Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Timberwolves Sign, Waive Nojel Eastern

September 18th, 2025 at 6:37pm CST by Luke Adams

September 18: The Timberwolves have now waived Eastern, per the NBA’s transaction log.

September 17: The Timberwolves have signed free agent guard Nojel Eastern, the team announced today in a press release. Details of the agreement weren’t revealed, but it’s almost certainly a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract.

Eastern, a former Purdue standout, has spent the past two seasons playing for the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s G League affiliate. In 29 games in 2024/25, he averaged 12.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.4 steals in 30.0 minutes per contest, with a strong shooting line of .514/.419/.744.

Eastern, who earned Big Ten All-Defensive honors in 2019 and 2020, appears likely to continue his career within the Timberwolves’ organization after suiting up for the team at the Las Vegas Summer League team in July.

An Exhibit 10 deal will put him in line to earn a bonus worth up to $85,300 on top of his base G League salary if he’s waived by Minnesota and then spends at least 60 days with the Iowa Wolves this season.

The Timberwolves now have 19 players under contract, including 13 on guaranteed deals, Bones Hyland on a partially guaranteed contract, three players on two-way pacts, and Johnny Juzang and Eastern on non-guaranteed deals.

Hornets Sign Keyontae Johnson

September 18th, 2025 at 2:33pm CST by Luke Adams

After opening up a roster spot earlier today by waiving DaQuan Jeffries, the Hornets have signed forward Keyontae Johnson, the team announced (via Twitter).

Details of the agreement weren’t revealed, but it figures to be a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract, which will make Johnson eligible for a bonus worth up to $85,300 if he’s waived by Charlotte and then spends at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm.

The Swarm already hold Johnson’s returning rights since he spent last season with the Hornets’ NBAGL team. In 46 outings for Greensboro, he averaged 16.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 30.5 minutes per game while shooting 49.3% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the three-point arc.

Johnson, 25, was the 50th overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft and spent his rookie season on a two-way contract with Oklahoma City, making nine NBA regular season appearances in ’23/24.

Having swapped out Jeffries for Johnson, the Hornets once again have a full 21-man roster, though more moves are likely coming as the team prepares for training camp and the preseason.

Hornets Waive DaQuan Jeffries

September 18th, 2025 at 10:12am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hornets have waived wing DaQuan Jeffries, Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer tweets. The team has confirmed the move (Twitter link).

Jeffries was signed through the 2026/27 season but his three-year contract was non-guaranteed for this season and next. His $2,743,776 salary for 2025/26 would have been fully guaranteed if he had remained on the roster through January 7.

The move wasn’t surprising. As we pointed out recently, waiving Jeffries was the most likely scenario to help deal with the team’s roster crunch. He was sent to Charlotte via the Knicks last October as part of the Karl-Anthony Towns multi-team blockbuster.

Jeffries, 28, appeared in a career-high 47 games, including 20 starts, last season. He averaged 6.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists while shooting 40.5 percent from the field and 33.5 percent beyond the arc. He has also had stints with Sacramento, Houston and Memphis. Overall, he has seen action in 111 NBA games.

Charlotte now has 20 players on its training camp roster, leaving one open spot ahead of the preseason. The Hornets still have 16 players on guaranteed deals and another on a non-guaranteed contract, so they still have some work to do to trim the roster to 15 by opening night.

Nets Sign D’Andre Davis To Partially Guaranteed Deal

September 17th, 2025 at 2:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets have signed undrafted rookie free agent D’Andre Davis, according to the team (Twitter link via Brian Lewis of The New York Post).

Also known as Dre Davis, the 6’6″ guard/forward spent two years at Louisville and two more at Seton Hall before wrapping up his college career with Ole Miss in 2024/25. As a super-senior, he averaged 10.1 points and 4.8 rebounds in 26.0 minutes per game while shooting 45.5% from the floor and 32.5% on three-pointers.

Davis suited up in July for Brooklyn’s Summer League team in Las Vegas, appearing in four games and averaging 4.8 PPG and 1.8 RPG in 13.3 MPG.

Rather than signing Davis to an Exhibit 10 contract, the Nets gave him a standard contract with a partial guarantee of $85,300, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. According to Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link), that’s the same deal the team gave David Muoka, who was signed and waived earlier this week.

For G League purposes, those deals for Davis and Muoka will essentially function like Exhibit 10 contracts would have, and it’s safe to assume both players will end up joining the Long Island Nets. The only real difference is that the $85,300 each player is receiving as a partial guarantee will count against the Nets’ cap.

Clubs generally favor Exhibit 10 deals because they don’t want those cap hits on their books, but those small partial guarantees may help ensure that the Nets’ team salary is above the minimum salary floor by opening night. Brooklyn is the only NBA team still operating below the cap.

Davis was signed as the Nets’ 21st man, taking the roster spot previously held by Keon Johnson until he was waived earlier today. According to Lewis (Twitter link), Johnson is dealing with an injury, which is one reason Brooklyn opted to cut him.

