Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Sixers Sign Kyle O’Quinn

July 11th, 2019 at 3:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 11: The Sixers continue to finalize their contract agreements from the first week of free agency, announcing today in a press release that they’ve officially signed O’Quinn.

JULY 1: Veteran big man Kyle O’Quinn will sign a one-year contract with the Sixers, Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice tweets.

O’Quinn will receive the veteran’s minimum and provide depth behind Joel Embiid and Al Horford, who has committed to the Sixers in free agency.

O’Quinn will be joining his fourth team during his NBA career. He played three seasons for the Magic and another three for the Knicks. Last season, he played a backup role for the Pacers, appearing in 45 games and averaging 3.5 PPG and 2.6 RPG in 8.2 MPG.

In a separate transaction, the team has renounced the rights to 2017 first-round pick Anzejs Pasecniks, Sam Amick of The Athletic tweets. The 23-year-old center was a draft-and-stash prospect. Pasecniks wants to play in the NBA next season and the Sixers did not want to add him to the roster due to salary-cap issues, Amick adds in another tweet. Pasecniks’ cap hold was $2.1MM.

Warriors Re-Sign Kevon Looney To Three-Year Deal

July 11th, 2019 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 11: The Warriors have officially re-signed Looney, the team confirmed today in a press release.

JULY 2: Looney’s new deal features a third-year player option, tweets Mark Medina of The Mercury News.

JULY 1: The Warriors will bring back free agent big man Kevon Looney, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the two sides have agreed to a three-year, $15MM deal. As Charania details (via Twitter), the Warriors met with Looney over the weekend and reached an agreement with him and agent Todd Ramasar on Monday.

Looney, the 30th overall pick in the 2015 draft, hasn’t put up huge numbers during his four seasons in Golden State, but he has becoming an increasingly important part of the team’s rotation in recent years.

In 2018/19, the 23-year-old averaged 6.3 PPG and 5.2 RPG on 62.5% shooting in 80 games (18.5 MPG) for the Warriors. While he generally came off the bench, he emerged as the team’s most reliable center in the postseason due to his ability to switch on defense and hold his own against perimeter players.

The Warriors held Looney’s Bird rights this offseason, which gave them the ability to offer him any salary up to the max. However, by acquiring D’Angelo Russell in a sign-and-trade deal with the Nets, Golden State will face a hard cap of $138.9MM, the amount of the tax apron.

It wasn’t clear whether the Warriors would find a way to squeeze Looney – arguably their most important free agent beyond Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant – below that hard cap, since he appeared likely to receive plenty of interest on the open market. However, the Dubs got a good price to bring him back, and will presumably fill most of the rest of their roster with minimum-salary contracts to sneak below that $138.9MM threshold.

Bobby Marks of ESPN.com goes into detail on just how close the Warriors project to come to that hard cap.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Bulls Re-Sign Ryan Arcidiacono

July 11th, 2019 at 12:14pm CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 11: The Bulls have officially re-signed Arcidiacono, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

JULY 2: The Bulls are bringing back Ryan Arcidiacono on a three-year deal, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The point guard will make $9MM over the three seasons.

Chicago will likely wait to make the deal official until after using their cap room. The team has commitments to Thaddeus Young and Tomas Satoransky (via sign-and-trade) that it will need to complete using cap space.

Satoransky and Arcidiacono will join Coby White and Kris Dunn in what is becoming a crowded point guard picture in Chicago. There have been rumors that the Bulls are exploring the trade market for a deal involving Dunn.

Arcidiacono played in 81 games during his sophomore NBA season averaging 6.7 PPG, 3.3 APG, and 2.7 RPG in 24.2 minutes per contest.. The Langhorne, Pennsylvania native signed on with the Bulls during the summer of 2017 after going undrafted out of Villanova.

Hawks Sign Jabari Parker To Two-Year Deal

July 11th, 2019 at 11:48am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 11: The Hawks have officially signed Parker, the team confirmed today in a press release.

