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Jazz Exercise 2022/23 Option On Udoka Azubuike

October 29th, 2021 at 6:53pm CST by Rory Maher

The Jazz have picked up their 2022/23 third-year option on Udoka Azubuike, the team announced in a press release.

The Jazz selected Azubuike with their first-round pick (27th overall) in the 2020 draft. As a second-year former first round pick, his salary is fully guaranteed this season. Exercising the team option means his salary for next season will be guaranteed as well. Azuibuike will earn $2,174,880 in ’22/23.

Azubuike, a hulking center with a massive 7’7″ wingspan, appeared in just 15 games as a rookie last season, averaging 1.1 points and 0.9 rebounds in 3.8 minutes per game.

He most recently saw action during 2021 Summer League, averaging 13.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game in three games in Salt Lake City, and 13.8 points, 8.8 boards and 2.5 blocks in four contests in Las Vegas.

Azubuike figures to see a lot of time in the G League this season, as the Jazz have three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner Rudy Gobert at starting center, with Hassan Whiteside as backup.

All decisions on rookie scale options for 2022/23 are due by Monday, Nov. 1. We’re tracking them right here.

Warriors Pick Up 2022/23 Options On Poole, Wiseman

October 29th, 2021 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors announced today in a press release that they’ve picked up a pair of team options on rookie scale contracts, exercising Jordan Poole‘s fourth-year option and James Wiseman‘s third-year option.

Poole and Wiseman are, of course, already under contract for the current season, but today’s moves ensure their salaries for 2022/23 are guaranteed as well. Poole will make $3,901,399 next season, while Wiseman earns $9,603,360.

Poole has struggled so far this season, making just 40.8% of his shots from the field, including 22.6% of his threes, but he looked excellent in the preseason and is being counted on to play a key role for Golden State this season, especially until Klay Thompson is healthy. He’ll be extension-eligible in 2022 and would hit restricted free agency in 2023 if he doesn’t sign a new deal next year.

Wiseman, 2020’s second overall pick, is recovering from a knee injury and has yet to play this season. The Warriors are expected to be very patient with his recovery, since he’s not expected to play big minutes even when he’s healthy and ready to return to action.

All decisions on rookie scale options for 2022/23 are due by Monday. We’re tracking them right here.

Hornets Exercise 2022/23 Options On Ball, Washington

October 29th, 2021 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets have exercised the third-year option on LaMelo Ball‘s rookie scale contract and the fourth-year option on P.J. Washington‘s deal, the club announced today in a press release. Both team options are for the 2022/23 season.

The move guarantees Ball’s $8,623,920 salary for ’22/23 and locks in Washington’s $5,808,435 cap hit as well. Washington will now be eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2022 offseason, while Ball will become extension-eligible in 2023, assuming Charlotte picks up his ’23/24 team option a year from now.

Ball, the reigning Rookie of the Year winner, is the centerpiece of the Hornets’ rebuild, and is off to a strong start this season, with 19.6 PPG, 6.0 APG, and 2.0 SPG on .430/.459/1.000 shooting in five games (28.2 MPG).

Washington is off to a slower start this month and has missed a couple games due to a right injury, but was the club’s starting power forward in his first two NBA seasons. He’s coming off the bench so far this season, with Miles Bridges having entered the starting five.

Sixers Pick Up 2022/23 Options On Thybulle, Maxey

October 29th, 2021 at 1:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers have picked up their 2022/23 team options on forward Matisse Thybulle and guard Tyrese Maxey, the team announced today in a press release.

Thybulle, 24, hasn’t done much offensively since entering the league as the No. 20 overall pick in 2019, averaging just 4.3 PPG across 135 games. However, he’s a key contributor on the other side of the ball, having been named to the All-Defensive Second Team in 2020/21. His fourth-year option for ’22/23 will pay him $4,379,527.

