Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jazz Sign First-Round Pick Grayson Allen

July 2nd, 2018 at 8:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Guard Grayson Allen has signed his rookie contract with the Jazz, the team tweets.

The 6’6” Duke star was the 21st pick of the draft. Allen will receive approximately $2.07MM in the first year of the deal.

Allen averaged 15.5 PPG and 4.7 APG in his senior year and made 38% of his 3-point attempts during his college career.

Primarily a shooting guard, he will compete for minutes at both guard spots behind Ricky Rubio and Donovan Mitchell and perhaps get some playing time at small forward in smaller lineups.

Timberwolves Sign First-Round Pick Josh Okogie

July 2nd, 2018 at 8:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Timberwolves have signed first-round pick Josh Okogie, the team’s public relations department tweets.

Okogie, who was selected with the No. 20 overall pick, will receive approximately $2.16MM in the first year of his rookie contract. Okogie, a 6’4” shooting guard, departed Georgia Tech after his sophomore year, in which he averaged 18.2 PPG and 6.3 RPG. He turns 20 in September.

He’ll compete for minutes behind starter Jimmy Butler.

Trail Blazers Sign First-Rounder Anfernee Simons

July 2nd, 2018 at 8:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Trail Blazers have signed first-round pick Anfernee Simons, according to the team’s website.

Portland used the 24th overall pick on the 19-year-old Simons, who attended IMG Academy last year. The 6’4” Simons will receive approximately $1.8MM during his rookie year.

Simons could see playing time in his rookie season, even though the Trail Blazers just came to terms with free agent Seth Curry. Portland is still somewhat thin at the guard spots behind starters Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

Sixers Sign First-Rounder Zhaire Smith

July 2nd, 2018 at 7:22pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Sixers have signed first-round pick Zhaire Smith, according to the team’s website.

Smith, whose rights were acquired in a draft-night trade with Suns, will receive approximately $2.6MM in his first season.

The 6’5” swingman was selected No. 16 overall after playing one season at Texas Tech, where he averaged 11.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.1 BPG and 1.1 SPG in 28.4 MPG.

Smith is unlikely to receive significant playing time in his first season for one of the Eastern Conference’s top clubs. He will play on the Sixers’ summer league team.

Seth Curry Signs With Trail Blazers

July 2nd, 2018 at 7:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 6: Curry’s agreement with the Blazers is official, according to a press release from the team. “We expect Seth to be an impactful addition to our backcourt as his skill set will translate immediately,” president of basketball operations Neil Olshey said. “He is an elite shooter with the ability to play on or off the ball.”

JULY 2: Mavericks free agent guard Seth Curry has agreed to a two-year contract with the Trail Blazers, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Curry will receive $2.75MM in the first year and have a player option on the second year, Wojnarowski adds.

Curry missed the entire 2017/18 season due to a stress fracture in his lower left leg. He underwent surgery in early February but has been medically cleared to play. He has participated in full basketball-related activities for over a month.

There’s a path for Curry to jump right into the rotation. Portland is currently thin at the guard spots behind starters Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. The team allowed Shabazz Napier, a rotation player last season, to become an unrestricted free agent after declining to give him a qualifying offer.

Curry enjoyed a breakout season in 2016/17 with Dallas, playing in 70 games (42 starts) and averaging 12.8 PPG, 2.6 RPG and 2.7 APG.

The Trail Blazers figure to be well over the cap for 2018/19, so they’ll need to use an exception to sign Curry. The mid-level seems likely — Curry’s deal would fit in the bi-annual exception, but using the BAE would hard-cap Portland for the year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Lakers Renounce Julius Randle

July 2nd, 2018 at 5:51pm CST by Luke Adams

5:51pm: Randle asked to be renounced once it became clear his role could dramatically change and the franchise wouldn’t make a long-term commitment to him, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN tweets.

4:19pm: The Lakers have renounced Julius Randle, making him an unrestricted free agent, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). As we detailed earlier today, the move increases the club’s projected cap room to nearly $14MM.

Randle, a former seventh overall pick, enjoyed the best season of his four-year NBA career in 2017/18, averaging 16.1 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.6 APG, and a .558 FG% in 26.7 minutes per game. The 23-year-old is now free to sign with any team, though there aren’t a ton of clubs around the league that still have cap room available.

A Monday morning report had indicated that the Lakers were set to meet with Randle’s representatives today, with his camp hoping for a contract offer from the team. That seemed like a viable possibility, since L.A.’s first few moves in free agency seemed to accommodate Randle’s cap hold.

However, it appears the two sides couldn’t find common ground during that meeting, clearing the path for the big man to land elsewhere and for the Lakers to open up cap room.

It seems the Lakers will use a significant chunk of their newly-created space to sign Rajon Rondo. The veteran point guard has reportedly agreed to a one-year, $9MM contract with the club.

Pacers Waive Center Al Jefferson

July 2nd, 2018 at 4:17pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pacers have waived veteran center Al Jefferson, Keith Smith of RealGM tweets.

