Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Warriors Convert Braxton Key To Standard Contract

April 13th, 2025 at 10:01am CST by Rory Maher

The Warriors have converted forward Braxton Key‘s two-way deal to a standard contract, according to the NBA’s official transactions log.

The wording in the NBA’s log indicates it was a straight conversion of Key’s one-year contract rather than a brand-new multiyear deal, so he remains on track to be a free agent this summer, when his new contract expires.

As our Luke Adams wrote yesterday, the Warriors had an opening on their standard roster ahead of Sunday’s regular season finale. They have filled it by promoting Key, who is now eligible to appear in the postseason.

A four-year veteran, Key has played a total of 37 NBA games with Philadelphia, Detroit, Denver and Golden State since he went undrafted out of Virginia in 2020. He spent most of 2024/25 in the NBA G League with the San Diego Clippers before signing a two-way contract with the Warriors at the beginning of March.

Key excelled at the NBGL level this season, filling the stat sheet with averages of 16.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.1 blocks on .506/.282/.670 shooting in 49 total games with San Diego and the Santa Cruz Warriors (31.7 minutes per contest). He was named the G League’s Defensive Player of the Year earlier this month.

Hornets Re-Sign Jaylen Sims

April 13th, 2025 at 9:28am CST by Rory Maher

The Hornets have re-signed Jaylen Sims for Sunday’s regular season finale after his 10-day contract expired overnight, per a team press release.

As our tracker shows, the Hornets currently have a full 15-man standard roster. However, they were able to sign Sims using a hardship exception, as the team has multiple players dealing with significant injuries.

Hardship contracts typically cover 10 days, but Charlotte’s season concludes today. He will earn $6,650 for one day of work with his hometown team, and the Hornets will carry an identical cap hit on their books.

A 6’6″ shooting guard, Sims went undrafted out of UNC Wilmington in 2022 and has spent the past three seasons suiting up for the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’s NBA G League affiliate.

Sims made 49 combined appearances for the Swarm in 2024/25, averaging 19.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 32.9 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .442/.375/.837. The 26-year-old also played in five games (18.2 MPG) for the Hornets this month, averaging 6.0 PPG and 2.0 APG on .421/.400/.833 shooting.

Sixers Sign Isaiah Mobley

April 13th, 2025 at 9:08am CST by Rory Maher

The Sixers have signed free agent power forward Isaiah Mobley, the team announced in a press release.

Mobley was the 49th overall pick of the 2022 draft out of USC. He spent his first two seasons on two-way contracts with Cleveland, appearing in a total of 22 NBA games in a limited bench role.

The Cavaliers chose not to retain Mobley last summer, and he eventually signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the 76ers for training camp. He was released before the 2024/25 campaign began and has spent the entire season with their G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.

Mobley got off to a slow start during the fall’s Tip-Off Tournament, averaging 11.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists on .375/.333/.556 shooting in 13 games (25.2 minutes per contest). The 25-year-old played much better during the NBAGL’s regular season, averaging 17.4 PPG, 7.9 RPG and 3.4 APG on .471/.315/.750 shooting in 22 games (28.3 MPG).

The terms of Mobley’s contract were not disclosed, but Philadelphia currently has a full 15-man roster, and today’s announcement doesn’t say anything about waiving another player. That means Mobley was almost certainly signed via the hardship exception for Sunday’s regular season finale.

Colin Castleton‘s hardship deal with Philadelphia ended last night, and he will reportedly sign a two-year contract with the Raptors, so Mobley will essentially take that extra spot for one day. Marcus Bagley is also on a hardship deal with the Sixers, who qualify for multiple hardship exceptions because they have several players sidelined with long-term injuries.

Mobley is the older brother of Cavs big man Evan Mobley.

Raptors Promote A.J. Lawson To Two-Year Standard Deal

April 12th, 2025 at 3:46pm CST by Rory Maher

April 12: The Raptors have officially promoted Lawson to their standard roster, the team confirmed today in a press release.

April 11: The Raptors are promoting A.J. Lawson from his two-way contract to a two-year standard deal, agents Todd Ramasar and Mike Simonetta tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

An Ontario native, Lawson signed a two-way contract with Toronto in December after spending training camp this past fall with Dallas. He has made 24 appearances for the Raptors thus far in 2024/25, averaging 8.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in 18.0 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .428/.333/.620.

The Raptors waived center Orlando Robinson and sharpshooter Cole Swider on Thursday, creating a pair of openings on their standard roster. They will fill one of those vacancies by converting Lawson from his two-way contract. Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca reported yesterday that promoting Lawson was one option that Toronto was considering.

A 6’6″ wing, Lawson went undrafted in 2021 out of South Carolina. He spent his first professional season in the G League before catching on with Minnesota and then Dallas during the 2022/23 campaign. He spent all of ’23/24 with the Mavs, appearing in 42 games in a limited role off the bench.

