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Pistons Waive Tosan Evbuomwan

October 16th, 2024 at 8:52am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have waived second-year forward Tosan Evbuomwan, reports Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link).

Evbuomwan had been on a two-way contract, so his release leaves Detroit with a pair of two-way openings. Daniss Jenkins is the only two-way player left on the roster.

After going undrafted out of Princeton in 2023, Evbuomwan spent his rookie season primarily with the Motor City Cruise, Detroit’s G League affiliate, though he signed 10-day contracts with the Grizzlies and Pistons midway through the year and then earned a two-way deal from the Pistons in February. That deal covered two seasons and kept him under contract with Detroit until now.

A 6’8″ forward, Evbuomwan averaged 5.9 points and 3.5 rebounds in 21.6 minutes per game in 17 total NBA appearances (eight starts) with Memphis and Detroit, posting a shooting line of .507/.375/.680. In 34 G League outings with the Cruise, he put up averages of 15.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG, and 3.8 APG on .554/.361/.754 shooting in 34.2 MPG.

The roster move suggests the Pistons may plan on converting one or two of their Exhibit 10 camp invitees to two-way contracts. Tolu Smith, Javante McCoy, Dereon Seabron, and Aaron Estrada are the candidates — Lamar Stevens is also in camp on an Exhibit 10 deal, but isn’t two-way eligible due to his four years of NBA service.

Detroit could also look outside the organization to fill one or both of those two-way openings.

Injury Notes: Shamet, Randle, Bassey, Suns

October 16th, 2024 at 7:50am CST by Luke Adams

Knicks guard Landry Shamet injured his right shoulder during the third quarter of Tuesday’s preseason game against Charlotte, falling to the floor in pain after swiping at the ball on defense (Twitter video link). While the team has yet to offer a formal diagnosis on Shamet’s injury, it looked as if his shoulder was “dislodged from the socket,” writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post.

The update on Shamet will be an important one, since the Knicks were counting on him to make the roster as the 13th man despite his non-guaranteed contract. The team is facing serious roster restrictions related to its hard cap and won’t be able to carry a full 15-man squad, so if Shamet is ruled out for an extended period, it may not make sense for New York to hang onto him for the start of the season due to depth concerns.

Shamet’s Exhibit 9 contract ensures he would receive $15K if he’s waived while still recovering from an injury he sustained in the preseason. If he’s cut, it would create a path for another veteran – possibly a camp invitee like T.J. Warren or Chuma Okeke – to make the roster. In that scenario, Shamet could sign a new contract with the Knicks later in the season, once he’s healthy.

Here are a few more injury-related updates from around the NBA:

Veteran forward Julius Randle will make his Timberwolves debut on Wednesday vs. Chicago, head coach Chris Finch confirmed on Tuesday (Twitter link via Ian Begley of SNY.tv). Besides being Randle’s first game as a member of his new team, it’ll also be his first game since he underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in April — he spent the offseason recovering from that procedure, so the Wolves will be keeping a close eye on how the should responds on Wednesday.
Spurs center Charles Bassey suited up and took the court on Tuesday for the first time since suffering an ACL tear last December, as Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News details. Bassey, who had four points and four rebounds in 10 second-half minutes vs. Miami, earned praise from head coach Gregg Popovich for his energy and said he was relieved that his knee wasn’t an issue. “I didn’t know how I would feel and I didn’t know if I was going to play,” Bassey said. “Overall, I felt good. I was moving well. It was great.”
Suns guard Devin Booker, who has missed the past two preseason games due to right ankle soreness, should be “ready to go” after scrimmaging on Tuesday, per head coach Mike Budenholzer (story via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic). However, Jusuf Nurkic (finger) and Grayson Allen (Achilles) will likely need a little more time. “Nurkic, I think, hasn’t had any contact, hasn’t done any basketball,” Budenholzer said. “He’s been doing a great job with his conditioning, but there’s nothing like playing basketball. And really the same thing for Grayson. Really hasn’t done basketball things since (the first preseason game). I think those guys, it’s going to take them a little bit more, but (Tuesday) was a great first step.”

