Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Clippers Cut Moses Wright, George King

October 14th, 2021 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers have waived forwards Moses Wright and George King, the team announced today. Both players signed Exhibit 10 contracts with Los Angeles last month.

An undrafted rookie, Wright spent all four years of his college career at Georgia Tech and had a huge season as a senior in 2020/21, averaging 17.4 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.6 BPG, and 1.5 SPG with a .532/.414/.658 shooting line in 25 games (35.3 MPG). He was named the ACC Player of the Year and made the ACC’s All-Defensive team.

King, the 59th overall pick in the 2018 draft out of Colorado, spent his rookie season with Phoenix on a two-way contract, but appeared in just one NBA game and has been out of the league for the last two years. He played in Italy and Poland during the 2019/20 season, then spent the ’20/21 campaign in Germany with the Niners Chemnitz.

Both Wright and King played sparingly for the Clippers during the preseason, logging fewer than 10 minutes per game. It’s possible both players will end up on the roster of the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, L.A.’s G League affiliate.

The Clippers will have to make at least one more cut before the regular season begins. Harry Giles and Isaiah Hartenstein are vying for the 15th spot on the roster.

Rockets Sign Armoni Brooks To Four-Year Deal

October 14th, 2021 at 12:21pm CST by Luke Adams

12:21pm: The Rockets have officially signed Brooks to a multiyear contract, the team announced today in a press release. The club also confirmed the previously-reported signing of guard Marcus Foster.

According to Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link), Brooks’ four-year deal can be worth up to $7.2MM. That means it’s a minimum-salary contract, which would have a four-year value of $7,201,486. The second and third years are non-guaranteed with July trigger dates, while the fourth year is a team option, says Iko.

11:10am: The Rockets are signing guard Armoni Brooks to a four-year contract, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). The first-year salary will be guaranteed, with trigger dates for each season after that, Wojnarowski reports.

Brooks, 23, appeared in 20 games for the Rockets in 2020/21, averaging 11.2 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 1.5 APG with a shooting line of .406/.382/.583 in 26.0 minutes per contest. The former Houston Cougar had previously played in the G League since going undrafted in 2019.

After reaching free agency this offseason, Brooks re-signed with the Rockets on an Exhibit 10 contract, which the team converted to a two-way contract on Wednesday. Houston wouldn’t have been able to turn Brooks’ one-year Exhibit 10 contract into a four-year deal directly, but moving him to a two-way slot opened the door for the two sides to negotiate a new multiyear contract. The club will use part of its mid-level exception to complete the signing.

The move will create a bit of a roster crunch for the Rockets, since they already had 15 players on guaranteed contracts. John Wall, who technically remains with the team but isn’t expected to play in any games, is the most expendable player on the roster, but there hasn’t been any indication that a trade or buyout is close. Dante Exum could also be at risk — half of his $5MM cap hit consists of incentives that the club wouldn’t have to pay if Exum is cut.

Moving Brooks back to the standard roster will also open up a two-way slot for the Rockets. If former two-way player Tyler Bey clears waivers, perhaps he could return on a new deal. Camp invitee Daishen Nix is also a candidate to have his Exhibit 10 deal converted to a two-way pact.

Knicks Release Myles Powell

October 14th, 2021 at 10:46am CST by Luke Adams

After signing him earlier in the week, the Knicks have waived guard Myles Powell, the team announced today (via Twitter).

Powell, a 6’2″ guard who went undrafted out of Seton Hall in 2020, averaged 17.8 PPG, 3.8 APG, and 3.4 RPG in 13 games (28.1 MPG) for the Westchester Knicks during the abridged 2020/21 season, posting an impressive shooting line of .448/.446/.818 for New York’s G League affiliate.

As Fred Katz of The Athletic confirms (via Twitter), the Knicks signed Powell to an Exhibit 10 contract this week with an eye toward having him return to Westchester for the 2021/22 season. The team already has Powell’s NBAGL returning rights, but completing an Exhibit 10 deal will allow him to receive a $50K bonus, assuming he spends at least 60 days with New York’s G League team.

The Knicks now have 19 players under contract, including 14 on guaranteed deals and one on a two-way pact.

Grizzlies Sign Ahmad Caver, Matthew Hurt; Waive Sean McDermott, Romeo Weems

October 14th, 2021 at 10:17am CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies have completed a series of four roster moves, announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived Sean McDermott and Romeo Weems, replacing them on the roster with Ahmad Caver and Matthew Hurt.

Both McDermott and Weems had been on Exhibit 10 contracts and it’s safe to assume that Caver and Hurt will receive similar deals.

All four players are candidates to join the Memphis Hustle, the Grizzlies’ G League affiliate. Signing them to Exhibit 10 deals now ensures the Grizzlies will secure their NBAGL rights or – if the team already holds their returning rights – will be able to award them bonuses of up to $50K if they spend at least 60 days with the Hustle.

Caver, a 6’2″ point guard, has spent the last two seasons with the Hustle and made a major impact off the bench for the team in the 2021 NBAGL bubble, averaging 16.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 3.8 APG on .525/.425/.634 shooting in 15 games (29.4 MPG).

Hurt, a 6’9″ forward who played two seasons for Duke, had a very productive sophomore season for the Blue Devils in 2020/21, averaging 18.3 PPG and 6.2 RPG with a stellar .556/.444/.724 shooting line across 24 games (32.7 MPG). He signed a two-way contract with Houston in August, but was waived in September.

Raptors Sign Alex Antetokounmpo To Exhibit 10 Deal

October 13th, 2021 at 11:00pm CST by Luke Adams

11:00pm: The deal is official, per RealGM’s transactions log.

