Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Thunder Trade Hamidou Diallo To Pistons

March 13th, 2021 at 3:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

MARCH 13: The trade is official, according to press releases from both teams.

MARCH 12: The Thunder are trading guard Hamidou Diallo to the Pistons for swingman Svi Mykhailiuk and a 2027 second-round pick, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The future pick was originally acquired by Detroit from Houston in the Christian Wood sign-and-trade.

Diallo will be a restricted free agent with his qualifying offer projected to be worth approximately $2.1MM. However, the Pistons didn’t acquire Diallo to let him walk in free agency. They view him as a core piece, Wojnarowski reports in a separate tweet. Luguentz Dort‘s emergence made Diallo expendable, as Woj explains.

Mykhailiuk will also be a restricted free agent this summer. Currently, his QO is the same as Diallo’s.

The swap was executed by OKC general manager Sam Presti and his former assistant Troy Weaver, who was hired by Detroit last year as its GM and has nearly turned over the entire roster since then.

A second-round pick in 2018, Diallo has enjoyed a breakout season in his third NBA year with the Thunder. The 22-year-old is averaging 11.9 PPG, 5.2 RPG and 2.4 APG in 23.8 MPG. He’s a subpar 3-point shooter (career 26.2%) and free throw shooter (62.9%).

The 6’5” Diallo has a 7-foot wingspan and is extremely athletic, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press tweets. He’s currently sidelined by right groin soreness and hasn’t played since February 24.

Mykhailiuk, who began his career with the Lakers three seasons ago, has a different skill set. He’s a career 36.9% 3-point shooter and has knocked down 11 in Detroit’s last three games. He dished out a career-high eight assists in a loss to Charlotte on Thursday.

Overall, the 23-year-old Mykhailiuk is averaging 6.9 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 1.6 APG in 17.6 MPG over 36 games this season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cavaliers Sign Quinn Cook To 10-Day Deal

March 12th, 2021 at 1:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

MARCH 12: The Cavaliers have officially signed Cook to his 10-day contract, the club announced today in a press release.

MARCH 10: Free agent guard Quinn Cook will sign a 10-day contract with the Cavaliers, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

[RELATED: 10-Day Contract Tracker]

Cook, 27, spent the past season and a half with the Lakers before being waived last month. He got into 16 games this season, averaging 2.1 points in 3.9 minutes per night.

The Cavs will be the fifth team in five seasons for the former Duke star, who began his NBA career in Cleveland’s training camp in 2015, but wasn’t able to win a roster spot. He had brief stays with the Mavericks and Pelicans before winning a rotation role with the Warriors for two seasons.

The Cavaliers have an open roster spot, so no move will be necessary before signing Cook.

Rockets Sign Mason Jones To 10-Day Contract

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

12:29pm: The Rockets have officially signed Jones to a 10-day deal, the team announced in a press release.

9:48am: The Rockets are bringing back shooting guard Mason Jones on a 10-day contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Jones had been with Houston on a two-way deal, but was waived on Monday to make room for Anthony Lamb.

An undrafted rookie out of Arkansas, Jones held his own in a part-time role for Houston in the first half, averaging 5.5 PPG and 2.1 RPG on .437/.367/.651 shooting in 22 games (11.1 MPG).

He received more playing time than initially anticipated due to the number of Rockets players who were affected by the COVID-19 protocols or missed time due to injuries — his return is presumably related to ongoing health issues as well, since Eric Gordon suffered a strained groin on Thursday night. Jones will provide some added depth on the wing and could immediately reenter the rotation.

The signing of Jones doesn’t mean that a trade of P.J. Tucker or another roster move is imminent. Houston already has an open spot on its 15-man roster, so no corresponding move will be necessary to make room for the 10-day signing.

Jones will earn $61,528, a prorated portion of the rookie minimum, on his 10-day contract, while the Rockets will take on an identical cap hit.

Lakers Sign Damian Jones To Second 10-Day Deal

March 11th, 2021 at 12:41pm CST by Luke Adams

MARCH 11: The Lakers have officially re-signed Jones to a second 10-day deal, the team announced today in a press release. It’ll run through March 20, covering L.A.’s next five games.

MARCH 10: The Lakers intend to re-sign center Damian Jones to a second 10-day contract, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Jones made a good impression during his first 10 days as a Laker prior to the All-Star Game, putting up eight points in eight minutes in his first appearance and earning a start in Sacramento last Wednesday. Head coach Frank Vogel said prior to the break that Jones should be “optimistic about what’s ahead of him,” hinting that the big man could get another 10-day deal.

The Lakers have two open spots on their roster, so no corresponding move will be necessary to bring back Jones. With the March 25 trade deadline fast approaching, the team may leave its final roster spot open to maximize its flexibility for possible trades or buyout targets.

Since the Lakers aren’t in action until Friday, Jones likely won’t be officially re-signed until then — that would allow his new 10-day deal to run through March 21, covering the club’s first six second-half games. The contract will pay him $119K, with a $111K cap hit, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who tweets that L.A. remains about $1.5MM below the hard cap.

