- Hawks guard Dennis Schroder has become the majority owner of Basketball Lowen Braunschweig, a team in his native Germany, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
FEBRUARY 28: The Sixers have officially signed Ilyasova, the team announced in a press release. Assuming the contract is a rest-of-season, minimum salary deal, Ilyasova will count as approximately $357K towards the cap.
FEBRUARY 25: Ersan Ilyasova plans to sign with the Sixers once his buyout with the Hawks is complete, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
The 30-year-old stretch four played 53 games for Philadelphia last season before being traded to Atlanta at the deadline. He is having a typically productive season for the Hawks, averaging 10.9 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting .359 from 3-point range.
Ilyasova is making $6MM is the final year of his contract, but with about three quarters of the season gone, the buyout cost should be minimal. He will have to work out the arrangement with Atlanta by Thursday to be eligible to join the Sixers for the postseason.
Philadelphia, which already added former Hawk Marco Belinelli after a buyout, has a full roster and will have to waive someone before signing Ilyasova.
- Forward Tyler Cavanaugh has been sent to the G League by the Hawks, according to a press release from the team. Cavanaugh, who has averaged 16.3 PPG and 8.3 RPG in seven G League games, will play for the Erie Bayhawks (Atlanta’s affiliate) on Wednesday night.
Earlier this month, we identified the NBA teams with open roster spots. Since then, clubs have completed a flurry of 10-day signings, and a couple players have even received rest-of-season deals.
However, there are still plenty of teams around the league with openings on their respective rosters, which could come in handy with Thursday’s de facto buyout deadline around the corner. Once March 1 comes and goes, teams will have a better idea of which players will or won’t have postseason eligibility the rest of the way, creating a clearer picture for how to fill those open roster spots.
In the space below, we’ll take a closer look at teams with an open roster spot, breaking them down into three categories. Each of the clubs in the first group actually has a full 15-man roster right now, but in each instance, one of those 15 players is only a 10-day contract. With those contracts set to expire soon, it’d be very easy and inexpensive for these teams to create an opening if they need to.
Teams with full 15-man rosters who are carrying at least one player on a 10-day contract (10-day player noted in parentheses):
- Dallas Mavericks (Scotty Hopson)
- Indiana Pacers (Trey McKinney-Jones)
- New Orleans Pelicans (Walter Lemon Jr.)
- New York Knicks (Troy Williams)
- Orlando Magic (Rashad Vaughn)
- Phoenix Suns (Shaquille Harrison)
- Utah Jazz (Naz Mitrou-Long)
The next list of teams includes the clubs with one open spot on their roster and no players on 10-day contracts. These clubs each have 14 players on standard, full-season NBA deals, leaving one spot open for either a 10-day player or a rest-of-season signing.
Teams with one open roster spot:
- Charlotte Hornets
- Chicago Bulls
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Note: The Lakers will create a second opening when they officially waive Corey Brewer.
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Sacramento Kings
- Toronto Raptors
Finally, the last group of teams features four clubs that have been grouped together before. These four teams saw their roster counts slip to 13 players around the time of the trade deadline, and each had to add a player to get back up to the NBA-mandated minimum of 14. To reach that minimum, each team signed a player to a 10-day contract. That means these four franchises still only have 12 or 13 players on full-season contracts, with at least one player on a 10-day deal.
Teams with one open roster spot, plus at least one player on a 10-day contract:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Note: 12 full-season contracts, plus Antonius Cleveland and Jaylen Morris on 10-day contracts
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Note: 13 full-season contracts, plus Marcus Thornton on 10-day contract.
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Note: 13 full-season contracts, plus Brandon Rush on 10-day contract.
- Washington Wizards
- Note: 13 full-season contracts, plus Ramon Sessions on 10-day contract.
For roster-count details on all 30 teams, be sure to check out our roster count page, which we updated daily throughout the 2017/18 season.
Note: Roster info current as of Wednesday, February 28 at 12:00pm CT.
FEBRUARY 28: The Hawks have officially signed Morris to a 10-day deal, the team announced today in a press release. The contract will run through next Friday, covering five games.
FEBRUARY 27: The Hawks will call up G League guard Jaylen Morris and sign him to a 10-day contract, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski, the deal will be made official on Wednesday.
Morris, a 6’5″ guard who went undrafted out of Division II school Molloy College, had spent this season with the Erie BayHawks, Atlanta’s G League affiliate. In 39 games, he has averaged 12.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 2.4 APG, with a .518/.290/.673 shooting line.
Although the Hawks are well out of the playoff picture and are focusing on developing young players, I’d be surprised if Morris enters the rotation in Atlanta after signing his 10-day deal. The Hawks may simply assign Morris back to the G League and let him keep playing for Erie while he collects an NBA salary, though that’s just my speculation.
The Hawks won’t need to make a roster move to clear room on their 15-man roster for Morris. With just 13 players under contract after waiving Ersan Ilyasova on Monday, Atlanta needed to add a player to get back to the 14-man minimum.
5:50pm: Ilyasova plans to sign a veteran’s minimum contract with the Sixers for the rest of the season once he clears waivers, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets.
3:05pm: The Hawks have officially waived Ilyasova, per a team release. He’s on track to clear waivers on Wednesday, at which point he’d be free to sign with the Sixers.
2:42pm: The Hawks and veteran forward Ersan Ilyasova have finalized their buyout agreement, reports Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). The team is expected to formally announce Ilyasova’s release soon.
We first heard last Friday that the Hawks were nearing a buyout for Ilyasova. While it took a few days for the two sides to make the agreement official, it was always expected to happen. In fact, Ilyasova has already worked on lining up a new team for after he clears waivers — a Sunday report indicated that he intends to return to the Sixers.
