Heat Sign Josh Christopher To Two-Way Contract
The Heat have signed free agent guard Josh Christopher to a two-way contract, the team announced (via Twitter). To create a two-way roster spot, Miami waived undrafted rookie Zyon Pullin.
Christopher is a former first-round pick (24th overall in 2021) who spent his first two NBA seasons in Houston before being traded to Memphis last summer. The Grizzlies eventually waived Christopher and his guaranteed contract for 2023/24 in late September, which also effectively declined his fourth-year team option for ’24/25.
Christopher later caught on with the Jazz, spending a few months with Utah on a two-way deal before being released in January. Despite being eligible to, he did not appear in an NBA game last season, having split the campaign with the Salt Lake City Stars, Utah’s NBA G League affiliate, and the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s affiliate.
The 22-year-old Christopher is being rewarded for his standout playing during Las Vegas Summer League, which saw the Heat win the championship in dramatic fashion, an overtime finish over Memphis. Christopher was named the title game’s MVP after registering a team-high 24 points, including six 3-pointers. He also added four rebounds, one assist, three steals and two blocks.
“I think this Heat culture thing just brought the best out of me. I don’t think I’ve had a series of games better than this in my life, honestly,” said Christopher, who averaged 19.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.0 steals on .541/.525/.1.000 shooting in his six appearances in Vegas (25.9 MPG).
As for Pullin, the 23-year-old point guard showed flashes during Summer League, but he also didn’t earn much playing time (11.9 MPG). The former UC-Riverside and Florida star will be an unrestricted free agent in a couple days if he clears waivers.
Dru Smith and Keshad Johnson occupy the Heat’s other two-way spots, as shown by our tracker.
Clippers Sign Trentyn Flowers To Two-Way Deal
The Clippers have signed undrafted rookie free agent Trentyn Flowers to a two-way contract, per NBA.com’s official transactions log.
A 6’7″ guard/forward, Flowers was reported in late June to be landing with L.A.. The type of contract was not specified at the time, but the 19-year-old was called by president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, owner Steve Ballmer and head coach Tyronn Lue, indicating he likely agreed to something more significant than a summer league deal.
Flowers was considered a potential late second-round pick (No. 56) on ESPN’s big board before going undrafted in 2024. He was the fourth-best prospect available on the open market following the draft, per ESPN.
An American prospect who spent the 2023/24 season in the NBL’s Next Stars program, Flowers averaged 5.2 points and 2.9 rebounds on .458/.421/.613 shooting in 18 games (12.7 minutes) with the Adelaide 36ers. Flowers is considered a top-tier athlete with scoring upside, but the rest of his game isn’t very well rounded at this stage of his development.
As our two-way contract tracker shows, the Clips had a pair of two-way vacancies before signing Flowers — they now have one.
Olympic Notes: Durant, Team USA, Jokic, Murray
Suns star Kevin Durant, who is recovering from a strained calf, participated in Team USA’s practice in London on Friday, per Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic. It was the first time Durant has practiced with the team ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
The United States will face South Sudan on Saturday and Germany on Monday in its last pre-Olympic tune-up games. Durant is day-to-day and is considered questionable to play in those contests.
“I’m going to see how I feel after practice today,” Durant said.
Here are some more notes ahead of the Olympics, which begin next week:
- Team USA has gone 3-0 in exhibition contests vs. Canada, Australia and Serbia thus far. While the Americans’ roster is brimming with talent and skill, and their record is unblemished in unofficial games, not everything has been clicking so far, particularly the awkward fit of Joel Embiid, according to Michael Pina of The Ringer. Embiid is used to being the center of his team’s offense, but he has looked out of sorts playing under a different set of rules and with a reduced role, Pina observes. On the other hand, the team’s defense — led by Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo — has been extremely impressive ahead of the Olympics, says Pina.
- Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic undoubtedly raises the ceiling of the Serbian national team, but participating in international events for his home country also comes with increased scrutiny, as Bennett Durando of The Denver Post writes. “It’s a big burden, because it’s kind of like, he’s the best basketball player in the world,” said Nuggets assistant Ognjen Stojakovic, who has coached for Serbia since last summer. “People identify themselves with athletes and sports. They all have high expectations, especially for the national team. … There’s so much pressure on Nikola to play. And not just Nikola, for every athlete to play in all those big competitions.” Serbia is in Group C, alongside the U.S., South Sudan and Puerto Rico.
