Pelicans Sign James Nunnally, Waive Will Magnay
11:35am: The Pelicans have officially signed Nunnally and cut Magnay, the team confirmed in a press release.
11:24am: The Pelicans will waive Magnay to make room for Nunnally, a source tells Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link).
A 6’10” center from Australia, Magnay appeared in just one game for the Pelicans this season, going scoreless in three minutes. He also averaged 9.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 1.5 BPG in 10 appearances (22.2 MPG) for the Erie BayHawks in the G League.
10:08am: The Pelicans intend to sign veteran wing James Nunnally to a two-way contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Nunnally, 30, made his NBA debut back in the 2013/14 season, but only played in 13 contests that season, then didn’t appear in an NBA game again until ’18/19. In total, he has played in 28 regular season games for four teams, having spent most of his professional career overseas in Europe and Asia.
Most recently, Nunnally played for Fenerbahce during the 2019/20 season. While he had a limited role for the Turkish club in EuroLeague play, he continued to knock down three-pointers at a high rate (.417 3PT%), something he has done throughout his international career.
The Pelicans don’t currently have an open two-way contract slot, but have an opening on their 15-man roster, even if they re-sign Isaiah Thomas to a second 10-day contract once his first deal expires tonight.
Naji Marshall has been a rotation player for the Pelicans as of late and seems unlikely to be waived, so if the team cuts a two-way player, Will Magnay is the more likely choice. New Orleans could also promote Marshall to the standard roster to open up a two-way spot for Nunnally, though the club doesn’t have much breathing room below the luxury tax line.
Hoops Rumors’ 2021 10-Day Contract Tracker
A handful of the players who have signed contracts since the All-Star break have signed rest-of-season or multiyear contracts, but the most common form of signing has been of the 10-day variety. Currently, 14 players around the NBA are on active 10-day deals, including veterans like DeMarcus Cousins (Clippers), Isaiah Thomas (Pelicans), and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (Trail Blazers).
Hoops Rumors has created a database that allows you to keep on top of those deals, tracking every 10-day signing all season long.
Besides featuring all of this year’s 10-day deals, our 10-Day Contract Tracker includes information on all 10-day contracts signed since the 2006/07 season, giving you a chance to identify trends regarding your favorite teams and players. The search filters in the database make it easy to sort by team, player and year. For instance, if you want to see all the 10-day contracts that the Lakers have signed in recent years, you can do so here.
You can also see whether a player and team signed a second 10-day contract, or if those short-term deals led to an agreement that covered the rest of the season. Our tracker, which is updated when a 10-day signing becomes official, also notes which 10-day deals remain active, saving you from having to figure out whether a particular contract ends on Wednesday or Thursday.
A link to our 10-Day Contract Tracker can be found at any time in the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features” on our desktop site. On our mobile site, you can find it on our “Features” page. We’ll be keeping it up to date for the rest of the season, so be sure to check back to keep tabs on the latest signings as they become official.
Kevin Ollie Hired As Head Coach Of Overtime Elite
Former NBA player and UConn head coach Kevin Ollie has been hired as the head coach and director of player development for the Overtime Elite basketball league, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
As we relayed last month, Overtime Elite is a newly-former basketball league that will feature up to 30 players who are between 16 and 18 years old. These high-school-age prospects will lose their college basketball eligibility, but will be offered salaries worth at least $100K and will have the opportunity to compete against prep school and international teams, writes Wojnarowski.
The Overtime Elite league will also offer an academic tutoring component, as well as scholarship money for any player who opts not to ultimately pursue a professional basketball career.
Ollie, who appeared in a total of 662 regular season NBA games and 42 playoff contests for 11 teams during his 13-year NBA career, joined UConn as an assistant in 2010 following his retirement as a player. He was promoted to the head coaching job in 2012 and held it until 2018, when he was let go due to a handful of NCAA violations. He won a national title with the Huskies in 2014.
Ollie has penned an article for The Athletic discussing his time at UConn and explaining why the Overtime Elite role appeals to him.
