Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hawks Sign Vit Krejci To Four-Year Contract

July 12th, 2024 at 1:16pm CST by Rory Maher

July 12: Krejci’s four-year deal is official, the Hawks announced in a press release.

July 10: The Hawks are re-signing Vit Krejci on a four-year, $10MM contract, agents Alex Saratsis and Phillip Parun tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Atlanta issued Krejci a qualifying offer last month, making him a restricted free agent. The 24-year-old, who hails from Czechia, was the 37th overall pick of the 2020 draft.

There was speculation late last season that Atlanta might promote Krejci from his two-way contract to a standard deal in order to make him eligible for the postseason. That did not occur, but Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported at the time that the Hawks hoped to re-sign Krejci on a four-year deal, which is now about to come to fruition.

A 6’8″ combo guard, Krejci spent his first post-draft season rehabbing a torn ACL. He signed a multiyear contract with the Thunder prior to the 2021/22 season, playing 30 games for the club as a rookie.

Oklahoma City traded Krejci to Atlanta in a September 2022 move that was mostly about finances for the Hawks. He appeared in 29 games for Atlanta in ’22/23, averaging a modest 5.3 MPG.

The Hawks waived Krejci last August when he was on a non-guaranteed deal and the team was facing a roster crunch. He later signed an Exhibit 10 training camp deal with Minnesota, but was cut before the ’23/24 season began.

Krejci returned to the Hawks on a two-way contract in December. In part due to injuries, he became a rotation regular down the stretch last season, averaging 6.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists on .490/.412/.833 shooting in 22 games, including 14 starts (24.6 minutes per contest).

Based on the reported terms, Krejci almost certainly received a minimum-salary contract. Since he has three years of NBA experience, Kreji’s four-year deal will technically pay him $10,185,213, though we’ll have to wait and see how much of it is guaranteed.

Wizards Sign Saddiq Bey To Three-Year Deal

July 12th, 2024 at 5:55am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 12: The Wizards have officially signed Bey, according to the NBA’s transaction log.

The three-year deal includes $19MM in guaranteed money, with another $1MM in incentives, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic.

JULY 10: The Wizards and free agent forward Saddiq Bey have reached an agreement on a three-year, $20MM deal, agents James Dunleavy and Jordan Gertler tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Bey, who began his NBA career with the Pistons, was traded to Atlanta at the 2023 deadline and spent the past season-and-a-half with the Hawks. In 2023/24, he appeared in 63 games for the club, starting 51. He averaged 13.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 32.7 minutes per game on .416/.316/.837 shooting before a torn ACL ended his season in March.

That ACL tear complicated Bey’s free agency this summer. Despite his up-and-down season prior to the injury, a healthy version of the 25-year-old would almost certainly have received his $8.49MM qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent.

However, because Bey could spend most – or all – of the 2024/25 season recovering from ACL surgery, it would have been a risk for Atlanta to put that qualifying offer on the table. The 6’7″ forward could have accepted it, earned $8.49MM while recovering for most of the year, then signed elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent next summer. As a result, the team opted not to issue that QO, making him a UFA this offseason.

While the Hawks and Bey reportedly continued talking after they passed on his qualifying offer, the team is facing a bit of a roster crunch, leaving the former Villanova standout as an odd man out.

Washington, Bey’s hometown team, is going through a significant rebuilding process and won’t need contributions from him right away, making it an ideal fit. If Bey is healthy and productive in the second and third years of the contract, it’ll be a worthwhile investment for the Wizards, who project to be among the NBA’s worst teams in 2024/25 with or without him.

According to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Wizards view the former first-round pick as a “tough, hard-nosed culture guy” who will be a good addition to the locker room next season and will help on the court once he gets healthy. Bey’s contract won’t include a team or player option, Robbins adds (via Twitter).

The Wizards still have their entire mid-level exception available after using a trade exception to add Jonas Valanciunas on a three-year, $30MM+ contract via sign-and-trade, so it looks like they’ll use a portion of that MLE to sign Bey. Once the deal is complete, Washington will have 14 players on guaranteed contracts, with two more (Eugene Omoruyi and Jared Butler) on non-guaranteed salaries.

Trail Blazers Sign Bryce McGowens To Two-Way Contract

July 11th, 2024 at 6:12pm CST by Rory Maher

6:12pm: McGowens’ two-way deal with the Blazers is official, according to the team (Twitter link).

2:22pm: The Trail Blazers are signing free agent wing Bryce McGowens to a two-way contract, agents Kyle McAlarney and Mark Bartelstein tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

McGowens, 21, was the No. 40 overall pick of the 2022 draft after spending one college season at Nebraska. He spent his first two NBA seasons with the Hornets, who waived his non-guaranteed contract on Saturday to create more salary cap flexibility.

In 59 games with Charlotte in 2023/24, McGowens averaged 5.1 PPG, 1.7 RPG and 0.9 APG with a .439/.333/.776 shooting line in 14.9 MPG.

As our tracker shows, Portland currently only has one player — Justin Minaya — signed to a two-way contract. McGowens will fill the second of three total two-way spots.

