Sixers, Derrick Walton Agree To Deal
The Sixers have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent point guard Derrick Walton, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). It’s a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary deal, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Walton, 25, made his NBA debut with the Heat back in 2017/18. He spent most of the ’19/20 season with the Clippers, averaging 2.2 PPG and 1.0 APG in limited minutes (9.7 MPG) over 23 games for the club.
L.A. sent Walton to Atlanta at February’s deadline in a salary-dump trade and the Hawks subsequently released him. He caught on with the Pistons for a 10-day deal in February, but didn’t finish the season on an NBA roster.
It’s fair to assume that Doc Rivers had a hand in bringing Walton to Philadelphia, since the 76ers’ new head coach coached the former Michigan Wolverine in Los Angeles last season. However, it’s unclear whether Walton will have a legitimate chance to make the regular season roster.
Bucks Sign Nik Stauskas To One-Year Deal
DECEMBER 2: Stauskas is officially a Buck, according to RealGM’s log of NBA transactions.
NOVEMBER 26: The Bucks have reached an agreement on a one-year deal with former lottery pick Nik Stauskas, his agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link).
Stauskas, the eighth overall pick in the 2014 draft, struggled to develop into a reliable rotation player during his first few NBA seasons, averaging 6.8 PPG and 2.1 RPG in 335 career games (19.9 MPG) for Sacramento, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Portland, and Cleveland. The 6’6″ shooting guard didn’t play in the NBA in 2019/20, having spent the season with Spanish club Baskonia.
Although Stauskas may not have lived up to his pre-draft billing, he knocked down a solid 35.3% of his career three-point attempts. He also played fairly well in Spain last year, making 42.2% of his threes in 22 EuroLeague contests.
The full terms of Stauskas’ contract with Milwaukee aren’t yet known, but as Eric Nehm of The Athletic recently detailed, the Bucks are right up against the hard cap and probably won’t have room to carry a 15th man. As such, the 27-year-old will likely get a training camp deal and will have an uphill battle to earn a spot on the club’s regular season roster.
Raptors Waive Dewan Hernandez
The Raptors have waived 2019 second-round pick Dewan Hernandez, the team announced today.
The 59th overall pick in 2019, Hernandez appeared in just six games for Toronto as a rookie, recording 14 points and 14 rebounds in 28 total minutes. The former University of Miami standout also appeared in nine G League games for the Raptors 905, averaging 13.4 PPG and 9.6 RPG. However, he was sidelined for much of the season by an ankle injury.
Hernandez’s 2020/21 salary was set to become guaranteed this Sunday if he had remained under contract. By letting him go, the Raptors will avoid remaining on the hook for that $1.52MM cap hit.
As Blake Murphy of The Athletic notes (via Twitter), the move also opens up an extra spot on Toronto’s 15-man regular season roster. That could open the door for two-way free agent Oshae Brissett or second-round pick Jalen Harris to sign a standard contract or for the team to add another player in free agency, Murphy observes.
Pacers, Kelan Martin Agree To Deal
The Pacers and free agent wing Kelan Martin have agreed to a deal, agent Mike Lindeman tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Wojnarowski indicates the agreement covers two years. However, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), Indiana had been about $1.12MM below the luxury tax line with 14 players on guaranteed contracts. As such, Martin’s deal – which would count for $1.62MM for tax purposes – seems unlikely to be fully guaranteed unless the team has another move lined up to sneak back below the tax line.
Martin emerged as a rotation player in Minnesota last season, averaging 6.4 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 31 games (16.0 MPG), though he struggled with his shot (.392 FG%, .260 FT%).
The 25-year-old initially received a qualifying offer from the Timberwolves, making him a restricted free agent. The club withdrew that QO on Sunday though, allowing him to become unrestricted and to sign outright with Indiana.
Contract Details: Adams, Hernangomez, Bol, Bacon, McDermott
After receiving a trade bonus worth $2MM as part of the deal that sent him from Oklahoma City to New Orleans, Pelicans center Steven Adams will have a new 7.5% trade kicker on his two-year extension with his new team, tweets Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. That kicker will give Adams a rare opportunity to potentially cash in on two trade bonuses between free agencies.
Meanwhile, Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports reports (via Twitter) that another new Pelicans center, Willy Hernangomez, will only have a partial guarantee on his new deal with the team. Hernangomez is assured of receiving at least $700K of his $1.74MM minimum salary for 2020/21, Smith notes.
Here are a few more notes on recently-signed contracts from around the NBA:
- Both years on Bol Bol‘s two-year contract with the Nuggets are fully guaranteed, tweets Eric Pincus. Denver used a portion of its mid-level exception to complete the $4.2MM deal.
- Dwayne Bacon‘s new two-year contract with the Magic is for the veteran’s minimum and will be non-guaranteed for 2021/22, tweets Keith Smith. If Bacon remains under contract for more than three days after 2021’s free agency moratorium ends, he’ll get that full guarantee on year two, Smith adds.
- While most of the two-way contracts that have been signed by players in the last week are only for one year, Sean McDermott’s deal with the Grizzlies will cover two years, tweets Smith.
Marco Belinelli Signs With Virtus Bologna
Free agent shooting guard Marco Belinelli is headed back overseas to continue his playing career, as Italian team Virtus Bologna confirmed today in a press release that it has signed Belinelli to a three-year contract.
Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport first reported Belinelli’s agreement with Virtus Bologna, indicating that the veteran sharpshooter didn’t receive any offers he liked from NBA teams (hat tip to Sportando).
