Khyri Thomas Inks Multiyear Deal With Rockets
MAY 14: Thomas’ contract is official, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
MAY 13: New Rockets shooting guard Khyri Thomas will ink a multiyear deal with Houston, per Kelly Iko and Alykhan Bijani of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Houston first added Thomas on a 10-day deal via hardship extension last week, and since that time he has proven to be a bright spot in what has been a tough season for the Rockets, forced to part with their signature star James Harden earlier this year. Houston possesses the worst record in the NBA, with a 16-54 mark thus far. In so doing, the team have given itself the best odds at nabbing the top pick in what is supposed to be a loaded 2021 draft.
The No. 38 pick in the 2018 NBA draft out of Creighton, Thomas spent his first two seasons as a reserve with the Pistons, averaging just 7.5 MPG and 7.6 in 2018/19 and 2019/20, respectively. In seven games (all starts) for the Austin Spurs during the 2020/21 NBAGL season, the 6’3″ guard averaged 13.9 PPG, 3.4 RPG and 1.0 SPG.
In four games (including one start) with the injury-depleted Rockets, Thomas has logged major minutes. He is averaging 16.3 PPG, 5.0 APG, 3.8 RPG, 2.3 SPG, and 0.8 BPG in 30.8 MPG. He boasts a shooting line of .436/.308/1.000.
Thomas’ 10-day contract is technically scheduled to run through the end of the season, so Houston will have to terminate it early in order to re-sign him to a new deal. A multiyear contract wouldn’t be possible if he was still occupying an extra roster spot using the hardship exception, but the team has waived DaQuan Jeffries in order to create room on the 15-man roster for Thomas.
Cameron Reynolds Signs With Rockets
12:55pm: Reynolds’ deal is official, according to a press release from the Rockets. Even though there are just three days left in the regular season, Reynolds’ contract is classified as a 10-day contract because it was completed using the hardship exception.
11:32am: The Rockets will sign swingman Cameron Reynolds for the rest of the regular season, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston.
With Khyri Thomas expected to land a multi-year contract, Reynolds will likely take Thomas’ place as Houston’s second hardship signing. Thomas will inherit the regular roster spot vacated by DaQuan Jeffries, who was waived on Thursday.
Reynolds, 26, got into three games for the Spurs this season after signing a 10-day contract in late March. He played just six total minutes and wasn’t offered a second 10-day deal. Reynolds played for the Austin Spurs in the G League bubble.
His NBA career began during the 2018/19 season with the Timberwolves, as he averaged 5.0 points and 1.6 rebounds in 19 games. Reynolds signed a two-way contract with the Bucks in the summer of 2019, but didn’t appear in any games for Milwaukee.
Timberwolves Confirm Sale Agreement
The Timberwolves have issued a statement confirming that the team will be sold to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
“Glen Taylor has reached an agreement with Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez regarding the sale and future ownership of the Wolves and (WNBA) Lynx,” the statement reads. “The transaction will close following league approval beginning the transition of ownership and a new chapter.”
The sale price will be $1.5 billion, and operating control will transfer to Lore and Rodriguez in the 2023/24 season, Windhorst adds (via Twitter). Also included in the sale are the team’s G League affiliate (the Iowa Wolves) and eSports franchise (T-Wolves Gaming).
News of the formal agreement broke Thursday, with a report that a deal was in place after several weeks of negotiating. Lore and Rodriguez went past their 30-day exclusive window, but it turned out to be necessary for all the details to be finalized.
Since negotiations began, the plan has been for Lore and Rodriguez to serve as limited partners for two years while Taylor retains majority control. That will give them an opportunity to become fully immersed in the operations of an NBA franchise before taking it over completely.
Taylor, who recently turned 80, has put the team on the market several times over the years, but hadn’t been able to find the right offer. He has been insistent that any new owners keep the team in Minnesota.
NBA, Union Discuss Changes To Health And Safety Protocols
The NBA and its players union are considering changes to the league’s health and safety protocols after an announcement this week from the Centers for Disease Control, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The CDC issued a statement Thursday that “fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.”
The NBA instituted strict COVID-19 protocols as the season began, limiting player interactions and where they were permitted to go socially. The virus upended the league schedule in January and February, but the NBA hasn’t been forced to postpone any games since early March.
Even so, individual players and coaches have continued to test positive, forcing many teams to juggle their lineups from night to night. Most teams have staged vaccination efforts, although players and other personnel are not required to receive the shot.
The current protocols will remain in place while negotiations continue, according to Charania.
