Timberwolves Sign Eric Paschall To Two-Way Deal
JULY 30, 8:16am: Paschall’s two-way contract with the Timberwolves became official on Friday, per NBA.com’s transactions log.
JULY 29, 1:49pm: Paschall will be signing a two-way contract with Minnesota, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News and SKOR North (Twitter link). Paschall and A.J. Lawson will occupy the Wolves’ two-way slots.
JULY 29, 11:55am: The Timberwolves have reached an agreement on a one-year deal with free agent forward Eric Paschall, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
The No. 41 pick in the 2019 draft, Paschall began his NBA career with the Warriors and had an impressive rookie season in Golden State in 2019/20, averaging 14.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 60 games (27.6 MPG). His role declined in his second season and he was traded in the 2021 offseason to Utah, where his minutes dipped further.
In 58 appearances last season for the Jazz, the 25-year-old averaged 5.8 PPG and 1.8 RPG on .485/.370/.767 shooting in 12.7 MPG. He was eligible for restricted free agency at season’s end, but didn’t receive a qualifying offer from Utah and became unrestricted.
Terms of Paschall’s new agreement with the Wolves aren’t known, but it may resemble the deals the club completed with free agents Austin Rivers and Nathan Knight. Both received minimum-salary contracts with partial guarantees for the 2022/23 season.
Prior to reaching a deal with Paschall, Minnesota had been carrying 12 players on guaranteed contracts, two (Rivers and Knight) with partial guarantees, and one (Jaylen Nowell) on a non-guaranteed pact, so a spot on the 15-man regular season roster shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as a lock for the newcomer. The terms of Paschall’s contract should help clarify where he stands in the Wolves’ roster hierarchy.
Gabe Brown Signing Exhibit 10 Deal With Nuggets
Undrafted free agent rookie Gabe Brown is signing an Exhibit 10 contract to go to training camp with the Nuggets, according to Adam Zagoria of NJ.com (Twitter link).
Brown, who declared for the draft this spring after spending four years at Michigan State, became a full-time starter for the Spartans as a senior in 2021/22, averaging 11.6 PPG and 3.8 RPG with a .382 3PT% in 36 games (28.9 MPG). His performance earned him a spot on the All-Big 10 Third Team.
Brown suited up for the Thunder‘s Summer League team this month, recording 11.0 PPG and 3.5 RPG on .421/.370/1.000 shooting in four Las Vegas contests (21.8 MPG).
Zagoria reported last month that Brown would be signing a “partially guaranteed” contract with Oklahoma City and Jake Weingarten of StockRisers.com later said it would be an Exhibit 10 deal, but based on Zagoria’s newest report, it seems as if that deal fell through.
An Exhibit 10 is a one-year, non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract that counts toward a team’s 20-man offseason roster limit, but doesn’t count against the cap unless the player makes the regular season roster. It can be converted into a two-way contract or can make a player eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived and joins his team’s G League affiliate.
Denver doesn’t currently have a two-way slot available, so the team may envision Brown as an affiliate player for the Grand Rapids Gold.
Lakers Notes: LeBron, First-Round Picks, Westbrook
LeBron James will become eligible next Thursday to sign a contract extension with the Lakers that could be worth up to a projected $97.1MM over two years, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack article. If James doesn’t agree to an extension with Los Angeles, he would remain on track to reach free agency in 2023.
According to Stein, sources briefed on the matter say that James is happy in L.A. and suggest that his family has become “increasingly entrenched” in Southern California in recent years. Stein adds that the belief in league circles is that LeBron is unlikely to seriously consider leaving the Lakers unless he has the opportunity to play with his son Bronny James elsewhere beginning in 2024.
Once James becomes extension-eligible next week, he and the Lakers won’t be facing any sort of deadline in the near future — he’d remain extension-eligible all the way up until June 30, 2023, and could agree to a new one- or two-year contract at any time before then to avoid free agency. So if the two sides don’t strike a deal immediately, it shouldn’t necessarily be a cause for concern.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- Within the same Substack story, Stein writes that seemingly no potential trade partners want to make a deal with the Lakers unless they can get both of L.A.’s tradable first-round picks (2027 and 2029). Based on reporting to date, Stein’s claim presumably applies to at least the Nets with Kyrie Irving and the Pacers with Buddy Hield and Myles Turner. According to Stein, the Lakers have thus far only shown a willingness to move one of those two first-rounders in any deal — and they’ll likely look to add at least some protections to any pick they move.
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report spoke to a handful of league insiders about what the Lakers should do with Russell Westbrook and received a wide range of opinions. Those sources were split on how aggressive the team should be in trying to make a preseason trade and how many picks they’d attach to Westbrook. As Pincus writes, some of his sources think L.A. should let Westbrook stay away from the team if he’s still a Laker this fall, while others believe he can still salvage some on-court value for his current club.
- In case you missed it, there are five Lakers players who can’t be traded until at least December 15. We shared that full list earlier today.
Kings Sign Matthew Dellavedova
2:03pm: It’s a one-year, partially guaranteed contract for Dellavedova, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
1:59pm: The Kings have signed free agent guard Matthew Dellavedova, the team announced today (via Twitter).
