Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hornets Sign Vernon Carey Jr. To Four-Year Contract

November 30th, 2020 at 10:35am CST by Luke Adams

9:02pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

10:35am: Rookie center Vernon Carey Jr., the No. 32 pick in this year’s draft, is signing a four-year contract with the Hornets, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

While the exact value of Carey’s deal isn’t yet known, Marks says it will likely have the most guaranteed money of any contract signed by a 2020 second-round pick this fall. Charlotte will use a small portion of its remaining cap room to complete the signing.

In his first and only college season at Duke, Carey averaged 17.8 PPG, 8.8 RPG, and 1.6 BPG in 31 games (24.9 MPG). He shot 57.7% from the field and even made 38.1% of his tries from beyond the arc, albeit on just 21 three-point attempts.

Carey is one of four players selected by the Hornets in this year’s draft. LaMelo Ball, the team’s lone first-rounder, will soon sign a rookie scale contract. I’d expect a standard contract for No. 42 pick Nick Richards and a two-way deal for No. 56 selection Grant Riller, but we’ll have to wait to see what Charlotte has in mind.

Rockets Sign Gerald Green To One-Year Deal

November 30th, 2020 at 10:23am CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 1: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

NOVEMBER 30: The Rockets and Houston native Gerald Green have agreed to a one-year deal, reports ESPN’s Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).

According to MacMahon, it’ll be a non-guaranteed contract worth the veteran’s minimum, with Houston giving Green a chance to earn a regular season roster spot. If he makes the team, he’ll earn $2.56MM while the Rockets will carry a cap hit of $1.62MM.

Green, who said last week that he hoped to re-sign with the Rockets, missed the entire 2019/20 season due to a broken foot. He began the ’19/20 campaign with Houston, but didn’t suit up for any games – having undergone foot surgery last October – before he was eventually traded and waived in February.

A July report indicated that Green has since recovered from that procedure and received medical clearance, but decided not to seek a new deal until 2020/21 for family reasons, including the expected birth of his child in August.

The Rockets currently only have nine players on fully guaranteed contracts, though DeMarcus Cousins, Bruno Caboclo, and Jae’Sean Tate are also strong candidates to make the team. That would leave three spots for Green, Chris Clemons, and Kenyon Martin Jr. However, if the hard-capped Rockets only carry 14 players to start the regular season, one of those players would presumably be the odd man out.

Heat Sign Max Strus

November 30th, 2020 at 10:13am CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have signed free agent wing Max Strus, the team announced today in a press release. The club’s roster is now at 19 players.

While terms of the deal weren’t disclosed in Miami’s announcement, it figures to be a non-guaranteed training camp contract. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald tweets that Strus will compete with Paul Eboua, Breein Tyree, and possibly one more player to claim the Heat’s second two-way contract slot. Gabe Vincent currently occupies one of those two slots.

Strus, 24, spent last season on a two-way contract with the Bulls. The former DePaul standout appeared in 13 games for the Windy City Bulls in the G League and two contests for Chicago in the NBA before a torn ACL prematurely ended his season. He suffered that injury more than 11 months ago, so presumably, if Miami is comfortable signing him, he’ll be ready to go for training camp.

Suns Sign Johnathan Motley To Camp Deal

November 30th, 2020 at 8:27am CST by Luke Adams

The Suns have signed free agent big man Johnathan Motley to a one-year contract, per RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions. It’ll be a non-guaranteed camp contract, tweets Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports.

Motley, 25, has been on two-way contracts for the last three seasons, first with Dallas and then with the Clippers. Over the course of those three NBA seasons, he has averaged 4.9 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 46 appearances (8.1 MPG).

Motley has made a greater impact at the G League level, where he has been named to the All-NBAGL Second Team for three consecutive years. In 2019/20, he averaged 24.0 PPG, 7.9 RPG, and 2.8 APG on .518/.356/.753 shooting in 26 games (33.0 MPG) for the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario.

The Suns still project to have three open roster spots after the signing of Motley, so they could extend more camp invites if they so choose.

Raptors Sign Jalen Harris To Two-Way Deal, Re-Sign Oshae Brissett

November 30th, 2020 at 8:04am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have officially filled out their training camp roster, having signed second-round pick Jalen Harris to a two-way contract and restricted free agent forward Oshae Brissett to a multiyear deal, per RealGM’s official log of NBA transactions.

