Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jazz Sign Trey Burke, Rudy Gobert

July 6th, 2013 at 4:45pm CST by Luke Adams

4:45pm: The Jazz also announced their official signing of Burke.

SATURDAY, 2:48pm: The Jazz have officially signed Gobert, according to their website.

FRIDAY, 8:35am: The Jazz have signed their two first-round picks to rookie contracts, according to Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld (via Twitter). While no official announcement has been made by the team yet, Pincus hears that Trey Burke and Rudy Gobert have been locked up.

The formal signing of a first-round pick is one of the few transactions that's allowed during the July moratorium. With the move, Burke's and Gobert's cap holds will be replaced by 120% of their respective amounts, assuming they each signed the maximum allowable rookie deal, which virtually all first-rounders do.

As our chart of likely first-round salaries shows, that would mean a first-year salary of about $2.44MM for Burke and $1.08MM for Gobert. Overall, the newly-signed contracts will amount to an increase of about $600K on the team's 2013/14 books. That difference should be negligible as Utah pursues free agents, since the club still has more than $25MM in cap room.

Blazers Waive Sasha Pavlovic

July 6th, 2013 at 4:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Blazers have waived Sasha Pavlovic, the team announced via Twitter. Pavlovic's deal extended through 2014/15, but both years left on it were non-guaranteed, meaning Portland doesn't owe him any more money after paying him $1,232,713 this past season. Pavlovic was acquired last summer as part of a three-team sign-and-trade arrangement, and he seemed to be included in the deal simply to make the salaries match. Since players who are signed-and-traded must be given three-year deals, that's what Pavlovic got, but the lack of guaranteed money allows the Blazers to part ways with him now.

The Dan Fegan client will hit the free agent market, unless another team puts in a claim for him, which would be unlikely. He was in and out of Portland's rotation this past season, averaging 2.6 points in 13.5 minutes per game. With the team's acquisition of C.J. McCollum at the draft and its agreement today to sign Dorell Wright, the Blazers added depth at the wing positions, likely eliminating any need to keep Pavlovic around.

Pavlovic was set to earn close to $1.4MM this season and nearly $1.5MM in 2014/15, so his release figures to give the Blazers a little more wiggle room under the cap. Still, it'll be a tight squeeze if they want to sign anyone else, given their trades for Robin Lopez and Thomas Robinson. Portland's best weapon left might be its $2.65MM room exception.

Nets To Sign Bojan Bogdanovic?

July 6th, 2013 at 1:51pm CST by Chuck Myron

SATURDAY, 1:51pm: Bogdanovic pegged his chances of joining the Nets at only 50% or slightly higher when speaking to a Croatian radio station today, as noted on the website Sportnet (translation via Nets Daily). Bogdanovic denied that a deal had been signed, though no deal can be officially signed until the July Moratorium is up on Wednesday, anyway.

FRIDAY, 8:23pm: Bogdanovic will get a three-year deal with a starting salary of about $2.4MM, tweets Howard Beck of The New York Times. That would leave close to $800K on the mini mid-level for the Nets to sign someone else. That wouldn't be enough room to bring on a player for as much as the two-year veteran's minimum salary, but as Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News points out on Twitter, the Nets may prefer to let that money go unspent so they can save on their already-hefty luxury tax bill.

8:03pm: The Nets have reached agreement on a deal that will bring 2011 second-round pick Bojan Bogdanovic to the team for the coming season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The team acquired the draft rights to the Bosnia and Herzegovina native shortly after he was taken 31st overall by the Heat two years ago.

When it appeared the Nets would use their mini mid-level to sign Kyle Korver, it looked like Bogdanovic would not be coming stateside this season, since the rookie minimum salary would have been all Brooklyn would have had left to give him. With Korver heading back to the Hawks instead, that frees up as much as $3.183MM to give to Bogdanovic as a starting salary.

The 6'8" small forward maintained interest in playing for the Nets even as it appeared he wouldn't get the chance to do so right away. He averaged 14.3 points per game and shot 38.7% from three-point range this past season for Fenerbahce Ulker in Turkey.

Dwight Howard To Sign With Rockets

July 5th, 2013 at 10:01pm CST by Luke Adams

10:01pm: Howard, as promised, took to Twitter (or Twitlonger, to be precise) to reveal his choice of the Rockets.

"I've decided to become a member of the Houston Rockets. I feel its the best place for me and I am excited about joining the Rockets and I'm looking forward to a great season. I want to thank the fans in Los Angeles and wish them the best."

9:36pm: It appears Howard has picked the Rockets once and for all. The Lakers have released a statement from GM Mitch Kupchak:

"We have been informed of Dwight's decision to not return to the Lakers. Naturally we're disappointed. However, we will now move forward in a different direction with the future of the franchise and, as always, will do our best to build the best team possible, one our great lakers fans will be proud to support. To Dwight, we thank him for his time and consideration, and for his efforts with us last season. We wish him the best of luck on the remainder of his NBA career."

Of course, nothing's official until July 10th, when the league's July Moratorium is up, but presumably, Howard will be headed to Houston.

