Cameron Thomas Signs Rookie Contract With Nets
Cameron Thomas, the 27th overall pick in this year’s draft, has signed his rookie contract with the Nets, the team announced today in a press release.
While terms weren’t officially disclosed, we can project what Thomas will earn based on the NBA’s rookie scale. If he signed for the maximum allowable amount – as most first-rounders do – the 6’4″ guard will earn a first-year salary of $2.04MM and a four-year total of $10.46MM. The third and fourth years of the deal will be team options.
Thomas, who declared for the draft following his freshman season at LSU, was one of college basketball’s top scorers in 2020/21, averaging 23.0 points per contest in 29 games (34.0 MPG). Although the 19-year-old struggled a little with his shot from the floor (40.6%) and from beyond the three-point line (32.5%), his ability to get to the free throw line (7.6 attempts per game) and make his foul shots (88.2%) was a big plus.
Brooklyn entered draft night last Thursday with four picks and – somewhat surprisingly – kept all of them and agreed to acquire another, drafting five players in total. We should hear more in the coming days about the Nets finalizing deals with some of their other draftees.
Wizards Notes: Trade Negotiations, Dinwiddie, Kuzma, Neto, Avdija
The Nets, who recognized that Bradley Beal wanted the Wizards to acquire Spencer Dinwiddie and knew they had some leverage in sign-and-trade talks, initially asked Washington for a first-round pick, reports Fred Katz of The Athletic. When they were unsuccessful, the Nets tried to get Washington to part with Deni Avdija or Rui Hachimura, according to Katz.
However, the Wizards held firm in those negotiations and ended up keeping their top assets, instead sending Brooklyn a future second-round pick and a second-round pick swap. The Nets will also generate an $11.5MM trade exception in the deal.
As Katz details, the Wizards also had to sweeten the deal for the Lakers to convince them to loop the Russell Westbrook trade agreement into Washington’s acquisition of Dinwiddie via sign-and-trade, which is why L.A. will be receiving three second-round selections from the Wizards instead of just two.
Finally, Katz reports that the final version of the complex five-team trade will see the Wizards acquire cash considerations from the Pacers. The full breakdown of the trade agreement can be seen on our offseason trade tracker.
Here’s more on the Wizards:
- For much of this week, there had been a league-wide assumption that the Wizards may end up rerouting Kyle Kuzma to a new team as part of the Dinwiddie deal, but Washington never included him in trade discussions, according to David Aldridge of The Athletic, who notes that the club has significantly improved its depth with this week’s roster moves.
- Raul Neto‘s new deal with the Wizards will be a one-year, minimum-salary contract, according to Katz. Neto will join Dinwiddie and Aaron Holiday on the club’s point guard depth chart.
- Although Deni Avdija has been cleared for basketball activities, he’s not playing for the Wizards in Summer League, writes Katz. The club wants to limit the risk of a setback for 2020’s lottery pick, who is recovering from a right fibular hairline fracture.
Wizards To Acquire Spencer Dinwiddie Via Sign-And-Trade
11:56pm: The Spurs are sending the draft rights to 2015 first-round pick Nikola Milutinov to the Nets in the five-team trade, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). That will satisfy the “touching” requirements we outlined below and allow the deal to be officially completed once the moratorium ends on Friday.
Katz adds (via Twitter) that the Wizards have also agreed to trade one more second-round pick (Chicago’s 2023 selection) to the Lakers. Washington is giving up five second-round selections in the deal (three to the Lakers, one to the Spurs, and one to the Nets), as well as a second-round swap (to the Nets).
Finally, Katz reports that the third year of Dinwiddie’s contract will be partially guaranteed (Twitter link).
5:04pm: The Wizards and Spencer Dinwiddie are in agreement on a three-year, $62MM deal that will land the veteran point guard in Washington, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The club will acquire Dinwiddie from the Nets via sign-and-trade.
That $62MM figure had been expected for Dinwiddie’s deal with the Wizards, since it’s the most the team could pay him by looping his sign-and-trade into the larger Russell Westbrook deal with the Lakers, notes Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link).
According to Charania (Twitter link), the Nets will receive a second-round pick and a draft-pick swap from the Wizards in the sign-and-trade agreement. The move will also create an $11.5MM trade exception for Brooklyn.
Additionally, the Wizards will trade Chandler Hutchison and a second-round pick to the Spurs as part of the multi-team deal, Charania reports (via Twitter). Moving Hutchison’s $4MM+ salary will allow Washington to remain out of tax territory for now, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link) provides the details on the draft assets, reporting that the Wizards are sending a 2022 second-rounder to San Antonio and a 2024 second-rounder to Brooklyn, as well as a 2025 second-round pick swap to the Nets.
The 2022 second-round pick headed to San Antonio will be the most favorable of the Lakers’, Bulls’, and Pistons’ second-rounders, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic.
