Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pistons Sign Kelly Olynyk To Three-Year Deal

August 2nd, 2021 at 5:16pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 6: The Pistons have officially signed Olynyk, the team announced today in a press release.

AUGUST 2: The Pistons have agreed to a three-year deal with free agent big man Kelly Olynyk, agent Jeff Schwartz tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). The contract will be worth $37MM, Wojnarowski reports. It features a third-year team option, tweets James Edwards III of The Athletic.

The Pistons agreed to trade veteran big man Mason Plumlee to Charlotte in a salary-dump deal on draft night in order to open up the center position and more salary cap space, and Olynyk will be the beneficiary of the team’s newly-created roster and cap flexibility.

Olynyk, who was traded from the Heat to the Rockets prior to the March trade deadline, finished the 2020/21 season on an incredible roll, averaging 19.0 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 4.1 APG on .545/.392/.844 shooting in 27 games (31.1 MPG) for Houston. That helped boost his stock ahead of free agency and earn him a deal worth more than the mid-level.

Olynyk will be joining an intriguing young Pistons core that includes Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart, Killian Hayes, and this year’s No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham.

Olynyk can play either the four or the five, and his ability to stretch the floor should allow the Pistons to use him in lineups alongside Stewart.

Knicks Re-Sign Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel

August 2nd, 2021 at 5:13pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 17: The Knicks have now officially re-signed Burks as well, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

AUGUST 10: The Knicks’ deal with Noel is official, per NBA.com’s transactions log. As noted last week, the three-year contract includes a team option for the 2023/24 season.

AUGUST 2: The Knicks have agreed to new deals with unrestricted free agents Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links).

According to Wojnarowski, Burks’ new deal will be worth $30MM over three years, while Noel will get a three-year contract worth $32MM.

Burks and Noel both signed team-friendly one-year contracts with New York in 2020 and outplayed those deals. Burks put up 12.7 PPG and 4.6 RPG with a career-high .415 3PT% in 49 games (25.6 MPG), while Noel started 41 of his 64 games, recording 5.1 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 2.2 BPG in 24.2 MPG.

Burks had been viewed as a probable target for the Cavaliers, while Noel had been linked to the Raptors, Knicks, Hornets, and Kings. However, the Knicks entered the day with more cap flexibility than any other team, putting them in good position to get deals done with their priority free agents.

New York should still have upwards of $30MM+ in possible cap room after making their commitments to Burks and Noel.

Will Barton Re-Signs With Nuggets On Two-Year Deal

August 2nd, 2021 at 5:04pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

AUGUST 11: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

AUGUST 2: Free agent Nuggets swingman Will Barton is set to return to Denver on a two-year, $32MM deal, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Barton, 30, was originally drafted by the Trail Blazers in 2012 out of Memphis with the No. 40 pick. He has been a core role player in Denver since being sent to the Nuggets during the 2014/15 season.

The 6’6″ wing averaged 12.7 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 3.2 APG last season while shooting 42.6% from the field, 38.1% from three-point range, and 78.5% from the charity stripe. He missed most of Denver’s postseason run due to a hamstring injury.

Barton last inked a four-year, $53MM deal with Denver ahead of the 2018/19 season. Earlier this summer, he declined his $14.7MM player option for the 2021/22 season in the hopes of nabbing a pay raise and more guaranteed long-term money.

The Nuggets, led by reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and guard Jamal Murray, are hoping to rebound from a disappointing 2021 playoffs, in which they were swept out of the second round by the Suns in part due to the absence of Murray, who continues to recover from a left ACL tear.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Raptors Sign Gary Trent Jr. To Three-Year Deal

August 2nd, 2021 at 9:10am CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 8: Trent’s deal with the Raptors is now official, according to a press release from the team.

AUGUST 2: The Raptors have reached a contract agreement with restricted free agent Gary Trent Jr. and will re-sign the swingman to a three-year, $54MM deal, agent Rich Paul tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The contract will include a third-year player option, Wojnarowski adds.

Trent, 22, spent his first two-and-a-half NBA seasons in Portland before being sent to Toronto in a deadline deal involving Norman Powell. Trent averaged a career-best 15.3 PPG on .408/.385/.783 shooting in 58 total games (31.1 MPG) for the Blazers and Raptors in 2020/21 ahead of his first foray into free agency.

Trent decided to play out last season without an extension despite the fact that Portland was believed to be willing to give him a four-year, $54MM deal, the maximum the team could’ve offered before he reached free agency.

That decision paid off for the young wing, who will now make that same amount over three seasons if he opts into his final year. If he opts out in 2023, he’ll hit unrestricted free agency as a 24-year-old and will likely be in position to cash in again.

Javonte Green, Others Receive Qualifying Offers

August 1st, 2021 at 9:50pm CST by Luke Adams

The deadline for teams to issue qualifying offers to players eligible for restricted free agency was at 5:00pm ET on Sunday, but news of a handful of under-the-radar QOs continues to trickle in several hours later.

According to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link), one player who received a qualifying offer was Bulls wing Javonte Green, whose offer was worth just shy of $1.9MM.

Green, 28, was sent from Boston to Chicago along with Daniel Theis in a three-team deadline deal and played a limited role for the team down the stretch, averaging 2.6 PPG and 1.2 RPG in 16 games (8.0 MPG). He’ll now start the 2021/22 league year as a restricted free agent.

Here are a few more QO updates:

The Thunder issued a qualifying offer to make forward Josh Hall a restricted free agent, tweets Smith.
The Hawks tendered a qualifying offer to former LSU shooting guard Skylar Mays, tweets Smith.
The Mavericks have extended a qualifying offer to 22-year-old shooting guard Nate Hinton, tweets Smith.
The Sixers have issued a qualifying offer to guard Rayjon Tucker to make him a restricted free agent, tweets Smith.
Because all four of these players just finished the first season of a two-way contract with their respective teams, their QOs will be the equivalent of another two-way deal with a $50K guarantee.

