Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hawks Sign All Three First-Round Picks

July 1st, 2018 at 9:51am CST by Arthur Hill

The Hawks have reached contract agreements with first-round picks Trae Young, Kevin Huerter and Omari Spellman, according to Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Their first-year salaries will be approximately $5.36MM for Young, $2.25MM for Huerter and $1.62MM for Spellman. All rookie scale deals cover two years, followed by two team option seasons.

Young, the fifth overall pick, was among the nation’s top collegiate scorers at Oklahoma. Atlanta grabbed him after trading down from No. 3 in a draft-day deal with Dallas. Huerter, a 3-point specialist out of Maryland, was taken at No. 19 despite a wrist injury that limited his pre-draft workouts. Spellman is a center with shooting range who won a national title at Villanova.

Raptors Re-Sign Fred VanVleet

July 1st, 2018 at 9:36am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: VanVleet’s new contract is official, the Raptors announced in a press release. “We all know Fred’s personal motto is ‘Bet on Yourself.’ We know that Fred is no gamble – he’s hardworking, dedicated, and smart, and has been fantastic for us,” Raptors president Masai Ujiri said. “We’re thrilled he’ll be a big part of the Toronto Raptors for seasons to come.”

JULY 1: The Raptors have agreed to re-sign free agent point guard Fred VanVleet, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Charania reports that it will be a two-year, $18MM contract, while Michael Scotto of The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that the deal won’t include any option years.

VanVleet, who initially joined the Raptors as an undrafted free agent out of Wichita State in 2016, emerged as a key part of the team’s rotation in 2017/18. The leader of the NBA’s most productive five-man second unit, VanVleet averaged 8.6 PPG and 3.2 APG with a .414 3PT%. He was frequently a part of Toronto’s crunch-time lineups, and was a finalist for the league’s Sixth Man of the Year award.

Even without account for VanVleet, the Raptors already have $126MM+ in guaranteed money on their books for 2018/19, so there was some concern about the club’s ability to bring back the key reserve, particularly if the 24-year-old received a lucrative offer sheet from a rival suitor. However, a prime landing spot for VanVleet disappeared early on Sunday morning when the Suns committed their cap room to a deal for Trevor Ariza rather than using it to pursue a point guard.

With VanVleet projected to get a starting salary close to $9MM, the Raptors are set to go well into tax territory, so the team may look to cut costs elsewhere. Multiple reports this offseason have stated that no one on Toronto’s roster is untouchable, including highly-paid veterans like Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Serge Ibaka, Jonas Valanciunas, and C.J. Miles. The club was also said to be gauging the market for Norman Powell.

The Raptors will use their Early Bird rights to re-sign VanVleet, so they’ll still have the taxpayer mid-level exception available.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rockets Re-Sign Gerald Green

July 1st, 2018 at 12:04am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 10: The Rockets have officially re-signed Green, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 1: Houston native Gerald Green will be returning to the Rockets for the 2018/19 season, per Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (Twitter link). According to Berman, Green and the Rockets have reached an agreement on a one-year, minimum-salary contract.

Having played for eight teams in his NBA career since debuting in 2005, Green returned to his hometown for a second stint with the Rockets in 2017/18. He enjoyed a productive year for the West’s No. 1 seed, averaging 12.1 PPG and 3.2 RPG with a .407/.369/.850 shooting line in 41 games (22.7 MPG).

According to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link), the Rockets liked what Green brought to his role and “absolutely loved his attitude.”

Re-signing Green at an affordable rate is an important move for the Rockets, who will lose veteran forward Trevor Ariza to the Suns. Houston will also make an effort to bring back Luc Mbah a Moute, as well as Clint Capela. The club has already agreed to terms on a four-year, maximum-salary deal with Chris Paul.

As our chart of minimum salaries shows, Green’s new deal will pay him $2,393,887, though he’ll only count for $1,512,601 against Houston’s cap.

Grizzlies Sign Omri Casspi

June 30th, 2018 at 11:55pm CST by Austin Kent

JULY 11: The Grizzlies have officially signed Omri Casspi, the club announced in a press release.

JUNE 30: The Grizzlies have agreed to add forward Omri Casspi on a one-year deal, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports. Memphis would mark the 30-year-old’s seventh NBA stop since 2011.

Casspi’s one-year deal will be a fully guaranteed, minimum-salary contract, tweets Chris Herrington.

In 53 games for the Warriors prior to being cut late in the season, Casspi averaged 5.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Despite the modest numbers in 2017/18, however, Casspi has carved out a nine-year career as a solid depth piece and should help a Grizzlies team intent on returning to contention for a playoff spot.

Jerami Grant Signs Three-Year Deal With Thunder

June 30th, 2018 at 11:18pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7: The signing is official per a news release from the team.

JUNE 30: After reaching an agreement to retain Paul George, the Thunder aren’t done. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Oklahoma City has reached an agreement with forward Jerami Grant on a three-year contract worth $27MM. Grant will have a player option on the third season, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).

Thunder officials had feared that Grant would get a better offer elsewhere, notes Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype (Twitter link). However, Oklahoma City was able to keep him in the mix even after committing a four-year max deal to George.

The 24-year-old forward just completed his second straight productive season in OKC, averaging 8.4 points and 3.9 rebounds as a valuable member of the Thunder’s reserve squad. He was particularly solid in the postseason — in the first round against the Jazz, the Thunder had a +8.9 net rating when Grant was on the court, and a -17.1 net rating when he sat.

Oklahoma City had a memorable night on the free agent front, but also an expensive one. Grant’s new contract, plus the four-year, $137MM deal for George, represents a lot of new money for a team that already had luxury tax concerns.

