Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Spurs Sign Anthony Lamb After Four Players Enter Protocols

January 6th, 2022 at 4:27pm CST by Rory Maher

4:27pm: The Lamb signing is official, according to a team press release.

1:32pm: The Spurs plan to sign Anthony Lamb to a 10-day contract via a hardship exception after Keldon Johnson, Derrick White, Thaddeus Young and Devin Vassell entered the league’s health and safety protocols, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News was the first to break the four players entering the COVID-19 protocols (via Twitter). The good news is that Lonnie Walker has cleared the protocols and could return to action Friday against the Sixers, a league source told Orsborn (Twitter link).

Lamb, 23, played in the G League bubble with the Canton Charge and Rio Grande Valley Vipers in 2020/21 after going undrafted out of Vermont in 2020. His solid showing for Houston’s G League affiliate (the Vipers) earned him a two-way deal with the Rockets last March. He averaged 5.5 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 24 games (17.3 MPG) for Houston, then accepted his two-way qualifying offer this offseason. However, he was waived on October 18 so that the Rockets could claim Garrison Mathews.

Lamb has spent this season playing with the Vipers, putting up 15.0 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 2.8 APG on .460/.415/.821 shooting in 13 games (10 starts). The Spurs now have five players in the protocols (the fifth being Doug McDermott), and Lamb will be their third 10-day hardship deal, along with Tyler Johnson and Jaylen Morris.

Magic Sign Admiral Schofield To Two-Way Deal, Waive Mychal Mulder

January 6th, 2022 at 3:46pm CST by Rory Maher

The Magic announced in a press release (via Twitter) that they’ve signed forward Admiral Schofield to a two-way contract, and in order to do so they’ve waived guard Mychal Mulder.

Schofield recently completed two 10-day contracts with Orlando via hardship exceptions, and the team decided to keep him around. In nine games with the Magic this season, he is averaging 4.8 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 16.9 MPG.

The Magic previously signed Schofield to an Exhibit 10 training camp deal, but he was waived ahead of the regular season. He’d been playing with Orlando’s G League affiliate in Lakeland prior to the call-up, averaging 14.4 PPG and 7.3 RPG in 12 games (33.0 MPG).

The combo forward out of Tennessee was originally drafted with the No. 42 pick in 2019 by the Sixers, before being sent to the Wizards in a draft-night trade. Across 33 NBA appearances during his 2019/20 rookie season with Washington, the 24-year-old Schofield averaged 3.0 PPG and 1.4 RPG in 11.2 MPG.

Mulder spent three seasons in the G League after going undrafted out of Kentucky in 2017. He signed a 10-day contract with Golden State in February of 2020 and played well enough to earn a multi-year deal. The 27-year-old played 60 games for Golden State last season, averaging 5.6 PPG and 1.0 RPG with a .397 3PT% in 12.8 MPG. He remained with the Warriors through the preseason, but was waived in the team’s final round of cuts.

Mulder inked a two-way deal with Orlando on October 26, but he struggled to make an impact during his stint with the Magic this season, averaging 3.7 PPG and 1.4 RPG on .299/.283/1.000 shooting in 15 games (13 MPG).

Pacers Waive Kelan Martin

January 6th, 2022 at 3:13pm CST by Rory Maher

The Pacers have waived reserve guard/forward Kelan Martin ahead of the contract guarantee deadline on Friday, per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (via Twitter).

Martin was playing on a non-guaranteed contract this season, so Indiana won’t be on the hook for his entire $1,701,593 cap hit. It’s a tough blow for the veteran wing, who’s currently isolating at home after contracting COVID-19, as Agness relays (Twitter link).

Martin, 26, has appeared in 27 games this season with Indiana, averaging 6.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in 16.4 minutes per contest. His shooting line of .417/.297/.692 isn’t great, but to be fair to him, it’s hard to get a rhythm playing a limited role.