Kings Trade Jalen McDaniels, Second-Round Pick To Spurs

October 16th, 2024 at 7:09am CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 16, 7:09am: The Spurs and Kings officially completed their trade on Tuesday, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

As outlined below, 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. Sacramento also created a $4.74MM trade exception.

The Spurs, who cut Isaiah Miller in order to complete the trade, also intend to waive McDaniels but haven’t officially done so yet.

OCTOBER 14, 5:15pm: The Kings are sending their 2031 second-round pick to San Antonio along with McDaniels and cash, Charania writes in his full story at ESPN.com.

The Spurs will send Sacramento the Bulls’ top-55 protected 2025 second-rounder, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. If it lands in the top 55, which is highly likely, San Antonio will keep the pick.

OCTOBER 14, 3:02pm: The Kings and Spurs have agreed to a trade that will send forward Jalen McDaniels and a second-round pick to San Antonio, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter links).

It’s a salary-dump deal for Sacramento, while San Antonio will take on McDaniels’ $4.74MM expiring contract in order to acquire that second-round draft pick. According to Charania, the Spurs intend to waive McDaniels after the trade is official, so his salary will remain on their cap as dead money for the rest of 2024/25.

The 52nd overall pick in the 2019 draft, McDaniels showed some promise during the first four years of his career, which he spent primarily in Charlotte. His height (6’9″), wingspan (7’0″), and athleticism made him a versatile piece on defense, and he displayed a little outside shooting ability, making 34.2% of his three-point tries with the Hornets. The Sixers traded for him at the 2023 trade deadline.

However, McDaniels’ production and playing time cratered last season in Toronto after he signed a two-year, $9.26MM contract with the Raptors. He was sent to Sacramento in another Kings salary dump at the start of the 2024 offseason — in that trade, the Kings sent Sasha Vezenkov and Davion Mitchell to the Raptors, trimming over $8MM in salary by moving off two players who were each due salaries over $6MM.

The Kings still had financial constraints entering the preseason though, with a total team salary of about $169.7MM for 14 players. That gave them just over $1MM in breathing room below the luxury tax line, making it impossible to open the season with a full 15-man roster while staying out of tax territory. They also have some players who have unlikely incentives in their contracts, so their team salary could rise higher if those bonuses are earned.

Last month, when we identified five teams who could make cost-cutting moves, we mentioned the Kings, singling out McDaniels as a trade candidate, given his contract situation and his place on the team’s depth chart. At the time, we suggested it would likely take a second-round pick to move off his deal, which turned out to be the case.

Once the trade is official, the Kings will be carrying 13 players on standard contracts (11 fully guaranteed) and will have enough spending room below the tax line to fill out their 15-man regular season roster with minimum-salary players. Of course, they could still choose to open the season with fewer than 15 players in order to maximize their flexibility, if they so choose.

Sacramento will also create a trade exception worth McDaniels’ $4.74MM salary.

For their part, the Spurs can comfortably take on McDaniels’ contract using a portion of their $8MM room exception, so no outgoing matching salary is required. The Spurs have one of the lowest team salaries in the NBA and will still have plenty of room below the tax line after eating that contract.

For their troubles, they’ll add another second-round pick to their growing collection of draft assets. The incoming pick from the Kings will be unprotected, while the Spurs will send back a heavily protected future second-rounder to make the trade legal, tweets Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News.

San Antonio has a full 21-man roster, so a player will have to be waived in order to make room for McDaniels — one of the Spurs’ camp invitees on an Exhibit 10 deal figures to be the roster casualty.

Southwest Notes: Minix, Edey, Pelicans Offense, Kleber

October 15th, 2024 at 10:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Undrafted rookie Riley Minix signed a training camp deal with the Spurs in July. The former Morehead State guard has been so impressive, he’s got a shot to earn one of the team’s two-way spots, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News writes.

