Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Oshae Brissett Signs Second 10-Day Contract With Pacers

April 11th, 2021 at 12:46pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Pacers have signed second-year swingman Oshae Brissett to his second 10-day contract with the club this season, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets. The Pacers have confirmed the deal in a press release.

Indiana officially signed Brissett to his first 10-day with the club on April 1, meaning that his prior contract expired overnight.

During his first 10-day deal with the Pacers, the 6’7″ Brissett appeared in two games for the club, averaging just 2.5 MPG. He will most likely continue to be an insurance policy for the team’s perimeter rotation as it continues to push for a playoff appearance. At 24-27, the Pacers are currently the No. 9 seed in the East, which would qualify them for a play-in tournament stint were the season to end today.

Earlier this year, the 22-year-old wing played for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Indiana’s G League Affiliate, during the condensed Orlando “bubble” season. Brissett appeared in 12 games, starting 10, averaging 18.6 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 2.2 APG, 0.9 SPG, and 0.7 BPG. He connected on 43.8% of his field goals for the Mad Ants, and connected with 33.3% of his 6.5 three-point attempts a night.

After going undrafted out of Syracuse in 2019, Brissett signed a two-way contract with the Raptors. He appeared in 19 games for Toronto as a rookie. He averaged 7.1 MPG with the team.

Alize Johnson Signs Multiyear Deal With Nets

April 11th, 2021 at 9:36am CST by Arthur Hill

9:36am: The deal is official, the Nets announced in a press release.

8:03am: The Nets have reached an agreement on a multiyear contract with power forward Alize Johnson, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Johnson’s agent, George Langberg, confirmed the deal, which could be worth up to $4.1MM. Johnson could have received more guaranteed money from another team, but he was comfortable in Brooklyn, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).

Johnson, 24, signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Nets, the second of which expired overnight. He has appeared in six games, averaging 7.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per night. Coach Steve Nash told reporters earlier this week that the Nets were happy with Johnson’s production and hoped to keep him around.

Brooklyn was able to sign Johnson for up to three years because the team still had part of its taxpayer mid-level exception available, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (Twitter link).

A second-round pick in 2018, Johnson played his first two seasons with the Pacers and was in training camp this year with the Raptors.

Khem Birch Clears Waivers, Signs With Raptors

April 10th, 2021 at 6:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

6:35pm: The signing is official, the Raptors announced on Twitter.

4:38pm: Birch has confirmed his plans to sign with Toronto, tweeting, “I’m excited for the next chapter of my career with @raptors.”

4:08pm: Former Magic center Khem Birch has officially cleared waivers and will join the Raptors for the remainder of the season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Toronto was expected to be Birch’s next destination, as long as he cleared waivers today. Any team that claimed him would have inherited the $3MM expiring contract he had with Orlando. If Birch’s signing takes place Sunday, he will earn $416K for the rest of the season and the Raptors will have a $389K cap hit, tweets Blake Murphy of The Athletic. Birch gave back $413,964 in a buyout deal with the Magic, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).

Even if Birch signs right away, he’s not expected to play in tonight’s game at Cleveland, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. There’s a chance his Raptors debut could come Sunday in New York, Lewenberg adds. Toronto has been struggling through injuries and will only have nine players available tonight (Twitter link).

Birch, who was born in Montreal and went to school in Ontario, will become the sixth Canadian to play for the Raptors in team history, according to Lewenberg (Twitter link).

The 28-year-old served as the Magic’s primary backup center for most of the year, but his role was diminished as Orlando began to emphasize its younger players. He averaged 5.3 points and 5.1 rebounds in 48 games this season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cavaliers Sign Mfiondu Kabengele To 10-Day Deal

April 10th, 2021 at 9:43am CST by Arthur Hill

APRIL 10: The 10-day contract for Kabengele is official, the Cavaliers announced in a press release on Saturday.

APRIL 9: Free agent big man Mfiondu Kabengele will sign a 10-day contract with the Cavaliers, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The 23-year-old Kabengele played 23 games for the Clippers this season before being traded last month to the Kings, who released him three days later. He appeared in 35 total games in two seasons with L.A., averaging just 4.5 minutes per night. He was the 27th pick in 2019, and the Clippers acquired him in a draft-night trade with the Nets.

