Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Spurs Waive Okaro White, Nick Johnson

October 13th, 2018 at 1:11pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have removed a pair of players from their preseason roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived forward Okaro White and guard Nick Johnson.

White, who missed a good chunk of the 2017/18 campaign with a broken foot, was waived by the Cavaliers in August and joined the Spurs for camp. Formerly a member of the Heat, the Florida State alum has appeared in 41 NBA games over the last two seasons for Miami, averaging 2.9 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 13.4 minutes per contest.

Johnson, meanwhile, hasn’t played in the NBA since a 28-game stretch with the Rockets during the 2014/15 season. However, he has thrived in the G League, earning NBAGL Finals MVP honors last season for the Austin Spurs. Given the injuries to San Antonio point guards Dejounte Murray and Derrick White this fall, Johnson seemed to have an increased chance of making the Spurs’ roster to start the season, but he’ll hit waivers instead.

San Antonio now has 15 players on standard contracts and one on a two-way deal. I believe Manu Ginobili, who announced his retirement this summer, is also technically still under contract with the team, since his release has yet to show up in the NBA’s transactions logs. If so, the Spurs figure to release him by Monday to finalize their regular season roster.

Lakers Waive Johnathan Williams, Scott Machado

October 13th, 2018 at 12:56pm CST by clarkcrum

The Lakers officially announced that they have waived forward Johnathan Williams and guard Scott Machado, leaving the club with 16 players, including two two-way players, on what is likely their final regular season roster. Shams Charania of The Athletic first reported the news on Williams.

Williams, 23, went undrafted out of Gonzaga after averaging 13.5 PPG and 8.3 RPG during his senior season and earning first team All-WCC honors. He played for the Lakers’ during Summer League in Las Vegas before he signed with the club back in July.

Machado, 28, was looking for a return to the NBA after he appeared in six games for the Rockets during his rookie season in 2012/13. He spent last season with the South Bay Lakers, L.A.’s G League affiliate, where he may very well end up again this season alongside Williams.

Knicks Waive Joakim Noah, Allen, Coby

October 13th, 2018 at 12:35pm CST by clarkcrum

The Knicks have officially announced that they have waived center Joakim Noah, with both Adrian Wojnarowski and Ian Begley of ESPN reporting that the club will utilize the stretch provision on his contract after failing to reach a buyout agreement.

The team also officially announced the release of Kadeem Allen and Jeff Coby, thereby bringing its roster down to 17 players, including two two-way players, in time for the beginning of the regular season.

We wrote in extensive detail about Noah’s situation a few days back, with Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News reporting that the Knicks would likely waive Noah when they set their 15-man regular season roster if and when the team was unable to find a deal to trade the veteran big man.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes, the Knicks will incur an $18.5M cap hit this season for Noah, which could be reduced by $522,252 if the center signs a guaranteed minimum salary contract elsewhere. For the next 3 seasons (2019-20 to 2021-22), the Knicks will be charged $6.4M per season.

Allen, a 2017 second-round draft pick by Boston, spent his rookie season on a two-way contract with the Celtics, but was waived earlier this summer before he signed a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Knicks. He could end up with the Westchester Knicks, New York’s G League affiliate, if he’s not picked up on waivers by another team.

Coby, 24, and a member of the Haitian national team, played four seasons in the Ivy League at Columbia before heading overseas and then going undrafted last year before signing with the Knicks earlier this month. He’s also a good bet to end up in Westchester.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pacers Sign, Waive Demetrius Denzel-Dyson

October 13th, 2018 at 12:24pm CST by Luke Adams

1:24pm: Approximately two hours after announcing his signing, the Pacers have waived Denzel-Dyson, according to the team.

While that may seem cruel, Denzel-Dyson is certainly on board — he should be in line for a bonus worth up to $50K as a result of his short stint on the NBA roster, assuming he signed an Exhibit 10 contract and spends at least two months with Indiana’s G League affiliate.

11:33am: The Pacers have signed free agent guard Demetrius Denzel-Dyson, the team announced today in a press release. The move increases Indiana’s roster count to 18 players for now.

Denzel-Dyson, who went undrafted out of Samford University this spring, averaged 15.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 1.1 APG in 30.8 minutes per contest during his senior year.

I expect Denzel-Dyson’s stay with the Pacers will be very brief. The team doesn’t have room for him on its regular season roster, and likely envisions him as a candidate to play for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Indiana’s G League affiliate. He can be designated as an affiliate player by the Pacers if he’s cut and clears waivers.

Pelicans Waive Jarrett Jack, Garlon Green

October 13th, 2018 at 12:21pm CST by clarkcrum

The Pelicans have made two moves to get themselves to the required roster limit in anticipation of the upcoming regular season, officially announcing that they have waived veteran point guard Jarrett Jack and rookie forward Garlon Green.

With the moves, New Orleans’ roster now stands at 16, including two-way player Trevon Bluiett. As Will Guillory of The Athletic notes, these cuts likely mean that both Kenrich Williams and Troy Williams will make the final roster, although it’s possible one of those player’s contracts will get converted to the team’s other two-way deal alongside Bluiett.

Jack, who we indicated yesterday would probably make the team after the front office decided to part ways with Darius Morris, will likely draw some interest from other teams around the league looking for veteran leadership. He has averaged 10.8 points and 4.6 assists per game in his 13 NBA seasons.

