Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wizards Claim JT Thor Off Waivers

March 3rd, 2025 at 5:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Wizards have claimed forward JT Thor off waivers, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.

Thor, who was on a two-way contract, was waived by the Cavaliers over the weekend. Washington opened up a two-way slot on Monday by promoting Justin Champagnie and giving him a standard four-year deal.

Thor, 22, was the 37th overall pick in the 2021 draft out of Auburn and spent three seasons with the Hornets before signing a two-way contract with Cleveland in September.

The 6’9″ forward was a regular in Charlotte, appearing in 165 total games as a Hornet, but played a limited role for the Cavaliers this season, appearing in just nine games and averaging 4.7 minutes per night. He was effective in his rare appearances, compiling 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting in 42 total minutes.

Thor also saw action in 24 Tip-Off Tournament and regular season games for the Cavs’ G League affiliate, the Cleveland Charge, averaging 14.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 31.8 minutes per contest, with an underwhelming shooting line of .434/.276/.762.

Wizards Sign Justin Champagnie To Four-Year Deal

March 3rd, 2025 at 12:57pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

March 3: Champagnie has officially signed his new deal and been promoted to the Wizards’ standard roster, according to NBA.com’s transaction log. Washington confirmed in a press release that McDaniels’ 10-day contract has been terminated a day early to open a roster spot for Champagnie.

March 2: Two-way Wizards forward Justin Champagnie is getting promoted.

According to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), Champagnie’s agent Daniel Hazan revealed that the 6’6″ wing is set to ink a four-year, $10MM standard contract with Washington. He will earn $1.8MM for the remainder of 2024/25, well above this prorated minimum.

Sources confirm to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter) that the deal has been agreed upon and say that the final three seasons will be non-guaranteed.

Across 40 games for the Wizards this season, the 23-year-old is notching averages of 7.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 0.9 dimes per game. He also has a respectable shooting line of .504/.376/.674.

In eight Tip-Off Tournament games this season for Washington’s NBAGL affiliate the Capital City Go-Go, Champagnie posted impressive averages of 20.0 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.1 steals per game, on .483/.350/.750 shooting.

After initially going undrafted out of Pitt in 2021, Champagnie suited up for Toronto and Boston during his first two pro seasons. He first joined the Wizards on a 10-day deal late in the 2023/24 campaign, and was subsequently brought back on a two-way agreement when those initial 10 days were up.

Jalen McDaniels currently occupies the 15th slot on Washington’s standard roster, having signed a 10-day contract on February 22. If the team plans to hang onto McDaniels beyond his current deal, another standard roster player would need to be cut to accommodate Champagnie’s promotion.

Elevating Champagnie to the standard roster will create a two-way opening for the Wizards, leaving only Tristan Vukcevic and Jaylen Martin inked to two-way deals.

The Wizards possess the single-worst record in the league at 11-48, and can afford to take an extended look at developmental players like Champagnie. This seems like a savvy move for all parties.

Spurs Sign Bismack Biyombo For Rest Of Season

March 3rd, 2025 at 11:36am CST by Arthur Hill

March 3: As expected, Biyombo has officially been signed for the remainder of the 2024/25 season, the Spurs announced today in a press release.

February 28: The Spurs plan to sign Bismack Biyombo for the remainder of the season once his second 10-day contract expires, sources tell NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).

The 32-year-old center has appeared in six games since signing the first deal with San Antonio on February 9. He’s averaging 5.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 16 minutes per night and posted a pair of double-doubles this week with 10 points and 10 rebounds on Sunday against New Orleans and 10 points and 12 rebounds on Tuesday in a rematch with the Pelicans.

Biyombo has moved into the starting lineup for the past five games following the loss of Victor Wembanyama due to a blood clot in his right shoulder. His second 10-day deal took effect last Friday and will run through this Sunday.

Biyombo will give San Antonio a steady presence in the middle for the rest of the season and he offers plenty of playoff experience if the Spurs can reach the play-in tournament. That’s increasingly becoming a long shot, however — at 24-33, they’re currently five and a half games behind 10th-place Sacramento.

Biyombo’s performance could also help his chances of landing a spot on the roster for next season. He has become a journeyman recently, as San Antonio is his fifth team in the last five years.

Grizzlies Sign Lamar Stevens To Second 10-Day Contract

March 3rd, 2025 at 10:04am CST by Rory Maher

Lamar Stevens‘ first 10-day contract with Memphis expired overnight, but he won’t hit the open market — the Grizzlies have officially brought him back for another 10-day deal, announcing the news in a press release (via Twitter).

