Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers Promote Wenyen Gabriel To Standard Contract

April 8th, 2022 at 3:23pm CST by Luke Adams

3:23pm: Gabriel’s new deal is a two-year contract with a team option for 2022/23, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

2:44pm: The Lakers have filled the open spot on their 15-man roster by promoting Wenyen Gabriel from his two-way contract to a standard deal, the team announced today (via Twitter). That roster opening was created on Thursday when Trevor Ariza was waived.

Gabriel signed a series of 10-day contracts earlier in the season with the Nets, Clippers, and Pelicans before eventually getting a two-way deal from the Lakers on March 1. The 25-year-old has appeared in 24 total NBA games this season, including 17 for his current club. In those 17 games with the Lakers, he has averaged 5.7 points and 3.8 rebounds on .481/.238/.621 shooting in 14.6 minutes per contest.

Gabriel figures to see plenty of action in the club’s final two games of the season this weekend, with a number of regulars sidelined. LeBron James has been ruled out for the season, while Anthony Davis (foot), Russell Westbrook (shoulder), and Carmelo Anthony (non-COVID illness) will all miss at least Friday’s game vs. Oklahoma City.

The exact details of Gabriel’s new contract are unclear. If the Lakers simply converted his two-way deal to a standard contract, it will only cover the rest of the season, but teams and players are free to negotiate new terms in this situation.

Non-playoff clubs that promote two-way players to their 15-man rosters near the end of the season typically want to tack on at least one extra non-guaranteed year to those new contracts — we’ll have to wait for further clarification to see if the Lakers did that with Gabriel.

Los Angeles now has a full 15-man roster, with one open two-way slot.

Bucks Sign Rayjon Tucker To Three-Year Deal

April 8th, 2022 at 11:08am CST by Luke Adams

11:08am: The Bucks have officially signed Tucker, the team confirmed today in a press release.

8:51am: The Bucks are in agreement on a multiyear contract with swingman Rayjon Tucker, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), Tucker is signing a three-year deal with Milwaukee.

Tucker, who went undrafted out of Little Rock in 2019, spent most of the 2019/20 season with the Jazz, then signed a two-way contract with the Sixers in January 2021 and got a 10-day deal from the Nuggets in December 2021. He has appeared in a total of 37 NBA games across three seasons, averaging 2.8 PPG and 0.9 RPG in just 7.0 minutes per contest.

Tucker has spent more time on the court in the G League during those three seasons, having played for the Salt Lake City Stars, the Wisconsin Herd, and the Delaware Blue Coats. In 27 regular season games this season for the Herd (the Bucks’ NBAGL affiliate), the wing averaged an impressive 21.1 PPG on 53.4% shooting. He also chipped in 7.5 RPG, 3.8 APG, and 1.1 SPG.

Although Tucker’s new deal will cover three seasons – the rest of 2021/22 and two more beyond that – it’s unlikely to include much, if any, guaranteed money in the next two years. That will give the Bucks the flexibility to move on from him this summer or this fall if they need the roster spot. On the other hand, if he impresses and sticks around, Milwaukee will have him locked up at a team-friendly rate through 2024.

It appears that Tucker will be the final member of the Bucks’ 15-man playoff roster this spring. The team opened up the 15th spot on its roster on Thursday by waiving injured veteran DeAndre’ Bembry.

Wolves Sign Greg Monroe For Rest Of Season

April 7th, 2022 at 6:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

6:04pm: Monroe has officially signed a contract for the rest of the season, the team announced in a press release.

8:12am: Veteran center Greg Monroe will sign a contract with the Timberwolves that covers the final days of the regular season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The move will cap off an active season for Monroe, who signed a 10-day contract with Minnesota in late December and spent time with the Wizards, Bucks and Jazz as well. He just completed a 10-day deal in Utah that expired Wednesday night. He has played 13 total games, averaging 5.2 points and 4.7 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per night.

Wolves owner Glen Taylor indicated last month that the Wolves had interest in bringing back Monroe to help with rebounding. Minnesota has a roster opening, so no other move will be necessary. Monroe will be postseason-eligible.

