Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Thunder Place Kemba Walker On Waivers

August 6th, 2021 at 5:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have officially waived point guard Kemba Walker, the team announced today in a press release. The two sides agreed to a buyout earlier this week and have now finalized that agreement.

Walker, 31, was limited to 43 games for the Celtics in 2020/21 due to knee issues, but put up strong numbers in the games he played, averaging 19.3 PPG, 4.9 APG, and 4.0 RPG on .420/.360/.899 shooting in 31.8 minutes per contest.

Oklahoma City acquired Walker from Boston back in June in Brad Stevens‘ first major roster move as the Celtics’ president of basketball operations. Although that deal was considered a salary-dump, with the Thunder receiving a first-round pick for taking on Walker, a report last week stated OKC believed it might be possible to flip him to another team for an asset. Those efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.

The move will open up more playing time for the Thunder’s young ball-handlers (besides Shai Gilgeous-Alexander), including Theo Maledon and Josh Giddey.

Walker, meanwhile, is now on track to clear waivers on Sunday, assuming the Thunder officially released him by 5:00pm ET today. Once he clears waivers, the veteran guard will sign with the Knicks.

Walker’s deal with the Knicks will be a two-year contract worth about $8-9MM annually, as Ryan McDonough of NBC Sports Boston first reported earlier in the week. The four-time All-Star will join a Knicks backcourt that also features Derrick Rose, Immanuel Quickley, Alec Burks, and second-round pick Miles McBride.

Omer Yurtseven Signs Two-Year Contract With Heat

August 6th, 2021 at 4:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Omer Yurtseven, who has excelled in summer league play, has signed a two-year contract with the Heat, according to a team press release.

Luke Glass, the son of Yurtseven’s agent Keith Glass, told ESPN’s Bobby Marks of the big man’s agreement with the team (Twitter link). Yurtseven will receive about $3.5MM across two seasons, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets, which likely means it’s a minimum-salary deal. Just the first year is guaranteed, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets.

Yurtseven averaged 26 PPG and 13.5 RPG in two California Classic Summer League games. Glass received multiple phone calls from other teams during and after those games, according to Jackson. However, remaining with Miami was always Yurtseven’s first choice.

Miami declined its $1.5MM option on Yurtseven, a 23-year-old center, at the beginning of free agency. However, that was at the seven-footer’s request.

“I asked them when we signed to not exercise the August 1 option, so that when they gave me the option, they could go back to me and do a new deal,” Glass said to Jackson. “They kept their word.”

Miami signed Yurtseven at the end of the last season, allowing him to travel with the team for its first-round series against Milwaukee in May. Yurtseven, a member of Turkey’s national team, went unselected in the 2020 draft.

Yurtseven appeared in 14 G League games last season with Oklahoma City, averaging 15.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per contest. He also recorded five double-doubles during that span.

Chris Paul Signs Four-Year Deal With Suns

August 6th, 2021 at 4:52pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 6: Paul’s new contract is official, the Suns announced today in a press release.

AUGUST 3: Paul’s new four-year deal is a little more team-friendly than the initial reports suggested, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter links), who says the third year will only be about 50% guaranteed and the fourth year will be a team option.

While the deal could be worth $120MM if Paul plays out the whole thing, Gambadoro suggests it only features about $75MM in fully guaranteed money.

AUGUST 2: Free agent point guard Chris Paul has agreed to a four-year contract with the Suns that could be worth up to $120MM, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Paul will turn 40 years old in 2025, the year the deal expires.

Paul turned down a $44MM player option with Phoenix on Sunday in order to lock in a more lucrative longer-term deal. The Suns were the only team that could have offered him more than three years due to the NBA’s Over-38 rule, so it’s possible that helped push the deal over the finish line.

“After this season in Phoenix and experiencing how amazing the fans were, my chemistry with my teammates, with (Devin Booker), with Monty (Williams), I knew Phoenix was where I wanted to be,” Paul told Haynes. “It’s time to get back to work.”

