Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Re-Sign Udonis Haslem

November 28th, 2020 at 4:38pm CST by JD Shaw

NOVEMBER 28: The new contract is official, the Heat announced on Twitter.

“It’s great to have UD back,” team president Pat Riley said. “His role is so critical for our team. Besides being able to still play, UD keeps everyone together in the locker room and on the road, teaching and mentoring.” (Twitter link from Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald)

NOVEMBER 20: The Heat have agreed to a new deal with veteran big man Udonis Haslem, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press tweets. Haslem will officially return for an 18th consecutive season with the team.

Haslem, 40, committed to re-signing with the Heat earlier this month, bypassing potential retirement. He’s won three championships during his time with Miami (2005-06, 2011-12 and 2012-13), transitioning into a veteran role with the club this the past decade.

Several Heat players have raved about Haslem’s impact in the locker room as the team’s captain, particularly during the club’s impressive postseason run in Orlando. Miami was expected to explore its options and keep Haslem around in some capacity — even if he did choose to retire. On the court, he’s only appeared in 44 regular-season games since the 2016-17 campaign.

In addition to Haslem, the Heat also managed to strike deals with free agents Goran Dragic and Meyers Leonard early in free agency. The team still has Jae Crowder, Derrick Jones Jr. and Solomon Hill on the open market, with Crowder starting in the playoffs and the latter two seeing inconsistent time.

Jae Crowder Signs Three-Year Deal With Suns

November 28th, 2020 at 3:37pm CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 28, 3:37pm: Crowder has officially signed, per team press release.

NOVEMBER 21, 1:03pm: The Suns have reached an agreement to sign Jae Crowder to a three-year contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). The deal will be worth just shy of $30MM, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Phoenix will use its full mid-level exception to complete the signing.

Crowder, who finished the season in Miami, reportedly explored a new deal with the Heat, but was seeking a guaranteed multiyear commitment that the Heat weren’t comfortable with, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).

League sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) that Crowder also drew interest from the Mavericks, Timberwolves, Clippers, and Hornets, but that Phoenix’s offer was ultimately too good to pass up.

Crowder, 30, provides value as a three-and-D player who has the size to guard bigger wings. He also played some of his best basketball at exactly the right time in his contract year.

After being traded from the Grizzlies to the Heat at last season’s deadline, the veteran forward made 44.5% of his threes for Miami in 20 games to finish the season, then started all 21 postseason contests as the Heat came within two wins of a title.

Having secured a commitment from Crowder and having traded for All-Star point guard Chris Paul earlier in the week, the Suns are looking like an intriguing playoff contender in the Western Conference this season. The team finished five games below .500 in 2019/20, but had an impressive 8-0 run in the Walt Disney World bubble, increasing expectations for ’20/21.

Paul and Crowder will join a promising group that includes star guard Devin Booker, former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton, and young wings Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson, among others. The Suns also still hope to re-sign restricted free agent forward Dario Saric, per John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Clippers Sign Second-Rounder Daniel Oturu

November 28th, 2020 at 3:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

3:30pm: It’s a two-year, $2.4MM guaranteed contract, Greif adds in another tweet.

12:22 pm: The Clippers have officially signed second-round pick Daniel Oturu, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets.

The Clippers have already reportedly filled their two two-way slots, so it’s safe to assume Oturu signed a standard contract. It’s likely Oturu received a starting salary at or near the first-year minimum of $898,310, though terms were not disclosed.

Oturu was selected with the 33rd overall pick. As a sophomore at Minnesota, the 6’10” Oturu averaged 20.1 PPG, 11.3 RPG and 2.5 BPG in 33.9 MPG. He was also named to the Big Ten All-Defense team.

Heat Sign Bam Adebayo To Maximum-Salary Extension

November 28th, 2020 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 28, 3:18pm: Adebayo has officially signed the contract, according to a team press release.

NOVEMBER 24, 2:39pm: The Heat and Adebayo have agreed to terms on the extension, reports ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). It’s straight five-year deal, with no player or team option, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).

Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) confirms that Adebayo’s new maximum-salary extension will have Rose Rule language and could start at up to 30% of the 2021/22 cap rather than 25%, as detailed below.

