Kris Dunn Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Blazers Sign Eubanks, Dunn To Rest-Of-Season Hardship Deals

April 3rd, 2022 at 2:45pm CST by Arthur Hill

2:45pm: The Blazers have officially signed Eubanks and Dunn for the remainder of the season, the team announced.

11:08am: Drew Eubanks and Kris Dunn will sign hardship contracts with the Trail Blazers that cover the rest of the regular season, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Eubanks has taken over as Portland’s starting center after signing with the team in February. He has inked four 10-day contracts, the last of which expired Saturday night. In 18 games, he’s averaging 14.1 points and 8.7 rebounds while shooting 64.9% from the field. Eubanks became available when the Spurs traded him at the deadline to the Raptors, who immediately waived him.

Dunn hadn’t played at all this season before signing a 10-day deal with the Blazers on March 14. He was given a second 10-day contract on March 24 that expired last night. Dunn has appeared in 11 games, averaging 8.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 23.5 minutes per night.

Portland has a full 15-man roster, but qualifies for several injury-related hardship exceptions due to all the players who are out for the rest of the season. Reggie Perry is also under contract on a 10-day hardship deal.

Blazers Sign Kris Dunn To Second 10-Day Deal

March 24th, 2022 at 9:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

9:11pm: The signing under the hardship exception is official, according to a team press release.

8:15pm: The Trail Blazers are signing guard Kris Dunn to a second 10-day contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Dunn has appeared in six games with depleted Portland, averaging 7.3 PPG and 5.2 APG in 24.8 MPG. He was added under the injury hardship exception and presumably the Blazers will use the same provision the second time around, since they have a full 15-man roster.

Dunn was playing for the G League’s Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario prior to getting another opportunity to play in the NBA. The former No. 5 overall pick spent last season with the Hawks, but was limited to four games due to an ankle injury. He was traded from Atlanta to Memphis in the offseason and was subsequently waived.

Portland is scrambling to find bodies to finish out the season.

Drew Eubanks is reportedly signing a fourth 10-day with Portland. The Blazers have seven players who might miss the remainder of the season due to assorted injuries. Additionally, Josh Hart has missed the last two games due to a left knee issue.

Blazers Officially Complete 10-Day Hardship Deals For Eubanks, Dunn

March 14th, 2022 at 12:48pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers have officially signed big man Drew Eubanks and guard Kris Dunn to 10-day contracts, the team announced today in a press release. Both deals, which were previously reported, were completed using hardship exceptions.

It’s Eubanks’ third 10-day deal with the Blazers. He has started seven games at center for the team, averaging 9.6 PPG and 8.1 RPG in 26.0 minutes per contest.

Dunn is a new addition, having been called up from the G League’s Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario. The former No. 5 overall pick spent last season with the Hawks, but was limited to four games due to an ankle injury. He was traded from Atlanta to Memphis in the offseason and was subsequently waived.

Most of this year’s 10-day hardship contracts have been completed using the COVID-related hardship exception, but Eubanks and Dunn were signed using injury-related hardship exceptions. A team qualifies for an injury-related hardship exception if it has at least four players who have missed three or more consecutive games, as long as those players project to remain sidelined for at least the next couple weeks.

Portland has at least six such players – Damian Lillard, Nassir Little, Jusuf Nurkic, Didi Louzada, Joe Ingles, and Eric Bledsoe – and possibly as many as eight, if Anfernee Simons and Justise Winslow aren’t expected to return soon. That’s why the club is eligible for multiple hardship exceptions.

The new deals for Eubanks and Dunn will run through March 23, covering the Blazers’ next six games. Eubanks’ 10-day contract will pay him $99,380, while Dunn earns $111,457.

Portland’s roster count now temporarily stands at 19 players — 15 on standard contracts, two on 10-day hardship deals, and a pair on two-way pacts.

Trail Blazers Signing Kris Dunn To 10-Day Hardship Deal

March 13th, 2022 at 10:39am CST by Arthur Hill

Kris Dunn will sign a 10-day hardship contract with the Trail Blazers, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The 27-year-old guard has been out of the NBA since being waived by the Grizzlies in October after one preseason game. He joined the Agua Caliente Clippers in the G League in January and is averaging 11.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 14 games.

The fifth selection in the 2016 draft, Dunn spent his first NBA season with the Timberwolves and then three years with the Bulls. He signed with the Hawks prior to the start of the 2020/21 season, but was only able to play four games before undergoing ankle surgery. Atlanta shipped him to Boston in a three-team trade in August, and the Celtics rerouted him to Memphis in a September deal.

Dunn will provide backcourt depth for the injury-riddled Blazers, who recently lost Anfernee Simons for the next week or two with mild patellar tendinopathy in his left knee.

Portland has a full roster, but can add players through hardship contracts because Damian Lillard, Didi Louzada, Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little, Joe Ingles and Eric Bledsoe are all sidelined with long-term injuries. Drew Eubanks is also on a 10-day hardship deal.

Dunn’s signing will likely take place on Monday, making him eligible to play in six games during the 10-day contract.