Ilyasova, 30, has had a solid year with the Hawks, averaging 10.9 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 46 contests (25.5 MPG). The stretch four has a shooting line of .459/.359/.800. All of those numbers are in the general ballpark of his career averages.
After they waive Ilyasova, the Hawks will be left with just 13 players on their NBA roster, meaning they’ll once again have to get back up to 14 players, the league-mandated minimum. Atlanta left itself with 13 players after buying out Marco Belinelli earlier this month, and eventually signed Antonius Cleveland to a 10-day contract to get back to 14.
As for the Sixers, Belinelli ended up on their roster after being bought out by the Hawks, filling their final open roster spot. Philadelphia will have to cut a player to officially sign Ilyasova.
It’s time for rookie guard Markelle Fultz to break his public silence and address the issues that have limited him to just four games this season, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The things Fultz needs to explain, according to Pompey, are whether a scapular muscle imbalance forced him to change his shot or whether it was done on the advice of his trainer, Keith Williams, and what teammate Joel Embiid meant when he said of Fultz, “I don’t feel like a lot of people … have had his back.”
Williams has denied making changes to Fultz’s shot and some people in the organization don’t believe it happened, but Fultz could easily clear up the situation if the team made him available to the media. However, he hasn’t granted any interviews apart from a brief one on TNT. A grievance was filed through the Pro Basketball Writers Association, but the NBA sided with the Sixers. The team may be trying to protect Fultz, Pompey adds, but the silence is just leading to more speculation.
There’s more today out of Philadelphia:
- This is the first time since coach Brett Brown took over five years ago that the Sixers haven’t dealt away or waived someone at the trade deadline, Pompey notes in a separate story. Not only did they keep their core intact, they added a shooter by picking up Marco Belinelli from the buyout market. “It’s something that from the city’s perspective, from the fans’ perspective and from the these guys’ perspective to take continuity and move it forward instead of hack away at it and chop it down,” Brown said. “We respect it. We appreciate it.”
- Richaun Holmes made a rare appearance Saturday, relays Sarah Todd of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The back-up center had sat out seven of the past nine games, but was scheduled for some minutes as Brown tries to prepare his whole roster for the postseason. Holmes responded with impressive defense in a win over the Magic. “Right now my motivation is I know that Richaun has value, I know that he has things that he can bring to the table and I respect how he’s handled himself when he wasn’t playing that much,” Brown said. “I know it’s my job to keep him alive and tonight was an example of that and I thought he did very very well.”
- The Sixers could be an option for Ersan Ilyasova once he completes a rumored buyout with the Hawks, according to Colin Ward-Henninger of CBS Sports. Ilyasova spent 53 games in Philadelphia last season before being traded to Atlanta.
The Hawks are nearing an agreement on a buyout with veteran power forward Ersan Ilyasova, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link). Assuming the buyout is finalized by March 1, Ilyasova would retain his postseason eligibility for a new team.
Frequently mentioned as a probable trade candidate in the weeks leading up to this month’s deadline, Ilyasova ultimately stayed in Atlanta through February 8. He was immediately identified as a potential candidate for a buyout, particularly with teammate Marco Belinelli quickly reaching a buyout agreement of his own with the Hawks. However, early indications were that Ilyasova wasn’t desperate to get out of Atlanta.
Ilyasova, 30, has had a solid year with the Hawks, averaging 10.9 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 46 contests (25.5 MPG). The stretch four has a shooting line of .459/.359/.800. All of those numbers are in the general ballpark of his career averages.
While Amick (via Twitter) names the Bucks and Raptors as potential suitors for Ilyaosva, the big man’s skill set would appeal to a number of playoff-bound teams. He should draw plenty of interest if he reaches the open market, with Amick noting that other teams could get involved.
The Hawks are currently carrying 14 players on their NBA roster, so if they finalize a buyout with Ilyasova, they’d have to eventually sign another player to get back up to that league-mandated minimum.
12:15pm: Cleveland’s deal with the Hawks is now official, tweets Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
8:25am: The Hawks will fill one of their two open roster spots this week by signing shooting guard Antonius Cleveland to a 10-day contract, sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Cleveland, 24, went undrafted out of Southeast Missouri State, but played for the Blazers in Summer League and then signed a training camp deal with the Warriors last summer. While he didn’t earn a spot on Golden State’s regular season roster, he later caught on with the Mavericks, signing a two-way contract with Dallas and appearing in 13 games for the club. He was waived by the Mavs in December.
Cleveland averaged just 6.2 minutes per contest in his 13 NBA games, but the rookie saw more consistent playing time in seven G League games with the Santa Cruz Warriors and Texas Legends. In that small sample, he averaged 13.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.1 APG, and 1.7 SPG with a .538/.500/.826 shooting line.
Atlanta is one of four teams that needed to make a roster move this week in order to get back up to 14 players after slipping to 13 at the trade deadline. The Trail Blazers have already signed Brandon Rush, while the Cavaliers are signing Marcus Thornton, leaving the Wizards as the only club that still needs to add a player.
- Coach Mike Budenholzer said the Hawks won’t be making the type of moves that are typical of tanking teams, relays Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta is tied with Phoenix for the top spot in our latest Reverse Standings at 18-41. “I think we’ve been a mix of young and veteran guys all year,” Budenholzer said. “I think the way we progressed through the season — of course when you start the season you think it could be a little different — [but] right now but I think the way we’ve played, and the way we continue to play, won’t be that much different.”