If he stays on a two-way deal for the entire ’24/25 season, McGowens will earn a little under $579K. He will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2025, assuming he isn’t released before then.

Mavericks Add Jazian Gortman On Exhibit 10 Deal

July 11th, 2024 at 3:55pm CST by Rory Maher

The Mavericks have signed free agent Jazian Gortman to an Exhibit 10 training camp deal, a league source tells Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). The move is official, per RealGM’s log of NBA transactions.

A 6’2″ guard, Gortman went undrafted in 2023 after playing for the YNG Dreamers in the Overtime Elite program. He signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Bucks last summer and was waived before the 2023/24 season began.

The 21-year-old spent last season in the G League with the Wisconsin Herd (Milwaukee’s affiliate) and the Rip City Remix (Portland’s affiliate). In 41 combined games between the two clubs, he held fairly modest averages of 9.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG and 3.6 APG on .408/.308/.719 shooting in 18.4 MPG.

An Exhibit 10 contract is a non-guaranteed minimum-salary deal that doesn’t count against a team’s cap unless the player makes the regular season roster. It can be converted to a two-way contract before the season begins or can put a player in line to earn a bonus of up to $77.5K if he’s waived and then spends at least 60 days with his team’s G League affiliate.

Malik Beasley Signs With Pistons

July 11th, 2024 at 1:36pm CST by Earnest Marshall

July 11: Beasley’s contract is now official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

July 6: Free agent guard Malik Beasley is planning to sign a one-year deal worth $6MM with the Pistons, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Beasley spent last season with the Bucks.

Beasley, 27, has averaged 10.9 points per game for his career and is a skilled marksman, shooting 38.5% from beyond the arc in 496 total regular season games, He was incredibly durable last year, starting in 77 of his 79 games for the Bucks and making a carer-high 41.3% of his three-pointers.

The Pistons’ interest in Beasley was reported on Friday night by HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto. The fit between the two sides makes sense, as Detroit ranked 29th in made three-pointers and 26th in three-point percentage last year during a franchise-worst 14-68 season.

Beasley will join Tobias Harris (.368 career 3PT%) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (.360 career 3PT%) as some of Detroit’s key offseason additions who can make an impact from outside. Combine those moves with the fact the franchise is bringing in assistant Fred Vinson, known for his work with players from the three-point line, and it’s clear that spacing the floor around young guard Cade Cunningham was a top priority this offseason.

Beasley played for Milwaukee on a minimum contract last year and, after a successful individual year in which he participated in the NBA’s three-point contest, is signing a more significant deal.

Given the reported terms of Beasley’s agreement, Detroit could sign him using cap space or the room exception ($8MM). That decision figures to come down to what other moves the Pistons make in free agency and/or on the trade market.

Timberwolves Re-Sign Daishen Nix On Two-Way Contract

July 10th, 2024 at 10:24pm CST by Rory Maher

The Timberwolves have re-signed free agent guard Daishen Nix to a two-way contract, according to NBA.com’s official transactions log. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype was first to note the news (via Twitter).

A former McDonald’s All-American who went undrafted in 2021 after one season with the G League Ignite, Nix spent his first two NBA seasons with Houston. The Rockets waived him in June 2023 before his salary for the 2023/24 season became guaranteed.

Nix, 22, signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Timberwolves last September and then was converted to a two-way contract in October. He only appeared in 15 NBA games last season for a total of 50 minutes.

Nix appeared in 13 Showcase Cup and regular season games in ’23/24 for Minnesota’s G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, putting up impressive averages of 22.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.5 steals in 36.3 minutes per contest. He struggled with scoring efficiency, however, posting a .397/.244/.643 shooting line.

As our tracker shows, Nix fills Minnesota’s third and final two-way spot, joining Jaylen Clark and Jesse Edwards.

Mavericks Re-Sign Brandon Williams To Two-Way Contract

July 10th, 2024 at 3:31pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks have re-signed point guard Brandon Williams to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.

Williams, 24, has been playing professionally since going undrafted in 2021, bouncing between the G League and the NBA during the past three seasons. He joined the Mavericks last December on a two-way deal and appeared in 17 regular season games for Dallas the rest of the way, averaging 3.2 points and 1.0 assist in 6.6 minutes per night.

In 19 outings at the G League level for the Osceola Magic and the Texas Legends in 2023/24, Williams averaged an impressive 25.3 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.9 rebounds in 34.9 minutes per game, posting a shooting line of .475/.345/.842.

The Mavericks issued Williams a two-way qualifying offer at the end of June, ensuring they’d have the right to match any offer he received from another team. Instead, he’s back under contract with Dallas on a new two-way deal, possibly having simply accepted that QO.

Dallas now has one available two-way slot, with Alex Fudge and Williams filling two of the three.

Pistons Sign Cade Cunningham To Five-Year Max Extension

July 10th, 2024 at 3:17pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 10: Cunningham’s maximum-salary extension is official, the Pistons announced today in a press release.

Cunningham is the third player to sign a max rookie scale extension this offseason, joining Scottie Barnes of the Raptors and Franz Wagner of the Magic.