According to Wojnarowski, Ollie will work with Brandon Williams – a former Kings executive who is Overtime Elite’s new executive VP and head of basketball operations – to assemble a staff of approximately 40 individuals, including coaches, trainers, counselors, and sports science and performance staffers.
Veteran college assistant Tim Fuller has also been hired by Overtime Elite as its director of scouting and recruiting, tweets Jeff Goodman of Stadium.
It remains to be seen how successful the Overtime Elite league will be in siphoning off talent that would otherwise be headed to major college programs, but hiring leaders who have plenty of NBA and NCAA experience represents a promising start.
Nuggets Sign Shaquille Harrison, Cut Greg Whittington
APRIL 9: The moves are official, according to a press release from the team.
APRIL 8: The Nuggets intend to sign free agent guard Shaquille Harrison to a two-way contract, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski, Denver will make room for Harrison by waiving current two-way player Greg Whittington.
A 27-year-old guard known for his strong perimeter defense, Harrison began the season with the Jazz, but saw limited minutes (3.3 MPG) in his 17 games with the team and was released before his salary became fully guaranteed for 2020/21.
Having also spent time in past seasons with Phoenix and Chicago, Harrison has career averages of 5.5 PPG and 2.4 RPG on .444/.289/.710 shooting in 156 total contests (15.1 MPG).
Although Harrison likely won’t play a major role in Denver, he’ll be eligible to play in the postseason, since the NBA adjusted the rule restricting two-way players from participating in the playoffs this season.
As for Whittington, he signed a two-way deal with the Nuggets in the fall but appeared in just four games with the team, going scoreless in 12 total minutes. As Mike Singer of The Denver Post tweets, the 28-year-old forward injured his knee in training camp and underwent a surgical procedure on it in January, derailing his first NBA season.
Even after signing Harrison, Denver won’t necessarily be done seeking backcourt depth, Singer adds (via Twitter). The club will have an open spot on its 15-man roster after waiving Gary Clark.
Players Waived After Friday Won’t Retain Playoff Eligibility
During a typical NBA league year, a player must be waived by March 1 in order to retain his postseason eligibility for a new team. However, due to the late start in 2020/21, that date has been pushed back to Friday, April 9 — today.
That means that any player who remains on an NBA roster after today won’t be eligible to suit up in the postseason for a new team, though there are a few exceptions to that general rule.
Crucially, a player who is currently on a 10-day contract represents one such exception. For instance, once DeMarcus Cousins‘ 10-day deal with the Clippers expires next Wednesday, he’d still be able to re-sign with L.A. or join a new team and be eligible to play in the postseason, since he’s not being placed on waivers after April 9.
Here’s the list of players currently on 10-day contracts who will retain their playoff eligibility when their current deals expire:
- Alize Johnson, Nets (runs through 4/10)
- Oshae Brissett, Pacers (4/10)
- Norvel Pelle, Knicks (4/11)
- Isaiah Thomas, Pelicans (4/12)
- Justin Robinson, Thunder (4/14)
- John Henson, Knicks (4/14)
- DeMarcus Cousins, Clippers (4/14)
- Devin Cannady, Magic (4/15)
- Damian Jones, Kings (4/16)
- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Trail Blazers (4/17)
- Gary Payton II, Warriors (4/17)
- Freddie Gillespie, Raptors (4/17)
It’s also worth clarifying that a player didn’t have to sign with a new team by April 9 to be playoff-eligible — he simply has to be placed on waivers by 11:59pm ET on Friday. As long as a player who fits that bill signs with a new team by May 16, the final day of the regular season, he can play in the postseason.
This April 9 deadline is one reason why we’ve seen a flurry of roster moves as of late. Within the last week alone, DaQuan Jeffries, Ben McLemore, Justin Jackson, Jerome Robinson, Gary Clark, Khem Birch, Ignas Brazdeikis, Darius Miller, and Patrick McCaw have been released. More players could join that list today.
All of those players will be playoff-eligible if they join a new team (Jeffries and McLemore already have), but anyone on a standard contract who is waived after today won’t be.