A Philadelphia native who went undrafted out of Penn State in 2020, Stevens spent his first three seasons with Cleveland prior to being traded to San Antonio in the 2023 offseason. He was later waived by the Spurs, but signed a training camp deal with the Celtics and wound up making their regular season roster.

Stevens was traded to Memphis ahead of last season’s deadline, finishing out the 2023/24 campaign with the Grizzlies. He caught on with the Pistons for training camp this past fall, but was released before ’24/25 began.

The 27-year-old forward had spent the entire season in the G League with the Motor City Cruise prior to receiving his call-up from the Grizzlies. He made his ’24/25 season debut on Saturday vs. San Antonio, recording six points and four rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench.

In 29 combined games for Detroit’s NBAGL affiliate in ’24/25, Stevens averaged 17.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.4 blocks in 34.0 minutes per game, with a shooting slash line of .438/.328/.744. He’s known for his energy, athleticism, toughness and defense.

Stevens will be eligible to play in six games over the course of his second 10-day contract, which will expire overnight on March 12. At that point, the Grizzlies will have to decide if they want to retain him for the rest of the season, as players can only sign up to two 10-day contracts with the same team.

As our tracker shows, Stevens will fill the 15th and final spot on Memphis’ standard roster. The Grizzlies are also at the limit of three players on two-way contracts.

Kings Sign Skal Labissiere To 10-Day Contract

March 3rd, 2025 at 9:54am CST by Luke Adams

9:54am: Labissiere’s 10-day deal is official, the Kings confirmed in a press release (Twitter link via Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 Sacramento).

5:42am: The Kings have agreed to sign big man Skal Labissiere to a 10-day contract, agent Daniel Hazan tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

The 28th overall pick in the 2016 draft, Labissiere hasn’t made an NBA regular season appearance since December 28, 2019, so if he gets into a game during his 10 days with Sacramento, it will be his first in over five years.

Labissiere appeared in 148 total games with Sacramento and Portland from 2016-20. He has spent most of his time in the G League since then, making stops with the Westchester Knicks and the Mexico City Capitanes before joining the Stockton Kings in 2023. He also had a brief stay with a team in Puerto Rico.

The 6’11” forward/center has had a solid 2024/25 season in Stockton, averaging 14.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.3 blocks in 25.8 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .614/.364/.750, across 36 total outings. He was one of the players voted by fans into the G League’s Up Next Game at All-Star weekend last month.

While Labissiere will provide some frontcourt depth for the Kings with starting center Domantas Sabonis sidelined due to a hamstring strain, the signing is more about making sure the team adheres to roster requirements.

Sacramento has been operating with just 13 players on standard contracts since Daishen Nix‘s 10-day deal expired nearly two weeks ago and needed to re-add a 14th man by Tuesday, since teams can’t carry fewer than 14 players on standard contracts for more than 14 days at a time.

Labissiere will earn $128,603 on his 10-day deal, while the Kings carry a cap hit of $119,972. Assuming he officially signs on Monday, the contract will run through March 12, covering the club’s next five games.

Rockets Convert Williams’ Two-Way To Standard Deal, Waive Zeller

March 2nd, 2025 at 9:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

9:00 pm: The moves are official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

7:48 pm: Jeenathan Williams is having his two-way contract converted by the Rockets into a standard four-year, $8.2MM deal, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.

Also known as Nate Williams, the swingman is in his third season. Williams has appeared in 35 NBA games in his career, including five games with Portland. Williams, who went undrafted out of Buffalo, was re-signed to a two-way contract in July.

This season, he’s seen action in eight games, averaging 3.6 points in 5.5 minutes per contest. In 17 appearances with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the NBA G League, Williams has averaged 20.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.8 steals in 30.7 minutes per game.

It remains to be seen how much of Williams’ new deal is guaranteed.

Houston is opening up a spot on the 15-man roster by waiving Cody Zeller, who had a non-guaranteed contract after this season, Charania adds in another tweet.

Zeller, 32, hasn’t played at all this season. In a salary-dump deal just before the February 6 deadline, the Hawks traded him and a 2028 second-round pick to Houston to move below the luxury tax threshold.

He had not been around the team since the deal, via an arrangement between him and the team’s front office.

Zeller was signed to a multiyear contract by the Pelicans last offseason specifically to be used as a salary-matching piece in the Dejounte Murray trade. While he was technically a member of the Hawks for several months, he didn’t participate in training camp with Atlanta and agreed to remain away from the team.