Maxey, the 21st overall pick in the 2020 draft, has been forced into starting point guard duty in his second NBA season due to Ben Simmons‘ absence. He’s still finding his footing, but has put up respectable averages of 14.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 3.6 APG in five games (33.0 MPG). His third-year option for ’22/23 is worth $2,726,880.

Thybulle will be extension-eligible during the 2022 offseason, while the 76ers will still have to make one more team-option decision on Maxey for the 2023/24 season.

All of this year’s ’22/23 rookie scale option decisions, which are due on Monday, can be found right here.

Magic Sign Mychal Mulder To Two-Way Deal

October 26th, 2021 at 12:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Former Warriors guard Mychal Mulder has signed a two-way contract with the Magic, the team announced (via Twitter).

The 27-year-old played 60 games for Golden State last season, averaging 5.6 points and 1.0 rebounds with a .397 3PT% in 12.8 minutes per night. He remained with the Warriors through the preseason, but was waived in the team’s final round of cuts.

Mulder spent three seasons in the G League after going undrafted out of Kentucky in 2017. He signed a 10-day contract with Golden State in February of 2020 and played well enough to earn a multiyear deal.

The signing gives the Magic a full roster, with 15 standard contracts and both two-way slots filled. They had been the only team in the league with a two-way opening, so all 60 spots are now occupied.

Thunder Exercise Options On Bazley, Pokusevski, Jerome

October 25th, 2021 at 4:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Thunder exercised their 2022/23 contract options for forwards Darius Bazley and Aleksej Pokusevski and guard Ty Jerome, the team announced in a press release.

There was nothing surprising about the rebuilding club with a good cap situation securing the rights to three young players through next season.

Bazley has appeared in 119 career games, including 67 starts, and was fourth on the team in scoring (13.7 PPG) and second in rebounding (7.2 RPG) last season. He’s due to make approximately $4.265MM next season.

In 48 games with Oklahoma City last season, Pokusevski averaged 7.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG and 2.1 APG in 23.5 MPG. He’ll take in approximately $3.26MM in 2022/23.

In 33 games with the Thunder last season after being acquired from the Suns, Jerome averaged 10.7 PPG and 3.6 APG. He’ll received $4.22MM in guaranteed money next season.

Ishmail Wainright Signs Two-Way Deal With Suns

October 22nd, 2021 at 6:32am CST by Dana Gauruder

OCTOBER 22: Wainright has officially joined the Suns on a two-way deal, per the team (Twitter link).

OCTOBER 21: Ishmail Wainright is signing a two-way contract with the Suns, his agents Jim Tanner and Deirunas Visockas told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Wainright, 27, was in the Raptors’ training camp. Toronto waived him on Saturday. Wainwright had some partial guarantees on his minimum-salary contract with Toronto, as he’ll collect $250K from the Raptors this season and $125K in 2022/23.

Wainright, who went undrafted out of Baylor in 2017, played for a number of international leagues prior to this season. In 2020/21, he suited up for Strasbourg in France, registering 11.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.5 APG, and 1.8 SPG on .485/.320/.726 shooting in 36 games (28.1 MPG). He’s considered a solid defender, and could carve out a niche role with the Suns.

With Wainright joining the defending conference champions, the Magic are the only team with an unfilled two-way spot. Chandler Hutchison holds Phoenix’s other two-way contract.

Pelicans Sign Jonas Valanciunas To Two-Year Extension

October 20th, 2021 at 6:54pm CST by Luke Adams

6:54pm: The Pelicans have officially announced their new deal with Valanciunas, confirming the extension in a press release.

“We’re delighted to be able to continue our relationship with Jonas,” executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin said in a statement. “His deep desire to remain here and his connection to his team, his coaches and the organization represents everything we want to build towards.”

11:19am: The Pelicans and center Jonas Valanciunas have reached an agreement on an extension that will lock him up through the 2023/24 season, agents Aaron Mintz, Mitch Nathan and Drew Morrison of CAA tell Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link).

