2022 June | Hoops Rumors

Wizards Sign Delon Wright To Two-Year Contract

June 30th, 2022 at 8:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 6: The Wizards have officially signed Wright, the team announced today in a press release.

“Delon’s versatility as a playmaker, scorer and defender will help us solidify our backcourt rotation,” Wizards president of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard said in a statement. “His size allows him to play and defend both guard positions and will give us flexibility with our lineups.”

JUNE 30: The Wizards have agreed to a two-year, $16MM contract with point guard Delon Wright, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Both years are guaranteed, David Aldridge of The Athletic tweets.

The contract will eat up a good portion of Washington’s $10.49MM mid-level exception.

Wright is the second significant point guard acquisition made by Washington this week. The Wizards are acquiring Monte Morris in a four-player deal with Denver. Journeyman point guard Ish Smith is being shipped to the Nuggets as part of that deal.

A report surfaced earlier on Thursday that Washington was interested in Wright.

The 30-year-old has played for six organizations, most recently the Hawks. He was a regular in their rotation last season, appearing in 77 regular-season contests, including eight starts. He averaged 4.4 PPG, 2.4 APG and 1.2 SPG in 18.9 MPG.

Juan Toscano-Anderson To Sign With Lakers

June 30th, 2022 at 8:09pm CST by Rory Maher

Free agent wing Juan Toscano-Anderson, who just won a championship with the Warriors, has agreed to a deal with the Lakers, agent Erika Ruiz told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

It’ll be a one-year, minimum-salary contract, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

As Haynes details, Toscano-Anderson went undrafted out of Marquette in 2015 and spent the next three seasons playing in the Mexican league prior to receiving a tryout with the Warriors’ G League affiliate in Santa Cruz. Obviously, he impressed Golden State with his athleticism and versatility, having spent the last three seasons with the Warriors’ NBA squad.

Across 139 games (17.1 MPG) from 2019-2022, JTA holds career averages of 4.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 2.2 APG on .523/.361/.613 shooting. At 29, his upside might be a bit limited, but his energy and enthusiasm should help a Lakers team that was quite old and lethargic last season.

Gary Harris Signs Two-Year Extension With Magic

June 30th, 2022 at 7:59pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

7:59pm: The Magic have officially issued a press release announcing that the team’s contract extension with Harris is done (Twitter link).

7:53pm: Veteran Magic shooting guard Gary Harris will return to Orlando, per Jeff Zillgit of USA Today Sports (via Twitter). Agents Austin Brown and Aaron Mintz inform Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link) that the two sides have agreed to a two-season, $26MM contract extension.

The 27-year-old spent his first 6.5 NBA seasons in Denver after the Nuggets traded for his draft rights in 2014. Harris quickly became a valuable two-way starter with the Nuggets beginning in the 2015/16 season. His availability began to be hampered by injury issues towards the end of his Denver tenure. The 6’4″ wing holds career averages of 11.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.1 APG, and 1.2 SPG, plus shooting splits of .448/.363/.812.

Denver eventually included Harris in its 2021 trade for forward Aaron Gordon. During his first full season with a lottery-bound 22-60 Magic club in 2021/22, Harris proved to be a solid veteran presence on both sides of the ball, averaging 11.1 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.8 APG and 1.0 SPG, plus a .434/.384/.874 slash line.

Because the calendar has yet to roll over to July 1, the NBA technically remains in the 2021/22 season. Thus, Harris was still extension-eligible today and won’t actually become a free agent. He’ll also remain trade-eligible after signing the extension, since it doesn’t exceed the CBA’s extend-and-trade limits.

Harris had previously been signed to a four-year, $84MM extension deal while with the Nuggets.

Timberwolves Sign Kyle Anderson

June 30th, 2022 at 7:44pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8: The Timberwolves have officially signed Anderson, according to the transactions log at NBA.com.

