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Cavs Sign Dean Wade To Two-Way Contract

JULY 2: The Cavaliers have formally signed Wade to his two-way deal, per RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions.

JUNE 21: The Cavaliers have reached an agreement to sign undrafted rookie free agent Dean Wade to a two-way contract, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).

Wade, a 6’10” forward, has the ability to stretch the floor, having knocked down 38.6% of his three-point attempts over the course of four college seasons. The Kansas State standout recorded 12.9 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 2.8 APG in 25 games during his senior year.

A foot injury sidelined Wade at the end of his college career, keeping him out of action for the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments. However, he recently told Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype that he’s “100% healthy.”

The Cavaliers have also agreed to a deal with Duke big man Marques Bolden, a source tells Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Kennedy’s tweet doesn’t offer any further details, so it’s not entirely clear if Bolden is just joining Cleveland for Summer League or if he’ll get a spot on the team’s 20-man offseason roster.

Bolden played a part-time role for the Blue Devils in 2018/19, averaging 5.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 1.7 BPG in 35 games (19.0 MPG) as a junior.

Bulls Sign Adam Mokoka To Two-Way Deal

2:34pm: The Bulls have officially signed Mokoka to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.

12:53pm: Adam Mokoka will join the Bulls as a two-way player, tweets Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. The 6’5″ shooting guard out of France declared for this year’s draft but wasn’t selected.

Mokoka also entered the draft in 2018, but withdrew before the deadline. He spent this season with Mega Bemax in Serbia.

Rawle Alkins and Brandon Sampson filled the Bulls’ two-way slots this season, but both are free agents.

Hornets Waive Tony Parker In Procedural Move

The Hornets have waived guard Tony Parker, the team announced today (via Twitter). The move was a procedural one, as Parker formally announced his retirement last month.

When Parker signed with the Hornets last summer, he inked a two-year, $10.25MM contract which included a non-guaranteed salary in year two. By releasing the longtime Spur, Charlotte will avoid having his $5.25MM salary for the 2019/20 season become guaranteed. That would have happened if he had remained under contract through Thursday, per Basketball Insiders.

Technically, this frees up Parker in the event that he decides to make an NBA comeback down the road, but there’s no indication that’s something he’ll consider.

Cavaliers Sign Darius Garland, Dylan Windler

Both of Cleveland’s first-round picks have signed their rookie contracts, according to the NBA’s transactions log. The Cavaliers inked Vanderbilt guard Darius Garland, who was taken with the fifth pick, and Belmont forward Dylan Windler, who was selected at No. 26.

Garland was considered one of the nation’s top point guards, even though an injury limited him to five games in college. The freshman averaged 16.2 points and 2.6 assists in limited play, but displayed an impressive shooting range that should make him a valuable weapon in the NBA.

Windler spent four years at Belmont and became one of the top players in the Ohio Valley Conference. He averaged 21.6 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game as a senior and helped the Bruins reach the NCAA Tournament.

Under the rookie scale, Garland can receive $6.4MM in his first year and $6.72MM and $7.04MM in the next two seasons. Windler is slotted at $2.035MM for 2019/20 and $2.137MM and $2.239 for the subsequent two years.

Thunder Re-Sign Nerlens Noel, Agree To Sign Alec Burks

JULY 2, 10:07am: The Thunder have officially re-signed Noel, according to the NBA’s transactions log. Most NBA contracts can’t be finalized during the July moratorium, but one- or two-year minimum-salary deals can, so this strongly suggests that Noel will be returning to Oklahoma City on the veteran’s minimum.

JULY 1, 3:41pm: The Thunder are once again in agreement on a deal for big man Nerlens Noel, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Noel and the Thunder appeared to reach a deal early in free agency, but a follow-up report indicated that the center wanted to reconsider things.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma City has also agreed to sign free agent shooting guard Alec Burks, a league source tells Royce Young of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Terms of the two deals aren’t yet known, and neither is the Thunder’s agreement with Mike Muscala, which was reported on Sunday. However, OKC entered the offseason with limited resources at its disposal to upgrade its roster, so it’s probably safe to assume that the team won’t be paying big money for any of its three new rotation pieces.

Noel, who served primarily as Steven Adams‘ backup at center last season, averaged 4.9 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 1.2 BPG in 77 games (13.7 MPG). Depending on what other moves the Thunder make, he could play a similar role this year, though it’s possible that Muscala’s arrival will eat into his minutes.

As for Burks, the former lottery pick is a career 35.5% three-point shooter, so he may be able to provide Oklahoma City with some much-needed floor spacing. Last season, he appeared in a total of 64 games for the Jazz, Cavaliers, and Kings, averaging 8.8 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 2.0 APG in 21.5 minutes per contest.

