Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Rockets Sign Jack McVeigh To Two-Way Contract

July 25th, 2024 at 6:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 25: McVeigh’s two-way contract with the Rockets is now official, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

JULY 15: Australian forward Jack McVeigh has agreed to a two-way deal with the Rockets, ESPN’s Olgun Uluc reports.

The 6’8” McVeigh, 28, is coming off the best season of his professional career with the Tasmania JackJumpers. He led them to the 2024 NBL Championship and earned Championship Series MVP honors. Over the 2023/24 NBL season, McVeigh averaged 16.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game for the JackJumpers, shooting 52.5% from the field and 36.4% from beyond the arc.

McVeigh is a member of the 12-man Australian Boomers team for the 2024 Paris Olympics. He had nine points in Australia’s exhibition loss to Team USA on Monday.

McVeigh spent four seasons at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before beginning his professional career in the NBL.

Rockets big man Jock Landale is also on the Australian national team.

The Rockets had one opening for another two-way player. Jeenathan Williams and N’Faly Dante hold the other two-way deals.

Pacers Re-Sign James Johnson To One-Year Deal

July 25th, 2024 at 5:46pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 25: The Pacers have officially re-signed Johnson, the team confirmed today in a press release.

JULY 24: The Pacers are bringing back James Johnson, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), who hears from agent Mark Bartelstein that the veteran forward has agreed to a one-year, $3.3MM deal with Indiana.

Johnson, 37, has played for 10 NBA teams since entering the league as the 16th overall pick in the 2009 draft, but he hasn’t signed with any club besides the Pacers since September 2022. He has been on and off Indiana’s roster since his initial arrival — this will be the seventh contract he has signed with the team in the last two years.

Johnson has only appeared in 27 games as a Pacer, averaging a modest 2.2 points and 1.3 rebounds in 7.7 minutes per game during those outings. However, he’s valued within the organization for his toughness, veteran leadership, and presence in the locker room.

The minimum salary for a player with Johnson’s years of service is $3,303,771, so it’s safe to assume that’s what his contract will be worth. The Pacers will carry a cap hit of $2,087,519, with the league picking up the balance.

It’s unclear if the deal will be fully guaranteed. Last season, Johnson signed a non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract with the Pacers in December, was waived in January before it became fully guaranteed, then was brought back on a pair of two-way contracts and eventually a rest-of-season agreement.

Prior to officially signing Johnson, the Pacers are carrying 12 players on fully guaranteed salaries for 2024/25, with James Wiseman on a partially guaranteed deal and Kendall Brown on a non-guaranteed contract.

Nets To Sign Killian Hayes

July 25th, 2024 at 5:20pm CST by Luke Adams

5:20pm: Hayes’ deal with the Nets will be a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract, tweets Stefan Bondy of The New York Post.

4:25pm: The Nets have agreed to a deal with former lottery pick Killian Hayes, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Hayes will sign a one-year contract and will have an opportunity to compete for a regular season roster spot in Brooklyn.

The seventh overall pick in the 2020 draft, Hayes spent three-and-a-half seasons with the Pistons before being waived this February at the trade deadline. He has been an unrestricted free agent since then.

Hayes, who will turn 23 on Saturday, entered the NBA with a reputation for being a solid defender and passer whose offensive game was a work in progress, and that’s essentially still the case, as his shooting percentages increased only marginally over the course of his four years in the league.

Hayes averaged 6.9 points, 4.9 assists, and 2.8 rebounds in 24.0 minutes per game across 42 appearances (31 starts) this past season, with a shooting line of .413/.297/.660. Those field goal and three-point percentages actually represent career bests. His career NBA averages are 8.1 PPG, 5.2 APG, and 2.9 RPG on .382/.277/.775 shooting in 210 games (145 starts).

While the exact details of Hayes’ deal have yet to be reported, it’ll almost certainly be a minimum-salary contract. And since he isn’t assured of a 15-man roster spot, I’d expect his salary to either be non-guaranteed or to include just a modest partial guarantee.

The Nets are carrying 15 players on standard contracts prior to officially signing Hayes. Of those players, 13 are on fully guaranteed deals. Keon Johnson has a $250K partial guarantee, while Jalen Wilson has a partial guarantee of $75K.

Anthony Gill Re-Signs With Wizards

July 25th, 2024 at 1:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

1:58pm: While we don’t yet know the terms of the contract, Gill has officially re-signed with the Wizards, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

10:25am: Free agent forward Anthony Gill is re-signing with the Wizards, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps tweets.

