Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Kevin Durant To Sign With Nets

June 30th, 2019 at 5:08pm CST by Luke Adams

5:08pm: Durant has made it official by announcing via Instagram that he’ll sign with the Nets.

3:55pm: Free agent forward Kevin Durant plans to sign with the Nets, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Durant will make a formal announcement via Instagram once free agency officially opens at 6:00pm eastern time, tweets Wojnarowski.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter), Durant will sign a four-year, maximum-salary contract with Brooklyn. The deal will be worth $164,255,700.

[UPDATE: Durant will accept less than the max to accommodate a $40MM deal for DeAndre Jordan]

[UPDATE: Durant expected to be acquired via sign-and-trade involving D’Angelo Russell]

It’s a fascinating decision by Durant, who was long believed by league insiders to be eyeing a move to the Knicks if he opted not to return to the Warriors. However, as it became increasingly clear that KD’s good friend Kyrie Irving would sign with Brooklyn, there was increased speculation that the Nets could be in play for Durant too. He and Irving had reportedly discussed the idea of playing together, and now they’ll get that chance.

Of course, while the two stars will share a locker room in Brooklyn, they’ll have to wait a little longer to actually take the court together. Durant is expected to miss the full 2019/20 season as he recovers from the torn Achilles he suffered during Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Additionally, the Nets will have to make at least one more roster move before they can technically sign both Irving and Durant. Because KD’s maximum salary is higher than Kyrie’s, Brooklyn is still about $1.2MM short of that second max slot, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

In addition to adding Durant and Irving, the Nets have reportedly lined up deals with DeAndre Jordan and Garrett Temple. They’ll join a core that features Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Joe Harris, and Spencer Dinwiddie. All-Star point guard D’Angelo Russell will be headed elsewhere with Irving arriving in Brooklyn.

As for the Warriors, losing Durant means they’re no longer facing a record-setting luxury tax bill, but they figure to be aggressive in seeking ways to upgrade their roster with their two-time Finals MVP no longer in the mix.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pistons Sign Derrick Rose

June 30th, 2019 at 5:05pm CST by JD Shaw

JULY 6: The Pistons have officially signed Derrick Rose, according to NBA.com’s log of transactions.

JUNE 30: Free agent Derrick Rose has agreed to a two-year, $15MM deal with the Pistons, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Rose, 30, enjoyed a productive bounce-back season in Minnesota in 2018/19. While he was limited to 51 games due to injury issues, he averaged 18.0 PPG, 4.3 APG, and 2.7 RPG with an impressive .482/.370/.856 shooting line. It was the first time the former MVP had ever shot higher than 34.0% from beyond the arc in a season.

As for the Pistons, they were in the market for a point guard to join Reggie Jackson at the position, with Ish Smith and Jose Calderon headed for unrestricted free agency.

Detroit has the full mid-level exception at its disposal and will use a portion of that MLE to sign Rose. The deal should leave the Pistons with about $2MM on its mid-level.

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

Nets Sign Garrett Temple

June 30th, 2019 at 5:05pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8, 10:00pm: The Nets have officially signed Temple, the team announced today in a press release.

JUNE 30, 5:05pm: The Nets have agreed to a two-year, $10MM deal with Temple, agent Mark Bartelstein confirms to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

JUNE 30, 3:41pm: Free agent guard/forward Garrett Temple is expected to sign with the Nets once he’s eligible to do so, reports Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (via Twitter). According to Spears, Temple will likely sign a two-year, $10MM deal with a second-year team option.

Temple, 33, averaged 7.8 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 1.4 APG in a total of 75 games last season for the Grizzlies and Clippers. He’s considered a solid defender and a fairly reliable three-point shooter too (.353 career 3PT%), though he struggled after a deadline deal sent him to the Clips.

Based on the reported terms of Temple’s deal, it sounds like the Nets will use the room exception to sign him. That’s the exception available to teams that go under the cap and then use up all their cap space. It starts at $4.77MM and has a two-year value of $9.77MM.

