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Bulls Waive Onuralp Bitim, Kenneth Lofton Jr.

October 17th, 2024 at 10:30am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Bulls have waived Onuralp Bitim and Kenneth Lofton Jr., the team tweets.

Bitim was battling for the last spot on the roster on a non-guaranteed contract. The 25-year-old would have received $350K if he had made the opening night roster. He underwent surgery for a detached retina in the spring.

Bitim began last season on a two-way contract but was promoted to Chicago’s standard roster in February. After making his NBA debut on February 22, he appeared in 22 total games for Chicago, averaging 3.6 points and 1.5 rebounds in 12.0 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .381/.273/.800.

Lofton, who signed an Exhibit 10 contract in August, began last season on the Grizzlies’ 15-man roster, but was waived in December. He spent a couple months on a two-way deal with Philadelphia, then was waived again in March and signed a rest-of-season contract with the Jazz, who cut him before his ’24/25 salary became partially guaranteed.

Assuming Lofton isn’t claimed, he’ll receive a bonus worth $77.5K if he joins the G League’s Windy City Bulls and remains with them for at least 60 days.

The Bulls camp roster now stands at 18, including a pair of two-way players.

These moves would seemingly improve the chances of Talen Horton-Tucker making the roster. He signed an Exhibit 10 contract last month.

Spurs’ McDaniels Among Wednesday’s Cuts

October 17th, 2024 at 9:37am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Spurs waived forward Jalen McDaniels on Wednesday, according to the NBA’s transactions log.

San Antonio acquired McDaniels earlier this week from the Kings in a salary dump. The deal sent McDaniels, cash, and the Kings’ unprotected 2031 second-round pick to San Antonio in exchange for the Bulls’ top-55 protected 2025 second-round pick.

At the time of the deal, it was reported the Spurs did not intend to keep McDaniels. San Antonio will be on the hook for McDaniels’ $4.74MM expiring contract, which it absorbed using its $8MM room exception. The Spurs have one of the lowest team salaries in the NBA and still have plenty of room below the tax line after eating his contract.

We have more waiver moves from Wednesday:

The Nuggets waived Andrew Funk, Will Richardson and Charles Bediako. That trio was signed to Exhibit 10 deals last week. They’ll each earn a bonus worth $77.5K if they join Denver’s G League club, the Grand Rapids Gold, and remain with the team for at least 60 days.
The Bucks waived guard James Akinjo. He was signed to an Exhibit 10 contract in late August. The guard split time last season between the Stockton Kings and Wisconsin Herd. He’ll be eligible for $77.5K bonus if he rejoins the Herd and remains with them for at least 60 days.

Isaiah Hartenstein Fractures Left Hand

October 17th, 2024 at 8:49am CST by Dana Gauruder

Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, one of the summer’s top free agent acquisitions, sustained a small, non-displaced fracture in his left hand during the second half of Tuesday’s preseason game in Denver. He will be reevaluated in five-to-six weeks, the Thunder announced on Thursday.

Given that timeline, Hartenstein will be sidelined until at least late November.

The injury temporarily derails Oklahoma City’s plans for a bigger lineup pairing Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren. Oklahoma City was already dealing with frontcourt injuries — Jaylin Williams is nursing a right hamstring strain, while Kenrich Williams had a knee procedure last month.

Jalen Williams figures to reclaim the power forward starting role until Hartenstein returns.

Hartenstein had a breakout season with the Knicks in his walk year and cashed in, signing a three-year, $87MM deal with the Thunder that includes a team option for 2026/27. Hartenstein averaged 7.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks in 25.3 minutes per game last season. He also started 13 postseason contests with Mitchell Robinson sidelined.

Hartenstein had appeared in three preseason games with the Thunder.

Clippers Notes: Leonard, Powell, Bamba, Van Gundy

October 16th, 2024 at 11:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers‘ season opener is only a week away, and there’s very little clarity regarding Kawhi Leonard, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Leonard is still dealing with the right knee inflammation that knocked him out of the team’s first-round playoff series last spring and prevented him from playing in the Olympics. Coach Tyronn Lue has already confirmed that Leonard won’t be used during the preseason, but his status is murky beyond that.

“Continue to keep rehabbing, keep getting better and keep checking the boxes,” Lue responded when asked how the team is handling Leonard.

Beyond the Clippers’ need to get off to a good start in what figures to be an intense Western Conference playoff race, Leonard’s ongoing knee ailments raise concern about his future. This is the first season of his three-year, $152MM contract extension, and the team will need him on the court as much as possible to remain competitive after losing Paul George in free agency.

