Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jazz Sign Shaquille Harrison To One-Year Deal

December 9th, 2020 at 4:35pm CST by Luke Adams

4:35pm: The Jazz have officially signed Harrison, the team announced in a press release.

3:03pm: The Jazz are finalizing a contract agreement with free agent guard Shaquille Harrison, sources tell Shams Charania and Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’ll be a one-year, minimum-salary deal, Charania adds (via Twitter).

Harrison, 27, spent the last two seasons with the Bulls, averaging 5.9 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 116 total games (16.5 MPG). Harrison’s offensive output, including a shooting line of .442/.305/.706 as a Bull, was relatively modest, but he’s considered a strong perimeter defender.

The Jazz indicated heading into the offseason that they were making it a priority to add defensive-minded players to their roster. Harrison certainly fits that bill — he has averaged 2.3 steals per 36 minutes over the course of his NBA career, and the Bulls had a 99.7 defensive rating when he was on the court in 2019/20, compared to a 110.0 mark when he sat.

The Jazz only have 11 players with fully guaranteed salaries for 2020/21, so Harrison looks like a good bet to make the regular season roster. Utah also has a pair of openings on its 20-man training camp roster, so no corresponding move will be required to sign Harrison.

Knicks Waive Jacob Evans

December 9th, 2020 at 2:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have waived third-year shooting guard Jacob Evans, the team announced today (Twitter link).

Evans, 23, was drafted by Golden State with the 28th overall pick in 2018 and spent his first season-and-a-half in the NBA with the Warriors before being dealt to Minnesota in the D’Angelo Russell trade in February. In 59 overall games with the Warriors and Timberwolves, he has averaged 2.8 PPG and 1.1 RPG in just 10.5 minutes per contest, making just 33.7% of his shots from the floor.

The Knicks acquired Evans in a trade that sent Ed Davis to the Wolves last month. His inclusion in that deal was required for salary-matching purposes and he never appeared to be part of New York’s long-term plans.

Evans’ $2.02MM salary for 2020/21 is fully guaranteed, so the Knicks will have to pay out that money — the team remains about $18MM below the cap though, so that’s not a major concern. Evans had a $3.64MM team option for 2021/22 that will be automatically voided unless he’s claimed on waivers, which seems unlikely.

With a spot on their 20-man camp roster now available, the Knicks have room to begin completing their Exhibit 10 signings for G League rights and bonus purposes. Skal Labissiere, James Young, and Andrew White have all reportedly agreed to camp deals with the club and figure to eventually join the Westchester Knicks.

Looking ahead, the Knicks are now carrying 15 players with guaranteed salaries and would have to cut one of those players if they want to include either Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Myles Powell on their regular season roster.

Thunder Sign Theo Maledon

December 9th, 2020 at 11:53am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have signed rookie guard Theo Maledon to his first NBA contract, the team announced today in a press release. Oklahoma City now has a full 20-man roster, at least for the time being.

Maledon, 19, was the 34th overall pick in November, having technically been selected by Philadelphia. The Sixers traded his rights to Oklahoma City as part of the Al Horford/Danny Green swap that was finally completed on Tuesday.

The French point guard spent last season with ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, playing in France’s Pro A league as well as the EuroLeague. In 46 total games, Maledon averaged 7.3 PPG, 2.7 APG, and 1.9 RPG in 17.3 minutes per contest.

The details of Maledon’s contract aren’t yet known. The Thunder are still technically operating as an over-the-cap club, with their various trade exceptions pushing them over the cap despite a relatively inexpensive roster. As a result, they’ll be able to use their mid-level exception to give Maledon a contract longer than two years and worth more than just the minimum in year one.

Maledon was one of three international draft picks by the Thunder in 2020. First-rounder Aleksej Pokusevski signed his rookie contract last week, while No. 37 pick Vit Krejci appears likely to remain overseas as he recovers from an ACL injury — he’s still under contract with Zaragoza in Spain.

Assuming Krejci is a draft-and-stash prospect, Maledon figures to be the last 2020 draftee to sign a contract for the coming season.

Thunder Sign Moses Brown To Two-Way Deal

December 9th, 2020 at 10:11am CST by Arthur Hill

DECEMBER 9: Brown’s deal with the Thunder is now official, the team announced in a press release.

Oklahoma City is currently carrying 17 players on standard contracts and a pair (Brown and Josh Hall) on two-way deals.

NOVEMBER 22: Former Trail Blazers center Moses Brown will sign a two-way contract with the Thunder, according to Adam Zagoria of Forbes. The deal was confirmed by his agent, Gary Mo Moore.

