Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Kevin Durant Re-Signs With Warriors

July 7th, 2018 at 3:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 7: The Warriors have made it official, announcing that the team has re-signed Durant.

JUNE 30: Kevin Durant will inform the Warriors tonight that he prefers a one-year contract with a player option for 2019/20, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.

Durant intends to sign a contract for those terms sometime after the moratorium ends, according to ESPN’s Chris Haynes (Twitter link). It will provide the maximum that Durant can receive on a one-year deal based on his 2017/18 salary, giving him $30MM next season with a $31.5MM option for 2019/20 (Twitter link).

The move saves some money next season for the Warriors, who will be well into the luxury tax, and it sets Durant up for a possible five-year contract with full Bird Rights next summer, when the cap is projected to rise to $109MM.

Golden State currently holds Early Bird rights on Durant, which would permit him to sign for a salary starting at $35,654,150. However, an Early Bird contract can’t span fewer than two guaranteed years, so the team will have to use his Non-Bird rights to honor Durant’s request. That will mean a 20% increase, taking him from $25MM to $30MM.

That savings of about $5.6MM will be huge for the Warriors, who face a significant tax bill for every dollar they spend. They may now be more inclined to use their taxpayer mid-level exception, which starts at $5.337MM.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Blazers Re-Sign Jusuf Nurkic To Four-Year Deal

July 7th, 2018 at 12:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 7, 12:20pm: Per Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post, Nurkic’s partial guarantee in the final season of his new contract – 2021/22 – is for $4MM.

JULY 7, 7:23am: The Trail Blazers have officially re-signed Nurkic, the club early on Saturday morning in a press release.

JULY 6: Restricted free agent center Jusuf Nurkic has agreed to a four-year, $48MM contract to remain with the Trail Blazers, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

The deal includes a partial guarantee in the fourth season, Wojnarowski adds. The contract could be worth up to $53MM, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.

The 7-foot Nurkic, who turns 24 in August, posted averages of 14.3 PPG, 9.0 RPG and 1.4 BPG last season. Nurkic started all 79 games in which he played.

Nurkic could have signed for more money a few months ago, according to Wojnarowski’s follow-up story, but turned down that offer. With the market shrinking, Nurkic decided to take the Blazers’ revised offer.

Nurkic’s career took off when the Nuggets traded him to Portland during the 2016/17 season. He was one of the top big men available on the free agent market this summer, coming in at No. 16 overall on our list of 2018’s top 50 free agents.

With Nurkic back under contract, the Blazers have now made three signings this week, adding Nik Stauskas and Seth Curry to the mix as well. Those new deals project to take Portland over the tax line, though there’s still plenty of time for the team to dip back below it — last year, for instance, the Blazers went well over that threshold before moving Allen Crabbe and Noah Vonleh to avoid becoming a taxpayer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Magic Sign Aaron Gordon To Four-Year Deal

July 7th, 2018 at 12:11pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7: Per Robbins, the four-year deal between Gordon and the Magic only amounts to $76MM in total value, with an average annual salary of $19MM. Gordon’s 2018/19 salary will be worth $21,590,909, decreasing by 8% of that amount each season through 2022.

JULY 6: The Magic have officially completed the signing of Gordon, according to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter links), who notes that the annual salaries on the deal will decline each season, creating slightly more cap flexibility for Orlando in future years.

Orlando also finalized the signing of free agent point guard Isaiah Briscoe.

JULY 1: The Magic have reached an agreement on a four-year deal with restricted free agent Aaron Gordon, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Charania reports that the four-year agreement will be worth $84MM, for an average annual value of $21MM.

According to Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link), no team or player options are included in the agreement. Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link) first reported that the Magic and Gordon were closing in on a deal.

Gordon had been a restricted free agent, so while he could have agreed to a new contract with another team, Orlando would have had the right to match any offer sheet he signed. As such, it made sense for the two sides to negotiate a new deal directly.

