Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cameron Oliver Signs With Rockets

July 8th, 2017 at 5:38pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8, 5:38pm: The signing is official, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26.

JUNE 22, 11:45pm: Undrafted rookie free agent Cameron Oliver has found an NBA home, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN.com, who tweets that Oliver has agreed to a free agent contract with the Rockets. Oliver will get a multiyear deal from Houston later in the offseason, per Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link).

Oliver, a sophomore in 2016/17, declared for the draft after a productive season in which he averaged 16.0 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and an impressive 2.6 BPG. The 6’8″ forward ranked as the 55th-best prospect on DraftExpress’ big board, but wasn’t selected on Thursday night.

Once his deal becomes official, Oliver figures to head to training camp with the Rockets as a member of the 20-man roster. It remains to be seen whether he’ll have a legit chance to earn a spot on the team’s regular season roster.

Jordan Bell Signs With Warriors

July 8th, 2017 at 4:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors have announced the signing of second-round pick Jordan Bell, tweets Anthony Slater of The San Jose Mercury News. Bell will receive a two-year minimum-salary deal, which was all Golden State could offer because of its cap situation.

A 6’9″ junior out of Oregon, Bell was taken 38th overall by the Bulls and traded to the Warriors for $3.5MM on draft night. That’s a record price for a draft pick and the most that league rules currently allow in a cash deal.

Bell averaged 2.3 blocks per game to go with 11.0 points and 8.7 rebounds for the Ducks this year.

Rockets Sign James Harden To Designated Veteran Extension

July 8th, 2017 at 3:16pm CST by Joshua Fischman

James Harden and the Rockets have finalized a contract extension that will keep him under contract through the 2022/23 season, the team announced today in a press release. Brian Windhorst and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (link via Woj’s Twitter) first reported that Harden and the Rockets were making progress toward a new deal that will be the biggest in NBA history.

The new contract will begin in 2019/20, replacing Harden’s player option, and will add four years to the guaranteed two years on his current deal.

“Houston is home for me,” Harden said in a statement. “Mr. [Leslie] Alexander has shown he is fully committed to winning and my teammates and I are going to keep putting in the work to get better and compete for the title.”

Harden just signed an extension with the Rockets last summer, and typically wouldn’t be permitted to sign another new deal so soon. However, he and Russell Westbrook are eligible for extensions this summer, having been grandfathered in under the Designated Veteran Extension rules in the new CBA. The DVE allows players to sign for super-max deals worth 35% of the cap when they are named to the league’s All-NBA team and/or meet other criteria.

The exact terms of Harden’s extension will depend on where the NBA’s salary cap lands in 2019/20, but based on current projections, it would be worth more than $169MM over the four new years, running through 2022/23. Combined with his next two seasons, he’d be on track to earn approximately $228MM over the next six years.

Harden, who turns 28 next month, is coming off an MVP-caliber season in which he set new career highs in PPG (29.1), APG (11.2), and RPG (8.1). He’ll join forces in 2017/18 with fellow All-Star Chris Paul, who was acquired by Houston last month in a blockbuster trade with the Clippers.

Westbrook (Thunder) and John Wall (Wizards) are the other stars expected to receive Designated Veteran Extension offers this offseason, if they haven’t already. Stephen Curry (Warriors) agreed to the first of those deals last weekend.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Hawks Don’t Match Knicks’ Hardaway Offer Sheet

July 8th, 2017 at 2:08pm CST by Luke Adams

2:08pm: Tim Hardaway Jr. is now officially a Knick, as Hardaway’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, says that Atlanta has officially not matched, per Marc Berman of The New York Post (link via Twitter).

1:45pm: The Hawks have informed the Knicks that they will not match New York’s offer sheet on Tim Hardaway Jr., reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (link via Twitter).

11:27am: The Hawks don’t intend to match the Knicks’ four-year, $71MM offer sheet for Tim Hardaway Jr., reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. As Wojnarowski notes, the formal deadline for Atlanta to make its decision is still hours away, but Hardaway will ultimately be a Knick — again.

Hardaway, 25, enjoyed the best season of his NBA career in 2016/17, averaging 14.5 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 2.3 APG in 79 games (30 starts) for the Hawks. He also posted a career-best FG% (.455) and had a .357 3PT%, and was even better after the All-Star break, with 17.5 PPG in 25 contests.

While Hardaway’s production was solid and he still has room to improve, the Knicks’ $71MM offer – which came at a time when most teams didn’t have much cap room available – was a surprise. The Hawks were reportedly willing to do a deal in the four-year, $48MM range for Hardaway, but decided not to match a Knicks offer that would hamper their cap flexibility more significantly. Atlanta will have room left over to pursue another RFA or accommodate another salary dump.

