Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wizards’ Tre Johnson Signs Rookie Scale Contract

July 6th, 2025 at 8:38am CST by Rory Maher

The Wizards have officially signed No. 6 overall pick Tre Johnson to a rookie scale contract, the team announced in a press release (Twitter link).

A 6’6″ shooting guard with a 6’10” wingspan, Johnson averaged 19.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists on .427/.397/.871 shooting in 33 games (34.7 MPG) as a freshman for Texas in 2024/25.

The 19-year-old was named the SEC Freshman of the Year and made the All-SEC second team in his lone college season. While there have been some questions about Johnson’s inconsistent engagement level on defense, per Jonathan Givony of ESPN, the Dallas native is one of the best shooters and scorers in this year’s draft class.

As our breakdown of this year’s rookie scale shows, Johnson will likely earn $8.2MM as a rookie and $37.4MM over the course of his four-year rookie contract, with the final two seasons being team options.

Washington has yet to sign No. 21 overall pick Will Riley, but that transaction should be completed in the coming days.

Grizzlies To Sign Jock Landale, Trade Jay Huff To Pacers

July 5th, 2025 at 4:32pm CST by Arthur Hill

July 6: The Huff trade is official, according to the Grizzlies (Twitter link).

July 5: Free agent center Jock Landale has reached a contract agreement with the Grizzlies, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). Memphis will make room on its roster by sending Jay Huff to the Pacers in exchange for a future second-round pick and a second-round pick swap, Charania adds (Twitter link).

Landale was waived by the Rockets on Thursday before his $8MM salary for the upcoming season became guaranteed. He was expected to be on the move on after Houston agreed to sign Clint Capela in free agency, adding to its center depth along with Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams.

The 29-year-old big man signed a four-year, $32MM contract with the Rockets in 2023 that contained just one fully guaranteed season. He appeared in 42 games this year, averaging 4.8 points and 3.3 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per night.

Landale’s new contract with Memphis will cover one year at the veteran’s minimum, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). He will provide another option for Memphis in light of Zach Edey‘s uncertain status after undergoing ankle surgery in June.

Indiana was able to pick up an additional big man in Huff after losing Myles Turner to Milwaukee earlier this week. The Pacers will be the fifth team in five years for the 26-year-old center, who is coming off his best NBA season. He appeared in 64 games for Memphis, averaging 6.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per night while shooting 51.5% from the field and 40.5% from three-point range.

Huff will make $2.4MM and $2.7MM over the next two seasons, and his contract includes a $3MM player option for 2027/28.

The draft choice headed to Memphis will be a 2029 second-rounder that originally belonged to Portland, while the option for the second-round pick swap will take place in 2031, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Pelicans Sign First-Rounders Jeremiah Fears, Derik Queen

July 5th, 2025 at 4:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans have officially signed their two 2025 lottery picks, the team confirmed today, announcing in a press release that guard Jeremiah Fears and big man Derik Queen have inked their rookie scale contracts.

Fears, this year’s No. 7 overall pick, raised his stock significantly over the course of his first and only college season at Oklahoma — he didn’t show up at all on ESPN’s 59-player mock draft last November.

The former four-star recruit, who won’t turn 19 years old until October, was among the NCAA’s best ball-handlers and play-makers as a freshman. The 6’4″ guard averaged 17.1 points, 4.1 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game in 34 outings (31 starts), though he knocked down just 28.4% of 3.9 three-point tries per game for the Sooners.

Queen, meanwhile, was selected with the 13th overall pick after the Pelicans sent Atlanta this year’s No. 23 pick and an unprotected 2026 first-rounder (the most favorable of New Orleans’ and Milwaukee’s picks) for the right to draft the Maryland big man.

Queen was highly productive in his freshman season with the Terrapins, averaging 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks in 30.4 minutes per contest across 36 total games. He helped guide Maryland to a 27-9 record and a spot in the Sweet 16, scoring 27 points in a loss to Florida, the eventual national champions.

As our breakdown of this year’s rookie scale shows, Fears will likely earn $7.5MM as a rookie and $34.2MM over the course of his four-year rookie contract. Queen should make $5.2MM in year one and $24.4MM in total.

Rockets To Trade Cam Whitmore To Wizards

July 5th, 2025 at 3:17pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets have agreed to trade forward Cam Whitmore to the Wizards, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Charania, Houston will acquire a pair of second-round picks in return.

Whitmore, a Maryland native who will turn 21 on Tuesday, was selected out of Villanova with the 20th overall pick in the 2023 draft. It was viewed as a steal at the time for the Rockets, given that the 6’7″ forward was widely viewed as a top-10 – or even top-five – pick leading up to the draft.

