Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Promote Caleb Martin To 15-Man Roster

February 15th, 2022 at 1:08pm CST by Luke Adams

1:08pm: Martin’s new deal is official, the Heat confirmed in a press release.

11:23am: The Heat are signing forward Caleb Martin to a standard contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Martin had spent the 2021/22 season up until this point on a two-way deal, but wouldn’t be playoff-eligible without a promotion to the 15-man roster.

Charania says the Heat are signing the 26-year-old for “the remainder of the season,” suggesting there will be no additional years tacked onto his new contract, and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald confirms (via Twitter) it’s a rest-of-season, minimum-salary deal. That means Martin will be eligible for restricted free agency at season’s end.

Martin, who spent his first two NBA seasons in Charlotte, signed a two-way deal with the Heat in September and has emerged as a reliable rotation player for the club. In 44 games (22.9 MPG), he has averaged 9.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 1.0 SPG on .506/.379/.739 shooting.

It has been a foregone conclusion for much of the season that Martin would eventually be promoted to the standard roster, but Miami’s proximity to the luxury tax line has delayed the move. After trading KZ Okpala to Oklahoma City last week, the Heat have more breathing room below the tax threshold, creating a path for Martin’s promotion.

Once Martin’s new deal is official, the Heat will have a full 15-man roster, at least for the time being. The team entered the week with two 15-man roster openings, but signed Haywood Highsmith to a 10-day contract. Martin’s promotion will open up a two-way contract slot for Miami.

Heat Sign Haywood Highsmith To 10-Day Deal

February 15th, 2022 at 11:12am CST by Dana Gauruder

FEBRUARY 15: Highsmith’s 10-day contract is now official, the Heat announced in a press release.

Highsmith’s contract will actually cover 11 days due to the All-Star break. Standard 10-day deals are required to cover either 10 days or three games, whichever comes later. Miami has two more games before the All-Star break, then doesn’t play again until February 25 — Highsmith would be eligible to play in that game before his deal expires.

FEBRUARY 14: The Heat are signing swingman Haywood Highsmith to a 10-day contract, agent Jerry Dianis told our JD Shaw (Twitter link)

Highsmith had a 10-day stint with Miami under the hardship exception in late December and early January. He appeared in four games, averaging 3.0 PPG and 1.3 RPG in 10.5 MPG. The Heat view him as a strong fit for the team’s culture.

As we noted earlier on Monday, Miami had two open roster spots after last week’s trade deadline and needed to fill at least one of them within two weeks. Highsmith’s versatility allows him to play shooting guard, small forward and power forward, something that could help Miami since the team traded KZ Okpala and still hasn’t cleared Markieff Morris.

Highsmith had a brief stint with the Sixers in 2018/19, appearing in five games for the club on a two-way contract. The 25-year-old also spent the 2020/21 season in Germany, but has otherwise played mostly for the Delaware Blue Coats, Philadelphia’s G League affiliate, since going pro in ’18. He has appeared in 17 games with the Blue Coats this season, averaging 13.6 PPG on 39% shooting from three-point range.

The 6’7” Highsmith also played on USA Basketball’s 2023 World Cup qualifying team in November.

Daishen Nix Signs Four-Year Deal With Rockets

February 15th, 2022 at 10:04am CST by Dana Gauruder

FEBRUARY 15: Nix’s promotion to the 15-man roster is now official, the Rockets announced today in a press release.

Nix is joining Houston on a four-year, $6MM deal, with only the first two seasons guaranteed, per Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype (via Twitter).

FEBRUARY 14: Point guard Daishen Nix has agreed to a four-year contract with the Rockets, Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweets.

The exact terms of the deal aren’t yet known, but it almost certainly won’t be fully guaranteed across all four years. Houston will use a portion of its mid-level exception to give Nix four years.

Nix was on a two-way contract with the club and will have it converted to a standard contract. The rookie has excelled against G League competition and Rockets GM Rafael Stone said the promotion was well-earned, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes.

“He’s playing great,” Stone said. “He’s really happy, and he’s just developing at an awesome rate. I would imagine that at some point, he will be back (in the NBA). He’s been on the court with the Rockets already, so that’s not a secret, and I would imagine we’ll see that again. But there’s not, like, a firm plan that he needs to do this or that. We’re really, really happy with his development, and so there’s no need to interrupt that right now.”

