Pistons Sign Reggie Hearn To Two-Way Deal, Waive Luis Montero
JANUARY 15, 2:43pm: The Pistons have made their deal with Hearn official, confirming in a press release that they’ve waived Montero. The team also announced Felder’s signing.
JANUARY 14, 1:26pm: The Pistons will waive Montero and sign both Hearn and Felder to two-way contracts, tweets Rod Beard of The Detroit News. Their pro-rated deals will give them each 22 days in the NBA.
12:50pm: The Pistons are close to finalizing a two-way contract with G League guard Reggie Hearn, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.
Hearn, who was in training camp with the Kings, has been playing for the Reno Bighorns and is averaging 14.7 points in 14 games.
The Pistons currently have Luis Montero filling one two-way spot and were reported yesterday to to be close to a deal with Kay Felder for the other one, so either the Felder deal fell through or some other roster move is in the works. Detroit converted Dwight Buycks‘ two-way deal to a regular contract on Friday.
Pistons Sign Kay Felder To Two-Way Deal
JANUARY 15: The Pistons have officially signed Felder to a two-way deal, the team announced today in a press release.
JANUARY 13: The Pistons will sign former Cavaliers and Bulls point guard Kay Felder to its open two-way contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. Felder’s signing comes just days after Detroit converted Dwight Buycks two-way contract to a standard NBA deal.
It is a homecoming for Felder, 22, who was born and raised in Detroit and attended college at nearby Oakland University, which happens to be located in the Pistons’ former home, Auburn Hills.
Felder was drafted 54th overall in the 2016 NBA draft, and most recently played for the Bulls before being waived last month. Felder averaged 3.9 points and 1.4 per game over 14 games for Chicago this season.
Andrew White Signs Two-Way Deal With Hawks
JANUARY 15: White’s two-way deal with the Hawks is now official, according to a press release issued today by the team.
JANUARY 13: The Hawks will sign forward Andrew White to a two-way contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical.
White has been playing with the Celtics’ G League affiliate in Maine, where he is averaging 16.0 points and 5.3 rebounds in 22 games. He signed a partially guaranteed deal with Boston in August, but was waived in the preseason.
The Hawks have a two-way slot open, so no other move will have to be made before adding White. Josh Magette holds Atlanta’s other two-way deal.
Kevin Durant Wants To Eventually Own NBA Team
Warriors forward Kevin Durant has “serious intentions” of buying an NBA franchise after his playing career ends, league sources tell Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. That desire has intensified since Durant arrived in Golden State, per Haynes.
In the year and a half since Durant signed with the Warriors, he and business partner Rich Kleiman have taken several meetings with existing team owners and tech CEOs to survey the “lay of the land,” Haynes writes. According to ESPN’s report, Durant and Kleiman have been strategic about getting face time with “some of the most influential and innovative business figures in the Bay Area,” with the star forward hoping to eventually join Michael Jordan in the ranks of former players who become team owners.
“This is a genuine goal of [Durant’s] after he retires, to add another African-American in the position of majority ownership,” a source told Haynes.
Durant, who won’t celebrate his 30th birthday until September, still has many years as a player ahead of him — he told Sam Amick of USA Today last week that he can imagine playing until he’s 40. While that means that potential team ownership is still a ways off, it also means Durant could have another decade to increase his career earnings to the point where majority ownership is more financially viable.
Basketball-Reference‘s data suggests that Durant’s career salary after this season will total $160MM+, and that figure doesn’t include off-court earnings like endorsements and investments. The reigning Finals MVP will also be in position this summer to sign a mammoth new maximum-salary contract with Golden State. Based on current cap projections, such a deal would increase Durant’s total career NBA salary to approximately $365MM.
Lakers Sign Gary Payton II To Two-Way Deal
JANUARY 15: The Lakers have officially signed Payton to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.
JANUARY 14: The Lakers are planning to sign Gary Payton II to a two-way contract, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. Payton began the 2017/18 campaign with the Bucks, but despite starting six games for the team, averaged just 2.5 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.
Payton will slide into the vacant two-way slot that the Lakers opened up on Friday with the release of Vander Blue.
Per Bill Oram of the Orange County Register, Payton is expected to join the team in Memphis ahead of the Lakers-Grizzlies tilt on Monday.
Payton has yet to make much of a mark at the NBA level but drew attention at Oregon State thanks to his Hall of Fame father. Gary Payton Sr., of course, suited up for the Lakers in the twilight of his career.
Payton was waived by Milwaukee on December 18 when the Bucks opted to bring Sean Kilpatrick aboard on a two-way contract.
