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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.

Nets Re-Sign Nic Claxton, Patty Mills

July 10th, 2022 at 3:54pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 10: The Nets have announced in a press release that they have officially re-signed Mills.

JULY 7: The Nets have officially re-signed Claxton, the team announced in a press release.

JUNE 30: The Nets are re-signing a pair of key rotation players from their 2021/22 squad, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter links), who reports that center Nic Claxton is receiving a two-year, $20MM contract, while guard Patty Mills gets a two-year, $14.5MM deal.

Brooklyn had Claxton’s Bird Rights and won’t need to use another cap exception to sign him. Mills’ deal appears to be the maximum amount he can receive on a Non-Bird deal, as Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype tweets.

Claxton, 23, was 31st pick of the 2019 draft after two collegiate seasons at Georgia. Injuries have played him throughout his three NBA seasons, but he’s shown to be a switchable, versatile defender when healthy. Brooklyn issued him a qualifying offer a couple of days ago, making him a restricted free agent.

In 47 games last season, including 19 starts (20.7 MPG), Claxton averaged 8.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 1.1 BPG while shooting 67.4% from the floor and 58.1% from the free-throw line. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer previously reported that Claxton was likely to return to Brooklyn.

Mills, 33, had a solid first season with Brooklyn in ’21/22, averaging 11.4 PPG, 1.9 RPG and 2.3 APG on .408/.400/.814 shooting in 81 regular season games (48 starts, 29 MPG). He averaged career-highs in three-point makes and attempts, with 2.8 and 7.0, respectively.

Mills has played 13 seasons in the league, spending his first couple of seasons with Portland before a 10-year run with the Spurs that included an NBA Championship in 2014. The veteran guard also led the Australian national team to a Bronze Medal at the Tokyo Olympics last summer.

Wojnarowski and Brian Lewis of The New York Post said last night that Mills hadn’t ruled out a return to the Nets after declining his player option to become a free agent. Mills isn’t quite as quick as he once was and is limited defensively despite giving solid effort, but he holds a career three-point percentage of 38.9%, which is always valuable.

Kevon Looney Signs Three-Year Contract With Warriors

July 10th, 2022 at 3:20pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 10: Looney’s return to Golden State is official, the Warriors have announced in a press statement.

JULY 1: The Warriors are bringing back a key member of their championship roster, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that that the team has agreed to a three-year, $25.5MM deal with center Kevon Looney.

Looney enjoyed an impressive bounce-back year in 2021/22 after his previous two seasons were marred by injuries and a reduced role. He started 80 of Golden State’s 82 regular season games and averaged 6.0 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 2.0 APG in 21.1 minutes per contest while playing solid defense. His role remained steady in the postseason — he started just 13 of 22 games, but logged 20.4 MPG during the Warriors’ title run.

The 26-year-old put a stamp on a sterling contract year with his play in the NBA Finals — in six games, the Warriors outscored the Celtics by 48 points when he was on the court and were outscored by 24 points when he sat.

According to Marc Stein (Twitter link), some rival teams believed Looney might return to Golden State on a three- or four-year deal worth $10MM per year, so bringing him back at $8.5MM annually looks like a good deal for the defending champions. Additionally, the third year is only partially guaranteed for $3MM, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

The Warriors still have some work to do on their roster after striking a deal with Looney. The team has lost a pair of key rotation players so far in free agency, with Otto Porter headed to Toronto and Gary Payton II on his way to Portland.

Golden State’s projected tax bill figures to be a consideration as the team weighs its options with the taxpayer mid-level exception. According to Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link), the Warriors have a projected tax bill of at least $120MM so far, and that number would rise significantly if the team uses its MLE.

Clippers Sign Moses Brown, Xavier Moon, Jay Scrubb

July 9th, 2022 at 8:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers have reached agreements with Moses Brown, Xavier Moon and Jay Scrubb, and all three will be on the roster for training camp, tweets Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register. The Clippers have confirmed the signings.

A report this morning indicated that L.A. had made an offer to Brown, who became an unrestricted free agent when the Cavaliers elected not to extend a qualifying offer of slightly more than $2MM. Brown appeared in 40 combined games with Dallas and Cleveland last season and has spent time with the Trail Blazers and Thunder as well.

Moon, who was on a two-way contract with the Clippers last season, also became unrestricted when he didn’t receive a qualifying offer. The 27-year-old, who has spent most of his career overseas, got into 10 games with L.A. as a rookie.

Scrubb, who filled the Clippers’ other two-way slot, also didn’t receive a qualifying offer. He has spent two seasons with the team, playing 22 combined games.