That 2025 swap will give Brooklyn a chance to send Golden State’s second-rounder to Washington in exchange for the Wizards’ 2025 second-rounder, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. The 2024 second-rounder will be the more favorable of the Wizards’ and Grizzlies’ selections, Bontemps adds.
In total, Wojnarowski tweets, the deal will include five teams: the Wizards, Nets, Spurs, Lakers, and Pacers. The Westbrook trade agreement and the Wizards’ deal for Aaron Holiday will become part of this larger deal once it’s officially completed after the moratorium lifts on Friday.
Here’s what the full trade should look like, based on the details reported to date:
- Wizards to acquire Dinwiddie (via sign-and-trade), Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, Holiday, and the draft rights to Isaiah Todd (No. 31 pick).
- Lakers to acquire Westbrook, either the Wizards’ or the Grizzlies’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is less favorable; from Wizards), and the Wizards’ 2028 second-round pick.
- Nets to acquire either the Wizards’ or the Grizzlies’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is more favorable; from Wizards) and the right to swap their the Warriors’ 2025 second-round pick for the Wizards’ 2025 second-round pick.
- Spurs to acquire Hutchison and either the Bulls’, Lakers,’, or Pistons 2022 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Wizards).
- Pacers to acquire the draft rights to Isaiah Jackson (No. 22 pick).
As Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report points out (via Twitter), there will likely be at least one more piece involved between the Nets and Spurs in order to satisfy the rule that every team in a multi-team trade must “touch” two other teams in the deal. As reported so far, Brooklyn and San Antonio are each only receiving assets from (or sending an asset to) the Wizards. That last piece would likely be something minor, such as cash or the draft rights to a stashed player.
In Dinwiddie, the Wizards are getting a 28-year-old point guard who is coming off a lost season. He appeared in just three games before missing the rest of the 2020/21 campaign due to a partially torn ACL. However, Dinwiddie was reportedly cleared for all basketball activities in June and the expectation is that he’ll be good to go for the fall.
In his last full season, Dinwiddie averaged 20.6 PPG and 6.8 APG on .415/.308/.778 shooting in 64 games (31.2 MPG) for Brooklyn in 2019/20.
Word broke on Monday night that the Wizards and Dinwiddie were nearing an agreement, but the club didn’t have the cap space necessary to acquire him without getting the Nets’ cooperation in a sign-and-trade. Because Brooklyn didn’t want to take on any salary but wanted an asset or two for agreeing to play ball, it took all involved parties a couple days to work out the details of the deal that would get the point guard to D.C.
Sixers Re-Sign Danny Green
AUGUST 7: The Sixers have officially re-signed Green, the team announced today in a press release.
“Bringing Danny back was a top priority for our organization this offseason,” president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said in a statement. “He has proven to be an important leader on and off the floor, and he knows what it takes to win an NBA title as a three-time champion. We are very happy that he’ll continue to remain a crucial part of the 76ers.”
AUGUST 4: The Sixers have agreed to terms with veteran swingman Danny Green on a two-year deal that will bring him back to Philadelphia, according to his Inside The Green Room podcast co-host Harrison Sanford (Twitter link). A league source confirms the news to veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link).
Because the 76ers have Early Bird rights on Green, they won’t need to use their mid-level exception to complete the signing.
Agent Raymond Brothers tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link) that the 34-year-old’s new deal won’t include any options. However, a follow-up tweet from Sanford suggests the second year will be non-guaranteed, with a July 1, 2022 guarantee date.
According to Sanford (Twitter link), Green had discussions with the Nets, Celtics, Bucks, Bulls, and Warriors, among other teams, during free agency this week. He turned down a two-year offer from the Cavaliers, Sanford adds.
A 12-year NBA veteran who has won titles with three different teams, Green started all 69 games he played for Philadelphia in 2020/21, averaging 9.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 1.3 SPG with a .412/.405/.775 shooting line in 28.0 MPG.
Green has long been a reliable three-and-D wing, having knocked down 40.1% of his career attempts from beyond the arc.
The Sixers waived George Hill this week and lost Dwight Howard to the Lakers, but have now lined up deals to bring back both Green and Furkan Korkmaz. The club also signed Andre Drummond to a minimum-salary contract on Wednesday and has agreed to a deal with forward Georges Niang.
Eastern Rumors: Dinwiddie, Wizards, Avdija, Oladipo, Knicks, Bitadze
The Wizards continue to work through their complicated sign-and-trade acquisition of Spencer Dinwiddie, according to multiple reports.
Quinton Mayo (Twitter link) has heard the Bulls and Thunder mentioned as teams that could end up getting involved in a multi-team trade involving Dinwiddie. Mayo also reports that the Nets asked the Wizards for Deni Avdija during those negotiations, which Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News (twitter link) corroborates.
