Jerome Robinson

Warriors Sign Jerome Robinson To Two-Way Deal

The Warriors have signed free agent guard Jerome Robinson to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link). Golden State now has a full 21-man roster.

The 13th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Robinson appeared in 113 regular season games for the Clippers and Wizards from 2018-21, averaging 4.5 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 14.2 minutes per night. He hasn’t played an NBA game since the 2020/21 season, when he made 17 appearances with Washington.

Robinson has spent the past two seasons playing for the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s G League affiliate. In 2022/23, he averaged 14.6 PPG, 4.6 APG, and 4.1 RPG with a .455/.353/.909 shooting line in 38 games (29.4 MPG) for Santa Cruz.

Robinson’s agreement with Golden State was initially reported back in July, over two months ago. At that time, the expectation was that he’d sign a training camp deal. Instead, he’ll fill out the 21-man preseason roster by claiming the team’s third two-way slot alongside Lester Quinones and Usman Garuba. However, Anthony Slater of The Athletic suggests (via Twitter) that Robinson may have to battle in training camp to hang onto that spot.

Two-way deals only come with a small partial guarantee, while players on Exhibit 10 contracts can be converted to two-way contracts prior to the regular season, so it would be simply enough for Golden State to make a preseason change.

Jerome Robinson To Sign Camp Deal With Warriors

Free agent guard Jerome Robinson has agreed to a training camp deal with the Warriors, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Robinson will compete for a regular season roster spot, according to Wojnarowski.

Golden State currently has two spots open on its 15-man roster, though the Warriors are likely to carry only 14 players on standard contracts due to their luxury tax issues.

Robinson has played with the Warriors’ G League affiliate, Santa Cruz, in each of the past two years. Robinson was a 2018 lottery pick for the Clippers but was traded during his second season to the Wizards. He hasn’t played an NBA game since the 2020/21 season, when he made 17 appearances with Washington. Overall, he has appeared in 113 NBA games, including 12 starts.

Robinson has averaged 4.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 14.2 minutes per game during those NBA games. He averaged 14.8 points, 4.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 29.2 minutes per game during 24 regular-season games with Santa Cruz last season.

Warriors Convert Ty Jerome, Anthony Lamb To Two-Way Contracts

The Warriors have made a series of roster moves in advance of the regular season deadline, announcing that they’ve converted guard Ty Jerome and swingman Anthony Lamb to two-way contracts while waiving guards Jerome Robinson and Pat Spencer (Twitter links).

All four players were in training camp on Exhibit 10 contracts, which can be converted to two-way deals or can make a player eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K if he spends at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate. Robinson and Spencer look like candidates to take the latter route and join the Santa Cruz Warriors if they clear waivers.

The 24th pick in the 2019 draft, Jerome spent his rookie season with the Suns before being sent to the Thunder as part of the Chris Paul trade. The 6’5″ guard, who helped Virginia win an NCAA championship in 2018/19, spent the last two seasons with Oklahoma City, averaging 8.6 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 2.6 RPG on .410/.353/.790 shooting in 81 total games with the Thunder (19.6 MPG). He was traded to Houston last month and was subsequently waived by the Rockets.

Lamb went undrafted out of Vermont in 2020 and signed a two-way contract with the Rockets during the ’20/21 season, appearing in 24 games (17.3 MPG) while averaging 5.5 PPG and 2.9 RPG on .390/.324/.857 shooting. He spent most of last season in the G League with Houston’s affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, averaging 17.3 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 4.8 APG and 1.3 BPG on .466/.390/.757 shooting in 31 regular season games (34.4 MPG).

Jerome and Lamb will provide depth in the Warriors’ backcourt and are eligible to play in up to 50 regular season games on their two-way deals. They’ll earn $508,891 apiece this season.

While it’s possible Golden State will sign-and-waive more players on Saturday, the team’s roster looks fairly set for the regular season. The Warriors will keep the 15th spot on their standard roster open to start the year, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

Jerome Robinson Joins Warriors On Training Camp Deal

SEPTEMBER 8: The Warriors have officially announced the deal in a press release (Twitter link). It’s an Exhibit 10 contract, Hoops Rumors has confirmed.


