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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 Amick confirms that the team has rescinded his qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.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.

Knicks, Bobby Portis Agree To Two-Year Deal

June 30th, 2019 at 11:16pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Knicks will add Bobby Portis on a two-year deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Portis will make $31MM over the length of the deal.

Washington is rescinding its qualifying offer for Portis, according to The Athletic’s Fred Katz (Twitter link). The move will allow him to sign with New York without the threat of Washington matching an offer sheet.

Portis re-signing with the Wizards was unlikely given his salary expectations. There was always a sense that Washington would have to choose him or Thomas Bryant when prioritizing a big man to re-sign. Bryant agreed to a three-year deal with the Wizards earlier in the day.

Portis and Jabari Parker came to the Wizards in the Otto Porter Jr. trade. Parker is also considered unlikely to return to the team.

New York has now agreed to deals with three power forwards. In addition to Portis, the team agreed to sign Julius Randle to a three-year, $63MM deal and Taj Gibson to a two-year, $20MM pact

The Knicks are projected to have approximately $27.5MM in cap room after today’s agreements, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets.

No Deal Yet For Thunder, Nerlens Noel

June 30th, 2019 at 9:29pm CST by JD Shaw

9:29pm: Three hours after having apparently committed to the Thunder, Noel has asked for time to re-evaluate the deal, according to Wojnarowski, who tweets that the two sides continue to discuss options.

6:29pm: The Thunder are re-signing free agent center Nerlens Noel to a deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The terms of the agreement are not yet known.

Noel will enter his second straight season with the organization, coming off a campaign which saw him average 4.9 points and 4.2 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per contest. He appeared in 77 games, the most of his five-season NBA career.

Prior to joining the Thunder in the summer of 2018, Noel held brief stints with the 76ers and Mavericks. He was the No. 6 pick of the 2013 NBA Draft after spending one year at Kentucky.

Nets Sign DeAndre Jordan

June 30th, 2019 at 8:57pm CST by JD Shaw

JULY 6, 10:51pm: The signing is official, tweets Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News.

JUNE 30, 8:57pm: In an unexpected turn of events, Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that Jordan will sign a four-year, $40MM deal with the Nets. It’ll be fully guaranteed, with no options, tweets Michael Scotto of The Athletic.

Brooklyn doesn’t have the cap room necessary to complete such a deal while also signing Durant and Irving to max deals, but according to Woj and Ramona Shelburne (via Twitter), KD and Kyrie have agreed to accept less than their respective maxes in order to accommodate Jordan’s deal.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN.com notes (via Twitter), the Nets could potentially include unlikely incentives in Durant’s and KD’s contracts to help create extra cap room while still giving them a shot to earn up to their maxes.

JUNE 30, 4:05pm: In addition to Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Nets have also agreed to a deal with free agent center DeAndre Jordan, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

While Jordan is hardly the biggest free agent to commit to Brooklyn today, he’s a coup for a club that didn’t have much cap flexibility after agreeing to sign Durant and Irving.

The Nets also reportedly agreed to terms with Garrett Temple on a deal that looks like it’s worth the room exception. As such, Jordan could end up being a minimum-salary signing, unless Brooklyn is able to create additional cap room by trading or waiving another player.

Jordan, who will turn 30 in July, averaged 11.0 PPG, 13.1 RPG, and 1.1 BPG in 69 total games for the Mavericks and Knicks in 2018/19. He was sent from Dallas to New York in the deadline deal that saw Kristaps Porzingis land with the Mavs.

Rather than buying out Jordan, the Knicks hung onto him, thinking that his presence might help lure his good friend Durant to New York. While the thinking was right, it’s New York’s other team that will deliver on that idea, as the duo is set to join the Nets.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Heat Finalizing Sign-And-Trade For Jimmy Butler

June 30th, 2019 at 8:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat are finalizing a deal to acquire free agent swingman Jimmy Butler via a sign-and-trade deal with the Sixers, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Philadelphia is receiving Josh Richardson as part of the agreement, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Butler will sign a four-year, maximum-salary contract with the Heat, reports Charania (via Twitter). The new deal will pay him just shy of $141MM.

Meanwhile, the 76ers will receive no additional salary back from Miami in the sign-and-trade agreement, tweets Derek Bodner of The Athletic. Philadelphia will use its remaining cap room to sign Al Horford to a lucrative four-year deal.

While Richardson is apparently the only player going to Philadelphia, the Heat will need to trade away more players to make the deal work from their end. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), acquiring a player via sign-and-trade will trigger a hard cap at the tax apron ($138.9MM) for Miami, and team salary would be way over that hard cap after swapping Richardson for Butler.

