Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers Sign Zach Norvell Jr. To Two-Way Contract

July 1st, 2019 at 7:25pm CST by Luke Adams

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.

Wizards Sign First-Rounder Hachimura

July 1st, 2019 at 7:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Wizards have signed their first-round pick, forward Rui Hachimura, the team’s PR department tweets.

The ninth overall pick in the draft can max out at $4.469MM in his first season under the rookie scale stipulations. He can make $4.693MM in his second season and $4.916MM in his third year.

The West Coast Conference Player of the Year, Hachimura averaged 19.7 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 1.5 APG for Gonzaga in his junior season while shooting 59.1% from the field.

Spurs Sign First-Round Rookies

July 1st, 2019 at 6:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Spurs signed both of their first-round selections, forward Luka Samanic and swingman Keldon Johnson, to rookie contracts, according to team press releases.

Assuming they received the max of 120 percent of the rookie scale, Samanic will make $2.69MM in his rookie year, ascending to 2.82MM and 2.959MM in the next two seasons. Johnson will get $1.95MM in the upcoming season and $2.05MM and $2.146MM in his second and third years.

Samanic was the 19th overall pick. The 6’10” Samanic spent last season with KK Olimpija in the Slovenian League, averaging 10.1 PPG and 5.9 RPG in 20.7 MPG over 17 games. The 19-year-old also saw action in 12 games in the FIBA Champions League, posting averages of 8.2 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 19.4 MPG.

Johnson was chosen with the No. 29 pick, which was acquired from Toronto as part of the Kawhi Leonard trade. The 6’6” Johnson averaged 13.5 PPG, 5.9 RPG and 1.6 APG in 30.7 MPG while playing 37 games for Kentucky last season.

Both will play on the Spurs’ summer league teams in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.

Williamson, Morant Sign Rookie Contracts

July 1st, 2019 at 5:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The top two picks in the draft, Zion Williamson and Ja Morant, have officially signed their rookie contracts, according to a press release from the Pelicans and a tweet from the Grizzlies’ PR department.

Assuming he receives a max of 120% of the rookie-scale salary for the top pick, Williamson will earn approximately $9.757MM in his first year, according to Jeff Siegel of EarlyBirdRights.com (Twitter link). Morant would receive $8.73MM if he received the max for the second pick.

Williamson’s salary numbers for years 2-4 would be $10.245MM, $10.733MM and $13.535MM. Morant would get $9.167MM, $9.6MM and $12.1MM over those seasons.

Williamson appeared in 33 games for Duke, averaging 22.6 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 2.1 APG, 2.1 SPG and 1.8 BPG. With Anthony Davis‘ impending trade to the Lakers, he’ll immediately be the marquee attraction for the franchise.

Morant averaged 24.5 PPG, 10.0 APG and 5.7 RPG for Murray State. Morant should step right into the starting lineup after veteran point guard Mike Conley was shipped to the Jazz.

Trail Blazers Sign Jaylen Hoard To Two-Way Deal

July 1st, 2019 at 5:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 1: The Trail Blazers have officially signed Hoard to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.

JUNE 21: The Trail Blazers have reached agreement on a two-way contract with Jaylen Hoard of Wake Forest, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowksi.

The 6’8″ forward out of France had a strong freshman season with the Demon Deacons, averaging 13.1 points and 7.6 rebounds in 31 games. He has been playing internationally since 2015.

Portland didn’t issue any two-way deals last season. The Blazers are one of just two teams without a G League affiliate, so Hoard will get much of his training with another organization.

Jazz Waive Raul Neto

July 1st, 2019 at 4:52pm CST by JD Shaw

4:52pm: The Jazz have officially waived Neto, the team announced today in a press release.

12:37pm: The Jazz plan to waive point guard Raul Neto in order to create space for the Mike Conley trade with Memphis, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Utah agreed to send Jae Crowder, Kyle Korver, Grayson Allen, the No. 23 pick in the draft and a future first-round pick to the Grizzlies for Conley in June, revamping their franchise with hopes of contending for a championship next season.

The Jazz also agreed to deals with free agents Bojan Bogdanovic (4-year/$73MM) and Ed Davis (2-year/$10MM) at the start of free agency. Utah has competed in the playoffs in each of the last three years, losing to the Rockets 4-1 in the opening round this past April.

Neto, 27, will become a strong option on the market for teams seeking a back-up guard, according to Charania. He’s spent all four of his seasons with the Jazz, holding career-averages of 4.8 points, 1.9 assists and 14.2 minutes per game.

