Newsstand Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Sixers Waive Ricky Council, David Duke Jr.

October 20th, 2023 at 10:29pm CST by Rory Maher

The Sixers have waived Ricky Council and David Duke Jr., the team announced on Friday night.

Council being cut is somewhat of a surprise. He was one of the top prospects who went undrafted this year following his junior season at Arkansas and quickly reached an agreement on a two-way contract with Philadelphia.

A two-way deal signed before the regular season begins can be partially guaranteed for up to the maximum Exhibit 10 bonus amount for that year. In 2023/24, that amount – also known as the maximum two-way protection amount – is $75K. Council received that partial guarantee.

Two-way contracts don’t count against the salary cap, and evidently the Sixers have other plans for the spot that Council held. The 6’6″ guard averaged 9.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in five games (24.6 minutes) with the Sixers in Las Vegas Summer League action, though he didn’t shoot the ball well (.361/.100/.769 slash line). He also appeared in three preseason games, but didn’t play much (8.3 minutes per night).

As for Duke, who spent the past two seasons with the Nets, he’ll likely be headed to the Delaware Blue Coats — Philadelphia’s G league affiliate — to open ’23/24. He signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Sixers, so he could receive a $75K bonus if he spends at least 60 days with Delaware.

The Sixers now have 19 players under contract, with one open two-way spot.

Raptors Waive Jeff Dowtin, Justise Winslow, Mouhamadou Gueye

October 20th, 2023 at 9:51pm CST by Rory Maher

The Raptors have waived Jeff Dowtin, Justise Winslow and Mouhamadou Gueye, the team announced (Twitter link via Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca).

Winslow and Gueye were on Exhibit 10 deals and will be headed to the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League affiliate. They’ll each be eligible for a bonus worth up to $75K if they spend at least 60 days with the 905. Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca first reported (via Twitter) that Winslow and Gueye were expected to be cut following Friday’s preseason finale vs. Washington.

As for Dowtin, his non-guaranteed standard contract would have become partially guaranteed for $900K had he remained on the roster past tomorrow’s cut-down day. However, he had an uphill battle to make the team, with 15 players signed to guaranteed standard deals.

Fifteen Raptors got into Friday’s win against the Wizards, and Dowtin wasn’t one of them, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca noted during the game (Twitter link). That made it pretty obvious that he was going to be cut.

It’s unclear what’s next for Dowtin, Murphy adds (via Twitter). The 26-year-old guard spent last season on a two-way contract with Toronto, appearing in 25 games (10.4 MPG). With only two years of NBA experience, he’d be eligible to sign a two-way deal with any team as a free agent if he clears waivers.

The Delaware Blue Coats (the Sixers’ affiliate) control Dowtin’s G League rights, so if another NBA opportunity doesn’t come, returning to the G league could be an option.

The Raptors currently have 18 players on their roster, with all three two-way slots filled. As Murphy tweets, they’ll likely have one more Exhibit 10 sign-and-waive coming on Saturday.

Trail Blazers Convert Justin Minaya To Two-Way Deal; Waive Two Others

October 20th, 2023 at 6:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

6:35pm: Minaya has officially been converted to a two-way deal, according to NBA.com’s transactions log, while Conditt and Butler have been waived.

3:57pm: Small forward Justin Minaya has agreed to a two-way contract with the Trail Blazers, agent Jared Mucha tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The 24-year-old finished last season with Portland on a hardship 10-day contract and appeared in four games. He re-signed with the Blazers in early October.

Sources tell Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report that John Butler will be waived to open a two-way slot for Minaya (Twitter link). The 20-year-old center re-signed with Portland in July after spending last season on a two-way deal. He appeared in 19 games, averaging 2.4 PPG and 0.9 RPG in limited minutes.

The team’s other two-way spots belong to Ibou Badji and Skylar Mays.

Highkin also reports that George Conditt, who has an Exhibit 10 contract, will be waived today and is expected to wind up with the Rip City Remix, the organization’s new G League affiliate (Twitter link).

Highkin hears that Moses Brown is likely to make the team, so the battle for the final roster spot appears to be between Duop Reath and Kevin Knox (Twitter link).

Bulls Waive Carlik Jones

October 20th, 2023 at 5:44pm CST by Luke Adams

5:44pm: Jones has been waived, according to NBA.com’s official transactions log.

1:22pm: The Bulls are waiving guard Carlik Jones, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

It has been a big year for Jones, who was named the 2023 G League MVP after averaging 26.1 points per game on .483/.360/.789 shooting in 24 regular season contests (38.3 MPG) while also contributing 7.0 assists and 4.4 rebounds per night. That performance helped earned him a promotion from his two-way contract to Chicago’s standard roster in March.

