Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Isaiah Hartenstein Signs Two-Year Deal With Knicks

July 12th, 2022 at 2:30pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 12: The Knicks have officially signed Hartenstein, the team announced (via Twitter).

“We are very excited to welcome Isaiah Hartenstein to the Knicks family,” said Knicks president Leon Rose. “He’s a versatile big man who impacts the game on both sides of the floor and who plays with a passion and energy that is contagious.”

JUNE 30: The Knicks and free agent center Isaiah Hartenstein have agreed to a two-year, $16.7MM deal, reports Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’ll be fully guaranteed, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Hartenstein had been linked to the Knicks in the days leading up to free agency, with New York said to be in the market for a backup at the five. The expectation is that the team will still re-sign Mitchell Robinson as its starting center, though no agreement is in place yet.

With Serge Ibaka still rounding into form following offseason back surgery, Hartenstein emerged early in the 2021/22 season as the Clippers’ primary backup center and thrived in the role, making 62.6% of his shots from the field and handing out 2.4 APG in just 17.9 minutes per contest. He even flashed the ability to hit the occasional three-pointer (14-of-30) and played solid defense.

Hartenstein has played for four teams in four NBA seasons and has never earned more than the minimum, but his performance this past season put him in a good position to land a multiyear deal and a raise, which he’ll get in New York.

If the Knicks are able to turn their deal with Jalen Brunson into a sign-and-trade, there are scenarios in which they operate over the cap this offseason, in which case Hartenstein would be in line for a chunk of the mid-level exception. However, if the club goes below the cap and uses room, it will have enough to accommodate both Brunson and Hartenstein.

Nuggets Sign DeAndre Jordan

July 12th, 2022 at 2:26pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 12: Jordan’s deal with the Nuggets is now official, the team announced.

JUNE 30: The Nuggets are signing DeAndre Jordan to back up two-time MVP Nikola Jokic at center, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

A source tells Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link) that Jordan will be signing a one-year contract worth the veteran’s minimum.

Jordan, who will turn 34 later this month, began the 2021/22 season on a minimum-salary contract with the Lakers. However, he was waived by Los Angeles in February and caught on with the Sixers for the rest of the season. In total, he appeared in 48 games for the two clubs, averaging 4.3 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 13.0 minutes per contest.

Jordan will no longer rank among the NBA’s leading rebounders and blocks like he did in his prime, but the Nuggets apparently believe he still has something left in the tank after an up-and-down ’21/22 campaign.

Danilo Gallinari Signs Two-Year Deal With Celtics

July 12th, 2022 at 11:14am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 12: The Celtics have officially signed Gallinari, the team announced in a press release.“We are thrilled to welcome Danilo to Boston,” president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said. “With his elite shooting abilities, he has long been established as of the league’s best scorers with size.”

JULY 10: After being waived by San Antonio on Friday, Gallinari has cleared waivers and agreed to a two-year, $13.3MM deal with the Celtics, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirms (via Twitter). The contract is fully guaranteed, agent Michael Tellem tells Wojnarowski.

JULY 1: Danilo Gallinari plans to sign with the Celtics after the Spurs officially release him, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported (via Twitter) that signing with Boston was Gallinari’s preference, after Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report suggested on Thursday that he was leaning that way.

Gallinari is expected to receive a two-year contract worth $13MM with a player option on the second season, sources tell Italian basketball writer Davide Chinellato (Twitter link). Boston will presumably use its taxpayer mid-level exception to complete the signing.

The 33-year-old forward, who spent the past two seasons with Atlanta, was sent to San Antonio this week in the Dejounte Murray trade. He agreed to push back the guarantee date on his $21.45MM contract for next season to help accommodate the deal and will likely receive a partial guarantee of about $10-11MM from the Spurs before being let go.

Gallinari will provide Boston with a veteran shooter who can play several positions. He has connected at 38.1% from three-point range during his career and averaged 11.7 points and 4.7 rebounds with the Hawks last season.

Injuries plagued Gallinari early in his career, but he has been relatively healthy over the past four seasons, playing 68, 62, 51 and 66 games.

The Bulls were also reportedly in the running for Gallinari.

Frank Kaminsky Signs One-Year Deal With Hawks

July 12th, 2022 at 10:05am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 12: The signing is official, the Hawks announced in a press release.

