Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers Sign Stanley Johnson To Third 10-Day Deal

January 17th, 2022 at 12:53pm CST by JD Shaw

JANUARY 17: Johnson is officially back with the Lakers on a new 10-day contract, the team confirmed today (via Twitter).

JANUARY 16: The Lakers plan to sign forward Stanley Johnson to a third 10-day contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Johnson’s second 10-day deal with Los Angeles expired overnight.

Johnson has received significant playing time over the course of his two 10-day deals, carving out a role on the team. In nine games, he’s averaged 5.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per contest, shooting 46% from the floor. He’s started in five of those games.

Prior to signing with the Lakers, Johnson was playing with the team’s G League affiliate. The 25-year-old holds past experience with the Pistons, Pelicans and Raptors.

Los Angeles has lost three straight games and currently ranks seventh in the West at 21-22. This will be Johnson’s second standard 10-day contract (his first was a hardship), meaning the Lakers will have to sign him for the rest of the season or let him go once it expires.

Heat Waive Marcus Garrett, Sign Kyle Guy To Two-Way Contract

January 17th, 2022 at 11:55am CST by Arthur Hill

JANUARY 17: The Heat have officially signed Guy to a two-way contract, per NBA.com’s transactions log. The move allows the team to keep Guy active for Monday’s game vs. Toronto.

JANUARY 16: The Heat are waiving rookie guard Marcus Garrett and give his two-way slot to Kyle Guy, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. The team has officially confirmed (via Twitter) that Garrett has been released.

Garrett, who hasn’t played since late December, will undergo season-ending wrist surgery, Chiang adds. He will remain around the team for rehab purposes until the season is over, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel (Twitter link).

Garrett signed a two-way contract in September after going undrafted out of Kansas. He appeared in 12 games, averaging 1.1 points and 1.9 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per night.

Guy joined the Heat last month as a hardship addition and signed a second 10-day deal last weekend. He’s averaging 8.2 PPG in six games while shooting 51.4% from the field and 45% from three-point range.

Mavericks Waive Willie Cauley-Stein, Sign Marquese Chriss To Two-Year Deal

January 15th, 2022 at 6:22pm CST by Arthur Hill

6:22pm: Both moves are official, the Mavericks announced (via Twitter).

4:08pm: The Mavericks will sign hardship addition Marquese Chriss to a two-year contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Willie Cauley-Stein will be waived to make room on the 15-man roster.

Chriss, who signed his third 10-day deal with Dallas under the hardship provision earlier this week, has been productive since joining the team in December. He has appeared in 12 games, all off the bench, and is averaging 6.8 points and 3.9 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per night.

Chriss will earn a prorated minimum salary for the rest of the season and a standard minimum in 2022/23 for a player with six years of service, giving him roughly $3MM overall, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. It’s unclear at this point if next season’s salary will be guaranteed.

The 24-year-old was taken by the Suns with the eighth pick in the 2016 draft, but hasn’t lived up to the promise he showed during his rookie season. He also spent time with the Rockets, Cavaliers and Warriors, but was out of the league until COVID-19 forced teams to seek emergency replacements.

Cauley-Stein is in his seventh NBA season and his third with the Mavericks. He’s averaging 1.9 points and 2.1 rebounds in 18 games, but hasn’t played since November 27.

The 28-year-old center is making $4.1MM on an expiring contract. Dallas will still owe him the remainder of that salary (about $1.95MM) unless he is claimed on waivers, according to Marks (Twitter link). The sixth pick in the 2015 draft, Cauley-Stein signed with the Mavericks as a free agent before the start of the 2020/21 season.

Lance Stephenson Signs Standard 10-Day Contract With Pacers

January 14th, 2022 at 4:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lance Stephenson has been signed to a standard 10-day contract by the Pacers, according to a team press release.

Stephenson had signed a second 10-day deal under the hardship exception on Tuesday but could no longer be activated because Indiana does not currently have any players in the league’s health and safety protocols.

The veteran guard has given Indiana a huge boost during his latest reunion with the franchise. Prior to his 6-point, 6-assist outing against Boston on Wednesday, Stephenson averaged 20 PPG and 6.7 APG in the team’s three previous games.