“Jabari is a highly skilled offensive player and proven scorer, and we’re looking forward to incorporating him into our group,” Hawks GM Travis Schlenk said in a statement. “We think he will fit well on the court and in the locker room, and we’re excited to welcome him to Atlanta.”

JULY 8: The Hawks and forward Jabari Parker have agreed to terms on a two-year contract, his agency Priority Sports announced today (via Twitter). According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter), the two-year pact will be worth $13MM, with a second-year player option.

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 draft, Parker averaged 20.1 PPG in 51 games with the Bucks in 2016/17. However, that season ended early due to a torn ACL and the 24-year-old hasn’t made the same impact since then for Milwaukee, Chicago, and Washington.

Last year, Parker signed a two-year, $40MM contract with the Bulls, which featured a second-year team option. He was traded to the Wizards in a deadline deal and averaged 14.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 2.4 APG on .493/.313/.712 shooting in 64 total games for the two teams. Washington turned down his 2019/20 option, allowing him to reach the open market as an unrestricted free agent.

It took Parker more than a week to find a new home, which made him a match for the Hawks, whose GM Travis Schlenk had stated this spring that the club would likely wait out the first wave of free agency to see who slipped through the cracks. Parker, the only unrestricted free agent still on the board from our top-50 list, fit that bill. He could become a starting forward in Atlanta, though he may slot in better as a second-unit scorer.

The Hawks were one of the few NBA teams with cap room still available, so no exception will be required to sign Parker. They still project to have about $6.2MM in space left after the signing, per Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Dorian Finney-Smith Re-Signs With Mavericks

July 11th, 2019 at 10:32am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 11: The Mavericks have officially re-signed Finney-Smith, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 2: The Mavericks will bring back restricted free agent Dorian Finney-Smith on a three-year, $12MM contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The third-year forward signed with Dallas in 2016 after going undrafted out of Florida. He missed most of the 2017/18 season with tendinitis in his left knee, but bounced back strong this year, averaging 7.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in 81 games.

The Mavericks have been active since free agency began Sunday, re-signing Kristaps Porzingis, Maxi Kleber and J.J. Barea, reaching an extension agreement with Dwight Powell and adding sharpshooting guard Seth Curry.

Dallas is emphasizing continuity and now has seven players whose contracts will run for at least three years, tweets Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Dallas is also pursuing Danny Green and may have room for another free agent as well.

The Mavs will be able to keep Finney-Smith’s sub-$2MM cap hold on their books and make their other offseason moves before going over the cap to lock up the forward using his Bird rights.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Raptors Sign Terence Davis To Two-Year Contract

July 11th, 2019 at 9:18am CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 11: Davis’ deal is now official, the Raptors announced today in a press release.

JULY 7: Terence Davis will join the Raptors on a two-year deal, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The first-year of the deal is fully guaranteed.

Davis, who went undrafted in June out of Ole Miss, turned down multiple two-way deals with hopes of finding an NBA deal, Charania adds. Toronto will come to an agreement with the combo guard on a day where the franchise also agreed to sign Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.

Davis was playing for the Nuggets Summer League team. He had an impressive day on Sunday, scoring 22 points in Denver’s contest. Davis will no longer play for the Nuggets’ team in Las Vegas.

Raptors Sign Stanley Johnson

July 11th, 2019 at 9:03am CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 11: The Raptors have officially signed Johnson, the team announced today in a press release. It’s not clear yet whether the team used its mid-level or bi-annual exception to complete the signing.

JULY 6: Small forward Stanley Johnson has agreed to a two-year, $7.5MM contract with the Raptors, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The second year will include a player option, Charania adds.

Johnson won’t make anyone in Toronto forget Kawhi Leonard but he’ll absorb some of the Finals’ MVP’s minutes with Leonard heading to the Clippers. Johnson has been a disappointment since the Pistons selected him in the lottery in 2015.

Johnson’s contract could fit into Toronto’s bi-annual exception of $3.623MM or it could use a portion of the $9.258MM mid-level exception.

