Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Grizzlies Waive Kenneth Lofton Jr.

December 18th, 2023 at 11:00pm CST by Rory Maher

DECEMBER 18: The Grizzlies have officially waived Lofton, the team confirmed in a press release on Monday night. The move opens up a spot to formally activate Morant.

DECEMBER 17: The Grizzlies plan to release Kenneth Lofton Jr., reports Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

As Cole explains, the Grizzlies need to create a roster spot with Ja Morant nearing a return from his 25-game suspension; that’s expected to occur Tuesday vs. New Orleans. Lofton won’t be traveling on the team’s two-game road trip, which starts Monday in Oklahoma City.

Two different reports from the past week indicated that Lofton was the most likely player to be cut. When Morant was placed on the suspended list following the fifth game of the season, the Grizzlies signed Bismack Biyombo, and they’ll reportedly be keeping him around for now.

Lofton, a second-year forward/center, was promoted from a two-way deal to a standard contract near the end of the 2022/23 season.

The 21-year-old had an opportunity to earn minutes in the frontcourt this season, with Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke sidelined with long-term injuries, plus Xavier Tillman missing extended time. But he was unable to establish himself as a consistent contributor this fall, averaging just 2.6 points per game on 37.8% shooting in 15 appearances (6.6 MPG).

A source tells Cole that Lofton met with head coach Taylor Jenkins earlier in ’23/24 to gain a better understanding of why he wasn’t playing, but Jenkins reportedly told him there weren’t many minutes available.

Lofton has two years left on his contract after this season, but both are non-guaranteed. That means if he clears waivers, the Grizzlies will only be on the hook for his ’23/24 salary, which is $1,719,864.

According to Cole, Lofton is expected to draw interest from rival teams due to his ability to score. He averaged a double-double for the Memphis Hustle (the Grizzlies’ G League affiliate) last season, winning the NBAGL’s Rookie of the Year award in the process.

Suns Claim Theo Maledon Off Waivers

December 17th, 2023 at 4:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Suns have claimed guard Theo Maledon off waivers, according to the NBA transactions log.

Maledon was waived on Thursday by Charlotte, where he was playing on a two-way contract. Maledon appeared in 13 games with the Hornets this season, including one start. He was averaging 4.2 points and 2.2 assists in 15.4 minutes per game and shooting just 28.8 percent from the field.

Maledon also played last season with the Hornets after two years with Oklahoma City. Overall, he has averaged 7.9 points, 3.0 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 21.6 minutes over 173 regular season games. Maledon was an early second-round pick in 2020.

The Suns have a full 15-man roster but there was an open two-way spot to slot in Maledon, who will give the team more backcourt depth. Bradley Beal is expected to miss multiple weeks with an ankle injury.

Bulls Sign Henri Drell, Waive Justin Lewis

December 16th, 2023 at 2:22pm CST by Luke Adams

5:00pm: The moves are official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

2:22pm: The Bulls have agreed to sign forward Henri Drell to a two-way contract, his agent Matt Bollero tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

In order to open up a two-way slot for Drell, Chicago is waiving forward Justin Lewis, according to Charania (Twitter link).

Drell, 23, is a 6’9″ Estonian wing who joined the Windy City Bulls in January 2022 and has now spent parts of three seasons with Chicago’s G League affiliate. In 11 Showcase Cup games for Windy City this fall, he has averaged 12.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.0 steals in 28.6 minutes per night, posting a shooting line of .433/.306/.800.

Lewis signed a two-way contract with Chicago in the summer of 2022 after going undrafted out of Marquette, but tore his ACL last August, prompting the team to waive him last fall. He rejoined the Bulls on a new two-year, two-way deal in March and made his debut for Windy City last month.

However, Lewis hasn’t been particularly effective so far this season, averaging just 5.7 PPG and 5.0 RPG on .333/.135/.500 shooting in 12 games (25.2 MPG) for Chicago’s NBAGL squad. He hasn’t played at all for the NBA team.

Once the moves are official, Drell will join Adama Sanogo and Onuralp Bitim as the Bulls’ two-way players.

Kings Sign Juan Toscano-Anderson

December 15th, 2023 at 3:47pm CST by Tristan Tucker

DECEMBER 15: The Kings have officially signed Toscano-Anderson, tweets Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. His contract is non-guaranteed, per James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link).

DECEMBER 14: The Kings are signing Juan Toscano-Anderson to a one-year deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Toscano-Anderson, 30, had stints with the Warriors, Lakers and Jazz and will now fill Sacramento’s final open roster spot after impressing with the G League’s Mexico City Capitanes.

In 11 Showcase Cup games with the Capitanes, Toscano-Anderson averaged 19.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks. He holds career averages of 4.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG and 1.9 APG in 191 career NBA appearances (37 starts).

Toscano-Anderson worked out with the Warriors this offseason, but ultimately didn’t come away with a deal of any sort. However, Andscape’s Marc J. Spears tweets Kings head coach Mike Brown had strong interest in bringing Toscano-Anderson to training camp this offseason, though that never materialized.

