Sixers Sign Jabari Walker To Two-Year Deal
February 19: Walker’s promotion to the standard roster is official, the Sixers announced today in a press release.
February 16: The Sixers are signing forward Jabari Walker to a two-year deal, Shams Charania reports for ESPN (via Twitter).
Earlier this month, Walker became the first player on a two-way contract to reach his 50-game active game limit, which forced him to miss Philadelphia’s last four games heading into the All-Star break.
By trading Jared McCain for a draft pick and Eric Gordon for the draft rights to Justinian Jessup, the Sixers opened up spots to convert both Walker and Dominick Barlow to standard contracts. Barlow signed a two-year deal with a team option on February 5.
After spending his first three seasons with the Blazers, Walker joined the Sixers on a two-way contract and quickly won a bench role in coach Nick Nurse‘s rotation.
Still just 23 years old, Walker brings defensive versatility and intensity on the wing, though he has struggled with his shot, hitting just 27.0% of his threes this season.
The Sixers are also signing veteran point guard Cameron Payne to their 15-man roster. He and Walker will fill Philadelphia’s 14th and 15th roster spots, but the team will have enough room below the luxury tax line after finalizing those contracts to make another roster move at the end of the season if necessary, notes Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (via Twitter).
Suns Sign Haywood Highsmith
FEBRUARY 18: The Highsmith signing is official, relays Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link).
FEBRUARY 14: The Suns are signing free agent forward Haywood Highsmith to a multiyear contract, agent Jerry Dianis tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
According to Charania, “multiple playoff teams” were pursuing Highsmith before he decided to join Phoenix. The Lakers and Sixers were linked to Highsmith over the past week.
A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Highsmith has yet to play a game this season after he underwent surgery to address a torn meniscus in his right knee in August and experienced a setback in his rehab in October. However, Dianis recently told Michael Scotto of HoopsHype his client is healthy and had been targeting February 11 for his 2025/26 debut prior to being waived by the Nets.
A 6’5″ combo forward, Highsmith averaged 6.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.9 steals in 22.7 minutes per game across 140 appearances from 2023/24 and 2024/25. He spent four seasons with Miami, which traded him to Brooklyn in the offseason.
Highsmith is known as a strong, versatile defender and he has improved his outside shot over the years as well. The 29-year-old converted 38.8% of his three-point looks over the past two seasons.
John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 confirms the news and says the second year of Highsmith’s contract isn’t fully guaranteed (Twitter link).
The Suns had an opening on their 15-man standard roster, which means no corresponding move will be necessary to sign Highsmith.
Timberwolves Waive Johnny Juzang
The Timberwolves are waiving guard Johnny Juzang, reports Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link). The transaction is official, per NBA.com.
Juzang was among the players on two-way contracts who recently reached their respective 50-game limits, so Minnesota would have had to promote him to its 15-man roster in order to keep him active. Instead, the Wolves will let him go, giving him the opportunity to latch on with a new team before the March 4 deadline for two-way signings.
As Krawczynski observes, Juzang had a big preseason for the Wolves, averaging 13.8 points in 17.6 minutes per game across five outings while making 48.3% of his three-point tries. However, that October production didn’t carry over to the regular season.
Although Juzang was active for 50 regular season NBA games, he only actually saw action in 21 of them and was a DNP-CD in the other 29. The 24-year-old played more than 10 minutes just once and logged 88 minutes in total, rarely playing outside of garbage time.
The move opens up a two-way slot for the Wolves alongside big man Rocco Zikarsky and forward Enrique Freeman.
Heat Sign Trevor Keels To Two-Way Contract
The Heat have signed guard Trevor Keels to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release. Keels will slide into the two-way slot that opened up when Miami promoted Myron Gardner to its 15-man roster earlier in the day.
A former Duke guard who appeared in three games for New York during the 2022/23 season, Keels has been playing in the G League for the last few years, spending time with the Westchester Knicks, the Iowa Wolves, and – most recently – the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s affiliate.
In 35 games for Sioux Falls this season, Keels has scored 18.5 points per game on .453/.400/.731 shooting while also contributing 3.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.2 steals in 32.5 minutes per contest.
Although Keels has yet to establish himself as an NBA player, he’s still just 22 years old and has multiple years of two-way eligibility remaining, so he should have an opportunity to stick with the Heat as a developmental player if he has a strong finish to this season.
