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Suns Waive Shaquille Harrison, Darrell Arthur

October 15th, 2018 at 4:43pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns waived a pair of players on Monday to reach the regular season roster limit, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Shaquille Harrison and Darrell Arthur have been cut by the team.

Arthur’s release comes as no surprise, since he was never part of the Suns’ plans for this season. Still, by waiving him now, before receiving resolution on their disabled player exception request, the Suns are no longer eligible for that DPE, as Keith Smith of RealGM confirms (via Twitter). Given that there was little evidence that Arthur had recently sustained a season-ending injury, that DPE was unlikely to be approved anyway.

Harrison’s release is a little more surprising, given the Suns’ lack of depth at point guard. However, he was one of three players – along with Richaun Holmes and Isaiah Canaan – who was on a non-guaranteed contract, making him somewhat expendable. The Suns will now retain Canaan, Elie Okobo, and De’Anthony Melton at the point, with combo guard Jamal Crawford set to enter the mix as well.

Speaking of Crawford, the Suns will need to make one additional roster move when he officially signs his contract, which hasn’t happened yet. Davon Reed is expected to be traded or waived to accommodate Crawford.

With today’s moves, the Suns will create $7.5MM+ in additional dead money on their cap for 2018/19 — Harrison had a modest $50K guarantee, which Phoenix will eat, along with Arthur’s $7,464,912 salary.

Blazers Exercise Options On Collins, Swanigan

October 15th, 2018 at 4:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Trail Blazers have exercised their third-year options for the 2019/20 season on big men Zach Collins and Caleb Swanigan, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian tweets. The team has officially confirmed the option decisions.

The cap hit on Collins, who will make $3.63MM in his second NBA season, will be $4.24MM. The cap charge on Swanigan, who will make $1.74MM this season, will be a little over $2MM next season.

Portland already had over $119MM in guaranteed salary commitments on its cap for the 2019/20 season, so the decisions on Collins and Swanigan will add to potential luxury tax issues unless it can move some contracts.

Collins, the 10th overall pick in the 2017 draft, posted modest numbers in his rookie campaign. He averaged 4.4 PPG and 3.3 RPG in 15.8 MPG while making 66 regular-season appearances. He averaged 7.0 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 17.5 MPG during the Blazers’ four postseason games.

Swanigan, the 26th overall selection last summer, averaged 2.3 PPG and 2.0 RPG in 7.0 MPG during 27 regular-season appearances.

The decision to exercise those options shows that the Blazers feel there’s plenty of untapped potential in both players, though they are projected to have reserve roles this season. Collins should see more action with last year’s backup center, Ed Davis, signing with the Nets in free agency.

Rockets Set Roster For Regular Season

October 15th, 2018 at 4:28pm CST by marksuleymanov

OCTOBER 15: The two-way contracts for Edwards and Clark are official, the Rockets confirmed today. Houston’s roster is now set for the regular season.

OCTOBER 13: The Rockets have waived Bruno Caboclo, and forward Tim Bond, along with guards Angel Rodriguez and Brandon Sampson and forward , sources tell Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Additionally, Houston plans to convert Vince Edwards and Gary Clark to two-way players, Feigen adds.

Edwards, 22, was the Jazz’s second-round pick in this year’s draft but was immediately traded to Houston. He saw limited action in the preseason, playing double digits in minutes just once as he posted six points, four rebounds and two blocks in 29 minutes on Tuesday against China’s Shanghai Sharks.

As for Clark, the undrafted forward out of Cincinnati signed with the Rockets and made a case for the team’s final roster spot. Instead, both he and Edwards appears set to split the year between the G League and NBA. Two-way deals permit players to spend up to 45 days in the NBA with the rest coming with the G League affiliate.

Houston elected to keep its 15th roster spot vacant for the time being to allow for both roster and financial flexibility.

Of the four waived players, Caboclo has the most significant NBA experience, appearing in 37 games with the Raptors over the past four seasons. The Rockets signed Rodriguez, Sampson and Bond to Exhibit 10 contracts, so the club will have the opportunity to make them affiliate players with the G League Rio Grande Valley Vipers, assuming they go unclaimed on waivers.

Bulls Claim Tyler Ulis, Give Him Two-Way Deal

October 15th, 2018 at 4:21pm CST by Eric Spyropoulos

OCTOBER 15: The Bulls have officially confirmed that they’ve converted Ulis’ contract into a two-way deal, announcing the move in a press release.

