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Heat Sign Justise Winslow To Three-Year Extension

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.

Nuggets Waive Donald Sloan, Xavier Silas

11:17pm: The Nuggets have confirmed Sloan’s release and also announced that they’ve waived Xavier Silas too (Twitter link). The moves reduce Denver’s roster to 15 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals, so the club is at the regular season roster limit.

8:51pm: The Nuggets have waived guard Donald Sloan, Hoops Rumors’ JD Shaw tweets.

The move reduces Denver’s camp roster to 18 players. It waived forward Emanuel Terry earlier this week.

Sloan, 30, has played more than 200 regular season games over the course of his career, but hasn’t appeared in an NBA regular-season contest since 2015/16, when he saw action in 61 games for the Nets.

Last season, he averaged 18.8 PPG, 5.5 APG, and 4.2 RPG in 24 games (34.6 MPG) for the Texas Legends, Dallas’ G League affiliate, before heading to China for a third stint with the Guangdong Southern Tigers.

Nets Sign Gordon, Waive Creek

The Nets have signed forward Drew Gordon and waived forward Mitch Creek, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets.

The older brother of Magic star Aaron Gordon, Drew Gordon went undrafted out of New Mexico in 2012. He has bounced around various professional leagues since that point, primarily playing overseas. In addition to a brief stint with the Sixers during the 2014/15 season, the 6’9″ power forward has also spent time with clubs in Serbia, Italy, Turkey, France, Lithuania, and Russia.

Gordon will be making up for lost time. He was expected to sign with Brooklyn prior to camp but that deal didn’t come to fruition.

Most recently, Gordon played for Zenit St. Petersburg during the 2017/18 season. The 28-year-old recorded 11.1 PPG and 6.7 RPG in 21 VTB League games, along with 12.4 PPG and 7.0 RPG in 17 EuroCup contests.

Creek has spent most of his professional career with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia before signing with the Nets in August. In 31 games in Australia last season, Creek averaged 14.8 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 2.5 APG. He was named to the All-NBL Second Team. He also played for the Mavericks’ summer league team, recording 6.8 PPG and 5.2 RPG in five games in Las Vegas.

Rockets Sign Bond, Waive Gentile

The Rockets signed guard Tim Bond and he’ll join their G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Mark Berman of KRIV tweets.

The 6’6” Bond played all four of his college seasons with Eastern Michigan, where he averaged 8.6 PPG and 3.0 APG. He averaged 9.2 PPG, 4.9 RPG and 3.5 APG during his senior year.

In order to open up a spot for Bond, the Rockets have waived guard Alessandro Gentile, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

It’s unclear when Houston signed Gentile, since he wasn’t listed on the 20-man training camp roster. Gentile had been recovering from right hand surgery after suffering the injury in May.

Gentile, a 6’7″ wing, has played overseas since being selected with the 53rd overall pick in the 2014 draft.

Clippers Sign Jamel Artis

OCTOBER 12th, 6:21pm: The signing is official, the team’s PR department tweets.

OCTOBER 10th, 9:19pm: According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Clippers are signing recently-waived swingman Jamel Artis to a partially-guaranteed deal. As Charania notes, Artis was in training camp with Kings up until this past weekend.

The timing seems interesting, considering a report from earlier today that the club is actually seeking out trades to get rid of players, but it’s unlikely that the Clippers plan to keep Artis, with the 25-year-old more likely to end up with the Clippers’ G League affiliate, the Agua Caliente Clippers.

Artis, who spent the 2017-18 campaign on a two-way contract with the Magic, averaged 5.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists across 18.6 minutes per game last season.

Mavericks Re-Sign Ding Yanyuhang

The Mavericks have re-signed Ding Yanyuhang, a formality to place him on the team’s G League affiliate, the Texas Legends, Tim McMahon of ESPN tweets.

He was waived on Wednesday after missing most of the preseason because of tendinitis in his knee.

The 6’6” Ding has spent the last seven seasons playing professionally for China’s Shandong Golden Stars. In 45 games for Shandong last season, he averaged 26.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 3.2 APG and 1.6 SPG and earned his second consecutive Chinese Basketball Association Domestic MVP award.

