Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Trail Blazers Sign Nik Stauskas

July 5th, 2018 at 5:48pm CST by Luke Adams

July 5: The Blazers announced in a press release that they’ve officially signed Stauskas.

July 1: The Trail Blazers have reached an agreement to sign former eighth overall pick Nik Stauskas, reports ESPN’s Chris Haynes (via Twitter). Stauskas will sign a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the club, Haynes adds (via Twitter).

Stauskas, who began his NBA career with the Kings, has been traded twice since then, first to Philadelphia and then to Brooklyn. The 6’6″ shooting guard posted decent numbers for the Sixers in 2016/17, putting up 9.5 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 2.4 APG with a .496/.368/.813 shooting line. However, he fell out of the team’s rotation early in the 2017/18 campaign and was sent to the Nets along with Jahlil Okafor.

In 35 games for Brooklyn, Stauskas averaged 5.1 PPG in 13.7 minutes per contest, with a .404 3PT%. The Nets opted not to issue him a qualifying offer this week, which allowed him to reach the open market as an unrestricted free agent.

Stauskas will earn $1,621,415 on his new deal, though Portland will only be on the hook for a $1,512,601 cap hit.

Rockets Sign Pair, Waive Aaron Jackson

July 5th, 2018 at 4:28pm CST by Austin Kent

The Rockets have signed undrafted rookie Gary Clark and second-round pick Vince Edwards, the team announced in a press release. Shortly thereafter, Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweeted that the franchise had parted ways with Aaron Jackson, whom they inked at the end of the 2017/18 campaign.

Although terms of the signings have not yet been revealed, it was reported last month that the club had come to terms on a two-way deal with at least Clark. There’s no mention of a two-way contract in Houston’s announcement, so it’s possible Clark received a standard NBA contract, perhaps with an Exhibit 10 attachments. A team can convert an Exhibit 10 contract into to a two-way deal prior to the start of the regular season.

Clark, a renowned rebounding threat out of Cincinnati, spent four seasons with the Bearcats before going undrafted last month. Edwards, similarly, just played out his senior season with Purdue before Houston made him a second-round pick in June.

Jackson, the 32-year-old guard who played a single regular season game for the Rockets last April and played sparingly for the club in the postseason, is expected to pursue a new deal in China, perhaps returning to the Beijing Ducks, Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania reports. His salary for 2018/19 was non-guaranteed.

Wizards Sign First-Rounder Troy Brown

July 5th, 2018 at 3:49pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 5: The Wizards have officially signed Brown to his rookie deal, per the NBA’s transactions log. He’ll have a first-year salary of about $2.75MM.

JUNE 25: The Wizards have agreed to terms on a rookie contract for first-round pick Troy Brown, according to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post (Twitter link). The deal can be made official once the new NBA league year begins on July 1.

Brown, a 6’7″ wing, is coming off a freshman year at Oregon in which he averaged 11.3 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 3.2 APG. The youngster has strong upside as a versatile defender who is capable of guarding any position from one through four. He was drafted 15th overall by the Wizards last Thursday.

Brown will be subject to the NBA’s rookie scale, making negotiations with the Wizards a simple process. He’ll be in line for two guaranteed seasons, followed by third- and fourth-year team options.

Under the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the rookie scale is tied to the salary cap, so we won’t know the exact salary amounts for this year’s rookies until the cap is set for 2018/19. However, based on a $101MM cap projection, Brown should be in line for a first-year salary worth approximately $2.73MM.

Clippers Sign Jerome Robinson To Rookie Deal

July 5th, 2018 at 3:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers have signed first-rounder Jerome Robinson to his rookie contract, according to the NBA’s official transactions log. The team inked fellow lottery pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to his first NBA deal earlier this week.

Robinson, a 6’6″ guard out of Boston College, improved his stock in the weeks leading up to the draft and was ultimately the 13th prospect off the board in June. In his junior year in 2017/18, Robinson averaged a career-high 20.7 PPG with an impressive .485/.409/.830 shooting line. He also chipped in 3.6 RPG and 3.3 APG.

Although Robinson can play on or off the ball and can probably handle either guard position, it’s not clear how he’ll fit into the Clippers’ rotation in his rookie season. The team’s backcourt is crowded, with Robinson and Gilgeous-Alexander joining a group that currently features Avery Bradley, Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Milos Teodosic, and Jawun Evans.

Robinson’s rookie contract will pay him a first-year salary of about $3MM, as our chart shows.

Magic Sign Isaiah Briscoe

July 5th, 2018 at 1:20pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: The Magic have officially signed Briscoe, tweets Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel.

JULY 5: The Magic have agreed to a deal with free agent guard Isaiah Briscoe, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Wojnarowski, Briscoe impressed the team in a recent mini-camp.

Briscoe, 22, declared for the 2017 draft as an early entrant out of Kentucky, but wasn’t selected last June. Although he caught on with the Trail Blazers for training camp last fall, the youngster didn’t make Portland’s regular-season roster, and was cut in October.

Rather than heading to the G League, Briscoe began his professional career overseas, signing with BC Kalev in Estonia. He had a big year as a rookie, averaging 16.0 PPG and 4.3 APG in 23 games and winning a title with the club.

If Briscoe earns a spot on the Magic’s regular-season roster, he’ll likely slot in as their third-string point guard, tweets Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando may still be eyeing another Isaiah for a spot higher on the depth chart — a report earlier this week indicated that the team was talking to Isaiah Thomas about a possible deal.

Celtics Sign Robert Williams To Rookie Contract

July 5th, 2018 at 12:43pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics have officially signed first-round pick Robert Williams to his rookie contract, the team announced today in a press release. It’ll be a four-year deal worth a total of approximately $9.28MM, with third- and fourth-year team options.

