Sixers Convert Paul Reed’s Contract, Sign Mason Jones To Two-Way Deal
The Sixers have signed G League Most Valuable Player Paul Reed to a standard contract and Mason Jones to a two-way contract, according to a team press release.
Reed signed a two-way contract with Philadelphia in late November. Playing for the Delaware Blue Coats, Reed was the only player to average at least 22 PPG and 11 RPG during the G League season as he racked up 15 double-doubles.
Drafted in the second round in 2020, Reed has seen action in eight games with Philadelphia.
Jones, a rookie from Arkansas, appeared in 26 games for the Rockets earlier this season on a two-way contract. He was waived earlier this month, then signed a 10-day deal with Houston but the Rockets didn’t retain him.
With the Rockets, he averaged 5.8 PPG, 2.0 RPG and 1.5 APG in 11.8 MPG.
Philadelphia had an open roster spot and didn’t need to make a cut to accommodate its moves.
Bruno Caboclo Signs With French Team
Forward Bruno Caboclo, who played six games with the Rockets this season, has signed with France’s Limoges CSP, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets.
Caboclo has appeared in 105 NBA games since he was drafted in the first round by the Raptors in 2014. He’s also played for Sacramento and Memphis.
Caboclo was waived in mid-January in order to clear a roster spot after the James Harden multi-team blockbuster. He also played eight games for Houston at the end of last season after being acquired from the Grizzlies at the trade deadline.
Caboclo signed a two-year contract with the Rockets in November that included a team option, but the first year wasn’t fully guaranteed.
Nuggets Notes: Bradley, Luxury Tax, Gordon, Tucker, Barnes, Murray
The Nuggets would have some interest in guard Avery Bradley if he’s bought out, Mike Singer of the Denver Post tweets. Bradley was part of package the Heat shipped to Houston for Victor Oladipo. Bradley has only appeared in 10 games this season due to injury. There’s a $5.9MM team option on the remaining year of his contract.
We have more on the Nuggets:
- The team’s ownership is willing to pay the luxury tax in a future season as long as the club is a prime contender for the title, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN. Denver has managed to stay below the tax threshold this season. Aaron Gordon‘s contract and Michael Porter Jr.‘s rookie deal expire after next season, giving the franchise a season-and-a-half to evaluate whether keeping both of them, along with stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, is worth a big luxury tax bill. However, ownership doesn’t want to be a “repeater” tax team, Lowe adds. Teams are subject to repeater penalties when they’ve been a taxpayer in three of four seasons.
- Prior to acquiring Gordon from the Magic, the Nuggets discussed a P.J. Tucker trade with the Rockets but never got close to an agreement, Lowe reports in the same story. They also sent feelers to the Kings regarding Harrison Barnes but Sacramento wasn’t interested in dealing him.
- Murray has been very proactive about his interest in playing for Team Canada in the Summer Olympics, Raptors and Team Canada coach Nick Nurse told The Athletic’s Blake Murphy (Twitter link).
Bruce Brown Reaches Starter Criteria, QO Increases
Bruce Brown has reached the starter criteria in his contract, jumping his qualifying offer from $2.1MM to $4.7MM, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets.
Brown made his 26th start for the Nets on Friday against his former team, the Pistons. He started 43 of 58 games for Detroit last season.
The starter criteria requires an RFA-to-be to start at least half of his team’s games in the two seasons leading up to his free agency.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Starter Criteria]
This makes Brooklyn’s decision on whether to extend the QO to Brown a little trickier, considering its luxury tax bill considerations. It would still be a surprise if the Nets choose not to extend the QO, considering how valuable Brown has been this season. He’s averaging 8.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG and 1.4 APG and is a stout one-on-one defender for a team with a wealth of scoring options when at full strength.
Brooklyn holds Brown’s Bird rights and could also sign him to an extension prior to free agency.
Brown was a second-round selection by Detroit in 2018 but quickly jumped into the starting five as a rookie.
Grizzlies Waive Gorgui Dieng
The Grizzlies have waived Gorgui Dieng, according to a press release posted on the team’s Twitter feed.
The 31-year-old big man has appeared in 39 games, including 22 this season, in parts of two seasons with Memphis. He’s averaged 7.6 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 17.7 MPG during those contests.
His $17.3MM expiring contract made it difficult to deal Dieng before Thursday’s deadline. With Xavier Tillman Sr. ahead of him in the rotation behind starting center Jonas Valanciunas, Dieng became a prime buyout candidate.
He’ll clear waivers on Sunday afternoon and become an attractive pickup for a contender seeking frontcourt help.
Jazz Acquire Matt Thomas From Raptors
MARCH 26: The trade is official, according to a press release from the Raptors.
MARCH 25: The Raptors are trading guard Matt Thomas to the Jazz for a future second-round pick, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. The pick will be the Warriors’ 2021 second-rounder that was owed to Utah, Blake Murphy of The Athletic tweets.
Thomas provides the Jazz with another shooter off the bench. Thomas, 26, made his NBA debut last season, appearing in 41 games and averaging 4.9 PPG in 10.7 MPG. He’s appeared in 26 games this season, averaging 2.7 PPG in 7.4 MPG. However, the 6’4” Thomas has knocked down 45.7% of his 3-point attempts over the last two seasons.
Thomas is making approximately $1.52MM. The Jazz will have to decide by the start of free agency whether to guarantee his $1.78MM salary next season.
Utah will use a $3,542,060 traded player exception to absorb Thomas’ salary, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. The Jazz had an open roster spot.
Toronto will generate a $1.5MM TPE through this transaction. The Raptors also open up a roster spot, which they may need if they deal Kyle Lowry by the trade deadline.
