Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

James Ennis Signs With Clippers

December 29th, 2021 at 10:43am CST by Dana Gauruder

DECEMBER 29: The Clippers have officially signed Ennis to a 10-day hardship deal, the team announced today. The contract will run through January 7, covering L.A.’s next five games.

DECEMBER 28: Veteran forward James Ennis is expected to sign a 10-day hardship contract with the Clippers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Ennis’ 10-day contract with the Nets expired last night and our JD Shaw reported today (via Twitter) that the team didn’t plan to sign him to a second deal. Ironically, Ennis made a cameo appearance against the Clippers on Monday. He also played one other game for the Nets.

The well-traveled Ennis appeared in 41 games for the Magic last season, including 37 starts. He averaged 8.4 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 24.0 MPG. He failed to find a free agent offer after playing out his one-year, $3.3MM contract with Orlando.

The Clippers currently have three players in the league’s health and safety protocols.

Hawks Sign Cameron Oliver, Chris Clemons To 10-Day Contracts

December 29th, 2021 at 10:28am CST by Arthur Hill

DECEMBER 29: Oliver and Clemons have officially joined the Hawks on 10-day deals, the team announced in a press release. Atlanta is now carrying an unprecedented nine extra players via hardship exceptions and 26 players in total.

DECEMBER 28: With their roster ravaged by COVID-19, the Hawks will sign Cameron Oliver and Chris Clemons to 10-day contracts under the hardship provision, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Atlanta already had 10 players in the league’s health and safety protocols, and that number grew today when Bogdan Bogdanovic, Gorgui Dieng and Malik Ellison were all added, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Trae Young cleared protocols Monday after submitting two negative COVID-19 tests.

Oliver, a 25-year-old forward, has been in the G League with the South Bay Lakers, averaging 14.4 points and 7.1 rebounds in 14 games. He was in training camp with the Lakers, but was waived before the season began. He played four games for the Rockets last season after signing a 10-day deal in May.

Clemons, a 24-year-old guard, was playing for the Maine Celtics in the G League, where he averaged 16.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 14 games. He was with the Celtics in training camp and played 33 games for the Rockets during the 2019/20 season.

Cavaliers Sign Malik Newman To 10-Day Contract

December 29th, 2021 at 10:14am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

DECEMBER 29: Newman’s 10-day deal is now official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. It’ll run through January 7, covering Cleveland’s next five games.

DECEMBER 28: The Cavaliers will add 6’3″ shooting guard Malik Newman to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).

As Charania notes, Newman had most recently been playing for the Cavaliers’ NBAGL affiliate club, the Cleveland Charge. The 24-year-old out of Kansas has averaged 17.8 PPG, 3.8 APG, and 3.2 RPG on .473/.423/.789 shooting in 13 games (27.2 MPG) for the Charge this season. He has played in exactly one NBA game, for the Cavaliers, during the 2019/20 season.

Cleveland has six players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols as of this writing, including star guard Darius Garland and little-used reserve Dylan Windler. Guard Collin Sexton is also out for the season after having surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Jarrett Allen, Ed Davis, Cedi Osman and Lamar Stevens round out the club’s COVID-19 absences.

Newman will be the Cavs’ fourth hardship addition, joining Luke Kornet, Justin Anderson, and Tre Scott.

Heat To Sign Aric Holman To 10-Day Contract

December 29th, 2021 at 10:10am CST by Luke Adams

The Heat will sign big man Aric Holman to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

As Wojnarowski details, Holman had been playing for the Austin Spurs in the G League, which means he’s within driving distance of San Antonio. The plan is for him to head there immediately to join the Heat in advance of Wednesday’s game vs. the Spurs to help avoid a postponement.

Three more Heat players entered the health and safety protocols today, bringing the team’s total to six. With four players also injured, the team is at risk of not having the required minimum of eight players for tonight’s contest. Holman and Kyle Guy, who has also agreed to a 10-day deal, should help Miami get there.

Holman, who went undrafted out of Mississippi State in 2019, played in Germany last season but has otherwise been in the G League since going pro. In 14 games (20.4 MPG) for Austin this season, the 24-year-old averaged 7.5 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.0 APG, and 1.5 BPG on .463/.326/.250 shooting (that free-throw mark came on just four attempts).

Nets Re-Sign Shaquille Harrison

December 29th, 2021 at 8:26am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets have signed guard Shaquille Harrison to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release. The move was completed using a hardship exception.

Harrison, who was initially on a 10-day deal with Brooklyn from December 18-27, appeared in two games for the team during that time, averaging 2.0 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and 1.5 APG in 11.5 minutes per contest. The 28-year-old is known more for his ability to defend than for his contributions on the offensive end.

Harrison and James Ennis both had their 10-day deals with the Nets expire on Monday night. As our JD Shaw noted on Tuesday (via Twitter), Brooklyn opted not to re-sign Ennis since Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge were exiting the health and safety protocols. However, with Kyrie Irving working on his conditioning and rookie guards David Duke and Cam Thomas still in the protocols, the club apparently decided it was worth retaining Harrison for another 10 days.

Brooklyn now has three players on hardship contracts. Wenyen Gabriel‘s deal runs through Thursday, while Langston Galloway‘s expires next Wednesday night.

