Contract Details: Gardner, Highsmith, Houstan, Jones, Two-Ways
Heat swingman Myron Gardner will receive a minimum salary ($395,029) for the rest of the 2025/26 season after being promoted from his two-way contract. However, Miami had to use a portion of its non-taxpayer mid-level exception in order to complete his deal, since it includes two additional years beyond this season.
Gardner’s second year features a partial guarantee of $500K, and he’ll receive his full minimum salary of $2,150,917 for 2026/27 if he remains under contract through January 7 next year, Hoops Rumors has learned. The third year of the deal is fully non-guaranteed, but the Miami wing would receive his full $2,525,901 salary if he isn’t waived on or before July 15, 2027.
Here are a few more details on the contracts recently completed around the NBA:
- Haywood Highsmith‘s two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Suns includes a $1MM partial guarantee for 2026/27, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). It also features language protecting the team in the event that the veteran wing re-injures his surgically repaired right knee, Hoops Rumors has learned.
- As expected, both Caleb Houstan of the Hawks and Spencer Jones of the Nuggets were unilaterally converted from their two-way contracts to rest-of-season, minimum-salary contracts rather than negotiating new deals. Houstan will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, while Jones will be eligible for restricted free agency.
- The two-way contracts recently signed by Tyrese Martin (Sixers), Trevor Keels (Heat), and Jeenathan Williams (Warriors) are each for one year, while Riley Minix‘s new two-way deal with the Cavaliers will cover two seasons, Hoops Rumors has learned.
Hawks Convert Caleb Houstan To Standard Contract
February 19: The Hawks have officially converted Houstan to a standard deal after waiving Djurisic, the team confirmed today in a press release.
February 18: The Hawks are converting Caleb Houstan‘s two-way contract to a standard, rest-of-season deal, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
A 2022 second-round pick who spent his first three NBA seasons in Orlando, Houstan signed an non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract with Atlanta and then had it converted to a two-way deal at the end of the preseason. Of the eight players whose Exhibit 10 deals were converted to two-ways before the season, Houstan will be the first one to be promoted back to a standard contract.
Houstan, 23, averaged 14.4 minutes per game in 168 outings for Orlando and made 37.2% of his three-point tries. However, he has played a very limited role for the Hawks, logging just 49 total minutes in 10 appearances.
Presumably, Atlanta envisions a more significant role at the NBA level for Houstan in the final two months of the season. The 6’8″ forward has spent most of the season in the G League, averaging 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 32.9 minutes per contest across 30 appearances. He has knocked down 37.5% of 9.1 three-point attempts per game for the College Park Skyhawks.
The Hawks have a full 15-man roster, so they’ll need to waive someone in order to open up a spot for Houstan. According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), the odd man out will be Nikola Djurisic, a 2024 second-round pick who signed his first NBA contract during the 2025 offseason but has yet to make his NBA debut.
Although Djurisic signed a three-year contract, only the first year was guaranteed, so Atlanta won’t carry any dead money on its books beyond this season as a result of waiving him.
Southeast Notes: Kalkbrenner, Knueppel, Suggs, McClung, Houstan
The Hornets made a statement about moving into a new era by starting rookies Ryan Kalkbrenner and Kon Knueppel on opening night, writes Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (subscription required). Kalkbrenner, a second-round pick, became the second player in franchise history to record a double-double in his NBA debut, scoring 10 points and collecting 11 rebounds in a victory over Brooklyn.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “I think both of us have a good attitude about it. We’re just going to make the most of the opportunity that we get. Whether it’s starting, coming off the bench, whatever. We were lucky enough to get the experience to start tonight. I think I can say it for Kon, but definitely for myself, that we’re just happy to help the team win.”
Knueppel also had a productive debut with 11 points and five rebounds as Charlotte became the first team since 2019 to post an opening-night win with two first-year players in its starting lineup. Nine Hornets reached double figures in scoring, and Knueppel was happy about the balanced offense.
“Everybody ate,” he said. “Everybody is playing unselfishly. How many guys did we have? Nine? That’s winning basketball. That’s how it’s supposed to be played. So, hopefully we can keep that going.”
