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Blazers Exercise 2020/21 Options On Collins, Simons

September 24th, 2019 at 1:09pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers have exercised their 2020/21 team options on Zach Collins and Anfernee Simons, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Collins, Portland’s first-round pick in 2017, will have a $5,406,255 cap hit on his fourth-year option in ’20/21. He’ll be extension-eligible next summer and will otherwise be on track for restricted free agency in the summer of 2021.

The big man, who turns 22 in November, projects to have a major role for the Blazers with Jusuf Nurkic still sidelined to start the season. Collins averaged 6.6 PPG and 4.2 RPG in 77 games off the bench last season, but will likely be part of the starting lineup this fall and figure to play more than the 17.6 minutes per game he averaged in 2018/19.

As for Simons, his third-year option for ’20/21 will have a very modest cap hit of $2,252,040. The 20-year-old, who was selected 24th overall in the 2018 draft, appeared in just 20 games during his rookie season but has been generating buzz this offseason and should play more minutes going forward. Simons figures to get an opportunity to back up Damian Lillard at the point now that Evan Turner is no longer in the picture.

With Collins and Simons now locked in for 2020/21, the Blazers have approximately $91.4MM in guaranteed money on their cap. That figure doesn’t include player options for Rodney Hood or Mario Hezonja.

Magic Sign Isaac Humphries To Exhibit 10 Deal

September 24th, 2019 at 8:06am CST by clarkcrum

SEPTEMBER 24: The Magic have officially signed Humphries, per RealGM’s NBA transactions log. The club now has 19 players under contract, leaving one opening on its 20-man offseason roster.

JULY 24: The Magic and big man Isaac Humphries have agreed upon an Exhibit 10 deal, reports Olgun Uluc of Fox Sports Australia. Humphries, an Australian native, became an unrestricted free agent this summer when the Hawks opted not to extend him a qualifying offer.

Humphries only played five games for Atlanta last season after being signed in April, but he averaged 11.3 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 1.1 BPG in 46 games (21.8 MPG) for the Hawks’ G League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, before signing his rest-of-season deal with the Hawks.

Humphries appears to be the first player to receive an Exhibit 10 deal from the Magic so far this summer, but Orlando did recently come to terms with Josh Magette and Amile Jefferson for the club’s open two-way spots.

Accordingly, it’s unlikely that Humphries will make his way onto the Magic roster for the 2019/20 season. Instead, he’ll probably end up playing for the team’s G League affiliate, the Lakeland Magic.

Rockets Sign Thabo Sefolosha

September 23rd, 2019 at 3:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

SEPTEMBER 23: The Rockets have officially signed Sefolosha, per a tweet from GM Daryl Morey.

SEPTEMBER 20: Thabo Sefolosha will sign with the Rockets, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. The veteran swingman is participating in a mini-camp with Houston players and other unsigned veterans this week in Las Vegas.

Sefolosha’s contract will be fully guaranteed, tweets Alykhan Bijani of The Athletic, who adds that the 35-year-old had an impressive performance at Houston’s mini-camp.

Sefolosha spent the past two seasons in Utah, where injuries limited him to a combined 88 games. He appeared in 50 games last season, averaging 3.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in about 12 minutes per night. He has also played for the Bulls, Thunder and Hawks during his 13 years in the NBA.

The defensive specialist has plenty of ties to the Rockets organization, notes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). He was a former teammate of James Harden and Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City, and coach Mike D’Antoni was hoping to bring him to Phoenix in the 2006 draft.

Sefolosha will sign for one year at the veteran’s minimum, according to Feigen (Twitter link). With just 10 guaranteed contracts heading into training camp, the Rockets have been looking for veteran help to fill out their roster.

Heat Sign Daryl Macon

September 20th, 2019 at 3:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have signed free agent guard Daryl Macon to a contract, the team announced today in a press release. We noted in an earlier story that Macon was the frontrunner to fill the 20th and final spot on Miami’s offseason roster.