However, while Whitmore flashed some major upside as a scorer off the bench during his first two NBA seasons, he wasn’t able to carve out a consistent role for a deep Rockets team. He made a total of 98 appearances from 2023-25, averaging 10.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .449/.357/.707.

The Rockets worked with Whitmore and his representatives in recent weeks in an effort to find a new home, per Charania (Twitter link). He should get an opportunity to play more significant – and more consistent – minutes for a rebuilding Wizards team that will be looking for some of its young players to establish themselves as long-term building blocks.

Moving Whitmore will help generate a little extra flexibility below a first-apron hard cap for a Rockets team that was expected to have to part with Whitmore or Jeenathan Williams to stay below that threshold once its reported deals for Kevin Durant and Clint Capela are official.

Houston will acquire Chicago’s 2026 second-round pick and Sacramento’s 2029 second-rounder in the deal, a league source tells Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The Wizards, meanwhile, have no shortage of cap exceptions they could use to take on Whitmore’s $3.54MM salary without sending back a player themselves, but it sounds like they won’t need to use their mid-level, bi-annual, or existing trade exceptions. Varun Shakar of The Washington Post says this deal is expected to be folded into a larger trade with the Pelicans when it goes official.

Washington will have until October 31 of this year to decide whether or not to exercise Whitmore $5.46MM team option for the 2026/27 season. Assuming the Wizards pick up that option, he’ll become eligible for a rookie scale extension a year from now.

Chicago and Denver were reportedly among the other teams that expressed some level of interest in Whitmore before the Rockets made a deal with Washington.

Rockets Re-Sign Jae’Sean Tate On One-Year Deal

July 5th, 2025 at 3:16pm CST by Rory Maher

July 5: The Rockets have officially re-signed Tate, per NBA.com’s transaction log. Based on the fact that it was completed during the July moratorium, we now know definitively that it’s a minimum-salary deal.

Houston also finalized its two-way agreement with Kevon Harris. We have the full story on that signing here.

June 30: The Rockets and free agent forward Jae’Sean Tate have agreed to a one-year contract worth $3MM, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Tate holds five years of NBA experience — all with the Rockets — and his projected minimum salary for next season is approximately $2.67MM. It’s unclear whether Houston is giving him a little more than the minimum or if the figure reported by Scotto is just Tate’s minimum being rounded up.

Tate, 29, went undrafted in 2018 after four college seasons at Ohio State. He played a couple of years overseas before catching on with the Rockets in 2020/21.

In 52 games in 2024/25, Tate averaged career lows of 3.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per contest. His shooting slash line was .473/.348/.681.

While the 6’4″ combo forward’s role has steadily declined during his time with Houston, clearly the Rockets still value his contributions, otherwise they wouldn’t be bringing him back.

Tate is one of three veteran role players expected to re-sign with Houston in free agency, with Aaron Holiday and Jeff Green being the others.

Sixers Sign Jabari Walker To Two-Way Deal

July 5th, 2025 at 2:31pm CST by Luke Adams

July 5: The Sixers have officially signed Walker to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.

July 3: Free agent forward Jabari Walker has agreed to sign a two-way contract with the Sixers, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

The son of former NBA forward Samaki Walker and the 57th overall pick in the 2022 draft out of Colorado, Jabari Walker has spent his first three professional NBA seasons with the Trail Blazers. He played a significant role for the team in 2023/24, averaging 8.9 points and 7.1 rebounds in 23.6 minutes per game across 72 total outings (23 starts).

Walker’s minutes were cut back in ’24/25 following the arrival of Deni Avdija and the emergence of Toumani Camara, but he was a positive contributor in a more limited role, setting career highs in field goal percentage (51.5%) and three-point percentage (38.9%) as he averaged 5.2 PPG and 3.5 RPG in 60 contests (12.5 MPG).

The Blazers had the opportunity to make Walker a restricted free agent by issuing him a $2.58MM qualifying offer over the weekend, but chose not to do so, allowing him to become unrestricted.

Given his age (23 later this month) and experience as a rotation player, I’m a little surprised Walker will end up on a two-way contract, but it’s a nice get for the Sixers, who have made it a priority to get younger this summer. On his two-way deal, the 6’7″ forward will be eligible to be active for up to 50 NBA regular season games. Exceeding that limit – and playing in the postseason – would require a promotion to the standard roster.

Walker will fill Philadelphia’s third and final two-way slot, joining Alex Reese and Hunter Sallis.

Bulls Sign Noa Essengue To Rookie Contract

July 4th, 2025 at 4:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls have officially signed their first-round pick, announcing (via Twitter) that forward Noa Essengue has finalized his rookie scale contract.