Gordon, 22, enjoyed a breakout season for the Magic in 2017/18. After averaging 9.7 PPG and 5.3 RPG in his first three years in the NBA, the former fourth overall pick upped his numbers to 17.6 PPG and 7.9 RPG in 58 games last season.

Gordon’s shooting numbers were slightly down in 2017/18, as he posted a career-worst .434 FG%. However, that was largely a result of his increased willingness to launch outside shots. Gordon attempted 5.9 threes per game, knocking them down at a 33.6% rate.

Although Gordon suggested multiple times as his free agency approached that he’d love to land a maximum-salary contract, that was always a long shot, given the lack of cap space available around the NBA. Still, the former Arizona Wildcat did well to land a guarantee in excess of $80MM. It’s the largest overall free agent commitment so far in 2018 for a player who didn’t get a max deal.

[RELATED: 2018 NBA Free Agent Tracker]

With Gordon back in the fold, the Magic will be an over-the-cap team and will have the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions available if they continue to explore free agent signings.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Jazz Waive Jonas Jerebko

July 7th, 2018 at 11:06am CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz have officially waived Jonas Jerebko, the team announced today in a press release. He’ll become a free agent on Monday, assuming he goes unclaimed.

Jerebko’s 2018/19 salary was still non-guaranteed, but would’ve become fully guaranteed if Jerebko had remained on Utah’s roster through Monday. As a result of the move, the Jazz will clear the forward’s full $4.2MM cap hit from their books.

The move comes as a bit of a surprise, since Jerebko had a solid season as a reserve for the Jazz in 2017/18. In 74 games (19 starts), the 31-year-old averaged 5.8 PPG on .466/.414/.807 shooting, stretching the floor from the power forward spot.

Waiving Jerebko won’t free up any cap room for the Jazz, but it’ll create more breathing room below the tax line, perhaps opening up an opportunity for the team to use a chunk of its mid-level exception.

Utah’s offseason so far has been primarily focused on bringing back incumbent free agents, with Derrick Favors, Dante Exum, and Raul Neto inking new deals. Thabo Sefolosha had his 2018/19 salary guaranteed, and the Jazz will still need to make a decision on Ekpe Udoh, whose $3.36MM would also become guaranteed next week.

Timberwolves Sign Keita Bates-Diop

July 7th, 2018 at 10:50am CST by Luke Adams

Second-round pick Keita Bates-Diop has formally signed a contract with the Timberwolves, according to the NBA’s official transactions log. Terms of the deal aren’t yet known.

A forward out of Ohio State, Bates-Diop was viewed as a potential first-round pick in 2018’s draft, but slipped all the way to No. 48, where the Wolves snagged him. The former Buckeye standout was the Big Ten Player of the Year in 2017/18, averaging 19.8 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and 1.6 BPG with a .480/.359/.794 shooting line.

Tom Thibodeau and the Timberwolves don’t typically rely on their bench too heavily, and Bates-Diop may not be ready to contribute right away, so his role figures to be limited during his rookie season. However, he projects as a potential stretch four at the NBA level.

The Wolves are using a portion of their mid-level exception on Anthony Tolliver, but still have plenty of that exception available if they want to use it to lock up Bates-Diop. Without the MLE, Minnesota would only be able to offer a two-year deal, likely at the minimum.

Pistons Sign Second-Rounder Bruce Brown

July 7th, 2018 at 8:40am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have signed second-round pick Bruce Brown to his first NBA contract, per RealGM’s official transactions log. While full details of the deal aren’t yet known, it’ll be a multiyear pact.

Detroit is over the cap, but the team could give Brown a contract longer than two years by using a portion of its mid-level exception to complete the signing. Glenn Robinson‘s agreement with the Pistons will eat up part of that MLE, but there’s more than enough remaining to sign Brown with it too.

