Knicks, Landry Shamet Agree To One-Year Contract
3:39pm: Shamet’s one-year deal with the Knicks is non-guaranteed and he will compete with Garrison Mathews for a roster spot, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link).
2:53pm: Free agent shooting guard Landry Shamet is returning to the Knicks on a one-year contract, agent George S. Langberg tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
According to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link), Shamet drew interest from other teams but he liked being part of New York’s locker room last season and wants to compete for a championship.
Shamet, who is entering his eighth NBA season, will earn $3,080,921 in 2025/26, while the Knicks will carry a cap charge of $2,296,274. We’ll have to wait and see if the contract is guaranteed — Shamet originally signed a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 deal with New York last fall.
Shamet, 28, was the 26th overall pick of the 2018 draft after three college seasons at Wichita State. He spent time with the Sixers, Clippers, Nets, Suns and Wizards prior to signing with the Knicks in 2024.
Known for his shooting ability, Shamet appeared in 50 games last season after his season debut was delayed by a shoulder injury. He averaged career lows of 5.7 points and 1.2 rebounds in 15.2 minutes per game, though he did convert 39.7% of his three-point looks.
Once the signing is official, Shamet will be the 13th player under contract with the Knicks. All three of their two-way spots remain open, with Kevin McCullar Jr. still a two-way restricted free agent.
The Knicks are hard-capped at the second tax apron and don’t have enough room below that threshold to carry a full 15-man roster into the regular season. Given their proximity to their hard cap, the expectation is that their 13th man will be a veteran on a minimum-salary contract (like Shamet) and their 14th man will be a player whose draft rights they hold on a rookie minimum deal.
Cam Reddish Signs With Lithuanian Team
September 11: Reddish has officially signed with BC Šiauliai, the team announced in a press release (hat tip to Sportando).
September 10: Cam Reddish is expected to sign with Lithuania’s BC Šiauliai, Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com reports.
Reddish became a free agent in March, approximately three weeks before the end of the regular season, when he waived by the Lakers. There’s been no buzz about Reddish finding another NBA opportunity since then, but he’ll leave that door open if he signs with the Lithuanian club.
Reddish’s contract would include an exit clause for the 2025/26 season, allowing him to leave if opportunities in the NBA, EuroLeague, or other top-level competitions emerge, according to Urbonas.
BC Šiauliai has an NBA connection. Longtime Spurs assistant Darius Songaila is the team’s first-year head coach.
Reddish was part of the rescinded Mark Williams deal with Charlotte last winter. After being returned to the Lakers, Reddish appeared in just two games.
He was playing on an expiring contract after exercising a minimum-salary option on his 2024/25 contract. Overall, he appeared in 33 contests with the Lakers in 2024/25, including eight starts. He averaged 3.2 points in 17.8 minutes per game.
The 2019 lottery pick began his career with the Hawks and also had stints with the Knicks and Trail Blazers. In 254 career regular-season games, including 116 starts, Reddish averaged 8.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 steals in 23.1 minutes per game. Subpar shooting — 39.8% overall and 32.2% on three-pointers — is a big reason why the former No. 10 overall pick never lived up to his draft status.
Garrison Mathews To Sign Camp Deal With Knicks
The Knicks intend to sign free agent guard Garrison Mathews to a training camp contract, reports Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (via Twitter). Mathews’ agent, David Bauman, confirmed the news to Bondy (Twitter link).
According to Bondy, Mathews will compete with Landry Shamet for a spot on New York’s regular season roster.
Nearly 85% of Mathews’ field goal attempts over the course of his career have come from behind the three-point line, and the former Lipscomb star has converted 38.2% of those outside looks. He also has a knack for drawing fouls on three-pointers.
Mathews, who turns 29 years old next month, has spent the past two-plus seasons with Atlanta. In 47 games last season, the 6’5″ shooting guard averaged 7.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists while knocking down 39.0% of his threes in 17.7 minutes per contest.
Mathews started his NBA career as a Wizard after going undrafted in 2019, spending two years with Washington. He also spent a year-and-a-half with Houston prior to being traded to the Hawks ahead of the 2023 trade deadline.
Mavs Sign P.J. Washington To Four-Year Extension
September 11: Washington has officially signed his extension with the Mavs, the team announced (via Twitter).
September 3: The Mavericks and forward P.J. Washington have agreed to a four-year contract extension worth nearly $90MM, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports. Washington’s new deal will run through the 2029/30 season.
