Cavaliers Sign Evan Mobley To Rookie Contract
The Cavaliers have officially signed No. 3 overall pick Evan Mobley, per a team press release.
The former Trojan averaged 16.4 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 2.4 APG and 2.9 BPG in his lone season at USC, showcasing impressive versatility on both ends of the floor. His combination of ball handling and passing ability, flashes of shooting potential, and general defensive dominance firmed up his status as a top-three pick early in the year.
The Cavaliers, after agreeing to sign Jarrett Allen to a five-year, $100MM contract, are locking in their long-term core around Mobley, Allen, Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro and Collin Sexton.
Mobley’s rookie contract is expected to start at around $8.075MM in year one, and the deal is expected to pay him upwards of $36.6MM through its duration.
Hawks Have Reportedly Offered John Collins Five Years, $125MM
The Hawks have made an offer worth $125MM over five years to restricted free agent big man John Collins, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic. That offer has yet to be accepted, Amick adds.
When Collins and the Hawks discussed a contract extension last offseason, Atlanta reportedly made an offer worth about $90MM+ over four years, so this offer represents a bump in terms of both years and dollars. However, it’s still considerably less than the maximum the Hawks could put on the table.
As we outlined earlier today, the maximum 2021/22 salary for a player with fewer than six years of NBA experience – like Collins – who has full Bird rights is $163MM over five years or about $126MM over four years.
As Amick writes, Collins made it clear last year that he views himself as a maximum-salary player, and it seems like he and the Hawks once again have a difference of opinion on his value.
While Collins may continue to wait for the Hawks to increase their offer, his leverage is limited. There’s little cap space remaining around the NBA and there has been no indication that any team that still has room – such as the Thunder – is preparing to make a run at the 23-year-old. Additionally, sources tell Amick that Atlanta wants to retain Collins and isn’t interested in exploring sign-and-trade possibilities.
In other words, it still seems likely that the Hawks and Collins will eventually work something out, but it doesn’t appear a deal is imminent.
Raptors Waive Hood, Bembry, Watson
The Raptors have waived DeAndre’ Bembry, Rodney Hood, and Paul Watson, according to a team press release. All three players had non-guaranteed contracts for the 2021/22 season.
According to Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports, the Raptors had always planned to waive Hood, who was acquired as part of the team’s trade of Gary Trent for Norman Powell, unless they could use his contract as filler in another trade. Lewenberg also suggests the decisions to waive Watson and Bembry indicate the team is either looking to create added cap flexibility or will simply go elsewhere with its end-of-bench roster spots.
Hood has been a productive player since being drafted 23rd in the 2014 draft by the Jazz, but staying healthy has been a challenge for the 6’7 lefty. Hood fractured his hand after coming over to Toronto, putting an early end on the least productive season of his career.
As we relayed earlier today, Hood already has a deal lined up with the Bucks, who are looking to add more shooting for next year’s playoff run.
In a separate tweet, Lewenberg reports that Toronto’s plan is to waive backup center Aron Baynes before his guarantee deadline tomorrow unless his money is needed in trades, and will retain Chris Boucher through his Sunday guarantee date.
Baynes came over as a free agent in the hopes that he would help stabilize the center position upon the departure of Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol, but his lone year with the Raptors was a disappointment, with the 34-year-old Australian unable to carve out a role for himself. Boucher, meanwhile, has been a massive development success for the Raptors, turning into a solid rim-protector and three-point shooter in his fourth season.
Lakers Sign Kendrick Nunn
AUGUST 6: The Lakers have made it official with Nunn, announcing his new deal in a press release.
AUGUST 3: The Lakers and point guard Kendrick Nunn are in agreement on a two-year contract with a player option in year two, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Agent Adam Pensack tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the two-year deal will be worth $10MM, an indication that the Lakers are using the taxpayer mid-level exception to complete the signing.
Nunn turned down more money from the Knicks and other suitors in order to join the Lakers, according to Charania (Twitter link). He should get the opportunity to be Russell Westbrook‘s primary backup at the point on the new-look Lakers in 2021/22.
After beginning the free agency period as a restricted free agent, Nunn had his $4.7MM qualifying offer rescinded by the Heat once it became clear that there wouldn’t be room under the team’s hard cap to fit in a new deal for the 6’2″ guard. That made him unrestricted, opening the door for him to complete a contract agreement with the Lakers.