According to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, Paul underwent surgery on his left wrist shortly after the NBA Finals ended last month. However, he’s expected to be ready for the start of training camp in the fall, a source tells Spears.

Paul, who has played for four teams in the last five seasons, had one of the best years of his decorated career with Phoenix in 2020/21. His individual numbers – including 16.4 PPG, 8.9 APG, and 4.5 RPG in 70 games (31.4 MPG) – weren’t as impressive as the ones he was posting earlier in his career, but he helped turned the Suns from a lottery team into a legit contender.

Phoenix finished the season with the NBA’s second-best record and represented the Western Conference in the NBA Finals, taking a 2-0 lead over Milwaukee before dropping the next four games. Paul earned Second Team All-NBA honors and a top-five finish in MVP voting as a result of his impressive season.

Because Paul’s 2021/22 salary will now be significantly lower than the $44MM+ he would’ve earned if he had picked up his option, the Suns now have some added cap flexibility for the coming season, allowing the team to make use of its mid-level exception. However, the club projects to be deep into the tax in future years if it completes long-term extensions with Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges, as is expected.

Pistons Waive Rodney McGruder

August 6th, 2021 at 4:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons have waived veteran wing Rodney McGruder, according to James Edwards III of The Athletic.

McGruder’s $5MM contract would have become guaranteed if he had remained on the roster through August 15 (Twitter links). By releasing him before then, Detroit won’t carry any dead money on its cap as a result of the transaction.

The move was expected, as the club needs to trim down its roster to officially add free agents and draft picks. McGruder was acquired in a three-team deal last November but played sparingly in his lone season in Detroit. He saw action in 16 games, including two starts, averaging 5.7 PPG in 12.1 MPG.

McGruder, 30, entered the league in 2016. He played three seasons with Miami and one for the Clippers before the trade last fall. He’ll look to latch on to another team as an unrestricted free agent.

Warriors Sign Stephen Curry To Four-Year, $215MM Extension

August 6th, 2021 at 4:23pm CST by Arthur Hill

AUGUST 6: Curry’s extension is now official, according to an announcement from the Warriors.

“We’re thrilled to have Stephen in the fold for the next five years, with the vision of him playing his entire career with our franchise,” Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers said in a statement. “He epitomizes everything that you’d want in the leader of your basketball team with incredible character, humility, community-minded spirit and a team-oriented approach. On the court, he’s a generational player who has changed the game and won consistently at the highest level. We’re blessed and fortunate to have him on our team, and are thankful to be part of an organization, led by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, that is committed to winning.”

AUGUST 3: The Warriors and Curry are in agreement on the new four-year, $215MM extension that will go into effect beginning in 2022/23, agent Jeff Austin tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The star guard will become the first player in NBA history to sign two separate contracts worth more than $200MM, Woj notes.

AUGUST 2: Stephen Curry is expected to sign a $215MM extension that will keep him with the Warriors for four more seasons beyond 2021/22, according to Marc Stein of Substack.

Curry, 33, has been a cornerstone of the organization since being drafted in 2009. He won two MVP awards and led Golden State to five straight NBA Finals and three championships.

Returning from a hand injury that caused him to miss most of the 2019/20 season, Curry turned in another spectacular campaign, leading the NBA in scoring at 32.0 points per game while shooting 48.2% from the field and 42.1% from three-point range. It was the second scoring crown of his career.

Curry’s current deal runs through the end of next season, so the extension will keep him under contract through 2025/26. The Warriors will have their core in place for next few years, with Klay Thompson signed through 2023/24 and Draymond Green with two more years on his contract, plus an option for the 2023/24 season.

Curry will earn $45,780,966 in 2021/22 before his extension takes effect the following year. He’s already making more than the default maximum for a player with his years of experience, but a player’s individual maximum is always at least 5% of his previous salary. As such, he’ll get a 5% raise to $48.07MM for ’22/23, with 8% raises in the following seasons, all the way up to a staggering $59.6MM in ’25/26.

