Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Warriors Sign Kavion Pippen, Waive Devyn Marble

October 7th, 2019 at 5:51pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors have signed center Kavion Pippen and waived guard Devyn Marble, according to a team press release. It’s likely to be an Exhibit 10 contract for Pippen.

Undrafted in June, Pippen averaged 12.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 1.66 BPG in two seasons at Southern Illinois University. The 6’10” center attended Three Rivers Community College prior to enrolling at SIU. He’s the nephew of longtime Bulls star Scottie Pippen.

Marble, signed by Golden State on September 30, played eight minutes in the Warriors’ 123-101 preseason loss to the Lakers on Saturday night.

Marble, 26, averaged 13.3 PPG in 34 games for Italy’s Aquila Basket Trento last season. He was the 56th overall pick in the 2014 draft and was acquired by the Magic in a draft-night deal with the Nuggets. He appeared in 44 games with Orlando before he was traded during the summer of 2016 to the Clippers, who quickly waived him. Marble played briefly in Greece before joining Trento in January 2017.

Nuggets Exercise 2020/21 Option On Michael Porter Jr.

October 7th, 2019 at 5:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nuggets have picked up the their rookie scale option on forward Michael Porter Jr.‘s contract for the 2020-21 season, Sam Amick of The Athletic tweets.

Porter is due to earn $3.55MM next season after making $3.39MM during the upcoming season.

The decision comes as no surprise, given the patience Denver’s front office has exhibited with Porter, who did not play last season. The No. 14 overall pick in the 2018 draft spent his first pro season recovering and rehabbing from back surgery.

Denver has high hopes that Porter can make a significant contribution this season. However, it remains to be seen how much of an impact he’ll deliver, considering how long it has been since he’s played.

He did not participate in summer league games in July after suffering a left knee sprain. He’s expected to make his preseason debut against Portland on Tuesday.

Nuggets Release Elijah Millsap, Jorge Gutierrez

October 7th, 2019 at 4:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nuggets have trimmed their training camp roster by releasing Elijah Millsap and Jorge Gutierrez, Nick Kosmider of The Athletic tweets. That reduces their roster to 18 players.

Millsap, the younger brother of Paul Millsap, was added to the training camp roster on Friday. The veteran shooting guard went undrafted out of UAB in 2010 and has spent much of his career in the G League or overseas. He did appear in a total of 69 NBA regular season games between 2014-17 for the Jazz and Suns, averaging 4.2 PPG and 2.8 RPG in limited action (16.2 MPG).

Gutierrez signed a training camp contract less than a week ago. The 30-year-old guard was last seen in the NBA during the 2015-16 with Charlotte. He’s also played for the Nets and Bucks.

Gutierrez has played in Turkey and Spain since his last NBA stint.

Magic Sign Jon Davis To Exhibit 10 Deal

October 7th, 2019 at 11:35am CST by Luke Adams

After waiving Hassani Gravett on Sunday, the Magic didn’t keep the 20th spot on their roster open for long. According to a team press release, Orlando has filled out its preseason roster by signing former UNC-Charlotte guard Jon Davis. It’s an Exhibit 10 contract, tweets Roy Parry of The Orlando Sentinel.

Davis, 22, averaged 21.7 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 3.7 APG in his senior year at Charlotte before going undrafted this spring. He caught on with the Nets for the Las Vegas Summer League in July but didn’t see much action for Brooklyn, logging just nine total minutes in two Summer League games.

By signing Davis to an Exhibit 10 contract, the Magic can secure his G League rights as a potential “affiliate player.” He’d be eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K if he spends at least two months with the Lakeland Magic, Orlando’s NBAGL affiliate.

An NBA team can designate up to four players as affiliate players for their G League squad. For Orlando, Gravett, Davis, DaQuan Jeffries, and Vic Law look like the top candidates.

Magic Waive Hassani Gravett

October 6th, 2019 at 12:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

Hassani Gravett, who was with the Magic on an Exhibit 10 contract, has been waived, the team announced on Twitter.

An undrafted rookie guard out of South Carolina, Gravett appears headed to the team’s G League affiliate in Lakeland. He can earn a bonus of up to $50K in addition to his NBAGL salary if he spends at least 60 days there.

Orlando was at the 20-player limit for training camp, so the move creates an opening if the Magic decide to sign another player.

Bulls Sign Simisola Shittu To Camp Deal

October 4th, 2019 at 4:36pm CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 4: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

SEPTEMBER 25: The Bulls have reached an agreement with undrafted free agent forward Simisola Shittu, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter), who reports that Shittu is signing a training camp deal with the club.

A McDonald’s All-American and one of the highest-rated prospects in the 2018 recruiting class, Shittu spent his lone college season at Vanderbilt in 2018/19 before declaring for the draft as an early entrant. The 6’10” Canadian had an up-and-down freshman season, averaging 10.9 PPG and 6.7 RPG in 32 games (26.7 MPG) for the Commodores.

Shittu joined the Grizzlies for Las Vegas Summer League play, but only saw six minutes of action in a single game for Memphis. Now it appears he’ll get a chance to attend training camp with Chicago, though he’s more likely to ultimately end up in the G League playing for the Windy City Bulls.

