Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Knicks Sign Obi Toppin To Rookie Deal

November 23rd, 2020 at 11:39am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Knicks have announced (via Twitter) that they have inked their 2020 No. 8 lottery pick Obi Toppin to his rookie contract.

The former Dayton forward will earn $4,862,040 in his rookie year and about $22.1MM over the first four years of his NBA career, unless he accepts a deal worth less than the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale. A full list of anticipated rookie scale salary figures is viewable here.

The 22-year-old 6’9″ Brooklyn native played two years for Dayton, averaging 20.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 2.2 APG across 31 games during his sophomore season (all starts). Toppin was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and the National College Player of the Year in 2019/20.

Toppin marks the first draft pick of new Knicks team president Leon Rose, and will join new head coach Tom Thibodeau‘s revamped New York roster for the 2020/21 season. This offseason, the Knicks appear to be mostly in asset-gathering mode, having made two deals to turn Ed Davis into three future second-round picks and having avoided signing big-money free agents like Fred VanVleet or Gordon Hayward or (thus far) trading for frustrated Rockets All-Star Russell Westbrook.

Lakers Re-Sign Markieff Morris

November 23rd, 2020 at 11:29am CST by Luke Adams

2:37pm: The Lakers have officially re-signed Morris, the team confirmed (Twitter link via Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group).

11:29am: Free agent forward Markieff Morris is sticking with the Lakers, announcing (via Twitter) his intentions to “run it back” with the defending champions. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links), Morris is signing a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the club.

Morris was said to be receiving interest from both Los Angeles teams and was reportedly considering reuniting with his twin brother Marcus Morris on the Clippers. The Raptors were also said to have interest before they agreed to a deal with Aron Baynes.

Although the Clippers had the financial flexibility to make Markieff a slightly more lucrative offer, it’s not clear if he took less to remain with the Lakers, or if the Clips were also offering the minimum.

After starting last season in Detroit, Morris was bought out and joined the Lakers for the stretch run. He played a limited role (14.2 minutes per game) in 14 regular season contests for the club, but actually saw his playing time increase to 18.3 MPG in the postseason.

He appeared in all 21 of the Lakers’ playoff games en route to their championship, averaging 5.9 PPG and 3.0 RPG with a .449/.420/.778 shooting line.

With a commitment from Morris in place, the Lakers now project to be about $4.5MM below their hard cap with 12 players on the roster, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who tweets that the team should be on track to add two more minimum-salary players to the mix. Marks’ projection assumes the team keeps Alfonzo McKinnie after acquiring him from Cleveland and waives Jordan Bell.

By virtue of re-signing with the Lakers on a one-year deal, Morris will have the ability to veto any trade that involves him in 2020/21, as Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report observes (via Twitter).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cavs Sign Damyean Dotson To Two-Year Deal

November 23rd, 2020 at 11:25am CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 25: Dotson’s new deal with the Cavaliers has been completed, according to the NBA’s official transactions log. The second year of the contract is non-guaranteed, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets.

NOVEMBER 23: Free agent guard Damyean Dotson has agreed to sign a two-year deal with the Cavaliers, agent Chris Gaston tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Wojnarowski says the deal will be worth $4MM. Two years at the minimum for Dotson would be worth $3.5MM, so this is either a minimum-salary agreement that has been rounded up or the Cavs will use a small portion of one of their exceptions to complete the deal.

Dotson, 26, had a solid season in 2018/19 as part of the Knicks’ rotation, averaging 10.7 PPG and 3.6 RPG on .415/.368/.745 shooting in 73 games (27.5 MPG). However, his role was significant cut back in 2019/20 and New York declined to tender him a qualifying offer before he reached free agency last week. That made him an unrestricted free agent.

Dotson will provide a little more depth on the wing for the Cavs, who agreed to acquire JaVale McGee on Sunday in an effort to bolster their frontcourt.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Charles Matthews Signs Exhibit 10 Deal With Cavaliers

November 23rd, 2020 at 11:22am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

NOVEMBER 29: The Cavaliers have officially signed Matthews to his Exhibit 10 deal, per RealGM’s NBA transactions log.

NOVEMBER 23: Former University of Michigan wing Charles Matthews is set to sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Cavaliers, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The arrangement means that Matthews will get an opportunity to compete for a roster spot during Cleveland’s training camp.