The expected signing removes an option for the Jazz as they look to fill a roster spot ahead of the postseason, notes Ryan McDonald of The Deseret News. Utah added Monroe after injuries to backup centers Hassan Whiteside, who has since returned, and Udoka Azubuike, who is out for the season.

McDonald adds that one possibility for Utah is converting the two-way contract of Trent Forrest so he would be eligible for the playoffs.

Suns Waive Frank Kaminsky

April 7th, 2022 at 6:02pm CST by Dana Gauruder

6:02pm: The Suns have officially waived Kaminsky, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets.

4:28pm: As the playoffs approach, the Suns are waiving veteran forward Frank Kaminsky, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Kaminsky hasn’t played since November 15. He suffered a stress reaction in his right knee, which later required surgery.

The defending Western Conference champions, who own the league’s best record, can now add a free agent or promote one of their two-way players to the 15-man roster, making Kaminsky’s replacement eligible for the postseason.

Kaminsky was headed to unrestricted free agency this summer even before he was let go. He re-signed with the Suns on a minimum contract last offseason.

Kaminsky appeared in 96 regular-season games with Phoenix in a three-season span after spending four years with Charlotte.

Lakers Waive Trevor Ariza

April 7th, 2022 at 4:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers have waived veteran forward Trevor Ariza, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

The front office opened a roster spot in order to add a young player before the season ends on Sunday, according to Charania. The Lakers were eliminated from playoff contention this week and a major roster shakeup is expected. They didn’t wait for the offseason to begin that process.

The move was confirmed in a team press release, Dave McMenamin of ESPN relays in a tweet.

After signing a one-year, veteran’s minimum in the offseason, Ariza was expected to have a significant role. However, ankle surgery delayed his debut and reduced his impact. He only appeared in 24 games (11 starts), averaging 4.0 PPG and 3.4 RPG.

Ariza, 36, has been in the league since 2004. It’s uncertain whether this is the end of the road for the 18-year veteran, who has appeared in 1,118 regular season games.

Hawks Promote Skylar Mays To Standard Deal

April 7th, 2022 at 12:07pm CST by Rory Maher

The Hawks have promoted guard Skylar Mays to a standard contract from a two-way deal, the team announced. Shams Charania of The Athletic was the first to break the news (via Twitter).

Mays was the 50th overall pick in the 2020 draft after four seasons at LSU. He has spent the past two seasons on a two-way deal after signing Atlanta’s qualifying offer last summer to stick with the team.

As Chris Kirschner of The Athletic observes (Twitter link), promoting Mays means he’ll be eligible to play in the postseason. The Hawks are locked into a spot in the play-in tournament, but the Nos. 7-10 seeds in the East are still up for grabs.

The 24-year-old has appeared in 60 NBA games over the past two seasons with the Hawks, holding modest averages of 3.4 points and 1.0 rebound in 8.1 minutes per night. Mays made eight starts for the team’s G League affiliate (the College Park Skyhawks) this season, averaging 18.0 points, 4.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 33.6 minutes.

The Hawks now have 15 players on standard contracts and have one two-way spot open after promoting Mays. They currently hold a 42-38 record, the No. 9 seed in the East. Atlanta closes the season with road games against Miami on Friday and Houston on Sunday.

Cavaliers Waive RJ Nembhard

April 7th, 2022 at 11:31am CST by Rory Maher

The Cavaliers have waived guard RJ Nembhard, who was recently promoted to a standard contract from a two-way deal, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

As Fedor observes, waiving Nembhard creates an opening for Moses Brown or Brandon Goodwin to be promoted from their two-way contracts, but Cleveland hasn’t decided which route to take with the standard spot available. Both players were ahead of Nembhard in the team’s rotation.

Nembhard, 23, signed with Cleveland last summer after going undrafted out of TCU and was given a two-way deal before the start of the season. He has played in just 13 NBA games, averaging 4.6 minutes per night, and spent much of his time in the G League, where he put up 24.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 22 games.

