Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Rockets Officially Announce Four Signings

November 26th, 2020 at 12:55pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets have issued a press release officially confirming that they’ve completed four recently-reported free agent contracts. Those deals are for the following players:

Bruno Caboclo, F/C (full story)
Jae’Sean Tate, F (full story)
Sterling Brown, G (full story)
Mason Jones, G — two-way deal (full story)

Caboclo, Tate, and Brown will all be part of Houston’s 15-man roster in 2020/21, while Jones will occupy one of the team’s two-way slots, alongside Kenny Wooten. Brown reportedly received a one-year contract, with Caboclo getting one year plus a second-year team option. Tate reportedly signed a three-year deal worth a little above the minimum.

Once the Rockets officially sign DeMarcus Cousins and Kenyon Martin Jr., as is expected, they’ll have one open spot remaining on their projected 15-man squad for the regular season.

The team previously made a formal announcement to confirm the acquisition of its top free agency addition, Christian Wood.

Sixers, Derrick Walton Agree To Deal

November 26th, 2020 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent point guard Derrick Walton, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). It’s a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary deal, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Walton, 25, made his NBA debut with the Heat back in 2017/18. He spent most of the ’19/20 season with the Clippers, averaging 2.2 PPG and 1.0 APG in limited minutes (9.7 MPG) over 23 games for the club.

L.A. sent Walton to Atlanta at February’s deadline in a salary-dump trade and the Hawks subsequently released him. He caught on with the Pistons for a 10-day deal in February, but didn’t finish the season on an NBA roster.

It’s fair to assume that Doc Rivers had a hand in bringing Walton to Philadelphia, since the 76ers’ new head coach coached the former Michigan Wolverine in Los Angeles last season. However, it’s unclear whether Walton will have a legitimate chance to make the regular season roster.

Bucks Sign Nik Stauskas To One-Year Deal

November 26th, 2020 at 12:25pm CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 2: Stauskas is officially a Buck, according to RealGM’s log of NBA transactions.

NOVEMBER 26: The Bucks have reached an agreement on a one-year deal with former lottery pick Nik Stauskas, his agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link).

Stauskas, the eighth overall pick in the 2014 draft, struggled to develop into a reliable rotation player during his first few NBA seasons, averaging 6.8 PPG and 2.1 RPG in 335 career games (19.9 MPG) for Sacramento, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Portland, and Cleveland. The 6’6″ shooting guard didn’t play in the NBA in 2019/20, having spent the season with Spanish club Baskonia.

Although Stauskas may not have lived up to his pre-draft billing, he knocked down a solid 35.3% of his career three-point attempts. He also played fairly well in Spain last year, making 42.2% of his threes in 22 EuroLeague contests.

The full terms of Stauskas’ contract with Milwaukee aren’t yet known, but as Eric Nehm of The Athletic recently detailed, the Bucks are right up against the hard cap and probably won’t have room to carry a 15th man. As such, the 27-year-old will likely get a training camp deal and will have an uphill battle to earn a spot on the club’s regular season roster.

Raptors Waive Dewan Hernandez

November 26th, 2020 at 11:34am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have waived 2019 second-round pick Dewan Hernandez, the team announced today.

The 59th overall pick in 2019, Hernandez appeared in just six games for Toronto as a rookie, recording 14 points and 14 rebounds in 28 total minutes. The former University of Miami standout also appeared in nine G League games for the Raptors 905, averaging 13.4 PPG and 9.6 RPG. However, he was sidelined for much of the season by an ankle injury.

Hernandez’s 2020/21 salary was set to become guaranteed this Sunday if he had remained under contract. By letting him go, the Raptors will avoid remaining on the hook for that $1.52MM cap hit.

As Blake Murphy of The Athletic notes (via Twitter), the move also opens up an extra spot on Toronto’s 15-man regular season roster. That could open the door for two-way free agent Oshae Brissett or second-round pick Jalen Harris to sign a standard contract or for the team to add another player in free agency, Murphy observes.

Pacers, Kelan Martin Agree To Deal

November 26th, 2020 at 11:27am CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers and free agent wing Kelan Martin have agreed to a deal, agent Mike Lindeman tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Wojnarowski indicates the agreement covers two years. However, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), Indiana had been about $1.12MM below the luxury tax line with 14 players on guaranteed contracts. As such, Martin’s deal – which would count for $1.62MM for tax purposes – seems unlikely to be fully guaranteed unless the team has another move lined up to sneak back below the tax line.