Harris, who began his college career at Louisiana Tech, transferred to Nevada and had a huge year in 2019/20 as a junior, averaging 21.7 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 3.9 APG with a .446/.362/.823 shooting line in 30 games (33.0 MPG). The 22-year-old guard declared for the draft and was selected by the Raptors with the 59th overall pick. He’ll occupy one of the team’s two-way slots, while Paul Watson holds the other.

As for Brissett, he appeared in 19 games for the Raptors on a two-way contract as a rookie last season, playing mostly garbage-time minutes. The former Syracuse standout averaged 1.9 PPG and 1.4 RPG in 7.1 minutes per contest. In 30 G League games for the Raptors 905, he bumped those numbers to 14.9 PPG and 6.6 RPG in 27.8 MPG.

Brissett received a two-way qualifying offer from Toronto, but the two sides ended up negotiating a new standard contract instead — it’ll probably be a two-year deal worth the minimum salary. He’ll likely get a small partial guarantee in year one and will compete in training camp for a regular season roster spot, tweets Blake Murphy of The Athletic.

Brissett’s competitors for the 15th roster spot will be Henry Ellenson, Yuta Watanabe, and Alize Johnson. Their deals, which were reported on Friday, are all official now too, per RealGM.

Wolves Sign Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Tyler Cook

November 30th, 2020 at 7:30am CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves have officially signed two of their 2020 first-round picks, finalizing rookie contracts with former Georgia guard Anthony Edwards and former Washington forward Jaden McDaniels, according to RealGM’s transactions log.

Edwards, 19, became the No. 1 pick in the draft after averaging 19.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 2.8 APG in 32 games in his first and only college season. Assuming he signed for 120% of his rookie scale amount, as nearly every first-round pick does, he’ll earn $9.76MM in 2020/21 and $44MM+ over the life of his four-year contract.

McDaniels, the younger brother of Hornets forward Jalen McDaniels, averaged 13.0 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 31 games as a freshman at Washington before he declared for the draft. As the 28th overall pick, he projects to make $1.96MM as a rookie and $10MM+ over four years.

The Timberwolves’ other first-round pick, Leandro Bolmaro, is expected to remain with FC Barcelona in Spain for at least one more season, so he won’t sign his first NBA contract quite yet.

However, Minnesota did finalize one more signing, per RealGM’s transactions log, inking former Cavaliers Nuggets forward Tyler Cook to a training camp contract.

Undrafted out of Iowa in 2019, Cook spent time last season on a two-way contract and a pair of 10-day deals with Cleveland before joining Denver for the NBA restart as a substitute player. He only appeared in 13 total NBA games, but played more for the Canton Charge and OKC Blue in the G League, averaging 12.9 PPG and 5.7 RPG in 29 games (21.3 MPG).

Kings Sign Glenn Robinson III

November 29th, 2020 at 9:13pm CST by JD Shaw

DECEMBER 2: The signing is official, tweets Sean Cunningham of KXTV in Sacramento.

NOVEMBER 29: The Kings have reached an agreement with free agent forward Glenn Robinson III, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Robinson is signing a one-year, minimum-salary contract with a partial guarantee, reports Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link).

Robinson had attracted interest from a number of clubs before agreeing to terms with Sacramento, holding past experience with the Wolves, Sixers, Pacers, Pistons and Warriors in his career.

He averaged 11.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 28.8 minutes with Golden State and Philadelphia last season, appearing in 38 games with the Warriors before being dealt to the Sixers. The 26-year-old was drafted with the No. 40 overall pick back in 2014.

The Kings have had a busy offseason to date, signing De’Aaron Fox to a five-year extension and declining to match Bogdan Bogdanovic‘s offer sheet with the Hawks. The team also signed free agent big men Hassan Whiteside and Frank Kaminsky.

Hornets Add Gordon Hayward Via Sign-And-Trade With Celtics

November 29th, 2020 at 3:43pm CST by Luke Adams

3:43pm: The Celtics’ new trade exception will actually be worth $28.5MM, Marks clarifies (via Twitter).

2:42pm: The Hornets have completed their acquisition of Gordon Hayward, having officially added the veteran free agent forward via a sign-and-trade deal with the Celtics.

According to the Celtics (via Twitter), Boston are sending a pair of future second-round picks to Charlotte in the deal along with Hayward. Those will be 2023 and 2024 second-rounders, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

As part of the trade, the Celtics will creative a massive trade exception worth the amount of Hayward’s 2020/21 salary ($27.9MM, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks). Boston will also receive a future second-round pick from the Hornets, though that pick will be heavily protected and is unlikely to change hands, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. It’ll be a 2022 second-rounder, Charania adds.

