Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Sixers Sign Center Emeka Okafor

September 21st, 2018 at 6:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Sixers have added veteran center Emeka Okafor to their training camp roster, according to the team’s Twitter feed. Okafor’s contract is for the non-guaranteed minimum, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets.

Philadelphia now has a full camp roster with 14 players on guaranteed deals, four on partial or non-guaranteed contracts, and two two-way players.

Okafor just cleared waivers on Friday after being let go by the Pelicans. New Orleans made the move before a $100K guarantee in Okafor’s contract kicked in.

Okafor will compete for a roster spot and Norvel Pelle, who also has a non-guaranteed deal, seems the most vulnerable among the other big men.

After missing four seasons due to injuries, Okafor returned to the NBA for the Pelicans in 2017/18 and delivered quality minutes for the team after DeMarcus Cousins went down with an Achilles tear.

In 26 games (19 starts) for New Orleans last season, Okafor posted 4.4 PPG and 4.6 RPG in 13.6 minutes per contest. He was out of the club’s rotation by the postseason, appearing in just one playoff game.

Bucks Sign Big Man Christian Wood

September 21st, 2018 at 5:17pm CST by Dana Gauruder

SEPTEMBER 21: The signing is official and includes a significant partial guarantee, according to RealGM. ESPN’s Bobby Marks provides specific details, tweeting that Wood will get $100K in guaranteed money.

AUGUST 15: The Bucks have reached an agreement with big man Christian Wood, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. It’s a training camp deal with an opportunity to make the 15-man roster, according to Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The 6’11” Wood made a splash with the Bucks in the Las Vegas summer league, where he was named all-first team. He averaged 20.4 PPG, 10.8 RPG and 2.8 BPG over 27.1 MPG in five games. He also posted impressive numbers in 45 G League games last season, averaging 23.3 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 2.3 APG and 1.7 BPG in 33.1 MPG while playing for the Delaware 87ers, the Sixers’ affiliate.

The Raptors recently took a look at Wood while working out free agent big men.

Milwaukee already had a full roster when it reached an agreement with swingman Shabazz Muhammad earlier this week. It had 14 players with guaranteed contracts, four with non- or partially-guaranteed deals, and two on two-way pacts prior to the Muhammad and Wood agreements, so it will have to shed two players to fit them in.

Undrafted in 2015, Wood has appeared in 30 NBA games. He played 17 for the Sixers during his rookie campaign and 13 more with the Hornets in 2016/17. He averaged 3.2 PPG and 2.2 RPG in 8.4 MPG in those games.

Suns Sign De’Anthony Melton

September 21st, 2018 at 4:23pm CST by Luke Adams

4:23pm: The contract is a guaranteed two-year, $2.3MM rookie deal, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

4:03pm: The Suns have officially signed rookie guard De’Anthony Melton, the team announced today in a press release. Phoenix now has 18 players under contract, including 14 on guaranteed contracts, assuming Melton’s first-year salary is fully guaranteed, as expected.

Melton, who averaged 8.3 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 3.5 APG in his first year at USC in 2016/17, was linked to the NCAA’s bribery scandal last year, prompting the Trojans to hold him out of action. He left the program in February and entered the 2018 NBA draft as an early entrant.

The Rockets used the 46th pick to nab Melton, but traded him to the Suns along with Ryan Anderson in the August deal that sent Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss to Houston. During his brief time as a Rocket, Melton made a strong impression at the Las Vegas Summer League, where he recorded 16.4 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 4.0 APG, and 3.0 SPG in five contests.

Assuming the Suns don’t trade for a veteran point guard, Melton should have the opportunity to make an immediate impact in Phoenix, where he’ll vie with Shaquille Harrison and fellow second-rounder Elie Okobo for minutes at the point. Isaiah Canaan, who is on a non-guaranteed contract, may also be in the mix.

While most second-round picks who signed NBA contracts this offseason received three- or four-year deals, the Suns don’t currently have cap room or the mid-level exception available, meaning they probably won’t be able to offer Melton more than two years, using either the room exception or minimum salary exception. I explored the club’s contract options for the rookie guard earlier this month.