The No. 12 overall pick is expected to receive a four-year, $25.33MM deal that is fully guaranteed for the first two seasons, with team options on the third and fourth years. He’ll make $5.43MM as a rookie in 2025/26.

A 6’10” forward from France, Essengue signed with Ratiopharm Ulm in July 2023. He spent most of his first season with Ulm’s developmental team, but played a key role for the German club this past season, averaging 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 23.7 minutes per game across 18 EuroCup appearances.

As the second-youngest player in the 2025 draft class, Essengue may not play a significant role for the Bulls right away, but the team was pleased to land him at No. 12. General manager Marc Eversley said after the draft that the Frenchman was the best player available at that spot and “fits the style of play that we want to play.”

Nets Sign Nolan Traore To Rookie Contract

July 4th, 2025 at 2:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets have now locked up four of their five first-round picks, officially signing French point guard Nolan Traore to his rookie scale contract on Friday, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter links).

Brooklyn had announced deals for Egor Demin, Ben Saraf, and Danny Wolf on Thursday, but Traore’s deal was delayed while the paperwork following his buyout from Saint-Quentin in France got sorted out.

The Nets’ fifth first-rounder, Drake Powell, is part of a trade that can’t be finalized until Sunday, so he’ll likely sign his first NBA contract early next week.

Traore, who turned 19 last month, played a featured role with Saint-Quentin in France’s top basketball league (LNB Élite) in 2024/25, averaging 11.6 points and 5.1 assists on .392/.302/.701 shooting in 30 games (22.6 minutes per contest).

While shooting efficiency and turnovers are viewed as possible question marks for Traore, he has good size for a guard and is considered a talented play-maker and passer. He was long viewed as a potential 2025 lottery pick before his stock dipped a little during an up-and-down year overseas.

Assuming Traore – the No. 19 pick – signed for the maximum allowable 120% of his rookie scale amount, which is likely, his four-year contract will be worth about $18.46MM, with two guaranteed years followed by third- and fourth-year team options.

Magic Sign Second-Rounder Noah Penda

July 4th, 2025 at 11:14am CST by Luke Adams

The Magic have officially signed No. 32 overall pick Noah Penda to his first NBA contract, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

Orlando didn’t reveal the details of Penda’s new deal, but Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel reports (via Twitter) that he was signed using the second-round pick exception, with the first two years guaranteed, a non-guaranteed third year, and a fourth-year team option.

A 6’8″ French forward, Penda played for Le Mans in France last season. In 37 total games with the club, he averaged 10.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks while shooting 44.7% from the field and 32.2% on three-pointers.

Considered a solid defender with a good frame, Penda was widely viewed as a potential first-round pick — The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie had him ranked No. 21 on his big board heading into the draft. Orlando is clearly high on him, having given up four second-round picks (No. 46 and No. 57 this year, along with two future selections) to move up to get him last Thursday.

Based on their reported deals with free agents Tyus Jones and Moritz Wagner, the Magic now have a projected 14 players on standard contracts and are expected to be operating too close to their first-apron hard cap to add a 15th man before the regular season begins. However, that situation remains fluid until the official numbers on contracts come in.

Magic Re-Sign Moritz Wagner

July 4th, 2025 at 8:33am CST by Luke Adams

July 7: The Magic have officially signed Wagner, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

July 4: The Magic and veteran free agent Moritz Wagner have agreed to a one-year, $5MM deal that will see the big man return to Orlando, according to reports from Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel and Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

The older brother of Magic star Franz Wagner, Moritz has been with the team for four-plus seasons, having originally signed late in the 2020/21 campaign.

Wagner appeared well on his way to a career year in 2024/25, with averages of 12.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in 18.8 minutes per game and a shooting line of .562/.360/.718 through 30 contests. However, a torn left ACL in December prematurely brought his season to an end.

Faced with an increasingly expensive roster – and with Wagner still recovering from that ACL tear – Orlando declined its $11MM team option on the 6’11” forward/center last weekend, but there was always an expectation that the club wanted to bring him back at a reduced rate. With his Bird rights in hand, the Magic have the ability to re-sign Wagner without using any mid-level or bi-annual exception money.

Wagner will have the ability to veto a trade in 2025/26, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). That right is automatically awarded to a player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year deal or a two-year deal with a second-year option, though many players agree to waive that veto ability as part of their contract agreement (as Wagner did a year ago).

Having traded for Desmond Bane last month and agreed to sign Tyus Jones in free agency earlier this week, Orlando now projects to operate in luxury-tax territory for the 2025/26 season.

According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter), the Magic only have enough room below their first-apron hard cap to sign second-round pick Noah Penda or a veteran-minimum player as their 14th man, but not both, unless perhaps Jones’ and Wagner’s deals come in a little lower than reported.