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Heat Exercise 2018/19 Option On Justise Winslow

September 19th, 2017 at 11:14am CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have exercised their fourth-year team option on Justise Winslow, the club announced today in a press release. Winslow’s status for the coming season won’t be affected by the move, but it will guarantee his salary for the 2018/19 season.

Winslow, the 10th overall pick in the 2015 draft, missed nearly all of his second NBA season in 2016/17 due to a shoulder injury. After playing in 78 games in his rookie year, Winslow appeared in just 18 last season, averaging 10.9 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 3.7 APG. He looks good to go for the 2017/18 campaign, however, and is expected to battle for the starting small forward job in the preseason.

By exercising their final team option on Winslow, the Heat ensure that he’ll count for $3,448,926 against the cap in 2018/19. The move will also make Winslow eligible for an extension during the 2018 offseason. If he and the Heat don’t strike a deal at that time, the 21-year-old would be on track to reach restricted free agency in 2019.

Decisions on 2018/19 rookie scale team options are due by the end of October, so we should start hearing about more of those moves in the coming weeks. You can follow along with those team option decisions right here.

Bucks Re-Sign Jason Terry

September 18th, 2017 at 8:49pm CST by Austin Kent

SEPTEMBER 18: The Bucks have officially re-signed Terry, the team announced today in a press release. Terry’s new deal will give him the ability to veto trades during the 2017/18 season.

SEPTEMBER 15: The Bucks are signing Jason Terry to a one-year, $2.3M deal, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. It’s a guaranteed minimum salary deal for Terry, who will earn $2,328,652 despite only counting for about $1.471MM against Milwaukee’s cap.

Now on the verge of his 19th professional campaign, Terry brings his considerable wealth of knowledge (not to mention his respectable stroke from beyond the arc) back to the young Bucks roster. The veteran, who is celebrating his 40th birthday today, logged 18.4 minutes per game in 74 contests with Milwaukee last season.

The decision to bring back Terry for a second year with the club will increase Milwaukee’s guaranteed contract total up to 14 players, although it’s not clear what sort of on-court role he’ll actually see in 2017/18.

The Bucks watched Malcolm Brogdon blossom into a Rookie of the Year at the point last year, backed up by the ever-scrappy Matthew Dellavedova. Similarly, at the two, they’ve already re-signed Tony Snell (at over $9M this year) and may look to integrate third-year man Rashad Vaughn.

The logjam in the backcourt, however, likely had little bearing on the guard’s free agency either way. Considering that Milwaukee has officially arrived on the scene as an upstart playoff contender, simply having someone with Terry’s experience swinging towels on the sidelines will likely pay off in the end.

Trail Blazers Sign Anthony Morrow

September 18th, 2017 at 8:31pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 18: The Blazers have issued a press release formally announcing their deal with Morrow.

SEPTEMBER 15: The Trail Blazers have reached an agreement to sign free agent shooting guard Anthony Morrow, agent Wallace Prather tells Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). According to Charania, Morrow will receive a one-year, non-guaranteed deal from Portland.

Morrow, who will celebrate his 32nd birthday later this month, began the 2016/17 campaign with the Thunder, but finished the season with the Bulls after being included in the trade that sent Doug McDermott and Taj Gibson to Oklahoma City. In 49 total games, the Georgia Tech alum averaged a very modest 5.5 PPG with a disappointing .389/.308/.919 shooting line.

While Morrow wasn’t particularly effective last season, with his FG% and 3PT% both representing career lows, he has historically been a much better shooter — he entered last season having made 42.5% of his career three-point attempts. In 2012/13, Morrow had a similarly subpar showing as he split time between the Hawks and Mavericks, but he played well for the Pelicans the following season, so there’s a precedent for him bouncing back from a down year.

Still, Morrow won’t be a lock to make Portland’s roster out of training camp. The Blazers have 14 players on guaranteed contracts and are into luxury-tax territory, meaning the team may not want to carry a 15th player to start the season. Even if the Blazers do open the year with 15 players, Morrow could face competition for that final spot from younger guards like Archie Goodwin and Isaiah Briscoe, though he’d probably enter camp as the favorite.