The Nets are reportedly planning to use a significant chunk of their cap room to sign Kyrie Irving, and they’re said to be confident in their chances to land Kevin Durant with the rest of their space.

Kings Sign Dewayne Dedmon

June 30th, 2019 at 5:03pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8, 1:30pm: The Kings have officially signed Dedmon, the team announced today in a press release.

JUNE 30, 5:03pm: The Kings have agreed to terms on a three-year, $41MM deal with Dedmon, his agents tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

JUNE 30, 4:12pm: The Kings are expected to agree to terms quickly with center Dewayne Dedmon when free agency opens, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the two sides will finalize a three-year, $40MM agreement. The third year will be partially guaranteed, Amick adds.

The team issued a qualifying offer to Willie Cauley-Stein, who is on the market as a restricted free agent. Perhaps the team brings WCS back in addition to Dedmon, but I’d speculate that we’ve seen the last of Cauley-Stein in Sacramento.

The Kings were eyeing an upgrade at the center spot. They reportedly had interest in Al Horford, though the organization feared that he would end up signing elsewhere. Sacramento was also in the mix for Clint Capela had the Rockets opted to trade him either by himself or via a sign-and-trade that involved Jimmy Butler. There’s no word yet on whether the Kings are done shopping at the center spot.

Dedmon, who is entering his age-30 season, spent his last two seasons in Atlanta. In 2018/19, he averaged 10.8 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.3 BPG, and 1.1 SPG with a .492/.382/.814 shooting line in 64 games (25.1 MPG) for the Hawks.

In a recent podcast, ESPN’s Zach Lowe identified Dedmon as “sneakily the most coveted under-the-radar free agent in the league,” suggesting that teams would be thrilled to land him at the mid-level. Sacramento had to go higher than that to secure a commitment, but will still have cap room left over after adding Dedmon and Harrison Barnes.

Chris Crouse contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Bulls Sign Thaddeus Young

June 30th, 2019 at 5:03pm CST by JD Shaw

JULY 6: The Bulls have officially signed Young, the team announced in a press release.

JUNE 30: Free agent forward Thaddeus Young has agreed to join the Bulls on a three-year, $41MM deal, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Young, 31, spent the last three seasons in Indiana. In 2018/19, he averaged 12.6 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.5 APG, and 1.5 APG in 81 contests (30.7 MPG) for the Pacers, making 52.7% of his shots from the floor. He also provided defensive versatility in the club’s frontcourt.

However, with the Pacers apparently committed to playing Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis alongside one another up front, and with T.J. Warren joining the power forward mix as well, Young was the odd man out.

In Chicago, he’ll join a Bulls frontcourt that features promising young prospects Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter.

Having committed a chunk of their cap room to Young, the Bulls should still have about $10MM available to spend. The team is rumored to be in the market for a veteran point guard.

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

Spurs Re-Sign Rudy Gay

June 30th, 2019 at 4:24pm CST by JD Shaw

JULY 8: The Spurs have officially re-signed Gay, the team announced today in a press release.

JUNE 30: The Spurs will re-sign forward Rudy Gay on a two-year, $32MM contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Gay will remain in San Antonio, a franchise with which he has spent the last two seasons of his career. He held per-game averages of 13.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists last year. He also had an excellent year from beyond the arc, making 40.2% of his three-point attempts.

Gay has previously made stops with Memphis, Toronto, Sacramento across his 13-year career, first joining the Spurs back in the summer of 2017.

The Spurs had Early Bird rights on Gay, which permitted the team to give Gay a raise worth up to 175% on his previous salary ($10.1MM). As such, San Antonio won’t have to use any form of mid-level exception to complete Gay’s deal.

Brook Lopez Re-Signs With Bucks

June 30th, 2019 at 3:36pm CST by clarkcrum

JULY 6: The Bucks have officially re-signed Lopez, the team announced today in a press release.

JUNE 30: Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN is reporting that free agent big man Brook Lopez is planning to sign a four-year, $52MM deal to stay with the Bucks. As I wrote earlier today, Gery Woelfel of Woelfel’s Press Box first reported that Lopez was a good bet to return. There will be no options on the deal, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.

