Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Taj Gibson Signs One-Year Deal With Wizards

July 19th, 2022 at 4:19pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 19: Gibson has officially signed with the Wizards, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

JULY 10: Gibson has cleared waivers and agreed to a one-year contract with the Wizards, his agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Gibson will receive a minimum-salary deal, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic.

JULY 8, 4:35pm: Gibson intends to sign with the Wizards once he clears waivers, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll provide Washington with some additional frontcourt depth following the free agent departure of Thomas Bryant.

JULY 8, 3:59pm: The Knicks have officially waived big man Taj Gibson, the team announced today in a press release. He’ll clear waivers on Sunday, assuming he goes unclaimed.

Gibson, 37, appeared in 52 games for the Knicks last season, averaging 4.4 PPG and 4.4 RPG in 18.2 minutes per contest. He has long been a Tom Thibodeau favorite, having also played for the Knicks’ head coach in Chicago and Minnesota.

Gibson signed a two-year contract with the Knicks during the 2021 offseason, but his second-year salary of $5,155,500 for 2022/23 was non-guaranteed. By cutting him, New York will avoid being on the hook for any of that money.

In addition to waiving Gibson, New York has renounced Ryan Arcidiacono‘s free agent rights, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). The two moves are strong signals that the Knicks intend to go under the cap in order to complete their reported signings of Jalen Brunson, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Jericho Sims, rather than remaining over the cap by acquiring Brunson via sign-and-trade.

If the Knicks had been able to turn their Alec Burks/Nerlens Noel trade with Detroit into a three-team deal involving Dallas and Brunson, they could theoretically have used their mid-level exception to sign Hartenstein and Sims, retaining a $9MM+ trade exception and the $4.1MM bi-annual exception. However, clearing cap room for their signings is the simplest path, and will leave them with the $5.4MM room exception available.

As for Gibson, there’s a chance he could re-sign with the Knicks once he clears waivers, though a few other teams have expressed interest in him, notes Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link).

Raptors Sign Jeff Dowtin To Two-Way Deal

July 19th, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

4:00pm: The Raptors have officially signed Dowtin to a two-way contract, the team confirmed in a press release.

12:46pm: Free agent guard Jeff Dowtin will sign a two-way contract with the Raptors, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Dowtin is coming off a strong Summer League performance with Toronto, averaging 16.0 PPG while shooting 57.1% from the field in four games in Las Vegas.

The 25-year-old signed with the Magic last September, then was claimed off waivers by the Warriors before the start of the season. He played four games for Golden State before being waived again, then signed 10-day contracts with Milwaukee and Orlando.

Ron Harper Jr. holds the Raptors’ other two-way contract, so both slots will be filled once Dowtin’s signing becomes official.

Jaylin Williams Signs Four-Year Contract With Thunder

July 19th, 2022 at 2:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 19: The Thunder have officially signed Williams, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 9: The Thunder have reached an agreement with second-round pick Jaylin Williams, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Williams’ new contract will be worth $8.2MM over four seasons, per Charania. The team will use part of its non-taxpayer mid-level exception to complete the signing.

Oklahoma City took the 20-year-old big man – not to be confused with Thunder first-rounder Jalen Williams – with the 34th pick in last month’s draft. He was among four draft-night selections for OKC and should compete for playing time in the front court.

Williams played two years at Arkansas and averaged 10.9 points and 9.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore. He was a first-team all-SEC selection by the coaches this season and earned a spot on the conference’s All-Defensive Team.

Bucks Sign Serge Ibaka To One-Year Deal

July 19th, 2022 at 10:26am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 19: Ibaka’s deal is now official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

JULY 4: Free agent big man Serge Ibaka has agreed to re-sign with the Bucks on a one-year contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Ibaka, 32, was traded from the Clippers to the Bucks at the 2022 trade deadline and appeared in 19 regular season games for Milwaukee down the stretch, averaging 7.0 PPG and 5.3 RPG with a .519/.351/.800 shooting line in 17.8 MPG. He wasn’t part of the team’s playoff rotation.

Ibaka is a three-time All-Defensive player who led the NBA in blocks per game in 2012 and 2013 and was a key member of the Raptors’ 2019 championship team.

