Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nuggets Sign PJ Dozier To Multiyear Contract

June 30th, 2020 at 2:12pm CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 30: The Nuggets’ deal with Dozier is now official, per the NBA’s transactions log. According to John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link), Dozier is believed to have received more than $1MM in guaranteed money on his new contract.

Denver is now expected to sign Tyler Cook as a substitute two-way player for Dozier.

JUNE 24: The Nuggets will move two-way player PJ Dozier to their standard 15-man roster during this week’s transaction window, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). Dozier will sign a multiyear deal, according to Nick Kosmider of The Athletic (via Twitter).

Dozier, 23, has appeared in 21 games (11.1 MPG) for the Nuggets this season, averaging 4.1 PPG, 1.4 RPG, and 1.4 APG. He was a regular rotation player for a few weeks in January and February when Jamal Murray and Gary Harris were banged up, but otherwise hasn’t seen much action in 2019/20.

Still, Denver likes his size and potential impact as a combo guard, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post, who tweets that he wouldn’t be shocked to see the South Carolina native play in Orlando.

With an open spot on their 15-man roster, the Nuggets won’t have to waive anyone to add Dozier. On top of that, as of Saturday, Denver will be able to sign a player to a two-way contract to replace Dozier, though that player will become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Bol Bol, whose contract runs through 2020/21, currently occupies the club’s other two-way slot.

Cavs Sign Jordan Bell, Dean Wade To Multiyear Deals

June 30th, 2020 at 9:07am CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 30: The Cavaliers have officially signed Bell and Wade to multiyear contracts, the team confirmed today in a press release. We passed along more details on Bell’s two-year deal and Wade’s four-year pact right here.

JUNE 29: The Cavaliers are filling the two openings on their 15-man roster with a pair of big men. The club has agreed to a multiyear contract with forward/center Jordan Bell, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link), and is signing two-way player Dean Wade to a multiyear deal, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Bell, a former Warriors rotation player, signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Timberwolves last summer, but didn’t establish himself as a reliable rotation player in Minnesota, averaging 3.1 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 27 games (8.7 MPG).

Prior to the trade deadline, Bell was sent to Houston in the four-team Clint Capela trade, then was flipped to Memphis in exchange for Bruno Caboclo. The Grizzlies subsequently released Bell, who joined the Wizards’ G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go. However, the NBA and G League seasons were suspended just one day later, so Bell didn’t see any action for the Go-Go.

Wade, meanwhile, spent his rookie season on a two-way deal with the Cavs after going undrafted out of Kansas State a year ago. The power forward appeared in just 12 games for Cleveland, spending most of the season with the Canton Charge, where he averaged 14.2 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 2.3 APG, and 1.4 BPG with a .461/.399/.847 shooting line in 30 G League games (31.1 MPG).

Bell got a two-year contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Wade’s new deal is a four-year pact with a $375K first-year salary, followed by three non-guaranteed seasons, tweets Fedor. The two signings won’t take the Cavaliers above the luxury tax threshold, sources tell Fedor.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), since Bell was waived after March 1, he wasn’t eligible to play in the postseason this summer, but that obviously wasn’t a concern for the Cavs.

Meanwhile, because only the 22 teams participating in the NBA’s restart are eligible to sign substitute two-way players this week, Cleveland can’t sign a free agent to fill Wade’s vacated two-way slot.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nets To Sign Justin Anderson

June 28th, 2020 at 4:14pm CST by JD Shaw

The Nets are signing free agent forward Justin Anderson to a contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Anderson will serve as a substitute player for Brooklyn, who lost combo forward Wilson Chandler for the season after he announced his intentions to remain home and care for his family on Sunday. The team is also slated to play without Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Nicolas Claxton due to injuries.

Teams are required to submit their final rosters by Wednesday, July 1 for the NBA restart, which is slated to commence in Orlando later next month.

Anderson, who was drafted No. 21 in 2015 by Dallas, spent part of this season with Brooklyn’s G League affiliate in Long Island. He earned a 10-day contract with the Nets in January, later being released by the organization.

Anderson holds prior experience with the Mavericks, Sixers and Hawks in his young NBA career, most recently joining the Wizards for training camp last fall. He owns career-averages of 5.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 13.1 minutes per contest.

Clippers Sign Joakim Noah

June 28th, 2020 at 3:35pm CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 28 (3:35pm): The Clippers have officially signed Noah to his contract, the team announced in a press release on Sunday.

JUNE 28 (9:00am): Noah’s new deal covers the rest of the season and is non-guaranteed for 2020/21, tweets Jovah Buha of The Athletic.

JUNE 20: The Clippers intend to sign veteran center Joakim Noah to a rest-of-season contract once the NBA opens its transaction window next week, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).

Noah had been just three days into a 10-day deal with the Clippers when the NBA suspended its season on March 11. However, active 10-day contracts, including Noah’s, will expire on June 23, per Charania. All other active 10-day deals belonged to players on teams that won’t be participating in the league’s resumed season this summer.