Thunder Tender Qualifying Offer To Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk

August 1st, 2021 at 6:24pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have tendered a qualifying offer to swingman Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, a league source tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). As a result of the move, Mykhailiuk will be a restricted free agent.

Mykhailiuk, a second-round pick in 2018, began his career with the Lakers before being traded to Detroit. After two years with the Pistons, he was flipped to the Thunder along with a second-round pick for Hamidou Diallo in a pre-deadline deal this March.

Playing a career-high 23.0 minutes per game in 30 appearances for the Thunder, Mykhailiuk averaged 10.3 PPG and 3.0 RPG on .438/.336/.700 shooting.

The 24-year-old’s qualifying offer will be worth about $2.08MM. If he accepts that offer, he’d reach unrestricted free agency next summer, but he may try to work out a more lucrative – and possibly multiyear – deal with the Thunder or another team. Oklahoma City will have the ability to match any offer sheet Mykhailiuk signs with a rival club as long as that QO remains on the table.

Grizzlies Decline Justise Winslow’s Team Option

August 1st, 2021 at 6:21pm CST by JD Shaw

The Grizzlies have declined the $13MM team option in Justise Winslow‘s contract for next season, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (Twitter link).

This move was expected from Memphis, since the team needed to remove Winslow’s salary from its books to create space for Eric Bledsoe and Steven Adams. The Grizzlies are reportedly set to acquire the duo in a trade with the Pelicans, sending back center Jonas Valanciunas in return.

The 25-year-old Winslow has missed several games due to injuries over the past two seasons, appearing in just 37 total contests as a result. He spent the first five seasons of his career in Miami before being traded to Memphis in February of 2020.

In the 26 games he did play during the 2020/21 season, Winslow averaged 6.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per contest. Memphis had to make a decision on his option by 5:00pm ET on Sunday.

Heat Decline Omer Yurtseven’s Team Option

August 1st, 2021 at 5:32pm CST by JD Shaw

The Heat have declined center Omer Yurtseven‘s $1.5MM team option for the 2021/22 season, allowing him to enter unrestricted free agency, as relayed by Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald (Twitter links).

The option was non-guaranteed, a factor that didn’t interest Yurtseven. The 23-year-old will still play with the team during the California Classic Summer League and Las Vegas Summer League this month.

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 went unselected in the 2020 NBA Draft and could remain with the franchise if he impresses this summer. However, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link), which means the Heat didn’t tender him a qualifying offer.

In addition to declining Yurtseven’s option, Miami also declined Andre Iguodala‘s $15MM option and picked up the $19.4MM option in Goran Dragic‘s contract earlier today — though Dragic could still be used in a sign-and-trade involving Kyle Lowry.

Chris Paul To Decline Player Option, Enter Free Agency

August 1st, 2021 at 4:42pm CST by JD Shaw

Suns star Chris Paul is declining his $44.2MM player option for the 2021/22 season, allowing him to enter unrestricted free agency this week, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

As we previously relayed, Paul remains likely to re-sign with the team on a new deal. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that there remains optimism between both sides that a new agreement will be reached in free agency.

Entering free agency will allow Paul to seek a multiyear contract and one last big payday. The 36-year-old reached the NBA Finals for the first time in his 16-year career last season, averaging 16.4 points and 8.9 assists per game and earning All-NBA Second Team honors. He’s widely considered to be the most valuable guard on the open market this summer.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), the Suns can sign Paul to a contract up to four years if he officially opts out. Other teams with salary cap space are restricted to offering him a three-year deal due to the Over-38 rule, which is designed to prevent teams from circumventing the salary cap by offering a contract that extends beyond when the club expects a player to end his career. Paul will turn 38 in May of 2023.

In addition to his impressive averages, Paul also shot 49.9% from the floor and 39.5% from three-point range — all while playing 70 of 72 regular-season games for Phoenix in 2020/21. He was in the final year of a four-year, $160MM contract signed in 2018.

Kawhi Leonard To Opt Out, Become UFA

August 1st, 2021 at 4:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Clippers star Kawhi Leonard is turning down his $36MM player option for the 2021/22 season and will become an unrestricted free agent, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Today was the deadline for Leonard’s option decision.

The opt-out comes as no surprise — that decision had been expected since Leonard signed his three-year deal with Los Angeles back in 2019, and it doesn’t mean he’s leaving the Clippers. Speaking last December about his contract situation, Kawhi acknowledged that “the best decision” from a financial perspective would be to turn down his option.

Of course, when Leonard made those comments at the start of the 2020/21 season, he included a caveat: “If I’m healthy.” That’s not the case, as he recently underwent surgery to repair a partial tear of his right ACL. There’s a fear that the two-time Finals MVP could miss part or even all of the ’21/22 campaign.

Still, even taking that injury into account, opting out makes the most sense for Leonard, who will receive a new maximum-salary contract despite the fact that he won’t be ready to play this fall. He now has 10 years of NBA experience under his belt, which means he can bump his salary for next season to 35% of the cap – a projected maximum of $39.3MM – and perhaps lock in some additional years.

While the Mavericks and a handful of other teams are expected to kick the tires on Leonard, the Clippers are considered the overwhelming favorites to sign him to a new deal, as Haynes confirms.

The Clips only hold Leonard’s Early Bird rights, which will limit the team to a four-year offer (worth a projected $176.3MM). If he wants to maximize his long-term earnings, Kawhi could sign a one-plus-one contract this offseason and then opt out again next summer to sign a new five-year contract with the Clippers once they have his full Bird rights.