Pacers Sign Omari Johnson; C.J. Wilcox Out For Season

September 21st, 2018 at 2:20pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers issued a press release on Friday announcing their 18-man roster for training camp. While we already knew that Indiana had 18 players under contract, the team’s list of camp players is missing one name and includes a new one.

According to the Pacers, former Grizzlies forward Omari Johnson has signed a contract with the team. The Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Indiana’s G League affiliate, completed a trade with the Memphis Hustle earlier this week to obtain Johnson’s NBAGL rights, so the Pacers presumably view him as a player that will eventually end up in Fort Wayne.

Johnson, who will turn 29 in November, appeared in the first four games of his NBA career for the Grizzlies last season, averaging 5.5 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 1.8 APG. The 6’9″ forward has been solid in the G League, recording 15.9 PPG and 6.6 RPG with a .450/.401/.703 shooting line in 143 career NBAGL contests. He was waived by Memphis in June.

Meanwhile, the Pacers’ press release also included some bad news, as the team announced that C.J. Wilcox suffered a torn right Achilles tendon during an offseason workout. Wilcox underwent surgery to repair the injury and will miss the entire 2018/19 season.

Wilcox had been one of Indiana’s two-way players, along with Edmond Sumner. While the Pacers don’t explicitly say that they’ve waived Wilcox, he’s not listed on their roster for training camp. If he hasn’t been officially released yet, it will likely happen soon so that the team can get someone else in that second two-way contract slot.

Raptors Sign Eric Moreland To Exhibit 10 Deal

September 21st, 2018 at 2:10pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 21: The Raptors have officially signed Moreland, the team announced today in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 18: The Raptors, who have one spot still available on their 20-man offseason roster, are set to fill that opening with a former Piston. According to Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link), Toronto has agreed to terms with free agent big man Eric Moreland on a partially guaranteed one-year deal.

It’s an Exhibit 10 contract for Moreland, tweets Blake Murphy of The Athletic. Exhibit 10 deals can be converted into two-way contracts, so Moreland could be a candidate for Toronto’s second two-way slot.

Moreland, 26, was leaned on as a rotation piece in Detroit last season after only playing sparingly for the Kings in two seasons earlier in his NBA career. In 2017/18, the forward/center averaged 2.1 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 1.2 APG in 67 contests (12.0 MPG) for the Pistons, emerging as a solid frontcourt option after Jon Leuer went down with an injury.

Toronto already has 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, and Lorenzo Brown – who has a sizable partial guarantee – is considered a strong bet to make the team as well. Moreland could vie for the 15th spot, but the in-the-tax Raptors may opt to start the season with just 14 players for financial reasons.

Spurs Sign Okaro White To Exhibit 10 Deal

September 21st, 2018 at 1:11pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have made another addition to their training camp roster, according to ESPN’s Michael C. Wright, who tweets that veteran forward Okaro White has signed an Exhibit 10 contract with San Antonio. Per RealGM’s transactions log, the Spurs have also officially completed reported deals with Drew Eubanks, Olivier Hanlan, and Jaron Blossomgame.

White, who signed a two-year contract with the Cavaliers during the final week of the 2017/18 season, was waived by Cleveland in August before the team owed any guaranteed money for that second year. Formerly a member of the Heat, White 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.

The Florida State alum, who missed a good chunk of the ’17/18 campaign with a broken foot, talked earlier this year about how he’s still working to mentally get over that injury. It appears he’ll have the opportunity to work on it this fall with San Antonio.

The Spurs now have a full 20-man roster, with 15 players on fully guaranteed salaries, four on non-guaranteed deals, and one (Eubanks) on a two-way pact. However, one of those 15 guaranteed contracts is Manu Ginobili‘s — the club will still need to officially release him at some point after he announced his retirement.