The first year of the veteran extension will have a starting salary of $19,813,044, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. That is the maximum allowed — a 140% increase of Washington’s $14,152,174 salary for this season. With 8% annual raises, the total value of the deal will be $88,762,437.
Washington will be ineligible to be traded during the upcoming season once he officially signs the contract, since it will exceed the extend-and-trade limitations.
The Mavericks have been locking up veteran contributors throughout the offseason. They also signed Kyrie Irving and Daniel Gafford to three-year deals — Irving’s begins in 2025/26, while Gafford’s starts in ’26/27.
The Mavericks acquired Washington from Charlotte at the trade deadline in February 2024 and he was a key part of the team’s run to the Finals that season, starting in all 22 games. Last season, the 27-year-old averaged 14.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals per night with shooting splits of 45.3% from the field and 38.1% on 3-pointers in 57 games.
In 390 career regular season contests, Washington has averaged 13.1 points and 5.9 rebounds in 30.6 minutes per game.
Washington will play a regular role in a loaded Dallas frontcourt that also features Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, Gafford, and No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg.
Kawhi Leonard Received Endorsement Payment After Minority Owner Invested In Aspiration
The Clippers‘ lone minority owner made a nearly $2MM investment in Aspiration while the company was in dire straits. The San Francisco-based environmental firm then made a $1.75MM quarterly payment to Kawhi Leonard on the same day the company laid off 20 percent of its workforce, Pablo Torre reports on his latest “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast as relayed by The Athletic’s Joe Vardon.
It’s the latest development regarding the potential salary cap circumvention by the Clippers. Last week, Torre broke the story that Leonard signed a $28MM endorsement deal with the company, then performed no work after Aspiration received a $50MM investment from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. A subsequent report indicated that Aspiration agreed to pay Leonard an additional $20MM in company stock.
The NBA has hired a law firm to investigate the matter, and commissioner Adam Silver said on Wednesday that the burden of proof is on the league to find any wrongdoing by the Clippers.
Under the terms of the endorsement deal, Leonard was to be paid $1.75MM on a quarterly basis for four years. In December 2022, Clippers minority owner and vice chairman Dennis J. Wong made an investment of almost $2MM in Aspiration despite the fact that its independent auditor, KPMG, had resigned, and the company was already facing lawsuits worth millions for missed payments.
Aspiration missed a payment to Leonard in the fall before paying him in December, following Wong’s wire transfer to the firm, according to documents obtained by Torre. Payments to Leonard were marked as “critical.”
Leonard’s uncle and business manager Dennis Robertson had repeatedly contacted the company about the missed payment.
“There’s a huge freeze because there’s no money to be spent. So from the finance team’s perspective, we feel like we’re on the other end of collections calls. People are constantly coming in asking for their money. Between those months when all of this is missing – so September, October, November, and leading up to December, the actual certainty of the company even existing is up for grabs,” a former Aspiration employee told Torre. “At that point, are we gonna get paid as employees? Why does Uncle Dennis keep calling us? We have such bigger concerns that we’re thinking about, which is our own salaries. Are we gonna have to go through layoffs? Where is the money gonna come from? But lo and behold. Uncle Dennis gets paid.”
The Clippers issued a statement to Torre, which read, “The details of our relationship with Aspiration are under NBA investigation, but it is clear the company was a house of cards that defrauded Steve and many others. We look forward to sharing the facts with the league and providing them with all the information they need.”
Adam Silver: Burden Of Proof Is On League In Clippers Investigation
Commissioner Adam Silver said investigators will carry the burden of proof in the NBA’s probe of potential salary cap circumvention by the Clippers, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday at his annual preseason news conference following the conclusion of the Board of Governors meeting, Silver said the league needs to focus on “the totality of the evidence” rather than the “mere appearance” of impropriety.
“The burden is on the league if we’re going to discipline a team, an owner, a player or any constituent members of the league,” Silver told reporters. “I think as with any process that requires a fundamental sense of fairness, the burden should be on the party that is, in essence, bringing those charges.”
The NBA hired a law firm this week to handle the investigation of whether owner Steve Ballmer and the team violated league rules through Kawhi Leonard‘s $28MM “no-show” job with Aspiration. Ballmer was an investor in the green banking company, which has since gone bankrupt.
Sources told Bontemps that Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz plans to conduct a thorough investigation, and no firm deadline has been set to reach a conclusion.