Pistons Sign Tim Frazier To One-Year Deal

July 1st, 2019 at 4:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 6: The Pistons have officially signed Frazier to his new contract, the club announced today in a press release.

JULY 1: Point guard Tim Frazier has agreed to a one-year deal for approximately $2MM with the Pistons, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). It’ll be a veteran’s minimum deal, Rod Beard of The Detroit News confirms (via Twitter).

With Ish Smith and Jose Calderon becoming free agents, the Pistons were looking for depth in the backcourt. Smith agreed to a deal with the Wizards.

The Pistons reached a two-year agreement with Derrick Rose, who could start alongside Reggie Jackson or play a sixth-man role. Rose’s deal will eat up most of the team’s mid-level exception, but the club still has a little of that MLE available, along with the $3.6MM bi-annual exception.

Frazier has bounced around the league since his rookie campaign of 2014/15. Detroit will be his sixth team. He saw action in 47 regular-season games, including 17 starts, with New Orleans last season and 12 more with the Bucks. He also made 11 postseason appearances with Milwaukee. Overall, he’s appeared in 245 NBA games, averaging 5.2 PPG and 4.1 APG in 18.2 MPG.

Pacers Agree To Deal With Sumner; Sign Bowen, Gant, Wilcox

July 1st, 2019 at 4:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Guard Edmond Sumner has agreed to a three-year contract to stay with the Pacers, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The third year will be a team option, Scott Agness of The Athletic tweets.

Sumner appeared in 23 games last season, averaging 2.9 PPG in 9.1 MPG. He has a $1.8MM cap hold, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, which is factored into the team’s $5MM of remaining cap space. Indiana can keep the hold in place, use the remaining room and then officially sign Sumner.

The Pacers declined his $1.6MM team option but tendered a qualifying offer to the former second-round pick to make him a restricted free agent.

We have more on the Pacers:

Forward Brian Bowen II has signed a two-way contract, according to a team press release. Bowen played professionally in Australia during the 2018/19 season for the Sydney Kings. He averaged 6.3 points and 3.2 rebounds in 30 games. Bowen, 20, went undrafted. He was ruled ineligible to play last season by the NCAA after a recruiting scandal at Louisville.
Forward Jakeenan Gant and guard C.J. Wilcox were signed to Exhibit 10 contracts. Gant played for Louisiana-Lafayette and was named Defensive Player of the Year in the Sun Belt Conference. He averaged 20.6 PPG, 8.6 RPG and 2.7 BPG in his senior year. Wilcox was on a two-way contract with the Pacers last summer before suffering a torn right Achilles tendon prior to training camp. He was a late first-round pick for the Clippers in 2014 and played in G League during the 2017-18 season.
Bowen’s and Gant’s deals with Indiana were previously reported in June.

Bulls Sign Coby White To Rookie Contract

July 1st, 2019 at 1:50pm CST by JD Shaw

The Bulls have signed guard Coby White to his rookie contract, the team announced today in a press release. White was selected by the club No. 7 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.

For White, he’s set to earn $5.3MM in the first year of his deal, which is 120% of the rookie scale amount for the seventh pick. Chicago will have point guards White, Tomas Satoransky and Kris Dunn under contract entering next season.

White, 19, appeared in 35 games with the University of North Carolina last season, holding per-game averages of 16.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists. He’s set to start summer league with the Bulls later in the week.

Knicks To Sign Elfrid Payton

July 1st, 2019 at 12:44pm CST by JD Shaw

The Knicks have agreed to a two-year, $16MM deal with free agent guard Elfrid Payton, his agents, Ty Sullivan and Aaron Mintz of CAA Sports, tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The agreement contains a team option in the second season, according to The Athletic’s Michael Scotto. That lines it up with the other two-year contract agreements the team has reached so far in free agency.

Payton, an athletic two-way point guard, is set to join his fourth team in the past 18 months. He was traded from Orlando to Phoenix in February of 2018, signed with New Orleans last July, and started 42 games with the club this season.

New York also had interest in veteran free agent George Hill, according to SNY’s Ian Begley, but Hill decided to return to Milwaukee on a three-year, $29MM deal on Sunday night. The team now has one open roster spot and roughly $2MM in projected cap space to spend, plus the $4.8MM room exception.

In addition to Payton, the Knicks have already come to terms with Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson, Reggie Bullock and Wayne Ellington during the first 24 hours of free agency.