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Pacers Agree To Deal With Sumner; Sign Bowen, Gant, Wilcox

July 1st, 2019 at 4:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Guard Edmond Sumner has agreed to a three-year contract to stay with the Pacers, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The third year will be a team option, Scott Agness of The Athletic tweets.

Sumner appeared in 23 games last season, averaging 2.9 PPG in 9.1 MPG. He has a $1.8MM cap hold, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, which is factored into the team’s $5MM of remaining cap space. Indiana can keep the hold in place, use the remaining room and then officially sign Sumner.

The Pacers declined his $1.6MM team option but tendered a qualifying offer to the former second-round pick to make him a restricted free agent.

We have more on the Pacers:

Forward Brian Bowen II has signed a two-way contract, according to a team press release. Bowen played professionally in Australia during the 2018/19 season for the Sydney Kings. He averaged 6.3 points and 3.2 rebounds in 30 games. Bowen, 20, went undrafted. He was ruled ineligible to play last season by the NCAA after a recruiting scandal at Louisville.
Forward Jakeenan Gant and guard C.J. Wilcox were signed to Exhibit 10 contracts. Gant played for Louisiana-Lafayette and was named Defensive Player of the Year in the Sun Belt Conference. He averaged 20.6 PPG, 8.6 RPG and 2.7 BPG in his senior year. Wilcox was on a two-way contract with the Pacers last summer before suffering a torn right Achilles tendon prior to training camp. He was a late first-round pick for the Clippers in 2014 and played in G League during the 2017-18 season.
Bowen’s and Gant’s deals with Indiana were previously reported in June.

Bulls Sign Coby White To Rookie Contract

July 1st, 2019 at 1:50pm CST by JD Shaw

The Bulls have signed guard Coby White to his rookie contract, the team announced today in a press release. White was selected by the club No. 7 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.

For White, he’s set to earn $5.3MM in the first year of his deal, which is 120% of the rookie scale amount for the seventh pick. Chicago will have point guards White, Tomas Satoransky and Kris Dunn under contract entering next season.

White, 19, appeared in 35 games with the University of North Carolina last season, holding per-game averages of 16.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists. He’s set to start summer league with the Bulls later in the week.

Knicks To Sign Elfrid Payton

July 1st, 2019 at 12:44pm CST by JD Shaw

The Knicks have agreed to a two-year, $16MM deal with free agent guard Elfrid Payton, his agents, Ty Sullivan and Aaron Mintz of CAA Sports, tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The agreement contains a team option in the second season, according to The Athletic’s Michael Scotto. That lines it up with the other two-year contract agreements the team has reached so far in free agency.

Payton, an athletic two-way point guard, is set to join his fourth team in the past 18 months. He was traded from Orlando to Phoenix in February of 2018, signed with New Orleans last July, and started 42 games with the club this season.

New York also had interest in veteran free agent George Hill, according to SNY’s Ian Begley, but Hill decided to return to Milwaukee on a three-year, $29MM deal on Sunday night. The team now has one open roster spot and roughly $2MM in projected cap space to spend, plus the $4.8MM room exception.

In addition to Payton, the Knicks have already come to terms with Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson, Reggie Bullock and Wayne Ellington during the first 24 hours of free agency.

Lakers Sign Troy Daniels To One-Year Deal

July 1st, 2019 at 12:21pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7: Daniels’ one-year, minimum-salary contract is now official, the Lakers announced today (via Twitter). The team confirmed most of its other signings – as well as the Anthony Davis trade – on Saturday.

JULY 1: The Lakers and free agent shooting guard Troy Daniels have agreed to a one-year contract, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). David Aldridge of The Athletic first reported (via Twitter) that the two sides were closing in on an agreement.

Charania pegs the value of the deal at $2.1MM, which suggests it’s a minimum-salary contract. As such, it won’t have an impact on Los Angeles’ projected cap room.

Daniels, who will turn 28 later this month, averaged 6.2 PPG on .411/.381/.783 shooting in a part-time role (14.9 MPG) for the Suns last season. He’s a career 40.0% shooter from beyond the arc, so he’ll add some floor spacing to the Lakers’ roster without breaking the bank.

