Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Thunder Waive Sacha Killeya-Jones, Sign Robert Woodard II

October 4th, 2022 at 12:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

Sacha Killeya-Jones, who signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Thunder on Sunday, has been placed on waivers, the team announced (via Twitter).

In a corresponding move, Oklahoma City has signed forward Robert Woodard II, tweets Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman.

Woodard spent the past two seasons with the Kings, appearing in 25 combined games. After being waived in February, he played for the Thunder’s G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, which is where Mussatto expects him to wind up again.

Killeya-Jones’ deal with OKC was first reported in late July, but it didn’t become official until over the weekend. He reached the Exhibit 10 agreement with OKC after playing for the Lakers during Summer League.

The 6’11” power forward spent three seasons overseas after going undrafted out of N.C. State in 2019. He will also likely join the Oklahoma City Blue and can earn a bonus worth up to $50K if he spends at least 60 days there.

Nuggets Exercise Bones Hyland’s 2023/24 Option

October 4th, 2022 at 8:53am CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets have picked up their team option on Bones Hyland for 2023/24, reports Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link). The move locks in Hyland’s $2,306,400 salary for his third NBA season.

The No. 26 overall pick in the 2021 draft, Hyland enjoyed a successful rookie season that saw him establish himself as a regular part of Denver’s backcourt rotation. The 22-year-old averaged 10.1 PPG, 2.8 APG, and 2.7 RPG in 69 appearances (19.0 MPG), with a shooting line of .403/.366/.856.

Even with Jamal Murray returning to action this season, Hyland is expected to once again play a key role for the Nuggets, who traded away point guard Monte Morris over the summer.

Denver’s next decision on Hyland – on his 2024/25 option – will be due next fall. Assuming that option is picked up, Hyland will become extension-eligible during the 2024 offseason and would be a restricted free agent in 2025 if he doesn’t sign an extension before then.

The Nuggets are also exercising their 2023/24 option on Zeke Nnaji. We’re tracking all of this year’s rookie scale team option decisions right here.

Pelicans Sign Larry Nance Jr. To Two-Year Extension

October 3rd, 2022 at 10:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

OCTOBER 3: Nance has officially signed the extension, according to a team press release.

OCTOBER 1: The Pelicans and forward Larry Nance Jr. have reached an agreement on a two-year, $21.6MM extension, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Nance is entering the final year of a four-year, $44.8MM contract. He’ll make $9,672,727 this season.

There are no team or player options included in the new extension, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets.

Nance, 29, has bounced around the league a little bit but has always been coveted for his versatility. He launched his career with the Lakers and played three-and-a-half seasons with Cleveland. He began last season on Portland’s roster but was part of the blockbuster deal that brought CJ McCollum to New Orleans.

Nance appeared in a total of 46 regular season games last season. Overall, he’s appeared in 396 regular season contests, averaging 8.1 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.9 APG and 1.2 SPG in 24.1 MPG.

He projects as Zion Williamson‘s backup this season and now, apparently, for the next two seasons as well.

As Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune notes (Twitter link), the Pelicans will now have eight players — McCollum, Brandon Ingram, Williamson, Devonte’ Graham, Dyson Daniels, Trey Murphy, Jose Alvarado and Nance — under contract for the next three seasons.

Nuggets Pick Up Zeke Nnaji’s Option

October 3rd, 2022 at 6:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nuggets are picking up forward/center Zeke Nnaji’s fourth-year option for the 2023/24 season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Nnaji, the 22nd pick of the 2020 draft, has appeared in 83 regular season games during his two seasons, averaging 4.9 points and 2.6 rebounds in 13.2 minutes per game. The option is worth $4,306,281.

The 6’9” big man could see time at both power forward and center this season. He’s fighting veterans Jeff Green and DeAndre Jordan for playing time behind Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic. He will make $2,617,800 this season.

Nnaji added 10 pounds of muscle during the offseason and has impressed during the summer and in camp, Mike Singer of the Denver Post tweets.