Warriors Promote Toscano-Anderson To 15-Man Roster, Sign Bell To Two-Way Deal
MAY 13, 3:38pm: Toscano-Anderson has officially signed his new contract with the Warriors, the team confirmed in a press release. Bell’s two-way deal is also official, according to a second release from the club.
MAY 13, 11:51am: Toscano-Anderson will receive a two-year contract that is worth more than the prorated minimum in 2020/21 and includes a fully guaranteed minimum salary for ’21/22, according to Charania and Slater (Twitter link). He’d then in be on track for restricted free agency in 2022.
With the Warriors set to complete their two roster moves, Bell is expected to be available for the team on Friday night, Slater adds (via Twitter).
MAY 7: The Warriors intend to promote two-way player Juan Toscano-Anderson to their 15-man roster and will sign big man Jordan Bell to a two-way contract to replace Toscano-Anderson, according to Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). The two moves will likely be completed next week.
The report doesn’t come as a real surprise. Having dipped to 13 players on standard contracts following the expiration of Gary Payton II‘s 10-day deal last week, Golden State has to add a 14th man by next Thursday. Slater had previously suggested this exact scenario, noting that Bell had been linked to the team and Toscano-Anderson has earned a promotion from his two-way deal based on his play this season.
Toscano-Anderson, 28, has emerged as a reliable rotation player for Golden State over the course of the 2020/21 campaign, averaging 5.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 2.6 APG with an impressive .584 FG% and .408 3PT% in 48 games (19.9 MPG). His performance has been crucial for a team missing some players on the wing, including injured All-Star Klay Thompson.
According to Slater (via Twitter), the terms of Toscano-Anderson’s new contract are still being finalized, so it’s unclear how much money beyond this season will be guaranteed or how many years the deal will cover. Golden State still has a portion of its taxpayer mid-level exception left, which could be used to lock up JTA for up to three years (through 2022/23).
As for Bell, his familiarity with the Warriors and Steve Kerr‘s system will allow him to step in right away and potentially contribute in the play-in tournament and/or the postseason, adding some depth to the Warriors’ frontcourt. Since this is his fourth year in the NBA, it’s the last season in which he’s eligible to sign a two-way contract.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Undergoes Wrist Surgery
Celtics wing Jaylen Brown has undergone successful scapholunate reconstruction surgery, the team announced in a press release. Brown went under the knife on Wednesday, according to the Celtics.
Brown, who had already been ruled out for the rest of the 2020/21 season, is expected to resume basketball activities in about three months, the club added in its statement. The C’s intend to provide further updates on Brown’s recovery as appropriate, but it sounds like he should be ready to go for training camp in the fall.
Prior to tearing the scapholunate ligament in his wrist, Brown had his best season as a pro, averaging 24.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game in 58 contests (34.5 MPG). The 24-year-old put up career-best shooting marks of .484/.397/.764 and played strong perimeter defense, earning his first All-Star nod.
While Brown’s injury is a devastated blow to the Celtics’ chance of making a run in the playoffs, the good news for the team is that Brown is locked up for three additional seasons beyond 2020/21 on relatively team-friendly terms (less than the max). He won’t be eligible for free agency until 2024.
Alex Rodriguez, Marc Lore Reach Agreement To Buy Timberwolves
Former MLB star Alex Rodriguez and tech entrepreneur Marc Lore have an agreement in place to buy the Timberwolves from current owner Glen Taylor, a source tells A.J. Perez and Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports.
As previously reported, the valuation of the franchise in the sale is $1.5 billion, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania (Twitter link), Rodriguez and Lore, who are expected to formally sign the paperwork shortly, will be equal partners in the purchase.
The deal, which includes the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, won’t be official until it receives approval from the NBA’s Board of Governors, as Perez and McCarthy note. However, there’s no indication that won’t be a formality now that Rodriguez and Lore have reached an agreement with Taylor.
Rodriguez and Lore appeared close to finalizing a deal to buy the Wolves from Taylor back on April 10, when the two sides entered into a 30-day exclusive negotiating window to hammer out the specific details. That 30-day window ended earlier this week, but the parties continued to negotiate in good faith, with Lore expressing that he believed the talks were “close to the finish line.” It seems he was right.
We’ll have to wait for confirmation on the terms of the agreement, but the plan all along has been for Taylor to retain majority control of the franchise for the time being, with Rodriguez and Lore initially serving as limited partners. The new owners would take the reins by the 2023/24 season. The Nets took a similar approach to their most recent sale, with Joe Tsai purchasing a partial stake in the franchise from Mikhail Prokhorov before eventually assuming majority control.
Taylor, who bought the team for $88MM in 1994, has placed it on the market several times over the years, but hadn’t found an offer he was willing to accept until now. The 80-year-old was insistent on keeping the Wolves in Minnesota and wanted to find purchasers who would agree to become short-term partners so he could mentor them before they fully took over.
