Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Spurs Sign Dedric Lawson

July 22nd, 2019 at 10:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have reached an agreement to sign undrafted rookie Dedric Lawson, reports Jabari Young of The Athletic (Twitter link). RealGM’s log of NBA transactions confirms that the deal is official. According to Young, Lawson received an Exhibit 10 contract.

A 6’9″ forward out of Kansas, Lawson entered the 2019 draft following his junior season. In 36 games for the Jayhawks in 2018/19, he averaged a double-double, filling the stat sheet with 19.4 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 1.3 SPG, and 1.1 BPG. He also made 39.3% of his three-pointers on 2.5 attempts per game.

Lawson will join the Spurs after playing for the Warriors in this month’s Las Vegas Summer League. He recorded 6.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 2.3 APG in four games (16.8 MPG) for Golden State.

San Antonio was active in free agency, reaching deals with Rudy Gay, DeMarre Carroll, and Trey Lyles. The club also signed draftees Luka Samanic, Keldon Johnson, and Quinndary Weatherspoon (two-way deal). Lawson is the Spurs’ first reported Exhibit 10 recipient.

Bucks Sign Luke Maye

July 22nd, 2019 at 3:51pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks have signed Luke Maye to a one-year contract, according to RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions. Financial details aren’t known, but an Exhibit 10 deal seems likely.

A 6’8″ forward, Maye played his college ball at North Carolina, winning a national championship with the Tar Heels in 2017. He went undrafted last month after a senior season in which he averaged a double-double (14.9 PPG, 10.5 RPG) in 36 games (30.9 MPG).

Maye joined the Bucks for Summer League play this month, but struggled in limited action, averaging 3.0 PPG on 18.8% shooting (3-of-16) in three games (13.7 MPG).

Nonetheless, Milwaukee didn’t waste much time officially locking him up to a contract. If it’s an Exhibit 10 deal, the Bucks likely view Maye as a contributor for their G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd.

Pistons Sign Donta Hall, Todd Withers

July 22nd, 2019 at 2:50pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have signed a pair of players that were on their Summer League roster earlier this month, inking free agent forwards Donta Hall and Todd Withers to contracts, per RealGM’s official transactions log.

Exact details of Hall’s and Withers’ new deals aren’t known, but RealGM classifies them as one-year contracts. Detroit likely made use of the Exhibit 10 clause in both cases.

Hall, who went undrafted out of Alabama last month, averaging 10.5 PPG, 8.8 RPG, and 1.6 BPG in 34 games as a senior in 2018/19. In five games for the Pistons’ Summer League team in Las Vegas, he recorded 6.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 2.2 BPG in just 16.8 minutes per contest.

As for Withers, he played his college ball at Queens University of Charlotte before joining the Pistons’ G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive, for the 2018/19 season. The 23-year-old appeared in 48 NBAGL games last season, averaging 6.9 PPG and 5.5 RPG and earning an invite for Summer League this offseason. He played well in Vegas, averaging 10.0 PPG on 56.7% shooting in five games (18.8 MPG) for Detroit’s squad.

Neither Hall nor Withers looks like a strong bet to make the Pistons’ 15-man regular season roster for 2019/20, though both players could end up in Grand Rapids playing for the Drive.

Rockets Re-Sign Gerald Green

July 22nd, 2019 at 2:44pm CST by JD Shaw

JULY 22: The Rockets have made it official with Green over three weeks after agreeing to terms, announcing today (via Twitter) that the swingman has officially re-signed with the club.

JUNE 30: The Rockets will re-sign free agent Gerald Green on a one-year deal, his agent, James Dunleavy, told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Green, 33, has spent the last two seasons with the Rockets. In 2018/19, he averaged 9.2 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 73 games (20.2 MPG), with a shooting line of .400/.354/.838. Of his 578 shot attempts, 441 came from beyond the arc.

While terms of Green’s deal aren’t yet known, he played on a minimum-salary deal last season, so another one looks like a strong possibility.

Because he’s re-signing with his current team on a one-year contract, Green will have the ability to veto any trade that involves him during the 2019/20 league year. If he approves a trade, he would lose his Bird rights for 2020.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Bucks Waive Bonzie Colson

July 21st, 2019 at 8:30pm CST by JD Shaw

The Bucks have waived forward Bonzie Colson, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Colson, 23, went unselected in the 2018 NBA Draft after playing four seasons at Notre Dame. He spent time in the G League with Cleveland and Milwaukee shortly afterward, working for a two-way contract with the team last January.

Colson held averages of 14.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 46 G League games during the 2018/19 season.

Milwaukee’s two-way contract spots will now be filled by Frank Mason lll and Cameron Reynolds, as noted by Nehm, with the team still having one open roster spot to work with once Kyle Korver‘s deal becomes official.

Pelicans Re-Sign Darius Miller To Two-Year Deal

July 21st, 2019 at 4:30pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 21: New Orleans has officially re-signed forward Darius Miller to a contract, per a team release.

“He has established himself as a versatile, multi-positional shooting threat & we are elated to be in position to continue to grow with him,” Pelicans executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin said of Miller. “His selfless nature, on and off the floor, makes him an ideal fit for us both in the locker room & in our community.”

JULY 3: The Pelicans will bring back veteran forward Darius Miller, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that the two sides have agreed to a two-year contract worth $14.25MM. The second year will be non-guaranteed, Woj adds.

