Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Celtics To Sign Kaiser Gates To Camp Deal

September 5th, 2019 at 1:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics have reached an agreement to sign former Xavier forward Kaiser Gates to a training camp contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

According to Charania, Gates will get the opportunity to compete with Tacko Fall and Javonte Green for the 15th spot on Boston’s regular season roster. The Celtics will still have one more opening on their 20-man offseason after signing Gates, so another camp invitee could become involved in that competition too.

Gates, who will turn 23 in November, joined the Bulls for training camp last fall after going undrafted. He was waived by Chicago before the season began and reported to the team’s G League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls. In 50 NBAGL games, he recorded 12.7 PPG and 6.4 RPG with a .408/.375/.786 shooting line.

If Gates doesn’t make the Celtics’ regular season roster and instead heads back to the G League, the Bulls would still hold his NBAGL rights. The Celtics’ affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, would have to trade for those rights if they want to get him on their roster for 2019/20.

Hornets Sign Ahmed Hill To Two-Way Contract

September 5th, 2019 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 5: The Hornets have officially signed Hill to a two-way deal, the team confirmed today in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 4: The Hornets are signing undrafted free agent Ahmed Hill to a two-way contract, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

A 6’5″ guard out of Virginia Tech, Hill posted 13.1 PPG on .443/.391/.812 shooting in 35 games in his senior year with the Hokies. After going undrafted, he joined the Nets’ Summer League roster and appeared in six games in Las Vegas, averaging 6.8 PPG on 44.8% shooting in 18.2 minutes per contest.

As our two-way contract tracker shows, Charlotte previously filled one of its two-way slots by signing rookie forward Robert Franks, so the team won’t have any openings after officially adding Hill.

That puts No. 52 overall pick Jalen McDaniels in an interesting spot. With 17 players on standard contracts and point guard Kobi Simmons expected to join that group shortly, the Hornets will have a full 20-man offseason roster.

It’s possible that Charlotte will eventually waive a player to make room for McDaniels, but the club’s agreement with Hill could signal that the former San Diego State forward will begin his professional career overseas or on a G League contract.

Warriors Sign Andrew Harrison To Camp Deal

September 5th, 2019 at 7:51am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 5: Harrison’s deal is official, per RealGM’s NBA transactions log.

AUGUST 27: The Warriors have reached an agreement with free agent guard Andrew Harrison, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Harrison is signing a training camp contract with the team. Agent Kevin Bradbury of BDA Sports informed Wojnarowski of the deal.

Harrison, 24, has spent the last three seasons in the NBA, appearing in 145 total regular season games for the Grizzlies, Cavaliers, and Pelicans. He spent time with all three teams early in 2018/19, averaging 3.2 PPG, 1.4 APG, and 1.2 RPG in 17 contests (11.0 MPG). After being waived by New Orleans in January, he caught on with Russian club Khimki to finish the season.

A former Kentucky standout, Harrison is on track to become the 18th player under contract with the Warriors. The team is currently carrying 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, two on non-guaranteed deals, and a pair on two-way pacts.

Because they’re right up against a hard cap, the Warriors are unlikely to retain Harrison for their regular season roster. If he doesn’t catch on with another NBA team to start the 2019/20 season, it’s possible he’ll join Golden State’s G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors.

Rockets Adjust Contracts For Ponds, McDowell-White

September 5th, 2019 at 7:42am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 5: After converting Ponds and McDowell-White to two-way contracts, the Rockets have converted them back to standard deals, according to RealGM’s official transactions log and ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

The two players appear to be back on essentially the same contracts they were before, but with one key difference, as Marks explains: The initial Exhibit 10 deals for Ponds and McDowell-White didn’t feature Exhibit 9 language, which limits a team’s liability if a player is injured in training camp or the preseason. Teams must have at least 14 players under contract to add Exhibit 9 language to an agreement, which the Rockets didn’t when they signed the duo in early July.

Without the Exhibit 9 clause, the Rockets would have had to pay either player’s salary if he suffered an injury in the preseason, up until he got healthy. As such, a season-ending injury would have forced Houston to pay the player’s entire salary, which would have compromised the team’s ability to limit its tax bill (or avoid the tax altogether). With Exhibit 9 language in place, Houston will now only be on the hook for $6K in the event of an injury.

The upshot is that Ponds and McDowell-White are back on non-guaranteed salaries and Houston’s two-way slots are once again open.

SEPTEMBER 4: The Rockets have converted the Exhibit 10 contracts for rookies Shamorie Ponds and William McDowell-White into two-way deals, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Previously, Houston had been one of just three NBA teams without a two-way player under contract.