Warriors Agree To Acquire D’Angelo Russell Via Sign-And-Trade

July 1st, 2019 at 12:08pm CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 1: The Warriors will send a future protected first-round pick to the Nets as part of the deal to help incentivize them to acquire Durant via sign-and-trade, tweets Wojnarowski.

JUNE 30: The Warriors are trading for D’Angelo Russell, Treveon Graham, and Shabazz Napier from the Nets, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (Twitter link). The move would be made via sign-and-trade in exchange for Kevin Durant.

Russell will receive a four-year, $117MM maximum salary contract, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).

It was reported earlier today that the Warriors may have an interest in turning Durant’s departure into a sign-and-trade with the Nets. If they hadn’t taken back any salary in the deal, the Dubs could have created a $30MM trade exception. Instead, they’ll land one of the top restricted free agents on the market.

Brooklyn replaced Russell with Kyrie Irving at the point guard position and the franchise was said to be open to helping Russell find a new home of his choosing, even if it meant committing to a sign-and-trade. The Nets wouldn’t look to take salary back in most scenarios, but since they are getting Durant from Golden State, sending Russell there wouldn’t hinder their ability to sign their new stars.

Russell was said to be eyeing a possible move to Minnesota to team up with his close friend Karl-Anthony Towns. Perhaps that was before a deal in Golden State seemed like a feasible option.

The Warriors must stay below the tax apron, which is set at approximately $138.9MM, to remain eligible to accept a sign-and-trade. Doing so with Russell and Klay Thompson receiving maximum-salary deals will be extremely difficult, so another move or two is likely coming for Golden State. As Wojnarowski tweets, Andre Iguodala may have to be moved. Shaun Livingston also appears unlikely to be back.

[UPDATE: Warriors trading Iguodala to Grizzlies]

With Thompson expected to miss most or all of the 2019/20 season with a torn ACL, Russell figures to share the backcourt with Stephen Curry next season in a revamped Warriors lineup. It will be fascinating to see if the club plans to move forward and build around all three guards long-term once Thompson is healthy.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Heat To Trade Hassan Whiteside To Blazers

July 1st, 2019 at 11:39am CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have reached an agreement on a trade to send center Hassan Whiteside to the Trail Blazers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that Portland is giving up Maurice Harkless and Meyers Leonard in the deal.

[UPDATE: Harkless to be re-routed to Clippers in four-team trade]

In acquiring Whiteside, the Blazers will secure a replacement at the five for Enes Kanter, who looks like a good bet to sign elsewhere. Whiteside figures to start at center for the Trail Blazers while Jusuf Nurkic continues to recover from a leg injury that is expected to sideline him well into the 2019/20 regular season.

Whiteside, 30, saw his role in Miami decline over the last couple years, but continued to put up strong numbers on a per-minute basis. In 72 games in 2018/19, the big man averaged 12.3 PPG, 11.3 RPG, and 1.9 BPG in just 23.3 minutes per contest.

While the Blazers will fortify their center position in the deal, their perimeter defense will take another hit. Having already lost Al-Farouq Aminu in free agency to Orlando, Portland will now part with Harkless as well. Newly-acquired forward Kent Bazemore will be leaned on heavily to help replace that duo.

As for the Heat, they’ll move on from Whiteside, who hadn’t been thrilled about having his minutes cut back during the last two seasons, publicly griping about his role on more than one occasion. Miami won’t have to take back any long-term salary in the deal, as all three players are on expiring contracts, and will save about $4.8MM based on the difference in salaries between Whiteside ($27.1MM) and the combo of Leonard ($11.3MM) and Harkless ($11MM).

Those savings could come in handy, since the Heat will face a hard cap of $138.9MM by acquiring Jimmy Butler via sign-and-trade. Speaking of that Butler trade, cap expert Albert Nahmad notes (via Twitter) that moving Whiteside won’t help solve the salary-matching issue Miami faces in that deal, so at least one more move will be required.

With Whiteside out of the picture, Bam Adebayo projects to take an ever larger role in Miami’s frontcourt.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Knicks To Sign Wayne Ellington

July 1st, 2019 at 9:41am CST by JD Shaw

The Knicks have agreed to a two-year, $16MM contract with free agent sharpshooter Wayne Ellington, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Ellington, a career 38% shooter from behind the arc, will play for the ninth different team of his career. He’s previously made stops with Minnesota, Memphis, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Miami and Detroit.