The latest 10-day will buy Indiana a little more time before making a broader commitment to Stephenson. The Pacers have an open roster spot and won’t need to waive a player if they decide to retain Stephenson on a rest-of-season contract.

Grizzlies Sign Dakota Mathias To Second 10-Day Deal

January 14th, 2022 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies have signed guard Dakota Mathias to a second 10-day contract using a COVID-related hardship exception, the team announced today in a press release. Mathias initially signed a 10-day pact with Memphis near the end of December.

During his first 10 days with the Grizzlies, Mathias appeared in four games, but was limited to garbage-time action, logging just eight total minutes.

The 26-year-old shooting guard went undrafted out of Purdue in 2018 and spent his first professional season in Spain. He joined the Texas Legends – Dallas’ G League affiliate – for the 2019/20 campaign, then began last season on a two-way contract with the Sixers before being waived in January.

The Grizzlies announced on Thursday that big man Killian Tillie has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, joining Yves Pons. With two players in the COVID-19 protocols and no replacement players signed, Memphis qualified for a hardship exception to sign Mathias without having to open up a spot on the 15-man roster.

Mathias’ 10-day contract will pay him $85,578, but that money won’t count against the Grizzlies’ team salary for cap or tax purposes.

Clippers Sign Xavier Moon To Third 10-Day Contract

January 14th, 2022 at 12:11pm CST by Luke Adams

12:11pm: The Clippers have officially signed Moon to a new 10-day contract, the team announced. It’ll run through Janaury 23, covering the team’s next five games.

11:53am: The Clippers intend to sign swingman Xavier Moon to a third 10-day contract, agent Stacey Leawood tells our JD Shaw (Twitter link). Moon’s second 10-day deal with Los Angeles expired overnight.

A player isn’t permitted to sign three traditional 10-day contracts with the same team in a single season, but that rule doesn’t apply to 10-day signings completed using COVID-related hardship exceptions. Moon is on track to join Davon Reed (Nuggets) and Marquese Chriss (Mavericks) as players who have signed three 10-day hardship deals with the same team this season.

Moon appeared in six games during his first 20 days with the Clippers, averaging 5.5 PPG, 1.7 APG, and 1.5 RPG in 13.8 MPG. He spent a little time in the health and safety protocols during his most recent deal, but looked good on Thursday night, registering 10 points and four assists on 3-of-4 shooting in 15 minutes vs. New Orleans.

The Clippers still have Luke Kennard and Justise Winslow in the COVID-19 protocols, making them eligible for two hardship signings. Moon will rejoin Wenyen Gabriel, who is on a 10-day contract that runs through next Thursday.

Moon will earn $53,176 on his newest 10-day contract, but that money won’t be applied to team salary for cap or tax purposes.

Bulls Sign Malcolm Hill To 10-Day Deal

January 14th, 2022 at 10:12am CST by Rory Maher

JANUARY 14: Hill’s 10-day contract with the Bulls is now official, according to a press release. The team confirmed that the deal was completed using a COVID-related hardship exception.

JANUARY 13: The Bulls plan to sign Malcolm Hill to a 10-day contract, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Hill signed a 10-day hardship contract with the Hawks last month that expired on December 31, making him an unrestricted free agent. In three games with Atlanta, Hill averaged 5.7 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and 1.3 SPG in 15.3 MPG.

Hill went undrafted in 2017 out of Illinois and has since played in the Philippines, Germany, Kazakhstan, and Israel. The 6’6″ wing returned stateside this year and had been playing for the Birmingham Squadron, the Pelicans’ G League affiliate, prior to his 10-day hardship contract with Atlanta.

In 14 NBAGL games (31.6 MPG) for the Squadron, Hill averaged 16.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 1.6 SPG on .509/.402/.810 shooting. Hill also spent time in the health and safety protocols at the end of his contract with the Hawks.

Alex Caruso is currently in the protocols for the Bulls, so they should qualify for a hardship exception to sign Hill.

Hawks Trade Cam Reddish To Knicks

January 13th, 2022 at 6:47pm CST by Arthur Hill

6:47pm: The trade is now official, the Hawks announced in a press release. Atlanta received Knox and Charlotte’ 2022 first-round pick (top-18 protected) in exchange for Reddish, Hill, Brooklyn’s 2025 second-round pick, and cash.

The Knicks confirmed in their own press release that they waived Arcidiacono.

