Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Acquire KZ Okpala’s Draft Rights

July 6th, 2019 at 11:41am CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 6: The Heat have officially acquired Okpala’s draft rights, sending the Pacers their 2022, 2025, and 2026 second-round picks, Miami announced in a press release. The deal technically became a three-team trade, having merged with the Pacers’ acquisition of T.J. Warren from the Suns.

JUNE 20: The Pacers agreed to send the No. 32 pick to the Heat, who selected Stanford small forward KZ Okpala, Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. The Pacers gained the rights to that pick earlier in the day in a trade with the Suns.

Indiana will receive three future second-round picks from Miami. The Heat had traded away their second-round pick.

Indiana also acquired forward T.J. Warren from Phoenix, which used cap room to make that deal in a salary dump. The Suns received cash considerations.

The 6’9” Okpala averaged 16.8 PPG and 5.7 RPG last season.

Suns Trade T.J. Warren To Pacers

July 6th, 2019 at 11:40am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: The trade is official, according to an announcement from the Pacers. It became a three-team trade, with Indiana sending the rights to No. 32 pick KZ Okpala to Miami in exchange for three second-rounders.

JUNE 20: The Pacers and Suns have reached a trade agreement that will send T.J. Warren to Indiana, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski (Twitter links), the Pacers will also acquire the No. 32 overall pick from Phoenix and will take on Warren using cap room, sending cash to the Suns to complete the deal.

The trade looks like a straight salary dump for the Suns, who will move Warren with three years and $35.25MM left on his contract. Phoenix wanted to unload Warren – who will earn $10.81MM in 2019/20 — in order to open up more cap space, per Wojnarowski.

The Suns had a logjam at the small forward position and didn’t project to have much – if any – cap room this offseason, so the trade addresses both issues, though it will cost them a pretty good draft pick and a pretty good player with little return.

Injuries limited Warren to just 43 games in 2018/19, but he was a very effective scorer when he did play, averaging 18.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.5 APG, and 1.2 SPG with a .486/.428/.815 shooting line.

Assuming Phoenix keeps the cap hold for restricted free agent Kelly Oubre on its books, the team now projects to have about $21MM in cap room once the trade is finalized in July, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That space will give the club more flexibility to go after a starting-caliber point guard on the open market, but still won’t be enough for a maximum-salary offer.

As for the Pacers, many of their key rotation players are headed for free agency this summer, so they’ll have plenty of cap room to take on Warren. Acquiring him will also reduce some of the uncertainty surrounding those free agents — the team could have a little added leverage in negotiations with the likes of Bojan Bogdanovic or Thaddeus Young with Warren now under control.

According to Marks, the Pacers will still have nearly $31MM in cap room available once the acquisition of Warren is finalized, though that projection doesn’t account for Bogdanovic’s cap hold.

[RELATED: Pacers eyeing Ricky Rubio]

Indiana now controls three picks in tonight’s draft, adding the No. 32 selection to Nos. 18 and 50. The Suns are left with just the No. 6 overall pick.

Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com first reported earlier today that the Pacers were among the teams with interest in Warren.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Warriors Sign First-Rounder Jordan Poole

July 6th, 2019 at 9:10am CST by marksuleymanov

The Warriors have inked 2019 first-round pick Jordan Poole to a rookie scale contract, per the NBA’s transactions log.

Selected 28th overall in this year’s draft, Poole will make approximately $1.96M in his first NBA season on a max rookie scale contract.

The Michigan product averaged 12.8 PPG and 3.0 RPG while shooting 36.9% from three-point range in his sophomore campaign.

Lakers, Quinn Cook Agree To Two-Year Deal

July 6th, 2019 at 8:51am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers have reached an agreement to sign guard Quinn Cook to a two-year, $6MM contract, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Cook became an unrestricted free agent earlier this week when the Warriors withdrew his qualifying offer.

Cook, 26, was a solid contributor off the bench for the Warriors in 2018/19, averaging 6.9 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 1.6 APG with a .465/.405/.769 shooting line in 74 games (14.3 MPG).

However, the Dubs had little flexibility to bring back all their free agents and rotation players as a result of the D’Angelo Russell sign-and-trade deal that will hard-cap team salary at $138.9MM. Cook was one of the odd men out in Golden State, along with Andre Iguodala, Jordan Bell, and likely DeMarcus Cousins and Shaun Livingston too.

Since missing out on Kawhi Leonard, the Lakers have committed a significant chunk of their $32MM in cap room to deals for Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The team also agreed to terms with JaVale McGee and appears likely to slot him into its room exception, so Cook will probably be signed using cap space as well.

