Lakers Sign Carmelo Anthony To One-Year Deal
AUGUST 6: Anthony’s deal with the Lakers is now official, according to a press release from the team.
AUGUST 3: Carmelo Anthony will be teaming up with Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, and LeBron James in Los Angeles, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who hears from Anthony’s manager Bay Frazier that the veteran forward has agreed to sign a one-year contract with the Lakers.
Anthony has confirmed the news in a video announcement on Twitter. He’ll get a minimum-salary contract.
Anthony was said to be weighing interest from both the Lakers and Knicks on the first day of free agency and ultimately opted to team up with his close friend James for the first time rather than pursuing a second stint in New York.
After consistently averaging 20+ points per game earlier in his NBA career, the 37-year-old forward has transitioned into a complementary role in Portland over the last two seasons.
He averaged 13.4 PPG and 3.1 RPG on .421/.409/.890 shooting in 69 games (24.5 MPG) for the Blazers in 2020/21, accepting a full-time role off the bench for the first time in his career.
The Lakers have been busy filling out their rotation around their stars since free agency began less than 24 hours ago. So far the team has come to terms with Anthony, Malik Monk, Kent Bazemore, Trevor Ariza, Wayne Ellington, and Dwight Howard.
Pelicans Sign Didi Louzada To Four-Year Contract
AUGUST 13: The Pelicans have officially re-signed Louzada, per NBA.com’s transactions log.
AUGUST 3: The Pelicans have agreed to a new four-year contract with swingman Didi Louzada, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
New Orleans had been hoping to keep Louzada after declining his $1.5MM team option for 2021-22 last weekend. By declining the option and re-signing him on a new deal, the team now has the ability to keep him for years to come.
Louzada, 22, was the No. 35 pick in 2019. He signed with New Orleans toward the end of last season after spending two years overseas, appearing in three games.
The Pelicans finished the 2020/21 season with a 31-41 record — the 11th best in the Western Conference. The franchise parted ways with head coach Stan Van Gundy at the end of the campaign, hiring former NBA guard Willie Green in his place.
Nets Sign Patty Mills To Two-Year Deal
AUGUST 10: Mills’ contract with the Nets is now official, the team announced today in a press release.
AUGUST 3: The Nets have agreed to sign free agent guard Patty Mills to a two-year, $12MM contract, agent Steven Heumann tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
The deal will feature a second-year player option, according to Wojnarowski. Given Brooklyn’s cap situation, the team will complete the signing using the taxpayer version of the mid-level exception. As we outlined earlier today, a two-year deal worth the full taxpayer’s MLE is worth about $12.07MM.
Mills, who will turn 33 next Wednesday, had been one of the few players in the NBA who had spent the last decade with the same team, having made his Spurs debut way back in 2011.
He has been a reliable and consistent bench contributor for San Antonio during that stretch, knocking down 38.9% of his three-point attempts and never making fewer than 34.1% in a single season. In 2020/21, Mills averaged 10.8 PPG and 2.4 APG on .412/.375/.910 shooting in 68 games (24.8 MPG).
Nets general manager Sean Marks played alongside Mills in Portland during the 2010/11 season and then was in San Antonio’s front office and on the Spurs’ coaching staff during Mills’ first few years with the team, so he’s very familiar with the veteran guard.
The Spurs have been shifting more into rebuilding mode within the last couple years, so it made sense for Mills to seek out a contract with a contender. He had been a popular target on the free agent market, with the Lakers and Warriors among the other teams believed to be pursuing him.
The Nets’ willingness to use their full taxpayer mid-level on the veteran guard reflects how much they like him, as the deal will cost the team exponentially more in cap penalties than the $5.89MM Mills will earn in 2021/22. Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets that the signing will increase Brooklyn’s projected tax bill from $92.6MM to $121.8MM.
Suns Re-Sign Abdel Nader
AUGUST 6: Nader’s deal is now official, the Suns announced in a press release.
