Pelicans Sign Herb Jones To Three-Year Extension
JULY 14: The signing is official, the team tweets.
JULY 10: The Pelicans and forward Herbert Jones have agreed to a three-year, $68MM extension, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). The deal will feature a player option on the final year, Charania adds.
Jones’ current contract will pay him roughly $13.9MM this season and $14.9MM in 2026/27. His new extension will begin in ’27/28 and will be start at 140% of his previous salary, with 8% annual raises, for a total of $67.6MM.
That means he’s now under contract for five seasons (including the player option in ’29/30) and would earn $96.4MM if he plays out the full deal.
The coveted defensive ace has evolved into a leader and mainstay for the Pelicans after being selected 35th overall in the 2021 draft. In four seasons with New Orleans, Jones holds averages of 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.7 blocks per game.
Jones joins Trey Murphy and Zion Williamson as the only Pelicans players on guaranteed contracts through at least 2027/28, though Dejounte Murray and the team’s 2024 and 2025 draftees have options for that season.
Jones has drawn plenty of outside interest due to his lock-down defense and growing three-point ability (he shot 41.8% in his last fully healthy season). However, with both he and Murphy on respectable and affordable deals, New Orleans likely won’t be eager to move either.
Jones, specifically, will have a six-month trade restriction once he officially signs his extension, so he won’t become eligible to be dealt until January.
Grizzlies Sign Ty Jerome To Three-Year Deal
JULY 14: The signing is official, according to the team’s PR department (Twitter link).
JUNE 30: The Grizzlies will sign free agent guard Ty Jerome to a three-year contract worth $28MM, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The deal will include a third-year player option, Charania adds.
It has been a busy Monday evening for the Grizzlies, who had already agreed to new deals with Jaren Jackson Jr., Santi Aldama, and Cam Spencer. Jerome’s contract will come out of the room exception, which can be worth up to about $27.7MM over three seasons.
Reports leading up to free agency stated that Memphis was the frontrunner to sign Jerome, who is coming off a career year with Cleveland in which he averaged 12.5 points, 3.4 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 70 games (19.9 minutes per contest). He also posted an elite shooting line of .516/.439/.872.
While Jerome was excellent in the Cavaliers’ first-round playoff series vs. Miami, he struggled mightily on both ends of the court in their second-round loss to Indiana. That may have limited his earnings potential to an extent.
Still, it’s surprising that Jerome will “only” make $27.7MM over the next three years, considering the Cavs agreed to give another backup guard — Sam Merrill — a four-year, $38MM deal. Merrill is a better defender, but Jerome was far more productive on offense last season.
Either way, Jerome will secure the first major payday of his career as he nears his 28th birthday (July 8).
Sixers Forward Paul George Undergoes Knee Surgery After Workout Injury
Sixers forward Paul George underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee Monday to treat an injury suffered during a recent workout, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
George will now begin a rehab program and be reevaluated prior to start of training camp, Charania adds. The Sixers issued a statement confirming George’s surgery, which was relayed by PHLY Sports’ Kyle Neubeck (Twitter link).
Sources informed Neubeck that the surgery was an “arthroscopic cleanup” that did not involve major ligaments (Twitter link).
It’s another health-related setback for the franchise and for George, who was the Sixers’ front office’s prized signing last summer, when he inked a four-year max deal. George was supposed to be the missing link in the franchise’s championship puzzle but Philadelphia didn’t even make the playoffs after an injury-riddled season.
Knee and groin injuries limited George to just 41 games during his first season in Philadelphia. He averaged 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists while shooting 43 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from long range. He had averaged at least 21.9 PPG in his previous nine seasons, including five full seasons with the Clippers.
George played 74 regular seasons games in his last season with the Clippers but he dealt with a laundry list of ailments during his time in Los Angeles. During his first four years with the Clippers, he never appeared in more than 56 games.
Holdover Justin Edwards and recent free agent acquisition Trendon Watford could play key early-season roles at power forward if George isn’t fully healthy by the season opener.
Ryan Saunders To Become Lead Assistant For Grizzlies
The Grizzlies are hiring Ryan Saunders as their lead assistant under Tuomas Iisalo, Drew Hill of The Daily Memphian tweets.
The former head coach of the Timberwolves, Saunders had been an assistant with the Nuggets under Michael Malone since 2022. Saunders was one of several Denver assistants whose contract was not renewed after the season. He also previously worked for the Wizards.
Saunders became Minnesota’s head coach during the 2018/19 season after Tom Thibodeau was let go. He compiled a 43-94 record before losing his job in February 2021. He took some time off before landing the Denver assistant coaching job.
Iisalo had the interim tag removed as the Grizzlies’ head coach in early May. Iisalo compiled a 4-5 regular season record followed Taylor Jenkins’ surprising dismissal. After finishing as the eighth seed, the Grizzlies lost to Golden State in the first round of the play-in tournament, but advanced to the playoffs with a win over Dallas. They were swept by Oklahoma City in the first round.
Timberwolves Sign Naz Reid To Five-Year Deal
JULY 14: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
JUNE 27: The Timberwolves and Naz Reid are in agreement on a new contract, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports that the reserve forward/center intends to sign a five-year, $125MM contract to remain in Minnesota.
