Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Sixers Sign Dominick Barlow To Two-Way Deal, Waive Alex Reese

July 9th, 2025 at 3:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

3:12 pm: The Sixers have officially signed Barlow and waived Reese, the team confirmed in a press release.

12:43 pm: The Sixers are waiving two-way forward Alex Reese, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. That will make room for Dominick Barlow, as the Sixers are adding him on a two-way deal, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.

Barlow, 22, has 96 games of NBA experience. He made a total of 61 appearances with San Antonio during the 2022/23 and ’23/24 seasons. Last year, Barlow appeared in 35 games with the Hawks, including four starts. He averaged 4.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per night.

Atlanta declined its option on Barlow’s $2.2MM contract in late June, making him an unrestricted free agent. He had been promoted from a two-way deal to a standard contract in early March.

Reese appeared in 14 games with Philadelphia last season, averaging 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game. The 6’9″ forward was signed to a two-year, two-way deal in late February. He’s currently on the team’s Summer League roster but has recently been experiencing Achilles soreness.

Reese also spent extended time in the G League last season. He averaged 16.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game for the Delaware Blue Coats and Rip City Remix, making 45.1% of his shots from the field and 39.3% from three-point range.

Reese played four seasons of college basketball for Alabama from 2017-21 prior to going undrafted. He initially spent a year away from the sport, then signed in Luxembourg during the 2022/23 campaign. He spent the 2023/24 season with the Rip City Remix.

Hunter Sallis and Jabari Walker hold the other two-way spots.

Nuggets Sign Bruce Brown To One-Year Deal

July 9th, 2025 at 1:34pm CST by Eli Cohen

July 9: Brown has officially signed with the Nuggets, according to a press release from the team.

June 30: The Nuggets have agreed to a deal to bring Bruce Brown back to Denver on a one-year deal, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).

Sam Amick of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that the deal will be worth the veteran’s minimum.

Since leaving the Nuggets as a free agent in 2023, Brown has spent time with the Pacers, Raptors, and Pelicans. He averaged 8.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in 2024/25 over 41 games split between Toronto and New Orleans before being held out of action down the stretch with a right knee injury.

The versatile 6’4″ wing spent time with the Pistons and Nets before his first stint in Denver, which culminated in him playing a key role off the bench for the championship team in 2022/23. After averaging 12 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game in the playoffs that year, Brown left the team for a two-year, $45MM offer from the Pacers that Denver didn’t have the ability to match.

Brown now returns to a Denver team that is making aggressive moves to position itself for another title run, including trading longtime starter Michael Por ter Jr. and a first-round pick for Cameron Johnson.

Wizards Trade Kelly Olynyk To Spurs

July 9th, 2025 at 10:49am CST by Luke Adams

July 9: The trade is official, according to announcements from the Spurs and Wizards (Twitter link).

July 8: The Wizards and Spurs have agreed to a trade that will send big man Kelly Olynyk to San Antonio, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

According to Charania, in return for Olynyk, Washington will acquire former first-rounders Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley, along with a 2026 second-round pick. That pick will be the last favorable of Dallas’, Philadelphia’s, and Oklahoma City’s second-rounders.

Olynyk, 34, spent last season with the Raptors and Pelicans. He was limited to 44 games (22 starts) for health reasons, but was solid when he played, averaging 8.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 20.3 minutes per game, with a strong shooting line of .500/.418/.769.

A forward/center who can stretch the floor (.371 career 3PT%), Olynyk will become part of a Spurs frontcourt led by Victor Wembanyama. San Antonio will also be incorporating another new center, Luke Kornet, who finalized a four-year, $40.7MM deal with the team earlier this week.

Olynyk was just traded two days ago from New Orleans to Washington in the three-team deal that included CJ McCollum and Jordan Poole, but he clearly wasn’t part of the Wizards’ long-term plans. He can be flipped immediately because his salary isn’t being aggregated with another player’s salary as part of this trade.

Branham and Wesley – who were drafted 20th and 25th, respectively, in 2022 – didn’t establish themselves as reliable rotation players during their three years in San Antonio, as their playing time declined each season. Still, they’re both just 22 years old, and Branham has shown some promise as a shooter (.405 3PT% last season), while Wesley has shown he’s a stout on-ball defender.

It’s unclear whether the duo will get a shot to make the team and earn rotation spots in Washington or whether the Wizards made the deal primarily for the second-round pick and the cap savings.

Olynyk is on an expiring $13.45MM contract in 2025/26, while Branham ($4.96MM) and Wesley ($4.72MM) will earn less than $10MM total in the final year of their rookie deals. By taking Branham and Wesley into an existing trade exception, Washington will also be able to create a trade exception worth Olynyk’s $13.45MM salary.

The Wizards have a growing roster crunch they’ll have to address at some point in the coming weeks or months. As a result of this trade, they’ll have 15 players on guaranteed salaries, and that total doesn’t include Richaun Holmes (small partial guarantee), Justin Champagnie (non-guaranteed), or Anthony Gill, who is considered a strong candidate to re-sign with the club.