Last Day For Teams To Sign Two-Way Deals, Apply For DPEs
January 15 is an important date on the NBA calendar. As we outlined earlier this morning, it’s the day that several of the players who signed free agent deals in 2017 become trade-eligible for the first time on those new deals. In addition to being the first day that those players can be traded, January 15 is also the last day for teams to complete certain roster moves. Here’s a quick breakdown:
Last day for teams to sign players to two-way contracts:
If you were following Hoops Rumors over the weekend, you likely noticed a flurry of roster moves involving two-way contracts. That’s because January 15 represents the deadline for teams to sign players to two-way deals. If a club doesn’t finalize a two-way signing today, it can’t do so for the remainder of the 2017/18 league year.
A handful of two-way signings reported over the weekend – including the Lakers‘ deal with Gary Payton II and a pair of Pistons agreements – will need to be made official today. Additionally, the Bucks, Timberwolves, and Wizards each still have an open two-way slot, as our tracker shows, so if they don’t want to leave that second slot empty all season, they’ll need to fill it today.
Salaries for all two-way players will become fully guaranteed for 2017/18 on January 20.
Last day for teams to apply for a disabled player exception:
As our glossary entry on the disabled player exception explains, the DPE is a tool that can be granted to teams by the NBA. It gives a club a one-time cap exception that can be used to replace a player who suffered a season-ending injury.
The Celtics applied for and received a disabled player exception back in the fall after Gordon Hayward went down, but the Nets didn’t file for a DPE after Jeremy Lin‘s season-ending injury that same week. They’re expected to do so by today’s deadline, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The Heat are also worth watching, since they’ll be eligible for a DPE if Dion Waiters is ruled out for the season, as is expected.
Nikola Mirotic, 15 Others Become Trade-Eligible
Today is January 15, which means that trade restrictions have lifted for most of the rest of the NBA’s 2017 offseason signees. While the majority of those ’17 free agents became trade-eligible on December 15, there was a small subset of free agent signees whose trade ineligibility lasted for another month.
The 16 players whose trade restrictions lift today meet a specific set of criteria: Not only did they re-sign with their previous teams this offseason, but they received raises of at least 20%, their salaries are worth more than the minimum, and their teams were over the cap, using Bird or Early Bird rights to sign them.
The most notable name in this group is Bulls power forward Nikola Mirotic. He’s not the best player on the list — Blake Griffin and Kyle Lowry would be among those vying for that honor. But Mirotic is the most likely player to be dealt out of the 16 guys becoming trade-eligible today. He has been linked to a handful of teams already, including the Jazz, Pistons, and Trail Blazers.
Here are the 16 players becoming trade-eligible today:
- Cristiano Felicio (Bulls)
- JaMychal Green (Grizzlies)
- Blake Griffin (Clippers)
- Jrue Holiday (Pelicans)
- Serge Ibaka (Raptors)
- Andre Iguodala (Warriors)
- Joe Ingles (Jazz)
- Kyle Korver (Cavaliers)
- Shaun Livingston (Warriors)
- Kyle Lowry (Raptors)
- Patty Mills (Spurs)
- Nikola Mirotic (Bulls)
- Note: Any trade involving Mirotic requires his approval.
- Mason Plumlee (Nuggets)
- Otto Porter (Wizards)
- Note: Any trade involving Porter requires his approval.
- Andre Roberson (Thunder)
- Tony Snell (Bucks)
With three and a half weeks left until this season’s February 8 trade deadline, nearly all of the NBA’s players are now eligible to be dealt. The only players still ineligible to be moved are those who signed free agent contracts later than October 15, plus certain players who signed contract extensions in the offseason.
Hawks guard Isaiah Taylor (January 17), Nuggets forward Richard Jefferson (January 19), and Pelicans guard Jameer Nelson (January 22) are now the only remaining players who will become trade-eligible between today and February 8. For the full list of players who won’t become trade-eligible before this year’s deadline, click here.
R.J. Hunter Signs Two-Way Contract With Rockets
JANUARY 15, 8:16am: Hunter’s two-way contract with the Rockets became official on Sunday, per RealGM’s transactions log.
JANUARY 13, 4:08pm: The Rockets will sign G League guard R.J. Hunter to a two-way contract on Sunday, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
Hunter has been playing for the organization’s G League affiliate in Rio Grande Valley, where he is averaging 19.0 points in 23 games. He has struggled to find a spot in the NBA after being taken by the Celtics with the 28th pick in 2015. He played 36 games with Boston and another three with Chicago, but most of his experience has been in the G League.
