Clippers Sign Donte Grantham To Exhibit 10 Deal
The Clippers have filled their 20-man offseason roster by signing free agent forward Donte Grantham. According to RealGM’s transactions log, the deal was finalized on Tuesday. Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets that it’s an Exhibit 10 contract, giving Grantham the opportunity to compete for a roster spot in training camp.
Grantham, 24, went undrafted out of Clemson in 2018 and then spent most of his first professional season on a two-way contract with the Thunder. Although he played just two total minutes in three NBA games for Oklahoma City, the 6’8″ forward was a regular starter for the OKC Blue, the Thunder’s G League affiliate, averaging 10.5 PPG and 6.5 RPG on .404/.372/.804 shooting in 34 contests (26.5 MPG).
Grantham’s two-way deal included a second season, but the Thunder opted to go in a different direction, waiving him last month.
The Clippers are now carrying 14 players on guaranteed contracts, two on two-way deals, and four with non-guaranteed salaries. If the club plans to keep a 15th man on its roster to open the season, Grantham figures to compete with fellow camp invitees Derrick Walton Jr., Terry Larrier, and James Palmer Jr. for that spot.
Carmelo Anthony Expected To Scrimmage With Knicks
9:20am: A source tells Begley (Twitter link) not to read too much into Anthony’s presence at the Knicks’ scrimmage today, since the team already has 15 players on guaranteed contracts.
8:21am: Free agent forward Carmelo Anthony is expected to reconnect with his former team and participate in the Knicks‘ informal 5-on-5 scrimmages at Columbia University this morning, league sources tell Jake Fischer of SI.com (Twitter link).
Those scrimmages are the same ones that former lottery pick Hasheem Thabeet is playing in, as we relayed on Wednesday. When Ian Begley of SNY.tv wrote about Thabeet’s participation, he suggested that the Knicks likely wouldn’t have invited the big man if they didn’t have at least some level of interest in him. It’s unclear if the same thinking applies to Anthony.
Although the Knicks discussed the possibility of signing Anthony earlier in the offseason, they reportedly only planned on pursuing him if they had landed two star free agents. When the club struck out on its top targets, its interest in a reunion with Carmelo apparently dwindled, but perhaps the door is still open a crack.
For now, it’s probably premature to draw any conclusions about Anthony’s participation in Knicks scrimmages. After all, he also worked out with Nets players earlier this month, and there’s no indication that Brooklyn has plans to sign him.
The 10-time All-Star declared several weeks ago that he hopes to get “another shot” from an NBA team.
Community Shootaround: The BIG3
Joe Johnson may be about to change the way the NBA looks at the BIG3 League.
Since its inception in 2017, the summertime three-on-three competition has been seen as a way for former NBA players to keep their names in the spotlight once they’re past their prime. The games are played in a half-court format and feature two-, three- and four-point shots along with other unique rules.
The league has never been considered a pathway back to the NBA, but Johnson may be about to break that barrier. It was reported earlier tonight that he will work out for the Sixers tomorrow in Philadelphia. The Clippers, Bucks, Nuggets and Pelicans are also interested in seeing if the 38-year-old has anything left in the tank.
“This is and will be big for @thebig3, giving players the platform to perform and make it back to the league,” former Heat star Dwyane Wade tweeted.
Although it didn’t affect Johnson, one reason for the league’s new status is a rules change adopted this year that lowers the minimum age for players from 30 to 27. That allowed a fresh infusion of talent, including many players who are still in the prime of their careers.
One of the top proponents of the BIG3 is Celtics TV analyst Brian Scalabrine, who serves as team captain of the Ball Hogs. He told Frank Isola of The Athletic that Carmelo Anthony would be in a better position to land a training camp invitation if he had played in the league.
“Joe Johnson would not be in the conversation if he didn’t play in the BIG3,” Scalabrine said. “I want Carmelo Anthony to realize that hanging out with his trainer and playing in these bogus pick-up games is not better than playing in the BIG3. If Carmelo was killing the BIG3 it can help him, (but) I think these guys believe it can only hurt them. I think agents think it can only hurt them. But I’m telling you if you’re dominating the BIG3, you’ll get back in the league.”
We want to get your opinion. Will Johnson’s experience help the BIG3 turn into a summertime showcase for players who want to return to the NBA? Please leave your responses in the space below.
Hasheem Thabeet Working Out For Knicks
The Knicks are the latest team to get an up-close look at former NBA center Hasheem Thabeet, tweets Ben Stinar of Amico Hoops. The organization verified its interest in Thabeet by tweeting out a photo this evening.
Thabeet had “impressive” workouts with the Nuggets in July and the Bucks earlier this month, Stinar adds. The big man will finish up with the Knicks this week and plans to visit Milwaukee again in September before training camps open.
