Kings Sign Mason Jones To Two-Way Contract
8:53pm: Jones’ two-way deal is official, the Kings announced (Twitter link via James Ham of The Kings Beat). A league source tells Ham that Jones’ contract covers two years (Twitter link).
4:21pm: The Kings are signing free agent guard Mason Jones to a two-way contract, agent Ross Aroyo tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Jones, who went undrafted out of Arkansas in 2020, has appeared in 36 total NBA games with the Rockets, 76ers and Lakers, averaging 5.8 points and 1.8 rebounds in 10.7 minutes, with a career shooting line of .428/.357/.658. His last NBA stint came back in 2021/22 with Los Angeles.
Jones played for the NBA G League’s Mexico City Capitanes last season and had a brief stint playing in Turkey earlier in 2023/24. As Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 KTXL notes (via Twitter), the 25-year-old has been suiting up for Sacramento’s NBAGL affiliate in Stockton since December.
In 13 regular season games with Stockton this season, Jones has averaged 12.8 points, 6.2 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 27.9 minutes, with a scorching hot shooting line of .576/.522/.737. He’s an accomplished performer at the G League level, having earned a spot on the All-NBAGL First Team back in ’21/22 with the South Bay Lakers.
The Kings had an open two-way spot after promoting Keon Ellis to a standard deal, so no corresponding roster move will be necessary to add Jones.
Heat Sign Alondes Williams To Two-Way Deal, Waive R.J. Hampton
The Heat plan to sign free agent guard Alondes Williams to a two-way deal, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Miami confirmed in a press release that it has waived R.J. Hampton and filled the two-way opening by signing Williams.
Williams, who went undrafted out of Wake Forest in 2022, signed a two-way deal with the Nets prior to the 2022/23 season, making playing five minutes in one game with Brooklyn. He was waived in January 2023.
The 24-year-old signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Heat this past summer, but was released before the regular season began. He has been playing for Miami’s NBAGL affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
Williams has impressed at the G League level, averaging 20.3 PPG, 6.5 APG, 5.2 RPG and 1.3 SPG on .499/.373/.739 shooting in 32 Showcase Cup and regular season games in ’23/24 (37.0 MPG). His strong play was recognized by the NBAGL, earning spots in the Up Next and the Rising Stars events at All-Star weekend, which will be held next week in Indianapolis.
After the moves, all three of the Heat’s two-way spots remain full, but they do have a standard roster opening.
Thunder Sign Lindy Waters To Multiyear Standard Contract
The Thunder have filled one of their two standard roster openings by converting Lindy Waters to a multiyear contract, the team announced in a press release. Waters had been playing on a two-way deal.
The 26-year-old wing must be having a bit of déjà vu, as he was also promoted from a two-way deal to a two-year standard contract in February 2023. However, his team option for 2023/24 was declined last June, making him an unrestricted free agent before he re-signed with Oklahoma City on a two-way deal in August 2023.
Waters, who grew up in Norman and played college ball at Oklahoma State, has spent parts of the past three seasons with the Thunder, averaging 5.4 PPG and 1.9 RPG while shooting 36.8% from three-point range in 87 career games (13.2 MPG). He has made 21 appearances thus far in ’23/24, with a modest average of 7.3 MPG.
Waters has also played six Showcase Cup and regular season games for the Thunder’s NBA G League affiliate (the Oklahoma City Blue) this season, filling the stat sheet with impressive averages of 22.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.8 SPG and 1.0 BPG on .484/.455/1.000 shooting in 33.3 MPG.
The Thunder had two standard roster spots open because they sent three players — Davis Bertans, Tre Mann and Vasilije Micic — to Charlotte yesterday in a trade for veteran forward Gordon Hayward. After converting Waters, OKC now has one standard roster opening, plus an open two-way slot.
Celtics Trade Dalano Banton, Cash To Trail Blazers
9:39pm: The Trail Blazers have officially acquired Banton and cash considerations from the Celtics for that heavily protected 2027 second-rounder, the teams confirmed in a pair of press releases.
2:26pm: The Celtics have agreed to trade guard Dalano Banton to the Trail Blazers, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), Boston will receive a top-55 protected 2027 second-round pick in the swap, so it’s essentially just a salary dump from the Celtics’ perspective.
