Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pistons Sign-And-Trade Dennis Schröder To Kings

July 2nd, 2025 at 7:10pm CST by Rory Maher

July 7: The trade is official, according to a press release from the Kings.

In addition to receiving Schröder, Sacramento acquired the least favorable of the Bucks’, Knicks’, and Pistons’ 2029 second-round picks, per James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link). Detroit generated a sizable trade exception and received the Hornets’ top-55 protected 2026 second-round pick.

July 2: Schröder will be sent to Sacramento via sign-and-trade, reports Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link).

Structuring the move that way will allow the Kings to take Schröder into their $16.8MM trade exception while preserving their full mid-level exception, and will let the Pistons either create a $14MM+ trade exception or expand the deal to take back a player earning up to nearly $23MM.

It’s not yet clear what the Kings will send to the Pistons as part of the deal, but it’ll likely be a minor asset. Although the two teams discussed Monk, as noted below, reporting on Tuesday indicated he wouldn’t be involved in this transaction.

July 1: The Kings are signing Dennis Schröder to a three-year contract worth $45MM, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). The deal will be fully guaranteed through two years, with a partial guarantee on the third season, per Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Marc Stein and Jake Fischer reported a few hours before free agency opened that the German guard was expected to sign with Sacramento for the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception, while Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link) said on Monday evening that Schröder would agree to a deal with Sacramento.

Those earlier reports pointed toward a two-year deal, but Schröder will get an extra year. It still could be a non-taxpayer MLE deal, which would be worth roughly $44.4MM over three years, though a sign-and-trade is a possibility — contracts signed via sign-and-trade must cover at least three seasons, which may explain the additional year.

There were rumors on Monday that Detroit and Sacramento were exploring a deal that would include Malik Monk. The Kings could also acquire Schröder via sign-and-trade using a sizable trade exception they created earlier this year. In that scenario, they wouldn’t have to send out any matching salary.

According to Goodwill, no sign-and-trade has been agreed to at this point, but that could change in the coming days.

After spending his first five NBA seasons in Atlanta, Schröder has bounced around the league over the past seven years, playing for eight different teams. That was particularly true of the 2024/25 campaign, when he was traded from Brooklyn to Golden State in December and then rerouted to Detroit before the February deadline.

Overall, the former first-round pick (No. 17 overall in 2013) played in 75 games last season, including 48 starts (28.1 minutes per contest), averaging 13.1 points, 5.4 assists and 2.6 rebounds on .406/.342/.838 shooting. He also had a strong playoff showing for the Pistons, averaging 12.5 PPG, 3.7 APG, 2.5 RPG and 1.2 SPG on .491/.476/.813 shooting in six games during the team’s first-round loss to New York (27.3 MPG).

Schröder, who turns 32 years old in September, will provide speed, ball-handling, and point-of-attack defense to a Kings team in need of point guard help after trading De’Aaron Fox to San Antonio in February. He marks the first significant free agent addition of the new front office, which is led by general manager Scott Perry.

Jazz Sign First-Rounders Ace Bailey, Walter Clayton Jr.

July 2nd, 2025 at 6:58pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Jazz have put out a press release officially announcing that they’ve signed first-round draft picks Ace Bailey and Walter Clayton Jr. to their rookie scale contracts.

Bailey, considered by many draft experts to be the third-best prospect in this year’s draft behind only Cooper Flagg and Rutgers teammate Dylan Harper, didn’t conduct any workouts during the pre-draft process as his camp appeared focused on getting him to a specific destination.

While Utah wasn’t believed to be that destination of choice, the Jazz’s front office decided Bailey’s upside was worth the risk, sight unseen — he didn’t make it past the team’s pick at No. 5 overall, and after some speculation about whether or not he’d report, he arrived in Utah as planned.

In 30 games for the Scarlet Knights last year, the 18-year-old averaged 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per contest, with shooting splits of .460/.346/.692.

Assuming he signed for the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale, which is a safe bet, Bailey will earn $9.1MM in 2025/26, and will net $41.2MM across the balance of his first four seasons.

Outside of the lottery, the Jazz traded up for the draft rights to Florida guard Clayton with the No. 18 pick. The 6’2″ guard is set to make nearly $4MM as a rookie, and will earn a total of $19.3MM over the course of his deal.

Clayton, a consensus first-team All-American who helped lead the Gators to the NCAA title last season, logged averages of 18.3 PPG, 4.2 APG, 3.7 RPG and 1.2 SPG in 39 healthy games. He posted a shooting line of .448/.386/.875.

Bucks Waive Chris Livingston

July 2nd, 2025 at 6:45pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks have waived forward Chris Livingston, according to the official transaction log at NBA.com.

Livingston had two years left on the contract he signed with Milwaukee as a second-round pick in 2023, but his $2.22MM salary for 2025/26 was non-guaranteed as long as he was placed on waivers on or before July 15. As a result, it will no longer count against the Bucks’ cap.