After a productive four-year college career with Butler, Martin went undrafted in 2018 and spent his first season as a professional playing in Germany. He caught on with the Timberwolves for the 2019/20 season, signing a two-way deal, and then spent last season and nearly half of this season with the Pacers. Martin and the Pacers had previously agreed to push back his guarantee date a couple of times, but ultimately the team decided to open a roster spot by waiving him.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets that Martin will have a $801,900 cap hit for the Pacers and the team is now $2.3MM below the luxury tax threshold.

Greg Monroe Signs 10-Day Deal With Wizards

January 6th, 2022 at 11:43am CST by Luke Adams

JANURY 6: Monroe’s signing is official, the Wizards announced in a press release.

JANUARY 5: Greg Monroe, whose 10-day contract with the Timberwolves is set to expire tonight, won’t be re-signed by Minnesota, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who reports (via Twitter) that the veteran center has lined up a deal with a new team. Monroe is expected to sign a 10-day contract with the Wizards, says Wolfson.

After being out of the NBA since 2019, Monroe got an opportunity to make a comeback during December’s league-wide COVID-19 outbreak and played a legitimate rotation role with the Wolves. In three games (21.0 MPG), he averaged 6.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 3.7 APG, and 1.3 BPG.

The Wizards don’t have an open spot on their 15-man roster, so they’ll likely use a hardship exception to add Monroe. While Minnesota no longer has any players in the health and safety protocols, Washington currently has a league-high seven players affected.

The Wizards have six players on 10-day contracts at the moment, so if players start exiting the COVID-19 protocols, they may no longer be eligible for another hardship addition — teams qualify for one hardship replacement for each player in the protocols. However, five of those six active 10-day deals will expire by Sunday, so the team could always terminate one of them a day or two early if necessary.

Stanley Johnson Signs 10-Day Deal With Lakers

January 6th, 2022 at 11:39am CST by Rory Maher

JANUARY 6: Johnson’s 10-day contract is official, the Lakers announced (via Twitter)

JANUARY 5: Forward Stanley Johnson is likely to sign a 10-day deal with the Lakers on Thursday, sources tell Dave McMenamin of ESPN (via Twitter). Johnson’s 10-day hardship deal with the Lakers expired on Monday, and he made a strong impression on the club with his on-ball defense and toughness, says McMenamin.

The 25-year-old Johnson averaged 6.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 1.4 APG in five games (three starts) with Los Angeles. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, there’s no difference in salary between signing Johnson to a couple of 10-day deals and then signing him to a contract that covers the rest of the season at the end of January vs. signing him to a rest-of-season deal on Thursday, so the move is all about maintaining roster flexibility ahead of the trade deadline on February 10.

Johnson, a Los Angeles native, signed with the Bulls on a 10-day hardship deal last month but never suited up for the team after entering the league’s health and safety protocols. He spent training camp and preseason with Chicago, but was released prior to the season. He had been playing with the Lakers’ G League squad, South Bay, prior to being called up to the NBA. In six games with South Bay this season (30.5 MPG), Johnson put up 15.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 2.2 SPG with a .405/.286/.750 shooting line.

There had been mutual interest between Johnson and the Lakers to reach a contract agreement, especially after the team traded Rajon Rondo to the Cavaliers to clear a roster spot. The No. 8 overall pick in the 2015 draft, Johnson has played for the Pistons, Pelicans, Raptors and Lakers since entering the NBA. He has proven capable of providing energy and defensive versatility, but his offensive game has always been limited. In 376 career regular season games, he has averaged 6.2 PPG on .376/.297/.764 shooting in 19.8 minutes per contest.

Ryan Arcidiacono Signs 10-Day Contract With Knicks

January 6th, 2022 at 9:37am CST by Arthur Hill

Two days after his hardship contract with the Knicks was voided by the NBA, Ryan Arcidiacono has signed a regular 10-day deal, the team announced via Twitter.

