Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bucks Waive Gary Payton II, Sign Sean Kilpatrick

December 18th, 2017 at 10:54am CST by Arthur Hill

DECEMBER 18, 10:54am: The Bucks have made it official, announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived Payton and signed Kilpatrick to a two-way deal.

DECEMBER 16, 11:32pm: The player the Bucks are targeting is Sean Kilpatrick, who was waived by the Nets last week, Haynes tweets. Brooklyn released the fourth-year shooting guard to open a roster spot for the Jahlil Okafor trade. Kilpatrick was a part-time starter last season, averaging 13.1 points over 70 games, but his playing time was cut drastically this season and his scoring average dipped to 4.9 points in 16 contests.

10:58pm: The Bucks are planning to waive guard Gary Payton II, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN. Haynes adds that getting rid of Payton is “not a popular move” among teammates (Twitter link).

Payton inked a two-way contract with Milwaukee in October, which limits him to 45 days in the NBA. He will reach that total Monday and would have to be signed to an NBA contract to continue playing for the team. The Bucks have a full 15-man roster with 14 guaranteed contracts.

Haynes’ report is confirmed by Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, who tweets that the Bucks want to use Payton’s two-way slot to sign another player and believe they need to act fast to make sure they get him. That player’s NBA time will be pro-rated, which will amount to about 30 days.

Payton has appeared in 11 games this season and has made six starts. He is averaging 2.4 points in about nine minutes per night.

Payton first joined the Bucks in April of last season. He was cut in October, but agreed to the two-day deal after clearing waivers.

Nets Waive Yakuba Ouattara, Will Sign Milton Doyle

December 17th, 2017 at 4:56pm CST by clarkcrum

The Nets have waived guard Yakuba Ouattara, per an official report from the team. Ouattara signed a two-way contract with Brooklyn back in July, but appeared in only one game for the Nets’ G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, recording 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in 31 minutes.

Adding some context to the Nets’ move is ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who tweets that Brooklyn is signing guard Milton Doyle to its now vacant second two-way roster spot alongside Jacob Wiley.

Doyle, a 24-year-old 6’4″ undrafted combo guard from Loyola University Chicago, is averaging 21.3 points per game for the Long Island Nets to go along with 5.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists.

Marcus Thornton Joins Pistons’ G League Team

December 14th, 2017 at 4:22pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran NBA guard Marcus Thornton has signed a G League contract and has been acquired from the available player pool by the Pistons’ affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive, a league source tells Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days (Twitter link). The G League’s official transactions log confirms the move.

This Marcus Thornton should not be confused with the Marcus Thornton who was selected 45th overall in the 2015 draft by the Celtics — that former William & Mary guard, who has not appeared in an NBA regular season game, is currently playing for the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s G League affiliate.

This Thornton, 30, has played in 483 NBA regular season games since the start of the 2009/10 season, spending time with seven NBA teams over the course of his professional career. Most recently, the LSU alum averaged 6.6 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 33 contests for the Wizards in 2016/17. Although he worked out for the Timberwolves in the offseason, he was unable to land an NBA contract.

Thornton is the second former NBA player acquired by the Drive this week — the team also added swingman K.J. McDaniels. It’s not clear what sort of roles the two veterans will have for the Pistons’ G League affiliate, but both players will look to use the opportunity as a springboard back into the NBA.

Suns Sign Isaiah Canaan To NBA Deal

December 13th, 2017 at 2:59pm CST by Luke Adams

2:59pm: Suns GM Ryan McDonough has confirmed the signing, indicating that Canaan will be in uniform and available to play for the club tonight, per Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link).

1:04pm: One day after landing with the Suns’ G League affiliate, Isaiah Canaan appears poised to be called up to Phoenix. As Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (via Twitter), the Suns intend to sign Canaan to an NBA contract.

The Suns, who had to waive Derrick Jones last week to accommodate a standard NBA deal for Mike James, won’t have to make a corresponding roster move to add Canaan to their roster. According to Charania, the veteran guard will join the Suns via a hardship exception, which will allow the squad to temporarily add a 16th player to its NBA roster.

A team can be granted a hardship exception when it has at least four players who have missed three or more games, assuming those four players are expected to continue to miss time. In Phoenix’s case, Brandon Knight, Davon Reed, and Alan Williams have been sidelined all season, and Devin Booker missed his third straight game on Tuesday. Booker is expected to miss at least another week or two with a left adductor strain.