Pelicans Convert John Butler To Two-Way Contract

October 3rd, 2022 at 5:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

John Butler has received a two-way contract from the Pelicans, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.

New Orleans signed Butler to an Exhibit 10 contract late last month.

Butler, a 7’2″ center, played four games with the Pelicans during summer league this year. He averaged 8.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 16.7 minutes, shooting 12-of-16 from the floor (75%) and 6-of-9 from three-point range (67%). The 19-year-old went undrafted out of Florida State in June.

An intriguing prospect, Butler will likely spend the bulk of his rookie season in the G League. He spent only one season in college and posted modest stats for the Seminoles despite starting 24 of 31 games. He averaged 5.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 19 minutes per game but showed a nice 3-point touch (39.3%).

The Pelicans had an open two-way slot, with Dereon Seabron in possession of the other two-way deal.

Warriors Waive Trevion Williams

October 3rd, 2022 at 3:13pm CST by Rory Maher

The Warriors have waived big man Trevion Williams, the team’s PR department announced (via Twitter). Golden State also confirmed that it has waived Mac McClung, as expected.

Williams and McClung were waived to reportedly make room for Ty Jerome and Anthony Lamb on the 20-man training camp roster. Williams was signed to an Exhibit 10 deal, so he could earn a $50K bonus if he spends at least 60 days with the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s G League affiliate. McClung’s contract did not contain Exhibit 10 language.

Williams, 22, went undrafted in June’s draft. He had a productive college career with the Purdue Boilermakers, earning a couple of All-Big Ten honors the past two seasons while averaging a combined 13.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG and 2.7 APG while shooting 53.5% from the floor and 55.2% from the line in 65 games (30 starts, 22.3 MPG). He was named Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year in 2021/22.

It took a month for Williams to find an NBA contract even though he was high on ESPN’s list of best undrafted players. He spent Summer League with the Celtics and appeared in two preseason games with Golden State, averaging 2.5 PPG and 3.5 RPG in just 5.7 MPG.

Celtics Sign Blake Griffin

October 3rd, 2022 at 12:04pm CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 3: The signing is official, the Celtics announced in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 30: The Celtics have agreed to a deal with free agent big man Blake Griffin, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski, Griffin will sign a fully guaranteed one-year contract with Boston.

The deal will be worth the veteran’s minimum, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe confirms (via Twitter). Griffin will earn $2,905,851, while the Celtics will take on a cap hit of $1,836,090.

Griffin, 33, spent last season in Brooklyn, averaging 6.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game for the Nets in 56 appearances (17.1 MPG). His shooting line was just .425/.262/.724.

The six-time All-Star’s role and production have declined significantly since his prime years with the Clippers and Pistons. Last season was the first time he came off the bench more often than he started, the first time he averaged fewer than 25 minutes per game, and the first time he averaged fewer than 11 points per game.

Still, the Celtics won’t be expecting Griffin to recapture his All-Star form. Boston simply needs more reliable depth in a frontcourt that has already been hit hard by injuries. Danilo Gallinari is expected to miss most or all of the 2022/23 season while recovering from a torn ACL, while Robert Williams will be out until at least November or December following knee surgery.

Multiple reports leading up to training camp indicated that the Celtics wanted to take a look at their in-house options before deciding whether to sign a veteran free agent. Several days into camp, it seems the team had seen enough to recognize that another veteran was necessary.

The Cetlics had no shortage of options in free agency — LaMarcus Aldridge, Carmelo Anthony, Hassan Whiteside, DeMarcus Cousins, Tristan Thompson, and Dwight Howard are among the unsigned veterans still on the market. But the team attended Griffin’s recent workouts in Los Angeles and liked what it saw there, per Himmelsbach.

Boston has a full 20-man training camp roster, so the club will need to waive a player in order to make room for Griffin. I’d expect one of the six players on a non-guaranteed contract – Noah Vonleh, Jake Layman, Justin Jackson, Brodric Thomas, Luka Samanic, or Denzel Valentine – to be cut to open up a spot.