Brown, a 6’5″ shooting guard, declared for the 2018 draft after a somewhat disappointing season for Miami. Despite a slight uptick in minutes, he saw his PPG (11.4), FG% (.415), 3PT% (.267), and FT% (.629) decline in his sophomore year, though he did increase his RPG (7.1) and APG (4.0). Brown’s season came to an early end due to a left foot injury — he played his last game on January 27.

The Pistons remained bullish enough on Brown – who is a strong perimeter defender – to make him the 42nd overall pick last month. While there’s no rookie scale for second-rounders, most of the players picked in the 40-45 range in 2017 still received two guaranteed years, so Brown could be in line for a similar deal.

DeAndre Jordan Signs One-Year Deal With Mavs

July 7th, 2018 at 7:38am CST by Austin Kent

JULY 7, 7:38am: Jordan’s new salary will be $22.9MM, but he won’t actually be taking a pay cut due to the lack of state income taxes in Texas, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. MacMahon also relays comments from Mark Cuban on the signing, with the Mavs owner explaining that Jordan gives the team the best chance to “win now.”

JULY 6, 5:50pm: The signing is official, according to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.

JUNE 30, 11:26pm: According to Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports, Jordan’s one-year deal is worth slightly less than the $24.1MM option he turned down in Los Angeles.

11:06pm: The Mavericks have agreed on a one-year deal with DeAndre Jordan, Marc Stein of The New York Times tweets. The verbal agreement is said to approach the $24.1MM mark, the amount Jordan surrendered on Friday when he turned down his player option with the Clippers.

The acquisition of Jordan is a long time coming for the Mavs – like, since Emojigate long – but the idea of the pairing picked up steam when the Texas-born big man shut the door on a return to Los Angeles by turning down his 2018/19 option.

The Mavs ensured that they would have plenty of cap space available with which to convince Jordan to join them when they turned down the 2018/19 team option on Dirk Nowitzki‘s contract.

It’s unclear exactly what the final figure for the one-year deal with Jordan will be, but Dallas had approximately $28MM to offer him. With the former Clipper apparently on track to join the Mavs, the club is probably out of the market for several other noteworthy big men that have been linked to Dallas in recent weeks — that list includes Julius Randle and DeMarcus Cousins, among others.

Jordan, fresh off of his fifth consecutive season averaging a double-double, will slot into Dallas’ suddenly impressive lineup and should give franchise pillar Nowitzki a significantly greater chance of playing competitive basketball in the twilight of his career.

Jordan was the 10th-ranked player on our list of the top 50 free agents of 2018.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Warriors Sign DeMarcus Cousins

July 6th, 2018 at 10:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 6th, 11:10pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

JULY 2nd, 7:36pm: The rich are about to get richer, as free agent center DeMarcus Cousins has agreed to a contract with the Warriors, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. It’ll be a one-year, $5.3MM deal, with the Dubs using the taxpayer mid-level exception to add Cousins, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

It’s a shocking move for both Cousins and the defending champions, who initially didn’t appear to be locks to use their mid-level exception at all. However, when Kevin Durant agreed to a contract with a starting salary of $30MM rather than his max of $35.65MM, it opened the door for the Warriors to take advantage of the savings by using their MLE, which is worth $5.337MM.

Signing Cousins will cost the Warriors exponentially more than $5.337MM due to their projected luxury tax penalties, but the investment figures to be worth it for one of the NBA’s very best centers. Golden State will now have the opportunity to play an incredible five-man unit consisting of Cousins, Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.

The club also retains key contributors like Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Jordan Bell, and Quinn Cook, with youngsters Damian Jones and Jacob Evans expected to contribute as well.

While others Cousins suitors like the Pelicans and Lakers will undoubtedly be upset about seeing him sign with the Warriors for a salary they could have topped, it didn’t appear that New Orleans, L.A. or any other team was willing to make a huge offer for the big man, with cap space drying up around the league.

