Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Exercise 2020/21 Option On Bam Adebayo

September 11th, 2019 at 2:52pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have exercised their team option on the fourth year of Bam Adebayo‘s rookie contract, the team formally announced today in a press release.

Adebayo’s salary for the coming season had already been guaranteed, but this decision ensures that he’s now officially locked up for 2020/21 season as well. His cap hit for ’20/21 will be $5,115,492, per Basketball Insiders.

Adebayo, 22, appeared in all 82 games for Miami last season, averaging 8.9 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 2.2 APG in 23.3 minutes per contest. The young center, who took part in Team USA’s training camp last month, is poised to assume a larger role for the Heat this season following the trade that sent Hassan Whiteside to Portland. Meyers Leonard and Kelly Olynyk will be among the other players in the mix at the five.

Now that his fourth-year option has been picked up, Adebayo will be eligible to sign a rookie scale extension during the 2020 offseason. If he doesn’t reach an agreement with the Heat before the ’20/21 season begins, he’d be on track to reach restricted free agency in the summer of 2021.

All teams with decisions to make on rookie scale options for the ’20/21 season must finalize those moves by October 31. Adebayo’s is the first to be formally exercised, but many will follow in the coming weeks. Our tracker can be found right here.

Knicks Officially Sign Four Undrafted Rookies

September 11th, 2019 at 9:34am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have officially signed four players who previously reached contract agreements with the team, according to RealGM’s transactions log. All four players are believed to have received non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deals.

Here are the players who have now officially joined the Knicks:

Amir Hinton, G, Shaw (reported in June)
V.J. King, G/F, Louisville (reported in June)
Lamar Peters, G, Mississippi State (reported in August)
Kenny Wooten, F, Oregon (reported in July)

Word of New York’s deals with Hinton and King broke shortly after the draft concluded in June. The Knicks also struck a tentative agreement on a two-way contract for Kris Wilkes at that time, but it fell through for health reasons. Hinton, a former Division II standout, and King both went undrafted this year.

Like Hinton and King, Peters and Wooten are rookies who went undrafted after declaring as early entrants in the spring. Both players were members of the Knicks’ Summer League team in Las Vegas in July, with Wooten’s 2.5 blocks per game in just 13.3 MPG turning heads. Peters struggled with his shot (2-for-17 from the floor), but still apparently showed enough to earn a deal with New York.

The Knicks now have a full 20-man roster, including 15 players on guaranteed contracts and one (Kadeem Allen) on a two-way contract. One of the players from this new group could end up in that second two-way slot, but most of them are good bets to eventually land with the Westchester Knicks, New York’s G League affiliate.

Warriors Sign Juan Toscano-Anderson To Exhibit 10 Deal

September 10th, 2019 at 9:42am CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors have signed free agent forward Juan Toscano-Anderson to an Exhibit 10 contract, according to agent Misko Raznatovic (Twitter link). RealGM’s transactions log confirms that the deal has been officially completed.

Toscano-Anderson, 26, played his college ball at Marquette before going undrafted in 2015. He has spent most of his professional career with teams in his home country of Mexico, but joined Golden State’s G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, for the 2018/19 season.

In 44 games (16 starts) with Santa Cruz, Toscano-Anderson averaged 7.0 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 2.1 APG with a .438/.341/.590 shooting line in 23.8 minutes per contest. At the conclusion of the NBAGL season, he rejoined Fuerza Regia in Mexico for the LNBP playoffs. He also participated in the G League Elite Camp this spring, then played for Golden State’s Summer League squad in Las Vegas.

His new deal with the Warriors indicates that Toscano-Anderson may return to Santa Cruz for the 2019/20 campaign. If he spends two months with the G League squad, he’d be eligible to earn a bonus of up to $50K as a result of his Exhibit 10 deal with Golden State.

Bulls Release Guard Antonio Blakeney

September 9th, 2019 at 4:50pm CST by marksuleymanov

SEPTEMBER 9, 4:50pm: The Bulls have officially released Blakeney, according to a team press release. He gave up $100K in the buyout agreement, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

SEPTEMBER 7, 11:32am: The Bulls are set to release guard Antonio Blakeney, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania (via Twitter), the two sides reached an agreement on a buyout.

After Chicago re-signed Shaquille Harrison earlier this offseason, there was an expectation that Blakeney would be released, notes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). Unlike Blakeney, Harrison doesn’t yet have a fully guaranteed contract, but it sounds like he’s being penciled in as the team’s 15th man.

Blakeney, 22, has suited up for the Bulls the past two seasons. In a career high 57 games last season, the New York native averaged 7.3 PPG while shooting nearly 40% from beyond the arc.