There’s more from Los Angeles:

After playing primarily off the bench since he joined the Clippers, Norman Powell is hoping to earn a starting role this season, Turner adds in the same piece. Lue talked about what the veteran swingman needs to do to become a full-time starter. “Be able to score the basketball. When you don’t, just taking the defensive challenge every night,” Lue said. “So being able to guard his position, being able to match up with guys. We talked about two years ago, we saw in the playoffs in Phoenix, like, taking the challenge defensively. He’s gotten a lot better. So just being able to guard guys every night, being able to switch, sometimes guard point guards when we need him too. He’s been phenomenal so far in this training camp.”
The team continues to hope that backup center Mohamed Bamba will be able to recover from his knee soreness in time to play next week, tweets Law Murray of The Athletic. Bamba said the pain is a result of the wear and tear from his six NBA seasons, and he doesn’t have an official timetable to return.
Assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy, who joined the Clippers’ staff this summer, has raised the team’s level of aggression on defense, observes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. L.A. had 20 steals and forced 29 turnovers in Monday’s win over Dallas.“The defensive coordinator usually has to kind of be the guy that’s the (bad guy) because you got to be tough, and you got to hold everybody accountable,” fellow assistant Brian Shaw said. “So sometimes when he’s being that we have to be the good cops to balance out, but it’s been good.”

Kings Sign Doug McDermott

October 16th, 2024 at 10:34pm CST by Luke Adams

10:34pm: The signing is official, tweets Sean Cunningham of KTXL.

1:50pm: The Kings have reached an agreement on a one-year contract with free agent sharpshooter Doug McDermott, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

While there has been no confirmation that McDermott’s contract is guaranteed, it likely won’t be the same sort of sign-and-waive Exhibit 10 agreement we’ve seen so often in recent weeks for G League purposes.

McDermott is a 10-year NBA veteran who appeared in 64 regular season games in 2023/24 and the Kings have a pair of openings on their projected 15-man regular season roster after trading Jalen McDaniels to San Antonio, so there’s a clear path for him to claim a spot on the opening night squad.

McDermott, 32, is a career 41.0% three-point shooter across 655 total contests with the Bulls, Thunder, Knicks, Mavericks, Pacers, and Spurs. He spent the first half of last season in San Antonio before being traded to Indiana in the three-team deadline deal that sent Buddy Hield to Philadelphia.

Although McDermott was part of his teams’ rotations for much of the season, he averaged just 14.1 minutes per game, his lowest mark since his rookie year in 2014/15. In his reduced role, he contributed 5.5 points per night on .433/.410/.579 shooting.

Sacramento sent out Harrison Barnes, Sasha Vezenkov, and Chris Duarte in a pair of offseason deals, so it certainly won’t hurt the team to add another reliable outside shooter at the back end of its bench.

Assuming McDermott signed for the veteran’s minimum (which is highly likely) and makes the regular season roster, he’ll count against the Kings’ cap for about $2.09MM, leaving the team’s salary roughly $3.74MM below the luxury tax line with 14 players under contract.

Sixers Waive Four Players

October 16th, 2024 at 10:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers made four roster cuts after Wednesday’s preseason game, waiving Jordan Tucker, Isaiah Mobley, Judah Mintz and Max Fiedler, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).

All four players were on Exhibit 10 contracts and are likely to wind up with the team’s G League affiliate in Delaware, where they can earn bonuses worth up to $77.5K if they remain there for at least 60 days.

Tucker and Mobley signed in late September, just before the start of training camp. Tucker was in the LNB Pro A League in France last season and has played in the G League and internationally since going undrafted out of Butler in 2020. Mobley, the brother of Cavaliers star Evan Mobley, had been with Cleveland on two-way deals the past two seasons.

Mintz, a former standout guard at Syracuse, inked an Exhibit 10 contract in early September, while Fielder, a rookie big man out of Rice, signed in late August.

The moves bring Philadelphia’s roster down to 17 players ahead of the upcoming cutdown date. The team has 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, along with Ricky Council, whose $1.9MM salary for this season and $2.2MM for 2025/26 are both non-guaranteed.

Although there’s still a few days for the Sixers to make last-minute moves, it’s possible that the roster is set heading into the October 23 opener against Milwaukee.

Grizzlies Sign Miles Norris, Waive David Johnson

October 16th, 2024 at 9:43pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Grizzlies have signed power forward Miles Norris and waived guard David Johnson, the team announced in a press release (Twitter link).

Johnson signed with Memphis earlier on Wednesday, and although terms of the deals weren’t announced, it’s very likely that both players received Exhibit 10 contracts. That will make them eligible for a bonus worth up to $77.5K if they spend at least 60 days with the Grizzlies’ G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle.

Norris, 24, signed a two-way contract with Atlanta last summer after going undrafted out of California-Santa Barbara. He was waived in December and joined the Hawks’ G League team in College Park, where he averaged 9.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in 16 Showcase Cup games. Norris also played for Atlanta in the Las Vegas Summer League the past two years.

