Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Chase Hunter To Sign Exhibit 10 Contract With Pelicans

June 27th, 2025 at 10:09pm CST by Luke Adams

After going undrafted this week, former Clemson guard Chase Hunter has reached an agreement to sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Pelicans, he announced on his Instagram account.

Hunter had a lengthy college career with the Tigers, which spanned six years from 2019-25. He was awarded a medical redshirt after a foot injury limited him to nine appearances in his freshman year, then was granted another extra year of extra eligibility due to COVID-19.

Hunter ended up appearing in 167 games across those six years, making 123 starts. As a super-senior in 2024/25, he averaged a career-best 16.5 points per game on .470/.407/.866 shooting while also contributing 3.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.4 steals in 33.5 minutes per contest. The 24-year-old earned first-team All-ACC honors this year and left Clemson as the school’s third all-time leading scorer.

An Exhibit 10 contract can be converted into a two-way deal prior to the start of the regular season. It can also put a player in line to earn a bonus worth up to $85K if he’s waived and then spends at least 60 days with his team’s G League affiliate. It remains to be seen exactly what New Orleans’ plan is for Hunter.

Pistons To Sign Dawson Garcia

June 27th, 2025 at 9:18pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Pistons have agreed to sign undrafted free agent Dawson Garcia, reports Darren Wolfson of SKOR North and KSTP (via Twitter).

The details of the deal are unspecified, but it’s likely a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract. An Exhibit 10 could be converted to a two-way deal before the season or would put Garcia in line for a bonus worth up to $85K if he’s waived and then spends at least 60 days with the Motor City Cruise, Detroit’s G League affiliate.

Garcia is a 6’11” lefty forward who spent the last three seasons for the University of Minnesota after playing for Marquette as a freshman and UNC as a sophomore.

The 23-year-old averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game this past season while shooting 37.3% on 4.2 three-point attempts per contest — the points, rebounds, and three-point tries were all career highs. Over his five collegiate seasons, Garcia made 35.3% of 417 shots from beyond the arc.

Wolfson adds that Garcia had a strong pre-draft workout and visit with the Pistons, one of several NBA teams he met with this spring.

Thunder To Sign Zack Austin, Chris Youngblood

June 27th, 2025 at 6:38pm CST by Eli Cohen

The 2025 champion Thunder have agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal with Pitt forward Zack Austin, reports Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress (Twitter link). They will also sign Alabama guard Chris Youngblood to an Exhibit 10 deal, Blake Byler writes for BamaOnLine.

An Exhibit 10 contract is a non-guaranteed agreement that could be converted to a two-way deal before the season or puts the player in line for a bonus worth up to $85K if he’s waived and then spends at least 60 days with his team’s G League affiliate.

Austin is a 6’7″ forward who played the last two seasons for Pitt after transferring from High Point University in North Carolina. He was named to the ACC All-Defensive team this season after averaging 1.1 steals and 1.6 blocks per game. He also contributed 9.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest while making 38.1% of his three-point attempts and 90.2% of his free throws. Those numbers were significantly up from his career averages of 33.5% from three and 78.2% from the line.

A high-level athlete with a great motor, Austin’s block percentage of 6.1% ranked 7th in the ACC, and was first among players shorter than 6’10”.

Youngblood is a 6’4″ fifth-year senior who is a career 39.3% three-point shooter with Kennesaw State, South Florida, and Alabama. He averaged 10.3 points per game for the Crimson Tide after starting slow due to an ankle injury. His defining performance for Alabama came in the Round of 16 against BYU, where he scored 19 points and made five three-pointers, helping the team advance to the Elite Eight.

The Thunder previously agreed to a deal with Iowa shooting wing Payton Sandfort.

Sixers Re-Sign Justin Edwards To Three-Year Deal

June 27th, 2025 at 5:34pm CST by Luke Adams

July 6: Edwards has officially re-signed with the 76ers, according to NBA.com’s transaction log. Edwards’ deal includes a third-year team option, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

June 27: The Sixers will decline their minimum-salary team option on forward Justin Edwards in order to sign him to a new three-year contract, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

According to Charania, the new deal will pay Edwards roughly $2MM in 2025/26 and will be fully guaranteed for the first two years.