NOVEMBER 24, 12:29pm: The Heat are moving forward with a contract extension for fourth-year big man Bam Adebayo, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press confirms (via Twitter) that the club is in the process of extending Adebayo’s deal.

Adebayo was one of two dozen players eligible for a rookie scale extension entering the offseason. Coming off a breakout year, he looked like one of the most deserving candidates for a new deal, along with Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, and De’Aaron Fox, all of whom have agreed to maximum-salary extensions in recent days.

However, the Heat’s salary cap situation complicated the team’s decision. Miami has been focused on preserving as much cap room as possible for the 2021 offseason, and a new deal for Adebayo will increase his cap charge from a hold worth about $15MM to a new salary worth at least $28MM (f he gets the max), eliminating the possibility of a max-salary slot for a free agent.

The fact that the Heat are now moving forward on an extension for Adebayo could mean a number of things. Maybe Adebayo wasn’t waiting a year for his new contract; maybe the Heat remain confident that if a star like Giannis Antetokounmpo is available and wants to play in Miami next year, they’ll be able to figure it out even without the necessary cap room, like they did for Jimmy Butler in 2019; or maybe the Heat believe Antetokounmpo is becoming more likely to sign a super-max extension with the Bucks and remain in Milwaukee.

According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link), someone who knows Giannis well told him that the reigning MVP would be impressed by the Heat extending Adebayo early rather than making him wait until next year. Still, if Antetokounmpo is moving closer to accepting a deal with the Bucks, Adebayo’s agent Alex Saratsis would certainly know about it — he also represents Giannis.

Whatever the thinking, it’s good news for Adebayo, who was a full-time starter for the Heat in the first time in 2019/20 and responded with an All-Star performance, averaging 15.9 PPG, 10.2 RPG, and 5.1 APG in 72 games (33.6 MPG).

He also helped anchor Miami’s defense, blocking 1.3 shots per game and averaging 1.1 steals as well. His play was crucial in helping the Heat reach the NBA Finals, though his ability to contribute in that series against the Lakers was compromised by a neck injury.

The Heat are expected to give Adebayo a five-year maximum-salary contract that will match the ones signed by those other young stars from his draft class, as Winderman reports. That would put the 23-year-old on track to earn at least $163MM and as much as $195.6MM over the life of the deal, based on current cap projections. The new contract will begin in 2021/22, once his rookie deal expires.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Thon Maker Signs With Cavaliers

November 28th, 2020 at 3:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

NOVEMBER 29: The signing is official, according to the Real GM Transactions Page.

NOVEMBER 28: Center Thon Maker is signing with the Cavaliers, Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype tweets.

It’s a training camp deal, according to Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Twitter link). Maker became an unrestricted free agent when the Pistons failed to extend him a qualifying offer. He’ll look to make a strong enough impression to gain a spot on Cleveland’s 15-man roster.

The 23-year-old appeared in 60 game last season for Detroit, averaging 4.7 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 12.9 MPG. Maker began his career with the Bucks in 2016 after being selected with the 10th pick of the draft, but he never lived up to his lottery pick status. Detroit acquired him midway through the 2018/19 season.

Knicks Sign First-Round Pick Quickley

November 28th, 2020 at 1:34pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks have signed rookie guard Immanuel Quickley, according to a team press release.

The former Kentucky guard was taken with the 25th overall pick in the first round. The Thunder had his draft rights and traded them to New York in a three-team deal with Minnesota that was made official on November 20.

Assuming Quickley received the usual 120% above his rookie scale slot, he’ll make $2,105,520 in his first season. If he plays out the next four seasons on his rookie deal, he’ll make $10,803,948.

Quickley was named the 2019-20 SEC Player of the Year after posting averages of 16.1 PPG and 4.2 RPG over 33.0 MPG in 30 games as a sophomore last season.

Wizards Sign Cassius Winston To Two-Way Contract

November 28th, 2020 at 12:42pm CST by Luke Adams

12:42pm: It’s a one-year contract, according to The Athletic’s Fred Katz (Twitter link).

7:31 am: The Wizards have signed former Michigan State point guard Cassius Winston to his first NBA contract, inking him to a two-way deal, according to the league’s official transactions log.