The 32-year-old is best known for an unimpressive career after being taken with the second pick in the 2009 draft. He played for four teams in five seasons, but never topped his rookie averages of 3.1 points or 3.6 rebounds per game.
Thabeet played in Japan for part of last season and worked out for several NBA teams during All-Star Weekend. He is reportedly in much better shape and has been working to expand what he can do on offense.
Spencer Hawes To Work Out For Sixers
The Sixers will welcome center Spencer Hawes for a workout tomorrow, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The 31-year-old played 10 NBA seasons, but hasn’t been in the league since 2016/17 when he appeared in a combined 54 games with the Hornets and Bucks. In March, he signed with the G League’s South Bay Lakers and averaged 14.2 points and 7.2 rebounds in nine games.
The 10th pick in the 2007 draft, Hawes played for six teams during his career, but spent most of his time with Philadelphia, amassing 253 games from 2010 to 2014. His best year came in 2013/14 when he averaged 13.2 PPG and 8.3 RPG, but he was traded to the Cavaliers midway through the season.
Joe Johnson will also be working out Thursday for the Sixers, who currently have just one available opening for training camp, so the two veterans appear to be competing for an invitation. Philadelphia has 14 guaranteed contracts, with the 15th roster spot tentatively belonging to Trey Burke, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Burke has a $405K guarantee that rises to $810K if he makes the opening-night roster.
Nets Notes: Kurucs, Prince, LeVert, Luxury Tax
Finding a power forward who can score from the perimeter won’t be a concern for the Nets during the 2020/21 season, but they’ll need someone to contribute until Kevin Durant recovers from an Achilles injury. Jason Max Rose of NetsDaily examines Brooklyn’s options, with the focus on Rodions Kurucs and Taurean Prince.
Kurucs, 21, is a holdover at the position after starting 46 games last year. He averaged 8.5 PPG and put up shooting numbers of 45/31/78 in what was essentially his first full professional season. He excels at passing and cutting, Rose observes, and works hard on defense. The biggest concern about his game has been rebounding, but reporters who saw him at Summer League said he has added weight and looks stronger.
Acquired in a July trade with the Hawks, Prince’s rebounding numbers last season were even worse than Kurucs, but he makes up for it with a better offensive game. He shot a career-best 39% from 3-point range and should get more opportunities to score from long distance under Nets coach Kenny Atkinson.
There’s more out of Brooklyn:
- This week’s rookie scale extension for Caris LeVert is more evidence that the Nets are willing to spend big to build a winner, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Ownership gave LeVert $52.5MM over the next three years and pushed its summer spending past $400MM after landing Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan in free agency.
- LeVert’s extension almost guarantees that the Nets will be a taxpaying team in 2020/21, salary cap expert Albert Nahmad writes for SNY.tv. Brooklyn already has $122MM in salary committed to nine players for that season, and Nahmad estimates the team will be about $15MM below the tax line when deciding whether to re-sign Prince and Joe Harris. He adds that Nets are unlikely to pay the tax this season, meaning a repeater tax won’t be a concern until 2023/24. They will probably exceed the apron in 2021/22 when an expected extension for Jarrett Allen would take effect.
- Stefan Weissenboeck, who serves as Brooklyn’s unofficial shooting coach, will be back for another season, according to Yanir A. Rubenstein of NetsDaily. Weissenboeck is an assistant coach in the German league, but provides tips to the Nets through videos and occasional trips to the United States. “I’m happy about the trust they put in me, and I love the job,” he said.
Joe Johnson To Work Out For Sixers; Other Teams Interested
Before playing in Sunday’s BIG3 championship game, Joe Johnson will work out for the Sixers tomorrow, tweets Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. Johnson is also expected to get workouts with the Clippers, Bucks and Nuggets, a source tells Spears.
The Pelicans are also keeping their eyes on Johnson, Spears adds (Twitter link). Head coach Alvin Gentry and executive VP David Griffin showed up for a first-hand look last week when the BIG3 was in New Orleans.
Johnson, 38, captured MVP honors in his first BIG3 season, the league announced Tuesday. He led the league in points, (a league-record 175), assists (31) and field goals (63) and was the only player to sink four 4-point shots.
Johnson’s performance created talk of a comeback after sitting out the entire 2018/19 season. His last NBA experience involved brief appearances during the Rockets‘ 2018 playoff run after splitting the year between Utah and Houston.
Interest in Johnson has been growing throughout the summer, writes Frank Isola of The Athletic. He shares a story from Celtics TV analyst Brian Scalabrine, who said he recently asked president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, “Do you know who should be in the NBA?” and Ainge responded, “Joe Johnson.”
Scalabrine adds that Johnson does yoga every day and is keeping himself in “excellent shape.”
“Joe Johnson will play a game in the NBA next season,” he said. “I guarantee it. If he wants to – and I think he does – he’ll be playing in an NBA game.”
