Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Exercise 2025/26 Options On Jaime Jaquez, Nikola Jovic

September 5th, 2024 at 4:04pm CST by Rory Maher

The Heat have exercised their 2025/26 team options on wing Jaime Jaquez and forward Nikola Jovic, the team announced (Twitter link via Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press).

Jaquez is now guaranteed to earn $3,861,600 in ’25/26, which will be his third season, while Jovic will earn $4,445,417 during his fourth campaign. Jovic will also become eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2025 offseason.

As our tracker shows, Miami is the first NBA team to make decisions on its rookie scale team options for the ’25/26 season. The outcome was a mere formality after both players had strong seasons in ’23/24.

The No. 18 overall pick of the 2023 draft, Jaquez averaged 11.9 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 2.6 APG and 1.0 SPG in 75 regular season contests for the Heat (28.2 MPG). His excellent play earned him a spot on the All-Rookie First Team.

Jovic, who is two-plus years younger than Jaquez (21 vs. 23) despite being drafted a year earlier (No. 27 in 2022), spent the beginning of last season in the G League before emerging as a rotation regular down the stretch. In 46 regular season games (19.5 MPG), Jovic averaged 7.7 PPG, 4.2 RPG and 2.0 APG. The Serbian won a bronze medal this summer at the Olympics in Paris.

The deadline for teams to pick up 2025/26 rookie scale options is October 31, 2024.

Hornets Sign Keyontae Johnson

September 5th, 2024 at 2:52pm CST by Rory Maher

The Hornets have signed free agent forward Keyontae Johnson, according to RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions.

The news of Johnson landing with Charlotte was announced last month by his agency. At the time, it was unclear what type of contract he would be signing. By process of elimination, it appears the 24-year-old signed an Exhibit 9 contract, likely with Exhibit 10 language.

Players who sign Exhibit 9 or Exhibit 10 contracts don’t appear on NBA.com’s official transactions log, but RealGM does track those deals. Exhibit 9/10 players only show up on NBA.com’s log when they’ve been waived (Jared Brownridge is a recent example).

The No. 50 overall pick of the 2023 draft, Johnson spent his entire rookie campaign on a two-way contract with Oklahoma City. He only appeared in nine games with the Thunder last season for a total of 66 minutes, but had a significant role with their NBA G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue.

The Thunder declined to give Johnson a two-way qualifying offer after the 2023/24 season, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Although they’re not technically required to, virtually every Exhibit 10 contract also contains an Exhibit 9 clause, which provides a team protections when a player on a non-guaranteed training camp contract suffers an injury. If a team wants to sign a player to a deal that includes both an Exhibit 9 and Exhibit 10 clause, it must already be carrying at least 14 players on standard contracts. The Hornets currently have 14 players on standard deals.

If Johnson signed an Exhibit 10 deal, he could receive a $77.5K bonus if he’s waived before the season starts and spends at least 60 days with the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’s NBA G League affiliate. Exhibit 10 contracts can also be converted to two-way deals, and the Hornets currently have one two-way opening.

Clippers Sign Elijah Harkless To Exhibit 10 Contract

September 5th, 2024 at 2:08pm CST by Rory Maher

September 5: Harkless’ Exhibit 10 contract with the Clippers is official, per RealGM’s transactions log.

July 29: Free agent guard Elijah Harkless will be signing an Exhibit 10 contract with the Clippers, a source tells Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Harkless went undrafted in 2023 after playing five seasons of college basketball with three different schools (Cal State Northridge, Oklahoma and UNLV). As Murray notes, Harkless recently suited up for the Clippers during Summer League action.

The 24-year-old spent his first professional season playing for the Clippers’ NBA G League affiliate in Ontario, California. He put up solid numbers off the bench in 27 Showcase Cup and regular season games, averaging 11.4 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.9 APG and 1.0 SPG on .493/.419/.750 shooting (20.7 MPG).