AUGUST 3: The Suns and Abdel Nader are in agreement on a two-year, $4.2MM deal that will ensure the forward remains in Phoenix, agent Cervando Tejeda tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Nader, the 58th overall pick in the 2016 draft, was sent last offseason from Oklahoma City to Phoenix in the blockbuster Chris Paul deal. While he didn’t exactly make the impact that the Suns’ other acquisition in that trade did, Nader played well in limited rotation minutes, averaging 6.7 PPG and 2.6 RPG on .491/.419/.757 shooting in 24 games (14.8 MPG).
Nader dealt with some health issues this season and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in late April. He was cleared to return to action late in Phoenix’s postseason run.
A two-year, minimum-salary contract for Nader would be worth about $3.8MM, so it’s possible the Suns were willing to go a little higher than that using the 27-year-old’s Bird rights to make sure he remains on the roster. It’s also possible this is some generous rounding at work and Nader’s deal is actually worth the minimum. We’ll keep an eye out for further confirmation.
Magic Sign Robin Lopez To One-Year Contract
AUGUST 6: The Magic have officially signed Lopez, according to an announcement from the team.
AUGUST 3: The Magic are signing veteran free agent center Robin Lopez to a one-year, $5MM deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links). The 33-year-old is coming off a stint with the Wizards.
Lopez provides Orlando with a locker room presence, joining the likes of Wendell Carter Jr. (22 years old) and Mohamed Bamba (23 years old) at the center position. He was drafted No. 15 overall in 2008 after playing two collegiate seasons at Stanford.
In 71 games with Washington last season, Lopez averaged nine points, 3.8 rebounds and 19.1 minutes per contest. He’s also made stops with Phoenix, New Orleans, Portland, New York, Chicago and Milwaukee throughout his 15-year NBA career.
The Magic also signed lottery picks Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner to their rookie contracts on Tuesday. As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), Orlando will use part if its $9.5MM midlevel exception to sign Lopez and still owns a $17.2MM trade exception.
Free Agency Rumors: DeRozan, Bulls, Wizards, McLaughlin, Rose, Heat
A sign-and-trade deal that sends DeMar DeRozan to the Bulls remains a possibility for the veteran free agent wing, league sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link). Chicago has previously been mentioned as a possible suitor for DeRozan, and Stein’s report suggests the team remains interested even after reaching agreements with Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso.
A Monday report from Brian Windhorst of ESPN suggested that a double sign-and-trade sending DeRozan to the Bulls and Lauri Markkanen to the Spurs could be one possibility that the two sides would explore. Chicago also expiring contracts belonging to Thaddeus Young ($14.19MM) and Al-Farouq Aminu ($10.18MM), both of which would theoretically make for good salary-matching pieces.
Here are a few more rumors related to free agency:
- As Spencer Dinwiddie and the Wizards continue to work toward a possible agreement that would land the point guard in D.C., Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report says (via Twitter) that Washington has begun exploring the possibility of trading Chandler Hutchison and a second-round pick as part of a potential sign-and-trade deal for Dinwiddie.
- Jordan McLaughlin and his camp are optimistic about reaching a new multiyear contract agreement with the Timberwolves, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune (Twitter link). McLaughlin, a restricted free agent, met face-to-face with the Wolves when free agency opened on Monday, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News.
- The Knicks are expected to re-sign Derrick Rose using his Early Bird rights, which means they can keep his smaller cap hold on their books for now and then eventually go over the cap to complete his deal, tweets Steve Popper of Newsday. Popper estimates that New York could still have upwards of $9MM in cap room to work with, or even more if the team waives Luca Vildoza‘s non-guaranteed salary.
- The Heat had interest in Rudy Gay, but weren’t going to match Utah’s two-year, $12MM offer, preferring to commit most of their mid-level to a strong defensive player in P.J. Tucker, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
Trade Rumors: Dinwiddie, Hornets, Ingles, T. Young
Spencer Dinwiddie is close to a deal with the Wizards, but it may take some complex maneuvering to get him there, Fred Katz writes in The Athletic’s free agency recap. The two sides are reportedly hammering out a three-year contract worth $60MM, but Washington is over the cap, so a sign-and-trade will have to be arranged involving the Nets and maybe more teams.
