Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Magic To Acquire Desmond Bane From Grizzlies In Three-Player Deal

June 15th, 2025 at 10:13am CST by Arthur Hill

The Grizzlies will trade Desmond Bane to the Magic in exchange for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks and one first-round pick swap, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Memphis will receive the 16th selection in this year’s draft, along with Phoenix’s first-round pick in 2026 and unprotected first-rounders from Orlando in 2028 and 2030, Charania adds, noting that there’s light protection on the pick swap in 2029 (Twitter link).

Bane provides a potent offensive weapon for a Magic team that often struggled to score. He averaged 19.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 69 games this season with .484/.392/.894 shooting numbers. He’ll be another scoring threat to team with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner and should be a good complement to defensive specialist Jalen Suggs in the backcourt as Orlando looks to become a contender in what should be a weakened Eastern Conference.

The 27-year-old guard just completed the first season of a five-year, $197.2MM extension, so Orlando will be getting the security of a long-term contract. Bane will make $36.7MM next season, with that number rising to $44.9MM in the final year of his deal in 2028/29.

Caldwell-Pope wasn’t able to provide the Magic with consistent backcourt scoring after being signed away from Denver last offseason, but Charania notes that he’s a strong defensive wing who’ll bring championship experience to Memphis. Caldwell-Pope, 32, appeared in 77 games this season, averaging 8.7 PPG, his lowest scoring average since his rookie season. He shot 43.9% from the field and 34.2% from three-point range, which was sharply lower than his two years in Denver.

Caldwell-Pope has two years left on the deal he signed last summer and will earn $21,621,500 in each of the next two seasons.

Anthony has been a productive scorer during his five years in Orlando, but his playing time (18.4 minutes per game) and scoring average (9.4 PPG) both hit career lows this season. The 25-year-old guard will provide Memphis with instant offense off the bench and will make $13.1MM next season with a $13.1 team option for 2026/27.

Cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets that the trade can be processed right away rather than waiting for the moratorium to be lifted on July 6. He adds that the Magic are required to do a 100% salary match because they project to be above the $195.9MM first apron next season. They will be hard capped at the $207.8MM second apron, but can escape the luxury tax by declining team options on Moritz Wagner ($11MM) and Gary Harris ($7.5MM).

Gozlan also states that Orlando’s combined salary and tax bill could top $350MM in 2026/27 once Banchero’s expected max extension kicks in (Twitter link).

In addition, Gozlan notes that the deal will impact a possible renegotiation and extension for Jaren Jackson Jr. by decreasing the Grizzlies’ available cap space from $6.9MM to $4.5MM. Additional trades may be necessary to free up more money for Jackson.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks points out (via Twitter) that Bane has a 15% trade bonus in his contract, but it will be voided because it would push his salary over the maximum.

Steven Adams To Sign Three-Year Extension With Rockets

June 14th, 2025 at 1:35pm CST by Rory Maher

The Rockets and Steven Adams have agreed to a contract extension, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports that the veteran center will receive a three-year, $39MM deal.

Adams’ extension is fully guaranteed, sources tell Charania, and does not feature a player or team option, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). The big man from New Zealand earned $12.6MM this past season.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (Twitter link), Adams was extension-eligible until June 30, the last day of the current league year.

Adams, who turns 32 years old next month, missed about half of the 2022/23 season with a knee injury. That same injury, which eventually required surgery, kept him on the shelf for the entire ’23/24 campaign. After a 21-month absence, he returned to action in late October.

The Rockets brought Adams along slowly to open ’24/25, frequently giving him extra rest days and limiting his playing time. He wound up making 58 regular season appearances and averaging a career-low 13.7 minutes per game.

While his production looked fairly modest on the surface — he averaged 3.9 points and 5.6 rebounds — Adams quietly posted the best offensive rebounding percentage of his career. His +9.4 net rating during the regular season and +14.1 mark in the postseason were both team highs, making him a key reserve for Houston.