10:33am: The Hawks will send Cam Reddish to the Knicks in a multi-player trade, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

New York will also receive veteran forward Solomon Hill and a second-round draft pick in 2025 that originally belonged to the Nets. Atlanta will get Kevin Knox in return, along with a protected first-round pick from the Hornets. The protections on Charlotte’s pick are top-18 this year, top-16 in 2023 and top-14 in 2024 and 2025, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). It will convert to second-round picks in 2026 and 2027 if not conveyed by then.

Atlanta had been searching around the league for a team willing to part with a mid-first-round pick or a young player in exchange for Reddish, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link). The Hawks explored several potential trade packages with the Knicks before settling on the final deal, and Woj reports that they also talked recently to the Pacers and Lakers about potential trades involving Reddish.

The 10th pick in the 2019 draft, Reddish has been an explosive bench scorer and a part-time starter during his two-and-a-half seasons in Atlanta. After having much of last season wiped out by injuries, he’s averaging a career-high 11.9 points per game this year while shooting 40.2% from the field and 37.9% from three-point range.

Reddish will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer, which is one of the reasons the Hawks, who already have several sizable contracts in place, were willing to move him. He will carry cap hits for the Knicks of $4.7MM this season and $5.95MM for 2022/23, Marks tweets.

Hill, 30, is out for the rest of the season after suffering a torn right hamstring last month. He has veto power over the trade, but plans to approve it, according to Marks. He’s making $2,389,641 on a veteran-minimum contract that will expire after this season.

Knox, 22, had a bright rookie season in 2018/19, but hasn’t been the same player since. He has appeared in just 13 games this season, averaging 3.6 points and 1.7 rebounds in 8.5 minutes per night. He is headed for free agency this summer, and the Hawks will have the option to make him restricted, though that seems unlikely.

The Knicks will have to release Ryan Arcidiacono early from his 10-day contract to make room on the roster for an extra player, Marks notes (Twitter link). Arcidiacono’s deal had been set to expire on Saturday night.

Atlanta will have an open roster spot, along with a $1.7MM trade exception. The Hawks will also get a little bit of luxury tax relief, moving from $1.87MM to $2.36MM under the tax threshold.

Jazz Waive Two-Way Forward Malik Fitts

January 13th, 2022 at 3:39pm CST by Rory Maher

The Jazz have waived two-way forward Malik Fitts, the team announced. Fitts recently suffered a fractured wrist that will sideline him for at least four weeks, and with Utah struggling (four consecutive losses) with COVID-related absences, the team opted to waive Fitts to likely add a healthy player to the roster.

Fitts hasn’t been a regular part of Utah’s rotation this season, having logged just 14 minutes in six games entering last Friday’s contest in Toronto. With a depleted roster, the Jazz leaned on Fitts for a rotation role vs. the Raptors and he responded with six points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes. However, he also sustained his wrist injury during the game.

Fitts entered training camp with the Jazz on an Exhibit 10 deal which was converted into a two-way deal prior to the season. The 24-year-old spent three games (11 total minutes) as a rookie with the Clippers last season after going undrafted out of Saint Mary’s in 2020.

Obviously it’s an unfortunate turn of events for the second-year pro, who will hopefully recover well from the wrist fracture in order to try and earn another shot in the league. For Utah, it optimizes roster flexibility with six players currently in the health and safety protocols.

Bol Bol Trade To Pistons Voided

January 13th, 2022 at 12:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

12:39pm: The Pistons announced that the trade was rescinded because “medical clearance was not received for all players involved,” tweets James Edwards III of The Athletic.

11:13am: The Pistons have reneged on a trade that would have would have sent Rodney McGruder and a second-round pick to the Nuggets in exchange for Bol Bol, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post.

Detroit cited an issue with Bol’s physical, Singer adds. He notes that Bol had foot surgery during college, but hasn’t experienced any injury problems during his three seasons in the NBA. Denver was surprised by the Pistons’ decision, according to Singer (Twitter link).

The 22-year-old Bol is an intriguing talent but hasn’t been able to firmly establish himself at any position in Denver. Other big men had moved ahead of him in the rotation, and the Nuggets are seeking veteran help for a playoff run. It’s not clear if Denver will try to work out another trade for Bol, who has a $2.15MM expiring contract.