Edwards, who will turn 22 this December, joined the Sixers last summer as an undrafted free agent out of Kentucky. He opened the season on a two-way deal before being promoted to the standard roster after the trade deadline in February.

The 6’7″ forward had an impressive rookie year in Philadelphia, averaging 10.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.0 steal in 26.3 minutes per game across 44 outings (26 starts). He registered a shooting line of .455/.363/.696.

The Sixers will have the ability to complete this deal with Edwards using his Non-Bird rights. While it sounds like it might be worth the veteran’s minimum (which is projected to start at $2,048,494 for a second-year player in ’25/26), the minimum salary exception can only be used for deals of up to two years.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if Edwards’ deal includes a team option in year three, since that would give the Sixers the ability to make him a restricted free agent in 2027 instead of having to take him to unrestricted free agency in 2028.

Coleman Hawkins Expected To Attend Warriors’ Training Camp

June 27th, 2025 at 4:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Illinois and Kansas State forward Coleman Hawkins is expected to attend training camp with the Warriors, a source tells Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 (Twitter link). He’ll also play for the Warriors’ Summer League team, tweets Bryan Kalbrosky of USA Today.

While Goodman doesn’t provide any specifics on Hawkins’ potential contract with Golden State, a training camp invitee would typically receive an Exhibit 10 deal, which is a one-year, non-guaranteed minimum contract that doesn’t count toward the cap unless the player makes the regular season roster.

After spending four years with the Fighting Illini, Hawkins transferred to Kansas State in 2024 ahead of his final college season. He filled up the stat sheet as a full-time starter for the Wildcats, averaging 10.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game, though he did struggle to score efficiently, shooting 40.1% from the field (30.3% on three-pointers) and 57.7% from the free throw line.

Hawkins, who wasn’t ranked among this year’s top 100 draft-eligible prospects by ESPN or The Athletic, is the third undrafted rookie reported to have a potential camp deal in place with Golden State, joining LJ Cryer and Chance McMillian.

Sixers Declining Jared Butler’s Team Option

June 27th, 2025 at 2:49pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers will turn down Jared Butler‘s $2.35MM team option for the 2025/26 season, reports Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports (Twitter link). Friday represented the deadline for the club to make its decision.

Butler, a 6’3″ point guard who will turn 25 in August, was the 40th overall pick in the 2021 draft and has played for four teams – Utah, Oklahoma City, Washington, and Philadelphia – since entering the NBA. He was traded from the Wizards to the Sixers in February along with four second-round picks in a deal that sent Reggie Jackson and a “least favorable” 2026 first-round pick to Washington.

Butler had his best NBA season in 2024/25 in Washington and Philadelphia, appearing in 60 total games for the two teams and averaging 9.0 points, 3.7 assists, and 1.8 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .448/.355/.824.

It’s unclear whether Butler will still be in the 76ers’ plans after the team declines his option. Because he has four years of NBA service, the former Baylor standout is ineligible for a qualifying offer and will become an unrestricted free agent.

That doesn’t mean Philadelphia can’t or won’t re-sign him, but the club added No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe this week to an increasingly crowded backcourt, so the front office will likely have other priorities in free agency.

The 76ers also hold team options on Lonnie Walker ($2.94MM) and Justin Edwards ($1.96MM). Those decisions are due by Sunday.

Rockets Plan To Re-Sign Aaron Holiday, Jae’Sean Tate, Jeff Green

June 27th, 2025 at 2:43pm CST by Luke Adams

2:43 pm: Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle (subscription required) confirms that the Rockets will decline Holiday’s option and have tentative agreements in place to retain Holiday, Tate, and Green.

She adds that the team expects to have its full non-taxpayer mid-level exception available, which points toward Landale being waived before his $8MM salary becomes guaranteed, though that hasn’t been confirmed yet.

12:26 pm: The Rockets don’t intend to let guard Aaron Holiday, swingman Jae’Sean Tate, or forward Jeff Green walk in free agency, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). Charania reports that Houston’s plan is to bring back all three players, re-signing them to new contracts.

While Tate and Green are headed for unrestricted free agency, the Rockets hold a team option on Holiday worth roughly $4.9MM. Charania’s report suggests Houston plans to turn down that option in order to bring back the 28-year-old on a new deal.