9:33pm: HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy hears from a source close to Howard that he's decided to join the Rockets after all (Twitter link).

8:46pm: On ESPN's SportsCenter, Chris Broussard is reporting that Howard has told the Lakers he's changed his mind, and both the Lakers and Rockets have 50-50 chances, according to multiple reports (All Twitter links).

6:32pm: Howard is flying from Colorado to L.A. to speak with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak tonight, Bresnahan tweets.

5:47pm: Asik has no interest in backing up Howard if D12 does indeed come to Houston, and that could force a trade, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. The Hawks would listen to a sign-and-trade proposal involving Smith, Windhorst adds (Twitter links).

5:41pm: If Howard does sign with the Rockets, Mannix expects the team to try to flip Omer Asik, possibly as part of a deal for Josh Smith (Twitter link). Pincus believes the Rockets may still need to create a little more cap room to sign Howard outright to a max deal, though that won't be official until the salary cap is set next week, when the July Moratorium ends (Twitter link).

5:36pm: Houston GM Daryl Morey tweets that while he is "excited & cautiously optimistic" that Howard might choose Houston, he and the team have not been informed of his decision (hat tip to HoopsWorld's Eric Pincus).

5:31pm: As it stands at the moment, Fegan appears to be the one putting the brakes on the story, telling Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times that, "Based on my most recent conversation wirh Dwight, it’s inaccurate" that he has chosen Houston (Twitter link). Howard had been leaning toward Houston, but with his back issues, he's wondering if leaving $30MM is the right idea, Bresnahan tweets.

5:21pm: Multiple sources tell Wojnarowski that Howard has chosen the Rockets, but that he is still finalizing details of the agreement (Twitter link). Chris Mannix of SI.com says that he's been told Howard is wrestling with the idea of passing up the extra $30MM or so that the Lakers could offer, but if all things were equal, he'd go to Houston (Twitter link). Kennedy echoes that sentiment via Twitter. The Lakers and Rockets are the only two teams that haven't been notified they're out of the running, Wojnarowski notes (on Twitter).

5:15pm: A decision is coming tonight or tomorrow, tweets Kennedy.

5:12pm: A source close to Howard tells Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld that no decision has been made, although it's unclear whether that source spoke to Kennedy before or after news broke that he would sign with the Rockets (Twitter link). While Berger and TNT's David Aldridge both confirm Howard will sign with the Rockets (Twitter links), agent Dan Fegan tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that "Dwight has not finalized his decision" (Twitter link).

4:55pm: The most-discussed free agent of the summer has finally made his decision. After spending the week meeting with five different teams and weighing his options at a Colorado resort, Dwight Howard has opted to sign with the Rockets, reports Sam Amick of USA Today.

Howard has begun personally calling teams to tell them of his decision, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The Warriors have already received one of those calls from Howard, according to Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). The Hawks and Lakers appeared to be the other teams in the running at the very end, with the Mavericks having been officially eliminated earlier.

Chuck Myron contributed to this story.

Rockets To Trade Royce White To Sixers

July 5th, 2013 at 7:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

7:50pm: Furkan Aldemir is headed to Philadelphia as well, tweets Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, identifying the international prospect in the deal.

7:02pm: The Rockets have agreed to trade Royce White to the Sixers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Houston will receive future draft considerations from Philadelphia, and the Rockets will throw in the draft rights to an international prospect as well as cash.

White, the 16th pick in the 2012 draft, never appeared in a regular season game for the Rockets because of his battles with the team concerning accomodations for his psychological disorders. He averaged 11.4 points and 5.7 rebounds in 16 games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston's D-League affiliate.

The move clears White's $1,719,480 guaranteed salary from Houston's books, though as HoopsWorld's Eric Pincus points out (on Twitter), the Rockets still probably need to clear a little more room to fit in a max contract for Dwight Howard. That could entail simply cutting one of a few players on a non-guaranteed deal. Greg Smith, James Anderson, Patrick Beverley and Tim Ohlbrecht all have deals that aren't fully guaranteed, though Beverley would figure to be the least likely among them to go.

Bird Rights For Millsap, Jack To Be Renounced

July 5th, 2013 at 4:25pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors and the Jazz have been at the center of a pair of major deals this afternoon, including agreeing to a trade that will send a handful of draft picks and about $24MM in salaries to Utah. However, as a result of that trade and Golden State's subsequent agreement with Andre Iguodala, two major free agents will almost certainly no longer re-sign with their respective teams.

According to TNT's David Aldridge (via Twitter), the Jazz will need to renounce their Bird rights to Paul Millsap in order to clear the necessary cap room to absorb all the incoming salary. That means that the Jazz could no longer offer Millsap more than the $2.65MM room exception to re-sign in Utah.

Meanwhile, the Warriors find themselves in a similar boat with Jarrett Jack. To create space for Iguodala's salary, Golden State will renounce its Bird rights to Jack, as Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group tweets. Like Millsap, Jack now won't be eligible for more than the $2.65MM room exception if he hopes to re-sign with his former team.

