Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wizards Sign Makur Maker To Exhibit 10 Contract

August 10th, 2022 at 10:50am CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards have signed center Makur Maker to an Exhibit 10 deal, according to Josh Robbins and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Athletic’s report followed up on a tweet from Edward Smith that showed Maker putting pen to paper.

Maker, the cousin of former NBA lottery pick Thon Maker, attended Howard University during the 2020/21 season, then played for the Sydney Kings in ’21/22, winning an NBL title with the Australian club. He averaged 7.8 PPG and 6.0 RPG on .429/.361/.769 shooting in 16 games (16.8 MPG) for the Kings.

Maker also suited up for the Bulls in last month’s Las Vegas Summer League, registering 7.2 PPG and 3.4 RPG in five contests (12.0 MPG).

Robbins’ report suggests that Maker will likely end up playing for the Capital City Go-Go, the Wizards’ G League team. Maker’s Exhibit 10 contract puts him in line for a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived during the preseason and then spends at least 60 days as an affiliate player for the Go-Go.

Washington has also reportedly agreed to Exhibit 10 deals with undrafted rookie free agents Quenton Jackson and Davion Mintz.

Gorgui Dieng Signs One-Year Deal With Spurs

August 9th, 2022 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 9: Dieng’s signing is official, the Spurs announced in a press release.

JULY 5: The Spurs and free agent big man Gorgui Dieng have agreed to a one-year deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

It’s a reunion for Dieng and the Spurs — he signed with San Antonio on the buyout market near the end of the 2020/21 season before joining the Hawks last summer.

Terms of the new agreement aren’t yet known, but Dieng is coming off a one-year, $4MM contract and wasn’t a regular part of Atlanta’s rotation in 2021/22, appearing in 44 games and averaging a career-low 8.4 minutes per contest. His 3.5 PPG and 2.8 RPG were also career worsts. In other words, it seems unlikely he’ll get more than the veteran’s minimum from the Spurs.

The 32-year-old, who will be entering his 10th NBA season, has also spent time with the Timberwolves and Grizzlies since entering the league as the 21st overall pick out of Louisville in 2013.

Dieng will be San Antonio’s 14th player, assuming the team signs all three of its first-round picks and retains Tre Jones and Keita Bates-Diop, both of whom are on non-guaranteed contracts.

The Spurs still have a ton of cap room at their disposal, so it’s possible a more significant roster shake-up is coming, but it remains unclear how they intend to use that room.

Kings Agree To One-Year Deal With Quinn Cook

August 8th, 2022 at 8:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Kings are signing point guard Quinn Cook to a one-year contract, ESPN’s Marc Spears tweets.

Cook played for the G League Stockton Kings last season. He’ll compete for the third point guard spot behind De’Aaron Fox and Davion Mitchell, so he’s no lock to make the 15-man roster.

His main competition appears to be Matthew Dellavedova, who will enter training camp with a non-guaranteed deal.

The Kings’ interest in Cook was reported last month.

Cook has played for New Orleans, Dallas, Golden State, the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland. He was a member of two championship teams — the Warriors in 2018 and Lakers in 2020.

He didn’t play in an NBA game last season but saw action in a combined 23 games for the Lakers and Cavaliers during the 2020/21 season. In 188 career games, he’s averaged 6.4 PPG and 1.6 APG in 14.1 MPG.

With the G League Kings, Cook appeared in 11 games and averaged 23.5 PPG and 5.9 APG.

Hawks Sign Trent Forrest To Two-Way Deal

August 8th, 2022 at 11:17am CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks have filled their open two-way slot by signing free agent guard Trent Forrest to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.

Forrest, 24, signed a two-way deal with the Jazz in 2020 after going undrafted out of Florida State. He spent most of the next two seasons on two-way contracts in Utah, eventually earning a promotion to the standard roster on the last day of the 2021/22 campaign in order to make him playoff-eligible.

Forrest has appeared in 90 regular season games at the NBA level in his first two professional seasons, including 60 in 2021/22. He averaged 3.3 PPG and 1.8 APG in ’21/22, making 49.0% of his shots from the floor in 12.8 minutes per contest. He even earned six starts in the backcourt over the course of the season.

The Jazz had the opportunity to give Forrest a qualifying offer in June to make him a restricted free agent, but chose not to, so he hit the market as an unrestricted free agent.

Having officially signed Forrest, Atlanta now has 16 players under contract. Of those 16 players, 13 have fully guaranteed standard contracts, while Tyrese Martin has a partially guaranteed deal and Forrest and Chaundee Brown are on two-way pacts.

Kings Signing Kent Bazemore To One-Year Deal

August 7th, 2022 at 6:04pm CST by JD Shaw

The Kings have agreed to a one-year deal with free-agent swingman Kent Bazemore, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’s unclear whether the deal is guaranteed, but Bazemore is set to join Sacramento for the second time in his career.

Bazemore most recently played for the Lakers, appearing in just 39 games last season. He averaged 3.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per contest, shooting 32% from the floor and 36% from deep.