Ponds and McDowell-White were two of the first players signed in July, as the Rockets locked them up to contracts even before the July moratorium ended. Both players suited up for Houston’s Las Vegas Summer League roster.

Ponds, a 6’1″ guard out of St. John’s, averaged 19.7 PPG, 5.1 APG, 4.1 RPG, and an impressive 2.6 SPG in 33 games during his junior year in 2018/19 before declaring for the draft as an early entrant.

McDowell-White spent the last several years playing for teams in Australia and Germany. Having started his career with the Sydney Kings in 2016, the 6’5″ Australian combo guard spent a season and a half with German club Brose Bamberg, leaving the team earlier this year to prepare for the 2019 draft.

As we explained on Tuesday, converting an Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way deal is one of a handful of options that teams have for a player on an E10 pact. I noted within that story that I expected the Rockets to have a few players compete in camp for their two-way slots, but it appears the team has made its two-way decisions well in advance of the preseason.

Grizzlies Sign Matt Mooney To Exhibit 10 Deal

September 4th, 2019 at 7:31pm CST by ChrisCrouse

SEPTEMBER 4: The deal is now official, per a release from the team.

AUGUST 17: The Grizzlies have agreed to sign Matt Mooney to an Exhibit 10 deal, as the guard tells KeloSports. Mooney will likely end up playing for the team’s G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle.

The 6’3″ guard helped lead Texas Tech to the National Championship game last season, though the team lost to Virginia. He’s the third member of that squad to ink an NBA contract this offseason with Jarrett Culver joining the Wolves and Tariq Owens finding himself on the Suns.

Mooney said he had been deciding between the Grizzlies and the Heat for his first deal in the NBA. He’ll join Memphis for training camp.

The Grizzlies currently have a full 20-man roster, so they’ll need to make a trade or a cut before officially signing Mooney.

Hornets Issue Required Tender To Jalen McDaniels

September 4th, 2019 at 6:36pm CST by clarkcrum

The Hornets have issued a one year, non-guaranteed, minimum-salary contract offer (“required tender”) to 2019 second-round pick, rookie forward Jalen McDaniels, reports Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.

Per Bobby Marks of ESPN, all unsigned 2019 second-round draft picks become free agents if not given a required tender by today, so the Hornets had to make a decision as to whether they wanted to retain McDaniels’ rights after drafting the San Diego State product No. 52 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.

As we noted earlier today, the Hornets have already agreed to sign rookie guard Ahmed Hill to the team’s second two-way contract, and with the expected addition of point guard Kobi Simmons, Charlotte will have a full 20-man offseason roster without McDaniels. As such, the team may no longer be interested in bringing the rookie to training camp this season.

However, as Bonnell notes, two-way contracts can be a fluid situation, so if Charlotte wants to sign McDaniels to a two-way contract later (perhaps when his legal troubles are more thoroughly settled), the team could easily move on from Hill or fellow two-way recipient Robert Franks.

Heat Sign Davon Reed To Camp Deal

September 4th, 2019 at 2:54pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 4: The Heat have officially signed Reed, the team announced today in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 3: The Heat are expected to sign former Hurricanes guard Davon Reed to a training camp contract, reports Shandel Richardson of The Athletic (Twitter link). Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald confirms the agreement, tweeting that Reed will join the group of Heat players on Exhibit 10 contracts competing for a two-way deal.

Reed, 24, was the 32nd overall pick in the 2017 draft by the Suns, but lasted just one season in Phoenix before being cut last October. He quickly caught on with the Pacers on a two-way contract and spent most of the 2018/19 campaign playing for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Indiana’s G League affiliate.

Reed has put up modest numbers (2.4 PPG, 1.5 RPG) in limited playing time (9.3 MPG) in 31 NBA career games for the Suns and Pacers. He was a little more effective in 34 NBAGL contests last season, posting 13.9 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 3.0 APG, but he struggled to score efficiently, with a shooting line of .398/.326/.753.

The Heat have 12 players on guaranteed salaries, with Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn in position to claim the final two regular season roster spots. Jeremiah Martin, Kyle Alexander, Chris Silva, and Reed will be among the non-guaranteed camp invitees vying for the club’s two-way contracts. Miami could bring up to two more players to camp on Exhibit 10 deals.

Thunder Sign Devon Hall To Two-Way Contract

September 4th, 2019 at 1:39pm CST by Luke Adams

1:39pm: Hall’s two-way contract with the Thunder is now official, the team confirmed in a press release.

10:31am: After spending his first professional season overseas and then in the G League, 2018 second-round pick Devon Hall is joining the Thunder, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). League sources tell Haynes that Hall has agreed to a two-way contract with Oklahoma City.

