Celtics Sign Jeff Teague
NOVEMBER 30: The Celtics have officially signed Teague, the team announced today in a press release.
NOVEMBER 21: The Celtics are signing veteran point guard Jeff Teague to a one-year deal, a league source tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link).
The move comes on the heels of a report that former Celtics point guard Brad Wanamaker has reached an agreement to sign Golden State. Teague, a former All-Star, figures to play a similar role to the one Wanamaker played in 2019/20, serving as the primary backup for Kemba Walker.
Teague, 32, averaged just 24.8 minutes per contest this past season – his lowest mark since 2010/11 – in 59 total games for the Timberwolves and Hawks. However, he was still relatively productive, averaging 10.9 PPG and 5.2 APG with a .436/.368/.873 shooting line on the season.
A few weeks before reaching free agency, Teague spoke to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype about his priorities, indicating that – after spending last season with two lottery-bound teams – he wasn’t eager to join another rebuilding team.
“Honestly, I just want to go to a team where we’re playing to win. I want to win,” Teague said at the time. “… If that’s starting or coming off the bench, I just want to play a significant role in winning. That’s really it for me. I know if I get a chance to play and compete, I’m going to play well. I’m not really worried about an exact situation, or I need to be able to start or whatever.”
He’ll get a chance to play for a winning team in Boston, as the Celtics look to make another deep playoff run after earning a spot in the Eastern Finals in three of the last four seasons.
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Knicks Sign Nerlens Noel To One-Year Contract
NOVEMBER 25: The Knicks have officially signed Noel to his one-year deal, the team announced today in a press release.
NOVEMBER 21: Free agent big man Nerlens Noel has agreed to sign a one-year contract with the Knicks, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter links), who hears from Noel’s agents at Klutch Sports that it’ll be worth $5MM.
A lottery pick in 2013, Noel is now with his fourth organization. He has served as a back-up to Steven Adams in Oklahoma City for the past two years and averaged 7.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game last season.
Noel, 26, is a former star at Kentucky and credits Knicks assistant Kenny Payne with helping him develop his game, tweets Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Payne left the Wildcats in August to join Tom Thibodeau’s new staff.
Lakers Re-Sign Kentavious Caldwell-Pope To Three-Year Deal
NOVEMBER 22: The Lakers have officially re-signed Caldwell-Pope, the team announced in a press release.
NOVEMBER 21: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is returning to the Lakers, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), who hears from agent Rich Paul that the free agent swingman will get a three-year, $40MM deal to return to the defending champions. The third year of the contract will only be partially guaranteed, Charania notes (via Twitter).
Having put up relatively modest numbers (9.3 PPG on .467/.385/.775 shooting) during 69 regular season games (25.5 MPG), Caldwell-Pope made some big shots in the playoffs, knocking down 42.1% of his three-point attempts in the first three rounds and then averaging 12.8 PPG in the Finals, the third-highest scoring average on the team behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The Lakers’ trusted three-and-D wing turned down his $8.54MM player option in search of a raise in free agency and it wasn’t clear for the last 24 hours whether or not a reunion was in the cards.
According to Charania (via Twitter), KCP drew interest from several interested teams — previous reports indicated that the Knicks were among his potential suitors. However, Paul’s strong relationship with the Lakers helped seal the deal on a new agreement.
Having already committed to sign Montrezl Harrell with their mid-level exception and Wesley Matthews with their bi-annual exception, the Lakers will be hard-capped and don’t have a ton of room to maneuver, given the terms of Caldwell-Pope’s new deal.
As Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report tweets, it may mean Los Angeles is unable to offer Markieff Morris more than the minimum or that the club is unable to carry a full 15-man roster. Still, KCP was a priority, given his importance in the postseason, so the team will be satisfied to get him back and do what it can to fill out the rest of the roster.
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Celtics Sign Tristan Thompson
NOVEMBER 30: Thompson’s deal with the Celtics is now official, the team announced today in a press release.
