Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Thunder Sign Ronnie Price

August 14th, 2016 at 12:18pm CST by Arthur Hill

AUGUST 14: The deal is official, the team announced today.

AUGUST 11: The Thunder have finalized a guaranteed two-year, $5MM deal with Price, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). Although Oklahoma City could use its room exception to accommodate the move, the team still has cap room available as well.

JULY 31: Veteran point guard Ronnie Price is set to join the Thunder, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Price is expected to receive a two-year deal, but the exact terms are not certain.

The 33-year-old free agent had the highest scoring average of his career last season in Phoenix at 5.3 points per game to go with 2.4 assists. However, a report came out July 13th that the Suns weren’t going to re-sign Price and he had a deal in place with an unidentified team.

Oklahoma City still has more than $20MM in cap room remaining, so fitting Price in will be no problem. The Thunder are hoping to convince Russell Westbrook to take about $9MM of that cap space in a renegotiated and extended deal.

OKC will be the seventh NBA stop for Price, who has changed teams every season since 2011.

Thunder Sign Domantas Sabonis

August 12th, 2016 at 5:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Thunder have signed forward Domantas Sabonis to a rookie scale contract, the team announced via press release. The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is likely for standard 120% of the rookie scale, meaning Sabonis should be in line to earn $2,440,200 this season, $2,550,000 in 2017/18, $2,659,800 in 2018/19 and $3,529,555 in the final year, provided the team exercises its option on the player for the final two seasons.

Sabonis was the No. 11 overall selection this past June. The 6’11” forward was acquired on draft night by Oklahoma City along with Victor Oladipo and Ersan Ilyasova in exchange for Serge Ibaka.

The 20-year-old earned All-WCC First Team honors as a sophomore after averaging 17.6 points on .611 shooting from the field, 11.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 31.8 minutes in 36 games with the Bulldogs. Sabonis was named to the All-WCC Second Team, All-WCC Freshman Team, NIT All-Tournament Team and NCAA South Regional All-Tournament Team as a freshman, per the release. He also appeared in 35 games in 2013/14 for Unicaja Malaga in the Spanish ACB league.

Pacers To Sign Alex Poythress

August 12th, 2016 at 3:50pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pacers have agreed to a deal with undrafted free agent Alex Poythress, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports. The exact length and terms of the arrangement are unknown, but the scribe does note that the pact includes a partial guarantee. The 22-year-old will likely be ticketed to spend the 2016/17 campaign in the NBA D-League with Indiana’s affiliate in Fort Wayne, Wojnarowski notes.

Poythress had missed the bulk of the 2014/15 campaign due to a torn left ACL. Returning to Kentucky as a senior, Poythress made 31 appearances and averaged 10.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 0.6 steals in 23.6 minutes per contest. His shooting line for the Wildcats was .601/.304/.706.

The forward appeared in five contests for the Magic’s summer league squad in Orlando, averaging 5.0 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.8 steals in 10.6 minutes per outing.

Pelicans To Sign Shawn Dawson

August 12th, 2016 at 2:12pm CST by Luke Adams

FRIDAY, 2:12pm: The signing is official, the team announced today.

THURSDAY, 8:47am: Israeli wing Shawn Dawson will be heading stateside this fall, according to Maccabi Rishon, his team overseas. The Israeli club announced (via Twitter) that Dawson has accepted a camp invite from the Pelicans. Roey Gladstone of Channel 5 TV confirms (via Twitter) that Dawson is joining New Orleans on a non-guaranteed contract.

Dawson, 22, averaged 15.2 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.8 APG, and 1.1 BPG in 39 Israeli League contests last season, shooting 58.7% from the floor and helping lead Maccabi Rishon to a title. Dawson is the second player from the club to reach an agreement with an NBA team this month — we heard yesterday that former Dayton forward Chris Wright, who played in Israel last season, has a deal with the Thunder.

According to one recent report, Dawson turned down a camp invite from the Wizards after playing for Washington in Summer League action last month. If the Pelicans’ offer doesn’t include any guaranteed money, then that decision seems a little curious. It’s possible that Dawson felt he’d have a better chance at earning a regular-season roster spot in New Orleans than he would have in Washington, but the Pelicans are currently carrying 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts, while the Wizards have just 12.

Cavaliers To Re-Sign LeBron James

August 11th, 2016 at 11:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

4:40pm: The third year is a player option, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter).

4:26pm: The last major free agent has finally come off the board, with the Cavaliers and LeBron James reaching an agreement on a new deal, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). According to the scribe it will be a three-year, $100MM arrangement. There is no indication yet if the deal includes any options, be it player or team.

The agreement will see James become the highest paid player in the league for the first time in his career, with the veteran set to earn approximately $31MM this coming season, Windhorst notes. The deal will pay him in excess of $33MM in 2017/18, which would be the highest single-season contract in league history, per the ESPN scribe.

There was little intrigue this offseason regarding James making his return to Cleveland, despite the superstar remaining unsigned until now. With the Cavs securing the NBA title this past season, it was merely a matter of when James would sign, not if.

James appeared in 76 games this past campaign, averaging 25.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 35.6 minutes per outing while shooting .520/.309/.731 from the field. The 31-year-old was equally impressive in the postseason, logging 26.3 PPG, 9.5 RPG and 7.6 APG in 21 contests.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pelicans To Ink Sacre To Training Camp Pact

August 11th, 2016 at 6:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pelicans have reached an agreement with unrestricted free agent center Robert Sacre, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). The scribe classifies it as a training camp deal, meaning the arrangement is likely a minimum salary one that includes little or no guaranteed money.

