Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nets Trade Landry Shamet To Suns For Jevon Carter, Day’Ron Sharpe

August 6th, 2021 at 11:38am CST by JD Shaw

AUGUST 6: The Suns have officially acquired Shamet from the Nets in exchange for Carter and the rights to Day’Ron Sharpe, the team announced in a press release.

JULY 29: The Nets have agreed to trade sharpshooter Landry Shamet to the Suns in exchange for Jevon Carter and the No. 29 pick in Thursday’s draft, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

As a result, Brooklyn now owns the 27th, 29th, 44th, 49th and 59th picks in the 2021 draft. Carter, a 6’1″ point guard, will provide backcourt depth behind the likes of Kyrie Irving and James Harden, assuming he stays with the team.

Phoenix wasn’t interested in using the No. 29 pick on a player who likely wouldn’t have played much, preferring to add a more proven veteran to the mix, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 tweets. The Suns are coming off their first NBA Finals berth since 1993 and third berth in franchise history.

Suns coach Monty Williams is a strong supporter of Shamet, dating back to when he coached him as an assistant with the Sixers, Wojnarowski notes (via Twitter). The 24-year-old Shamet averaged 9.3 points per game in 61 contests last season, shooting 41% from the floor and 39% from three-point range.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), the trade won’t be completed until August 6 at the earliest. Shamet’s salary will increase from $2MM to $3.76MM for next season, while Carter will make $3.65MM in 2021/22. Shamet also becomes eligible for a rookie-scale extension on August 6.

Nets Sign DeAndre’ Bembry

August 6th, 2021 at 11:38am CST by JD Shaw

AUGUST 8: The Nets have officially signed Bembry, the club announced today in a press release.

AUGUST 6: The Nets have reached a one-year agreement with free agent swingman DeAndre’ Bembry, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). While terms of the deal weren’t reported, Brooklyn is currently limited to minimum-salary commitments.

Bembry, who joins Patty Mills and James Johnson as veteran free agents to commit to Brooklyn this offseason, spent the 2020/21 season with the Raptors. He appeared in 51 games, averaging 5.7 points on 51% shooting from the floor and 26% shooting from deep, providing defensive versatility and athleticism off the bench. He was waived on Tuesday before his 2021/22 salary became guaranteed.

The 6’5″ Bembry was also the No. 21 pick of the 2016 NBA Draft. He spent the first four years of his career with Atlanta, mostly playing off the bench.

In addition to Bembry, Mills and Johnson, the Nets also reached new deals with two of their own free agents this summer: Blake Griffin and Bruce Brown. The team has built a formidable roster around the likes of Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Kevin Durant as it seeks its first-ever NBA championship.

Andre Iguodala Signs One-Year Deal With Warriors

August 6th, 2021 at 10:10am CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 10: Igoudala’s new deal with the Warriors is now official, the team announced today in a press release.

AUGUST 6: Free agent forward Andre Iguodala has agreed to return to the Warriors, telling Jonathan Abrams of The New York Times that he’ll sign a one-year deal with Golden State. His intention is to finish his career with the franchise.

According to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link), Iguodala – like fellow free agents Otto Porter and Nemanja Bjelica – will receive the veteran’s minimum from Golden State.

A report on Thursday indicated that Iguodala – who became a free agent after the Heat turned down his $15MM team option – had narrowed his choices down to the Warriors, Lakers, and Nets, while a follow-up report this morning from Jordan Schultz of ESPN (Twitter link) suggested the decision would likely come down to Brooklyn vs. Golden State.

In the end, the opportunity to reunite with the Warriors won out for the 37-year-old, who previously earned three titles with the team.

“Who would have thought I’d have the opportunity to go back to the place where I was able to have, whatever you want to call it, legacy years, in terms of the accomplishments, winning multiple championships, the relationships that I was able to build with some of my closest friends and teammates?” Iguodala said. “The relationship with the fans, the relationship with the Bay, the opportunity to end it here, was just something special.”

Iguodala, who routinely averaged between 15-20 points per game for the 76ers early in his NBA career, is no longer much of an offensive threat, having put up just 4.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and 2.3 APG on .396/.323/.585 shooting in 84 games (20.9 MPG) over the last two seasons in Miami.

