Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Raptors Sign Matt Thomas To Three-Year Deal

July 19th, 2019 at 8:02am CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 19: The Raptors have officially signed Thomas, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. As we relayed in a separate post, his three-year, minimum-salary deal is said to include two fully guaranteed seasons.

JULY 1: EuroLeague guard Matt Thomas has agreed to a three-year contract with the Raptors, according to Varlas Nikos of Eurohoops.net (Twitter link). The total amount of the deal is $4.2MM, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

While the deal looks like it will be worth the minimum, the Raptors will use a slice of their mid-level exception to sign Thomas. Without the MLE, the team couldn’t have offered more than two years.

Thomas exercised an NBA opt-out clause in his contract with Valencia Basket of Spain’s Liga ACB in order to make the jump. The 6’5” Thomas, 24, played college ball at Iowa State.

He went undrafted in 2017 and played on the Lakers’ summer league team, then played in Spain for Monbus Obradoiro. He signed a two-year deal with Valencia last summer. He appeared in 29 games last season, averaging 11.4 PPG in 20.3 MPG. He was the team’s best 3-point shooter, knocking down 48.5% from long range, a skill which made him desirable to NBA teams.

Celtics Sign Max Strus To Two-Way Contract

July 19th, 2019 at 7:58am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 19: The Celtics have officially signed Strus to his two-way deal, per RealGM’s log of NBA transactions. The team is expected to fill its other two-way contract slot with second-round pick Tremont Waters.

JUNE 21: Max Strus of DePaul will sign a two-way deal with the Celtics, tweets Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated.

The 6’6″ guard averaged 20.1 points per game as a sophomore and shot .363 from 3-point range. He was a second-team choice to the All-Big East Team.

P.J. Dozier held one of Boston’s two-way contracts for all of last season, while Walt Lemon filled the other slot at the start of the year before being replaced by R.J. Hunter. Both Dozier and Hunter are free agents.

Magic Withdraw QO For Amile Jefferson

July 18th, 2019 at 9:10pm CST by clarkcrum

According to RealGM’s transactions log, the Magic have withdrawn their qualifying offer to two-way player Amile Jefferson. As a result of the move, Jefferson becomes an unrestricted free agent, free to sign outright with any team.

The Magic’s decision on Jefferson isn’t altogether surprising given the unlikelihood of him grabbing a spot on the 15-man roster, but the team does still have one of its two-way slots open after signing Josh Magette yesterday.

Jefferson, 26, was a two-way contract recipient last season, appearing in just 12 games with Orlando. He spent much of his time in the G League for the Lakeland Magic, where he was named Third-Team All NBAGL.

Tyson Chandler Signs One-Year Deal With Rockets

July 18th, 2019 at 8:51pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 18: The deal between Chandler and Houston is now official, per a release from the team.

JULY 12: The Rockets and veteran center Tyson Chandler have agreed to terms on a one-year contract, agent Jeff Schwartz tells Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link).

Specific financial terms on the deal aren’t yet known. Houston is using part of its mid-level exception to bring back Danuel House, but could offer some of it to Chandler as well. A minimum-salary arrangement is also a possibility — because he has 10 years of NBA experience, Chandler would earn $2,564,753 on a minimum deal.

Chandler, who agreed to a buyout with the Suns early in the 2018/19 season, signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Lakers and helped shore up the team’s front line, averaging 3.1 PPG and 5.6 RPG in 48 games (16.4 MPG) for Los Angeles. He indicated at season’s end that he planned on playing just one more year in the NBA, though he took some extra time this offseason to consider whether to return, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

Houston’s interest in Chandler, which was previously reported, stems in part from head coach Mike D’Antoni‘s familiarity with the big man. According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link), D’Antoni strongly advocated bringing Chandler to Houston. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter) that the Rockets had recruited the 18-year veteran for weeks, noting that the acquisition of Russell Westbrook may have played a part in Chandler’s commitment.

Although Clint Capela‘s name was mentioned frequently in trade rumors this summer, the Rockets view Chandler as a replacement for Nene rather than Capela. The 36-year-old will slot in as Capela’s backup at the five.

According to MacMahon, the Rockets believe Chandler still has enough left in the tank to be a lob threat on offense and to provide the team’s second unit with reliable defense and rebounding.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

JaMychal Green Signs Two-Year Deal With Clippers

July 18th, 2019 at 6:11pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 18: The deal is official, per a release from the team.

JULY 8: The Clippers are finalizing an agreement with free agent forward JaMychal Green that will bring him back on a two-year, $10MM contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania (via Twitter), Green turned down more lucrative offers from other teams to return to Los Angeles to pursue a championship with the team.

Green’s new deal – which sounds like it’ll fit into the Clippers’ room exception – has a second-year player option, according to Charania. The structure of the contract will give the 29-year-old a de facto no-trade clause for the 2019/20 league year, so the team would need his approval to move him.

Green, 29, has become one of the more underrated stretch fours in the NBA in recent years during his time in Memphis and Los Angeles. Over the last three seasons, he has averaged 9.5 PPG and 7.2 RPG with a .377 3PT% in 197 total contests (25.5 MPG).

In 24 games with the Clippers at the end of last season, Green knocked down 1.4 threes per game at a 41.3% rate — both marks would have been career highs.