The 18th overall pick in the 2007 draft, Belinelli has spent 13 years in the NBA, playing for nine different teams during that stretch. The 34-year-old accepted a reduced role for San Antonio in 2019/20, averaging 6.3 PPG on .392/.376/.828 shooting in 57 games. His 15.5 minutes per contest last season represented his lowest mark since his rookie year in ’07/08.
By returning to his home country of Italy, Belinelli will reunite with his first professional team — he began his career with Virtus Bologna in 2002 at age 16.
It’s not clear whether or not Belinelli’s new deal will have NBA outs. Either way, it’s possible he has played his last NBA game.
Bulls Sign Noah Vonleh To One-Year Deal
NOVEMBER 28: Vonleh is officially a Bull, per RealGM’s NBA transactions log.
NOVEMBER 26: The Bulls are in agreement with free agent forward Noah Vonleh on a one-year deal, agent Jim Tanner tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). It will be Vonleh’s second stint with the franchise, as he finished the 2017/18 season in Chicago.
The ninth overall pick in the 2014 draft, Vonleh began his career in Charlotte before moving on to Portland, Chicago, and New York. In 2019/20, he began the season in Minnesota before being traded to Denver as part of the four-team mega-deal involving Clint Capela and Robert Covington.
In total, Vonleh averaged just 3.7 PPG and 3.4 RPG in 36 games (10.5 MPG) for the Timberwolves and Nuggets last season. He was more productive in 2018/19 for the Knicks, recording 8.4 PPG and 7.8 RPG in 68 games (25.3 MPG).
Arturas Karnisovas, the Bulls’ new president of basketball operations, worked in the Nuggets’ front office last season, so he got a first-hand look at Vonleh for about a month before the hiatus.
It has been a relatively quiet free agent period for the Bulls, whose only other newcomers via free agency or trade are veteran guard Garrett Temple and undrafted rookie Devon Dotson, who signed a two-way deal.
If Vonleh is retained for the regular season, he, Temple, Dotson, figure to provide some additional depth on a Chicago squad that will otherwise return many of its players from last year’s roster. K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago notes (via Twitter) that the team already has 15 guaranteed contracts, so for Vonleh to make the team, someone else would have to be traded or released.
Glenn Robinson III Receiving Interest From Lakers, Clippers, Others
Free agent swingman Glenn Robinson III has received interest from several playoff teams, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who identifies the Lakers, Clippers, Rockets, Nets, and Jazz as the teams eyeing Robinson.
Robinson, who turns 27 in January, began last season with the Warriors and played some of the best basketball of his career in Golden State. In 48 games (all starts) for the Dubs, he averaged 12.9 PPG and 4.7 RPG on .481/.400/.851 shooting in 31.6 minutes per contest.
After being traded from Golden State to Philadelphia at February’s deadline, Robinson saw his role cut back significantly and his numbers dipped accordingly (7.7 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 19.3 MPG). He only logged 36 total minutes in the 76ers’ first-round playoff series, a four-game sweep at the hands of Boston.
While Robinson is unlikely to start for a playoff team in 2020/21, he’d offer solid depth on the wing for any of the potential suitors listed above. Not all of those clubs are limited only to minimum-salary offers, but it won’t be a surprise if the former Michigan Wolverine ends up signing for the minimum.
Trail Blazers Sign Keljin Blevins To Two-Way Contract
The Trail Blazers have filled one of their open two-way contract slots, having signed free agent wing Keljin Blevins to a two-way deal, per the NBA’s official transactions log. Blevins, the cousin of Blazers star Damian Lillard, previously announced the deal on Instagram.
[RELATED: 2020/21 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
Blevins, who went undrafted in 2019, played two seasons of college ball at Southern Miss before transferring to Montana State for his final two seasons. He signed a training camp contract with Portland last fall but didn’t make the team’s regular season roster and landed with the Northern Arizona Suns in the G League.
In 35 NBAGL games last season, Blevins’ contributions were limited. The 25-year-old averaged 4.3 PPG and 2.9 RPG on .397/.267/.882 shooting in 16.1 minutes per contest.
With the fate of the G League season up in the air, Blevins may end up spending much of the 2020/21 season in the NBA with the Blazers — especially since Portland doesn’t have an NBAGL affiliate of its own. However, I wouldn’t expect him to see any action beyond garbage-time minutes.
NBA Denies Lakers’ Request To Clear Deng’s Salary From Cap
The NBA has denied the Lakers‘ request to remove Luol Deng‘s dead money from their salary cap, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). As a result, Deng’s $5MM cap hits will remain on the team’s books this season and in 2021/22.
The Lakers requested last month to have Deng’s salary remove from their cap. The Collective Bargaining Agreement allows teams to remove cap charges for a waived player who hasn’t played in the NBA for at least one year if an independent doctor determines that the player sustained a career-ending injury during his time with the team.
However, that was always going to be a difficult case for the Lakers to make. Deng announced his retirement in the fall of 2019 after being let go by L.A. a year earlier, but his 2018 buyout with the team was reported at the time as a cap-related move, with no career-ending injury mentioned.
The veteran forward subsequently signed with Minnesota and played 22 games for the Timberwolves during the ’18/19 season before retiring.
The Lakers likely recognized it was a long shot to have Deng’s salary excluded from their cap, but figured it was worth a try. The team is right up against a hard cap this season and could’ve benefited from an extra $5MM of flexibility in the summer of 2021 as well.