Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Rockets Sign Jaron Blossomgame To Camp Deal

September 27th, 2019 at 8:40am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 27: The Rockets have officially signed Blossomgame, the team announced in a press release. Houston’s 20-man camp roster is now set.

SEPTEMBER 24: The Rockets have reached an agreement on a training camp deal for Jaron Blossomgame, agent Andy Shiffman informs Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’ll likely be an Exhibit 10 contract.

Blossomgame, the 59th overall pick in the 2017 draft, spent his rookie season with the Spurs’ G League affiliate, then signed an NBA contract with San Antonio last fall. However, the Spurs opted not to carry him on their regular season roster and he caught on with the Cavaliers, spending most of the 2018/19 season on a two-way deal with Cleveland.

The 26-year-old appeared in 27 games for the Cavs but played a more regular role for the Canton Charge. In 29 games (32.7 MPG) with the Cavs’ G League team, Blossomgame averaged 17.3 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and 2.0 APG.

Houston will have a full 20-man offseason roster once the club makes it official with Blossomgame. The former Clemson standout may get an opportunity to earn one of the team’s open two-way contract slots, assuming he doesn’t make the 15-man regular season roster. If the Rockets intend to eventually have him join the Rio Grande Valley Vipers as an affiliate player, they’ll have to acquire his G League returning rights.

Rockets Sign Ryan Anderson To Partially Guaranteed Contract

September 27th, 2019 at 8:14am CST by Arthur Hill

SEPTEMBER 27: The Rockets have officially signed Anderson, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

SEPTEMBER 25: Ryan Anderson is returning to Houston, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the free agent forward has agreed to a new contract with the Rockets. The deal will feature a significant partial guarantee, per Charania.

Anderson is still collecting on the four-year, $80MM deal that Houston gave him in the summer of 2016. He spent two years with the team before being traded to Phoenix last August in a salary dump. In February, the Suns shipped him to Miami, which waived him in July under the stretch provision.

Anderson will earn more from the Heat ($5,214,584) than the Rockets this season, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. That number will be slightly reduced once Anderson’s new contract becomes official, providing a measure of relief to the Miami, which is up against a hard salary cap.

Anderson will be given a chance to earn back-up minutes at power forward, adds Alykhan Bijani of The Athletic (via Twitter). He states that Houston reached out to both Anderson and fellow free agent Luc Mbah a Moute this month about possible returns (Twitter link). Anderson averaged 11.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in 138 games during his first stint in Houston.

The Rockets are at the 20-man limit after reaching a deal yesterday with Jaron Blossomgame, so a move will have to created before he and Anderson can both be added to the roster.

Rockets Release William McDowell-White

September 26th, 2019 at 2:10pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets have opened up a spot on their 20-man training camp roster by waiving Australian combo guard William McDowell-White, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

Houston now officially has 18 players under contract, but has reached deals with a pair of players who will fill the final two spots on the 20-man squad. The Rockets can now formally complete those deals with Ryan Anderson and Jaron Blossomgame.

McDowell-White, who signed with the Rockets in July, spent the last several years playing for teams in Australia and Germany. Having started his career with the Sydney Kings in 2016, the 6’5″ guard spent a season and a half with German club Brose Bamberg, leaving the team earlier this year to prepare for the 2019 draft.

While it seems McDowell-White won’t attend training camp with the Rockets, the team now has his G League rights, so he could end up playing for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s NBAGL affiliate.

Meanwhile, the field appears to have been set for a competitive camp in Houston, Feigen notes in a full article for The Houston Chronicle. The Rockets project to have four spots on their 15-man roster up for grabs, with Anderson, Gary Clark, and Isaiah Hartenstein in position to grab three of them due to their significant partial guarantees. The team also has both two-way contract slots open, with Blossomgame, Michael Frazier, Shamorie Ponds, and Chris Clemons vying for those spots.

Wizards Sign Chris Chiozza

September 26th, 2019 at 10:46am CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards have finalized their training camp roster, signing free agent point guard Chris Chiozza to the fill the 20th and final spot on the squad, the team announced today in a press release. Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington first reported last week that Chiozza would be joining the club for camp. He signed an Exhibit 10 contract, tweets Candace Buckner of The Washington Post.