Lawson opened ’24/25 suiting up for the G League’s Long Island Nets before signing with the Raptors. He was named to the NBAGL’s Up Next event — essentially its version of the All-Star Game — in late January. In 37 combined games (33.1 MPG) with Long Island and the Raptors 905 this season, the 24-year-old has averaged 20.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.5 APG and 1.3 SPG on .440/.361/.726 shooting.

Lawson’s salary for next season will be fully non-guaranteed, according to Murphy (Twitter link).

Pelicans Re-Sign Elfrid Payton To Two-Year Deal

April 11th, 2025 at 2:50pm CST by Rory Maher

2:50pm: Payton signed a two-year deal with the Pelicans, agent Darrell Comer tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). We’ll have to wait for more details on Payton’s new contract, but it seems unlikely to feature guaranteed money for 2025/26.

2:06pm: The Pelicans have re-signed veteran point guard Elfrid Payton to a standard contract, per a team press release.

Payton’s second 10-day contract with New Orleans was set to expire overnight on Friday. Instead of waiting for that to happen, it seems like the Pelicans decided to terminate the deal a day early to bring him back on a new contract, which will enable Payton to play in Sunday’s season finale vs. Oklahoma City.

A nine-year veteran, Payton had been playing in the G League for the past two seasons until the Pelicans gave him NBA another opportunity in the fall. He was released after a couple of weeks, later signing a pair of 10-day hardship contracts with Charlotte in February.

New Orleans initially brought Payton back in March on a 10-day, with his second 10-day deal officially being signed on April 2. Teams are not permitted to sign players to three 10-day contracts, hence Payton’s latest agreement with New Orleans.

Payton, who is from Louisiana and played college ball for the Ragin’ Cajuns, has really struggled to score in 2024/25, averaging 3.5 points and shooting just 33.9% from the field in his 22 games this season with the Hornets and Pelicans. He has missed all five of his three-point attempts and converted four of his seven free throw tries (57.1%).

However, the 31-year-old has been productive in other areas, including four straight games with 10-plus assists. Overall, he’s averaging 6.8 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 21.1 minutes per contest.

The Pelicans had been carrying 14 players on full-season standard contracts, so they didn’t have to waive anyone to add Payton. Kylor Kelley is also on the roster for now on a 10-day deal because New Orleans qualifies for a hardship exception.

Mavericks Promote Brandon Williams To Standard Contract

April 10th, 2025 at 3:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

April 10: Williams’ promotion to the standard roster is official, the Mavericks announced today (via Twitter). He’s now eligible to appear in Dallas’ final two regular season games and the play-in tournament, as well as the playoffs (if the Mavs qualify).

Since the move was finalized on Thursday, Dallas won’t have enough room under its hard cap to complete a second signing before season’s end, so it appears Edwards and Jones will remain on their two-way deals.

April 8: Two-way guard Brandon Williams will get a two-year standard contract later this week when the Mavericks are able to add another player to their 15-man roster, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). The upcoming move was confirmed by Williams’ agents, Derek Lafayette and Fess Irvin of Skyward Sports.

Dallas has been shorthanded for the last several weeks because of hard-cap restrictions that prevent the team from signing another player until April 10. Williams, who recently reached his 50-game limit on the active roster as a two-way player, has been a standout as the Mavs try to hold onto a spot in the play-in tournament.

Williams appeared in 31 games, averaging 8.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 14.8 minutes per night with .511/.379/.857 shooting numbers. His production increased sharply after Kyrie Irving was lost for the season in early March with a torn ACL, as Williams delivered 16.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists per night in 11 games after Irving’s injury.

Williams began his NBA career with Portland in 2021/22 and spent the following season in the G League. He signed a two-way contract with Dallas in 2023 and another one last summer. He figures to have a featured role in the postseason with the Mavericks low on guards, and he may be counted on as a starter next season considering the projected timeline for Irving’s recovery.

Dallas was reportedly giving consideration to all three of its two-way players to fill the roster opening, as Kessler Edwards, who also reached his 50-game limit, and Kai Jones, who has one game remaining, have been impressive as well.

Dallas could fit two of them on the roster by waiting until Friday instead of Thursday to sign Williams, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link), but a current member of the standard roster would have to be waived to create another opening.

Raptors Waive Orlando Robinson, Cole Swider

April 10th, 2025 at 1:52pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have completed a pair of roster moves, announcing in a press release that they’ve waived center Orlando Robinson and forward Cole Swider.

Robinson, who began the season with the Kings, was waived by Sacramento in January and has since been on a series of deals with Toronto, including a pair of 10-day contracts, a two-way pact, and a standard rest-of-season contract.

In 35 appearances (eight starts) for the Raptors, the big man averaged 8.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 20.4 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .447/.340/.794.

Swider joined the Raptors more recently after spending time with Detroit on a two-way deal earlier in the season. He signed a 10-day contract with Toronto in March, then a rest-of-season contract last Saturday.