Although Nembhard was only on a standard contract with the Cavs for a week, the deal will pay him $58,493.

At 43-37, the Cavs are currently the No. 7 seed in the East with two games remaining. Their last two games are in Brooklyn on Friday and at home against Milwaukee on Sunday. Cleveland has been playing poorly recently, going 2-7 over the last nine games.

Bucks Waive DeAndre’ Bembry

April 7th, 2022 at 9:59am CST by Arthur Hill

9:59am: The Bucks have officially waived Bembry, the team announced today (via Twitter).

9:36am: The Bucks will create a roster opening by waiving DeAndre’ Bembry, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Bembry underwent knee surgery last month after tearing his ACL and MCL and will miss the rest of the season.

The 27-year-old swingman signed with Milwaukee on February 16 after being waived by the Nets, who needed to open a roster spot to complete their trade with the Sixers.

Bembry appeared in eight games for the Bucks, averaging 0.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in 9.6 minutes per night. He will be an unrestricted free agent after clearing waivers, but his knee injury will likely sideline him for much of next season as well.

The 21st pick in the 2016 draft, Bembry spent his first four NBA seasons with the Hawks before signing with the Raptors in 2020. He landed a deal with the Nets after being waived by Toronto last summer.

Gabe York, Nate Hinton Sign Two-Way Deals With Pacers

April 7th, 2022 at 9:57am CST by Arthur Hill

The Pacers have signed G League guards Gabe York and Nate Hinton to two-way contracts, the team announced in a press release.

Indiana also confirmed that Duane Washington and Terry Taylor, who had both been on two-way deals, have received standard contracts that will cover multiple years. The team officially waived Keifer Sykes to make room on the 15-man roster for both players.

York averaged 21.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 34 games with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. The 28-year-old played three seasons in the G League and spent time overseas as well after going undrafted out of Arizona in 2016. His only previous NBA experience came in attending training camp with the Magic in 2018 on an Exhibit 10 contract.

Hinton, 22, averaged 18.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists for Fort Wayne in his second G League season. He signed a 10-day contract with the Pacers on December 30 and played two total minutes in two games. Undrafted out of Houston in 2020, he appeared in 21 games with the Mavericks last season.

Thunder Sign Melvin Frazier Jr. To Two-Way Deal

April 6th, 2022 at 4:15pm CST by Rory Maher

The Thunder have signed Melvin Frazier Jr. to a two-way deal and waived Olivier Sarr to make room for Frazier, the team announced in a press release.

Frazier, 25, was the 35th overall pick of the 2018 draft after three years at Tulane. He played his first couple seasons with the Magic, appearing in 29 games with a modest average of 5.9 minutes per contest.

He has spent more time in the G League than the NBA over the last four years, appearing in 41 games with the Lakeland Magic from 2018-20, then suiting up for the Oklahoma City Blue in the 2021 NBAGL bubble. This season Frazier split time between the Iowa Wolves and the Blue, appearing in 50 games (30.2 MPG) and averaging 13.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.0 APG and 1.5 SPG.

Sarr, 23, was signed to a two-way deal back in February after spending the majority of the season with the Blue. Prior to the two-way deal, he’d signed a couple of 10-day hardship contracts with the Thunder.

In 22 games (19.1 MPG) with the Thunder this season, Sarr posted solid averages of 7.0 PPG and 4.2 RPG on .574/.448/.828 shooting. The shooting splits are particularly impressive from the 7’0″ big man.

Opting to waive Sarr is pretty surprising, because he’d played the best basketball of his young NBA career over the last five games (30.3 MPG), averaging 14.8 PPG, 7.4 RPG and 1.4 BPG on .628/.538/.929 shooting. That stretch included a 24-point (on 9-12 shooting), six-rebound, two-block performance in just 22 minutes in the team’s shocking 117-96 win over the Suns on Sunday.

The Thunder are currently carrying 20 players on the roster, including a full 15-man standard rotation, three players on injury-related hardship deals that expire when the season ends, and a pair of two-ways.