OCTOBER 14: The Bulls have claimed point guard Tyler Ulis off of waivers, according to Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated (via Twitter). Ulis was previously with the Warriors throughout training camp but was released this past week.

After getting a larger role than expected during his rookie season with the Suns, Ulis struggled throughout the 2017/18 season, leading to his release from the team. In his first two seasons in the league, Ulis averaged 7.6 points and 4.1 assists per game, but only shot 40.3% from the field and 28% on 3-pointers.

The Bulls already have 15 players on standard NBA contracts, but are only carrying one player (Rawle Alkins) on a two-way deal. Because Ulis was on an Exhibit 10 contract with Golden State, his deal can be converted into a two-way pact, allowing Chicago to avoid making any cuts to accommodate the newly-added point guard. The Bulls will do just that, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Ulis will add some depth to a point guard depth chart that features Kris Dunn, Cameron Payne, and Ryan Arcidiacono as the Bulls look to add more young talent throughout their rebuild.

Spurs Waive Manu Ginobili

October 15th, 2018 at 4:19pm CST by Luke Adams

As expected, the Spurs have waived retired guard Manu Ginobili, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The move is a formality in order to reach the regular season roster limit.

Although Ginobili announced his retirement in August, he had one final year on his contract with San Antonio and technically remained a member of the team until today. Like they did with Tim Duncan when he retired, the Spurs released Ginobili and will pay him for one final season following his decision to call it a career. The longtime Spur will count for $2.5MM against the team’s cap in 2018/19.

San Antonio now has 15 players on standard contracts and one more on a two-way deal, so the team is all set to start the season. It will be interesting to see if the Spurs use that second two-way contract slot in order to add some point guard depth in the coming days.

You can check out our full story on Ginobili’s retirement from August right here.

Clippers Trade Wesley Johnson To Pelicans, Cut Two Players

October 15th, 2018 at 4:11pm CST by Luke Adams

4:11pm: The Clippers have officially announced their trade with the Pelicans and confirmed that they’ve waived both Ajinca and Evans. L.A. is now in compliance with the regular season roster limit.

2:19pm: The Clippers and Pelicans have reached a trade agreement that will send Alexis Ajinca to Los Angeles and Wesley Johnson to New Orleans, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Marc Stein of The New York Times first reported (via Twitter) that the two teams were in advanced discussions on a swap involving Ajinca and Johnson.

From the Clippers’ perspective, the trade will simply be about saving a little money before they make their final roster cuts. Ajinca ($5.29MM) earns a more modest 2018/19 salary than Johnson ($6.13MM) and both players are on expiring deals.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the Clippers will waive Ajinca after acquiring him. 2017 second-round pick Jawun Evans will be Los Angeles’ other cut, Wojnarowski adds. That means that non-guaranteed players Patrick Beverley and Tyrone Wallace will both open the regular season on the Clips’ roster.

There are some teams that like Evans, according to Keith Smith of RealGM.com (Twitter link), but those clubs opted not to trade for the second-year guard, who could draw interest on waivers or as a free agent if he goes unclaimed.

As for the Pelicans, they weren’t expecting to get much out of Ajinca, who missed the entire 2017/18 season with knee issues and still hadn’t been cleared for contact at the start of training camp. By swapping him for Johnson, New Orleans will add some veteran depth at a position of need, without sacrificing future cap flexibility.

Johnson, 31, was the fourth overall pick in the 2010 draft, but has never been more than a role player at the NBA level. Last season, the 6’7″ wing averaged 5.4 PPG and 2.9 RPG with a .408/.339/.741 shooting line and solid defense in 74 games (40 starts) for the Clippers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Bucks Waive Tim Frazier

October 15th, 2018 at 3:22pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks have reached the regular season roster limit by waiving point guard Tim Frazier, the team announced today (via Twitter). The move reduces Milwaukee’s roster to 17 players, including 15 on standard contracts.

Frazier, who will turn 28 in November, has appeared in 186 NBA games over the last four seasons, spending time with the Sixers, Trail Blazers, Pelicans, and Wizards. In 2017/18, he was a backup in Washington, posting 3.0 PPG and 3.3 APG in 59 games (14.2 MPG).

