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Pacers Sign Terry Taylor To Two-Way Contract, Cut DeJon Jarreau

December 15th, 2021 at 3:10pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers are signing undrafted rookie Terry Taylor to a two-way contract, agents BJ Bass and Cam Brennick tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The team has confirmed the move, announcing in a press release that former Houston Cougars guard DeJon Jarreau has been waived to open up a two-way slot for Taylor, whose deal is official.

A 6’5″ wing, Taylor had a big senior year in 2020/21 for Austin Peay, averaging 21.6 points and 11.1 rebounds in 27 games (37.0 MPG). He saw his three-point percentage dip to just 27.9%, but he made 35.5% of his attempts from beyond the arc in his first three college seasons and still made 52.1% of his total shots from the floor as a senior.

Taylor’s performance in college earned him a training camp invitation from the Pacers. While he didn’t earn a spot on the regular season roster, he joined the Fort Wayne Mad Ants – Indiana’s G League affiliate – and has gotten off to a great start, averaging 19.5 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 2.3 APG, and 1.3 BPG on 67.9% shooting through 11 games (33.5 MPG).

Jarreau, meanwhile, has put up more modest numbers in 10 games (20.9 MPG) for Fort Wayne, recording 9.7 PPG, 4.3 APG, and 3.9 RPG with a .407/.381/.588 shooting line. He appeared briefly in just one game for Indiana.

Duane Washington holds the other two-way spot on the Pacers’ roster.

Bulls Sign Alfonzo McKinnie With Hardship Exception

December 10th, 2021 at 11:35am CST by Arthur Hill

11:35am: McKinnie has signed a 10-day contract, the Bulls announced (via Twitter).

8:34am: The Bulls will use a hardship exception to add veteran swingman Alfonzo McKinnie, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

McKinnie, 29, played for the Lakers last season, but was waived in August with two non-guaranteed years left on his contract. He got into 39 games for L.A. and averaged 3.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 6.6 minutes per night.

He is currently in the G League, where he’s playing for the Mexico City Capitanes and scoring 24.1 PPG while shooting 43.3% from three-point range.

After going undrafted out of Green Bay in 2015, McKinnie played overseas and in the G League before signing with the Raptors in 2017. He also spent a season with the Warriors and one with the Cavaliers.

The Bulls are dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak that has sapped their roster. They added Stanley Johnson under the hardship exemption earlier this week, but have since had a fifth player, Derrick Jones Jr. enter the league’s health and safety protocols.

Bulls Sign Stanley Johnson Via Hardship Exception

December 9th, 2021 at 12:02pm CST by Rory Maher

DECEMBER 9: The Bulls have officially signed Johnson to a 10-day contract using the hardship exception, the team announced today in a press release.

DECEMBER 8: The Bulls are signing forward Stanley Johnson by using a hardship exception, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Johnson was playing in the G League for the South Bay Lakers, but was with the Bulls during training camp.

The Bulls evidently applied for and were granted the hardship exception after Matt Thomas became the fourth member of the team to enter the league’s health and safety protocols.

Johnson, 25, was the No. 8 pick in the 2015 draft by the Pistons. He spent his first three-plus seasons in the league with Detroit before being traded to the Pelicans in 2018/19. Johnson played for the Raptors the past two seasons and was a regular rotation player last season, averaging 4.4 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 1.5 APG in 61 contests for the club (16.5 MPG).

Johnson is a strong, physical athlete and a solid defender, but shooting has limited his effectiveness in the NBA. In 331 career games (19.7 MPG), he holds averages of 6.2 PPG 3.1 RPG, and 1.4 APG on .375/.298/.761 shooting.

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.

Nuggets Sign Davon Reed

December 4th, 2021 at 9:27am CST by Dana Gauruder

DECEMBER 4: Reed has officially signed a 10-day contract, the team’s PR department tweets.

DECEMBER 2: The Nuggets plan to sign forward Davon Reed via the hardship exception, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The exception allows a team to add a 16th player to its standard “15-man” roster without waiving anyone.

Reed has been playing for the team’s new G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold. Reed has NBA experience as a 2017 second-round pick. He appeared in 21 games for Phoenix during the 2017/18 season and 1o more for Indiana the following season. In seven games with the Gold, Reed has averaged 12.7 PPG, 6.6 RPG and 3.8 APG.

The Nuggets have been decimated in recent days by injuries and COVID-19 issues. Michael Porter Jr. underwent back surgery on Wednesday and is expected to miss the rest of the season. Jamal Murray and PJ Dozier are also sidelined with long-term injuries. Austin Rivers, Bones Hyland and Bol Bol are currently out of action after being placed under the league’s health and safety protocols.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks noted (Twitter link), the Nuggets were able to apply for the hardship exception immediately since they had at least one player test positive for COVID-19 and three other players who have already missed three games with an injury and are deemed out for at least another two weeks.

