Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacers Waive Furkan Korkmaz

February 9th, 2024 at 3:32pm CST by Luke Adams

FEBRUARY 9: The Pacers have officially waived Korkmaz, the team confirmed today in a press release.

FEBRUARY 8: The Pacers will waive shooting guard Furkan Korkmaz after they officially acquire him from the Sixers, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Indiana agreed to trade Buddy Hield to Philadelphia in exchange for Marcus Morris, Korkmaz, and three second-round picks. Given that the Pacers immediately made a deal to flip Morris to San Antonio and will cut Korkmaz, it’s clear those draft picks were the assets they were after, with the two former 76ers just viewed as salary-matching pieces.

Korkmaz has been with the Sixers since 2017 and played a regular rotation role for several seasons from 2019-22. However, his minutes have significantly declined in the past two seasons. In 2023/24, he has averaged 2.5 points per game on .395/.350/.700 shooting in 35 appearances off the bench (8.6 MPG).

Korkmaz is on an expiring $5,370,370 contract, so Indiana will be on the hook for that cap hit once he clears waivers.

The 26-year-old will be eligible to sign as a free agent with any NBA team except the Sixers, though he likely wouldn’t have pursued a reunion with his former team anyway, given that he has sought a trade out of Philadelphia multiple times in recent years.

Heat Expected To Waive R.J. Hampton

February 9th, 2024 at 2:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat are expected to cut R.J. Hampton, opening up one of their two-way contract slots, reports Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).

Hampton, who turned 23 on Wednesday, has battled some injuries this season and has only seen action in 17 total games in the NBA and the G League. In eight appearances for the Heat, he has recorded 10 points, eight assists, and six rebounds in 76 total minutes of actions, making just 4-of-14 shots (1-of-8 three-pointers).

The former first-round pick has been a little more effective for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League affiliate, averaging 11.9 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 4.7 APG with a .429/.273/.609 shooting line in nine regular season and Showcase Cup contests (28.0 MPG).

As Chiang notes, the plan will be to fill Hampton’s two-way slot with another developmental prospect.

Skyforce guard Alondes Williams looks like one contender for that opening, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald observes (via Twitter). Williams is averaging 20.3 PPG, 6.5 APG, and 5.2 RPG on 49.9% shooting in 32 games (37.0 MPG) for Sioux Falls. Skyforce guard Jamaree Bouyea is another candidate to watch, tweets Chiang.

Hampton will receive his full two-way salary from the Heat and will become an unrestricted free agent, free to sign with any team, if and when he clears waivers. Once he’s officially cut, Miami will have two open spots on its 18-man roster — one standard and one two-way.

Kings Sign Keon Ellis To Three-Year Deal

February 9th, 2024 at 2:05pm CST by Luke Adams

2:05pm: The Kings have issued a press release officially confirming Ellis’ new deal and his promotion to the 15-man roster.

The three-year contract will be worth approximately $5.56MM, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). As cap expert Yossi Gozlan points out (via Twitter) that figure suggests Sacramento used the remainder of its room exception on Ellis, with minimum salaries in years two and three. It’s unclear whether the deal features guaranteed money beyond this season.

11:40am: The Kings will use the open spot on their 15-man roster to promote two-way player Keon Ellis, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Agent Corey Marcum tells Wojnarowski that the Kings and Ellis have agreed to a new three-year contract.

Ellis signed a two-year deal with Sacramento in July 2022 after going undrafted out of Alabama. The 24-year-old didn’t play much as a rookie at the NBA level, making just 16 brief appearances over the course of the season, but he has been in and out of the Kings’ rotation in 2023/24.

A 6’6″ guard, Ellis has averaged 3.8 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 11.9 minutes per game across 29 appearances (three starts) this season, posting a shooting line of .429/.377/.647.

Although he’s not a true point guard, Ellis was De’Aaron Fox‘s primary backup for much of December. Davion Mitchell has reclaimed that role as of late, but the Kings remain high on the former Crimson Tide standout.

