Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Chandler Hutchison Cut By Suns

January 4th, 2022 at 4:45pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Suns have opted to release small forward Chandler Hutchison, who had been occupying one of their two-way contract slots, per JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link).

The 6’6″ swingman was selected with the No. 22 pick by the Bulls out of Boise State in 2018, but struggled to stay healthy during his Chicago tenure. He was eventually shipped to Washington during the 2020/21 season. After an uneventful time in Washington, Hutchison latched on with the Suns this season. The forward holds career averages of 5.4 PPG on .442/.309/.643 shooting and 3.7 RPG in 17.1 MPG for 103 games played between the Bulls, Wizards and Suns.

Hutchison appeared in just six contests with Phoenix, averaging 3.7 MPG. In six games with NBA G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors this season, Hutchison averaged 6.0 PPG and 2.7 RPG over 21.7 MPG.

With the loss of Hutchison, power forward Ish Wainright becomes the Suns’ only two-way player for now.

Clippers Re-Sign Xavier Moon To Second 10-Day Deal

January 4th, 2022 at 11:26am CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers have signed wing Xavier Moon to a second 10-day contract via a hardship exception, the team announced today. Moon’s initial 10-day deal with the club expired overnight.

The nephew of former NBA forward Jamario Moon, Xavier Moon appeared in four games during his first 10 days with the Clippers, averaging 5.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 1.3 SPG in 16.8 minutes per contest.

Those numbers were buoyed significantly by a strong showing on Monday night, when Moon recorded 13 points, four assists, four rebounds, and four steals in 26 minutes vs. Minnesota. Prior to that game, he had scored just 10 points on 5-of-17 shooting (0-for-4 on threes), but acting coach Brian Shaw has been impressed by what he’s seen from the 27-year-old.

“He belongs in this league, he has a good feel for the game and I think you saw that tonight,” Shaw said on Monday, per Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California News Group (Twitter link). “He plays hard, gets off the ball at the right time and he competes. Just a matter of finding the right fit, but I do believe he belongs on an NBA roster.”

The Clippers still have three players in the health and safety protocols and Moon is their third hardship replacement, along with James Ennis and Wenyen Gabriel.

Justin Jackson Signs Hardship Deal With Suns

January 4th, 2022 at 10:33am CST by Rory Maher

JANUARY 4: The Suns have officially signed Jackson to a 10-day deal, the team announced today (via Twitter).

Phoenix has four players in the health and safety protocols (Deandre Ayton, Jae Crowder, JaVale McGee, and Abdel Nader) and four players signed to 10-day hardship deals (Emanuel Terry, M.J. Walker, Paris Bass, and Bismack Biyombo), so the team was ineligible for another hardship addition without either another player entering protocols or one of its current 10-day deals being terminated.

As it turns out, both of those things have occurred. The Suns have released Terry and also placed Landry Shamet in the protocols, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter links).

DECEMBER 30: Justin Jackson is close to signing a 10-day contract with the Suns, tweets veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein. Jackson signed a 10-day deal with the Celtics on Dec. 18, appearing in one game (two minutes) with the team prior to entering the league’s health and safety protocols.

The 15th pick of the 2017 draft, Jackson has appeared in 248 NBA games. Last season, he played 33 games for the Thunder and another for the Bucks. He began his career with the Kings and also played one full season and part of another for Dallas.

The Mavericks waived Jackson during training camp prior to the season. In 10 games this season with the Texas Legends, Dallas’ G League affiliate, Jackson averaged a stellar 22.7 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 2.9 APG in 36.1 MPG.

Knicks Waive Denzel Valentine

January 3rd, 2022 at 4:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

4:56pm: The Knicks have officially waived Valentine, the team tweets.

4:20pm: The Knicks are placing Denzel Valentine on waivers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Valentine was just acquired from Cleveland in a three-team deal but New York obviously had no plans to retain the five-year veteran guard.

The dead-money cap hit for waiving Valentine is $880,509. However, New York received $1.1MM from the Lakers in the trade, offsetting the move. Wayne Selden was also waived on Monday, so New York will now have an open spot on the 15-man roster.

Valentine appeared in 22 games off the bench for Cleveland, averaging 2.9 PPG in 9.3 MPG. Valentine, who played four seasons for Chicago, will now try to hook onto another team in free agency.

Sixers Sign Charlie Brown Jr. After Maxey Enters Protocols

January 3rd, 2022 at 4:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Sixers have added Charlie Brown Jr. on a 10-day contract via the hardship exception after another prominent player entered health and safety protocols, Kyle Neubeck of the Philly Voice tweets. Philadelphia confirmed the signing in a team press release.

Starting guard Tyrese Maxey will miss Monday’s game against Houston due to those restrictions, joining Matisse Thybulle and two others.

Brown was signed to a 10-day contract by the Mavericks but it wasn’t renewed. He made three brief appearances with Dallas.

Brown had been playing with the NBAGL’s Delaware Blue Coats before the wave of COVID positives around the league. He also appeared in a total of 19 games with the Hawks in 2019/20 and the Thunder in 2020/21.

A Philadelphia native, Brown played his college basketball at Saint Joseph’s, where he averaged 19.0 PPG in his final season with the Hawks.

Grizzlies Sign Jon Teske To 10-Day Contract

January 3rd, 2022 at 4:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Grizzlies have signed big man Jon Teske to a 10-day contract under the hardship exception, the team’s PR department tweets.

Teske was waived by Orlando during training camp. He has appeared in 29 games with the G League Lakeland Magic in two seasons, averaging 6.9 PPG and 5.1 RPG. Teske played four seasons at Michigan but went undrafted in 2020.

Memphis currently has six players in the league’s health and safety protocols.

