Rockets Sign Jabari Smith, Tari Eason, TyTy Washington
The Rockets have officially signed their trio of first-round picks, the team announced in a press release.
Jabari Smith, the No. 3 pick out of Auburn, averaged 16.9 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.1 SPG and 1.0 BPG in 34 games (28.8 MPG) as a freshman.
Tari Eason, the No. 17 pick out of LSU, averaged 16.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.9 SPG and 1.1 BPG in 33 games (24.4 MPG) as a sophomore.
TyTy Washington, the No. 29 pick out of Kentucky, averaged 12.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 3.9 APG and 1.3 SPG in 31 games (29.2 MPG) as a freshman.
Assuming the three players signed for the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale, which nearly every team gives to their first-round selections, Smith will earn $8,882,640 in 2022/23, Eason will make $3,359,160, and Washington will get $2,210,040.
Celtics Re-Sign Luke Kornet
JULY 9: The Celtics have officially re-signed Kornet, per a team release.
JULY 1: The Celtics are re-signing big man Luke Kornet, having agreed to terms with him on a new two-year contract, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Kornet, who will turn 27 later this month, has bounced around the NBA since making his debut in 2018 as an undrafted free agent out of Vanderbilt. The forward/center has averaged 5.5 PPG and 2.6 RPG in 148 total games (14.3 MPG) for the Knicks, Bulls, Celtics, Cavaliers, and Bucks.
Kornet finished the 2020/21 season with the Celtics following a deadline trade and then spent much of the ’21/22 campaign with the team’s G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics, before being promoted to Boston’s 15-man roster in February.
While Kornet hasn’t seen much action at the NBA level for the Celtics, he put up solid numbers for Maine, averaging 14.9 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 4.7 APG, and 1.9 BPG in 11 regular season NBAGL appearances this past season.
Terms of the deal aren’t known, but I’d be surprised if it’s worth more than the minimum, and it may not be fully guaranteed for both years. The Celtics opened up a series of roster spots for the coming season when they agreed to send five players to Indiana in exchange for Malcolm Brogdon.
Magic Sign Paolo Banchero
The Magic have officially signed Paolo Banchero, the first pick of last week’s NBA draft, the team announced in a press release.
In 39 games as a freshman for Duke this past season, the 6’10” Banchero averaged 17.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 3.2 APG and 1.1 SPG on .478/.338/.729 shooting. He helped lead the Blue Devils to a 32-7 record and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, where they ultimately fell to long-time rival North Carolina in the Final Four.
Banchero earned numerous accolades for his stellar season, including Consensus All-America Second Team, All-ACC First Team, and ACC Rookie of the Year, among others.
As the first overall pick, Banchero will earn $11,055,120 as a rookie in 2022/23 if he signs for the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale (nearly always happens). He’s eligible to make $50,158,769 over the four-year contract, assuming the Magic pick up his team options in years three and four, which is basically a lock given his draft status.
Banchero is expected to make his Orlando debut in the Las Vegas Summer League on July 7.
Nemanja Bjelica Agrees To Deal With Fenerbahce
After winning a title with the Warriors this season, veteran forward Nemanja Bjelica is headed back to Europe.
Bjelica has agreed to sign a two-year contract with Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahce, according to a report from Ugur Ozan Sulak of SocratesDergi.com (Twitter link). The deal will have a total net value of about $4MM, per Johnny Askounis and Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.
Golden State had been interested in re-signing Bjelica to a minimum-salary contract, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link), but were informed today that he’d be leaving the NBA for one of his former teams overseas. Before he arrived in the NBA, Bjelica played for Fenerbahce for two seasons from 2013-15, earning EuroLeague MVP honors in ’15.
After spending six NBA in Minnesota, Sacramento, and Miami from 2015-21, Bjelica joined the Warriors for his seventh season and made 71 regular season appearances for the club this past year, averaging 6.1 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 2.2 APG with a .362 3PT% in 16.1 minutes per game.