Typically, NBA teams aren’t permitted to sign players to 10-day contracts until January 5, but the league tweaked its rules last season to allow them before then as long as they’re completed using the hardship exception. As such, Reed figures to get a 10-day deal.

Bucks Sign Wesley Matthews, Waive Georgios Kalaitzakis

December 3rd, 2021 at 6:14pm CST by Rory Maher

6:14pm: The Bucks have officially signed Matthews and requested waivers on Kalaitzakis, the team announced. Matthews’ contract is non-guaranteed, a source tells Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link).

4:07pm: The Bucks are signing veteran wing Wesley Matthews and waiving rookie forward Georgios Kalaitzakis in order to create a roster spot, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links).

It’s another win-now move for the defending champions, who signed center DeMarcus Cousins on Tuesday. The Bucks will be on the hook for the guaranteed portion of Kalaitzakis’ salary — he has a partial guarantee of $462,629. However, he’s already earned a good chunk of that amount by this point in the season, which makes it a very understandable move from both a basketball and financial perspective.

Matthews, 35, is entering his 13th season in the NBA. This will be a reunion for both player and team, as he spent the 2019/20 season with the Bucks, starting all 67 games he appeared in with averages of 7.4 PPG and 2.5 RPG on .396/.364/.765 shooting (24.4 MPG). He played for the Lakers last season, appearing in 58 contests (19.5 MPG) while averaging 4.8 PPG and 1.6 RPG on .353/.335/.854 shooting.

Matthews was a top-tier 3-and-D player in the early part of his career prior to tearing his Achilles tendon in 2015. He’s never put up the same type of efficient offensive numbers since suffering the injury, but he’s still regarded as a good defensive player and is a highly respected veteran. In 849 career games (739 starts), he holds career averages of 12.6 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 2.1 APG, and 1.0 SPG on .421/.379/.824 shooting.

Kalaitzakis, the 60th pick in the 2021 draft, was signed to a partially guaranteed, three-year deal ahead of his rookie season. The Greece native appeared in nine games for the Bucks for a total of 48 minutes, putting up modest stats of 1.8 PPG and 0.9 RPG in 5.3 MPG. Evidently Milwaukee did not see enough from the 22-year-0ld to justify keeping him on a standard contract.

It’s very unlikely that he gets signed by a team with an open roster spot, as that list is comprised of either contending teams or teams right against the luxury tax, or both. Perhaps a two-way spot could be possible, but all 60 of those spots are taken right now, so that would require a team to waive a current two-way player. Kalaitzakis’ most realistic path back to the NBA is probably through the G League, but returning to Europe could be a viable possibility, too.

Pelicans Sign Gary Clark To Non-Guaranteed Deal

December 3rd, 2021 at 2:08pm CST by Luke Adams

December 3: The Pelicans have officially signed Clark, the team announced in a press release.

December 2: The Pelicans are signing forward Gary Clark to a non-guaranteed contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

New Orleans has a full 15-man roster, but will be able to move Didi Louzada to the suspended list now that he has served more than five games of his 25-game ban for violating the league’s anti-drug policy, as Christian Clark of NOLA.com confirms (via Twitter). When Louzada’s suspension ends, the Pelicans will have to get back down to 15 players by trading or waiving Clark or another player.

Clark, 27, has appeared in a total of 132 NBA regular season games since making his debut in 2018. Last season, he averaged 3.1 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 39 games (16.8 MPG) for the Magic, Nuggets, and Sixers. He’s known more for his defense, having put up very modest offensive numbers (3.2 PPG on .346/.311/.889 shooting) in his NBA career.

Clark had been playing for the Mexico City Capitanes in the G League this season, where he was averaging 14.4 PPG and 6.9 RPG with 1.5 SPG through eight games (31.3 MPG). While it’s a small sample, he has been letting it fly from beyond the three-point line in the NBA G League and has made 37.3% of 7.4 attempts per game so far.

Clark’s minimum-salary contract will pay him just over $9,900 per day.

Bucks Sign Javonte Smart, Waive Justin Robinson

November 30th, 2021 at 12:24pm CST by Luke Adams

November 30: The Bucks have officially signed Smart to a two-way contract and requested waivers on Robinson, the team announced in a press release.

November 29: The Bucks intend to sign guard Javonte Smart to a two-way contract and will waive Justin Robinson to create an opening on their 17-man roster, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).

Smart, who went undrafted earlier this year, averaged 16.0 PPG, 4.0 APG, and 3.7 RPG as a junior for LSU in 2020/21. The 6’4″ guard posted an impressive shooting line of .460/.402/.857 in 28 games (35.6 MPG), earning All-SEC Second Team honors.