AUGUST 31: Free agent guard Jerome Robinson will sign a training camp contract with the Warriors, according to a tweet from ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter.

Robinson, 25, last played in the NBA with the Wizards during the 2020/21 season, but he only got into 17 games and saw limited playing time. Washington decided not to pick up Robinson’s fourth-year option, which would have paid him $5.34MM, and he was waived just before the end of the regular season.

Robinson was a lottery pick in 2018, having been drafted by the Clippers with the 13th selection. He was never able to carve out a role in L.A. and was sent to the Wizards in a three-team deal at the 2020 trade deadline.

He spent last season with the Warriors’ G League affiliate, so he already has a connection to the organization. He appeared in 22 games for Santa Cruz and averaged 20.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per night.

Golden State has 13 guaranteed contracts and may carry just 14 players into the regular season due to luxury tax concerns. That 14th spot will likely be reserved for Andre Iguodala, but if Iguodala retires or if the Warriors decide to carry a 15th man, there would be one available roster spot that Robinson can fight for.

California Notes: Kings, Robinson, Warriors, Lakers

While Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox is clearly locked in as the team’s starter at that position, the identity of his backcourt cohort is a bit up in the air. James Ham of The Kings Beat takes stock of the team’s options at shooting guard.

Ham identifies 6’7″ sharpshooter Kevin Huerter, acquired in a trade with the Hawks over the summer, as the option that makes the most sense fit-wise, but notes that free agent signing Malik Monk could get significant consideration as well. Inconsistent wing Terence Davis should get some run in the rotation, while Ham also examines the upside of young swingmen Sam Merrill and Keon Ellis.

There’s more out of California:

  • Shooting guard Jerome Robinson faces an uphill battle when it comes to making the Warriors‘ regular season roster. C.J. Holmes of the San Francisco Chronicle details how the 25-year-old will need to prove his mettle in training camp. In his 2021/22 campaign with Golden State’s G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, the former lottery pick recorded averages of 20.2 PPG, 4.1 RPG and 3.8 APG in 22 games. Holmes writes that the team may be prioritizing a point guard or more size with the final one or two spots on its standard 15-man roster.
  • The Warriors seem fully capable of mounting a solid title defense this season, HoopsHype’s Yossi Gozlan opines in a fresh season preview. Gozlan posits that Golden State’s excellent two-way play and deep roster of veterans, mixed with some intriguing youth, should make the team a formidable threat in the Western Conference.,
  • On a recent episode of his podcast The Hoop Collective, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports that the Lakers were never involved in three-team trade talks between the Jazz and Knicks in a potential trade to send Donovan Mitchell to New York. The three-time All-Star was eventually dealt to the Cavaliers instead in a two-team deal. Windhorst adds that the Lakers appear to think that there is no deal for $47MM+ point guard Russell Westbrook, even with their tantalizing 2027 and 2029 first-round picks included, that will significantly upgrade their roster.

Wizards Waive Jerome Robinson, Expected To Re-Sign Jordan Bell

9:29am: The Wizards have officially waived Robinson, the team announced today in a press release.


6:34am: The Wizards are making a change at the back of their 15-man roster, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links), who reports that the club is waiving fourth-year wing Jerome Robinson and is expected to fill the newly-opened roster spot soon by re-signing big man Jordan Bell to a 10-day contract.

The 13th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Robinson spent his first season-and-a-half with the Clippers before being sent to Washington in the three-team Marcus Morris/Maurice Harkless trade at the 2020 deadline. In 38 games (21.3 MPG) for the Wizards, he averaged 7.4 PPG and 2.8 RPG with a .361/.320/.776 shooting line.

Back in December, the Wizards opted to pass on Robinson’s fourth-year option for 2021/22, which would’ve been worth $5.34MM. That was a sign that he wasn’t in Washington’s long-term plans, as was a report last month that he was among the players the team was shopping at the trade deadline.

Robinson will become an unrestricted free agent once he clears waivers, free to sign with any team, while the Wizards remain on the hook for the rest of his $3.74MM salary for 2020/21.