The 58th overall pick in 2023 out of Kentucky, Livingston struggled to earn minutes over the course of two seasons in Milwaukee, making just 42 total appearances and averaging 1.3 points and 1.3 rebounds in 4.7 minutes per game.

The 21-year-old did show some promise at the G League level. In 18 outings for the Wisconsin Herd this past season, he averaged 18.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.1 steals in 29.5 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .485/.301/.828.

Releasing Livingston will generate a little extra cap room for the Bucks, who are making a series of transactions to create the space necessary to complete their four-year, $107MM deal with Myles Turner when the July moratorium ends.

Jalen Bridges To Sign Camp Deal With Celtics

July 2nd, 2025 at 6:28pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Celtics have added free agent forward Jalen Bridges to their Summer League squad and plan to bring him to training camp to compete for a roster spot, sources inform Jay King of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Bridges, who was on a two-way contract with the Suns during his 2024/25 rookie season, will likely end up signing an Exhibit 10 contract with Boston. Exhibit 10 deals can be converted into two-way contracts, which would be a pathway to making the roster.

On an Exhibit 10 deal, Bridges would also be eligible to earn a bonus worth up to $85K if Boston cuts him before the start of the season, provided he sticks with the club’s G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics, for at least 60 days.

A 6’8″ forward out of Baylor, Bridges appeared in just eight games and logged 30 total minutes at the NBA level for the Suns last season. However, across 31 regular season contests for Phoenix’s NBAGL squad, the Valley Suns, the 24-year-old put up solid averages of 14.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game, with a shooting line of .425/.386/.794.

Phoenix didn’t give Bridges a two-way qualifying offer this past weekend, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Deandre Ayton Signs With Lakers

July 2nd, 2025 at 4:38pm CST by Luke Adams

July 6: Ayton has officially signed with the Lakers, the team announced in a press release.

“Acquiring a starting-caliber center was the top priority for us this offseason, and we believe Deandre is an amazing solution to that objective and is an ideal player to add to our current core,” president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said in a statement. “Deandre’s size, mobility and athleticism will allow both paint scoring and paint protection. Deandre’s playoff experience as a starter on an NBA Finals team also aligns well with our ultimate Lakers championship aspirations.”

July 2: After officially clearing waivers on Wednesday, center Deandre Ayton has agreed to sign with the Lakers as an unrestricted free agent, confirms Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Ayton’s new deal with the Lakers will cover two years and will be worth $16.6MM, with a second-year player option, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter links).

Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link) first reported that rival teams with interest in Ayton were expecting him to commit to the Lakers after he cleared waivers, while NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link) also reported that the former No. 1 overall pick was on track to end up in Los Angeles.

Ayton, who agreed to give up $10MM of his $35.6MM salary in a buyout with Portland, will be signed into the remainder of the Lakers’ non-taxpayer mid-level exception following their deal with Jake LaRavia, tweets cap expert Yossi Gozlan. In total, between his Blazers and Lakers contracts, the big man will make about $34MM in 2025/26.

It’s a significant move for the Lakers, who had been on the hunt for a center since trading Anthony Davis to Dallas in the Luka Doncic trade in February. The club agreed in principle to acquire Mark Williams from the Hornets at February’s trade deadline, but nixed that deal a couple days later due to concerns about Williams’ physical.

The Lakers spent much of their first-round playoff series against Minnesota this spring playing without a traditional center on the floor and made it a top priority entering the summer to address that spot, scouring the trade market and free agency for viable options.

Ayton, who was selected two spots ahead of Doncic in the 2018 draft and shares an agent (Bill Duffy) with the Lakers star, has faced criticism over the years due to questions about his effort and focus. A report out of Portland following his release earlier this week indicated that he frustrated the Blazers by being late to team flights and practices, skipping injury rehab appointments, and throwing “tantrums” in the locker room when he was benched for poor effort.

However, it would have been virtually impossible for the Lakers to find a center in free agency who is more talented as a scorer and rebounder than Ayton. He has averaged at least 14.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in all seven of his NBA seasons and was the starting center for a Suns team that made the NBA Finals in 2021. He’s also still very much in his prime — he’ll turn 27 years old later this month.

The Pacers, who signed Ayton to a four-year, maximum-salary offer sheet in 2022 that was matched by Phoenix, were among the other teams said to have interest in him, but the Lakers were consistently cited as the frontrunner.

As a result of using their non-taxpayer mid-level exception, L.A. will be hard-capped at the first tax apron in 2025/26. They’re currently about $5.6MM below that threshold for 13 players, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Kings Sign Maxime Raynaud To Three-Year Deal

July 2nd, 2025 at 3:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings have signed former Stanford big man Maxime Raynaud to a three-year contract worth $5.95MM, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

The deal is fully guaranteed for the first two seasons, with a team option for 2027/28, Scotto adds. It has been officially completed, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

Sacramento completed the signing using the second-round pick exception. As we detailed earlier today, a three-year contract that uses that exception and starts at the rookie minimum is worth a total of $5,949,688. Second-round picks can sign their contracts during the July moratorium, which is why the Kings didn’t have to wait until July 6 to get it done.

