Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat To Sign Wayne Ellington

July 10th, 2016 at 11:50am CST by Arthur Hill

Mar 15, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Wayne Ellington (21) drives the ball during the first quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Anthony Gruppuso / USA TODAY Sports Images

Wayne Ellington will sign with Miami, tweets The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The 28-year-old shooting guard is expected to receive more than $12MM over two seasons.

The addition of Ellington reduces the chance that Miami matches Brookyn’s $50MM offer to Tyler Johnson, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The Heat now have five guards under contract, as Ellington joins Goran Dragic, Josh Richardson, Briante Weber and Rodney McGruder.

Ellington appeared in 76 games with the Nets after signing with Brooklyn last summer. He started 41 times and averaged 7.7 points in a little more than 21 minutes per game. He has also played for the Timberwolves, Grizzlies, Cavaliers, Mavericks and Lakers in his seven-year NBA career.

Hornets Re-Sign Marvin Williams

July 10th, 2016 at 11:30am CST by Eddie Scarito

JULY 10, 11:30am: The signing is official, the team announced.

Jeremy Brevard/USA TODAY Sports Images

JULY 2, 4:52pm: The final season is a player option, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports (Twitter link).

4:38pm: The Hornets and Marvin Williams have struck a deal that will see the forward remain in Charlotte, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (via Twitter). It will be a four-year, $54.5MM arrangement, Wojnarowski adds. He joins small forward Nicolas Batum in re-signing with Michael Jordan’s club this offseason.

The 30-year-old former second round pick out of North Carolina wasn’t without alternatives to the Hornets, with Williams turning down offers in the $15MM per year range in order to remain with the team, Wojnarowski tweets. The Nets were reportedly one of the teams in pursuit of Williams, though it is unknown if the team was among those mentioned offering in excess of $15MM per. Brooklyn moved on and inked Trevor Booker to a two-year, $8MM pact once they received word that Williams was leaning toward returning to Charlotte.

Williams had a productive 2015/16 campaign, averaging 11.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 28.9 minutes per outing. His shooting numbers on the year were .452/.402/.833.

Celtics Renounce QO For Jared Sullinger

July 10th, 2016 at 9:39am CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics have decided to renounce their $4,433,683 qualifying offer for Jared Sullinger, tweets Kevin O’Connor of SB Nation. The news first appeared on the NBA’s transaction wire, and a source confirmed it to O’Connor.

The move, which also affects Sullinger’s exception rights, means he will go from being a restricted free agent to an unrestricted one. Boston had limited playing time to offer the 6’9″ power forward after signing Al Horford in free agency and allowing Amir Johnson‘s $12MM deal to become guaranteed for next season.

Sources at summer league games told A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE that the market has slowed considerably for restricted free agent big men. Teams are reluctant to tie up their cap space for three days while waiting to see if the player’s team will match an offer.

It is uncertain whether the Celtics’ move will help Sullinger get an offer more quickly. He started 73 games for Boston last season and was the team’s leading rebounder with 8.3 per night, but he has faced questions about his conditioning throughout his four years in the NBA.

Knicks Sign Mindaugas Kuzminskas

July 9th, 2016 at 7:50pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 9, 7:50pm: The signing is official, the team announced today.

JULY 5, 2:28pm: The Knicks have agreed to sign Lithuanian forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas and bring him over to the NBA, according to Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. The two sides have reached agreement on a two-year deal, as first reported by Donatas Urbonas (Twitter link), and as confirmed by Ian Begley of ESPN.com.

Kuzminskas, 26, has spent the last few seasons with Unicaja Malaga in Spain. In Euroleague play this past season, the forward averaged 12.0 PPG and 3.4 RPG, shooting 54.9% from the floor and 37.7% from downtown in 23 games (20.7 MPG). Kuzminskas had been set to play in Turkey next season with Darussafaka Dogus, David Blatt‘s team, but has reportedly informed the club that he wants to make the move to the NBA.

