Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pistons Waive Kemba Walker

October 17th, 2022 at 5:07pm CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 17: As expected, the Pistons have waived Walker, the team confirmed today in a press release.

OCTOBER 14: The Pistons will likely waive veteran guard Kemba Walker in the coming days in order to get their roster down to the regular season limit of 15 players on standard contracts, according to Shams Charania and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).

A four-time All-Star, Walker has seen his production dip in the last year or two as he has been slowed by knee issues. He averaged 11.6 PPG and 3.5 APG on .403/.367/.845 shooting in 37 games (25.6 MPG) last season for the Knicks, and was a liability on defense.

New York sent Walker to Detroit in a salary-dump trade in June, and reports immediately indicated that the 32-year-old and the Pistons would likely come to a buyout agreement. However, that buyout didn’t end up coming to fruition.

There are likely a couple reasons why Walker has yet to accept the Pistons’ buyout offer. For one, there has been no indication that he has a guaranteed contract offer on the table from another team, as he seemingly confirmed last week.

Additionally, since Detroit has more than 15 players on guaranteed contracts, the team was always going to have to trade or release one of those players by the regular season roster deadline of October 17 — since Walker is so obviously the odd man out, the Pistons had little leverage to encourage him to give back a portion of his $9.17MM salary unless they parted with another player on a guaranteed deal.

If and when Walker is waived, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent two days later and would be able to sign with any team except the Knicks. Potential suitors will certainly be wary of Kemba’s knee problems, but he insisted last week that he can still be a useful NBA player and still has “a few years left” in him.

“I’ve got something in the tank for sure,” he said. “I feel great. I’m going to be honest. I’m going to have my opportunity. I’m not in any rush right now. I’m just grinding and trying to feel as good as I can. And right now, I feel great. I feel as good as I’ve felt in a long time. I’m just waiting for the opportunity.”

Walker’s former team in Charlotte is one that has been mentioned as a possible landing spot — the Hornets were already short on point guard depth even before LaMelo Ball sprained his ankle during the preseason.

Thunder Waive David Nwaba, Trey Burke, Marquese Chriss

October 17th, 2022 at 3:51pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have made three cuts ahead of Monday’s regular season roster deadline, announcing that they’ve waived swingman David Nwaba, guard Trey Burke, and forward/center Marquese Chriss.

All three players were sent from Houston to Oklahoma City last month, but that trade was more about cutting costs for the Thunder than it was about the players involved. Oklahoma City also received Sterling Brown in that deal and waived him too, so none of the four players acquired from the Rockets are still under contract with the Thunder (Houston has also waived the four players it acquired in the trade).

Three cuts were required for the Thunder because they had been carrying 18 players on guaranteed contracts after signing Isaiah Joe earlier today.

The team will be on the hook for the 2022/23 salaries for Nwaba ($5,022,000), Burke ($3,423,750), and Chriss ($2,193,920), assuming they go unclaimed on waivers. However, none of the three are owed any guaranteed money beyond this season. Nwaba, Burke, and Chriss have been solid rotation players in the past, but none were particularly effective for Houston in 2021/22.

Nwaba averaged 5.1 PPG and 3.3 RPG in 46 games (13.2 MPG), while making just 30.6% of his three-point attempts; Burke put up 5.1 PPG and 1.4 APG in 42 games (10.5 MPG) and shot a career-low 31.7% on threes; Chriss averaged 4.5 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 34 appearances (10.2 MPG) and underwent knee surgery in June.

The Thunder now have 15 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals, so their roster is set for the regular season.

As for Joe, his new deal with the Thunder is a three-year, minimum-salary contract that is fully guaranteed for the first season and non-guaranteed in year two, with a third-year team option, Hoops Rumors has learned. Oklahoma City used a portion of its mid-level exception to complete the signing, which head coach Mark Daigneault expressed enthusiasm about in a Monday media session.

“He’s a guy that our scouts and our people have liked for some time,” Daigneault said, per Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (Twitter video link).

Rockets Waive Derrick Favors

October 17th, 2022 at 3:32pm CST by Rory Maher

OCTOBER 17: The Rockets have waived Favors, the team confirmed today. Houston’s roster is now set for the regular season.

OCTOBER 14: The Rockets plan to waive veteran big man Derrick Favors, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link).

As Charania notes, Houston still needed to make one more cut with 16 players on guaranteed standard contracts. Favors will be the odd man out.

