Nets Re-Sign Tyson Etienne To Two-Way Deal
July 3: Etienne’s new two-way contract is official, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
July 2: The Nets are re-signing free agent guard Tyson Etienne to a two-way contract, according to SNY.tv’s Ian Begley (Twitter link).
After spending most of last season in the G League with the Long Island Nets, Etienne earned a promotion to a two-way contract in March. The 6’2″ pro suited up for seven games with Brooklyn down the stretch, averaging 7.9 points, 1.7 assists and 1.3 rebounds per game in seven contests.
Etienne, 25, enjoyed a more prominent role and put up bigger numbers for Long Island. The Wichita State alum showed out in 32 NBAGL regular season games, averaging 19.6 points, 3.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per night, with an impressive shooting line of .495/.460/.800.
Etienne’s strong 2024/25 season earned him a two-way qualifying offer from the Nets over the weekend, so he’ll likely just accept that QO, which is equivalent to another one-year, two-way contract with a small partial guarantee ($85,300).
Brooklyn only has one other player, forward Tosan Evbuomwan, occupying a two-way slot so far. The Nets do have a contender for the third and final slot in former Alabama forward Grant Nelson, who reportedly agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal with the team after going undrafted.
The Nets made NBA history earlier this offseason by selecting a record five first-round draft picks, led by former BYU swingman Egor Demin with the No. 8 selection. The club is focused on building for the future, and has exhibited a clear willingness to develop young talent.
Jazz Sign First-Rounders Ace Bailey, Walter Clayton Jr.
The Jazz have put out a press release officially announcing that they’ve signed first-round draft picks Ace Bailey and Walter Clayton Jr. to their rookie scale contracts.
Bailey, considered by many draft experts to be the third-best prospect in this year’s draft behind only Cooper Flagg and Rutgers teammate Dylan Harper, didn’t conduct any workouts during the pre-draft process as his camp appeared focused on getting him to a specific destination.
While Utah wasn’t believed to be that destination of choice, the Jazz’s front office decided Bailey’s upside was worth the risk, sight unseen — he didn’t make it past the team’s pick at No. 5 overall, and after some speculation about whether or not he’d report, he arrived in Utah as planned.
In 30 games for the Scarlet Knights last year, the 18-year-old averaged 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per contest, with shooting splits of .460/.346/.692.
Assuming he signed for the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale, which is a safe bet, Bailey will earn $9.1MM in 2025/26, and will net $41.2MM across the balance of his first four seasons.
[RELATED: Rookie Scale Salaries For 2025 NBA First-Round Picks]
Outside of the lottery, the Jazz traded up for the draft rights to Florida guard Clayton with the No. 18 pick. The 6’2″ guard is set to make nearly $4MM as a rookie, and will earn a total of $19.3MM over the course of his deal.
Clayton, a consensus first-team All-American who helped lead the Gators to the NCAA title last season, logged averages of 18.3 PPG, 4.2 APG, 3.7 RPG and 1.2 SPG in 39 healthy games. He posted a shooting line of .448/.386/.875.
Jalen Bridges To Sign Camp Deal With Celtics
The Celtics have added free agent forward Jalen Bridges to their Summer League squad and plan to bring him to training camp to compete for a roster spot, sources inform Jay King of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Bridges, who was on a two-way contract with the Suns during his 2024/25 rookie season, will likely end up signing an Exhibit 10 contract with Boston. Exhibit 10 deals can be converted into two-way contracts, which would be a pathway to making the roster.
On an Exhibit 10 deal, Bridges would also be eligible to earn a bonus worth up to $85K if Boston cuts him before the start of the season, provided he sticks with the club’s G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics, for at least 60 days.
A 6’8″ forward out of Baylor, Bridges appeared in just eight games and logged 30 total minutes at the NBA level for the Suns last season. However, across 31 regular season contests for Phoenix’s NBAGL squad, the Valley Suns, the 24-year-old put up solid averages of 14.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game, with a shooting line of .425/.386/.794.