Exhibit 10 deals, which are non-guaranteed, can be converted to two-way contracts, and the Clips do have a two-way opening. They can also ensure a player receives a bonus worth up to $77.5K if he’s waived before the regular season begins and then spends at least 60 days with his club’s G League affiliate.

Jazz Sign Patty Mills To One-Year Contract

September 5th, 2024 at 1:51pm CST by Luke Adams

September 5: Mills’ contract with the Jazz is now official, the team announced in a press release.

August 14: The Jazz have agreed to sign veteran point guard Patty Mills to a one-year contract, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Wojnarowski says it’s a $3.3MM deal, which is equivalent to Mills’ minimum salary for 2024/25 ($3,303,771). It will be fully guaranteed, Woj adds.

Mills, who turned 36 on Sunday, will be entering his 16th NBA season this fall. The 2009 second-round pick has appeared in 892 total regular season games for five teams and spent most of his prime years in San Antonio, where he won a title in 2014 and overlapped with current Jazz head coach Will Hardy from 2015-21, when Hardy was an assistant on Gregg Popovich‘s staff.

Mills has seen his playing time and production fall off in recent years. In 2023/24, he appeared in 32 games for the Hawks and Heat and averaged just 4.0 points, 1.1 assists, and 1.1 rebounds in 13.0 minutes per game while shooting 35.1% from the field and 27.6% from the beyond the arc, far below his career averages of 42.4% and 38.6%, respectively.

However, the Australian showed during this year’s Paris Olympics that he still has something left in the tank. He averaged 16.5 PPG with a .409 3PT% over the course of the Boomers’ four games.

Mills figures to serve as a locker room leader and a mentor for the Jazz’s young players, including second-year guard Keyonte George. He projects to fill the 15th and final spot on Utah’s regular season roster, providing depth at point guard.

The club is carrying 14 other players on standard guaranteed contracts, as well as three players on two-way deals. While it’s possible the front office will continue to wheel and deal during the rest of the offseason and preseason, the Jazz’s roster will essentially be regular-season-ready once Mills is officially signed.

Bulls Sign Talen Horton-Tucker To Exhibit 10 Contract

September 5th, 2024 at 1:42pm CST by Arthur Hill

September 5: Horton-Tucker’s contract with the Bulls — which features Exhibit 10 language, according to multiple reports — is now official, per RealGM’s transaction log.

September 4: Free agent guard Talen Horton-Tucker will join the Bulls on a partially guaranteed contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Charania notes that it’s a homecoming for the 23-year-old Chicago native, who has five years of NBA experience with the Lakers and Jazz. He appeared in 51 games with Utah last season, making 11 starts and averaging 10.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 19.8 minutes per night.

Shooting has been a persistent issue for Horton-Tucker, and he connected at a career-low 39.6% from the field last season, along with 33% from three-point range.

The Jazz renounced their free agent rights to Horton-Tucker last month to clear cap room for Lauri Markkanen‘s new contract. Reports surfaced this summer that the Rockets and Mavericks might have interest in signing him, but nothing ever materialized.

Charania states that Horton-Tucker will be given a chance to earn a roster spot with the Bulls. Chicago currently has 14 players with fully guaranteed contracts, plus Onuralp Bitim, whose deal is non-guaranteed until opening night and then carries a $350K guarantee until the league-wide guarantee date in early January.

Lakers Sign, Waive Vincent Valerio-Bodon

September 5th, 2024 at 1:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

September 5: Valerio-Bodon has been waived, the Lakers announced (Twitter link). He’ll likely be heading back to South Bay for the upcoming season.

September 4: Vincent Valerio-Bodon has signed with the Lakers, the team announced (via Twitter). It’s an Exhibit 10 contract, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

The 23-year-old swingman from Hungary was in training camp with L.A. last fall, but was waived before the start of the season. He joined the Lakers’ South Bay affiliate in the G League, where he averaged 5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 10 games.