JULY 9: The Pistons and Cunningham are in agreement on a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension, agents Jeff Schwartz and James Dunleavy tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Wojnarowski says it’s a $224MM deal that could be worth up to $269MM, which means it will include Rose rule language that could bump the starting salary from 25% of the 2025/26 cap to 30% if Cunningham makes an All-NBA team

JUNE 30: The Pistons intend to sign 2021 No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham to a five-year, rookie scale max extension, sources tell Shams Charania and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The exact value of Cunningham’s extension is currently unknown. If the salary cap rises by 10% in 2025/26, which is when the extension will kick in, it would be worth approximately $224MM.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks hears (via Twitter) that while Detroit and Cunningham have discussed an extension, a deal doesn’t appear to be imminent. However, Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press has sources who say it’s on track to get done. The guard can’t officially sign anything until July 6.

After a promising ’21/22 campaign which saw Cunningham finish third in Rookie of the Year voting, the 22-year-old was limited to just 12 games due to season-ending surgery in ’22/23. Despite the Pistons finishing with the NBA’s worst record in ’23/24, Cunningham had a strong third season, averaging 22.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 7.5 APG and 0.9 SPG on .449/.355/.869 shooting in 62 games (33.5 MPG).

Assuming Cunningham’s contract comes to fruition, which seems likely, he would join Raptors forward Scottie Barnes as the second player from the 2021 draft class to agree to a rookie scale extension. The full list of players eligible for rookie scale deals can be found right here.

While Barnes agreed to an extension that features Rose rule language, potentially allowing him to earn 30% of the ’25/26 salary cap instead of 25%, the terms Charania and Edwards reported suggest that Cunningam might not have gotten that offer from Detroit. Either way, it’s a major commitment to the 6’6″ guard, who will earn $13.94MM in ’24/25, which is the final season of his rookie scale contract.

Clippers Sign Kevin Porter Jr. To Two-Year Contract

July 10th, 2024 at 12:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 10: Porter is officially a Clipper, the team announced today in a press release.

JUNE 30: The Clippers have reached a two-year agreement with guard Kevin Porter Jr., Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). The contract will include a player option in the second year.

Porter’s new deal will be for the veteran’s minimum, The Athletic’s Law Murray tweets, and will be fully guaranteed, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). It will include a 15% trade kicker, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports adds (Twitter link).

Porter has had a short, but checkered, history in the NBA. He started his career with Cleveland, but was inactive at the beginning of the 2020/21 season due to an off-season weapons charge, which was later dropped. He was traded from Cleveland to Houston in 2021 on the heels of a locker room incident.

In 2023, following an arrest on a domestic assault charge, Porter was traded by the Rockets to Oklahoma City shortly before the start of the regular season. The Thunder waived him the day after the deal was completed and he didn’t play in the league this past season.

Porter reached a plea agreement of a third-degree reckless assault misdemeanor in January. He is in the process of completing a court-ordered program, and once completed his plea will move to not guilty with no criminal record (Twitter links).

Porter was originally charged with felony counts of assault and strangulation after an altercation with his former girlfriend in New York.

At the beginning of April, Porter signed with PAOK in Greece. In six domestic league matches, he averaged 22.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 2.8 steals in 39 minutes per contest.

Porter drew multiple suitors, according to Charania, before choosing the Clippers. With the team seeking to trade Russell Westbrook, Porter has an opportunity to jump right into the rotation.

In his last season with the Rockets, he averaged 19.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game in 59 starts. For his career, Porter has averaged 15.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per contest.

Sixers Sign Eric Gordon To Minimum-Salary Deal

July 10th, 2024 at 9:50am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 10: Gordon’s minimum-salary contract with the Sixers is now official, the team confirmed in a press release.

“Eric is a proven shot-maker whose ability to create space and punish defenses that overextend will help solidify an already dynamic offense,” team president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said in a statement. “He plays bigger as the moments get bigger which will be key for our playoff run. I’ve known Eric for many years – he is devoted to his craft and continuously works on his game, allowing him to have such a long and successful career. We are lucky to have him in Philly.”

Gordon’s new contract will actually be for two years, with a second-year player option, Hoops Rumors has learned.

JUNE 30: Free agent guard Eric Gordon has agreed to sign with the Sixers, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports reports (via Twitter) that it’ll be a minimum-salary contract, while Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link) says it’ll be for one year.

Gordon inked a two-year minimum-salary deal with the Suns last season and averaged 11.0 points, 2.0 assists, and 1.8 rebounds in 27.8 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .443/.378/.797.

Because his deal included a second-year player option, he was able to opt out and return to the free agent market this summer in search of a new opportunity.

By signing in Philadelphia, Gordon will reunite with Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, who oversaw the Rockets’ front office during most of the veteran guard’s tenure with the franchise from 2016-23.

Since Gordon is receiving the veteran’s minimum, the 76ers will be able to wait until after they’ve used up all their cap room to officially sign him and won’t need to dedicate a chunk of that space to the 35-year-old.