However, back issues have slowed him down to some extent in recent years — he underwent surgery in 2021 and didn’t look like his old self upon returning.

While terms of Ibaka’s new deal aren’t yet known, it appears the Bucks are confident in his ability to be a useful depth piece in the frontcourt now that he’s another year removed from that procedure on his back.

Ibaka is the fifth free agent to agree to terms with the Bucks in the last few days, joining Bobby Portis, Joe Ingles, Jevon Carter, and Wesley Matthews. Milwaukee also has eight players on existing guaranteed contracts, with first-rounder MarJon Beauchamp set to join that group.

Suns Re-Sign Deandre Ayton After Matching Pacers’ Offer Sheet

July 18th, 2022 at 9:14pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 18: The Suns have officially re-signed Ayton, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets via a team press release.

“Deandre is a force at both ends of the floor, who has elevated his game every year and will continue to do so,” GM James Jones said in a statement. “DA is so important to what we do and without him we could not have reached our recent levels of success.”

JULY 14, 7:28pm: The Suns have indeed opted to match the Pacers’ offer sheet for Ayton, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Ayton’s four-year deal is fully guaranteed, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (YouTube video link).

As detailed below, Ayton is now ineligible to be traded until January 15, and will possess veto power over any trade after that until next July.

With the new Ayton deal on their books, the Suns are facing a projected $32MM tax penalty for the 2022/23 season, per Marks (via Twitter).

7:10pm: Ayton has now signed his offer sheet with the Pacers, starting the clock for the Suns to match, Woj reports (via Twitter).

2:54pm: The Suns haven’t shown any inclination to work out a sign-and-trade with Indiana for Ayton, but they are expected to match the offer sheet once Ayton signs it, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

2:02pm: The Pacers are signing restricted free agent Deandre Ayton to a four-year, $133MM offer sheet, his agents Nima Namakian and Bill Duffy tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Once Ayton inks the deal, the Suns will have 48 hours to match the largest offer sheet in league history, Wojnarowski adds. ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets that Phoenix technically has until 11:59pm ET on Saturday to match the deal.

Sign-and-trades are not permissible once an offer sheet has been signed, so a potential swap for Pacers center Myles Turner is off the table once Ayton signs the deal. As Marks notes, if the Suns match the offer sheet, Ayton will have the ability to veto any trade starting January 15, which is when he’d be trade-eligible. He also cannot be traded to Indiana for a year.

However, in a follow-up tweet, Marks says that because Ayton hasn’t put pen to paper yet, the Suns and Pacers have until midnight ET to work out a possible sign-and-trade that might be mutually beneficial. What Indiana might get out of that arrangement is unclear.

John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix reports (Twitter links) that Ayton’s agents had been waiting for the right moment when they thought the Suns wouldn’t match an offer. The Pacers have no interest in a sign-and-trade, according to Gambadoro, who says Indiana knows the Suns don’t want to give Ayton — or any other center — a max deal.

According to Wojnarowski, the Suns never made Ayton a formal offer in free agency. Ayton’s agents told the team they’d be able to find a max offer, and now the Pacers are putting the Suns to the test.

As Marks observes (via Twitter), the Pacers technically can’t sign Ayton without making moves to clear additional cap space. They need to clear another $4.7MM to reach Ayton’s first-year starting salary of $30.9MM in 2022/23, so more maneuvers are imminent.

Marks noted in a recent appearance on 107.5 The Fan that the Pacers have multiple pathways to clear the needed cap space, as James Boyd of The Indianapolis Star relayed. Once those moves are made, they cannot be reversed if Phoenix decides to match.

Ayton, who turns 24 on July 23, was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 draft. In 58 games last season (29.5 MPG), the 6’11” center averaged 17.2 PPG and 10.2 RPG while shooting 63.4% from the floor and 74.6% from the line.

Ayton holds career averages of 16.3 PPG and 10.5 RPG in 236 regular season games (30.7 MPG). He was a key component of the Suns’ run to the NBA Finals in ’20/21, averaging 15.8 PPG, 11.8 RPG and 1.1 BPG in 22 postseason games (36.4 MPG).