Winston, who spent a full four-year college career with the Spartans, is coming off a 2019/20 season in which he averaged 18.6 PPG, 5.9 APG, and 2.5 RPG with a shooting line of .448/.432/.852 in 30 games (32.7 MPG).

The No. 53 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Winston was technically selected by Oklahoma City, but was sent to Washington in a draft-night trade.

Winston will join guard Garrison Mathews to fill the Wizards’ two-way contract slots, as our tracker shows.

Jazz Trade Rayjon Tucker, 2027 Second-Round Pick To Cavs

November 28th, 2020 at 10:40am CST by Luke Adams

NOV. 28: The Cavaliers have waived Tucker, per Kelsey Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). As a result, they’ll only carry his $340K partial guarantee on their cap.

NOV. 27: The Jazz are trading wing Rayjon Tucker to the Cavaliers along with a future second-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who reports that Utah is receiving cash in return.

Bobby Marks of ESPN adds (via Twitter) that the Cavaliers will get the Jazz’s 2027 second-rounder in the swap. The Cavs have issued a press release confirming the deal, making it official.

Tucker, 23, appeared in 20 games as a rookie for Utah last season, averaging 3.1 PPG and 1.0 RPG in a very limited role (8.1 MPG). His $1.52MM salary for the 2020/21 campaign will become guaranteed if the Cavs keep him under contract through November 29, but for now it’s just partially guaranteed for $340K, per Marks.

The Jazz will open up a spot on their projected regular season roster and clear a little money from their salary cap. Meanwhile, if the Cavs don’t intend to hang onto Tucker, they’re essentially just buying a future second-round pick for $340K (his partial guarantee), plus whatever amount of money they sent to Utah in the deal.

Sixers Agree To Two-Way Deal With Paul Reed

November 28th, 2020 at 9:52am CST by marksuleymanov

The Sixers will sign 2020 second-round pick Paul Reed to a two-way deal, tweets Derek Bodner of The Athletic. Philadelphia selected the DePaul product with the 58th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

In his junior campaign with DePaul in 2020/21, Reed averaged 15.1 PPG, 10.7 RPG and 2.6 BPG, all totals that far exceeded his previous two seasons with the school. The standout numbers earned Reed a second-team All-Big East selection and being named the Most Improved Player in the Big East. Despite mixed rankings, Reed was even touted by Shams Charania as a “projected first-round pick.”

Philadelphia has now filled out its two-way slots in agreeing to terms with Reed and G League guard Dakota Mathias, who inked his deal last week. During the shortened 2020/21 campaign, two-way players will be allowed to play in up to 50 of their team’s games.

Knicks Sign Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

November 28th, 2020 at 9:16am CST by marksuleymanov

1:04pm: The signing is official, according to the team’s PR department (Twitter link).

9:16am: The Knicks have agreed to a one-year deal with veteran forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. The deal is expected to be an Exhibit 10 contract for Kidd-Gilchrist, per Newsday’s Steve Popper (Twitter link), which is essentially a non-guaranteed, one-year minimum-salary deal.

Regarded as a solid defender, Kidd-Gilchrist has ties to the current Knicks organization as current president Leon Rose represented him at CAA and is longtime friends with executive vice president and senior basketball adviser William Wesley. The 27-year-old appeared in just 25 games between the Hornets and Mavericks last season after spending the first seven seasons of his career with the Charlotte organization.

The Kentucky product was taken second overall by the then-Charlotte Bobcats in the 2012 NBA Draft and subsequently developed into a solid starter for the team. After three solid seasons, the Hornets rewarded Kidd-Gilchrist with a four-year, $52MM contract extension in August 2015.

Right shoulder injuries limited him to just seven games in his first season post-extension in 2015/16 but Kidd-Gilchrist returned to start 81 games and then 74 games in the two campaigns proceeding it. However, starting in 2018, Kidd-Gilchrist lost his starting role whilst battling a barrage of injuries.

Ultimately, Kidd-Gilchrist fell out of the rotation and was waived by the Hornets earlier this year before latching on with Dallas for 13 games down the stretch.