NOVEMBER 21: Free agent center Tristan Thompson will sign with the Celtics, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. The deal was confirmed by Thompson’s agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports. The contract will be worth $19MM over two years. (Twitter link).
Thompson will receive Boston’s full mid-level exception, which was more than the Cavaliers were willing to offer, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The Cavs were optimistic this morning about their chances of keeping Thompson, but when Paul Millsap chose Denver over Boston, the Celtics were motivated to get a deal done.
“Going from being a fan to an opponent and then a teammate, Tristan has always been one of the good guys,” Larry Nance Jr. said. “His jersey deserves to hang in the rafters.”
Boston’s willingness to give the full MLE to Thompson indicates that the team probably plans to avoid the tax this season, according to Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston (Twitter link). The Celtics still have their $3.6MM bi-annual exception available as well as trade exceptions from deals involving Enes Kanter and Vincent Poirier.
Thompson, 29, spent the first nine years of his NBA career with the Cavaliers, playing in four NBA Finals and winning a championship in 2016. He averaged a career-best 12.0 points per game last season to go with 10.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Warriors Seek DPE After Klay Thompson’s Injury
The Warriors have applied for a disabled player exception after losing Klay Thompson for the season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. If granted, the DPE would be worth $9.3MM, the value of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
The DPE allows a team to add a player without using cap space. It can be used to sign a free agent, to claim a player off waivers, or to acquire a player in a trade, but it can only be used on one player. Additionally, it can only be used to sign a player to a one-year contract, or to claim or trade for a player in the final year of his deal.
Thompson suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in his right leg during a workout on Wednesday. He hasn’t played since tearing his left ACL during Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, but was reportedly fully recovered and ready for the start of training camp.
Trail Blazers Sign Carmelo Anthony To One-Year Contract
NOVEMBER 22, 8:32pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
NOVEMBER 21, 4:15pm: Carmelo Anthony is returning to Portland, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the veteran forward is finalizing a new deal with the Trail Blazers. It’ll be for one year, Charania adds (via Twitter). It’ll be another minimum-salary contract, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
The Knicks were among the teams believed to have interest in signing Anthony in free agency this fall. However, as Charania explains (via Twitter), Anthony wanted to show loyalty to the Blazers after they gave him an opportunity to return to the NBA last season, and he knows what sort of role to expect in Portland.
Anthony, who signed with the Blazers almost exactly a year ago, averaged 15.4 PPG and 6.3 RPG on .430/.385/.845 in 58 games (all starts) for the club in 2019/20.
It has been an active offseason so far for the Blazers, who agreed to re-sign Rodney Hood, struck a deal with free agent wing Derrick Jones, and reached trade agreements to acquire Robert Covington and Enes Kanter.
Although the Blazers barely squeaked into the Western Conference playoff picture this year, injuries played a major part in the club’s season-long struggles, and Portland looked like a different team during the restart when Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins returned. The Blazers will be looking to re-establish themselves as one of the West’s top teams in 2020/21.
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Nuggets Re-Sign Paul Millsap
DECEMBER 3: The Nuggets have officially re-signed Millsap, the team announced today in a press release. All of Denver’s reported offseason moves have now been finalized.
NOVEMBER 21: The Nuggets lost Jerami Grant and Mason Plumlee on the first day of free agency, but they’re bringing back their other key frontcourt free agent. Denver has agreed to re-sign Paul Millsap to a one-year contract worth $10MM+, agent DeAngelo Simmons tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).
Millsap, 35, played fewer minutes per game (24.3) in 2019/20 than he had in any season since 2007/08, but he remained highly effective in those minutes. He averaged 11.6 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 1.6 APG with a solid shooting line of .482/.435/.816 in 51 games (48 starts).
Since arriving in Denver in 2017, Millsap has helped stabilize the team’s defense alongside Nikola Jokic in the frontcourt. With Plumlee and Grant departing in free agency, Millsap will share time up front in 2020/21 with the newly-added JaMychal Green, with youngsters like Michael Porter and Bol Bol expected to take on larger roles too.