Raynaud, who spent his full four-year college career at Stanford, had a massive season in 2024/25, averaging 20.2 points and a conference-high 10.6 rebounds, along with 1.4 blocks per game. He also began shooting from beyond the arc a little more, knocking down 34.7% of 5.5 three-pointers per game.

Raynaud was the No. 42 overall pick in last week’s draft.

Mavericks Sign Cooper Flagg To Rookie Contract

July 2nd, 2025 at 2:11pm CST by Luke Adams

No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg has officially signed his first NBA contract, the Mavericks announced on Wednesday (via Twitter).

The rookie scale deal will pay Flagg a $13.8MM salary in his rookie year and a total of $62.7MM across his first four NBA seasons.

The top prize of the 2025 NBA draft class, Flagg is coming off a wildly successful freshman season at Duke, where he was earned ACC Player of the Year and AP Player of the Year honors, among several others awards. The 6’9″ forward was the driving force behind the Blue Devils’ 35-4 record and helped the team reach the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.

Flagg stuffed the stat sheet in his first and only college season, leading a stacked Duke team in points (19.2), rebounds (7.5), assists (4.2), steals (1.4) and blocks (1.4) per game, with a strong shooting line of .481/.385/.840. He made 37 appearances in 2024/25, averaging 30.7 minutes per contest.

Dallas had just a 1.8% chance of claiming this year’s top pick, jumping up from No. 11 to No. 1 when the team won the draft lottery in May.

Cavs Re-Sign Luke Travers On Two-Way Contract

July 1st, 2025 at 9:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavaliers have re-signed forward Luke Travers on a two-way contract, according to the NBA transactions log.

Travers received a qualifying offer and apparently accepted that offer to remain on a two-way deal. The qualifying offer is equivalent to another one-year, two-way deal, with a portion (approximately $85K) guaranteed.

Drafted 56th overall in 2022, Travers played 12 games with the NBA club this past season, averaging 1.0 points and 1.7 rebounds in 7.3 minutes. Travers was an Australian draft-and-stash prospect and joined the Cavs on a two-way deal last offseason, though he has been part of their Summer League team for three seasons.

Travers appeared in 21 regular season games with the G League’s Cleveland Charge, averaging 17.0 points, 9.9. rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks in 34 minutes per game.

The Cavs now have a pair of players on two-way contracts, with Travers joining Nae’Qwan Tomlin.

Eric Gordon Re-Signs With Sixers On One-Year Deal

July 1st, 2025 at 9:38pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Sixers have officially re-signed veteran guard Eric Gordon, according to team press release. It’s a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal worth $3.6MM, Sixers beat reporter Derek Bodner tweets.

Gordon declined his $3.47MM option in order to become a free agent but there was reported interest in a reunion and it has come to fruition.

Turning down that option and re-signing on a one-year, minimum-salary deal is a win-win for Gordon and the Sixers. He’ll earn a slightly higher minimum salary ($3.63MM) by inking a new contract, and because the deal just covers one year, the NBA will reimburse the team for a portion of that salary, meaning Philadelphia’s cap hit will be just $2.3MM.

Gordon, who turns 37 on Christmas Day, is coming off an injury-marred season. He posted career-low averages of 6.8 points and 19.7 minutes per game, though he shot it well from three-point land (40.9%). He only appeared in 39 games before undergoing season-ending arthroscopic right wrist surgery on Feb. 26.

Gordon has appeared in 925 regular season games during his career, which began in 2008 with the Clippers. He’s averaged 15.3 points during his career and never averaged fewer than 11 points per game until this past season.

Minimum-salary contracts are among the types of deals that can be officially completed during the July moratorium, which is why the 76ers were able to formally announce Gordon’s new contract.

Jaxson Robinson To Sign Exhibit 10 Deal With Cavs

July 1st, 2025 at 7:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Undrafted rookie Jaxson Robinson has agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract with the Cavaliers, Jon Chepkevich of Draft Express tweets.

The well-traveled Robinson played for four Division I teams during his college career. He suited up for Texas A&M, Arkansas and BYU before winding up at Kentucky last season.

He started 24 games for the Wildcats, averaging 13 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 28 minutes per game. He shot 43.2 percent from the field and 37.6 percent on 3-point tries.

Robinson’s season was cut short by an injury. He suffered a torn ECU tendon in his right wrist during a practice collision in February and underwent surgery in early March.

Exhibit 10 contracts are non-guaranteed but include bonuses of up to $85K if the player is waived and then spends at least 60 days with his team’s G League affiliate. In Robinson’s case, that G League team would be the Cleveland Charge. Exhibit 10 contracts can also be converted into two-way deals, so Davis will try to make his case for a promotion during Summer League and training camp.