Heat Officially Sign James Johnson
July 7, 7:47pm: The Heat have officially re-signed Johnson, the team announced over Twitter.
July 6, 10:00 PM: Johnson’s deal will be for four years and $60MM, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter links). Scotto adds that the contract contains a player option in the fourth season.
7:59 PM: The Heat and James Johnson have agreed on the framework of a four-year deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Johnson was widely expected to return to Miami.
Johnson floated around the league before signing a one-year deal with the Heat last offseason. He played a key role for Miami, earning 27.4 minutes per contest while serving as the team’s top perimeter defender.
The 30-year-old averaged double-digit scoring for the first time in his career (12.8 PPG) in 2016/17, and set new career-highs in RPG (4.9), APG (3.6), and 3PT% (.340).
The Heat struck out on bigger stars, such as Gordon Hayward, but rebounded by bringing in Kelly Olynyk and re-signing their own free agents.
The organization needs to clear cap space to accommodate lucrative deals for Olynyk, Johnson and Dion Waiters, and the team is working on moving Josh McRoberts to the Mavericks in order to do so.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Heat Sign Dion Waiters To Four-Year Deal
July 7, 7:32pm: The Heat have officially re-signed Waiters, the team announced over Twitter.
Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel notes that the Waiters deal had to be announced prior to the Johnson confirmation, at which point a potential Wayne Ellington guarantee could follow.
July 6, 7:01pm: The Heat and Waiters are in agreement on the previously reported four-year, $52MM deal, per several reports. According to Scotto, the deal won’t include any options.
Scotto also reports that the Lakers made a one-year, $17MM offer to Waiters. L.A. has been reluctant to commit any second-year guaranteed money to free agents.
4:48pm: Waiters’ new deal is expected to be a four-year contract, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link) pegs the total value at $52MM over four years.
4:31pm: The Heat are finalizing a contract agreement with Dion Waiters that will bring the free agent guard back to Miami, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Wojnarowski had indicated earlier today that Waiters was considering the Heat, Lakers, and Knicks, and would likely make a decision soon.
[RELATED: 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
Waiters, a former fourth overall pick, didn’t generate much interest in free agency last summer after the Thunder withdrew his qualifying offer, and ultimately signed a modest deal with the Heat. Although he was limited to 46 games (43 starts), the 25-year-old had a nice bounce-back season in Miami, averaging 15.8 PPG, 4.3 APG, and 3.3 RPG with a shooting line of .424/.395/.646.
Armed with a player option for 2017/18, Waiters turned down that option in search of a more lucrative deal on the open market, and was linked to the Lakers, Knicks, Bulls, and Kings. After Miami missed out on top free agent target Gordon Hayward, however, it made sense for Waiters and the Heat to work out a new agreement that allowed him to return to South Beach.
Terms of Waiters’ deal aren’t yet known, but the Heat figure to use a chunk of cap room to re-sign him, since their Non-Bird rights would only allow for a 20% raise. The club would also like to bring back James Johnson and has interest in Rudy Gay, among other free agents, so we’ll see how much cap space is left over after Waiters’ deal.
Waiters had ranked 21st overall on our list of 2017’s top free agents last week.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Kings Sign Fifth Overall Pick De’Aaron Fox
The Kings have officially signed fifth-overall pick De’Aaron Fox, the team announced via Twitter. The 19-year-old speedster joins the franchise after posting 16.7 points and 4.6 assists per game with Kentucky.
Per the NBA’s rookie contract scale, Fox will presumably make $24.6MM over the course of a four-year deal, starting with $4.6MM in 2017/18.
Fox will share point guard duties with George Hill.
The team had previously reached agreements with Harry Giles and Justin Jackson.
Warriors Re-Sign Zaza Pachulia
The Warriors have re-signed Zaza Pachulia, Sam Amick of USA Today tweets. The big man will receive a raise this year, in the form of a one-year, $3.5MM deal.
The 20% pay increase is the most the franchise could give the Georgian center, Anthony Slater of the Mercury News adds and will – per Bobby Marks of ESPN – increase the franchise’s luxury tax bill significantly, as much as $8.8MM in tax alone.
In 70 games for the Dubs this season, Pachulia posted 6.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. His biggest contribution to the team, however, is his physical presence in the paint.
Hawks Request Waivers On Jamal Crawford
7:28pm: The Hawks have formally requested waivers on Crawford, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets.
The Cavs appear to be the frontrunners of all the teams mentioned to be in the hunt for Crawford’s services. Per Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, the veteran guard is “theirs to lose.” Crawford will be able to officially finalize a deal with the Cavs or another team once he clears waivers.
5:37pm: The Hawks have finalized a contract buyout with Jamal Crawford, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. The 36-year-old was acquired in the three-way deal that sent Danilo Gallinari to the Clippers.