Jones then represented South Sudan during this summer’s World Cup, helping the program claim a spot in the 12-team Olympic field for the first time ever . The 25-year-old had some monster performances against international competition, averaging a double-double (20.4 PPG, 10.6 APG) in five World Cup games.

Unfortunately, it appears the Bulls’ cap and roster situation means that Jones is the odd man out to open the regular season. Chicago was hovering right around the luxury tax line with 13 players on guaranteed contracts and non-guaranteed salaries for Jones and Terry Taylor. The Bulls may intend to open the season with just 14 players on standard deals, with Terry making the team, though that hasn’t yet been confirmed.

Jones’ $1.93MM salary would have become partially guaranteed for $250K on opening night. Since he’ll be cut before then, Chicago won’t be on the hook for any of his salary. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent if he goes unclaimed on waivers and would be free to sign with any team (including the Bulls on a new deal).

Celtics Waive Wenyen Gabriel, DJ Steward

October 20th, 2023 at 5:40pm CST by Luke Adams

5:40pm: Both Gabriel and DJ Steward have been officially waived by the Celtics, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

9:56am: The Celtics are placing big man Wenyen Gabriel on waivers ahead of the regular season, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

A four-year NBA veteran, Gabriel spent last season with the Lakers, appearing in 68 games and averaging 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per night.

Gabriel signed with Boston at the start of training camp after the team included Robert Williams in its trade package for Jrue Holiday. Given the hit the Celtics’ frontcourt depth took in that deal, it appeared the 26-year-old had a path to a regular season roster spot.

However, Gabriel only received a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 contract, which offered no assurances beyond training camp and the preseason, and he was outperformed by two-way player Neemias Queta this month. Boston has also typically kept a 15-man roster spot open into the regular season in recent years, notes Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link).

In addition to their 10 players with guaranteed salaries, the Celtics have Luke Kornet, Svi Mykhailiuk, Dalano Banton, and Lamar Stevens on partially guaranteed or non-guaranteed deals, with DJ Steward on an Exhibit 10 pact. It seems likely that Steward will be cut when Boston sets its regular season roster, with the other four making the team, though that has yet to be confirmed.

As for Gabriel, it’s unclear where his next stop might be. Since his contract with Boston didn’t include an Exhibit 10 bonus, he’s not an obvious candidate to join the Maine Celtics, the club’s G League affiliate.

Mavericks Sign, Waive Tony Bradley

October 20th, 2023 at 3:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

October 20: Bradley has been waived by the Mavs (Twitter link), which suggests he signed an Exhibit 10 deal and will be playing for the Texas Legends — Dallas’ G League affiliate — to start 2023/24.

October 19: The Mavericks have signed veteran center Tony Bradley, the team’s PR department tweets.

Bradley has played for Utah, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City and Chicago over his six NBA seasons. He holds career averages of 4.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 179 games, including 18 starts.

It’s unknown what type of contract Bradley signed. Dallas had 14 players with guaranteed deals, so conceivably he could round out its bench. However, the Mavs already have rookie Dereck Lively, Dwight Powell and Richaun Holmes as options at center and Markieff Morris is considered the favorite to be the team’s 15th man.

Bradley reportedly drew interest from Golden State during the offseason. Last season, the big man was on the Bulls’ roster, but was waived in February when the team signed Patrick Beverley. Bradley saw limited playing time in 12 games, averaging 1.6 points in 2.8 minutes per night.

Wolves Cut Matt Ryan, Convert Daishen Nix To Two-Way Deal

October 20th, 2023 at 1:20pm CST by Luke Adams

1:20pm: The moves are official, per RealGM’s transaction log.

11:16am: The Timberwolves are making a roster change ahead of the regular season, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Minnesota will waive sharpshooter Matt Ryan and convert Daishen Nix‘s Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal.

Ryan appeared in 34 total games for the Lakers and T-Wolves in 2022/23, averaging 3.6 points in 9.1 minutes per game while making 38.1% of his three-point attempts.

Ryan’s ability to hit outside shots – he’s a career 40.1% three-point shooter in 37 G League regular season appearances – helped earn him a two-way qualifying offer from Minnesota in June, and he eventually accepted that QO in September. However, he’ll lose his two-way spot just a few days ahead of opening night.

Nix, 21, had a solid preseason for the Wolves after joining the team on a non-guaranteed camp deal, averaging 6.0 points and 3.3 assists in just 10.6 minutes per contest, with a red-hot shooting line of .571/.750/1.000.

