Bucks Sign Rodney Hood
AUGUST 6: Hood, who was cut by the Raptors on Tuesday and cleared waivers on Thursday, has officially signed with the Bucks, according to the team (Twitter link).
AUGUST 3: Rodney Hood will sign a one-year deal with the Bucks, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Hood is still on the Raptors‘ roster after agreeing last week to delay his salary guarantee date until today. Toronto plans to release Hood, who will sign with Milwaukee after clearing waivers, Woj adds (Twitter link).
The 28-year-old swingman started last season with the Trail Blazers before being shipped to Toronto at the trade deadline. He saw his playing time cut to a career-low 12.7 minutes per game with the Raptors and averaged 3.9 PPG and 1.8 RPG.
In Milwaukee, Hood will help make up for the loss of P.J. Tucker, who is headed to Miami in free agency. Hood’s contract is likely for the veterans minimum, considering the Bucks’ salary situation.
Heat Re-Sign Dewayne Dedmon
AUGUST 6: The Heat have officially re-signed Dedmon, the team announced today in a press release.
“We love Dewayne and his aggressive attitude at the center position,” team president Pat Riley said in a statement. “He’s a great screener, rebounder and can stretch the floor. He came in after missing most of the season and had a tremendous impact for us. His veteran presence and physicality are going to help anchor our defense and with a whole year under his belt, he will be even better.”
AUGUST 3: Dedmon’s new deal will be worth the minimum, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
AUGUST 2: The Heat have agreed to terms with free agent center Dewayne Dedmon, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that it’ll be a one-year contract.
Dedmon, who will turn 32 this month, joined the Heat for the home stretch of the 2020/21 season and played well, averaging 7.1 PPG and 5.4 RPG with a .708 FG% in 16 games (13.1 MPG).
Miami reportedly had interest in re-signing him but wasn’t sure about its chances, since the team only held Non-Bird rights and Dedmon had been on a minimum-salary contract, limiting his ability to get a raise. While the details of the deal haven’t yet been reported, it seems likely it’ll be either another minimum deal or something close to it.
It has been a busy first day of free agency for the Heat, who have now secured commitments from Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson, P.J. Tucker, and Dedmon. The team is also lining up a maximum-salary extension for Jimmy Butler.
Bruce Brown Accepts Qualifying Offer From Nets
AUGUST 8: Brown is officially back under contract with the Nets, the team announced today in a press release.
AUGUST 3: Bruce Brown will remain with the Nets after opting to accept a $4.7MM qualifying offer, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The news was confirmed by Brown’s agent, Ty Sullivan of CAA.
The one-year offer made Brown a restricted free agent, which would have limited his options on the open market. He will be unrestricted next summer as a result of accepting his qualifying offer.
Brooklyn holds Bird rights on the third-year combo guard and can work out a long-term deal. If the team were to trade Brown during the 2021/22 league year, he’d lose those Bird rights, so he’ll have the power to veto any trade involving him until he becomes a free agent in 2022.
Brown, 24, became a part-time starter in his first season with the Nets after being acquired from the Pistons in an offseason trade. He started 37 of the 65 games he played, averaging 8.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per night while playing tough, versatile defense for Brooklyn.
Brown is one of two Nets free agents who has agreed to return to the team so far, joining Blake Griffin.
Warriors Sign Nemanja Bjelica
AUGUST 6: The Warriors have officially announced their deal with Bjelica, confirming the move in a press release.
Despite reportedly receiving interest from several other teams willing to offer more than the minimum, Bjelica said his decision to sign with Golden State took “less than a minute,” per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link).
AUGUST 3: Free agent forward Nemanja Bjelica has reached agreement on a one-year contract with the Warriors, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Heat acquired Bjelica from the Kings at the trade deadline in March, but he played in just 11 games for Miami, averaging 5.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per night. He had been relegated to a bench role in Sacramento after being a starter for the past two seasons.
The 33-year-old gives Golden State another veteran shooting option as they try to move back into title contention. He had the best year of his NBA career in 2019/20 with the Kings, putting up 11.5 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 2.8 APG on .481/.419/.821 shooting in 72 games (27.9 MPG).