Heat To Sign Kyle Guy To 10-Day Contract

December 29th, 2021 at 7:48am CST by Luke Adams

The Heat are signing guard Kyle Guy to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Guy will be Miami’s second hardship signing, joining Zylan Cheatham.

The 55th overall pick in the 2019 draft, Guy spent his first two NBA seasons on a two-way contract with Sacramento, but played a very limited role with the Kings, appearing in 34 games and averaging 2.7 PPG and 1.0 APG in 7.2 minutes per contest.

Guy has seen more action at the G League level, appearing in 37 games with the Stockton Kings as a rookie and 12 more games this season with the Cleveland Charge, the Cavaliers’ G League affiliate. The 24-year-old has averaged 21.1 PPG, 4.6 APG, and 4.3 RPG on .421/.392/.758 shooting in 35.7 MPG over the course of his NBAGL career.

Guy will earn $95,930 on his 10-day deal, which won’t count against Miami’s team salary for cap or tax purposes.

The Heat have three players in the health and safety protocols, so they’re eligible to sign one more player via a hardship exception if they so choose. There’s no indication that’s in the immediate plans though.

Wizards Sign Alize Johnson

December 28th, 2021 at 7:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

7:36pm: Johnson officially signed prior to the team’s game in Miami, the team announced (via Twitter).

4:43pm: Alize Johnson is signing with the Wizards on Tuesday and could play significant minutes right away, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Johnson will ink a 10-day contract under the hardship exemption. He was waived by the Bulls over the weekend. His agent told Wojnarowski that his client landed in Miami after clearing waivers and is on the way to the arena, where Washington is playing tonight.

Washington has eight players in protocols, including frontcourt players Thomas Bryant, Rui Hachimura, Anthony Gill and Montrezl Harrell.

Washington has five games over the next 10 days and Johnson will receive about $98K from the Wizards to go along with the $705K+ he made with Chicago, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.

Johnson appeared in 16 games for the Bulls, averaging 1.8 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 7.6 MPG.

Selected by the Pacers with the 50th pick in 2018, Johnson spent two years with Indiana, then played 18 games for the Nets last season after joining the team in March on a 10-day contract.

Trail Blazers Sign Reggie Perry Via Hardship Exception

December 28th, 2021 at 7:00pm CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 28: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

DECEMBER 27: The Trail Blazers intend to sign big man Reggie Perry to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 57th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Perry spent his rookie year in ’20/21 on a two-way contract with the Nets, averaging 3.0 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 26 games (8.1 MPG) at the NBA level and putting up 18.1 PPG and 8.9 RPG in 15 games (28.8 MPG) for the Long Island Nets in the G League.

Perry joined the Raptors for training camp this fall, then joined Toronto’s G League affiliate after failing to secure a spot on the regular season roster. He has averaged a double-double (19.7 PPG, 10.1 RPG) in 11 games (32.0 MPG) for the Raptors 905 this season and has shown an ability to stretch the floor, hitting 2.1 threes per game at a 37.7% clip.

The Blazers, who currently have seven players in the health and safety protocols, have signed three replacement players to 10-day deals so far — Perry will be the fourth.

Rockets Add DeJon Jarreau On 10-Day Deal

December 28th, 2021 at 4:45pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

4:45pm: Jarreau has signed a 10-day contract under the hardship exemption, according to a team press release.

3:41pm: The Rockets are set to sign former Houston Cougars guard DeJon Jarreau, per Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (Twitter link). Berman adds that Jarreau will be suiting up with Houston and available to play tonight against the Lakers.

Jarreau, most recently a two-way player with the Pacers, was cut by the club earlier this month to make room for fellow undrafted rookie guard Terry Taylor. Jarreau appeared in just one NBA game during his stint with the Pacers.

The 6’5″ rookie shooting guard played in 10 contests for the Pacers’ NBAGL affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, this season. In 20.9 MPG, he averaged 9.7 PPG on .407/.381/.588 shooting, along with notching 4.3 APG and 3.9 RPG.

Given that the Rockets have 15 guaranteed contracts on their books and both two-way contract slots occupied, the deal is most likely a 10-day contract using a hardship exception.

The Rockets currently have guards D.J. Augustin, Kenyon Martin Jr., and Garrison Mathews, as well as small forward Jae’Sean Tate, all in the league’s COVID-19 protocols.

Pelicans Sign Feron Hunt To 10-Day Deal

December 28th, 2021 at 2:26pm CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 28: The Pelicans have officially signed Hunt, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

DECEMBER 27: The Pelicans plan to sign G League forward Feron Hunt to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Hunt, a 6’8″ forward, went undrafted out of SMU in 2021 after a junior year in which he recorded 11.1 PPG and 7.9 RPG in 16 games (28.2 MPG).

The 22-year-old has spent his rookie season so far playing for the Texas Legends, Dallas’ G League affiliate, and has averaged 15.9 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 2.1 SPG with a .530 FG% in 12 NBAGL games (32.9 MPG).

New Orleans currently has three players in the health and safety protocols, making the team eligible for three hardship additions. The team has already signed Justin James and Anthony Tolliver to 10-day contracts — Hunt will be the third.