Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Trail Blazers Waive Georgios Papagiannis

July 17th, 2018 at 11:24pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers have waived former lottery pick Georgios Papagiannis, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). It’s the second time this year that Papagiannis will hit the waiver wire.

Papagiannis, the 13th overall pick in the 2016 draft, spent a season and a half in Sacramento but played sparingly for the Kings, averaging 4.2 PPG and 3.2 RPG in 38 games (12.4 MPG). The Kings cut their losses in February, releasing Papagiannis as part of a series of moves at the trade deadline.

The Greek center caught on with the Trail Blazers in March, but never carved out a role in Portland either. While his contract with the team covered the 2018/19 season, his $1,544,951 salary was non-guaranteed, and he always seemed likely to be waived, particularly once the Blazers decided to retain Wade Baldwin as their 15th player.

Papagiannis will become an unrestricted free agent later this week when he clears waivers, but he won’t remain on the open market for long. Wojnarowski indicates that the 21-year-old intends to sign a deal with a Greek team, and that club is expected to be Panathinaikos, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relayed earlier this week.

Nuggets Sign Thomas Welsh To Two-Way Deal

July 17th, 2018 at 8:00pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 17: The Nuggets have officially signed Welsh, according to the league’s transactions log.

JULY 3: The Nuggets are expected to sign second-round pick Thomas Welsh to a two-way contract, a source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.

Welsh, the 58th pick in the 2018 draft, spent his college career at UCLA, serving as the Bruins’ starting center for the last three years. In 2017/18, he averaged a double-double (12.6 PPG, 10.8 RPG) and added an outside shot to his game, knocking down 45 three-pointers at a 40.4% rate after having attempted just one in his first three seasons.

A year ago, when the NBA introduced the two-way contract for the first time, it became a common way for teams to sign late second-round picks. Five players drafted between 51-60 in the 2017 draft inked two-way deals, so it makes sense that Welsh would receive one in Denver.

In 2017/18, the Nuggets filled its two-way contract slots with Torrey Craig and Monte Morris. Morris’ two-way deal is for two years, so he’s the favorite to fill Denver’s second slot alongside Welsh next season. Craig is currently a restricted free agent.

Bucks Sign Center Brook Lopez

July 17th, 2018 at 7:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 17, 7:30pm: The signing is official, per team press release.

JULY 8, 2:13pm: The Bucks will sign Lakers free agent center Brook Lopez, Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports tweets.

Lopez will sign a one-year deal for the team’s bi-annual exception, which is worth $3.382MM, Schultz adds in another tweet.

Milwaukee already has three centers on the roster in John Henson, Thon Maker and Tyler Zeller. This will likely end Zeller’s stay with the club, as his $1.93MM salary for next season is not guaranteed.

Lopez’s NBA career began in 2008/09 with the Nets but he’s still just 30 years old. He’s developed a 3-point game in his last two seasons, first with Brooklyn and then with the Lakers. He averaged 13.0 PPG and 4.0 RPG while making 34.5% of his long-range attempts. Lopez, who started 72 of 74 games last season, averaged 20.5 PPG the previous year as a bigger part of the Nets’ attack.

His ability to space the floor should open up more driving lanes for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Lakers moved on from Lopez by getting a free-agent commitment from JaVale McGee and drafting Michigan big man Moritz Wagner.

Blazers To Retain Guard Wade Baldwin

July 17th, 2018 at 6:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Trail Blazers will retain guard Wade Baldwin and guarantee his contract for next season, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian reports.

Baldwin’s $1,544,951 salary will be guaranteed once he remains on the roster through Thursday. Baldwin will claim the 15th spot on the roster and center Georgios Papagiannis is expected to be waived, Freeman adds. The team also had a Thursday deadline to guarantee Papagiannis’ salary.