Silver added that he’s “a big believer in due process and fairness,” and said other NBA owners feel the same way about the case.
“At least what’s being said to me is a reservation of judgment,” Silver said. “I think people recognize that that’s what you have a league office for. That’s what you have a commissioner for — someone who is independent of the teams. On one hand, of course, I work collectively for the 30 governors, but I have an independent obligation to be the steward of the brand and the integrity of this league. … To the extent we have had discussions (with the board of governors) — they’ve been limited — we communicated to them that we engaged Wachtell to do this investigation. And maybe I cut off any further conversations and said, ‘Let’s all withhold judgment, let’s do this investigation and then we will come back to you in terms of our findings.'”
Silver addressed a few other topics in today’s news conference:
- He confirmed the new All-Star Game format, which will feature two teams of American-born players and one international team in a round-robin competition. Silver expressed hope that the new approach will help to motivate the players. “I think in the case of the NBA, this is what I’m trying to convey, particularly to younger players, is that All-Star is a big deal,” he said. “There’s been great traditions out there. People have great memories of these All-Star Games. It’s part of the fabric of this league, the excitement that comes from it and the engagement from our players.”
- Discussions are continuing on a potential new NBA-run European league, and Silver said he and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum traveled this summer to Europe, where they met with stakeholders. Silver also denied speculation that the venture in Europe will replace NBA expansion efforts. He called them “completely different entities” and said expansion was discussed at the board meeting, although there’s nothing new to report. “Part of the difficulty in potentially assessing it is a sense of long-term value of the league, and a little bit maybe it’s a high-class problem, but as with some of the recent jumps in franchise valuations, that sort of creates some confusion in the marketplace about how you might even price an expansion franchise,” Silver said. “I’ll only say it’s something that we continue to actively look at.”
- Silver refused to say if there are any limitations on Malik Beasley‘s availability while the league investigates his role in a gambling scandal. “I’ll only say there that the investigation is ongoing,” Silver said. “As I understand it, there’s still a federal investigation that’s ongoing of Malik Beasley as well. We will address whatever is presented to us in his case.”
Kings Waive Terence Davis
The Kings have waived shooting guard Terence Davis, per the NBA’s official transaction log (hat tip to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype).
Davis, 28, spent most of the past two seasons in the G League. He signed with Sacramento in April and appeared in the final game of the regular season. His contract included a non-guaranteed $2,546,675 salary for the upcoming season, so the Kings won’t be on the hook for any more money after releasing him.
Davis entered the NBA with Toronto in 2019, but he had his best seasons with the Kings after they acquired him at the 2021 trade deadline. He was a valuable scorer off the bench for two and a half years before going to the G League.
He suffered a ruptured Achilles during the 2023/24 season, but was able to fully recover and averaged 14.3 points per game on 40.2% three-point shooting for the Wisconsin Herd last year.
Sacramento is now down to 14 standard contracts, including Keon Ellis, whose $2.3MM deal is also non-guaranteed. The Kings currently have all three of their two-way slots filled, but no other players are on the offseason roster.
Sacramento has been rumored to have interest in trading for Jonathan Kuminga or signing Russell Westbrook, and parting with Davis provides more roster flexibility for either of those moves to occur.
Hawks Sign Charles Bassey To Exhibit 10 Contract
The Hawks have signed big man Charles Bassey, the team announced in a press release on Wednesday. It’s a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract, a league source tells Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).
Bassey was selected by Philadelphia with the 53rd pick in the 2021 draft. He was waived after one year with the Sixers and signed with San Antonio, where he played for the past three seasons.
Injuries were an issue for Bassey during his time with the Spurs — his 2022/23 season was cut short due to a non-displaced patella fracture, then he suffered a season-ending ACL tear in December 2023. The 24-year-old appeared in 36 games in 2024/25, averaging 4.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 10.4 minutes per night.
Bassey was a standout with the Celtics during Summer League play this July, averaging 15.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per contest in Las Vegas while shooting 70.4% from the field across three outings. He reportedly drew interest from Partizan Belgrade, but has decided to remain stateside as he seeks an NBA roster spot.