GM Rafael Stone said retaining Adams would be a high priority this offseason, and subsequent reporting confirmed as much. Instead of becoming an unrestricted free agent, he opted to remain with the Rockets.

While there has been no indication that Houston is interested in trading Adams, it’s worth noting that, depending on the structure of the deal, he may remain trade-eligible after signing his new extension (assuming his annual raises don’t exceed 5%). Had he re-signed with the team as a free agent, he would not have been trade-eligible until December 15.

Nuggets’ Russell Westbrook To Opt Out Of Contract

June 13th, 2025 at 8:38am CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets point guard Russell Westbrook won’t exercise his $3.47MM player option for the 2025/26 season, league sources tell Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link).

Declining that option will put Westbrook on track to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. He would have the opportunity at that time to either re-sign with Denver or join a new team.

Westbrook, 36, played a significant role for the Nuggets after signing with the team as a free agent during the 2024 offseason. He averaged 13.3 points, 6.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 27.9 minutes per game across 75 appearances (36 starts) during the regular season, with a .449/.323/.661 shooting line. He also contributed 11.7 PPG, 2.6 APG, and 3.7 RPG in 13 playoff contests (24.1 MPG).

A former MVP and a nine-time All-Star, Westbrook is a polarizing player for a future Hall of Famer. He was lauded by coaches and teammates in Denver this past season for his energy, competitiveness, and leadership, and remains an excellent play-maker and an elite rebounder at his position. However, he’s also an inefficient scorer whose high-energy style often results in out-of-control plays and a high turnover rate.

Despite his flaws, Westbrook has been a great value on minimum-salary contracts in recent years after earning the maximum for much of his playing career. Since being bought out by the Jazz in 2023, he has opted for situations with the Clippers and Nuggets where he can play a major role on a team with championship aspirations. If money were more of a priority, Westbrook could likely have done better than the veteran’s minimum on the open market over the last couple seasons.

His decision to decline his option doesn’t come as a major surprise, since his $3,468,960 option was based on a 5% raise on this past season’s minimum salary. With the salary cap expected to rise by 10%, Westbrook’s new minimum projects to be $3,634,153, so even if he wants to remain with the Nuggets, opting out to sign a new contract makes sense.

It’s also worth noting that if Westbrook signs a one-year minimum-salary deal with Denver or another team, his cap hit for 2025/26 would be just $2,296,274. If he signs another one-plus-one contract that includes a second-year option, his cap charge would be equivalent to his actual salary, whether or not he earns the minimum.

Westbrook is currently recovering from a procedure to repair multiple ligament tears in his right hand.

Pelicans Re-Sign Kylor Kelley

April 13th, 2025 at 2:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans have brought back center Kylor Kelley for the final day of the 2024/25 season, signing him to a new contract via the hardship exception, the team announced in a press release.

Kelley signed a 10-day hardship contract with the Pelicans on April 3. Over the course of that deal, which expired on Saturday night, he appeared in two games, averaging 3.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in 22.0 minutes per contest.

Kelley, who went undrafted out of Oregon State in 2020, made his NBA debut earlier this season while on a two-way deal with the Mavericks. He has also played in the G League and a handful of other non-NBA leagues – including in England and Denmark – since going pro.

While Kelley’s latest contract is referred to as a “10-day” deal because it’s signed using the hardship exception, it’ll only actually cover one day, paying him $66,503, before it expires. As of Monday, the 27-year-old big man will once again be a free agent, with New Orleans not holding any form of Bird rights on him entering the offseason.

The Pelicans qualify for a hardship exception, which allows them to exceed the usual 15-man standard roster limit, because they have at least four players affected by long-term injury absences.

Celtics Convert JD Davison To Standard Contract

April 13th, 2025 at 11:05am CST by Earnest Marshall

April 13: Davison’s promotion is now official, according to the Celtics.

April 12: The Celtics are converting two-way guard JD Davison to a two-year standard contract, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). Boston had an open spot on its 15-man roster, so no corresponding move is necessary.

