Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hornets Ink Joe Chealey To 10-Day Deal

February 21st, 2020 at 11:30am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Hornets have signed Joe Chealey to a 10-day contract, according to the team’s website.

The guard was previously with the Hornets on a two-way contract back in 2018. He played out the 2018/19 campaign with Charlotte before re-signing with the club during the 2019 offseason.

He was waived prior to the 2019/20 season and has spent the year with the Greensboro Swarm, which is the Hornets’ G League affiliate.

Chealey played his collegiate ball at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. He was not selected in the 2018 draft.

The Hornets were required to add a player to their roster before Saturday, since they’ve been carrying just 13 players on standard contracts since buying out Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marvin Williams earlier in the month. Teams are only permitted to carry fewer than 14 players for up to two weeks at a time.

Clippers Sign Reggie Jackson

February 20th, 2020 at 10:06pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Clippers have officially signed Reggie Jackson, as the team relays on its website. The point guard agreed to a buyout with the Pistons earlier this week.

“Reggie is a proven playmaker and scorer, and we are looking forward to adding his experience and creativity to our team,” said president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank.

Jackson will make $734,025 for the remainder of the season, Bobby Marks of ESPN.com tweets. Los Angeles will carry a $512,721 cap hit as a result of the signing.

Jackson, 29, spent the last five years in Detroit, having been acquired from the Thunder in a three-team trade in February 2015. He signed a five-year, $80MM deal with the Pistons a few months later and had been in the final season of that contract before he was released. Jackson gave back a flat $800K in his buyout agreement with the Pistons, reducing Detroit’s dead-money charge for 2019/20 to $17,286,956.

Jackson’s name was among those rumored to be available via trade prior to the deadline, though no deal materialized. The Lakers had interested in inking Jackson earlier this week before the Clippers swooped in.

Rockets Sign DeMarre Carroll

February 20th, 2020 at 9:08pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Rockets have officially signed DeMarre Carroll, according to a team press release. It was reported earlier in the week that he would join Houston.

The Spurs agreed to a buyout with Carroll after not moving him at the trade deadline, waving the white flag on one of the worst offseason acquisitions in the league. It wasn’t necessarily Carroll’s play that was the issue; it was what the Spurs were forced to give up for the wing.

San Antonio had initially agreed to sign Carroll and planned to use their mid-level exception, but when Marcus Morris agreed to a deal with the team, the Spurs pivoted to acquiring Carroll via trade instead (and giving up Davis Bertans to the Wizards). Morris backed out of the agreement, which made giving up Bertans for Carroll an unnecessary move.

Carroll will join the Rockets as they embark on a unique, strange journey of playing no traditional big men most of the time. The 33-year-old will likely spend time at both forward spots with the club, though it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he sees minutes at the five in some funky lineups.

Carroll’s rest-of-season contract with Houston will pay him $811,447, which is the exact amount he gave up in his buyout agreement with the Spurs, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). The Rockets, who now have a full 15-man roster, will carry a cap hit of $512,721.

Pistons Sign Derrick Walton To 10-Day Deal

February 20th, 2020 at 1:55pm CST by Luke Adams

FEBRUARY 21: The Pistons have officially signed Walton to his 10-day contract, the team announced in a press release. Detroit will open up another roster spot once Markieff Morris‘ reported buyout is complete.

FEBRUARY 20: After buying out Reggie Jackson earlier this week, the Pistons will fill the open spot on their roster by signing another point guard, Derrick Walton, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).

Walton, 24, spent most of the 2019/20 season with the Clippers, averaging 2.2 PPG and 1.0 APG in limited minutes (9.7 MPG) over 23 games for the club. However, L.A. sent him to Atlanta at the deadline in a salary-dump deal and the Hawks subsequently released him, making him a free agent.

In Detroit, Walton will have an opportunity to compete for some of the point guard minutes vacated by Jackson. It’ll also represent a homecoming for the Detroit native, who played his college ball at the University of Michigan.

If Detroit finalizes the signing of Walton today, he could be activated for tonight’s game vs. Milwaukee and the deal would run through next Saturday. He’ll earn $81,678 on the 10-day contract.

Jeff Green Signs 10-Day Deal With Rockets

February 18th, 2020 at 7:19pm CST by Dana Gauruder

FEBRUARY 18, 7:19pm: The Rockets have signed Green to a 10-day contract, the team announced in a press release.

FEBRUARY 17, 6:31pm: Green will initially sign a 10-day contract, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. That will give him a chance to see how he fits in before making a rest-of-the-season commitment, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

FEBRUARY 17, 5:56pm: Free agent forward Jeff Green has agreed to sign with the Rockets, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets. Green was waived by the Jazz earlier this season.