9:31pm: The Raptors will sign forward Alex Antetokounmpo, the younger brother of Giannis Antetokounmpo, to an Exhibit 10 contract before the regular season begins next week, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).

The Greek newspaper Ethnos first reported last month that Antetokounmpo was expected to sign with Toronto.

As Murphy notes, the plan is for Antetokounmpo to be waived shortly after he signs. His Exhibit 10 deal would allow the Raptors to gain his affiliate rights and ensure he receives a bonus worth up to $50K for eventually joining the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League team.

Antetokounmpo, 20, spent last season under contract in Spain with UCAM Murcia, then joined the Kings’ Summer League roster in August.

As we wrote earlier today, Toronto is also signing former Thunder forward Josh Hall to an Exhibit 10 contract for G League purposes.

Rockets Convert Armoni Brooks To Two-Way Contract, Waive Tyler Bey

October 13th, 2021 at 9:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets are converting the contract of three-point shooting specialist Armoni Brooks to a two-way deal, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. The move is official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. To make room, Houston has waived Tyler Bey, who was occupying one of the team’s two-way slots.

Brooks has been a consistent weapon all preseason, averaging 10 points per game and shooting 56.2% from the field. He poured in 15 points in the fourth quarter of Monday’s game at Toronto. Brooks signed a two-way deal with Houston in April and averaged 11.2 PPG over the final 20 games of the season.

Bey signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Rockets in August, then was waived September 18 when Houston re-signed Dante Exum. He was brought back on a two-way deal eight days later. Bey, who was with the Mavericks last season, saw action in just one of Houston’s preseason games.

The Rockets will also sign former EuroLeague guard Marcus Foster, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The 26-year-old played for both Panathinaikos and Turk Telekom Ankaran last season.

Raptors Sign Josh Hall To Exhibit 10 Contract

October 13th, 2021 at 9:00pm CST by Luke Adams

9:00pm: The deal is official, per RealGM’s transactions log.

3:50pm: The Raptors are signing former Thunder forward Josh Hall to an Exhibit 10 contract, a source tells our JD Shaw (Twitter link).

Hall, 21, went undrafted in 2020, but caught on with Oklahoma City and spent his rookie season on a two-way contract with the team. He appeared in 21 games for the Thunder, averaging 4.1 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 16.0 minutes per contest. The 6’9″ forward has impressive athleticism, but struggled to score efficiently, posting a shooting line of .303/.108/.500.

The Thunder liked Hall enough to make him a restricted free agent this offseason, and he ended up signing his qualifying offer, briefly occupying one of the team’s two-way slots. However, Oklahoma City opted to go in another direction with that spot and waived Hall last month when Paul Watson was signed to a two-way contract.

The Raptors already have a handful of veterans on partially guaranteed contracts vying for the final spots on their 15-man regular season roster, so Hall appears likely to end up as an affiliate player for Toronto’s G League squad, the Raptors 905.

Sixers Sign, Waive Jared Brownridge, Braxton Key

October 13th, 2021 at 6:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers used the two open spots on their 20-man preseason roster to sign Jared Brownridge and Braxton Key to Exhibit 10 contracts, according to reports from our JD Shaw and Nicola Lupa of Sportando (Twitter links).

Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer tweets that both players have already been waived, which confirms that the 76ers signed them with the G League in mind. Brownridge and Key should now be in line for bonuses worth up to $50K if they spend at least 60 days with the Delaware Blue Coats this season.

Heading to Delaware will be nothing new for Brownridge, who has played for Philadelphia’s G League affiliate in each of the last four seasons. In 2020/21, he averaged 12.3 PPG with a .402 3PT% in 15 games (24.9 MPG) for the Blue Coats.

Key, meanwhile, had his first season with Delaware in the 2021 G League bubble. He had a very limited role, recording 4.3 PPG and 2.1 RPG in 12 contests (12.3 MPG).

Wizards Cut Jay Huff, Jordan Schakel

October 13th, 2021 at 6:38pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards removed a pair of players from their preseason roster, announcing today (via Twitter) that they’ve waived Jay Huff and Jordan Schakel.

A 7’1″ forward/center, Huff spent his college career at Virginia and was a full-time starter for the first time as a senior in 2020/21. He averaged 13.0 PPG, 7.1 RPG, and 2.6 BPG with a stellar .585/.387/.837 shooting line in 25 games (27.0 MPG). Huff, who won a national title in 2019, made the All-ACC Second Team and the ACC All-Defensive Team in 2021.

The 6’6″ Schakel averaged 14.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.0 APG, and 1.0 SPG on .473/.461/.908 shooting in his final college season at San Diego State in ’20/21. The 23-year-old was named to the All-Mountain West Second Team and to the Mountain West All-Tournament Team.

Both players had signed Exhibit 10 contracts with Washington as undrafted free agents and now appear on track to join the Capital City Go-Go, the Wizards’ G League affiliate.

LJ Figueroa Signs With Warriors

October 13th, 2021 at 6:25pm CST by Arthur Hill

Free agent swingman LJ Figueroa has signed a training camp contract with the Warriors, the team announced (via Twitter). No details of the deal were released, but it’s likely intended as a way to get Figueroa to Golden State’s G League affiliate in Santa Cruz.

After two years at St. John’s, the 23-year-old played for Oregon last season, averaging 12.3 points and 6.1 rebounds in 26 games. He went undrafted, then played for the Mavericks during Summer League.

The move brings the Warriors to the preseason roster limit of 20 players.