And-Ones: Exceptions, Trade Market, Dunn, Ferguson, Roberts

January 11th, 2022 at 9:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Teams that still have money remaining on their mid-level and bi-annual exceptions saw those exceptions begin to prorate downward by 1/174th per day on Monday, January 10, as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.

For instance, if a team still had $5MM of its mid-level exception on Monday, that amount has now begun to decrease by $28,736 per day. The daily reduction for the rest of the season is always determined based on the amount of the exception left on January 10. So even if that hypothetical team with $5MM of its mid-level remaining decided to use $2MM of it today, the leftover amount would continue to decrease by $28,736 per day going forward.

Many teams have either already used their mid-level and bi-annual exceptions or don’t intend to. However, this may affect certain teams that want to pursue players on the buyout market or plan to convert players from two-way contracts to standard deals later in the season.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

In an Insider-only story for ESPN, Marks has shared his annual trade deadline guide, providing an in-depth look at what to watch for all 30 teams, including each club’s cap and tax situation, trade restrictions, and top trade candidates.
After signing NBA G League contracts, two former first-round picks have new teams. Guard Kris Dunn has joined the Clippers‘ affiliate, the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, while Terrance Ferguson will be a member of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets‘ affiliate (Twitter links via Marc Stein).
Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic spoke to outgoing NBPA executive director Michele Roberts about her tenure with the players’ union, her retirement, the upcoming CBA negotiations between the league and the union, and several more topics. Tamika Tremaglio took the reins as the NBPA’s new executive director on Monday.

G League Updates: Dunn, Ferguson, Meeks, Thornton, Thompson

January 10th, 2022 at 6:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former lottery pick Kris Dunn has signed an NBA G League contract, Mark Stein tweets. That puts the combo guard in a position to be acquired by a G League franchise this week.

Dunn appeared in just four games last season with Atlanta after undergoing ankle surgery. Dunn was traded multiple times during the offseason, finally landing in Memphis. The Grizzlies waived him at the end of training camp and he’s been seeking another opportunity since that point.

Several other former NBA players have also gone the G League route:

Terrance Ferguson has also signed a G League contract, according to Stein (Twitter link). Ferguson, who played for the Thunder and Sixers over the last four seasons, played three games in Greece this season, then returned to the U.S. to explore another NBA opportunity.
Guard Jodie Meeks has joined the Raptors 905, Toronto’s affiliate. Meeks hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since logging 51 seconds of action for the Raptors in Game 3 of the 2019 NBA Finals, but has over 500 regular season appearances under his belt.
Marcus Thornton has been acquired by the Motor City Cruise, the Pistons’ affiliate. Thornton has played 483 NBA games, making previous stops with New Orleans, Sacramento, Brooklyn, Boston, Phoenix, Houston and Washington during his career. He last played with the Pistons’ G League affiliate during the 2018/19 season.
Jason Thompson‘s G League rights have been acquired by the Wisconsin Herd, the Bucks’ affiliate, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. Thompson, 35, last played in the NBA during the 2015/16 season, splitting time between Golden State and Toronto.

Grizzlies Cut Kris Dunn, Two Others

October 16th, 2021 at 3:43pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies have waived former lottery pick Kris Dunn, the team announced today in a press release. Matthew Hurt and David Stockton have also been cut, as Memphis finalizes its roster for the regular season.

Dunn, 27, began his career with Minnesota after being selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2016 draft. He was later sent to Chicago in the Jimmy Butler trade and spent three years with the Bulls before signing with Atlanta during the 2020 offseason.

Dunn has struggled to produce offensively at the NBA level, averaging 8.2 PPG and 4.1 APG in 231 career games (24.1 MPG), with a shooting line of .420/.305/.727. His strong defense earned him a two-year contract with the Hawks last offseason, but an ankle injury limited him to just four games. He was traded to Boston and then flipped to Memphis after he exercised his player option for 2021/22.

The Grizzlies acquired Dunn and Carsen Edwards in that trade with Boston last month, but have since waived both players, signaling that the 2026 second-round pick swap included in the deal was the main reason Memphis pulled the trigger.

Dunn will clear waivers on Monday and could draw interest from teams in need of a defensive specialist in the backcourt.

Grizzlies Trade Hernangomez To Celtics For Dunn, Edwards, Pick Swap

September 15th, 2021 at 10:39am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 15: The trade is now complete, according to press releases from the Grizzlies and Celtics.

The Grizzlies, who completed another trade since agreeing to this one, officially waived Marc Gasol in order to create room on the roster to finalize this deal.

SEPTEMBER 3: The Grizzlies and Celtics have agreed to a trade that will send forward Juan Hernangomez to Boston, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Sources tell Wojnarowski that the deal will send Kris Dunn, Carsen Edwards, and a 2026 second-round pick swap to Memphis.

The trade can’t be completed until September 15, when the aggregation restriction on Dunn lifts, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Dunn was traded from Atlanta to Boston on August 7.

By trading two players for one, the Celtics will clear a minor roster crunch. The team had been carrying 16 players, including 15 on fully guaranteed deals. This move will give the team the flexibility to keep Jabari Parker on its regular-season roster or leave its 15th spot open to start the season. Dunn, acquired last month, wasn’t in the team’s plans, and Edwards hadn’t evolved into a reliable rotation player since being selected 33rd overall in the 2019 draft.