Hawks Re-Sign John Collins To Five-Year Deal

August 6th, 2021 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 6: Collins has officially re-signed with the Hawks, the team confirmed today in a press release.

“We have a great appreciation for John and all he provides for our team; he is an incredible team player who brings the type of positive energy and passion that is contagious and impacts winning,” president of basketball operations Travis Schlenk said in a statement. “John is beloved by his teammates, our coaches and our fans and we are happy that he will continue to grow along with our young core.”

Atlanta has now officially locked up its two franchise cornerstones to long-term deals, having also announced Young’s extension on Friday.

AUGUST 4: The Hawks have reached an agreement on a five-year, $125MM deal with restricted free agent John Collins, agents Sean Kennedy and Jeff Schwartz tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The agreement features a fifth-year player option, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Collins, the No. 2 player on our list of this year’s top 50 free agents, has now secured the largest free agent contract of the offseason so far in terms of overall value. Chris Paul (four years, $120MM) and Jarrett Allen (five years, $100MM) are the only other players to crack the nine-figure mark to date, and Paul’s deal reportedly only includes about $75MM in fully guaranteed money.

As I noted on Tuesday when word broke that the Hawks had offered Collins $125MM over five years, the deal represents an increase in terms of both years and dollars on the extension the team reportedly offered the 23-year-old during the 2020 offseason (four years, $90MM+).

It’s still quite a bit shy of the maximum salary Atlanta could have offered ($163MM over five years), but Collins’ options were limited, given the lack of teams with cap room available. The inclusion of a fifth-year player option may also have helped convince him to accept the deal. That will give him the ability to opt out in 2025 at age 27.

Collins, the 19th overall pick in the 2017 draft, averaged 17.6 PPG, 7.4 RPG and 1.0 BPG on .556/.399/.833 shooting in 63 games (29.3 MPG) for Atlanta in 2020/21. While those numbers were a slight step below the ones he put up in ’19/20, Collins played the role the Hawks asked of him and was a major part of the team’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Hawks have now made two major commitments this week to lock up a pair of franchise cornerstones. In addition to reaching a deal with Collins, the club also agreed to terms on a five-year, maximum-salary extension for Trae Young, which will go into effect in 2022/23.

Knicks Sign First-Rounder Quentin Grimes

August 6th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks have signed first-round pick Quentin Grimes, the team’s PR department tweets.

Grimes, the 25th pick, was acquired in a draft-night trade with the Clippers. The 6’5” guard out of the University of Houston averaged 17.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG and 2.0 APG last season.

Assuming the usual 120% above rookie scale offers made to first-round picks, Grimes will make $2.17MM. Over the next four seasons with raises, he’ll max out at $11.13MM.

Hawks Officially Announce Trae Young’s Five-Year Extension

August 6th, 2021 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks have officially signed Trae Young to a contract extension, the team announced today in a press release. While the club didn’t disclose the terms of the deal, we know based on previous reports that it’s a five-year, maximum-salary contract that begins in 2022/23. The two sides agreed to terms earlier in the week.

Young’s deal includes Rose Rule language and will start at 30% of the ’22/23 cap and will be worth a projected $207MM if he earns an All-NBA spot next season. If he doesn’t make the All-NBA team, the extension will start at 25% of the cap and will be worth nearly $173MM.

“This is a great day for the Hawks franchise and the city of Atlanta,” Hawks president of basketball operations Travis Schlenk said in a statement. “Trae is a special player and person who from Day One, embraced being a leader on the court and in our community. We are excited to have him as the cornerstone of our program long-term as we work toward our goal of bringing a championship to Atlanta.”

The move had been widely expected this offseason, as Young has emerged as the cornerstone of a Hawks team that made a surprising Eastern Conference Finals run this season.