L.A. has a full complement for training camp already, so it will be difficult for Valerio-Bodon to earn a roster spot. The Lakers have 15 players on standard contracts, and all three two-way spots are filled. In addition, the team signed Kylor Kelley and Quincy Olivari to Exhibit 10 contracts last month, plus it reached an agreement Tuesday with Jordan Goodwin and reportedly plans to sign Sean East II. With a 21-man roster limit for camp, someone will have to be released before all the moves can be completed.

Assuming Valerio-Bodon winds up with South Bay again, he will be eligible for a bonus of up to $77.5K if he spends at least 60 days with the team.

Sixers Sign, Waive Jared Brownridge

September 4th, 2024 at 5:39pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 4: Brownridge has been signed and waived, a team spokesman told Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports (Twitter link). He’s expected to return to Delaware for this season.

SEPTEMBER 3, 8:00pm: The deal is official, per RealGM’s transaction log.

SEPTEMBER 3, 2:01pm: The Sixers are signing veteran shooting guard Jared Brownridge to an Exhibit 10 contract, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

The move will almost certainly be a procedural one, lining up Brownridge to earn a bonus worth up to $77.5K once he’s waived by Philadelphia and then spends at least 60 days with the Delaware Blue Coats, the Sixers’ G League affiliate.

Players who sign Exhibit 10 contracts are sometimes promoted to two-way deals before opening night or can even earn regular season roster spots if they impress in the preseason. But that’s not likely to be the plan for Brownridge, who has been a Delaware mainstay since 2018, spending the past six-plus seasons with the 76ers’ NBAGL team.

After winning a G League championship with the Blue Coats in 2023, Brownridge appeared in a career-high 50 Showcase Cup and regular season games last season, averaging 8.4 points, 1.7 assists, and 1.5 rebounds in 21.7 minutes per game while posting a shooting line of .407/.417/.667.

Brownridge is known as a sharpshooter and floor-spacer, having made 39.3% of his career three-point attempts in the G League. The former Santa Clara standout ranks third all-time in NBAGL regular season three-pointers (603), behind only Andre Ingram (845) and Reggie Hearn (674).

The Sixers currently have 19 players officially under contract, so no corresponding roster move will be necessary to add Brownridge, since teams can carry up to 21 players during the offseason.

Magic To Sign Mac McClung To Exhibit 10 Contract

September 4th, 2024 at 4:26pm CST by Arthur Hill

Mac McClung has agreed to a deal with the Magic, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’s an Exhibit 10 contract, a source tells Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link).

The 25-year-old guard was named MVP of the G League last season, but he’s best known for winning the past two Slam Dunk Contests at All-Star Weekend. He has limited NBA experience, appearing in two games with the Sixers on a two-way deal after becoming the 2023 dunk champion and playing one game each with the Bulls and Lakers during the 2021/22 season.

McClung was also in training camp with Orlando last fall on an Exhibit 10 deal. He was waived before the start of the season and joined the Magic’s G League affiliate in Osceola, where he averaged 25.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 6.6 assists in 27 games.

Orlando already has 15 players with standard contracts, so it will be difficult for McClung to earn a spot on the 15-man roster. The team has a pair of two-way openings remaining, so that’s likely his best path back to the NBA.

McClung has received numerous NBA opportunities since going undrafted out of Texas Tech in 2021. He signed two contracts with the Lakers, a pair of 10-day deals with Chicago and spent time with Golden State before joining Philadelphia and Orlando.

If McClung fails to win a roster spot, the Exhibit 10 contract will allow him to earn a bonus worth up to $77.5K if he spends at least 60 days with Osceola.

The signing will give the Magic 17 players on their training camp roster, four short of the league maximum.

Clippers’ Ivica Zubac Signs Three-Year Extension

September 3rd, 2024 at 6:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

SEPTEMBER 3: The Clippers have officially signed Zubac to an extension, per a team press release.

“We don’t take for granted that we can pencil in our starting center and defensive anchor every night, every year,” team president Lawrence Frank said. “Zu is a rock for our organization and will remain so.”