Sacre, who played the last four seasons with the Lakers, had also drawn interest from the Timberwolves and Rockets, according to a report by Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN.

The 27-year-old appeared in 25 games for Los Angeles during the 2015/16 campaign, averaging 3.5 points and 2.9 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per outing. Sacre’s shooting line on the season was .413/.000/.658.

Raptors Sign Drew Crawford, Yanick Moreira

August 11th, 2016 at 1:04pm CST by Luke Adams

After playing for the Raptors last month in Summer League action, guard Drew Crawford and center Yanick Moreira will join the team in training camp this fall. The Raptors announced today (via Twitter) that they have signed both Crawford and Moreira to contracts.

Crawford and Moreira each spent last season overseas, with Crawford playing for Bnei Hertzeliyya in Israel, while Moreira split time between UCAM Murcia (Spain) and Rouen (France). Crawford has also spent some time in the D-League, playing for the Erie BayHawks in 2014/15 after playing his college ball at Northwestern. Moreira spent two seasons at SMU before going undrafted last year.

Neither Crawford nor Moreira will head into camp with great odds of earning a regular-season roster spot for the Raptors. The club already has 14 players with guaranteed contracts, which ostensibly just leaves one opening available.

Besides Crawford and Moreira, Fred VanVleet and Jarrod Uthoff will also be competing for that open roster spot, and the Raptors – who still have two openings on their offseason roster – may bring in a couple more players to join that competition. With Delon Wright sidelined for several months as he recovers from shoulder surgery, VanVleet may be the frontrunner for that 15th spot.

Camp invitees who don’t make the Raptors’ regular-season roster could ultimately end up playing for Toronto’s D-League affiliate.

Devyn Marble To Play In Greece

August 11th, 2016 at 10:17am CST by Luke Adams

It has been an eventful summer so far for Devyn Marble, who has been involved in a handful transactions in the NBA and now overseas. According to international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link), Marble’s agent has confirmed that his client will head to Greece to join Aris Thessaloniki for the coming season.

A second-round pick in 2014, Marble was traded from the Nuggets to Orlando shortly after the ’14 draft. He spent two years with the Magic, but appeared in just 44 games, including 28 this past season. The former Iowa Hawkeye was sent to the Clippers last month in a deal for C.J. Wilcox, just before his 2016/17 salary became guaranteed. The Clips subsequently waived him, making him a free agent.

By signing with Aris Thessaloniki, Marble will join a team that last season featured American players such as former Marquette guard Jerel McNeal and former Florida State forward Okaro White. White has since signed with the Heat on a partially guaranteed contraact.

Thunder, Chris Wright Agree To Deal

August 10th, 2016 at 11:49am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder are poised to add another player to their offseason roster, according to international basketball journalist David Pick, who reports (via Twitter) that the team has agreed to a partially-guaranteed deal with forward Chris Wright. Wright played his college ball at Dayton and should not be confused with the former Mavericks point guard with the same name.

Wright, who turns 28 next month, previously appeared in a total of 32 NBA games for the Warriors and Bucks, but has spent most of his time in recent years overseas. Most recently, Wright appeared in 34 Israeli League games last season for Maccabi Rishon Le-Zion, averaging 12.2 PPG and 5.1 RPG while shooting 61.5% from the floor and playing solid defense.

Wright figures to have an opportunity to compete for a regular-season roster spot in Oklahoma City this fall. It’s not clear how big his guarantee is or what his contract will look like, but a minimum-salary pact appears likely, even though the club still has some cap room available.

The Thunder figure to make a handful of roster announcements soon, with Wright’s signing among them. The team has yet to formally complete a previously-reported deal with Ronnie Price, and also hasn’t signed first-round pick Domanatas Sabonis.

Shane Larkin To Play In Spain

August 10th, 2016 at 8:59am CST by Luke Adams

Free agent guard Shane Larkin will join former teammate Andrea Bargnani in Spain next season. According to an announcement from Spanish team Laboral Kutxa Baskonia, Larkin has reached an agreement to play for the club next season. Bargnani, who played with Larkin for the Nets and Knicks, signed a deal with Baskonia last month.

A first-round pick out of Miami in 2013, Larkin only lasted one season with his original team, the Mavericks, before heading to New York for one year and then playing last season in Brooklyn. In 202 career NBA games, Larkin, who will turn 24 in October, has averaged 5.8 PPG, 3.2 APG, and 1.1 SPG, with a shooting line of .430/.328/.762.

Back in April, before he decided not to exercise his $1.5MM player option with the Nets, Larkin told reporters that he doesn’t want to “play a 10-year career with eight different teams,” suggesting he was seeking a multyear deal.

“I just turned 23, so I’m still young,” Larkin said. “Being able to get with a team on a two-year deal or three-year deal saying, ‘This is what we want you to be. We want you to spark our offense, push the tempo, be this guy and this is what we feel you can do for the team,’ then that’s perfect. Whether I’m a starter or whatever, it’s cool either way.”

It’s not yet clear whether Larkin will have more than a one-year stay in Spain, or whether he’ll end up joining his fifth team in five years after one season with Baskonia. We also don’t yet know if Larkin was able to match the $1.5MM salary he would have earned if he hadn’t opted out of his Brooklyn contract. His new deal was presumably negotiated by new agent Jim Tanner of Tandem Sports & Entertainment, who was hired by Larkin last month.