With Green back in the fold, the Clippers – who are considered the 2020 title favorites by oddsmakers – could run out a versatile 10-man rotation that features Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Landry Shamet, and Rodney McGruder in the backcourt, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Maurice Harkless, and Green as forwards, and Ivica Zubac and Montrezl Harrell at the five.

Youngsters Jerome Robinson and Mfiondu Kabengele are also in the picture, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Clippers add another veteran or two using the minimum salary exception.

With Green off the board, Kelly Oubre and Jabari Parker are the only two free agents from our top-50 list who have yet to agree to deals.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Bucks Sign Cam Reynolds To Two-Way Contract

July 18th, 2019 at 4:40pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 26: The Bucks have officially signed Reynolds to a two-way deal, the team announced today in a press release. Milwaukee also confirmed that it has signed Frank Mason to fill its other two-way slot after waiving Colson earlier in the week.

JULY 18: The Bucks and free agent shooting guard Cameron Reynolds have reached an agreement on a two-way deal, agent James Dunleavy tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Reynolds, 24, appeared in 19 games with the Timberwolves last season, having signed a pair of 10-day contracts and then a multiyear deal with the team. He showed some promise as a rotation player by averaging 5.0 PPG with a .412 3PT% in 13.6 minutes per contest, but his 2019/20 salary was non-guaranteed and Minnesota released him just before the start of free agency.

Bonzie Colson, who signed a two-way pact with the Bucks last January, remains under contract with the team on the second year of his contract, though it’s not clear if the club plans to retain him through the start of the 2019/20 season. For now at least, it looks like he and Reynolds will fill Milwaukee’s two-way contract slots.

Suns Sign Tariq Owens

July 18th, 2019 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns have signed undrafted rookie Tariq Owens to a one-year contract, per RealGM’s NBA transactions log.

Owens, a 6’10” forward, played college ball at Tennessee and St. John’s before joining Texas Tech for the 2018/19 season. He helped lead the team to the national title game by averaging 8.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 2.4 BPG in 38 games (25.4 MPG).

The Suns carried Owens on their roster this month for Summer League play, though he didn’t see any action.

The undrafted free agent likely signed an Exhibit 10 contract, so he looks like a candidate to end up with the Northern Arizona Suns, Phoenix’s G League affiliate.

Suns Sign Jared Harper To Two-Way Deal

July 18th, 2019 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 18: The Suns have officially signed Harper to a two-way contract, per RealGM’s log of NBA transactions.

JULY 17: The Suns have reached an agreement to sign undrafted rookie Jared Harper to a two-way contract, reports Gina Mizell of The Athletic (via Twitter).

A 5’11” point guard, Harper declared for the 2019 draft as an early entrant after helping lead Auburn to the Final Four as a junior. In 40 games for the Tigers, he averaged 15.3 PPG and 5.8 APG with a .399/.370/.828 shooting line.

Although Harper wasn’t selected on draft night, he caught on with Phoenix for Summer League play, averaging 10.5 PPG, 2.5 APG, and 2.5 RPG in four games in Las Vegas (21.8 MPG). The Suns liked what they saw from Harper enough to commit one of their two-way contract slots to him.

Phoenix’s other two-way contract slot remains open for now, as our tracker shows.

Celtics, Javonte Green Agree To Deal

July 18th, 2019 at 3:42pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics will sign Summer League standout Javonte Green to a partially guaranteed contract, reports Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Bontemps, Green will get an opportunity to earn Boston’s final regular season roster spot.

Since going undrafted out of Radford in 2015, Green has bounced around among a few international leagues, playing for teams in Spain, Italy, and Germany. In five Summer League games for the Celtics in Las Vegas this month, the swingman averaged 10.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 2.8 APG, and 1.8 SPG in just 22.6 minutes per contest.

On the heels of that performance, Green was said to be drawing significant overseas interest, according to a report earlier this week. The expectation was that the Celtics wouldn’t be able to bring him to camp and then make him an affiliate player for the Maine Red Claws — by giving him a partial guarantee and a chance to vie for a roster spot, Boston will ensure he doesn’t get away.

The Celtics currently have 14 players on guaranteed contracts, with Max Strus and Tremont Waters expected to sign two-way deals. The team could bring in a few more players to compete with Green for the 15th spot on the roster.

Pacers To Sign Amida Brimah

July 18th, 2019 at 3:32pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers have reached an agreement to sign free agent center Amida Brimah, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).

Agent Daniel Hazan tells Haynes that Brimah will sign a one-year deal with Indiana. It’s not clear if it will be an Exhibit 10 contract, but that seems probable, since I doubt Brimah will get a significant guarantee.

Brimah, 25, went undrafted out of UConn in 2017 and has signed a pair of contracts with the Spurs since then. Those training-camp deals were designated to secure the big man’s G League rights, and as a result, he has appeared in 95 games for the Austin Spurs over the last two seasons.

In 47 games last year, Brimah averaged 8.8 PPG, 8.2 RPG, and 2.9 BPG in 23.3 minutes per contest for San Antonio’s NBAGL affiliate. He also earned G League All-Defensive honors for a second consecutive season.

More recently, Brimah appeared in six Summer League games for the Nets in Las Vegas earlier this month, showing off his rim-protecting abilities by averaging 2.2 BPG in just 12.5 minutes per game.