Nunn, who is celebrating his 26th birthday today, was out of Miami’s rotation at times in 2020/21, but played well when he saw regular minutes, averaging 14.6 PPG, 3.2 RPG, and 2.6 APG on .485/.381/.933 shooting in 56 games (29.5 MPG).
Having committed to using their taxpayer MLE, the Lakers now have a projected tax bill of $42.3MM, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter).
Lakers Re-Sign Talen Horton-Tucker To Three-Year Deal
AUGUST 6: The Lakers have officially re-signed Horton-Tucker, the team confirmed today in a press release.
AUGUST 3: Restricted free agent guard Talen Horton-Tucker has agreed to a three-year, $32MM deal to return to the Lakers, agents Rich Paul and Lucas Newton tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The deal includes a third-year player option, according to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
Horton-Tucker, a second-round pick in the 2019 draft, averaged 9.0 PPG, 2.8 APG, and 2.6 RPG on .458/.282/.775 shooting in 65 games (20.1 MPG) for the Lakers in 2020/21.
Those numbers don’t exactly jump off the page, but Horton-Tucker is being paid more for his potential than his past performance. He won’t turn 21 until November, making him one of the youngest free agents on the market this summer. The Lakers expect him to take a big step forward in 2021/22, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
The Lakers had Early Bird rights on Horton-Tucker and will take full advantage of those rights to re-sign him. The Early Bird exception allowed the team to go up to about $10.4MM for the first year in the 20-year-old’s new contract, and it appears his salary will be something close to that.
With a player option in the third year of his new deal, Horton-Tucker will have the opportunity to hit the open market again at age 22 as an unrestricted free agent. If he takes a major step forward in the next two years, he’ll be in line for a substantial payday at that point.
Blazers Sign Tony Snell To One-Year Deal
AUGUST 10: The Blazers have officially signed Snell, the team announced today in a press release. Portland is now carrying 12 players on standard contracts, with Trendon Watford on a two-way deal and second-round pick Greg Brown still unsigned.
AUGUST 3: The Trail Blazers and free agent wing Tony Snell have agreed to a one-year contract, agent Austin Brown tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Snell, 29, will provide additional shooting on the wing for a Portland team that also reached deals with Norman Powell and Ben McLemore early in free agency.
Snell shot an otherworldly 56.9% on three-point attempts in 47 games (21.1 MPG) for Atlanta in 2020/21, albeit not on a particularly high volume (2.3 attempts per game). He has now knocked down at least 40% of his three-point attempts in four of the last five seasons, and narrowly fell short of that mark in 2018/19 (39.7%).
Terms of Snell’s new deal aren’t yet known, but I’d be a little surprised if it’s worth more than the veteran’s minimum.
Bulls To Acquire DeMar DeRozan From Spurs Via Sign-And-Trade
Free agent wing DeMar DeRozan is expected to sign a three-year, $85MM contract with the Bulls, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links).
According to Charania, the Bulls and Spurs are finalizing a sign-and-trade deal that will send DeRozan to Chicago in exchange for Thaddeus Young, a future first-round pick, and two second-round picks. Al-Farouq Aminu will go to San Antonio in the deal too, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Wojnarowski also provides the details on the draft picks headed to the Spurs, reporting (via Twitter) that the future first-round pick will convey in 2025 at the earliest, since the Bulls owe their 2023 first-rounder to Orlando. The second-rounders Chicago is sending to San Antonio are the Lakers’ 2022 pick and the Bulls’ own 2025 pick, Woj adds.
Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links), who first reported DeRozan was nearing a deal with Chicago, says his three-year deal will be fully guaranteed.
It’s a fascinating turn of events for the Bulls and for DeRozan, who had reportedly been planning to meet with the Clippers despite their limited cap flexibility. Because acquiring a player via sign-and-trade hard-caps a team at the tax apron, a sign-and-trade for DeRozan likely wasn’t an option for the Clippers, who project to be taxpayers.
However, the Bulls, who had already agreed to acquire Lonzo Ball via sign-and-trade and had two sizeable – and expendable – expiring contracts belonging to Young and Aminu, were in a far better position to make DeRozan an aggressive offer. And they did just that, agreeing to a deal that will add DeRozan to a core that now includes Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, and Ball.
