Minnesota Timberwolves reached a $60m agreement with restricted free agent Malik Beasley for three years plus a team option for a fourth; Timberwolves also finalised and confirmed three draft-night trades, including deal with Oklahoma City reuniting them with point guard Ricky Rubio.
Saturday 21 November 2020 08:33, UK
The Miami Heat got quick agreements from point guard Goran Dragic and center Meyers Leonard on two-year deals, the second year in both cases being team options.
Dragic will make about $18m next season, Leonard about $9m.
"I simply appreciate that they care about the little things," Leonard said.
Dragic flew back to Miami from his native Slovenia on Friday and intends to sign his new contract quickly. He said the fact that the Heat will have much of their roster back from a year ago, when the team won the Eastern Conference title, was particularly important to him.
"This is a family here," Dragic said. "We know we have a good team. We know we have chemistry. We have unfinished business."
The Timberwolves reached a $60m agreement with restricted free agent shooting guard Malik Beasley that is for three years plus a team option for a fourth year.
Beasley, who was acquired from the Denver Nuggets in a four-team trade in February, was charged last month with drug possession and threats of violence in Hennepin County District Court, after allegedly aiming a rifle at a family in their vehicle outside his Minnesota home where a large amount of marijuana and other guns were seized during a police search.
Beasley averaged 20.7 points in 14 games after arriving in Minnesota.
The Timberwolves also finalised and confirmed three draft-night trades, including the deal with Oklahoma City reuniting them with point guard Ricky Rubio.
Joe Harris is remaining with the Brooklyn Nets, news that prompted a celebratory tweet from team owner Joe Tsai on Friday.
According to multiple media outlets, the free agent guard and the Nets agreed to terms on a four-year, $75m contract.
Tsai replied to an ESPN tweet regarding the news by posting a video of Nets fan Andrew Yang, a former presidential candidate, saying excitedly, "Joe you did it! Thank you, Joe! Yes! We're back, America!"
The video clip appears to have been taped in response to Joe Biden being declared the winner of the presidential election, but Tsai repurposed it.
Harris, 29, has spent the past four years in Brooklyn, and he enjoyed arguably his best NBA season in 2019-20. He produced career highs in scoring average (14.5 points per game) and rebounds (4.3 per game). One season earlier, Harris led the NBA in three-point shooting success at 47.4 per cent.
His career three-point shooting percentage of 42.6 per cent ranks fifth among active players, according to basketball-reference.com.
A second-round draft pick of the Cavaliers in 2014 out of Virginia, Harris spent two years as a little-used reserve in Cleveland. The Cavaliers traded him in January 2016 to the Orlando Magic, who immediately waived him. Harris signed with Brooklyn in July 2016, and he became a regular starter for the Nets in 2018-19.
