signed Poole to his four-year extension, the team announced today in a press release.

As we detailed in a separate story, Golden State also extended Wiggins for four years after reaching a deal with Poole.

OCTOBER 15, 2:14pm: The Warriors and Poole have now reached an agreement on the extension, reports Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

The four-year extension will include $123MM in guaranteed money, with an additional $17MM available via incentives, reports Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

OCTOBER 15, 10:51am: The Warriors are finalizing a four-year rookie scale extension with guard Jordan Poole, agents Drew Morrison and Austin Brown of CAA Sports tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The deal will be worth $140MM, according to Wojnarowski, who says the two sides are completing the final details and are expected to have a formal agreement soon.

Given that the $140MM figure is coming from Poole’s representatives, it’s possible that not all of that money is fully guaranteed and that a portion of it is only attainable through incentives. Still, it looks like it will be the biggest rookie scale extension signed this year outside of the maximum-salary deals completed by Ja Morant, Darius Garland, and Zion Williamson.

Poole’s huge new contract agreement comes on the heels of a breakout season, as he averaged 18.5 PPG, 4.0 APG, and 3.4 RPG on .448/.364/.925 shooting in 76 games (30.0 MPG) for the eventual champions.

The 23-year-old played an important role in Golden State’s title run, increasing his shooting percentages to .508/.391/.915 in 22 playoff contests (27.5 MPG) and averaging 17.0 PPG.

Poole was one of three members of the Warriors’ championship rotation who was extension-eligible and entering a potential contract year this fall. He was viewed as the team’s top priority ahead of fellow extension candidates Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins.

A practice incident earlier this month that saw Green punch Poole seemed to add more urgency to the Warriors’ desire to get an extension done, since they wanted to affirm their commitment to Poole following that altercation, rather than having his contract situation hanging over his head all season.

Even if Poole earns a full $140MM over the next four years, that figure will fall just short of what a maximum-salary contract would’ve been worth as a restricted free agent next summer, based on the NBA’s latest salary cap forecast. As our max projections show, using a $134MM cap estimate, Poole would’ve been eligible for a four-year max worth about $150MM with the Warriors or approximately $144MM if he were to sign with another team.

It’s unclear what sort of impact Poole’s extension will have on Golden State’s extension negotiations with Wiggins and Green. Joe Lacob and the ownership group have paid record-setting amounts on player salaries and luxury tax penalties for the current roster, but the team has suggested there’s a ceiling on what ownership is prepared to spend going forward. Lucrative new contracts for both Wiggins and Green may push the cost of the Warriors’ roster beyond that ceiling.

Poole will be the seventh player to sign a rookie scale extension in 2022, joining Morant, Garland, Williamson, Tyler Herro, RJ Barrett, and Keldon Johnson. Seventeen players remain eligible to sign rookie scale extensions before Monday’s deadline.

Sixers Convert Michael Foster Jr. To Two-Way Deal, Waive Charlie Brown Jr.

October 16th, 2022 at 11:40am CST by Arthur Hill

11:40am: The Sixers have officially converted Foster’s deal to a two-way contract and waived Brown, the team announced in a press release.

9:36am: Michael Foster Jr. will receive a two-way contract with the Sixers, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Charlie Brown Jr. will be released from his two-way deal in a corresponding move.

Foster, a 19-year-old forward, joined the team in July on an Exhibit 10 contract after playing for G League Ignite last season. He appeared in three games during the preseason, averaging 1.7 PPG in 6.1 minutes per night.

Foster also played for the Sixers during Summer League and was considered to be one of the best players not selected in this year’s draft.

Brown, a 25-year-old shooting guard, signed a 10-day contract with Philadelphia in January and was given a two-way deal when that expired. He got into 19 games with the Sixers and averaged 1.5 points and 1.6 rebounds in limited minutes. Brown also played three games for the Mavericks last season and has spent time with the Hawks and Thunder as well.

The move likely sets Philadelphia’s roster ahead of Tuesday’s regular season opener, as the team now has 14 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals. The Sixers are expected to keep one roster spot open, tweets Derek Bodner of The Athletic.

Timberwolves Sign-And-Waive Emmanuel Mudiay, Two Others

October 15th, 2022 at 8:12pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Timberwolves announced the signing of former lottery pick Emmanuel Mudiay, along with guard Matt Lewis and forward Phillip Wheeler. All three were later waived, the team tweeted.

Mudiay will join Minnesota’s G League team in Iowa, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link), and Lewis and Wheeler will likely be headed there also. Krawczynski points out that new Timberwolves president Tim Connelly was running the Nuggets when they selected Mudiay with the seventh pick in the 2015 draft (Twitter link).

Mudiay, 26, was traded from Denver to the Knicks in 2018 and signed with the Jazz in 2019. He appeared in two games for the Kings last season after signing a 10-day contract in December and had a brief stay in Lithuania as well.

Lewis, 23, signed with the Timberwolves after going undrafted out of James Madison and played for Iowa last season. He averaged 11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 32 G League games.

Wheeler, 20, played eight G League games last season with Rio Grande Valley and Mexico City. He also spent part of the year in Puerto Rico. His agreement with Minnesota was originally reported in June.