Chiozza is a familiar face for the Wizards, who initially signed him to their Summer League team and then to their preseason roster in 2018 after he went undrafted out of Florida. The 6’0″ guard subsequently spent most of his rookie season with Washington’s G League affiliate, averaging 13.6 PPG and 6.8 APG on .435/.420/.777 shooting in 43 games (33.5 MPG) for the Capital City Go-Go. He was named to the NBAGL’s All-Rookie team at season’s end.

Chiozza also spent some of his rookie season with the Rockets, signing a 10-day contract with the club in February and then a rest-of-season deal in March. His contract with Houston included a non-guaranteed second year, but he was waived in July after playing limited minutes in seven NBA games as a Rocket.

Since the Wizards only have 13 players with fully guaranteed salaries and one on a two-way contract, it’s possible Chiozza will be among the players to start the regular season in D.C. His odds of making the team may hinge in part on how Isaiah Thomas‘ injury recovery progresses — Thomas underwent surgery on his thumb earlier this month and isn’t expected to return by opening night.

Spurs Sign Matt Farrell

September 26th, 2019 at 9:01am CST by Luke Adams

After clearing a roster spot by waiving Jeff Ledbetter, the Spurs returned to the 20-player maximum by signing former Notre Dame guard Matt Farrell, per RealGM’s official NBA transactions log.

Farrell, 23, went undrafted in 2018 and spent his first professional season in the G League, playing for the Sixers’ affiliate. In 45 games (27.0 MPG) for the Delaware Blue Coats, the 6’1″ point guard averaged 10.8 PPG, 5.6 APG, and 3.2 RPG with a shooting line of .410/.351/.755.

San Antonio’s NBAGL team, the Austin Spurs, acquired Farrell’s rights in a trade with the Blue Coats earlier this month. Now that he has signed what appears to be an Exhibit 10 contract with San Antonio, Farrell should be in line for a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived and spends at least two months with Austin.

Celtics Sign Bryce Brown

September 25th, 2019 at 3:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics have officially signed free agent guard Bryce Brown to a contract, according to RealGM’s transactions log. Agent Austin Walton first tweeted word of the deal.

Brown, who played his college ball at Auburn, went undrafted earlier this year after averaging 15.9 PPG on .437/.410/.807 in 40 games as a senior. The sharpshooter caught on with Sacramento for Summer League play, appearing in seven total games for the Kings in the California and Las Vegas Summer Leagues.

It sounds like the plan is for Brown to become an affiliate player for the Maine Red Claws, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe, who notes (via Twitter) that the team will have to do some “roster gymnastics” to complete all their reported deals.

Boston now has 19 players under contract, but has also agreed to sign Kaiser Gates and Yante Maten, so at least one player will need to be waived at some point to accommodate those signings.

Sixers Re-Sign Haywood Highsmith To Exhibit 10 Deal

September 25th, 2019 at 3:07pm CST by Luke Adams

After being waived by the team in June, former Sixers two-way player Haywood Highsmith is back under contract with Philadelphia. A league source tells JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link) that Highsmith has signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the 76ers.

Highsmith, who went undrafted out of Wheeling Jesuit in 2018, signed a two-way contract with Philadelphia in January and spent the rest of his rookie season with the 76ers and the Delaware Blue Coats, the team’s G League affiliate. Although he appeared in just five games for the Sixers, Highsmith was a solid contributor in Delaware, averaging 12.2 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 2.5 APG in 46 games (32.3 MPG).

Having been released in the offseason to clear room for new two-way players Norvel Pelle and Marial Shayok, Highsmith appeared set to move on from the Sixers and nearly signed a camp contract with the Suns. However, that deal fell through, clearing the path for the forward to rejoin the 76ers.

The Sixers now have a full 20-man roster, including 14 players with fully guaranteed salaries. Trey Burke, who has a $405K partial guarantee, looks like the leading candidate to fill the 15th spot on the club’s regular season roster.

Austin Krell of The Painted Lines (Twitter link) first reported that Highsmith would be joining the Sixers for camp.

