Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wolves Cut Matt Ryan, Convert Daishen Nix To Two-Way Deal

October 20th, 2023 at 1:20pm CST by Luke Adams

1:20pm: The moves are official, per RealGM’s transaction log.

11:16am: The Timberwolves are making a roster change ahead of the regular season, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Minnesota will waive sharpshooter Matt Ryan and convert Daishen Nix‘s Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal.

Ryan appeared in 34 total games for the Lakers and T-Wolves in 2022/23, averaging 3.6 points in 9.1 minutes per game while making 38.1% of his three-point attempts.

Ryan’s ability to hit outside shots – he’s a career 40.1% three-point shooter in 37 G League regular season appearances – helped earn him a two-way qualifying offer from Minnesota in June, and he eventually accepted that QO in September. However, he’ll lose his two-way spot just a few days ahead of opening night.

Nix, 21, had a solid preseason for the Wolves after joining the team on a non-guaranteed camp deal, averaging 6.0 points and 3.3 assists in just 10.6 minutes per contest, with a red-hot shooting line of .571/.750/1.000.

The young guard already has 81 games of NBA experience under his belt with the Rockets, having spent the last two seasons in Houston. He averaged 3.7 PPG and 2.3 APG in 16.0 MPG (57 appearances) in 2022/23.

Nix will join Luka Garza and Jaylen Clark as Minnesota’s two-way players, while Ryan will become an unrestricted free agent if he passes through waivers without being claimed.

Raptors Sign Justise Winslow, Waive Makur Maker

October 20th, 2023 at 11:44am CST by Luke Adams

11:44am: Winslow got an Exhibit 10 deal, according to Murphy (Twitter link). As Murphy explains, the plan is for Winslow to start the season with the 905 and – if he shows he’s healthy – get back on the radar of NBA teams.

11:30am: The Raptors have signed free agent swingman Justise Winslow, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. Camp invitee Makur Maker was waived to make room on the roster for Winslow, according to Murphy, who confirms that Maker is on track to join the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League affiliate.

Winslow, the 10th overall pick in the 2015 draft, has spent time with the Grizzlies, Clippers, and Trail Blazers since playing in Miami for the first five years of his NBA career.

He played well down the stretch in 2021/22 for Portland after being acquired in the Norman Powell/Robert Covington trade, but his ’22/23 campaign was cut short by an ankle injury, which required surgery in March. Before the procedure, the 27-year-old averaged 6.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in 19 games (26.8 MPG) on .409/.311/.714 shooting.

We don’t have any details yet on the terms of Winslow’s contract, but it’s rare for a player signed this late in the preseason to make a team’s regular season roster — especially a team like Toronto, which has 15 players on guaranteed contracts and Jeff Dowtin fighting to supplant one of those players on the 15-man squad.

If Winslow received a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract, he would receive a bonus worth up to $75K if he’s waived by Toronto and then spends at least 60 days with the Raptors 905 in the G League. As noted above, that’s the plan for Maker.

Thunder Sign, Waive Caleb McConnell, Adam Flagler

October 20th, 2023 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

OCTOBER 20: According to the Thunder, both McConnell and Flagler have been waived, which puts them on track to join the OKC Blue.

OCTOBER 19: The Thunder have signed Caleb McConnell and Adam Flagler, the team announced (Twitter links). Both players were reported to be inking deals with OKC shortly after going undrafted in June.

Hunter Maldonado and K.J. Williams, who signed with Oklahoma City on Wednesday, were waived to make room on the roster (Twitter link).

All four players are likely to wind up with OKC’s G League affiliate, Oklahoma City Blue, and if they all have Exhibit 10 contracts, they’ll be eligible to earn bonuses of at least $75K if they spend 60 days with the team.

McConnell, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year in the Big Ten, averaged 9.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.5 steals last season at Rutgers. Flagler was an AP All-American honorable mention last season at Baylor, averaging 15.6 points, 4.6 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals. McConnell and Flagler both played for the Thunder during Summer League.

The moves leave Oklahoma City with a full offseason roster of 21 players.

Kings Waiving Jaylen Nowell, Two Others

October 20th, 2023 at 5:16am CST by Luke Adams

The Kings are waiving guard Jaylen Nowell following their preseason finale, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Nowell averaged 10.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 19.3 minutes per game across 65 appearances in 2022/23 as a regular part of the Timberwolves’ rotation. However, after becoming an unrestricted free agent, he remained on the open market for nearly three months before eventually settling for an Exhibit 10 contract with Sacramento.

Most players who sign Exhibit 10 deals are waived before the regular season begins and then join their team’s G League affiliate. However, there was a sense that Nowell might have a path to a regular season roster spot, since the Kings only had 14 players on standard guaranteed contracts. With Nowell seemingly no longer in the mix for that spot, Sacramento may not carry a 15th man to start the season.

Nowell appeared in just two preseason games for the Kings, scoring five points on 1-of-6 shooting in 13 total minutes of action.

The Kings are also cutting center Jake Stephens and guard Dane Goodwin after signing them on Thursday, tweets Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 in Sacramento. According to Cunningham, both players will immediately head to Stockton to join the Kings’ G League team.

It’s unclear whether joining the Stockton Kings is also the plan for Nowell, but he’d receive a bonus worth $75K if he reports to the NBAGL club and spends at least 60 days there.

The moves will reduce Sacramento’s roster count to 17 players — 14 on standard deals and three on two-way contracts. While the Kings’ roster would be ready for the regular season, they could still sign-and-waive players for G League purposes or add a 15th man before Monday’s deadline.

Lakers Sign Quinndary Weatherspoon, Waive Louis King

October 19th, 2023 at 7:35pm CST by Rory Maher

7:35pm: The Lakers have officially signed Weatherspoon. In a related move, they have waived forward Louis King, the team’s PR department tweets.

5:03pm: The Lakers are signing free agent guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, agent Daniel Hazan tells Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter link).

The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it seems likely that Weatherspoon will be signed to an Exhibit 10 contract, which would entitle to him a bonus worth up to $75K if he’s waived and spends at least 60 days with the South Bay Lakers, L.A.’s G League affiliate.

A former second-round pick (No. 49 overall in 2019), Weatherspoon played 42 NBA games with the Spurs and Warriors from 2019-22, with a modest average of 6.5 minutes per night. He was out of the league last season, having played professionally in China.

Weatherspoon most recently played for Israeli club Maccabi Ra’anana during the preseason, suiting up for a couple games while averaging 15.5 points and shooting 40% from three, Haynes notes.

The Lakers will have 18 players under contract once the signing is official, with 14 players on guaranteed standard deals and all three two-way slots filled.

Pelicans Exercise 2024/25 Options On Dyson Daniels, Trey Murphy

October 19th, 2023 at 4:49pm CST by Rory Maher

The Pelicans have picked up their 2024/25 team options on Dyson Daniels and Trey Murphy, the team announced in a press release.

Neither player will be impacted in ’23/24, but their salaries for the following year are now locked in. Daniels will earn $6,059,520 in his third season, while Murphy will make $5,159,854 in his fourth.

A 6’8″ guard who was the No. 8 overall pick last year, Daniels averaged 3.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 2.3 APG on .418/.314/.650 shooting in 59 games as a rookie in ’22/23 (11 starts, 17.7 MPG). The 20-year-old Australian is known more for his strong defense than his offense at this stage of his career.

Murphy, meanwhile, will now be eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer after having his fourth-year option exercised.

The No. 17 overall pick in the 2021 draft, Murphy emerged as a full-time starter for New Orleans in ’22/23. He averaged 14.5 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 31.0 MPG across 79 appearances (65 starts), posting an impressive shooting line of .484/.406/.905.

Unfortunately, Murphy is currently sidelined a torn meniscus in his left knee, which required surgery. He’s expected to miss 10-to-12 weeks, with a rough return timeline of mid-November.

The full list of ’24/25 rookie scale team option decisions can be found right here.

Suns Waive Ishmail Wainright

October 19th, 2023 at 4:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Suns are waiving forward Ish Wainright, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. The move has been announced in a press release, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports tweets.

The Suns exercised their club option on Wainright’s contract in June but his salary remained non-guaranteed and wouldn’t have become fully guaranteed until January 10. Wainright dealt with a right calf strain during training camp, which didn’t help his cause.

As our roster count shows, the Suns had 17 players on standard contracts, including 15 with full guarantees. Wainright’s status was shaky entering camp and now he’ll be looking for another team.

Wainright, 29, appeared in 105 regular season games over the last two seasons. He appeared in 60 games last season, including two starts, averaging 4.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game.

Warriors Waive Javonte Green

October 19th, 2023 at 4:27pm CST by Rory Maher

The Warriors have waived Javonte Green, the team announced on Thursday (via Twitter).

Green, 30, has spent the past four seasons playing for Boston and Chicago. The 6’4″ guard/forward was limited to 32 games in 2022/23 due to a lingering right knee problem.

A strong athlete and defender who is limited offensively, Green holds career averages of 5.1 PPG and 2.8 RPG on .534/.342/.753 shooting in 186 regular season contests (15.8 MPG).

While it was previously reported that Green was expected to be waived and play for the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s NBA G League affiliate, we later learned that he had signed an Exhibit 9 contract, not an Exhibit 10 deal. That means he may not be headed to Santa Cruz after all, and it’s unclear what’s next for the former Radford Highlander, who played four seasons in Europe from 2015-19 after going undrafted.

Knicks Waive Knight; Sign Diakite, Goodwin

October 19th, 2023 at 4:18pm CST by Rory Maher

4:18pm: Knight has officially been waived. The Knicks have also signed free agents Mamadi Diakite and Brandon Goodwin to Exhibit 10 contracts (Twitter links). New York now has 20 players under contract.

4:09pm: The Knicks are waiving big man Nathan Knight, league sources tell Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link).

As Katz notes, Knight was signed to a two-way contract, and New York also recently waived Jaylen Martin, so the team now has a pair of two-way spots open.

Knight, who starred in college at William & Mary, has played in 108 NBA games over the past three seasons after going undrafted in 2020. He spent his rookie season with the Hawks on a two-way deal and spent the past two seasons with the Timberwolves.

The Wolves had a minimum-salary team option on Knight for the 2023/24 season but turned it down and opted not to issue him a qualifying offer, so he became an unrestricted free agent on July 1. He signed a two-way deal with the Knicks a couple weeks later.

The 26-year-old forward/center holds career averages of 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 7.8 minutes per night.

Bucks Sign Elijah Hughes, Kihei Clark To Camp Deals

October 19th, 2023 at 3:57pm CST by Rory Maher

The Bucks have added Elijah Hughes and Kihei Clark to their roster, with both players receiving training camp contracts, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. The signings are official, per RealGM’s transactions log.

A 6’5″ wing, Hughes was the No. 39 overall pick in 2020 after playing three seasons of college ball at East Carolina and Syracuse, respectively. He holds two years of NBA experience with the Jazz and Trail Blazers, averaging 2.9 points in 9.2 minutes (54 games) while struggling mightily with scoring efficiency (.328/.280/.769 slash line).

Hughes was out of the league in 2022/23, having signed a training camp deal with the Bucks to secure his G League rights for the Wisconsin Herd, Milwaukee’s affiliate. He struggled with efficiency again during last fall’s Showcase Cup (.372/.284/.733 slash line in 14 games), but played better for the Herd in the regular season, averaging 16.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals on .426/.355/.853 shooting in 25 games (18 starts, 33.1 minutes).

Clark, meanwhile, went undrafted in June after five college seasons at Virginia. The 5’9″ guard averaged 10.7 points, 5.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.0 steal on .399/.352/.767 shooting in 33 games (33.2 minutes) as a “super senior” in ’22/23.

Assuming Hughes and Clark signed Exhibit 10 deals, which seems likely, they would each be eligible for a $75K bonus if they’re waived before the season starts and spend at least 60 days with the Herd. Exhibit 10 deals can also be converted into two-way contracts, and the Bucks do have a two-way opening after waiving Omari Moore.

The Bucks’ roster is now full, with 21 players under contract.