Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Blazers Sign Damian Lillard To Max Extension

July 9th, 2015 at 12:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

NBA: Golden State Warriors at Portland Trail Blazers

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

JULY 9TH, 12:12pm: The deal is official, the team announced, confirming that it runs for five seasons, through 2020/21.

“From the day he arrived in Portland, Damian has embodied all of the characteristics we value and expect as a player and a person,” GM Neil Olshey said. “The level of commitment we are making to one another provides the foundation our organization will be built on. We could not find a finer example of the organizational culture we are working to create than Damian.”

5:33pm: Lillard released a statement regarding his new deal, hat tip to Spears (via Twitter). “Just thankful, man. I play the game out of love and it’s inspiring to be rewarded for doing things the right way and being a high character person,” Lillard said. “It’s also comforting knowing that none of what I’ve accomplished has been handed to me.”

JULY 2ND, 4:57pm: The Blazers and Lillard have agreed to the max extension, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). Spears hears from a source who estimates it’ll be worth between $125-129MM, though that would be based off the standard 25% max and doesn’t take into account the 30% max he’d make if he triggers the Rose rule.

JULY 1ST, 8:02am: The Blazers and Damian Lillard are nearing agreement on a five-year max extension, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The news is no surprise, as Lillard was intent on seeking a max extension, as Shams Charania of RealGM reported in April, while Portland had plans to be “very aggressive” to sign the Aaron Goodwin client to just that sort of deal, as Stein later wrote.

The rookie scale extension would be the second during this year’s signing window, as Anthony Davis and the Pelicans quickly agreed to a five-year max extension of their own just as the calendar flipped to July 1st. Both will become the Designated Players for their respective teams, meaning that no one else on Portland or New Orleans can sign a five-year rookie extension until Lillard or Davis are either traded or their extensions run to term. For Portland, that affects C.J. McCollum, Meyers Leonard and the newly acquired Noah Vonleh.

Lillard, whose extension would kick in for the 2016/17 season, would receive an estimated haul in excess of $120MM, according to Stein, though that figure would be based on the point guard ending up with the standard 25% max for veterans of seven or fewer years. However, he made the All-NBA Third Team in 2013/14, and even though he didn’t earn another All-NBA selection this past season, Lillard can still trigger the Derrick Rose rule and end up with a 30% max if he returns to one of the All-NBA teams or wins MVP. The difference would be an estimated starting salary of around $25MM with the 30% max and roughly $21MM on the 25% max.

Pistons Acquire Marcus Morris, Bullock, Granger

July 9th, 2015 at 11:35am CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 9TH, 11:35am: The deal is official, both teams announced. It’s Morris, Bullock and Granger to Detroit for a 2020 second-rounder.

3:31pm: Detroit hasn’t made a final decision on Granger yet, but he’ll most likely be waived, Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press tweets.

JULY 2ND: 2:34 pm: The Suns and Pistons have agreed to a trade that sends Marcus Morris, Reggie Bullock and Danny Granger to Detroit in exchange for a 2020 second-round pick, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). The deal would clear nearly $8.423MM in additional cap flexibility for Phoenix as it chases LaMarcus Aldridge.

Courtesy of USA Today Sports images

However, the Suns still have about $57MM in commitments against a cap projected between $67.1MM and $69.1MM, and with Aldridge, for whom Phoenix reportedly emerged as a strong contender, in line to make some $19MM on a max deal next season, it appears as though Phoenix still has more cap clearing to do, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe and Wojnarowski point out (Twitter link). Wojnarowski mentions Markieff Morris, who’ll make $8MM next season, and P.J. Tucker, who’s set for $5.5MM, as possible targets for other cap-clearing moves.

The trade with the Pistons by itself breaks up the Morris twins just months after they signed rookie scale extensions with designs on staying together. Marcus Morris instead ends up in Detroit’s frontcourt, as the Pistons use more of their cap space on complementary players after reaching agreement with Aron Baynes earlier today. The deal was made by Detroit to land Morris, who is expected to be the starting small forward next season, Ellis tweets. Morris appeared in 81 games last season for the Suns, including 35 as a starter, averaging 10.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. His slash line was .434/.358/.628.

Bullock will compete for a roster spot with Cartier Martin, Quincy Miller, and Adonis Thomas, relays Ellis (Twitter link). He has never made more than 43 appearances in a season since entering the league with the Clippers, who selected him with the No. 25 overall pick back in 2013. Bullock appeared in 11 games for Phoenix after arriving via trade from Los Angeles, averaging 0.4 points and 0.9 rebounds in 6.8 minutes per contest.