The young guard already has 81 games of NBA experience under his belt with the Rockets, having spent the last two seasons in Houston. He averaged 3.7 PPG and 2.3 APG in 16.0 MPG (57 appearances) in 2022/23.

Nix will join Luka Garza and Jaylen Clark as Minnesota’s two-way players, while Ryan will become an unrestricted free agent if he passes through waivers without being claimed.

Andre Iguodala Confirms Decision To Retire

October 20th, 2023 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

Longtime NBA guard/forward Andre Iguodala has confirmed that he intends to retire as a player, telling Michael de la Merced of DealBook in The New York Times that he’ll focus going forward on his work as a start-up investor.

When Iguodala announced last September that he was re-signing with the Warriors, he indicated it would be his last season. However, following the conclusion of the 2022/23 campaign, he didn’t officially confirm that he still planned to hang up his sneakers and remained noncommittal this offseason about his next steps.

Speaking to DealBook, Iguodala said it has been “a blessing” to play in the NBA as long as he has (19 years) and admitted that he’s not sure if the decision to retire has “actually hit me yet.” According to de la Merced, the 39-year-old is directing his attention now to Mosaic, the $200MM venture capital fund that he’ll run with business partner Rudy Cline-Thomas.

Iguodala is also interested in owning an NBA franchise someday and currently has stakes in a pair of soccer teams – Leeds United (EFL) and Bay Area FC (NWSL) – as well as the San Francisco branch of the TGL, a golf league created by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

The ninth overall pick in the 2004 draft, Iguodala spent his first eight seasons with the Sixers, earning an All-Star nod during his final year in Philadelphia and recording the highest scoring averages of his career during that time (including 19.9 points per contest in 2007/08).

After being traded from the 76ers to the Nuggets and playing for one year in Denver, Iguodala headed to Golden State, where he spent eight of his final 10 years in the league, with two separate Warriors stints sandwiching a two-season run in Miami (2019-21). He won championships with the Warriors in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022 and earned NBA Finals MVP honors in ’15.

For his career, Iguodala averaged 11.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.4 steals in 32.1 minutes per game across 1,231 regular season appearances and played in another 177 postseason games. The former Arizona Wildcat also made the All-Defensive first team in 2014 and the second team in 2011.

Kings Waiving Jaylen Nowell, Two Others

October 20th, 2023 at 5:16am CST by Luke Adams

The Kings are waiving guard Jaylen Nowell following their preseason finale, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Nowell averaged 10.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 19.3 minutes per game across 65 appearances in 2022/23 as a regular part of the Timberwolves’ rotation. However, after becoming an unrestricted free agent, he remained on the open market for nearly three months before eventually settling for an Exhibit 10 contract with Sacramento.

Most players who sign Exhibit 10 deals are waived before the regular season begins and then join their team’s G League affiliate. However, there was a sense that Nowell might have a path to a regular season roster spot, since the Kings only had 14 players on standard guaranteed contracts. With Nowell seemingly no longer in the mix for that spot, Sacramento may not carry a 15th man to start the season.

Nowell appeared in just two preseason games for the Kings, scoring five points on 1-of-6 shooting in 13 total minutes of action.

The Kings are also cutting center Jake Stephens and guard Dane Goodwin after signing them on Thursday, tweets Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 in Sacramento. According to Cunningham, both players will immediately head to Stockton to join the Kings’ G League team.

It’s unclear whether joining the Stockton Kings is also the plan for Nowell, but he’d receive a bonus worth $75K if he reports to the NBAGL club and spends at least 60 days there.

The moves will reduce Sacramento’s roster count to 17 players — 14 on standard deals and three on two-way contracts. While the Kings’ roster would be ready for the regular season, they could still sign-and-waive players for G League purposes or add a 15th man before Monday’s deadline.

Suns Waive Ishmail Wainright

October 19th, 2023 at 4:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Suns are waiving forward Ish Wainright, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. The move has been announced in a press release, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports tweets.

The Suns exercised their club option on Wainright’s contract in June but his salary remained non-guaranteed and wouldn’t have become fully guaranteed until January 10. Wainright dealt with a right calf strain during training camp, which didn’t help his cause.

As our roster count shows, the Suns had 17 players on standard contracts, including 15 with full guarantees. Wainright’s status was shaky entering camp and now he’ll be looking for another team.

Wainright, 29, appeared in 105 regular season games over the last two seasons. He appeared in 60 games last season, including two starts, averaging 4.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game.