It could be a sign that management intends to either pursue a buyout with Carmelo Anthony or waive him and use the stretch provision on his $27.9MM salary. Alex Abrines, Patrick Patterson, and Kyle Singler are other candidates to be traded or waived to cut costs.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Celtics Re-Sign Aron Baynes

June 30th, 2018 at 11:14pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7: Baynes has formally signed his new contract with the Celtics, according to the NBA’s official transactions log.

JUNE 30: The Celtics have reached an agreement with free agent center Aron Baynes, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). According to Charania, Baynes will re-sign with Boston on a two-year, $11MM contract. The second year will be a player option, Charania adds (via Twitter).

A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston first reported several days ago that Baynes would likely stick with the Celtics as an unrestricted free agent.

Baynes, who was playing on a one-year, $4.33MM deal in 2017/18, averaged 6.0 PPG and 5.4 RPG in 81 regular season games (18.3 MPG) for the Celtics. The 31-year-old was also a key contributor in the postseason, flashing a newfound outside shot — after having made just four three-pointers over the course of his six NBA seasons, Baynes knocked down 11 of 23 three-point attempts in the playoffs.

Having initially signed Baynes during the 2017 offseason, the Celtics hold his Non-Bird rights this summer. Those rights would allow the team to offer a starting salary of up to $5,193,600, which is likely the route that Boston is taking. Using Baynes’ Non-Bird rights would allow the C’s to retain their mid-level exception for another move.

Baynes was the No. 41 free agent on our list of 2018’s top 50 free agents.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pacers Sign Doug McDermott To Three-Year Deal

June 30th, 2018 at 11:00pm CST by Austin Kent

JULY 6: McDermott’s contract is now official, according to a press release from the Pacers. “In Doug’s case, we were looking for elite shooting, but we were also impressed with how he moves without the ball and his spot-up shooting,” said president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard.

JUNE 30: The Pacers have agreed to a three-year, $22MM deal with Doug McDermott, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The small forward comes off of a year split between the Knicks and the Mavs.

In McDermott, the Pacers will add a solid perimeter threat with size. The 6’8″ forward is a career .403 three-point shooter and posted a .494 average in 26 games with Dallas.

Despite his solid stint with the Mavericks, McDermott was not made a restricted free agent this summer. Dallas initially tendered a qualifying offer to the veteran sharpshooter, but withdrew it shortly thereafter, ensuring that McDermott would be unrestricted. The Mavs intended to use a significant chunk of cap room on DeAndre Jordan, and didn’t want to carry McDermott’s $10MM cap hold on their books.

McDermott will add valuable depth to Indiana’s rotation, slotting in behind starting three Bojan Bogdanovic. Meanwhile, the Pacers should still have cap room available to add another player or two.

Thomas Bryant Waived By Lakers

June 30th, 2018 at 3:09pm CST by clarkcrum

Pursuant to an official release from the team, the Lakers have waived backup center Thomas Bryant.

Bryant appeared in 15 games for the Lakers last season, averaging 1.5 points and 1.1 rebounds in 4.6 minutes per game.

Bryant’s $1.38MM contract wasn’t set to become guaranteed until July 5, but with the Lakers reportedly planning to guarantee the contract of center Ivica Zubac for next season and the addition of first-round pick Moritz Wagner, there was evidently no need to keep Bryant around any longer.

The Lakers don’t have any more non-guaranteed contracts left on which to make decisions, but they’ll likely still need to do something with the contract of Luol Deng if they want to land two marquee free agents this summer such as LeBron James and Paul George.

Suns Waive Tyler Ulis

June 30th, 2018 at 3:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

4:17pm: The move is official, the Suns announced on Twitter.

3:05pm: Phoenix will waive point guard Tyler Ulis, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The decision is the latest in a series of cost-cutting moves for the Suns, who are also cutting ties with Elfrid Payton and Alex Len. Phoenix is maximizing cap room to be aggressive in free agency, with the Bucks’ Jabari Parker and the Celtics’ Marcus Smart as possible targets.

Getting rid of Ulis will save the team $1.54MM for next season. A decision on whether to guarantee his 2018/19 salary was originally due by June 24, but he agreed to let the Suns delay the move until today.

A second-round pick in 2016, Ulis spent two years in Phoenix. He played 71 games this season, starting 43, but the Suns are hoping for a point guard upgrade in free agency, according to Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link). They drafted Elie Okobo and have Brandon Knight returning from injury, so there may not have been playing time available for Ulis.

The Suns still have to make decisions on non-guaranteed salaries for Alan Williams ($5.52MM), Shaquille Harrison ($1,378,242) and Davon Reed ($1,378,242 with a $689,212 guarantee).

Timberwolves Waive Cole Aldrich

June 30th, 2018 at 2:50pm CST by clarkcrum

The Timberwolves have waived backup center Cole Aldrich, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Aldrich’s $6.96MM contract, already guaranteed for $2.06MM, was scheduled to become fully guaranteed if Aldrich remained on Minnesota’s roster past today. Accordingly, the Wolves saved $4.9MM by cutting ties with Aldrich.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes, Minnesota will have the option to stretch the amount still owed to Aldrich over three years, which would open up an additional $1.37MM in cap room this summer.

Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News predicts that the Wolves will stretch Aldrich’s contract in order to avoid potential tax penalties should the team choose to use the full value of its MLE.

Aldrich, 29, averaged a career-low 0.6 PPG in only 21 games this past season. Throughout his eight-season career, he has averaged 3.1 points in 10.0 minutes per contest.