He averaged 25.3 PPG, 9.4 APG, and 3.9 RPG in 63 regular season games (33.7 MPG) in 2020/21, then helped lead Atlanta past the Knicks and Sixers in the first two rounds of the playoffs before suffering a foot injury in the Eastern Finals vs. Milwaukee.

Young remains under his rookie contract for one more season and will earn $8.33MM in 2021/22 before his extension begins.

Young’s extension will include an early termination option after the fourth year, according to RealGM (Twitter link). An ETO is similar to a player option, so Young will have the ability to opt out and sign a new deal in 2026.

Cavs Re-Sign Jarrett Allen To Five-Year Contract

August 6th, 2021 at 3:41pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 6: The Cavaliers have issued a press release formally announcing Allen’s new deal with the club.

“We spent the last few years maintaining our financial and roster flexibility to put ourselves in a position to acquire and now re-sign a player of Jarrett’s caliber,” general manager Koby Altman said in a statement. “Since his arrival, Jarrett has fit seamlessly into our culture and almost instantly, he earned the respect of his coaches and teammates. We took another positive step forward in our pursuit of sustainable success with this signing, as we see Jarrett as an integral piece of our future moving forward.”

AUGUST 2: The Cavaliers and restricted free agent center Jarrett Allen are in agreement on a five-year, $100MM contract, his agents tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

A report earlier today had stated that Cleveland was preparing a $100MM offer for Allen. All five years on the new deal will be guaranteed, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

Cleveland traded a first-round pick for Allen in the four-team James Harden blockbuster this past season with the intent of retaining him for years to come. Even after drafting USC big man Evan Mobley with the No. 3 overall pick last Thursday, the Cavs prioritized a new deal for Allen, since the team believes he and Mobley are capable of playing alongside one another.

The Raptors were considered the Cavaliers’ top threat for Allen, but Cleveland wasted no time in negotiating directly with the 23-year-old rather than letting him go out and get an offer sheet.

Allen averaged 13.2 PPG, 9.9 RPG, and 1.4 BPG across 51 contests after the Cavs acquired him. He had been the No. 4 free agent on our top-50 list.

Kings, Richaun Holmes Finalize Four-Year Deal

August 6th, 2021 at 2:08pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 6: The Kings have officially re-signed Holmes, the team announced today in a press release.

“This is a great day for Richaun and the entire Kings organization,” GM Monte McNair said in a statement. “Richaun brings toughness, skill and versatility to the court. His energy is the perfect fit for our style of play and he represents the values of this organization. I’m excited to see what the future holds for him and this tremendously talented team we’re building.”

AUGUST 2: The Kings and center Richaun Holmes are in agreement on a four-year contract that could be worth up to $55MM, his agency tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania, the deal includes a fourth-year player option and a trade kicker.

Holmes, 27, is coming off two impressive seasons in Sacramento, including perhaps the best year of his career in 2020/21. He averaged 14.2 PPG, 8.3 RPG, and 1.6 BPG on 63.7% shooting in 61 games (29.2 MPG) this past season, putting himself in position for a significant payday this summer.

There was a sense leading up to free agency that the Kings might have a hard time retaining Holmes, since the team only had his Early Bird rights, limiting the starting salary it could offer him without opening up cap space. Charlotte, Toronto, and Dallas were among the teams expected to have interest in prying him away from Sacramento.

However, Holmes’ agreement with the Kings suggests that those other presumed suitors didn’t make an aggressive play for the big man, opening the door for Sacramento to bring him back.

For what it’s worth, $55MM over four years is quite a bit more than the Kings could offer Holmes using his Early Bird rights, and there’s no indication that the team is clearing cap room to complete the deal, so that figure coming from the agent may be a generous one — I’d expect the base value of the contract to come in lower than that. The four-year Early Bird amount is a little shy of $47MM.

The Kings have now addressed the center position by lining up deals with Holmes and Alex Len, and reportedly have a deal in place to acquire Tristan Thompson from Boston as well.