Lopez, who signed with the Bucks last season for the bi-annual exception worth only $3.4MM, will get a substantial raise after becoming an essential part of the Bucks’ growth into a championship contender under new coach Mike Budenholzer.

Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that it’s still unclear how Lopez’s contract will be structured, with the two likeliest possibilities being a flat $13MM per season through 2022/23 or a lower starting salary with standard 5% raises (Milwaukee can’t offer 8% raises because they only have Lopez’s Non-Bird rights).

Additionally, because the Bucks only have Lopez’s Non-Bird rights, they will need to renounce the cap holds for both Lopez and Nikola Mirotic and then re-sign Lopez using cap space. In order to retain the most space, Milwaukee will likely opt for the latter structure for Lopez’s contract.

The Kings were said to have interest in Lopez (along with a lot of other centers it would seem), as were the Lakers (link), but the Bucks and he were always motivated to get a deal done early in free agency.

The 31-year-old center, who was an All-Star with the Nets earlier in his career, will look to continue his improved three-point shooting next season after converting a career-high 36.5% from long range during the 2018/19 campaign.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Knicks Decline Option On Henry Ellenson

June 29th, 2019 at 6:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks have declined Henry Ellenson‘s $1,645,357 option for next season, tweets Michael Scotto of The Athletic.

Ellenson played 17 games for New York this year after signing with the team in February. He joined the Knicks on a 10-day contract in February, then inked a multi-year deal in early March. He averaged 6.0 points and 3.4 rebounds in nearly 14 minutes per night.

Ellenson, 22, was taken by the Pistons with the 18th pick in 2016. He played 59 total games for Detroit, including two this season, before being waived in February.

In recent days, the Knicks have also declined options on John Jenkins and Billy Garrett as they try to maximize cap space heading into free agency. New York also opted not to extend qualifying offers to Emmanuel Mudiay and Luke Kornet.

Theis Gets QO From Celtics; Rozier’s Expected To Be Withdrawn

June 29th, 2019 at 5:32pm CST by ChrisCrouse

5:32pm: Now that the Celtics are on track to sign Walker, the team is expected to withdraw Rozier’s QO and renounce his cap hold, making him an unrestricted free agent, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

2:56pm: The Celtics have extended a qualifying offer to Terry Rozier, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link) adds that Boston has also extended a qualifying offer to Daniel Theis.

Rozier’s qualifying offer comes in at roughly $4.29MM and his cap hold will be approximately $9.15MM. Theis’ qualifying offer and cap hold are each approximately $1.82MM. Both players are restricted free agents at the moment.

The team will not need to renounce Theis in order to have max cap room for a player with Kemba Walker‘s experience. Boston will need to renounce Rozier’s rights or make another move if it is going to add Walker or another player in his max tier.

The Celtics will not tender qualifying offers to PJ Dozier, Jonathan Gibson, or R.J. Hunter, according to Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Boston also won’t tender a qualifying offer to Brad Wanamaker, making him an unrestricted free agent, tweets Wojnarowski.

Suns Decline 2019/20 Option On Ray Spalding

June 29th, 2019 at 4:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns have turned down their team option on power forward Ray Spalding for the 2019/20 season, reports Gina Mizell of The Athletic (via Twitter). The option would have paid Spalding a minimum salary of $1,416,852.

A former Louisville standout, Spalding was drafted by the Sixers with the 56th overall selection last June and traded to Dallas on draft night. However, the Mavericks waived him in January to open up a roster spot to complete the Kristaps Porzingis trade.

Spalding subsequently caught on with the Suns, signing a 10-day contract and then a multiyear deal. He appeared in 13 games for Phoenix down the stretch, averaging 4.2 PPG and 3.7 RPG in 11.3 minutes per contest.

Spalding is eligible to receive a qualifying offer from the Suns, but there has been no indication that the team has issued a QO. Without that offer, the 22-year-old will become an unrestricted free agent.