If and when the Wizards, Nets, and other potential trade partners figure out a deal, Dinwiddie is expected to get a three-year, $62MM deal from Washington, reports Winfield (Twitter link).
Here are a few more updates from around the East:
- Although Victor Oladipo‘s camp is optimistic that he’ll be able to return to action sometime between late December and early February, some Heat people believe March is a more realistic target, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Oladipo, who underwent quad tendon surgery in May, agreed to a minimum-salary contract with Miami.
- Following up on an Ian Begley report that stated the final year in the Knicks‘ deals with Nerlens Noel, Alec Burks, Derrick Rose, and Evan Fournier aren’t guaranteed, ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link) clarifies that all four deals are expected to have standard team options in their last years. Noel, Burks, and Rose will have those options in year three, while Fournier’s will be in year four.
- Pacers big man Goga Bitadze wanted to play for the team in Summer League this month, but he missed Indiana’s first two SL practices due to back soreness and is now away from the club due to a personal matter, writes Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files.
Eastern Notes: Pacers, Knicks, Madar, Nets, Wizards
While it’s not out of the question that the Pacers will make a major trade this offseason, the team isn’t any rush to move Myles Turner or Malcolm Brogdon, the two names that pop up most frequently in Pacers-related trade rumors, writes J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star.
Of those two players, Turner is less likely to be dealt, according to Michael, who suggests that new head coach Rick Carlisle would like to try to figure out the best way to maximize the Turner/Domantas Sabonis duo. It’s possible Carlisle will split up the two Pacers bigs and have Turner come off the bench to start the season, Michael adds.
As for Brogdon, the Pacers have been trying to determine whether he’s the right long-term fit as the team’s point guard and leader, according to Michael. As Michael details, Indiana had some locker room issues in 2020/21 and president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard suggested at the end of the season that the club lacked vocal leadership. The Pacers may expect more in that regard from Brogdon going forward.
Here’s more from around the East:
- The Knicks, who remain on the lookout for another point guard, have some interest in Dennis Schröder, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. Berman also says New York contacted Elfrid Payton at the start of free agency, though it’s unclear if the club views him as a viable fallback option.
- Yam Madar, the 47th overall pick in the 2020 draft, hopes to play for the Celtics this season, he told reporters on Tuesday. As Jared Weiss of The Athletic tweets, Boston’s plan is to see how Madar’s Summer League stint goes and to evaluate its options from there.
- Nets star Kevin Durant is thrilled that Blake Griffin is set to return to the team for another season, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “To have Blake back, I’m so excited,” Durant said from Tokyo. “I mean, as soon as the season was over, I was telling him that we want him back and telling him that, you know, we should try to do it again. And I was glad to see it get done.” In a separate story, Lewis confirms that James Johnson‘s new deal with Brooklyn is worth the veteran’s minimum.
- After recently announcing a new deal for NHL star Alex Ovechkin, the centerpiece of his other franchise, Wizards owner Ted Leonsis discussed the contrast between how things played out with Ovechkin and Russell Westbrook, per Emily Kaplan of ESPN. “We had a superstar player with the Wizards, he had an opportunity and wanted to be traded to the Lakers,” Leonsis said. “And I was dealing with that as we were announcing Alex. I couldn’t help but self-reflect on what a difference it is. Here’s a great player in Russell Westbrook, played in OKC, wanted to be traded, went to Houston, wanted to be traded, came to D.C., wanted to be traded and is now in L.A. He’s an unbelievably great person and an unbelievably great player. But that’s the difference between the NBA and the NHL, I suppose.”
Eastern Notes: Bulls, Dinwiddie, Nets, Celtics, Cavs, Pistons
The first-round pick the Bulls will send to the Spurs in the DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade will be top-10 protected in the first year and top-eight protected in the second and third years if it doesn’t convey immediately, reports John Hollinger of The Athletic.
That pick will tentatively be the Bulls’ 2025 first-rounder, but that’s conditional on Chicago sending its 2023 pick to Orlando. If the 2023 first-rounder falls in its protected range (top four) and the Bulls keep it, the Bulls would have to wait until at least 2026 to send a first-rounder to the Spurs in order to avoid running afoul of the Stepien rule, which prohibits teams from trading back-to-back future first-round picks.
Here’s more from around the East:
- In an in-depth look at the challenges facing the Wizards in their efforts to acquire Spencer Dinwiddie via sign-and-trade, Danny Leroux and Fred Katz of The Athletic cite sources who say the Nets are seeking a significant asset (besides a trade exception) from Washington in any agreement.
- The Celtics are taking a conservative approach to free agency this year in part because they want to maintain a salary structure that allows them to be players for a major free agent in 2022, as Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald explains (via Twitter).