Miller, 29, has spent the last two seasons with the Pelicans after playing for two years in Germany. While his numbers dipped a little last season, he has been reliable outside threat in New Orleans since returning stateside, averaging 8.0 PPG on .417/.388/.826 shooting in 151 total games (24.5 MPG).

Outside of Nikola Mirotic, who was dealt to Milwaukee in a mid-season trade, no Pelican made more three-pointers per game last season than Miller (1.9). He’ll have a little help spacing the floor in 2019/20, as New Orleans reached a deal to sign J.J. Redick earlier this week.

Miller had a modest cap hold of about $2.9MM as a free agent, so the Pelicans will keep that hold on their books while using their cap room to add newcomers like Redick and Derrick Favors. They can then go over the cap to re-sign Miller using his Early Bird rights.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), contracts signed using the Early Bird exception must run for at least two years, which explains the non-guaranteed second year on Miller’s new deal.

Lakers Claim Kostas Antetokounmpo

July 21st, 2019 at 4:15pm CST by JD Shaw

The Lakers have claimed forward Kostas Antetokounmpo off waivers, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Antetokounmpo will head to Los Angeles on a two-way contract.

Antetokounmpo, the younger brother of Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, was waived by the Mavericks last week after appearing in just two games with the team. He spent most of the 2018/19 season with Dallas’ G League affiliate, holding per-game averages of 10.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks.

Antetokounmpo was selected No. 60 overall by Philadelphia in the 2018 draft, ultimately getting dealt to Dallas later that night. He’ll join undrafted Gonzaga guard Zach Norvell as current Lakers players on two-way deals.

Jordan McLaughlin Signs Two-Way Deal With Timberwolves

July 20th, 2019 at 5:38pm CST by clarkcrum

5:38pm: The deal is official, the team confirmed on Twitter.

12:37pm: Point guard Jordan McLaughlin has signed a two-way contract with the Timberwolves, reports Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

McLaughlin likely earned his opportunity with Minnesota after a successful summer league performance with the T-Wolves, where he averaged a team-leading 26.0 MPG, 5.0 APG, and 1.4 SPG.

The USC product, 23, went undrafted in 2018 before signing an Exhibit 10 deal with the Nets and joining the team for training camp. McLaughlin was ultimately waived less than one week before the start of the 2018/19 season, but remained with the organization as an affiliate player for the G League’s Long Island Nets.

Prior to his stellar performance in this year’s summer league, McLaughlin was one of 80 players invited to the NBA’s 2019 G League Elite Camp.

As our 2019/20 Two-Way Contract Tracker shows, the Timberwolves still have a vacant two-way spot after the signing of McLaughlin. That spot had been held by rookie big man Naz Reid, but he has since been promoted to the team’s 15-man roster.

Knicks Signing Kenny Wooten To Exhibit 10 Contract

July 20th, 2019 at 4:41pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kenny Wooten, a shot-blocking power forward out of Oregon, will join the Knicks for training camp on an Exhibit 10 deal, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post.

Wooten made an impression with New York’s entry in the Las Vegas Summer League, even though he saw minimal playing time. He averaged just 1.8 points and 3.0 rebounds in four games, but blocked 2.5 shots per night, including five in 16 minutes in a win over Washington in the consolation round.

Wooten will have trouble earning a roster spot in camp because the Knicks already have 15 players with guaranteed contracts. However, the Exhibit 10 deal will guarantee him $50K if he spends 60 days with the organization’s G League affiliate in Westchester. A roster opening could emerge by then, as Berman notes that several of the free agents whom the Knicks signed to de facto one-year contracts could be used as trade bait.

Wooten ranks third in all-time blocks at Oregon, and his agent, Mitchell Butler, claims he is one of the five best athletes coming out of college. The Knicks likely would have drafted Wooten at No. 55, Berman adds, if they hadn’t traded up to get Ignas Brazdeikis.

“The club is positive on Kenny,’’ Butler said. “His Summer League games resonated with the organization. Mitchell Robinson is good on the defensive end and to have Kenny coming in with no drop-off, that’s a big thing. Both of those guys on the floor, they literally shut off the inside and make teams shoot from the perimeter.’’

Butler claims several teams expressed interest in Wooten, but he picked the Knicks because of coach David Fizdale.

“[Fizdale] always appreciated guys who did the little things and comes from organizations like Miami and Memphis that appreciated glue-type guys,’’ Butler said. “I wanted to get him to a coach like that where he‘d have chance at the next level.’’

Jordan Caroline Signs Exhibit 10 Deal With Lakers

July 20th, 2019 at 12:10pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 20: One month later, the Lakers and Caroline have made it official, per a release from the club.

JUNE 20: The Lakers have reached a deal with undrafted Nevada wing Jordan Caroline, according to Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen and Roll, who reports that Caroline will sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the club.

Caroline, who began his college career at Southern Illinois before transferring to Nevada, averaged 17.0 PPG, 9.6 RPG, and 1.9 APG in his senior year. He also showed off an improved three-point shot, converting 1.4 per game at a rate of 36.8%.

Caroline is the third undrafted free agent to have reached a deal with the Lakers since the draft, joining Zach Norvell Jr. (two-way) and Devontae Cacok (Exhibit 10), as we detailed earlier today.

Mississippi State forward Aric Holman may be joining that group, as Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reports (via Twitter) that Holman has also agreed to join the Lakers. However, it’s not yet clear whether that deal will just cover the Summer League or whether Holman will get a spot on the team’s 20-man offseason roster.

Holman averaged 9.5 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 1.6 BPG with a .473/.429/.701 shooting line in his senior year at Mississippi State.