Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacers Sign Kendall Brown, James Johnson, Three Others

September 16th, 2022 at 12:16pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers have officially announced a series of signings, confirming in a press release that they’ve signed second-round pick Kendall Brown to a two-way contract. Additionally, forwards James Johnson and Bennie Boatwright and guards David Stockton and Gabe York have signed with the club.

Brown, a 6’8″ forward who was selected with the No. 48 overall pick in this year’s draft, was one of the only remaining unsigned players in the 2022 class, besides those who will spend the 2022/23 overseas. The 19-year-old spent his first and only college season at Baylor in 2021/22, averaging 9.7 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 1.9 APG on .584/.341/.689 shooting in 34 games (27.0 MPG) for the Bears.

The Pacers were the NBA’s only team that had yet to fill one of its two-way contract slots, so even after signing Brown, the club has another two-way opening available.

Of the four veteran free agents to sign with Indiana, Johnson is the most notable. The 35-year-old spent most of last season in Brooklyn, registering 5.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 62 appearances (19.2 MPG) for the Nets. A 13-year NBA veteran, Johnson has a somewhat limited offensive game, but is considered a versatile, athletic defender. He was waived by the Nets just days before the regular season ended and should have an opportunity to make the Pacers’ regular season roster.

Boatwright and York played for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants – the Pacers’ G League affiliate – last season and look like good candidates to return to Fort Wayne in 2022/23. Stockton played in the G League last season for the Memphis Hustle, but his rights were acquired by the Mad Ants last month, so he’s also a good bet to play in Fort Wayne this season.

The Pacers now have a full 20-man roster. Assuming Johnson, Boatwright, York, and Stockton didn’t receive guaranteed contracts, the team has 13 players on fully guaranteed salaries, six on non-guaranteed deals, and Brown on a two-way pact. We can probably expect more roster turnover in Indiana in the coming weeks, since the club has reportedly reached Exhibit 10 agreements with several other players.

Malik Ellison Joins Hawks On Exhibit 10 Contract

September 16th, 2022 at 12:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

SEPTEMBER 16: The Hawks have officially announced the signing of Ellison, confirming the move in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 15: Malik Ellison will sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Hawks, Ellison’s agent Jerry Dianis informs Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

The 6’6″ shooting guard out of Hartford joined Atlanta’s NBAGL club, the College Park Skyhawks, to start the 2021/22 season. In December, the Hawks signed Ellison to a 10-day deal, though he did not appear in a single game for Atlanta. Instead, he returned to College Park to close out the year.

Across 26 regular season contests with the Skyhawks, he averaged 6.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 0.8 APG, 0.6 SPG, and 0.6 BPG, with a shooting line of .443/.316/.833. Ellison is coming off an August run with USA Basketball, where he helped Team USA qualify for the 2023 World Cup.

Ellison is on track to join fellow Exhibit 10 signings Tyson Etienne and Chris Silva when Atlanta’s training camp opens later this month. The team has 13 players inked to guaranteed deals on its standard 15-man roster, plus a 14th, Tyrese Martin, on a partially guaranteed deal. Both of the Hawks’ two-way slots are occupied. It is more likely than not that Ellison will return to the Skyhawks to open the season.

Nets Bring Back Guard Chris Chiozza

September 16th, 2022 at 11:22am CST by Dana Gauruder

11:22am: Chiozza signed an Exhibit 10 contract, per NetsDaily (Twitter link).

9:31am: The Nets have signed free agent guard Chris Chiozza, according to a team press release.

Chiozza has appeared in 91 regular season NBA games during his career, including 40 with the Nets from 2019-21. He saw action in 10 playoff games with Brooklyn during that span.

He has also played for the Warriors, Wizards and Rockets with career averages of 3.3 PPG and 2.4 APG in 11.4 MPG.

Last season, he appeared in 34 games with Golden State after signing a two-way contract. He became a free agent when the Warriors didn’t extend a $1,968,175 qualifying offer to him in late June.

The terms of his latest contract weren’t disclosed, but it’s likely to be a non-guaranteed deal with Chiozza looking to secure a spot on the 15-man roster. Brooklyn has 12 players on guaranteed deals and three others on non- or partially-guaranteed contracts.