The Spurs, conversely, will have just 12 players under contract once the trade is official and will have plenty of flexibility below the luxury tax line to fill out the three openings on the standard 15-man roster.

Mavericks Sign Matthew Cleveland, Moussa Cisse

July 8th, 2025 at 9:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks have officially signed guard/forward Matthew Cleveland and center Moussa Cisse, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link). Both players went undrafted in June.

While the terms of their deals weren’t disclosed, Cleveland and Cisse almost certainly signed Exhibit 10 contracts. In fact, Cisse’s Exhibit 10 agreement was reported last month, shortly after the draft ended.

Exhibit 10 contracts are non-guaranteed minimum-salary deals that entitle players to bonuses worth up to $85,300 if they’re waived before the regular season and spend at least 60 days with their team’s G league affiliate. They can also be converted to two-way deals before the regular season begins, and Cisse, at least, is expected to have the opportunity to compete for a two-way spot in Dallas.

Cleveland played his last two college seasons at Miami after spending his first two years at Florida State. In 2024/25, he averaged 17.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game with a .511/.382/.776 shooting line in 29 outings for the Hurricanes.

Cisse, meanwhile, started and ended his college career at Memphis, sandwiching stints with Oklahoma State and Ole Miss. The Guinean big man blocked 1.7 shots per game in 150 career college contests despite averaging fewer than 20 minutes per game.

Nets Sign Drake Powell To Rookie Scale Contract

July 8th, 2025 at 6:04pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets have signed No. 22 overall pick Drake Powell to his rookie scale contract, the team announced today in a press release.

Powell officially became a Net on Monday when the three-team trade involving the Hawks and Celtics that was agreed to prior to the draft was finally finalized, sending his draft rights to Brooklyn.

A day later, he has become the last of 2025’s first-round picks to sign his rookie scale contract — all 30 of those players, including each of Brooklyn’s five first-rounders, are now under contract with their respective teams.

[RELATED: 2025 NBA Draft Pick Signings]

Powell averaged 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game for UNC last season on .483/.379/.648 shooting. At 6’6″ with a 7’0″ wingspan and elite athleticism, he brings a versatility and hard-nosed defensive mindset that the Nets could use in their rotation.

However, he won’t be available when Summer League gets underway for Brooklyn later this week. As Brian Lewis of The New York Post details, Powell is being held out as a precaution due to tendinopathy in his left knee, an injury he sustained during the pre-draft process.

Assuming he signs for 120% of his rookie scale amount, which is the standard, Powell will earn $3.37MM as a rookie and $3.54MM in year two, with third- and fourth-year team options that could bring the total value of his rookie contract to $16.72MM.

Thunder To Re-Sign Branden Carlson On Two-Way Deal

July 8th, 2025 at 5:54pm CST by Rory Maher

The defending champion Thunder are re-signing free agent big man Branden Carlson to a two-way contract, agent Ross Aroyo tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Carlson appeared in 32 games as rookie last season with the Thunder, averaging 3.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in 7.7 minutes per contest. The 26-year-old was given a qualifying offer last month, making him a restricted free agent, so he may simply be accepting that QO, which is equivalent to another one-year two-way contract.

Carlson went undrafted in 2024 after spending his five-year collegiate career at Utah. The seven-footer originally signed a two-way contract with the Raptors but was cut just before the 2024/25 season began. He later signed a non-guaranteed deal and a pair of 10-day contracts with the Thunder before eventually sticking with the team for good on a two-way in February.

Second-round pick Brooks Barnhizer is also on a two-way contract with the Thunder, so the club will have one two-way slot still available after bringing back Carlson.

Clippers Waive Jordan Miller

July 8th, 2025 at 5:19pm CST by Rory Maher

The Clippers have waived guard/forward Jordan Miller, according to the official transaction log at NBA.com.

As our list of early salary guarantee dates for 2025/26 shows, Miller would have been owed a partial guarantee of $350K had he remained on Los Angeles’ roster past July 15.

Miller’s $2.19MM deal for next season also had a second trigger date for making the regular season roster, which no longer applies unless he’s claimed off the waiver wire.

It’s worth noting that Miller is on the Clippers’ summer league roster. According to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link), assuming Miller clears waivers, the plan is for the 25-year-old to return to the team on a new contract and continue with summer league.

Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link) adds that the Clippers plan to “keep (Miller) as part of the organization,” which is a little vague, but could suggest he’ll be back at some point on a new deal.

A former second-round pick (48th overall in 2023), Miller was promoted to a four-year standard contract on March 1 after spending most of his first two seasons on a two-way deal with the Clips. The 25-year-old only got 28 minutes of playing time across eight games as a rookie, but he played well for the Clippers’ G League affiliate, and was able to carve out some rotation minutes on a 50-win team in year two, averaging 4.1 points and 1.6 rebounds in 37 games (11.4 minutes per contest).