Gill, 31, has played the last four seasons with Washington. Last season, he appeared in 50 games (three starts) and averaged 3.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in 9.3 minutes per contest.

Gill reached double figures in points in six of the last 11 games of the season when he saw regular playing time on a depleted roster. His two-year, veteran’s-minimum deal expired at the end of the season.

He’ll add depth, experience and leadership to a mostly young roster. No details of the agreement have been reported but the addition of Gill would give the Wizards 19 players on their training camp roster, including 17 on standard contracts. Two of those players on standard deals (Eugene Omoruyi and Jared Butler) have non-guaranteed salaries.

Over his four-year career, Gill has averaged 3.6 points and 1.8 rebounds in 9.9 minutes per game across 179 outings.

Gill had reportedly drawn interest from multiple European teams, including Barcelona and Anadolu Efes, but preferred to remain in the NBA. Gill started his professional career in Europe, having played for Russian club Khimki from 2017-20 after going undrafted out of Virginia.

Heat Sign Josh Christopher To Two-Way Contract

July 25th, 2024 at 1:27pm CST by Rory Maher

The Heat have signed free agent guard Josh Christopher to a two-way contract, the team announced (via Twitter). To create a two-way roster spot, Miami waived undrafted rookie Zyon Pullin.

Christopher is a former first-round pick (24th overall in 2021) who spent his first two NBA seasons in Houston before being traded to Memphis last summer. The Grizzlies eventually waived Christopher and his guaranteed contract for 2023/24 in late September, which also effectively declined his fourth-year team option for ’24/25.

Christopher later caught on with the Jazz, spending a few months with Utah on a two-way deal before being released in January. Despite being eligible to, he did not appear in an NBA game last season, having split the campaign with the Salt Lake City Stars, Utah’s NBA G League affiliate, and the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s affiliate.

The 22-year-old Christopher is being rewarded for his standout playing during Las Vegas Summer League, which saw the Heat win the championship in dramatic fashion, an overtime finish over Memphis. Christopher was named the title game’s MVP after registering a team-high 24 points, including six 3-pointers. He also added four rebounds, one assist, three steals and two blocks.

“I think this Heat culture thing just brought the best out of me. I don’t think I’ve had a series of games better than this in my life, honestly,” said Christopher, who averaged 19.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.0 steals on .541/.525/.1.000 shooting in his six appearances in Vegas (25.9 MPG).

As for Pullin, the 23-year-old point guard showed flashes during Summer League, but he also didn’t earn much playing time (11.9 MPG). The former UC-Riverside and Florida star will be an unrestricted free agent in a couple days if he clears waivers.

Dru Smith and Keshad Johnson occupy the Heat’s other two-way spots, as shown by our tracker.

Clippers Sign Trentyn Flowers To Two-Way Deal

July 25th, 2024 at 12:10pm CST by Rory Maher

The Clippers have signed undrafted rookie free agent Trentyn Flowers to a two-way contract, per NBA.com’s official transactions log.

A 6’7″ guard/forward, Flowers was reported in late June to be landing with L.A.. The type of contract was not specified at the time, but the 19-year-old was called by president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, owner Steve Ballmer and head coach Tyronn Lue, indicating he likely agreed to something more significant than a summer league deal.

Flowers was considered a potential late second-round pick (No. 56) on ESPN’s big board before going undrafted in 2024. He was the fourth-best prospect available on the open market following the draft, per ESPN.

An American prospect who spent the 2023/24 season in the NBL’s Next Stars program, Flowers averaged 5.2 points and 2.9 rebounds on .458/.421/.613 shooting in 18 games (12.7 minutes) with the Adelaide 36ers. Flowers is considered a top-tier athlete with scoring upside, but the rest of his game isn’t very well rounded at this stage of his development.

As our two-way contract tracker shows, the Clips had a pair of two-way vacancies before signing Flowers — they now have one.

Bulls Waive Andrew Funk

July 24th, 2024 at 7:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Bulls have opened up a two-way roster spot by waiving Andrew Funk, the team announced (via Twitter).

The 24-year-old shooting guard signed a two-way deal with Chicago in late February after starting the season with Grand Rapids in the G League. He saw limited playing time in five games with the Bulls, going scoreless in 13 total minutes.

Funk’s contract ran though the 2024/25 season, but Chicago decided to terminate it and look elsewhere for a two-way player.

