Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Spurs’ Dylan Harper, Carter Bryant Sign Rookie Contracts

July 3rd, 2025 at 2:43pm CST by Rory Maher

The Spurs have officially signed lottery picks Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant, the team announced today in a pair of press releases.

Former Rutgers star Harper was the No. 2 overall pick of last month’s draft. Assuming he signs for the maximum allowable 120% of his rookie scale amount, which nearly every first-rounder does, the 19-year-old will earn $12.37MM in his first NBA season and a total of $56.14MM over the course of his four-year contract.

Harper averaged 19.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.4 steals in 29 games (32.6 minutes per contest) last season for the Scarlet Knights. He is widely considered the second-best prospect in this year’s class.

Bryant, also 19, spent his first and only college season at Arizona. San Antonio selected him 14th overall in the 2025 draft, and assuming he gets 120% of his rookie scale amount, he’ll earn $4.9MM in 2025/26 and $23.42MM in total over his four-year deal.

A 6’7″ combo forward, Bryant averaged 6.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.0 block in 37 appearances for the Wildcats in ’24/25 (19.3 minutes per game). He didn’t play a starring role as a freshman, but Bryant was a reliable outside shooter (.371 3PT%) and showed off intriguing defensive versatility.

Rockets Waiving Jock Landale

July 3rd, 2025 at 2:26pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets will waive center Jock Landale before his $8MM salary for the 2025/26 season becomes guaranteed, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Charania adds that Landale will sign with his “preferred destination” after clearing waivers, while Kelly Iko of The Athletic says (via Twitter) a number of teams have expressed interest in him.

Landale was signed by Houston in 2023 to a four-year, $32MM contract that included just one fully guaranteed season. However, the Rockets – who were operating well below the luxury tax line, hung onto him for the second year of the deal in 2024/25, even though he played a limited role for the team behind Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams in the frontcourt.

The 29-year-old averaged 4.8 points and 3.3 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game across 42 outings (three starts) this past season.

With Sengun and Adams returning and Clint Capela joining the frontcourt mix, there was no place in the rotation going forward for Landale, and his $8MM annual salary is no longer palatable for the Rockets to carry with the roster getting more expensive. His release had been expected, even after he and the team reached an agreement over the weekend to push his salary guarantee date back to July 7.

Kings’ Nique Clifford Signs Rookie Contract

July 3rd, 2025 at 12:38pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Colorado State guard Nique Clifford, the No. 24 pick in this year’s draft, has signed his rookie scale contract with the Kings, per the official transaction log at NBA.com.

Assuming he gets the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale, which is typical, Clifford will earn a salary of $3.11MM as a rookie and will make $15.77MM across his first four NBA seasons as long as his third- and fourth-year team options are eventually exercised.

The Kings didn’t enter draft day with a first-round pick, but made a deal last Wednesday night to acquire the 24th overall selection from Oklahoma City, sending a protected 2027 Spurs first-rounder to the Thunder in the trade. They used it to draft Clifford, one of the most NBA-ready players in the first round.

While he didn’t post big numbers earlier in his five-year college career, Clifford came on strong over the past couple seasons. In 2024/25, he nearly averaged a double-double, with 18.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.2 steals in 35.4 minutes per game across 36 starts, with a .496/.377/.777 shooting line.

The 6’5″ swingman had one of the best rebounding seasons for a wing in NCAA history for the Rams, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN, and has earned comparisons to Knicks forward Josh Hart due to his versatility.

Hawks Sign Asa Newell To Rookie Scale Contract

July 3rd, 2025 at 11:52am CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks have officially signed first-round pick Asa Newell to his rookie scale contract, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

Atlanta selected Newell at No. 23 after reaching a trade agreement with New Orleans to trade down from No. 13. Reporting on draft night indicated that the Hawks considered the Atlanta native with that 13th overall pick, so they were thrilled when he was still on the board 10 spots later.

Newell, meanwhile, was excited to land with his hometown team, telling reporters after the draft that he “knew deep in my heart that I really wanted to go to the Hawks.”

A 6’10” forward/center, Newell played his first and only college season at Georgia, averaging 15.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.0 steal, and 1.0 block in 29.0 minutes per game while making 54.3% of his field goal attempts.

Assuming he signs for the maximum allowable 120% of his rookie scale amount, which nearly every first-rounder does, Newell will earn $3.24MM in his first NBA season and a total of $16.24MM across the course of his four-year deal.

Nets Re-Sign Tyson Etienne To Two-Way Deal

July 2nd, 2025 at 8:12pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

July 3: Etienne’s new two-way contract is official, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

July 2: The Nets are re-signing free agent guard Tyson Etienne to a two-way contract, according to SNY.tv’s Ian Begley (Twitter link).