Williams, considered a potential lottery pick heading into the draft, slipped further than expected and landed in Boston at No. 27 overall. While one reason for that fall may have been a lack of medical information available to some teams, there were also reported character concerns about the big man coming out of Texas A&M.

Williams didn’t exactly quiet those whispers to start his NBA career. After sleeping through an introductory conference call on the day after the draft, the rookie missed his flight to Boston for the start of Summer League practices over the weekend. Upon eventually arriving, he called it a “real wake-up call” and took responsibility for the mistake.

With Williams under contract, 24 of 30 first-round picks have now formally signed their rookie contracts. No real negotiations are involved for those deals due to the rookie scale, and teams have no reason to wait on them, since they can be finalized during the July moratorium.

Jared Terrell Signs Two-Way Deal With T-Wolves

July 5th, 2018 at 12:19pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 5, 12:19pm: Terrell’s contract is official, the Wolves announced on Twitter.

JUNE 23, 8:55am: Rhode Island guard Jared Terrell has agreed to a two-way deal with the Timberwolves, the school’s men’s basketball team tweets.

Despite getting passed over on Thursday night, Terrell had attracted Minnesota’s attention during the pre-draft process. Terrell worked out twice for the club.

Terrell was a four-year starter for the Rams and his senior season was his best. The 6’3” Terrell averaged 16.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.4 APG and 1.5 SPG. His shooting also improved, as he drained 41.4% of his 3-point tries.

Terrell led Rhode Island to the NCAA Tournament, where it defeated Oklahoma and Trae Young in overtime during the first round of the Midwest Region before succumbing to Duke.

Knicks Sign First-Rounder Kevin Knox

July 5th, 2018 at 9:15am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks are the latest team to lock up their first-round pick to his first NBA contract, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed Kevin Knox to his rookie deal.

[RELATED: 2018 Draft Pick Signings]

Like all other rookie contracts for first-round picks, Knox’s deal will be a four-year pact with two guaranteed years, followed by team options in years three and four. As our chart of rookie salaries shows, his earnings project to exceed $18.5MM if he plays out the full four-year contract.

Knox, the ninth overall pick in this year’s draft, won’t turn 19 years old until next month, but there’s already talk in New York about the possibility of him entering the team’s starting lineup in his rookie year.

In his lone season at Kentucky, the versatile forward averaged 15.6 PPG and 5.4 RPG with a shooting line of .445/.341/.774.

Sixers’ Deal With Nemanja Bjelica Falls Apart

July 5th, 2018 at 8:35am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 17: The Sixers’ agreement with Bjelica has fallen apart, with the forward opting to return to Europe for the 2018/19 season. We have more details right here.

JULY 5: The Sixers will sign Nemanja Bjelica to a contract, a source tells Jake Fischer of SI.com (Twitter link). According to Fischer, Bjelica will receive Philadelphia’s room exception, which is worth $4.449MM in 2018/19. It’ll be a one-year deal, adds ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Bjelica began July as a restricted free agent, but when the Timberwolves reached an agreement to sign Anthony Tolliver, they withdrew their qualifying offer to Bjelica, making him unrestricted. As such, Minnesota won’t be able to match Philadelphia’s offer to the veteran forward.

Bjelica, 30, was a key contributor off the Wolves’ bench in 2017/18, averaging 6.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 1.3 APG with a .461/.415/.800 shooting line in 67 games (21 starts). In Philadelphia, he’ll fill a stretch-four role vacated by Ersan Ilyasova, who reached a three-year deal with the Bucks early in free agency.

Bjelica will be officially signed after the Sixers use up their cap room to re-sign J.J. Redick and acquire Wilson Chandler from the Nuggets.

The acquisition of Bjelica is the latest in a string of offseason additions for the Sixers. So far this summer, the club has drafted and signed Zhaire Smith and Landry Shamet, agreed to re-sign Redick and Amir Johnson, struck a deal to acquire Chandler, and now reached an agreement with Bjelica.

Philadelphia entered the offseason with 11 players already under contract, so the team will have to trade or waive at least a couple players by mid-October to get down to the 15-man regular-season roster limit. More roster trimming would be required if the club brings draft-and-stash prospect Jonah Bolden stateside for the coming season or signs second-rounder Shake Milton to an NBA contract.

Jerryd Bayless and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot are among the players on guaranteed salaries whose roster spots could be at risk. T.J. McConnell and Richaun Holmes are on non-guaranteed contracts.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Clippers Sign First-Rounder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

July 4th, 2018 at 1:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers have signed 11th overall pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to his rookie contract, according to the NBA’s official transactions log. The Clips have yet to confirm the move, so the team may be waiting for fellow first-rounder Jerome Robinson to finalize his rookie deal before announcing both signings at once.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s draft rights were traded last month, as he was dealt from the Hornets to the Clippers shortly after being selected. L.A. moved up one spot from No. 12 to nab the former Kentucky point guard, sending Charlotte a pair of future second-round picks in the deal. The Hornets ended up with Miles Bridges at No. 12.

At 6’6″, Gilgeous-Alexander’s size and versatility make him attractive to NBA scouts, some of whom believe he could become the best point guard in the 2018 draft. The youngster did a little of everything during his first and only season with the Wildcats, averaging 14.4 PPG, 5.1 APG, 4.1 RPG, and 1.6 SPG with a .485/.404/.817 shooting line in 37 games (24 starts).

Assuming he signs for the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale, Gilgeous-Alexander will receive a 2018/19 salary of about $3.38MM. His four-year contract will have an overall value of nearly $17MM.