Pelicans Sign, Waive Johnny O’Neil

September 17th, 2025 at 10:23am CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans have signed and waived undrafted rookie free agent Johnny O’Neil, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).

A 6’10” forward/center who spent the past five years playing college basketball, O’Neil played for American University for three seasons before transferring to Santa Clara in 2023. Last season, he averaged 7.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.0 block in 21.9 minutes per game across 34 outings (19 starts), with a shooting line of .432/.396/.778.

Although O’Neil generated little pre-draft buzz and didn’t suit up for the NBA Summer League in July, the Pelicans are apparently intrigued by his ability to protect the rim and stretch the floor as a big man.

Signing O’Neil to an Exhibit 10 contract and then waiving him should set up New Orleans to designate O’Neil as an affiliate player for the Birmingham Squadron in the G League this fall — and to pay him a bonus worth up to $85,300 if he spends at least 60 days with the Squadron.

The Pelicans now have 20 players under contract and appear to be using the 21st and final spot on their offseason roster to shuffle players in and out for G League purposes. The team also signed and waived undrafted rookie Jalon Moore this week.

Nets Waive Keon Johnson

September 17th, 2025 at 9:35am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nets have waived Keon Johnson, Brian Lewis of the New York Post tweets.

Johnson appeared in 79 games with Brooklyn last season, including 56 starts. He averaged a career-best 10.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steals in 24.4 minutes per contest.

However, Johnson’s playing time was expected to be reduced dramatically with restricted free agent Cam Thomas signing his qualifying offer and an influx of first-round rookies on the roster. Brooklyn also acquired another shooting guard, Kobe Bufkin, from Atlanta this week.

Johnson’s $2,349,578 was only guaranteed for $271,614. That partial guarantee would have increased to $760,520 if he had been on the team’s opening night roster.

As a result of waiving Johnson, the Nets now have 20 players on their camp roster. Ricky Council IV is still expected to sign with the team, having agreed to a deal at the start of August.

Johnson, who began his career with the Clippers and also had a stint with the Trail Blazers, will now become a free agent on Friday unless he’s claimed on waivers. The 6’5” wing was a first-round pick in 2021 out of Tennessee, but has struggled with his shooting during his young career, averaging 37.9% overall and 32.4% on three-point tries in 161 career games.

Pelicans Sign, Waive Jalon Moore

September 17th, 2025 at 7:20am CST by Luke Adams

September 17: Moore has been waived, according to the NBA transactions log. That opens up a training camp roster spot for New Orleans.

September 16: The Pelicans have signed rookie free agent Jalon Moore to a training camp deal, according to RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions.

A 6’7″ forward, Moore spent two seasons at Georgia Tech from 2021-23 and then two years at Oklahoma from 2023-25 before going undrafted in June. As a senior in 2024/25, he averaged 15.9 points and 5.8 rebounds in 30.3 minutes per game across 34 outings (all starts) for the Sooners, posting a solid shooting line of .471/.381/.840.

Moore had been projected as a possible second-round pick before he suffered an Achilles tear during a workout with the Spurs this spring, which prompted his agent Mike Silverman to call for changes to how the pre-draft process works.

“We’re truly heartbroken for Jalon,” Silverman told ESPN at the time. “It’s time to revamp the NBA pre-draft process. Flying around the country to perform intense competitive workouts exposes players to risk of major injuries. No other pro sports league puts their draft prospects in this position.”

While Moore seems likely to miss the entire 2025/26 season, the Pelicans may be planning to sign-and-waive him in order to gain his G League rights, with an eye toward keeping him in their system for ’26/27.

The transaction gives New Orleans a full 21-man offseason roster, including 14 players on guaranteed contracts, four (including Moore) on Exhibit 9/Exhibit 10 deals, and three on two-way pacts.

Knicks Add Alex Len, Matt Ryan To Camp Roster

September 16th, 2025 at 5:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks have added center Alex Len on an Exhibit 9 contract and forward Matt Ryan on an Exhibit 10 deal, according to the team’s PR department (Twitter links).

Additionally, they waived Dink Pate and Bryson Warren, who were signed to Exhibit 10 deals earlier in the day. All these moves were expected as the team rounds out its training camp roster.

New York now has all of its 21 training camp spots filled.

Len worked out with New York this week. He has been in the league since 2013, when the Suns selected him with the No. 5 overall pick. He has also played for Atlanta, Sacramento, Toronto, Washington and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Last season, he appeared in 36 games with the Kings and 10 more with the Lakers. He signed with the Lakers as a free agent after Sacramento traded him in February to the Wizards, who quickly waived him. He averaged a modest 1.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in 8.3 minutes during those 46 appearances in 2024/25 and became a free agent after the season.

As reported earlier in the day, Ryan chose to sign a training camp deal with New York, with whom he played for last season.

He was on a non-guaranteed deal and then on a two-way contract before being waived on March 1. He appeared in 19 games for the Knicks but played primarily in garbage time, scoring 28 points and grabbing eight rebounds in 68 total minutes of action.