While DeRozan’s lack of a three-point shot (he has made 35 in the last three seasons) is an oddity for a wing in the modern NBA, his mid-range game is deadly and he has become a legitimately dangerous play-maker, averaging a career-best 6.9 assists per game in 2020/21. Opponents will have a tough time stopping lineups featuring him, LaVine, and Vucevic, though it won’t be the most stout group defensively.
Based on their reported moves, the Bulls still have about $19.5MM in breathing room below the tax and $26MM below the hard cap, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who notes (via Twitter) that the team still holds Lauri Markkanen‘s Bird rights.
The Spurs, who have free agent deals in place with Zach Collins and Doug McDermott, still have about $6MM in projected cap space to work with, Marks adds.
Heat Pull Qualifying Offer On Kendrick Nunn
The Heat have pulled the $4.74MM qualifying offer on point guard Kendrick Nunn, making him an unrestricted free agent, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Miami no longer has the ability to match an offer for Nunn, who can now sign outright with a new team.
Nunn, 26, is coming off an inconsistent stint with Miami, seeing his role fluctuate during his two seasons with the team. He still managed to average 15 points and 3.0 assists in 123 regular-season games (29.4 MPG), shooting 46% from the floor.
The Heat signed Nunn at the end of the 2018/19 season, developing him as a young player behind starting point guard Goran Dragic. Miami is also expected to deal Dragic as part of a sign-and-trade for Kyle Lowry, the team’s prized free-agent acquisition of the summer.
In addition to Lowry, the Heat agreed to re-sign four of its own free agents and landed P.J. Tucker on a two-year, $15MM contract. The team has 10 players under contract and will likely fill its remaining roster spots on minimum-salary deals or something close to it — in addition to two players on two-way contracts.
DeMar DeRozan Plans To Meet With Clippers
Free agent shooting guard DeMar DeRozan plans to meet with the Clippers on Tuesday, according to a report from Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes.
DeRozan, a native of Compton, California, is also receiving interest from the Bulls, Haynes confirms. Any agreement between DeRozan and Chicago would likely feature a sign-and-trade, one that could land sharpshooting big man Lauri Markkanen in San Antonio.
As Haynes notes, the Clippers don’t have the cap space to sign DeRozan outright, meaning they would need to be creative in landing his services. The team only has a $5.9MM mid-level exception and probably can’t realistically acquire DeRozan via sign-and-trade since it would create a hard cap on the team’s spending.
DeRozan remains one of the league’s most accomplished scorers and top players still available in free agency. He held per-game averages of 21.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and a career-high 6.9 assists last season, also shooting 49.5% from the floor.
The downside to signing DeRozan, of course, is his three-point shooting. He’s only made 35 threes in his last three seasons, though he remains a lethal mid-range scorer who can finish through traffic and create looks for teammates. He’ll be entering his 13th season.
Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard is likely to miss part of next season rehabbing a partially torn ACL, making DeRozan more appealing for Los Angeles as it looks to return to the playoffs in the spring.
Lakers Sign Malik Monk
AUGUST 6: The Lakers have officially signed Monk, per a team release.
AUGUST 3: The Lakers are poised to add another sharpshooter to their roster, having agreed to a deal with free agent guard Malik Monk, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). It’s believed to be a minimum-salary contract, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac.
Monk, a former 11th overall pick, struggled in his first three NBA seasons, making just 32.2% of his three-point attempts and serving a drug-related suspension in 2020. However, he emerged as a reliable role player in 2020/21, averaging 11.7 PPG on .434/.401/.819 shooting in 42 games (20.9 MPG).
The Hornets opted not to tender Monk a $7MM+ qualifying offer over the weekend, making him an unrestricted free agent and ensuring that a team like the Lakers can sign him outright without having to worry about an offer being matched.
After nearly acquiring Buddy Hield in a trade with Sacramento last week, the Lakers pivoted and agreed to acquire Russell Westbrook instead, creating a major need for shooting on the wing.
The team began to address that need by agreeing to minimum-salary deals with Wayne Ellington, Kent Bazemore, and Trevor Ariza on day one of free agency. Monk will give the Lakers another option for spacing the floor around their stars.