A player can only sign two 10-day contracts with the same team during a season, so if the Lakers want to bring back after his next deal expires, they’d need to sign him for the rest of 2020/21. That’s probably only a likely outcome if the team misses out on its top trade and buyout targets.

Sindarius Thornwell Gets Second 10-Day Contract With Pelicans

March 10th, 2021 at 7:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Pelicans have signed guard Sindarius Thornwell to a second 10-day contract, the team announced on Twitter.

This is the third contract of the season for Thornwell, even though he has been with New Orleans virtually the entire time. He signed a non-guaranteed deal in training camp, then was waived last month to avoid having his $1.62MM cap hit locked in for the entire season.

Teams can only offer players two 10-day deals, so if the Pelicans want to keep Thornwell after this one expires, they’ll have to sign him for the rest of the season. Thornwell has appeared in 11 games so far, starting one, and averages 1.4 PPG in 4.8 minutes per night.

The former South Carolina star was a second-round pick in 2017 and spent his first two NBA seasons with the Clippers. He joined the Pelicans as a substitute player for the restart last summer, but only played two games in Orlando.

The signing leaves New Orleans with one open roster spot.

Raptors Sign Henry Ellenson To 10-Day Contract

March 10th, 2021 at 5:18pm CST by Luke Adams

5:18pm: The signing is official, the team announced in a press release.

10:11am: The Raptors will fill the open spot on their 15-man roster by signing free agent power forward Henry Ellenson to a 10-day contract, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Ellenson, who was in camp with Toronto in December, had been playing for the Raptors 905 in the G League bubble for the last month. Toronto’s NBAGL affiliate was eliminated from the postseason on Tuesday night, and it appears the Raptors are wasting no time in calling up the 24-year-old to the NBA club.

The 18th overall pick in 2016, Ellenson has appeared in a total of 81 NBA regular season contests for the Pistons, Knicks, and Nets, averaging just 4.0 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 9.2 minutes per game.

He has played a more regular role in the G League across 74 career NBAGL games. This season, he recorded 21.2 PPG and 8.1 RPG on .493/.427/.882 shooting in 15 games (30.6 MPG) as a key contributor for a Raptors 905 squad that earned the No. 1 seed heading into the single-elimination playoffs. The team was knocked out in the semifinals.

Ellenson, who received a $50K partial guarantee on his initial preseason deal with the Raptors, will earn approximately $119K on his new 10-day deal, with Toronto taking on a $111K cap hit, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). He’ll fill the roster spot that was vacated when Donta Hall‘s 10-day deal with the club expired over the weekend.

Jazz Sign Ersan Ilyasova

March 10th, 2021 at 3:42pm CST by Luke Adams

MARCH 10: The Jazz have officially signed Ilyasova, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

MARCH 9: Free agent power forward Ersan Ilyasova has agreed to a sign a rest-of-season, minimum-salary contract with the Jazz, sources tell Jordan Schultz of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Schultz, Ilyasova is expected to officially sign on Wednesday after completing the COVID-19 protocol.

Ilyasova, who made his NBA debut back in 2006, has appeared in over 800 regular season contests for the Bucks and five other teams. In 2019/20, he averaged 6.6 PPG and 4.8 RPG with a .466/.365/.828 shooting line in 63 games (15.7 MPG) for Milwaukee.

Last season’s 36.5% mark from three-point range matches Ilyasova’s career rate, and his ability to stretch the floor from the power forward spot has been valuable over the years. While he’s not the most switchable or versatile defender, the 33-year-old has shown an uncanny knack over the years for taking charges on the defensive end.

Utah has had plenty of success this season with a forward rotation that includes Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Ingles, Royce O’Neale, and Georges Niang, so it’s unclear if Ilyasova will see action outside of garbage time or if he’ll simply provide some extra frontcourt depth.

The Jazz had been carrying 13 players on standard contracts since waiving Shaquille Harrison on February 24. Since the NBA allows teams to dip below the required 14-player minimum for only two weeks at a time, they needed to add a player before the second half got underway this week, as we detailed on Monday. After signing Ilyasova, Utah will still have an open spot on its 15-man roster, but won’t have to fill it immediately — or at all.

Ilyasova will earn $17,567 per day for the rest of the regular season, with Utah’s cap hit working out to $11,100 per day. The exact rest-of-season figures will depend on when he officially signs — assuming it happens on Wednesday, he’ll earn $1,194,542 with a cap charge of $754,783.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rockets Add Anthony Lamb, Waive Mason Jones

March 8th, 2021 at 5:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

5:55pm: Both moves are official, according to a team press release.

5:20pm: The Rockets are signing forward Anthony Lamb on a two-way contract, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Concurrently, Houston is requesting waivers on rookie guard Mason Jones, Kelly Iko of The Athletic tweets.

Lamb, 23, was playing for the Rockets’ G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He was with the Pistons this December on a training camp invitation but was waived. He averaged 11.2 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 2.1 APG in 12 games at the G League bubble in Orlando.

The 6’6” Lamb was a four-year starter at Vermont and the two-time America East Conference Player of the Year. He averaged 16.7 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 2.5 APG and 1.2 BPG as a senior.

