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Trail Blazers Sign Taze Moore To Two-Way Deal

September 13th, 2024 at 2:52pm CST by Rory Maher

2:52pm: Moore’s two-way deal is official, the Blazers announced in a press release.

12:41pm: The Trail Blazers plan to sign free agent guard Taze Moore to a two-way contract, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Moore, who went undrafted in 2022, spent his first professional season with the G League’s Dallas Legends after signing an Exhibit 10 deal with the Mavericks and being waived before 2022/23 began. Last season, he again spent most of the campaign in the NBAGL, splitting time between the Legends and the Rip City Remix, Portland’s affiliate.

The Blazers signed Moore to a 10-day contract in late January, though he only played a total of about 10 minutes over three appearances. In April, they brought him back on a 10-day hardship deal for the final day of the ’23/24 regular season, when he put up 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and a steal in 30 minutes during a blowout loss to Sacramento.

In 22 regular season games with the Remix in ’23/24 (30.7 minutes per contest), Moore averaged 15.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.4 steals on .498/.351/.733 shooting.

Known for his explosive athleticism, Moore joined the Vancouver Bandits in the Canadian Elite Basketball League after the NBA’s regular season concluded. The 26-year-old won MVP of the 10-team CEBL, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report, who notes that Moore recently participated in some exhibition games with G League United as well.

Back in 2022, Chris Baldwin of PaperCity Magazine wrote an interesting story about Moore, who was unable to play basketball for nearly two full years due to a major leg injury, which required five surgeries. The left-handed guard spent most of his college career at Cal State Bakersfield before transferring to Houston for the ’21/22 season.

As our tracker shows, Moore will fill Portland’s third and final two-way slot, joining Justin Minaya and Bryce McGowens. The Blazers will have 20 players under contract once the deal is official, one shy of the offseason limit.

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And-Ones: Barkley, Traded Picks, Free Agency, MVP Odds

September 11th, 2024 at 11:07am CST by Luke Adams

Appearing at Front Office Sports’ Tuned In summit this week, both ESPN president of content Burke Magnus and NBCUniversal chairman Mark Lazarus indicated they’d love to have the opportunity to lure TNT analyst Charles Barkley to their respective networks, according to Dennis Young of Front Office Sports.

Magnus said that in “a perfect world,” he’d hire Barkley to anchor ESPN’s NBA studio coverage, while Lazarus said if Barkley were available, “certainly we’d be talking to him.” Disney (ESPN/ABC) and NBCUniversal are two of the three broadcasters – along with Amazon – who reached 11-year rights agreements with the NBA earlier this year.

TNT Sports announced last month that Barkley, who signed a 10-year contract in 2022, will remain at the network, which appears likely to lose its NBA broadcast rights beginning in 2025/26. TNT attempted to exercise its matching rights on Amazon’s bid, but was rejected by the league, which has argued that TNT’s offer didn’t match the terms of Amazon’s. The matter is the subject of an ongoing legal battle.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

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2024/25 NBA Over/Unders: Northwest Division

September 11th, 2024 at 9:33am CST by Luke Adams

With the 2024/25 NBA regular season set to tip off next month, we’re getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and continuing an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.

With the help of the lines from a series of sports betting sites – including Bovada and BetOnline – we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.

In 2023/24, our voters went 16-14 on their over/under picks. Can you top that in ’24/25?

We’ll continue our series today with the Northwest Division…

Oklahoma City Thunder

Minnesota Timberwolves

Denver Nuggets

Utah Jazz

Portland Trail Blazers

Previous voting results:

Atlantic

  • Boston Celtics (58.5 wins): Over (69.7%)
  • New York Knicks (53.5 wins): Over (58.8%)
  • Philadelphia 76ers (52.5 wins): Under (51.7%)
  • Toronto Raptors (30.5 wins): Under (58.7%)
  • Brooklyn Nets (19.5 wins): Over (54.3%)

Southwest

  • Dallas Mavericks (49.5 wins): Over (78.0%)
  • Memphis Grizzlies (47.5 wins): Under (65.6%)
  • New Orleans Pelicans (46.5 wins): Under (60.6%)
  • Houston Rockets (43.5 wins): Under (51.4%)
  • San Antonio Spurs (36.5 wins): Under (52.9%)

Southeast

  • Orlando Magic (47.5 wins): Over (57.1%)
  • Miami Heat (44.5 wins): Under (63.1%)
  • Atlanta Hawks (35.5 wins): Under (66.4%)
  • Charlotte Hornets (29.5 wins): Under (63.1%)
  • Washington Wizards (20.5 wins): Under (56.6%)
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And-Ones: Hines, NBL Blitz, Diamond Sports, Milestones

September 4th, 2024 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

Former UNC Greensboro standout and four-time EuroLeague champion Kyle Hines announced on Wednesday that he has decided to retire as a player at age 38 (Instagram link).