JUNE 30: The Timberwolves and free agent forward Kyle Anderson have agreed to a two-year, $18MM deal, agents Thad Foucher and Joe Smith tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

The terms of the contract suggest Minnesota will be using part of its non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Anderson. Both years will be guaranteed, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News.

After enjoying a career year in 2020/21 with 12.4 PPG and a .360 3PT%, Anderson failed to match those numbers in ’21/22, but he remains a solid defensive wing who rebounds well for his size and can act as a secondary play-maker.

Anderson averaged 7.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.7 APG, and 1.1 SPG on .446/.330/.638 shooting in 69 games (21.5 MPG) for Memphis this past season.

According to Dane Moore of Bring Me The News (Twitter link), the Wolves “really wanted” to add a player who could create his own shot and put pressure on the rim. They believe Anderson fits that bill.

Clippers Re-Sign Amir Coffey To Three-Year Contract

June 30th, 2022 at 7:26pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JULY 6: The Clippers have officially re-signed Coffey, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

JUNE 30: The Clippers will re-sign 25-year-old restricted free agent shooting guard Amir Coffey to a three-year, $11MM contract, agents Bill Duffy and Marlon Harrison have revealed to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter).

After going undrafted out of Minnesota in 2019, Coffey joined L.A. on a two-way contract. He played sparingly at the NBA level during the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons, averaging 3.2 PPG across 62 total contests.

Coffey initially returned to the Clippers on a two-way deal in 2021. In five games with the Clippers’ NBAGL club, the Agua Caliente Clippers, Coffey averaged 19.6 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 2.8 APG and 1.2 SPG. He was ultimately promoted to the club’s 15-man roster in March.

In 69 games with Los Angeles during the 2021/22 season, including 30 starts, Coffey averaged 9.0 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.8 APG and 0.6 SPG in 22.7 MPG. He posted shooting splits of .453/.378/.863. Presumably, the 25-year-old’s minutes and touches may be reduced with the full-time returns of All-Star wings Kawhi Leonard and Paul George next season.

Los Angeles has been making sure it re-signs several key role players already during free agency, anticipating a deep postseason run in 2022/23. The team will reportedly extend center Ivica Zubac on a three-year, $33MM deal, and also is set to bring back forward Nicolas Batum on a two-season, $22MM agreement.

Salary Cap, Tax Line Set For 2022/23 NBA Season

June 30th, 2022 at 7:10pm CST by Luke Adams

Amid a flurry of early contract agreements during the first couple hours of 2022’s free agent period, the NBA has officially set the salary cap for its 2022/23 season. As reported earlier this week, the cap increased by a full 10% on last season’s $112,414,000 figure.

Here are the details, courtesy of a league press release and a Twitter thread from Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report:

Salary cap: $123,655,000
Luxury tax line: $150,267,000
Salary floor: $111,290,000
Non-taxpayer mid-level exception: $10,490,000
Taxpayer mid-level exception: $6,479,000
Room exception: $5,401,000
Maximum salaries:
- 6 years or fewer: $30,913,750
- 7-9 years: $37,096,500
- 10+ years: $43,279,250
Early Bird exception: $10,843,350
Estimated average salary: $10,792,000
Tax apron: $156,983,000
Trade cash limit: $6,363,000

The tax apron for the 2022/23 league year will be the hard cap for any team that acquires a player via sign-and-trade, signs a player using more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception, or signs a player using a bi-annual exception.

The Early Bird exception is the maximum amount a team can offer a player it intends to re-sign using his Early Bird rights. Bobby Portis (Bucks) and Nicolas Batum (Clippers) are among the players who have already agreed to Early Bird deals.

Players earning below the estimated average salary who are eligible for a veteran extension can receive a starting salary of up to 120% of the estimated average salary on a new deal. So the maximum starting salary for a player earning below the league average who signs an extension that begins in 2023/24 will be $12,950,400.