Quinndary Weatherspoon Signs Two-Way Deal With Warriors

January 3rd, 2022 at 12:26pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JANUARY 3: The Warriors have officially signed Weatherspoon to a two-way contract, the club announced today in a press release.

JANUARY 2: Shooting guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, who just completed a 10-day hardship exception deal with the Warriors, will rejoin Golden State on a two-way contract, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Weatherspoon was selected with the No. 49 pick out of Mississippi State by the Spurs, and logged two seasons with the Spurs on two successive two-way contracts, splitting his time between San Antonio and the team’s Austin NBAGL affiliate.

The 25-year-old out of Mississippi State kicked off the 2021/22 season with the Warriors’ NBAGL affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors. Weatherspoon has averaged 16.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 3.7 APG, 1.2 SPG and 0.7 BPG through nine games with Santa Cruz this year.

In his lone game with Golden State so far this season, Weatherspoon scored six points on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor. He also chipped in a rebound, a steal and a block.

Weatherspoon will supplant 6’3″ point guard Jeff Dowtin as the Warriors’ second two-way player while 5’11” point guard Chris Chiozza will continue to occupy the other two-way slot. Dowtin was released earlier today.

Cavs, Lakers, Knicks Officially Complete Rajon Rondo Trade

January 3rd, 2022 at 12:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers, Lakers, and Knicks have officially completed the trade sending Rajon Rondo to Cleveland, the teams announced today in a series of press releases. The deal, which was first reported las Thursday and was expanded today to include New York, breaks down as follows:

Cavaliers acquire Rondo (from Lakers).
Knicks acquire Denzel Valentine (from Cavaliers), the draft rights to Wang Zhelin (from Lakers), the draft rights to Brad Newley (from Lakers), and $1.1MM in cash (from Lakers).
Lakers acquire the draft rights to Louis Labeyrie (from Knicks).

It’s a straightforward swap from Cleveland’s perspective — the Cavaliers simply acquired Rondo in exchange for Valentine. Both players are on minimum-salary contracts, but Rondo’s deal is guaranteed (Valentine’s isn’t) and he fills a greater need for a Cavs team that just lost veteran point guard Ricky Rubio for the season due to a torn ACL.

The Knicks waived Wayne Selden in order to make room on the 15-man room roster for Valentine. Both players are on non-guaranteed contracts, so if New York also cuts Valentine, the amount of money the team ended up paying to Selden and Valentine would work out to just over $800K, which is less than the $1.1MM in cash acquired from L.A.

The Knicks could also hang onto Valentine if they so choose, but that’s reportedly considered unlikely. Waiving him would open up the club’s 15th roster spot.

The Lakers, meanwhile, essentially decided to move on from Rondo and pay the Knicks a little money in order to reduce their end-of-season luxury tax bill and open up a roster spot. The exact amount of money Los Angeles saves will depend on how quickly that roster opening is filled, but the savings will exceed the $1.1MM the club sent to the Knicks. Stanley Johnson, who has played well on a 10-day contract, is a good candidate to become the team’s new 15th man.

The Lakers and Cavaliers will both create small traded player exceptions in the deal. L.A.’s will be worth about $1.67MM, while Cleveland’s will be worth approximately $858K.

This is the NBA’s first trade since October 6.

Knicks Waive Wayne Selden

January 3rd, 2022 at 12:04pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have placed veteran shooting guard Wayne Selden on waivers, league sources tell Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The team needed to open up a roster spot in order to complete its acquisition of Denzel Valentine and Selden was the most expendable player on the roster, since his minimum-salary contract isn’t fully guaranteed.

Selden, 27, has appeared in a total of 127 NBA games since making his debut in 2017, but only three of those appearances came this season. He had five points on 1-of-4 shooting in 19 total minutes for the Knicks in 2021/22.

Selden would’ve earned a $1,729,217 salary if he had remained under contract for the entire season. Because he’s being released now, he’ll instead make a prorated minimum of $785,104, which is also the amount that will apply to New York’s team salary. If Selden is claimed on waivers, he’d be back on track to earn his full salary and he’d be removed entirely from the Knicks’ cap, but that’s probably a long shot.

With a newly-opened roster spot, the Knicks are free to officially finalize their three-team trade with the Cavaliers and Lakers to acquire Valentine. Like Selden, Valentine doesn’t have a fully guaranteed salary, so the club will need to decide this week whether or not to keep him around beyond Friday’s salary guarantee deadline. New York is unlikely to hang onto Valentine for the season, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv.

Ryan Arcidiacono Signs 10-Day Deal With Knicks

January 3rd, 2022 at 11:24am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JANUARY 3: The Knicks have officially signed Arcidiacono to his 10-day deal, the team announced today in a press release.

JANUARY 2: Former Bulls point guard Ryan Arcidiacono is set to join the Knicks on a 10-day hardship exception deal and could stick around for the rest of the season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

After going undrafted out of Villanova in 2016, the 6’3″ guard played with San Antonio’s NBA G League club, the Austin Spurs, during the 2016/17 season. He inked a two-way deal with the Bulls in 2017, and saw that converted to a standard contract with Chicago ahead of the 2018/19 season.

Arcidiacono played four total seasons in Chicago before the Bulls ultimately let him walk in free agency during the summer of 2021. The 27-year-old holds career NBA averages of 4.8 PPG, 2.2 APG, 2.0 RPG, and 0.6 SPG. He had most recently been playing with the Boston Celtics’ NBAGL affiliate, the Maine Celtics.

The Knicks are missing five players due to the health and safety protocols, but their need for a point guard is a result of injury absences. Derrick Rose continues to recover from an ankle surgery he underwent in late December and Kemba Walker sits for at least one night of back-to-back contests.