Baldwin solidified his roster spot with a strong showing in the summer league. The former first-round pick by the Grizzlies joined Portland last season on a two-way contract after Memphis waived him, then received a standard contract in March. He played seven regular-season games with the Trail Blazers last season after playing in 33 games with the Grizzlies.

He then appeared in three of Portland’s four postseason games against the Pelicans. Baldwin earned spot duty in the rotation with his tenacious on-ball defense, Freeman notes.

Papagiannis appeared in just one game with Portland last season after seeing action in 38 games over two seasons with the Kings.

Kings Trade Garrett Temple To Grizzlies

July 17th, 2018 at 3:03pm CST by Luke Adams

3:03pm: The trade is now official, the Grizzlies and Kings announced in a pair of press releases.

10:44am: The Kings and Grizzlies are in the process of finalizing a trade that will send Garrett Temple to Memphis, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, Sacramento will receive Ben McLemore, Deyonta Davis, and cash in the deal. The Kings will also get a 2021 second-round pick from the Grizzlies, tweets Chris Herrington.

The move will add a established, versatile contributor to Memphis’ rotation. Temple, who is a strong defender and can play multiple backcourt and wing positions, averaged a career-best 8.4 PPG last year for the Kings, chipping in 2.3 RPG and 1.9 APG with a .392 3PT%.

While Temple has seen most of his minutes on the wing in recent years, Grizzlies starting point guard Mike Conley is coming off an injury-plagued 2017/18 season and Memphis doesn’t have a reliable veteran behind Conley on the depth chart, with Andrew Harrison, Jevon Carter, and Kobi Simmons in the backup mix. Temple could provide the club with another ball-handler when Conley is on or off the court.

The Grizzlies will add a little money to their payroll as a result of the deal, but the salary difference is minimal, and won’t have an impact beyond 2018/19. Temple is earning $8MM in the final year of his contract and McLemore is on an expiring deal worth $5.46MM. Temple and McLemore will be unrestricted free agents next summer, while Davis – who is earning about $1.54MM this year – will be eligible for restricted free agency.

Memphis is now less than $1MM away from the luxury-tax line, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who notes that recently-signed second-rounder Carter received a guaranteed two-year minimum-salary deal from the club.

For the Kings, the move represents a reunion with former seventh overall pick McLemore, who spent the first four years of his NBA career in Sacramento. He battled health issues and struggled last season for Memphis, averaging a career-worst 7.5 PPG on 4.21/.346/.828 shooting.

As for Davis, he showed some promise in a part-time role for the Grizzlies last season, posting 5.8 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 62 games (15.2 MPG). I wouldn’t expect either McLemore or Davis to take on a major role for the Kings, but they could earn spots in the rotation with strong showings in training camp.

The trade will open up a little extra cap room for the Kings, who now have about $20.5MM in space, easily the most in the league. Sacramento has 14 players under contract, so it will be interesting to see what the club has in mind for its remaining cap room and its final open roster spot.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cavaliers Waive Kendrick Perkins

July 17th, 2018 at 2:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers have waived veteran center Kendrick Perkins, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Perkins will clear waivers and become an unrestricted free agent on Thursday, assuming he goes unclaimed.

Perkins, who had been out of the NBA since the 2015/16 season, caught on with the Cavs at the end of the season, signing with the club before the playoffs got underway. The 33-year-old big man played 15 minutes in Cleveland’s regular-season finale, but didn’t see any action during the postseason, though he was involved in a couple sideline incidents involving Drake and Draymond Green.

Perkins’ contract with the Cavs included a team option for the 2018/19 campaign, which Cleveland exercised last month. That option decision didn’t guarantee Perkins’ salary for the coming season though, so the club won’t be on the hook for his $2.45MM salary and cap charge.

The move won’t open up any extra cap room for the Cavs, but it will create a little extra flexibility below the luxury tax line. That will give the team more options as it weighs re-signing Rodney Hood and/or using the mid-level exception.

Pelicans Sign Trevon Bluiett To Two-Way Contract

July 17th, 2018 at 2:33pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 17: Bluiett officially signed his two-way contract today, according to a photo published on his Twitter account.