An excellent finisher around the basket with a soft touch, Ayton has developed into a very solid defensive player over the past couple of years, anchoring Phoenix’s third-ranked defense last season. However, some have been critical about his shortcomings, mainly that he doesn’t get to the free throw line much despite a muscular frame.

The Pacers have been repeatedly linked to Ayton over the past several weeks, and clearly that interest did not wane.

If the Suns match, they project to be a taxpaying team, something owner Robert Sarver has consistently avoided during his tenure. If they don’t, Myles Turner seems very likely to be headed out of Indiana.

It also complicates Phoenix’s pursuit of Kevin Durant, since the Suns will lose Ayton as a possible trade chip. Even if they match the offer, as was previously noted, Ayton can’t be traded until January 15 and can veto any deal for a full year.

Kings Sign Chima Moneke, Won’t Bring Over Sasha Vezenkov

July 18th, 2022 at 5:42pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 18: The Kings have officially signed Moneke, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee tweets.

JULY 15: The Kings are signing free agent forward Chima Moneke, sources tell Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 KTXL (All Twitter links).

According to RealGM, Moneke started his college career with Northeast Community College prior to transferring to UC Davis. In 21 games (30 MPG) as a senior for the Aggies, he averaged 18.4 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 1.0 SPG and 1.1 BPG on .515/.375/.714 shooting.

After going undrafted in 2018, Moneke has played internationally for teams in France and Spain, first competing in the French LNB Pro B league before receiving a promotion to Orléans Loiret Basket of LNB Pro A, the top league in France, in 2020/21.

Last season he played for Baxi Manresa of Liga ACB, the top Spanish league, averaging 14.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG and 1.6 SPG on .521/.290/.735 shooting in 36 games (30 starts, 24.1 MPG). He was also named the MVP of the Basketball Champions League with Baxi Manresa in ’21/22.

As Cunningham details, Moneke has ties to the organization due to the Nigerian national team, which was led by head coach Mike Brown and also featured associate head coach Jordi Fernandez and assistant coach Luke Loucks. The 6’6″ forward should bring an infusion of defense and athleticism to Sacramento, Cunningham adds.

According to Cunningham’s sources, the Kings will not be bringing over Sasha Vezenkov for the upcoming season. Sacramento acquired Vezenkov’s rights in a draft-day swap with the Cavaliers. The Kings still might bring him over in the future, just not for 2022/23, Cunningham reports.

The terms of Moneke’s contract were not disclosed by Cunningham, but as our roster count tracker shows, the Kings only have 12 players on the standard 15-man roster at the moment, so he could be given a chance for one of those spots.

Keldon Johnson Signs Four-Year Extension With Spurs

July 18th, 2022 at 3:14pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 18: The Spurs have officially announced Johnson’s new deal, issuing a press release to confirm the move.

JULY 15: Keldon Johnson is signing a four-year, $80MM extension with the Spurs, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Johnson was the 29th pick of the 2019 draft. As a former first-round pick entering his fourth season, he was eligible for a rookie scale extension, and he has agreed to a lucrative deal to remain with San Antonio.

Johnson spent most of his rookie season in the G League, but emerged as a potential building block during the team’s run in the Orlando bubble. He started to put things together nicely during his second season in 2020/21, showing glimpses of upside while averaging 12.8 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 1.8 APG on .479/.331/.740 shooting in 69 games (28.5 MPG).

The 22-year-old was one of San Antonio’s best players last season, appearing in 75 games (31.9 MPG) with averages of 17.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 2.1 APG on .466/.398/.756 shooting. Nicknamed “Big Body” for his strong frame and hard drives to the rim, Johnson showed improvement as an outside shooter in ’21/22, with his three-point percentage increasing by nearly seven percent.

The young small forward figures to see an increased role during the upcoming season after All-Star Dejounte Murray was traded to the Hawks for first-round picks.

For the sake of comparison, Johnson’s extension is in between what a couple of other small forwards received for their rookie extensions: OG Anunoby got $72MM over four years from the Raptors in 2020 (the last year being a player option), while Mikal Bridges received $90MM over four years from the Suns last summer. Johnson hasn’t been the defender that either of those two were through their third seasons, but he’s been a more productive offensive player — part of that is due to opportunity, but he’s still a talented player with plenty of room for improvement.