As for Bell, the 26-year-old inked a 10-day contract with the Wizards in January, then played for the team’s temporary NBA G League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, at the Walt Disney World bubble. He averaged 17.6 PPG, 9.1 RPG, and 2.1 BPG in seven NBAGL contests (27.4 MPG).

A report last month suggested the Wizards were eyeing Bell for a possible two-way deal if Garrison Mathews was promoted to the 15-man roster, but it appears it’ll be Bell who ends up on the 15-man squad, albeit just on a 10-day deal for now.

If and when the Wizards and Bell make it official, the 10-day contract will pay him $114,990, with a cap hit of $110,998. Since it will be Bell’s second 10-day deal with the franchise this season, Washington will have to either let him walk or sign him for the rest of ’20/21 once it expires.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wizards Rumors: Brown, Drummond, Mathews, Bell, More

While Bradley Beal remains extremely unlikely to be traded within the next nine days, that doesn’t mean the Wizards will stand pat at this month’s trade deadline. According to Fred Katz and David Aldridge of The Athletic, league sources have suggested that Washington appears open to moving young players like Troy Brown, Moritz Wagner, Jerome Robinson, and Isaac Bonga.

All of those players are between 21 and 24 years old and are on relatively inexpensive contracts, but they’ve been in and out of the rotation this season and aren’t particularly valuable trade assets. Of the four, Brown probably has the most appeal. One executive told Katz and Aldridge that the Wizrads could probably get a “second-round-equivalent asset” for the former 15th overall pick.

“My guess is an early second(-rounder) and/or a decent young player,” another executive said. “I’m sure they’d like more, but not sure those guys have much more value than that at this point.”

Here’s more on the Wizards from Katz and Aldridge:

  • Although a quad injury will keep Ish Smith on the shelf through the trade deadline, one opposing GM thinks the point guard could have a little trade value to any team “looking to add veteran pace to its second unit.”
  • The Wizards are keeping an eye on Cavaliers center Andre Drummond as a possible buyout target, sources tell The Athletic. Drummond would probably prefer a contending team in that scenario, but Washington could pique his interest by using its $4.2MM disabled player exception to offer more than the veteran’s minimum.
  • Since players on two-way contracts can now appear in all 72 games and are eligible to play in the postseason, there’s less urgency to convert Garrison Mathews to a standard contract. Still, he’s a candidate to be promoted to the 15-man roster, especially if the Wizards can lock him up to a multiyear deal. In that scenario, Jordan Bell would be a leading contender to fill Mathews’ vacated two-way slot, per Katz and Aldridge.
  • According to The Athletic’s duo, one obstacle that could complicate the Wizards’ pursuit of Drummond or negotiations with Mathews is the club’s desire to stay below the luxury tax threshold — team salary is currently within $1MM of that line, though certain trades could create more breathing room.

Wizards Exercise 2021/22 Options On Troy Brown, Rui Hachimura

2:56pm: Fred Katz of The Athletic confirms (via Twitter) that the Wizards are declining their fourth-year options on Robinson and Wagner.


2:52pm: The Wizards have picked up their fourth-year option on Troy Brown and their third-year option on Rui Hachimura, the team announced today in a press release.

The options apply to the 2021/22 season, fully guaranteeing each player’s salary for next year. Brown will make $5.17MM in the final year of his rookie contract, while Hachimura’s third-year option is worth $4.92MM.

The 15th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Brown emerged as a regular rotation player for Washington in 2019/20, averaging 10.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 2.6 APG with a .439/.341/.784 shooting line in 69 games (25.8 MPG).

Hachimura, the ninth overall pick in the 2019 draft, averaged 13.5 PPG and 6.1 RPG in 48 games (30.1 MPG) last season, earning a spot on the All-Rookie Second Team. He’s currently sidelined due to an eye issue.

Teams typically pick up all of their rookie scale options at once, so it’s worth noting that today’s announcement from the Wizards didn’t mention Jerome Robinson ($5.34MM fourth-year option) or Moritz Wagner ($3.89MM fourth-year option). Assuming those options aren’t exercised by Tuesday’s deadline, Robinson and Wagner will be on track for unrestricted free agency in 2021, and Washington won’t be able to offer them starting salaries higher than the values of their declined options.