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Jalen Suggs was able to play in the Magic‘s first two games, but the team is being cautious as he bounces back from a left knee cartilage injury that brought an early end to last season, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required). Suggs logged 19 minutes Friday night, with coach Jamahl Mosley using him three to four minutes at a time. “Those short bursts will help him in a lot of ways, just being able to settle himself down as well as when he goes to the bench, he can analyze the game even more,” Mosley said. “It’ll be that for quite some time, but just being able to have him out there is a great thing.” Suggs won’t play Saturday against Chicago on the second night of a back-to-back.
- The Osceola Magic offered a message of thanks to three-time Slam Dunk Contest winner Mac McClung after trading his G League rights to the Windy City Bulls. McClung spent the past two years in Osceola and appeared in two games with the Orlando Magic last season on a two-way contract.
- Mosley gave a positive review to former Orlando forward Caleb Houstan, who recently received a two-way deal from the Hawks, Beede tweets. “I’ve said it time and time again, he’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen and been around,” Mosley stated. “You tell him to stay out of the gym, he comes back to the gym. He’s probably driving those guys crazy over there because it’s all hours of the night that he wants to come back (to the gym).”
Hawks Convert Wallace To Standard Contract, Houstan To Two-Way
5:44 pm: The Hawks have officially promoted Wallace from a two-way contract to a standard deal and converted Houstan from an Exhibit 10 deal to a two-way contract, according to the transaction log at NBA.com.
3:17 pm: Point guard Keaton Wallace and forward Caleb Houstan have both made the Hawks‘ regular season roster, but their contract situations will change before opening night.
Wallace is having his two-way contract converted into a one-year standard deal, his agents at Excel Sports Management tell ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). Houstan, meanwhile, will have his Exhibit 10 contract turned into a two-way deal, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (Twitter link).
Players on two-way contracts can’t be active for more than 50 games and aren’t postseason-eligible, whereas no such restrictions exist for standard roster players, so the decision suggests that Atlanta is prioritizing Wallace’s availability from game to game over Houstan’s, at least to open the season.
Wallace, who appeared in 31 games with the Hawks on a two-way contract last season, made his case for a promotion by averaging 5.5 points, 5.0 assists, and 1.5 steals in 16.6 minutes per game across four preseason outings. He did struggle with his shot this month, knocking down just 30.8% of his attempts from the floor, including 8.3% of his three-pointers.
The Hawks don’t really have a traditional point guard backing up star Trae Young, with Dyson Daniels and Luke Kennard among the players excepted to take on ball-handling responsibilities, so there could be a path for Wallace to earn some minutes for the club.
As for Houstan, the former Magic sharpshooter has three years of NBA service under his belt, so this will be his final season of two-way eligibility. He joins Eli Ndiaye and Jacob Toppin as Atlanta’s two-way players.
Contract Details: Dante, Houstan, Coffey, Williams
The Hawks‘ two-year, $4.4MM offer sheet for center N’Faly Dante, which went unmatched by Houston, only carries a partial guarantee of $85,300 in year one, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks for Sports Business Classroom. That’s the same amount that Dante would have had guaranteed if he had accepted his two-way qualifying offer from the Rockets.
Matching the offer sheet would have been a very low-risk move for the Rockets, who would have only been on the hook for that $85,300 partial guarantee if they had decided to waive Dante before the start of the regular season. But Houston didn’t have enough room below its first-apron hard cap to match the offer without making a corresponding roster move to shed salary.
Here are more contract details from around the NBA:
- The contract that Caleb Houstan signed with the Hawks is a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deal, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Since Houstan only has three years of NBA experience, that means the contract could be converted into a two-way deal before the start of the regular season.
- Amir Coffey‘s non-guaranteed training camp contract with the Bucks contains Exhibit 9 language protecting the team in the event of a preseason injury, but not Exhibit 10 language, according to Marks at Sports Business Classroom. Coffey has too many years of NBA service to qualify for a two-way contract, so conversion via Exhibit 10 wouldn’t have been an option — still, the lack of an Exhibit 10 bonus suggests that he doesn’t intend to play for Milwaukee’s G League affiliate if he doesn’t make the regular season roster.
- Amari Williams‘ two-way deal with the Celtics is for one season, per Marks.
Hawks Sign Caleb Houstan To One-Year Deal
August 19: Over a month after their agreement was first reported, the Hawks have officially signed Houstan, the team announced today in a press release.
