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Dwight Howard To Sign With Lakers

Dwight Howard is returning to the Lakers. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), Howard and the Grizzlies are finalizing a buyout and the center will latch on with Los Angeles once that it complete.

Howard had several meetings with the Lakers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Howard came in after dropping 25 pounds and showcased his that back was healthy. Woj hears that the Lakers got the sense that Howard had hit “rock bottom” and it had humbled him. While the Lakers are signing the center, they are proceeding with caution, as the deal is non-guaranteed.

The team wants him to come in and serve in a rim protecting/rebounding role. Several Lakers players were involved in the decision to bring Howard to the club.

The Lakers considered several options to fill the void DeMarcus Cousins‘ injury created. Joakim Noah also worked out for L.A. and the franchise believes that Noah and Howard could each help the team.

Howard’s deal will pay him the veteran’s minimum, which will be worth approximately $2.6MM. Again, it’s non-guaranteed.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Hawks Sign Marcus Derrickson To Exhibit 10 Deal

AUGUST 23: The signing is official, tweets Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

AUGUST 2: The Hawks have reached an agreement to sign free agent forward Marcus Derrickson to an Exhibit 10 contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).

Derrickson, 23, spent the 2018/19 season with the Warriors on a two-way contract. He appeared in just 11 games for the NBA club, averaging 4.2 PPG in limited action. However, he played a much more substantial role for the Santa Cruz Warriors, recording 13.7 PPG and 5.6 RPG on .467/.419/.841 shooting in 35 G League contests (27.2 MPG).

The Hawks, who have 13 players on guaranteed contracts, are also bringing Ray Spalding to training camp on an Exhibit 10 deal, and will likely keep adding to that list as September approaches.

If Atlanta doesn’t sign any more veteran free agents, it could open the door for Derrickson, Spalding, and other camp invitees to compete for regular season roster spots.

Terry Larrier Signs Exhibit 10 Deal With Clippers

AUGUST 23: The signing is official, according to the Real GM transactions page.

AUGUST 17: The Clippers are bringing in Terry Larrier on an Exhibit 10 deal, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic (Twitter link). Larrier is a long shot to make the roster for Los Angeles, though he’ll likely play for the club’s G League affiliate, the Agua Caliente Clippers.

Larrier was not selected during the 2018 draft. The 6’8″ guard made his collegiate debut at VCU before transfering to UConn and spending two season with the school.

He most recently was with the Spurs for this offseason’s Summer League. He played in the event for the Grizzlies in 2018.

Cavaliers Sign Alex Robinson

The Cavaliers have signed former TCU guard Alex Robinson, according to the Real GM Transactions Log. Details were not released, but it’s most likely a partially or non-guaranteed training camp deal.

After going undrafted in June, Robinson reached an agreement to play for the Kings in Summer League. He averaged 3.0 points and 1.3 assists in three games in Las Vegas.

Robinson set the career assist record during his three seasons with the Horned Frogs. He started out at Texas A&M before transferring after his freshman season.

Cleveland now projects to have a full 20-man roster heading into training camp, based on the expected signings of Marques BoldenJ.P. Macura and Sindarius Thornwell. The Cavs have 13 players with guaranteed contracts.

Jazz Sign Trevon Bluiett, Juwan Morgan To Exhibit 10 Deals

The Jazz have added Trevon Bluiett and Juwan Morgan to their training camp roster, as the team announced on its Twitter feed. Both players will participate under Exhibit 10 deals.

Bluiett spent last season with the Pelicans on a two-way contract before finding himself on the Salt Lake City Stars, Utah’s G League affiliate. The scoring wing played his collegiate ball at Xavier.

It was previously reported that Morgan had agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal. The forward was not selected in the 2019 NBA draft after spending four seasons at Indiana.

Neither player is expected to make the NBA roster, instead each will likely find their way to the Stars after training camp. The Jazz currently have 20 players under contract, which is the maximum allowed.

Bucks Sign Guard Rayjon Tucker

August 20: The signing is official, according to the team’s website.

August 16: Guard Rayjon Tucker will sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Bucks, Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets.

Right after the draft, a report surfaced that claimed Tucker would sign a partially guaranteed deal with Milwaukee.

However, nearly two months went by without a contract being inked. Last week, the Heat hosted Tucker for a three-day audition but no agreement was reached because Tucker was looking for a two-way deal and Miami wasn’t willing to offer more than an Exhibit 10 contract. The Bucks have already filled their two-way slots but Tucker has decided to join them after all.