[UPDATE: Mavs to acquire Goran Dragic as part of Butler sign-and-trade]

Once the dust settles and the details are sorted out, the Heat will be adding the sort of impact player to their lineup that they’ve long sought. In fact, as Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer points out (via Twitter), Miami made a player for Butler last fall using Richardson as bait before the Timberwolves decided to send him to Philadelphia instead.

In 65 total games for the Wolves and Sixers last season, Butler averaged 18.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.0 APG, and 1.9 SPG with a .462/.347/.855 shooting line. While his numbers dipped a little in Philadelphia, Butler averaged at least 20 points per game in each of the previous four seasons before 2018/19, making the All-Star Game in all four of those years.

With Butler headed to Miami, it will be worth watching the Clippers and Rockets to see what their next moves are. Houston had long projected confidence that it could land Butler via a sign-and-trade of its own, while the Clips had reportedly hoped to pair Butler and Kawhi Leonard in Los Angeles.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Knicks To Sign Taj Gibson

June 30th, 2019 at 7:59pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Knicks have agreed to a deal with Taj Gibson, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link). The contract will be for two years and $20MM.

The 10-year veteran spent the last two seasons in Minnesota on a $28MM deal that the club signed him to during the summer of 2017. He played in all but 12 games for the Wolves over his two seasons with the team.

After the agreement, the Knicks are looking at approximately $41MM in cap room. It was previously announced that the team will ink Julius Randle to a three-year, $63MM pact.

Knicks To Sign Julius Randle To Three-Year, $63MM Deal

June 30th, 2019 at 6:38pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Knicks have agreed to sign Julius Randle to a three-year, $63MM deal, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link).

Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports tweets that the final year of the pact contains a team option, while Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link) classifies it as a partial guarantee.

Rumors of the Knicks’ interest in Randle sprouted once the Pelicans landed Zion Williamson and it became clear that New Orleans wasn’t likely to compete for the big man’s services. Those rumors continued in the week leading up to free agency.

New York is expected to have $51M in cap room after the agreement, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). It’s unclear if which players they are targeting with their cap space. The Knicks missed out on their top target in Kevin Durant, watching the former MVP sign with the crosstown Knicks. Kyrie Irving is also headed to Brooklyn.

Randle had a breakout season during his lone year in New Orleans. He notched career-highs in points per game (21.4), 3-pointers made (nearly one per contest), and player efficiency rating (21.0).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rodney Hood Re-Signs With Blazers

June 30th, 2019 at 5:45pm CST by JD Shaw

JULY 6: The Blazers have offically re-signed Hood, the team confirmed today in a press release.

JUNE 30: Free agent Rodney Hood has agreed to stay with the Trail Blazers on a two-year deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

While Woj pegs the value at $16MM, Jason Quick of The Athletic reports that the agreement will be worth $5.7MM next season and contains a $6MM player option for the following season. Those numbers make more sense, as Portland doesn’t have Hood’s Bird rights and likely will be limited to the taxpayer mid-level exception.

Portland acquired Hood in a deal with Cleveland prior to the trade deadline last season, using his scoring and energy off the bench heading into the playoffs. The team recently traded for Kent Bazemore as insurance on the wing if Hood committed elsewhere, but the two sides were able to finalize an agreement less than an hour into free agency.

Hood, 26, averaged 9.6 points per game in 27 contests with the Blazers this season, shooting 45% from the floor and 35% from 3-point range. He was the No. 23 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft to Utah.

Wizards Re-Sign Thomas Bryant

June 30th, 2019 at 5:38pm CST by JD Shaw

JULY 7: The Wizards have formally announced Bryant’s new three-year deal, issuing a press release to confirm the signing.

“Re-signing Thomas was our top priority this offseason and we’re extremely excited to have him with us as he takes the next step in his development,” Wizards interim head of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard said in a statement. “His overall attitude, work ethic and team-first mentality embody the type of environment that we are working to create and sustain within the Wizards organization.”

JUNE 30: The Wizards have agreed to a three-year, $25MM contract with center Thomas Bryant, his agent, Todd Ramasar, tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Bryant is coming off an impressive season with the team, holding per-game averages of 10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 20.8 minutes. At just 21 years old, he remains one of the league’s most intriguing prospects at the center position, set to enter his third NBA season in the fall.

Washington also has the free-agent situations of Bobby Portis, Jabari Parker and Tomas Satoransky to worry about in the coming days, with Portis and Parker currently operating as though they won’t return with the team, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link).

The Wizards dealt with several injuries to core players this season, finishing with a 32-50 record and failing to make the playoffs.