The Heat signed Smart to a training camp contract and made him an affiliate player for the Sioux Falls Skyforce after he was waived during the preseason. He has played well at the G League level so far, putting up 22.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 3.6 APG on .488/.396/.917 shooting in his first five games (35.1 MPG) for the Skyforce.

Robinson had already appeared in 17 games for the Bucks this season while on his two-way contract, but wasn’t especially effective in his limited role. The 6’1″ guard averaged 2.8 PPG and 1.2 APG on .316/.270/1.000 shooting in 11.6 minutes per contest.

The Bucks are making a handful of tweaks to their roster this week. They’ve also reached an agreement to sign DeMarcus Cousins to a standard, non-guaranteed contract. He’ll fill the open spot on their 15-man roster.

DeMarcus Cousins Signs Non-Guaranteed Deal With Bucks

November 30th, 2021 at 11:52am CST by Rory Maher

November 30: The Bucks have officially signed Cousins, the team announced.

November 28: Former All-Star DeMarcus Cousins is signing a non-guaranteed deal with the Bucks, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Cousins, 31, split time with the Rockets and Clippers last season, averaging a combined 8.9 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 1.9 APG in just 17.4 MPG across 41 games (11 starts).

“Boogie” is a four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA member. He spent his prime seasons with the Kings and Pelicans before suffering a series of devastating leg injuries — first a torn Achilles tendon with the Pelicans, then a torn quad with the Warriors, and finally a torn ACL that sidelined him for the entire 2019/20 season.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN notes (via Twitter) that Cousins stayed in shape while awaiting an opportunity, and the Bucks were one of a handful of teams to have an open roster spot.

The Bucks have dealt with a series of injuries to open their title defense. Center Brook Lopez (lower back) has played just one game for the team, while Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, and Bobby Portis all missed significant time. Donte DiVincenzo has yet to suit up this season after undergoing left ankle surgery in June.

Cousins could see action immediately with the frontcourt depth thin at the moment. He was productive in limited minutes last season and Milwaukee could use his size and toughness off the bench. The Bucks have won six games in a row and sit with a 12-8 record after 20 games.

Lakers Waive Sekou Doumbouya, Add Chaundee Brown

November 17th, 2021 at 2:34am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

NOVEMBER 17: The Lakers have issued a press release confirming the signing of Brown and the waiving of Doumbouya.

NOVEMBER 16: Two-way Lakers forward Sekou Doumbouya is set to be waived by L.A. as he recovers from a foot ailment, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The banged-up Lakers are replacing the injured Doumbouya with the healthy Chaundee Brown, a 6’5″ wing currently with the team’s NBAGL affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. Brown will now occupy Los Angeles’ second two-way roster slot, alongside Jay Huff.

Brown, 22, went undrafted out of Michigan this summer. He was initially inked to an Exhibit 10 contract and logged time on the Lakers’ preseason roster before being waived and subsequently added to the club’s South Bay affiliate. Brown, the 60th-ranked prospect on ESPN’s 2021 predraft big board, averaged 8.0 PPG and 3.1 RPG with a .419 3PT% during his senior season in 2020/21.

The 6’8″ Doumbouya, still just 20, was selected by Detroit with the No. 15 pick in the 2019 NBA draft. After not establishing himself as a cornerstone for a rebuilding Pistons club during his first two NBA seasons, Doumbouya signed a two-way deal with the Lakers this year. He appeared in two contests, averaging 7.0 PPG and 3.0 RPG.

Ramona Shelburne of ESPN notes (via Twitter) that Doumbouya’s foot injury is fairly minor. Meanwhile, Dave McMenamin of ESPN tweets that Brown is not traveling with the Lakers, who are set to kick off a five-game road jaunt tomorrow against the Bucks.

Raptors Waive Sam Dekker

November 6th, 2021 at 10:47am CST by Rory Maher

NOVEMBER 6: The team has officially waived Dekker, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. Bonga’s $1.67MM contract has been fully guaranteed, Lewenberg adds.

NOVEMBER 5: The Raptors are waiving forward Sam Dekker, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. Dekker was on a partially guaranteed deal, so he will still earn $350K, the guaranteed portion of his contract.

Dekker had been in a battle with Isaac Bonga for the 14th spot on the roster. Both players previously agreed to push back their guarantee date to November 6.

Dekker only appeared in one regular season game for the Raptors, logging one minute, though he had some nice performances in the preseason. He last played in the NBA in 2018/19, having spent the past two seasons playing in Europe.

The move allows the Raptors to stay under the luxury tax threshold, as was mentioned in our previous articles.

Assuming he clears waivers, Dekker will become an unrestricted free agent.

As for Bonga, it’s unclear if the Raptors intend to guarantee his minimum salary for 2021/22. It’s possible the two sides could agree to push his guarantee date back. He could even be waived too, though the team would have to get back up to 14 players within two weeks in that scenario. For now, his spot on the roster at least appears safer than Dekker’s.