Per Sportando (Twitter link), the Knicks will have to pay a “high” buyout in order to bring Kuzminskas stateside, though it’s not clear exactly how significant that payment will be. According to international basketball journalist David Pick (Twitter link), New York offered Kuzminskas a two-year, $6MM deal, so it sounds like the club will likely use its room exception – worth about $2.9MM in 2016/17 – on him. That would allow the Knicks to use up all their cap room finalizing other moves before making this deal official.

We had heard on Monday that Kuzminskas recently worked out for the Lakers and Hawks — at that point, he was said to be close to making a decision on whether to continue his basketball career in the NBA or overseas.

Sixers Sign Gerald Henderson

July 9th, 2016 at 7:23pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 9, 7:23pm: The signing is official, the team announced in a press release.

JULY 5, 10:27am: The Sixers have reached an agreement with another free agent guard, according to Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the team will sign Gerald Henderson. The 76ers and Henderson have agreed to a two-year, $18MM deal, per Haynes.

Henderson, 28, spent the first six years of his NBA career in Charlotte before joining the Blazers last season. After averaging more than 31 minutes per game and serving primarily as a starter during his final four years with the Hornets, Henderson came off the bench and played less than 20 minutes a game for Portland in 2015/16, averaging a modest 8.7 PPG and 2.9 RPG to go along with a .439/.353/.767 shooting line.

Henderson is the third veteran guard the Sixers have agreed to sign within the last few days, and each player has come in at around the same per-year price. Jerryd Bayless struck a three-year, $27MM deal with Philadelphia, while Sergio Rodriguez agreed to a one-year, $8MM pact.

Last month, Henderson talked about prioritizing contending teams in free agency this offseason, as opposed to a starting job, but his decision may ultimately be more about the latter than the former. Philadelphia isn’t expect to contend immediately, but the number of young players and the lack of veteran backcourt talent on the roster suggests Henderson could begin the season in the starting lineup.

A Monday report indicated that “seven to eight” teams had expressed some interest in Henderson, including the Trail Blazers, but perhaps none of those teams were offering the sort of playing time – and money – that the Sixers were. The move will represent a homecoming for Henderson, who attended high school just outside of Philadelphia.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Warriors Sign David West

July 9th, 2016 at 5:22pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 9th, 5:22pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.

JULY 5th, 3:21pm: A year after taking a significant pay cut to sign with the Spurs, David West has once again decided to forgo a major payday in order to join a title contender. According to David Aldridge of NBA.com (via Twitter), West has agreed to terms on a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Warriors. The minimum salary for a player with West’s experience is $1,551,659.

[RELATED: Kevin Durant to sign with Warriors]

West, the 18th overall pick in 2003, spent eight years with New Orleans to start his NBA career before joining the Pacers for four seasons. Last summer, the veteran forward declined a player option worth $12MM+ with Indiana, instead signing a minimum-salary contract with the Spurs in the hopes of winning a championship.

West, 35, played just 18 minutes per game for San Antonio during the 2015/16 regular season, his lowest mark since his rookie year. He was still fairly effective in that limited role, recording a career-best .545 FG%. However, he and the Spurs fell short of a championship having been eliminated in the second round by the Thunder. West subsequently declined his player option for the coming season.

In 2016/17, West will take another shot at a ring with the Warriors, who are huge title favorites after agreeing to sign Kevin Durant. In addition to striking a deal with Durant and now landing West, Golden State also got Zaza Pachulia to agree to a below-market contract to join the roster, fortifying the team’s frontcourt.

The Warriors have limited flexibility to fill out their roster, but as the Pachulia and West deals show, there are veteran free agents willing to take less money to join Golden State’s stacked squad. Even longtime players who have been out of the NBA for the last couple years have been linked to the Dubs — one report suggested the club would give Ray Allen a call, while another report indicated Jermaine O’Neal is open to a return for the Warriors. The team has also been linked to younger free agents such as Willie Reed and Dewayne Dedmon.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nuggets Re-Sign Darrell Arthur

July 9th, 2016 at 3:52pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 9th, 3:52pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.

5:40pm: Arthur’s three-year deal will pay him $23MM, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Dempsey suggests (via Twitter) that Arthur accepted a bit less money to stay in Denver, suggesting the power forward had a bigger offer on the table from another team.

