Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Clippers Acquire Temple, Green For Bradley

February 7th, 2019 at 6:41pm CST by Dana Gauruder

6:41pm: The trade between the Grizzlies and Clippers is official, both teams announced in press releases. The Clippers also confirmed the waiving of Marcin Gortat.

“We will miss the toughness Marcin brought to this group,” team president Lawrence Frank said. “He was a tenacious defender and screen-setter, and we are grateful to have been part of his long and distinguished career.”

1:07pm: The Grizzlies have reached an agreement to trade swingman Garrett Temple and power forward JaMychal Green to the Clippers for shooting guard Avery Bradley, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

The trade allows the Clippers to clear a little more cap space in their pursuit of top free agents this summer. Temple has an expiring $8MM contract, while Green is making $7.7MM in his walk year. The Clippers will open up $2MM more in cap room this offseason, giving them a projected $59MM to chase the best players in the free agent class, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter links).

Bradley is making $12MM this season and $12.96MM next season, but only $2MM of next season’s salary is guaranteed. Memphis has until July 3rd to fully guarantee his salary, something a rebuilding club is unlikely to do.

The Grizzlies will create a $7.6MM trade exception as well as open up a roster spot as they finalize a deal sending center Marc Gasol to the Raptors. Green will receive a $200K bonus if the Clippers reach the first round of the playoffs, Marks adds.

With the Clippers having a full roster prior to the trade agreement, they will open up a spot to complete the 2-for-1 deal by waiving center Marcin Gortat, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Los Angeles will thus eat the remainder of his $13.565MM contract this season. Gortat was due to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Bradley, who has started all 49 games in which he’s played this season, is averaging 8.2 PPG. Gortat started 43 of 47 games, averaging 5.0 PPG and 5.6 RPG. Green was the Grizzlies’ fourth-leading scorer despite coming off the bench in all but four of 41 games, averaging 9.8 PPG and 6.1 RPG. Temple, acquired from the Kings during the offseason, started 49 games and averaging 9.4 PPG.

Hawks To Waive Daniel Hamilton

February 7th, 2019 at 4:34pm CST by JD Shaw

The Hawks will waive guard Daniel Hamilton after agreeing to a trade with Boston, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta acquired Jabari Bird and cash from the Celtics today, with NBA rules requiring that they clear a roster spot to make the deal official.

The Hawks will also waive Shelvin Mack, who was acquired in a separate deal with Memphis for Tyler Dorsey, according to Vivlamore.

It appeared as if Atlanta would have been able to hang onto Hamilton if it had completed the trade for Mack first, then waived him to clear a roster spot. However, Vivlamore suggests that the team had to release Hamilton due to a “technical error.”

Hamilton, 23, was the No. 56 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft out of Connecticut. He appeared in 19 games with the Hawks this season, holding per-game averages of three points, 2.5 rebounds and 10.7 minutes on 38% shooting.

The Hawks held onto the likes of Jeremy Lin, Taurean Prince and Dewayne Dedmon past today’s trade deadline despite each player seeing their names surface in rumors. According to Vivlamore, there are currently no plans to buy out veterans like Lin and Dedmon.

Nets Release Forward Mitch Creek

February 7th, 2019 at 4:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nets have released Australian forward Mitch Creek from his 10-day contract, the team’s PR department tweets.

Brooklyn had to open up a roster spot in order to finalize a trade with the Raptors for Greg Monroe, even though it doesn’t plan to keep the veteran center. The Nets received a future second-rounder as part of that reported deal.

Creek was signed to a second 10-day contract with the Nets on Monday.

The 26-year-old Creek spent most of his professional career with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia. He played for the Mavericks in Summer League, the Nets in the preseason, and the G League’s Long Island Nets for most of the 2018/19 campaign until signing his first 10-day contract with Brooklyn on January 25.

Creek appeared in four games with the Nets, averaging 3.8 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 9.0 MPG.

Wesley Matthews Bought Out By Knicks, Plans To Sign With Pacers

February 7th, 2019 at 4:14pm CST by Dana Gauruder

4:14pm: The Knicks have officially waived Wesley Matthews, the team announced on social media.

2:28pm: Matthews will be bought out by the Knicks later today and intends to sign with the Pacers once he clears waivers, tweets Charania.