Reid held a player option worth approximately $15MM for the 2025/26 season, but will turn down that option in advance of Sunday’s deadline in order to finalize his new deal with the Wolves in July. According to Charania, the new contract will also feature a player option on the final year.
After winning the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award in 2023/24, Reid had another strong showing for the Timberwolves in ’24/25, matching or exceeding his stats from the previous season in several key categories. The 25-year-old averaged 14.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 27.5 minutes per game across 80 outings (17 starts).
Reid has knocked down 39.5% of 5.4 three-point attempts per game over the past two seasons, making him a valuable floor-spacer in Minnesota’s frontcourt alongside center Rudy Gobert. Lineups featuring Reid and Gobert outscored opponents by 11.8 points per 100 possessions last season, the best mark of any of the team’s 25 most frequently used duos.
According to Charania, there was a “vibrant market developing” in free agency for Reid, with teams prepared to offer similar money and potentially a starting role. While Brooklyn is the only club currently projected to have enough cap room to have offered Reid a starting salary in the range of $20-25MM, there are other clubs that probably had the ability to get there.
The Pistons, for instance, were known to be interested in adding a stretch big man, and were cited as a team with interest in Reid. Detroit has the ability to create roughly $17MM in cap room and could have attempted to move off one more contract to create additional spending flexibility.
But the Timberwolves spoke both publicly and privately since their season ended about their desire to retain Reid, and showed with their five-year offer that they were serious about holding off rival suitors.
The next orders of business for the Wolves will be figuring out what happens with starting power forward Julius Randle and guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Randle holds a $30.9MM player option that he must decide on by Sunday, while Alexander-Walker will be an unrestricted free agent.
Although Minnesota has expressed a desire to keep all three players, retaining both Randle and Alexander-Walker would almost certainly push team salary well over the second tax apron for a second straight year, as cap expert Yossi Gozlan outlines (via Twitter). That may not appeal to the front office (or team ownership).
There has been some skepticism about the Wolves’ ability to keep all three players, with Alexander-Walker viewed as the most likely odd man out. Accounting for Randle’s option and no new deal for Alexander-Walker, the Wolves currently project to operate just below the second apron, tweets ESPN Bobby Marks.
Wizards Waive Richaun Holmes
The Wizards have waived veteran big man Richaun Holmes, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
Holmes’ $13.28MM contract for next season only had a partial guarantee of $250K. He averaged 7.4 points and 5.7 rebounds in 17.2 minutes over 31 games (seven starts) last season.
Holmes will be an unrestricted free agent once he clears waivers. Given his age — 31 — and lack of playing time last season, it’s no surprise that Washington would clear salary by cutting Holmes loose.
Holmes declined a $12.88MM option on his contract last summer in order to sign a two-year, $25.9MM contract that included the partial guarantee on year two. He had been acquired during the trade deadline from Dallas in the deal that sent Daniel Gafford to the Mavs. He appeared in 17 games for Washington that season, making eight starts and averaging 7.1 points and 6.1 rebounds in 18.7 minutes per night.
Holmes was once one of the most sought-after big men in the league. He was signed by Sacramento on a four-year, $46MM contract in 2021 and averaged in double digits in three consecutive seasons for the Kings.
Once the Wizards signed free agent Marvin Bagley III to back up Alex Sarr, it was clear that Holmes was no longer in the Wizards’ plans. He should draw interest from teams seeking frontcourt depth.
Luka Garza Discusses Signing With Celtics
After playing a limited role for the Pistons and Timberwolves over the course of his first four NBA seasons, former Iowa star Luka Garza admitted he was motivated to sign with the Celtics because he’ll have an opportunity to earn more playing time, according to Brian Robb of MassLive.
“Obviously, the franchise speaks for itself and just the winning and the history,” Garza said. “I’m a big basketball junkie, so obviously the chance to put on that uniform and play for the Celtics is attractive enough. But obviously there’s a lot of opportunity, especially in the frontcourt and with the guys that we have. I think the front office and the coaches believe in me and what I can do, so I just saw that as really good for me at this stage in my career.”
The Celtics traded starting center Kristaps Porzingis to Atlanta and lost backup Luke Kornet to San Antonio in free agency, while Al Horford is considered unlikely to return next season. After being stuck behind Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid in Minnesota, Garza could carve out a significant role in the middle for Boston, which only has Neemias Queta and Xavier Tillman as fellow big men on standard deals.
“I feel like I learned so much from my time in Minnesota from being around those type of guys, but I think it was time to find that opportunity to get on the floor,” Garza said, per Robb. “I felt like in the limited opportunities I was able to get, I was able to show well and maximize those. But for me it was a priority for me to get somewhere where I could get more of those opportunities.”
While he hasn’t played many NBA minutes to this point in his career, Garza has dominated at the G League level and clearly the Celtics liked his game, otherwise they wouldn’t have given him a two-year deal that’s fully guaranteed.
Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama Cleared For Basketball Activities
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has recovered from the blood clot in his right shoulder and has been medically cleared to resume basketball activities, he told Maxime Aubin of French outlet L’Équipe (Twitter link).