- Nuggets guard Jamal Murray was held out of Canada’s exhibition game vs. France on Friday, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. The Canadian national team said Murray was rested for precautionary reasons. The 27-year-old battled a left calf strain and a right elbow injury during the playoffs, but Denver was eliminated from contention more than two months ago.
- In case you missed it, Suns forward/center Bol Bol will miss the Olympics for South Sudan due to personal reasons.
Bucks’ Andre Jackson Undergoes Finger Surgery
Second-year guard/forward Andre Jackson underwent successful surgery on Friday to repair a fracture of his left middle finger, the Bucks announced in a press release (Twitter link).
Jackson sustained the injury on Tuesday in a Summer League contest vs. the Clippers. He’s expected to be fully healed ahead of training camp, according to the team.
A 6’6″ swingman, Jackson had a modest role as a rookie last season, appearing in 57 games while averaging 2.2 points and 2.0 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per contest. Known for his athleticism, defense, and versatility, Jackson was the 36th pick of the 2022 draft out of UConn.
Jackson, 22, signed a four-year deal with the Bucks last July. His $1.89MM salary in 2024/25 is currently partially guaranteed for $946K, while his $2.22MM salary for ’25/26 is non-guaranteed. His contract also features a $2.4MM team option for ’26/27.
Northwest Notes: Dillingham, Wolves, Hendricks, Nuggets
Timberwolves guard Rob Dillingham, the No. 8 overall pick of last month’s draft, has been receiving advice from Mike Conley and John Wall as he prepares for his rookie season, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.
Dillingham said he reached out to new teammate Conley for defensive advice. As for Wall, the former All-Star point guard is a North Carolina native who went to Kentucky, just like Dillingham.
“That’s my guy,” Dillingham said of Wall. “He been knowing me, texting me and stuff. At Kentucky, he came to all our games. I just hit him after the [Pelicans] game. I was super mad because I didn’t play that well. I just hit him, and he was just telling me to play my game.”
Here’s more from the Northwest:
- Michael Rand and Hine of The Star Tribune recently discussed which Timberwolves players participating in Summer League have the best odds of becoming rotation members in the future. Despite struggling so far in Las Vegas, Dillingham will be given “every chance” to be Conley’s backup at point guard next season, according to Rand and Hine, who also expect fellow first-rounder Terrence Shannon to carve out rotation minutes in 2024/25. Former second-round pick Leonard Miller has impressed at Summer League, but he’s more likely to contribute in 2025/26 than ’24/25, per Rand and Hine.
- Second-year Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks bounced back with a strong performance at Summer League on Wednesday after struggling on Monday, notes Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. A lottery pick last year (No. 9 overall), Hendricks contributed 23 points (on 9-of-10 shooting), nine rebounds, one steal and one block. “I think he was just more aggressive and more physical right from the start,” said Summer League coach Sean Shelden. ” … How you stick in a rotation, how you stick in the NBA, is just playing like how he did tonight.”
- In a subscriber-only story for The Denver Post, Bennett Durando breaks down the Nuggets‘ projected depth chart for next season. Durando has Christian Braun sliding into the starting lineup at shooting guard, with Russell Westbrook, Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, Vlatko Cancar and Dario Saric as Denver’s first five off the bench. Westbrook will reportedly sign with the Nuggets after he finalizes a buyout with Utah and clears waivers.
Grizzlies Trade Ziaire Williams, Second-Rounder To Nets For Diakite
1:54pm: The trade is now official, the Grizzlies announced in a press release (Twitter link).
12:25pm: The Grizzlies have agreed to a trade that will send Ziaire Williams and a 2030 second-round pick (via Dallas) to the Nets for Mamadi Diakite and the draft rights to Nemanja Dangubic, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
It’s essentially a salary dump for Memphis, which had been looking to move Williams due to the team’s financial situation. The 22-year-old will earn $6.13MM in 2024/25, which is the final season of his rookie scale contract. The Grizzlies will generate a trade exception worth that amount.
After the transaction is complete, the Grizzlies project to be about $10MM below the luxury tax line and $14MM beneath the first apron, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. The Nets will acquire Williams using one of their outstanding trade exceptions, Marks notes. It’ll likely be the one worth $9.5MM from sending Royce O’Neale to Phoenix in February.
According to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link), the Grizzlies are likely to use their new cap flexibility to re-sign veteran sharpshooter Luke Kennard, who remains an unrestricted free agent. Wojnarowski confirms Memphis is working to bring back Kennard.