As The Sacramento Bee’s Jason Anderson notes (Twitter link), Brown and Toscano-Anderson have familiarity with each other. Toscano-Anderson played for the Warriors for three seasons while Brown was lead assistant, and the duo won a championship together in 2021/22.

The Kings opened up a spot on their 15-man roster last month when they waived Filip Petrusev, who they acquired for cash after he was sent to the Clippers in the James Harden blockbuster. After surveying its options, Sacramento landed on signing Toscano-Anderson.

Anderson notes in a piece detailing the move that the Kings needed to address their wing depth after experiencing matchup difficulties in recent losses to the Pelicans and Clippers, and signing the Marquette product should help with those issues.

It’s unclear how much playing time Toscano-Anderson will receive right away but its possible the veteran could make an immediate impact on the rotation. Players like Keon Ellis, Jalen Slawson, Colby Jones and Kessler Edwards make up Sacramento’s forward and wing depth on the deep bench.

Pacers Sign James Johnson To One-Year Deal

December 15th, 2023 at 11:57am CST by Rory Maher

DECEMBER 15: The Pacers have officially signed Johnson, the team announced today in a press release.

DECEMBER 14: The Pacers are signing free agent forward James Johnson to a one-year contract, agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), the Pacers had an open roster spot after reaching a buyout agreement last month with Daniel Theis, so no corresponding move will be necessary to add Johnson.

Johnson, 36, has played for 10 different teams and is now in his 15th NBA season. He spent the 2022/23 campaign with Indiana, appearing in 18 games while averaging 2.8 points and 1.7 rebounds in 9.0 minutes per contest. Johnson was waived in February as part of the Kevin Durant blockbuster trade (due to a roster crunch), but the Pacers re-signed him a few days later.

The timing of the move is interesting and perhaps not a coincidence. The Pacers and Bucks had a postgame altercation over the game ball on Wednesday night after a chippy contest between the two Central Division teams. Johnson is known for being one of the toughest players in the league, and head coach Rick Carlisle praised his veteran leadership last season.

“Very important for us,” Carlisle said. “… He’s contributed so much to our situation just in terms of setting examples, mentoring, being very positive, being very truthful. He has a really strong reputation in this league as a great competitors, as a very tough guy. Those kinds of things. He’s been a difference maker so it’s great to have him back on board.”

Indiana’s roster will be full once the move is official.

Knicks Waive Dylan Windler, Sign Taj Gibson

December 15th, 2023 at 9:06am CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 15: The Knicks have officially signed Gibson, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link). He’ll earn a salary of $2,241,188, while the team carries a cap hit of $1,416,116.

DECEMBER 13: The Knicks are making a change at the back of their standard 15-man roster, announcing today that they’ve waived wing Dylan Windler (Twitter link). Using their newly opened roster spot, the team will sign free agent big man Taj Gibson to a one-year contract, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link).

Gibson’s one-year deal with New York will be non-guaranteed, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Gibson is a longtime favorite of Tom Thibodeau, who has coached the veteran forward/center in Chicago, Minnesota, and New York. Gibson previously had a stint with the Knicks that lasted from 2019-22 — he appeared in 159 games over the course of three seasons.

Gibson spent last the 2022/23 season with the Wizards and re-signed with Washington on a one-year, minimum-salary contract during the 2023 offseason. However, even though his deal was fully guaranteed, the 38-year-old became the victim of a roster crunch in D.C. and was cut before the season began.

With starting center Mitchell Robinson expected to miss at least eight-to-10 weeks due to an ankle injury, New York was in the market for additional frontcourt depth and Gibson was an obvious candidate to fill that role, given his familiarity with Thibodeau and the Knicks, who highly value his leadership, according to Begley.

Gibson’s playing time has been on the decline in recent years and he’ll turn 39 in June, so he’s unlikely to leapfrog Isaiah Hartenstein or Jericho Sims on New York’s depth chart, but he’ll be a useful piece of insurance at center.

Since the Knicks had a full 15-man roster, they had to waive someone to make room for Gibson. None of their three players on non-guaranteed salaries – Windler, DaQuan Jeffries, and Ryan Arcidiacono – had seen much action this fall, but it was Windler who was ultimately the odd man out. The former first-round pick has logged just seven total minutes across three appearances for the Knicks this season.

For what it’s worth, Windler is still eligible for a two-way contract, whereas Jeffries and Aricidacono aren’t, so if he clears waivers, the former Belmont sharpshooter could return in that capacity. It would require another cut though, since New York doesn’t have an open two-way slot.

If he goes unclaimed on waivers, Windler will end up making $659,454, a prorated portion of his minimum-salary deal with the Knicks.

Hornets Sign Nathan Mensah To Two-Way Contract, Waive Theo Maledon

December 14th, 2023 at 8:45pm CST by Tristan Tucker

8:45pm: The Hornets officially announced the signing of Mensah to a two-way contract in a press release.