July 17: The Hawks and Caleb Houstan have agreed to a one-year contract, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports (Twitter link).
Houstan spent the first three years of his NBA career with the Magic. He appeared in 168 games during that span, including 23 starts, after being selected early in the second round of the 2022 draft.
Last season, Houstan appeared in 58 games (six starts) with Orlando and averaged 4.1 points in 13.6 minutes per game while making 40 percent of his 3-point tries.
Houstan became a free agent when Orlando declines its $2.1MM option on his contract for next season. Terms for his contract with Atlanta have not been revealed, but it’s likely a minimum deal.
Still just 22 years old, Houstan struggled to get steady second-unit minutes with the Magic. At 6’8”, he provides good size at the wing spots and he’ll now try to earn minutes with another Southeast Division squad.
That will be a tall task, considering the Hawks have Dyson Daniels at off guard and Jalen Johnson at small forward with free agent pickups Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard slated to get steady minutes off the bench. He’ll also have to battle Vit Krejci (43.7 percent from three last season) for playing time.
Magic Decline Team Options On Moe Wagner, Caleb Houstan
The Magic are declining the team options for Moritz Wagner and Caleb Houstan, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (via Twitter), making the two players unrestricted free agents.
Wagner’s team option was for $11MM while Houstan’s was for $2.1MM. Turning down both will allow the Magic to retain some financial flexibility after they traded for Desmond Bane. Charania notes that the team retains both players’ Bird rights, meaning that a reunion remains possible for either or both of them.
Wagner has been with the Magic for over five seasons, and has averaged 10.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists while shooting 32.9% from three over the last four years as a reserve center. His 2024/25 season was cut short in December by a torn ACL, which he is still recovering from.
Wagner appeared well on his way to a career year in 2024/25, as he had averaged 12.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game with a .360 3PT% through his first 30 contests. According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), the Magic have interest in bringing him back.
Houstan, the former 32nd pick in the 2022 draft, has been in and out of the rotation over his three seasons in Orlando, but has become a strong shooter at 6’8″ and is still only 22 years old. He converted a career-best 40.0% of his three-point tries in 2024/25.
Magic Notes: Bane, Finances, Shammgod
The Magic made the first major move of the 2025 offseason by trading for former Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane. The deal, which sent out Cole Anthony, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, four first-round picks, and a 2029 pick swap, signifies a shift to a more aggressive win-now team outlook, writes The Orlando Sentinel’s Jason Beede.
Last year’s move to acquire Caldwell-Pope in free agency marked an initial step in this direction for a Magic team built around a young core of Jalen Suggs, Paolo Banchero, and Franz Wagner. Swapping Caldwell-Pope for the 26-year-old Bane without giving up either of Anthony Black or Tristan Da Silva allows the team to address its desire to improve the shooting and self-creation on the roster without sacrificing much of its defensive identity or young talent.
The Magic must make decisions within the next two weeks on team options for Moritz Wagner, Cory Joseph, Caleb Houstan, and Gary Harris. The deadline to do so is June 29.
We have more from the Magic:
- The Magic are interested in adding Mavericks assistant coach God Shammgod to their coaching staff, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link). Shammgod and Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley previously worked together on the Mavs’ coaching staff, and Shammgod is a respected assistant, especially with regard to developing and integrating guards.
- The Bane trade is not just a big swing in terms of draft picks, writes Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (via Twitter). It’s also a major financial decision. Wagner and Suggs are already under long-term, big-money deals, and Banchero is set to command an extension that could exceed $50MM annually. With Bane two years into a five-year, $197MM contract, the Magic are suddenly getting very expensive, though Gozlan notes (via Twitter) that they could potentially avoid becoming a second apron team in the coming years by moving some of their mid-sized contracts, such as Jonathan Isaac, Wendell Carter Jr., and/or Goga Bitadze.
- Breaking down the finances of the trade, Keith Smith of Spotrac writes that the Magic being near the first apron is unlikely to impact them this season, as their roster is basically set if they bring back Mo Wagner and carry one more minimum-salary player. It’s the 2026/27 season that will see Orlando’s finances become onerous, with around $196MM committed to eight players, depending on whether Banchero’s extension begins at 25% or 30% of the cap. Smith writes that those salary numbers may force the Magic to eventually trade one of their core players, but that is a decision for a later date.
