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Bucks Sign Jalen Moore As Two-Way Player

July 8th, 2017 at 8:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Bucks have signed Jalen Moore to a two-way contract, the team announced on its website.

A 6’8″ forward out of Utah State, Moore was a second team All-Mountain West selection after averaging 17.0 points and 5.5 rebounds during his senior season. He was a 38.3 shooter from 3-point range during his four years with the Aggies.

Under the new collective bargaining agreement, teams can have two-way players on their roster at any time, in addition to their regular 15-man roster. Moore will spend most of the season with Milwaukee’s new G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, and will be limited to 45 days with the Bucks from the time G League training camp opens until the end of the Herd’s season.

Moore is currently playing for the Bucks’ entry in the Las Vegas Summer League.

On Thursday, Milwaukee signed Bronson Koenig of Wisconsin as its other two-way player.

Sixers Sign Amir Johnson

July 8th, 2017 at 6:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 8, 6:57pm: Johnson’s signing is official, the Sixers announced in an email.

JULY 1, 6:25pm: The Sixers and Celtics discussed a sign-and-trade involving Jahlil Okafor for Johnson, but the deal never materialized, Wojnarowski said on ESPN’s televised coverage of free agency.

5:09pm: Amir Johnson will join the Sixers on a one-year, $11MM deal contract, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com.

The 11-year veteran started 77 games for the Celtics this season, averaging 6.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per night. He made $12MM this year in the final season of a two-year contract.

There had been rumors that the Celtics were interested in a sign-and-trade with the Sixers involving Johnson, but this appears to be a straight free-agent signing.

The Bulls, Raptors and Rockets also expressed interest in Johnson, and all three teams had meetings with him scheduled for today.

J.J. Redick Signs One-Year Deal With Sixers

July 8th, 2017 at 6:55pm CST by Eddie Scarito

JULY 8, 6:55pm: Redick’s signing is official, according to an email from the Sixers.

JULY 1, 3:11pm: The Sixers and veteran sharpshooter J.J. Redick have reached an agreement on a one-year deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. While the contract will be a short one, Redick will do well on the annual salary — the deal will be worth $23MM, per Wojnarowski. The Timberwolves and Nets were also reportedly contenders for Redick, and he had expressed interest in joining former Clippers teammate Chris Paul with the Rockets.

Philly was the first team that Redick met with once free agency was underway last night. During ESPN’s live television coverage, Wojnarowski noted that the Sixers wanted to convince Redick to accept a short-term contract, “a one-year deal at a very big number, $20 million-plus, potentially.” It appears the team accomplished its goal, landing one of the best long-range gunners in the league without sacrificing future cap flexibility. Redick’s agent, Greg Lawrence of Wasserman Media Group, and Sixers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo completed talks on the deal this afternoon, league sources told Woj.

Redick certainly had no shortage of suitors early on, with the Timberwolves one of the more aggressive teams that the guard had interest in joining, per Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter link). The unrestricted free agent was willing to consider a multi-year offer from Minnesota for less than the one-year pact he agreed to with Philly, but that notion didn’t gain traction with the Wolves, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets.

It’s worth noting that this agreement was locked down just after Andre Iguodala canceled his meeting with the Sixers. There is certainly a possibility that Philadelphia upped its offer to Redick after being spurned by Iggy, so that the franchise could secure at least one of its top veteran targets this summer. The team still has approximately $27MM in available cap space to pursue other free agents, notes Zach Lowe of ESPN (Twitter link).

The 33-year-old was originally selected with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Magic. His career numbers are 11.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists through 690 regular season contests. His shooting numbers are a stellar .447/.415/.888. Last season he appeared in 78 contests for the Clippers, averaging 15.0 points and connecting on 44.5% of his shots from beyond the arc.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Sixers Sign Markelle Fultz

July 8th, 2017 at 6:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

Markelle Fultz, the top pick in this year’s draft, has signed his rookie deal with the Sixers, the team announced in a press release.

As the No. 1 selection, Fultz is eligible to make a little more than $7MM in his first season and more than $37.4MM over the four-year contract, as our rookie-scale contract chart shows. Like all rookie contracts, it will have two guaranteed seasons, followed by two team options.

A 6’4″ point guard, Fultz was almost unanimously considered to be the best player in the draft. The Sixers valued him enough to trade their No. 3 choice along with a future first-rounder to get the top pick from Boston.

“Markelle Fultz possesses elite basketball skills, instincts and talent which prompted us to move up to No. 1 and add him to our talented young core of players,” Sixers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo said. “At only 19 years of age, the sky is the limit for Markelle and we could not be happier to have him join our Sixers family.”

Fultz is expected to challenge for a starting job as a rookie and share primary ball-handling duties with Ben Simmons. As a freshman, Fultz averaged 23.2 points, 5.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds at Washington.

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.