Minix came into Tuesday night’s preseason game against the Heat averaging 7.8 points in 7.8 minutes per game while shooting 57.1% from 3-point range on 2.3 attempts per night. He didn’t get off the bench as the Spurs played their regulars to a great extent.

“He’s a young man that is probably still pinching himself that he is on an NBA team and doing what he is doing because it’s probably not what he expected several years ago,” coach Gregg Popovich said of the 24-year-old, who played four seasons at an NAIA school before joining Morehead State. “But he is a tough young man. He is intelligent. He learns. And he can shoot the basketball. He has become a pleasant surprise.”

We have more from the Southwest Division:

Some people were skeptical of whether former Purdue star center Zach Edey could make a smooth transition to the NBA. Edey, drafted in the lottery by the Grizzlies, put on a show against Indiana on Monday, Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal notes. Edey finished with 23 points on 10-for-15 shooting in 19 minutes and had nine rebounds. Edey displayed a sweet hook shot and a variety of low-post moves. “History will likely show that where he was chosen in the draft was low,” opposing head coach Rick Carlisle said of the No. 9 overall pick after the game, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star.
The Pelicans have ranked among the bottom 10 in the league in three-point attempts during Willie Green‘s first three seasons as head coach. Green is intent on changing that, according to Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. New Orleans averaged 32.6 three-point tries last season. “The message has been pretty clear,” Zion Williamson said. “Get up at least 40 per game. That means we have to play with pace. And just play basketball. In the grand scheme of things, it’s definitely going to be a positive for us.”
The Mavericks are hopeful big man Maxi Kleber will be able to suit up for the regular season opener, according to Dwain Price of Mavs.com. “He got hurt in September – right before camp. He stepped on someone’s foot and sprained his ankle,” coach Jason Kidd said. “But his rehab and everything, he’s doing great. He had a great workout this morning, so he should be, hopefully, ready to go on opening night.”

Heat Notes: Starting Lineup, Herro, Van Gundy, Smith

October 15th, 2024 at 9:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Heat‘s projected opening-night starting lineup of Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jovic and Bam Adebayo looked good against New Orleans during limited playing time on Sunday. Coach Erik Spoelstra was encouraged by what he saw, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.

“The group has gone at it with the right approach, the right mind-set just to roll up the sleeves and get to work and work on our system, work on getting comfortable with each other, working to each other’s strengths and finding different ways to do that,” Spoelstra said.

Injuries prevented Spoelstra from utilizing that five-man group last season.

“I think we have a great kind of balance between physicality and shooting, game outside of the paint and game inside the paint,” Jovic said. “I feel like that’s what people see. I feel like that lineup will be very versatile. But we for sure need some time like everybody else. Nothing can just happen from the jump. So we’ll see. But we’re really looking forward to playing together.”

We have more on the Heat:

Herro notes that while the projected lineup doesn’t have a true point guard, it features several players capable of handling the ball, so he won’t be forced to bring it up the court regularly. That appeals to him, he told Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “It’s huge,” Herro said. “This is probably my first season besides my rookie year where I kind of don’t have as many ball-handling duties as I’ve had in the past. Obviously, I love having the ball in my hands. But being able to kind of flow into that is going to be easier on me and be more efficient on my game, just being able to play off of Terry, play off of Jimmy and Bam, and not necessarily having to be the main guard handling the ball.”
Former Heat coach and current TNT analyst Stan Van Gundy is baffled by Miami’s offseason approach, believing the club has slipped among its Eastern Conference peers, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald relays. Van Gundy made his comments during a TNT conference call. “I really don’t understand what’s going on there,” Van Gundy said. “They’re really a win-now team, which I respect, and they haven’t given, put a roster around there that has a chance. I think they got lulled into a false sense of security by the run to the Finals two years ago. And it was a great run, but they didn’t have a great team, and they didn’t have a great year. That’s not a very good roster. To me, that’s a play-in roster again.”
Two-way player Dru Smith underwent ACL reconstruction surgery last November but showed he’s made an impressive recovery during Sunday’s preseason game. Smith had four points, three rebounds, two steals, one block and a team-high five assists in 16 minutes off the bench, Chiang notes. “I feel pretty good,” Smith said. “I mean, as good as I could have hoped for at this point. Yeah, I was hoping to be ready for training camp. We kind of jumped into it fairly quickly. I had played live like two or three times before camp started and then jumped right in. So it’s been going good. The knee has been responding really well.”