The Heat will be able to have Keels active for up to 16 regular season games going forward.
Clippers Promote Jordan Miller To Standard Roster
3:03 pm: The Clippers have officially signed Miller to a new standard contract, the team confirmed.
10:38 am: After elevating Kobe Sanders from his two-way contract to their 15-man roster earlier this month, the Clippers will take the same route with another two-way standout, forward Jordan Miller. According to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), Miller has agreed to sign a new two-year standard contract with the team.
The 48th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Miller didn’t play much during his first two NBA seasons, appearing in just 45 games and averaging 10.0 minutes per night. However, the 26-year-old began to receive regular rotation minutes for L.A. in mid-December and has since emerged as a reliable contributor.
Miller has appeared in each of the Clippers’ last 29 games and the club has gone 20-9 during that time. In his past 18 outings, the 6’5″ wing has averaged 12.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 steals in 25.9 minutes per game while making 52.6% of his shots from the floor.
Miller still had 15 games of eligibility left on his two-way contract, but the Clippers have nearly reached their “under-15” limit for two-way players. Teams are only permitted to use players on two-way contracts for a total of 90 combined games as long as they’re carrying fewer than 15 players on standard contracts — L.A. is at 88, per Spotrac.
In other words, the Clippers would’ve needed to keep their 15th roster spot filled in order to continue using Miller anyway, so the team has opted to simply promote him into that opening. L.A. will now have a pair of two-way slots open and will be able to activate whichever players fill those openings without worrying about the under-15 rule.
As for Miller, he’ll receive a minimum-salary contract that includes a team option for 2026/27, reports Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). His exact rest-of-season salary – and the Clippers’ accompanying cap hit – will depend on when the team officially completes the signing, but if it happens today, both figures would be $712,637.
Heat Sign Myron Gardner To Three-Year Deal
The Heat have filled the open spot on their 15-man roster by promoting swingman Myron Gardner from his two-way contract, the team confirmed today in a press release. Gardner and the Heat reached an agreement on a three-year contract, agent Jake Cohen tells NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).
The deal won’t be guaranteed beyond this season, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). Chiang describes the second- and third-year guarantees as “conditional,” which suggests Gardner will have to remain under contract through certain dates to receive his full salary for those seasons.
Gardner, who went undrafted out of Arkansas-Little Rock in 2023, spent two seasons with the Osceola Magic in the G League before signing a two-way contract with Miami last July.
The 6’6″ wing barely played for the Heat through the first two months of the season, but has seen more action since the start of January and has recently been thrust into a starting role. In his last seven games before the All-Star break, Gardner made four starts and averaged 7.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 17.7 minutes per night, with a .474/.444/.714 shooting line.
As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel observes, while the Heat have a full 15-man roster, they still have enough room below the luxury tax line to bring in another free agent at some point in the coming weeks if they want to. In that scenario, Terry Rozier would be the obvious candidate to be cut.
Miami will have until March 4 to sign a two-way player to fill the opening created by Gardner’s promotion.
Cameron Payne Signs With Sixers
February 18: Payne has officially signed with the Sixers, the team confirmed today in a press release.
February 16, 11:41 am: Partizan Belgrade has officially announced Payne’s departure for the NBA and the $1.75MM buyout fee it will receive to release him, Stein tweets.
February 16, 8:59 am: Cameron Payne will leave his European team and join the Sixers for the rest of the season, league sources tell Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link).
The 31-year-old guard was in training camp with the Pacers last fall, but was waived before the season began. In December, he agreed to a deal with KK Partizan in Serbia, heading overseas for the first time in his career.
However, Payne has been held out of recent games, sparking rumors that he might be headed elsewhere, according to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. He appeared in just 10 games for Partizan, averaging 12.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.2 steals. Askounis adds that the Serbian team will receive $1.75MM in a buyout agreement.
It may take some time to secure Payne’s release from Partizan, Stein tweets. The Sixers have to obtain a Letter of Clearance from FIBA, and they can only contribute up to $875K toward his buyout.
The move will mark a return to Philadelphia for Payne, who finished the 2023/24 season with the Sixers after being acquired from Milwaukee at the trade deadline. He averaged 9.3 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 31 games and remained in the team’s rotation for the playoffs.
Payne signed with the Knicks in the summer of 2024 and appeared in 72 games last season before becoming a free agent again.