JULY 1st, 5:32pm: The Nuggets have agreed to terms on a new contract for Darrell Arthur, reports Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post (Twitter link). According to Dempsey, the two sides are in agreement on a three-year deal.

Arthur, 28, appeared in 70 games for Denver during the 2015/16 campaign, recording 7.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game while shooting 45.2% from the field. He declined his player option for 2016/17, which was worth a little less than $3MM, but had previously indicated that he wanted to remain with the Nuggets even if he decided to opt out of his contract.

It’s been a quiet free agent period so far from the Nuggets, who haven’t been linked to any notable free agents since the new league year begins. Their agreement with Arthur doesn’t represent a huge splash, but it allows the team to retain a veteran who was a key part of the rotation last season.

The Wizards were among the other clubs expected to have interest in Arthur.

Rockets, Harden Agree To New Contract

July 9th, 2016 at 2:40pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Trevor Ruszkowski / USA TODAY Sports Images

If there was any doubt that the Rockets are James Harden‘s team, there should be no question who the alpha is in Houston moving forward. The shooting guard and the team have agreed to a four-year, $118MM renegotiation and extension that could keep him under contract through 2020, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports. The arrangement was announced during a press conference by team owner Leslie Alexander moments ago. “We are building a new core and we are excited about locking James Harden in for a long time,” GM Daryl Morey said (Twitter link).

The arrangement provides Harden with a raise on his 2016/17 and 2017/18 salaries using cap space, plus adds two additional years at the maximum salary, Wojnarowski notes. Harden had two years and approximately $34.6MM left on his existing deal, and the renegotiation gives him nearly $10MM (2016/17) and $11MM (2017/18) raises and two extra years at $30.4MM and $32.7MM, respectively, the scribe relays. In total, the Rockets are going to fork over an additional $83.5MM over the next four years to Harden. The pact also includes a player option for the 2019/20 season, Wojnarowski tweets.

Harden, 26, is a four-time All-Star and two-time first-team All-NBA selection. He appeared in all 82 regular season games for the Rockets this past season, averaging 29.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists in 38.1 minutes per outing. His shooting line on the campaign was .439/.359/.860.

Raptors Sign Jakob Poeltl, Pascal Siakam

July 9th, 2016 at 1:07pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Raptors announced via press release that they have signed 2016 draftees, Jakob Poeltl (No. 9 overall) and Pascal Siakam (No. 27 overall). Both players inked rookie scale deals that have them under contract through the 2017/18 season, with two team option years to follow. The exact financial terms of the arrangements were not relayed by Toronto in the release.

Poeltl spent two seasons at the University of Utah before making the jump to the pros. He was the 2016 Pac-12 Player of the Year and an Associated Press second-team All-American. Poeltl averaged 17.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 36 games this past season.

Siakam, 6’9″, played two seasons at New Mexico State. He averaged 20.3 points, 11.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 34 games in 2015/16 and was a unanimous choice as Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year this past season.

Pacers Sign Al Jefferson

July 9th, 2016 at 10:08am CST by Eddie Scarito

Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports Images

JULY 9th, 10:08am: The signing is official, the Pacers announced.

JULY 1st, 12:10pm: The Pacers and Jefferson are in agreement, according to Stein, who says the three-year deal won’t feature any options (Twitter links)

11:33am: The Pacers and unrestricted free agent Al Jefferson are nearing an agreement on a contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (Twitter link). The proposed deal would be for three years and $30MM, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets.

If Indiana does add Jefferson it will be the latest high-profile move the team has made this offseason, previously acquiring point guard Jeff Teague from the Hawks and combo forward Thaddeus Young from the Nets. It would appear that team executive Larry Bird is determined to remake his roster for new head coach Nate McMillan. Jefferson will add some needed toughness in the paint as well as solid veteran leadership to Indiana’s locker room.

Jefferson, 31, made just 47 appearances this season as he struggled with injuries. He averaged 12.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 23.3 minutes of action per outing. He shot .485/.000/.649 from the field on the year.