Damian Lillard Signs Two-Year Extension With Blazers

July 9th, 2022 at 7:35pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 9: Lillard’s extension is now official, the Trail Blazers announced in a press release.

“Damian Lillard is the greatest player in franchise history and an all-time NBA talent,” general manager Joe Cronin said. “In signing this contract extension, Damian continues his commitment to the city of Portland and the organization. We look forward to his continued excellence here with the Trail Blazers for many years to come.”

JULY 8: Damian Lillard is signing a two year, maximum-salary extension with the Trail Blazers, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Multiple other reporters confirmed the news, including Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter links), and ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter links).

According to Spears, Lillard is expected to put pen to paper tomorrow evening in Las Vegas, where Summer League is currently taking place. As part of the extension, Lillard will pick up the player option he held for 2024/25, says Marks.

As Marks relays, Lillard’s new deal contains a player option for ’26/27, so he’ll be under contract for at least four more seasons, with a player option in the fifth year. Lillard turns 32 next week, so the extension will carry through at least his age-35 season.

Although several reports state that Lillard’s deal will be worth $120MM, those are estimates based on the salary cap increasing significantly over time.

Lillard will get at least a 5% raise on his ’24/25 salary ($48,787,676), so the extension will be worth no less than $106.55MM. His maximum possible raise is 20%, in which case the extension would be worth $121.78MM. But the salary cap would have to be $167.3MM for him to get that full 20% raise, which would represent a huge year-over-year increase — this season’s cap is $123,655,000 cap.

Lillard struggled with injuries last season, appearing in just 29 games (36.4 MPG) with averages of 24.0 PPG, 4.1 RPG and 7.3 APG on .402/.324/.878 shooting. Both his field goal percentage and three-point percentage were career-lows, so clearly the abdominal injury – which required surgery and shut down his season prematurely – was hampering his on-court production.

Prior to his injury struggles in ’21/22, Lillard had been a stalwart performer for Portland, rarely missing games and averaging at least 35.5 MPG in each of his 10 seasons. Lillard has been named to both the All-Star team and All-NBA teams six times apiece during his career, which has been spent entirely with the Blazers.

Sam Amick of The Athletic wrote last week that Lillard still needed to be convinced that the Blazers were intent on competing after a disappointing season saw them finish 27-55 and miss out on the postseason for the first time since 2014. Reconstructing the roster by drafting Shaedon Sharpe, trading for Jerami Grant, signing free agent Gary Payton II, as well as re-signing Jusuf Nurkic and Anfernee Simons evidently was enough for Lillard to once again show his commitment to the only franchise he’s ever known.

Celtics Sign JD Davison To Two-Way Contract

July 9th, 2022 at 5:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

JD Davison has signed a two-way contract with the Celtics, the team announced on Twitter.

Boston selected the Alabama point guard with the 53rd pick in last month’s draft. He played just one season for the Crimson Tide, averaging 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game and earning a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team.

A report this week stated that Davison will be given a chance to compete for a regular roster spot heading into the season. The Celtics’ other two-way slot remains open, though the team has a two-way qualifying offer out to Brodric Thomas.

Bulls Sign Javon Freeman-Liberty To Exhibit 10 Deal

July 9th, 2022 at 4:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

DePaul guard Javon Freeman-Liberty has signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Bulls, the team announced (via Twitter).

The 22-year-old guard played two years for the Blue Demons after transferring from Valparaiso. He averaged 21.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists this season and was a second-team All-Big East selection.

An Exhibit 10 contract is a non-guaranteed minimum salary contract that makes the player eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived before the regular season begins and then joins his team’s G League affiliate. It can also be converted into a two-way deal before the season.

Bucks Re-Sign Luca Vildoza, Rayjon Tucker

July 9th, 2022 at 4:35pm CST by Luke Adams

After waiving both players on Tuesday, the Bucks have officially re-signed guards Luca Vildoza and Rayjon Tucker to one-year, minimum-salary contracts.

The new deals for Vildoza and Tucker are both non-guaranteed. Tucker’s contract includes Exhibit 10 language, which would allow Milwaukee to convert his deal to a two-way contract, but Vildoza’s does not.

Vildoza, 26, played internationally in Spain for several seasons prior to reaching a buyout to sign with the Knicks in May 2021. The Argentian guard was waived after he underwent foot surgery last October, but caught on with the Bucks and made seven very brief postseason appearances with the team. He has yet to make his NBA regular season debut.

