- The Pelicans were Derrick Favors‘ preferred destination once it was clear the Jazz were moving him, Tony Jones of The Athletic tweets. Utah needed to trade Favors in order to accommodate the Bojan Bogdanovic signing.
The Jazz have filled both of their two-way contract slots, inking Jarrell Brantley and Justin Wright-Foreman to deals, per the team’s Twitter feed.
Brantley was the No. 50 selection in the 2019 draft and Utah acquired his draft rights in a trade with the Pacers. Brantley spent four years at the College of Charleston before coming to the league, averaging 19.4 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 2.4 APG in 33 games as a senior.. The 23-year-old wing recently played for the Jazz’s Summer League squads.
Wright-Foreman was selected with the No. 53 overall pick in this year’s draft. He spent four years in college as well, appearing in 125 games for Hofstra and ranking second in the nation in 2018/19 with 27.1 PPG. The 21-year-old guard also played for Utah’s 2019 Summer League teams.
Utah didn’t have any first-round picks in this year’s draft, but loaded up on selections in the back half of the second round. In addition to selecting Brantley and Wright-Foreman, the club also nabbed Miye Oni at No. 58 — he signed a standard NBA contract earlier this week.
- The Jazz signed No. 58 overall pick Miye Oni to his first NBA contract on Monday, and Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights has the details, tweeting that Oni received a three-year, minimum-salary contract with the first year guaranteed. The second and third years on the deal, which was signed using Utah’s leftover cap room, are non-guaranteed, Siegel notes.
The Jazz have officially signed No. 58 overall pick Miye Oni to his first NBA contract, the team announced today in a press release.
Terms of Oni’s new contract aren’t yet known. Five of the players selected before the Yale guard in the second round of this year’s draft have signed (or agreed to sign) two-way contracts, but it doesn’t appear that 2019’s Ivy League Player of the Year received a two-way deal. A minimum-salary pact without multiple guaranteed seasons seems likely.
[RELATED: 2019 NBA Draft Pick Signings]
Oni, who turns 22 next month, averaged 17.1 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 3.6 APG with a .441/.371/.793 shooting line in his junior year at Yale before declaring for the 2019 draft as an early entrant. The Jazz sent $2MM in cash to the Warriors in a draft-night trade in order to acquire his rights.
Oni was one of three players Utah drafted in the back half of the second round. Jarrell Brantley (No. 50) and Justin Wright-Foreman (No. 53) remain unsigned.
Tyler Cavanaugh, a two-way player for the Jazz last season, has reached an agreement to play in Germany, tweets Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The 25-year-old power forward will join Alba Berlin, which advanced to this year’s EuroCup finals.
Cavanaugh saw brief action in 11 games for Utah, scoring 9 points in 39 total minutes. He averaged 17.7 points and 7.8 rebounds in 41 G League games.
After going undrafted out of George Washington, Cavanaugh signed a two-way contract with the Hawks in 2017 that was later converted to a standard NBA deal. He got into 39 games for Atlanta as a rookie, but was waived when the season ended.
JULY 12, 10:24pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
JULY 1, 6:02pm: The Timberwolves have reached an agreement on a guaranteed one-year deal with free agent big man Jordan Bell, agents Aaron Mintz and Michael Tellem of CAA tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).
According to Michael Scotto of The Athletic (via Twitter), it’s a one-year, $1.6MM deal. Bell’s minimum salary for the 2019/20 season will be $1,620,564, so it sounds like that will be the value of his new deal with Minnesota.
Bell is technically a restricted free agent, having received a qualifying offer from the Warriors last week. However, based on the reporting, it sounds like Golden State will probably rescind that QO, freeing Bell up to sign outright with Minnesota. Offer sheets must span at least two seasons, and a sign-and-trade deal must be for at least three years (albeit with just one guaranteed). We’ll wait on additional details to be sure.