The former Syracuse standout averaged 7.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per night across eight outings for the Raptors, making 35.7% of his three-point attempts.

Neither Robinson nor Swider was under team control beyond this season, so the expectation is that the Raptors will use their two newly opened roster spots to sign players to multiyear deals, per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). Those deals will likely feature little to no guaranteed money beyond this season, but will give Toronto a chance to take a longer look at the players in the summer.

Robinson and Swider are among the candidates to return on new contracts if and when they clear waivers. According to Murphy, it’s also possible the Raptors will promote A.J. Lawson from his two-way deal and/or bring back Colin Castleton, whose 10-day contract with the Sixers expires on Saturday.

Terence Davis Signs With Kings

April 9th, 2025 at 1:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

April 9: Davis has officially signed with the Kings, the team announced in a press release.

April 8: The Kings are signing guard Terence Davis to fill the open spot on their 15-man roster, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.

Davis averaged 14.3 points on 40.2% three-point shooting for the NBA G League’s Wisconsin Herd this season. The veteran guard has 227 games of NBA experience, mostly with Sacramento from 2021-23. He has not played in the NBA since the 2022/23 season, when he saw action in 64 games with the Kings, averaging 6.7 points in 13.1 minutes per contest.

Davis ruptured his Achilles while playing for the Rip City Remix in 2023/24. He signed a training camp deal with the Bucks prior to this season, then was waived in mid-October. Davis joined the Herd shortly thereafter while waiting for another NBA opportunity to materialize.

Davis will provide some depth at the wing spots. Sixth man Malik Monk suffered a calf injury against Detroit on Monday and Keegan Murray has missed the last two games due to a back ailment.

The Kings have been carrying just 16 players instead of the maximum 18, with 14 on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals. They aren’t eligible to sign another two-way player before the end of the season, but the addition of Davis will give them a full standard roster.

Cavaliers Sign Chuma Okeke

April 5th, 2025 at 12:15pm CST by Luke Adams

April 5: Okeke’s deal with the Cavaliers is now official, per a team press release.

April 3: The Cavaliers and Chuma Okeke have reached a contract agreement, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the 6’7″ forward will fill the open spot on Cleveland’s 15-man roster.

Okeke, the 16th overall pick in the 2019 draft, spent a year recovering from a torn ACL before signing his rookie scale contract with Orlando in 2020. He appeared in 189 regular season games over the course of four seasons with the Magic, averaging 6.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 20.3 minutes per night.

After becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2024, Okeke has spent most of the current season with the Westchester Knicks in the G League. In 45 total outings for Westchester, he has put up 16.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.4 blocks in 36.5 minutes per game.

The 26-year-old also appeared in seven NBA games while on a pair of 10-day contracts with the Sixers in February and March.

Known as a talented perimeter defender, Okeke didn’t display much upside on the offensive end during his time in Orlando, shooting 38.3% from the floor and 31.8% on three-pointers. He has taken some positive steps forward as a shooter this season, however, hitting 36.2% of his outside shots in the G League and 45.5% in a very small sample at the NBA level.

The Cavaliers have been carrying 14 players on standard contracts since Nae’Qwan Tomlin‘s 10-day deal expired about a month ago, so they won’t need to cut anyone to open up a roster spot for Okeke.

Okeke’s deal will include a second-year team option, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Assuming it’s worth the veteran’s minimum, Okeke would earn $12,860 per day for the rest of this season (through April 13) — his exact earnings and the Cavs’ exact cap hit would depend on when the team officially completes the signing.

Sixers Re-Sign Marcus Bagley

April 5th, 2025 at 12:00pm CST by Rory Maher

The Sixers have officially re-signed forward Marcus Bagley, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

Bagley’s first 10-day contract with Philadelphia expired overnight on Wednesday. While today’s announcement refers to Bagley’s second agreement as another 10-day deal, the regular season ends on April 13, so it will technically only cover nine days.

The 23-year-old played five games for the 76ers over the course of his first 10 days with the team, averaging 4.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 20.0 minutes per contest. He made 75% of his two-point attempts (9-of-12) but none of his three-point tries (0-of-12), for an overall FG% of 37.5.

Bagley went undrafted in 2023 after three injury-riddled seasons with Arizona State. He has been a member of Philadelphia’s organization ever since, initially playing for the 76ers’ Summer League squad that year and spending the past two seasons with the team’s G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.

The Sixers currently have a full 15-man roster, but they have exceeded that limit by being granted multiple hardship exceptions due to several injuries. Both Bagley and Colin Castleton are on hardship deals with Philadelphia (Phillip Wheeler‘s 10-day hardship contract expired overnight on Friday).

Teams aren’t permitted to complete standard 10-day contracts with fewer than 10 days left in the regular season, but hardship 10-day deals are still allowed in that scenario. The 76ers won’t hold any form of Bird rights on Bagley after the regular season ends, and he’ll become a free agent immediately.