The signing will take place on Saturday, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link), who adds that the Cavaliers considered drafting Kabengele in 2019.

Cleveland has two open roster spots, so another move won’t be needed to add Kabengele, who will earn $99,020 on the 10-day deal.

Clippers Ink Malik Fitts To 10-Day Deal

April 9th, 2021 at 12:33pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

APRIL 9: The signing is official, the Clippers announced on Twitter.

APRIL 8: The Clippers are set to ink 6’8″ rookie forward Malik Fitts to a 10-day deal, writes Law Murray of The Athletic.

Murray notes that Fitts showed promise on both sides of the ball, as both a shooter and defender for the Agua Caliente Clippers in this season’s NBAGL Orlando bubble.

The 23-year-old tweener forward went undrafted out of Saint Mary’s College in 2020. Across 14 games, Fitts averaged 11.1 PPG on .468/.348/.938 shooting splits in just 26.3 MPG for the club’s G League affiliate. As Murray observes, once Fitts became the starting power forward for the club’s final six contests, he averaged 18.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 2.7 APG, on .531/.435/1.00 shooting splits in 37.1 MPG.

Beyond the tantalizing shooting numbers, Fitts emphasized his focus on the other side of the floor in comments made after the Agua Caliente Clippers’ final game of the 2021 season last month.

“By the end of this (condensed G League season), I wanted to be known as a guy who really locks up on defense,” Fitts said. “That was the emphasis that I had prior to this season. I thought it played out pretty well.”

Adding Fitts will give the Clippers a full 15-man roster, with swingmen Amir Coffey and Jay Scrubb occupying the two-way slots.

Nuggets Sign Shaquille Harrison, Cut Greg Whittington

April 9th, 2021 at 12:29pm CST by Luke Adams

APRIL 9: The moves are official, according to a press release from the team.

APRIL 8: The Nuggets intend to sign free agent guard Shaquille Harrison to a two-way contract, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski, Denver will make room for Harrison by waiving current two-way player Greg Whittington.

A 27-year-old guard known for his strong perimeter defense, Harrison began the season with the Jazz, but saw limited minutes (3.3 MPG) in his 17 games with the team and was released before his salary became fully guaranteed for 2020/21.

Having also spent time in past seasons with Phoenix and Chicago, Harrison has career averages of 5.5 PPG and 2.4 RPG on .444/.289/.710 shooting in 156 total contests (15.1 MPG).

Although Harrison likely won’t play a major role in Denver, he’ll be eligible to play in the postseason, since the NBA adjusted the rule restricting two-way players from participating in the playoffs this season.

As for Whittington, he signed a two-way deal with the Nuggets in the fall but appeared in just four games with the team, going scoreless in 12 total minutes. As Mike Singer of The Denver Post tweets, the 28-year-old forward injured his knee in training camp and underwent a surgical procedure on it in January, derailing his first NBA season.

Even after signing Harrison, Denver won’t necessarily be done seeking backcourt depth, Singer adds (via Twitter). The club will have an open spot on its 15-man roster after waiving Gary Clark.

Raptors Release Patrick McCaw

April 9th, 2021 at 9:16am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

APRIL 9: The Raptors have officially waived McCaw, the team announced in a press release.

APRIL 8: The Raptors intend to waive injured swingman Patrick McCaw, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Blake Murphy of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that McCaw has appeared in just five games for Toronto since March 2020. Left knee injuries have limited his availability, as he has had surgery to address the issues twice while with the Raptors.

The 6’7″ shooting guard/small forward out of UNLV was selected with the No. 38 pick in the 2016 NBA draft, and spent his first two seasons as a bench contributor for the Warriors on consecutive title-winning teams before logging time on the Cavaliers and Raptors.

Between his years spent with the Warriors and Raptors, the defensively-inclined McCaw has won three championships. Most recently, McCaw’s knee problems have sidelined the 25-year-old since March 22.