New York originally reached a 10-day contract with Arcidiacono on Monday under the league’s hardship provision. However, once Mitchell Robinson and Jericho Sims cleared the health and safety protocols, the Knicks only had two players remaining in the protocols and already had two hardship additions on their roster.

Wednesday marked the first day that teams were permitted to begin signing players to conventional 10-day deals. New York had an open roster spot after waiving Wayne Selden and Denzel Valentine this week.

Arcidiacono, 27, spent his first four seasons with the Bulls, averaging 4.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 207 games. He signed a training camp deal with the Celtics in September, but was waived before the start of the season and has been playing for Boston’s G League affiliate in Maine.

Braxton Key Signs 10-Day Deal With Sixers

January 5th, 2022 at 8:59am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JANUARY 5: Key’s 10-day contract with the Sixers is now official, according to the team (Twitter link). It will run through January 14, covering Philadelphia’s next five games.

JANUARY 4: The Sixers are set to call up forward Braxton Key using a 10-day hardship exception deal, per Kyle Neubeck of the Philly Voice. Key is currently playing with Philadelphia’s NBA G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.

Neubeck adds that Key, 24, could suit up for the Sixers as early as Wednesday against the Magic, provided he clears the league’s COVID-19 protocols.

The 6’8″ forward went undrafted out of Virginia, with whom he won the 2019 NCAA title, in 2020. He first signed with the Blue Coats during the 2020/21 season. Key is averaging 13.1 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.9 SPG and 1.2 BPG across 15 games with Delaware this year.

The Sixers currently have five players still in the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols, though point guard Myles Powell could be available in time for the team’s Orlando game.

Shooting guard Charlie Brown Jr. is the only other player on the Philadelphia roster currently signed to a 10-day hardship exception contract.

Jazz Trade Miye Oni, Second-Round Pick To Thunder

January 4th, 2022 at 4:51pm CST by Luke Adams

4:51pm: In a press release, the Thunder have confirmed their trade to acquire Oni and the Jazz’s 2028 second-round pick, in addition to the release of Deck. Utah acquired cash in return, according to the announcement.

3:03pm: The Jazz are finalizing an agreement with the Thunder on a trade that will send swingman Miye Oni to Oklahoma City, according to Shams Charania and Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Thunder will also receive Utah’s 2028 second-round pick in the deal, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Oni doesn’t have a fully guaranteed salary for the 2021/22 season, so he can be waived by Friday without his entire $1,782,621 cap hit applying to team salary. Presumably, the Jazz planned to part ways with Oni before Friday’s salary guarantee deadline and will trade him instead of cutting him so that his cap hit won’t apply to team salary at all for cap or tax purposes.

If Utah had released him, Oni would’ve counted against the cap for a prorated portion of his minimum salary — that amount (about $820K as of Monday) would’ve further increased the team’s end-of-season tax penalty. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), the Jazz’s projected tax bill would’ve been about $2.4MM higher if Oni had been waived rather than traded.

Instead, the Thunder will be the ones releasing Oni, according to Wojnarowski. They’re well below the salary floor despite technically operating over the cap, so adding a little dead money to their cap is well worth it to acquire a future second-round pick.

With no players headed from Oklahoma City to Utah in the swap, the Jazz will open up a second spot on their 15-man roster, which they’ll have to fill within the next two weeks.

The Thunder will have to waive someone in order to make room on the roster for Oni, even though they don’t plan to keep him. Gabriel Deck, who has a partially guaranteed salary, will be the odd man out in OKC, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Once they officially release Deck and then acquire and waive Oni, the Thunder will have an opening on their 15-man roster too.

Since Oni is in the final season of a three-year contract, he can’t be acquired using the minimum salary exception, so the Thunder will have to use a traded player exception to absorb his salary. They have two sizeable TPEs expiring next month that would work.

The Jazz will create a small traded player exception worth a prorated portion of Oni’s salary in the deal.

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.