After spending most of last season in the G League with the Long Island Nets, Etienne earned a promotion to a two-way contract in March. The 6’2″ pro suited up for seven games with Brooklyn down the stretch, averaging 7.9 points, 1.7 assists and 1.3 rebounds per game in seven contests.

Etienne, 25, enjoyed a more prominent role and put up bigger numbers for Long Island. The Wichita State alum showed out in 32 NBAGL regular season games, averaging 19.6 points, 3.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per night, with an impressive shooting line of .495/.460/.800.

Etienne’s strong 2024/25 season earned him a two-way qualifying offer from the Nets over the weekend, so he’ll likely just accept that QO, which is equivalent to another one-year, two-way contract with a small partial guarantee ($85,300).

Brooklyn only has one other player, forward Tosan Evbuomwan, occupying a two-way slot so far. The Nets do have a contender for the third and final slot in former Alabama forward Grant Nelson, who reportedly agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal with the team after going undrafted.

The Nets made NBA history earlier this offseason by selecting a record five first-round draft picks, led by former BYU swingman Egor Demin with the No. 8 selection. The club is focused on building for the future, and has exhibited a clear willingness to develop young talent.

Trendon Watford Joins Sixers On Two-Year Deal

July 2nd, 2025 at 7:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

July 2: Watford’s two-year, minimum-salary deal is official, per a press release from the Sixers.

“Trendon is a young, dynamic player with a unique skill set who fits nicely with what we’re trying to accomplish on both sides of the ball,” president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said in a statement. “His size and versatility allow him to guard multiple positions, while his handle and passing showcase his play-making ability. He is a valued addition to our roster and I’m excited to welcome him to Philadelphia.”

Watford’s new contract includes a team option on year two, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

June 30: Trendon Watford is leaving the Nets and joining another Atlantic Division team, the Sixers, on a two-year deal worth $5.3MM, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.

That figures to be a minimum-salary contract for Watford — a two-year, veteran’s minimum deal for a player with his four years of experience will come in at $5.26MM.

Watford played two seasons in Portland, then joined the Nets after the Trail Blazers waived him prior to the 2023/24 season. He has appeared in a combined 107 games with Brooklyn over the past two years.

This past season, Watford averaged a career-high best 10.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 20.8 minutes per game. He missed six weeks action due to a hamstring injury.

Watford could see rotation minutes at power forward with the Sixers, depending on how their roster shakes out this offseason. If he can carve out a role, Watford’s contract could rank as a big bargain.

Pistons Sign-And-Trade Dennis Schröder To Kings

July 2nd, 2025 at 7:10pm CST by Rory Maher

July 7: The trade is official, according to a press release from the Kings.

In addition to receiving Schröder, Sacramento acquired the least favorable of the Bucks’, Knicks’, and Pistons’ 2029 second-round picks, per James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link). Detroit generated a sizable trade exception and received the Hornets’ top-55 protected 2026 second-round pick.

July 2: Schröder will be sent to Sacramento via sign-and-trade, reports Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link).

Structuring the move that way will allow the Kings to take Schröder into their $16.8MM trade exception while preserving their full mid-level exception, and will let the Pistons either create a $14MM+ trade exception or expand the deal to take back a player earning up to nearly $23MM.

It’s not yet clear what the Kings will send to the Pistons as part of the deal, but it’ll likely be a minor asset. Although the two teams discussed Monk, as noted below, reporting on Tuesday indicated he wouldn’t be involved in this transaction.

July 1: The Kings are signing Dennis Schröder to a three-year contract worth $45MM, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). The deal will be fully guaranteed through two years, with a partial guarantee on the third season, per Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Marc Stein and Jake Fischer reported a few hours before free agency opened that the German guard was expected to sign with Sacramento for the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception, while Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link) said on Monday evening that Schröder would agree to a deal with Sacramento.

Those earlier reports pointed toward a two-year deal, but Schröder will get an extra year. It still could be a non-taxpayer MLE deal, which would be worth roughly $44.4MM over three years, though a sign-and-trade is a possibility — contracts signed via sign-and-trade must cover at least three seasons, which may explain the additional year.

There were rumors on Monday that Detroit and Sacramento were exploring a deal that would include Malik Monk. The Kings could also acquire Schröder via sign-and-trade using a sizable trade exception they created earlier this year. In that scenario, they wouldn’t have to send out any matching salary.

According to Goodwill, no sign-and-trade has been agreed to at this point, but that could change in the coming days.