Rodriguez was a 14-time All-Star as an MLB player, winning three MVP awards in 2003, 2005, and 2007, along with a title in 2009. Since retiring from baseball in 2016, A-Rod has become an entrepreneur and media star. His investments include fitness gyms, coconut water, e-sports, Fanatics, and a digital delivery service called goPuff.
Lore began his fortune with Quidsi, which sold to Amazon for $545MM in 2011, and later founded Jet.com, which Walmart bought for $3.3 billion in 2016. He served as Walmart’s eCommerce chief from 2016-21 before stepping down from that position earlier this year.
Arthur Hill contributed to this story. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nets Sign Mike James For Rest Of Season
MAY 13: The Nets have officially re-signed James to a rest-of-season contract, the team announced today in a press release.
MAY 12: Mike James, whose second 10-day contract is set to expire on Wednesday night, will sign with the Nets for the remainder of the season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Dionysis Aravantinos of Eurohoops.com first reported last week that James was expected to receive a rest-of-season deal once his second 10-day contract expired.
James has been productive since coming to Brooklyn, getting into 10 games and averaging 6.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 16.6 minutes per night. The move leaves the Nets with a full roster, which probably won’t change between now and the playoffs.
“We’ve been really happy with Mike and what he’s brought to the team,” coach Steve Nash told reporters, including Brian Lewis of The New York Post, before tonight’s game.
The 30-year-old guard isn’t eligible for a multiyear contract because his rights for the next two seasons belong to CSKA Moscow. He left the Russian team in March after an altercation with coach Dimitris Itoudis.
Spencer Dinwiddie Expects To Decline Player Option
Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie continues to recover from a partially torn ACL and won’t have to make a decision on his 2021/22 player option until the end of July, but he sounds fairly confident he’ll be turning that option down. Dinwiddie said as much during a conversation with Shlomo Sprung of Forbes.
“I’m gonna be more than healthy by the time free agency starts, so just from a dollars perspective you kind of have to,” said Dinwiddie, whose option would pay him about $12.3MM. “$12 million isn’t market value for a starting point guard. It’s probably about half, $20-25. So obviously it’s pretty concrete that I’m gonna opt out.”
Sprung points to Fred VanVleet and Malcolm Brogdon as point guards who have signed contracts worth more than $20MM annually in the last two years. Both of those players were 26 years old when they reached free agency, whereas Dinwiddie will be a couple years older and will be coming off a major injury.
Still, Dinwiddie matches up favorably with VanVleet and Brogdon from a statistical perspective, having averaged 20.6 points and 6.8 assists in 64 games (31.2 MPG) in 2019/20. The 28-year-old also believes he’ll be fully healthy well before the 2021/22 season begins, telling Sprung that he has had “one of the more successful ACL recoveries in history and that he’s still hoping to make it back during the playoffs — perhaps in late June.
Even if Dinwiddie isn’t able to return in June or July, he doesn’t necessarily believe he has played his last game with the Nets. He tells Sprung that he’d be interested in working out a new deal with Brooklyn if and when he opts out.
“If Brooklyn wants to use my Bird Rights and sign me, I’d be thankful to be back and be able to go and try to win, hopefully, a second championship,” Dinwiddie said. “And if not, then as an unrestricted free agent you can kinda choose where you wanna go. It’s an interesting situation to be in.”
Bucks Officially Sign Elijah Bryant
After waiving Rodions Kurucs on Wednesday to create an open spot on their 15-man roster, the Bucks have filled that opening by signing guard Elijah Bryant, the team confirmed today in a press release. Bryant’s agreement with Milwaukee was reported last week.
Bryant, who went undrafted out of BYU in 2018, began his professional career with Hapoel Eliat and has remained in Israel since then, spending the last two seasons with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He earned a spot on the All-Israeli League First Team in 2019 and won an Israeli League championship in 2020.
Bryant averaged 9.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game in 34 EuroLeague contests (23.3 MPG) this season, shooting 44.0% from the field and 36.9% from deep. The 26-year-old, who played summer league ball with the Bucks in 2019, increased those averages to to 13.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 2.8 APG on .554/.420/.829 shooting in 18 Israeli League games (23.2 MPG).
The exact terms of Bryant’s new deal with the Bucks aren’t yet known, but a report last week indicated it would be a two-year contract. I wouldn’t expect next season’s salary to be fully guaranteed.
With the signing, the Bucks once again have a full 17-man roster (including two-way players). The regular season will end on Sunday, so this figures to be the group Milwaukee will take into the postseason.