Nix has played in eight games with the Rockets this season, averaging 3.8 PPG in 8.4 MPG. In 22 games with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, he is averaging 24.5 PPG, 7.3 APG, 6.4 RPG and 2.6 SPG.

Nix was one of a handful of prospects who opted to forgo college ball in favor of a spot on the G League Ignite last season, but he went undrafted.

Houston won’t have to make another roster move to promote Nix to the 15-man squad, since the team waived Enes Freedom earlier in the day.

Spurs Buy Out Goran Dragic

February 15th, 2022 at 9:53am CST by Luke Adams

9:53am: The Spurs have officially waived Dragic (Twitter link via Paul Garcia of Project Spurs). As noted below, he’ll clear waivers and become a free agent on Thursday.

8:30am: The Spurs and point guard Goran Dragic have reached a buyout agreement, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Assuming Dragic is officially released today and clears waivers – which is a near-certainty due to his $19.4MM cap hit – he’ll become an unrestricted free agent on Thursday. At that point, he’d be free to sign with any team except the Raptors — NBA rules prohibit a team from re-signing a player it traded earlier in the league year if that player is cut by his new team.

Charania doesn’t identify any specific suitors for Dragic, but says “a slew” of teams are expected to pursue the playoff-tested veteran.

Previously, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski named the Bucks, Lakers, Warriors, Clippers, Bulls, and Nets as clubs expected to show interest in Dragic. Wojnarowski later said that Milwaukee, in particular, is expected to aggressively pursue the 35-year-old.

The Mavericks were viewed at one point as a potential frontrunner for Dragic, but acquired Spencer Dinwiddie at the trade deadline and are no longer believed to be in the market for a point guard. General manager Nico Harrison said last week that he thinks Dallas’ roster is “set.”

The Heat, meanwhile, are no longer ineligible to reacquire Dragic, since he was traded for a second time after Miami moved him in August. The guard has been working out in Miami for much of the season and the Heat have two open roster spots, so a reunion seems plausible, even though the club wasn’t mentioned by Wojnarowski over the weekend as a likely suitor.

Dragic averaged 13.4 PPG, 4.4 APG, and 3.4 RPG on .432/.373/.828 shooting in 50 games (26.7 MPG) for the Heat in 2020/21. However, he appeared in just five games for the Raptors this season after being sent to Toronto as part of the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade.

Dragic hasn’t played since November, having taken a personal leave of absence from the Raptors up until he was traded to San Antonio at last week’s deadline.

Rockets Waive Enes Freedom

February 14th, 2022 at 4:09pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets have officially waived center Enes Freedom, the team announced today (Twitter link via Marc Stein). The move had been expected.

Freedom was one of three players Houston acquired in its deadline-day deal that sent Daniel Theis to Boston. The other two, Dennis Schröder and Bruno Fernando, remain under contract with the Rockets. Like Freedom though, they’re on expiring deals, so it’s unclear if they’ll be part of the Rockets’ plans going forward.

Freedom, formerly known as Enes Kanter, signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract to return to the Celtics in the 2021 offseason, but didn’t play a major role with the club, averaging 3.7 PPG and 4.6 RPG in 35 games (11.7 MPG). The big man has always been a talented scorer and rebounder, but is a defensive liability, particularly in a scheme like Ime Udoka‘s that employed frequent switching.

Because he was on a minimum-salary contract, Freedom could be claimed off waivers by any team using the minimum salary exception. If he goes unclaimed, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday and would be eligible to sign with any team except Boston. NBA rules prohibit teams from re-signing a player they just traded away in the event he’s cut by his new club.

Knicks Sign Ryan Arcidiacono For Rest Of Season

February 13th, 2022 at 1:43pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

1:43pm: The addition of Arcidiacono is now official, per a team press release (Twitter link).

