Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Warriors Sign Willie Cauley-Stein

July 8th, 2019 at 10:12pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8, 10:12pm: The signing is official, the team’s PR department tweets.

JULY 2, 4:31pm: Free agent center Willie Cauley-Stein has decided to join the Warriors, according to Marcus Thompson of The Athletic (Twitter link). Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports confirms (via Twitter) that the two sides are in agreement on a deal.

Although Cauley-Stein opened the free agent period as a restricted free agent, he didn’t stay restricted for long — the Kings rescinded his qualifying offer in order to create the necessary cap room to sign their other targets, including Cory Joseph. As a result, Cauley-Stein is free to sign outright with any team.

The sixth overall pick in the 2015 draft, Cauley-Stein spent the first four years of his NBA career in Sacramento, though it became increasingly clear as the Kings were linked to free agent centers in recent weeks that he probably wasn’t part of the club’s plan going forward. The Kings ultimately struck deals with Dewayne Dedmon and Richaun Holmes to address the five spot.

Cauley-Stein will head to another Pacific team in the Warriors, which is a little surprising, given the lack of cap flexibility for Golden State. The team is expected to fill out its roster with mostly minimum-salary players after hard-capping itself at the tax apron by acquiring D’Angelo Russell via sign-and-trade. However, Cauley-Stein will get a salary slightly above the minimum, tweets ESPN’s Zach Lowe.

In 81 games (27.3 MPG) for the Kings in 2018/19, Cauley-Stein averaged 11.9 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 2.4 APG. He’ll join a new-look Warriors roster that will no longer feature Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala in 2019/20. In the wake of the team’s agreement with Cauley-Stein, it also seems increasingly unlikely that DeMarcus Cousins will return.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wilson Chandler Signs One-Year Deal With Nets

July 8th, 2019 at 10:02pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8, 10:02pm: The signing is official, the team’s PR department tweets.

JULY 2, 8:05pm: The Nets have reached an agreement to sign free agent forward Wilson Chandler, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links), who reports that the veteran will sign a one-year contract with the team.

Chandler will receive a minimum-salary deal, since Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and DeAndre Jordan will take up Brooklyn’s cap space and Garrett Temple will be signed using the team’s room exception. Michael Scotto of The Athletic confirms (via Twitter) that the one-year contract will be worth $2,564,753, Chandler’s minimum salary for 2019/20.

Chandler, 32, had a down year for the Sixers and Clippers in 2018/19, averaging a career-worst 6.0 PPG with 4.2 RPG in 51 games (23.1 MPG). However, he still knocked down 37.3% of his three-point attempts and should be a solid addition to Brooklyn’s bench.

The Nets’ frontcourt has lost DeMarre Carroll and Jared Dudley so far this summer, so Chandler figures to take on some of the minutes that those two veterans played.

Pinson Signs Two-Year Deal With Nets

July 8th, 2019 at 9:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

10:52pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

9:56pm: The Nets and Theo Pinson have reached an agreement on a two-year contract, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets.

The news comes one day after Brooklyn rescinded its qualifying offer to Pinson, making the shooting guard an unrestricted free agent.

Undrafted out of North Carolina, Pinson joined the Nets for training camp last season on an Exhibit 10 contract and earned a roster spot as a two-way player. His deal was converted to a standard NBA contract shortly before the end of the regular season.

Pinson appeared in 18 NBA games in his first season, averaging 4.5 PPG in 11.7 minutes per night. He posted a 20.7/5.9/6.1 line in 34 G League games with the Long Island Nets.

Suns Sign Point Guard Ricky Rubio

July 8th, 2019 at 9:33pm CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 8, 9:33pm: The Suns have officially signed Rubio, according to a team press release.

JUNE 30, 5:37pm: In a shocking development, the Suns have stolen presumed Pacers target Ricky Rubio. Phoenix will sign him to a three-year, $51MM deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Multiple reports this week indicated that Rubio was expected to join the Pacers once free agency began, with one story calling it a “virtual done deal.” Indiana saw point guard Darren Collison retire and it left them extremely thin at the position. However, the team was able to add Malcolm Brogdon via sign-and-trade.

As for the Suns, they haven’t had stability at the point guard spot since they traded Eric Bledsoe away. Rubio and newcomer Dario Saric, who came to the team in a draft night trade, will add veteran presence to a team looking to make the postseason.

A former fifth overall pick, Rubio averaged 12.7 PPG, 6.1 APG, and 3.6 RPG in 68 games (27.9 MPG) for the Jazz last season. He’s not a great shooter, but Phoenix will lean on him for his play-making, passing, and defense.