Dellavedova, who will turn 32 in September, has 447 regular season NBA appearances under his belt, having spent eight years playing for the Cavaliers and Bucks. However, he was limited to just 13 games with Cleveland in 2020/21 (his last NBA season) due to various health issues, including a concussion and an emergency appendectomy.
The Australian guard returned home to play for Melbourne United this past season and had a solid season with the club, averaging 10.6 PPG, 4.9 APG, and 3.0 RPG on .407/.380/.756 shooting in 27 contests (25.3 MPG).
Dellavedova reportedly worked out for the Kings and new head coach Mike Brown – who coached the veteran in Cleveland – in Las Vegas earlier this month in the hopes of earning a camp invite. Sacramento has been on the lookout for point guard depth, having also been linked to Quinn Cook.
While the terms of Dellavedova’s new contract aren’t yet known, it will almost certainly be worth the veteran’s minimum. It’s possible his salary won’t be fully guaranteed, but I expect he’ll have an opportunity to earn a regular season roster spot this fall.
Players Who Can’t Be Traded Until January 15
As we detailed in an earlier article, players who signed new contracts as free agents during the 2022/23 league year can’t be traded for three months or until December 15, whichever comes later. That means that nearly every team has at least one player – and often more than one – who won’t become trade-eligible until mid-December.
There’s also a small subset of free agent signees whose trade ineligibility lasts for an extra month. These players all meet a specific set of criteria: Not only did they re-sign with their previous team this offseason, but they got a raise of at least 20%, their salary is worth more than the minimum, and their team was over the cap, using Bird or Early Bird rights to sign them.
Listed below are the players who meet this criteria and can’t be traded until at least January 15, 2023. Players who have the ability to veto trades in 2022/23 are marked with a caret (^).
We’ll continue to update this page over the next few months, if necessary.
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
Denver Nuggets
Golden State Warriors
Houston Rockets
Los Angeles Clippers
Memphis Grizzlies
Miami Heat
Milwaukee Bucks
New York Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers
Toronto Raptors
Washington Wizards
Moses Wright Reportedly Joining Team In China
After finishing the 2021/22 season with the Mavericks, free agent forward Moses Wright is reportedly heading overseas, having agreed to a deal with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to a report from Sina Sports.
Wright, who spent training camp and the preseason with the Clippers last fall after going undrafted out of Georgia Tech, signed a 10-day hardship deal with the Clips in December, then joined the Mavericks on a two-way contract in February. He logged just 14 total minutes in four NBA appearances for the two clubs, but had an impressive showing in the G League, earning a spot on the All-NBAGL First Team.
In 29 total appearances for the Clippers’ and Mavs’ G League affiliates, Wright put up 19.6 PPG, 9.2 RPG, and 1.4 BPG on .562/.395/.657 shooting in 32.0 minutes per contest. The 23-year-old also played well for Dallas’ Summer League team in Las Vegas earlier this month, racking up 15.5 PPG and 6.8 RPG in just 19.0 MPG in four appearances.
While there was a sense that Wright might be a candidate to get another two-way contract with the Mavs, the team didn’t issue him a qualifying offer last month, so he was an unrestricted free agent. Assuming Wright officially completes his deal with Zhejiang, Dallas will have to look elsewhere to fill its open two-way slot.
Cavaliers Notes: Sexton, LeVert, Expectations
After reporting last week that the Cavaliers have made a three-year offer worth approximately $40MM to restricted free agent guard Collin Sexton, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com said this week during an appearance on Zach Lowe’s Lowe Post podcast that he doesn’t get the sense Sexton is learning toward accepting that offer.
“The offer I reported, the three-year (deal) around $40 million, I don’t get the sense that Collin and his camp would take that,” Fedor said (hat tip to RealGM). “I don’t think they would take a multiyear deal at that number.
“In fact, I think it would be more likely that they would take the qualifying offer (and) go into unrestricted free agency next offseason. Try and rebuild the value before that, show that you can be healthy, show that the meniscus tear is behind you, show you can adapt to a lesser sixth man role, all those different things. I think that is more likely than them taking the multiyear offer that the Cavs have made at this point in time.”
A sign-and-trade deal remains a possibility for Sexton as he seeks a more significant contract than the one the Cavaliers have offered, but it’s hard to find a logical trade partner for Cleveland, Fedor tweets.
The NBA’s base year compensation rules and the Cavs’ current and future cap situation would be complicating factors, according to Fedor, who notes that the team wants to stay out of the tax this season while maintaining cap room in 2023.
Here’s more on the Cavs:
- Extension discussions between the Cavaliers and Caris LeVert remain on hold while the club determines whether or not Sexton will return on a multiyear contract, Fedor said on Lowe’s podcast. If Sexton is locked up for multiple years, there would be less urgency to complete an extension with LeVert.
- Fedor also offered the following interesting tidbit on LeVert and Sexton, while speaking to Lowe: “There are multiple people inside the organization that, if they had their choice between Caris and Collin, they would take Caris over Collin. Because of the size, because of the length, because of the versatility that he can bring on the defensive end of the floor. And they liked what they saw with Caris and Darius (Garland) together.”