Nets Sign Williams, Egbunu; May Add Thomas

September 25th, 2019 at 2:53pm CST by Luke Adams

2:53pm: The Nets’ deal with Williams is now official, the team confirmed in a press release. The club also announced that it has signed former Florida center John Egbunu, whose deal was first reported by Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link). Egbunu looks like a candidate to ultimately land with the Long Island Nets in the G League.

Brooklyn now has 19 players officially under contract.

2:45pm: Former Clippers and Timberwolves shooting guard C.J. Williams has reached an agreement to sign with the Nets, league sources tell Nicola Lupo of Sportando. Confirming the deal, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets that Williams will receive a non-guaranteed contract.

Williams, 29, made his NBA debut with the Clippers in 2017/18, then spent last season on a two-way contract with Minnesota. In total, he has appeared in 53 regular season contests, averaging 4.7 PPG on .448/.287/.765 shooting in 15.8 minutes per game.

Charania first identified Williams earlier this week as a candidate to sign with the Nets, who are looking to fill out their 20-man roster. In that report, Charania noted that Lance Thomas is in the mix to join Brooklyn’s roster too, and that idea appears to be gaining steam.

Marc Berman of The New York Post hears from a league source that the Nets are “seriously eyeing” Thomas, while Greg Logan of Newsday confirms (via Twitter) that the veteran forward has worked out for the team. According to Charania, Brooklyn is making progress on a deal to sign Thomas.

Currently, the Nets have 17 players under contract, so if they make it official with Williams and sign Thomas as well, they’d have just one opening left on their 20-man offseason roster. It remains to be seen whether the team intends to bring unsigned second-round pick Jaylen Hands to camp.

Although Williams is unlikely to earn a spot on the Nets’ regular season roster, since the club has 15 players with fully guaranteed salaries, he or another camp invitee could be re-signed five games into the regular season. At that point, Brooklyn will be able to open up an extra roster spot by moving Wilson Chandler to the suspended list for the next 20 games.

Wizards Sign, Waive Kellen Dunham

September 25th, 2019 at 12:50pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards signed shooting guard Kellen Dunham to a contract on Tuesday, but waived him shortly thereafter, according to a pair of NBA transaction logs. RealGM lists Dunham’s signing, while NBA.com notes that he was released.

Dunham, who played his college ball at Butler, went undrafted in 2016 and has bounced around between the G League and international leagues since then. His NBAGL rights were acquired by the Capital City Go-Go – Washington’s affiliate – in 2018’s expansion draft, and he spent the entire 2018/19 season with the club, averaging 7.8 PPG with a .454 3PT% in 50 games off the bench.

It appears likely that Dunham will return to the Go-Go for the 2019/20 season. When he does, he should be in line for a bonus worth up to $50K as a result of being signed on Tuesday.

An Exhibit 10 contract entitles a player to that bonus if he goes on to spend two months on his team’s G League roster — even if he was on the NBA roster for less than 24 hours before being released, as was the case with Dunham.

Wizards Pick Up 2020/21 Options On Brown, Wagner

September 25th, 2019 at 10:52am CST by Luke Adams

Another team has got its 2020/21 rookie scale team option decisions out of the way well in advance of the October 31 deadline, as Fred Katz of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that the Wizards have exercised their third-year options on both Troy Brown and Moritz Wagner.

The 15th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Brown will now have a fully guaranteed cap hit of $3,372,840 for the 2020/21 season. Washington also locked in a $2,161,920 cap charge in ’20/21 for Wagner, who was drafted 25th overall in 2018. The Wizards will have to make decisions on fourth-year options for 2021/22 on both players by October 31, 2020.

Brown, 20, appeared in 52 games in his rookie season, averaging 4.8 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 14.0 minutes per contest for the Wizards. He’s expected to play a more significant role going forward, but he’s currently dealing with a left calf strain that may jeopardize his availability for opening night.

Wagner, 22, spent his rookie year with the Lakers, averaging 4.8 PPG and 2.0 RPG in 43 games (10.4 MPG). He arrived in Washington along with Isaac Bonga and Jemerrio Jones as part of the blockbuster three-team trade that saw Anthony Davis land in Los Angeles.

We’re tracking all of this year’s decisions on 2020/21 rookie scale options right here.