In addition to averaging nearly $18MM annually, the Knicks’ deal with Hardaway includes a fourth-year player option and a 15% trade bonus, according to previous reports. The agreement also calls for the shooting guard to receive 50% of his annual salary by October 1 each year.

With Hardaway in the mix, the Knicks will have little – if any – cap room available to spend on other free agents, though the club will still have its $4.3MM room exception. New York also had to renounce its rights to Derrick Rose, among other free agents, in order to clear the space necessary for Hardaway. That all but rules out the possibility of a reunion between Rose and the Knicks, since the team no longer holds his Bird rights.

Hardaway was originally drafted by New York with the No. 24 pick in the 2013 draft. The Knicks traded him to the Hawks in a 2015 draft night trade that netted them Jerian Grant. Grant was traded to the Bulls during the following offseason as part of a package that brought Rose to the Big Apple.

As Marc Berman of the New York Post wrote earlier today, the Knicks’ brain trust views Hardaway as part of a long-term ‘core four’ for the franchise, alongside Kristaps Porzingis, Willy Hernangomez, and Frank Ntilikina.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wizards Sign Mike Scott

July 8th, 2017 at 1:25pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 8, 1:25pm: Mike Scott has officially signed a 1-year, $1.7MM deal with the Wizards, tweets Candace Buckner of the Washington Post.

JULY 4, 8:51am: Free agent forward Mike Scott has reached a veterans minimum agreement with the Wizards, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com.

The five-year veteran is coming off an injury-plagued season that limited him to just 18 games. He missed the start of the year after having surgery on his left knee and didn’t take the court until mid-December. He put up career-worst numbers with 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in limited playing time and was traded to Phoenix at the February deadline. The Suns waived him the following day.

Scott, who will turn 29 this month, is the latest addition to the Wizards’ bench. They reached a deal with Jodie Meeks on Sunday, and Candace Buckner of The Washington Post speculates that the 15-man roster will be more or less set if Otto Porter re-signs.

The agreement with Scott puts the Wizards right on the edge of the cap, with $98.8MM in guaranteed contracts, Bobby Marks posts on ESPN Now. A max deal with Porter would move Washington $7.2MM over the tax line, creating a penalty of $11.4MM.

Warriors Sign Nick Young To One-Year Deal

July 8th, 2017 at 7:39am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8: Young’s deal with the Warriors is now official, the team announced in a press release.

JULY 5: Nick Young will be joining the defending champions for the 2017/18 season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Agent Mark Bartelstein tells Wojnarowski that his client has agreed to sign a one-year, $5.2MM deal with the Warriors.

Young turned down a $5.67MM player option to remain with the Lakers for ’17/18, so he’ll be taking a slight pay cut and will be leaving him hometown of Los Angeles in order to join the Warriors. However, his odds of earning his first championship ring increase significantly with the move.

Golden State has no cap room available, but hadn’t yet used its mid-level exception. Because the Warriors will be above the tax apron this season, their MLE is worth just $5.192MM — Young will receive that entire amount, leaving the Dubs with just the minimum salary exception available as they look for big men to fill out their roster. The team’s own free agents like Zaza Pachulia and JaVale McGee could receive slightly more than the minimum if they were to return, since Golden State holds their Non-Bird rights.

Last offseason, Young was viewed as a potential release candidate for the Lakers. At the time, he was coming off a season in which he averaged career-worst marks in PPG (7.3) and FG% (.339). However, he enjoyed a solid bounce-back season in 2016/17, starting 60 games for Los Angeles, averaging 13.2 PPG and posting a shooting line of .430/.404/.856.

After reaching the open market on Saturday, Young reportedly drew interest from the Timberwolves, Pelicans, and Thunder in addition to the Warriors. Minnesota was believed to have made him a two-year offer, though it likely would have only been worth the room exception, which starts at $4.328MM.

The Warriors’ total commitments for 2017/18 now appear to be in the neighborhood of $133MM, with more to come, as cap expert Albert Nahmad tweets. The tax line for this year is just over $119MM, so Golden State’s roster is starting to get expensive. By the time the team is done filling out its roster, its projected tax penalties may exceed $40MM.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Heat To Retain Wayne Ellington

July 7th, 2017 at 8:10pm CST by Austin Kent

With their free agent acquisitions of Kelly Olynyk, Dion Waiters and James Johnson now in the books, the Heat can breathe easy knowing that they’ll soon retain Wayne Ellington, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel tweets.