Brown spent one year with Portland on a two-way deal and appeared in nine NBA games, playing 33 total minutes. He averaged 14.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game with the Texas Legends in the G League. Brown didn’t rejoin the Blazers for the NBA’s restart in Orlando.

“I think that Moses in the last nine weeks has grown in leaps and bounds,” Moore said. “He’s gotten so much better in all phases of his game and in his life, and I think he’s going to be a tremendously surprise great addition to the league. I think the Oklahoma City Thunder have gotten a real quality player and he’s more ready now than (before).”

Thunder Sign, Waive Omer Yurtseven

December 9th, 2020 at 8:07am CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 9: After signing him on Monday, the Thunder waived Yurtseven on Tuesday, according to the NBA’s official transactions log.

Oklahoma City now has 18 players on its roster, with deals for Chasson Randle (training camp contract), Moses Brown (two-way contract), and Theo Maledon (standard contract) expected to be completed soon.

DECEMBER 8: The Thunder have filled the open spot on their 20-man training camp roster by officially signing undrafted rookie Omer Yurtseven to a one-year contract, per RealGM’s transactions log.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported shortly after last month’s draft that the Thunder and Yurtseven had reached an agreement on an Exhibit 10 deal. The former Georgetown big man looks like a good bet to join the Thunder’s G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue.

Yurtseven, 22, began his college career at North Carolina State before transferring to Georgetown. He was the Hoyas’ starting center in 2019/20, averaging 15.5 PPG, 9.8 RPG, and 1.5 BPG in 26 games (27.3 MPG). He decided to go pro this spring following his junior season.

Thunder Sign Josh Hall To Two-Way Contract

December 8th, 2020 at 3:49pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have officially signed undrafted rookie Josh Hall to his two-way contract, agent Nathan Conley tells JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link). Hall’s agreement with the club was reported shortly after the draft last month.

Ranked by ESPN as the No. 5 prospect among those who went undrafted, Hall has “considerable potential” as both a shooter and ball-handler, according to Mike Schmitz’s scouting report. A 6’9″ forward, Hall had been on track to play college ball at North Carolina State after a year at Moravian Prep, but opted to go pro and enter the draft instead.

The Thunder opened up a pair of spots on their 20-man training camp roster by completing their Al Horford trade earlier today, so it appears that Hall slid into one of those openings.

The signing increases Oklahoma City’s roster count to 19 players, with reported deals for Theo Maledon, Chasson Randle and Moses Brown (two-way contract) still to come. The club will have to make at least two cuts to finalize those moves.

Sixers, Thunder Officially Complete Al Horford, Danny Green Trade

December 8th, 2020 at 9:09am CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers and Thunder have officially finalized a trade agreement that was reached prior to the draft last month, formally announcing today that Al Horford has been sent to Oklahoma City.

Along with Horford, the Thunder also acquired the draft rights to No. 34 pick Theo Maledon, the draft rights to 2014 second-round pick Vasilije Micic, and the Sixers’ 2025 first-round pick (top-six protected).

The 76ers, meanwhile, add veteran shooting guard Danny Green, fourth-year wing Terrance Ferguson, and French big man Vincent Poirier in the swap.

As cap expert Albert Nahmad (Twitter link) and others have explained, the two teams decided to wait until today to finalize the trade because trade restrictions have now lifted on Green and Poirier, who were moved in separate deals last month and couldn’t have their salaries aggregated in a second trade until December 8.

Oklahoma City could have completed the trade without aggregating Green’s and Poirier’s salaries to match Horford’s $27.5MM cap hit, but it would have required the team to use its recently-created $27.5MM traded player exception. The Thunder will now be able to hang onto that exception – created in the Steven Adams deal – to use later this season or early in the 2021 offseason.

Poirier wasn’t initially reported as being part of the trade, but his inclusion was required for salary-matching purposes, since the Thunder didn’t use their TPE. Philadelphia can slide his $2.62MM salary into the $2.66MM trade exception created in last month’s Josh Richardson deal, allowing the Sixers to generate a new $8.1MM TPE in today’s transaction.

It’s not clear whether the Thunder intend to hang onto Horford for the entire 2020/21 season, since the team’s primary motive for the deal was acquiring the future first-round pick, Maledon, and Micic. It’s possible Oklahoma City will take a similar approach to Horford that it did to Chris Paul a year ago, hoping that he can increase his future trade value with a solid season. For now, his pricey multiyear contract will make him difficult to flip.

As for the Sixers, they saved some short- and long-term money in the deal and added at least one rotation player. Green, who has won titles in each of the last two years, will give the club another solid outside shooter — he has made 40.0% of his career attempts from beyond the arc.