Johnson’s extension will kick in during the ’23/24 season. As our extension tracker shows, he is the first player to receive a rookie scale extension that isn’t a maximum-salary deal.

Bucks Sign Pat Connaughton To Three-Year Extension

July 18th, 2022 at 3:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 18: Connaughton’s extension is now official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

The deal has matching annual cap hits of $9,423,869, for a three-year total of $28,271,607, Hoops Rumors has learned. As noted below, the final year is a player option.

JULY 12: The Bucks and swingman Pat Connaughton are finalizing a three-year contract extension, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The deal will lock up Connaughton through the 2025/26 season.

The extension will be worth $28.5MM and includes a player option, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who tweets that the two sides have reached an agreement.

Last month, Connaughton chose to put off free agency by opting in to the last year of his current contract. He’ll make $5,728,393 next season.

His option decision was somewhat surprising at the time but an extension was apparently already in the works. He was eligible to sign a contract extension for up to four years and approximately $58MM after opting in, so Milwaukee managed to secure his services for a lesser amount.

Connaughton, 29, had the best season of his seven-year career in 2021/22, averaging 9.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game in 65 appearances (26.0 MPG). He also established new career highs in three-pointers per game (2.2) while knocking them down at a 39.5% clip.

Celtics Sign Mfiondu Kabengele To Two-Way Deal

July 16th, 2022 at 9:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

9:45pm: The signing is official, the Celtics announced in a press release.

9:29pm: Center Mfiondu Kabengele will sign a two-way contract with the Celtics, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.

Kabengele, 24, earned the opportunity with a strong showing for Boston’s Summer League team. He averaged 14.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in five games in Las Vegas while shooting 58.7% from the field.

The Canadian big man was taken with the 27th pick in the 2019 draft and spent his first season and a half with the Clippers. At the 2021 deadline, he was traded to the Kings, who immediately waived him, and finished the season with the Cavaliers.

Kabengele played last season with Rio Grande in the G League, averaging 17.5 points and 9.3 rebounds in 25 games. He could provide some front court depth for the Celtics, who sent Daniel Theis to the Pacers in the Malcolm Brogdon trade.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Signs Two-Year Extension With Nuggets

July 16th, 2022 at 8:59pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 16: Caldwell-Pope’s extension is now official, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

JULY 13: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is signing a two-year, $30MM extension with the Nuggets, with the second year being a player option, his agent Rich Paul tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, Caldwell-Pope was eligible for an extension despite recently being traded to Denver as long as the total length of the new contract did not exceed two years and the salary increase did not exceed 5%. He was on an expiring deal worth $14MM in 2022/23, so the extension will keep him under contract for at least one more season.

Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith were sent to the Nuggets from the Wizards in exchange for Monte Morris and Will Barton. Mike Singer of The Denver Post reported at the time of the deal that Denver had been targeting Caldwell-Pope for some time and had interest in retaining him beyond next season, which is now coming to fruition.

Singer notes (via Twitter) that the Nuggets had no intention of trading away two starters from last season unless the team was confident it could sign Caldwell-Pope to an extension.

Caldwell-Pope, known colloquially as KCP, had a solid first season with Washington in ’21/22, averaging 13.2 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.9 APG and 1.1 SPG on .435/.390/.890 shooting. The Nuggets reportedly value his championship experience and solid defense.

The 29-year-old shooting guard was the Lakers’ third-best player when they won the title in 2020 and has become a much more reliable outside shooter in recent years. At 6’5″, he’s capable of defending both guard positions and is also an active off-ball cutter, which should pair well with the incredible vision and passing of Nikola Jokic.

KCP’s skill set is always in-demand in the NBA because he doesn’t need the ball to be effective on offense and is a pretty good defender. The Nuggets, in particular, are always looking for role players in that mold to complement their stars, but he’d be a decent fit on most teams.

The Nuggets now project to have their entire starting lineup under contract through at least ’23/24. With the impending returns of Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray, plus the back-to-back MVP in Jokic, Denver has championship aspirations for the upcoming season.