Pistons Sign Jahlil Okafor To Two-Year Contract
DECEMBER 1: Okafor’s agreement with the Pistons is now official, the team announced in a press release.
NOVEMBER 20: The Pistons added another big man to their stockpile of frontcourt players, as they’re signing Jahlil Okafor to a two-year contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Okafor will sign for the veteran’s minimum, Rod Beard of the Detroit News tweets.
Detroit has added a number of centers and power forwards in recent days. It drafted Isaiah Stewart in the middle of the first round on Wednesday and traded for Dewayne Dedmon. The Pistons also reached a three-year agreement with Nuggets free agent Mason Plumlee.
All this makes it more unlikely their top free agent, Christian Wood, will return. It’s still conceivable they could make a sign-and-trade deal with one of Wood’s pursuers.
Okafor has spent the last two seasons with the Pelicans. He contributed 8.1 PPG, 4.2 RPG and 1.2 APG in 15.6 MPG in 30 appearances last season. Like Plumlee, Okafor is not a 3-point threat. The third overall pick in the 2015 draft has averaged 11.0 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 220 career games.
Clippers Re-Sign Patrick Patterson
NOVEMBER 25: Patrick Patterson’s deal with the Clippers is now official, per a team press release.
NOVEMBER 20: The Clippers are bringing back veteran forward Patrick Patterson on a one-year contract, his agent Sam Goldfeder tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
While Wojnarowski didn’t provide the terms of the contract, it’s probably safe to assume it’s another minimum-salary contract. Bobby Marks confirms as much (via Twitter).
Patterson, 31, spent the 2019/20 season with L.A. and played part-time minutes for the club, averaging 4.9 PPG and 2.6 RPG in 59 games (13.2 MPG). He shot the ball well from beyond the arc (.390 3PT%) but is unlikely to see his role expand going forward and will provide frontcourt depth off the bench.
The Clippers are expected to try to re-sign at least one or two more of their free agent forwards, with Marcus Morris and JaMychal Green also on the open market.
Free Agent Rumors: Harris, Crowder, Hayward, KCP, Cousins, Hartenstein
There are “strong indications” that the Nets will get a commitment soon from sharpshooter Joe Harris, despite the fact that he’s receiving considerable interest from other suitors, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.
As we wait to see if Harris and the Nets come to an agreement, here are a few more free agency rumors:
- After agreeing to re-sign Goran Dragic and Meyers Leonard early in free agency, the Heat are “in the game” to bring back Jae Crowder as well, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Miami is remaining over the cap and prioritizing retaining its own free agents so far this offseason.
- As rumors swirl that Gordon Hayward prefers to land with the Pacers, Marc Berman of The New York Post (Twitter link) hears that the free agent forward has little interest in joining the Hawks.
- Teams that are monitoring Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency expect the Knicks to have interest in the veteran wing, Ian Begley of SNY.tv writes.
- DeMarcus Cousins is receiving some attention from teams early in free agency tonight, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). It’s not yet clear which teams may be in the hunt for the former All-Star.
- Free agent big man Isaiah Hartenstein is receiving some interest from the Nuggets, a league source tells Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). Denver just lost backup center Mason Plumlee and appears to be in the market for some frontcourt depth.
Magic Sign Dwayne Bacon To Two-Year Deal
NOVEMBER 24: The Magic have made it official with Bacon, issuing a press release to formally announce his deal.
NOVEMBER 20: The Magic are signing free agent guard Dwayne Bacon to a two-year deal, according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
The agreement includes a team option in the second season, with all indications being that Bacon will sign for the minimum salary exception, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets.
Bacon spent last season with the Hornets, who declined to extend him a qualifying offer this week. He averaged 5.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 17.6 in 39 games, shooting just 35% from the floor.
Bacon, 25, was the No. 40 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. He’s spent the past three seasons with Charlotte, appearing in a total of 135 games. The move to Orlando will reunite him with former Hornets head coach Steve Clifford.
Orlando finished with the eighth-best record in the Eastern Conference last season at 33-40. The team sports a young nucleus that includes Aaron Gordon, Markelle Fultz, Jonathan Isaac and Mohamed Bamba, along with veterans such as Evan Fournier and Terrence Ross.
Pistons Sign Mason Plumlee To Three-Year Deal
DECEMBER 1: Plumlee’s deal with the Pistons is now official, the team announced in a press release.
NOVEMBER 20: The Pistons have agreed to a three-year, $25MM deal with free agent center Mason Plumlee, agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Plumlee, who has served as Nikola Jokic‘s backup in Denver in recent years, is a solid, steady option in the middle who moves the ball well on offense. He averaged 7.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 2.5 APG in 61 games (17.3 MPG) for Denver in 2019/20.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), the Pistons had about $10MM in projected cap room before free agency began, so it sounds like a good chunk of that money will go to Plumlee. It’s not clear what this means for Christian Wood‘s future — he overlaps positionally with Plumlee to some extent, and this deal reduced the team’s cap flexibility. However, it’s possible that additional moves will reopen a path to re-signing Wood.
The Nuggets, meanwhile, have now lost one of their three frontcourt players that reached unrestricted free agency this evening. Denver is expected to make an effort to re-sign both Jerami Grant and Paul Millsap.
