Gabe Osabuohien Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavaliers Sign Jacob Gilyard, Zhaire Smith

September 25th, 2024 at 7:14am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 25: Gilyard and Smith have each officially signed with the Cavs, per RealGM’s transaction log.

Having cut Tomlin and Osabuohien on Tuesday, Cleveland is back up to 21 players under contract, with Nance’s deal now official too.

SEPTEMBER 24: Free agent guards Jacob Gilyard and Zhaire Smith are signing Exhibit 10 contracts with the Cavaliers, reports Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required).

Gilyard, 26, spent last season on two-way deals with the Grizzlies and Nets, appearing in a total of 41 games for the two teams. The 5’9″ point guard held his own in a rotation role for Memphis, averaging 4.7 points and 3.5 assists with a .425 3PT% in 17.7 minutes per game across 37 outings (14 starts).

However, two-way players can’t be active for more than 50 NBA games, so with Gilyard just about at that limit, the Grizzlies opted to waive him rather than promote him, putting him on track to finish the season in Brooklyn. He became an unrestricted free agent this summer after the Nets opted not to tender him a two-way qualifying offer.

As for Smith, 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, posting an impressive shooting line of .539/.394/.836.

Since Cleveland controls Smith’s G League returning rights and recently acquired Gilyard’s rights in a trade with the Memphis Hustle, the plan will likely be for both players to report back to the Charge this fall. Their Exhibit 10 contracts will make them eligible for bonuses worth up to $77.5K as long as they spend at least 60 days with the Cavs’ G League team.

According to Fedor, before they’re waived, Gilyard and Smith will get the opportunity to attend training camp with the Cavs along with fellow invitees Pete Nance and Jules Bernard. A report on Monday indicated that those two players, along with Nae’Qwan Tomlin and Gabe Osabuohien, had agreed to Exhibit 10 deals with Cleveland. Fedor confirms that reporting, but says Tomlin and Osabuohien are expected to be waived before camp begins.

The Cavs’ deals with Bernard, Tomlin, and Osabuohien are now official, per RealGM’s transaction log.

The Cavs are already carrying 14 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals, so they’ll be at the 21-man limit once their back-of-the-roster transactions are complete.

Hornets’ Soriano, Pelicans’ Robinson, Two Cavs Among Tuesday’s Cuts

September 24th, 2024 at 7:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hornets have waived Joel Soriano, according to the NBA.com official transaction log. Soriano was on an Exhibit 10 contract, which he signed earlier this month.

A 6’10” center, Soriano went undrafted in June after finishing his college career at St. John’s. The big man averaged a double-double (14.5 points, 10.7 rebounds) in 66 games during his final two college seasons while also chipping in 1.6 blocks and 1.4 assists in 29.3 minutes per contest.

Soriano could receive a bonus worth up to $77.5K after he clears waivers, then spends at least 60 days with the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’s G League affiliate.

Here are a few more of the latest cuts from around the league:

After announcing earlier today that they’ve signed him to an Exhibit 10 contract, the Pelicans have already waived Galen Robinson Jr., per NBA.com’s transaction log. The Birmingham Squadron, New Orleans’ G League affiliate, holds Robinson’s returning rights, so the quick sign-and-waive transaction was simply designed to get him an Exhibit 10 bonus (worth up to $77.5K) on top of his standard G League salary if he spends at least 60 days with the Squadron this season.
Shortly after signing them to Exhibit 10 contracts, the Cavaliers have waived Nae’Qwan Tomlin and Gabe Osabuohien, according to the transaction log at NBA.com. The cuts had been expected, since today’s reporting indicated that Cleveland had agreed to Exhibit 10 deals with six players but only had room to bring four of them to training camp. Tomlin and Osabuohien figure to open the season with the Cleveland Charge, the Cavs’ G League affiliate.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Cavs Adding Four Players To Fortify Camp Roster

September 23rd, 2024 at 8:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavaliers have agreed to training camp deals with Pete Nance, Jules Bernard, Nae’Qwan Tomlin and Gabe Osabuohien, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.

Cleveland had 17 players, including two-way contracts, on its roster. If the Cavs don’t make any additional moves after finalizing these newly reported deals, they’ll have a full 21-man roster entering training camp.

Nance is a familiar name to Cavs fans. He finished last season on a two-way contract with Cleveland and also played on the Cavs’ Summer League team. The 24-year-old forward appeared in eight Cavs games last season.

Bernard, a 24-year-old guard, played 19 games for the Wizards last season on a two-way contract. The Cleveland Charge, the team’s NBA G League squad, recently acquired his returning rights.