The Sixers have a roster spot open if they decide to add Johnson, as we track in our Roster Counts. Philadelphia has 17 players under standard contracts (14 fully guaranteed), along with both two-way slots filled. The Clippers are in the same situation, while Milwaukee is already at the league limit of 20 and Denver has three openings.
2019 NBA G League Expansion Draft Results
The NBA G League conducted its 2019 expansion draft on Wednesday, allowing the latest iteration of the Erie BayHawks to acquire the rights to up to 14 players.
Erie has been a G League mainstay in recent years. However, after serving as the affiliate for the Atlanta Hawks last season, the BayHawks were relocated to College Park and renamed the Skyhawks. As such, the Erie BayHawks team that participated in today’s expansion draft is technically a new G League franchise — it’ll be the affiliate for the Pelicans in 2019/20.
[RELATED: NBA G League Affiliations For 2019/20 Season]
As Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days recently outlined, each of the G League’s other 27 teams were permitted to protect the rights for up to 12 players. Although the BayHawks could select up to 14 players in the expansion draft, they weren’t permitted to acquire more than two players from any one team.
Here are the 14 players whose rights were acquired by New Orleans’ G League affiliate, with each player’s previous NBAGL team noted in parentheses:
- Taylor Braun (South Bay Lakers)
- Trey Burke (Westchester Knicks)
- Quinton Chievous (Capital City Go-Go)
- Xavier Gibson (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
- Isaac Hamilton (Canton Charge)
- Isaiah Hartenstein (Grande Valley Vipers)
- Derrick Jones Jr. (Northern Arizona Suns)
- Scottie Lindsey (Grand Rapids Drive)
- Erik McCree (Lakeland Magic)
- Codi Miller-McIntyre (College Park Skyhawks)
- Xavier Silas (Iowa Wolves)
- Matt Williams Jr. (Grand Rapids Drive)
- Kyle Wiltjer (Canton Charge)
- Michael Young (Northern Arizona Suns)
Not all of the players whose rights the BayHawks acquired today will actually suit up for the team. In fact, many won’t.
Multiple players selected by Erie – Burke, Hartenstein, and Jones – are currently under contract with NBA teams and won’t be available to the BayHawks as long as they remain on those NBA deals. Other players will spend the 2019/20 season playing overseas.
However, if any of the players selected in today’s expansion draft sign contracts to play in the G League in ’19/20, the BayHawks will have their rights. Erie will hold each of these 14 players’ NBAGL rights for the next two seasons.
NBA Teams With Open Two-Way Contract Slots
Only a small handful of two-way players from 2018/19 had their contracts carried over to the 2019/20 season. A couple more of last year’s two-way players have signed new two-way deals. For the most part though, NBA teams have filled their two-way contract slots for the coming season with new faces, including several rookies who went undrafted in 2019.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Two-Way Contracts]
At the moment, 44 of 60 league-wide two-way contract slots are occupied. A 45th appears set to be filled if and when the Knicks finalize their reported agreement with Kris Wilkes. That leaves just 15 two-way deals available across the NBA as training camps approach.
Some clubs may not fill these slots before camps get underway, preferring to sign players to non-guaranteed NBA contracts and then convert those deals to two-way pacts later, depending on how players perform in camp and in the preseason. By the time the 2019/20 regular season begins though, I don’t expect many two-way slots to still be open.
With the help of our two-way contract tracker, which lists all the players currently on two-way deals, here are the teams who can still offer two-way contracts without waiving anyone:
Two open slots:
- Houston Rockets
- Miami Heat
- Toronto Raptors
One open slot:
- Brooklyn Nets
- Charlotte Hornets
- Chicago Bulls
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Denver Nuggets
- New York Knicks
- Note: The Knicks only have a slot available if their reported deal with Wilkes isn’t finalized.
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Phoenix Suns
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Washington Wizards
2021 NBA Free Agents
Hoops Rumors’ up-to-date list of 2021 free agents is below. The player’s 2021 age is in parentheses.
These are players who are eligible for restricted or unrestricted free agency after the 2020/21 season. They either finished the ’20/21 season on an NBA roster or were unsigned at season’s end (but appeared in at least 10 games). A small handful of other notable free agents are also listed.
You’ll be able to access this list anytime under the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right sidebar on our desktop site, or in the “Free Agent Lists” section of our mobile menu. If you have any corrections or omissions, please contact us.
Updated 4-10-22 (4:07pm CT)
Note: This list is no longer being updated.