Martin emerged as a rotation player in Minnesota last season, averaging 6.4 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 31 games (16.0 MPG), though he struggled with his shot (.392 FG%, .260 FT%).

The 25-year-old initially received a qualifying offer from the Timberwolves, making him a restricted free agent. The club withdrew that QO on Sunday though, allowing him to become unrestricted and to sign outright with Indiana.

Bulls Sign Noah Vonleh To One-Year Deal

November 26th, 2020 at 9:29am CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 28: Vonleh is officially a Bull, per RealGM’s NBA transactions log.

NOVEMBER 26: The Bulls are in agreement with free agent forward Noah Vonleh on a one-year deal, agent Jim Tanner tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). It will be Vonleh’s second stint with the franchise, as he finished the 2017/18 season in Chicago.

The ninth overall pick in the 2014 draft, Vonleh began his career in Charlotte before moving on to Portland, Chicago, and New York. In 2019/20, he began the season in Minnesota before being traded to Denver as part of the four-team mega-deal involving Clint Capela and Robert Covington.

In total, Vonleh averaged just 3.7 PPG and 3.4 RPG in 36 games (10.5 MPG) for the Timberwolves and Nuggets last season. He was more productive in 2018/19 for the Knicks, recording 8.4 PPG and 7.8 RPG in 68 games (25.3 MPG).

Arturas Karnisovas, the Bulls’ new president of basketball operations, worked in the Nuggets’ front office last season, so he got a first-hand look at Vonleh for about a month before the hiatus.

It has been a relatively quiet free agent period for the Bulls, whose only other newcomers via free agency or trade are veteran guard Garrett Temple and undrafted rookie Devon Dotson, who signed a two-way deal.

If Vonleh is retained for the regular season, he, Temple, Dotson, figure to provide some additional depth on a Chicago squad that will otherwise return many of its players from last year’s roster. K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago notes (via Twitter) that the team already has 15 guaranteed contracts, so for Vonleh to make the team, someone else would have to be traded or released.

Trail Blazers Sign Keljin Blevins To Two-Way Contract

November 26th, 2020 at 7:56am CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers have filled one of their open two-way contract slots, having signed free agent wing Keljin Blevins to a two-way deal, per the NBA’s official transactions log. Blevins, the cousin of Blazers star Damian Lillard, previously announced the deal on Instagram.

Blevins, who went undrafted in 2019, played two seasons of college ball at Southern Miss before transferring to Montana State for his final two seasons. He signed a training camp contract with Portland last fall but didn’t make the team’s regular season roster and landed with the Northern Arizona Suns in the G League.

In 35 NBAGL games last season, Blevins’ contributions were limited. The 25-year-old averaged 4.3 PPG and 2.9 RPG on .397/.267/.882 shooting in 16.1 minutes per contest.

With the fate of the G League season up in the air, Blevins may end up spending much of the 2020/21 season in the NBA with the Blazers — especially since Portland doesn’t have an NBAGL affiliate of its own. However, I wouldn’t expect him to see any action beyond garbage-time minutes.

Jake Toolson Signs Exhibit 10 Contract With Jazz

November 25th, 2020 at 7:54pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Jazz have inked ex-BYU/Utah Valley rookie guard Jake Toolson to an Exhibit 10 contract, according to an official team press release. The news was first reported by Ben Anderson of KSL Sports.

Toolson will have an opportunity to join Utah for the club’s training camp. Should he make the Jazz’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, Toolson could earn a bonus between $5K-$50K .

Toolson started out at BYU from 2014-16, transferred to Utah Valley, finally reunited with BYU for his 2019/20 senior season.

As a fifth-year senior, Toolson averaged 15.2 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 3.9 APG for the Cougars. The 6’5″ guard also shot 47.2% from the floor and converted and 47.0% of his 5.7 long range attempts during his senior year season. Toolson was named a 2019/20 All-WCC First Team selection.

Thunder Trade Lecque To Pacers For Leaf, Second-Round Pick

November 25th, 2020 at 7:02pm CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 25: The deal between the Pacers and the Thunder is now official, with the Thunder acquiring Leaf and a 2027 second-round pick in exchange for Lecque, the team announced in a press release.

