Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nuggets Sign Isaiah Thomas

July 16th, 2018 at 1:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 16: The Nuggets have officially signed Thomas, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 12: The Nuggets will sign free agent guard Isaiah Thomas to a one-year contract, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. He will accept a veteran’s minimum deal (Twitter link) and will join forces with head coach Michael Malone, who previously coached Thomas in Sacramento.

Thomas will have a $2,029,463 salary for the upcoming season, while Denver will absorb a $1,512,601 cap hit.

Thomas will try to rediscover the form that made him an MVP candidate in Boston after a brutal season that saw him traded to the Cavaliers and Lakers. He sat out the first half of the season while recovering from a lingering hip injury, then played just 15 games for Cleveland before being moved. The veteran guard was a controversial figure with the Cavs, facing frequent complaints over his attitude and poor defense.

Thomas’ performance was a little better with the Lakers, but he appeared in just 17 games before undergoing minor hip surgery in March. He has since declared himself fully healed from that procedure.

An opportunity may be waiting in Denver, which could use another scorer after trading Wilson Chandler to the Sixers last week. The Nuggets also didn’t have a ton of backcourt depth behind starting point guard Jamal Murray, so Thomas could be a key contributor and offensive play-maker for the club.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Knicks Waive Troy Williams

July 16th, 2018 at 12:20pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have released small forward Troy Williams, the team announced today (via Twitter). The move reduces New York’s roster count to 15 players on NBA contracts, plus a pair on two-way contracts.

Williams, who previously played for the Grizzlies and Rockets, signed two 10-day contracts with the Knicks following last season’s All-Star break and made a good impression, earning a rest-of-year deal. The 23-year-old’s contract agreement included a non-guaranteed salary for 2018/19 — the Knicks won’t be on the hook for any of that $1,544,951 figure.

In 17 games for the Knicks last season, Williams averaged 7.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 1.1 SPG, with a .490/.333/.704 shooting line. His non-guaranteed salary and the offseason additions of Mario Hezonja and Kevin Knox made Williams expendable.

Williams will clear waivers and become a free agent on Wednesday, assuming he goes unclaimed. It’s possible some team will place a claim, since no cap room or trade exception is required to absorb Williams’ minimum-salary contract.

Grizzlies Sign Jevon Carter To Multi-Year Deal

July 15th, 2018 at 6:28pm CST by Austin Kent

The Grizzlies have signed 2018 second-round pick Jevon Carter to a multi-year contract, the club announced in a press release.

The 32nd overall pick arrives in Memphis after four seasons at West Virginia and will compete with Kobi Simmons for reps at the backup point guard position.

Carter is currently with Memphis’ summer league squad competing in Vegas and has averaged 12.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game.

Celtics Waive Kadeem Allen

July 15th, 2018 at 3:53pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 15: The Celtics announced in a press release that Allen has been waived.

JULY 14: The Celtics will release point guard Kadeem Allen and give his two-way slot to someone else next week, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.

A second-round pick out of Arizona in 2017, Allen saw action in just 18 games for the Celtics, averaging 1.1 points in 5.9 minutes. However, he was a G League All-Star with Maine and was named to the All-Defensive team.

Boston only has one two-way spot filled, but the team extended a qualifying offer to Jabari Bird, who held a two-way contract last season, and may view him for the same role in 2018/19. Keep track of all the two-way deals with our Two-Way Contract Tracker.

Pistons Sign Zaza Pachulia

July 15th, 2018 at 12:37pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 15, 12:37pm: The signing is official, the Pistons announced in an email.

JULY 8, 3:51pm: The Pistons have officially waived Moreland, according to a team press release.

12:09pm: Free agent center Zaza Pachulia has agreed to a one-year deal with the Pistons, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Pachulia will receive a veteran’s minimum salary of $2,393,887 with a $1,512,601 cap hit.

Pachulia will bring championship experience to Detroit as the backup for Andre Drummond. The 34-year-old won rings as a member of the Warriors in each of the past two seasons.

A rugged defender and rebounder, Pachulia appeared in 69 games with Golden State during 2017/18, averaging 5.4 PPG and 4.7 RPG. His role decreased in the playoffs as the Warriors opted for smaller, quicker lineups. Pachulia played in just seven postseason games, averaging 3.7 minutes.

The addition of Pachulia means Detroit no longer has a need for Eric Moreland, who will be waived, according to Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Today was the deadline to make a decision on a $750K guarantee for Moreland’s $1,826,300 salary.

Jazz Sign Naz Mitrou-Long To Two-Way Deal

July 14th, 2018 at 4:08pm CST by ChrisCrouse

4:08pm: The signing is now official, the Jazz confirmed in a press release.

2:39pm: The Jazz will sign Naz Mitrou-Long to a two-way contract, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

“I’m just happy that the Jazz were so patient with me and just kept contributing to the fact that they wanted to see me grow,” the guard said (via Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News on Twitter).

Mitrou-Long earned two 10-day deals with the Jazz last season, as the team needed to add depth at the guard spot with Ricky Rubio battling injuries. He didn’t see any real action for the NBA club though, entering just one contest for a total of one minute.

Mitrou-Long also played for Utah’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, last season. The soon-to-be 25-year-old appeared in 40 games with the Stars, averaging 18.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per contest.

Bulls Waive Paul Zipser, Julyan Stone

July 14th, 2018 at 12:52pm CST by Luke Adams

As part of the series of transactions that saw them make their signing of Jabari Parker official, the Bulls have formally waived forward Paul Zipser and guard Julyan Stone, the team announced in a press release.