- The Cavaliers continue to scour the market for shooting help, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, who says Doug McDermott was the team’s top target entering free agency. McDermott, who agreed to a three-year deal with San Antonio, was one of a number of players on Cleveland’s wish list that opted to go elsewhere.
- Pistons head coach Dwane Casey envisions Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes sharing the play-making responsibilities for the team in 2021/22, as Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes. “Both of ’em are 1A and 1B,” Casey said of his two young guards. ” Either one can bring it up. Either one can initiate offense. Either one can run pick and roll. What we want to work to is position-less basketball.”
Nets Sign Patty Mills To Two-Year Deal
AUGUST 10: Mills’ contract with the Nets is now official, the team announced today in a press release.
AUGUST 3: The Nets have agreed to sign free agent guard Patty Mills to a two-year, $12MM contract, agent Steven Heumann tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
The deal will feature a second-year player option, according to Wojnarowski. Given Brooklyn’s cap situation, the team will complete the signing using the taxpayer version of the mid-level exception. As we outlined earlier today, a two-year deal worth the full taxpayer’s MLE is worth about $12.07MM.
Mills, who will turn 33 next Wednesday, had been one of the few players in the NBA who had spent the last decade with the same team, having made his Spurs debut way back in 2011.
He has been a reliable and consistent bench contributor for San Antonio during that stretch, knocking down 38.9% of his three-point attempts and never making fewer than 34.1% in a single season. In 2020/21, Mills averaged 10.8 PPG and 2.4 APG on .412/.375/.910 shooting in 68 games (24.8 MPG).
Nets general manager Sean Marks played alongside Mills in Portland during the 2010/11 season and then was in San Antonio’s front office and on the Spurs’ coaching staff during Mills’ first few years with the team, so he’s very familiar with the veteran guard.
The Spurs have been shifting more into rebuilding mode within the last couple years, so it made sense for Mills to seek out a contract with a contender. He had been a popular target on the free agent market, with the Lakers and Warriors among the other teams believed to be pursuing him.
The Nets’ willingness to use their full taxpayer mid-level on the veteran guard reflects how much they like him, as the deal will cost the team exponentially more in cap penalties than the $5.89MM Mills will earn in 2021/22. Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets that the signing will increase Brooklyn’s projected tax bill from $92.6MM to $121.8MM.
Trade Rumors: Dinwiddie, Hornets, Ingles, T. Young
Spencer Dinwiddie is close to a deal with the Wizards, but it may take some complex maneuvering to get him there, Fred Katz writes in The Athletic’s free agency recap. The two sides are reportedly hammering out a three-year contract worth $60MM, but Washington is over the cap, so a sign-and-trade will have to be arranged involving the Nets and maybe more teams.
Katz points out that Brooklyn is already over the luxury tax threshold for next season and isn’t interested in adding salary. He suggests the teams may try to tie this deal to the trade sending Russell Westbrook to the Lakers. Katz is confident that Dinwiddie will eventually join the Wizards, but it won’t be easy to work through the details.
In the same piece, Alex Schiffer notes that Brooklyn has been trying to unload DeAndre Jordan‘s contract, which is worth nearly $20MM over the next two years. John Hollinger says the Lakers could send Kyle Kuzma directly to the Nets instead of the Wizards, which would enable Brooklyn to include Jordan and avoid a huge rise in its tax bill.
There’s more on potential trades to watch for:
- The Hornets are one of the few teams that still has flexibility after an active first night of free agency, Hollinger adds. A sign-and-trade of Devonte’ Graham allows Charlotte to have $15MM in cap room or to expand the deal and bring another player, possibly Lauri Markkanen. Hollinger states that the Hornets still need one more guard and another big man.
- The Warriors would be interested in trading for Joe Ingles if the Jazz make him available, sources tell Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Ingles will turn 34 soon, but his passing and shooting would be valuable in Golden State’s system, though Thompson cautions that actually acquiring him would be tricky from a cap perspective. The Warriors still have hope of signing longtime Spurs guard Patty Mills, Thompson adds.
- Several contending teams and younger teams are interested in getting Thaddeus Young from the Bulls, tweets Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago is hoping to resolve the situation with Markkanen before making a decision on Young.
- There’s still a chance the Raptors could keep Goran Dragic– who is being acquired from the Heat in the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade – rather than flipping him to another team, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet (Twitter link).
James Johnson Signs With Nets
AUGUST 6: The Nets and Johnson have made it official, per a team press release.
AUGUST 3: Free agent forward James Johnson will join the Nets on a one-year deal, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Johnson, 34, divided last season between the Mavericks and Pelicans, averaging a combined 7.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 51 games.
Johnson is known for his toughness, size, and length, which allows him to guard multiple positions and comfortably switch on defense. He will provide another veteran big man off the bench for Brooklyn, which is losing Jeff Green to the Nuggets.
With the Nets already in luxury tax territory, Johnson’s deal is likely for the veteran’s minimum.