The Heat were very calculated about the order in which they officially signed the above-mentioned trio, doing so in such a way that they managed to keep Ellington on their books long enough for his partially guaranteed deal to kick in after July 7.

In 62 games for the injury-riddled 2016/17 Heat, Ellington averaged 10.5 points per game. The 29-year-old played a big role in Miami rallying after a disastrous first half of the season to compete for a playoff spot.

With Ellington on board for 2017/18, along with returnees Waiters and Johnson, the Heat have shown that they’re eager to double down on the gritty chemistry that powered them to their historic turnaround.

Heat Officially Sign James Johnson

July 7th, 2017 at 7:48pm CST by ChrisCrouse

July 7, 7:47pm: The Heat have officially re-signed Johnson, the team announced over Twitter.

July 6, 10:00 PM: Johnson’s deal will be for four years and $60MM, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter links). Scotto adds that the contract contains a player option in the fourth season.

7:59 PM: The Heat and James Johnson have agreed on the framework of a four-year deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Johnson was widely expected to return to Miami.

Johnson floated around the league before signing a one-year deal with the Heat last offseason. He played a key role for Miami, earning 27.4 minutes per contest while serving as the team’s top perimeter defender.

The 30-year-old averaged double-digit scoring for the first time in his career (12.8 PPG) in 2016/17, and set new career-highs in RPG (4.9), APG (3.6), and 3PT% (.340).

The Heat struck out on bigger stars, such as Gordon Hayward, but rebounded by bringing in Kelly Olynyk and re-signing their own free agents.

The organization needs to clear cap space to accommodate lucrative deals for Olynyk, Johnson and Dion Waiters, and the team is working on moving Josh McRoberts to the Mavericks in order to do so.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Heat Sign Dion Waiters To Four-Year Deal

July 7th, 2017 at 7:32pm CST by Luke Adams

July 7, 7:32pm: The Heat have officially re-signed Waiters, the team announced over Twitter.

Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel notes that the Waiters deal had to be announced prior to the Johnson confirmation, at which point a potential Wayne Ellington guarantee could follow.

July 6, 7:01pm: The Heat and Waiters are in agreement on the previously reported four-year, $52MM deal, per several reports. According to Scotto, the deal won’t include any options.

Scotto also reports that the Lakers made a one-year, $17MM offer to Waiters. L.A. has been reluctant to commit any second-year guaranteed money to free agents.

4:48pm: Waiters’ new deal is expected to be a four-year contract, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link) pegs the total value at $52MM over four years.

4:31pm: The Heat are finalizing a contract agreement with Dion Waiters that will bring the free agent guard back to Miami, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Wojnarowski had indicated earlier today that Waiters was considering the Heat, Lakers, and Knicks, and would likely make a decision soon.

[RELATED: 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker]

Waiters, a former fourth overall pick, didn’t generate much interest in free agency last summer after the Thunder withdrew his qualifying offer, and ultimately signed a modest deal with the Heat. Although he was limited to 46 games (43 starts), the 25-year-old had a nice bounce-back season in Miami, averaging 15.8 PPG, 4.3 APG, and 3.3 RPG with a shooting line of .424/.395/.646.

Armed with a player option for 2017/18, Waiters turned down that option in search of a more lucrative deal on the open market, and was linked to the Lakers, Knicks, Bulls, and Kings. After Miami missed out on top free agent target Gordon Hayward, however, it made sense for Waiters and the Heat to work out a new agreement that allowed him to return to South Beach.

Terms of Waiters’ deal aren’t yet known, but the Heat figure to use a chunk of cap room to re-sign him, since their Non-Bird rights would only allow for a 20% raise. The club would also like to bring back James Johnson and has interest in Rudy Gay, among other free agents, so we’ll see how much cap space is left over after Waiters’ deal.

Waiters had ranked 21st overall on our list of 2017’s top free agents last week.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Kings Sign Fifth Overall Pick De’Aaron Fox

July 7th, 2017 at 7:29pm CST by Austin Kent

The Kings have officially signed fifth-overall pick De’Aaron Fox, the team announced via Twitter. The 19-year-old speedster joins the franchise after posting 16.7 points and 4.6 assists per game with Kentucky.

Per the NBA’s rookie contract scale, Fox will presumably make $24.6MM over the course of a four-year deal, starting with $4.6MM in 2017/18.

Fox will share point guard duties with George Hill.

The team had previously reached agreements with Harry Giles and Justin Jackson.