Sacramento acquired Robin Lopez in a salary dump trade with the Bucks on Thursday, taking him into the open spot on the 15-man roster, but waived him shortly after completing that deal, so Ellis will now fill that opening. The promotion will create a two-way vacancy for the Kings alongside Jordan Ford and Jalen Slawson.

In order to sign Ellis to a contract exceeding two years, the Kings figure to use a leftover portion of their room exception. The 2023/24 league year represents the first time that the room exception can be used to complete a deal of up to three years instead of just two.

Grizzlies Sign Trey Jemison To Two-Way Contract

February 9th, 2024 at 10:24am CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies have filled their open two-way slot by signing rookie center Trey Jemison to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

Undrafted out of UAB in 2023, Jemison was with the Pelicans in training camp and began the regular season with the Birmingham Squadron in the G League before signing 10-day deals with Washington and Memphis.

Jemison appeared in six total games for those two clubs and has played a key role for the Grizzlies as of late, averaging 5.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 21.0 minutes per night across four contests (21.0 MPG). He was the starting center for the injury-plagued team on both Sunday and Tuesday.

Jemison’s hardship 10-day contract with the Grizzlies expired following Thursday’s game, but the club isn’t wasting any time bringing him back. Memphis opened up a two-way spot on Friday by promoting GG Jackson to the 15-man roster.

Jemison will join Scotty Pippen Jr. and Jacob Gilyard as the Grizzlies’ two-way players, and Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian tweets that his contract will have the same structure as Pippen’s, which suggests it’ll be a two-year deal.

Memphis now has a full roster, but may still be eligible to add extra bodies via the hardship provision. Like Jemison, Matthew Hurt and Tosan Evbuomwan were on 10-day hardship deals with the team that expired this week.

Nets Waive Jordan Goodwin

February 9th, 2024 at 9:05am CST by Tristan Tucker

FEBRUARY 9: The Nets have officially waived Goodwin, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link).

FEBRUARY 8: The Nets are waiving guard Jordan Goodwin after acquiring him in the three-team trade that sent Royce O’Neale to Phoenix, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

After waiving Goodwin, the Nets will have 14 players on standard contracts and two players on two-way deals, giving them two open roster spots in total (one standard, one two-way).

The 25-year-old point guard played sparingly for the Suns after arriving in the Bradley Beal trade, averaging 5.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 14.0 minutes and 40 games. Last season with the Wizards, he averaged 6.6 points and 2.7 assists in 62 games (seven starts).

Goodwin was on a minimum contract with a partially guaranteed team option for next season. The Nets will be on the book for his hit this season ($1.93MM). He’ll be eligible to sign with any team as a free agent other than the Suns.

Grizzlies Sign GG Jackson To Four-Year Deal

February 9th, 2024 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

FEBRUARY 9: The Grizzlies officially announced their new deal with Jackson, confirming in a press release that Metu has been waived to make room on the 15-man roster for Jackson’s promotion (Twitter link).

FEBRUARY 8: The Grizzlies and rookie GG Jackson have agreed to a four-year deal that will include three guaranteed seasons, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). The agreement will promote Jackson, who had been on a two-way contract, to Memphis’ standard 15-man roster.

The 45th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Jackson is the youngest player in the NBA this season and wasn’t part of the Grizzlies’ rotation to open the 2023/24 campaign. However, with the team plagued by injuries and no longer in serious contention for a playoff spot, Jackson has been given an opportunity in recent weeks and has run with it.

The former South Carolina standout had averaged 12.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 23.4 minutes per game with a shooting line of .445/.385/.692 in his previous 13 games entering play on Thursday. He had the best game of his young career against the Bulls on Thursday night, racking up 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting and grabbing nine rebounds in 32 minutes off the bench.

After making a pair of trades at the deadline with Boston and Phoenix, the Grizzlies have a full 15-man roster, but they reportedly intend to waive newly acquired big man Chimezie Metu, which would open a spot for Jackson to slide into. Once his promotion is official, Memphis will have an open two-way contract slot.

The Grizzlies figure to use a portion of their mid-level exception to sign Jackson to his new deal.

Kings Waive Robin Lopez

February 8th, 2024 at 11:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings have officially waived newly acquired center Robin Lopez, as expected, per an announcement from the team.