5:38pm: The Hornets are planning to sign center Nathan Mensah to a two-way contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Mensah has been playing with Charlotte’s G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, this season after spending training camp with the Hornets this summer on an Exhibit 10 contract. Mensah is averaging 10.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 0.8 steals in 14 Showcase Cup games with the Swarm this season.

Mensah, 25, played five seasons for San Diego State, where he averaged 6.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks across 146 appearances with his collegiate team. In 2022/23, Mensah helped the Aztecs to an appearance in the NCAA national championship, where they ultimately fell to UConn.

To open up the two-way roster spot necessary for Mensah, the Hornets announced they officially waived guard Theo Maledon.

It’s a little surprising to see the Hornets part with Maledon, considering he’s made 57 appearances and eight starts over the past two years with the team in 18.5 minutes per night. However, he’s gotten off to a slow start to the season, shooting just 28.8% from the field. In two years with the Hornets, Maledon averaged 6.1 points and 3.2 assists after spending the first two seasons of his career with the Thunder.

With Mensah set to be signed, the Hornets will be back up to the limit of 18 players on the roster. Charlotte has 15 players on standard deals and, after Mensah’s signing is made official, will have him, Leaky Black and Amari Bailey on two-way deals.

Spurs Waive Rice, Sign Duke To Two-Way Deal

December 14th, 2023 at 7:20pm CST by Rory Maher

8:20pm: The Spurs have officially signed Duke and waived Rice, according to a press release from the team.

3:43pm: The Spurs plan to sign David Duke Jr. to a two-way contract, agent Todd Ramasar tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

San Antonio is waiving Sir’Jabari Rice to make room for Duke, reports ESPN’s Andrew Lopez (via Twitter). That move is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

Duke spent the past two seasons with the Nets on two-way deals prior to being converted to a standard contract in April. The former Providence guard averaged 4.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 45 games with Brooklyn from 2021-23, shooting 40.3% from the floor in 12.6 minutes per contest.

Duke, 24, inked an Exhibit 10 deal with the Sixers for training camp and was waived before the ’23/24 season began. He’s been playing for their G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.

Rice, who went undrafted in June’s draft, spent four college seasons at New Mexico State before transferring to Texas for his super-senior year in 2022/23. The 6’4″ guard appeared in 38 games for the Longhorns last season, averaging 13.0 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 2.0 APG on .464/.371/.863 shooting.

Rice has yet to appear in an NBA game. He’s been playing for San Antonio’s G League affiliate in Austin to open his rookie season.

Celtics Sign Drew Peterson To Two-Way Contract

December 14th, 2023 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams

December 14: Peterson’s two-way deal is official, the Celtics announced.

December 13: The Celtics are expected to sign G League forward Drew Peterson to a two-way contract, according to Adrian Wojanrowski of ESPN (Twitter links). Agents Mike Silverman and Troy Payne tell Wojnarowski that Peterson has agreed to sign with the C’s and is on track to join the team as soon as Thursday.

Peterson, 24, went undrafted earlier this year after spending two seasons at Rice and three at USC. As a “super senior” in 2022/23, he averaged 13.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game, posting a .442/.358/.752 shooting line in 33 games (35.9 MPG) for the Trojans.

As an undrafted free agent, Peterson quickly agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal with Miami and joined the Heat for summer league play and training camp. He was cut before the regular season began and was designated as an affiliate player for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League team.

Peterson was off to a strong start in his first professional season, putting up 15.2 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 4.2 APG on .528/.407/.857 shooting in his first 13 games with the Skyforce. Once he officially signs with Boston, he’ll make the move to the Maine Celtics. He’ll also be eligible to appear in up to 35 NBA games, assuming he officially signs on Thursday.

The Celtics won’t need to make a corresponding roster move to open up a spot for Peterson, since they already cut a two-way player earlier this week, parting ways with Nathan Knight on Tuesday. Neemias Queta and JD Davison are Boston’s other two-way players.

If Peterson signs on Thursday, his two-way salary will be $395,708. That salary would become fully guaranteed if he remains under contract through January 7.

Celtics Waive Two-Way Player Nathan Knight

December 12th, 2023 at 4:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Two-way player Nathan Knight has been waived by the Celtics, Jared Weiss of The Athletic tweets.

The 6’8” forward hasn’t appeared in any games this season. He came off the bench in 38 games last season for Minnesota.

Overall, he has appeared in 108 regular season games with the Hawks and Timberwolves, averaging 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 7.8 minutes per game. The Wolves declined their team option on Knight during the offseason and didn’t issue a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

He signed with the Knicks but was waived during training camp. Knight was signed to one of Boston’s three two-way spots on Oct. 22.

Knight has seen action in 12 games with Boston’s G League affiliate in Maine, averaging 8.9 points and 8.3 rebounds in 22.9 minutes per game.

Boston now has one two-way spot open. Guard JD Davison and center Neemias Queta occupy the other two-way spots.