Memphis remains at the offseason roster limit of 21 players.

Atlantic Notes: Horford, C. Thomas, Hayes, George

October 16th, 2024 at 8:42pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics have been careful with Al Horford throughout the preseason, but he saw plenty of action Tuesday night, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Playing for the first time since the NBA Finals, the 38-year-old big man logged 23 minutes in a loss to Toronto. Horford has been scrimmaging and conditioning with the team since camp opened, but coach Joe Mazzulla opted to keep him out of game action until Tuesday.

“I saw he got great looks, he rebounded, he was in the right place defensively,” Mazzulla said. “He communicated. He was solid.”

Keeping Horford healthy is extremely important while Kristaps Porzingis recovers from offseason surgery on his left leg. The Celtics haven’t put an official timetable on Porzingis’ return, but it’s not expected to happen until December at the earliest. Horford only shot 1-for-6 from the field on Tuesday, but he was happy to be back on the court.

“I felt good, it felt good just to be out there, part of a game, and get a feel back for it,” he said. “I’m pretty happy with being back. I think I’m in a good place (physically). The good thing is we have a week until we start (the season) so I’ll continue to prepare and be in a better place.”

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Nets guard Cam Thomas has established himself as a scoring threat in his first three NBA seasons, but new coach Jordi Fernandez wants him to become more efficient in how he gets his points, per Peter Botte of The New York Post. Thomas seems to have taken the message to heart, shooting 55.5% from the floor and 50% from three-point range during the preseason. “I’m just getting to my spots. There’s not really much difference [that] I’m doing,” he said. “Other than getting out and running more and getting a lot of easier shots, I’m just playing off the ball a little bit and just shooting the catch-and-shoot shots that I’m given. Obviously, at some point, I’m going to be able to create, do a lot of the one-on-one game, because sometimes that’s what the game requires. But right now, I’m just trying to play within the offense and just find my spots.”
Fernandez told reporters that the Nets can decide if Killian Hayes is worthy of a roster spot even if he doesn’t play in the preseason, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The former lottery pick, who has been out of the league since Detroit waived him in February, signed a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract with Brooklyn this summer. “I’ve seen him play live in practice and you guys haven’t,” Fernandez said. “… I’ve seen him and I’m very happy with him. After that we’ll make whatever decision we have to as a group with (general manager) Sean (Marks).“
Paul George will be reevaluated next Tuesday to determine if he can play in Wednesday’s season opener against Milwaukee, ESPN’s Shams Charania said on NBA Today (video link). Sixers officials confirmed to Charania that there was no structural damage from the injury George suffered on Monday, but there’s a “level of uncertainty” about his availability for opening night.

Celtics To Sign Hason Ward To Exhibit 10 Deal, Waive Dmytro Skapintsev

October 16th, 2024 at 6:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics will sign Hason Ward to an Exhibit 10 contract, sources tell Jay King of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 6’9″ forward advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 last spring with Iowa State. A super senior, Ward averaged 6.0 points and 3.8 rebounds for the Cyclones while shooting 62.8% from the field. He transferred two years ago after playing his first three collegiate seasons at Virginia Commonwealth.

Ward is likely headed for the Maine Celtics in the G League, and the Exhibit 10 deal makes him eligible for a bonus worth up to $77.5K if he spends at least 60 days with the team.

To make room on the roster, Boston has waived Dmytro Skapintsev, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). The 26-year-old Ukrainian center also had an Exhibit 10 deal and is also expected to play in Maine.

The Celtics will be back to the offseason roster limit of 21 players once the addition of Ward is finalized.

Aron Baynes Retires From Basketball

October 16th, 2024 at 6:21pm CST by Arthur Hill

Former NBA center Aron Baynes has officially ended his basketball career, agent Daniel Moldovan of Lighthouse Sports announced (via Twitter).

The Australian native spent time with the Spurs, Pistons, Celtics, Suns and Raptors during his nine NBA seasons. He left the league after the 2020/21 season and played the last two years with the Brisbane Bullets of Australia’s National Basketball League.

Baynes, who will turn 38 in December, said last month that he didn’t feel ready to retire and was hoping for another opportunity in the NBL. That hasn’t materialized, so he decided to bow out.

After playing four years in Europe, Baynes signed with San Antonio midway through the 2012/13 season. He spent two more years with the Spurs and was a backup center on their 2014 title team. He signed with Detroit as a free agent in 2015 and moved on to the Celtics two years later. Boston traded him to Phoenix during the 2019 offseason, and he joined Toronto as a free agent in 2020.

Baynes played in 522 career games, averaging 6.0 points and 4.6 rebounds in 16 minutes per night.

Baynes was also a fixture for many years on the Australian national team, competing in numerous international tournaments, including three Olympics. He suffered a spinal cord injury at the Tokyo Games that sidelined him for more than a year.