The No. 53 pick in the 2018 draft, Hall joined the Cairns Taipans of Australia’s National Basketball League last summer due to a roster crunch in Oklahoma City. After spending most of the 2018/19 season down under, the Virginia alum signed a G League contract in late February and finished the year with the Oklahoma City Blue, averaging 7.3 PPG with a .422 3PT% in 10 NBAGL games (21.1 MPG).

When Hall first signed to play in Australia, his agent Daniel Curtin told a reporter that “we expect him to be with the Thunder next season.” That expectation has come to fruition, with the 24-year-old shooting guard poised to claim OKC’s second two-way contract slot.

[RELATED: 2019 NBA Draft-And-Stash Signings]

Hall will join rookie shooting guard Luguentz Dort as the Thunder’s two-way players. The team only has 15 players on standard contracts so far, leaving three openings on the 20-man offseason roster.

Rockets Sign Eric Gordon To Four-Year Extension

September 4th, 2019 at 12:16pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 4: Gordon’s extension with the Rockets is now official, the team announced today in a press release.

AUGUST 30: The Rockets and shooting guard Eric Gordon have reached an agreement on a four-year contract extension, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle, who reports that the deal will be worth approximately $75.6MM.

Gordon had been entering the final year of his current contract and will earn a $14,057,730 salary in 2019/20. His new deal will lock him up through the 2023/24 season and brings the total value of his next five years to nearly $90MM.

However, Gordon isn’t assured of receiving that full amount, as the final year of his new contract is non-guaranteed, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). It would become guaranteed if he makes an All-Star team or the Rockets win a championship, a league source tells Woj.

The starting salary of a veteran contract extension can only be worth up to 120% of the player’s previous salary, so Gordon’s new deal will technically be worth his maximum extension value. A 120% bump on this year’s salary will bring him to $16.87MM in 2020/21. Annual 8% raises going forward will give him salaries of $18.21MM (2021/22), $19.57MM (2022/23), and $20.92MM (2023/24) over the rest of the contract.

Although Gordon could have potentially landed a larger payday on the open market as a free agent next summer, agreeing to a deal now gives him long-term security into his mid-30s and takes off some pressure in what would have been a contract year. It will also remove another talented unrestricted free agent from a 2020 free agent market that was already considered weak.

Gordon, 30, has spent the last three seasons with the Rockets, serving as one of the team’s go-to scoring options behind perennial MVP candidate James Harden. In 2018/19, the former No. 7 overall pick averaged 16.2 PPG on .409/.360/.783 shooting in 68 games (31.7 MPG). Gordon has also been Houston’s most consistent outside threat besides Harden, averaging exactly 8.8 three-point attempts per game in each of the last three years.

The Rockets now have virtually their entire core locked up for several years. Harden and Russell Westbrook are each under contract through at least 2022, with player options for the 2022/23 season. Clint Capela‘s fully guaranteed deal runs through ’22/23. P.J. Tucker, who is reportedly seeking an extension as well, has two more years left on his current pact.

As Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights observes (via Twitter), Gordon can’t be traded during the 2019/20 season as a result of the extension, since it exceeds the extend-and-trade restrictions and makes him ineligible to be dealt for six months. That restriction won’t lift until after the 2020 deadline.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cavs Officially Sign Four Players, Waive Two

September 4th, 2019 at 9:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers have finalized a series of roster moves, according to RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions. Cleveland released a pair of players on non-guaranteed contracts, then signed four players to training camp deals, filling their 20-man offseason roster. Here’s a breakdown of the moves made by the Cavs:

Signed:

Marques Bolden, C (previous report)
Daniel Hamilton, G/F (previous report)
J.P. Macura, SG (previous report)
Sindarius Thornwell, SG (previous report)

Waived:

Malik Newman, SG
Levi Randolph, SG

Newman and Randolph signed with the Cavs nearly a month ago, but didn’t stick with the team long enough to attend training camp. Both players spent last season with the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s G League affiliate, and look like good bets to return to Canton in 2019/20. Their Exhibit 10 deals will entitle them to bonuses worth up to $50K if they spend at least two months with the Charge this season.

As for Bolden, Hamilton, Macura, and Thornwell, we provided more details on all four players in our previous stories on their deals with the Cavs, as linked above. They’ll fill out the team’s 20-man roster and will get an opportunity to compete in camp for a spot on the 15-man regular season roster or a two-way contract.

Currently, Cleveland is carrying 13 players with guaranteed salaries and one on a two-way deal. The newly-signed quartet will join Alex Robinson and Jarell Martin as non-guaranteed camp invitees who will look to make a positive impression in the preseason.