Katz points out that Brooklyn is already over the luxury tax threshold for next season and isn’t interested in adding salary. He suggests the teams may try to tie this deal to the trade sending Russell Westbrook to the Lakers. Katz is confident that Dinwiddie will eventually join the Wizards, but it won’t be easy to work through the details.
In the same piece, Alex Schiffer notes that Brooklyn has been trying to unload DeAndre Jordan‘s contract, which is worth nearly $20MM over the next two years. John Hollinger says the Lakers could send Kyle Kuzma directly to the Nets instead of the Wizards, which would enable Brooklyn to include Jordan and avoid a huge rise in its tax bill.
There’s more on potential trades to watch for:
- The Hornets are one of the few teams that still has flexibility after an active first night of free agency, Hollinger adds. A sign-and-trade of Devonte’ Graham allows Charlotte to have $15MM in cap room or to expand the deal and bring another player, possibly Lauri Markkanen. Hollinger states that the Hornets still need one more guard and another big man.
- The Warriors would be interested in trading for Joe Ingles if the Jazz make him available, sources tell Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Ingles will turn 34 soon, but his passing and shooting would be valuable in Golden State’s system, though Thompson cautions that actually acquiring him would be tricky from a cap perspective. The Warriors still have hope of signing longtime Spurs guard Patty Mills, Thompson adds.
- Several contending teams and younger teams are interested in getting Thaddeus Young from the Bulls, tweets Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago is hoping to resolve the situation with Markkanen before making a decision on Young.
- There’s still a chance the Raptors could keep Goran Dragic– who is being acquired from the Heat in the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade – rather than flipping him to another team, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet (Twitter link).
Magic Sign Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner To Rookie Contracts
The Magic have signed lottery picks Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner to their first NBA contracts, the team announced (via Twitter).
Suggs, a freshman guard out of Gonzaga, was expected to be a top four pick, but slid to Orlando at No. 5 on draft night. He will make about $6.59MM in his first season, assuming he receives the maximum 120% of the rookie scale.
Suggs was a standout player for the Zags, who went undefeated until the NCAA championship game, averaging 14.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 30 games. He figures to make an immediate impact on the Magic’s young backcourt.
Wagner, the eighth overall pick, will make about $5MM as a rookie. He averaged 12.5 PPG and 6.5 RPG as a sophomore at Michigan.
Knicks To Re-Sign Taj Gibson
Taj Gibson will re-sign with the Knicks for another year, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Gibson will be a veteran’s minimum deal worth about $2.64MM.
The 36-year-old center/power forward is a favorite of coach Tom Thibodeau and was with him in Chicago and Minnesota as well.
Gibson played for the Knicks in 2019/20, then returned to the team in early January and was part of the frontcourt rotation for the rest of the season, averaging 5.4 points and 5.6 rebounds in 45 games.
Gibson is the Knicks’ fourth free agent to commit to staying with the team, joining Derrick Rose, Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel. The club is also adding Evan Fournier on a four-year deal.
Since Gibson’s new deal will be worth the minimum, the Knicks can use up all their cap room before going over the cap to finalize the signing.
James Johnson Signs With Nets
AUGUST 6: The Nets and Johnson have made it official, per a team press release.
AUGUST 3: Free agent forward James Johnson will join the Nets on a one-year deal, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Johnson, 34, divided last season between the Mavericks and Pelicans, averaging a combined 7.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 51 games.
Johnson is known for his toughness, size, and length, which allows him to guard multiple positions and comfortably switch on defense. He will provide another veteran big man off the bench for Brooklyn, which is losing Jeff Green to the Nuggets.
With the Nets already in luxury tax territory, Johnson’s deal is likely for the veteran’s minimum.