Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Clippers’ Milos Teodosic Opts In

June 24th, 2018 at 8:21am CST by Arthur Hill

Serbian guard Milos Teodosic has opted in for another season with the Clippers, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. However, the decision doesn’t guarantee he will be back in L.A. next year. The final year of Teodosic’s contract carries just a $2.1MM guarantee on his $6.3MM salary if the Clippers waive him by July 15.

L.A. could decide that financial flexibility is preferable to another year of Teodosic, who was limited to 45 games in his rookie season because of injuries. Austin Rivers ($12.7MM) and Wesley Johnson ($6.1MM) have already exercised their options for next year, while DeAndre Jordan has until Friday to decide on his $24.1MM option. The Clippers also have to decide whether to guarantee Patrick Beverley‘s $5MM deal and will be well over the salary cap if all those players remain on the roster.

A report this week says L.A.’s front office is leaning toward unloading Teodosic before the start of free agency, in part due to concerns over a tear of the plantar fascia in his left foot that he suffered late in the season. The 31-year-old said during the year that he likes playing in the NBA, but it’s possible he could return to Europe if he gets a better offer there.

Teodosic averaged 9.5 points and 4.6 assists during his first NBA season, starting 36 of the 45 games.

Kornet, Hicks Receive Qualifying Offers From Knicks

June 23rd, 2018 at 9:43am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks have extended qualifying offers to both Luke Kornet and Isaiah Hicks, according to RealGM’s Transactions log. Those moves make them restricted free agents next month.

That duo signed one-year, two-way contracts last season. According to the latest CBA, the qualifying offer is a two-way contract, with $50K guaranteed.

At least one of them would have to eventually sign a regular contract for next season, since the club has reached an agreement with Arizona guard Allonzo Trier for one of their two-way deals.

Kornet, a 7’1” power forward/center out of Vanderbilt, appeared in 20 games with the Knicks last season. He averaged 6.7 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 1.3 APG in 16.4 MPG. Hicks, a 6’9” forward from North Carolina, saw action in 18 NBA games and posted averages of 4.4 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 13.3 MPG.

Wilson Chandler Opts In With Nuggets

June 23rd, 2018 at 9:07am CST by Dana Gauruder

JUNE 23rd, 9:07 am: Chandler has officially opted in, according to RealGM’s Transactions log.

JUNE 22nd, 5:11 pm: Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler will opt in for the final year of his contract, Chris Haynes of ESPN tweets. Chandler will make $12.8MM rather than test the free agent market.

Chandler had until Sunday to make a decision on his option. With Gary Harris‘ extension kicking in next season, the Nuggets now have a handful of players making between $12.8MM-$29.7MM.

Chandler started 71 of the 74 games in which he played last season but his role diminished. He averaged just 8.5 shots per game, his lowest total since his rookie year with the Knicks in 2007/08. His 10 PPG were his lowest since 2011/12, when he played just eight games.

That was a stark contrast to the previous season, when Chandler averaged 15.7 PPG – second-most in his career – and a career-high 6.5 RPG.

The 6’9” Chandler could see an even bigger dip in playing time if the team’s draft pick, Michael Porter Jr., is healthy enough to play regularly. Porter slipped to the No. 14 overall spot because of long-term health concerns after he underwent back surgery in his lone college campaign at Missouri.

Clippers’ Austin Rivers Exercises 2018/19 Option

June 23rd, 2018 at 9:03am CST by Arthur Hill

JUNE 23, 9:03am: Rivers has officially opted in, according to RealGM’s Transactions log.

JUNE 21, 2:37pm: Clippers guard Austin Rivers plans to opt in for next season on a $12.65MM contract, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times.

Rivers’ move is one of three major player option decisions for the Clippers, who are also waiting to hear from DeAndre Jordan ($24,119,025) and Milos Teodosic ($6.3MM).

Rivers, 25, put up career-best numbers in his third full season in L.A., averaging 15.1 points and 4.0 assists in 61 games. He became a full-time starter this season, but missed six weeks with an injured right ankle.

Warriors Waive Chris Boucher

June 22nd, 2018 at 7:30pm CST by Luke Adams

7:30pm: The move is official, according to a team press release.

3:13pm: The Warriors will waive forward Chris Boucher, opening up a two-way slot on their roster, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Boucher, 25, signed a two-way contract with the Warriors last offseason after going undrafted out of Oregon. Although he was a member of the team’s 17-man roster for the entire 2017/18 season, he appeared in just one NBA game, spending most of his time with Golden State’s G League affiliate in Santa Cruz.

As Anthony Slater and Tim Kawakami of The Athletic observe (via Twitter), the Warriors are looking to fill their two-way contract slots with young players who are capable of earning NBA minutes, as Quinn Cook did last season. Boucher probably isn’t at that point.

With Cook now on the NBA roster and Boucher headed for waivers, both of the Warriors’ two-way slots will be open for 2018/19.

Cougars Guard Rob Gray Gets Invite From Rockets

June 22nd, 2018 at 6:34pm CST by Dana Gauruder

University of Houston guard Rob Gray will play for the Rockets’ summer league team and apparently has a training-camp invite, according to Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle.

