Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Grizzlies To Sign Kenneth Lofton Jr. On Two-Way Deal

June 24th, 2022 at 12:26am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Grizzlies are set to add undrafted Louisiana Tech rookie power forward Kenneth Lofton Jr. on a two-way deal, One Legacy Sports agent Mike George informs Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Lofton played for two seasons with the Bulldogs. During his 2021/22 sophomore tenure, he averaged 16.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.2 SPG and 0.7 BPG across 33 games, all starts. He connected on 53.9% of his field goal looks and 67.2% of his 5.5 charity stripe takes.

The 6’7″ forward was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Year of the 2020/21 season. He was a Third-Team All-Conference USA selection in 2021 and First-Team All-Conference USA honoree in 2022. Lofton also won a gold medal for Team USA in the 2020 FIBA Under-19 World Cup. He averaged 13.1 PPG and 5.3 RPG in the tournament.

Memphis has had a busy draft night. The Grizzlies traded for the right to select Wake Forest forward Jake LaRavia with the No. 19 pick, and subsequently dealt guard De’Anthony Melton to the Sixers for the draft rights to Colorado State wing David Roddy with the No. 23 pick. In the second round, the Grizzlies selected Tennessee point guard Kennedy Chandler at No. 38, who had been projected to be a first-round pick, and VCU forward Vince Williams with the No. 48 pick.

Kings Agree To Two-Way Contract With Keon Ellis

June 24th, 2022 at 12:12am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Kings have agreed to a two-way contract with Keon Ellis, Shams Charania of Stadium tweets.

The 6’6” senior guard averaged 12.1 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.8 APG and 1.9 SPG in his senior year at Alabama. He made 43.7% of his field goal attempts and 36.6% of his 3-point tries. Ellis began his college career at Florida Southwestern State before playing his final two seasons for the Crimson Tide.

Sacramento finished the season with an empty two-way slot, so it can seamlessly add Ellis.

Bulls Sign Justin Lewis To Two-Way Deal

June 24th, 2022 at 12:11am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JULY 8: The Bulls have officially signed Lewis to a two-way contract, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

JUNE 24: The Bulls have agreed to a two-way contract with former Marquette forward Justin Lewis, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).

After going undrafted this year, the 6’7″ free agent rookie wasted little time in linking up with a big-market club coming off its first playoff appearance in five years. During his sophomore season, the 20-year-old was voted the 2022 Big East Most Improved Player, in addition to being named First-Team All-Big East.

In 2021/22, Lewis averaged 16.8 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.1 SPG and 0.6 BPG across 32 games. In that last NCAA season, his first as a full-time starter, Lewis boasted a slash line of .440/.349/.761.

Lewis ranks as the top overall player on ESPN’s list of undrafted prospects.

Chicago also selected 6’7″ Arizona guard Dalen Terry with the No. 18 pick in the first round. The Bulls forfeited their second-round selection in this year’s draft.

Ron Harper Jr. Agrees To Two-Way Deal With Raptors

June 24th, 2022 at 12:09am CST by Arthur Hill

Rutgers guard Ron Harper Jr. will join the Raptors on a two-way contract, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The son of an NBA player, Harper spent four seasons with the Scarlet Knights before deciding to forego his final year of eligibility and declare for the draft. He averaged 15.8 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 39.8% from three-point range as Rutgers returned to the NCAA Tournament after making its first appearance in 30 years last season.

Harper, an honorable mention All-American, also declared for the draft in 2021, but elected to return to school. He is eighth on ESPN’s list of the top undrafted players.

Warriors Move Up In Second Round, Select Ryan Rollins

June 23rd, 2022 at 11:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

11:59pm: The trade is official, the Warriors announced in a press release.

10:56pm: The Warriors acquired the No. 44 pick from the Hawks for the No. 51 pick and $2MM in cash, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Golden State used the No. 44 pick to select Toledo guard Ryan Rollins.

Rollins averaged 18.9 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 3.6 APG for the Rockets of the Mid-American Conference. He’ll give Golden State a little more depth at the guard position and will likely spend a good chunk of his rookie season in the G League.

The Hawks used the No. 51 pick on UConn’s Tyrese Martin, a 6’6” wing who averaged 13.6 PPG and 7.5 RPG last season.

Timberwolves Send McGowens To Hornets For Minott, Future Pick

June 23rd, 2022 at 11:53pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

11:53pm: The trade is now official, according to a press release from the Hornets.

10:42pm: The Timberwolves are set to send Nebraska shooting guard Bryce McGowens, selected with the No. 40 pick in the 2022 draft, to the Hornets, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

The Wolves will receive Memphis wing Josh Minott, the No. 45 pick in this year’s draft, as well as the 2023 second-rounder the Hornets acquired from the Knicks earlier in the draft, per Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter).

The 6’7″ McGowens appeared in 31 games, all starts, for the Cornhuskers during his lone collegiate season. He averaged 16.8 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 1.4 APG and 0.7 SPG across 33.5 MPG. McGowens converted 40.3% of his 12.8 field goal attempts and 83.1% of his 6.3 free-throw looks during 2021/22.

A Big Ten All-Freshman Team honoree, McGowens was also named to the 2021/22 All-Big Ten Third Team in 2022.