Miller hit the 50-game limit for two-way players on March 1, which is part of the reason the Clips converted him. They also gave him a prorated salary for 2024/25 well above the minimum using part of their mid-level exception, with the remaining three years of his deal being non-guaranteed.

I wouldn’t be surprised if a team decided to claim Miller, as he’s shown some real upside at the NBAGL level, including averaging 24.9 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 3.6 APG and 1.0 SPG on .509/.350/.844 shooting in seven games last season (31.1 MPG).

According to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link), L.A. is approximately $8.9MM below its first-apron hard cap with three openings on its standard roster. The Clippers could use the remaining $5.3MM they have left of the full mid-level exception to sign someone, add another player on a minimum-salary deal, and sign 50th overall pick Kobe Sanders using the second-round pick exception, says Smith.

Kings Sign Drew Eubanks

July 8th, 2025 at 2:24pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings have officially signed center Drew Eubanks, according to NBA.com’s transaction log. The move had been anticipated after the big man was waived last week by the Clippers.

Eubanks, 28, opened the 2024/25 season with the Jazz and appeared in 37 games for the club, averaging 5.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 15.4 minutes per contest.

His playing time dropped off after he was sent to the Clippers in a deadline deal — the 6’10” center averaged just 2.7 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 7.4 MPG across 24 appearances in Los Angeles and only saw garbage-time action in the playoffs for the Clippers. As such, it came as no surprise when L.A. opted to waive him before his $4.75MM salary for 2025/26 became guaranteed.

Eubanks will provide depth in the Kings’ frontcourt behind center Domantas Sabonis, giving the team a reliable veteran off the bench alongside young bigs Isaac Jones and Maxime Raynaud.

While the terms of his one-year deal haven’t yet been reported, it will almost certainly be a minimum-salary contract for Eubanks.

Pacers Sign Kam Jones, Quenton Jackson

July 8th, 2025 at 1:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers have officially announced a pair of signings, issuing a press release to say that they’ve finalized a standard contract with second-round pick Kam Jones and have brought back restricted free agent guard Quenton Jackson on a two-way deal.

A 6’5″ combo guard, Jones spent his entire four-year college career at Marquette, where he was a consensus second-team All-American and a member of the All-Big East first team in 2025 after averaging 19.2 points, 5.9 assists, and 4.5 rebounds in 33.8 minutes per game across 34 outings as a senior.

Pacers president of basketball operations said on Monday that Jones reminds him of Andrew Nembhard as a player and Tyrese Haliburton as a person, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star.

“He’s hyper-positive,” Pritchard said. “… He’s got that kind of an ‘it factor’ of, that’s a Pacer.”

Indiana drafted Jones using the No. 38 overall pick, which the team had agreed to acquire a day earlier from San Antonio in exchange for a future second-round pick and cash. The rookie guard will occupy a spot on the Pacers’ 15-man roster in 2025/26 after signing a four-year, $8.7MM contract, according to Tony East of Locked on Pacers (Twitter link), who says the deal includes a good deal of non-guaranteed money in the later seasons.

As for Jackson, he received a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent after finishing each of the past two seasons on two-way deals with Indiana. The former undrafted free agent averaged 5.8 PPG, 1.9 APG and 1.6 RPG on .475/.375/.775 shooting in 28 games (13.6 MPG) in ’24/25 for the Pacers.

With Jackson back under contract on another two-way deal alongside RayJ Dennis, the Pacers have two of their three slots filled. The leading candidate for that third opening is probably Enrique Freeman, given that Indiana still has a two-way qualifying offer on the table to the 2024 second-rounder.

Isaiah Livers Signs Two-Way Deal With Suns

July 8th, 2025 at 11:37am CST by Luke Adams

11:37 am: Livers’ two-way contract is now official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

10:46 am: Free agent forward Isaiah Livers has agreed to sign a two-way contract with the Suns, agents Andy Shiffman and Mark Bartelstein tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Livers, the 42nd overall pick in the 2021 draft, got his NBA career off to a promising start in his first two seasons with Detroit, averaging 6.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 22.3 minutes per game on .426/.378/.830 shooting through 71 appearances from 2021-23.

However, hip problems have derailed the 26-year-old’s career during the past two years, limiting him to 23 outings in 2023/24 and then keeping him on the shelf for the entirety of the ’24/25 season. After being traded from the Pistons to the Wizards in January 2024 and then waived by Washington a month later, Livers underwent a hip resurfacing surgical procedure last fall.

Livers said at the time that the hip issue had bothered him for two years, but he has since made a full recovery, per Charania, and will resume his playing career for the Suns.

Rookies Koby Brea and CJ Huntley are currently on two-way deals in Phoenix, so Livers will occupy the club’s third and final two-way slot.