The Rockets have a two-way slot open after terminating their deal with Demetrius Jackson last week. When Hunter signs tomorrow, he’ll have 22 days of NBA eligibility.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/14/18
Here are the G League moves from around the league today:
- The Kings have recalled sophomores Georgios Papagiannis and Malachi Richardson from the Reno Big Horns, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee tweets. Papagiannis has averaged 13.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game for the G League affiliate.
- The Cavaliers have recalled Ante Zizic from their G League affiliate in Canton, the team announced on its website. Zizic has averaged 16.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game this season with the Charge.
2018 Free Agent Stock Watch: New York Knicks
The Knicks may not end up in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, but there’s no denying that the franchise is headed in a better direction than it was this time last year. Addition by subtraction in the organization has given the rest of the franchise room to grow.
Although the Knicks have shown that they’re capable of winning ball games this year, it would be foolish for the team to abandon what has morphed into an organic rebuild to chase short-term gains.
This summer, the Knicks would be wise to stick to their plan and manage their growth responsibly. While they’ll have their hands tied financially where it matters most, how they handle their few free agents could shed light on their mentality heading forward.
Ron Baker, PG, 25 (Down) – Signed to a two-year, $8.9MM deal in 2017
Baker endeared himself to head coach Jeff Hornacek last season and immediately became the wealthiest third-or-fourth-string point guard in the NBA. The Knicks may envision Baker as Frank Ntilikina‘s eventual primary backup, hence their paying more than they needed to re-sign him, but that doesn’t even matter. As much as we all love Ron Burgundy, he won’t find more than the $4.5MM 2018/19 player option he has with the Knicks anywhere else in the NBA.
Michael Beasley, PF, 29 (Up) – Signed to a one-year, $2.1MM deal in 2017
There’s simply no denying that Beasley is capable of filling the stat sheet when given an opportunity. He’s done it sporadically throughout his career but most recently last month while Tim Hardaway Jr. nursed a leg injury. Beasley signed a one-year, “prove it” deal with the Knicks last summer, but the only thing up for debate is whether or not he can dutifully transition back out of the Madison Square Garden limelight and become a consistent producer off the bench for a team trending in the right direction. Beasley’s likely too old to attract attention from a team amid a traditional rebuild, so he’ll have to establish himself as an emotionally mature, volume scorer off the bench if he wants to get paid. If he does, I’d buy in.
Jarrett Jack, PG, 34 (Up) – Signed to a one-year, $2.4MM deal in 2017
The Knicks brought a face familiar to New Yorkers in to keep the starting point guard position warm until Ntilikina is ready to take over. By all accounts, the former Nets guard has done everything one could expect from a 34-year-old journeyman who had played just 34 games across the previous two seasons. The Knicks will presumably have the option to bring him back on the cheap next season if they’d like to extend their current backcourt arrangement, but he’ll have more interest from contenders now that he’s shown he can stay on the court.
Enes Kanter, C, 26 (Up) – Signed to a four-year, $70MM deal in 2015
A move to the spotlight in New York City has brought Kanter’s value close to where it was in 2016 when he signed a substantial contract extension in the wake of an excellent half-season stint with the Thunder. Kanter has deficiencies, no doubt, but the basketball collective seemed to overreact slightly when he didn’t immediately live up to his lofty contract in the first few years of the NBA’s Small Ball Era. I expect Kanter back in New York with his 2018/19 player option because the city seems to suit him and I can’t envision a situation in which he’d be more immediately valuable than the one he lucked into thanks to the Carmelo Anthony deal.
Doug McDermott, SF, 26 (Down) – Signed to a four-year, $10.4MM deal in 2014
While McDermott has done a fine job providing solid minutes off the bench in his first Knicks season, the biggest takeaway from his 2017/18 campaign so far is that his ceiling is right about where people thought it was after a ho-hum career start in Chicago. McDermott could be a low-key valuable add for a team seeking a minor piece, though the Knicks may be better off letting him walk and freeing up the space for a more ambitious signing.
Kyle O’Quinn, C, 28 (Up) – Signed to a four-year, $16MM deal in 2015
O’Quinn is a consistently efficient big man who has bulldozed his way into New York’s frontcourt logjam because he’s simply too effective to keep on the sidelines. Despite his production, however, the Knicks would benefit from flipping him for something, because it would clear more minutes for players like Kanter and Willy Hernangomez. Wherever O’Quinn ends up, he would hit free agency this summer as a lumbering big man in a bear market. For that reason, expect him back on his $4.3MM player option with an eye on 2019.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.