As for two-way players, this is the first season in which they’ve been eligible to play in the postseason at all, so the rules pertaining to them aren’t entirely clear. However, since they also pass through waivers, my working assumption is that they’ll be subject to the same rules as players on standard deals — any waived after today likely won’t be able to participate in the postseason.
Nuggets Release Gary Clark
7:25pm: The Nuggets have officially waived Clark, per NBA.com’s transactions log.
9:54am: In addition to making a change to one of their two-way contract slots, the Nuggets are also tweaking their 15-man roster, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Denver will waive forward Gary Clark.
The Nuggets acquired Clark in a deadline deal with Orlando last month, but he was essentially a throw-in, since the prize of that trade was Aaron Gordon.
Denver has a full 15-man roster, so dropping Clark will open up a spot, creating some flexibility for a potential depth addition down the stretch. While it’s not clear yet what the Nuggets might do with a spot, Mike Singer of The Denver Post suggested earlier today (via Twitter) that the team will remain on the lookout for backcourt depth even after signing Shaquille Harrison to a two-way deal.
Clark, who began his career with the Rockets in 2018, has since appeared in a total of 130 games Houston, Orlando, and Denver, averaging 3.3 PPG and 2.6 RPG in 14.6 MPG. He signed a two-year, $4.1MM contract with the Magic last fall, but the second-year salary of $2.1MM is non-guaranteed, so the Nuggets won’t be on the hook for any money beyond this season.
Assuming Clark and his $2MM cap hit go unclaimed on waivers, he’ll be eligible to sign with any club except the Magic. According to Wojnarowski, he’s expected to receive interest from some Eastern Conference playoff teams.
Warriors Sign Gary Payton II To 10-Day Deal
5:40pm: Golden State has officially signed Payton, the club confirmed in a press release.
10:45am: The Warriors are signing free agent guard Gary Payton II to a 10-day contract, according to Marcus Thompson and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links).
Payton, the son of former SuperSonics guard – and Hall-of-Famer – Gary Payton, hasn’t played in the NBA yet this season, but had a strong showing in the G League with the Raptors 905. The 28-year-old averaged 10.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 2.5 SPG on 55.5% shooting in 13 games and earned a spot on the NBAGL All-Defensive team, despite a somewhat limited role (21.8 MPG).
Payton, who has appeared in a total of 61 NBA regular season games for three teams, spent part of the 2019/20 season with the Wizards, averaging 3.9 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 29 contests (14.9 MPG). He’ll earn $118,983 on his new 10-day contract, while the Warriors will take a cap hit of $110,998. The franchise will also see its year-end tax bill increase as a result of the signing.
The Warriors dipped down below the league’s required minimum of 14 players on standard contracts at the trade deadline. Because the NBA only allows teams to remain below that minimum for up to two weeks at a time, Golden State had to add another player to its roster by today.
Payton is expected to be available for the Warriors at practice on Thursday and for Friday’s game vs. Washington, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link), who says the guard had been undergoing COVID-19 tests in anticipation of the deal.
Raptors Sign Freddie Gillespie To 10-Day Contract
APRIL 8: The Raptors have officially completed the signing of Gillespie to a 10-day contract, per a team press release.
APRIL 7: The Raptors intend to sign G League standout Freddie Gillespie to a 10-day deal, sources tell Shams Charania and Blake Murphy of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Gillespie, a rookie power forward who went undrafted out of Baylor in November, was the second overall pick in the NBA G League draft and spent the bubble season with the Memphis Hustle. As a full-time starter, he averaged a double-double (10.5 PPG, 10.3 RPG) to go along with 2.3 BPG in 15 contests (27.8 MPG).
Gillespie spoke to Hoops Rumors earlier this season about the unconventional path he has taken to the professional level. This 10-day deal with Toronto will give him an opportunity to play in his first ever NBA regular season game.
The Raptors only have 13 players on standard contracts and need to add a 14th man by Thursday, so it’s a safe bet that Gillespie’s deal will be finalized tomorrow if it doesn’t become official today. The 23-year-old will earn $61,528 during his first 10 days in the NBA.