While most camp invitees who receive Exhibit 10 contracts don’t end up making their teams’ regular season rosters, there could be a pathway for Bassey to earn a spot in Atlanta. As we detailed last week, the Hawks are carrying just 11 players on fully guaranteed contracts (plus Vit Krejci with a significant partial guarantee), so players with non-guaranteed deals or small partial guarantees – including Bassey, Caleb Houstan, Mouhamed Gueye, and N’Faly Dante – could be vying for two or three roster spots.
Because he has four years of NBA experience, Bassey isn’t eligible to have his Exhibit 10 deal converted into a two-way contract.
NBA Conducting Own Investigation Into Malik Beasley
The NBA is conducting its own investigation into Malik Beasley related to allegations of improper gambling on games and prop bets, the league confirmed to ESPN’s David Purdum. Beasley is “fully cooperating” in that probe, attorney Steve Haney told ESPN.
Word broke in June, just ahead of his free agency, that the veteran sharpshooter was under investigation by the U.S. District Attorney’s office due to unusual betting activity on Beasley-related wagers during the 2023/24 season.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported in August that Beasley is no longer a “target” in that investigation, though subsequent reports indicated that he’s still a “subject” of the investigation, meaning he’s not entirely in the clear.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, the NBA has the right to investigate a case and hand out its own penalty (e.g. a fine or suspension) unless a player is explicitly found not guilty in a court of law. So even if federal investigators don’t charge Beasley, that doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t face any punishment from the league, though presumably the findings in both investigations will be similar.
Investigators in the case are reportedly focused on unusually heavy betting activity on Beasley’s statistics in January 2024, including a Jan. 31 game in which action on his “under 2.5 rebounds” prop bet surged significantly in the hours leading up to tip-off — he ended up grabbing six rebounds in that game, meaning the bets deemed unusual lost.
The NBA’s investigation into Beasley is believed to be in its final stages, a source familiar with the situation tells Purdum. For what it’s worth, the 28-year-old wing recently published an Instagram post in which he stated that “my decision is near,” which may be a reference to a free agency decision.
Beasley and the Pistons were reportedly deep in talks on a three-year, $42MM deal before word of the federal investigation broke and Detroit pulled that offer. The Pistons no longer have the cap space or exceptions available to make that sort of offer for Beasley, but could go up to a starting salary of $7.2MM using his Non-Bird rights.
The Cavaliers, Knicks, and Timberwolves are among the other teams said to have registered interest in Beasley. He’s coming off a strong season in Detroit in which he was the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up after averaging 16.3 points per game and finishing second in the NBA in three-pointers made (319).
Trey Lyles Signs With Real Madrid
September 10: Lyles has officially signed with Real Madrid, according to a press release from the team.
September 4: Free agent big man Trey Lyles is finalizing a contract with Real Madrid, sources tell Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. The news of Lyles landing with the EuroLeague powerhouse was first reported by Javier Maestro of Spanish outlet Encestando.
Agent Rich Paul confirms to Marc Stein of The Stein Line that Lyles is signing with Real Madrid (Twitter link). Lyles’ one-year deal will be worth $3MM and will feature an NBA out clause, per Grant Afseth of RG.org.
A 10-year NBA veteran, Lyles has spent the past three-plus seasons in Sacramento. In 69 appearances with the Kings last season, the 6’9″ power forward averaged 6.5 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 34.0% from three-point range in 19.6 minutes per game.
Lyles, who has also been used as a small-ball center in recent years, apparently didn’t attract much NBA interest on the open market this offseason, which is a little surprising given his solid-if-unspectacular track record as a contributing role player.
While Lyles was linked to the Heat last month, Miami re-signed Dru Smith shortly thereafter, seemingly ending any further speculation on that front.
Despite playing 10 years in the league, Lyles is still only 29 years old — he turns 30 in a couple of months. The 6’9″ Canadian played one college season at Kentucky prior to being selected 12th overall back in 2015.
Lyles has largely been a rotation regular reserve throughout his career, holding averages of 7.6 PPG and 4.3 RPG in 650 regular season contests, including 131 starts (18.4 MPG). His career shooting slash line is .441/.347/.741.
Lyles spent two years apiece with Denver, Utah and San Antonio at the start of his career. He also had a six-month stint with Detroit during the 2021/22 campaign. This will be Lyles’ first European stop, Urbonas notes.
Real Madrid won both the regular season and playoffs of Spain’s top domestic league (Liga ACB) last season, but was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the EuroLeague playoffs. The team’s roster features several former NBA players, including Chuma Okeke, Theo Maledon and Mario Hezonja, among others.