According to Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Rockets are “huge fans” of Boban Marjanovic, another veteran center who may have been competing with Favors for the last roster spot. Iko says the team holds Marjanovic “in high regard as a locker room presence” and he’s “universally loved by his teammates,” in addition to having situational use as a backup.

The Rockets will be on the hook for all of Favors’ $10,183,800 salary in 2022/23 assuming he goes unclaimed on waivers, which is almost certain to happen. If he’s officially waived today, the 31-year-old will become a free agent on Sunday.

Favors was acquired by the Rockets in an eight-player trade with the Thunder at the end of last month, and all four players Houston acquired will have been waived before the season starts (the Rockets essentially took on extra expiring money this season to land a future second-round pick and received some cash to help offset the salary differences).

The third overall pick of the 2010 draft, Favors has appeared in 790 regular season games (503 starts, 24.3 MPG) with averages of 10.6 PPG, 7.1 RPG and 1.2 BPG while shooting 53.4% from the floor and 66.3% from the foul line. His mobility and production have declined in recent seasons, averaging career-lows of 5.3 PPG and 4.7 RPG in 38 games (18 starts, 16.7 MPG) with the Thunder in ’21/22, but it would be surprising if he doesn’t land with a new team soon after becoming a free agent.

Darius Days Gets Two-Way Contract With Rockets

October 17th, 2022 at 3:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

OCTOBER 17: The Rockets have converted Days to a two-way contract, the team confirmed today. With Favors also officially waived, Houston is now within the regular season roster limit.

OCTOBER 16: The Rockets will give their open two-way slot to Darius Days, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Houston claimed Days on Tuesday after he was placed on waivers by the Heat.

The 6’7″ forward out of LSU had a strong showing with the Spurs at the Las Vegas Summer League. The Heat gave Days a two-way contract in July, but later converted him to an Exhibit 10 contract and cut him when they decided to give Jamal Cain that two-way slot.

Miami had hoped to send Days to its G League affiliate if he cleared waivers, but the Rockets snatched him away.

Houston’s roster now appears set with veteran big man Derrick Favors expected to be waived before Monday’s deadline. Rookie guard Trevor Hudgins holds the team’s other two-way slot.

Spurs Waive Joe Wieskamp

October 17th, 2022 at 3:05pm CST by Luke Adams

3:05pm: The move is official, the Spurs announced in a press release.

2:57pm: The Spurs will get down to the regular season roster limit by waiving swingman Joe Wieskamp, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Wieskamp, 23, was drafted 41st overall in 2021 by the Spurs and spent most of his rookie season on a two-way contract with the team. He was converted to a rest-of-season standard contract in March, then re-signed with San Antonio in August on a two-year deal that includes a guaranteed $2.175MM salary for 2022/23.

A former Iowa standout, Wieskamp appeared in 29 games for the Spurs in his first pro season, playing a very limited role for the NBA club. He averaged 2.1 PPG and 0.5 RPG in 7.1 MPG.

In 15 G League regular season games for the Austin Spurs, Wieskamp played a more significant role, putting up 17.1 PPG and 3.3 RPG with a .371 3PT% in 33.5 MPG.

The Spurs entered the day with 16 players on guaranteed standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals, so they needed to make one cut to set their roster for opening night. Wieskamp and Romeo Langford were considered to be the players “on the bubble” — it appears Langford will remain on the roster to open the season.

Although San Antonio will have to eat Wieskamp’s $2.175MM salary, assuming he’s not claimed on waivers, taking on that dead money won’t really hurt the team financially. The Spurs remain far below the salary cap and the salary floor for 2022/23.

Trail Blazers Sign Nassir Little To Four-Year Extension

October 17th, 2022 at 2:24pm CST by Luke Adams

2:24pm: The Blazers have officially signed Little to his extension, the team confirmed today in a press release.

“Nassir is a talented player who has grown every year and has a very bright future,” general manager Joe Cronin said in a statement. “We are very excited that he chose to extend with us, and we look forward to continuing to see him shine on and off the court.”

10:31am: The Trail Blazers have agreed to sign forward Nassir Little to a four-year, $28MM rookie scale extension, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The deal will be fully guaranteed, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The 25th overall pick in the 2019 draft, Little didn’t have much of a role in his first two seasons with the Blazers, averaging 4.1 PPG and 2.5 RPG on .450/.302/.719 shooting in 96 games (12.6 MPG).