Wizards Notes: Beal, Bertans, Lopez, Westbrook, More

Ensuring that Bradley Beal wants to remain in Washington was a top priority for the Wizards as they made their offseason moves, including the blockbuster trade that brought Russell Westbrook to D.C. So did the acquisition of Westbrook have an impact on Beal’s desire to stick with the team?

“Honestly, I haven’t even thought about that. I haven’t,” Beal said, per Fred Katz of The Athletic. “My biggest thing is win now, you know? I wanna win.

“I’m here under contract for this year, next year and a player option, too. So, it’s just a matter of, we gotta win. And the organization knows that. It’s up to me, too, so I can’t just sit here and … look at (general manager Tommy Sheppard) like he’s crazy. I have to go out and lead the team, put in the work and get better every day and bring the results.”

As Katz writes, the Wizards have a tricky tightrope to walk, as they focus not only on building a roster capable of long-term success, but also on winning enough in the next year or two to convince Beal that he doesn’t need to move to a new team to contend.

Here’s more on the Wizards:

  • Davis Bertans and Robin Lopez haven’t yet been able to join the Wizards for practice, tweets Ava Wallace of The Washington Post. Bertans was held up by visa issues, according to Wallace, who notes that the team also had one of its new players test positive for the coronavirus. There hasn’t been confirmation that the affected player was Lopez, but it sounds like that’s very possible.
  • The Wizards are counting on point guard Russell Westbrook, who is known for his competitiveness and tenacity, to help set the culture for their young roster, Wallace writes for The Washington Post.
  • Wizards head coach Scott Brooks said today that the starting small forward position will be “fluid,” with Troy Brown, Isaac Bonga, Deni Avdija, Davis Bertans, and Jerome Robinson all among the options there, per Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link).
  • Brooks also said today that the Wizards are close to a decision on whether or not to participate in the NBA G League’s proposed Atlanta bubble. He believes there’s a good chance the Wizards will opt in, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link).

Southeast Notes: Herro, Heat, Magic, Robinson

Heat guard Tyler Herro showed flashes of brilliance in the team’s 119-112 loss to the Suns on Saturday, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes.

Herro, who’s still in his rookie season, recorded 25 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists on 10-for-16 shooting, putting forth one of his best games this year. Despite his impressive play, Miami still lost the contest due to poor defense, injured players, and questionable rotations.

“I’m not happy with the way we’re playing,” Bam Adebayo said. “We got to get over this hump. We’re in a gray cloud that we can’t get out of. It’s my job as a leader and as a quote unquote vet to really hone in and really lead this team to a victory. Even though we have two major guys out, the next man up and I got do a better job of leading this team to victory.”

Miami has lost three of its last four games and currently owns a 2-3 record in Orlando. The Heat are slated to face the Pacers on Monday in a showdown likely featuring Jimmy Butler and T.J. Warren, with Butler telling the New York Times’ Marc Stein (Twitter link) that he’s on track to return from injury.

It’s unclear whether Goran Dragic (ankle) will be available for the contest, though he did practice on Sunday. Starting point guard Kendrick Nunn (personal) will miss the game after leaving the NBA’s campus and returning over the weekend.

Here are some more notes from the Southeast Division:

  • Multiple Heat members have been forced to deal with COVID-19 testing glitches, naturally causing some uneasy moments for the team, Barry Jackson details in a story for the Miami Herald.  According to ESPN, an inconclusive test generally happens in five out of every 1,000 tests. Any player who receives an inconclusive result must test negative in an immediate retest, then again within one hour of a game’s tip-off.
  • The Magic can apply for a Disabled Player Exception worth $3.78MM starting in October, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Orlando lost forward Jonathan Isaac for the season after he sustained a torn ACL and torn meniscus last week. The exception would allow the team to sign, acquire or claim a player on a one-year contract if Isaac is considered likely to miss all of next season.
  • Wizards guard Jerome Robinson has shown consistency at the NBA’s campus in Orlando, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington writes. Robinson was averaging 17 points in four games heading into the team’s contest against Oklahoma City on Sunday, where he exceeded his average by recording 19 points with six assists.