Spurs Waive Metu, Re-Sign Eubanks
NOVEMBER 24: The Spurs have officially re-signed Eubanks, per the NBA’s transactions log. According to Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), only the first year of the big man’s three-year, minimum-salary contract is guaranteed. The second year has a partial $500K guarantee and the third year is non-guaranteed.
NOVEMBER 20: The Spurs have waived forward Chimezie Metu, according to a team press release. They’re re-signing big man Drew Eubanks on a three-year contract, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
The three-year deal for Eubanks is worth $5.29MM, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. That makes the deal a minimum-salary contract.
Metu, a 2018 second-round pick, was never able to establish consistent playing time in San Antonio. He appeared in 47 games over the last two seasons, averaging 2.3 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 5.3 MPG.
Eubanks passed Metu in the pecking order by the end of last season, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News tweets. The undrafted Eubanks, 23, appeared in 22 games last season, averaging 4.9 PPG and 3.9 RPG in 12.4 MPG. He also flashed some shot-blocking ability, swatting 11 shots in San Antonio’s last seven games during the restart.
Eubanks, a two-way player last season, received a qualifying offer from the Spurs this week.
Lakers Sign Wesley Matthews To One-Year Contract
NOVEMBER 22: The Lakers have officially announced their deal with Matthews, according to Bill Oram of The Athletic (Twitter link).
NOVEMBER 20: Free agent swingman Wesley Matthews intends to sign a contract with the Lakers, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Matthews turned down a player option with Milwaukee to reach free agency this week.
The Lakers’ deal with Matthews will be a one-year pact worth $3.6MM, says Charania (via Twitter). It sounds like the club will use its bi-annual exception – which has an exact value of $3,623,000 – to lock up the 34-year-old.
Although Matthews’ prime years are behind him, he remains a reliable three-and-D option, having started all 67 games he appeared in for the NBA-best Bucks last season. He recorded 7.4 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 1.4 APG with a .364 3PT% in 24.4 minutes per contest, and has never made fewer than 36.0% of his threes in a single season since entering the league.
The Lakers were in need of a wing who could shoot, with Danny Green having been traded away and Avery Bradley departing in free agency. Matthews can fill that role without breaking the bank.
The Lakers will be hard-capped at $138.93MM this season as a result of using the bi-annual exception.
Raptors, Others To Meet VanVleet Saturday
Free agent guard Fred VanVleet will meet with the Raptors and one or two other teams in Chicago on Saturday, Michael Grange of Rogers SportsNet tweets.
VanVleet is one of the biggest names on the market and arguably the top combo guard available. Toronto is hopeful of retaining him and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said earlier on Friday he was likely to re-sign.
However, Grange’s report suggests they’ll have some competition for his services.
Grange offered these other tidbits on the Raptors:
- They have not reached out to Cavaliers free agent center Tristan Thompson. Toronto had been expected to express interest in Thompson. That could be a sign the Raptors are confident of re-signing another one of their top free agents, Serge Ibaka.
- There’s also a sense they’ll likely reach an extension agreement with OG Anunoby.
Heat Re-Sign Meyers Leonard
NOVEMBER 22: Leonard has put pen to paper on his new contract, making it official, the Heat announced (via Twitter).
NOVEMBER 20: Free agent center Meyers Leonard tells Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link) that he plans to re-sign with the Heat.
He’ll get a two-year deal that includes a team option on year two, according to Reynolds, who adds (via Twitter) that the deal is expected to start at around $9MM. It’ll be worth close to $20MM overall, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The second-year team option will allow the Heat to protect their cap room for 2021.
“I wanted nothing more than to come back to Miami. Literally nothing more,” Leonard told Reynolds (Twitter link).
Leonard, 28, was the Heat’s starting center for most of the 2019/20 season, averaging 6.1 PPG and 5.1 RPG with a solid .509/.414/.643 shooting line in 51 games (20.3 MPG). He saw his role reduced in the postseason, but Miami was still interested in continuing the relationship going forward.
Heat president Pat Riley indicated earlier this week that he wanted to “run this thing back” with the squad that made it to the NBA Finals this year, and it sounds like the team is making good on that vow. In addition to reaching an agreement with Leonard, the Heat have already struck a deal to re-sign Goran Dragic.
Heat Re-Sign Goran Dragic
NOVEMBER 22: The first free agent to reach a deal on Friday has now officially signed his new contract, as the Heat issued a press release confirming Dragic’s deal.
“It was essential for us to bring Goran back,” Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement. “He is part of our team, part of our culture and part of our family. He provides backcourt veteran leadership and can still play at a very high level. I’m glad to have him back in the fold.”
NOVEMBER 20: The Heat are re-signing free agent point guard Goran Dragic, he announced on social media today. The deal is a two-year agreement with a team option in the second season, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press tweets.
Shams Charania of The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that the agreement is worth $37.4MM, while Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reports that the deal will pay Dragic $18MM in 2020-21 and $19.5MM in 2020-21.
Dragic, 34, will enter his seventh campaign with the Heat. He was originally acquired via trade back in 2015, mostly serving as starting point guard ever since.
Dragic was a key cog in Miami’s postseason run this year, averaging 19.1 points and 4.4 assists per game. He also shot 44% from the field and 35% from behind-the-arc during those games, proving his worth as a veteran piece on the court and off.
The Heat also agreed to re-sign Meyers Leonard early in free agency. Miami strategically included team options in both players’ deals, working to preserve salary-cap space for the summer of 2021.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.