- In part one of her two-part mailbag for The Athletic, Kelsey Russo examines the Cavaliers’ expectations for the 2022/23 season and the Ochai Agbaji draft pick, among other topics. Russo predicts the team will exceed its over/under projection of 42.5 wins.
- Part two of Russo’s mailbag focuses on Cleveland’s potential roster crunch, Kevin Love‘s future, Ricky Rubio‘s ACL recovery, and the possibility of an eventual reunion with LeBron James.
Players Who Can’t Be Traded Until December 15
As teams explore the trade market for potential deals to complete their rosters for training camp, there are a number of trade restrictions those clubs must take into account. Most notably, newly-signed free agents can’t be dealt until at least December 15.
The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement states that a free agent who signs with an NBA team can’t be traded for three months or until December 15, whichever is later. There are also some recently-signed players who meet a few specific criteria and can’t be traded until January 15. That list of players can be found right here.
The players who aren’t eligible to be traded until December 15 are listed below.
Players whose contracts haven’t been officially finalized aren’t yet listed below. Players who have the ability to veto trades in 2022/23 are marked with a caret (^). Players on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts are marked with an asterisk (*). However, those on Exhibit 10 deals won’t be listed here unless they make the regular season roster.
We’ll continue to update this page over the next few months as players are signed or waived.
Updated 10-17-22 (3:07pm CT)
Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets
- None
Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dallas Mavericks
NBA Players Who Can Veto Trades In 2022/23
Entering the 2022/23 league year, it had been four years since any NBA player had an explicit no-trade clause in his contract, but the Wizards ended that streak by awarding Bradley Beal a no-trade clause as part of his new five-year, maximum-salary deal.
No-trade clauses are rare in the NBA, and had become even rarer in recent years. Beal is just the 10th player in NBA history to receive one.
To be eligible to negotiate a no-trade clause, a player must have at least eight years of NBA experience and has to have spent at least four years (albeit not necessarily the most recent four years) with his current team. Even if a player qualifies, his team is typically unlikely to restrict its flexibility by including a no-trade clause in his deal.
While Beal is the only NBA player with an explicit no-trade clause in his contract at the moment, there are several who will have the ability to veto trades in 2022/23.
A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract – or a two-year deal with an option year – is given no-trade protection. That group doesn’t include players on two-way contracts, but it does include players who accept standard (non two-way) one-year qualifying offers.
A player who signs an offer sheet and has that offer matched by his previous team also has the ability to veto a trade for a full calendar year.
With those criteria in mind, here are the players who must give their consent if their teams want to trade them during the ’22/23 league year:
No-trade clauses:
- Bradley Beal (Wizards)
Players whose offer sheets were matched:
- Deandre Ayton (Suns)
Players re-signing for one year (or two years, with a second-year player/team option):
- Ryan Arcidiacono (Knicks): Traded
- Bismack Biyombo (Suns)
- Jevon Carter (Bucks)
- Kessler Edwards (Nets): Traded
- Drew Eubanks (Trail Blazers)
- James Harden (Sixers)
- Udonis Haslem (Heat)
- Serge Ibaka (Bucks): Traded
- Andre Iguodala (Warriors)
- Derrick Jones (Bulls)
- Nathan Knight (Timberwolves)
- Wesley Matthews (Bucks)
- Rodney McGruder (Pistons)
- Mike Muscala (Thunder): Traded
- Victor Oladipo (Heat)
- Theo Pinson (Mavericks)
If any player who re-signed for one year approves a trade during the 2022/23 league year, he’ll have Non-Bird rights at season’s end instead of Early Bird or full Bird rights.
The only player with veto rights who consented to a trade during the 2021/22 season was forward Solomon Hill — he signed off on a deal that sent him from the Hawks to the Knicks. Hill had suffered a torn hamstring prior to that trade and knew he’d likely be waived soon by one team or another, so vetoing the deal in an effort to retain his Early Bird rights with Atlanta would’ve been futile.
Any player who approves a trade will retain his veto ability on his new team, and would have to consent to any subsequent deal during the 2022/23 season.
Semi Ojeleye Signing Two-Year Deal With Virtus Bologna
Veteran NBA forward Semi Ojeleye will continue his career in Italy, having reached a two-year agreement with Virtus Bologna, the club announced today in a press release.
Ojeleye, the 37th overall pick in the 2017 draft, has appeared in 284 regular season games and 38 playoff contests with the Celtics, Bucks, and Clippers over the last five seasons. He began the 2021/22 campaign in Milwaukee and was traded to the Clippers at the February deadline before being waived in March.
The 27-year-old is considered a solid, versatile defender, but has never contributed much offensively since entering the NBA, averaging just 3.4 points in 14.5 minutes per contest.
Ojeleye will join a Virtus Bologna team that competes in Italy’s LBA and the EuroLeague and also features several former NBA players, including Gabriel Lundberg, who signed with the team last week. Former NBAers like Marco Belinelli, Nico Mannion, Milos Teodosic, and Jordan Mickey are also under contract with Virtus Bologna.