Having won an NBA championship for the first time, the 34-year-old presumably liked the idea of returning to the EuroLeague, where he’ll earn a similar salary and have a far more significant role.
Cavaliers Sign Raul Neto To One-Year Deal
JULY 8: The Cavaliers have officially completed the signing of Reto, per a team press release.
JULY 1: Free agent point guard Raul Neto is signing with the Cavaliers, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Neto will receive a one-year, minimum-salary contract, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link).
Neto, 30, spent the last seasons in D.C. as a backup point guard for the Wizards and acquitted himself well, averaging 8.1 PPG, 2.7 APG, and 2.2 RPG on .465/.349/.819 shooting in 134 total games (20.7 MPG). The seven-year veteran previously spent time with the Jazz and Sixers.
The Cavaliers reached an agreement on Friday to bring back veteran point guard Ricky Rubio to back up All-Star Darius Garland, but Rubio is recovering from a torn ACL and is unlikely to be ready to play this fall.
While Rubio works his way back, Neto should get a chance to be Garland’s primary backup. He’ll presumably shift a spot down the depth chart when Rubio returns.
In addition to agreeing to terms with Rubio and Neto today, the Cavaliers struck a minimum-salary deal with center Robin Lopez, as they continue to add veteran depth to complement their core.
Lakers Sign Scotty Pippen Jr., Cole Swider Via Two-Way Deals
JULY 1: The Lakers have officially signed Pippen and Swider to two-way contracts, the team announced today (Twitter links).
JUNE 23: The Lakers are set to add undrafted former Vanderbilt point guard Scotty Pippen Jr. to a two-way contract, according to Bill Oram of The Athletic (Twitter link). Los Angeles will also sign undrafted Syracuse rookie forward Cole Swider into their second two-play player slot, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).
The 21-year-old Pippen, son of Hall of Fame Bulls small forward Scottie Pippen, played for three seasons with the Commodores. The 6’1″ guard was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2020, and was a two-time First-Team All-SEC selection in 2021 and 2022.
During his third NCAA season in 2021/22, the younger Pippen averaged 20.4 PPG, 4.5 APG, 3.6 RPG and 1.9 SPG across 36 games, all starts. He posted a slash line of .416/.325/.749.
Swider spent his first three college seasons with Villanova before finishing his NCAA career with Syracuse. For the Orange in 2021/22, Swider averaged 13.9 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.4 APG and 1.0 SPG. The 6’9″ forward started all 33 games during his final NCAA season, with solid shooting splits of .473/.411/.866.
Pippen and Swider will log some time with L.A.’s NBAGL affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, but could also help contribute to the depth-challenged NBA club.
Eastern Notes: Cavs, Rubio, Tsai, Bucks, Papagiannis, Bridges
The Cavaliers‘ agreement with Ricky Rubio remains flexible and could eventually become a sign-and-trade with the Pacers, sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Rubio, who suffered a torn left ACL last December, isn’t expected to be able to play for the first two or three months of the season, so the Cavs want to explore other point guard options.
If they do a sign-and-trade with Rubio, they’d be able to use their $10.4MM mid-level exception to address that area, and Fedor suggests that another signing could be reported sometime this weekend.
Bringing back Rubio was “Plan A” for the team, Fedor adds, after he helped fuel a surprising rise to contention last season. Serving as a veteran component in a young backcourt, Rubio averaged 13.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 6.6 assists in 34 games before the injury. Cleveland was 20-14 with Rubio last season, but only 24-24 when he didn’t play.
There’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Nets owner Joe Tsai is fed up with the drama surrounding the organization and won’t mind parting with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Vardon notes that Tsai has been willing to pay the luxury tax in the three seasons since Durant and Irving arrived, but he hasn’t gotten much in return, with just one playoff series win in that time. Other distractions, such as the coaching change involving Kenny Atkinson, the trades to acquire and then unload James Harden, the addition of Ben Simmons when he wasn’t ready to play, and Irving’s refusal to get vaccinated have all tested Tsai’s patience, Vardon adds.