Green, 33, has bounced around the NBA in recent years, spending time with seven franchises in the past six seasons. While he has been a regular rotation player and occasional starter for every team he has played for, he was off to a slow start in Utah, averaging career lows in PPG (7.8), RPG (2.7), MPG (18.4), FG% (.385), and a handful of other categories. The Jazz let him go in order to sign a younger player, Rayjon Tucker.

With Green joining the fold and DeMarre Carroll expected to sign with the club once he clears waivers, the Rockets will have a full roster as well as fortifying their frontcourt. By adding two forwards rather than a center, Houston is clearly embracing small ball. The club has utilized P.J. Tucker in the middle in recent games since trading traditional center Clint Capela.

Green signed a one year, $2.56MM contract with Jazz last summer. If he signs a minimum-salary, rest-of-season deal with the Rockets, it would fall below $1.4MM, eliminating set-off and allowing Green to double-dip from Utah and Houston, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). That would push his total salary for the season to $3.1MM, Marks adds.

Reggie Jackson Bought Out By Pistons, Plans To Join Clippers

February 18th, 2020 at 5:07pm CST by Luke Adams

5:07pm: The Pistons have issued a press release formally announcing they’ve reached a buyout agreement with Jackson and have waived him.

3:24pm: Veteran point guard Reggie Jackson has reached a buyout agreement with the Pistons, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Jackson intends to sign with the Clippers once he clears waivers and reaches free agency.

Jackson, 29, has spent the last five years in Detroit, having been acquired from the Thunder in a three-team trade in February 2015. He signed a five-year, $80MM deal with the Pistons a few months later and is now in the final season of that contract. His buyout agreement with the club figures to slightly reduce his $18,086,956 cap hit for 2019/20.

The Pistons had hoped that giving Jackson the reins as the team’s starting point guard – after he began his career as Russell Westbrook‘s backup – would clear a path for him to develop into a star. Although the former Boston College standout had some productive seasons in Detroit, his overall numbers as a Piston (16.2 PPG, 5.6 APG, .425/.354/.851 shooting) fell short of that star level.

Jackson’s name surfaced frequently in trade rumors over the last couple years, but his rising cap hit made it difficult for the Pistons to find a deal that upgraded their roster. Even at this year’s deadline, as the team pivoted toward a rebuild and accepted a very modest package for Andre Drummond, Detroit apparently didn’t find a trade offer it liked for Jackson.

With the Pistons headed for a lottery finish, there was little incentive to keep Jackson around for the rest of the season. He’ll now finish the year with the Clippers, who have until this Saturday to sign a player and get back to the 14-player roster minimum.

As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN notes (via Twitter), L.A. could still use a defensive wing or a rim protector, but Jackson will give the team another ball-handler and a veteran scorer off the bench.

The Lakers and Clippers, who were poised to compete for Darren Collison if he had opted to come out of retirement, were each said to be in the market for a point guard. Wojnarowski confirms (via Twitter) that the Lakers also had interest in Jackson — they’ll have to look elsewhere if they still hope to address the position.

[RELATED: 2020 NBA Buyout Market Watch]

Jackson had still been owed $5.7MM of his ’19/20 salary, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. While we don’t know the exact terms of the buyout agreement, the veteran guard likely agreed to give back a prorated portion of the minimum salary. If he’s officially released by the Pistons today and joins the Clippers on Thursday, he’d make $734,025 on his new contract, with a $512,721 cap charge.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Spurs Officially Waive DeMarre Carroll

February 18th, 2020 at 10:10am CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have officially waived DeMarre Carroll, the team announced today in a press release. The move opens up a spot on the team’s 15-man roster.

As we outlined on Monday, Carroll’s agent Mark Bartelstein successfully negotiated a buyout with the Spurs, despite the fact that the veteran forward still had two years on his contract beyond 2019/20, including a fully guaranteed salary for next season. The exact terms of that buyout haven’t yet been reported.

Carroll intends to sign with the Rockets once he becomes a free agent. Now that his release from San Antonio is official, the 33-year-old is on track to clear waivers on Thursday afternoon, so he could theoretically be in uniform for Houston by the time the club faces Golden State on Thursday evening.

Coming off a couple solid seasons in Brooklyn, Carroll signed a three-year, $21MM deal with the Spurs during the 2019 offseason. However, he barely played at all in San Antonio and wasn’t effective in the limited minutes he did see. In 15 games (9.0 MPG), he averaged 2.2 PPG and 2.1 RPG with a .310/.231/.600 shooting line.

It’s not clear yet what the Spurs plan to do with their newly-opened roster spot. The team isn’t required to carry a 15th man, but figures to fill that opening at some point before the end of the regular season.