The Warriors still have their taxpayer mid-level exception to make further moves, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, who reports that Bjelica’s deal will be worth the veteran’s minimum (Twitter link).
Nets Re-Sign Blake Griffin
AUGUST 9: The Nets have officially announced the re-signing of Griffin in a press release. Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed, but as noted below, it’s reportedly worth the minimum. Nabbing Griffin at that price is a serious discount for a player who proved to be a solid starter on one of the best teams in the league.
AUGUST 3: Griffin’s one-year deal with the Nets will be worth the veteran’s minimum, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
AUGUST 2: The Nets have agreed to terms with Blake Griffin on a one-year contract that will keep the veteran forward in Brooklyn, agent Sam Goldfeder tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Terms of the contract have yet to be disclosed.
After surrendering $13.3MM to the Pistons in a buyout agreement, Griffin signed on with the Nets for the rest of the year on a single-season veteran’s minimum contract.
A six-time All-Star with Detroit and the Clippers, Griffin’s tenure as an NBA first option was abbreviated due to a series of injuries.
The 32-year-old veteran thoroughly reinvented himself while with Brooklyn, maximizing some of his still-potent athleticism on a star-studded Nets team to become a valuable two-way big man, equally adept as a power forward and small ball center, and surprisingly agile as a defender.
Griffin boasts career averages of 20.9 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 4.3 APG and 0.9 SPG. In his new reality as a valuable role player, the 6’9″ Griffin had a significantly more modest output with Brooklyn.
In just 21.5 MPG across 26 regular season contests with the Nets, Griffin averaged 10.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.4 APG, 0.7 SPG and 0.5 BPG. He also posted a solid slash line of .492/.383/.782. After becoming Brooklyn’s full-time starting center in the playoffs, Griffin averaged 9.0 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 1.8 APG, 0.8 SPG and 0.5 BPG, with shooting stats of .532/.389/.714.
Retaining Griffin is a boon for Brooklyn, a team that boasts three expensive All-NBA talents (when healthy) in forward Kevin Durant and guards James Harden and Kyrie Irving, plus pricey sharpshooting wing Joe Harris. With Irving and Harden limited by injuries, the Nets lost a hotly-contested seven-game second round Eastern Conference playoff series to the eventual champion Bucks. If the team is healthy by the 2022 playoffs, it’s shaping up to once again be one of the most formidable clubs in the league.
Luke Adams contributed to this report.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rudy Gay Signs With Jazz
AUGUST 6: Gay has officially signed his contract with the Jazz, the team announced today in a press release.
“Rudy brings a valuable veteran presence to the Jazz which will only enhance our group as it continues to evolve,” Jazz general manager Justin Zanik said in a statement. “He’s proven to be one of the most consistent players in the NBA over his 15-year career and we’re thrilled for him to join our club.”
AUGUST 3: The Jazz have reached an agreement with veteran forward Rudy Gay, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
It will be a two-year deal worth $12.1MM with a player option for the second season, according to his agents, Raymond Brothers and Sam Permut (Twitter link). Utah will use its taxpayer mid-level exception, adds John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Gay, who will turn 35 this month, spent the last four seasons with the Spurs, where he was a reliable contributor off the bench for Gregg Popovich. He averaged 11.4 points and 4.8 rebounds in 63 games last season, which was his 15th in the NBA.
Gay will join Utah’s big man rotation in place of Derrick Favors, who was traded to the Thunder last week. He also reunites with re-signed point guard Mike Conley, a former teammate with the Grizzlies.
The Jazz will be limited to minimum-salary contracts for any further free agent signings.
Sam Dekker Signs With Raptors
AUGUST 9: The Raptors’ signing of Dekker is now official, having been registered in the NBA’s transactions log. Dekker also tweeted about the signing, which marks his return to the league after a two-year hiatus.
AUGUST 5: The Raptors will sign forward Sam Dekker, who has been out of the NBA for the past two seasons, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The move was confirmed by Dekker’s agents, Andy Shiffman and Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports.