Norvel Pelle Signs Two-Way Contract With Sixers

JULY 2: The Sixers have issued a press release formally announcing Pelle’s two-way contract.

JULY 1: The Sixers have signed center Norvel Pelle to a two-way contract, his agent BJ Bass told Hoops Rumors’ own JD Shaw (Twitter link). We initially reported last week that Pelle would get a two-way deal with Philadelphia.

Pelle, who went undrafted in 2014, played for the G League Delaware Blue Coats last season. The 6’11” big man was named to the NBAGL All-Defensive Team. Pelle, 26, also made a number of stops overseas during his career.

Haywood Highsmith previously occupied one of the team’s two-way contracts before being waived last week. Highsmith will join Philadelphia’s Summer League team in Las Vegas.

Blazers Sign First-Rounder Nassir Little

The Trail Blazers have signed their first-round pick, small forward Nassir Little, according to a team press release.

Little will make approximately $2.1MM in his first NBA season if he receives the max on the rookie scale.

The 25th overall pick played one season at North Carolina, where he averaged 9.8 PPG and 4.6 RPG and 18.2 MPG over 36 games as the team’s top reserve.

Heat’s Jimmy Butler Sign-And-Trade Deal To Include Clippers, Blazers

7:58pm: The 2023 first-round pick being sent from the Heat to Clippers will be lottery-protected through 2025, then unprotected in 2026, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

5:00pm: The Clippers will receive a protected 2023 first-round pick from the Heat in the deal, according to ESPN’s full report.

4:17pm: The sign-and-trade deal that will send Jimmy Butler to the Heat and Josh Richardson to the Sixers has been agreed upon, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe (Twitter link).

As Wojnarowski explains (via Twitter), the trade between the Trail Blazers and Heat that will send Hassan Whiteside to Portland is becoming part of the transaction, with Maurice Harkless being re-routed to the Clippers to make it a four-team deal.

The Clippers will also receive a future first-round pick from Miami, according to Wojnarowski. Since the Heat have already traded their 2021 first-round selection to the Clippers and can’t give away consecutive future first-rounders, the next one that is trade-eligible would be the 2023 selection, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

As part of the four-team swap, the Sixers will send the draft rights to 2017 second-rounder Mathias Lessort to the Clippers, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).

As of now then, this is what the deal would look like:

After acquiring Harkless, the Clippers will still have a maximum-salary slot available in the event that Kawhi Leonard decides to join them, tweets Marks. It would be a tight fit though, notes ESPN’s Zach Lowe, who tweets that the club might have to renounce a couple of small cap holds. Obviously, if Leonard decides to go elsewhere, that wouldn’t be necessary.

As for the Heat, they had let Goran Dragic‘s camp know that they’d likely to need to move the point guard in order to complete the Butler acquisition, but that shouldn’t be necessary after all, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

Still, as Marks points out (via Twitter), Miami will have to make an additional move to make sure it gets below the hard cap $138.9MM that applies to teams that acquire a player via sign-and-trade. Waiving and stretching Ryan Anderson‘s contract looks like the most logical path for the Heat.

We have more details in other stories on the Butler/Richardson aspect of this deal, as well as the Blazers’ Whiteside acquisition.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Hawks Sign Cam Reddish, Charlie Brown

The Hawks signed the No. 10 overall pick, Duke forward Cam Reddish, to a rookie contract, according to a team press release.

The 6’8” Reddish averaged 13.5 PPG and 3.7 RPG in 36 games in his lone year with the Blue Devils.

Reddish can receive a first-year max of $4.246MM under the rookie scale. He can make $4.458MM and $4.67MM during the next two seasons.

Atlanta also officially signed undrafted forward Charlie Brown Jr. to a two-way contract, according to another team press release. The 6’7” St. Joseph product was the Atlantic 10’s leading scorer last season at 19.0 PPG and also grabbed 6.2 RPG.

Brown’s agreement with the Hawks was reported shortly after the draft.

Lakers Sign Zach Norvell Jr. To Two-Way Contract

The Lakers have formally signed undrafted Gonzaga guard Zach Norvell Jr. to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported shortly after the draft that the team would use one of its two-way slots on Norvell.

Norvell was a player viewed by many draft experts as a strong candidate to be selected last month after he left the Zags following his sophomore season. He ranked 15th on ESPN’s list of prospects who went undrafted.

The shooting guard was a top perimeter threat for the Zags in 2018/19, averaging 14.9 PPG and shooting 37.0% from outside the three-point line (2.6 makes per game).

The Lakers also have a two-way qualifying offer out to Johnathan Williams, who had a two-way deal with the club last season.