Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Celtics Renounce Rights To Marcus Thornton

June 26th, 2017 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics have renounced their rights to 2015 second-round pick Marcus Thornton, per RealGM’s transactions log. According to Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald (via Twitter), Boston made the move at Thornton’s request, since he’d like the opportunity to play for another team in Summer League.

Thornton, 24, was the 45th overall pick out of William & Mary in the 2015 draft. He shares a name with a veteran shooting guard, but this isn’t the LSU alum who spent the 2016/17 season with the Wizards — this Thornton has yet to make his NBA debut.

Since being drafted by the Celtics two years ago, Thornton has primarily played international ball, with a brief 2016 stint for the Maine Red Claws sandwich in between overseas stops. In 2016/17, Thornton spent the season with Italian team Consultinvest Pesaro, averaging 13.5 PPG on .436/.342/.747 shooting.

Renouncing Thornton won’t free up any cap room for the Celtics, since draft-and-stash prospects who were second-round picks don’t count against the cap. The move simply looks like an act of good will by the C’s, who didn’t anticipate having a spot on their NBA roster for Thornton anytime soon.

Caldwell-Pope, Roberson Receive Qualifying Offers

June 26th, 2017 at 2:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Two more players will officially become restricted free agents when the new NBA league year begins on July 1. According to RealGM’s transactions log, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Andre Roberson have received qualifying offers from the Pistons and Thunder, respectively.

Caldwell-Pope, the eighth overall pick in the 2013 draft, is coming off a 2016/17 season in which he averaged 13.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 2.5 APG, with a shooting line of .399/.350/.832. The Pistons reportedly plan to be aggressive in matching any offer sheet for Caldwell-Pope, perhaps even going up to the max, if necessary.

As for Roberson, his offensive numbers have always been modest, and that didn’t change in 2016/17 — despite setting a new career high in scoring, he still only averaged 6.6 PPG. However, Roberson is one of the league’s best perimeter defenders, earning a spot on the NBA’s All-Defensive Second team earlier today.

Caldwell-Pope’s qualifying offer from the Pistons will be worth $4,958,374, while Roberson’s QO from Oklahoma City has increased to $4,588,840 after he met the starter criteria. As long as the Pistons and Thunder don’t withdraw those qualifying offers, they’ll retain the right of first refusal on their respective free agents, giving them the opportunity to match any offers.

Both Caldwell-Pope and Roberson will have the option of accepting those one-year qualifying offers, but they’re expected to receive much larger multiyear offers in free agency. Generally, the only reason a coveted RFA would sign his qualifying offer is in order to leave his current team as soon as possible — signing the QO would put a player on track to reach unrestricted free agency a year from now.

Nets To Decline K.J. McDaniels’ Team Option

June 25th, 2017 at 11:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets intend to decline their team option on K.J. McDaniels, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). The move will ensure that McDaniels becomes a free agent on July 1.

The 32nd overall pick in the 2014 draft, McDaniels began his career with the Sixers but was acquired in a trade deadline deal in February 2015 by the Rockets. McDaniels remained in Houston until this year’s trade deadline, when the Rockets and Nets worked out a deal that sent him to Brooklyn.

For his career, McDaniels has averaged 5.3 PPG and 2.2 RPG in 148 regular season contests. Following his move from Houston to Brooklyn earlier this year, the 24-year-old played well in limited minutes, averaging 6.3 PPG and shooting 45.5% in 20 games (14.7 MPG). However, the Nets likely viewed his $3.477MM option as a little too pricey.

Team option decisions for 2017/18 can be found right here.

Mavericks Exercise Team Option On Yogi Ferrell

June 25th, 2017 at 10:41pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks have officially exercised their 2017/18 team option on Yogi Ferrell‘s contract, according to RealGM’s transactions log. A Saturday report had indicated that the Mavs informed Ferrell his option would be picked up.

An undrafted free agent out of Indiana, Ferrell was a revelation on his first 10-day contract with the Mavericks last winter, stepping right into the starting lineup at the point and recording 32 points in his fourth game with the club. Ferrell’s impressive first week with the franchise earned him a rest-of-season deal with a second-year option.

For the season, Ferrell averaged 11.3 PPG, 4.3 APG, and a .412/.403/.877 shooting line in 36 games (29 starts) in Dallas. He also appeared in 10 games for the Nets earlier in the season, though his numbers in Brooklyn were more modest (5.4 PPG, 1.7 APG).

As our team option tracker for 2017/18 shows, the Mavs had to make decisions on three club options before the end of the month. The club has elected to turn down its options on Dirk Nowitzki and DeAndre Liggins, though Nowitzki figures to be back on a renegotiated contract.

Mavericks To Decline Option On Dirk Nowitzki, Negotiate New Deal

June 25th, 2017 at 12:27pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Mavericks will decline their $25MM option on Dirk Nowitzki for next season and work out a new contract, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

The team is considering a two-year deal for the veteran forward, although one source tells Stein that Dallas will do “what Dirk wants.” He has previously indicated that he wants to continue his NBA career on a year-by-year basis.