Cook is the first point guard the Lakers have added this offseason to a roster that will be led by LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Kyle Kuzma. The club also reached minimum-salary deals with swingman Troy Daniels and forward Jared Dudley.

Cook is close with James and is also friends with Davis, having played with him briefly in New Orleans in 2017, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Lakers To Re-Sign Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, JaVale McGee

July 6th, 2019 at 2:20am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers continue to act quickly in moving on to their backup plans in free agency after losing out on Kawhi Leonard. Having already reached a deal to sign Danny Green, the Lakers are also on track to re-sign Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and JaVale McGee, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN (Twitter links).

According to Shelburne, Caldwell-Pope is expected to sign a two-year, $16MM contract to remain in Los Angeles, while the Lakers have agreed to a two-year, $8.2MM deal for McGee.

Caldwell-Pope, who – like teammates LeBron James and Anthony Davis – is represented by agent Rich Paul, has spent the last two seasons with the Lakers, averaging 12.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.7 APG, and 1.1 SPG with a .428/.365/.824 shooting line in 156 games (28.8 MPG). He’ll join Green as the go-to three-and-D options on a roster that had initially been heavy on frontcourt players.

As for McGee, he enjoyed arguably the best season of his 11-year NBA career for the Lakers in 2018/19, averaging 12.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 2.0 BPG in 75 games, including 62 as the club’s starting center.

With Green set to sign a two-year, $30MM contract, the Lakers have now committed more than half of their $32MM in cap space. ESPN’s Bobby Marks suggests (via Twitter) that L.A. will have about $11.5MM in room left after this flurry of deals, while Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter) believes that number could be as high as $14.7MM, depending on how the contracts are structured.

Both of those figures assume that McGee’s contract would come out of the $4.8MM room exception, though the Lakers could theoretically use that exception on another player if McGee is re-signed using cap space.

In addition to signing Green, Caldwell-Pope, and McGee, the Lakers will also add Jared Dudley and Troy Daniels on minimum-salary contracts once their cap room has been exhausted.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Lakers To Sign Danny Green To Two-Year Deal

July 6th, 2019 at 1:29am CST by Luke Adams

While his longtime teammate Kawhi Leonard heads to the Clippers, free agent shooting guard Danny Green had opted to sign with Los Angeles’ other team, announcing on Twitter that he’ll join the Lakers.

Shams Charania of The Athletic confirms (via Twitter) that the Lakers have reached a deal with Green, while ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski provides the financial details, tweeting that it’ll be a two-year, $30MM contract.

Green, 32, was part of the trade package last summer that sent Leonard to the Raptors, and enjoyed one of his best seasons as a pro in Toronto. Green averaged 10.3 PPG and knocked down a career-best 45.5% of his attempts from beyond the arc in 80 games (all starts), establishing a career high with 2.5 made threes per game. He also nearly earned a spot on the NBA’s All-Defensive team for his work on perimeter scorers, and helped Toronto win its first-ever championship.

Although he generated plenty of interest on the open market within the last week, Green opted to wait out Leonard’s decision before deciding on his own team. If Kawhi had chosen to re-sign with the Raptors, Green likely would have had interest in running it back and trying to defend their title.

However, with Leonard on track to become a Clipper, Green’s decision came down to the Lakers and Mavericks, both of whom put big offers on the table, tweets David Aldridge of The Athletic. The Clippers were also believed to be in the mix for Green earlier in the week, but landing Kawhi reduced their ability to offer the veteran shooting guard a market-value deal.

The Lakers, who had earmarked $32MM in cap room for Leonard, will now use that space on Green and other players, adding some depth to a roster headlined by LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Kyle Kuzma.

The club has already reportedly reached new deals with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and JaVale McGee in addition to agreeing to terms with Green.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wizards Trade Dwight Howard To Grizzlies

July 5th, 2019 at 7:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 6: The trade is now official, with both teams announcing it in press releases. “C.J. is respected around the league for his defense, three-point shooting and leadership,” Wizards Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations Tommy Sheppard said. “All of those qualities appealed to us in making this deal and we look forward to him making a positive impact on our team.”

JULY 5: The Wizards are trading center Dwight Howard to the Grizzlies, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Memphis plans to waive Howard or forward him to another team, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Washington will receive swingman C.J. Miles in the deal, David Aldridge of The Athletic tweets.

The Grizzlies will shave $3.13MM off their team salary by dealing Miles, who is due $8.73MM next season. Howard has one year and $5.6MM left on his contract.

Additionally, Memphis has waived shooting guard Avery Bradley, Aldridge reports in another tweet. Bradley had a $12.96MM salary for next season but only $2MM was guaranteed. This gives Memphis even more flexibility to make moves, as Aldridge notes.