Dekker will receive a partial guarantee to come to training camp, a source tells Blake Murphy of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Dekker last played in the NBA in 2018/19, appearing in nine games with the Cavaliers and 38 with the Wizards. He spent two years with the Rockets after being selected with the 18th pick in the 2015 draft and played a year for the Clippers as well. Through 200 total NBA games, Dekker averages 5.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per night.
The 27-year-old played last season for Turk Telekom of the Turkish Super League after spending the previous year with Lokomotive Kuban in Russia.
Timberwolves Trade Ricky Rubio To Cavaliers
AUGUST 3: The Timberwolves and Cavaliers have officially announced the trade in a pair of press releases.
The timing is curious, since the free agency moratorium is underway and trades can’t be formally completed during that time. However, the NBA’s official transactions log suggests the deal was finalized on Monday, presumably before the new league year began.
The announcement comes on the heels of Rubio racking up 38 points for the Spanish national team in a losing effort against Team USA on Tuesday.
JULY 29: The Timberwolves have agreed to trade Ricky Rubio to the Cavaliers in exchange for Taurean Prince, a 2022 second-round pick, and cash, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Wojnarowski’s original report stated that the second-round pick and cash were going from Minnesota to Cleveland, but according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Wolves are actually acquiring those assets along with Prince.
Subsequent reporting confirms as much — Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report tweets that the Cavs are sending $2.5MM to Minnesota as part of the deal, while Wojnarowski tweets that the pick changing hands is the Wizards’ 2022 second-rounder, which had been controlled by Cleveland.
It’s an interesting deal for the Cavaliers, who already have Darius Garland running the point and Collin Sexton acting as a secondary ball-handler. Giving up assets for Rubio doesn’t necessarily mean the Cavs have to move on from one of those players (likely Sexton), since the team needs depth at the point and was seeking a reliable veteran, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link). Still, that added depth would make it easier for Cleveland to move Sexton, who has been the subject of some trade rumors this month.
Rubio, who is currently representing Spain at the Tokyo Olympics, averaged a career-low 8.6 PPG for Minnesota in 2020/21 and shot just .388/.308/.867 in 68 games (26.1 MPG). However, the 30-year-old remains an effective play-maker (6.4 APG) and received praise for his leadership of the young Wolves.
The Timberwolves will create some extra financial flexibility below the luxury tax line as a result of this deal, as Rubio is on a $17.8MM expiring contract, while Prince is making $13MM in the last year of his contract. The team now projects to be about $5.4MM below the tax, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
It’s unclear if Minnesota intends to keep Prince, but the team was lacking in reliable forward depth this past season, so the former Baylor standout could help out there. He’s a career 37.0% three-point shooter and knocked down 40.0% of his attempts from beyond the arc for Brooklyn and Cleveland in 2020/21.
Free Agency Notes: Fournier, Knicks, Dinwiddie, Wolves, Markkanen
Veteran swingman Evan Fournier agreed to a four-year deal with the Knicks on the first day of free agency on Monday, but that hadn’t necessarily been his plan entering the summer. Fournier tells Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe that he had initially hoped to stick with the Celtics.
“That was my priority going into the summer,” Fournier said. “Because I knew the place. I talked to (Celtics president of basketball operations) Brad (Stevens) and we couldn’t get a deal done, obviously. But I had my options. It wasn’t necessarily Boston only, but I was more inclined to sign there because they traded for me and I felt good while I was there. That’s the thing with free agency. It can go both ways.”
While working out a new deal with Boston was his top priority entering free agency, Fournier is happy to land with the Knicks.
“New York has been on my radar for a while now,” he said. “I’ve always said the Knicks are the Knicks. And I’m honestly extremely happy I’ll be there next year.”
Here are a few more notes related to free agency:
- Although the Knicks are short on cap space, they’re still exploring the possibility of adding another point guard either in a trade or using their $4.9MM room exception, sources tell Marc Berman of The New York Post.