Particularly interested in the news will be the Cavaliers and Celtics who, along with the Timberwolves, Bucks and Wizards, are reported to be in the mix for the services of the combo guard. David Aldridge of TNT notes that the Lakers could be in pursuit as well.
In 82 games for L.A. last season, Crawford posted 12.3 points per game. The veteran has spent each of the past five seasons with the Clippers and has long been one of the league’s most impactful reserves.
If a contending team like the Cavs or C’s lands the three-time Sixth Man of the Year, it may drastically bolster their shot at competing in the East.
Upon news of the buyout, which was also promptly reported by ESPN’s Chris Haynes, Sam Amick of USA Today notes that the Wolves, Wizards and Cavs are out front in the race to land the guard’s services.
Bucks Sign JeQuan Lewis
The Bucks have signed JeQuan Lewis to a free agent contract, the team announced via a press release on its website. The terms of the deal have not been made public.
The signing was announced along with that of Bronson Koenig’s two-way deal on Thursday.
Undrafted out of VCU, Lewis is a 6’0″ guard that put 15.2 points and 4.5 assists per game as a senior. He’ll compete for Milwaukee in the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, alongside Koenig.
Hawks Renounce Rights To Ilyasova
The Hawks have renounced the free agent rights to Ersan Ilyasova, Keith Smart of RealGM tweets. Ilyasova’s cap hold had been set at $12.6MM.
Atlanta’s front office has been busy today, already signing big man Mike Muscala to a deal, so it appears as though they could be hard at work mapping out their approach to the post-Paul Millsap era.
Having renounced Ilyasova’s Bird rights, they’ll no longer be able to bring him back without using an exception or their cap room.
The oft-underutilized 29-year-old played 26 games with Atlanta last year, his fifth club in two seasons, and will now find his way onto yet another roster in time for 2017/18.
Bucks Sign Second-Rounder Sterling Brown
The Bucks have signed second-round pick Sterling Brown out of SMU, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. The senior shooting guard averaged 13.4 points per game in the NCAA last season.
The two parties inked a three-year pact with the first two seasons guaranteed. Considering Milwaukee’s second-round pick ended up being Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon last season, the addition of Brown could end up being a shrewd move for the franchise.
Brown is a brother of former Lakers guard Shannon Brown and, per Draft Express’ scouting report, started to blossom as a pro prospect during his junior season. Now he’s an efficient jump shooter that has flown under the radar as a sleeper.
Rockets Waive Ryan Kelly
The Rockets have waived forward Ryan Kelly, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Kelly’s contract, acquired in one of Houston’s half dozen pre-Chris Paul trade deals, would have otherwise become guaranteed had he lasted through the day.
As Feigen notes in a separate tweet, Kelly was initially added as a trade chip but was obviously not used. Houston had picked him up from Atlanta in exchange for $75K.
Kelly, a sharp shooting 26-year-old power forward out of Duke, appears to be just on the brink of actually catching on in an NBA rotation. Although he started 59 games between his first and second seasons with a destitute Lakers club, he’s failed to make an impact since. This marks the fourth time in the last nine months that Kelly has been waived.
Atlantic Rumors: Celtics, Crowder, Knicks, Buycks
In the wake of today’s trade with the Pistons that sends Avery Bradley to Detroit, the Celtics have no intention of moving Jae Crowder and have no “pressing” deals on the go, reports Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter links). Himmelsbach adds that Boston will look to use its room exception, and the team never rules out the possibility of more dealing, as Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald tweets. For now, though, nothing appears imminent.
One player who could be a candidate for the Celtics’ room exception is free agent center Dewayne Dedmon. Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News suggests (via Twitter) that he kept hearing at the Utah Summer League how intrigued the Celtics are by Dedmon. However, it’s not clear if that interest is mutual, particularly given Boston’s cap limitations.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Asked today about the trade rumors surrounding Paul George, Pacers president Kevin Pritchard told reporters that the rumored offers from the Celtics and other teams were only about 5% correct (Twitter link via Matt Glenesk of The Indianapolis Star).
- The Knicks were impressed by guard Dwight Buycks‘ performance in Summer League and are interested in signing him to their offseason roster, sources tell Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Buycks helped lead the Mavericks’ squad to an Orlando Summer League title this week.
- The Knicks‘ offer sheet for Tim Hardaway Jr. includes the same advance salary structure as Otto Porter‘s deal with the Nets, tweets ESPN’s Zach Lowe. Hardaway’s deal calls for 50% of his annual salary to be paid by October 1 annually.
- Veteran guard Sergio Rodriguez, who spent the season with the Sixers, prefers to remain in the NBA. However, CSKA Moscow is making a push to lure him back overseas, according to Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops. The Russian club lost Milos Teodosic to the Clippers in free agency.