Timberwolves Sign Karl-Anthony Towns
The Timberwolves have officially signed No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns, the team announced (Twitter link). He’ll almost certainly make close to $5.704MM this season, the first of his four-year rookie scale contract, on the standard 120% of the rookie scale, as our table of likely salaries for first-round picks shows. The formal signing represents one of the few types of transactions that can take place before Thursday, when the July Moratorium will be over.
Towns emerged as the top contender to become the No. 1 pick during the NCAA Tournament, even though his star-studded Kentucky team fell short of the national title that Jahlil Okafor, previously the leading prospect, came away with as a part of Duke’s team. Timberwolves coach/president of basketball operations Flip Saunders seemed like a late convert, but he ultimately came on board. Towns’ superior all-court game sets him apart, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors examined in his prospect profile.
The timing of the move, coming along with the team’s signing of No. 24 overall pick Tyus Jones and shortly after reports of agreements with Kevin Garnett and Nemanja Bjelica, likely signals an end to the major business of the summer for Minnesota, outside of trades. The team will almost certainly operate above the cap, though it will have a roughly $1.7MM portion of its mid-level left to make additions after likely having committed part of it to Bjelica.
Wolves Sign Tyus Jones
TUESDAY, 9:04am: The deal is official, the team announced (on Twitter).
SUNDAY, 11:17pm: The Wolves signed No. 24 pick Tyus Jones, as Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities reports (Twitter link). The team hasn’t made any formal announcement, but Jones put pen to paper days ago, according to Wolfson.
Judging from the standard 120% of the rookie scale, Jones can expect to earn $1,282,080 the first year, $1,339,680 in year two, $1,397,400 the third year, and $2,444,053 during the final season.
The Wolves acquired Jones, a Minnesota native, from the Cavaliers. Jones, who has solid floor vision and leadership skills, was the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four this year at Duke. Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors profiled Jones and described him as “quite possibly the best pure point guard in this year’s draft.”
Manu Ginobili To Return This Season
Manu Ginobili will play this season, he revealed on Twitter (hat tip to Scott Agness of VigilantSports). Ginobili said in the tweet’s hashtag that Tim Duncan, who also revealed his intentions to play again this coming season, would have missed him if he hadn’t followed suit and decided to play another season. Presumably, both will re-sign with the Spurs, though Ginobili and San Antonio are still working on the details of a new contract, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
The odds of Ginobili, who’ll turn 38 this month, didn’t seem as high as they were with Duncan’s return. Still, San Antonio’s sixth man is back in spite of having averaged fewer points and minutes per game this past season than in any year since he was a rookie.
It’s likely that the Herb Rudoy client will play for less than the $7MM he made with the Spurs this past season so that San Antonio can accommodate a max contract for LaMarcus Aldridge, who’s committed to join the team, as well as the new deals for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. The money that Duncan will make, as well as the final terms of the agreed-upon Tiago Splitter trade, will likely dictate just how much San Antonio will have left for Ginobili.
Nets Sign Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
The Nets have formally signed No. 23 overall pick Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, the team announced via press release. First-round pick signings are among the few that can become official during the July Moratorium. The small forward from Arizona will make $1,335,480 this coming season and a total of $6,657,157 over the course of his four-year rookie scale contract, presuming he signs for the standard 120% of scale, as our table of likely first-round salaries shows.
Brooklyn traded with Portland for the rights to Hollis-Jefferson shortly after the draft, along with Steve Blake, for Mason Plumlee and the rights to No. 41 overall pick Pat Connaughton. Hollis-Jefferson stands to have a better chance at playing time this coming season if the Nets trade Joe Johnson, as they’re reportedly in talks to do.
The best-case scenario for Hollis-Jefferson’s NBA career is likely that he’ll end up similar to former Net Gerald Wallace, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors posited in his prospect profile of the defensive-minded new addition to Brooklyn’s roster. Hollis-Jefferson is a client of Mike George, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, who ranked him as the 13th-best prospect in this year’s draft. Chad Ford of ESPN.com had him 20th.
Mavs To Re-Sign Richard Jefferson
Veteran forward Richard Jefferson is set to sign with the Mavericks on a deal that would bring him back to Dallas for the 2015/16 campaign, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter links). It will be a one-year contract for the veteran’s minimum, Spears relays.
Jefferson joins point guard J.J. Barea, who is nearing an agreement of his own with the Mavs, in returning to a revamped Dallas squad. Athletic big man DeAndre Jordan is also set to join the team, having reached a deal with the Mavs on a four-year, $80MM contract earlier today. Dallas nabbed swingman Wesley Matthews on Thursday, in what has been a hectic few days for the team since the free agent signing period commenced.
The 35-year-old appeared in 74 games for the Mavs last season, including 18 starts. Jefferson notched averages of 5.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 16.8 minutes per night. His career numbers through 14 NBA seasons are 13.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 2.2 APG, with a slash line of .465/.380/.771.
DeAndre Jordan To Sign With Mavs
3:33pm: The deal includes a player option after year three, tweets Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
3:20pm: The Clippers have been told of Jordan’s decision to sign with Dallas, too, reports Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (on Twitter).