Unrestricted Free Agents
Point Guards
- Cat Barber (27)
- Michael Carter-Williams (30)
- Ahmad Caver (25)
- Mario Chalmers (35)
- Chris Clemons (24)
- Darren Collison (34)
- Quinn Cook (28)
- Devon Dotson (22)
- Jeff Dowtin (24)
- Malik Ellison (25)
- Tim Frazier (31)
- Marcus Garrett (23)
- Hassani Gravett (25)
- Shaquille Harrison (28)
- Carlik Jones (24)
- Brandon Knight (30)
- Karim Mané (21)
- Jeremiah Martin (25)
- Frank Mason (27)
- JaQuori McLaughlin (23)
- Emmanuel Mudiay (25)
- Jaysean Paige (27)
- Grant Riller (24)
- Justin Robinson (24)
- Dennis Smith Jr. (24)
- Keifer Sykes (28)
- Jeff Teague (33)
- Derrick Walton (26)
- Brad Wanamaker (32)
- Tremont Waters (23)
Shooting Guards
- Joel Ayayi (21)
- Shaq Buchanan (24)
- Jarron Cumberland (24)
- Nate Darling (23)
- Damyean Dotson (27)
- PJ Dozier (25)
- Rob Edwards (24)
- Terrance Ferguson (23)
- Langston Galloway (30)
- Jordan Goodwin (23)
- Kyle Guy (24)
- Tyler Hall (24)
- Scotty Hopson (32)
- Justin James (24)
- DeJon Jarreau (23)
- DaQuan Jeffries (24)
- Tyler Johnson (29)
- Courtney Lee (36)
- Dakota Mathias (26)
- Patrick McCaw (26)
- Sam Merrill (25)
- Adam Mokoka (23)
- Matt Mooney (24)
- E’Twaun Moore (32)
- Jaylen Morris (26)
- Ade Murkey (23)
- Abdel Nader (28)
- Malik Newman (24)
- Trayvon Palmer (27)
- Jahmi’us Ramsey (20)
- Jerome Robinson (24)
- Iman Shumpert (31)
- Deividas Sirvydis (21)
- Cassius Stanley (22)
- Edmond Sumner (26)
- Craig Sword (27)
- Denzel Valentine (28)
- M.J. Walker (23)
- Tyrone Wallace (27)
Small Forwards
- Justin Anderson (28)
- Paris Bass (26)
- DeAndre’ Bembry (27)
- Tyler Bey (23)
- Zylan Cheatham (26)
- Aleem Ford (25)
- Josh Hall (21)
- Aaron Henry (22)
- Solomon Hill (30)
- Daulton Hommes (25)
- Feron Hunt (22)
- Chandler Hutchison (25)
- Wesley Iwundu (27)
- Justin Jackson (26)
- B.J. Johnson (26)
- Joe Johnson (40)
- Jemerrio Jones (26)
- George King (27)
- Louis King (22)
- Kelan Martin (26)
- Sean McDermott (25)
- Alfonzo McKinnie (29)
- Cameron McGriff (24)
- C.J. Miles (34)
- Darius Miller (31)
- Eugene Omoruyi (24)
- Miye Oni (24)
- Andre Roberson (30)
- Glenn Robinson III (27)
- Tre Scott (25)
- Chris Smith (22)
- Axel Toupane (29)
- Paul Watson (27)
Power Forwards
- Al-Farouq Aminu (31)
- Trevor Ariza (36)
- Petr Cornelie (26)
- Sam Dekker (27)
- Mamadi Diakite (24)
- Sekou Doumbouya (21)
- Freddie Gillespie (24)
- Ersan Ilyasova (34)
- Alize Johnson (25)
- James Johnson (34)
- Semi Ojeleye (27)
- KZ Okpala (22)
- Cameron Oliver (25)
- Jabari Parker (26)
- Patrick Patterson (32)
- Jontay Porter (22)
- Micah Potter (23)
- Luka Samanic (21)
- Mike Scott (33)
- Chris Silva (25)
- Emanuel Terry (25)
- Justin Tillman (25)
- Anthony Tolliver (35)
- D.J. Wilson (25)
Centers
- Aron Baynes (35)
- Jordan Bell (26)
- Willie Cauley-Stein (28)
- Javin DeLaurier (23)
- Cheick Diallo (25)
- Jaime Echenique (24)
- Tacko Fall (26)
- Enes Freedom (29)
- Harry Giles (23)
- John Henson (31)
- Aric Holman (24)
- Jay Huff (23)
- Mfiondu Kabengele (24)
- Frank Kaminsky (28)
- Meyers Leonard (29)
- Jahlil Okafor (26)
- Daniel Oturu (22)
- Norvel Pelle (28)
- Olivier Sarr (22)
- Jon Teske (24)
- Cody Zeller (29)
Restricted Free Agents
All of 2021’s restricted free agents have signed new contracts. They can be found here.
Player Options
All player option decisions have now been made. They can be found here.
Team Options
All team option decisions have now been made. They can be found here.
Contract information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.