Magic Notes: Injury-Filled Season, Banchero, Finances, Houstan
The Magic didn’t advance any further than last year — losing in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight season — but coach Jamahl Mosley believes they deserve credit for overcoming adversity, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. The team survived a season-long string of injuries that resulted in just six games together for Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, but still managed to win 41 games and advance through the play-in tournament.
The injury bug started when Banchero suffered a torn right oblique muscle five games into the season. The same injury hit Wagner about five weeks later, and Suggs underwent season-ending knee surgery in early March. Backup big man Moritz Wagner was lost for the season with a torn ACL in December.
“I’m extremely proud of the way that they competed and represented the Orlando Magic all year,” Mosley said after his team was eliminated Tuesday night in Boston. “You can go down the list for the things that have happened to this group and every reason to understand that we could have felt sorry for ourselves, and we never did. Everybody found a way and that’s who this group has continued to be and will continue to be moving forward no matter the circumstances, no matter the adversity [and] no matter what you’re hit with in a season. You find ways to step up and into the moment that you’re called upon.”
Beede notes that roster changes will likely be coming in an effort to produce a more efficient offense. The Magic hold team options on Moritz Wagner, Cory Joseph, Gary Harris and Caleb Houstan, and they have eight first-round picks and 12 second-rounders over the next seven years that can be used as trade chips.
There’s more from Orlando:
- There were some positives for the Magic despite the loss, Beede adds in a separate story. The defense caused problems for the Celtics throughout the series, and Banchero proved that he’s capable of carrying the scoring load in the playoffs. He averaged 29.4 PPG while playing nearly 40 minutes per night. “When I train in the offseason and when I’m getting ready for the season, I have this time of the year in my mind,” Banchero said. “Playoff basketball is the best part of the season, so just having that time of the year in the back of your mind while you’re training, realizing that [the] season doesn’t end in April. You’ve got to plan for it ending in June.”
- The front office will have to be aggressive this offseason because the current roster is about to get a lot more expensive, notes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Rookie scale extensions for Franz Wagner and Suggs will take effect next season, while Banchero will almost certainly get a max extension this summer that will start in 2026/27.
- ESPN’s Bobby Marks looks ahead to the Magic’s offseason in an Insider-only story. He notes that Houstan played nearly 17 minutes per game after the All-Star break and may have a future in Orlando. The team could make him a restricted free agent this offseason by declining his option and issuing him a qualifying offer instead. If he’s option is exercised, he’d be on track for unrestricted free agency in 2026, though he’d be extension-eligible.
Southeast Notes: Anthony, Houstan, Daniels, Rozier
Magic guard Cole Anthony returned to action on Tuesday after missing seven games with a left big toe strain. He was upgraded from questionable to available prior to Orlando’s contest against San Antonio, the team’s PR department tweets.
Anthony has appeared in 61 games this season, averaging 9.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per contest. He’s in the first year of a three-year, $39.1MM contract.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Caleb Houstan received rotation minutes over the past six Magic games in Anthony’s absence. The highlight of that stretch for Houstan was an 18-point outing against Sacramento on Saturday. “He’s always consistent, no matter if he’s playing or not playing, if he’s in or out of the rotation,” Paolo Banchero told Beede. “He’s always showing up, getting his work in. Every time he shoots it, it has a pretty good chance of going in.” Orlando holds a $2.19MM club option on Houstan’s contract for next season, which must be exercised by the end of June.
- Hawks defensive ace Dyson Daniels, just named Defensive Player of the Month in the Eastern Conference, is pleased with the chemistry on the team. “I think we have really good pieces on this team, and pieces that work well together,” Daniels told Sportskeeda’s Grant Afseth. “Obviously, (Trae Young is) our guy, the motor of the team. We try to look after him, set him screens, get him open, and he does the same for us. He’s a really good passer.”
- Terry Rozier had dropped out of the Heat‘s rotation until Monday, when he played 33 minutes against Washington with a host of players missing the contest. Rozier contributed 15 points, six rebounds and five assists. The veteran guard, who has one year left on his contract, admits it’s best a rough season for him. “It’s never easy for a competitor, especially me,” he said, per Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “You work so hard and then it just becomes unfortunate with the situation. But you just try to stay positive through it all, and give grace and still be thankful that I’m in this position. You try to keep working hard, waiting for my name to be called again.”