Bucks Waive James Young, Two Others

September 21st, 2018 at 12:10pm CST by Luke Adams

After releasing Travis Trice, Jordan Barnett, and Brandon McCoy earlier this week to make room on their roster for James Young, Ike Nwamu, and Robert Johnson, the Bucks have now waived Young, Nwamu, and Johnson as well, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

The back of Milwaukee’s roster has been undergoing significant turnover this month as the team secures certain players’ G League rights for the Wisconsin Herd. There’s a good chance that at least three or four players from that group – Young, Nwamu, Johnson, Trice, Barnett, and McCoy – end up with the Herd to start the 2018/19 season.

With three openings having been created on their 20-man offseason roster, the Bucks appear likely to finally complete a series of long-rumored signings. The team has reportedly agreed to terms with NBA free agents Shabazz Muhammad, Christian Wood, and Tim Frazier. Officially signing the trio would bring Milwaukee’s roster back up to 20 players for next week’s camp.

As for the three players just waived by the Bucks, Young is probably the best bet to get another shot from an NBA team. The 23-year-old has logged 95 career regular season games in four seasons for the Celtics and Sixers since being drafted 17th overall in 2014.

Spurs Cut Two Players, Sign Jaron Blossomgame

September 21st, 2018 at 9:30am CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs are making some changes to their roster in advance of training camp. After agreeing to terms with Olivier Hanlan, San Antonio has also signed former second-round pick Jaron Blossomgame to a training camp deal, as he confirmed to Jeff Garcia and Michael Rehome of The Spurs Zone.

“I’m excited for the opportunity,” said Blossomgame, who was drafted by the Spurs with the 59th overall pick in 2017 and played for the Austin Spurs last season. “I’ve played really well in open gym, so it’s exciting.”

In a pair of moves that will open up roster spots, the Spurs waived Amida Brimah and Julian Washburn, just a few days after having signed them, per NBA.com’s transactions log. Brimah and Washburn weren’t expected to compete for roster spots, having presumably been signed for their G League rights.

Blossomgame, however, could be given the opportunity to vie for an opening on San Antonio’s 15-man regular season squad. The 25-year-old, who played his college ball at Clemson, was a starting forward for an Austin team that won the NBAGL championship this past spring. In 50 games (48 starts), Blossomgame averaged 16.5 PPG and 8.1 RPG. He also played for San Antonio’s Summer League team this July, posting 13.0 PPG and 7.6 RPG in five contests in Las Vegas.

Spurs To Sign Guard Olivier Hanlan

September 20th, 2018 at 6:28pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Spurs will sign guard Olivier Hanlan, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets.

It’s apparently a training camp deal, as San Antonio has 14 players with guaranteed contracts and another on a partially-guaranteed deal. They recently invited former Thunder swingman Josh Huestis to camp and signed Amida Brimah and Julian Washburn to Exhibit 10 deals.

The former Boston College standout was selected in the second round by the Jazz in 2015. The Spurs acquired his rights the following summer in exchange for Boris Diaw and a future second-rounder.

Hanlan, who has also played professionally in Lithuania and France, spent last season with the G League’s Austin Spurs. The 6’4” guard averaged 14.7 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 2.8 APG in 30.6 MPG in 44 games, including 30 starts. He averaged 6.2 PPG, 2.4 RPG and 2.6 APG in five Las Vegas outings with the Spurs’ summer league team.

Nets Expected To Sign Drew Gordon

September 20th, 2018 at 3:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Drew Gordon, the older brother of Magic star Aaron Gordon, is expected to sign with the Nets, a source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. According to Carchia, the new deal for the elder Gordon will feature an Exhibit 10 clause.

Gordon, who went undrafted out of New Mexico in 2012, has bounced around various professional leagues since then, 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.

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.

Given the presence of an Exhibit 10 clause in Gordon’s reported agreement with the Nets, it seems likely that the club views him as a potential contributor for the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s G League affiliate.

Currently, the Nets have 18 players officially under contract. The team could fill its 20-man offseason roster by finalizing reported deals for Gordon and Alan Williams, who reached a two-way contract agreement with the Nets.