Phoenix didn’t give Bridges a two-way qualifying offer this past weekend, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Mavs To Name Frank Vogel Associate Head Coach
The Mavericks intend to make Frank Vogel their associate head coach under Jason Kidd, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Vogel served as a coaching consultant for the team last season.
Generally considered a defense-oriented coach, Vogel has had a good deal of success during prior stops with the Pacers (2011-16), the Lakers (2019-22), and even the Suns (2023-24), although he did spend two seasons (2016-18) struggling to make a misaligned Magic roster soluble.
All told, he boasts a 480-422 (.532) regular season coaching record and a 49-43 playoff mark. Vogel lead the Lakers to a championship in 2020 with Kidd on his staff as an assistant.
As Marc Stein of The Stein Line observes (via Twitter), Vogel is the second former NBA head coach to reach a deal with the Mavs this offseason, joining Jay Triano. Kidd’s staff is undergoing some changes, with lead assistant Sean Sweeney having departed for San Antonio in June after Alex Jensen left for the University of Utah in March.
Another Mavs assistant, Jared Dudley, is in advanced talks to join the rival Nuggets as the lead assistant under David Adelman, Stein notes, while God Shammgod may also end up leaving Dallas for Orlando.
The Mavs’ new-look staff will be tasked with maximizing the potential of a team incorporating No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg to a roster headlined by aging stars Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving (who will be rehabbing an ACL injury for much of the year), and Klay Thompson.
Trentyn Flowers Accepts Two-Way QO From Clippers
Clippers forward Trentyn Flowers has accepted the two-way qualifying offer tendered to him over the weekend, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Flowers logged just 27 total minutes in six games at the NBA level as a rookie in 2024/25, but played a more significant role in the G League. In 42 outings last season with the San Diego Clippers, L.A.’s NBAGL affiliate, Flowers registered averages of 17.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest while connecting on 47.5% of his field goal attempts and 38.5% from distance.
Accepting the qualifying offer from the Clippers locks in a $85K partial guarantee for Flowers, but his two-way deal doesn’t count against the cap and teams often juggle those roster spots during the offseason, so it’s not a lock that he’ll open the season on the 18-man roster.
For now though, Flowers joins fellow Clippers Patrick Baldwin and Seth Lundy in occupying the club’s three two-way slots.
Heat Sign Kasparas Jakucionis To Rookie Contract
The Heat have signed 2025 first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis to his rookie scale deal, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
The former Illinois guard, selected with the No. 20 pick, will earn $3.66MM in 2025/26, and $17.7MM over the course of his first four pro seasons in the league.
The 19-year-old out of Lithuania began his career playing for his native Perlas Vilnius in 2020/21, before suiting up for FC Barcelona of the EuroLeague and Spanish ACB league (Liga ACB) from 2022-24. During his one year at Illinois, Jakucionis was named to the All-Big Ten Third Team.
Across 33 contests for the Illini in 2024/25, the 6’6″ wing averaged 15.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 4.7 APG. He posted shooting splits of .440/.318/.845.
Jakucionis was Miami’s only draft pick last week. Last year’s Heat finished with a middling 37-45 record and the No. 10 seed in the East, but survived both their play-in tournament games to claim the conference’s final playoff spot. Miami was quickly swept by Cleveland in the first round.
Celtics Sign First-Round Pick Hugo Gonzalez
The Celtics have officially signed first-round draft pick Hugo Gonzalez, the team announced today in a press statement.
Gonzalez, a 6’6″ wing formerly with Real Madrid, was selected with the No. 28 pick at the end of the first round last Wednesday. On Monday, Real Madrid announced in its own press release that it had officially parted with Gonzalez, clearing the way for him to sign with Boston.
The Celtics noted in their statement that Gonzalez is the first Spanish player ever drafted by the 18-time world champs.
Gonzalez appeared in 69 total games for Real Madrid in 2024/25, splitting those tilts between the Spanish ACB league (Liga ACB), the Spanish Cup and the EuroLeague.