After waiving Tyler Zeller and Shabazz Muhammad, the Bucks’ final roster decision appeared to come down to Christian Wood, D.J. Wilson, and Frazier — the team only had room for two of the three, and Frazier’s non-guaranteed contract certainly contributed to the decision. Because Milwaukee waited until Monday to cut him, Frazier won’t clear waivers until Wednesday, and the team will assume a small cap hit for two days’ worth of his minimum salary.

Although the Bucks could enter the season with their current roster after releasing Frazier, it’s possible that another move is coming before opening night. Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reports (via Twitter) that the Bucks and Wizards are in advanced talks on a trade in which Milwaukee would get a player and a draft pick. The Bucks would also get cash in the deal, tweets Jordan Schultz of ESPN.

Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (via Twitter) suggests that the Bucks would immediately waive that player acquired from Washington and wouldn’t send a player of their own back, so both transactions would have to be completed very soon to beat the roster cutdown deadline.

Suns Plan To Trade Or Waive Davon Reed

October 15th, 2018 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns, who need to remove three players from their roster in order to officially sign Jamal Crawford and reach the regular season roster limit, continue to work on trade scenarios, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. One player involved in those trade talks is second-year guard Davon Reed, who is expected to be traded or released today by Phoenix, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

[RELATED: Suns, Jamal Crawford agree to deal]

Reed, 23, was the 32nd overall pick in the 2017 draft, but missed a significant chunk of his rookie season due to a knee injury. While there was some uncertainty about his place on the Suns’ roster heading into the summer due to the partial guarantee on his 2018/19 salary, he played well in five Summer League games in Las Vegas, posting 13.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.0 APG, and a .489 FG% in Vegas.

That Summer League showing helped earn Reed the rest of his ’18/19 guarantee and secure his roster spot temporarily, but it appears he won’t make the regular season squad.

Besides Reed, Darrell Arthur also appears likely to be waived by the Suns today, per John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). The team will have to trade or waive one more player in addition to Reed and Arthur, with non-guaranteed players like Richaun Holmes, Shaquille Harrison, and Isaiah Canaan among the candidates due to their contract status. Gambadoro adds that Dragan Bender‘s place on the roster isn’t necessarily totally secure either.

Pistons Waive Hearn; Lofton Gets Two-Way Deal

October 15th, 2018 at 2:30pm CST by Luke Adams

2:30pm: The Pistons have officially announced both moves in a press release.

1:25pm: The Pistons will reach the regular season roster limit by converting Zach Lofton‘s Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way deal and waiving two-way player Reggie Hearn, sources inform James Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter links). The moves will leave Detroit with 15 players on standard contracts and two on two-way pacts.

Lofton, who turns 26 in November, played college ball for four different schools, eventually finishing his college career at New Mexico State in 2017/18. The 6’4″ shooting guard averaged 20.1 PPG and 5.0 RPG with a .456/.380/.772 shooting line in his senior year, but went undrafted in June. After signing a camp deal with the Pistons, Lofton reportedly impressed the team this fall — we heard last week that he was making a strong case for a two-way contract.

As for Hearn, he was one of the Detroit’s two-way players last season, having inked a two-year deal with the club. Although he was solid in the G League, averaging 14.8 PPG and 4.8 RPG on .423/.370/.842 shooting, he appeared in just three games for the Pistons.

Given the positional overlap between Hearn and Lofton, it makes sense that Hearn would be the odd man out if the Pistons were determined to keep Lofton.

Hawks Pick Up 2019/20 Options For Three Players

October 15th, 2018 at 1:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks, as expected, have picked up their 2019/20 team options for three players on rookie scale contracts, per Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). Taurean Prince and DeAndre’ Bembry have had their fourth-year options exercised, while John Collins‘ third-year option has also been picked up.

Prince and Collins are two key pieces of Atlanta’s young core. Prince, who averaged 14.1 PPG and made 38.5% of his three-pointers last season, will now have his $3,481,986 cap hit guaranteed for 2019/20 and will be eligible for a rookie scale extension as of next July. Collins, who emerged as Atlanta’s starting center down the stretch in his rookie season, recorded 10.5 PPG and 7.3 RPG in 74 games (24.1 MPG). His ’19/20 cap charge of $2,686,560 is now locked in.

As for Bembry, he has struggled to make the same impact as some of his fellow first-rounders so far, having averaged just 5.2 PPG in 26 games last season, but the cost of his fourth-year option ($2,603,982) is barely more than the minimum salary, making it an easy decision for the rebuilding Hawks.

The full list of rookie scale option decisions for 2019/20 can be found right here.