However, the veteran forward remains a reliable, versatile defender and brings veteran leadership to a locker room. He told Abrams that he’s looking forward to taking on a mentor role for the Warriors’ young players.

As for how much longer Iguodala plans to spend in the league before his retirement, that decision remains up in the air, as Abrams relays.

“I think I’ve got some more time left,” Iguodala said. “Where I’m comfortable at is I can decide when I’m ready to go. I think I want to leave with just a little bit left. I don’t want to go out on one leg. I know I’ve got a few more years. It’s just my decision whether it’s one or two or three or whatever it may be. I shouldn’t even say three. One or two.”

Solomon Hill Signs With Hawks On One-Year Deal

August 5th, 2021 at 8:02pm CST by Dana Gauruder

AUGUST 5: Hill has officially signed, according to a team press release. It’s a minimum-salary deal.

AUGUST 2: Free agent forward Solomon Hill has agreed to re-sign with the Hawks on a one-year deal, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

In his eight-year career, Hill has played for five teams. In part due to frontcourt injuries, Hill saw action in 71 regular-season games, including 16 starts.

He was the fifth option offensively, averaging just 4.2 shot attempts and 4.5 PPG in 21.3 MPG. He also appeared in 14 playoff games during the team’s run to the conference finals, though his playing time dropped. He only appeared in four games against the Bucks during the Eastern Conference Finals.

However, the front office valued Hill enough to bring him back on a short team deal, likely the veteran’s minimum or something close to it.

Trail Blazers Sign Ben McLemore

August 5th, 2021 at 7:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

AUGUST 5: The team has officially signed McLemore, according to a team press release. It’s a one-year, minimum-salary deal.

AUGUST 2: The Trail Blazers will sign free agent shooting guard Ben McLemore, his agent Rich Paul has informed Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter).

The athletic swingman flashed significant promise during his first few seasons with the Kings, who selected him with the seventh pick in the 2013 draft out of Kansas. He next proved himself to be a valuable role player while with the Grizzlies, and then suited up for an encore 2018/19 Sacramento season.

Armed with quickness and a reliable three-point shot, McLemore served as a helpful wing contributor on the Rockets’ most recent playoff team, operating as a role player to support All-Star guards James Harden and Russell Westbrook, during the 2019/20 season.

After the Rockets began a midseason 2020/21 fire sale, they sent McLemore to the Lakers. McLemore averaged 8.0 PPG and 1.6 RPG in 21 contests for Los Angeles, connecting on 36.8% of his 5.4 three-point attempts a night. He should prove a valuable floor-spacing role player on the perimeter for Portland.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Raptors Re-Sign Khem Birch To Three-Year Contract

August 5th, 2021 at 6:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

AUGUST 6: The Raptors have made it official with Birch, formally issuing a press release to confirm his new deal.

AUGUST 5: The Raptors have reached a three-year contract agreement with one of their own free agents, center Khem Birch, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

The deal will be worth $20MM. Toronto only held Non-Bird rights on Birch, so it will likely use part of its mid-level exception to re-sign Birch. It’s also conceivable that the Raptors could open up sufficient cap room to make it happen, but if they take back Goran Dragic or another high-salary player in the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade with Miami, they’ll need to use the mid-level.

Birch joined the Raptors in April after the rebuilding Magic bought him out. He started 17 of 19 regular-season appearances with the Raptors, averaging 11.9 PPG, 7.6 RPG and 1.2 BPG in 30.4 MPG. The 28-year-old Birch played his first three-and-a-half NBA seasons with Orlando but was mainly used off the bench.

The Raptors waived Aron Baynes on Wednesday, so Birch could compete with Chris Boucher for a starting role with the club.

Wizards Rescinding Garrison Mathews’ Qualifying Offer

August 5th, 2021 at 5:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards are pulling their qualifying offer to Garrison Mathews off the table, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). The move will make Mathews an unrestricted free agent.