In 29 Spanish ACB league outings last season, the 19-year-old averaged 5.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 0.9 assists. He’s not much of a long-range shooter yet, as he’s averaging just 27.1% on 1.1 three-point attempts per game across his three Real Madrid seasons.
If Gonzalez signs for the full 120% of his rookie scale amount, he’d make $2.83MM in year one and $14.3MM over the life of his four-year contract. However, it’s worth noting that Boston had been hoping to find a player at No. 28 who was willing to accept less than that maximum allowable 120% for cap reasons. Gonzalez may not have agreed to do so, but until we get the official numbers, it may be premature to lock in his salary figures.
Raptors Finalize Murray-Boyles, Hepburn Signings
The Raptors have officially signed No. 9 overall draft pick Collin Murray-Boyles and finalized their reported agreement with two-way player Chucky Hepburn, per a pair of team press releases.
An All-SEC second teamer during his 2024/25 sophomore season at South Carolina, Murray-Boyles notched averages of 16.8 PPG, 8.3 RPG and 2.4 APG across 32 contests. His 58.6% field goal percentage paced the conference.
Murray-Boyles, a 6’7″ forward, will earn $6.33MM during the first season of his rookie scale deal and a total of $28.82MM across his first four pro years.
Despite being the 2025 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and an All-ACC First Teamer at Louisville as a senior last year, Hepburn went undrafted last week. The 6’2″ guard was quickly snagged by Toronto. Across 34 games in 2024/25, Hepburn averaged 16.4 PPG, 5.8 APG and 3.5 RPG.
As a two-way player, Hepburn will likely split his time between Toronto and the team’s G League affiliate, the Raptors 905. He’ll be eligible to suit up for 50 regular season contests with Toronto before the team would need to elevate him to its standard roster.
Cavaliers, Chaney Johnson Agree To Exhibit 10 Contract
The Cavaliers and former Auburn forward Chaney Johnson, an undrafted free agent, have agreed to an Exhibit 10 training camp contract, sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link).
As Fedor notes, the 6’7″ wing proved to be a critical contributor for the Tigers during the club’s Final Four run this spring.
In 2024/25, he averaged 9.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.9 BPG and 0.7 SPG across 38 contests, mostly as a reserve. Johnson connected on 56.7% of his field goals and 70.4% of his free throws.
Players inked to Exhibit 10 contracts can be promoted to two-way deals ahead of an NBA season. Johnson could become eligible for a bonus worth up to $85K should he join the Cavaliers’ NBAGL affiliate, the Cleveland Charge, and stick with the club for 60 or more days.
Cleveland selected two players in the second round of this year’s draft, Duke guard Tyrese Proctor and Trento wing Saliou Niang, with the Nos. 49 and 58 picks. We have more details on the Cavs’ plans for that duo right here.
Sean Pedulla Signing Exhibit 10 Deal With Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers will complete an Exhibit 10 training camp deal with Ole Miss guard Sean Pedulla, Pedulla’s agent, George Langberg of GSL Sports Group, informs Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress.com (via Twitter).
A 2024 All-ACC honoree at Virginia Tech, Pedulla transferred to Mississippi for his senior season in 2024/25. The 6’1″ guard averaged 15.4 points, 3.8 dimes, 3.5 boards, and 1.9 steals across 36 contests for Ole Miss. For his efforts, Pedulla was named an All-SEC third-teamer.
Portland traded down to select Chinese center Hansen Yang with the No. 16 pick in the first round of the draft on Wednesday. Yang was the Trail Blazers’ only pick in either round, but the club also reached an agreement with another undrafted free agent, former Arizona guard Caleb Love, on a two-way deal.
Pedulla will look to earn a two-way promotion of his own with Portland through Summer League and the preseason. If he is ultimately waived, he’ll be eligible for a bonus worth up to $85K — provided he stays with the Trail Blazers’ G League affiliate, the Rip City Remix, for at least 60 days.