2:03pm: Shooting guard Wesley Matthews is expected to reach a buyout agreement with the Knicks, and the Pacers are the frontrunners to sign Matthews once he clears waivers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Matthews is also expected to draw interest from the Warriors and Rockets and possibly other contenders, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times (Twitter link).

The Knicks are expected to retain veteran enter DeAndre Jordan, rather than buy him out. Stein adds. Jordan, who like Matthews will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, was also acquired in the blockbuster deal that shipped star big man Kristaps Porzingis to the Mavericks.

The Knicks have already been working on a buyout with disgruntled center Enes Kanter and that could be finalized as early as today, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Matthews and Kanter both have expiring $18.6MM contracts. Jordan is making $22.9MM.

Matthews, who is averaging 13.1 PPG and shooting 38% on his 3-point attempts, would be a natural fit for Indiana as it seeks to replenish its backcourt in the wake of Victor Oladipo‘s season-ending injury.

New York’s desire to keep Jordan is mainly due to his willingness to mentor their young bigs, especially rookie center Mitchell Robinson.

Suns Waive Guard Wayne Ellington

February 7th, 2019 at 4:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

4:11pm: The move is official, according to a team press release.

4:06pm: The Suns will place newly-acquired Wayne Ellington on waivers today, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 Phoenix tweets.

Ellington and guard Tyler Johnson were dealt to Phoenix for forward Ryan Anderson but the Suns had no intention of retaining the veteran shooting guard. Ellington was caught in a logjam of wings with the Heat, bouncing in-and-out of the rotation. He’ll now be free to seek a team that can offer him more playing time.

Ellington had the ability to veto a trade, so he wouldn’t have agreed to it unless he would end up in a more favorable situation. The Pistons, who just traded starting shooting guard Reggie Bullock to the Lakers, are expected to pursue Ellington. The Thunder have also been mentioned as a potential suitor.

Ellington has an expiring $6.27MM contract. The 31-year-old guard, who appeared in 25 games with Miami this season, is a career 38% 3-point shooter.

Knicks Waive Enes Kanter

February 7th, 2019 at 3:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

3:54pm: The Knicks have officially waived Kanter, the team announced today (via Twitter). He’ll clear waivers on Saturday.

2:35pm: Enes Kanter won’t have to worry about a negotiating a buyout in New York, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Knicks plan to release the unhappy center, meaning they will owe him the balance of his $18.6MM contract. The move could be finalized by the end of the day (Twitter link).

Kanter has been frustrated about his reduced playing time under first-year Knicks coach David Fizdale. Kanter began the season as the starter, but dropped down the depth chart as Fizdale created more minutes for Mitchell Robinson and Luke Kornet. Last week’s Kristaps Porzingis trade brought DeAndre Jordan to New York and left Kanter as the fourth-string center.

Kanter was outspoken about his situation and asked management for a trade if he wasn’t going to be used. Madison Square Garden fans have been vocal in their support of Kanter, chanting his name at recent games, but that may have been part of the reason the Knicks decided to act so quickly to get rid of him.

“I don’t know if the organization wants to hear that every game because it’s a little embarrassing,” Kanter said in an ESPN story. “Because after all this [Porzingis] trade and everything that the fans still want me to go out there and play. I don’t know if they wanna hear that chant every game.”

Several teams should be interested in the 25-year-old, who averaged 14.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in 44 games.

Grizzlies To Release Omri Casspi

February 7th, 2019 at 3:41pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran forward Omri Casspi is among the NBA’s roster casualties on deadline day, according to Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com (Twitter link). Wallace reports that the Grizzlies are waiving Casspi in order to keep their roster count at 15 players.

Memphis has agreed to a series of deadline trades, including one with the Raptors that will see three players sent to the Grizzlies in exchange for Marc Gasol. As a result, Memphis needed to open up a roster spot to accommodate those incoming players.

Casspi makes sense as the odd man out. The 30-year-old recently suffered a torn meniscus and it was unclear whether or not he’d be able to return this season, Wallace notes. Casspi will get a head start on unrestricted free agency for next season after averaging 6.3 PPG and 3.2 RPG in 36 games for Memphis.

Meanwhile, the release of Casspi bodes well for Bruno Caboclo, who is on his second 10-day deal with the Grizzlies and was another candidate to be waived, based on his contract situation. However, Memphis likes what it has seen from Caboclo and there’s a good chance he’ll get a rest-of-season contract, perhaps even with guaranteed money for next season too, tweets Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian.

