Blazers Sign Al-Farouq Aminu
JULY 9TH, 9:20am: The deal is official, the Blazers announced.
11:48pm: Aminu confirmed the agreement with the Blazers on Twitter (h/t David Aldridge of NBA.com on Twitter).
JUNE 30TH, 11:29pm: Al-Farouq Aminu will sign a four-year, $30MM deal with the Blazers, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The figure means that Portland will be using cap space unless it can engineer a sign-and-trade, and it also represents a significant raise on the minimum salary the forward made this past season.
The Mavs had been concerned that Aminu would land a lucrative offer, and so they were reportedly poised to try to convince him to sign a one-year deal that might have allowed him to further up his value. Blazers GM Neil Olshey drafted Aminu when he was with the Clippers, so he is quite familiar with the fifth-year player.
Aminu proved a valuable part of the Mavs rotation even as he recorded his fewest minutes (18.5) and points (5.6) per game since his rookie season. His 14.4 PER set a new career high, and ESPN ranks him sixth among small forwards this season in its Defensive Real Plus/Minus metric. He saw equal time at small forward and power forward, according to Basketball-Reference, and he’d rank seventh in Defensive Real Plus/Minus among players at the four. Even though he was mostly used in a reserve role in the regular season, he was featured more prominently during the playoffs. He started two of five postseason games against the Rockets, averaging 11.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 64% from 3-point range.
Aminu had visits scheduled with the Knicks, Celtics, Raptors, and Pelicans, but apparently the nationwide tour has been called off just minutes into free agency.
Grizzlies Sign Brandan Wright
JULY 9TH, 9:03am: The deal is official, the team announced.
JULY 1ST, 5:39pm: The Grizzlies have reached an agreement with free agent Brandan Wright, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). The deal is for three years, and nearly $18MM, Wojnarowski adds. The Mavs, Pacers, Clippers, and Suns all had expressed interest in signing the big man.
The team will likely use the $5.464MM mid-level exception to facilitate the signing. It would also make it tougher for the Grizzlies to sign Mo Williams, with whom they’re reportedly close on a deal. It also gives Memphis insurance in case Kosta Koufos signs elsewhere.
Wright, 27, split last season between the Mavs and the Suns, who acquired him at midseason. In 40 games for Phoenix he logged 7.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in 21.5 minutes per contest. His career numbers are 7.1 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 1.0 BPG, with a slash line of .606/.000/.683.
Raptors Waive Luke Ridnour
The Raptors have waived Luke Ridnour, the team announced, ending the odyssey that saw him traded four times in one week. The point guard had been expecting the move, as his $2.75MM non-guaranteed salary was to become fully guaranteed if he didn’t hit waivers by Friday.
Ridnour, who told TNT’s David Aldridge this week that he’s still thinking of retiring, finished this past season with the Magic, who traded him to the Grizzlies last month. Memphis flipped him to the Hornets, who in turn sent him to the Thunder. Oklahoma City sent him to Toronto, the final destination for his contract, barring the unlikely event a team claims him off waivers.
The 34-year-old had career lows in points, assists and minutes per game this past season. Still, he’s just two years removed from having started all 82 games for the Timberwolves in 2012/13.
Pelicans Sign Anthony Davis To Max Extension
JULY 9TH, 11:13pm: The signing is official, the team announced. “Words cannot describe the excitement of the New Orleans Pelicans to have Anthony Davis as the cornerstone of our organization,” said Pelicans GM Dell Demps. “Anthony is a great person, a phenomenal player and the ideal representative of his family, the Pelicans and the New Orleans community. We are thrilled to have Anthony commit to the Pelicans as we continue to build our team to have sustained success.”
JUNE 30TH, 11:03pm: The Pelicans and Anthony Davis have agreed to an extension moments after they became eligible to do so, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). It’s a five-year max deal worth an estimated $145MM, Wojnarowski writes in a full story. The full value won’t be known until next July, when the NBA sets the salary cap and max salaries for 2016/17. It’ll have either a player option or an early termination option on the final year, according to Marc Stein on ESPN.com (Twitter link). Davis took to Twitter to confirm the deal (hat tip to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News).
