Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Raptors Sign Chris Boucher To Two-Year Deal

February 10th, 2019 at 5:15pm CST by JD Shaw

5:15pm: The Raptors have officially signed Boucher, the team confirmed in a press release.

3:51pm: The Raptors have agreed to a new multi-year contract with Chris Boucher, promoting him from his current two-way deal with the team, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

The agreement is a two-year deal that contains a partial guarantee for the 2019/20 season, according to The Athletic’s Michael Scotto (Twitter link).

Boucher, 26, has held per-game averages of 3.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and one block in 16 contests with the Raptors this season, shooting 46% from the field and 39% from behind-the-arc. He spent time with the Warriors during their championship 2017/18 season to start his career, but appeared in just one professional game.

Toronto also plans to sign Ben McLemore and Malcolm Miller on 10-day deals, but the team must sign another player to a standard contract before inking the pair due to CBA rules (hat tip to Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights). The Raptors have 11 players under contract, with the CBA requiring that they have 12 players on standard deals before signing players to 10-day contracts.

Boucher originally signed with the team last July and saw his contract converted to a two-way deal in October. He has impressed in his short time with the organization as he aims to develop into a valuable rotation player behind the likes of Serge Ibaka and Pascal Siakam.

Hornets Claim Shelvin Mack Off Waivers

February 10th, 2019 at 4:16pm CST by Eric Spyropoulos

While the Hornets didn’t make a move at the trade deadline, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium is reporting (via Twitter) that they will be adding more depth by claiming Shelvin Mack off of waivers after the veteran point guard was released by the Hawks.

Before being traded by the Grizzlies and subsequently released by Atlanta, Mack was averaging 7.9 points and 3.4 assists per game in a prominent role for Memphis. Mack appeared in 53 games and played 22.7 minutes per game, the second-highest average of his career.

The Hornets have received quality play at point guard with Tony Parker backing up All-Star Kemba Walker, so it will be interesting to see how much playing time Mack receives down the stretch of the regular season.

Because the Hornets have claimed Mack off of waivers, the Hawks are no longer responsible for the remainder of Mack’s contract, which is now off of their salary cap. Because the veteran point guard was on a minimum salary deal, Charlotte was able to claim him using the minimum salary exception.

Mavericks Bring Back Salah Mejri

February 10th, 2019 at 12:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Salah Mejri has re-signed with the Mavericks, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Mejri was waived Thursday to open a roster spot so the team could complete a deal that sent Harrison Barnes to the Kings. He cleared waivers Saturday.

Zach Randolph, who was acquired from Sacramento along with Justin Jackson, was waived Friday, creating an opening to bring back Mejri. Randolph hasn’t taken the court yet this season.

Mejri is in his fourth season with Dallas, but hasn’t seen much action this year. He has appeared in just 16 games, averaging 3.2 points and 3.9 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per night.

The 32-year-old center played briefly with Luka Doncic in Real Madrid during the 2015/16 season and is friends with the rookie standout, notes Selby Lopez of The Dallas Morning News. Doncic posted a farewell message to Mejri on Instagram and another objecting to the flurry of trades the team made in the week leading up to the deadline, so Lopez suggests that Mejri was re-signed in part to help keep Doncic happy.

Pacers Sign Wesley Matthews

February 10th, 2019 at 11:48am CST by Arthur Hill

Free agent guard Wesley Matthews, who agreed to a buyout with the Knicks earlier this week, has signed with the Pacers, the team announced on Twitter.

New York acquired Matthews in the January 31 trade that sent Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas. He played just two games for the Knicks before parting ways with the team. The 32-year-old appeared in 44 games with the Mavericks before the trade, averaging 13.1 points per night and shooting 38% from 3-point territory.

The Pacers have a pair of roster openings, so no move was needed to add Matthews. Indiana has been looking for backcourt help since star guard Victor Oladipo suffered a season-ending injury last month.

Thunder Waive Alex Abrines

February 9th, 2019 at 7:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

7:34pm: Abrines agreed to give back almost all of the $1.8MM he was still owed, according to Charania (Twitter link), who adds that he and the team “parted ways amicably.”

4:20pm: Oklahoma City has placed Alex Abrines on waivers, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The Thunder will still be responsible for the remainder of his $5,455,236 salary, which will continue to count against the team’s cap.

The third-year guard has appeared in just 31 games this season, averaging 5.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in 19 minutes per night. Abrines was a second-round draft choice in 2013, but didn’t come to the NBA until three years later.

The 25-year-old has only appeared in two games over the past six weeks and is dealing with an undisclosed personal situation, according to Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. Abrines and team officials came to a mutual decision that he needed time away from basketball to work on those issues, adds ESPN’s Royce Young.