Tucker has appeared in a total of 39 NBA games across three seasons for Utah, Philadelphia, Denver a nd Milwaukee, averaging 3.0 PPG and 1.0 RPG in just 7.7 minutes per contest. He has been much more active in the G League during that span, having played for the Salt Lake City Stars, the Wisconsin Herd, and the Delaware Blue Coats. In 27 regular season games this past season for the Herd (the Bucks’ NBAGL affiliate), the wing averaged an impressive 21.1 PPG on 53% shooting. He also chipped in 7.6 RPG, 3.8 APG, and 1.2 SPG.

The Bucks now have 17 total players under contract, including 13 on guaranteed salaries and two on two-way deals. The team is also expected to make its new deal with Serge Ibaka official soon.

Pacers Trade Malcolm Brogdon To Celtics

July 9th, 2022 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 9: The Celtics’ deal with the Pacers for Brogdon is now official, per an Indiana press release.

JULY 1: The Pacers have agreed to trade veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon to the Celtics, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

The deal will send center Daniel Theis, wing Aaron Nesmith, and a 2023 first-round pick to Indiana, Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter). Nik Stauskas, Malik Fitts, and Juwan Morgan are also headed to the Pacers in the swap, Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter).

The 2023 first-round pick the Pacers are acquiring in the trade will be top-12 protected, tweets Brian Robb of MassLive. If it doesn’t convey, Indiana will instead receive a second-rounder.

The Celtics wanted to acquire a “true play-making guard,” Wojnarowski explains (via Twitter), and were able to do so without including any of their core players in the package. Brogdon has battled injuries frequently over the course of his six-year career, but has been effective on both ends of the court when healthy.

In 2021/22, the 29-year-old averaged 19.1 PPG, 5.9 APG, and 5.1 RPG in 36 games (33.5 MPG) for the Pacers. Brogdon’s three-point percentage dipped to 31.2% last season, but he’s still a 37.6% career shooter from beyond the arc.

Although Brogdon’s name has come up frequently in trade rumors this offseason, he was primarily linked to the Wizards and Knicks in the weeks leading up to the draft. Washington addressed its point guard hole by agreeing to acquire Monte Morris and sign Delon Wright, while New York landed Jalen Brunson in free agency. That opened the door for another Eastern Conference club to make a deal with the Pacers.

Brogdon will earn $67.6MM over the next three seasons, including $22.6MM in 2022/23. In order to match his salary and make the trade legal, the Celtics will have to include five players in their package — the priciest of those players, Theis, is making $8.69MM next season, while Nesmith will earn $3.8MM. Stauskas, Fitts, and Morgan were on non-guaranteed minimum-salary contracts, which will become guaranteed for matching purposes, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN.

The Celtics, who also reportedly agreed to sign Danilo Gallinari, now have about $167.5MM committed to 11 players, according to Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston (Twitter link), so team ownership doesn’t appear worried about paying a tax bill in 2022/23. Depending on how deep into the tax Boston is willing to go, the club could also make use of its $17MM trade exception, which won’t be utilized in this deal.

The Pacers, meanwhile, had interest in Grant Williams, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (Twitter link), but were ultimately willing to accept for a Celtics’ 2023 first-round pick that could land pretty late in the 20s.

Indiana may also see value in Theis and Nesmith, but the deal is more about the first-rounder and the cap flexibility moving off Brogdon will create. In addition to clearing some long-term money, the Pacers now have about $31MM in projected cap room this summer, tweets Marks.

The two teams will have to wait until July 9 to officially complete the trade, Marks notes (via Twitter), since Morgan can’t be dealt until then.

Walker Kessler Signs Rookie Deal With Jazz

July 9th, 2022 at 3:32pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Jazz have officially signed 7’1″ rookie center Walker Kessler to his rookie scale contract, the team announced in a press release. Kessler is the last 2022 first-rounder to ink his deal.

The 20-year-old has yet to play in an NBA game, but is already well-traveled within the league. He was initially selected by the Grizzlies with the No. 22 pick in the 2022 draft out of Auburn, before being traded to the Timberwolves in a draft-night deal. Kessler was later sent to Utah as part of Minnesota’s blockbuster deal for three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.

Kessler averaged 11.4 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 4.6 BPG, and 1.1 SPG across 34 games during his second and final college season with the Tigers. He also nailed 60.8% of his field goal attempts. He had spent the 2020/21 season with North Carolina in a more limited role, averaging just 8.8 MPG, before transferring to Auburn. Kessler was named the 2021/22 SEC and NABC Defensive Player of the Year. The big man was also an All-SEC First Team, All-SEC Defensive Team, and AP All-American Third Team selection.

The deal will pay $2,696,400 for the 2022/23 season, and will be worth $13.4MM should Utah pick up both its team options for the center’s third and fourth NBA seasons.