Gray revealed the agreement in a text to Duarte.

“I will be playing summer league/training camp with them trying to earn a roster spot for the upcoming season,” Gray said.

Gray did not get drafted despite being a prolific scorer the past two seasons. He averaged 19.3 PPG, 4.4 APG and 3.7 RPG in his senior year while leading Houston to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where it lost on a buzzer-beater to eventually national championship runner-up Michigan. Gray averaged 31.0 PPG and 9.0 RPG in those tournament games.

The 6’1” Gray shot 35.9% from long range last season after making 38.2% of his 3-point attempts as a junior, when he averaged 20.3 PPG.

Carmelo Anthony Won’t Opt Out Of Contract

June 22nd, 2018 at 4:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Carmelo Anthony won’t exercise the early termination option on his contract before Saturday’s deadline, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times. As Stein writes, that means Anthony is opting into the final year of his contract with the Thunder, which will put him in line for a salary of $27,928,140 in 2018/19.

Despite any lingering issues he has with the club over his role last season, Anthony wasn’t going to leave that much money on the table. Oklahoma City and Anthony can pursue a buyout, which would allow the veteran forward to try to find another team where he could get more playing time and touches. Anthony said after Oklahoma City was eliminated from the playoffs that would not accept a limited role again, Stein notes.

Anthony averaged 16.2 PPG and 1.3 APG in 32.1 MPG during the regular season, all career lows. His production dipped to 11.8 PPG and 0.3 APG in the Thunder’s six playoff games and he was often off the floor during crunch time.

The Thunder could, of course, try to trade him but moving Anthony’s salary would be nearly impossible.

Anthony’s decision to decline the ETO has major implications in regard to the team’s luxury-tax situation as it seeks to re-sign Paul George. The Thunder’s tax bill could approach $80MM if George were re-signed to a max contract with a first-year salary of $30.3MM, as Stein points out.

The Thunder general manager Sam Presti told the media after Thursday’s draft that the club has been talking with Anthony’s representatives.

Kings Expected To Sign Cameron Reynolds

June 22nd, 2018 at 3:37pm CST by Luke Adams

Undrafted rookie Cameron Reynolds has agreed to sign a free agent deal with the Kings, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).

While Charania doesn’t provide any additional details on the agreement between Reynolds and the Kings, the fact that he distinguishes it from a Summer League deal suggests that the former Tulane wing should be on Sacramento’s training camp roster in the fall.

In his final college season in 2017/18, Reynolds averaged 15.1 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 2.2 APG in 36.0 minutes per contest for Tulane. Although his three-point numbers took a little dip from 2016/17, he still made 2.0 threes per game at a rate of 35.3%.

Any contract Reynolds signs with the Kings can’t be made official until the new league year begins in July.

Clippers Expected To Sign Desi Rodriguez

June 22nd, 2018 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers and Seton Hall forward Desi Rodriguez have reached an agreement on a training camp deal, a source tells Jeremy Woo of SI.com (Twitter link).

Rodriguez becomes the second Seton Hall player who quickly caught on with the Clippers after going undrafted on Thursday. His teammate Angel Delgado has reportedly agreed to sign a two-way contract with the franchise.

Rodriguez, 22, averaged 17.5 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 2.0 APG during his senior season in 2017/18. He also posted a shooting line of .498/.373/.736 and knocked down a career-best 1.8 threes per game.

Assuming Rodriguez does finalize a camp deal with the Clippers and isn’t just with the team for Summer League play, he’ll count toward the team’s 20-man offseason roster limit and could have a chance to compete for a roster spot in the fall. If he doesn’t make the Clips’ regular-season roster, he’d be a candidate to join the team’s G League affiliate.

Brandon McCoy, Jordan Barnett To Join Bucks

June 22nd, 2018 at 12:23pm CST by Luke Adams

Following the conclusion of last night’s NBA draft, the Bucks quickly scooped up a pair of undrafted rookies. According to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), Milwaukee reached an agreement with UNLV’s Brandon McCoy. Meanwhile, Alec Lewis of Yahoo Sports reports (via Twitter) that Missouri’s Jordan Barnett received a training camp invite from the club.

McCoy, the No. 73 prospect on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com, declared for the draft after his freshman year at UNLV. The 7’1″ forward/center averaged a double-double (16.9 PPG, 10.3 RPG) to go along with 1.8 BPG in his lone college season.

As for Barnett, he was a senior in 2017/18, averaging a career-best 13.7 PPG and 5.9 RPG for Mizzou. The 6’7″ sharpshooter also knocked down 41.4% of his three-point attempts.

As we’ve noted in other stories on agreements between NBA teams and undrafted free agents, the wording involved in these reports can create a little uncertainty. Charania’s tweet, for example, doesn’t specify what kind of deal McCoy agreed to, while Lewis’ report doesn’t clarify whether Barnett has formally accepted the Bucks’ invite to camp. As such, it’s possible both players will just end up playing for the Bucks in next month’s Summer League.

For now though, we’ll assume that both of these players are on track to attend camp with the Bucks in the fall. If that’s the case, they’ll be able to finalize their contracts with the team once the new league year begins in July.