By cutting the LSU product, the Bulls have brought the total of fully guaranteed contracts on the roster to 14, with Harrison and his partial guarantee also in the mix.

Trail Blazers Sign Moses Brown To Camp Deal

September 9th, 2019 at 12:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers have signed undrafted UCLA center Moses Brown to a training camp contract, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The move increases Portland’s offseason roster count to 16 players.

Brown, who will turn 20 next month, declared for the 2019 draft as an early entrant after spending just one season playing for the Bruins. In his freshman year, Brown averaged 9.7 PPG and 8.3 RPG in 32 games (23.4 MPG).

While Brown isn’t much of a shooter – he didn’t attempt a three-pointer and made just 35.2% of his free throws – he flashed impressive rim-protecting upside, with 1.9 blocks per game. He caught on with the Rockets for Summer League play, but saw just two minutes of action for the team in Las Vegas.

The Trail Blazers typically don’t load up their offseason roster with many camp invitees on non-guaranteed contracts, since they don’t have a G League affiliate of their own to send those players once the regular season begins. Still, the club has one two-way contract slot available, so Brown could be a candidate to fill that opening alongside fellow rookie Jaylen Hoard.

Nuggets Sign Bol Bol To Two-Way Contract

September 6th, 2019 at 6:25pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 6: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

SEPTEMBER 4: The Nuggets have signed rookie center Bol Bol to his first professional contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that it’s a two-way deal.

Once viewed as a probable lottery pick, Bol saw his stock dip leading up to the 2019 draft due to long-term health concerns related to his slender 7’2″ frame. The former Oregon standout slipped all the way to No. 44, where the Nuggets landed him, acquiring his rights in a draft-night trade with the Heat.

No player drafted as high as 44th overall has signed a two-way contract to start his career since the NBA introduced two-way deals in 2017. However, the Nuggets and Bol were uniquely suited for such an arrangement for a handful of reasons.

For one, Bol is returning from a stress fracture in his foot that sidelined him for most of his first and only college season. The Nuggets will want to take things slow, as they did last year with Michael Porter Jr., making sure the 19-year-old is 100% healthy before throwing him into the NBA deep end. Bol is also still very raw, so it makes sense that the club would want him to begin his career in the G League rather than debuting in the NBA immediately.

Meanwhile, as cap expert Albert Nahmad recently outlined, Denver is less than $1MM away from the tax threshold, and could move even closer to tax territory if certain veterans earn unlikely contract incentives this season. Adding Bol on a standard rookie contract worth $898K would have jeopardized the Nuggets’ ability to stay out of the tax in 2019/20.

Bol could have forced the issue to some extent, since the Nuggets were required to offer him a one-year, non-guaranteed contract this week in order to retain his NBA rights. However, it appears he and his camp have bought into a plan that will start him out on a modest two-way salary before he’s eventually promoted to the NBA squad.

Developing Bol will be somewhat complicated by the fact that the Nuggets are one of two NBA teams without a G League affiliate of their own. Still, that didn’t stop Monte Morris and Torrey Craig from turning two-way deals into standard contracts (and regular roles in Denver’s NBA rotation). While they were on two-way contracts with the Nuggets, Morris played for the Rockets’ affiliate in the NBAGL and Craig spent time with the Heat’s affiliate.

With Bol locked up, the Nuggets’ roster looks just about regular-season-ready. The team has 14 players on guaranteed salaries, with Bol and Tyler Cook on two-way contracts. PJ Dozier has also been invited to Denver’s training camp, though it’s hard to envision a place on the roster for him unless he replaces Cook as a two-way player.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nene Returns For 18th NBA Season, Re-Signs With Rockets

September 6th, 2019 at 6:07pm CST by ChrisCrouse

SEPTEMBER 6: The Rockets have officially announced the signing, according to a team press release.

SEPTEMBER 3: Free agent big man Nene plans on returning to the Rockets, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Nene opted out of the final year of his most recent contract back in June, which led many to believe he would retire. He has spent 17 years in the NBA so far, with the past three seasons coming in Houston.

The Rockets inked veteran center Tyson Chandler this offseason, so with Chandler and Nene in the frontcourt, the team has solid depth at the five. Houston shouldn’t need to rely heavily on either veteran big man to spell starter Clint Capela, which should allow the team to give their elder centers nights off when needed.

Nene was selected by New York with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2002 draft and he was subsequently traded to Denver on draft night along with Marcus Camby and Mark Jackson in a package for Antonio McDyess. Nene is the only member of the 2002 draft class still in the league.

In addition to the Rockets and Nuggets, the Sao Carlos native has also played for the Wizards. Only nine active players have appeared in more NBA games than Nene.

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.