Davis was an All-NBA selection this season, and if he is again so honored in 2015/16, or if he wins MVP, he’ll trigger the Derrick Rose rule and be eligible for a maximum salary of approximately 30% of the cap instead of just 25%. That 30% max will be an estimated $25MM, or thereabouts, for 2016/17, while the 25% max would be about $21MM. Davis will presumably receive the maximum 7.5% raises on whatever the starting salary in his new deal is.
New Orleans has been planning a max extension for its budding star for a while, and John Reid of The Times-Picayune wrote today that the Pelicans intended to act quickly. They did just that, securing the Wasserman Media Group client for at least five more seasons, since the extension won’t kick in until after 2015/16.
Warriors Sign Kevon Looney
The Warriors have signed Kevon Looney to a rookie scale contract, the team announced via a press release. Looney was the final pick of the first round in this year’s NBA Draft. The 19-year-old appeared in 36 contests for the Bruins last season, averaging 11.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.3 steals in 30.9 minutes per game. His slash line was .470/.415/.626.
The forward out of UCLA has lottery-level talent, but long-term concerns about his hip likely caused him to last until the No. 30 overall pick. Looney believes that he can continue to play without surgery but will reportedly undergo a medical evaluation to determine if a procedure is necessary. “I had suffered a hip injury when I first got to UCLA, and I played the whole season with it,” Looney told Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group regarding his condition. “I went through the [draft] workouts with it. I still can play now. I can play just fine. I can walk good. I’m not hurting right now. I’m looking to the doctors to tell me what they really want to do, but this is an injury that I had, and I can actually play with, and I can actually do well with it.“
Looney, who is represented by both Aaron Goodwin of Goodwin Sports Management and Todd Ramasar of Stealth Sports, will earn $1,191,960 this coming season in the first year of a four-year deal, assuming that he receives the standard 120% of the rookie scale. The forward is in line to take home $1,182,840 for the 2016/17 campaign, $1,233,840 the following season, and $2,227,081 in the final year of the pact.
Jazz Sign Trey Lyles
6:50pm: The Jazz have officially signed Lyles, the team announced.
4:06pm: Trey Lyles, this year’s No. 12 overall pick, has agreed to sign his rookie scale contract with the Jazz, reports TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link). That a first-round pick would do so is not usually news, as the existence of the rookie scale usually resolves all meaningful negotiation, but the sides had been struggling to hash out details, as GM Dennis Lindsey acknowledged. The Jazz still haven’t made any formal announcement. The Jazz are giving him four years at $10.4MM, according to Aldridge, who appears to be rounding up from $10,386,049, which is 120% of his scale amount and the most Utah can pay.
Utah could have paid the Rich Paul client as little as 80% of rookie scale, but that would be highly unusual for a lottery pick. Lindsey suggested that the hangup had to do with cap holds, and indeed, many teams with the flexibility to open cap room wait to sign their first-round picks. The Jazz entered July with about $49MM in guaranteed salary and have since reportedly struck a two-year, $4.5MM deal with Joe Ingles, and apparently are poised to sign draft-and-stash point guard Raul Neto, too. The cap hold for Lyles will jump from $1,866,500 to $2,239,800 when he signs for 120% of the rookie scale, so the Jazz would retain a touch of financial flexibility if they wait.
Lyles hasn’t participated in any summer league games or practices for the Jazz so far, likely a matter of consternation as Utah revives its in-house summer league this year. It’s not uncommon for draftees to appear in summer league games even before they sign.
Just how the combo forward’s game will translate to the NBA remains a mystery, as Arthur Hill of Hoops Rumors wrote in his prospect profile of one of the many University of Kentucky players in this year’s draft. Still, he has an intriguing mid-range game and was the ninth-best prospect this year, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranked him 18th. Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors had him going 13th in his last mock draft.