Holiday, Green, and Tate have all spent multiple seasons with the Rockets, but played fewer minutes in 2024/25 than they had in the past as the team’s young core continued to come into its own.

Holiday averaged 5.5 points and 1.3 assists in 12.8 minutes per game across 62 appearances, with a .437/.398/.829 shooting line; Tate logged a career-low 11.3 MPG in 52 games, contributing 3.6 PPG and 2.3 RPG; and Green put up 5.4 PPG and 1.8 RPG in 12.4 MPG across 32 outings (three starts).

Despite their modest roles, it seems as if Holiday, Tate, and Green still hold real appeal to the Rockets, though I wouldn’t be surprised if all three players return on minimum-salary contracts. Tate’s deal will be for one year, likely at the veteran’s minimum, confirms Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).

As cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets, bringing back the trio on minimum deals would allow Houston to hang onto Jock Landale‘s $8MM contract and stay out of tax territory. The big man’s salary is scheduled to become guaranteed if he remains under contract through Sunday.

If Landale is let go, the Rockets could use a chunk of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception without going into the tax.

Nets Waive Maxwell Lewis

June 27th, 2025 at 2:37pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets announced on Friday that they have requested waivers on forward Maxwell Lewis, as Ian Begley of SNY.tv relays (via Twitter).

The 40th pick in the 2023 draft out of Pepperdine, Lewis spent his rookie season with the Lakers and then opened the ’24/25 campaign in Los Angeles before being sent to Brooklyn in December as part of the D’Angelo Russell/Dorian Finney-Smith trade.

Lewis was limited to 21 appearances for Brooklyn after fracturing his tibia in his first game as a Net. He averaged 5.3 points and 2.5 rebounds in 14.2 minutes per game, with a .422/.380/.700 shooting line.

Lewis’ contract called for a $2,221,677 salary for 2025/26, but only $100K of that amount was guaranteed. Brooklyn had to waive him before Sunday in order to avoid locking in the full guarantee.

Unless Lewis is claimed on waivers this weekend, the Nets will carry that $100K on their cap for the 2025/26 season, which will cut into their projected room by a very small amount when the new league year begins.

Wizards To Sign Keshon Gilbert To Exhibit 10 Contract

June 27th, 2025 at 1:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

Iowa State point guard Keshon Gilbert will sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Wizards, according to Sean Cunningham of KCRA in Sacramento (Twitter link).

Gilbert, 21, transferred in 2023 after playing his first two collegiate seasons at UNLV. He was a second team All-Big 12 selection in 2024 and a third-team choice this year, averaging 13.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 29 games as a senior.

Gilbert suffered a late-season groin injury that forced him to miss the Cyclones’ final seven games and the NCAA Tournament. He recovered in time to participate in May’s G League Elite Camp and the rest of the pre-draft process.

He was ranked 84th by Sam Vecenie of The Athletic on his list of this year’s top 100 draft prospects.

Gilbert is the second undrafted player to agree to terms with Washington since the draft ended, joining St. John’s guard Kadary Richmond.

With an Exhibit 10 deal, Gilbert can earn a bonus worth up to $85K if he’s waived before the season starts and spends at least 60 days with the Wizards’ G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go. Exhibit 10 contracts can also be converted into two-way deals.

Cavaliers, Norchad Omier Agree To Exhibit 10 Deal

June 27th, 2025 at 1:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

Baylor forward Norchad Omier has agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract with the Cavaliers, sources tell Sean Cunningham of KCRA in Sacramento (Twitter link).

Omier, 23, played for the Bears this season after spending two years at Miami (Florida) and two at Arkansas State. He averaged 15.7 points and 10.8 rebounds in 35 games and was a first-team All-Big 12 selection, as well as a member of the conference’s All-Newcomer Team.

Omier collected various honors during his five years of college basketball, including being named Sun Belt Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in 2022. He was the first native of Nicaragua to earn a Division I basketball scholarship when he signed with Arkansas State in 2020. He’s also a member of the Nicaraguan national team.

The Exhibit 10 language means Omier could earn a bonus worth up to $85K if he’s waived before the season starts and spends at least 60 days with the Cleveland Charge, the Cavaliers’ G League affiliate. Exhibit 10s can also be converted into two-way deals if Omier makes a strong impression in training camp.