Rockets Sign Bruno Fernando To Four-Year Deal

October 2nd, 2022 at 8:00pm CST by JD Shaw

8:00pm: The deal is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

4:58pm: The Rockets have agreed to a four-year, $10.9MM deal with center Bruno Fernando, his agents informed ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Fernando was recently converted from an Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way contract, but he’ll be converted again to this multiyear deal. The team wouldn’t have been able to convert him directly from his Exhibit 10 deal to a multiyear contract, but the intermediate step of the two-way made it possible.

Houston acquired Fernando, 24, in a deal with the Celtics earlier this year. The team sent away center Daniel Theis, also receiving Dennis Schröder and Enes Freedom. Fernando averaged 6.9 points and 4.0 rebounds in 10 games with Houston to finish the season.

At 6’9″ and 240 pounds, Fernando is an athletic big man who lives around the rim. He has played in 119 NBA games with Atlanta, Boston and Houston during his career. He was also the No. 34 pick in 2019 after spending two collegiate seasons at Maryland.

With the move, Houston will reopen a two-way spot. The team finished with the worst record in the league last season at 20-62.

Heat Sign Tyler Herro To Four-Year Extension

October 2nd, 2022 at 5:31pm CST by JD Shaw

6:28pm: Miami has officially announced Herro’s four-year extension.

“Tyler is an impact multi-faceted player and we are excited to have him signed for the next five years,” Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement. “His improvement every year since we drafted him has led to this day. We believe he will continue to get better.”

5:31pm: The Heat have agreed to a four-year, $130MM contract extension with star guard Tyler Herro, his agents tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald relays (via Twitter) that $120MM is guaranteed, while the other $10MM can be earned via incentives. Herro’s extension will begin in 2023/24.

With the deal, Miami now has both of its young stars, Herro and Bam Adebayo, under contract long-term. The team has a healthy blend of young players and veterans and is expected to once again compete for a title this season.

Herro averaged 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game last year, winning the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award. He’ll likely make a strong case in training camp for starting this season.

Herro is entering his fourth season with Miami. Last season was his best campaign since being drafted No. 13 overall by the team in 2019. At just 22 years old, he has ample time to continue improving and establish himself as a cornerstone piece for the Heat.

Miami had until opening night to reach an extension with Herro, otherwise, he would’ve reached restricted free agency next summer. He previously said he wouldn’t sign for anything he believes is less than his market value.

“I want to be here. I want to be in Miami,” Herro said. “But I’m not rushed to sign anything. It’s got to make sense for me and my family. I’m not just going to sign anything. I see the market, I see what guys got paid and I know my worth. So I’m looking for the right number.”

Thunder Sign Sacha Killeya-Jones To Exhibit 10 Deal

October 2nd, 2022 at 12:41pm CST by Dana Gauruder

OCTOBER 2: The Thunder have officially announced the signing of Killeya-Jones (Twitter link).

JULY 26: The Thunder have agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal with Sacha Killeya-Jones, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.

The 6’11” big man played six games with the Lakers’ Summer League team, averaging 6.8 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 19.1 MPG.

Killeya-Jones went undrafted in 2020 after passing through three major colleges, including a 14-game stint with Kentucky. He played for Hapoel Gilboa Galil of the Israeli Premier League last season and also suited up for Great Britain at FIBA EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers.

The addition of Killeya-Jones adds to Oklahoma City’s overload of players. As our roster counts page shows, the Thunder already have 19 players under contract and have reportedly reached agreements with four more. Some of their Exhibit 10 signees may end up being quickly waived in order to make room for others.

Killeya-Jones will likely be cut before the regular season begins and could subsequently join the Thunder’s G League team, the Oklahoma City Blue, as an affiliate player. In that scenario, he’d receive a bonus worth up to $50K if he spends at least 60 days with the Blue.