Cavaliers Sign Nae’Qwan Tomlin To Two-Way Deal

March 2nd, 2025 at 8:45pm CST by Arthur Hill

March 2: Tomlin has been officially signed, according to the NBA transactions log. The Cavaliers waived Thor to create a two-way opening, as we detailed in a separate story.

March 1: Nae’Qwan Tomlin will sign a two-way contract with the Cavaliers, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). The deal will cover two seasons, Scotto adds (Twitter link).

Last week, Cleveland gave the 24-year-old power forward a 10-day contract. He has appeared in three games during that deal, which will expire tonight, averaging 3.3 points and 1.7 rebounds in 4.7 minutes per contest.

The 6’10” rookie signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Cavs in September after going undrafted out of Memphis. He spent most of the season with the G League’s Cleveland Charge, posting 15.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.5 blocks per night in 35 total Tip-Off Tournament and regular season games,

The Cavaliers will have an opening on their main roster once Tomlin’s 10-day contract expires, but all three of their two-way slots are currently filled. Either Emoni Bates, Luke Travers or JT Thor will have to be waived or promoted to the 15-man roster before Tomlin’s new deal can be finalized.

Whatever the Cavs decide to do, it will have to happen by March 4, which is the deadline to sign players to two-way contracts.

Lester Quinones Signs Two-Way Deal With Pelicans

March 2nd, 2025 at 8:42pm CST by Arthur Hill

8:42pm: The signing is official, according to the NBA transactions log.

8:39am: The Pelicans will sign Lester Quinones to a two-way contract, tweets Shams Charania of ESPN. The deal was confirmed by Quinones’ agent, Scott Nichols of Rize Management.

The 24-year-old shooting guard began the season with Philadelphia on a two-way contract that he signed in September. He appeared in just four games, averaging 2.3 points in 4.3 minutes per night, before being waived on December 3.

Since then, Quinones has been playing for New Orleans’ G League affiliate in Birmingham, where he has posted 22.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 22 regular season games. He was selected to participate in the G League’s Up Next event at All-Star Weekend.

Quinones began his NBA career with the Warriors in 2023 after going undrafted following three collegiate seasons at Memphis. He had his two-way contract with Golden State converted to a standard deal last February.

The Pelicans opened up a two-way slot by waiving guard Jalen Crutcher on Saturday. Jamal Cain and Keion Brooks are the team’s other two-way players.

Celtics Waive Anton Watson

March 2nd, 2025 at 4:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Celtics have waived two-way player Anton Watson, the team’s PR department tweets.

Watson, a rookie forward selected with the No. 54 pick in last year’s draft, signed his two-way contract in August. He has yet to make his NBA regular season debut.

Watson has appeared in a total of 37 games (34 starts) for the NBA G League’s Maine Celtics, including his Tip-Off Tournament and regular season appearances. He’s averaging 12.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 29.9 minutes per game.

Watson, 24, played five seasons at Gonzaga and averaged career highs of 14.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists last season.

This opens the door for the Celtics to add another two-way player prior to the March 4 signing deadline. Drew Peterson and JD Davison hold the other two-way slots. Boston also has an open spot on its standard 15-man roster.

Jaden Springer Signs Three-Year Contract With Jazz

March 2nd, 2025 at 3:03pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

3:03 pm: Springer’s new contract is official, the Jazz announced in a press release.

1:48 pm: Fresh off a 10-day deal with the Jazz, guard Jaden Springer has agreed to a three-year contract with Utah, his agent Chad Speck informs ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).

In a cost-cutting move, Boston traded the 6’4″ combo guard and a future second-round pick to Houston at this year’s trade deadline. The Rockets quickly waived Springer, who soon latched on with a rebuilding Utah team.

Springer has appeared in four games for the Jazz so far. He’s averaging 3.5 points, 1.3 assists and 0.8 steals in 8.8 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .556/.500/1.000 in a very small sample size.

Jazz head coach Will Hardy has been utilizing Springer and another new wing addition, KJ Martin, in an effort to shore up his defense.

Springer, still just 22, was selected with the No. 28 pick out of Tennessee by the Sixers in 2021. He spent his initial two seasons on contending Philadelphia teams, but failed to make much of a rotational dent.

Springer was traded to the Celtics midway through the 2023/24 season, but was squeezed out of Joe Mazzulla‘s rotation during Boston’s run to the 2024 title. He appeared in just four playoff games for the Celtics, averaging 5.5 mop-up minutes during those games.

With Utah fully in developmental mode, Springer will now get an extended opportunity to make a real roster impact at last.