Pistons Sign Eric Moreland
The Pistons have signed Eric Moreland, according to a team press release. Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link) reports that the arrangement is for three years and adds that the deal is not fully guaranteed.
Signing Moreland for three seasons means the team will have to use part of its mid-level exception to sign the big man. Detroit has already used part of their mid-level on Langston Galloway to a three-year, $21MM contract.
Moreland played for the Canton Charge last season and he averaged 12.8 points and 12.2 rebounds per contest. He was named an All-Star of the G-League as well as All-NBA G-League Third Team.
The big man last played in the NBA for the Kings during the 2015/16 campaign. During that season, he played in eight games, scoring just a point per contest.
Moreland was known as a defensive-minded big during his time in the collegiate ranks at Oregon State. He left the school as its all-time leader in blocks, but he was not selected during the 2014 draft.
Bucks Sign D.J. Wilson To Rookie Scale Deal
The Bucks have signed D.J. Wilson to a rookie scale deal, according to the team’s website. Assuming Wilson signed for 120% of the rookie scale, he will make slightly under $12.2MM over the next four seasons.
Wilson was the No. 17 overall pick out of the University of Michigan. The 6’10” forward led the Wolverines with 5.3 rebounds per game during his junior season. He also had a team-high 57 blocks on the year.
The 21-year-old will play for Milwaukee’s Summer League team in Las Vegas. The team opens competition on Friday against the Cavs.
Raptors Sign Malcolm Miller To Two-Way Deal
The Raptors have signed Malcolm Miller to the franchise’s first two-way deal, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star tweets. As part of the new CBA, each team will get a pair of two-way contracts, so Toronto will have one more of these types of deals to hand out.
Players on two-way deals will spend most of their season in the G-League since they cannot spend more than 45 days with an NBA club, as our glossary page on two-way contracts shows.
Miller played four seasons at Holy Cross and spent the 2015/16 season playing for the Maine Red Claws, the affiliate of the Celtics. The 6’7″ combo forward spent last season playing abroad for Alba Berlin.
Bucks, Bronson Koenig Finalize Two-Way Contract
JULY 6: The Bucks and Koenig have finalized an agreement on a two-way contract, agent Keith Kreiter tells Jake Fischer of SI.com (Twitter link).
JUNE 23: The Bucks are expected to reach a deal with Wisconsin product Bronson Koenig, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders tweets. The senior is the Badgers’ all-time three-point leader.
Per Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net, the agreement will likely come in the form of a two-way deal, one of the new contractual mechanisms implemented by the latest collective bargaining agreement.
Until the signing is official, we won’t know exactly what the terms of the contract will be, so there exists the possibility that it’s simply for Summer League. But it sounds like Koenig will be with the Bucks for training camp.
Southeast Notes: Meeks, Porter, Reed, Magic
The Wizards will use their mid-level exception instead of their bi-annual exception to sign Jodie Meeks, tweets Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. The change was made to avoid being hard-capped by the expected re-signing of Otto Porter. Meeks will still receive $7MM over two seasons; the money will just come from a different source (Twitter link). The Wizards still haven’t received the Nets’ offer sheet for Porter, adds J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic (Twitter link).
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Clippers, Warriors, Hawks, Sixers and Pacers all remain in the market for Heat back-up center Willie Reed, tweets David Aldridge of TNT. Miami also hopes to re-sign him.
- The Magic’s new management team is taking a cautious attitude toward rebuilding, relays Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando has been quiet during the first week of free agency, despite coming off a 29-53 season and having up to $15.1MM available to spend. “There’s a lot less money in the free-agent market this year than there was last year,” said Jeff Weltman, the team’s new president of basketball operations. “And so, the approach that we’ve taken is to kind of wait and see how some of that shakes out towards the next phase of free agency and see which players we may be able to get into discussions with at that point. But we’ve been touching base with a lot of guys and just kind of gauging the market.”
- The Hornets have promoted Buzz Peterson to assistant GM, the team announced on its website. A former standout at North Carolina and a head coach at five colleges, Peterson had been serving as the Hornets’ senior advisor to basketball operations. “He brings a wide breadth of basketball knowledge to the position, having been involved in the game at various levels for close to three decades,” said Charlotte GM Rich Cho. “I’m excited to be working more closely with Buzz in his new role and look forward to his continued contributions to our basketball team.”
Dwayne Bacon Signs Three-Year Deal With Hornets
Dwayne Bacon, the 40th pick in this year’s draft, has officially signed with the Hornets, the team announced on its website.