A former second-round pick, Bell averaged 3.3 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 68 games (11.6 MPG) for the Warriors in his sophomore season. According to Mark Medina of The Mercury News (via Twitter), the 24-year-old also received interest from the Rockets, Thunder, and Jazz. Medina adds that Bell zeroed in on Minnesota since he felt like it was his best opportunity for a bigger role.
JULY 12: The Sixers have officially signed Neto to his new contract, the team announced today in a press release.
“By adding Raul to our roster, we’ve gained an experienced and valuable veteran who is a tremendous passer with great court vision,” GM Elton Brand said in a statement. “We’re fortunate that he’s now a member of the 76ers and we’re eager to integrate him into our team.”
JULY 3: Raul Neto, who was waived Sunday by the Jazz, will sign with the Sixers when the moratorium lifts on Saturday, tweets Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News. It will be a one-year deal at the veteran’s minimum, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Utah had to get rid of Neto’s $2.15MM salary to open enough cap space to complete a trade with Memphis for Mike Conley. Neto’s contract for next season would have become fully guaranteed on July 6.
Neto, 27, had spent his entire four-year career with the Jazz after they acquired his draft rights from the Hawks. He has been a valuable backup point guard at times, but has only played 40, 41 and 37 games the past three seasons. He averaged 5.3 points and 2.5 assists this year in about 13 minutes per night.
The Sixers need a new point guard off their bench after losing free agent T.J. McConnell, who will sign with the Pacers.
As John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com details, Ross said he received either serious interest or a contract offer from the Lakers, Jazz, Mavericks, Pacers, and Kings while he was a free agent. Like teammate Nikola Vucevic though, Ross preferred to stick with the Magic.
- Jazz center Rudy Gobert shrugs off the Clippers’ acquisitions of Kawhi Leonard and George, confident that the Jazz have done enough this offseason to become serious contenders. “We don’t want to pay too much attention into what the other teams are doing,” Gobert told Tony Jones of The Athletic. “We want to keep working hard, and we want to stay hungry. We know what we have to do. Whenever we step out onto the court, the goal is to win. We know that we have a chance to do some good things this year. But we want to take things one step at a time.”
The defending-champion Raptors will be a different team in 2019/20, with Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and starting shooting guard Danny Green off to Los Angeles. In the wake of Leonard agreeing to join the Clippers and Green committing to the Lakers, Toronto president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri issued a statement thanking the two former Spurs for their contributions to this year’s title team.
“We are very thankful for the year that Kawhi and Danny played with us here in Toronto, and I know the city and the entire country of Canada are grateful for everything they did to help us to win our first NBA Championship,” Ujiri said. “On behalf of the Raptors, I say a very heartfelt thank you to Kawhi and to Danny, and we send them and their families nothing but good wishes. As an organization, the Raptors will focus on the future and continue our pursuit of a second championship.”
After losing two All-NBA caliber defenders in Leonard and Green, the Raptors seem to be seeking out a certain archetype as they peruse the free agent market, writes Blake Murphy of The Athletic. As Murphy points out, new additions Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson are both versatile forwards with size who should help Toronto maintain its identity as a strong defensive club.
Here’s more on free agency:
- It doesn’t appear there’s anything brewing at the moment for free agent guard Lance Stephenson, tweets Scott Agness of The Athletic. According to Agness, Stephenson continues to seek a new contract and may have to settle for a minimum-salary deal.
- While we already know that Kawhi Leonard reached out to Kevin Durant and Paul George before making his free agency decision, ESPN’s Zach Lowe adds Kyrie Irving to the list of players Leonard explored recruiting. Durant and Irving were set on heading to Brooklyn, so those discussions likely didn’t go far.
- The Jazz haven’t completed closed the door on the idea of a reunion with free agent wing Thabo Sefolosha, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic.
- Speaking to Mark Medina of The Mercury News about his decision to join the Timberwolves, Jordan Bell said he was looking for a team that would give him playing time, rather than seeking out the most lucrative offer available. “An opportunity just to play,” Bell said when asked what he prioritized. “Money wasn’t really the issue.” The former second-round pick is getting a one-year, minimum-salary deal from Minnesota.