Hines, who won a pair of EuroLeague titles with Olympiacos (in 2012 and 2023) and two more with CSKA Moscow (2016 and 2019), also spent time with Veroli (Italy), Brose Bamberg (Germany), and Olimpia Milano (Italy) during his 16-year professional career.

The 6’6″ forward was named to the EuroLeague’s All-Decade team for the 2010s, claimed Best Defender honors in 2016, 2018, and 2022, and will retire as the EuroLeague’s all-time leader in games played (425). He also excelled in domestic competitions, winning three Italian League (LBA) championships to go along with six titles in the Russian League (VTB United) and one in the Greek League (GBL).

“When I didn’t get drafted (in 2008), what I thought would be one of the biggest disappointments in my life turned out to be my biggest blessing,” Hines wrote within a longer statement. “Coming to Europe gave me the opportunity to grow as a person. It allowed me to compete at the highest level. It allowed me to become a competitor, a leader, and champion. Off the court it has given me the opportunity to travel the world, meet so many great people, and share in some amazing memories that will last a lifetime.”

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Australia’s National Basketball League is expecting 25 NBA scouts and executives – representing 22 separate teams – to visit the Gold Coast to attend the league’s preseason tournament, the NBL Blitz, reports Olgun Uluc of ESPN. The eight teams not sending representatives are expected to scout NBL talent at a later date — the Trail Blazers, for instance, will instead attend the HoopsFest in Perth later this month, per Uluc. Nets general manager Sean Marks is among the most notable NBA executives expected to be at the NBL Blitz, according to Uluc, who notes that NBA teams will be able to scout draft-eligible prospects for 2025 and 2026 in addition to veterans who could eventually come stateside.
  • A federal bankruptcy judge signed off on Diamond Sports Group’s new agreements with the NBA and NHL on Tuesday and approved the company’s parting of ways with the Pelicans and Mavericks, reports Anthony Crupi of Sportico. The same judge will preside over a status conference in early October, with a date for a final confirmation hearing expected to be set at that session. Diamond Sports – the owner of the Bally Sports networks that will regionally broadcast 13 NBA teams’ games in 2024/25 – is looking to exit bankruptcy this fall.
  • An ESPN.com story explores a handful of individual NBA milestones that may be reached during the 2024/25 season, including Lakers star LeBron James potentially passing 50,000 career points (for the regular season and postseason) and becoming the league’s all-time leader in regular season minutes. James needs 1,364 more total points and 850 more regular season minutes to achieve those feats.
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Yongxi Cui May Sign Two-Way Deal With Nets

September 2nd, 2024 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Chinese guard Yongxi Cui appears to be headed to the Nets on a two-way contract covering two seasons, according to Lucas Kaplan and Net Income of NetsDaily. They cite reports out of China over the weekend, but add that Brooklyn officials are refusing to confirm or deny a deal with Cui.

The 6’8″ Cui, who graduated from the NBA Global Academy, was originally expected to sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Trail Blazers. Although that arrangement was reported in late June, it has not yet been made official as Cui and his representatives were searching around the league for guaranteed money.

The Nets held a workout with Cui prior to this year’s draft, the authors add, but they didn’t have any picks and he wasn’t selected.

Cui saw limited action while playing for Portland in the Las Vegas Summer League. He appeared in three games and averaged 3.0 PPG in 7.2 minutes per contest.

Cui, 21, has spent the past two years with the Guangzhou Loong Lions, one of the top teams in the CBA, and averaged 15.6 PPG last season while showing an impressive shooting touch from three-point range. He had offers to play college basketball in the U.S., according to the NetsDaily authors, but preferred to remain in his native country.

“He’s got really good feet and plays super hard,” Chris Ebersole, the NBA’s Head of International Basketball Development, told NetsDaily. “Those ingredients, for both on-ball defense and off-ball positioning, serve him well.”

Brooklyn has a pair of two-way slots to fill, with Jaylen Martin the only two-way player currently on the roster. The authors note that Jalen Wilson and Keon Johnson both earned standard contracts last season after starting out on two-way deals.