The 6’6″ guard spent one season at Kentucky in 2015/16 before transferring to Michigan, for whom he suited up from 2017-2019. During his second and final year with the Wolverines, he averaged 12.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 1.4 APG in 34 games. Matthews declared early for the draft, but tore his ACL during a team workout. Fedor reports that Matthews rehabilitated his knee in Chicago, all while starting a business and wrapping up his college degree.

Former Michigan and Cavaliers head coach John Beilen lauded the hire in a tweet. “He can become a 3 and D guy that every NBA team loves to have,” Beilen said. “He is also a fabulous teammate and high character young man.” Matthews’ mentor, per Fedor, is future Hall of Famer and fellow native Chicagoan Dwyane Wade, sent him a congratulatory tweet. “[Congrats] on signing with the [Cavaliers] lil bro,” Wade said. “Now the work starts!”

The deal qualifies Matthews for a non-guaranteed, one-year veteran’s minimum salary pact. If Matthews is waived by the Cavaliers but assigned to the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s G League affiliate, for 60 days or more he stands to earn a bonus of up to $50K. The agreement can also be converted to a two-way contract at the start of the regular season, in which case the optional bonus would be pulled. The Cavaliers currently have their two allotted two-way contracts apparently committed to guard Matt Mooney and forward Lamar Stevens.

Heat Sign Breein Tyree, Paul Eboua

November 23rd, 2020 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 25: The Heat have issued a pair of press releases officially announcing their deals with Tyree and Eboua. Both players signed Exhibit 10 contracts, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).

NOVEMBER 23: The Heat are adding a pair of undrafted free agent rookies to their roster, as Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald details. The team has signed former Ole Miss guard Breein Tyree and has also received a commitment from Cameroonian forward Paul Eboua, per Jackson.

Tyree, who spent all four years of his college career at Mississippi, averaged 19.7 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 2.5 APG on .427/.360/.822 shooting in 31 games (34.6 MPG) as a senior.

Eboua, who had been playing for Victoria Libertas in Italy, declared for the draft as an early entrant earlier this year. Agent Rade Filipovich, who referred to Eboua as “the best athlete in the draft,” told Jackson that a number of teams expressed interest in his client. Eboua chose the Heat due in large part to the organization’s player development track record.

Tyree and Eboua both figure to attend the Heat’s training camp on non-guaranteed deals and compete for the Heat’s open two-way slot, Jackson writes. Gabe Vincent currently occupies the club’s other two-way slot.

Jazz Trade Ed Davis To Knicks

November 23rd, 2020 at 9:46am CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 23: The Jazz have issued a press release officially confirming that they’ve sent Davis and two future second-rounders to New York in exchange for cash considerations.

Now that the move is official, it clears the path for the Knicks to flip Davis to Minnesota in an agreed-upon deal with the Timberwolves.

NOVEMBER 19: The Jazz have reached an agreement to trade veteran big man Ed Davis to the Knicks, league sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link). New York will also receive a pair of 2023 second-round pick in the deal, per Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst of ESPN (Twitter link).

Davis, who signed a two-year, $9.8MM deal with the Jazz a year ago, didn’t end up being relied upon as a regular part of the club’s rotation. He appeared in just 28 contests, logging 10.8 MPG and establishing new career lows in PPG (1.8) and RPG (3.8).

Davis is owed a guaranteed $5MM salary for the 2020/21 season, so this is essentially a salary dump for the Jazz, who are hoping to re-sign Jordan Clarkson and maintain enough cap flexibility to utilize their full $9.3MM mid-level exception. The Knicks will have upwards of $40MM in cap room in free agency, so they’ll have no problem taking on Davis’ contract.

After acquiring the Pistons’ 2023 second-round in last night’s draft, the Knicks will pick up two more second-rounders for that draft in this swap. It seems the team’s focus on ’23 is no accident — Marc Berman of The New York Post suggested earlier today (via Twitter) that the Knicks “really love” the 2023 draft, which they believe will be the first without the one-and-done rule in place, allowing high-schoolers to enter.

Suns Re-Sign Dario Saric To Three-Year Deal

November 23rd, 2020 at 9:30am CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 29: Saric’s agreement with the Suns is now official, the team announced in a press release.

NOVEMBER 23: The Suns and restricted free agent Dario Saric have agreed to a new deal, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Agents Jeff Schwartz and Mike Lindeman tell Wojnarowski that their client will sign a three-year, $27MM contract.