The Suns will need to make an additional roster move to fit Rubio in under the cap, if they plan to keep Kelly Oubre‘s cap hold on their books, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Atlantic Contract Notes: Durant, Jordan, Claxton, Milton, Brazdeikis

July 8th, 2019 at 8:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kevin Durant‘s max contract with the Nets includes $4.3MM in likely bonuses, according to Jeff Siegel of EarlyBirdRights.com. It’s not clear how those bonuses can be earned but if they’re based on individual statistics, he can’t reach them next season due to his Achilles injury. His deal also includes a full 15% trade kicker. DeAndre Jordan‘s salary with Brooklyn starts at 9.9MM, rises 5% in the second year, dips back down to 9.9MM, then drops slightly in the fourth year for a total of 40MM, Siegel adds (Twitter links).

We have more contractual news from around the Atlantic Division:

The timeline of the Nets’ moves in free agency – signing Kyrie Irving and Jordan to free agent deals using salary-cap room and then acting like a team over the cap to pull off the Durant sign-and-trade with Golden State — also allowed them to give Nicolas Claxton a three-year contract, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. Without room, Claxton’s fully guaranteed deal would have been limited to two years. The University of Georgia big man was the first pick of the second round.
Shake Milton‘s four-year minimum contract with the Sixers includes a team option in the final year and is otherwise fully guaranteed, Siegel tweets. The shooting guard played last season on a two-way contract, splitting his time between the Sixers and their G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.
Knicks rookie forward Ignas Brazdeikis received a three-year minimum deal, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. Brazdeikis will make approximately $900K as a rookie, $1.5MM in his second year and $1.8MM in his third season (team option).
The Celtics have been exploring a variety of contract terms with second-round pick Carsen Edwards, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe tweets. The negotiations with the Purdue guard include guaranteed amounts.

Grizzlies Sign-And-Trade Delon Wright To Mavericks

July 8th, 2019 at 7:17pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8, 7:17pm: The deal is official, according to a Dallas press release. The Mavs sent the draft rights to 2015 second-rounder Satnam Singh to the Grizzlies in addition to two second-round picks. A Memphis press release confirms the deal.

JULY 7, 3:47pm: The Mavericks, Grizzlies, and restricted free agent guard Delon Wright have reached an agreement on a sign-and-trade deal that will send Wright to Dallas, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Memphis will receive two second-round picks from the Mavs in the deal, according to Wojnarowski.

Agent Greg Lawrence tells Woj (Twitter link) that Wright will be receiving a three-year, $29MM contract from the Mavericks.

We’d heard since Thursday that Dallas, one of the only teams that still had cap flexibility, was planning an offer sheet for Wright. As Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News tweets, the Grizzlies didn’t want to lose him for nothing but also weren’t committed to matching an offer sheet at any cost. The Mavs, on the other hand, were likely wary of having Memphis match their offer — or of having to overpay Wright to avoid that scenario.

The sign-and-trade agreement represents a compromise for the Southwest rivals, and is the latest example of what has become a summer-wide trend around the NBA — no restricted free agent has signed an offer sheet, but six RFAs have reached deals to join new teams via sign-and-trade.

The 20th overall pick in the 2015 draft, Wright spent the first three and a half seasons of his NBA career with the Raptors before being dealt to Memphis in the Marc Gasol trade at this year’s deadline. After never averaging more than 20.8 minutes per game in Toronto, the 27-year-old saw that number bumped to 30.8 MPG in 26 games with the Grizzlies and responded by averaging 12.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 5.3 APG, and 1.6 SPG.

In Dallas, Wright figures to share ball-handling duties with the likes of Jalen Brunson, J.J. Barea (when he’s healthy), and – of course – Luka Doncic.

After accounting for Wright’s contract, the Mavs project to have no more than $14.6MM in cap room, tweets cap expert Albert Nahmad. Dallas’ contract agreements with Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber, and Kristaps Porzingis would eat up that room once they become official since their new salaries are much higher than their cap holds.

If the Mavs don’t have any other deals on tap, it’s possible they’ll remain an over-the-cap team, taking Wright into their $21.3MM trade exception and using the mid-level exception to sign Seth Curry. That would leave the team with the rest of that big trade exception to use during the season.

As for the Grizzlies, they’ll move forward with No. 2 pick Ja Morant handling point guard duties, but we’ll see if they look to add more depth after losing Wright. De’Anthony Melton is the other point guard on the roster. Memphis has about $115MM in projected team salary on its books and will create a trade exception worth half of Wright’s 2019/20 salary in this sign-and-trade, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wolves Acquire Blazers RFA Jake Layman In Sign-And-Trade

July 8th, 2019 at 7:14pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8: The Timberwolves and Blazers have issued press releases to confirm that the trade is official. Portland will generate a small trade exception in the deal.

JULY 3: The Timberwolves have reached a deal to sign forward Jake Layman to a three-year, $11.5MM contract, agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Layman is a restricted free agent whose rights are held by the Trail Blazers, but he won’t be signing an offer sheet. Instead, Minnesota will acquire him from Portland via a sign-and-trade arrangement, according to Wojnarowski.

“We’re extremely appreciative of how hard (Blazers president of basketball operations) Neil Olshey worked with us to accommodate what we were trying to accomplish in this sign and trade,” Bartelstein told Wojnarowski (Twitter links). “The deal couldn’t have happened without the Blazers looking out for Jake’s best interests.”