The Sixers are down to 13 players on standard contracts after 10-day deals for Charles Bassey and Patrick Baldwin Jr. expired over the weekend. They have enough room to add two players on prorated veteran minimum contracts for the rest of the season without going into luxury tax territory, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).
Philadelphia is low on experienced guards after trading Jared McCain to Oklahoma City, so Payne will have a chance to contribute right away. The Sixers’ season will resume Thursday against Atlanta.
Spurs Add Mason Plumlee On 10-Day Contract
10:00 pm: The Spurs officially completed the signing on Tuesday, per NBA.com’s transaction log. The deal will cover San Antonio’s next five games and will expire after next Thursday’s contest in Brooklyn.
6:54 pm: The Spurs are signing veteran big man Mason Plumlee on a 10-day contract, agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
San Antonio has an opening on its 15-man roster and won’t have to make a corresponding move to make room for Plumlee. The Spurs opened up a roster spot when they waived Jeremy Sochan, who later signed with the Knicks.
Plumlee became a free agent earlier this month when he was cut by the Thunder shortly after they acquired him from the Hornets. The big man, who turns 36 next month, fits the description of journeyman. He has played for Brooklyn, Portland, Denver, Detroit, the Clippers, and Phoenix, as well as two stints with the Hornets.
Plumlee has appeared in 874 regular season games, averaging 7.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 21.7 minutes per contest. He played regularly for the Suns in 2024/25 but had a modest role in Charlotte this season, seeing action in just 14 games (two starts) while averaging 1.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 8.9 minutes per night.
He’ll add a little frontcourt depth for San Antonio coming out of the All-Star break but it remains to be seen how long he’ll stick with his latest NBA franchise.
Magic Sign Alex Morales To Two-Way Contract
The Magic have called up guard Alex Morales from their G League affiliate, signing him to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link). In a corresponding move, the Magic waived center Orlando Robinson.
Morales, who went undrafted out of Wagner in 2022, has spent nearly his entire professional career with Orlando’s G League team, now known as the Osceola Magic. The 28-year-old has also had a couple stints with Osos de Manatí in Puerto Rico between NBA seasons, but he has signed Exhibit 10 contracts with Orlando for four consecutive years and has appeared in a total of 168 NBAGL games for Osceola (formerly the Lakeland Magic).
In 30 G League outings this season, Morales has put up career-best averages of 16.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.0 steals in 34.2 minutes per game. His shooting numbers – 52.1% from the floor, 40.3% on three-pointers, and 82.0% from the free throw line – are all career highs too.
While it remains to be seen how many opportunities Morales will get to actually play for the NBA team in the coming weeks, the Magic are rewarding him for his performance this season by signing him to the first two-way contract of his career. He’ll be eligible to be active for up to 16 regular season games for Orlando.
As for Robinson, despite being appropriately named for the organization, he made just four appearances for Orlando this season after signing a two-way deal last July. The 25-year-old center, who has also played for Miami, Sacramento, and Toronto since making his NBA debut in 2022, appeared in 10 games for Osceola this season, averaging 17.1 PPG, 10.7 RPG, and 1.5 BPG.
Morales’ new two-way deal covers two seasons, according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). Jamal Cain and Colin Castleton are the Magic’s other two-way players.
Warriors Sign Nate Williams To Two-Way Deal
February 17: The Warriors have officially signed Williams to a two-way contract, according to the NBA.com transaction log.
February 16: The Warriors are signing Nate Williams to a two-way contract, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line tweets.
Also known as Jeenathan Williams, the 6’5” shooting guard has been playing for the NBA G League’s Long Island Nets while awaiting another NBA opportunity. He was on a training camp contract with the Lakers last fall but was waived in October.
Williams, who turned 27 last Thursday, spent last season with the Rockets, first on a two-way deal and eventually on a standard contract. He got into 20 games, averaging 3.3 PPG and 0.7 RPG in 7.4 MPG, then was waived by Houston over the summer.
After the Lakers let him go, Williams hooked on with the Nets’ G League affiliate. He has averaged 18.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals in 34 minutes per game over 35 appearances. He’s made 47.2% of his field goal attempts, including 36.5% from long range.
Williams also appeared in 22 games with Houston in 2023/24 and five games with Portland the previous season. He went undrafted out of Buffalo in 2022.
Golden State had a two-way opening and won’t need to make a corresponding move. The Warriors created a two-way opening by promoting Pat Spencer right after the trade deadline.