Kings To Waive Ben McLemore

February 7th, 2019 at 2:49pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings are waiving veteran guard Ben McLemore, reports Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link). McLemore will become an unrestricted free agent once he officially clears waivers.

The Kings completed a pair of trades today, but didn’t take on any extra players in either of those moves, so there was no urgent need to open up a roster spot. However, with McLemore’s contract no longer required for salary-matching purposes in a trade, it makes sense for the club to move on from him, since he’s not part of the regular rotation in Sacramento.

A former seventh overall pick, McLemore appeared in 19 games for the Kings this season, averaging just 8.3 minutes per contest. He posted 3.9 PPG on .391/.415/.667 shooting in his limited role, and will look to catch on with a new team once he reaches the open market.

As for the Kings, this move actually creates a second opening on their roster, assuming my math is correct, reducing their player count to 13. Sacramento will have two weeks to get back up to 14 players.

Kings, Blazers Swap Skal Labissiere, Caleb Swanigan

February 7th, 2019 at 1:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Kings have sent Skal Labissiere to the Trail Blazers in exchange for Caleb Swanigan in a swap of little-used power forwards, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

A late first-round pick in 2016, Labissiere has barely played this season, appearing in 13 games and averaging 8.7 minutes per night. The Kings already picked up his option for next season, which will pay him $2,3MM.

Swanigan is averaging 8.1 minutes in 18 games. He will make a little more than $2MM next year.

Shumpert To Rockets, Burks to Kings In 3-Team Trade

February 7th, 2019 at 11:33am CST by Arthur Hill

FEBRUARY 7, 11:33am: The trade is now official, the Cavaliers confirmed in a press release. Here are the full details:

Cavaliers acquire Knight, Chriss, the Rockets’ 2019 first-round pick, and the Rockets 2022 second-round pick.
Rockets acquire Shumpert, Stauskas, Baldwin, and the Bucks’ 2021 second-round pick (from Cleveland).
Kings acquire Burks and lesser of the Rockets’ and Warriors’ 2020 second-round picks.

FEBRUARY 7, 7:21am: The draft pick the Kings are receiving from Houston in the deal will be the lesser of the Rockets’ and Warriors’ second-rounders in 2020, tweets James Ham of NBC Sports California.

FEBRUARY 6, 8:10pm: The Cavaliers will also receive a lottery-protected 2019 first-round pick from the Rockets, relays Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, who states that the front office is “thrilled” by what it was able to get in return for Burks.

7:25pm: The Kings, Rockets and Cavaliers have agreed to a three-team deal that will send Iman Shumpert to Houston, Alec Burks and a second-round pick to Sacramento and Marquese Chriss and Brandon Knight to Cleveland, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

The Rockets will also receive Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin from the Cavs, adds ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Both guards were acquired Sunday when Cleveland shipped Rodney Hood to Portland. Houston hasn’t decided whether to keep both players for the rest of the season, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

Because they were just acquired, Stauskas and Baldwin can’t be aggregated in the same trade, so the Cavaliers and Rockets will have to make two separate deals, tweets Keith Smith of Real GM. Burks will be traded for Knight, while Chriss’ $3.2MM salary will be absorbed with the TPE that Cleveland created by sending Hood to the Trail Blazers.

The Cavaliers had to include both guards to remain below the luxury tax, Bobby Marks posts on ESPN Now. They created a $1.5MM trade exception for each player and are now $1.2MM under the tax. Knight carries cap hits of $14.6MM for this season and $15.6MM for 2019/20, while Chriss has a $3.2MM expiring deal. Cleveland is dangerously close to tax territory for next season, Marks adds, hovering about $10MM below without accounting for a projected top five draft pick.

Houston will save $6.3MM in projected tax payments and bring its bill down to $6.1MM, Marks notes in a separate post. The total could drop even lower depending on what happens with $1.5MM in bonuses for Clint Capela, who is sidelined after thumb surgery. The Rockets will inherit Shumpert’s Bird rights and will sit about $4MM above the tax threshold with the addition of the three players.

The Rockets had been seeking veteran wing help and were hoping to unload the contracts of Knight and Chriss after acquiring them from Phoenix over the summer in a deal to unload Ryan Anderson‘s hefty salary. Shumpert has an $11MM expiring contract. Burks also has an expiring deal worth a little more than $11.5MM.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.