JULY 8: Free agent big man Frank Kaminsky has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Hawks, agents Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). It’ll be worth the veteran’s minimum, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Kaminsky began the 2021/22 season with the Suns and had a regular role in the team’s frontcourt rotation, averaging 10.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 1.4 APG on .545/.333/.900 shooting through his first nine games (20.1 MPG).

However, Kaminsky’s season came to an early end due to a stress reaction in his right knee, which required surgery. The Suns waived him in April, making him an unrestricted free agent, and a report last week indicated the 29-year-old was unlikely to return to Phoenix after spending the last three seasons with the team.

Kaminsky is fully recovered from that right knee procedure, tweets Wojnarowski.

Entering the day, the Hawks had only been carrying 12 players on guaranteed contracts for 2022/23 — it appears Kaminsky will become the 13th, filling one of the team’s remaining roster openings. The former lottery pick will join a frontcourt rotation headed by Clint Capela, John Collins, and Onyeka Okongwu.

Timberwolves Sign Bryn Forbes

July 12th, 2022 at 7:25am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 12: The Timberwolves have officially signed Forbes, according to the transactions log at NBA.com.

JULY 1: The Timberwolves have agreed to terms on a deal with free agent shooting guard Bryn Forbes, sources tell Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link). It will be a minimum-salary contract, tweets Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News adds (via Twitter) that it will cover just one year.

Forbes, who will turn 29 later this month, began the 2021/22 season in San Antonio and was traded to Denver prior to the deadline. In total, he appeared in 75 games for the two teams, averaging 8.8 PPG on .429/.414/.908 shooting in 17.1 MPG.

It was new president of basketball operations Tim Connelly who traded for Forbes this past season when he was still running the Nuggets’ front office.

Forbes is one of the NBA’s most reliable three-point shooters. Since his rookie year in 2016/17, he has knocked down at least 38.8% of his attempts from beyond the arc in five consecutive seasons, and he owns a career rate of 41.3%. However, he’s undersized for a shooting guard and can be targeted by opposing teams on defense.

The Wolves had been dealing with an apparent roster crunch entering the day, but opened up some roster spots when they agreed to send five players to Utah in a blockbuster trade for Rudy Gobert. Forbes projects as a bench piece who will help the club replenish its depth.

Spurs Sign Dominick Barlow To Two-Way Contract

July 11th, 2022 at 2:16pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JULY 11: The Spurs have officially signed Barlow to a two-way contract, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

JUNE 24: The Spurs are signing a two-way deal with free agent former Overtime Elite forward Dominick Barlow, reports Jake Weingarten of StockRisers (via Twitter).

The 6’9″ forward averaged 14.8 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.2 BPG and 1.1 SPG while with Overtime Elite. He logged shooting splits of .530/.364/.769.

Vaunted for his mobility, the 19-year-old opted to forgo college, the G League, and international play in favor of the relatively new Overtime Elite, a professional league alternative for NBA prospects aged 16-19.

Barlow will be joining three other new Spurs rookie additions following a jam-packed first round during the 2022 draft. San Antonio selected forward Jeremy Sochan with the ninth pick out of Baylor, Ohio State wing Malaki Branham at No. 20, and Notre Dame guard Blake Wesley at No. 25.

Knicks Trade Nerlens Noel, Alec Burks To Pistons

July 11th, 2022 at 10:04am CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 11: The Knicks and Pistons have officially completed their trade, the teams announced today in a pair of press releases.

As expected, the Pistons acquired Noel, Burks, cash, and the team’s own 2023 second-round pick. The second pick Detroit received will be either Minnesota’s or New York’s 2026 second-rounder, rather than the heavily protected Miami 2024 second-rounder described below.

The Knicks, meanwhile, received the draft rights to 2015 second-rounder Nikola Radicevic and a protected 2025 second-round pick. That pick will have top-55 protection, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic.

JUNE 28: The Knicks are trading center Nerlens Noel and guard Alec Burks to the Pistons, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

The Knicks will unload more than $19MM in 2022/23 salary in the deal, providing ample cap space to sign free agent guard Jalen Brunson. Noel has a $9.24MM salary next season, while Burks is due approximately $10MM.

Both players are signed through the 2023/24 season, but there are team options in the final year of their respective contracts — Noel at $9.68MM and Burks at approximately $10.5MM. Thus, those salaries could come off the Pistons’ cap next summer.