- The Knicks never made a formal contract offer to free agent point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who was believed to be one of their potential targets, tweets Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Dinwiddie appears likely to end up with Washington.
- The Timberwolves have been in contact with Bulls restricted free agent forward Lauri Markkanen, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Minnesota doesn’t have a ton of cap flexibility, so figuring out a way to land Markkanen would be a challenge.
Checking In On Top Remaining NBA Free Agents
Technically, most of this year’s top free agents remain unsigned. Until the moratorium in place at the start of the 2021/22 league year lifts at 11:01am central time on Friday, most of them are ineligible to sign their new contracts.
However, over the last 16 hours, more than half of the players from our list of 2021’s top 50 free agents have taken themselves off the market by reaching contract agreements with teams around the league.
[RELATED: 2021 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
While those are just tentative agreements and could still fall apart, that usually doesn’t happen more than once or twice in a given offseason, so it’s safe to pencil those deals in for the time being and assume those free agents are off the board.
So who does that leave? Here are the top free agents from our top-50 list who have yet to agree to new deals:
(Note: This list is up-to-date at the time of publication, but won’t be updated throughout the day as some of these players inevitably come off the board.)
- Kawhi Leonard, F, Clippers
- John Collins, F, Hawks (RFA)
- DeMar DeRozan, G/F, Spurs
- Dennis Schröder, G, Lakers
- Spencer Dinwiddie, G, Nets
- Note: Dinwiddie is reportedly nearing a deal with the Wizards, but there are sign-and-trade obstacles to work out and no agreement is in place yet.
- Lauri Markkanen, F, Bulls (RFA)
- Kelly Oubre, F, Warriors
- Reggie Jackson, G, Clippers
- Kendrick Nunn, G, Heat (RFA)
- Josh Hart, F, Pelicans (RFA)
- Bruce Brown, G/F, Nets (RFA)
- Danny Green, G/F, Sixers
- Talen Horton-Tucker, G, Lakers (RFA)
- Andre Drummond, C, Lakers
- Hamidou Diallo, G, Pistons (RFA)
- Patty Mills, G, Spurs
- Terence Davis, G, Kings (RFA)
- Rudy Gay, F, Spurs
- Paul Millsap, F, Nuggets
- Malik Monk, G, Hornets
- Lou Williams, G, Hawks
- Victor Oladipo, G, Heat
The following free agents were noted in the honorable mention section of our top-50 list and aren’t yet spoken for:
- Carmelo Anthony, F, Trail Blazers
- Khem Birch, C, Raptors
- Nemanja Bjelica, F, Heat
- Avery Bradley, G, Rockets
- James Ennis, F, Magic
- Bryn Forbes, G, Bucks
- Enes Kanter, C, Trail Blazers
- Robin Lopez, C, Wizards
- Markieff Morris, F, Lakers
- Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, G, Thunder (RFA)
- Georges Niang, F, Jazz
- Elfrid Payton, G, Knicks
- J.J. Redick, G, Mavericks
- Ish Smith, G, Wizards
- Jarred Vanderbilt, F, Timberwolves (RFA)
- Justise Winslow, F, Grizzlies
While the idea of our top two free agents – Leonard and Collins – still being available may be intriguing, both players are considered highly likely to return to their current clubs.
Leonard chose the Clippers in free agency two years ago and has given no indication he wants to leave. While one report suggested he may be open to listening to pitches from other teams, another report stated that the Clippers are operating as if he’ll be back, and it doesn’t look like there are any clubs preparing to take a run at the star forward.
As for Collins, right before free agency began, a report indicated that he and the Hawks weren’t yet close to a new agreement. But he’s a restricted free agent, which limits his leverage, and multiple reports over the weekend suggested that his potential suitors were becoming resigned to the idea that he’d remain in Atlanta.
Still, while Leonard and Collins may not provide any surprises, there are some interesting names whose destinations remain very much up in the air. We don’t have a clear sense yet of where players like DeRozan, Schröder, Oubre, or Markkanen will end up, so there are plenty of storylines worth keeping an eye on today and the rest of the week.