Heat Sign Erik McCree

September 18th, 2017 at 6:50pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have moved one step closer to filling up their training camp roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed forward Erik McCree to a contract. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but it figures to be a short-term deal that’s mostly – or fully – non-guaranteed.

After starting his college career at Murray State, McCree transferred to Louisiana Tech and has spent the last three years at the school. The 6’8″ forward averaged 17.7 PPG and 8.9 RPG in his senior year, with a respectable shooting line of .476/.362/.770. He went undrafted in June.

With the addition of McCree to their roster, the Heat now have 19 players under contract, including 13 on guaranteed salaries. Rodney McGruder and Okaro White – who don’t yet have fully guaranteed contracts – have the inside track on the team’s final two regular season roster spots, so McCree looks like a good bet to land with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League team, as an affiliate player.

Heat Sign Josh Richardson To Four-Year Extension

September 18th, 2017 at 1:23pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 18, 1:23pm: The signing is official, the team announced on its website.

SEPTEMBER 13, 5pm: The Heat are finalizing a four-year contract extension with Josh Richardson, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who reports that the deal will be worth $42MM. While Richardson was a second-round pick in 2015 and wasn’t eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason, the league’s new CBA made him eligible for a veteran extension until opening night.

According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link), Richardson’s agents met with Heat president Pat Riley about two weeks ago and the team expressed a willingness to give Richardson the maximum offer. Under the terms of the CBA, that max amount would mean a starting salary of 120% of the estimated annual salary.

Richardson’s new deal will go into effect for the 2018/19 season and would run through 2022 if he plays out the entire contract. However, the final year of the extension, for the 2021/22 campaign, is a player option, according to Jackson, who provides a year-by-year breakdown of the pact (Twitter links).

Richardson’s cap for 2017/18 won’t be impacted by the new deal — he remains on track to earn the minimum $1,471,382 this season. However, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks (ESPN Now link) details, the Heat now project to sit roughly $5.5MM below the tax with $117.5MM on the books for 2018/19. That figure could increase to approximately $119.6MM if Dion Waiters and Kelly Olynyk hit games-played bonuses in their respective contracts, according to Marks.

Richardson broke out as a rookie, evidenced by his 46.1% mark from behind the arc. He slumped as a sophomore though, in part because of ankle injuries. In 105 career games with the franchise to date, the shooting guard has scored 8.4 points per game and nearly averaged a steal per contest.

Sources tell Jackson that Richardson will be given the opportunity to compete with Justise Winslow and Rodney McGruder for the Heat’s starting small forward job this fall.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Timberwolves Sign Melo Trimble

September 18th, 2017 at 1:07pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 18, 1:07pm: The deal is official, according to a tweet from the team.

AUGUST 1, 3:07pm: The Timberwolves and former Maryland point guard Melo Trimble have reached an agreement on a contract, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Wojnarowski reports that Trimble will receive a partially guaranteed deal from Minnesota.

Trimble is coming off a 2016/17 campaign in which he averaged 16.8 PPG, 3.7 APG, and 3.6 RPG for the Terrapins. The 6’3″ guard was a junior last season, but elected to forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility by entering the draft a year early. He ranked 84th on DraftExpress’ big board, and went undrafted.

A June report from ESPN indicated that Trimble had agreed to a free agent deal with the Sixers. However, the 22-year-old’s agreement with Philadelphia only applied to the Summer League — the two sides didn’t have a deal in place to bring him to training camp with the 76ers. Trimble appeared in three Summer League games in Las Vegas for the Sixers, averaging 10.3 PPG.

The Timberwolves no longer have any cap room or exceptions available, so Trimble will get a minimum salary contract. If he doesn’t make the team’s regular season roster, he’s probably a good bet to eventually join the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s new G League team, as an affiliate player.

Timberwolves Sign Amile Jefferson

September 18th, 2017 at 1:04pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 18, 1:04pm: The deal is official, according to a tweet from the team.