New York has already reached agreements with Julius Randle (3-year/$64MM), Bobby Portis (2-year/$31MM), Taj Gibson (2-year/$20MM) and Reggie Bullock (2-year, $21MM) during the first day of free agency. The team has roughly $10MM left in cap space with two open roster spots.

In addition to his floor-spacing ability, the Knicks value Ellington’s veteran mindset and locker room mentality. He averaged 12 points in 28 games for the Pistons last season, holding a 37% shooting mark from 3-point range.

Wizards Sign Ish Smith To Two-Year Deal

July 1st, 2019 at 7:07am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 9: The Wizards have officially signed Smith, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

JULY 1: The Wizards have agreed to terms on a two-year deal with free agent point guard Ish Smith, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the deal will be worth $12MM.

[RELATED: Wizards to re-sign Thomas Bryant]

Smith, who will turn 31 on Friday, will join the 11th team of his NBA career. He spent the last three seasons in Detroit, having averaged 8.9 PPG and 3.6 APG on .419/.326/.758 shooting in 2018/19 for the Pistons.

With Detroit turning to Derrick Rose early in free agency to fill its point guard hole, Smith was destined for a new NBA home, and the Wizards had long been interested, tweets David Aldridge of The Athletic.

With John Wall expected to miss most of the 2019/20 season due to his torn Achilles and Tomas Satoransky facing restricted free agency, the Wizards needed to address the point guard position this summer.

Satoransky will be headed to Chicago in a sign-and-trade deal, so the Wizards will likely need to add at least one more point guard to join Smith while Wall recovers.

According to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post (via Twitter), Smith will receive a fully guaranteed deal and will be signed using the Wizards’ mid-level exception. Assuming the team plans on staying out tax territory and retaining its full, non-taxpayer’s MLE, it should still have more than $3MM available on that exception.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Kings Sign Cory Joseph

July 1st, 2019 at 2:24am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: The signing of Joseph is official, tweets James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link).

JULY 1: The Kings have reached an agreement to sign Cory Joseph, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). According to Haynes, the free agent point guard will receive a three-year, $37MM commitment from Sacramento. Sam Amick of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that the third year is partially guaranteed.

The agreement caps a busy day for the Kings, who filled a series of holes on their roster, adding quality depth via the free agent market. In addition to striking a deal with Joseph, the Kings agreed to re-sign Harrison Barnes and will add outside free agents Trevor Ariza and Dewayne Dedmon.

Joseph, who is entering his age-28 season, backed up Darren Collison at the point last season for Indiana, averaging 6.5 PPG, 3.9 APG, and 3.4 RPG in 82 games (25.2 MPG). He struggled a little with his shot, as his .412 FG% was the lowest mark he had posted since his rookie season.

In Sacramento, Joseph figures to back up – and perhaps play alongside – promising young point guard De’Aaron Fox.

The Kings will have to renounce restricted free agent Willie Cauley-Stein in order to accommodate all of today’s contract agreements. Amick confirms that the team has rescinded his qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks indicated after the earlier moves that Sacramento would have about $13MM in space remaining if Cauley-Stein’s cap hold was removed from the books, so Joseph’s deal will use just about all of that space. The Kings still have the room exception available.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Knicks, Reggie Bullock Agree To Two-Year Deal

July 1st, 2019 at 12:57am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have reached a deal to sign free agent wing Reggie Bullock to a two-year, $21MM contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).

While New York missed out on its top free agent targets, the team has had a busy day, reaching eight-figure, multiyear deals with Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson, and now Bullock.

A first-round pick in the 2013 draft, Bullock began his career with the Clippers and then the Suns, but didn’t hit his stride until a stint with Detroit that began in 2015.

Bullock averaged 11.3 PPG and shot 44.5% on three-pointers for the Pistons in 2017/18. Last season, the veteran split his time between the Pistons and Lakers as a result of a deadline trade, recording 12.1 PPG with a .377 3PT% in 63 total games.

Like Portis and Gibson, Bullock will receive a two-year deal from the Knicks, while Randle’s third year features a partial guarantee. In other words, it appears New York will move forward with an eye toward regaining its cap flexibility during the summer of 2021. The team still projects to have about $18-20MM in cap room left this year after its reported agreements.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.