Draft Updates: Shannon, Smart, Watford, More
Texas Tech sophomore wing Terrence Shannon Jr. will test the draft waters, declaring for the 2021 NBA draft while retaining his college eligibility, he announced today (via Twitter).
Shannon, who started 13 of his 28 games for the Red Raiders in 2020/21, averaged 12.9 PPG and 4.0 RPG on .448/.357/.756 shooting in 26.7 minutes per contest.
While those numbers don’t jump off the page, Shannon is a highly-regarded prospect who is a strong candidate to be drafted. He ranks 33rd overall on ESPN’s list of this year’s top 100 prospects and comes in at No. 37 on Jonathan Wasserman’s big board at Bleacher Report.
Here are a few more updates on the 2021 draft:
- After testing the draft waters in both 2019 and 2020, LSU guard Javonte Smart will once again declare in 2021 and will go pro this time, he announced on Instagram. As a junior this season, Smart averaged 16.0 PPG and 4.0 APG on .460/.402/.857 shooting in 28 games (35.6 MPG).
- Smart’s LSU teammate, sophomore forward Trendon Watford, is also entering the draft and intends to hire an agent, he announced on Twitter. Watford, who averaged 16.3 PPG and 7.4 RPG in 28 games (34.6 MPG) for the Tigers, is the No. 55 prospect on ESPN’s big board.
- Florida State junior guard Sardaar Calhoun is testing the draft waters, he announced on Twitter. He saw limited action in 2020/21, averaging 5.3 PPG in 14.2 minutes per game (25 games), though he did hit 39.7% of his three-point attempts.
- Keve Aluma, a redshirt junior forward at Virginia Tech, will enter the draft while retaining his college eligibility, he stated on Twitter. Aluma put up 15.2 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 2.2 APG, and 1.3 BPG in 22 games (30.6 MPG) in ’20/21.
- Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz of ESPN (Insider link) share their latest 2021 mock draft, which features Baylor’s Davion Mitchell moving all the way up to No. 7. Mitchell and Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs were among the players whose stocks increased the most as a result of the NCAA tournament.
Salaries For 10-Day Contracts In 2020/21
When a team signs a player to a 10-day contract, it can theoretically use cap room or an exception to pay him more than the minimum salary. However, in practice, that essentially never happens — virtually every player that signs a 10-day deal receives a prorated portion of the minimum salary.
The minimum salary in a given season differs from player to player, based on his years of NBA experience entering the season. For instance, in 2020/21, a rookie on a full-season minimum deal will earn $898,310, whereas a 10-year veteran who is earning the minimum will make $2,564,753.
[RELATED: NBA Minimum Salaries For 2020/21]
The same is true for 10-day deals. A rookie will earn significantly less over the course of his 10 days with a team than a tenured NBA veteran will.
Because the 2020/21 season is 146 days long, a player’s full-season minimum salary can be divided by 146 to calculate his daily salary. From there, it’s just a matter of multiplying by 10 to determine his salary on a 10-day contract.
Using that formula, here’s the full breakdown of what salaries for 10-day deals look like in ’20/21:
| Years in NBA | Salary |
|---|---|
| 0 | $61,528 |
| 1 | $99,020 |
| 2 | $110,998 |
| 3 | $114,990 |
| 4 | $118,983 |
| 5 | $128,963 |
| 6 | $138,945 |
| 7 | $148,926 |
| 8 | $158,907 |
| 9 | $159,698 |
| 10+ | $175,668 |
Because the NBA doesn’t want teams to avoid signing veteran players in favor of cheaper, younger options, the league reimburses clubs who sign veterans with three or more years of experience to 10-day, minimum-salary contracts.
Those deals will only count against the cap – and against a team’s bank balance – for $110,998, the minimum salary for a player with two years of experience. So a player with three years under his belt would have the same cap charge as a player with 12 years of NBA experience.
Here are a few examples based on 10-day deals that are currently active:
| Player | Team | Years | Salary | Cap hit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devin Cannady | Magic | 0 | $61,528 | $61,528 |
| Damian Jones | Kings | 4 | $118,983 | $110,998 |
| DeMarcus Cousins | Clippers | 10 | $175,668 | $110,998 |