Sacramento acquired Lopez from Milwaukee in a salary dump deal on Thursday, with the Bucks sending enough cash to the Kings in the trade to make it worth their while. With JaVale McGee and Alex Len already on the roster as backups for starting center Domantas Sabonis, the Kings weren’t interested in hanging onto another veteran big man, preferring to open up that 15th roster spot.

Lopez appeared in 16 games for the Bucks this season, recording just 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists on 7-of-19 shooting in 65 total minutes of action.

Sacramento will eat Lopez’s minimum-salary ($2,019,706) cap hit and he’ll be free to sign with any team except for Milwaukee once he clears waivers.

Grizzlies To Waive Chimezie Metu

February 8th, 2024 at 10:50pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Grizzlies are waiving forward/center Chimezie Metu, whom they acquired from the Suns in the deadline move that also brought Yuta Watanabe back to Memphis, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto (Twitter link).

Metu, 26, averaged 5.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in 37 games (five starts) with the Suns this season. He signed with Phoenix on a one-year, minimum-salary deal after spending the previous three seasons with the Kings. In three seasons in Sacramento, Metu averaged 6.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in 162 games (26 starts).

Memphis will remain on the hook for Metu’s expiring minimum contract unless he’s claimed on waivers. He would be eligible to sign with any team other than the Suns.

Waiving Metu gives the Grizzlies room on the 15-man roster to add a player. GG Jackson II has been impressive all season, and on Thursday he became the youngest player since Kobe Bryant to score 25 or more points off the bench.

If they did convert the 19-year-old Jackson — who is averaging 8.9 points — from his current deal, it would open a two-way slot. Trey Jemison, who has drawn a couple starts, along with Matthew Hurt and Tosan Evbuomwan could be candidates there. All three players recently signed hardship 10-day contracts.

Bucks Send Robin Lopez, Cash To Kings

February 8th, 2024 at 10:13pm CST by Dana Gauruder

10:13pm: The trade is official, per a press release from the Bucks. Milwaukee acquired the draft rights to Dimitrios Agravanis, the 59th overall pick in 2015, from Sacramento in the deal.

1:59pm: The Bucks are dealing little-used big man Robin Lopez to the Kings along with cash considerations, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (Twitter links). He’s expected to be waived by Sacramento and become a free agent.

The cost-cutting move by Milwaukee will open up a roster spot and save it $8.6MM in luxury tax penalties. This trade deadline is the last time teams in the second tax apron are allowed to send out cash in trades, ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (Twitter links).

Lopez was on a veteran’s minimum salary deal, so Sacramento didn’t have to match a salary or use a traded player exception to pull off the deal. The Kings had an open roster spot to make the trade.

Lopez, 35, has appeared in 16 this season, including two starts, but averaged just 4.1 minutes in those appearances.

Hornets Cut Ish Smith, Frank Ntilikina

February 8th, 2024 at 10:09pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets have officially waived veteran guards Ish Smith and Frank Ntilikina, the team announced today in a press release. Charlotte has now cut three backcourt players since the trade deadline, having also parted ways with James Bouknight.

The Hornets needed to make a series of cuts in order to accommodate their deadline deals. Dropping Smith and Ntilikina allowed the team to take on three players while sending Gordon Hayward to Oklahoma City.

A journeyman who has played for 13 teams across 14 NBA seasons, Smith was the Hornets’ primary backup point guard this season, averaging 3.2 points, 3.4 assists, and 1.8 rebounds in 17.2 minutes per game across 43 appearances (five stats). The 35-year-old shot 41.8% from the field.

Ntilikina was initially expected to be LaMelo Ball‘s backup this season, but leg and hip issues have sidelined him for nearly the entire 2023/24 campaign. He played only 43 minutes across five games for Charlotte prior to his release.

Tre Mann and Vasilije Micic, acquired from the Thunder in the Hayward trade, figure to get a shot to earn regular playing time at the point.

Smith and Ntilikina will both become free agents and will be able to sign with any team this weekend once they clear waivers. The Hornets will remain on the hook for their matching $2,019,706 (minimum-salary) cap hits.