“I’m officially cleared to return,” Wembanyama said. “It just happened — I got the green light from the Spurs’ medical staff just a few hours ago (last Friday). Phew, I’ll finally be able to play a bit of basketball again!“
After earning Rookie of the Year honors and finishing as the runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year during his debut in 2023/24, Wembanyama had a superlative second season in ’24/25, making his first All-Star appearance and averaging 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 3.8 blocks in 33.2 minutes per game.
However, shortly after the All-Star break, the 21-year-old center was diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder, cutting his season short. Despite playing just 46 games, Wembanyama still led the NBA in total blocked shots (176) by a wide margin — Brook Lopez was second with 148.
Both Wembanyama and the Spurs organization have expressed optimism that 2023’s No. 1 overall pick would be fully recovered from the blood clot ahead of the 2025/26 season, which has now come to fruition.
The 7’4″ big man seemed doubtful in April about his odds of suiting up for France at this summer’s EuroBasket, which begins in late August. It seems unlikely that today’s update will have changed those plans, though we may have to wait for official confirmation.
Terry Taylor Signs With Chinese Team
Free agent forward Terry Taylor has officially signed a contract with the Ningbo Rockets of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to his agency (Instagram link).
CSE’s announcement says Taylor’s deal covers the 2025/26 campaign, which suggests he signed a one-year contract.
After going undrafted out of Austin Peay in 2021, Taylor spent his first three NBA seasons bouncing between two-way and standard contracts with the Pacers and Bulls, respectively.
The 25-year-old played in the NBA G League with the Stockton Kings during the 2024/25 season, though he did make three brief NBA appearances with Sacramento after signing a 10-day deal in March.
Taylor helped Stockton win its first NBAGL title last season, recording 22 points, 12 rebounds and three assists in the series finale. In 31 regular season games (34.8 minutes per contest) for the Kings’ G League affiliate, he averaged 17.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.2 blocks on .462/.390/.727 shooting.
In 98 career regular season games at the NBA level, the 6’4″ forward has averaged 4.6 PPG and 2.6 RPG in 12.0 MPG. Since he holds four years of experience, Taylor is no longer eligible for a two-way contract.
Ningbo is coming off a disappointing CBA season in which it finished just 10-36, which was the fourth-worst record in the league.
New York Notes: Porter, Sharpe, McCullar, Knicks
While Michael Porter Jr. is grateful for the time he spent with the Nuggets, including winning a championship in 2023, he says he’s ready for a “new chapter” after being traded to the Nets, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
“I always said New York was my least favorite NBA city,” Porter laughed. “Just because I grew up in the Midwest, where there’s so much space and no traffic. So it’ll be an adjustment. But I think it’ll end up being an amazing place for me.”
The 27-year-old was frequently the third offensive option for Denver, but he’ll have an opportunity to expand his game with the rebuilding Nets. Porter recognizes there could be rough patches as he works to develop his skills, Lewis notes.
“It’s gonna be like exploring the game and working on the things in practice. Part of being a successful NBA player is when you’re working on things during the season, you should work on the shots and things you’re gonna get in the game,” Porter said. “I feel like now my daily preparation and my daily work will be a little bit different, and hopefully, that translates over to the game.
“It’ll probably be some more self-creation, iso situations. [Head coach] Jordi [Fernandez] has already talked to me about creative ways to get me in comfortable spots on the floor. So it will be a dialogue. I’m excited to see where it goes. And it’s definitely gonna be an adaptation. I won’t be the same player [on opening night] as I will be Game 20 as I adjust to that heavier load and that heavier role.”
Here a few more notes on the NBA’s two New York-based teams:
- Day’Ron Sharpe‘s new two-year deal with the Nets is not yet official, but that’s merely a technicality as Brooklyn looks to maximize its cap space. The 23-year-old center said he’s glad to be back with the team that selected him 29th overall in the 2021 draft, Lewis adds in another story. “I just feel that was the best option for me, and that’s where Brooklyn was at,” Sharpe said. “I just decided what I decided.”
- 2024/25 was essentially a lost season for Knicks wing Kevin McCullar Jr., per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. The 24-year-old missed last year’s Summer League and several months of his rookie campaign due to a knee injury after being drafted with the 56th pick in 2024. “This is really my real rookie season,” McCullar said Sunday after pouring in 30 points in a 94-81 Summer League loss to Boston. “Last year I just got to be able to get my feet wet a little bit. … I love playing and I missed it for so long. Now it’s pretty much my rookie season.” McCullar is one of a handful of young players vying for a roster spot in the fall — he’s technically a restricted free agent after he was tendered a two-way qualifying offer, which is equivalent to a one-year two-way contract.
- The Knicks‘ decision to fire head coach Tom Thibodeau and replace him with Mike Brown has opened Leon Rose and the rest of the front office to “new degrees of accountability,” Bondy contends in a subscriber-only story. The move will be heavily scrutinized if the Knicks fall flat with Brown at the helm, particularly since there wasn’t much public desire to part with Thibodeau after he led the team to the conference finals, Bondy writes.