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Nine NBA Teams Have Two-Way Contract Openings

September 1st, 2024 at 9:11am CST by Rory Maher

Two-way contracts allow NBA teams to carry three extra players in addition to the 15 on their regular season roster. These players generally bounce back and forth between the NBA and G League, but remain under team control and can’t be poached by rival franchises.

With training camps set to begin in about a month, there are still nine NBA teams with open two-way spots. Two clubs — the Nets and Magic — each have a pair of two-way openings, while the remaining seven teams have one opening apiece. That means there are currently 11 two-way openings in the NBA.

Here’s the full list of NBA teams with two-way vacancies, as shown by our 2024/25 two-way contract tracker:

  • Brooklyn Nets
  • Chicago Bulls
  • Charlotte Hornets
  • Dallas Mavericks
  • Detroit Pistons
  • Los Angeles Clippers
  • Orlando Magic
  • Portland Trail Blazers
  • Washington Wizards

Technically, the Cavaliers have yet to finalize their reported two-way deal with JT Thor, but we expect that to occur at some point before training camp — that’s why they are not included on this list.

Since two-way deals are non-guaranteed and don’t count against the salary cap, it’s pretty common to see players shuffled in and out of rosters both before and during the season. It’s worth noting that Exhibit 10 deals can be converted to two-way contracts under certain conditions — these teams may be waiting until training camp and preseason to get a better look at young players.

First introduced in 2017, two-way deals have undergone some rule changes in recent years, and the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement has updated them further. Here are some key points to remember:

  • Teams can now carry three players on two-way contracts, rather than two.
  • Two-way players are eligible to be active for up to 50 of their team’s 82 regular season games. If a team isn’t carrying a full 15-man standard roster, its two-way players can only be active for a combined 90 games.
  • Players on two-way contracts will earn $578,577 in 2024/25, half of the rookie minimum.
  • Two-way contracts can’t be signed after March 4.

You can check out our glossary entry to learn more about two-way contracts.

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Blazers Assistant GM Oliva Named Head Coach Of Rip City Remix

August 27th, 2024 at 2:33pm CST by Luke Adams

A Trail Blazers assistant general manager is moving from the front office to the sidelines for the coming season, according to the team, which announced today that Sergi Oliva has been named the new head coach of the team’s G League affiliate, the Rip City Remix (Twitter link).

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link) and Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report reported the move ahead of the official announcement. Oliva is replacing Jim Moran, the former Rip City head coach who left the organization this offseason for a job with the Kings.

As Highkin explains, the Trail Blazers, with support from head coach Chauncey Billups, want to implement “new developmental strategies” at their G League affiliate that they feel will benefit the franchise in the long term. Oliva will lead those efforts.

While he has been a basketball operations executive since arriving in Portland in 2022, Oliva has previous coaching experience under Quin Snyder in Utah and Brett Brown in Philadelphia. His role with the Sixers was a dual coaching/front office position, Highkin notes.

According to Wojnarowski, the expectation is that Oliva will resume his assistant GM role with the Blazers at the end of the 2024/25 G League season, so the Remix will be in the market for a new coach at that time.

Justin Minaya and Bryce McGowens are currently on two-way contracts with Portland and figure to be regular contributors for Rip City this season. Henri Drell, who is on an Exhibit 10 deal, and Yongxi Cui, who reportedly reached an Exhibit 10 agreement with the Blazers, are other candidates to suit up for the Remix.

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Trail Blazers Notes: Grant, Schedule, Walton

August 23rd, 2024 at 4:05pm CST by Rory Maher

Jerami Grant‘s name has popped up in trade rumors multiple times this offseason. Should the Trail Blazers move him? Dave Deckard of Blazers Edge explores that topic, writing that the veteran forward’s skill set is better suited for a contending team than a rebuilding squad like Portland, which finished just 21-61 last season, tied for the third-worst record in the NBA.

Still, while the 30-year-old might make more sense on a team that’s interested in winning now than in the future, the Blazers shouldn’t feel any rush to deal him right away, according to Deckard, who points out that Grant is under contract for at least three more seasons, with a $36.4MM player option for 2027/28.