Canaan, 26, began his NBA career with the Rockets in 2013/14, and has since bounced around the league, spending time with the Sixers and Bulls before briefly returning to Houston this season. Canaan signed with the Rockets in October after Chris Paul was sidelined with a knee issue, but he was waived just four days later.

A Murray State alum, Canaan has appeared in 186 regular season NBA games, averaging 8.4 PPG in 20.2 minutes per contest. He signed a G League contract this week and was claimed by the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, who subsequently traded him to the Northern Arizona Suns. If Phoenix cuts Canaan when Booker returns, Northern Arizona will retain his G League rights.

Terrence Jones To Join Warriors’ G League Team

December 13th, 2017 at 9:40am CST by Luke Adams

Former first-round pick Terrence Jones is poised to join the Warriors’ G League affiliate, according to Sam Amick of USA Today. As Amick reports, the Santa Cruz Warriors currently have the top waiver priority, so they intend to snag Jones once the veteran power forward officially signs a G League contract and enters the waiver pool.

The 18th overall pick in the 2012 draft, Jones spent his first four NBA seasons with the Rockets, flashing some potential during his time in Houston before spending last year with the Pelicans and Bucks. Over the course of his five-year NBA career, the former Kentucky Wildcat has posted solid averages of 10.5 PPG and 5.7 RPG in 24.0 minutes per contest (232 games).

Still, the Rockets opted not to re-sign Jones when he was eligible for restricted free agency in 2016, and he was waived by both New Orleans and Milwaukee last season, signaling that his stock had dipped. After failing to find a suitable NBA offer during the 2017 offseason, Jones signed with the Qingdao Eagles, but his stint in the Chinese Basketball Association was short-lived — he was waived by the Eagles last month after being kicked out of a practice.

When he discussed his move to China earlier this year, Jones suggested he was hoping to parlay a strong performance overseas into another NBA opportunity, but that didn’t happen. Now, he’ll look to rebuild his value and earn another shot at the NBA as he prepares to suit up for Santa Cruz.

Isaiah Canaan Joins Suns’ G League Affiliate

December 12th, 2017 at 2:43pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran guard Isaiah Canaan has landed with the Suns’ G League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. After Canaan signed a G League contract, he was claimed off waivers by the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, who flipped him to the Northern Arizona Suns for a first-round pick in the 2018 G League draft.

Canaan, 26, began his NBA career with the Rockets in 2013/14, and has since bounced around the league, spending time with the Sixers and Bulls before briefly returning to Houston this season. Canaan signed with the Rockets in October after Chris Paul was sidelined with a knee issue, but he was waived just four days later.

A Murray State alum, Canaan has appeared in 186 regular season NBA games, averaging 8.4 PPG in 20.2 minutes per contest.

While Canaan doesn’t currently have an NBA contract or even a two-way deal, he finds himself in an interesting spot. With Eric Bledsoe having been traded last month and Brandon Knight out for the season, the Suns have been leaning on Tyler Ulis and Mike James at the point this year. Neither player is viewed as the cornerstone point guard in Phoenix, so if the team likes what it sees from Canaan in the G League, he could become a candidate for a call-up later in the season.

Free agent forward Derrick Jones has also joined the Northern Arizona Suns after being waived last week by Phoenix, tweets Brian M. Bergner Jr. of The Daily Courier. Jones spent time on assignment in Northern Arizona when he was under contract with Phoenix, but now will be on a straight G League deal as he seeks another NBA opportunity.

Suns Sign Danuel House To Two-Way Contract

December 8th, 2017 at 1:21pm CST by Austin Kent

DECEMBER 8: House’s two-way contract with the Suns is now official, the team announced in a press release. Phoenix once again has a full roster.

DECEMBER 7: The Suns plan to sign guard Danuel House to a two-way contract, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. The 24-year-old last saw NBA action with the Wizards in 2016/17, but was a late training camp cut by the Rockets this fall.

House will slot in to the two-way spot opened up earlier today when the Suns converted Mike James‘ two-way deal into a regular contract.

House only played in one single minute for the Wizards last season after going undrafted out of Texas A&M in 2016. After starting this season with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers as an affiliate player for the Rockets, he’ll play for the Northern Arizona Suns going forward.