Hayward’s agreement with the Hornets on a four-year, $120MM contract was first reported on November 21 after an eventful free agency that saw the 30-year-old draw significant interest from Indiana and New York as well.

By waiving and stretching Nicolas Batum‘s $27MM expiring salary, the Hornets created more than enough cap room to sign Hayward outright. However, the opportunity to create a massive trade exception that can be used at the trade deadline or during the 2021 offseason incentivized the Celtics to explore a sign-and-trade deal.

That $27.9MM trade exception – which is the largest in NBA history, per Marks – can be used to acquire one or more players earning up to that amount without having to send out any salary, giving Boston an intriguing weapon on the trade market over the next 12 months. Danny Ainge and the Celtics’ front office determined that exception was valuable enough to give up two second-round picks.

From the Hornets’ perspective, the only downside of agreeing to a sign-and-trade instead of signing Hayward outright – besides helping out the Celtics – was hard-capping themselves for the 2020/21 league year. However, Charlotte remains well below the $109MM cap, so it’s safe to say the $139MM hard cap won’t be an issue. So essentially, the Hornets picked up a pair of extra second-rounders for a move they were making anyway.

For more info on Hayward’s deal, check out our original story on his agreement with the Hornets.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Forward Ray Spalding Waived By Hornets

November 29th, 2020 at 2:14pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Forward Ray Spalding was waived by the Hornets, the team announced on its official site. Spalding was on a two-way deal with the club for the 2019/20 season. The team now has a second available slot to add a two-way player who can join new addition Nate Darling.

The former Louisville power forward played 14 games for the Mavericks and Suns during his inaugural 2018/19 NBA season. He was drafted by the Sixers before being dealt to Dallas on draft night. He spent 2019/20 in the G League, averaging 13.9 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.4 BPG, and 1.3 SPG across 36 G League games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets’ G League affiliate, and Charlotte’s affiliate club, the Greensboro Swarm.

The Hornets selected three second-round picks this season who could be candidates for that open two-way slot. 6’3″ shooting guard Grant Riller, taken with the No. 56 pick out of Charleston, seems to be the most likely option.

Nicolas Batum Waived By Hornets, Plans To Sign With Clippers

November 29th, 2020 at 1:50pm CST by Luke Adams

As expected, the Hornets have waived veteran forward Nicolas Batum, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The team has officially confirmed the move in a press release.

Batum was excised from the Hornets’ rotation this past season, appearing in just 22 games (23.0 MPG) and playing poorly in his limited time, with 3.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 3.0 APG on .346/.286/.900 shooting. However, he’s only entering his age-32 season and should look more appealing on a minimum-salary deal than he did on his five-year, $120MM contract.

The Clippers are willing to bet on a bounce-back season from Batum, with Charania reporting (via Twitter) that the forward intends to sign with L.A. once he clears waivers. The Clips only have 12 players on fully guaranteed salaries and could use some additional depth on the wing, so Batum should be a good fit on the roster.

According to Charania (via Twitter), the Clippers were one of multiple contending teams with interest in Batum once Charlotte made it clear he would be cut. Golden State, Toronto, Utah, and Milwaukee were previously cited as potential suitors.

A report back on November 21 first indicated that Charlotte planned to waive Batum and stretch his $27MM+ salary across three seasons, opening up the cap room necessary for the team to sign Gordon Hayward to his new four-year, $120MM contract.

Once the Celtics and Hornets began discussing the possibility of turning Charlotte’s Hayward acquisition into a sign-and-trade, there was some uncertainty about whether releasing Batum would be necessary. The Hornets were believed to be exploring the possibility of sending him to Boston or – more likely – another team as part of a Hayward deal.

Although that won’t happen, that doesn’t mean that Hayward can’t still be acquired via sign-and-trade. We continue to await word on that front, but a sign-and-trade agreement would benefit the Celtics, who could generate a massive traded player exception in such a deal.

Now that Batum has been waived, it will make little difference from the Hornets’ perspective whether they sign Hayward outright or acquire him via sign-and-trade. If they can extract a sweetener (ie. a second-round pick or two) from Boston, it would make sense for Charlotte to accommodate the C’s and turn it into a sign-and-trade. We should find out soon whether or not that’s in the cards.

[UPDATE: Hornets Add Gordon Hayward Via Sign-And-Trade With Celtics]

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.