As an undrafted rookie out of Arkansas in 2018, Macon signed a two-way contract with the Mavericks and spent the 2018/19 season in the organization before being waived in July. Although he only appeared in eight NBA games for Dallas, he was a key part of the club’s G League affiliate, averaging 19.0 PPG, 5.9 APG, and 3.5 RPG in 41 games (34.4 MPG) for the Texas Legends.

Because the Heat are hard-capped, they couldn’t offer Macon more than an Exhibit 10 contract, making him one of six camp invitees who have now signed that form of one-year, non-guaranteed deal with the team. Since Miami’s 14 regular season roster spots are essentially set, those six players will compete for the Heat’s two two-way contract slots.

Big men Kyle Alexander and Chris Silva, swingman Davon Reed, combo guard Jeremiah Martin and shooting guard Mychal Mulder are also in the running for the team’s two-way openings.

Hawks Sign Tahjere McCall

September 20th, 2019 at 2:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

2:01pm: The Hawks have officially signed McCall, the team announced today in a press release.

10:47am: Tahjere McCall has agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract with the Hawks, tweets Ben Stinar of AmicoHoops. McCall’s agent, Andre Buck of Arete Sports, confirmed the deal, Stinar adds.

The 25-year-old shooting guard’s NBA experience is limited to four minutes in one game with the Nets last season. He has spent most of his time with Long Island in the G League after going undrafted out of Tennessee State in 2017. McCall was among 80 players invited to participate in the G League Elite Camp in May.

The signing brings Atlanta to the league limit of 20 players heading into training camp. The Hawks have just 13 guaranteed contracts, so McCall will have a shot at winning at roster spot.

Vince Carter Re-Signs With Hawks

September 20th, 2019 at 11:07am CST by Dana Gauruder

SEPTEMBER 20: Carter’s signing is official, tweets Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated.

AUGUST 5: Vince Carter, the oldest player in the NBA, has agreed to return to the Hawks, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Carter, 42, will be playing for a record 22nd season. It’s expected to his last, Wojnarowski adds.

Carter will surpass Dirk Nowitzki, Robert Parish, Kevin Willis and Kevin Garnett, who each played 21 seasons. Carter had already established the record for most seasons by a wing player. Kobe Bryant played 20 seasons.

Carter’s return to Atlanta was not a surprise. The team had held a roster spot open for him in anticipation a deal would eventually get done. The Hawks will now have 14 players with guaranteed contracts.

Other than Carter, the Hawks have the league’s youngest roster that includes rookies Cam Reddish, De’Andre Hunter and Bruno Fernando and last season’s Rookie of the Year finalist, Trae Young.

Carter proved that he was still an effective and durable player last season in Atlanta, appearing in 76 games, including nine starts. He averaged 7.4 PPG and shot 38.9% beyond the arc in 17.5 MPG. The future Hall of Famer began his career in 1998 with Toronto. The Hawks became the eighth team to acquire his services prior to last season.

Carter will add depth at the wing positions while also serving a mentorship role.

Nuggets Sign Tyler Zeller

September 19th, 2019 at 2:29pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets have signed free agent center Tyler Zeller to their roster for training camp, tweets Chris Dempsey of Altitude Sports.

Zeller, 29, was out of the league for most of the 2018/19 campaign, but signed a 10-day contract with Atlanta in March, then joined the Grizzlies for the final week of the regular season. In total, he appeared in six games for the two teams, averaging 7.7 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 15.5 minutes per contest.

The former first-round pick has spent seven total seasons in the NBA, having also appeared in regular season games for the Celtics, Cavaliers, Nets, and Bucks.

The Nuggets are carrying 14 players on guaranteed contracts, so Zeller could theoretically have a chance to earn the final spot on the team’s regular season roster as a third center behind Nikola Jokic and Mason Plumlee. However, Denver is precariously close to the luxury tax line and may simply prefer to keep that roster spot open.

With Zeller under contract, the Nuggets now have 18 players on their roster. In addition to the 14 players with guaranteed salaries, Denver is carrying Tyler Cook and Bol Bol on two-way deals and PJ Dozier and Zeller on non-guaranteed contracts.