According to Lopez, Valanciunas’ two-year extension will be worth $30.1MM. The big man is under contract for $14MM in 2021/22, so he’s now on track to earn $44.1MM over the next three seasons. Because he had been on an expiring deal, Valanciunas was extension-eligible beyond the October 18 deadline that applied to certain other veterans.

Valanciunas averaged a double-double in each of his last two seasons in Memphis, establishing new career highs in 2020/21 with 17.1 PPG and 12.5 RPG in 62 games (28.3 MPG). The 29-year-old isn’t an elite rim protector and doesn’t shoot many three-pointers, but holds his own on defense and can knock down mid-range jumpers.

The Grizzlies dealt Valanciunas to New Orleans in an offseason trade that sent Eric Bledsoe and Steven Adams to Memphis. Having recently acquired Valanciunas, the Pelicans faced extend-and-trade limits in their contract negotiations, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. They couldn’t offer the former No. 5 overall pick more than a 5% raise on this year’s $14MM salary and couldn’t tack more than two years onto his expiring contract.

Those limits would’ve lifted by the end of the year, but Valanciunas opted for security now rather than waiting to see if he could get a more lucrative deal later in the season or as a free agent in 2022.

This is the second consecutive year in which the Pelicans have traded for a veteran center and then signed him to an extension before seeing him take the court alongside star forward Zion Williamson. The organization will be hoping its commitment to Valanciunas works out better than last year’s deal with Adams did.

As Marks observes (via Twitter), Tomas Satoransky is now the only Pelicans (besides two-way players) who isn’t under contract through at least the 2022/23 season.

Jabari Parker Re-Signs With Celtics

October 19th, 2021 at 8:02pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

8:02pm: The Celtics confirmed the return of Parker in a press release.

6:05pm: After being cut by the Celtics earlier this week, backup power forward Jabari Parker has cleared waivers and will ink a new deal with Boston, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Parker had been signed to a multiyear agreement with the Celtics last year, but his 2021/22 season salary was only partially guaranteed for $100K. It had been scheduled to be fully guaranteed by the club’s first game of the season. Terms of Parker’s new deal have yet to be disclosed, but presumably it won’t become fully guaranteed until the leaguewide deadline in January.

Parker began the 2020/21 season as a little-used Kings reserve. Sacramento eventually waived him after the former 2014 No. 2 lottery pick failed to crack the club’s rotation. In three games with the Kings, Parker averaged 2.7 PPG and 2.0 RPG in 9.0 MPG.

He then signed with Boston ahead of the Celtics’ postseason push. The 6’8″ power forward appeared in 10 contests last year for Boston, averaging 6.4 PPG and 3.5 RPG in 13.8 MPG.

John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link) notes that, in cutting Parker and adding him back, the Celtics will save significant cash toward his cap and tax impact, since the second year of his previous minimum-salary deal had a higher cap hit than his new one-year deal.

Raptors Exercise 2022/23 Options On Achiuwa, Flynn

October 19th, 2021 at 2:31pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have exercised their third-year team options on big man Precious Achiuwa and guard Malachi Flynn, the team announced today in a press release. Both options are for the 2022/23 season.

Achiuwa, the 20th overall pick in the 2020 draft, averaged 5.0 PPG and 3.4 RPG in 61 games (12.1 MPG) for the Heat as a rookie last season. He was dealt to the Raptors this summer along with Goran Dragic in the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade. His 2022/23 option will pay him approximately $2.84MM.

Flynn, selected nine spots after Achiuwa at No. 29 in last year’s draft, averaged 7.5 PPG and 2.9 APG in 47 games (19.7 MPG) in his rookie year. He saw most of his playing time in the second half when Lowry was sidelined, and could take on a more regular role this season with the six-time All-Star no longer in the picture, though veteran point guards Fred VanVleet and Dragic are still ahead of him on the depth chart. Flynn’s ’22/23 option is worth about $2.15MM.

Teams have until November 1 to pick up their 2022/23 rookie scale options on first-round picks from the 2019 and 2020 drafts. We’re tracking all the decisions right here.