New York will send Detroit back its 2023 second-round pick, plus the Heat’s 2024 second-round pick (top-55 protected) and $6MM in cash as sweeteners to take those contracts off its books, Wojnarowski reports in a separate tweet.

The Pistons can absorb those salaries without sending out any contracts, since they were projected to have more cap space than any other team. The Knicks, meanwhile, should have now the cap room necessary to sign Jalen Brunson in free agency.

The Knicks and Pistons were also involved in a three-way draft-night agreement that included the Hornets. In that trade, Detroit took Kemba Walker‘s contract off New York’s books and acquired the draft rights to Jalen Duren.

The Pistons plan on keeping Burks and Noel, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Burks, a 38% career 3-point shooter, will give the Pistons a perimeter threat on the wing who can help mentor the young backcourt of Cade Cunningham and rookie Jaden Ivey. Noel provides depth in the middle behind Isaiah Stewart and Duren.

Despite the addition of Noel, the Pistons are still committed to bringing back restricted free agent Marvin Bagley III, Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press tweets.

Magic Sign Second-Rounder Caleb Houstan

July 10th, 2022 at 9:42pm CST by Rory Maher

The Magic have signed wing Caleb Houstan, the 32nd pick of last month’s draft, the team announced (via Twitter).

Houstan, 19, was a five-star recruit out of high school and a projected lottery pick entering college. However, he struggled a bit in his lone season with Michigan, averaging 10.1 PPG, 4 RPG and 1.4 APG on .384/.355/.783 shooting in 34 games (32 MPG), causing his draft stock to slide.

In an unusual move, Houstan was one of the only players to decline an invitation to this year’s draft combine, leading to speculation that he might have received a first-round promise. He wound up being the second pick of the second round instead.

The terms of Houstan’s deal were not disclosed, but if the Magic wanted to sign him to a three- or four-year deal, they would have to use part of their mid-level exception to do so, like the Grizzlies did with Kennedy Chandler and the Thunder did with Jaylin Williams.

Sixers Sign Michael Foster Jr.

July 10th, 2022 at 8:13pm CST by Rory Maher

The Sixers have signed undrafted rookie Michael Foster Jr., the team announced today in a press release.

Shams Charania of The Athletic indicated last month that Foster was heading to Philadelphia, so the news was expected. He’s currently a member of the Sixers’ Summer League squad.

Foster, a forward who played for the G League Ignite in 2021/22, is the No. 3 prospect on ESPN’s list of undrafted rookies. The former five-star recruit recorded 14.8 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.0 APG, and 1.9 BPG in 13 games (29.8 MPG) for the Ignite.

The terms of Foster’s agreement are unclear, but if it’s an Exhibit 10 deal, it’ll be a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary contract that could be converted into a two-way deal before the regular season begins. A player on an Exhibit 10 contract is also eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived and then becomes an affiliate player for his team’s G League squad.

Trevor Keels Signs Two-Way Contract With Knicks

July 10th, 2022 at 6:36pm CST by Rory Maher

Trevor Keels, the 42nd pick of last month’s draft, has signed a two-way contract with the Knicks, the team announced (via Twitter).

The news was anticipated, as Ian Begley of SNY.tv reported last month that Keels was likely to receive a two-way contract once Jericho Sims was promoted to a standard deal, which occurred yesterday. New York’s two-way slots are now full, with Feron Hunt occupying the other.

Keels was one of the youngest players in the draft at just 18 years old and won’t turn 19 until late next month. He spent a single college season at Duke, averaging 11.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals in 36 games (30.2 minutes per contest).

At 6’4″ and 221 pounds, Keels is a combo guard, with some scouts questioning his conditioning, which may have impacted his draft status. He was considered a fringe first-round pick but ultimately fell to the middle of the second round.

Another knock against Keels was his efficiency, as he posted a .419/.312/.670 shooting line with the Blue Devils. That has carried over to Summer League action thus far, with Keels shooting just 3-18 through a couple of games.

However, Keels is young, physically strong, and considered a versatile player on both ends of the court, with a knack for making good decisions. He was also a highly-touted prospect entering college and was the third-leading scorer on a stacked Duke team that reached the Final Four of the NCAA tournament.

If Keels remains on a two-way deal for all of 2022/23, he’ll earn about $509K, be limited to 50 games in the regular season and ineligible for the postseason. He will need to be promoted to a standard contract at some in order to be playoff-eligible.