Once they officially sign Shittu and completed their reported agreement with Milton Doyle, the Bulls will have a full 20-man roster.

Lakers Sign David Stockton, Cut Jordan Caroline

October 4th, 2019 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers have made a change to their 20-man preseason roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed guard David Stockton, waiving forward Jordan Caroline in a corresponding move.

Stockton, the son of Hall-of-Famer John Stockton, appeared in three games with the Kings during the 2014/15 season and three more with the Jazz in 2017/18. However, most of his professional career has been spent in the G League or in international leagues.

The South Bay Lakers – L.A.’s G League affiliate – acquired the 28-year-old’s NBAGL returning rights last month, so it looks like he’ll end up playing for South Bay this season. Assuming his new deal with the Lakers contains an Exhibit 10 clause, Stockton will be in line for a bonus worth up to $50K if he spends at least two months with the G League club.

Caroline is also a strong candidate to head to South Bay. The Lakers will have the ability to make the undrafted Nevada wing an affiliate player for their G League squad, assuming he doesn’t sign with another NBA team before the season begins.

Raptors Pick Up 2020/21 Option On OG Anunoby

October 4th, 2019 at 12:41pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have exercised OG Anunoby‘s fourth-year rookie scale option well ahead of the October 31 deadline, according to Blake Murphy and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The move locks in Anunoby’s $3,872,215 cap charge for the 2020/21 season.

Viewed as a potential breakout candidate entering the 2018/19 season, Anunoby instead took a step backward, enduring a rough sophomore year that saw him battle health issues and cope with the passing of his father.

After averaging 7.0 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 67 regular season games (20.2 MPG), the young forward didn’t play at all during the Raptors’ championship run, having undergone an emergency appendectomy just before the postseason got underway.

The Raptors still have high hopes for the 22-year-old, however, and he’ll get a chance to potentially reclaim a spot in the starting lineup this year in the wake of Kawhi Leonard‘s and Danny Green‘s offseason departures. Even if he comes off the bench, Anunoby is expected to have a significant rotation role.

With several sizeable expiring contracts on their books, the Raptors project to have more cap space than virtually any other NBA team during the 2020 offseason, so guaranteeing Anunoby’s salary will have little impact on the team’s flexibility. Toronto still has less than $20MM in guaranteed money on its cap for 2020/21, though that figure doesn’t include Stanley Johnson‘s $3.8MM player option or a potential extension for Pascal Siakam.

Nuggets To Sign Elijah Millsap To Camp Deal

October 4th, 2019 at 11:13am CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets will fill their 20-man offseason roster by keeping it in the family, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the team is signing veteran shooting guard Elijah Millsap to a training camp deal. His brother Paul Millsap is already a Nugget.

Elijah, who went undrafted out of UAB in 2010, has spent much of his career in the G League or overseas, but has some NBA experience too. He appeared in a total of 69 regular season games between 2014-17 for the Jazz and Suns, averaging 4.2 PPG and 2.8 RPG in limited action (16.2 MPG).

The younger Millsap has no clear path to a regular season roster spot in Denver, since the team is carrying 14 players with guaranteed salaries and two on two-way contracts. The Nuggets could technically retain a 15th player on a standard contract, but that’s probably unlikely, given the club’s close proximity to the luxury tax threshold.

Denver will have a full 20-man roster once Millsap is officially signed, with PJ Dozier, Tyler Zeller, and Jorge Gutierrez also attending camp on non-guaranteed deals. The Nuggets have no G League team of their own, so those players won’t get the chance to become NBAGL affiliate players for Denver once the season begins.

Spurs Exercise 2020/21 Options On White, Walker

October 2nd, 2019 at 8:25am CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have picked up their 2020/21 rookie scale team options on guards Derrick White and Lonnie Walker, according to RealGM’s transactions log. The moves ensure that White’s $3,516,284 cap hit and Walker’s $2,892,000 cap hit are officially guaranteed for the ’20/21 season.

White, 25, enjoyed a modest breakout season for the Spurs in 2018/19, averaging 9.9 PPG, 3.9 APG, and 3.7 RPG in 67 games (55 starts) for the club. He parlayed that regular season performance into a couple impressive playoff showings and a spot on Team USA’s 2019 World Cup roster.

White is entering the third year of his rookie contract, so the option picked up by the Spurs is for his fourth season. He’ll become eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2020 offseason, and if he doesn’t sign a new deal at that point, he’d be on track for restricted free agency in 2021.

As for Walker, the 20-year-old is entering just his second NBA season, so San Antonio exercised his third-year option. The team will be faced with a decision on his fourth-year option for 2021/22 next October.

The 18th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Walker was limited to just 17 games in his rookie season due in part to a knee injury that sidelined him to start the year. The former Miami standout had an impressive Summer League this July, averaging 24.8 PPG on 55.1% shooting in four games as he began to make his case for a regular rotation role in 2019/20.

You can track all of this year’s decisions on 2020/21 rookie scale options right here.