Hernangomez, meanwhile, will give Boston another frontcourt option. The 25-year-old stretch four had a mediocre year in 2020/21, averaging 7.2 PPG and 3.9 RPG on .435/.327/.619 shooting in 52 games (17.3 MPG). However, he has flashed some potential in the past, making 35.9% of his career three-pointers prior to last season.

As for the Grizzlies, they appeared to be moving closer to setting a 15-man regular season roster last week when they bought out Rajon Rondo, but this deal has them heading in the other direction once again. When it’s complete, Memphis will have a full 20-man roster, with 18 players on fully guaranteed standard contracts.

While it’s possible Dunn or Edwards is in the Grizzlies’ plans for 2021/22, that’s probably not a safe assumption, given the way Memphis has been moving on from recently-acquired players in recent weeks (Hernangomez, Rondo, and Patrick Beverley). As John Hollinger of The Athletic tweets, this trade saves Memphis a tiny bit of money and earns the team a 2026 second-round pick swap — those small gains may have been all the motivation the Grizzlies needed to pull the trigger.

The Grizzlies have traded away their own 2026 second-round pick, but control the rights to either Indiana’s or Miami’s pick (whichever is most favorable). The swap with Boston will likely allow them to trade that pick for the Celtics’ 2026 second-rounder if they so choose.

Hernangomez, Dunn, and Edwards are essentially all on expiring contracts. Hernangomez has a non-guaranteed salary for 2022/23, Edwards has a team option, and Dunn will be an unrestricted free agent.

No team has completed more trades this offseason than the Grizzlies — this will be their sixth deal since the regular season ended. It will be the Celtics’ fifth offseason trade.

Celtics Have Made Offer To Dennis Schröder

August 10th, 2021 at 9:46am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics, who were reported last week to be in discussions with Dennis Schröder, have made a contract offer to the free agent point guard, league sources tell Jordan Schultz of ESPN (via Twitter).

According to Schultz, the Celtics’ offer to Schröder is a one-year deal worth the taxpayer mid-level exception (approximately $5.9MM). However, Schröder is seeking a second-year player option and a deal worth the full mid-level exception (about $9.5MM), per Schultz.

Going above the taxpayer portion of the MLE would hard-cap the Celtics, which the team wants to avoid, Schultz notes. There have also been reports that Boston wants to create as much cap flexibility as possible in 2022, which may make the club reluctant to tack on a second-year player option for Schröder.

Despite the current impasse, there’s reason to believe the Celtics and Schröder could be a good match. Boston has been in the market for a new point guard after having traded Kemba Walker to Oklahoma City in June, and opportunities around the league are drying up for Schröder, who was viewed as one of the top point guards on the market entering free agency. A short-term deal that gives the Celtics another backcourt play-maker and scorer and gives the 27-year-old a chance to rebuild his value could benefit both sides.

According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, the Celtics are exploring possible trades involving Kris Dunn and/or Bruno Fernando before “concluding” their conversations with Schröder. If Boston could shed salary in a deal involving Dunn and Fernando and create more breathing room below a potential hard cap, perhaps the team would be more willing to go above the taxpayer mid-level for Schröder.

Kings Acquire Tristan Thompson In Three-Way Deal

August 7th, 2021 at 4:22pm CST by Dana Gauruder

AUGUST 7: The three-team trade is now official, the Kings, Celtics, and Hawks all announced today in press releases.

The 2023 second-round pick that the Hawks are sending to Boston originally belonged to the Trail Blazers and was shipped to Atlanta by the Clippers in the Lou Williams trade in March, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link).

JULY 30: The Celtics are trading veteran big man Tristan Thompson to the Hawks for guard Kris Dunn, forward Bruno Fernando and a 2023 second-rounder, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

However, Thompson isn’t staying with the Hawks. He’s being forwarded to the Kings, with guard Delon Wright going to Atlanta.

All the players in the three-way deal have expiring contracts. Thompson will make $9.7MM next season, while Dunn will secure just over $5MM and Fernando will collect $1.8MM. Wright will make approximately $8.5MM next season.

The move pushes the Celtics another $3MM below the luxury tax threshold, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. Dunn had a player option on his contract and opted in earlier this week, which made the trade viable.

After nine seasons in Cleveland, Thompson played in 54 regular-season games with the Celtics, including 43 starts. He averaged 7.6 PPG and 8.1 RPG.

Dunn’s lone season in Atlanta was a washout due to an ankle injury. He only appeared in four regular-season games, but does give the Celtics another option for their backcourt rotation with Kemba Walker getting traded this offseason.

Fernando, an early second-round pick in 2019, appeared in 89 regular-season games during his first two years in the league.

Thompson gives the Kings some frontcourt insurance with Richaun Holmes entering free agency.

Wright averaged 10.0 PPG and 3.6 APG in 27 games with Sacramento after being acquired from Detroit at the trade deadline. Wright can play either guard spot and will likely slide into a backup role with Atlanta.