Nowitzki signed a two-year deal last summer worth $50MM that contained a team option for 2017/18. Turning down that option will give Dallas more financial flexibility when free agency starts on Saturday.

The move leaves Dallas with $64.4MM in guaranteed contracts for next season, along with $55MM in cap holds for Nowitzki and Nerlens Noel, tweets Bobby Marks of The Vertical. The team could have as much as $21MM to work with, but only if Nowitzki agrees to take the $4.3MM room mid-level exception (Twitter link).

Sources tell Stein that Dallas plans to re-sign Noel and focus on its young core and won’t pursue Pelicans free agent Jrue Holiday, who has been linked to the team in past rumors.

Nowitzki has played 19 NBA seasons, all in Dallas. He remained productive this year, averaging 14.2 points and 6.5 rebounds in 54 games after returning from an early-season Achilles injury.

Rashawn Thomas To Get Partial Guarantee From Thunder

June 25th, 2017 at 9:51am CST by Arthur Hill

Rashawn Thomas of Texas A&M Corpus Christi has agreed to a partially guaranteed contract with the Thunder, tweets international writer David Pick.

Thomas, a Mid-Major All-American, turned down several overseas deals before getting the opportunity with Oklahoma City, Pick adds. The partial guarantee means he will have a chance to make the roster in training camp.

A 6’8″ power forward, Thomas averaged 22.8 points and 8.9 rebounds during his senior season with the Islanders.

No contracts can be finalized until the NBA’s new year starts in July.

Mavericks Will Sign Motley To Two-Way Contract

June 24th, 2017 at 4:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Power forward Johnathan Motley of Baylor has agreed to a two-way contract with the Mavericks, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical.

The two-way deal, a feature of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, permits teams to keep two extra players under their control, even if they aren’t on the active roster. They will receive what amount to G League contracts, but the salaries will be higher than what G League players typically get, and no other other team can sign them. See here for more information on two-way contracts.

Motley, 22, averaged 17.2 points and 9.9 rebounds in 33 games during his junior season with the Bears. He was projected as the 42nd pick in the final mock draft by DraftExpress and 47th by Chad Ford of ESPN.com, but a knee injury made teams reluctant to take him, according to Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News.

Motley’s contract cannot be finalized until the NBA’s new year begins July 1st.

Warriors, JaCorey Williams Agree To Deal

June 23rd, 2017 at 11:01pm CST by Austin Kent

The Warriors are said to have reached an agreement with Middle Tennessee forward JaCorey Williams, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders reports. It’s unclear whether the deal is just for Summer League or one that will span into training camp.

Coming off of their second title in three seasons, the Warriors don’t exactly need reinforcements, but the 23-year-old big man averaged 17.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in college.

Should the agreement be for more than just a Summer League deal, there’s a chance that the parties could have come to terms on a two-way deal. Earlier today, of course, we wrote that the Warriors and Oregon’s Chris Boucher had agreed on a two-way contract.

Chris Paul To Opt Out Of Contract

June 23rd, 2017 at 7:36pm CST by Austin Kent

7:36pm: A tweet from ESPN’s Marc Spears says that, while Paul is expected to opt out, he hasn’t formally told the team or filed with the league at this point.

5:20pm: The Clippers have been informed that All-Star guard Chris Paul will decline his player option for 2017/18, Brad Turner of the LA Times tweets.

Paul, who recently turned 32, averaged 18.1 points and 9.2 assists in his 12th NBA season and is among the biggest names on the market this summer. While the Clippers will obviously look to retain him – and are the ‘overwhelming favorite‘ to do so – the veteran has also been linked to the Spurs (June 2 report) and, to a lesser extent, the Rockets and Nuggets (June 15 report).

The news of Paul’s decision comes shortly after it was announced that Blake Griffin, too, opted out of the final year of his own deal, effectively jump starting an inevitably busy offseason for Clippers president Doc Rivers.

Had Paul accepted his player option, he would have made $24.3MM this season. Now, under the new collective bargaining agreement, he’ll be eligible to make around $200MM over five years, so long as he stays with the Clippers.

Blake Griffin Opts Out, Becomes Free Agent

June 23rd, 2017 at 4:47pm CST by Austin Kent

Unsurprisingly, Clippers forward Blake Griffin has formally opted out of the final year of his contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical tweets. The All-Star will hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent.

While the Clippers are expected to at least attempt to retain Griffin and fellow free agent Chris Paul, the forward also expects to see interest from other teams looking to add a star.

Earlier this week we wrote about the Rockets targeting the 28-year-old power forward and it wasn’t long ago when Wojnarowski mentioned that the Celtics could be the biggest threat to the Clippers as far as luring Griffin away was concerned.

Had Griffin not opted out through his early termination clause, he would have made $21.4MM in 2017/18. Instead, as Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times tweets, he’ll be eligible for as much as $175MM through five years so long as he stays with the franchise.

If Griffin leaves the Clippers, he’ll be eligible for a four-year, $130MM deal.