Ding played on the Mavericks’ summer-league team last year.

Thunder Waive Four Players

The Thunder have waived guards Abdul Gaddy and Scotty Hopson and forwards Donte Grantham and Dez Wells, according to a team press release.

The moves pare Oklahoma City’s training camp roster to 16 players.

Gaddy saw spot duty in four preseason games. He has mostly played overseas since going undrafted out of Washington in 2013.

Grantham, Hopson and Wells were signed earlier this week. All could wind up with the team’s G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, once they clear waivers.

Grantham was averaging a career-best 14.2 PPG and 6.9 RPG for Clemson last season before tearing his ACL in January.

Hopson played in Turkey last season, averaging 11.1 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 27 games with Galatasaray. He played one game with the Mavericks last year after signing a 10-day contract in February and played two games for the Cavaliers in 2013/14.

Wells played in Italy last season, averaging 11.3 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 52 games with Sidigas Avellino.

Raptors Re-Sign Malcolm Miller

5:50pm: The Raptors have made Miller’s signing official, Murphy tweets.

3:56pm: The Raptors are expected to re-sign Malcolm Miller, a source tells Blake Murphy of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Murphy, the deal is pending a physical.

Miller, 25, spent the 2017/18 season on a two-way contract with the Raptors, appearing in 15 games for the NBA squad and averaging 12.6 PPG and 5.1 RPG in 34 games for the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League affiliate. The club initially tendered him a two-way qualifying offer, making him a restricted free agent, but withdrew that QO after he suffered a dislocated shoulder during Summer League play.

Murphy, who classifies that injury as a torn labrum, writes that the Raptors’ plan is to sign Miller to an Exhibit 10 contract, waive him, and then allow him to rehab the injury with the Raptors 905. The series of transactions will allow the young forward to receive an Exhibit 10 bonus and stick with the organization while he recovers.

Miller is on track to potentially get back on the court in January, Murphy adds.

Sixers Sign Cory Jefferson, Darin Johnson

The Sixers have added forward Cory Jefferson and guard Darin Johnson to their training camp roster and waived guard Matt Farrell and forward DJ Hogg, according to a team press release.
The 6’9” Jefferson has spent the last two seasons playing professionally in Italy and the Philippines. He was on the Spurs’ summer league team and also played for the NBL’s Melbourne United when Philadelphia hosted the Australian team in a preseason game.
Jefferson, a second-round pick in 2014, has appeared in 58 career NBA games with Brooklyn and Phoenix and posted averages of 3.5 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 10.0 MPG.
Johnson, a 6-foot-7 guard, played 44 games last season with the Sixers’ G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats. In 17.2 MPG, he averaged 6.5 PPG.
Farrell and Hogg were signed earlier this week and could wind up with the Blue Coats once they clear waivers.
The moves keep Philadelphia’s camp roster at 20 players.

Pelicans Waive Brandon McCoy, Darius Morris

The Pelicans have waived center Brandon McCoy and point guard Darius Morris, the team’s PR department tweets.

New Orleans is now down to 18 players on the training camp roster, including two-way player Trevon Bluiett.

Both appeared in three preseason games. McCoy was waived by the Bucks last month, then signed with the Pelicans on September 29th. He was undrafted out of Nevada-Las Vegas this summer. The 7-foot-1 McCoy averaged 16.9 PPG and 10.3 RPG for UNLV last season.

Morris signed a non-guaranteed two-year deal in early September.

Morris, a second-round pick in the 2011 NBA draft, spent four seasons playing for the Lakers, Sixers, Clippers, Grizzlies, and Nets after entering the league. In 132 total regular season contests, he averaged 3.3 PPG and 1.4 APG but hasn’t appeared in a regular-season game since 2015. Since then, Morris had played in the G League for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and in China for the Guangdong Southern Tigers.

With the Pelicans subtracting Morris, Jarrett Jack‘s chances of making the roster have seemingly increased.