Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

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.

Rookie JT Thor Signs With Hornets

August 6th, 2021 at 1:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hornets have signed second-round draft pick JT Thor, according to a team press release.

Thor, a 6’9” forward, was officially acquired from the Pistons along with center Mason Plumlee on Friday in exchange for the draft rights of Balsa Koprivica.

[RELATED: 2021 NBA Draft Pick Signings]

Terms of the contract are undisclosed, but the club is under the cap and has the ability to give him a starting salary worth more than the rookie minimum and/or a contract that covers more than two years.

Thor, the 37th overall pick, averaged 9.4 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 1.4 BPG in his lone season with the Tigers. Thor projects to spend most of his rookie season in the G League.

Heat Officially Re-Sign Duncan Robinson

August 6th, 2021 at 1:16pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have officially re-signed sharpshooter Duncan Robinson, the team announced today in a press release. The five-year, $90MM deal, which reportedly includes an early termination option after the fourth year, was one of the first agreements reached during the free agent period on Monday.

“Duncan is the epitome of everybody who’s ever had a dream about being a great NBA player,” team president Pat Riley said in a statement. “I have never been around a player who worked as hard, fastidiously working on what he needed to do in order to improve his game. Not just his shooting, but his overall game. Having Duncan back was very critical for us.”

Robinson, 27, has been a full-time starter for the Heat over the last two seasons, averaging 13.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 1.6 APG with an impressive .454/.427/.878 shooting line in 145 games (30.5 MPG) during that time. Miami made him a restricted free agent prior to the start of free agency by extending him a $4.7MM qualifying offer.

If the Heat had used cap room this summer, it would have made sense for them to keep Robinson’s small cap hold on their books while they used up all their space, then go over the cap to finalize his deal. However, the club will operate over the cap instead, having agreed to acquire Kyle Lowry via sign-and-trade rather than signing him with cap room. As such, there was no reason not to complete Robinson’s contract right away when the moratorium lifted today.

That Lowry deal is not yet official, as the Heat and the Raptors have spent much of the week negotiating the terms of the sign-and-trade, but it should just be a matter of time before the two teams figure it out and make an announcement.

Pistons Trade Mason Plumlee To Hornets

August 6th, 2021 at 12:11pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 6: The trade is now official, according to press releases from both the Hornets and Pistons. Charlotte received Plumlee and the rights to No. 37 pick JT Thor in exchange for the rights to No. 57 pick Balsa Koprivica.

JULY 29: The Pistons and Hornets are finalizing a trade that would see Mason Plumlee sent to Charlotte along with the No. 37 pick in tonight’s draft in exchange for the No. 57 pick, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

The Hornets had been expected to be one of the NBA’s most aggressive teams in pursuit of a center this offseason and will get an early start on addressing that position by acquiring Plumlee, who averaged 10.4 PPG, 9.3 RPG, and 3.6 APG in 56 games (26.8 MPG) during his first and only season as a Piston.

Plumlee had been set to earn $8.1MM in 2021/22 and will receive a 10% trade bonus as a result of the deal, bumping up that cap hit by $830K, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Even at close to $9MM, Plumlee’s deal isn’t particularly onerous, especially since it’s only partially guaranteed in 2022/23. So it’s somewhat surprising that the Pistons were willing to drop down 20 spots in the draft to move off of it, especially since GM Troy Weaver just signed Plumlee to that deal last offseason.

Still, Detroit will gain cap flexibility as a result of the trade and could open up about $20MM in space rather than operating over the cap this summer, tweets Nate Duncan. The move will also create additional playing time for promising young big man Isaiah Stewart.

The deal will have to be completed once the new league year begins, when the Hornets can take Plumlee into their cap space. They’ll still have about $13MM in projected cap room, according to Marks, so they could pursue another center in free agency.

Bulls Re-Sign Javonte Green On Two-Year Deal

August 6th, 2021 at 11:53am CST by JD Shaw

AUGUST 11: The signing is official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

AUGUST 6: The Bulls are re-signing Javonte Green to a two-year contract, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter). Chicago recently issued Green a $1.9MM qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent.

Green appeared in 16 games with the team last season after being acquired in a three-team, trade-deadline deal back in March. He started the campaign with Boston and appeared in a total of 41 games between the two teams, averaging 3.6 PPG and 1.7 RPG in 11.5 minutes per contest.

Chicago has made significant upgrades to its roster this year, trading for All-Star center Nikola Vucevic before the deadline and reaching sign-and-trade deals to land Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan this week. The team also agreed to a four-year contract with Alex Caruso.

Green is expected to provide depth for the franchise as it competes for a spot in the playoffs next season. The 28-year-old swingman went undrafted back in 2015 and holds 89 games of NBA experience.

Clippers Re-Sign Reggie Jackson To Two-Year Deal

August 6th, 2021 at 11:43am CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 11: The Clippers have officially re-signed Jackson, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

AUGUST 6: Free agent point guard Reggie Jackson intends to sign a two-year, $22MM deal to return to the Clippers, agents Aaron Mintz and Erika Ruiz tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

That figure (which will actually come in around $21.6MM) is the maximum the capped-out Clippers can pay Jackson using his Early Bird rights, as Woj and Bobby Marks of ESPN note (Twitter link). Early Bird contracts must cover at least two years without a player or team option.

After settling for a minimum-salary contract last offseason, Jackson was rewarded with a significant raise for his strong play in 2020/21. The 31-year-old averaged 10.7 PPG with a .433 3PT% and was even better in the playoffs, putting up 17.8 PPG on .484/.408/.878 shooting.

He played in key role in helping the Clippers defeat Utah in the Western Conference Semifinals and push the Suns to six games in the Western Finals after Kawhi Leonard went down with an ACL injury in round two.

The Pelicans, Celtics, Knicks, and Nuggets were reported as potential suitors for Jackson, but a return to Los Angeles had always been considered the most likely scenario for the veteran guard. Jackson will be an important part of a backcourt that once again projects to include Rajon Rondo, Patrick Beverley, and Terance Mann.

The Clippers, meanwhile, still have one more major item on their free agency to-do list, as star forward Kawhi Leonard has yet to agree to a new deal with the team. He’s widely expected to do so sooner or later, but it remains to be seen what the exact terms of his new agreement will look like.

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.