Green, meanwhile, who signed with the Pelicans back in July after playing on the club’s summer league team in Las Vegas, averaged 4.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in four preseason games. The team will incur a $50K cap hit for him, which amounts to the amount of money guaranteed to Green in his contract.

Hornets Waive Smith, Give Chealey Two-Way Deal

October 13th, 2018 at 12:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets set up their regular season roster today by completing a pair of transactions. According to a press release from the team, Charlotte has waived Zach Smith and converted Joe Chealey‘s Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way deal.

It’s good news for Chealey, who will stick with the Hornets after going undrafted out of the College of Charleston. The 6’4″ guard averaged 18.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG and 3.6 APG as a senior and led the program to the NCAA Tournament. Now, he’ll be one of Charlotte’s two-way players, alongside J.P. Macura.

As for Smith, the rookie forward is a candidate to play for the Greensboro Swarm, assuming he goes unclaimed on waivers on Monday.

The Hornets are now carrying 16 players, including 14 on standard contracts. If they don’t make any additional moves by Monday, they’ll enter the regular season with an open spot on their roster.

Jazz Waive Isaac Haas

October 13th, 2018 at 11:50am CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz have made a minor roster move, announcing today in a press release that center Isaac Haas has been waived. The transactions leaves Utah with 19 players on its roster, so more cuts will be necessary before Monday.

Haas, an undrafted rookie out of Purdue, joined the Jazz for Summer League play in July, then inked a camp contract with the team in August. His non-guaranteed contract won’t count against the club’s salary cap.

Haas will be a candidate to join the Salt Lake City Stars, Utah’s G League affiliate, after he clears waivers, assuming another NBA team doesn’t claim him.

Utah still has 17 players on standard NBA contracts and must reduce that number to 15 by Monday. Jairus Lyles and Isaiah Cousins are the probable casualties of the roster crunch.

Hawks Cut Thomas Robinson, R.J. Hunter, C.J. Anderson

October 13th, 2018 at 9:58am CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks have trimmed their preseason roster by three, waiving Thomas Robinson, R.J. Hunter, and C.J. Anderson, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). Atlanta’s roster is now at the regular season limit of 17 players, including two on two-way contracts.

Robinson, the fifth overall pick in the 2012 draft, has appeared in 313 career regular season games, but didn’t play in the NBA last season and was always a long shot to make the Hawks’ regular season roster, since the team is already carrying 15 players on guaranteed contracts. Hunter is also a former first-round pick who has struggled to find an NBA home.

Anderson, meanwhile, went undrafted out of the University of Massachusetts after averaging 10.6 PPG, 5.2 APG, and 5.0 RPG with a .414/.400/.813 shooting line as a senior in 2017/18. If he clears waivers, the Hawks would hold his G League rights as an affiliate player, so he may end up with the Erie BayHawks.

Magic Waive Braian Angola-Rodas

October 13th, 2018 at 9:24am CST by Luke Adams

The Magic have reduced their roster count to the regular season limit, waiving camp invitee Braian Angola-Rodas, according to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel (via Twitter). The team confirmed the move with an announcement of its own (via Twitter). Orlando now has 15 players on standard NBA contracts and two more on two-way deals.

Angola-Rodas, who began his college career at North Idaho State before transferring to Florida State, went undrafted this year and caught on with the Magic for Summer League and then training camp. The 6’6″ shooting guard averaged 12.5 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 3.0 APG in his senior year for the Seminoles, knocking down 1.8 threes per game at a 37.6% rate.

Because he was on a non-guaranteed contract, Angola-Rodas won’t leave a cap hit on Orlando’s books. He’s on track to join the team’s G League affiliate, the Lakeland Magic, for the start of the 2018/19 season, per Robbins.

Heat Sign Justise Winslow To Three-Year Extension

October 13th, 2018 at 7:44am CST by Dana Gauruder

OCTOBER 13: Winslow’s extension is official, per RealGM’s NBA transactions log.

OCTOBER 12: Heat forward Justise Winslow has agreed to a three-year, $39MM extension, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The agency representing Winslow, Roc Nation, hammered out the deal with Heat president Pat Riley a few days before Monday’s rookie scale extension deadline.

The extension includes a third-year team option, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

The Sun Sentinel reported on Tuesday that the two parties were close to an extension agreement.

The agreement greatly reduces the possibility of Winslow being included in a potential trade with the Timberwolves for Jimmy Butler, as CBA rules would complicate his value for salary-matching purposes.

With Devin Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns having already signed new deals, Winslow becomes the third player from the 2015 rookie class to secure an extension. There are still 2o players eligible for a rookie scale extension this year. If those players don’t sign new contracts by next Monday, they’ll be on track to become restricted free agents during the summer of 2019.

Winslow, the 10th overall pick in the 2015 draft, has not quite developed as quickly as the franchise hoped, though he showed some improvement last season. The extension will be well worth it if he effectively holds down a rotation spot during the life of the contract.

Winslow’s contract adds more guaranteed money to already hefty payroll. The Heat will now have approximately $133MM in salary commitments (including player options) for the 2019/20 season. They’ll have to make some moves to avoid paying luxury tax penalties following that season.

Winslow shot 38% from long range last season but only posted modest overall numbers, averaging 7.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 2.2 APG in 68 games (24.7 MPG). However, Winslow has the ability to defend multiple positions and averaged 1.6 steals last season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.