[RELATED: Maximum Salaries For 2022/23]

[RELATED: Minimum Salaries For 2022/23]

The salary floor is the minimum amount a team must pay its players in 2022/23. A team that doesn’t spend up to that amount will distribute the shortfall to its players. For instance, the Thunder had a shortfall of $22.7MM in ’21/22, which will be divided among their players, tweets Pincus.

The trade cash limit is the maximum amount of money a team can send or receive during the 2022/23 league year. The sent and received categories are separate, so if a team sends out $6,363,000 in one trade and receives $6,363,000 in another, they aren’t back at square one — they’ve reached both limits.

The NBA has also updated its salary cap projections for the 2023/24 season and is now forecasting a $133MM cap and a $161MM tax line, according to Pincus (Twitter link).

JaVale McGee Joins Mavericks On Three-Year Contract

June 30th, 2022 at 7:03pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JULY 9: McGee’s contract is official, the Mavericks confirmed (via Twitter).

JUNE 30: The Mavericks have been adding some size this offseason. After trading for big man Christian Wood earlier this month, Dallas is set to sign journeyman veteran center JaVale McGee to a three-year contract, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets that the deal is a three-year, $20.1MM agreement, and the final season is a player option.

That figure suggests the Mavs are using their full taxpayer mid-level exception on McGee, but Marc Stein tweets that the team intends to preserve some of that MLE to sign second-round pick Jaden Hardy to a three-year contract. If that’s the case, McGee’s three-year deal will be worth about $17.2MM, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype.

McGee expects to start at the five for Dallas, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). MacMahon adds that this signing will reunite McGee with former Lakers comrades Jason Kidd, now the Mavericks’ head coach, and Dallas assistant coach Jared Dudley. Kidd served as an assistant coach under Frank Vogel and Dudley was a reserve on a title-winning 2020 Los Angeles team along with McGee.

The seven-footer, a three-time NBA champion, raved about his on-court fit with Mavericks All-Star guard Luka Doncic. “I saw some opportunities out there where I was like, ‘Oh yeah, if they had a rolling big, they could dominate in a different aspect,'” McGee said.

After being selected with the No. 18 pick by the Wizards out of Nevada in 2008, the seven-footer flashed plenty of promise with Washington as a hyper-athletic, rim-rolling center, but was ultimately dealt to the Nuggets in 2012. He was re-signed to a pricey extension in Denver, only to be dealt again, this time to the Sixers, in 2015.

McGee then enjoyed an initial one-year stint with Dallas during the 2015/16 season. He only really blossomed as one of the best low-usage centers in the league after signing with the Warriors in 2017, winning two titles with a star-studded Golden State franchise. McGee then joined the Lakers in 2018, eventually winning his third championship in 2020. The Lakers sent him to the Cavaliers during the following offseason, before he was dealt to the Nuggets and once again became a valuable reserve on a playoff contender. He spent last-season with yet another starry postseason club, the 64-win Suns, on a one-year, $5MM deal.

In 74 games with Phoenix, McGee averaged 9.2 PPG, 6.7 RPG and 1.1 BPG across just 15.8 MPG. The 34-year-old connected on an excellent 62.9% of his 6.2 field goals per night.

Lakers To Sign Lonnie Walker, Damian Jones, Troy Brown Jr.

June 30th, 2022 at 6:28pm CST by Rory Maher

The Lakers are signing Lonnie Walker to a one-year, $6.5MM deal, Damian Jones to a two-year, minimum-salary deal with a player option, and Troy Brown Jr. to a minimum deal, according reports from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (All Twitter links here). Brown’s contract is for one year, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

Walker, 23, was the 18th pick of the 2018 draft and spent his first four seasons with the Spurs. He’s a very athletic guard and has shown glimpses of potential, but struggled with efficiency last season (.407/.314/.784 shooting line).

