Jerryd Bayless Becomes Unrestricted Free Agent
The Raptors have withdrawn their qualifying offer for free agent guard Jerryd Bayless, making him unrestricted, tweets ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Bayless is now free to agree to sign with any team, without the Raptors having the opportunity to match.
Nets Sign Tyshawn Taylor
The Nets have signed second-round pick Tyshawn Taylor, according to the team (via Twitter). Brooklyn acquired the 41st pick from the Trail Blazers on draft night in order to select the Hoboken native.
As a second-rounder, Taylor figures to earn the rookie minimum of $473,604. Adding a charge that small to the cap will have a negligible impact on the Nets' flexibility as they look to re-sign their own free agents or pursue a larger fish, such as Dwight Howard.
Rockets Sign Donatas Motiejunas
The Rockets officially announced today in a team release that they have signed 2011 first-round pick Donatas Motiejunas to a rookie scale contract. The 21-year-old was the 20th overall pick a year ago, so he figures to receive a rookie contract equivalent to what this year's 20th overall pick (Evan Fournier) would be eligible for — if he signed for the maximum 120%, Motiejunas will make $1,361,400 in his rookie season.
The Rockets acquired the rights to Motiejunas last June in a trade with the Timberwolves. The Lithuanian big man spent the 2011/12 season overseas, playing for Prokom Gdynia in Poland.
Nicolas Batum, Timberwolves Agree To Offer Sheet
Nicolas Batum and the Timberwolves have agreed to terms on a four-year, $45MM offer sheet with bonuses that could push the total value of the deal to $50MM, reports Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press (via Twitter). Once the offer sheet is signed, Portland will have three days to decide whether it wants to retain Batum or allow the forward to leave and join the Timberwolves.
Cavs Sign Dion Waiters, Tyler Zeller
The Cavs have signed first-round picks Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller to rookie contracts, according to a team release. Waiters, 20, was selected fourth overall by Cleveland after starring at Syracuse in the backcourt. Zeller, 22, was drafted 17th overall by the Mavericks and dealt to the Cavs in a draft night trade. The former UNC forward/center won the ACC Player of the Year award during his senior year. Bob Finnan of The News-Herald says Waiters received a four-year $16.7MM deal while Zeller obtained a four-year, $7.4MM contract (Twitter links).
Roy Hibbert, Blazers Reach Verbal Agreement
THURSDAY 5:35pm: The Pacers have yet to decide whether they will match the Trail Blazers' max offer sheet to Hibbert, reports David Aldridge of NBA.com (on Twitter).
SUNDAY 1:28pm: The Blazers and Hibbert have reached a verbal agreement, and the big man will sign an offer sheet with Portland on July 11th, says Joe Freeman of the Oregonian. The Pacers will then have three days to match the offer.
Magic To Pick Up J.J. Redick’s $6MM Option
The Magic plan to pick up J.J. Redick's $6MM option on the final year of his contract, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). The former Duke star enjoyed a strong season as he set career highs in points per game (11.6), rebounds per game (2.3) and assists per game (2.5). Orlando has until July 8 to officially pick up Redick's option after agreeing to terms with Jameer Nelson on a multiyear deal earlier Thursday.
Pacers Sign Miles Plumlee
The Pacers have signed 2012 first-round pick Miles Plumlee to a rookie scale contract, the team announced today (Twitter link). Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the 26th overall pick is eligible for a first-year salary of up to $1,073,280.
Plumlee, a 7'0" center from Duke, was projected by many pundits to be a second-round pick, so the Pacers' decision to select him late in the first round was a little surprising. In his final season with the Blue Devils, Plumlee averaged 6.6 points and 7.1 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per game.
Goran Dragic, Suns Agree To Four-Year Deal
12:47am: The deal is for four years and $30MM, with $1MM bonuses if Dragic makes the All-Star team, says Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter).
12:00am: Shortly after agreeing to send Steve Nash to Los Angeles in a sign-and-trade deal, the Suns have filled their opening at point guard with unrestricted free agent Goran Dragic. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter) that the Suns and Dragic have agreed to a four-year contract worth $34MM. According to SI.com's Sam Amick (Twitter link), the fourth year is a player option.
Rudy Fernandez Signs With Real Madrid
11:24pm: Real Madrid has officially announced the deal for Fernandez, tweets Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
WEDNESDAY, 8:43am: Fernandez's deal is for nine million Euros over three years, tweets ESPN.com's Marc Stein. At the moment, that works out to about $11.31MM.
TUESDAY, 2:31pm: Rudy Fernandez has agreed to sign a three-year contract with Spain's Real Madrid, according to Marca.com (Spanish link translated by Sportando). Fernandez himself confirmed via Twitter (Spanish link) that his new contract will officially be announced tomorrow.