AUGUST 31, 11:50am: The Timberwolves have reached an agreement to add former Duke forward Amile Jefferson to their roster, reports Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). According to Scotto, Jefferson will get a one-year, partially guaranteed contract from Minnesota.

Jefferson, 24, won an NCAA championship with Duke in 2015, then spent two more years with the program. In 2016/17, the 6’9″ forward averaged 10.9 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 1.9 BPG for the Blue Devils.

After going undrafted in June, Jefferson caught on with the Timberwolves for Summer League play, and appeared in five games for the club in Las Vegas. However, he only averaged 11.0 minutes per contest in those games, so his production was limited.

The Timberwolves only have 11 players on guaranteed contracts, but remain in the market for at least three veteran free agents — two wings and a point guard. As such, Jefferson is unlikely to earn a spot on the club’s regular season roster, and is a better bet to start the season with the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s new G League affiliate.

Luke Petrasek Headed To Camp With Hornets

September 18th, 2017 at 11:27am CST by Arthur Hill

Columbia forward Luke Petrasek will join the Hornets for training camp, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.

Petrasek was a second-team all-Ivy League selection as a senior last season. He averaged 15.1 points and 5.7 rebounds and ranks fifth on the school’s all-time blocked shots list.

Following Saturday’s signing of Terry Henderson, the Hornets are now at the maximum of 20 players for camp. Charlotte has just 13 guaranteed salaries, so there will be at least two roster spots up for grabs.

Boris Diaw Set To Play In France

September 17th, 2017 at 8:14am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 17, 8:14am: Diaw’s signing is official, the French club announced in a tweet.

SEPTEMBER 14, 1:47pm: Veteran NBA forward Boris Diaw will head back to France to start the 2017/18 season, according to David Cozette of SFR Sport (Twitter link), who reports that Diaw has agreed to sign with Levallois Metropolitans. The deal will feature an NBA out clause, per Sportando (Twitter link).

Diaw, 35, has spent the last 14 seasons in the NBA, beginning his career with the Hawks before moving on to the Suns, Bobcats, Spurs, and Jazz. Diaw started 33 games and appeared in 73 overall regular season contests for Utah last season, but saw his production dip — his PPG (4.6), FG% (.446), and 3PT% (.247) marks were all among the worst of his career. He had a $7.5MM salary for 2017/18 that would have become guaranteed if the Jazz had not waived him in July.

While Diaw has played in the NBA for nearly a decade and a half, he’s no stranger to French competition either. Before being drafted 21st overall in 2003, Diaw spent multiple seasons with Pau-Orthez in France, and he returned to his home country during the 2011 lockout to play for JSA Bordeaux. The veteran forward has also represented France in several international tournaments.

Levallois Metropolitans, Diaw’s new team, was formerly known as Paris-Levallois Basket. The club was led last season by former Florida State standout Jason Rich and Knicks draft-and-stash big man Louis Labeyrie, but both players have found new homes for the 2017/18 campaign, so the team figures to lean heavily on Diaw.

Hornets Sign Terry Henderson

September 16th, 2017 at 12:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets have signed undrafted rookie Terry Henderson to their 20-man offseason roster, according to a tweet from his agency, Assist Sports (Twitter link). RealGM’s official NBA transactions log confirms that the signing has been finalized.

Henderson, 23, began his college career at West Virginia, but transferred after his sophomore year and played the rest of his college ball at North Carolina State. The move to N.C. State was a homecoming for the 6’5″ shooting guard, who is a Raleigh native — he’ll remain in North Carolina after having signed with his hometown Hornets.

In his final college season, Henderson appeared in 32 games, averaging 13.8 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 1.6 APG, with a shooting line of .433/.384/.769. NCAA eligibility and transfer rules prevented Henderson from returning to the Wolfpack for one more year in 2017/18, as Luke DeCock of The Charlotte Observer detailed in the spring.

While the Hornets only have 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts at the moment, Henderson seems more likely to head to the G League and become an affiliate player for the Greensboro Swarm than he does to crack the team’s 15-man regular season roster.