By waiving him now, the Raptors are giving McCaw time to sign on with another team and remain eligible to play in the postseason, though whether or not a team will take a chance on him at present remains an open question. Tomorrow is the last day a player can be released and retain his postseason eligibility.

Thunder Waive Darius Miller

April 9th, 2021 at 6:03am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

APRIL 9: The move is official, according to the Thunder. Miller is on track to clear waivers on Sunday.

APRIL 8: The Thunder will release veteran wing Darius Miller to accommodate the previously-reported addition of former Real Madrid swingman Gabriel Deck on what is expected to be a three-year contract, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Miller, currently day-to-day with a groin injury, has appeared in just 18 games with Oklahoma City this season.

The Thunder took a chance on Miller after he missed a full season of action recovering from an Achilles tear while with the Pelicans. Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman tweets that the small forward was a well-liked locker room present for a rebuilding OKC club.

This season, Miller averaged just 10.9 MPG, but carved out a respectable slash line of .458/.405/1.000. During 2019/20, his last mostly-healthy season with the Pelicans, Miller averaged a career-best 8.2 PPG and 2.1 APG, plus 1.9 RPG, in a career-most 25.5 MPG.

Tomorrow is the last day players can be waived by their teams and remain playoff-eligible for their next club, so it’s possible someone takes a flier on Miller’s shooting ability as a deep bench option with a 10-day or rest-of-season signing.

Nuggets Release Gary Clark

April 8th, 2021 at 7:25pm CST by Luke Adams

7:25pm: The Nuggets have officially waived Clark, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

9:54am: In addition to making a change to one of their two-way contract slots, the Nuggets are also tweaking their 15-man roster, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Denver will waive forward Gary Clark.

The Nuggets acquired Clark in a deadline deal with Orlando last month, but he was essentially a throw-in, since the prize of that trade was Aaron Gordon.

Denver has a full 15-man roster, so dropping Clark will open up a spot, creating some flexibility for a potential depth addition down the stretch. While it’s not clear yet what the Nuggets might do with a spot, Mike Singer of The Denver Post suggested earlier today (via Twitter) that the team will remain on the lookout for backcourt depth even after signing Shaquille Harrison to a two-way deal.

Clark, who began his career with the Rockets in 2018, has since appeared in a total of 130 games Houston, Orlando, and Denver, averaging 3.3 PPG and 2.6 RPG in 14.6 MPG. He signed a two-year, $4.1MM contract with the Magic last fall, but the second-year salary of $2.1MM is non-guaranteed, so the Nuggets won’t be on the hook for any money beyond this season.

Assuming Clark and his $2MM cap hit go unclaimed on waivers, he’ll be eligible to sign with any club except the Magic. According to Wojnarowski, he’s expected to receive interest from some Eastern Conference playoff teams.

Warriors Sign Gary Payton II To 10-Day Deal

April 8th, 2021 at 5:40pm CST by Luke Adams

5:40pm: Golden State has officially signed Payton, the club confirmed in a press release.

10:45am: The Warriors are signing free agent guard Gary Payton II to a 10-day contract, according to Marcus Thompson and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links).

Payton, the son of former SuperSonics guard – and Hall-of-Famer – Gary Payton, hasn’t played in the NBA yet this season, but had a strong showing in the G League with the Raptors 905. The 28-year-old averaged 10.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 2.5 SPG on 55.5% shooting in 13 games and earned a spot on the NBAGL All-Defensive team, despite a somewhat limited role (21.8 MPG).

Payton, who has appeared in a total of 61 NBA regular season games for three teams, spent part of the 2019/20 season with the Wizards, averaging 3.9 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 29 contests (14.9 MPG). He’ll earn $118,983 on his new 10-day contract, while the Warriors will take a cap hit of $110,998. The franchise will also see its year-end tax bill increase as a result of the signing.

The Warriors dipped down below the league’s required minimum of 14 players on standard contracts at the trade deadline. Because the NBA only allows teams to remain below that minimum for up to two weeks at a time, Golden State had to add another player to its roster by today.

Payton is expected to be available for the Warriors at practice on Thursday and for Friday’s game vs. Washington, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link), who says the guard had been undergoing COVID-19 tests in anticipation of the deal.