Banton spent his first two NBA seasons with Toronto before signing with the Celtics last summer. Portland will hold a $2.2MM team option for the 24-year-old in 2024/25.
At 6’9″, Banton has terrific length for a guard, but he has struggled mightily with offensive efficiency, posting a career shooting line of .410/.254/.670, including just .373/.125/.800 in 24 games with Boston this season (7.1 minutes per night).
It’s unclear if Banton will be in the Blazers’ future plans, but they’ll be able to evaluate him for at least the rest of the season if they so choose.
Sixers Trade Jaden Springer To Celtics
9:38pm: The deal is official, according to announcements from the Sixers and Celtics.
2:00pm: The Sixers and Celtics have agreed to a trade that will send third-year guard Jaden Springer to Boston in exchange for a second-round pick, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
The 2024 second-rounder the 76ers are receiving will either be Chicago’s or New Orleans’, whichever is more favorable, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).
Boston will acquire Springer using its $6.2MM traded player exception, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Moving Springer means Joel Embiid will be the only player on Philadelphia’s roster with a guaranteed contract for 2024/25, Marks adds.
The 28th pick of the 2021 draft, Springer only appeared in 18 regular season games for 95 total minutes over his first two NBA seasons. Still just 21 years old, the former Tennessee Volunteer has played 32 games this season, averaging 4.0 points in 11.8 minutes per contest.
At 6’4″ and 204 pounds, Springer has a sturdy build for a guard, and he put up strong defensive stats in the NBA G League from 2021-23. He hasn’t provided much on offense at the NBA level, however, with a career shooting line of .416/.238/.810.
Springer makes $2.2MM this season and will earn a guaranteed $4MM next season after the Sixers picked up their option on the final year of his rookie scale contract. While it’s hard to envision him playing much for Boston this season, he didn’t cost much to acquire, and the team clearly likes him as a prospect. His contract could be also useful for salary-matching purposes in 2024/25.
Bucks Acquire Beverley From Sixers For Payne, Second-Rounder
8:38pm: The Bucks and Sixers have each put out a press release officially confirming the deal.
12:43pm: The Bucks are acquiring Patrick Beverley from the Sixers, he announced (via Twitter). Philadelphia will receive Cameron Payne and Milwaukee’s 2027 second-round pick, according to reports from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and Shams Charania of The Athletic (All Twitter links).
Both players are on expiring minimum-salary contracts, so neither the Bucks nor the 76ers will have financial commitments to the veteran guards beyond this season.
The Bucks have reportedly been scouring the trade market in search of help on the defensive end. The team is currently 33-18, but Milwaukee ranks just 18th in the league in defense.
Beverley, 35, is a three-time All-Defensive team member, and while he’s no longer in his prime, he still ranks as a positive contributor on that end. It’s worth noting that Beverley previously played under new Bucks head coach Doc Rivers while they were employed by the Clippers.
As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets, sending out a defensive-minded veteran like Beverley might mean Philadelphia is confident about signing Kyle Lowry via buyout. Lowry is currently on the Hornets after being traded by the Heat.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported (via Twitter) on Thursday afternoon that Milwaukee was looking at Jazz guard Kris Dunn and Pelicans wing Naji Marshall to improve its defense. Perhaps the asking price for Dunn was too steep, and the Bucks decided to pivot to Beverley.
Payne, 29, is a former lottery pick who didn’t find much success over his first four seasons, but he resurrected his NBA career after a solid multiyear stint with Phoenix. Payne was traded to San Antonio in the offseason, waived, and then signed a one-year deal with Milwaukee. He has averaged 6.2 points and 2.3 assists while shooting 39.7% from three-point range in 47 games this season (14.9 minutes).
Knicks’ Anunoby Out At Least Three Weeks After Elbow Surgery
Knicks forward OG Anunoby underwent right elbow surgery to remove a loose bone fragment and is out at least three weeks, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The team confirmed the news (via Twitter), stating that Anunoby will be reevaluated in three weeks.
According to Woj, the procedure is considered relatively minor. Anunoby tried to see if rest would heal the injury, but it was determined surgery was ultimately the best route to take to be fully healed ahead of the playoffs (Twitter link).
Anunoby last played on January 27 and has missed the past five games with the injured elbow. Based on the three-week timeline, he will miss a minimum of eight more contests, including Thursday’s game vs. Dallas.