Bradley is a former client of current Lakers GM Rob Pelinka, which may impact his decision as a free agent, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes (Twitter link).

Howard opted in for the second year of his contract with the Wizards, who had no interest in keeping the former All-Star on the roster.

Howard, who spent his previous three seasons with three different teams in Houston, Atlanta, and Charlotte, was a complete washout last season. Having used the full taxpayer mid-level exception to sign him, Washington viewed Howard as its major offseason addition, but he only appeared in nine games. Spinal surgery and a hamstring injury during his rehab resulted in a lost season for the 33-year-old Howard.

Miles’ situation was similar. He opted in to his contract but the Grizzlies had little use for the three-point specialist with a hefty salary on a rebuilding squad.

Miles is recovering from a stress reaction in his left foot. The 14-year veteran, who started last season with the Raptors, was sent to the Grizzlies as part of the package for Marc Gasol in February. In total, Miles appeared in 53 games (16.2 MPG) for Memphis and Toronto, averaging just 6.4 PPG on .360/.330/.828 shooting.

Memphis had until July 8 to fully guarantee Bradley’s salary. He appeared in 63 games last season with the Clippers and Grizzlies, averaging 9,9 PPG and 2.4 APG in 30.2 MPG. Without Bradley on their roster, the Grizzlies are in much better position to match an offer sheet for restricted free agent Delon Wright without going into tax territory.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Timberwolves Sign Naz Reid To Two-Way Deal

July 5th, 2019 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 5: The Timberwolves have officially signed Reid to a two-way deal, the team announced today in a press release.

JUNE 21: The Timberwolves have reached an agreement to sign rookie free agent Naz Reid to a two-way contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).

Reid, who declared for the draft after his freshman year at LSU, was considered a strong candidate to be selected on Thursday night, but went undrafted. According to ESPN’s big board, the young forward/center was the eighth-best prospect who was still available at the end of the night.

Reid will enter the NBA after having recorded 13.6 PPG and 7.2 RPG in 34 games (27.2 MPG) during his first and only season with the Tigers. He’ll be able to officially sign his two-way contract after the new NBA league year begins.

Jared Terrell and C.J. Williams occupied the Wolves’ two-way slots during the 2018/19 season, but are both free agents this summer. Reid’s deal indicates that at least one of the two won’t be back.

Wizards Sign Garrison Mathews To Two-Way Contract

July 4th, 2019 at 2:54pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards have officially signed undrafted rookie Garrison Mathews to a two-way contract, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). RealGM’s log of NBA transactions confirms that the move has been completed.

Mathews’ agreement with the team was first reported shortly after the draft last month by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.

A 6’5″ shooting guard, Mathews has been one of the NCAA’s premier marksmen in the NCAA over the last four years. He averaged 20.8 PPG and 5.5 RPG in his final season at Lipscomb, knocking down 3.2 threes per game at a 40.3% rate, and was named the ASUN Player of the Year.

Washington entered the 2019/20 league year with two open two-way slots. Devin Robinson was the only two-way player under contract with the Wizards to finish the 2018/19 campaign, and the team announced that he wouldn’t return after word broke in April that he had been arrested following a nightclub fight.

Pistons Officially Sign Sekou Doumbouya, Louis King

July 4th, 2019 at 2:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have officially signed two rookies to their first NBA contracts, announcing today in a pair of press releases that they’ve locked up first-rounder Sekou Doumbouya and inked undrafted free agent Louis King to a two-way contract.

Neither move comes as a surprise. Doumbouya’s signing was a formality, as his rookie scale amount is essentially locked in. As the No. 15 overall pick, he’ll earn about $3.3MM in his first NBA season and a total of $15.9MM if he plays out his full four-year rookie contract.

[RELATED: 2019 NBA Draft Pick Signings]

Doumbouya, a 6’9″ forward who has drawn comparisons to Pascal Siakam, was the first international player selected in the 2019 draft. The 18-year-old played professionally overseas before declaring for the NBA draft, having averaged 7.8 PPG and 3.3 RPG in 39 games last season for Limoges CSP, a club in France’s top league.

As for King, his two-way contract agreement with the Pistons was reported shortly after the draft. A forward out of Oregon, King averaged 13.5 PPG and 5.5 RPG with a .435/.386/.785 shooting line in 31 games during his first and only season with the Ducks.

The Pistons are expected to sign No. 57 overall pick Jordan Bone to occupy their second two-way contract slot, but the trades necessary to get him to Detroit haven’t yet been officially completed.