“He’s still battling through some things and wasn’t able to be here tonight,” coach Billy Donovan said after Tuesday’s game. “Honestly, we go day-by-day with him and continue to be supportive with him. He’s around the team, we always talk and communicate.”

The Thunder were already one player short of the roster minimum of 14 after the deadline, so OKC will have to make at least two additions. They will have two weeks from today to replace Abrines.

Pistons Sign Wayne Ellington, Waive Henry Ellenson

February 9th, 2019 at 6:09pm CST by ChrisCrouse

6:09pm: The move is official, tweets Rod Beard of The Detroit News.

4:03pm: Wayne Ellington has cleared waivers and the Pistons will sign him to a contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).

Ellington was sent to the Suns in the Tyler Johnson trade and the veteran was subsequently waived. It was reported on Friday that Detroit was nearing a deal with the 31-year-old after beating out “heavy competition” for his services.

While the Pistons don’t provide Ellington with a chance to compete for a title, they do provide him a path to court time on a potential playoff team. Detroit traded away Reggie Bullock, arguably the team’s best shooter, earlier in the week and Ellington, who’s a career 38.0% shooter from downtown, will have a chance to fill that void.

As we mentioned in our log of every team’s roster situation, the Pistons had a full roster and needed to make a corresponding move to add the shooting guard. The team will waive Henry Ellenson in order to make room for Ellington.

Clippers Waive Michael Beasley

February 9th, 2019 at 12:18pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Clippers have waived Michael Beasley, according to the team’s Twitter feed. Beasley came to the franchise in the trade deadline deal that sent Mike Muscala to the Lakers.

Beasley never suited up for the Clippers. He played in 26 games for the Lakers this season, averaging 7.0 points per game.

The former No. 2 overall pick has had NBA stops in Los Angeles, Miami, Minnesota, Phoenix, Houston, Milwaukee, and New York. He has played in a total of 609 NBA games.

Pacers Waive Nik Stauskas, Wade Baldwin

February 8th, 2019 at 4:54pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Pacers have waived Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin, according to a team press release. The pair was acquired from the Rockets at the trade deadline and the move to waive them was expected.

Stauskas and Baldwin spent most of the season in Portland before being traded to the Cavs for Rodney Hood. Cleveland then sent the duo to Houston as part of a three-team agreement that also brought Iman Shumpert to the Rockets. Houston then dealt the two former first-rounders to the Pacers in separate trades.

The move to waive Stauskas and Baldwin opens up two roster spots, one of which will go to new addition Wesley Matthews. GM Kevin Pritchard said the Pacers are unlikely to fill the other spot right away.

Mavericks Waive Zach Randolph

February 8th, 2019 at 4:05pm CST by Luke Adams

FEBRUARY 8: The Mavericks have officially waived Randolph, the team announced today in a press release.

FEBRUARY 7: Veteran big man Zach Randolph, acquired by the Mavericks in a deadline deal with the Kings, will be waived by Dallas, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Given his sizable cap hit ($11,692,308), Randolph will almost certainly go unclaimed, so he’ll become an unrestricted free agent once he clears waivers. He’ll be free to sign with any team besides Sacramento at that point.

There’s no indication based on Charania’s report that Randolph has agreed to reduce his salary as part of the transactions. Veterans on oversized contracts generally only agree to buyouts if they have a new destination lined up, and it’s not clear if that’s the case for Randolph.

The 37-year-old had yet to appear in a game for the Kings this season after playing 59 games (57 starts) in 2017/18. Randolph was still productive last season, averaging 14.5 PPG and 6.7 RPG on .473/.347/.785. While his limited ability to protect the rim or switch on defense will reduce his appeal to some extent it’s possible he’ll still draw interest from contending teams.

Hawks Waive Shelvin Mack

February 8th, 2019 at 2:39pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks have officially requested waivers on Shelvin Mack, the team announced today in a press release. He’ll become a free agent on Sunday, assuming he goes unclaimed.

Mack, 28, had been Memphis’ backup point guard for the 2018/19 season, averaging 7.9 PPG and 3.4 APG in 53 games (22.7 MPG). He has also had one of his best three-point shooting seasons, knocking down 35.9% of his attempts from outside.

The Grizzlies sent Mack to the Hawks in exchange for Tyler Dorsey in a deadline-day trade on Thursday. Considering the deal doesn’t appear to have saved Atlanta any money and no other assets were said to be included, it’s not clear what the Hawks’ motivations were for making the trade.

In any case, Atlanta now has two open roster spots and will have two weeks to fill at least one of them.