Ferguson, meanwhile, took a step back in 2019/20 but had a promising ’18/19 season at age 20 (6.9 PPG with a .366 3PT%) and should compete for minutes on the wing. It’s unclear whether or not Poirier is part of the club’s plans. He may compete with non-guaranteed players like Ryan Broekhoff and Justin Anderson for the final spot on the regular season roster.

All of the NBA trades agreed upon this offseason have now been officially completed, as our tracker shows.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pelicans Sign Naji Marshall To Two-Way Deal

December 8th, 2020 at 8:04am CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 8: The Pelicans have officially signed Marshall to his two-way contract, according to the NBA’s transactions log. New Orleans has now filled both its two-way slots, with big man Will Magnay occupying the other.

NOVEMBER 19: Undrafted Xavier power forward Naji Marshall has verbally agreed to sign a two-way contract with the Pelicans, a source tells Matt Bacbock of Babcock Hoops (Twitter link). Andrew Lopez of ESPN confirms (via Twitter) that New Orleans is adding Marshall on a two-way deal.

Marshall, the No. 12 player on ESPN’s list of undrafted prospects, was a primary offensive facilitator during his junior year at Xavier, averaging 16.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 4.0 APG. Within his scouting report on the former Musketeer, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony notes that Marshall’s “toughness and activity” are major pluses on defense.

Marshall won’t be limited to just 45 days of NBA service in his rookie season, as two-way players in 2020/21 are allowed to be active for up to 50 regular season games.

Sixers Waive Lamine Diane, Justin Robinson

December 7th, 2020 at 4:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Sixers have waived Lamine Diane and Justin Robinson, the team’s PR department tweets.

The moves are being made in order to complete the Al Horford trade with the Thunder, which can become official on Tuesday.

Diane and Robinson were signed to Exhibit 10 contracts, meaning they’ll likely land with the team’s G League affiliate – the Delaware Blue Coats. They could receive bonuses worth up to $50K if they spend at least 60 days with the Blue Coats.

Philadelphia had the maximum 20 players in camp before waiving Diane and Robinson and needed to open a couple more roster spots to finalize the Horford deal.

The Sixers are receiving guard Danny Green and wing Terrance Ferguson in the deal. Big man Vincent Poirier, who was recently traded by the Celtics to Oklahoma City, is also coming to Philadelphia, Derek Bodner of The Athletic tweets. That confirms a report from France’s L’Equipe that Poirier is heading to the Sixers.

A 6’7″ undrafted rookie forward, Diane put up big stats for Cal State Northridge in his two college seasons, averaging 25.1 PPG, 10.8 RPG, and 2.1 BPG in a total of 52 games (35.5 MPG). He won the Big West Player of the Year award in consecutive years before declaring for the draft this spring.

Robinson appeared in 33 G League games with Delaware and Capital City last season, averaging 14.2 points, 6.2 assists and 31.2 minutes per game. The 23-year-old guard also played nine brief games with the Wizards, scoring a total of 13 points in 49 minutes.

Thunder Sign, Waive Jaylen Hoard

December 7th, 2020 at 8:02am CST by Luke Adams

Former Trail Blazers forward Jaylen Hoard had a brief stint on the Thunder‘s training camp roster, but has since been released. While photos tweeted by the Thunder on Sunday showed Hoard participating in camp, the NBA’s official transactions log indicates that the team waived him on Sunday.

Hoard, 21, signed a two-way contract with Portland in July 2019 after going undrafted out of Wake Forest. He spent the entire 2019/20 season with the club, though he didn’t see much action at the NBA level, logging just 103 minutes in 13 games.

The Blazers don’t have their own G League affiliate, so Hoard spent time as a rookie with the Texas Legends. He averaged 16.2 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 1.8 APG in 24 games (27.6 MPG) for Dallas’ NBAGL affiliate.

The Thunder have been turning over the spots at the back of their 20-man roster during the last week, having also released Antonius Cleveland and Melvin Frazier shortly after signing them. The moves are presumably being made with G League rights and/or Exhibit 10 bonuses in mind.

A report from French outlet L’Equipe first indicated last week that Hoard would sign an Exhibit 10 deal with the Thunder. Interestingly, that L’Equipe report also suggested that big man Vincent Poirier will be heading to the Sixers in the still-not-official deal involving Al Horford, Danny Green, and Terrance Ferguson.

Poirier’s inclusion in that deal has been speculated by cap expert Albert Nahmad, among others, since his contract is a perfect fit for salary-matching purposes and would allow the Thunder to keep their recently-created $27.5MM trade exception. The trade will likely be completed this week once the salary aggregation restrictions on Green and Poirier lift.