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Pacers Sign Second-Rounder Alize Johnson

July 16th, 2018 at 3:32pm CST by Luke Adams

3:32pm: Johnson will have a fully guaranteed salary in 2018/19, tweets Michael Scotto of The Athletic.

2:54pm: The Pacers have now locked up both of their 2018 draft picks, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed second-round selection Alize Johnson. First-rounder Aaron Holiday inked his rookie deal at the start of the month.

Johnson, the 50th overall pick in the draft, finished his college career at Missouri State after spending two years at Frank Phillips College. The young forward averaged a double-double in both of his years at Missouri State, posting 14.9 PPG and 11.1 RPG in 66 overall games with the program.

Johnson also looked solid for the Pacers in Summer League action, averaging 12.4 PPG and 8.6 RPG in 23.0 minutes per contest.

While terms of Johnson’s contract aren’t known, a two-year, minimum-salary deal seems likely. The Pacers used up all their cap space, then signed using Kyle O’Quinn with their room exception, so they don’t have the means to offer a more lucrative or longer-term contract.

Indiana now has 14 players on NBA contracts for 2018/19.

Nets Sign Rodions Kurucs To Multiyear Deal

July 16th, 2018 at 2:37pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 16: The Nets have officially signed Kurucs, the team announced today in a press release. According to reports from Sportando and The New York Post, his deal is expected to be worth about $7MM over four years.

JUNE 22: The Nets and second-round pick Rodions Kurucs have reached an agreement on an NBA contract, according to international basketball journalist David Pick, who reports (via Twitter) that it will be a four-year deal.

Kurucs, who was selected using the 40th overall pick that initially belonged to the Lakers, had one year left on his contract with Barcelona. However, the Nets and Kurucs’ Spanish club were able to negotiate the terms of a buyout, says Pick.

[RELATED: Full 2018 NBA Draft Results]

While Kurucs’ buyout was believed to be worth upwards of $4MM at one point, his camp was reportedly able to get that figure lowered substantially, per ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz (as relayed by NetsDaily).

Because Kurucs wasn’t a first-round pick, he won’t be subject to the NBA’s rookie scale, but it sounds like he’ll still sign a four-year contract. The Nets will have the flexibility to offer that many years because they’ll start the 2018/19 league year as an under-the-cap team. It’s not yet clear how much Kurucs’ contract will be worth, or how many years will be guaranteed, but the two sides will be able to finalize the agreement in July.

Kurucs was one of two international prospects the Nets selected in the 2018 draft, along with No. 29 pick Dzanan Musa. General manager Sean Marks indicated last night that club also expects to bring over Musa immediately, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link). The Bosnia forward reportedly has a buyout worth about $1MM.

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.