The Blazers will receive the draft rights to 2013 second-rounder Bojan Dubljevic in the deal, tweets Darren Wolfson of SKOR North.

Layman, 25, has spent the first three seasons of his NBA career in Portland after being selected with the 47th pick of the 2016 draft. He played a limited role in his first two seasons, but claimed a regular spot in the Blazers’ rotation in 2018/19, averaging 7.6 PPG and 3.1 RPG with a .509/.326/.704 shooting line in 71 games (18.7 MPG).

Minnesota lost some shooting in its frontcourt by agreeing to trade Dario Saric to Phoenix and watching Anthony Tolliver sign with the Blazers. The Wolves will presumably look to replace those departed players with Layman and Noah Vonleh, who agreed to a deal with Minnesota earlier this week.

Speaking of Saric, the trade sending him to the Suns will need to be completed before the Wolves’ deal with the Blazers, since Layman will slot into the trade exception created by Saric’s departure, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). That exception will be worth $3.48MM, so Layman’s starting salary is permitted to start at $3.58MM (trade exceptions have an extra $100K cushion).

The Wolves, whose interest in Layman was first reported by Darren Wolfson on Tuesday, will be hard-capped at $138.9MM for the 2019/20 league year as a result of acquiring a player via sign-and-trade.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Noah Vonleh Signs One-Year Deal With Timberwolves

July 8th, 2019 at 7:11pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8, 7:11pm: The signing is official, the team’s PR deparment tweets.

JULY 2, 8:23pm: Vonleh’s $2MM deal is worth slightly more than the league minimum, so the Wolves will have to use part of the mid-level or bi-annual exception to sign him, Krawczynski writes in his full story on the deal. According to Krawcznyski, the Wolves offered Vonleh a deal worth more money that would have had a team option in year two, but he wanted the opportunity to reach the open market again next year.

5:09pm: The Timberwolves and free agent forward Noah Vonleh have agreed to terms on a contract, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that it will be a one-year deal.

Krawczynski adds (via Twitter) that the agreement will be worth $2MM. Vonleh’s minimum salary for 2019/20 will be $1,882,867, so that figure may be rounded up. Otherwise, the capped-out Wolves would have to use part of another exception to sign him.

Vonleh, who was the ninth overall pick in the 2014 draft, will be joining his fifth NBA team and hasn’t developed into the sort of impact player that his draft spot might suggest. However, he had a very solid year in New York in 2018/19, averaging 8.4 PPG and 7.8 RPG with a shooting line of .470/.336/.712 in 68 games (25.3 MPG) for the Knicks.

Vonleh will slot into a Timberwolves frontcourt rotation that is expected to feature another newcomer in Jordan Bell alongside incumbents like Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng. Vonleh will help shore up the power forward spot with Dario Saric and Taj Gibson not returning.

Raptors Re-Sign Patrick McCaw

July 8th, 2019 at 7:03pm CST by Luke Adams

7:03pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

2:29pm: The Raptors have agreed to a new deal with restricted free agent guard Patrick McCaw, reports Blake Murphy of The Athletic (via Twitter). A source tells Murphy that it will be a two-year contract.

Restricted free agency moved much quicker for McCaw this time around than it did last year, when he was a Warriors RFA and remained unsigned until December 28. The 23-year-old signed an offer sheet with the Cavaliers, but they waived him about a week later – before that deal became fully guaranteed – and he subsequently caught on with the Raptors.

In 26 regular season games for Toronto, McCaw averaged 2.7 PPG and 1.7 RPG in 13.2 minutes per contest. He played limited minutes in 11 postseason games for the Raptors, winning his third title in his third NBA season.

Their new deal with McCaw continues an offseason trend for the Raptors, who seem to be prioritizing wing defense after losing Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. McCaw, Stanley Johnson, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson aren’t reliable outside shooters, but they can all guard perimeter players effectively. Matt Thomas is the lone shooter the Raptors have agreed to sign this summer.

Suns Waive Kyle Korver

July 8th, 2019 at 5:09pm CST by Luke Adams

After being traded from the Jazz to the Grizzlies to the Suns, Kyle Korver has now been placed on waivers by Phoenix, according to NBA.com’s log of official transactions.

The move was expected, since only $3.44MM of Korver’s $7.5MM salary for 2019/20 was guaranteed. The Suns needed to open up extra cap room to sign Ricky Rubio to his three-year, $51MM contract, and releasing Korver helps pave the way.

Korver is now on track to clear waivers and become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday evening. When he first reported that Korver would be cut, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski identified the Lakers, Bucks, and Sixers as the probable frontrunners to sign the veteran sharpshooter once he reaches the open market.

Korver averaged 8.6 PPG on .416/.397/.822 shooting in 70 games (19.1 MPG) last season for the Cavaliers and Jazz. A June report indicated that the 38-year-old – who is a career 42.9% three-point shooter – is expected to play for at least one more year.