JULY 12: Trevon Bluiett has turned an impressive summer league performance into a two-way deal with New Orleans, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Bluiett’s agent, Cervando Tejeda, confirmed the agreement to Charania.

Bluiett went undrafted out of Xavier after averaging 19.3 PPG during his senior season. He joined the Pelicans‘ entry in the Las Vegas Summer League and made an immediate impact, scoring 50 points in the team’s first two games while hitting 12 of 18 on 3-pointers. He was averaging 21.0 points per game heading into today’s contest.

The Pelicans will still have a two-way spot open once the deal with Bluiett is finalized. You can keep up with all the latest two-way deals in our 2018/19 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker.

Nets Sign Shabazz Napier

July 17th, 2018 at 1:19pm CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 17: The Nets have officially signed Napier, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 14: Shabazz Napier will head to Brooklyn on a two-year deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com. The terms of the agreement between Napier and the Nets have not yet been disclosed, but it will feature a second-year team option, per Wojnarowski.

Napier, who is celebrating his 27th birthday today, was the No. 24 overall selection in the 2014 draft. He experienced his best season as a pro during the 2017/18 campaign with the Trail Blazers, averaging 8.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 2.0 APG as the first guard off the bench for Portland.

Although he was eligible for restricted free agency this summer, Napier didn’t receive a qualifying offer from the Blazers, making him unrestricted. As such, he’ll be able to sign with the Nets outright.

The UConn product will join the Nets and compete for minutes alongside D’Angelo Russell and Spencer Dinwiddie. Brooklyn could use another ball-handler after shipping Jeremy Lin to the Hawks earlier this week.

Having taken on the Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur contracts in a trade with the Blazers, the Nets don’t have much cap room left, but may have the flexibility to offer Napier more than the minimum, if they so choose. The team will use its $4.45MM room exception to sign Ed Davis.

Raptors Waive Alfonzo McKinnie

July 17th, 2018 at 9:26am CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 17: The Raptors have officially waived McKinnie, the team announced today (via Twitter).

JULY 16: The Raptors plan to waive forward Alfonzo McKinnie before his contract for next season becomes guaranteed on Wednesday, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. He was due to make $1,378,242 next season.

McKinnie, a 6’8” forward, made 14 brief appearances for the Raptors last season, averaging 3.8 MPG. McKinnie, 25, spent most of last season with the G League’ Raptors 905. He posted averages of 14.0 PPG and 7.5 RPG in 35 starts for the G League club.

McKinnie, who went undrafted out of Wisconsin Green Bay, was signed to a two-year minimum contract last July.

Toronto rescinded its qualifying offer to another forward, Malcolm Miller, on Friday and made him an unrestricted free agent.

Pistons Sign Keenan Evans To Two-Way Contract

July 17th, 2018 at 7:57am CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 17: Evans’ two-way contract with the Pistons is now official, per RealGM’s NBA transactions log. Evans and Reggie Hearn now occupy Detroit’s two-way contract slots.

JUNE 27: Texas Tech guard Keenan Evans has agreed to a two-way contract with the Pistons, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

The 6’3” Evans played four seasons with the Red Raiders and posted averages of 17.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG and 3.2 APG in his senior year. He struggled from long range, making 32% of his 3-point attempts after connecting on 43.2% during his junior year.

Evans played the last month of his college career, including the NCAA Tournament, with a broken toe.

The Pistons decided not to extend a qualifying offer to one of their two-way players last season, point guard Kay Felder, according to Tony Paul of The Detroit News.

Felder, a Detroit native, joined the Pistons in January after he was waived by the Bulls in December. He spent most of his time in the G League, playing two games with the Pistons, after seeing action in 14 games with the Bulls. Felder was a second-round draft pick in 2016 and played 42 games for the Cavaliers before he was traded last offseason to the Hawks, who waived him.