Bacon received a three-year deal, with the first two seasons fully guaranteed, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com, who adds that Bacon is making a positive impression in summer league play and posted a 29-point performance this afternoon.
The Hornets acquired Bacon’s rights, along with cash, in a draft-night trade with the Pelicans.
Bacon was an All-ACC Second Team choice this season after averaging 17.2 points and 4.2 rebounds at Florida State. He was a finalist for the Julius Erving award, which goes to the nation’s best small forward.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 7/6/2017
Click here for the transcript of today’s Hoops Rumors chat.
Pacers Trade Paul George To Thunder
JULY 6, 12:05pm: The trade is official, according to a tweet from the Pacers.
JUNE 30, 8:42pm: Paul George will be traded to the Thunder, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN tweets. The scribe adds in a second tweet that Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis will be headed to the Pacers.
The deal was quickly confirmed by both TNT’s David Aldridge and Shams Charania of The Vertical and following up shortly thereafter was Royce Young of ESPN noting specifically that there will be no picks changing hands.
While George had been the subject of trade rumors ever since he expressed his desire to leave the Pacers next summer, the Thunder were not among the teams floated as a possible destination. It has since been made clear, however, that the Thunder have been in pursuit of George since at least the draft.
The move can be regarded as a risky one by general manager Sam Presti, who will see one of the game’s top two-way perimeter players suit up alongside the ever-prolific Russell Westbrook in 2017/18. George, however, has made no secret his desire to sign with his hometown Lakers next summer.
The relative lack of a return the Pacers received from Oklahoma City, specifically no draft picks, is indicative of how nervous league executives are about George ultimately leaving for Los Angeles in 2018, Brian Windhorst of ESPN says.
Teams on the outside looking in as the Thunder welcome the year’s most coveted “rental” include the Cavaliers, Celtics, Rockets and Wizards.
As the dust settles, the basketball community will pay special attention to how this impacts the future of the Thunder organization. Will the gesture of going out and landing Geoge be enough to convince Westbrook to sign a long-term extension this summer?
Of note is that the Thunder will not have the available cap space to negotiate a significant pay raise for George, meaning he’ll inevitably hit the free agent market in 2018. That doesn’t bode well considering his widely reported desire to play for the Lakers.
As far as the other side of the deal is concerned, the Pacers will bring a familiar face back to the state of Indiana. Prior to going second overall in the 2013 draft, Oladipo spent three years with the Hoosiers. Now, after a solid but unspectacular four years with the Magic and Thunder, the 25-year-old will have the opportunity to elevate his game with another change of scenery.
In Sabonis, the Pacers acquire a skilled big man fresh off of an acceptable first campaign. In limited action behind Steven Adams and Enes Kanter, Sabonis averaged 10.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per 36 minutes. He’ll slot in next to or just behind Myles Turner in Indiana.
The blockbuster deal is the second such move that will send an elite talent from the Eastern Conference westward. On draft day, Jimmy Butler of the Bulls was moved to the Timberwolves.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Suns Sign Mike James To Two-Way Contract
JULY 6: The Suns’ deal with James will be a two-way contract, tweets Chris Reichert of The Step Back. Our primer on two-way contracts can be found right here.
JULY 4: Combo guard Mike James has signed with the Suns, the team announced on its website.
James, 26, has spent the past five seasons in Europe and played this year for Panathinaikos in Greece. He has also spent time in Croatia, Israel, Italy and Spain.
The 6’1″ James played 25 games this season, averaging 13.1 points, 3.0 assists and 0.9 steals per night. He is part of the Suns’ summer league team this year and played summer ball for Phoenix in 2015. He scored 32 points in the 2015 championship game in Las Vegas.
James played collegiately at Lamar, where he was named first-team All-Southland Conference in 2011/12 and scored 52 points in a 2010/11 game. He went undrafted in 2012.
Tyler Lydon Signs Rookie Contract With Nuggets
Tyler Lydon, the Nuggets’ first round-pick out of Syracuse, has officially signed his rookie contract, the team announced on its website.
A 6’10” forward, Lydon was taken by Utah with the 24th pick and shipped to Denver along with Trey Lyles in exchange for 13th pick Donovan Mitchell.
As a sophomore, Lydon was All-ACC Honorable Mention after averaging 13.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game for the Orange. He helped Syracuse reach the Final Four as a freshman.
Lydon, 21, can make nearly $1.58MM in his first season and nearly $9.48MM over four years, according to the Hoops Rumors chart of rookie scale salaries.
Lydon will play for Denver’s summer league team starting Friday in Las Vegas. He is the 21st first-rounder to agree to a contract.