As for the rebuilding Nets, they’ll be taking a low-risk flyer on a former top prospect in Williams, who was selected 10th overall in the 2021 draft. And as a sweetener for taking on his salary, they’ll also add a future second-round pick.
Williams has averaged 7.5 points and 2.6 rebounds per game on .426/.301/.803 shooting over the past three seasons with Memphis (150 games; 20.4 minutes per contest). He’s eligible for a rookie scale extension until the day before the 2024/25 season begins; if no deal is reached, he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency in 2025.
Diakite, a forward/center who was sent from New York to Brooklyn in the Mikal Bridges trade and is now being re-routed to Memphis, could be waived. His salary for next season is only partially guaranteed for $1.39MM, and Cole recently reported that the Grizzlies want to keep an open roster spot entering the regular season; re-adding Kennard and retaining Diakite would push their standard roster count up to 15 players.
Diakite, 27, has bounced around the NBA over the course of his four seasons, suiting up for the Bucks, Thunder, Cavs, Spurs and Knicks. Overall, the Guinea native has appeared in 55 regular season games, with career averages of 3.1 points and 2.3 rebounds in 9.6 minutes.
Pacific Notes: Leonard, Clippers, DeRozan, Roddy
Law Murray of The Athletic explores some offseason questions related to the Clippers, starting with the health of Kawhi Leonard.
The six-time All-Star and two-time Finals MVP was removed from Team USA ahead of the Paris Olympics, leading to speculation about the status of his right knee, which has caused him issues over the years, including battling inflammation in the playoffs. According to Murray, both Leonard and the Clips seem confident in the 33-year-old’s health, even if some reports suggested otherwise.
President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said he and the Clippers were “very disappointed” in USA Basketball’s decision to replace Leonard.
“He wouldn’t be out there and we wouldn’t put him out there if we weren’t confident that he’d be able to go through the entire Olympic experience,” Frank said. “I get it from USAB’s perspective; no one has a crystal ball. … Ultimately, they decided after the third practice that they didn’t feel as confident as we felt. That’s their right. It’s their team.”
Here’s more from the Pacific:
- The Clippers are now 4-0 at the Las Vegas Summer League after dispatching the Jazz on Thursday, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Second-year players Kobe Brown (20 points, three rebounds, six assists) and Jordan Miller (19 points, five rebounds, four assists) were the top individual performers for the Clips, who have to wait until Friday’s games conclude to determine whether or not they’ll advance to the semifinals, Carr notes.
- DeMar DeRozan has been a veteran leader for the Bulls the past three seasons and he plans to continue that with the Kings, he told Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. “I take pride in that,” DeRozan said. “Just giving whatever experience in life that I’ve been through, sharing that and giving any type of gems that I can give to help avoid any type of pitfall that someone else could go through if they haven’t been through something. I’ve been through a lot on and off the court that I feel like I can share. Any experience that I can give, I’ll try to give it all because I want the best for anybody I work with or play with and I want them to thrive the best way they can.”
- Suns forward David Roddy has been hoisting up three-pointers during Summer League action, and he’ll likely need to show he can convert them at a high level if he wants to earn minutes under new head coach Mike Budenholzer, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. As Rankin notes, Budenholzer’s teams ranked between second and eighth in the NBA in three-point attempts from 2018-23, while former first-rounder Roddy has converted just 30.1% of his outside looks over his first two NBA seasons.
Suns’ Bol Bol To Miss Olympics For South Sudan
Suns big man Bol Bol will miss the 2024 Olympics in Paris due to undisclosed personal reasons, reports Leonard Solms of ESPN.
Bol, who re-signed with Phoenix on a one-year deal earlier this month, was on South Sudan’s 25-man preliminary roster for the Olympics in June. However, he will not be competing in the tournament, assistant coach Ajou Deng confirmed to ESPN.
The No. 44 overall pick of the 2019 draft, Bol has played for Denver, Orlando and Phoenix over the course of his five NBA seasons. The 24-year-old forward/center averaged 5.2 points and 3.2 rebounds on .616/.423/.789 shooting in 43 games with the Suns in 2023/24 (10.9 minutes per contest).
South Sudan, which qualified for the Olympics based on its results at last year’s World Cup, will finalize its 12-man roster following Saturday’s exhibition game against the United States, Solms writes.