1:01pm: Guard Ryan Arcidiacono will sign a deal with the Knicks that will keep him in New York for the rest of the 2021/22 NBA season, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 6’3″ point guard, who won a title with Villanova in 2016, previously signed a pair of 10-day deals with the Knicks earlier this year, as well as a hardship exception deal that was later voided, though he has yet to suit up for an actual game with New York.

Ian Begley of SNY.tv adds (via Twitter) that the addition of Arcidiacono brings the Knicks’ total standard contract count to 15, the maximum allowable.

Arcidiacono spent his first four NBA seasons with the Bulls, mostly as a reserve. He holds career averages of 4.8 PPG, 2.2 APG, 2.0 RPG, and 0.6 SPG in 17.6 MPG. He boasts NBA shooting splits of .431/.373/.807.

Chicago opted not to re-sign the 27-year-old in free agency this summer. He signed a training camp deal with the Celtics, though he did not make Boston’s opening night roster. He has also spent time with the Celtics’ G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics, in between his contracts with the Knicks this season.

When Arcidiacono first signed with New York in January, Charania noted that there was a possibility he would stick with the team for the rest of the year. That possibility has now come to pass.

As Marc Berman of the New York Post (Twitter link) observes, now that the reeling Knicks have a full 15-man roster, they’d have to waive someone in order to be active on the buyout market. Berman floats the possibility that point guard Kemba Walker could be the Knicks player the club opts to be buy out if they want to make another addition.

Mavs Sign Dorian Finney-Smith To Four-Year Extension

February 12th, 2022 at 6:34pm CST by Luke Adams

FEBRUARY 12: The Mavericks have officially completed Finney-Smith’s extension, the team announced today (via Twitter).

FEBRUARY 11: Finney-Smith and the Mavericks have formally agreed to a four-year extension, agents Michael Tellem and Jeff Schwartz tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Wojnarowski suggests it’s worth $55.5MM, though we’ll have to wait for the official details to confirm if that entire amount is guaranteed. The deal will include a fourth-year player option and a trade kicker, Woj adds.

FEBRUARY 10: The Mavericks are close to finalizing a contract extension with forward Dorian Finney-Smith, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).

The new deal will tack four years onto Finney-Smith’s expiring contract and will be worth $52MM, according to Marc Stein (Twitter link).

Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) also reports that $52MM figure, though MacMahon says (via Twitter) it’ll be in the $55MM range, so perhaps there will be incentives that could affect the precise value of the deal.

Finney-Smith, 28, has had the best season of his NBA career in 2021/22. In 54 games (32.5 MPG), he has averaged 10.1 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 2.0 APG, and 1.2 SPG on .435/.363/.688 shooting. He is also one of Dallas’ most reliable defensive players.

Earning just $4MM this season, Finney-Smith has been a bargain for the Mavs, but he was on track for unrestricted free agency this summer. According to MacMahon (Twitter link), the team didn’t want to risk losing one of its most valuable role players and best locker-room guys in the offseason.

The first-year salary in a veteran contract extension can be worth up to 120% of the salary in the final year of the player’s previous contract or 120% of the NBA’s estimated average salary, whichever is greater. In Finney-Smith’s case, that meant he was eligible to make up to $55.56MM over four years on an extension.

Estimates on Finney-Smith’s next deal had varied in recent weeks, with one report stating he was unlikely to receive more than the mid-level exception (about $10MM per year), while another suggested he may seek more than $15MM annually. Ultimately, he and the Mavs split the difference, agreeing to a figure slightly below his in-season maximum in order to lock a new deal in early.

With Finney-Smith’s free agency no longer a concern, Dallas will be able to focus on working out a new deal with point guard Jalen Brunson. Like Finney-Smith, Brunson is currently extension-eligible, but he seems unlikely to settle for a four-year, $55.56MM deal, since he’s expected to draw interest from multiple teams, including the Pistons and Knicks, as a free agent this summer.

Thunder Sign Aaron Wiggins To Four-Year Deal

February 12th, 2022 at 5:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

7:28pm: Wiggins’ new contract is official, the Thunder announced (via Twitter).

5:34pm: The Thunder will give two-way player Aaron Wiggins a four-year, $6.4MM contract, tweets Shams Charania of the Athletic. The fourth year will be a team option, and the deal was confirmed by Wiggins’ agent, Austin Walton.

