Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wizards Sign Jerian Grant

July 1st, 2020 at 5:12pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 1: Grant has officially inked a deal with the Wizards to replace Bertans, per a press release on the team’s official site.

JUNE 25: The Wizards intend to sign free agent guard Jerian Grant as a substitute player for Davis Bertans, a source tells Wizards reporter Chris Miller (Twitter link). The deal will become official on July 1, Miller adds.

Bertans has decided to opt out of the NBA’s restart this summer in large part due to injury concerns. The Wizards have a full 15-man roster, but can sign a replacement for someone like Bertans, who voluntarily opts out and surrenders his salary for the eight seeding games.

That replacement will be Grant, who spent most of the 2019/20 season playing for Washington’s G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, following a brief stint in China last fall. In 39 games (33.3 MPG) for the Go-Go, the veteran point guard averaged 16.3 PPG, 5.5 APG, and 4.4 RPG with an impressive .475/.441/.835 shooting line.

Grant, a former first-round pick who has previously played for the Knicks, Bulls, and Magic, will receive a rest-of-season, minimum-salary deal as a substitute player. The Washington, D.C. native will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, and the Wizards won’t hold any form of Bird rights on him.

Grant will help provide depth in a Washington backcourt that will be missing point guard John Wall. Wall, who continues to recover from an Achilles tear, isn’t eligible to be replaced by a substitute player since he’ll be sidelined due to an injury rather than voluntarily opting out or being ruled out due to a health issue related to COVID-19.

Lakers Sign Veteran Guard J.R. Smith

July 1st, 2020 at 12:45pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 1, 12:45pm: Smith has officially signed a contract with the team, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

JUNE 29, 11:10am: The Lakers are expected to finalize a rest-of-season contract with free agent shooting guard J.R. Smith this week, league sources tell Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link). According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Smith and the Lakers are working through the final steps of a deal today.

Smith, 34, didn’t play in the NBA at all this season, but worked out for the Lakers in March before the league went on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. When word broke last week that Avery Bradley was voluntarily opting out of the NBA’s restart, Smith was immediately identified as a leading candidate to replace him on L.A.’s summer roster.

Smith last played in the NBA in 2018/19, appearing in just 11 games for the Cavaliers before being waived in November of that season. In ’17/18, his last full season, he was a solid role player in Cleveland, averaging 8.3 PPG and 2.9 RPG with a .375 3PT% in 80 games (28.1 MPG).

As a substitute player, Smith will receive a rest-of-season, minimum-salary contract that won’t count against the Lakers’ cap. It will pay him just shy of $290K, which represents 20/177ths of the usual $2,564,753 minimum salary for a player with 10+ years of NBA service. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent after the season and L.A. won’t hold any form of Bird rights on him this fall.

Even with Bradley out, it’s not clear that Smith will actually see much action this summer. However, he becomes the latest intriguing character to join the Lakers’ depth chart on the wing — the team signed veteran shooting guard Dion Waiters shortly before play was suspended in March.

Assuming no other Lakers players voluntarily opt out of the resumption of the season, the club won’t have the ability to make another addition without cutting someone. Currently, all 17 roster spots are filled, with two-way players Devontae Cacok and Kostas Antetokounmpo joining the 15 players on standard contracts.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cameron Payne Signs With Suns

June 30th, 2020 at 7:18pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

7:18pm: The Suns have officially signed Payne, per Gina Mizell, most recently of The Athletic (Twitter link).

6:20pm: Well-traveled point guard Cameron Payne, a current free agent most recently with the Cavaliers during the 2018/2019, has agreed to a two-year contract with the Suns, per Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic (Twitter link).

Since being drafted at the bottom of the 2015 lottery with the No. 14 pick out of Murray State by the Thunder, Payne has logged time – primarily as a backup – with Oklahoma City, the Bulls and the Cavaliers. He holds averages of 6.0 PPG (he is connecting on just 39.7% of his looks from the field but a decent 77.5% from the charity stripe), 1.8 RPG, and 2.5 APG.

The 26-39 Suns, led by All-Star Devin Booker, will be joining the NBA’s season restart in Orlando. The 6’3″ Payne can help the team shore up their guard depth as an end-of-bench/practice addition at either position.

No corresponding move is required, as the Suns have an open spot on their 15-man roster.

Nuggets Sign Tyler Cook

June 30th, 2020 at 5:55pm CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 30: The Nuggets have officially signed Cook to a replacement two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.

JUNE 26: After promoting PJ Dozier from a two-way deal to a standard contract, the Nuggets are expected to sign power forward Tyler Cook as their substitute two-way player, reports Nick Kosmider of The Athletic (via Twitter).

Cook, who received a two-way contract from Denver last summer, spent training camp and the preseason with Denver last fall, but was released before the regular season began. Cleveland claimed him off waivers and he spent most of the 2019/20 season either in the NBA or G League with the organization, later signing a pair of 10-day contracts with the Cavaliers.

Cook only played very limited minutes in 11 NBA games, but had a bigger role in the NBAGL, posting 12.9 PPG and 5.7 RPG in 29 games (21.3 MPG) for the Canton Charge and Oklahoma City Blue.

NBA teams typically aren’t permitted to fill their two-way contract slots with newly-signed players after January 15, but the 22 clubs participating in the restart have been given the opportunity to do so for depth purposes. Once Dozier is moved to the 15-man roster and Cook has been signed, Denver will have a full roster.

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)