Of course, it’s also extremely unlikely that Cousins would have accepted a $5.3MM offer from any other team. No other club gives him as clear a path to his first NBA title, and as one source close to him explains to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link): “He’s about winning.”

Signing a one-year pact will also allow Cousins to rebuild his value after suffering a torn Achilles during the 2017/18 season. According to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), the Warriors have no intention of rushing their newly-added star back to the court, so a December or January return appears likely. If Cousins returns to form during the second half of the 2018/19 campaign, he’ll be able to reach the free agent market again a year from now and potentially land a more lucrative longer-term deal.

Before going down with that Achilles injury, Cousins was posting the best numbers of his career, filling up the stat sheet with 25.2 PPG, 12.9 RPG, 5.4 APG, 1.6 SPG, and 1.6 BPG. He also made 2.2 three-pointers per game at a 35.4% rate. Achilles tears aren’t easy to come back from, so there’s no guarantee that he’ll ever be the same player he was before the injury, but even if he’s operating at 60-70% capacity in 2018/19, he’ll make the already-stacked Warriors even more dangerous.

The move comes approximately 24 hours after LeBron James‘ agency announced that he’d be heading to the Lakers. While LeBron, Magic Johnson, and the new-look Lakers dominated much of the coverage during the first two days of NBA free agency, the Warriors’ latest splash signals that they have no intention of giving up control of the Pacific Division – or the Western Conference, or the NBA – anytime soon.

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

Thunder Sign Center Nerlens Noel

July 6th, 2018 at 10:00pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6th, 10:00pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

JULY 2nd, 1:55pm: Free agent center Nerlens Noel has reached an agreement to sign with the Thunder, league sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. According to Charania, Noel will sign a two-year contract that includes a second-year player option. It’s a minimum deal, per Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman (Twitter link).

Noel, 24, began his NBA career with the Sixers as the sixth overall pick in the 2013 draft. After missing his rookie year with a knee injury, the big man played well in his next two seasons, averaging 10.5 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 1.8 SPG, and 1.7 BPG in 142 games.

However, with Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor, and Richaun Holmes in the mix at center for the 76ers in 2016/17 and Noel once again battling knee issues, he struggled to carve out a regular role and was eventually sent to Dallas at the trade deadline.

As a restricted free agent during the 2017 offseason, Noel reportedly passed on a four-year, $70MM offer from the Mavericks and ultimately signed his one-year qualifying offer, putting him on track for unrestricted free agency this summer. Once again limited by injuries, Noel appeared in just 30 games during his contract year in 2017/18, averaging 4.4 PPG and 5.6 RPG in 15.7 minutes per contest.

Noel will get an opportunity to rebuild his value in Oklahoma City, where he’ll presumably slot in as the team’s backup center behind Steven Adams. According to Charania, the Thunder “aggressively” pursued Noel in free agency, with head coach Billy Donovan meeting him on July 1. Russell Westbrook and Paul George pitched the young center on joining the club, Charania adds.

The Thunder’s agreement with Noel is the latest move in an eventful offseason for the franchise, which has already struck lucrative new deals with George and Jerami Grant.

The Thunder currently project to be way over the tax line, with team salary set to $160MM+, so cost-cutting moves are expected at some point along the way. Carmelo Anthony – who has an expiring contract worth $27.93MM – represents the most obvious candidate to be stretched, since the cap and tax savings created by reducing his cap hit to $9.31MM would be massive.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cavs Sign Billy Preston To Two-Way Contract

July 6th, 2018 at 9:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavaliers have signed power forward Billy Preston to a two-way contract, Dave McMenamin of ESPN tweets.

The 6’10” Preston did not play college basketball last season. The McDonald’s All-American committed to Kansas but was the subject of an NCAA investigation into his eligibility. He wound up signing with a Bosnian team but only played three games there due to a shoulder injury.

Preston went undrafted before agreeing to join the Cavs’ summer-league team. He’ll fill one of Cleveland’s two-way slots, with John Holland currently penciled in for the other.