AUGUST 30: The Clippers and starting center Ivica Zubac have reached an agreement on a three-year, $58.6MM extension, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Zubac was entering his walk year and will make $11,743,210 in 2024/25. His new deal will run through the 2027/28 season. The big man is the 14th player to sign a veteran extension since the end of last season, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.

The contract represents the maximum three-year extension available under the Collective Bargaining Agreement for Zubac, who was eligible to receive up to 140% of this season’s estimated average salary, with 8% annual raises.

The breakdown of Zubac’s extension is as follows:

2025/26: $18,102,000
2026/27: $19,550,160
2027/28: $20,998,320

Zubac, who entered the league in 2016 with the Lakers, posted career highs of 11.7 points and 9.2 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per game last season. A traditional center who doesn’t venture out to the 3-point line, the 27-year-old shot 64.9% from the field and also averaged 1.4 assists and 1.2 blocks per contest.

Zubac is solidly entrenched as the Clippers’ starting center. Kawhi Leonard signed a three-year extension in January and the team brought back guard James Harden on a two-year deal but lost their other star forward, Paul George, to Philadelphia in free agency. The Clippers are replacing him in the lineup with Derrick Jones, who was signed to a three-year deal in free agency.

Pacers Sign T.J. McConnell To Four-Year Extension

September 3rd, 2024 at 10:59am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 3: The Pacers have officially announced McConnell’s extension, confirming the deal in a press release.

“It is safe to say that every team in the NBA would like a player that possesses the same intensity, competitive spirit, and passion for the game and his teammates as T.J. McConnell,” Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said in a statement. “T.J. has become a steadying veteran presence for our team both on and off the court, and his value to our franchise cannot be overstated. He was an integral part of our success last year and we’re happy that he will continue to be a part of what we’re building here.”

AUGUST 30: The Pacers and veteran guard T.J. McConnell have reached an agreement on a four-year contract extension worth $45MM, agents Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The deal will begin in 2025/26 following the expiration of McConnell’s current contract, which will pay him $9.3MM this season. In total, he’ll be owed $54MM for the next five years, taking him through the ’28/29 season.

McConnell, who has been with the Pacers since 2019 after spending the first four years of his NBA career in Philadelphia, began last season out of Indiana’s crowded rotation. However, it didn’t take long for him to reestablish himself as one of the team’s top reserves.

The 32-year-old ended up appearing in 71 games, averaging 10.2 points, 5.5 assists, and 2.7 rebounds in 18.2 minutes per game. He posted a .556/.409/.790 shooting line and earned Sixth Man of the Year votes, then played a key role off the bench in the postseason, putting up 11.8 PPG, 5.1 APG, and 3.1 RPG in 17 games (20.5 MPG).

With Tyrese Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard cemented as building blocks in the Pacers’ backcourt, it was unclear how aggressively the team would pursue an extension with McConnell as he nears his mid-30s and the cost of the roster continues to rise. However, today’s news signals that the front office remains as confident as ever in his ability to be a positive contributor for many years to come.

When we discussed McConnell’s extension candidacy in our recent Offseason Check-In story on the Pacers, we identified Mike Conley‘s recent two-year, $20.75MM deal as a potential point of comparison for the Indiana guard. Now locked up for $54MM over five years, McConnell will earn an annual salary slightly above Conley’s for a significantly longer term.

While McConnell is four-and-a-half years younger than Conley, it’s still a little surprising to see the Pacers make such a lengthy commitment to a bench player at this stage of his career. We’ll have to wait for the full details, but it wouldn’t be surprising if some of McConnell’s salary on the back end of the deal is non-guaranteed.

McConnell is the fourth Pacer to sign a long-term contract worth at least eight figures annually this summer. Pascal Siakam and Obi Toppin received lucrative four-year deals a free agents, while Nembhard inked a three-year extension that ensures he’ll be under contract for the next four seasons.

With McConnell locked up, just one of the top eight players from Indiana’s postseason rotation is entering a contract year — starting center Myles Turner will become extension-eligible in January.