Mathews, who has been on a two-way contract with Washington for each of the past two seasons, emerged as a regular rotation player for the team in 2020/21, averaging 5.5 PPG in 64 games (16.2 MPG). The 24-year-old shooting guard has displayed a reliable outside shot since entering the NBA, making 38.9% of 244 total three-point attempts.

The Wizards issued Mathews a qualifying offer last week to make him a restricted free agent. That QO was a partially guaranteed one-year minimum-salary offer and gave Washington matching rights in the event that Mathews signed an offer sheet with another team.

However, as Katz explains, the Wizards’ roster is almost full as a result of the complex five-team trade that will send six players to D.C. — by my count, 14 of the 15 slots on Washington’s regular season roster are spoken for. The club is also close to the tax line, Katz notes, and may want to retain some flexibility with that 15th roster spot.

Mathews will now be free to sign outright with any other team.

Wizards Waive Caleb Homesley

August 5th, 2021 at 5:35pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards have waived shooting guard Caleb Homesley, according to NBA.com’s official transactions log.

Homesley, who went undrafted out of Liberty in 2020, joined the Wizards for training camp last fall but was waived before the regular season began. He later suited up for the Erie BayHawks (the G League team the Wizards shared with New Orleans in 2020/21) and appeared in 15 NBAGL games (24.9 MPG), averaging 9.3 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 2.3 APG.

The Wizards liked what they saw from Homesley in the preseason and in the G League enough to sign him to a multiyear contract during the last week of the 2020/21 season. That was a four-year contract, but the last three years – including ’21/22 – were non-guaranteed, allowing Washington to cut him without incurring a cap hit.

Releasing Homesley doesn’t necessarily mean he’s no longer in the Wizards’ plans. He was listed on the team’s Las Vegas Summer League roster and could be a candidate to return to the club on a new Exhibit 10 deal or two-way contract. For now though, he’s on waivers — he’ll become a free agent this weekend if he goes unclaimed.

McKinley Wright Signs Two-Way Deal With Timberwolves

August 5th, 2021 at 5:33pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

AUGUST 5: Wright’s two-way contract with the Timberwolves is now official, according to the transactions log at NBA.com. Both of Minnesota’s two-way slots are now full, as our tracker shows.

JULY 30: The Timberwolves will sign a two-way deal with undrafted Colorado guard McKinley Wright IV, writes ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The 6’0″ point guard enjoyed four decorated seasons with the Buffaloes. He was a three-time All-Pac-12 selection, a two-time All-Pac-12 Tourney honoree, and a 2020 Pac-12 All-Defensive Team member.

Wright, 22, ranks sixth on ESPN’s list of undrafted prospects. He averaged 15.2 PPG, 5.7 APG, 4.3 RPG and 1.1 SPG in 32 games for the Buffaloes, on .480/.301/.844 shooting during his senior season in 2020/21. Wright started in all but one of his 132 regular season games with the club.

Suns Re-Sign Frank Kaminsky

August 5th, 2021 at 4:47pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 9: The Suns have officially announced the return of reserve center/power forward Frank Kaminsky.

AUGUST 5: Free agent big man Frank Kaminsky has agreed to return to the Suns on a one-year deal, his agents Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman tell Marc Stein (Twitter link). Kaminsky’s one-year deal will be worth the veteran’s minimum, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7.

Kaminsky, 28, first joined the Suns for the 2019/20 season after four years in Charlotte. He signed with Sacramento during the 2020 offseason, but was released by the Kings at the end of the preseason and was claimed off waivers by the Suns, resulting in him spending another season in Phoenix.

Kaminsky appeared in 47 regular season games for the Suns in 2020/21, averaging 6.6 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 1.7 APG with a shooting line of .471/.365/.617. He wasn’t in the club’s regular playoff rotation, making 10 appearances and logging just 6.8 minutes per contest.

With Dario Saric in danger of missing the entire 2021/22 season due to a torn ACL, there’s a viable path to play regular minutes for Kaminsky. Newcomer JaVale McGee and second-year big man Jalen Smith will be among the other reserves vying for playing time in the frontcourt, but Kaminsky’s ability to space the floor will make him a better fit in certain lineups.