Raptors Sign Isaiah Taylor To Partially Guaranteed Deal

September 19th, 2019 at 2:20pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 19: The Raptors have officially signed Taylor, the team announced today in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 18: The Raptors have reached a contract agreement with Isaiah Taylor and will sign the free agent point guard to a partially guaranteed deal, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Toronto will have a full 20-man roster once the signing is officially completed.

Taylor, 25, made his NBA debut with the Rockets during the 2016/17 season, then spent the 2017/18 campaign in Atlanta, appearing in 67 games for the Hawks. In 17.4 minutes per contest for Atlanta, he averaged 6.6 PPG and 3.1 APG.

After being waived by the Hawks during the 2018 offseason, Taylor caught on with the Cavaliers and was pushing for a 15-man roster spot in Cleveland when he suffered a stress fracture in his leg and was subsequently released. He worked out for the Raptors earlier this month, as we previously reported.

Although the Raptors will have a full 20-man offseason roster after signing Taylor, only 12 of those players have fully guaranteed contracts. Dewan Hernandez, Chris Boucher, Malcolm Miller, Cameron Payne, and Taylor have partial guarantees and figure to head into camp as the top contenders for the final two or three openings on the regular season roster.

Meanwhile, Oshae Brissett, Sagaba Konate, and Devin Robinson are candidates to end up as affiliate players for the Raptors 905 or to have their contracts converted into two-way deals. Taylor could technically be eligible for a two-way contract too if his partial guarantee doesn’t exceed $50K.

Pistons Sign Joe Johnson

September 19th, 2019 at 1:55pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 19: The Pistons have officially signed Johnson, the team announced today in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 12: Joe Johnson and the Pistons have reached an agreement a contract, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. League sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) that it’s a partially guaranteed one-year deal.

Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link) first reported that the two sides were on the verge of an agreement. A report earlier this week indicated that Detroit was the frontrunner for the free agent forward.

Johnson, 38, has appeared in nearly 1,400 career NBA games, counting the postseason, but didn’t play in the league in 2018/19 after finishing the ’17/18 campaign in Houston. The 17-year NBA veteran showed he still had something left in the tank during his run in Ice Cube‘s BIG3 league this summer, earning MVP honors and leading his 3-on-3 team to a championship.

Following his stint in the BIG3, Johnson drew interest from a handful of NBA teams, reportedly lining up workouts with the Sixers, Bucks, and Nets in addition to the Pistons. However, Detroit emerged as the apparent favorite in part due to Johnson’s connection to Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem, a former agent who used to represent Iso Joe.

Assuming Johnson finalizes a deal with the Pistons, he may have to compete with Christian Wood for the team’s final regular season roster spot. Michael Beasley was also expected to vie for that spot, but Goodman suggests the former No. 2 overall pick will be released to open up room on the 20-man offseason roster for Johnson.

Technically, it doesn’t appear that Beasley actually signed with the Pistons after agreeing to terms on a non-guaranteed contract with the team last month. Now that he’s the odd man out, his deal will likely just never be completed.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mavericks Sign Yudai Baba

September 19th, 2019 at 12:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks have officially signed free agent guard Yudai Baba, the team announced today in a press release. The addition of Baba brings Dallas’ roster count to 20 players, the maximum allowed during the offseason.

A 24-year-old Japanese shooting guard, Baba went undrafted in 2017 and has played professionally for Alvark Tokyo since then, helping lead the club to a second consecutive B. League championship in 2018/19.

2019 has been an eventful year for Baba, who suited up for the Mavericks in Summer League play in July, averaging 4.0 PPG and 2.3 RPG in four games (12.0 MPG) in Las Vegas. He subsequently joined Japan’s national team for the 2019 FIBA World Cup alongside NBA players Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe, posting 9.2 PPG, 3.0 APG, and 2.6 RPG in five contests (25.6 MPG) in the tournament.

Although Baba, who presumably signed an Exhibit 10 contract, almost certainly won’t make Dallas’ regular season roster, he appears to be a good bet to join the club’s G League affiliate, the Texas Legends.