Millsap received interest from “over half of the league” as a free agent, according to Charania (via Twitter). Earlier today, the Celtics were cited as a strong contender for the big man. However, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link) hears that personal reasons played a major part in Millsap’s decision — he didn’t want to uproot his family from Denver.
Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said back in September that he’d “love to see” Millsap spend the rest of his career in Denver. While this contract won’t guarantee that, it’s a good first step.
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Hawks Sign Rajon Rondo To Two-Year Deal
NOVEMBER 23: Rondo has officially signed his contract with the Hawks, the team announced in a press release.
“Rajon is an intense competitor, a proven winner and a true student of the game,” Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk said in a statement. “His resume and experience speak for themselves. We’re excited to add him to our group.”
NOVEMBER 21: The Hawks are signing free agent point guard Rajon Rondo to a two-year, $15MM deal, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The contract won’t feature any team or player options, tweets Mark Medina of USA Today.
The Lakers and Clippers were both reportedly interested in signing Rondo as a free agent, but he’ll return to the Eastern Conference with a Hawks team that values his leadership and locker room presence and will be pushing hard to make it back to the playoffs in 2020/21.
Rondo is the third veteran free agent that has agreed to sign with Atlanta since free agency opened nearly 24 hours ago, joining Danilo Gallinari and Kris Dunn. As Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN notes (via Twitter), the Hawks entered free agency determined to improve defensively in the backcourt, and will do so by adding Dunn and Rondo to the mix.
Rondo played an important role in helping the Lakers capture the NBA title in Orlando this past season. He suffered a fractured right thumb shortly after arriving at the Disney World complex, but was able to return in time for the playoffs, averaging 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.6 assists off the bench in 16 games. He turned down a minimum-salary player option in order to reach free agency.
Frank Isola of SiriusXM NBA Radio first reported earlier in the week that the Hawks were expected to offer two years and $15MM to Rondo. As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, the club still projects to have upwards of $20MM in cap room available, so another splash – such as a potential offer sheet for Bogdan Bogdanovic – remains possible.
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Sixers Sign Dwight Howard To One-Year Deal
NOVEMBER 21: The Sixers have officially announced the signing of Howard, confirming the move in a press release. Because it’s a minimum-salary deal, it can be completed during free agency’s moratorium period.
NOVEMBER 20: The Sixers and Dwight Howard have reached an agreement on a one-year contract, agent Charles Briscoe tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Word of Howard’s agreement with Philadelphia comes shortly after the veteran center published a tweet saying that he would be returning to the Lakers. He quickly deleted that tweet, with Charania reporting at the time that Howard was still mulling his options. Now it appears he’ll head east after winning a title in Los Angeles.
Howard will presumably be the primary backup for Joel Embiid in Philadelphia. He’ll receive the veteran’s minimum of $2.6MM, though the cap hit for the Sixers will be just $1.6MM. The contract is guaranteed, according to The Athletic’s David Aldridge (Twitter link). Last season, Howard signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Lakers and worked his way into their good graces.
Howard will be playing for seventh team in his 17th season. He got steady minutes off the bench with Los Angeles, appearing in 69 regular-season games while averaging 7.5 PPG, 7.3 RPG and 1.1 BPG in 18.9 MPG. He also saw action in 18 of the Lakers’ postseason games, averaging 5.8 PPG and 4.6 RPG.
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Deadline Set For Players Opting Out Over COVID-19 Concerns
Players who wish to opt out for the upcoming season due to coronavirus concerns must notify the league by December 1, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association reached that agreement on Saturday. Players who elect not to play will be prohibited from signing a contract for which the 2020/21 season is covered, Charania adds.
A number of players opted out of the restart in Orlando due to the pandemic. Some did so for medical issues, family concerns or worries that an injury could damage their future contract offers.
It’s unknown which players might choose not to play next season outside of a “bubble” environment, but COVID-19 positives have skyrocketed across the U.S. this fall.