Boston drafted Davison in the second round of the 2022 draft. In his three years on two-way deals, the 22-year-old has appeared in total 35 games with the Celtics, averaging 1.7 points in 5.2 minutes per contest.

Davison has seen much more playing time at the G League level, averaging 20.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 8.0 assists across 133 regular season games. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the NBAGL this season after averaging 25.6 PPG in the regular season.

Being converted to the standard roster will make Davison eligible for the playoffs.

It’s unclear what the specifics are on his deal at this time, but it may feature little to no guaranteed money for next season. Conversions around this time of year help give contending teams longer looks at developmental players into the offseason and gives them the flexibility to decide whether to keep them around. Davison would have been eligible for restricted free agency this offseason had he not been converted.

Because the deadline for signing players to two-way contracts passed in March, the Celtics are not eligible to sign another player to fill Davison’s slot. Drew Peterson and Miles Norris occupy Boston’s other two-way slots, with Norris on a two-year deal that runs through 2025/26.

Raptors Sign Colin Castleton To Two-Year Deal

April 13th, 2025 at 10:28am CST by Luke Adams

April 13: Castleton’s contract with Toronto is now official, the team confirmed in a press release.

April 11: Second-year center Colin Castleton will be leaving the Sixers and returning to the Raptors on the final weekend of the regular season, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).

Castleton, who was on a two-way contract with the Grizzlies earlier this season, was waived by Memphis in January, then inked a pair of 10-day deals with Toronto in March before joining the 76ers on a 10-day pact last Thursday.

In 24 total outings for those three teams in 2024/25, Castleton has averaged 4.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 15.8 minutes per game. He played his best basketball this season with the Raptors, putting up 6.9 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 1.8 APG in 10 games (four starts) over the course of his 20 days with Toronto.

Because a player can’t sign more than two 10-day contracts with a team in a season, the big man was only able to return to the Raptors if he and the team agreed to a standard contract.

They’ve done just that, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca, who tweets that Castleton and two-way player A.J. Lawson are getting essentially the same deal — a two-year contract that isn’t guaranteed beyond this season. That will allow the Raptors to take a longer look at the duo this offseason, including in Summer League.

Toronto waived Orlando Robinson and Cole Swider on Thursday, opening up a pair of spots on the 15-man roster. At the time, reports indicated that Robinson, Swider, Lawson, and Castleton were among the candidates to fill those openings on new multiyear deals. It appears Lawson and Castleton will be the ones filling out the roster, with Robinson and Swider the odd men out.

Castleton’s 10-day contract with Philadelphia technically runs through Saturday, but with the Sixers not in action again until Sunday, it’s possible they’ll terminate his deal a day early in order to free him up to sign with Toronto.

Warriors Convert Braxton Key To Standard Contract

April 13th, 2025 at 10:01am CST by Rory Maher

The Warriors have converted forward Braxton Key‘s two-way deal to a standard contract, according to the NBA’s official transactions log.

The wording in the NBA’s log indicates it was a straight conversion of Key’s one-year contract rather than a brand-new multiyear deal, so he remains on track to be a free agent this summer, when his new contract expires.

As our Luke Adams wrote yesterday, the Warriors had an opening on their standard roster ahead of Sunday’s regular season finale. They have filled it by promoting Key, who is now eligible to appear in the postseason.

A four-year veteran, Key has played a total of 37 NBA games with Philadelphia, Detroit, Denver and Golden State since he went undrafted out of Virginia in 2020. He spent most of 2024/25 in the NBA G League with the San Diego Clippers before signing a two-way contract with the Warriors at the beginning of March.

Key excelled at the NBGL level this season, filling the stat sheet with averages of 16.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.1 blocks on .506/.282/.670 shooting in 49 total games with San Diego and the Santa Cruz Warriors (31.7 minutes per contest). He was named the G League’s Defensive Player of the Year earlier this month.

Hornets Re-Sign Jaylen Sims

April 13th, 2025 at 9:28am CST by Rory Maher

The Hornets have re-signed Jaylen Sims for Sunday’s regular season finale after his 10-day contract expired overnight, per a team press release.