News that the Clippers plan to retain Noah doesn’t come as a major surprise. When he first signed with the club in March, the agreement was reported as an opportunity for a 10-day audition that was expected to be followed by a rest-of-season commitment. More recently, Noah spoke as if he would be part of Los Angeles’ roster when play resumed.

A former Defensive Player of the Year, Noah appeared in 42 games for the Grizzlies during the 2018/19 season, averaging 7.1 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 16.5 minutes per contest. The big man reportedly had a workout lined up with the Clippers last September, but was forced to cancel it after suffering an injury. He sat out most of the ’19/20 campaign, eventually joining the Clips once he got healthy.

Once the Clippers officially re-sign Noah, they’ll have a full roster, with 15 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals. In order to make any additional changes, they’ll likely have to waive someone, though they’d also be eligible to sign a substitute player if one of their current players chose not to participate in the restart.

Thunder Sign Devon Hall

June 28th, 2020 at 9:10am CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 28: Hall has been added to the roster as a substitute player, filling one of the Thunder’s 17 roster spots for the summer, the team announced in a press release.

JUNE 25: Having promoted Luguentz Dort to their 15-man roster, the Thunder intend to sign guard Devon Hall to fill their newly-opened two-way contract slot, reports Erik Horne of The Athletic (via Twitter).

Hall, who was on a two-way deal with the Thunder early in the 2019/20 season, was waived back in December, but remained with the team’s G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue. In 30 total NBAGL games (31.4 MPG) this season, he averaged 15.6 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 4.1 APG on .455/.360/.860 shooting.

Typically, teams aren’t allowed to sign players to two-way contracts any later than January 15. However, given the unusual circumstances surrounding the interrupted 2019/20 season and the NBA’s return-to-play plan, the league is permitting the 22 clubs going to Orlando this summer to fill both of their two-way contract slots this summer for depth purposes.

Hall’s familiarity with the organization makes him a good fit as an insurance policy for the Thunder, who will be able to sign him anytime after noon on Saturday. He’ll get a rest-of-season two-way deal and will become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

Sixers Sign Ryan Broekhoff

June 27th, 2020 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 27: The signing is official, the Sixers announced on Twitter.

JUNE 26: The Sixers have reached an agreement to sign free agent swingman Ryan Broekhoff, agent Andy Shiffman tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Broekhoff, who will turn 30 in August, signed with the Mavericks in the summer of 2018 and spent a season-and-a-half with the club, averaging 4.0 PPG and 1.8 RPG with a strong .403 3PT% in 59 total games (10.7 MPG). He was waived in February when Dallas signed Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

Since becoming a free agent, Broekhoff – who spent the first few years of his career with Besiktas in Turkey and Lokomotiv Kuban in Russia – has drawn interest from multiple international teams, including Anadolu Efes. However, it appears the veteran sharpshooter was prioritizing a potential return to the NBA, and now has the opportunity to join a playoff team for the summer restart.

The 76ers currently have 15 players on standard contracts and one on a two-way deal. Because Broekhoff has just two years of NBA experience, he can be signed into the team’s empty two-way slot, as noted by Rich Hofmann of The Athletic and Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter links)

Knicks Claim Theo Pinson, Waive Allonzo Trier

June 26th, 2020 at 4:17pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have claimed swingman Theo Pinson off waivers, waiving guard Allonzo Trier to clear a spot on their roster, the team announced today in a press release. Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link) first reported the pair of moves.

Pinson, 24, spent his rookie season in 2018/19 on a two-way contract with the Nets, then got a guaranteed contract from the team this season. However, he struggled to produce, averaging 3.6 PPG on 2.90/.188/.938 shooting in 33 games (11.1 MPG).

The former UNC wing, who was waived earlier this week when Brooklyn signed Tyler Johnson, was on a minimum-salary contract, so the Knicks didn’t need to use cap room or a trade exception to claim him. Pinson has a team option for 2020/21, which New York will have to make a decision on this October.

As for Trier, he was a two-way success story in 2018/19, having his deal converted into a two-year contract worth nearly $7MM. But after averaging 10.9 PPG in 64 games (22.8 MPG) as a rookie, the 24-year-old fell mostly out of the rotation in his second year in New York, posting just 6.5 PPG in 24 games (12.1 MPG). There were whispers at the end of his first season that some of Trier’s teammates were put off by his ball-dominant style.

Trier was facing potential restricted free agency this offseason and it appears the Knicks’ new front office – led by Leon Rose – didn’t see him as part of the club’s future. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent if he clears waivers, which seems like a safe bet.

The Pinson/Trier swap represents the second roster change made by the Knicks this week. The team also claimed Jared Harper and waived Kadeem Allen on Thursday.