Granger may not be thrilled with the trade, especially since it takes him away from the Suns’ vaunted training staff, who have been working 16.8 to get the veteran healthy and back on the court. The 32-year-old managed 30 appearances for the Heat last season, and zero with Phoenix after it had acquired him via trade. Granger’s career numbers are 16.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists, with a shooting line of .434/.380/.848.

Jimmy Butler Re-Signs With Bulls

July 9th, 2015 at 11:25am CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 9TH, 11:25am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

“We are thrilled that Jimmy has committed to remain a Chicago Bull for years to come,” GM Gar Forman said in the press release. “As one of the leagues rising stars, we look forward to his continued growth and him being a major contributor to our team’s continued success.”

JULY 1ST, 1:21pm: Jimmy Butler and the Bulls are finalizing a max contract for five years with a player option after year four, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). It’ll be worth an estimated $95MM, according to Wojnarowski, with the precise value to be determined, when the deal can become official at the end of the July Moratorium next week. Other teams pursuing him have given up the chase, Wojnarowski adds. The client of Happy Walkers and Steve McCaskill was strongly leaning toward taking Chicago’s five-year offer, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com had reported earlier, and it long appeared as though the Bulls would keep him, with the power to match offers and the willingness to pay the max.

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

The restricted free agent reportedly intended to seek short-term offer sheets, but wound up re-signing with Chicago on a deal that won’t allow him to choose free agency until 2019. Still, when the Bulls tendered a maximum qualifying offer, that meant Butler couldn’t sign an offer sheet that would let him into free agency sooner than 2018, and he apparently put off meetings with the Lakers, Sixers and Mavs when that offer from Chicago came in. The only recourse would have been to sign his standard qualifying offer, worth less than $4.434MM, and while that would have let him into unrestricted free agency next summer, it would have been a profound financial sacrifice for this coming season.

Butler already gambled on himself when he passed up $11MM salaries on a proposed extension with Chicago this past fall. The former 30th overall pick apparently would have settled for between $12.5MM and $13MM a year at that point, but his performance this season, which earned him this year’s Most Improved Player of the Year award, sent his value skyrocketing.

The result will cost the Bulls even more than the difference between what he might have taken in an extension and an estimated $16MM starting salary for this coming season. Chicago, which also agreed to a three-year, $14.4MM deal with Mike Dunleavy today, is almost certain to pay a stiff tax bill, since it entered free agency with $63MM already against a tax threshold likely to land somewhere around $82MM when the league sets it at the end of the moratorium.

Raptors Sign Cory Joseph

July 9th, 2015 at 11:22am CST by Will Joseph

JULY 9TH, 11:22am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

“We have watched Cory grow as a player and see him as a great fit in our system,” GM Masai Ujiri said in the team’s statement. “He is another player with a defensive skill-set that will be an asset to our team.”

10:16pm: It’s a four-year year deal worth $30MM, ESPN.com’s Chris Broussard tweets. It includes a player option after the third year, Broussard tweets.

JULY 5TH, 9:21pm: Newly-minted unrestricted free agent Cory Joseph is nearing a deal with the Raptors, reports ESPN.com’s Marc Stein (Twitter link).

Earlier on Sunday, the Spurs pulled their qualifying offer to Joseph, making the point guard an unrestricted free agent. The Spurs originally extended a qualifying offer to Joseph on June 30, then making him a restricted free agent, but, that, of course, was before the team reached an agreement to sign LaMarcus Aldridge. The client of Rich Paul filled in nicely this past season as a starter when both Tony Parker and Patty Mills were injured in December. Joseph would be expected to become Toronto’s backup point guard and provide the backcourt with some defensive prowess.

The Raptors’ interest in Joseph precedes the summer.Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun tweets that the Raptors attempted twice to trade for Joseph, but were turned down. Joseph is from Canada, and Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has pledged to pursue Canadian players.

Magic Sign C.J. Watson

July 9th, 2015 at 11:18am CST by Eddie Scarito

JULY 9TH, 11:18am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

8:20pm: The final season is partially guaranteed for $1MM, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reports.

8:57am: The Magic and Watson have reached an agreement on a three-year, $15MM deal, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (on Twitter).