Jefferson had a partial guarantee of $4MM on his $10MM salary for next season. Indiana gains $6MM in cap space by the move and could use the stretch provision to create even more room for thie summer.

Though the Pacers declined their $4.33MM option on Lance Stephenson‘s contract, they have added plenty of salary in recent days. They guaranteed Bojan Bogdanovic‘s $10.5MM salary and Darren Collison‘s $10MM deal.

Indiana also made a surprising three-year, $22MM free agent splurge for forward Doug McDermott and agreed to terms with first-round pick Aaron Holiday.

Jefferson, 33, has played for Indiana the past two seasons. He saw spot duty in 36 games last season as the No. 3 center, averaging 7.0 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 13.4 MPG.

Suns Waive Alan Williams

July 2nd, 2018 at 4:17pm CST by Luke Adams

4:17pm: The move is official, with the Suns issuing a press release to announce that they’ve waived Williams.

12:19pm: The Suns are waiving big man Alan Williams, reports John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). Williams will become an unrestricted free agent if and when he clears waivers.

Williams, 25, played well for the Suns in 2016/17, averaging 7.4 PPG and 6.2 RPG in just 15.1 minutes per contest (47 games). His performance earned him a three-year, $16MM+ deal with Phoenix last summer, though only the first year’s salary was fully guaranteed.

Williams’ 2017/18 season was derailed before it began, as a meniscus injury sidelined him for nearly the entire year. He appeared in just five games for the Suns down the stretch.

By waiving Williams, the Suns will no longer be on the hook for his $5.52MM salary for 2018/19. According to Basketball Insiders’ data, the language in the contract called for a $1MM partial guarantee if Williams met certain minute, weight, and body fat requirements, but considering he only played 70 minutes in 2017/18, he presumably didn’t meet those criteria.

Williams’ release will create enough cap room for the Suns to finalize Trevor Ariza‘s reported one-year, $15MM deal, but not much beyond that. By my count, if Phoenix also cuts Shaquille Harrison, who has a non-guaranteed salary, the team could get up to about $4MM in space after signing Ariza.

According to Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic (via Twitter), the Suns haven’t ruled out the possibility of re-signing Williams to a smaller deal after he clears waivers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wizards Claim Thomas Bryant Off Waivers

July 2nd, 2018 at 4:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards have claimed second-year center Thomas Bryant off waivers from the Lakers, sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Bryant was cut by the Lakers on Saturday to create a little extra cap flexibility in advance of free agency.

Bryant, the 42nd overall pick in the 2017 draft, appeared in 15 games for the Lakers last season, averaging 1.5 points and 1.1 rebounds in 4.6 minutes per game. He saw more action in the G League, posting 19.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and a .597/.364/.674 shooting line in 37 games for the South Bay Lakers.

According to salary data from Basketball Insiders and ESPN, Bryant’s contract includes a $1,378,242 non-guaranteed salary for 2018/19, which is set to become guaranteed if the young center remains under contract through Thursday. Theoretically then, Washington still has the opportunity to avoid Bryant’s guarantee, but the club likely wouldn’t have placed a claim on him if it didn’t plan to keep him for more than three days.

Teams generally require cap room or a trade exception to claim a player off waivers, but because Bryant is on a two-year, minimum-salary deal, any club was eligible to place a claim.

Celtics Sign Brad Wanamaker

July 2nd, 2018 at 4:03pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 2, 4:03pm: The Celtics have officially signed Wanamaker, the team announced today in a press release. Because it’s a minimum salary contract, it can be finalized during the July moratorium.

JUNE 26, 5:59pm: Wanamaker and the Celtics have agreed on a guaranteed one-year, minimum salary deal worth approximately $831K, per international basketball journalist David Pick.

Per Pick, Wanamaker left $3.8MM on the table in Europe to get his shot in the NBA.

JUNE 25, 3:04pm: The Celtics are in the process of finalizing a deal with EuroLeague guard Brad Wanamaker, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

According to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (via Twitter), Boston would like to sign Wanamaker to a two-year contract, while Wanamaker would prefer one year, but it appears the two sides will work out an agreement. The Celtics would be able to officially finalize the signing once the new NBA league year begins in July.

Wanamaker, who played his college ball at Pittsburgh, went undrafted in 2011 and has bounced around various leagues since then, playing in the G League and overseas. The 6’4″ combo guard has emerged as one of the more effective players in Europe, earning an All-EuroLeague Second Team nod in 2017 and winning the MVP award for the Turkish League Finals this year. In 2017/18, he averaged a team-high 11.8 PPG and made 40.2% of his three-pointers in 31 Turkish League games for EuroLeague powerhouse Fenerbahce.

This will be the second straight offseason that the Celtics have dipped into the international ranks to fill out their roster. A year ago, the club brought Shane Larkin back from Europe and also signed Daniel Theis out of the German League. Wanamaker and Theis played together for Brose Bamberg in Germany from 2014 to 2016.

International basketball journalist David Pick first reported earlier this month that the Celtics were giving “strong consideration” to signing Wanamaker. The Magic, Nets, Sixers, and Heat were also said to have interest.