Grizzlies Convert Scotty Pippen Jr. To Four-Year Contract

October 15th, 2024 at 6:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

6:37pm: Pippen Jr. has officially signed his new contract, the team’s PR department tweets.

5:02pm: The Grizzlies are promoting Scotty Pippen Jr. from his two-way contract to their standard roster and signing him to a new four-year deal, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.

Pippen appeared in 21 games for the injury-ravaged Grizzlies last season, including 16 starts, and averaged 12.9 points, 4.7 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals. He continued to play well in Summer League games, averaging 21.5 PPG, 8.7 APG and 5.0 RPG in six Las Vegas contests.

Pippen has the inside track at backing up Ja Morant if the club doesn’t acquire another point guard. Heading into camp, Pippen and Derrick Rose were the main candidates for that spot, but that changed quickly when Rose announced his retirement.

Pippen, 23, went undrafted in 2022. He signed a two-way deal with the Lakers that year and spent most of his time in the G League while appearing in six NBA contests. The Lakers waived him during training camp last October and he signed with the Grizzlies on that two-way contract in mid-January.

The Grizzlies will still have an open spot on their projected 15-man regular season roster, though they don’t necessarily need to add another player for opening night.

Bucks’ Terence Davis, Cavs’ Zhaire Smith Waived

October 15th, 2024 at 6:07pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Bucks have waived guard Terence Davis, Eric Nehm of The Athletic tweets.

Davis was signed to an Exhibit 10 contract on Oct. 3. He played three G League games last season with the Rip City Remix and then suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. Davis faced long odds trying to make the Bucks’ roster and now he’ll likely return to the G League. As Nehm points out, the Wisconsin Herd acquired his returning player rights earlier this month.

Davis, 27, last played in the NBA for Sacramento in 2022/23, averaging 6.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 64 games. He began his NBA career in Toronto in 2019 and was dealt to the Kings at the 2021 trade deadline.

If Davis spends at least 60 days with the Wisconsin Herd, Milwaukee’s G League affiliate, he’ll be eligible for a bonus of up to $77.5K.

In another waiver move involving a Central Division team, the Cavaliers have waived Zhaire Smith, according to the NBA transactions log.

Smith signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Cleveland late last month. The former No. 16 overall pick spent most of last season with the Cleveland Charge in the G League, briefly earning an NBA call-up on a 10-day contract with the Cavaliers in February.

In 47 Showcase Cup and regular season games for the Cavs’ NBAGL affiliate, the 6’4″ guard averaged 13.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 33.0 minutes per contest. Like Davis, he’ll be eligible for a bonus up to $77.5K if he spends at least 60 days with the Charge.

Spurs Sign, Waive Isaiah Miller

October 15th, 2024 at 5:48pm CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 15: Miller has been waived, according to the NBA’s transactions log.

OCTOBER 14: The Spurs have signed free agent guard Isaiah Miller to a training camp contract, according to RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions.

Miller went undrafted out of UNC Greensboro in 2021 and was a G League player for his first three professional seasons, spending one year with the Iowa Wolves and two with the Salt Lake City Stars. In 49 games last season for Salt Lake City, the Jazz’s G League affiliate, he averaged 11.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 20.5 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .486/.236/.676.