Pistons Sign Justin Patton

June 26th, 2020 at 2:32pm CST by Luke Adams

2:32pm: Patton’s new deal includes a non-guaranteed second year worth the minimum, sources tell James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).

2:25pm: The Pistons have signed free agent center Justin Patton to a contract, the team announced today in a press release. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but it figures to be a multiyear deal, since Detroit won’t be part of the resumed NBA season next month.

Patton, the 16th overall pick in the 2017 draft, was plagued by injuries during his first two NBA seasons with the Timberwolves and Sixers, breaking bones in both feet and appearing in just four total games. He signed with Oklahoma City last summer, playing in five games for the Thunder before being traded to Dallas and subsequently waived.

In 30 total G League games for the Oklahoma City Blue and the Wisconsin Herd in 2019/20, Patton averaged 12.1 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 2.9 APG, and an impressive 3.2 BPG in 27.0 minutes per contest.

The move makes the Pistons the first team in the NBA’s bottom eight to sign a player during the league’s transaction window this week. Detroit had a full roster at the time the season was suspended in March, but Donta Hall‘s 10-day contract has since expired, opening up a spot on the 15-man squad — Patton slides into that slot.

The signing of Patton also represents the first Pistons transaction since the team officially hired Troy Weaver as its new general manager last week. It seems safe to assume that Weaver played a key role in the transaction, considering he worked for the Thunder before arriving in Detroit.

Knicks Claim Jared Harper, Waive Kadeem Allen

June 25th, 2020 at 4:56pm CST by Luke Adams

4:56pm: The Knicks have issued a press release confirming that they’ve claimed Harper and waived Allen.

4:24pm: The Knicks have claimed two-way player Jared Harper off waivers, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the team waived guard Kadeem Allen to open up a spot. Harper and Kenny Wooten now occupy New York’s two-way contract slots.

Harper, 22, signed a two-way contract with Phoenix last July after going undrafted out of Auburn. The 5’11” guard logged just eight total minutes in three NBA games for the Suns, but had a strong season for the Northern Arizona Suns, Phoenix’s G League affiliate. In 34 NBAGL games (28.9 MPG), Harper averaged 20.2 PPG, 5.5 APG, 2.6 RPG, and 1.1 SPG with a shooting line of .413/.362/.787.

The Suns opted to release Harper in March just as the NBA puts its transaction moratorium in place, so the move didn’t technically become official until Tuesday of this week. Harper would have cleared waivers and become a free agent today if not for the Knicks’ claim.

Now, it will be Allen who is on track to become a free agent if he clears waivers this weekend. The 6’1″ guard spent the last two seasons under contract with New York, appearing in 29 games for the NBA squad and 63 more for the Westchester Knicks in the G League. Allen struggled to score efficiency this season, averaging 13.7 PPG on .394/.261/.828 shooting in 24 NBAGL games (28.8 MPG).

Harper’s two-way contract is believed to be for only one season, which means the Knicks would have to re-sign him this fall in order to keep him under control beyond 2019/20. Claiming him off waivers gives the club greater control of that process, since he can be made a restricted free agent.

Thunder Sign Luguentz Dort To Multiyear Contract

June 24th, 2020 at 7:08pm CST by Luke Adams

7:08pm: The Thunder have locked up Dort to a four-year, $5.4MM deal, per Royce Young of ESPN (Twitter link). The first year is the remainder of the current season, prorated at $155,647. The 2020/21 season is fully guaranteed, while the last two years of the deal have partial guarantees, says Young.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link) notes that the Thunder will now pay $2.4MM in luxury tax penalties, up from $2MM before the Dort deal.

1:35pm: The Thunder have moved two-way player Luguentz Dort to their 15-man roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed him to a multiyear contract.

Dort, 21, emerged as a crucial part of Oklahoma City’s rotation in January, starting each of the team’s last 21 games before the season was suspended — the Thunder went 16-5 in those contests.

For the season, the former Arizona State swingman has averaged 6.2 PPG and 1.9 RPG on .414/.301/.778 shooting in 29 games (22.0 MPG). Those shooting numbers increased to .430/.357/.870 following his promotion to the starting lineup.

While the NBA has loosened its restrictions on two-way players participating in the postseason for this summer, completing a standard contract this week seemed like the logical outcome for Dort and the Thunder. The team had an open spot on its 15-man roster and will now no longer have to compete with rival suitors to re-sign the young wing in restricted free agency this fall.

Moving Dort to the 15-man squad will also allow the Thunder to sign a two-way player to replace him, as of Saturday. That player would become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, but could provide insurance for OKC in Orlando this summer in the event of an injury, a positive COVID-19 test, or another development that compromises the team’s depth.

Details of Dort’s new contract aren’t yet known, but the Thunder still have a good portion of their taxpayer mid-level exception left. They’d be able to offer well above the minimum and could lock up Dort for up to two additional seasons beyond 2019/20.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.