Saric averaged 10.7 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 1.9 APG in 66 games (24.7 MPG) for the Suns in 2019/20, with a shooting line of .476/.357/.844. The 26-year-old, who was the 24th-ranked player on our list of this fall’s top free agents, will resume his role as a stretch four in Phoenix for the coming season.

While Frank Kaminsky and Aron Baynes are no longer in the picture for the Suns, the team did reach an agreement to sign Jae Crowder, who figures to see some time at the four as well as the three.

In addition to bringing back Saric and landing Crowder, the Suns also traded for Chris Paul, agreed to re-sign Jevon Carter, struck a deal with E’Twaun Moore, and selected Jalen Smith with the No. 10 pick in the draft. The Suns are looking to build on their 8-0 performance during the NBA’s summer restart and return to the playoffs in 2021.

With Saric off the board, Brandon Ingram and Bogdan Bogdanovic are the only non-two-way restricted free agents whose contract situations have yet to be resolved. Ingram is expected to re-sign with the Pelicans, while Bogdanovic is waiting to see if the Kings will match the offer sheet he signed with Atlanta.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Adam Mokoka Returns To Bulls On Two-Way Deal

November 23rd, 2020 at 9:14am CST by Luke Adams

After spending his rookie season on a two-way contract with the Bulls, second-year wing Adam Mokoka has officially accepted another two-way deal from the team, according to the NBA’s transactions log.

Mokoka only logged a total of 112 minutes in 11 games at the NBA level in 2019/20, but was a regular for Chicago’s G League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls. He averaged 10.9 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 3.3 APG in 31 games (32.2 MPG) in the NBAGL, though he only shot 37.1% from the field (32.7% on threes).

Mokoka was named the MVP of a summer tournament in France that also featured NBA players Frank Ntilikina and Sekou Doumbouya. He received a two-way qualifying offer from the Bulls last week that made him a restricted free agent.

Chicago has already signed undrafted rookie guard Devon Dotson to a two-way deal, so both of their two-way slots are now full, as our tracker shows.

Spurs Sign Keita Bates-Diop To Two-Way Deal

November 23rd, 2020 at 8:20am CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 29, 1:20pm: The Spurs have officially announced the signing of Bates-Diop to a two-way contract.

NOVEMBER 23, 8:20am: The Nuggets officially waived Bates-Diop on Sunday, per the NBA’s transactions log. Assuming he clears waivers on Tuesday, he’ll be free to sign with San Antonio at that point.

NOVEMBER 22, 9:54pm: The Spurs and forward Keita Bates-Diop have agreed to a two-way deal, according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Bates-Diop is technically still a member of the Nuggets. However, Mike Singer of The Denver Post has reported that the club intends to waive the 24-year-old before his salary for 2020/21 becomes fully guaranteed this week in order to clear a spot on the 15-man roster for Bol Bol.

Denver likely gave Bates-Diop and his reps a chance to seek out a new opportunity before that move becomes official. He’ll still have to clear waivers, but I don’t expect any team will make a surprise claim.

The 48th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Bates-Diop began his career with the Timberwolves before being tradd to Denver at last season’s deadline. In 74 career games as a pro, he has averaged 5.9 PPG and 2.8 RPG on .426/.303/.699 shooting.

Quinndary Weatherspoon is expected to fill San Antonio’s other two-way contract slot.

Hornets Re-Sign Bismack Biyombo

November 23rd, 2020 at 7:10am CST by JD Shaw

NOVEMBER 30: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

NOVEMBER 22: The Hornets have reached an agreement with center Bismack Biyombo, bringing him back for a third straight season, Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes tweets. Biyombo’s deal will be for one year, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer

Biyombo holds nine years of NBA experience, making past stops with Charlotte, Toronto and Orlando. He spent the first three seasons of his career with the Hornets before signing with the Raptors, where he averaged 6.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game during the 2016 NBA playoffs.

This past season, the 28-year-old held per-game averages of 7.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 19.4 minutes in Charlotte. At 6-foot-9 and 255 pounds, Biyombo was the No. 7 pick of the 2011 NBA Draft.

Charlotte has made several notable moves in free agency, including drafting LaMelo Ball at No. 3 and reaching a four-year, $120MM deal with Gordon Hayward. The team finished with the tenth-best record in the East at 23-42 last season.