DeMarre Carroll Reaches Buyout, Looks To Join Rockets

February 17th, 2020 at 5:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Forward DeMarre Carroll has reached a buyout with the Spurs, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. He intends to sign with the Rockets once he clears waivers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

The news is not surprising, considering that Carroll had racked up 15 straight DNP-CDs and publicly expressed frustration with his lack of playing time. However, it’s still unusual for a team to agree to buy out a player with multiple years left on his contract.

Carroll agreed to a three-year, $21MM contract with the Spurs in a sign-and-trade from Brooklyn last summer.

Carroll is owed $2.3MM for the remainder of the season, $6.65MM next season and $1.35MM in guaranteed money for 2021/22, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. Even with the buyout, San Antonio will incur a cap hit through the life of the contract.

The 33-year-old did not join the Spurs when they began their eight-game rodeo trip on February 2, as the club looked into moving him by the February 6 trade deadline.

Carroll holds career averages of 9.0 PPG and 4.3 RPG, while shooting 35.9% from deep. With the Spurs, he averaged just 9.0 MPG and appeared in only 15 games. Carroll appeared in 67 games with the Nets last season and averaged 11.1 PPG and 5.2 RPG in 25.4 MPG.

Carroll’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, negotiated the buyout.

Carroll could play both forward positions in Houston’s small ball lineup. The Rockets have two open roster spots and need to add at least one player, so Carroll could fulfill that obligation.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Suns Sign Jonah Bolden To 10-Day Contract

February 12th, 2020 at 5:00pm CST by Luke Adams

5:00pm: The signing is now official, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

2:40pm: The Suns have agreed to sign free agent big man Jonah Bolden to a 10-day contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). Phoenix has an open spot on its 15-man roster after releasing Tyler Johnson, so no corresponding roster move will be required.

Bolden, 24, was the 36th overall pick in the 2017 draft and joined the Sixers for the 2018/19 season after spending one year as a draft-and-stash prospect. He showed signs of promise in his rookie season, averaging 4.7 PPG and 3.8 RPG with a .494 FG% and .354 3PT% in 44 games (14.5 MPG). Suns head coach Monty Williams was a 76ers assistant at the time.

However, Bolden was not part of Philadelphia’s rotation in 2019/20, appearing in just four games and logging 14 total minutes. When the Sixers decided to promote two-way player Norvel Pelle to their 15-man roster following the trade deadline, Bolden was the odd man out. He was waived last Friday and became an unrestricted free agent on Sunday.

Phoenix is currently dealing with some injuries in its frontcourt. Frank Kaminsky (knee) and Aron Baynes (hip) have been out for weeks, Dario Saric (ankle) has been ruled out for Wednesday, and Deandre Ayton (ankle) is banged up as well. As such, Bolden should get the opportunity to have an immediate role for the Suns.

Because 10-day contracts must cover at least three games, Bolden’s will run through February 22, technically making it an 11-day contract, assuming it’s officially finalized today. He’d be eligible to play against the Warriors tonight, the Raptors following the All-Star break next Friday, and the Bulls next Saturday.

Hawks Promote Brandon Goodwin To 15-Man Roster

February 12th, 2020 at 1:02pm CST by Luke Adams

FEBRUARY 12: The Hawks have formally announced Goodwin’s promotion, announcing in a press release that they’ve signed him to a multiyear deal.

FEBRUARY 11: The Hawks and guard Brandon Goodwin have agreed to a two-year standard contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). Goodwin, who had spent the season on a two-way deal with Atlanta, will be promoted to the team’s 15-man roster as a result of the agreement.

After going undrafted out of Florida Gulf Coast in 2018, Goodwin appeared in 16 games with the Nuggets during his rookie season, playing sparingly on a pair of contracts with the team. When his two-way deal with Denver expired last summer, he signed a similar contract with Atlanta and has provided depth at the point for the Hawks this season.

In 25 games, Goodwin has averaged 6.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 1.6 APG in 13.6 minutes per contest. His shooting line is .404/.324/1.000 — he hasn’t missed any of his 24 free throw attempts in 2019/20.

After making a series of deadline-day trades, the Hawks were left with an open spot on their 15-man roster, having sent Jabari Parker and Alex Len to the Kings for Dewayne Dedmon. They’ll use that spot to promote Goodwin, so no corresponding move will be required.

Terms of the agreement haven’t yet been reported, but Goodwin will likely get a minimum-salary contract that’s fully guaranteed for the rest of this season, but not for the 2020/21 season. If he plays out the deal, he’d be eligible for restricted free agency in the summer of ’21.