- The Bucks have some interest in former first-round pick Georgios Papagiannis, tweets Dionysis Aravantinos of HoopsHype. The Greek center fizzled out quickly after being selected at No. 13 in the 2016 draft — playing 38 games for the Kings and one for the Trail Blazers — but he has been a star in Europe, earning a spot on the All-EuroLeague Second Team this year. Papagiannis is still under contract to Panathinaikos, so Milwaukee would have to arrange a buyout, but Aravantinos doesn’t see that as an obstacle.
- The wife of Hornets forward Miles Bridges has posted several photographs showing injuries that she says were caused when he attacked her this week, as Amy Woodyatt and Jacob Lev of CNN write. Bridges was arrested on Wednesday and charged with felony domestic violence. His next court date is scheduled for July 20, per CNN’s report.
Bulls Re-Sign Derrick Jones To Two-Year Deal
JULY 6: Jones is officially back under contract with the Bulls, according to a Twitter announcement from the team.
JULY 1: The Bulls and Derrick Jones have agreed to a new two-year contract that will keep the free agent forward in Chicago, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania, Jones’ two-year deal will be worth $6.6MM, with a second-year player option.
Chicago held Jones’ Early Bird rights, but a deal completed using the Early Bird exception can’t include a second-year option, so the team is likely renouncing its Early Bird rights and making Jones a Non-Bird free agent. The Bulls would then be able to complete the signing without dipping into their mid-level exception.
Jones, 25, appeared in 51 games for Chicago in 2021/22 after being acquired from Portland in an offseason trade. He averaged 5.6 PPG and 3.3 RPG on .538/.328/.800 shooting in 17.6 minutes per contest.
While Jones hasn’t made a major impact on the offensive end since entering the NBA in 2016, his athleticism and his ability to guard multiple positions on defense have continued to earn him regular minutes.
The Bulls now project to be about $3.5MM below the luxury tax line with 14 players under contract, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype.
Rockets Sign Trevor Hudgins To Two-Way Contract
JULY 1: The Rockets have officially signed Hudgins to his two-way deal, the team announced today in a press release. It’s a one-year contract, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
JUNE 24: Trevor Hudgins, a two-time Division II Player of the Year at Northwest Missouri State, will sign a two-way deal with the Rockets, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The agreement was confirmed by Hudgins’ agent, George Langberg.
A 23-year-old guard, Hudgins averaged 23.0 points, 4.3 assists and 1.5 steals as a senior. He’s an accomplished shooter, connecting at 48.2% from the field, 41.5% from three-point range and 90.1% from the foul line this season. He was named Most Outstanding Player in the Division II Tournament in both 2019 and 2022 and won three national titles with the Bearcats.
Hudgins had one year of eligibility remaining, but chose to forego it and enter the draft. He also declared for the 2021 draft before deciding to return to school.
ESPN ranks Hudgins 33rd on its list of best undrafted players.
Bucks Sign AJ Green To Two-Way Deal
JULY 1: Green’s two-way contract is now official, the Bucks confirmed today in a press release.
JUNE 24: Undrafted rookie AJ Green of Northern Iowa will sign a two-way contract with the Bucks, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The 6’4″ combo guard played four seasons with the Panthers and was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year in 2020 and 2022. Green missed most of his junior year because of hip surgery, but he bounced back strong as a senior, averaging 18.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 38.8% from three-point range.
Green, who had one year of eligibility remaining, entered the transfer portal at the same time he declared for the draft. He ultimately decided to pursue a pro career rather than return to school.
Milwaukee’s other two-way slot currently belongs to Sandro Mamukelashvili.
Hugo Besson, whom the Bucks took with the final pick in Thursday’s draft, might have been a candidate for a two-way contract, but the team plans to keep him overseas next season, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link).