Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacers Sign JaKarr Sampson To One-Year Deal

August 2nd, 2019 at 10:55am CST by Dana Gauruder

AUGUST 2: The Pacers have officially signed Sampson, the team confirmed today in a press release.

The guarantee details on Sampson’s deal have yet to be reported, but it’s probably safe to assume it’s not fully guaranteed unless we hear otherwise.

JULY 24: Forward JaKarr Sampson has agreed to a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal with the Pacers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Sampson had signed to play overseas with Shandong in the Chinese Basketball Association, so either that deal fell through or he had an out clause. He played six games with Shandong last season and 24 G league games with the Windy City Bulls.

Sampson, 26, has bounced around since making his debut during the 2014/15 season with Philadelphia. He’s also played for Denver, Sacramento and Chicago. In four games with the Bulls last season, he averaged 20.0 PPG and 8.0 RPG in 31.8 MPG. In his career, Sampson has played 173 NBA games, averaging 5.5 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 16.0 MPG. He’s a career 25.7% shooter from beyond the arc.

The 6’9” forward will add depth at both forward spots behind starters T.J. Warren and Domantas Sabonis.

Nuggets Sign 2017 Second-Rounder Vlatko Cancar

August 1st, 2019 at 5:55pm CST by marksuleymanov

AUGUST 1: The Nuggets have officially signed Cancar to a contract, per NBA.com’s transactions log. Terms of the deal aren’t yet known, but Denver has its mid-level exception available, so it could exceed two years.

JULY 13: The Nuggets are expected to sign Slovenian prospect Vlatko Cancar, a source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (Twitter link). Cancar was Denver’s second-round pick (49th overall) in the 2017 draft.

Cancar, 22, was selected as a draft-and-stash player and expected to remain in Europe for a couple of seasons before joining the Nuggets. The 6-foot-8 forward has appeared in three Summer League games for Denver, averaging 9.7 PPG and 4.0 RPG.

The forward suited up for San Pablo Burgos in Spain last season.

Patrick Patterson Bought Out By Thunder, Plans To Sign With Clippers

August 1st, 2019 at 12:37pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Thunder and Patrick Patterson have agreed to a buyout and the big man intends to sign with the Clippers once he clears waivers, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (Twitter links). Oklahoma City today on its website that Patterson has been released.

Los Angeles is limited to offering the veteran’s mininum, which is roughly $2.3MM for a player with Patterson’s level of experience (nine seasons), as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. Patterson had one year and approximately $5.7MM left on his deal. It’s unclear how much he will give up to free himself from Oklahoma City, but it seems safe to assume that it’ll be about the same amount as he’ll earn in L.A.

If the Clippers’ new-look roster has a weakness after an eventful offseason, it would be in the frontcourt. The team re-signed JaMychal Green this offseason to play the four, but options behind him are limited. Patterson could have a place in the rotation from day one or he could simply be an addition for depth. Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Maurice Harkless all have the ability to play the power forward spot, with Harkless the most likely candidate to see significant time at the position.

The Kentucky product struggled to make a real impact with OKC after signing a three-year deal with the franchise during the 2017 offseason. He finished his Thunder stint playing in 145 out of a possible 164 regular season games while averaging slightly under 15 minutes per contest. He also appeared in six playoff contests for the club.

Once Patterson clears waivers on Saturday and officially signed with the Clippers, the team will have 14 players on guaranteed contracts for the 2019/20 season.

Cavaliers To Sign Marques Bolden To Exhibit 10 Deal

August 1st, 2019 at 11:25am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Cavaliers will sign Marques Bolden, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link). The arrangement will be an Exhibit 10 deal.

Cleveland’s agreement with Bolden was previously reported, though there was no word on what type of deal is was going to be when the news broke shortly after the draft. The Duke big man was rumored to be a candidate for a two-way deal.

While Bolden will get an Exhibit 10 contract for now, it can be converted into a two-way pact down the road, so he could still be an option for the Cavs’ second slot.

Bolden will join the Cavs for training camp with the hope of making the roster. The 6’11” center spent three seasons at Duke, though he didn’t see much playing time during his first two years at the University and averaged just 19.0 minutes per game as a junior. Bolden was RSCI’s 11th-ranked prospect coming out of high school.

Grizzlies Sign Guard Marko Guduric

July 31st, 2019 at 5:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

5:30pm: Guduric’s deal is worth $5.3MM over two years, according to Omari Sankofa II and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). As Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian notes (via Twitter), the team used a portion of its bi-annual exception to complete the deal, which is fully guaranteed.

4:31pm: The Grizzlies have signed guard Marko Guduric, according to a team press release.

Multiple reports out of Europe earlier this month indicated that he would sign a two-year contract with Memphis and now it’s official.

The 6’6” Guduric, 24, has played the last two seasons for Fenerbahçe in Turkey. Last season, he averaged 9.4 PPG while shooting 54.9% from the field and 47.7% from three-point range. He also helped his team win the 2019 Turkish Cup.

The Serbian native previously played four seasons for KK Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade but went undrafted in 2017. He’s also a member of the Serbian national team.

He’ll provide depth at shooting guard behind Dillon Brooks and Grayson Allen, among others. Memphis already had 15 players with guaranteed deals, a couple more with partial guarantees, plus a pair of two-way players. Thus, the club will have to make some more roster moves before opening night.

Pacers Sign Naz Mitrou-Long To Two-Way Deal

July 31st, 2019 at 2:25pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 31: The Pacers have officially signed Mitrou-Long to a two-way deal, the team announced today (via Twitter).