Heat Acquire Victor Oladipo From Rockets
10:25pm: The trade for Oladipo is now official, according to press releases from both clubs.
2:10pm: Victor Oladipo is on the move, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that the Rockets have agreed to send the two-time All-Star to the Heat.
According to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link), the Rockets are acquiring Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk, and a 2022 draft-pick swap. The pick swap involves first-rounders, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets.
Houston will have the ability to swap either its own 2022 first-rounder or Brooklyn’s 2022 first-rounder for Miami’s pick, MacMahon adds in another tweet.
According to David Weiner of ClutchFans (Twitter link), the 2022 first-round pick swap is lottery-protected. A separate report from ClutchFans (Twitter link) explains that if the Heat miss the playoffs next season and that protection applies, they’d instead send a ’22 second-round selection to Houston — it would be the least favorable of the Sixers’ and Nuggets’ second-rounders.
Miami’s interest in the high-scoring guard, an unrestricted free agent after the season, was well-known, as was Oladipo’s interest in playing for the Heat.
The Heat now have a formidable 1-2 punch at the wing spots in Jimmy Butler and Oladipo as they attempt to reach the NBA Finals for the second straight season. Miami also acquires Oladipo’s Bird rights, which gave the Heat added incentive to make this deal.
It appeared to be a foregone conclusion that Oladipo, who was acquired by Houston from Indiana earlier this season in the multi-team trade that sent James Harden to the Nets, would be dealt again when he turned down a two-year, $42.5MM extension offer from the Rockets last month.
He played 20 games for Houston, averaging 21.2 PPG, 5.0 APG and 4.8 RPG in 33.5 MPG.
Olynyk has an expiring $12.6MM contract and Bradley’s $5.9MM salary for next season includes a team option. Olynyk, who became expendable when Miami agreed to acquire Nemanja Bjelica from the Kings, started 38 of 43 games this season for Miami, averaging 10.0 PPG and 6.1 RPG in 26.9 MPG.
Bradley, who was signed as a free agent last offseason, has only appeared in 10 games this season due to injuries.
After a busy day on the trade market, Miami has two open roster spots. The team will sign at least one player via the buyout market, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press tweets. LaMarcus Aldridge looks like a top target for the Heat.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Kings Waive Jabari Parker, Mfiondu Kabengele
9:33pm: Kabengele has officially been released as well by the Kings, per a Sacramento press release.
8:23pm: The Kings have officially waived Parker, according to a team press release.
3:33pm: The Kings are also expected to release newly-acquired big man Mfiondu Kabengele in order to open the roster spots necessary to accommodate their deadline-day deals, reports Ham (via Twitter).
3:26pm: The Kings are expected to waive forward Jabari Parker, James Ham of NBC Sports California tweets.
Parker, who has a $6.5MM salary this season, was scheduled to hit the free agent market after the season. He’ll reach that point sooner once he clears waivers.
The second overall pick of the 2014 draft only appeared in three games with Sacramento this season, due to a back injury, personal reasons, and most recently the league’s health and safety protocols.
Sacramento was Parker’s fifth NBA stop. He was included a trade deadline swap with Atlanta last February. Parker averaged 15.0 PPG in 32 games with the Hawks but only played six games with Sacramento last season.
The Kings needed to open up two roster spots after a reported two-for-one deal with Miami that is sending Nemanja Bjelica to the Heat, along with an agreed-upon trade with the Raptors that will send Terence Davis to the West Coast.
Raptors Trade Terence Davis To Kings
9:30pm: The Davis deal is official, per an official Kings press release.
“Terence is a talented young player that adds depth and scoring ability to our backcourt,” GM Monte McNair said. “We are excited to see what he brings to Sacramento.”
1:55pm: The Kings and Raptors have agreed to a trade that will send second-year guard Terence Davis to Sacramento in exchange for a future second-round pick, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The second-rounder will be the Grizzlies’ second-rounder that was owed to the Kings in this year’s draft, Blake Murphy of The Athletic tweets.
Sacramento will need to clear a roster spot for Davis. It must do the same in its reported 2-for-1 deal with Miami that will send Nemanja Bjelica to the Heat for Maurice Harkless and Chris Silva.
The undrafted Davis, who played college ball at Ole Miss, made a surprisingly strong debut for the Raptors last season. He averaged 7.5 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 1.6 APG in 16.8 MPG while appearing in 72 regular-season contests. He has been less effective this season in 34 appearances, averaging 6.9 PPG, 1.9 RPG and 1.1 APG in 14.5 MPG.
The Kings can make him a restricted free agent this offseason by extending a qualifying offer of $2.06MM. They can evaluate how Davis fits into their future plans over the next two months.
Davis had a tumultuous offseason in which he was arrested in New York and had domestic assault charges filed against him. A handful of the seven charges against Davis were dismissed. The judge in the case technically granted an “adjournment in contemplation of dismissal” for criminal mischief and endangering the welfare of a child, which means those charges will also be dropped as long as the he doesn’t run afoul of the law again for the next year.
Pacers Waive Jalen Lecque
4:10pm: The move is now official, according to a press release from the team.
4:03pm: The Pacers are waiving guard Jalen Lecque, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Indiana didn’t make any deadline deals on Thursday but the move will open up a roster spot. Lecque appeared in five games with Phoenix and only made four cameo appearances with Indiana this season.
He was sidelined by an ankle sprain in early January, then was sent to the G League bubble later that month. He averaged 14.3 PPG and 3.3 APG in 14 G League games with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in Orlando.
Indiana acquired him in an offseason trade with the Thunder.
The athletic 20-year-old guard will seek a greater opportunity elsewhere.