The good news is that the All-Star break is next week, and the Knicks don’t play from February 15-21.
Ian Begley of SNY.tv reported earlier today that New York was motivated to add wing depth in part due to concern over Anunoby’s injury. Prior to the deadline, the Knicks traded for Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks.
Anunoby, 26, was acquired from Toronto in a previous in-season trade. The defensive stalwart had an excellent start to his Knicks career, averaging 15.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.8 SPG and 1.1 BPG on .516/.391/.842 shooting. He’s set to hit unrestricted free agency in the offseason.
With Anunoby and Julius Randle (dislocated right shoulder) sidelined, Josh Hart, Precious Achiuwa, Bogdanovic and Burks will likely receive the majority of the minutes at the two forward spots, though Burks also plays guard.
No Deadline Deals Involving Lakers, Cavs, Hawks, Bulls, Others
While we certainly saw a flurry of activity prior to today’s trade deadline, seven teams didn’t make any moves at all over the past week, observes Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). That group features the Lakers, Cavaliers, Hawks, Bulls, Magic, Heat, and Pelicans.
Miami and New Orleans made previous trades this season, but the other five teams did not.
According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN and Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter links), the Lakers were actively involved in trade talks, but decided any deal would have been a “marginal upgrade” with a prohibitive cost. L.A. plans to be “aggressive” in the buyout market, however, and will have up to three first-round picks to trade this summer, versus the one it had available during the season.
As Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times writes, Dejounte Murray and Alex Caruso were among the players the Lakers were interested in, but they decided the Hawks’ and Bulls’ asking prices were too steep.
The Cavs — the league’s hottest team — “believe strongly” in the roster they’ve constructed, and they also have a pair of standard roster spots open to peruse the buyout market, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link).
The Hawks were reportedly aggressive in proposing trade concepts, yet decided to keep the roster they have, despite their mediocre 22-29 record. Murray was the player most prominently featured in rumors from Atlanta’s roster.
The 24-27 Bulls also decided to stand pat, with center Andre Drummond among the players they retained, confirms Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (via Twitter).
According to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel, the Magic’s front office “did its due diligence” in evaluating the market, but it likes the current roster and wanted to maintain continuity ahead of a potential postseason push. Orlando is currently 27-24.
The Raptors made a handful of trades this season, including two on Thursday, yet one player who many expected to be on the move remains on the roster. Toronto decided to hang onto Bruce Brown past the deadline, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The rebuilding Wizards were viewed as sellers ahead of the deadline, and they did trade Daniel Gafford to Dallas. But they also decided to keep veteran guards Tyus Jones and Delon Wright, two players featured in plenty of trade rumors, per Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Pistons Trade Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks To Knicks
3:09pm: The trade is official, per announcements from the Pistons and Knicks.
The two second-rounders headed to Detroit in the deal will be 2028 and 2029 picks, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic. Those picks will be New York’s own, according to Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press.
The Pistons didn’t officially announce any cuts in their press release, but previous reporting indicated they’re waiving Killian Hayes, Joe Harris, and the newly acquired Danuel House. Arcidiacono will likely also be released after being acquired from New York, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).
10:27am: The Pistons and Knicks are finalizing a trade that will send Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks to New York in exchange for Quentin Grimes, Evan Fournier, Malachi Flynn, Ryan Arcidiacono, and two second-round picks, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Bogdanovic (41.5%) and Burks (40.1%) are two strong three-point shooters who will help bolster New York’s rotation, particularly when it comes to scoring and spacing the floor. Burks, 32, is an impending unrestricted free agent, while Bogdanovic’s $19MM salary for 2024/25 is only partially guaranteed for $2MM.
However, as Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets, the Knicks are expected to fully guarantee Bogdanovic’s contract for next season, possibly to flip him to a new team in the summer or during the ’24/25 season. Burks, meanwhile, was favorite of head coach Tom Thibodeau during his first stint in New York from 2020-22, Katz observes (via Twitter).
Once the deal is official, the Knicks will have two open roster spots and will be about $2.5MM below the luxury tax threshold, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. They’ll have plenty of flexibility to sign players on the buyout market, Marks observes, since they’re well below the first tax apron.
Flynn cannot be aggregated with other salaries in a trade, but the outgoing contracts of Grimes, Fournier and Arcidiacono are just enough to cover the money owed to Bogdanovic and Burks. That means the Knicks will create a traded player exception worth $3,873,025, which is Flynn’s cap hit.