The 6’8″ Minott played more sparingly with Memphis during the ’21/22 season, averaging 6.6 PPG and 3.8 RPG in just 14.6 MPG over the course of his 33 games with the Tigers.

Nuggets Signing Collin Gillespie To Two-Way Deal

June 23rd, 2022 at 11:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

Villanova guard Collin Gillespie will sign a two-way contract with the Nuggets, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Gillespie is a fifth-year senior who spent his entire college career with the Wildcats. He averaged 15.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists this season.

The 22-year-old, who was named MVP of this year’s Big East Tournament, is 11th on ESPN’s ranking of undrafted players.

Mavs Acquire No. 37 Pick Jaden Hardy From Kings

June 23rd, 2022 at 11:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

11:45pm: The trade is now official, according to the Mavericks (Twitter link).

10:33pm: The Kings are trading the 37th overall pick to the Mavericks for two future second-round picks, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

The Mavericks traded their own second-rounders in 2024 and 2028 to Sacramento, Marc Stein tweets.

Dallas selected G League Ignite guard Jaden Hardy with the 37th pick. Prior to move, Dallas didn’t have a selection in this year’s draft after giving up the 26th pick to Houston in the still-unofficial Christian Wood deal.

Hardy averaged 17.7 PPG, 4.6 RPG and 3.2 APG for the Ignite. He slipped out of the first round and could wind up as a value pick for Dallas. He’ll add backcourt depth and scoring prowess, which could come in handy if unrestricted free agent Jalen Brunson doesn’t re-sign with the Mavs.

Bucks Acquire No. 58 Pick From Pacers, Choose Besson

June 23rd, 2022 at 11:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

A pair of Central Division teams made a late second-round swap, as the Pacers agreed to trade the No. 58 pick to the Bucks, Shams Charania of Stadium tweets. Indiana is receiving cash in the deal, reports James Boyd of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link).

The Bucks used the last pick of the draft, which was originally owned by Phoenix, to select French guard Hugo Besson, who played for the New Zealand Breakers last season and averaged 13.9 PPG.

Besson will presumably be a draft-and-stash pick for Milwaukee.

Nuggets Trade JaMychal Green To Thunder

June 23rd, 2022 at 11:02pm CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 23: The Nuggets and Thunder have officially completed their trade, according to a press release from the Nuggets.

The deal sends Green and a protected 2027 first-round pick to the Thunder in exchange for the draft rights to No. 30 pick Peyton Watson to the Nuggets and two second-rounders (one in 2023 and one in 2024).

The 2027 first-rounder the Thunder are receiving will be top-five protected for three years and would become a 2029 second-rounder if it falls in its protected range in 2027, 2028, and 2029, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link).

JUNE 13: The Nuggets and Thunder have agreed to a trade that will send forward JaMychal Green to Oklahoma City, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Green will pick up his $8.2MM player option for 2022/23 as part of the deal.

According to Wojnarowski, Oklahoma City will also receive a protected 2027 first-round pick from Denver, while the Nuggets will get the No. 30 pick in this year’s draft, plus a 2023 second-round selection and a 2024 second-rounder.

The Thunder entered the week with four picks in the top 34 of this year’s draft — they also control Nos. 2, 12, and 34. They were always considered extremely unlikely to bring in four rookies for the 2022/23 season, so it comes as no surprise that they decided to move off one of their picks. Giving up No. 30 will allow them to land a future first-rounder and a potentially useful player in Green, who will be on an expiring contract.

Green had a down year in 2021/22, averaging 6.4 PPG and 4.2 RPG on .486/.266/.871 shooting in 67 games (16.2 MPG) for the Nuggets, but has proven to be an effective stretch four over the years. Entering ’21/22, he had knocked down 38.0% of his three-point attempts in his first seven NBA seasons.

It’s unclear whether the Thunder intend to keep Green for the 2022/23 season or if they’ll try to flip him to another team.

From the Nuggets’ perspective, the trade – Calvin Booth‘s first as the head of basketball operations – allows them to move off some salary for ’22/23 while acquiring an extra 2022 first-rounder in exchange for a future pick. Denver will now control the 21st and 30th overall picks in this year’s draft, giving the team some ammo if it wants to try to move up.

While it looks on the surface as if the Nuggets may be trying to duck below the luxury tax line for next season, Wojnarowski says (via Twitter) that’s not the case. According to Woj, Denver still expects to be a taxpaying team and now has more flexibility to use its mid-level exception or the $8.2MM trade exception that will be generated by moving Green.

The trade will be finalized sometime before the new league year begins at the start of July, since the Thunder will use a portion of their leftover cap room to take on Green’s salary — that cap room will go away in July when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s maximum-salary extension hits Oklahoma City’s books, as we noted in our offseason preview.

Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link) estimates that OKC will still have about $23.4MM in ’21/22 cap space after acquiring Green, so more salary-dump deals could be on the way within the next couple weeks.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN observes (via Twitter), the Nuggets already owe their 2023 first-round pick (top-14 protected) to the Thunder and their 2025 first-round pick (top-five protected) to the Magic. If either of those selections falls within its protected range, the 2027 pick that OKC is acquiring in this trade would have to be pushed back to 2028, since the Stepien rule prevents teams from trading consecutive future first-rounders.