Here’s more on the Blazers:

  • A difficult schedule, combined the increasingly competitive Western Conference, will put Portland firmly in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes without needing to intentionally tank down the stretch in 2024/25, writes Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report. Flagg, who will play for Duke this season, is considered the top prospect in the 2025 draft class, but there are other players who are in the mix for the No. 1 pick, Highkin notes.
  • The Blazers recently announced that they will celebrate Hall of Famer Bill Walton‘s life on March 9 (Twitter link via Highkin). As Highkin points out, Portland will face Detroit on that date, and former NBA forward and head coach Luke Walton, Bill’s son, will be in attendance — he’s currently an assistant with the Pistons. Bill passed away in May after a long battle with cancer. He helped bring the Blazers their first and only championship in 1977, claiming Finals MVP in the process. He also won the league’s MVP the following year with Portland.
  • In case you missed it, the Blazers are parting ways with ROOT Sports and will be moving their games to an over-the-air network, with more details to be announced soon. They also added forward Henri Drell on an Exhibit 10 deal last week.
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Western Notes: Kennard, Edwards, Wembanyama, KD, Blazers

August 15th, 2024 at 9:03pm CST by Luke Adams

After the Grizzlies turned down Luke Kennard‘s 2024/25 team option on June 29, the expectation was that he’d sign a new contract with the club. It took over a month, but the two sides eventually agreed to a one-year, $11MM deal, and Kennard said this week that returning to Memphis was always the plan, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

“There are a lot of different conversations that go on throughout that process,” Kennard said. “I told (Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman) I want to be in Memphis. This is where I want to be. I’m excited with what they have built here over the last few years. I just wanted to be a small part of that.”

Family considerations factored into Kennard’s desire to remain with the Grizzlies, according to Cole, who notes that the 28-year-old is an Ohio native whose family isn’t too far from Memphis. Kennard and his wife also had a child in March, so he wasn’t eager to uproot them to move across the country.

“The fact that (family) can come see me anytime is such a big thing,” Kennard said. “Being closer to home plays a big factor. With the new baby and a wife at home, they love where we’re at and the city where we are. It’s been a great time so far. We’ve enjoyed Memphis a lot. We’re just glad we have at least another year.”

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

  • Anthony Edwards‘ Team USA experience at the 2023 World Cup ended without a medal, but the Timberwolves couldn’t have asked for a better set of circumstances for their young star this summer, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, who details how Edwards played an important role for a gold-medal U.S. roster at the Olympics and got the chance to spend several weeks learning from three of the best NBA players of all-time in LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry.
  • Rising Spurs star Victor Wembanyama didn’t get to spend as much time with Durant in Paris as Edwards did, but the reigning Rookie of the Year appreciated getting the opportunity to speak to the Suns forward following France’s loss to Team USA in the gold medal game. “Clearly, this is my personal childhood favorite,” Wembanyama said in an appearance on M6 (YouTube link; hat tip to Eurohoops). “He became my favorite player… I made it clear to him that I wanted to learn from him and perhaps steal one or two of his secret techniques.”
  • The Trail Blazers are parting ways with ROOT Sports and will be moving their games to an over-the-air network, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report, who says the details of the team’s TV broadcast plans for the 2024/25 season will be announced soon. It has become a bit of a trend for NBA teams to leave local regional sports networks in favor of over-the-air channels, writes Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, with the Blazers joining Phoenix, Utah, and New Orleans as teams who have recently made that move.
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Trail Blazers Sign Henri Drell To Exhibit 10 Deal

August 14th, 2024 at 11:30am CST by Luke Adams

11:30am: It’s an Exhibit 10 deal for Drell, Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report confirms (via Twitter).

7:19am: The Trail Blazers have signed free agent forward Henri Drell to a one-year, non-guaranteed training camp contract, according to RealGM’s transaction log.

Drell, 24, is a 6’9″ Estonian wing who spent several years playing overseas before joining the Windy City Bulls in the G League in January 2022. His play for Chicago’s G League affiliate across parts of three seasons eventually earned him a shot at the NBA level — he signed a two-way contract with the Bulls last December and spent the rest of the season with the club, though he logged just 30 total minutes across four NBA appearances.

Drell had his most productive G League season in 2023/24, averaging 14.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.8 steals in 32.6 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .435/.309/.757, across 42 Showcase Cup and regular season outings. However, the Bulls opted not to tender him a qualifying offer in June, so he became an unrestricted free agent, though he did play for Chicago in the Las Vegas Summer League last month.

The Trail Blazers now have 19 players under contract, including 14 on guaranteed standard deals, Dalano Banton and Devonte’ Graham on non-guaranteed contracts, and Justin Minaya and Bryce McGowens on two-way pacts. Yongxi Cui is also expected to sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the club.

It’s unclear if Drell’s deal includes Exhibit 10 language. If it does, he could be a candidate to have his deal converted to a two-way contract before the regular season begins.

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