Ryan, who has played in 82 regular season games since making his NBA debut in April 2022, is known primarily as a three-point marksman, having made 40.2% of his career attempts from beyond the arc.

Len and Ryan will try to buck long odds to secure the team’s lone available veteran’s minimum contract. Landry Shamet, Malcolm Brogdon, and Garrison Mathews are also in the mix for that deal.

Knicks Sign Jemison, McCullar, Evbuomwan To Two-Way Deals

September 16th, 2025 at 4:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

4:30pm: The Knicks have officially signed Jemison and McCullar to two-way deals, the team’s PR department tweets (Twitter links). Additionally, NBA.com’s transaction log lists Evbuomwan’s deal as a two-way contract, despite the Knicks announcing it as an Exhibit 10.

4:00pm: The Knicks have reached two-way contract agreements with big man Trey Jemison and forward Tosan Evbuomwan, SNY’s Ian Begley reports (Twitter links).

The Knicks will enter training camp with all three two-way slots filled, as Kevin McCullar Jr. is expected to return on another two-way deal, Begley adds. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype confirms that McCullar will sign his two-way qualifying offer (Twitter link).

New York worked out Jemison on Monday and obviously the front office and coaches liked what they saw. Jemison signed a two-year, two-way contract in January with the Lakers and remained on their roster for the rest of the season, but was waived in July.

The 25-year-old center had some productive moments in his 22 games with Los Angeles, averaging 2.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 10.3 minutes per night while shooting 61.9% from the field. He also spent time with New Orleans during the 2024/25 season and had brief stints with Washington and Memphis in ’23/24.

Overall, Jemison has 63 games of NBA experience (14 starts), averaging 4.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game. Jemison, 25, went undrafted out of UAB in 2023.

The Knicks have been busy finalizing their camp roster and announced a handful of other contract signings on Monday, including an Exhibit 10 contract with Evbuomwan. They’ve apparently decided to upgrade that move regarding Evbuomwan.

Evbuomwan had been on a two-way deal with the Nets in 2024/25. Brooklyn waived the 6’8″ British combo forward in August.

After going undrafted out of Princeton in 2023, the former Ivy League Player of the Year linked up with the Pistons’ G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, to start his pro career. Evbuomwan signed a 10-day contract with the Grizzlies, then joined Detroit on a 10-day deal, later agreeing to a two-way contract. He started 2024/25 with the Clippers’ NBAGL club, the San Diego Clippers, before inking a two-way deal with Brooklyn in January.

In 28 games with Brooklyn last season, the 24-year-old averaged 9.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 0.9 steals per contest, with a shooting line of .427/.312/.753.

Hawks Trade Kobe Bufkin To Nets

September 16th, 2025 at 12:51pm CST by Luke Adams

September 16: The trade is official, according to announcements from both teams. The Nets waived big man David Muoka in order to open up a spot on the 21-man roster for Bufkin.

September 15: The Hawks and Nets have agreed to a trade that will send former first-round pick Kobe Bufkin from Atlanta to Brooklyn in exchange for cash considerations, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). The Hawks will acquire $110K in cash, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

The 15th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Bufkin has battled injuries since entering the NBA. He missed a significant chunk of his rookie year due to a fractured left thumb and a sprained toe, then underwent season-ending shoulder surgery into December 2024, less than two months into his second season.

In total, the 6’4″ guard made just 27 appearances for the Hawks, averaging 5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 11.9 minutes per night, with a .374/.220/.654 shooting line. Bufkin – who will turn 22 on Sunday – has more upside than he’s been able to show so far, so the Nets will take a chance on him in the hopes that he’ll have better health luck going forward.

Brooklyn has more than enough cap room to take on Bufkin’s $4.5MM salary for this season, which will push the team over the minimum salary floor, at least for now. His rookie scale contract also includes a $6.9MM team option for 2026/27 — the Nets will have to make a decision on that option by October 31.

While the Nets are in a good position to roll the dice on Bufkin from a salary cap perspective, adding him to the mix will exacerbate a looming roster crunch. Once the deal is official, Brooklyn will be carrying 15 players on guaranteed salaries and four on partially guaranteed or non-guaranteed salaries. The team also intends to add Ricky Council IV to the latter group. A number of those players will have to be waived or traded in order for the Nets to set their 15-man regular season roster next month.

Brooklyn still has roughly $11.6MM in cap room for now, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, though the club could increase that figure by waiving some of those players with non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts. The Nets would be in danger of falling back below the minimum salary floor in that scenario and will want to make sure they’re above that threshold by opening night.

The Hawks, meanwhile, will generate a $4.5MM trade exception as a result of the deal, generating a little extra financial flexibility below the luxury tax line and opening up another roster spot for one of their camp invitees to compete for.

With Bufkin no longer in the mix, Atlanta will have just 10 players on fully guaranteed salaries, plus Vit Krejci and N’Faly Dante on partial guarantees, Mouhamed Gueye on a non-guaranteed contract, and Caleb Houstan, Charles Bassey, and Kobe Johnson on Exhibit 10 deals.