NOVEMBER 22: The Thunder are acquiring yet another draft pick, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Oklahoma City will receive a future second-round pick and forward T.J. Leaf from the Pacers in a deal that sends guard Jalen Lecque to Indiana.

Lecque, a former Sun, was one of the players sent to the Thunder in this week’s Chris Paul trade. He signed a four-year contract with Phoenix as an undrafted free agent a year ago, but only saw action in five NBA games as a rookie. The 20-year-old has a guaranteed $1.52MM salary this season with no guarantees beyond for 2020/21.

It’s not clear whether the Pacers are intent on keeping and developing Lecque, since the move appears to be financially motivated too. As Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets, moving Leaf’s $4.33MM salary for ’20/21 will allow Indiana to slip back below the luxury tax line.

The Thunder will acquire yet another future draft pick as a sweetener for taking on that extra salary, adding another second-rounder to the long list of draft assets GM Sam Presti has picked up during the last couple offseasons.

It doesn’t seem safe to assume this offseason that any newly-acquired player will remain in Oklahoma City for long, but if the Thunder hang onto Leaf, they’ll be getting a player who hasn’t carved out a regular rotation role since being drafted 18th overall in 2017. He averaged just 3.0 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 28 games (7.9 MPG) for the Pacers in 2019/20.

Celtics Sign Jayson Tatum To Five-Year Max Extension

November 25th, 2020 at 7:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

NOVEMBER 25: Tatum’s maximum-salary contract extension with Boston is now official, the Celtics have announced on their official site.

NOVEMBER 22: The Celtics have agreed to a five-year, maximum-salary contract extension with forward Jayson Tatum, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The deal will go into effect for the 2021/22 season, once Tatum’s rookie contract expires. Ryan McDonough of Radio.com tweets that the deal includes a fifth-year player option for the 2025/26 season.

Tatum, 22, blossomed into an All-Star during his third season in Boston. He posted career-high averages of 23.4 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.4 SPG, and 0.9 BPG across 66 games for the Celtics during the regular season. Tatum also logged impressive shooting splits of .45/.403/.812.

Along with his fellow 2020 Boston All-Star, point guard Kemba Walker, and ascendant young forward Jaylen Brown, Tatum led the Celtics to their second Eastern Conference Finals appearance of his young tenure during the 2019/20 season.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN details (Twitter link), Tatum’s starting salary will be worth at least 25% of the 2021/22 salary cap. If he makes an All-NBA team again in 2021, his deal will start at 30% of next year’s cap. Based on a 3% cap increase, Tatum’s first-year salary will range from about $28.1MM to $33.7MM.

Marks notes in a separate tweet that, if Tatum and/or his fellow recently-extended young All-Star Donovan Mitchell, qualifies for the full 30% extension by making any of the three All-NBA teams next season, either player would earn the biggest rookie extension in NBA history. Sixers All-Star Ben Simmons holds the current record at $177.2MM.

Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox could also earn the 30% max on his new deal, though he’ll have to earn All-NBA First Team honors to do so, per the terms of his own extension. Among this year’s players eligible for rookie contract extensions, Tatum, Mitchell and Fox are the only three who have agreed to terms so far.

With Brown’s own extension (for $103MM in guaranteed money plus an additional $12MM in possible incentives) locked in through the 2023/24 season, getting off the contract of oft-injured veteran forward Gordon Hayward a year early has helped streamline Boston’s books for the immediate future, while securing their young core. Hayward opted out of the final year of his deal with Boston to sign a four-year, $120MM contract with the Hornets yesterday.

In terms of the team’s immediate roster-building, Boston will be able avoid the luxury tax this season thanks to Hayward’s departure. The club can still upgrade its roster using its $3.6MM biannual exception, along with trade exceptions acquired through the moves of Vincent Poirier and Enes Kanter.

Brown, Walker, and Tatum will all be under contract together for the next two seasons. Walker has a $37.7MM player option for 2022/23, his age-33 season. Defensive stalwart Marcus Smart has the team’s next-biggest contract, and is owed $27.8MM through the 2021/22 season.

Yesterday, the Celtics added center Tristan Thompson, signed into the club’s full mid-level exception. He will earn $19MM through 2021/22. Boston also fully guaranteed the contracts of incumbent starting center Daniel Theis and reserve forward Semi Ojeleye. Theis may be in line for a raise when he enters unrestricted free agency in 2021.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.