When House’s deal becomes official, the Timberwolves will once again be the only NBA club that hasn’t filled both of its two-way contract slots.

Hawks Waive Nicolas Brussino

December 8th, 2017 at 10:10am CST by Luke Adams

10:10am: The Hawks don’t intend to use their newly-opener roster spot right away, but eventually want to convert Tyler Cavanaugh‘s two-way contract into a standard NBA deal, per Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).

10:03am: The Hawks have opened up a spot on their roster by waiving second-year forward Nicolas Brussino, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Atlanta now has a total of 16 players under contract, but only 12 have fully guaranteed NBA salaries — two are on partially guaranteed contracts, and a couple more are on two-way deals.

Brussino, 24, signed with the Mavericks last summer and spent the 2016/17 season with the team, averaging 2.8 PPG and 1.8 RPG in 54 contests (9.6 MPG). Dallas didn’t want to guarantee Brussino’s salary for the 2017/18 campaign, so the club waived him July, at which point he was claimed by the Hawks. He appeared briefly in just four games for Atlanta this season.

Brussino’s minimum salary for this season became guaranteed in the summer, so the Hawks will remain on the hook for that amount, assuming the 6’7″ Argentinian goes unclaimed on waivers. Brussino’s contract also includes a $1,544,951 salary for 2018/19, but that figure is non-guaranteed.

It’s not clear if the Hawks have another roster move on tap after cutting Brussino. If not, they’ll have some flexibility going forward. NBA teams can begin signing players to 10-day contracts next month, so if Atlanta doesn’t fill its open roster spot before then, the club could use the opening to take fliers on multiple young players in the second half.

Nets Acquire Jahlil Okafor From Sixers

December 7th, 2017 at 5:22pm CST by Austin Kent

5:22pm: The reported trade is now official, both teams have announced in press releases.

3:16pm: The Nets and Sixers are nearing a deal that will send Jahlil Okafor to Brooklyn, Zach Lowe of ESPN tweets. In the trade, Lowe adds, Philly will also send Nik Stauskas and a second-round pick to the Nets in exchange for Trevor Booker.

The second-round pick heading from the Sixers to the Nets will actually be the Knicks’ second-rounder in 2019, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. Charania also clarifies that the Nets will promptly release guard Sean Kilpatrick in order to create space for the two incoming players.

The move to Brooklyn serves as an excellent opportunity for 2015’s third overall pick. Having seen action in just two contests for the Sixers this season, Okafor was in desperate need of a change of scenery. His camp had been working directly with the franchise to find a suitable new destination since at least October.

Okafor will slot into the Nets’ depth chart as a potential starter. Given that Okafor averaged 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game as a rookie back in 2015/16, it’s not unreasonable to expect him to eat into Timofey Mozgov‘s role at the five. Okafor, after all, showed up to training camp this fall in the best shape of his career.

Worth keeping an eye on is the fact that Okafor will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season thanks to Philadelphia’s decision to decline his 2018/19 fourth-year option. If the Nets want to re-sign him, they won’t be able to offer him a starting salary worth more than the value of that declined option (approximately $6.3MM).

The acquisition of Stauskas may not move the needle much for Brooklyn fans, but the former Michigan Wolverine will reunite with Caris LeVert and add depth on the perimeter. He’ll be eligible for restricted free agency in 2018.

Finally, the Sixers will benefit from Booker’s veteran presence and his expiring $9.1MM contract isn’t going to impact the team’s financial future. Booker has averaged 10.1 points and 6.6 rebounds in just 21.9 minutes per game so far this season and will provide extra depth for a young team that is looking to turn the corner and seriously compete in the East.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nets Release Sean Kilpatrick

December 7th, 2017 at 5:21pm CST by Austin Kent

5:21pm: The Nets have formally released Kilpatrick, the team announced in a press release (h/t Adam Zagoria of the New York Times).

3:30pm: In order to make roster space for the acquisitions of Jahlil Okafor and Nik Stauskas, the Nets will waive guard Sean Kilpatrick, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets.

Since signing a 10-day contract with the Nets back in 2015/16, the 27-year-old has played in 109 games for the franchise, starting 24 of them. Kilpatrick averaged 13.1 points and 4.0 rebounds in just over 25 minutes per game during the 2016/17 season.

This year Kilpatrick saw his role decrease and has only played 11.4 minutes per game despite Brooklyn’s backcourt injury woes.