Although it's still technically possible for both players to re-sign with their respective clubs, the odds are strongly in favor of both free agents finding new homes within the next few days or weeks.

Acie Law To Re-Sign With Olympiacos

July 4th, 2013 at 10:22am CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA lottery pick Acie Law has agreed to re-sign with Greek powerhouse Olympiacos, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Law's deal will be for two years and $2.8MM, says Wojnarowski.

Law, 28, was drafted 11th overall in 2007 by Atlanta, and spent parts of four NBA seasons with the Hawks, Warriors, Bobcats, Bulls, and Grizzlies. He has played for Olympiacos for the last two years, most recently averaging 8.1 PPG in 30 Euroleague contests in 2012/13.

Wojnarowski reports that Law's deal will include an out clause that will allow him to accept an NBA deal prior to July 25th. It's not clear whether that out clause just applies to this season, or whether he'll receive the same opportunity next summer.

Tyreke Evans To Sign Pelicans’ Offer Sheet

July 3rd, 2013 at 9:03pm CST by Alex Lee

9:03pm: Evans has officially given a verbal commitment to the Pelicans that he will sign their offer sheet on July 10, tweets USA Today's Sam Amick. David Aldridge of NBA.com confirms Amick's report via Twitter. The Kings will have three days to match the four-year, $44MM offer.

8:41pm: Stein is now hearing that the Pelicans and Evans are finalizing an offer sheet (via Twitter). Meanwhile, Jason Jones reports that Evans planned on giving the Kings until today to make an offer or he'd agree to the New Orleans offer sheet. There have been conflicting reports regarding where Evans would like to end up, as can be typical when it comes to restricted free agents.

6:07pm: Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee tweets that Evans is waiting on the Kings to make him an offer before committing to New Orleans, presumably in response to the ESPN report. Jones also tweets that while Evans is aware the Kings can always match the offer sheet, he wants to give them every chance to beat it. It is worth noting that it was Jones who reported earlier that Evans would prefer to sign in Sacramento.

5:41pm: We heard earlier today that there was no guarantee that restricted free agent Tyreke Evans would sign the four-year, $44MM contract offer extended to him by the Pelicans, and that a comparable offer from the Kings would ensure he stays put in Sacramento. Now, per a report from Marc Stein and Jeff Goodman of ESPN, it appears that Evans is "ready for a change" and plans to sign in New Orleans. The report cites sources "familiar with his thinking."

Evans has been frustrated by the negotiations with the Kings and is "determined" to leave the organization and sign with the Pelicans on the first day possible, according to the report. Evans has yet to verbally agree to the deal with New Orleans, but it is an "inevitability" for that to happen this week. Evans apparently plans to sign the Pelicans' offer sheet on July 10 – the first day possible per NBA restrictions – and giving the Kings three days from then to either match the offer or pass.

After Sacramento drafted Ben McLemore last week and extended a big offer to Andre Iguodala yesterday, before withdrawing it today, Evans seems to be hurt that the team, and new owner Vivek Ranadive, has yet to make a realistic attempt at bringing him back. According to the source, the Kings could have retained Evans had they showed interest earlier.

Celtics Hire Brad Stevens As Head Coach

July 3rd, 2013 at 7:54pm CST by Luke Adams

7:54pm: Stevens' deal with the C's is six years, for $22MM, per Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

6:13pm: Stevens will get a six-year contract with the Celtics, reports Steve Bulpett from the Boston Herald, citing a league source (via Twitter).

4:41pm: The Celtics have officially reached an agreement to hire Brad Stevens as their head coach, the team announced today in a press release. Stevens had served as the head coach at Butler University for the past six seasons.

"Brad and I share a lot of the same values," team president Danny Ainge said in a statement. "Though he is young, I see Brad as a great leader who leads with impeccable character and a strong work ethic. His teams always play hard and execute on both ends of the court. Brad is a coach who has already enjoyed lots of success, and I look forward to working with him towards Banner 18."

A report last week indicated that the Celtics intended to target lower-profile coaching candidates, and Stevens certainly qualifies. While he has had success at the NCAA level, the 36-year-old Stevens hadn't been publicly linked to any of the NBA's 12 other head coaching openings this offseason, though Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld tweets that another NBA club considered hiring him a few weeks ago.

After releasing Doc Rivers from the three years and $21MM left on his contract, the Celtics will presumably be paying significantly less to Stevens, though the terms of the agreement aren't yet known. As Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports notes (via Twitter), the Celtics front office has put a greater emphasis on analytics, which Stevens incorporated at Butler.

Pacers Sign Solomon Hill

July 3rd, 2013 at 7:43pm CST by Alex Lee

The Pacers have officially signed first-round pick Solomon Hill, selected 23rd overall, to a rookie-scale contract, the team announced today through their website. During the July moratorium, first-round picks are permitted to sign contracts with their respective clubs.

The 22-year-old Hill will likely receive a 2013/14 salary worth about $1.25MM, as our Luke Adams outlined in our breakdown of salaries for first-round picks. Hill, who spent three years at Arizona, was a surprise selection by the Pacers at 23. The team also reached a deal with free agent Donald Sloan earlier today.