After spending his first five NBA seasons in Atlanta, Schröder has bounced around the league over the past seven years, playing for eight different teams. That was particularly true of the 2024/25 campaign, when he was traded from Brooklyn to Golden State in December and then rerouted to Detroit before the February deadline.

Overall, the former first-round pick (No. 17 overall in 2013) played in 75 games last season, including 48 starts (28.1 minutes per contest), averaging 13.1 points, 5.4 assists and 2.6 rebounds on .406/.342/.838 shooting. He also had a strong playoff showing for the Pistons, averaging 12.5 PPG, 3.7 APG, 2.5 RPG and 1.2 SPG on .491/.476/.813 shooting in six games during the team’s first-round loss to New York (27.3 MPG).

Schröder, who turns 32 years old in September, will provide speed, ball-handling, and point-of-attack defense to a Kings team in need of point guard help after trading De’Aaron Fox to San Antonio in February. He marks the first significant free agent addition of the new front office, which is led by general manager Scott Perry.

Jazz Sign First-Rounders Ace Bailey, Walter Clayton Jr.

July 2nd, 2025 at 6:58pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Jazz have put out a press release officially announcing that they’ve signed first-round draft picks Ace Bailey and Walter Clayton Jr. to their rookie scale contracts.

Bailey, considered by many draft experts to be the third-best prospect in this year’s draft behind only Cooper Flagg and Rutgers teammate Dylan Harper, didn’t conduct any workouts during the pre-draft process as his camp appeared focused on getting him to a specific destination.

While Utah wasn’t believed to be that destination of choice, the Jazz’s front office decided Bailey’s upside was worth the risk, sight unseen — he didn’t make it past the team’s pick at No. 5 overall, and after some speculation about whether or not he’d report, he arrived in Utah as planned.

In 30 games for the Scarlet Knights last year, the 18-year-old averaged 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per contest, with shooting splits of .460/.346/.692.

Assuming he signed for the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale, which is a safe bet, Bailey will earn $9.1MM in 2025/26, and will net $41.2MM across the balance of his first four seasons.

Outside of the lottery, the Jazz traded up for the draft rights to Florida guard Clayton with the No. 18 pick. The 6’2″ guard is set to make nearly $4MM as a rookie, and will earn a total of $19.3MM over the course of his deal.

Clayton, a consensus first-team All-American who helped lead the Gators to the NCAA title last season, logged averages of 18.3 PPG, 4.2 APG, 3.7 RPG and 1.2 SPG in 39 healthy games. He posted a shooting line of .448/.386/.875.

Bucks Waive Chris Livingston

July 2nd, 2025 at 6:45pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks have waived forward Chris Livingston, according to the official transaction log at NBA.com.

Livingston had two years left on the contract he signed with Milwaukee as a second-round pick in 2023, but his $2.22MM salary for 2025/26 was non-guaranteed as long as he was placed on waivers on or before July 15. As a result, it will no longer count against the Bucks’ cap.

The 58th overall pick in 2023 out of Kentucky, Livingston struggled to earn minutes over the course of two seasons in Milwaukee, making just 42 total appearances and averaging 1.3 points and 1.3 rebounds in 4.7 minutes per game.

The 21-year-old did show some promise at the G League level. In 18 outings for the Wisconsin Herd this past season, he averaged 18.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.1 steals in 29.5 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .485/.301/.828.

Releasing Livingston will generate a little extra cap room for the Bucks, who are making a series of transactions to create the space necessary to complete their four-year, $107MM deal with Myles Turner when the July moratorium ends.

Jalen Bridges To Sign Camp Deal With Celtics

July 2nd, 2025 at 6:28pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Celtics have added free agent forward Jalen Bridges to their Summer League squad and plan to bring him to training camp to compete for a roster spot, sources inform Jay King of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Bridges, who was on a two-way contract with the Suns during his 2024/25 rookie season, will likely end up signing an Exhibit 10 contract with Boston. Exhibit 10 deals can be converted into two-way contracts, which would be a pathway to making the roster.

On an Exhibit 10 deal, Bridges would also be eligible to earn a bonus worth up to $85K if Boston cuts him before the start of the season, provided he sticks with the club’s G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics, for at least 60 days.

A 6’8″ forward out of Baylor, Bridges appeared in just eight games and logged 30 total minutes at the NBA level for the Suns last season. However, across 31 regular season contests for Phoenix’s NBAGL squad, the Valley Suns, the 24-year-old put up solid averages of 14.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game, with a shooting line of .425/.386/.794.

Phoenix didn’t give Bridges a two-way qualifying offer this past weekend, making him an unrestricted free agent.