Nets Sign David Duke Jr. To Another Two-Way Contract

September 16th, 2022 at 9:14am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nets have re-signed guard David Duke Jr. to a two-way contract, according to a team press release.

The signing came as no surprise, as a report surfaced late last month that Duke was likely to return on a two-way deal. Former Wake Forest guard Alondes Williams holds the other two-way slot. Duke will earn about $502K (half the rookie minimum) on the deal, and could eventually have it converted into a standard contract if he’s productive.

The Nets tendered a two-way contract offer to Duke earlier this summer. Duke had initially passed on the proposal and was reportedly eyeing a spot on Brooklyn’s 15-man roster but eventually settled for another two-way deal.

Duke Jr. played on a two-way contract last season. In 22 games (seven starts) for Brooklyn, he averaged 4.7 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 15.5 MPG. The 22-year-old started games for the G League Long Island Nets, averaging 16.2 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 3.3 APG and 1.5 SPG in 29.5 MPG. He also averaged 19.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 4.0 APG and 1.4 SPG in 28.6 MPG in five Summer League games this July.

Prior to joining the Nets, Duke went undrafted in 2021 after playing three seasons at Providence College.

Javonte Smart To Sign Training Camp Deal With Pelicans

September 15th, 2022 at 5:23pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Free agent guard Javonte Smart is set to sign a training camp deal with the Pelicans, sources inform JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link).

After going undrafted out of LSU in 2021, the 6’4″ point guard inked two-way contracts with the Bucks and Heat during the 2021/22 season. Across 17 NBA games, the 23-year-old averaged 3.0 PPG, 1.4 RPG, and 0.9 APG across 11.8 MPG on .317/.296/.833 shooting splits.

In 25 contests with the Heat’s NBAGL affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Smart got considerably more run, averaging 21.1 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 3.6 APG, and 1.9 SPG. He also posted a shooting line of .419/.320/.754.

New Orleans currently has guards Daeqwon Plowden and John Petty signed to Exhibit 10 training camp contracts, making Smart their third addition whenever the agreement becomes official.

Knicks Sign DaQuan Jeffries To Camp Deal

September 15th, 2022 at 9:31am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 15: The Knicks have officially signed Jeffries, the team announced today in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 14: The Knicks are signing free agent swingman DaQuan Jeffries to a training camp contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Jeffries will receive an Exhibit 10 deal, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post (Twitter link).

Jeffries, 25, spent most of his first two NBA seasons with the Kings after going undrafted out of Tulsa in 2019. He spent time near the end of the 2020/21 season with the Rockets, then had a brief stint with the Grizzlies in ’21/22. In total, he has averaged 3.8 PPG and 1.9 RPG in 47 appearances (13.7 MPG) for Sacramento, Houston, and Memphis.

Jeffries has had a larger role at the G League level since going pro, recording averages of 15.7 PPG and 5.8 RPG on .469/.342/.778 shooting in 43 games (29.0 MPG) for the Stockton Kings and College Park Skyhawks.

Jeffries, who has also represented Team USA in several World Cup qualifying games over the last year, played for the Knicks’ Summer League team in Las Vegas this July.

The Knicks currently have 15 players officially under contract — 13 on guaranteed standard deals and a pair on two-way pacts. Jean Montero and Garrison Brooks have also reportedly agreed to Exhibit 10 contracts.

While it’s unclear what New York’s plans are for Jeffries, it’s possible he could claim one of the two open spots on the team’s projected 15-man regular season roster if he has a strong camp and preseason.

Celtics Officially Sign Jake Layman, Justin Jackson, Denzel Valentine

September 15th, 2022 at 8:32am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics have officially completed three previously reported deals with veteran free agents, signing forward Jake Layman, swingman Justin Jackson, and guard Denzel Valentine to their training camp roster, according to RealGM’s NBA transaction log.

A report in August indicated that Valentine would be signing an Exhibit 10 contract with Boston. The exact terms of the team’s agreements with Layman and Jackson, which were reported more recently, aren’t known, but those are presumably non-guaranteed camp deals as well.

All three veterans are expected to take part in a preseason competition for one of the Celtics’ back-end roster spots. The club currently has 10 players with guaranteed standard contracts, plus Al Horford with a significant partial guarantee. That leaves three – or possibly four – spots available on the regular season roster for a group of players with non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed salaries.