In 70 games (23 MPG) with San Antonio last season, Walker averaged 12.1 PPG, 2.6 RPG and 2.2 APG. The Spurs decided to withdraw his qualifying offer just before free agency opened, making him unrestricted and free to sign with any team. The move wasn’t very surprising considering the Spurs were better with him off the court (+2.1 net rating) than on it (-3.0), so he’ll be looking to build up his value in Los Angeles after an up-and-down tenure in San Antonio.

Jones, who turns 27 today, had a solid season with the Kings in 2021/22 after struggling to find a standard roster spot in ’20/21. In 56 games this season (18.2 MPG), Jones averaged 8.1 PPG and 4.4 RPG while shooting 65.8% from the field and 71.8% from the line.

After being drafted 30th overall in 2016 by the Warriors, Jones spent his first three seasons with Golden State but struggled to find a consistent role. He’s long and athletic, but was raw coming out of college. He made stops in Atlanta, Phoenix and L.A. from 2019-21 before landing with Sacramento, where he developed into a solid backup center.

Brown, 22, was the 15th pick of the 2018 draft and spent his first two-plus seasons with Washington before being traded to Chicago last year. The Bulls declined his qualifying offer after he struggled to make an impact this season, averaging 4.3 PPG and 3.1 RPG on .419/.353/.769 shooting in 66 games (16 MPG).

By using the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Walker, the Lakers will be limited to a minimum contract for Max Christie, whom the team selected with the 35th pick of the draft last week. Christie’s deal will be limited to two years, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks relays (via Twitter).

Pistons Re-Sign Marvin Bagley III To Three-Year Contract

June 30th, 2022 at 6:24pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JULY 6: Bagley’s contract is now official, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

JUNE 30: The Pistons have agreed to bring back restricted free agent power forward Marvin Bagley III on a three-year, $37MM contract, writes Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

After being selected by the Kings with the second pick in the 2018 draft over multiple future All-Stars, Bagley struggled through erratic playing time and a variety of injuries with Sacramento, but produced on offense when given some leeway by the team. He holds career averages of 13.6 PPG, on 50.1% shooting, and 7.4 RPG.

Bagley was traded to the Pistons in a four-team deal this February. In 18 games with Detroit, Bagley averaged 14.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.1 APG and 0.7 SPG across 27.2 MPG. The 6’11” big man, still just 23, has yet to become a plus defender, but has value as a scorer on a rebuilding young Pistons team.

Detroit has already enjoyed a busy 2022 offseason. In this year’s NBA draft lottery, the club selected guard Jaden Ivey and center Jalen Duren. The team also traded for veteran shooting guard Alec Burks and reserve center Nerlens Noel from the Knicks. These new additions will join Bagley, 2021 No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham, an All-Rookie First Team selection, promising young center Isaiah Stewart, and former lottery pick Killian Hayes as the Pistons continue to look toward the future.

Rockets Re-Sign Jae’Sean Tate To Three-Year Deal

June 30th, 2022 at 6:15pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: Tate’s new deal is now official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

JUNE 30: The Rockets have reached an agreement to re-sign forward Jae’Sean Tate to a three-year contract, agents E.J. Kusnyer and Jordan Cornish tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Tate’s new deal will be worth $22.1MM.

Houston made the unusual decision to turn down Tate’s minimum-salary team option for 2022/23 this week, despite the fact that he still would have been a restricted free agent a year from now if that option had been exercised.

The move signaled that the Rockets were confident in their ability to lock up Tate to a new multiyear deal — tonight’s news confirms it.

The former Ohio State standout began his professional career overseas in Antwerp in 2018 after going undrafted, then joined the Sydney Kings in 2019 before eventually making his way to Houston in 2020.

While Tate’s three-point shot (31.0%) could use some work, he has showed an impressive ability to score (11.6 PPG on 50.1% shooting), rebound (5.4 RPG), set up teammates (2.8 APG), and defend during his two years with the Rockets and appears to have a place in the club’s plans going forward.

Month: May 2024