JULY 30: The Pacers have reached an agreement to sign Naz Mitrou-Long to a two-way contract, league sources tell Scott Agness and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Agness adds (via Twitter) that Mitrou-Long is expected to formally sign his deal with Indiana on Wednesday as the team works to finalize a handful of contract agreements.

An undrafted free agent out of Iowa State, Mitrou-Long has appeared in 15 games for the Jazz over the past two seasons, having inked multiple two-way and 10-day contracts with Utah during that time.

The 6’4″ guard, who turns 26 years old this Saturday, saw far more action with the Jazz’s G League affiliate over the last two years. He averaged 18.3 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 4.7 APG on .432/.359/.845 shooting in 72 games for the Salt Lake City Stars during that stretch.

An impressive Summer League stint with the Cavaliers, in which Mitrou-Long averaged 16.8 PPG, 5.5 APG, and 5.0 RPG in four games, boosted the Canadian’s stock this offseason and helped earned him a new deal with the Pacers.

He and Brian Bowen II, who inked a two-way contract with Indiana on July 1, will occupy the team’s two-way slots for now.

Pacers Sign Justin Holiday

July 31st, 2019 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 31: The Pacers have signed Holiday, the team confirmed today (via Twitter). Now that the deal is complete, Indiana is officially over the cap.

JULY 19: One of the most notable veteran free agents still on the market has reached a deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), who reports that swingman Justin Holiday is signing a one-year, $4.8MM contract with the Pacers.

Holiday, 30, appeared in 82 total games last season for the Bulls and Grizzlies, averaging 10.5 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 1.5 SPG in 31.8 minutes per contest. With most starting-caliber free agents off the board, Holiday was one of the only veterans left who appeared likely to sign for more than the minimum.

In Indiana, it appears he’ll receive the team’s room exception, which is worth $4.767MM. With Victor Oladipo not expected to be ready for the start of the regular season Holiday should get a chance to play plenty of minutes at the two in the early going.

Even after Oladipo returns, Holiday is on track to play a regular role on the wing for the Pacers, alongside players like newly-added swingman Jeremy Lamb and forwards T.J. Warren and Doug McDermott.

Joining the Pacers will also give Holiday the opportunity to unite with younger brother Aaron Holiday, who should have an increased role in Indiana’s backcourt. It will be the first time since the 2012/13 season, when Justin briefly played with Jrue Holiday in Philadelphia, that two of the Holiday brothers have been on the same roster.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Hawks Sign Ray Spalding

July 31st, 2019 at 12:44pm CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 31: The Hawks have officially signed Spalding, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who confirms that it’s an Exhibit 10 deal (Twitter link).

JULY 25: The Hawks will bring in free agent forward Ray Spalding, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic (Twitter link). It will be a partially guaranteed arrangement.

Additional details on the pact are not yet known, but it’s likely an Exhibit 10 deal. Atlanta currently has 14 players under contract.

Spalding was selected late in the second round of the 2018 draft by the Mavericks and split his time last season between Dallas and Phoenix, having been waived by the Mavs in January.

The power forward appeared in 29 contests in the G League with the Texas Legends last year, posting averages of 15.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. He finished the season with the Suns, but had his team option for 2019/20 turned down by Phoenix, which made him an unrestricted free agent.

Nuggets Release Thomas Welsh

July 31st, 2019 at 11:47am CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets have opened up a second two-way contract slot, having waived center Thomas Welsh, according to Nick Kosmider of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Welsh, 23, was the 58th overall pick in the 2018 draft. After signing a two-way deal with Denver, the seven-footer played in limited minutes in 11 games for the club. He saw more extensive action in the G League for the Capital City Go-Go and Iowa Wolves, averaging 10.3 PPG and 8.1 RPG in 20 contests (23.0 MPG).

Because the Nuggets are one of just two NBA teams without a G League affiliate of their own, their ability to develop two-way players is limited. Denver has had to assign Welsh and other young players to rival teams’ affiliates, and those clubs have other players they’re more motivated to develop.

Besides having both two-way slots open, the Nuggets have 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, though 2019 second-round pick Bol Bol remains unsigned and a mid-July report indicated that the team plans to sign 2017 second-rounder Vlatko Cancar.

Rockets Waive Deyonta Davis, Chris Chiozza

July 31st, 2019 at 10:30am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets have waived a pair of players who had non-guaranteed salaries for the 2019/20 season, parting ways with big man Deyonta Davis and guard Chris Chiozza, per Alykhan Bijani and Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 31st overall pick in the 2016 draft, Davis spent much of the 2018/19 season with the Warriors’ G League team before earning a late-season call-up from the Hawks. Davis averaged 4.0 PPG and 4.0 RPG in nine games (13.1 MPG) with Atlanta down the stretch, signing a contract with the club that included a non-guaranteed minimum salary for 2019/20. However, he was waived by Atlanta last month.

The Rockets claimed Davis on waivers, perhaps viewing him as a potential offseason trade chip. But his $1,645,357 salary would have become partially guaranteed for $250K if he remained under contract through July 31, according to Basketball Insiders. Houston won’t be on the hook for that money.

As for Chiozza, the former Florida point guard signed a 10-day contract with the Rockets in February, then inked a three-year deal with the club in March. The final two years of that contract were non-guaranteed, so Houston also won’t owe him any money now that he has been released.

With two extra roster spots now open, the Rockets may be eyeing former first-round pick Terrence Jones for a potential camp deal. Clutch Fans first reported (via Twitter) that Houston was considering bringing back Jones, while Iko suggested in a mailbag this week that the power forward would “soon” join the team.

The 27-year-old has appeared in 180 regular season games for the Rockets since being selected 18th overall by the organization in the 2012 draft.