Jones, who was on a two-way deal, averaged 5.5 RPG, 2.1 RPG and 1.3 APG in 22 appearances with the Rockets. Jones declared for the draft after his sophomore year with Arkansas but wasn’t selected. He led the SEC in scoring last year with 22.0 PPG.

Nets Sign Blake Griffin

March 8th, 2021 at 10:08am CST by JD Shaw

MARCH 8, 10:08am: The Nets have officially signed Griffin, the team announced today in a press release.

“We’re fortunate to be able to add a player of Blake’s caliber to our roster at this point in the season,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. “Blake is a versatile frontcourt player with a long track record of success in our league, and we’re excited about the impact he’ll make for us both on and off the court in Brooklyn.”

Griffin’s minimum-salary deal will pay him $1,229,676 for the rest of the season, with Brooklyn taking on a $776,983 cap hit, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

MARCH 7, 6:08pm: Griffin has formally agreed to a deal with the Nets for the rest of the season, his agent told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. It’ll be a veteran’s minimum contract.

Wojnarowski adds that Brooklyn envisions using Griffin as a small-ball center option off the bench.

MARCH 7, 4:16pm: Free agent Blake Griffin has cleared waivers and is expected to sign a contract with the Nets, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). No corresponding roster move will be necessary, since Brooklyn has three open roster spots.

Griffin recently agreed to a buyout with the Pistons, allowing the six-time All-Star to reach free agency after he gave up more than $13MM on his previous contract. The 31-year-old quickly registered interest from multiple teams, including Brooklyn, Golden State, Miami and Portland, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

By signing a deal with the Nets, Griffin will reunite with former teammate DeAndre Jordan in the frontcourt. Griffin has averaged just 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 31.3 minutes per game this season, shooting 36.5% from the field in 20 contests.

Brooklyn currently holds the second-best record in the East at 24-13. The team has won nine of its last 10 games and must decide whether to start Griffin or bring him off the bench, which would likely allow sharpshooter Joe Harris to remain as a starter.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pistons, Blake Griffin Finalize Buyout

March 5th, 2021 at 4:04pm CST by Luke Adams

4:04pm: The buyout agreement has been completed and Griffin has been placed on waivers, according to a team press release. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent on Sunday evening.

“As we stated from the beginning of our discussions with Blake and his representatives, our goal has been to facilitate a resolution for the future that maximizes the interests of both Blake and our team,” GM Troy Weaver said in a statement. “We appreciate all of Blake’s efforts on and off the court in Detroit, have great respect for him as a player and a person and we wish him all the best in the future.”

“I thank the Pistons organization for working together on an outcome that benefits all involved and I wish the franchise success in the future,” Griffin said.

11:04am: The Pistons and power forward Blake Griffin have agreed to a contract buyout that will pave the way for him to become an unrestricted free agent, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Shams Charania of The Athletic had reported on Thursday that Detroit and Griffin were working toward a buyout.

According to Wojnarowski, most of the NBA’s contending teams have interest in Griffin, who figures to make a decision on where he’ll sign in the near future after he speaks to his top suitors.

Griffin has been out of the Pistons’ lineup since February 15, when he and the team agreed to work toward a solution that would expedite his exit from Detroit. The Pistons were focused on developing their younger players, while the 31-year-old’s preference was to join a contending team, so both sides were on board with pursuing a trade or buyout.

Although Griffin has made six All-Star teams and five All-NBA squads over the course of his impressive career, health issues have significantly limited his impact this season, as he has averaged a career-worst 12.3 PPG on 36.5% shooting in 20 games (31.3 MPG).

The former first overall pick also has one of the league’s most onerous contracts, including a $36.8MM cap hit in 2020/21, followed by a $38.96MM player option for ’21/22. That deal presumably made it impossible for the Pistons to find a reasonable trade, which is why the team and his reps shifted their focus to a buyout.

It will be fascinating to see how much salary Griffin agreed to give up as part of the agreement — most players who are bought out by their teams are on expiring contracts, but it seems safe to assume Griffin didn’t simply decline his player option as part of the deal. The Pistons will likely be on the hook for a significant amount of 2021/22 salary, though they’ll have the option of stretching next season’s cap hit across three seasons.

[UPDATE: Griffin Gave Up $13.3MM In Buyout]

Griffin will spend two days on waivers before he’s officially free to sign with a new team, but as long as the Pistons finalize his release soon, he should have plenty of time to find a new home by the start of the season’s second half next Wednesday.

Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link) specifically names the Lakers, Clippers, Nets, Heat, and Warriors as teams that have expressed interest in Griffin, while Woj adds the Trail Blazers to the veteran’s list of viable options (Twitter link).

[UPDATE: Nets Considered Frontrunners To Sign Griffin]

Most of those clubs make sense, though a reunion with the Clippers would be a surprise, given how Griffin’s initial time with the organization came to an end. The Clippers re-signed Griffin to a five-year, $171MM contract in the summer of 2017 after pitching him on being a long-term centerpiece in L.A., then turned around and traded him to Detroit six months later.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.