Tomlin is an undrafted rookie forward out of Memphis. Osabuohien, another forward, has spent the last two seasons with the Charge.

Central Notes: Bates, LaVine, Walker, Williams

January 23rd, 2024 at 8:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Cavaliers rookie second-rounder Emoni Bates and Gabe Osabuohien were each suspended for two games without pay for entering the spectator stands while playing for the G League Cleveland Charge, according to an NBA Communications press release.

The incident occurred at the conclusion of the Charge’s 126-105 loss to the Birmingham Squadron on Saturday. Bates, who is on a two-way contract with the Cavaliers, will lose over $7,700 in pay during the G League suspension, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff defended the actions of the two players, claiming that they were subjected to nasty and inappropriate comments from the stands, Peter Dewey of CavaliersNation.com relays.

“We talked to Emoni and I want to be clear about the circumstances of that and I don’t think it’s been clear. It was an ugly incident from the fan standpoint,” the Cavaliers coach said. “Emoni and Gabe , they draw the attention and I understand the league’s hard and fast rule on approaching the stands and that type of thing, but there’s also a line that needs to be drawn between how fans believe they can interact with players, how they can interact with players’ families and the things that were said to Emoni and his family. I let him know we’ve got his back, we’re still supporting him and as a league there needs to be more done to protect those guys. They should never have to go through what they went through and be called the names they were called.”

We have more from the Central Division:

The Bulls revealed on Friday that Zach LaVine would miss at least a week due to a right ankle sprain. The Athletic’s Shams Charania said on FanDuel’s Run It Back program (Twitter link) that LaVine’s injury is worse than a Grade 1 (mild) sprain.
In light of the Pascal Siakam acquisition, Pacers’ rookie forward Jarace Walker would seemingly have an even smaller role. However, coach Rick Carlisle has been giving Walker more opportunities to play small forward, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star notes. “Once we acquired Pascal, you gotta take a hard look at how this thing is shaping up,” Carlisle said. “With the realities about the importance of playing with size to being a good defensive team, it makes sense to put him in that equation somewhere. It doesn’t mean he will always play 3. The more I’m going through this, I like playing with size, size that can move and make plays and stay in front of people is even better.” Walker, the eighth overall pick of last year’s draft, has averaged 21.3 minutes of playing time over the last three games.
Patrick Williams, a restricted free agent after the season, remains a work in progress when it comes to decision-making on offense, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic writes. Bulls coach Billy Donovan gave Williams a quick hook on Saturday when he made two passive decisions instead of being aggressive. “Guys grow and develop at different rates. It’s not like he doesn’t want to do it. I just think he’s got to be more decisive when the ball comes,” Donovan said.

Southeast Notes: Hornets, Workouts, Wizards, Russell, Magic

June 8th, 2022 at 9:55am CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets hold three picks in the 2022 NBA draft (Nos. 13, 15, and 45) and are keeping busy in the weeks leading up to June 23, bringing in a handful of prospects on a daily basis for a closer look.

On Tuesday, the Hornets worked out Tyson Etienne (Wichita State), Jordan Goldwire (Oklahoma), John Meeks (College of Charleston), Orlando Robinson (Fresno State), D’Shawn Schwartz (George Mason), and Bryson Williams (Texas Tech), according to the team (Twitter link). All six of those players rank outside of the top 75 on ESPN’s big board, so they figure to receive consideration as possible second-round or UDFA targets.

On Wednesday, Hugo Besson (New Zealand Breakers), Khalifa Diop (Gran Canaria), Hyunjung Lee (Davidson), Javante McCoy (Boston University), Andrew Nembhard (Gonzaga), and Yannick Nzosa (Unicaja) make up the Hornets’ workout group (Twitter link). Several of those prospects are more highly regarded by draft experts — ESPN ranks Nembhard, Besson, and Diop 35th, 38th, and 39th respectively.

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

The Wizards will be in the market for a starting point guard this offseason, but don’t expect them to pursue D’Angelo Russell. Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News said on his podcast (The Scoop w/ Doogie) that he has heard Washington has no interest in the Timberwolves guard (hat tip to HoopsHype).
The Wizards‘ pre-draft workout on Wednesday will feature Kenny Baptiste (France), Garrison Brooks (Mississippi State), Kyle Foster (Howard), Justin Kier (Arizona), Aminu Mohammed (Georgetown), and Gabe Osabuohien (West Virginia), as Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington relays (via Twitter).
Murray State guard Tevin Brown was in Orlando on Tuesday, presumably to work out for the Magic, tweets Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel. The Murray State guard is the No. 74 on ESPN’s big board, so the Magic could consider him in the second round or as an undrafted free agent.