Wiggins will receive $1MM for the rest of this season in addition to what he has already earned, Walton tells Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (Twitter link). That means the remaining three years will be worth the minimum.

Next season will be fully guaranteed, but 2023/24 is non-guaranteed. Wiggins is now the fourth highest-paid player from the second round of the 2021 draft, Mussatto adds.

After being selected with the 55th pick, the 23-year-old shooting guard signed a two-way contract shortly after the draft. He has appeared in 31 games, starting 18, and is averaging 7.4 points and 3.5 rebounds in 21.9 minutes per night.

When the move becomes official, Oklahoma City will have a full 15-man roster with an open two-way slot.

Celtics Sign Luke Kornet, Promote Sam Hauser

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

11:00pm: Boston has promoted Hauser, the team announced.

6:33pm: The Celtics have officially signed Kornet, the team announced. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

1:47pm: The Celtics intend to sign free agent big man Luke Kornet to a rest-of-season contract and will promote Sam Hauser from his two-way deal to the 15-man roster, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Boston’s series of deadline trades left the team with just 10 players on its standard roster, plus a pair of players on two-way deals. Promoting Hauser and signing Kornet will be a first step toward replenishing the roster, though the Celtics will still have three openings on their main roster, along with one available two-way spot.

Kornet, 26, has bounced around the NBA since making his debut in 2018 as an undrafted free agent out of Vanderbilt. The forward/center has averaged 5.7 PPG and 2.6 RPG in 136 total games (15.0 MPG) for the Knicks, Bulls, Celtics, Cavaliers, and Bucks.

Kornet finished the 2020/21 season in Boston following a deadline trade and has spent much of this season with the team’s G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics. He has averaged 15.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 4.3 APG in 14 G League contests (27.1 MPG) while also spending some time in the NBA on 10-day deals with Milwaukee and Cleveland.

Hauser, meanwhile, signed a two-way contract with the Celtics last August after going undrafted out of Virginia. The 6’8″ forward has played limited minutes in 10 NBA games with Boston, but has been a G League standout, putting up 21.1 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 3.3 APG on .473/.412/.765 shooting in 18 games (35.1 MPG) for Maine.

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said earlier today that he expecting to add a couple players before the weekend and that he was focusing on frontcourt players, ideally ones who could shoot. Kornet and Hauser fit that bill.

After trimming some salary at the deadline, the Celtics are far enough below the luxury tax line that they’ll be able to fill all their roster spots, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Thunder Waive KZ Okpala

February 11th, 2022 at 4:35pm CST by Rory Maher

The Thunder have waived forward KZ Okpala, the team announced. Okpala was acquired via trade from the Heat earlier this week.

The 32nd overall pick in the 2019 draft out of Stanford, Okpala appeared in just 63 games across three seasons for Miami. In 2021/22, he has averaged 3.7 PPG and 2.0 RPG in 21 contests (11.6 MPG). Okapala hasn’t played since December due to a wrist injury.

If someone claims Okpala off waivers, he’ll eligible for restricted free agency at season’s end. Otherwise, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent once he clears waivers. By waiving Okpala, the Thunder clear a spot on their 15-man roster.

It’s possible they could ink Mamadi Diakite to a new deal, since they ended his 10-day contract a day early to complete the trade for Okpala. The trade was clearly about Miami’s future first-round pick that is owed to OKC, which was amended as part of the trade.

Instead of owing Oklahoma City their top-14 protected first-round pick in 2023, the Heat will now owe OKC their 2025 first-rounder (also top-14 protected).

That ’23 first-rounder would have been top-14 protected for three straight seasons before becoming unprotected in 2026. Now, the Heat’s ’25 first-rounder will be lottery-protected for just one year before becoming unprotected in ’26.

Essentially, the Thunder improved their odds of gaining a higher first-rounder by pushing the pick a couple years into the future (when the Heat could theoretically be less assured of having a playoff-caliber roster) and ensuring it has just one year of protection.

The 2026 second-rounder the Heat acquired in the trade will be the least favorable of the Thunder’s, Mavericks’, and Sixers’ second-rounders that year, according to the Heat’s announcement.