Bol was the only player on South Sudan’s preliminary roster who is currently under contract with an NBA team, though several others have NBA experience, including JT Thor, Wenyen Gabriel, Thon Maker, and Carlik Jones.
Isaiah Roby Signs With German Team
After playing four seasons in the NBA from 2019-2023, Isaiah Roby spent the 2023/24 campaign in the G League trying to earn another NBA deal. Now, he’s heading overseas for the first time in his professional career, having signed a contract with Ratiopharm Ulm, the German club announced in a press release (hat tip to Sportando).
“We are convinced that Isaiah will have a very big impact on our team this season on and off the court,” said head coach Ty Harrelson. “We were looking for a player with his experience. After meeting him on the sidelines of the NBA Summer League, it was clear that he would fit our idea of the new team.”
A 6’8″ power forward who has also been used as a small-ball center, Roby was the No. 45 overall pick of the 2019 draft. He technically spent four-plus months of his rookie campaign as a member of the Mavericks, who traded him to the Thunder in January 2020.
Roby played parts of three seasons with Oklahoma City, appearing in 109 games, including 62 starts (21.9 minutes per contest). He was released in July 2022 and claimed off waivers by the Spurs, spending most of the 2022/23 campaign with San Antonio.
The Spurs cut Roby loose in March of last year. On the last day of the ’22/23 regular season he signed a multiyear deal with the Knicks, who waived Roby’s non-guaranteed contract in October. He re-signed with the Knicks a few days later on an Exhibit 10 contract before being cut again to ensure he’d receive a bonus for playing for their G League affiliate in Westchester.
Roby, 26, averaged 13.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.7 blocks on .457/.375/.633 shooting in 26 total games last season for Westchester (27.2 minutes). Overall, he holds career NBA averages of 7.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists on .485/.351/.675 shooting in 151 games (18.9 minutes).
Ratiopharm Ulm competes in Germany’s top basketball division, having finished fifth (out of 18 teams) last season. Ulm won the BBL for the first time in ’22/23.
Clippers, Jazz Complete Trade Involving Westbrook, Dunn
8:04pm: The trade is official, according to an announcement from the Jazz, who also acquired the draft rights to Balsa Koprivica (the No. 57 pick in 2021) in the deal.
1:33pm: The Clippers are sending Russell Westbrook, a second-round pick swap, and cash to the Jazz in order to acquire free agent guard Kris Dunn via sign-and-trade, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links). The second-round swap will be for 2030, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic.
Westbrook is expected to reach a buyout agreement with Utah and eventually sign with the Nuggets once he clears waivers, according to Wojnarowski.
Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) hears that Dunn will sign a three-year, $17MM contract. The final season of Dunn’s deal with Los Angeles will be a team option, per Woj (Twitter link).
Strangely, this will be the second time that Westbrook will be traded to — and then waived by — Utah in 17 months, with the first instance coming in February 2023. In this case, the Jazz are acquiring a second-round swap and some cash in exchange for using a small chunk of their cap room to take Westbrook’s salary off L.A.’s books.
The 35-year-old will earn a little over $4MM this season, while the minimum salary for a player with his amount of experience will earn about $3.3MM. We’ll have to wait and see how much he gives up in the buyout, but it’s safe to assume he’ll be on a minimum-salary deal with the Nuggets — it’s all they can offer due to their financial situation.
Westbrook exercised his player option this summer but reports came out almost immediately saying the Clips were working with him on a trade. He has essentially only been linked to Denver, which has an opening at backup point guard after salary dumping Reggie Jackson to Charlotte.
Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic is reportedly a fan of Westbrook, who also received an endorsement from veteran center DeAndre Jordan. The nine-time All-Star and former MVP averaged 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.1 steals on .454/.273/.688 shooting in 68 games with the Clips last season (22.5 minutes per contest).
Haynes reported on July 1 that Dunn would sign with the Clippers, with Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports later stating that the two sides were working on sign-and-trade scenarios to open a wider salary range for the 30-year-old guard. It took a few weeks, but a deal has finally come to fruition.
The fifth overall pick in the 2016 draft, Dunn didn’t live up to his draft billing in Minnesota or Chicago during the early years of his career, but has evolved into a solid rotation piece in recent years. Dunn spent the past two seasons in Utah, where he provided solid, versatile defense in the Jazz’s backcourt and earned praise from head coach Will Hardy for his voice in the locker room.
In 88 total appearances (35 starts) across two seasons in Utah, Dunn averaged 7.4 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.3 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .497/.395/.741.