Besides Layman, Jackson, and Valentine, those camp invitees vying for roster spots includes Noah Vonleh, Luke Kornet, and Bruno Caboclo. Two-way players Mfiondu Kabengele and JD Davison could also be in the mix for promotions to standard contracts. Boston has one more open spot on its 20-man offseason roster, with restricted free agent Brodric Thomas among the top candidates to fill it.

A second-round pick in 2016, Layman has appeared in 243 regular season games across six NBA seasons in Portland and Minnesota. In total, the former Maryland forward – who is a Massachusetts native – has averaged 4.8 PPG and 1.7 RPG on .460/.300/.719 shooting in 12.8 minutes per contest over the course of his NBA career.

Jackson, the No. 15 overall pick in the 2017 draft, signed two 10-day contracts with the Suns last season and one with the Celtics, appearing in seven total games (just one with Boston). In Las Vegas this July, he averaged 15.0 PPG in four appearances (29.0 MPG) for Boston’s Summer League squad.

The 14th overall pick in the 2016 draft, Valentine spent the first five years of his NBA career in Chicago before signing last offseason with the Cavaliers. He played a minor role in 22 games for Cleveland, then was dealt in January to the Knicks, who waived him. Following a 10-day contract with the Jazz, Valentine played in the G League for the rest of the 2021/22 season. Considered a strong three-point shooter, Valentine has made 36.0% of his attempts from beyond the arc in 256 NBA appearances (18.8 MPG).

Pistons Waive Micah Potter

September 15th, 2022 at 7:09am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have waived center Micah Potter just days after officially signing him, Hoops Rumors has learned. Detroit had to cut Potter in order to make room on the 20-man offseason roster for Keifer Sykes, who signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the club.

Potter will be one of many players who is signed and then quickly waived by an NBA team in the coming weeks. The goal of these sign-and-waive transactions is generally to either secure the player’s G League rights as an affiliate player or to ensure that he’ll receive a $50K bonus as a returning rights player if and when he spends at least 60 days with the club’s G League squad.

In other words, Potter is likely to begin the season with the Motor City Cruise, the Pistons’ NBAGL team. The Cruise previously acquired his returning rights from the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat’s affiliate.

Potter, 24, initially signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Miami last fall after going undrafted out of Wisconsin. He was released before the regular season began and spent most of his rookie year with the Skyforce, averaging 17.2 PPG and 9.8 RPG on .539/.445/.731 shooting in 33 NBAGL games (28.8 MPG).

In addition to earning him a spot on the All-NBAGL Rookie Team, Potter’s strong performance at the G League level earned him a brief look at the NBA level. The Pistons signed him to a 10-day contract in December and he appeared in three regular season contests, scoring 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds in 31 total minutes.

Jazz Sign Paris Bass To Exhibit 10 Deal

September 14th, 2022 at 6:15pm CST by JD Shaw

SEPTEMBER 14: The contract with Bass is official, the Jazz announced in a press release.

AUGUST 7: The Jazz have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent forward Paris Bass, his agent Daniel Hazan tells Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Utah’s agreement with Bass is an Exhibit 10 deal, Tony Jones of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Bass will compete for a roster spot in training camp.

Bass most recently played for the Lakers during the Las Vegas and California Classic summer leagues, averaging 8.1 points and 3.1 rebounds in 16.2 minutes per game.

Bass, a 6’8″ forward, went undrafted in 2017 and has spent most of his career playing internationally. He signed two 10-day hardship contracts with the Suns this past season, and averaged 17.3 points and 7.0 rebounds with the Lakers’ G League affiliate on the campaign.

KZ Okpala Signs With Kings

September 14th, 2022 at 5:56pm CST by Arthur Hill

SEPTEMBER 14: The signing is now official, the Kings announced in a press release.

JULY 15: The Kings have reached a two-year agreement with free agent forward KZ Okpala, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. The deal was confirmed by Okpala’s agent, Aaron Mintz of CAA.

Okpala spent the past three seasons with the Heat, playing a combined 63 games. He got into 21 games last season, averaging 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per night, before being traded to the Thunder at the February deadline. Oklahoma City waived him two days later and he has been out of the league since then.

The 23-year-old has experience playing for new Sacramento coach Mike Brown as part of the Nigerian national team, Haynes notes (Twitter link).