Over the summer, the 25-year-old suited up for the Grizzlies’ Summer League team that advanced to the championship game in Las Vegas. He subsequently signed with APR, a Rwandan team based in Kigali, and helped lead them to a title in the Rwanda Basketball League last month.

The Stars traded Miller’s returning rights to the Austin Spurs this offseason, lining him up to play for San Antonio’s affiliate if and when he returns to the G League. In all likelihood, the contract he signed with San Antonio is an Exhibit 10 contract that will entitle him to a bonus worth up to $77.5K if he’s waived before the NBA season and then spends at least 60 days with Austin.

The Spurs now have a full 21-man preseason roster, with another week to trim that total to 18 (15 on standard contracts and three on two-way deals) for the regular season.

Skylar Mays Waived By Timberwolves, Close To Signing With Fenerbahce

October 15th, 2024 at 4:43pm CST by Luke Adams

4:43pm: Mays has been waived by Minnesota, the team’s PR department announced (via Twitter). That paves the way for him to sign with Fenerbahce.

8:35am: Timberwolves guard Skylar Mays is close to reaching a deal to join the Turkish club Fenerbahce, according to reports from Eurohoops and Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews. Arale Weisberg of Walla Sport (Twitter link) first reported that Fenerbahce was in talks with Mays.

Fenerbahce is on the lookout for backcourt help after veteran guard Scottie Wilbekin sustained a torn ACL that is expected to sideline him for the entire 2024/25 season.

Although Mays is technically under contract with the Timberwolves for now, he’s on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deal, so the expectation is that he’ll be waived before the regular season tips off. The Iowa Wolves – Minnesota’s G League affiliate – acquired Mays’ returning rights last month, signaling that they hoped to have him on the roster this fall, but the 27-year-old will almost certainly earn more with Fenerbahce than he would in the NBAGL.

The 50th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Mays has appeared in 105 games across four seasons for the Hawks, Trail Blazers, and Lakers. The 6’3″ guard, who played his college ball at LSU, split his time between Portland and L.A. last season, appearing in 38 total NBA games and averaging 4.1 points, 2.2 assists, and 1.1 rebounds in 11.4 minutes per contest. He owns a career shooting line of .445/.345/.859.

Mays was rumored to be considering a move overseas earlier in the offseason — an August report indicated that he was drawing some interest from Olimpia Milano in Italy.

Pacers Sign, Cut Jahlil Okafor; Kendall Brown Also Waived

October 15th, 2024 at 4:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pacers have signed veteran big man Jahlil Okafor to an Exhibit 10 contract and subsequently waived him, according to a team press release. The team has also cut Kendall Brown.

Okafor was the third pick of the 2015 draft and began his career in Philadelphia but never quite lived up to his draft status. The 28-year-old has been out of the NBA since the 2020/21 season, when he appeared in 27 games with Detroit. He was traded to Brooklyn that summer and later signed with Atlanta, but wasn’t able to win a roster spot with either team.

Okafor resumed his basketball career overseas, playing in China and Spain before signing with a Puerto Rican team in February. He also spent time in the G League and was among the players selected by Phoenix’s new affiliate in the expansion draft in June. The Pacers’ affiliate, the Indiana Mad Ants, recently acquired Okafor’s rights in a G League trade.

Indiana’s intention to sign Okafor was reported late last month. The fact that it didn’t officially happen until now signals he never had a chance to make the regular season roster and that it was exclusively about getting him a bonus if he reports to the G League. Okafor will earn a bonus worth up to $77.5K if he joins the Mad Ants and remains with them for at least 60 days.

As for Brown, he had his two-way contract with the team last season converted into a three-year standard deal in March. However, the last two seasons of the new contract were non-guaranteed. He would have received $250K if he had made the opening-night roster.

The decision on Brown improves the chances of Cole Swider securing the 15th spot on the regular season roster.

By waiving Brown and his $2.1MM salary, the Pacers are now $2.5MM below the luxury tax with an open roster spot, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets.