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Celtics Sign Torrey Craig

February 8th, 2025 at 9:15am CST by Earnest Marshall

February 8: The agreement between the Celtics and Craig is official, per a team press release.

February 6: The Celtics have agreed to a deal with forward Torrey Craig, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).

The eight-year NBA veteran was waived by the Bulls earlier this week in order to make room for the players they acquired in the deal that sent away Zach LaVine.

The Celtics had two open roster spots after trading away Jaden Springer at the deadline, meaning no corresponding move will be necessary to bring Craig aboard.

Earlier Thursday, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said acquiring a wing would be the first order of business for the Celtics regarding their open roster spots, according to MassLive’s Brian Robb (Twitter link).

Boston will address that need by adding a solid shooter in Craig, who has made 39.7% of 3.1 three-point attempts per game over the past three seasons with Phoenix and Chicago (141 total games).

The veteran swingman is also considered a solid, versatile perimeter defender and is an experienced playoff performer, appearing in 75 postseason games and starting in 19 of them.

Craig was limited to just nine appearances this season with the Bulls — he has battled injuries and wasn’t a significant part of the rotation even when healthy. Before being waived, he appeared to be nearing a return from a right ankle sprain that had sidelined him since December 30.

The Celtics still have some optionality with their 15th roster spot, which they’ll likely fill later in the season.

Magic Sign Ethan Thompson To Two-Way Contract

February 7th, 2025 at 8:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Osceola Magic guard Ethan Thompson has been promoted from the G League to the NBA, having signed a two-way contract with Orlando, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

Thompson, who went undrafted out of Oregon State in 2021, has played primarily in the G League since then, beginning his professional career with the Windy City Bulls and also spending time with the Mexico City Capitanes before a stint last year with Osos de Manati in Puerto Rico.

Ahead of the 2024/25 season, Thompson signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Magic and spent the preseason with the club before being cut and reporting to Osceola, the Magic’s NBAGL affiliate.

In 30 total appearances in the Tip-Off Tournament and G League regular season, Thompson has averaged 17.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 32.9 minutes, knocking down an impressive 38.2% of 8.2 three-point attempts per game.

Orlando has left its third two-way slot open for the entire season, finally filling it with this move, so no corresponding roster move is required.

Thompson, who will join two-way players Trevelin Queen and Mac McClung, will be eligible to appear in up to 19 NBA regular season games with the Magic for the rest of the season.

Raptors Sign Jamison Battle To Three-Year Deal

February 7th, 2025 at 6:05pm CST by Rory Maher

6:05 pm: Battle has been officially promoted to the standard roster, the team announced in a press release. In a corresponding move, Robinson has been re-signed to a two-way deal.

2:04 pm: The Raptors are converting Jamison Battle‘s two-way contract into a standard deal covering three years, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (via Twitter).

As Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca observes (Twitter links), Toronto will use a portion of its mid-level exception to give Battle a three-year deal. Once the move is official, the Raptors will have on open standard roster spot and one two-way opening, with one of those likely earmarked for center Orlando Robinson, whose second 10-day contract with Toronto recently expired.

Battle will be paid the veteran’s minimum in 2025/26 and ’26/27 and his deal will be partially guaranteed for those seasons, according to Murphy (Twitter link), who expects the sharpshooting forward to receive more than the minimum in ’24/25.

Battle, 23, went undrafted in 2024 after playing five college seasons at George Washington, Minnesota and Ohio State. He was initially signed to an Exhibit 10 deal for training camp, but impressed the Raptors in the fall and was promoted to a two-way deal in October, just before the ’24/25 season began.

In 35 games during his rookie campaign, Battle has averaged 5.4 points and 1.8 rebounds while posting a strong shooting slash line of .458/.417/.857 in 12.6 minutes per contest. The majority of his field goal attempts have come from three-point range.

Raptors Sign Orlando Robinson To Two-Way Deal

February 7th, 2025 at 6:04pm CST by Luke Adams

After his second 10-day contract with the Raptors expired on Thursday night, Orlando Robinson is back with the team, having signed a two-way deal, according to a press release. Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link) first reported that Robinson would be returning on a two-way contract.

Robinson, who began the season with Sacramento, was waived from his non-guaranteed contract by the Kings a month ago and caught on with the Raptors, signing a pair of 10-day deals with Toronto in recent weeks.

The seven-foot center has already played more minutes in 20 days with the Raptors than he did in two-and-a-half months with the Kings, averaging 3.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 11.1 minutes per game across seven outings with Toronto so far.

Robinson could play a more significant role in the frontcourt after the club traded big man Kelly Olynyk to New Orleans at Thursday’s trade deadline.

The Raptors opened up a two-way slot by promoting Jamison Battle to the 15-man roster. That move, reported earlier today, is now official. Toronto still has one open spot on its standard roster and could use that opening to continue auditioning players on 10-day deals.

Robinson will be eligible to appear in up to 19 NBA games for the rest of the 2024/25 season, a prorated portion of the full-season 50-game limit.

Warriors Promote Quinten Post To Standard Contract

February 7th, 2025 at 4:22pm CST by Rory Maher

4:22 pm: Post’s promotion to the 15-man roster is official, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

1:47 pm: The Warriors are promoting Quinten Post from a two-way contract to a two-year standard deal, agents George Roussakis and Mark Bartelstein tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

The news was expected, as Michael Scotto of HoopsHype recently reported that Golden State planned to convert Post, a rookie big man from the Netherlands who played his college ball at Mississippi State and Boston College.

Converting Post will help the Warriors navigate the first-apron hard cap. Because he was a second-round pick in the 2024 draft, Post can be signed for the prorated rookie minimum, which only counts for about half as much for cap and apron purposes as a prorated veteran’s minimum deal would.

Post didn’t make his first NBA appearance until 30 games into the 2024/25 campaign, but he has been a rotation regular of late, averaging 8.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists on .443/.372/1.000 shooting over the past 10 games, including starting each of the past five contests (17.1 MPG).

The Warriors had four openings on their standard roster after sending out multiple players in their blockbuster trade to acquire Jimmy Butler. Post will take one of those spots, and by promoting him, Golden State now has a two-way opening as well.

The team likely won’t be in a hurry to fill the rest of its open standard roster spots, since it doesn’t have a ton of breathing room below its hard cap.

Spurs Waive Patrick Baldwin Jr.

February 7th, 2025 at 4:17pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have waived third-year forward Patrick Baldwin Jr., reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

San Antonio acquired Baldwin as part of the four-team Kyle Kuzma/Khris Middleton trade on Thursday. He was on track to be dealt from the Wizards to the Bucks in the initial construction of that deal, but Milwaukee worked out a side deal with the Spurs, sending cash to San Antonio that more than covered the cost of Baldwin’s cap hit and the remaining portion of his $2,448,840 expiring contract.

The Spurs will now carry that dead money on their cap for the remainder of the season, but won’t be on the hook for any salary beyond 2024/25, since Washington passed on his ’25/26 team option last fall.

The 28th overall pick in the 2022 draft out of UW-Milwaukee, Baldwin began his career with the Warriors, then was sent to the Wizards during the 2023 offseason as part of the Jordan Poole/Chris Paul trade.

He didn’t see much playing time in either Golden State or Washington — to date, he has appeared in 91 total NBA regular season games, averaging 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 9.0 minutes per night.

Assuming Baldwin clears waivers on Sunday, which seems likely, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent with the ability to sign with any NBA team except the Wizards. Because he’s only in his third season, he remains eligible to receive a two-way contract.

Lakers Sign Jordan Goodwin To Two-Way Contract

February 7th, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

4:00 pm: The Lakers have officially signed Goodwin and waived Traore, per the team (Twitter link).

2:29 pm: The Lakers have agreed to sign guard Jordan Goodwin to a two-way contract, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

All three of Los Angeles’ two-way slots are currently full, so the club will waive forward Armel Traore to create an opening for Goodwin, according to Charania (Twitter link).

Goodwin, 26, made his NBA debut in December 2021 and has appeared in 121 total regular season games since then, averaging 6.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 17.9 minutes per contest for the Wizards, Suns, and Grizzlies, with a shooting line of .405/.308/.758.

Known more for his defense than his offense, Goodwin was on NBA rosters for nearly all of last season, but has spent the 2024/25 campaign in the G League, playing for the South Bay Lakers. In 17 outings at the NBAGL level for L.A.’s affiliate, he has averaged 13.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.8 steals in 24.0 minutes per game on .423/.314/.714 shooting.

As for Traore, the 6’9″ Frenchman caught out with the Lakers last summer after going undrafted. Traore, who just turned 22 last month, has made only nine NBA appearances, but has spent time with South Bay alongside Goodwin, averaging 14.6 PPG, 9.2 RPG, and 1.8 APG in 13 games (27.1 MPG).

Assuming he officially signs his new two-way deal on Friday or Saturday, Goodwin will be eligible to appear in up to 19 NBA games with the Lakers for the rest of this season. He won’t be eligible for the postseason unless he’s promoted to the standard 15-man roster before the playoffs.

Clippers Trade Kevin Porter Jr. To Bucks For MarJon Beauchamp

February 7th, 2025 at 1:21pm CST by Rory Maher

February 7: The swap is now official, according to press releases from the Clippers and Bucks. This was the last deadline-day trade to be processed, so all of this week’s deals have now been formally finalized.

February 6: The Clippers are trading guard Kevin Porter Jr. to the Bucks for forward MarJon Beauchamp, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Porter is a former first-round pick who played in Greece last season after multiple off-court incidents, including reaching a plea agreement for misdemeanor assault and harassment in January 2024 after allegedly attacking his girlfriend in September 2023. The Clippers gave him another NBA opportunity in July when they signed him to a two-year, minimum-salary contract. He holds a $2.55MM player option for 2025/26.

Porter is still under a league investigation for that September 2023 incident involving former WNBA player Kysre Gondrezick, according to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link).

While the 24-year-old has been a rotation regular for Los Angeles, averaging 9.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.0 steal in 45 games (19.6 minutes), he has struggled with offensive efficiency (.423/.245/.645 shooting line) and turnovers (1.9 per game). The Clips have also been much better when he’s off the court (+5.4 points per 100 possessions) than when he’s on it (-1.4).

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, Porter will earn a trade bonus of $129,245 as a result of the deal.

Beauchamp is another former first-round pick who has seen his minutes steadily decline over the course of his three NBA seasons, making just 26 appearances in ’24/25 for an average of 4.7 minutes per contest. The Bucks declined their rookie scale team option on the 24-year-old wing last fall, so he’ll be an unrestricted free agent in the summer. He’s making $2.7MM this season.

Hornets Sign Elfrid Payton To 10-Day Deal

February 7th, 2025 at 12:50pm CST by Rory Maher

12:50pm: Payton’s 10-day contract is now official, according to the Hornets. He was signed via the hardship exception, confirms Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).

7:46am: The Hornets have agreed to sign free agent guard Elfrid Payton to a 10-day contract, agent Darrell Comer tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Payton, who had been out of the NBA since the 2021/22 season, caught on with the Pelicans in November on a non-guaranteed contract and was one of the feel-good stories of the fall.

The Louisiana native, who played in Puerto Rico and the G League while trying to make his NBA comeback, immediately jumped into the starting lineup for his hometown team and posted a 14-point, 21-assist, seven-rebound line in his third game back.

However, the former lottery pick (10th overall in 2014) was cut loose by the Pelicans in early December after the team started to get a little healthier. New Orleans was also concerned about its proximity to the luxury tax, which the franchise has never paid and wound up dipping below prior to yesterday’s trade deadline.

Payton, who turns 31 years old later this month, averaged 6.7 points, 6.9 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals in seven games with the Pels (20.3 minutes per contest), shooting 50.0% from the floor in his time with the team.

Payton also appeared in 14 NBA G League games this season with New Orleans’ affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron, averaging 7.6 points, 4.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 21.0 minutes. His shooting slash line was just .380/.190/.250.

While Payton has been a solid rebounder and play-maker throughout his NBA, he’s never been much of a shooter, with career marks of 28.7% from three-point range and 62.3% from the charity stripe. But the Hornets have a need for a backup point guard — they traded Vasilije Micic to Phoenix, and LaMelo Ball (ankle) and Tre Mann (back) are currently injured.

The Hornets were involved in multiple trades leading up to the deadline, but they did not create any roster openings, as their 15-man standard roster is currently full.

Charlotte shouldn’t need to release anyone to add Payton though — he could be signed using the hardship exception. Brandon Miller (shoulder surgery) and Grant Williams (torn ACL) are out for the season, Mann hasn’t played since November, and Josh Okogie is out at least a couple more weeks due to a hamstring strain.

Jazz Waive Jalen Hood-Schifino

February 7th, 2025 at 10:42am CST by Rory Maher

The Jazz have requested waivers on second-year guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, the team announced in a press release.

Utah acquired Hood-Schifino a few days ago in the Luka Doncic blockbuster, but obviously he wasn’t in the team’s plans. The news of him being released was first reported on Thursday. Veteran guard Josh Richardson is also expected to be cut by the Jazz.

Still just 21 years old, Hood-Schifino was selected No. 17 overall in the 2023 draft. He spent his first season-and-a-half with the Lakers, who decided not to pick up their 2025/26 team option on his rookie scale contract last fall after the former Indiana standout was limited to just 21 NBA games during his rookie campaign.

Hood-Schifino only appeared in two games this season with Los Angeles for a total of 14 minutes. He had been listed as out for the last two months due to a left hamstring strain.

While his NBA role was extremely limited, Hood-Schifino did put up some solid numbers in the G League last season, averaging 22.0 points, 5.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds on .473/.432/.800 shooting in 15 games (35.4 minutes).

Assuming he clears waivers, which seems likely, the Jazz will carry a $3.88MM dead-money cap hit for Hood-Schifino and he will become an unrestricted free agent in a couple days.

Since he’s only in his second season, it’s worth noting that Hood-Schifino is eligible to sign a two-way contract in addition to standard 10-day and rest-of-season deals. However, he’s not eligible to return to the Lakers this season.