Funk was part of the Bulls’ Summer League team, averaging 2.4 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists in five games in Las Vegas. He shot just 16.7% from the field and 17.6% from three-point range.

Chicago’s other two-way players are DJ Steward and Adama Sanogo.

DeAndre Jordan Re-Signs With Nuggets

July 24th, 2024 at 5:53pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 24: Jordan’s new contract is official, the Nuggets announced in a press release.

JUNE 29: Free agent center DeAndre Jordan plans to remain with the Nuggets on a one-year, $3.6MM deal, sources tell Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter link).

Jordan, 35, will be committing to a third season with the Nuggets after signing as a free agent in 2022, just in time for the team’s championship run. His on-court presence has diminished from his peak years, but he’s still a strong locker room presence who can provide rim protection and a lob threat when needed.

Jordan appeared in 36 games this season, making two starts and averaging 3.9 points and 4.4 rebounds in 11 minutes per night. Operating exclusively near the basket, his shooting percentage remains high at 62.4%.

A second-round draft pick by the Clippers in 2008, Jordan had his best years in L.A., earning one All-Star appearance and becoming a central part of the “Lob City” teams. He had brief stays with the Mavericks, Knicks, Nets, Lakers and Sixers before coming to Denver.

The veteran’s minimum salary for a player with 10 or more years of experience is projected to be worth a little over $3.3MM, so it will be interesting to see whether Jordan’s new deal is actually worth $3.6MM or if it will come in as a minimum deal. Denver’s proximity to the luxury tax line and the aprons makes every dollar important, and a minimum salary would only count as $2.1MM for salary cap and tax purposes.

The agreement with Jordan takes care of one Nuggets question mark before the start of free agency on Sunday evening. The team’s priority is re-signing shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who declined his player option on Thursday. Vlatko Cancar and Justin Holiday are also unrestricted free agents.

Darius Bazley, Kenneth Lofton Jr. Waived By Jazz

July 24th, 2024 at 4:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Jazz have waived Darius Bazley and Kenneth Lofton Jr., the team announced in a press release.

Both players had upcoming salary guarantee dates, so it’s possible they could re-sign with Utah on new deals later in the offseason. They would have been guaranteed $400K apiece if they had remained with the team through Thursday and $600K if they had been on the opening night roster. Bazley was set to make $2.5MM this season, while Loften was signed for $2.1MM on their non-guaranteed contracts.

Bazley, a 24-year-old power forward/center, signed with Utah on March 12 and appeared in six games, averaging 8.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in 23.7 minutes per night. After being waived by Brooklyn in October, he spent most of last season with Delaware in the G League, other than a three-game stint with Philadelphia on a 10-day contract.

Lofton, a 21-year-old power forward, signed with the Jazz on March 11 and saw action in four games, averaging 13.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 22.8 minutes per night. He appeared in 15 games with Memphis at the start of last season before being waived in December and got into two games with Philadelphia on a two-way contract.

Both players were part of Utah’s Summer League roster.

Grizzlies Sign Jay Huff To Two-Way Deal, Waive Trey Jemison

July 24th, 2024 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies have signed free agent big man Jay Huff to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link). In order to open up a two-way slot for Huff, Memphis waived center Trey Jemison.

Huff, who went undrafted out of Virginia in 2021, has bounced back and forth between the NBA and G League over the past three years, appearing in 31 regular season NBA games during that time, including 20 while on a two-way contract with the Nuggets last season.

Huff’s contributions at the NBA level have been modest (2.4 points and 1.2 rebounds in 5.3 minutes per game), but he has excelled in the NBAGL, earning Defensive Player of the Year and All-NBAGL First Team honors in 2023. In 18 games last season for the Grand Rapids Gold – Denver’s affiliate – he averaged 19.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 3.6 blocks in 28.9 minutes per contest, with a strong shooting line of .573/.390/.857.

The 7’1″ center was also impressive at the Las Vegas Summer League with the Magic this month, putting up 16.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 2.2 BPG on .621/.357/.778 shooting in five outings (26.5 MPG).

Jemison signed a 10-day contract with the Grizzlies in January, then agreed to a two-year, two-way deal when that contract expired. He earned regular minutes down the stretch on a Memphis roster hit hard by injuries, averaging 7.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 1.2 BPG in 23 games (24.9 MPG). However, it appears he’s not in the team’s plans going forward, at least for now.

Huff joins Cam Spencer and Scotty Pippen Jr. as the Grizzlies’ two-way players.