According to Ian Begley of SNY.TV (Twitter link), the Knicks were motivated to add depth on the wing in part due to concern over OG Anunoby‘s right elbow injury. As Begley notes, New York recently changed Anunoby’s injury status from elbow inflammation to bone spur irritation. Anunoby has missed the past five games with the injury and will miss his sixth straight contest tonight against Dallas.
As for the Pistons, they’ve been extremely active leading up to the 2:00pm CT deadline, and they will need to cut two players to complete this trade.
James Edwards III of The Athletic hears rival teams were unwilling to meet Detroit’s asking price for Bogdanovic, and the Pistons felt Grimes was more valuable than any picks being offered (Twitter link). According to Edwards, the Knicks “have been unwilling to trade firsts to any team,” with New York likely saving its draft arsenal to chase a star player in the future.
That reporting suggests the trade, from Detroit’s perspective, could be viewed as Bogdanovic for Grimes, with Burks netting two second-round picks.
Grimes, 23, is in the third season of his rookie scale contract, and was reportedly open to a change of scenery after having his role reduced in 2023/24. He showed plenty of 3-and-D upside last season, however, averaging 11.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists while frequently defending opposing teams’ top perimeter scorers. He’ll make $4.3MM next season and will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the 2024 offseason.
While Grimes was a regular contributor for New York, Fournier, Flynn and Arcidiacono hardly played at all for the Knicks. Fournier has been openly seeking a trade for well over a year — his wish was finally granted, but it’s unclear if he’ll have a role for the Pistons. They’ll hold a $19MM team option on his contract for next season, which could be useful for salary-matching purposes in the future, if they decide to retain him.
Raptors Trade Dennis Schröder, Thaddeus Young To Nets
2:56pm: The trade is official, according to announcements from both the Raptors and Nets. As we outlined in separate stories, Brooklyn waived Harry Giles to complete the deal, while Toronto immediately released Dinwiddie.
11:47am: The Raptors and Nets have agreed to a trade, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (Twitter links) that guard Dennis Schröder and forward Thaddeus Young will be heading to Brooklyn, while guard Spencer Dinwiddie is being sent to Toronto.
A free agent addition in the offseason, Schröder is making $12.4MM this season and has a $13MM cap hit for 2024/25. Young ($8MM) and Dinwiddie ($20.36MM) are both on expiring contracts. Dinwiddie will earn a $1.5MM bonus if he appears in two more games this season, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), while Dinwiddie didn’t formally request a trade out of Brooklyn, both he and the Nets are happy he’s headed out of town.
The Nets can acquire Schröder using their $18.1MM traded player exception, which would have expired tomorrow, observes cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). They’ll create a new TPE worth $20.36MM — Dinwiddie’s outgoing cap hit — and it will be good until February 8, 2025.
It’s essentially a salary dump for the Raptors, since moving off Schröder’s salary for next season will give Toronto more financial flexibility to re-sign its own impending free agents. Guard Immanuel Quickley (restricted) and newly-acquired big man Kelly Olynyk (unrestricted) fall into that category.
Schröder has had a solid season, averaging 13.7 PPG, 6.1 APG and 2.7 RPG on .442/.350/.852 shooting in 51 games (30.6 MPG), including 33 starts. But the 30-year-old was clearly was no longer in Toronto’s long-term plans, particularly after acquiring Quickley from New York in a previous in-season trade.
As for Young, the longtime veteran forward was valued for his locker room presence and production when called upon. However, he’s 35 years old and doesn’t fit the Raptors’ timeline. This will be Young’s second stint with the Nets, having previously played for Brooklyn from 2015-16.
Dinwiddie, 30, has averaged 12.6 PPG, 6.0 APG and 3.0 RPG in 48 games (30.7 MPG) this season, but has struggled with efficiency (.391/.320/.781 shooting line, .530 true shooting), and isn’t a great defender. It’s unclear how much of a role he’ll have with the Raptors, but it’s worth noting that Dinwiddie has performed well as a secondary and tertiary creator in the past.
Schröder will be a major upgrade for the Nets on the defensive end, and they won’t have to worry about losing him for nothing in free agency, since he’ll be under contract until 2025.