However, he bumped those numbers to 9.8 PPG and 5.6 RPG on .460/.331/.734 shooting in 42 games (25.9 MPG) in 2021/22 and was playing especially well after entering the starting lineup in December.

Little’s breakout season in Portland came to an early end when he underwent surgery on February 1 to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. In May, he underwent abdominal surgery to repair a core muscle injury.

Little has since recovered from both of those procedures and is ready to go for the start of the 2022/23 season. He lost the battle for the starting small forward job to Josh Hart, but figures to be one of the first players off the bench for the team to open the year.

Even though Little’s new deal is reportedly fully guaranteed, it has the potential to be a steal for the Blazers. They’ll be on the hook for just $7MM per season through 2026/27 in order to lock up a 22-year-old wing who continues to improve. Even if Little doesn’t make huge strides in the coming years, that’s a very affordable price for a reliable rotation player.

For his part, Little has earned just $6.63MM through his first three NBA seasons and will make $4.17MM in 2022/23. Locking in $28MM in guaranteed money will increase his career earnings exponentially and will give him some long-term security in case he takes a step back or suffers a major injury going forward. It’s hard to fault him for accepting Portland’s offer rather than rolling the dice in restricted free agency next summer.

Little is the 10th player to agree to a rookie scale extension this season, as our tracker shows. The deadline for those deals is at 5:00 pm CT on Monday.

Rockets Sign Kevin Porter Jr. To Four-Year Extension

October 17th, 2022 at 12:08pm CST by Luke Adams

12:08pm: Porter’s extension is now official, the Rockets announced today in a press release.

“We value the player and the person that Scoot is becoming and are eager to invest in him and his journey,” Rockets general manager Rafael Stone said in a statement. “He’s expressed how happy he is to be with this organization and has shown his commitment to putting in the work both on and off the court. We are excited for the opportunity to continue to build something special with him.”

10:18am: Porter’s four-year extension will only be fully guaranteed for $15.86MM in year one, sources tell Charania (Twitter link).

ESPN’s Bobby Marks provides more details, tweeting that the Porter’s annual salaries in subsequent years will guarantee if he remains under contract through each June 30. For instance, his 2024/25 salary would guarantee if he hasn’t been waived by June 30, 2024.

Additionally, there’s language in the deal that will provide a path for Porter’s salaries in future seasons to become partially guaranteed before they become fully guaranteed, Marks adds (via Twitter).

Since Porter’s first-year salary is only worth $15.86MM, the total base value of the extension can only be worth up to about $71MM with 8% annual raises, so the $82.5MM total value (reported below) appears to include incentives. According to Marks, those incentives are related to games played and team success.

9:00am: The Rockets and guard Kevin Porter Jr. have agreed to a rookie scale contract extension, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Agent Sam Permut tells Wojnarowski that it’s a four-year, $82.5MM deal. However, according to Shams Charania and Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link), only the first season is fully guaranteed.

Wojnarowski (Twitter link) describes the extension as having a “unique” structure that will have major upside for Porter while also providing protections for the team. Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston (Twitter link) says there are partial guarantees beyond the first year. The final season is a team option, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.

Porter, 22, was the 30th overall pick in the 2019 draft and had a promising rookie season in Cleveland. However, he had some legal issues off the court prior to his second season and was then involved in a locker room incident early in 2021 that prompted the Cavaliers to trade him to Houston.

In his two seasons with the Rockets, Porter has established himself as the team’s starting point guard, averaging 15.9 PPG, 6.2 APG, and 4.2 RPG with a shooting line of .418/.357/.672 in 87 total games (31.5 MPG). Perhaps most importantly, there’s been no indication that his past behavior off the court and in the locker room has been a recurring issue in Houston.

We’ll have to wait for more details on the exact structure of Porter’s new contract, but the fact that it’s not fully guaranteed beyond the first year means the Rockets should have an out if they ultimately decide he’s not the right fit at point guard with the rest of their young core, or if any other off-court incidents take place down the road.

Even with a lucrative new deal for Porter on their books, the Rockets will still have plenty of financial flexibility during the summer of 2023. According to Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link), the club should be able to create a minimum of $30MM in cap room, and could get to $50MM+ by waiving non-guaranteed players (including Eric Gordon).