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

JULY 4TH, 12:09am: The Magic are nearing an agreement with unrestricted free agent C.J. Watson, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). It’s unclear as to the length and amount of the arrangement the two sides are discussing, though the guard is intent on securing a deal for the mid-level exception, as J. Michael of CSNWashington.com relayed earlier this week. Watson would provide backcourt depth behind Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton.

Watson, 31, appeared in 57 contests for the Pacers during the 2014/15 season, averaging 10.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 24.9 minutes per night, and owned a slash line of .434/.400/.826. His career numbers are 7.8 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and 2.5 APG, while shooting .425/.383/.806.

The Wizards, Clippers, and Mavericks were all reported to have interest in Watson. The point guard had expressed a desire to return to the Pacers back in April, saying, ”Hopefully I’ll be back here. I like it in Indy. I love the team and the atmosphere of the city. We’ll see what happens. It’s not really in my hands. So we’ll see.”

Hawks Acquire Tiago Splitter

July 9th, 2015 at 11:11am CST by Chuck Myron

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

11:11am: The deal is official, the Hawks and Spurs announced via press release. The rights to Georgios Printezis and a protected 2017 second-rounder go to San Antonio, according to the statements.

“We’re excited to bring Tiago to Atlanta. He’s played an important role in a winning environment, has a great understanding of our system and will add to our core character,” Hawks coach/executive Mike Budenholzer said as part of the statement. “Tiago also brings championship experience and we look forward to adding his interior presence to our team.”

JULY 9TH, 10:36am: The trade is expected to become final today, with the Hawks sending the rights to a draft-and-stash player and a heavily protected future second-round pick, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter).

JULY 1ST, 10:49am: The Spurs will trade Tiago Splitter to the Hawks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). The move comes just after San Antonio agreed to re-sign Danny Green, so the Splitter move will presumably allow San Antonio to preserve the cap flexibility to compete for LaMarcus Aldridge and other marquee free agents, Wojnarowski adds. The deal can’t become official until July 9th, after the July Moratorium, and details of the swap are still in flux, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, who suggests other components would allow the Hawks to retain Paul Millsap if they can keep him away from the Magic. Atlanta is expected to absorb Splitter into cap space, as Windhorst writes in a full story.

The arrival of Splitter, who was set to make $8.5MM this coming season and $8.25MM in 2016/17, has a 15% trade kicker in his deal, so he’ll see a bonus of about $2.5MM, notes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Still, with DeMarre Carroll off to Toronto, the Hawks can afford that and still make a max bid for Paul Millsap.

The Spurs had made Splitter available, but it seemed as though there was a scenario in which San Antonio could sign Aldridge, Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili while still keeping Splitter, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote. That probably didn’t involve the lucrative deal that San Antonio reached with Green, however.

Heat Re-Sign Goran Dragic

July 9th, 2015 at 10:43am CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 9TH, 10:43am: The deal is official, the team announced.

“When we traded for Goran last season, we knew he was the type of player and person that we wanted to be part of our HEAT culture,” team president Pat Riley said in a statement. “His pace, ability and vision for the game is the perfect complement to lead our team as we look to bring another championship to Miami. We are pleased he has re-signed and will wear the HEAT uniform for years to come and make Miami his home.”

3:57pm: Riley confirmed that the Heat intends to sign Dragic in a statement the team released. A formal signing can’t take place until July 9th, the day after the July Moratorium.

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

JULY 1ST, 8:44am: The Heat and Goran Dragic have agreement on a five-year, $90MM deal, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It’ll have a player option on the final season, Stein adds (on Twitter). That’s less than an estimated $108MM max, notes Grantland’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). Reports in recent weeks indicated that Miami was offering between $80-100MM, though the expectation had previously been that the Heat would offer the max.

Miami has appeared a strong front-runner for the client of Rade Filipovich and Bill Duffy since the Heat gave up two first-round picks in a deal to acquire him at the deadline this year, as Dragic expressed his affection for the Heat and the city of Miami. He nonetheless saw the Lakers as a perfect fit, too. and the Knicks, Pelicans, Kings and Bucks were reportedly likely suitors. Dragic was apparently more likely to leave the Heat if Dwyane Wade bolted, but it appears as though the 29-year-old Slovenian made his decision before his backcourt partner did.

The Heat already had $53MM on the books for next season, so Dragic’s return and a new deal at market value for Wade would likely send the team zooming into tax territory unless it clears salary via trade. Heat president Pat Riley denied that the Heat are shopping Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen with the idea of doing just that.