The moves were necessary in order to clear the cap room necessary to finalize Parker’s two-year, $40MM deal. Having already traded Jerian Grant, waived Sean Kilpatrick, and withdrawn David Nwaba‘s qualifying offer within the last week or so, Chicago was able to create about $20.6MM in cap space by cutting Zipser and Stone and renouncing their other cap holds and exceptions.

In addition to waiving Zipser and Stone, the team also had to renounce Noah Vonleh‘s cap hold of $10MM+ and give up its mid-level and trade exceptions. The Bulls had three trade exceptions available, the largest of which was worth nearly $9MM. The club will now only have access to the $4.449MM room exception.

Zipser ($1.545MM) and Stone ($1.656MM) each had non-guaranteed salaries for 2018/19, so the Bulls are no longer on the hook for any money for either player.

Zipser, 24, averaged 4.0 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 54 games (15.3 MPG) for the Bulls last season. He indicated in June that he didn’t expect the team to bring him back.

As for Stone, he was only included in last week’s three-way trade with the Hornets and Magic so that the Bulls technically received something in the deal — he was always expected to be released. The veteran guard had a very limited role for the Hornets last season, averaging just 0.8 PPG, 1.3 RPG, and 1.1 APG in 23 contests (7.6 MPG)

Jabari Parker Signs Two-Year Deal With Bulls

July 14th, 2018 at 12:43pm CST by marksuleymanov

12:43pm: The Bulls have officially announced their new deal with Parker, issuing a press release to confirm the signing. As detailed below, it’s a two-year, $40MM agreement, but it’s only guaranteed for the first year.

11:09am: The Bulls have agreed to a two-year, $40MM deal with Jabari Parker, who became an unrestricted free agent after the Bucks rescinded their qualifying offer, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. It was reported that the Bucks did not unilaterally withdraw their qualifying offer ahead of Friday’s deadline, but the team did so today with Parker’s consent.

Bucks general manager Jon Horst said to ESPN that the organization wasn’t going to match an offer sheet and decided to let Parker negotiate a deal as an unrestricted free agent.

“Jabari and I felt it was in the best interest of both he and the team to rescind our qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent,” Horst said in a statement. “We appreciate everything Jabari has brought to our team and our community over the last four years and we wish him well.”

While Parker was reportedly interested in joining his hometown Bulls, earlier reports suggested he wanted to return to Milwaukee. Instead, Parker departs Milwaukee for a chance to prove he can stay healthy for a full season.

“I am extremely grateful to the Bucks and the incredible fans of Milwaukee for showing me so much love and encouragement,” Parker said in a statement. “Specifically, I’d like to thank Jon, Marc, Wes and Jamie for giving me my start in the NBA and supporting me throughout my career.”

Parker, 23, is a former second overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft who has shown flashes of his potential but has seen his career impacted by two ACL tears in his left knee.

After missing the start of the 2017/18 season, Parker returned to play in 31 games, averaging 12.6 PPG and 4.9 RPG in 24.0 minutes per contest. A year prior, Parker was in the midst of a career season, averaging 20.1 PPG and 6.2 RPG before tearing his ACL a second time. As Hoops Rumors wrote earlier this year, Parker is one of 97 NBA players to tear an ACL since 1970 and is one of nine players to do so twice.

With the troubled injury history, the second year of Parker’s new deal with the Bulls is a team option, Wojnarowski tweets. This lowers risk for the Bulls if Parker’s left knee fails to hold up and also gives him the option to pursue a long-term deal with Chicago if he can stay healthy and productive.

Since 2010, 33 players have torn their ACL and none of them have gone on to make an All-Star team after the injury. For Parker, this significant guarantee signals the chance to prove his left knee is capable of handling a full season and worth a more significant investment.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Warriors Sign Damion Lee To Two-Way Deal

July 14th, 2018 at 12:20pm CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 14: The Warriors have officially signed Lee to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 10: Damion Lee has agreed to a two-way contract with Warriors, Chris Haynes of ESPN.com reports.

Lee, who will soon marry Stephen Curry‘s sister, Sydel, played in 15 games for the Hawks last season. The shooting guard received a pair of 10-day deals with the club late in the season before signing with Atlanta for the remainder of it.

The 25-year-old played the majority of last season for the Warriors’ G League affiliate. Lee spent parts of two seasons in the G League after not hearing his name called on draft night 2016. He split his collegiate career between Drexel University and the University of Louisville.

Warriors Sign Kendrick Nunn To Camp Deal

July 13th, 2018 at 10:00pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 13: Nunn has officially signed a contract with the Warriors, per RealGM’s transactions log. It’s a one-year deal.

JUNE 22: Undrafted free agent Kendrick Nunn will make the move from one Oakland to another, according to Ian Begley of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that Nunn has agreed to a partially guaranteed deal with the Warriors.

Nunn, who will join the defending champions in the Bay Area, spent the final season of his college career at Oakland University in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Averaging 37.9 minutes per contest, the 6’3″ guard racked up 25.9 PPG on .435/.394/.838 shooting, chipping in 4.7 RPG, 3.8 APG, and 1.5 SPG.

Nunn earned a spot on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com, coming in as the 99th-ranked prospect in this year’s draft class.

While reporting on agreements reached at this time of year can be ambiguous, Begley’s note that Dunn will receive a partial guarantee suggests he’ll come to camp with the Warriors in the fall. The team will be able to finalize his signing after the new NBA league year begins in July.