He played 3 1/2 years with Detroit before he was dealt to Milwaukee, which quickly shipped him to New Orleans just before last season’s trade deadline. Johnson appeared in 18 games with the Pelicans, averaging 5.3 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 13.7 MPG. For his career, Johnson has averaged 7.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG and 1.5 APG in 21.6 MPG.

His strength is his defensive prowess with the ability to guard four positions. Outside shooting (29.3% on 3-point tries) has been a major issue for Johnson at the offensive end. At 23, Johnson still has time to establish himself as at least a solid rotation player.

Sixers Re-Sign Mike Scott To Two-Year Deal

July 11th, 2019 at 8:30am CST by JD Shaw

JULY 11: Now that the Sixers’ other major signings are complete, the team has formally announced Scott’s new deal, which will utilize the room exception.

“Mike epitomizes what Philadelphia loves – a fierce competitor with a tireless work ethic, who’s driven by the desire to win,” GM Elton Brand said in a statement. “His toughness, grit and passion are palpable, as the city of Philadelphia has come to know. We are thrilled to have Mike back with the 76ers.”

JUNE 30: The Sixers have agreed to a two-year, $9.8MM deal with free agent Mike Scott, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The deal features no options, tweets Derek Bodner of The Athletic.

Scott, a key player off the Sixers’ bench last season, will continue to provide production in the frontcourt for the team. He shot a scorching 41 percent from deep in his 27 games with Philadelphia, averaging a steady 7.8 points per contest.

Sixers general manager Elton Brand quickly worked around losing J.J. Redick and Jimmy Butler on the first night of free agency, bringing back promising guard Josh Richardson from Miami and agreeing to a four-year, $109MM contract with star big man Al Horford.

In addition to Scott, Horford and Richardson, Philadelphia also reached a deal with Tobias Harris to keep him in town, committing four years and $180MM.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Khem Birch Signs With Magic

July 10th, 2019 at 8:35pm CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 10: Birch’s deal with the Magic is now official, according to a press release from the team (h/t to Josh Robbins of The Athletic).

JULY 9: Khem Birch will return to the Magic on a two-year, $6MM deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).

Adding Birch on a modest deal will allow Orlando to remain under the tax. After applying his $3MM salary, the team is approximately $672K below the luxury tax line.

Prior to free agency, it was reported that Birch would draw substantial interest, though the market may have been slow developing because of his restricted free agency status — with cap room and exceptions drying up around around the NBA, few teams were in position to put together an aggressive offer sheet.

Birch showcased a developed game during his sophomore season in Orlando, seeing a role after 2018 No. 6 overall pick Mohamed Bamba injured his leg and was lost for the season. Birch improved his true shooting to 64.0% and his player efficiency rating to 19.2. He’ll turn 27 before the start of the season.

The Magic have now reached deals with all of their most important free agents — they’ll retain Nikola Vucevic, Terrence Ross, and Michael Carter-Williams in addition to Birch.

Rodney McGruder Signs Three-Year Deal With Clippers

July 10th, 2019 at 8:13pm CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 10: The contract between McGruder and the Clippers is now official, per a release from the team.

JULY 2: The Clippers have reached an agreement with shooting guard Rodney McGruder on a three-year deal, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. The contract will pay McGruder $15MM over the three years.

Los Angeles picked up McGruder after the Heat waived him at the end of the season to avoid the luxury tax. He was not eligible to play in the postseason for the Clippers, but the team retained his restricted free agency rights by tendering him a qualifying offer.

In 66 games (45 starts) last season for Miami, McGruder averaged 7.6 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and 1.7 APG with a shooting line of .403/.351/.722 in 23.5 minutes per contest.

McGruder’s deal does not significantly impact the Clippers’ ability to sign a max free agent (Kawhi Leonard), as Bobby Marks of ESPN.com tweets. McGruder’s modest $3MM cap hold has been factored into the equation for Los Angeles’ projected cap room all along.