As our tracker shows, the Hornets currently have a full 15-man standard roster. However, they were able to sign Sims using a hardship exception, as the team has multiple players dealing with significant injuries.

Hardship contracts typically cover 10 days, but Charlotte’s season concludes today. He will earn $6,650 for one day of work with his hometown team, and the Hornets will carry an identical cap hit on their books.

A 6’6″ shooting guard, Sims went undrafted out of UNC Wilmington in 2022 and has spent the past three seasons suiting up for the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’s NBA G League affiliate.

Sims made 49 combined appearances for the Swarm in 2024/25, averaging 19.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 32.9 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .442/.375/.837. The 26-year-old also played in five games (18.2 MPG) for the Hornets this month, averaging 6.0 PPG and 2.0 APG on .421/.400/.833 shooting.

Sixers Sign Isaiah Mobley

April 13th, 2025 at 9:08am CST by Rory Maher

The Sixers have signed free agent power forward Isaiah Mobley, the team announced in a press release.

Mobley was the 49th overall pick of the 2022 draft out of USC. He spent his first two seasons on two-way contracts with Cleveland, appearing in a total of 22 NBA games in a limited bench role.

The Cavaliers chose not to retain Mobley last summer, and he eventually signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the 76ers for training camp. He was released before the 2024/25 campaign began and has spent the entire season with their G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.

Mobley got off to a slow start during the fall’s Tip-Off Tournament, averaging 11.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists on .375/.333/.556 shooting in 13 games (25.2 minutes per contest). The 25-year-old played much better during the NBAGL’s regular season, averaging 17.4 PPG, 7.9 RPG and 3.4 APG on .471/.315/.750 shooting in 22 games (28.3 MPG).

The terms of Mobley’s contract were not disclosed, but Philadelphia currently has a full 15-man roster, and today’s announcement doesn’t say anything about waiving another player. That means Mobley was almost certainly signed via the hardship exception for Sunday’s regular season finale.

Colin Castleton‘s hardship deal with Philadelphia ended last night, and he will reportedly sign a two-year contract with the Raptors, so Mobley will essentially take that extra spot for one day. Marcus Bagley is also on a hardship deal with the Sixers, who qualify for multiple hardship exceptions because they have several players sidelined with long-term injuries.

Mobley is the older brother of Cavs big man Evan Mobley.

Raptors Promote A.J. Lawson To Two-Year Standard Deal

April 12th, 2025 at 3:46pm CST by Rory Maher

April 12: The Raptors have officially promoted Lawson to their standard roster, the team confirmed today in a press release.

April 11: The Raptors are promoting A.J. Lawson from his two-way contract to a two-year standard deal, agents Todd Ramasar and Mike Simonetta tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

An Ontario native, Lawson signed a two-way contract with Toronto in December after spending training camp this past fall with Dallas. He has made 24 appearances for the Raptors thus far in 2024/25, averaging 8.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in 18.0 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .428/.333/.620.

The Raptors waived center Orlando Robinson and sharpshooter Cole Swider on Thursday, creating a pair of openings on their standard roster. They will fill one of those vacancies by converting Lawson from his two-way contract. Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca reported yesterday that promoting Lawson was one option that Toronto was considering.

A 6’6″ wing, Lawson went undrafted in 2021 out of South Carolina. He spent his first professional season in the G League before catching on with Minnesota and then Dallas during the 2022/23 campaign. He spent all of ’23/24 with the Mavs, appearing in 42 games in a limited role off the bench.

Lawson opened ’24/25 suiting up for the G League’s Long Island Nets before signing with the Raptors. He was named to the NBAGL’s Up Next event — essentially its version of the All-Star Game — in late January. In 37 combined games (33.1 MPG) with Long Island and the Raptors 905 this season, the 24-year-old has averaged 20.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.5 APG and 1.3 SPG on .440/.361/.726 shooting.

Lawson’s salary for next season will be fully non-guaranteed, according to Murphy (Twitter link).