2:55pm: DeAndre Jordan has told the Mavericks he’s signing with them, sources tell Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). The sought-after center plans to announce the news tonight, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, who adds that it’ll be a four-year, $80MM deal (Twitter links). Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link) reported minutes earlier that the Dan Fegan client was on the verge of accepting an offer from the Mavericks, pegging it at that same four-year, $80MM mark, which appears to represent the max. Dallas has been extremely optimistic, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com tweeted shortly after Stein’s report. It would be a profound disappointment for the Clippers and represent a miss for the Lakers, too. Jordan’s representatives have already told the Knicks they’re out of the running, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
The options for the Clippers are limited, since they couldn’t generate a trade exception for the full value of Jordan’s starting salary even if they could convince the Mavs to work a sign-and-trade, because he’s getting a raise of better than 20%, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). It’s a vestige of the base-year compensation rules that would cap the value of the exception at Jordan’s previous salary of slightly more than $11.44MM. That wouldn’t be enough for the Clippers to trade for David Lee, Roy Hibbert or Nene without matching salaries. The Clippers don’t have enough cap flexibility to sign a comparable replacement.
MacMahon first reported Jordan’s extreme interest in signing with Dallas back in April. That was in spite of Jordan’s clear affection for Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers. Still, Jordan made it clear even in the spring that the Clippers weren’t necessarily the favorites as he approached unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career. Jordan was concerned about how the Clippers roster would age over time, and Blake Griffin‘s ability to reach free agency himself in two years, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com reported overnight. The center also reportedly didn’t see eye-to-eye with Chris Paul, though there were conflicting reports on just how much of a factor that was. Jordan was also apparently tired of playing third wheel behind Griffin and Paul.
The Clippers nonetheless seemed to impress in their meeting with him Thursday, but so did the Mavs, and owner Mark Cuban and recruiter extraordinaire Chandler Parsons met with Jordan again this morning, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPN.com. Dallas, once the deal becomes official following the July Moratorium, will land the sort of star free agent target it’s missed out on ever since it won the title in 2011. The Mavs will take him into cap space, barring any sign-and-trade developments. Jordan’s deal, put together with the roughly $13MM that Wesley Matthews will reportedly see this coming season on his contract with Dallas, likely closes off the team’s cap flexibility, limiting it to the $2.814MM room exception for outside free agents who want more than the minimum.
Raptors Sign Delon Wright
The Raptors have signed Delon Wright, whom they took No. 20 in last week’s draft, the team announced. The signing of a first-round pick is one of the few sorts of transactions allowed during the July Moratorium.
The formal signing is a subtle hint that the Raptors are out on targets like LaMarcus Aldridge, just as Justise Winslow‘s signing earlier today was for the Heat, though both may have more to do with having them under contract in time for summer league, as their cap holds increase, but only slightly. The cap hold for Wright had been nearly $1.258MM, and it increases to slightly more than $1.509MM as he formally joins Toronto’s roster, assuming the point guard from the University of Utah is getting the standard 120% of the rookie scale.
Wright was a slight reach, having been ranked No. 27 in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider listings and No. 28 with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress going into the draft. Still, he was a far more conventional selection than Bruno Caboclo was last year when Toronto took him at the same No. 20 spot.
Heat Sign Justise Winslow
The Heat have signed No. 10 overall pick Justise Winslow, the team announced, as Miami formally brings the Duke small forward that team president Pat Riley raved about onto the roster. Teams may officially sign first-round picks during the July Moratorium, as Miami is doing here, though most other moves must wait until Thursday, when the Moratorium is over.
Most teams hesitate to sign their first-rounders until after they’re done making free agent moves, so this news is further indication that the Heat are extreme long shots to land LaMarcus Aldridge, in spite of Riley’s meeting with the power forward Thursday. Still, the timing might just have to do with summer league, as Winslow put pen to paper before the team’s first summer league practice, notes Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald (on Twitter).
Winslow’s cap hold likely goes from slightly more than $2.068MM to nearly $2.482MM, assuming the Heat are giving him the standard 120% of the rookie scale. If that’s the case, he’ll be in line to make a total of $11,613,750 over the four-year rookie scale contract.
Winslow is a versatile player, though it’s possible he’ll end up a tweener, stuck between both forward positions, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors wrote in his prospect profile. Eddie had Winslow going at No. 5 in our final mock draft, so perhaps that positional concern played into his drop on draft night.
Hornets Sign Frank Kaminsky
The Hornets have signed Frank Kaminsky to a rookie scale contract, the team announced (on Twitter). Charlotte selected Kaminsky with the No. 9 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
The details of the contact were not released, but unless Charlotte is paying Kaminsky less than the standard 120% of scale he can expect to earn $2,612,520 his rookie season, $3,135,024 in 2016/17, $2,847,600 during the 2017/18 campaign, and finally, $3,627,842 in the final year.
The sweet-shooting seven-footer out of Wisconsin appeared in a total of 144 collegiate games, averaging 18.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.6 assists during his senior campaign. Kaminsky’s career numbers are 10.1 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.3 APG, and 1.1 BPG, with a slash line of .522/.369/.763.
Nets Sign Chris McCullough
The Nets have signed Chris McCullough to a multiyear deal, the team announced. The forward out of Syracuse was selected by Brooklyn with the No. 29 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft. There is a chance that the 20-year-old will miss the entire 2015/16 campaign as he recovers from surgery to repair a torn ACL.
The details of the contact were not released, but unless Brooklyn is paying McCullough less than the standard 120% of scale he can expect to earn $1,140,240 the first year, $1,191,480 in year two, $1,242,840 the third year, and $2,243,326 during the final season.
McCullough appeared in just 16 contests for the Orangemen last season, averaging 9.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 28.1 minutes per game. His slash line was .478/1.000/.563.