The Bucks are also signing Jaylen Adams to a camp deal.

Tucker played for the Bucks‘ squad in the Las Vegas Summer League and averaged 10.2 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 19.8 MPG over five appearances.

The Arkansas-Little Rock product had announced prior to the draft that he would transfer to the University of Memphis, but later decided to keep his name in the draft. The 6’5″ guard averaged 20.3 points per game last season and shot 41.1% from 3-point range. He was a second-team selection on the All-Sun Belt team.

Bucks Sign Jaylen Adams To Camp Deal

August 20: The signing is official, according to the team’s website.

August 16: The Bucks are signing guard Jaylen Adams to a training camp deal, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Adams became a free agent in mid-July after the Hawks waived him before his $1,416,852 salary became guaranteed. Milwaukee’s contract offer is apparently an Exhibit 10 deal. The Bucks targeted Adams for an affiliate contract spot with their G League team, the Wisconsin Herd, Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets.

Adams signed a two-way deal with Atlanta last summer, then had it converted to a standard contract in February. He went undrafted out of St. Bonaventure.

The 23-year-old Adams appeared in 34 NBA games last season, averaging 3.2 PPG and 1.9 APG in 12.6 MPG.

Milwaukee had 16 players under contract (14 with fully guaranteed deals), along with a pair of two-way players.

The 6’2” Adams faces an uphill battle to gain a roster spot. The Bucks already have Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, Donte DiVincenzo and two-way player Frank Mason at the point.

Kings Sign Center Eric Mika

The Kings have signed center Eric Mika, according to a team press release. It’s an Exhibit 10 deal, James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets.

Sacramento had two openings available on its training camp roster. Mika faces long odds in terms of making the opening-night roster. The Kings already have three centers — Dewayne Dedmon, Richaun Holmes and Harry Giles — along with power forwards Marvin Bagley III, Nemanja Bjelica, Caleb Swanigan, Tyler Lydon and two-way player Wenyen Gabriel.

The 6’10” Mika, 24, was a member of Sacramento’s California Classic summer league squad last month. He played three games and averaged 8.3 PPG and 9.3 RPG in 19.3 MPG. He also appeared in five Las Vegas summer league games for the franchise and averaged 9.2 PPG and 7.0 RPG in 17.0 MPG.

Mika went undrafted out of BYU in 2017. He played overseas with Germani Basket Brescia of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A and Medi Bayreuth of Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga last season, posting averages of 8.2 PPG and 3.9 RPG in 15.9 MPG in 41 games.

Mavericks Re-Sign J.J. Barea

AUGUST 19: Seven weeks after agreeing to terms with the Mavericks on a one-year, minimum-salary deal, Barea has officially signed his contract, he confirmed to MacMahon (Twitter link). The veteran guard, who continues to recover from his Achilles tear, expects to be fully cleared to participate in training camp, per MacMahon.

JULY 1: The Mavericks have agreed to a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract with free agent point guard J.J. Barea, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (via Twitter), there’s a chance that Dallas could bump up Barea’s salary beyond the minimum, depending on how the team’s offseason plays out and whether there’s cap room left over.

Barea said he also registered interest from both the Lakers and Pistons, according to Carlos Rosa of GFR Media. Barea has spent 10 of his 13 NBA seasons with the Mavericks, calling the city of Dallas his second home, Rosa notes in a separate tweet. He was part of the 2011 Mavericks team that won an NBA championship by defeating the Heat.

Barea, 35, suffered a torn Achilles’ tendon last February, so it remains to be seen when he’ll be able return to the court. In his 35 regular-season games before suffering the injury, he averaged 10.9 points, 5.6 assists and 19.8 minutes per contest.

If he signs for the minimum, Barea will earn approximately $2.5MM, though he’d only count for about $1.6MM against the cap for the club.

Spurs Sign Forward Daulton Hommes

The Spurs have signed forward Daulton Hommes, according to RealGM’s official transactions log. It’s an Exhibit 10 contract, tweets Andy Buhler of Scorebook Live Washington.

Hommes, 23, averaged 21.0 PPG and 5.8 RPG for Point Loma Nazarene University in his senior campaign in 2018/19. Those efforts earned Hommes NABC Division II National Player of the Year honors.

After going undrafted, Hommes suited up for the Bucks’ Summer League squad. In two games, the 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward notched averages of 8.4 PPG and 1.6 RPG in Las Vegas.

It’s likely that Hommes will spend most of his time with the Spurs’ G League affiliate in Austin.