The deal is a windfall for Dragic, who made just $7.5MM this past season and less than $23MM during his first six years in the league, according to Basketball Insiders and Basketball-Reference data. Still, it will look like less of an investment from Miami’s standpoint once the salary cap skyrockets, as expected, in the next few years, as Arthur Hill of Hoops Rumors pointed out when he examined Dragic’s free agent stock.

Hornets Sign Jeremy Lin

July 9th, 2015 at 10:39am CST by Eddie Scarito

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

THURSDAY, 10:39am: The deal is official, the Hornets announced.

WEDNESDAY, 8:32am: The Hornets and unrestricted free agent Jeremy Lin have reached an agreement on a contract, Lin announced via his Instagram account. Lin’s deal will be for two-years, and in excess of $4MM, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets.

The Mavericks were reportedly discussing sign-and-trade options with the Lakers, and were the presumed favorites to acquire the point guard or sign him outright. It’s unclear what led Lin to the Hornets, be it a more lucrative offer, or Dallas’ attention being focused on the ongoing free agent drama involving center DeAndre Jordan. Wojnarowski had previously relayed that Lin looked at Dallas as a means to reignite his career, especially with a chance to become the starting point guard. But he’ll now be relegated to being a backup to Kemba Walker in Charlotte.

The point guard took to Facebook to explain his decision (h/t to USA Today), writing, “Going into my first true free agency as an NBA player this off-season, the one thing that mattered to me the most was finding a team that would be a good fit for me. I wanted to be on a team where I would be able to play freely and truly play the game I love with joy again. That has always been the most important thing to me. After a LOT of prayer and long discussions with family and friends, I wanted to personally let you guys know I’ll be joining the Charlotte Hornets.

My journey has never looked the way I [or anyone else] thought it would, but God has always worked things out for my good and I am confident that he will continue to do so. I want to thank Coach [Steve] Clifford and the Hornets organization for this opportunity – for taking the time to talk to me, understanding my game, and most importantly, making it clear they believe in me. For those of you who have been patiently waiting for news, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for joining me on this journey. To the Lakers organization and the city of Los Angeles, thank you for your support this past season. I have no idea what is coming next, but I promise I will do everything in my power to contribute to this team and to improve as a player and as a person. Here’s to the next chapter!”

Lin made 74 appearances for the Lakers last season, including 30 starts, averaging 11.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in 25.8 minutes per game, with a slash line of .424/.369/.795. His career numbers through five NBA seasons since going undrafted out of Harvard are 11.7 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 4.8 APG, with a shooting line of .437/.349/.799.

Hawks Waive Austin Daye

July 9th, 2015 at 10:27am CST by Chuck Myron

The Hawks have waived Austin Daye, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (Twitter link) and as the team confirms via press release. His salary was non-guaranteed, but the move clears his $1,185,784 cap hold from Atlanta’s books as it attempts to clear cap room for its agreed-upon re-signing of Paul Millsap and trade for Tiago Splitter.

Atlanta originally signed Daye to a pair of 10-day contracts this past season before inking him to a deal that covered the rest of 2014/15 with the non-guaranteed 2015/16 season tacked on. It wasn’t surprising to see the Hawks, who have close ties to the Spurs, pick him up not long after the Spurs waived him, but the former 15th overall pick didn’t see much action in Atlanta, appearing in only eight regular season games for an average of 9.5 minutes per contest. He didn’t make it in to any of Atlanta’s playoff games.

Teams rarely claim players off waivers, but if a team is interested in Daye, it wouldn’t require too much of an investment to put a claim in on him, since his salary would remain non-guaranteed. Waiver claims require a $1K fee to the league office.

Pelicans Re-Sign Dante Cunningham

July 9th, 2015 at 9:34am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 9TH, 9:34am: The signing is official, the team announced.

JULY 4TH, 2:07pm: Dante Cunningham has reached a new deal with the Pelicans, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN. It will be a three-year contract worth a total of $9MM, with the third year as a player option, according to Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).

Cunningham told John Reid of The Times Picayune earlier this week that several teams were interested in his services. He came to New Orleans in December on a veteran’s minimum contract and made nearly $832K last season. The Pelicans didn’t have Bird Rights on Cunningham, so they were limited in what they could offer. Reid wrote that the team was looking at Richard Jefferson and Quincy Acy as possible replacements.

The 28-year-old Cunningham appeared in 66 games for the Pelicans last season, averaging 5.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. He took over as the starting small forward in January, but lost that job to Quincy Pondexter after the All-Star break.