As our extension tracker shows, Porter is the ninth player to agree to a rookie scale extension in 2022. If he earns his full $82.5MM, Porter’s deal would be the seventh-most lucrative of those extensions, ahead of Keldon Johnson and Brandon Clarke.

Nets Exercise 2023/24 Options On Cam Thomas, Day’Ron Sharpe

October 17th, 2022 at 10:22am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets have picked up their team options on guard Cam Thomas and big man Day’Ron Sharpe for the 2023/24 season, the team announced today.

Thomas and Sharpe were the 27th and 29th overall picks, respectively, in the 2021 draft. Thomas’ rookie scale contract calls for a $2,240,160 third-year salary in 2023/24, while Sharpe will earn $2,210,040. Both of those salaries are now fully guaranteed.

Thomas, who was one of the top scorers in college basketball at LSU before going pro, averaged 8.5 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 67 games (17.6 MPG) for the Nets as a rookie. He showed off his scoring prowess at this year’s Summer League, averaging 27.4 PPG in just 30.3 MPG across five contests in Las Vegas.

Sharpe played a more limited role as a rookie, appearing in just 32 games and averaging 6.2 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 12.2 MPG. However, the 6’11” forward/center made a case for an increased role this year with a strong preseason, as we detailed on Sunday.

The Nets will have to decide on Thomas’ and Sharpe’s fourth-year options for the 2024/25 season next October. If those options are also exercised, the two players will become eligible for rookie scale extensions in July of 2024.

Grizzlies Sign Brandon Clarke To Four-Year Extension

October 16th, 2022 at 7:52pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

7:52pm: Memphis has issued a press release confirming Clarke’s extension (Twitter link).

5:34pm: The Grizzlies are signing fourth-year forward/center Brandon Clarke to a four-year, $52MM rookie contract extension, Clarke’s agents Mark Bartelstein and Andy Schiffman inform Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian tweets that he anticipates $52MM is the highest possible salary Clarke could earn, implying that various likely and unlikely incentives could be baked into that figure.

Clarke was selected with the No. 21 pick in the 2019 NBA draft out of Gonzaga. Last season, his third in the league, the 26-year-old remained a reliable athletic reserve for the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed.

Across 64 games in 2021/22, Clarke averaged 10.4 PPG while nailing 64.4% of his field goals, along with 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.1 blocks and 0.6 steals in just 19.5 MPG.

Woj notes that Clarke finished within the NBA’s top five players in a variety of pertinent departments: paint points, second-chance points, and offensive boards.

Bobby Marks of ESPN adds (Twitter link) that this new deal, once it kicks in, will be pay Clarke 8.6% of the club’s projected 2023/24 available salary money under the league cap.

Memphis has already signed another of its extension-eligible players, veteran starting center Steven Adams, to a two-year, $25.2MM contract extension earlier this offseason.

A third Grizzlies player, 6’7″ swingman Dillon Brooks, has yet to sign a new deal with the Grizzlies. Should Memphis not reach an agreement with Brooks, his contract will expire in the summer of 2023, when he will reach unrestricted free agency. Brooks is currently set to earn $11.4MM this season.

Clarke is the eighth 2019 first-round pick to agree to a rookie scale extension, as our tracker shows. When our Rory Maher previewed Clarke’s case for an extension last month, he estimated a deal in the range of the four-year, $50MM contract Wendell Carter signed with Orlando a year ago.

E.J. Liddell Signs Two-Way Deal With Pelicans

October 16th, 2022 at 5:25pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Rookie forward E.J. Liddell, who tore his right ACL during Summer League this year after being drafted 41st overall out of Ohio State, has signed a two-way contract with the Pelicans, the team announced in a press release.

During a 2021/22 NCAA season in which the 6’7″ forward was named a Third Team All-American, an All-Big Ten First Teamer, and a Big Ten All-Defensive Team honoree, Liddell averaged 19.4 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 2.5 BPG and 2.5 APG for the Buckeyes.

Though he will most likely not be healthy until at least 2023, the 21-year-old will join Dereon Seabron in filling the team’s pair of two-way player contracts heading into the 2022/23 season. Liddell figures to rehab his ACL injury with the Pelicans and the Birmingham Squadron, New Orleans’ G League affiliate.

Looking to capitalize on a promising postseason berth with a newly healthy Zion Williamson, New Orleans is now fielding a team with 15 players signed to its standard roster, plus a pair of two-way players.