Basketball Wiretap

Tari Eason has agreed to re-sign with the Houston Rockets on a five-year, $81.5 million contract, reports Shams Charania of ESPN. Eason was a restricted free agent after he was unable to agree to terms on a contract extension before the start of the season.

Eason's contract includes a player option in Year 5 and a 10 percent trade kicker, according to The Athletic. 

Eason was the 17th overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft out of LSU and is one of the NBA's better perimeter defenders.

In 60 games last season, Eason averaged 10.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 25.8 minutes. Eason shot 35.8 percent on three-pointers.

Eason is represented by Thaddeus Foucher and Chafie Fields.

Billy Donovan has agreed to become the lead assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs under Mitch Johnson. Donovan will replace Sean Sweeney, who was hired as head coach of the Orlando Magic.

Donovan chose to exit the Chicago Bulls as they enter into a rebuild. Donovan was a candidate for the Magic job that went to Sweeney. 

Before the Bulls' tenure, Donovan was head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder and spent one season coaching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

The Spurs are coming off an appearance in the NBA Finals, losing to the New York Knicks in five games.

Kyle Anderson and the Toronto Raptors have agreed to a one-year, $3.9 million deal.

Anderson split time last season with the Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies and Minnesota Timberwolves, appearing in 43 games and averaging 6.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 19.8 minutes.

Anderson will be playing in his age-33 season.

Luka Doncic is pleased with the Los Angeles Lakers' offseason additions after the team re-signed backcourt co-star Austin Reaves and added center Walker Kessler.

The sources told The Athletic that Doncic was "excited" by the moves that addressed two of his top roster priorities this summer.

Despite Doncic spending the summer in Europe, the Lakers maintained regular contact with the star guard and his representatives throughout the process.

The Lakers are not yet finished building its roster as they are targeting wing depth, with Jonathan Kuminga among the names on their list.

A source close to Doncic told ESPN in June that the Lakers had promised a significant offseason in 2026,

"Luka wants to be a championship team yesterday," the source told ESPN. "Ever since the trade, they've always told us: 'summer of '26. We'll show you in the summer of '26.' So, we are so excited that the summer of '26 is here."

Doncic relayed one central request to Lakers executives Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick this offseason, echoing a demand he first made 16 months ago upon joining the franchise.

"Luka's first and foremost desire is an A-list center," a source said.

Tyus Jones has agreed to re-sign with the Denver Nuggets on a one-year deal.

Jones appeared in 48 games last season with the Orlando Magic before he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks and was eventually waived.

Jones appeared in 11 regular season games with the Nuggets, averaging 2.2 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 8.3 minutes.

Jones will continue to give the Nuggets backup minutes at point guard as he plays his age-30 season.

Kenrich Williams and the Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed upon a one-year, $5 million deal. The Thunder previously declined their $7.2 million option on Williams for the 2026-27 season.

Williams appeared in 56 games with the Thunder last season, averaging 6.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 15.4 minutes.

Williams, who is represented by Adam Pensack, was acquired by the Thunder from the New Orleans Pelicans in a trade during the 2020 offseason as part of the Steven Adams deal.

Pat Spencer and the Phoenix Suns have agreed to a two-way contract.

Spencer averaged 7.2 points in 18.6 minutes last season with the Golden State Warriors as they converted him from a two-way to a standard NBA deal.

Spencer went undrafted in 2020 and worked his way into the Warriors' rotation beginning with their G League affiliate.

Anfernee Simons and the Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to a two-year, $12.3 million contract. Simons will hold a player option for Year 2 of the contract.

Simons received interest from the Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics and others.

The 76ers' signing of Simons follows their trade with the Boston Celtics for Jaylen Brown.

Daeqwon Plowden and the Sacramento Kings have agreed to a two-year, $5.1 million deal.

Plowden spent last season with the Kings on a two-way deal, appearing in 32 games and averaging 10.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 26.4 minutes.

The Boston Celtics' trade of Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George and two future first round picks was one of the more stunning transactions for league insiders in recent memory despite the well-documented presence of Brown in trade rumors for several weeks.

The Celtics' front office from the Danny Ainge tenure to now with Brad Stevens and Mike Zarren have historically operated in a very measured way. 

While Boston received two first round picks back for Brown, the Sixers probably would have had to attach one future first round pick merely to trade away George due to the size of his contract relative to his productivity. The Celtics were previously seeking as many as four or five future first round picks for Brown after they had offered him to the Milwaukee Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

According to executives on rival teams that spoke with ESPN's Brian Windhorst, the conclusion currently being reached around the NBA is that the Celtics clearly felt they had to expedite a Brown trade even if the return is less than his widely perceived value.

"Other teams in the league felt like this looked like a trade that was made under duress," said Windhorst on Sports Center in the hours after the trade. "That you wouldn't make this trade if everything was equal. And I look forward to hearing an explanation from the Celtics' side because I cannot explain it on its face.

"Even if they wanted to move on from Jaylen Brown, and even if they didn't like the offers that they had today, it doesn't make sense why this trade would have to happen now. Even if you believe that Jaylen Brown had played his last game for you, there's just no reason to feel any pressure to make this move on July 1st. I promise you that there would have been other opportunities.

"And not only that, to make it to a team that is in your conference, in your division. A team that just vanquished you in the playoffs? The more you look at it, the more mystifying it gets.

"The Celtics are a team that is very studied, that doesn't make any move without thinking it through. I'm sure that they have their reasons for the exact way they went about this, but they're going to be reasons that are going to be very difficult to articulate and understand."