Before that, the 33-year-old played for the Warriors, Hawks, Blazers and Kings. Along with the Kings, Bazemore holds two separate stints with the Warriors (2012-14 and 2020-21), plus the Lakers (2013-14 and 2021-22). He owns career averages of 8.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

The Kings currently have just 12 players on fully guaranteed contracts, so even if Bazemore’s deal isn’t guaranteed, he should have an opportunity to compete for one of the final spots on the team’s 15-man regular season roster.

Sacramento is coming off a 30-52 season, having missed the playoffs for an NBA-record 16th straight year. The team has a core of De’Aaron Fox, Davion Mitchell, Harrison Barnes, Domantas Sabonis and others that likely won’t finish drastically better than it did last season.

Suns Re-Sign Ish Wainright To Two-Way Deal

August 4th, 2022 at 4:37pm CST by Arthur Hill

AUGUST 4: The Suns’ two-way deal with Wainright is now official, according to a press release from the team.

AUGUST 3: Ish Wainright will return to the Suns on a two-way contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The deal was confirmed by Wainwright’s agents, Jim Tanner and Deirunas Visockas of Tandem.

The 27-year-old power forward made his NBA debut last season after three years of playing overseas. He went to training camp with the Raptors, but was waived before the start of the season. Five days later, Phoenix signed him to a two-way contract, which was converted to a standard deal on the final day of the regular season.

The former Baylor star appeared in 45 games as a rookie and averaged 2.4 points and 1.2 rebounds in 8.0 minutes per night. He got into seven playoff games, but saw just 3.7 minutes per contest.

The Suns filled their other two-way opening earlier today when they signed Duane Washington Jr.

Thunder Officially Sign Mike Muscala

August 4th, 2022 at 12:01pm CST by JD Shaw

The Thunder have officially signed veteran big man Mike Muscala, the team announced in a press release today. Oklahoma City originally agreed to re-sign the 31-year-old during the initial hours of free agency on June 30 and now has a full 20-man offseason roster.

Muscala, 6’10”, played 43 games with the Thunder last season. He averaged 8.0 points and 3.0 rebounds, playing 13.8 minutes per contest. He also shot 45.6% from the floor and 42.9% from deep.

As of now, Muscala is the oldest player on Oklahoma City’s roster. He and Derrick Favors, also 31, can serve as mentors to young players such as Josh Giddey, Chet Holmgren and Aleksej Pokusevski — whether on the court or in the locker room.

Muscala first joined the Thunder as a free agent in 2019. Before that, he was drafted No. 44 overall in 2013 and played for the Hawks, Sixers and Lakers. He’s expected to provide frontcourt depth for a team that finished just 24-58 last season.

Assuming Muscala signed a fully guaranteed contract, he’s the 17th Thunder player with a guaranteed salary for 2022/23. Vit Krejci also has a partial guarantee, so the team will have to trade or release three players before opening night to get down to the 15-man regular season limit.

Trail Blazers Sign Isaiah Miller

August 3rd, 2022 at 9:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

9:00pm: Miller has officially signed with Portland, according to the NBA transactions log at RealGM.

4:28pm: Isaiah Miller has a contract agreement with the Trail Blazers, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. The free agent guard will be given an opportunity to win a roster spot in training camp, sources tell Haynes.

Miller, 24, signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Timberwolves last September after going undrafted out of UNC Greensboro. He spent the season in the G League as an affiliate player with the Iowa Wolves, averaging 12.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 32 games.

Miller attended a free agent mini-camp with the Jazz in early June and earned a spot on Utah’s Summer League roster. He appeared in two games and averaged 5.0 PPG.

Portland currently has 15 players with guaranteed contracts, but only one of the team’s two-way slots is filled.

Trail Blazers Sign Norvel Pelle

August 3rd, 2022 at 7:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

7:48pm: The signing is now official, per RealGM’s NBA transactions log. Pelle will compete for a two-way roster spot, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

7:04pm: Norvel Pelle will sign a training camp contract with the Trail Blazers, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The 29-year-old center had two brief NBA appearances last season when he signed 10-day contracts with the Celtics and Jazz under the hardship exception. He didn’t play during his time in Boston, but appeared in three games with Utah, averaging 2.0 points and 2.0 rebounds in 6.3 minutes per night.

After going undrafted in 2013, Pelle played in the G League and spent time overseas before getting an opportunity with the Sixers during the 2019/20 season. He also had short stays with the Nets, Kings and Knicks.

In case you missed it, free agent guard Isaiah Miller is also expected to complete a deal with Portland.

Suns Sign Duane Washington To Two-Way Deal

August 3rd, 2022 at 3:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

AUGUST 3: The Suns have issued a press release officially announcing the signing of Washington.

AUGUST 2: Free agent guard Duane Washington Jr. has agreed to a two-way contract with the Suns, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Washington, 22, averaged 9.9 PPG and 1.8 APG in 20.2 MPG for the Pacers as a rookie last season while appearing in 48 games, including seven starts. Washington went undrafted out of Ohio State.

Phoenix has both of its two-way slots open, so the team will able to sign another two-way player in addition to Washington, who adds depth at the point behind Chris Paul and Cameron Payne.

Washington was waived last month as Indiana cleared cap space to give restricted free agent Deandre Ayton an offer sheet that Phoenix matched. Washington played most of last season on a two-way deal, then received a standard multiyear contract. However, his salary for next season was not guaranteed and he was waived just before it became guaranteed.