Sixers Sign Jahlil Okafor
The Sixers have signed center Jahlil Okafor to a rookie scale contract, the team announced. Okafor was the No. 3 overall selection in this year’s NBA draft. The big man departed Duke after a freshman campaign that saw the Blue Devils capture the NCAA Championship and him being named a first-team All-American and snagging Freshman of the Year honors along the way.
The center out of Duke will earn more than $4.582MM this coming season in the first year of a four-year deal, presuming he receives the standard 120% of the rookie scale, which is most likely the case. Okafor will likely take home $4,788,840 in 2016/17, $4,995,120 in 2017/18, and $6,313,832 in the contract’s final season.
Okafor appeared in 38 games for the Blue Devils last season, averaging 17.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.4 blocks in 30.1 minutes per contest. His shooting numbers were .664/.000/.510.
Bulls Sign Bobby Portis
The Bulls have signed Bobby Portis to a rookie scale contract, the team announced in a press release (h/t to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders). Portis was the No. 22 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
The forward out of Arkansas will earn more than $1.391MM this coming season in the first year of a four-year deal, presuming he receives the standard 120% of the rookie scale. The arrangement will likely will call for him to receive $1,453,680 in 2016/17, $1,516,320 the following year, and $2,494,346 in the final season.
Portis appeared in 36 games for the Razorbacks last season, averaging 17.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks, with a slash line of .536/.467/.737. His career averages are 15.0 PPG, 7.9 RPG, and 1.5 BPG.
Jazz, Tibor Pleiss In Contract Talks
JULY 7TH, 3:50pm: The discussion appears to be moving in a positive direction, according to Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune, who’d be surprised if the sides don’t reach a deal (Twitter link).
JULY 1ST, 12:37am: The Jazz are engaged in contract talks with German draft-and-stash center Tibor Pleiss, Jody Genessy of The Deseret News reports (Twitter link). The two sides are discussing contract structure, and Utah’s intent is for the big man to play in the NBA during the 2015/16 campaign. Utah acquired the rights to the 25-year-old from the Thunder in the trade for Enes Kanter.
Pleiss wasn’t satisfied with his role for Barcelona this past season, as David Pick of Eurobasket.com relayed, and his discontent there appeared to be a factor when Pleiss and the Jazz were reportedly in talks about a deal this past season. Utah is in need of frontcourt depth behind Rudy Gobert, and Pleiss could fit the bill on that front.
The 7’2″ center appeared in 58 contests split between the Euroleague and Liga ACB this past season. Pleiss notched averages of 5.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks in 13.8 minutes per game. His career stats are 7.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 0.8 BPG, with a slash line of .574/.381/.811.
Rockets Sign Sam Dekker
The Rockets have signed Sam Dekker, this year’s No. 18 overall pick, the Priority Sports agency tweets (hat tip to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle). Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston says agent Mark Bartelstein told him the sides have a verbal agreement in place (Twitter link), and the team has yet to make any official announcement. Regardless of whether Dekker has actually put pen to paper, the signing is likely a mere formality, as the rookie scale usually removes any substantive negotiation between teams and their first-round picks. Dekker will make more than $1.646MM this year in the first year of a four-year deal, presuming he receives the standard 120% of the rookie scale.
Dekker’s stock surged amid Wisconsin’s run to the national championship game in the NCAA Tournament. The small forward is dynamic, with high basketball IQ and toughness, though he’s not a standout in any particular area, and his outside shooting could use some work, as Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors wrote in his prospect profile.
Houston took Dekker largely within his projected range. Chad Ford of ESPN.com had him as the 16th-best prospect, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranked him 21st. Our Eddie Scarito predicted he’d go 17th in the final Hoops Rumors Mock Draft.
The Rockets will likely remain over the cap after missing out on star targets LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love, so the Dekker signing, which will lift his cap hold by roughly $300K, is unlikely to affect the team’s flexibility.