Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hornets Sign Theo Maledon To Two-Way Deal, Waive Three Players

September 29th, 2023 at 4:58pm CST by Rory Maher

4:58pm: Maledon’s contract is official, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

In order to make room for Maledon and Edmond Sumner, who is signing a non-guaranteed one-year deal, Charlotte released Angelo Allegri, Tre Scott and Jaylen Sims. All three players were on Exhibit 10 contracts and will likely be heading to the G League.

4:17 pm: Free agent guard Theo Maledon is returning to the Hornets on a two-way contract, sources tell Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirms the news (via Twitter).

The Hornets gave Maledon a two-way qualifying offer at the end of June, making him a restricted free agent. He was the last restricted free agent left on the board this offseason, and likely just accepted his QO ahead of training camp.

The French point guard was the 34th overall pick of the 2020 draft. He spent his first two NBA seasons with the Thunder, but was traded to Houston prior to last season. The Rockets waived Maledon, and he signed a two-way deal with Charlotte a few days later.

Maledon averaged 6.7 PPG, 3.5 APG and 2.8 RPG in 44 games for the Hornets in 2022/23 (19.4 MPG), posting a .402/.297/.851 shooting slash line. Overall, he has appeared in 160 NBA games.

The Hornets will have to release someone to make room for Maledon, as their roster is currently at the offseason maximum of 21 players under contract. The 22-year-old will fill the team’s final two-way spot.

Rockets Sign, Waive Joshua Obiesie

September 29th, 2023 at 4:35pm CST by Tristan Tucker

SEPTEMBER 29: Obiesie has been waived, per NBA.com’s official transactions log.

AUGUST 1: The Rockets officially signed Joshua Obiesie to a one-year contract, having completed the move last Friday, according to RealGM’s NBA transaction log.

According to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link), it’s a non-guaranteed training camp deal that includes Exhibit 10 language.

Obiesie has played the past six seasons for teams in Germany. The 6’6″ wing declared for the 2019 NBA draft but ultimately went undrafted. Still just 23 years old, Obiesie averaged 12.1 points and 3.2 assists per game last year for the Fraport Skyliners.

Obiesie is the first reported training camp contract for the Rockets, who have one two-way contract roster spot open. The signing gives Houston 16 players on its roster — 12 on guaranteed standard contracts, one on a partially guaranteed deal, a pair on two-way pacts, and now Obiesie on an Exhibit 10 contract.

Obiesie’s contract is eligible to be converted into a two-way deal, which could be in play if he impresses in camp. If he’s cut, clears waivers, and remains stateside, the Rockets would control his G League rights. In that scenario, Obiesie could earn a bonus worth up to $75K if he joins Houston’s G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, and spends at least 60 days with the club.

Raptors Sign, Waive Darryl Morsell

September 29th, 2023 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

3:54pm: The Raptors have waived Morsell, according to Murphy (Twitter link). They once again have an open spot on their 21-man roster.

9:48am: The Raptors have signed free agent shooting guard Darryl Morsell to an Exhibit 10 contract, per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).

Morsell played for the Salt Lake City Stars and Raptors 905 in the G League last season after going undrafted out of Marquette in 2022. In 44 total games for the two teams, he averaged 7.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 18.2 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .393/.220/.750.

While Morsell’s offensive numbers have never jumped off the page, dating back to his college years, he’s a talented perimeter defender who earned Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2021 while playing for Maryland.

As Murphy explains, Morsell may be in training camp with Toronto, but appears likely to return to the Raptors 905 once the regular season begins. Assuming he’s cut and then spends at least 60 days with the Raptors’ NBAGL affiliate, he’ll earn an Exhibit 10 bonus that can be worth up to $75K.

The Raptors waived Kevin Obanor on Thursday in order to make room on the roster for Morsell.

Hawks Sign Jarkel Joiner, Keaton Wallace

September 29th, 2023 at 3:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks confirmed a pair of additions to their training camp roster on Friday, issuing a press release to announce that they’ve signed guards Jarkel Joiner and Keaton Wallace to contracts.

Joiner’s agreement with Atlanta was reported in June shortly after he went undrafted out of North Carolina State. The 24-year-old averaged 17.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game in his lone season with the Wolfpack after transferring from Mississippi. Joiner, a second-team All-ACC selection last season, suited up for the Hawks at the Summer League in July.

Wallace, 24, was on a two-way contract with the Clippers for about a week last season, but has spent most of his two professional seasons playing for Los Angeles’ G League affiliate, the Ontario Clippers. In 49 games at the NBAGL level last season, he averaged 13.9 PPG, 4.5 APG, 3.6 RPG, and 1.7 SPG with a shooting line of .463/.382/.745.

Joiner and Wallace will almost certainly be waived at some point before the regular season starts and report to the College Park Skyhawks, Atlanta’s NBAGL team. College Park acquired Wallace’s returning rights from Ontario this summer, while Joiner will be a newcomer to the G League, meaning he can be designated as an affiliate player.

Assuming Joiner and Wallace both signed Exhibit 10 contracts, which is expected, they’ll be eligible to earn bonuses worth up to $75K if they spend at least 60 days with the Skyhawks.

Atlanta now has 20 players under contract with training camps around the corner.

Warriors Sign Jerome Robinson To Two-Way Deal

September 29th, 2023 at 12:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors have signed free agent guard Jerome Robinson to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link). Golden State now has a full 21-man roster.

The 13th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Robinson appeared in 113 regular season games for the Clippers and Wizards from 2018-21, averaging 4.5 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 14.2 minutes per night. He hasn’t played an NBA game since the 2020/21 season, when he made 17 appearances with Washington.

Robinson has spent the past two seasons playing for the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s G League affiliate. In 2022/23, he averaged 14.6 PPG, 4.6 APG, and 4.1 RPG with a .455/.353/.909 shooting line in 38 games (29.4 MPG) for Santa Cruz.

Robinson’s agreement with Golden State was initially reported back in July, over two months ago. At that time, the expectation was that he’d sign a training camp deal. Instead, he’ll fill out the 21-man preseason roster by claiming the team’s third two-way slot alongside Lester Quinones and Usman Garuba. However, Anthony Slater of The Athletic suggests (via Twitter) that Robinson may have to battle in training camp to hang onto that spot.

Two-way deals only come with a small partial guarantee, while players on Exhibit 10 contracts can be converted to two-way contracts prior to the regular season, so it would be simply enough for Golden State to make a preseason change.

Magic Sign D.J. Wilson To Exhibit 10 Contract

September 29th, 2023 at 8:37am CST by Rory Maher

SEPTEMBER 29: The Magic have issued a press release officially confirming that they’ve signed Wilson.

SEPTEMBER 28: The Magic plan to sign free agent forward D.J. Wilson to an Exhibit 10 contract, reports Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link).

A former first-round pick (17th overall in 2017), Wilson played in 146 regular season games (12.3 MPG) with the Bucks, Rockets and Raptors from 2017-22. The 27-year-old holds career averages of 4.4 PPG and 3.1 RPG, with a .419/.327/.618 shooting line.

Last summer, Wilson signed a two-year deal with the Raptors, but he only had a $250K partial guarantee and was released before 2022/23 began. He spent most of last season in the G League with the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s affiliate.

According to Beede, Orlando’s affiliate — the Osceola Magic — acquired Wilson’s returning player rights in February. He also played for the Magic’s Summer League squad a couple months ago, Beede adds.

While Exhibit 10 contracts can ordinarily be converted into two-way deals, that won’t be the case for Wilson. Since he has five years of NBA experience, he’s ineligible for a two-way contract.

The former Michigan big man will likely be waived before the season starts and headed to the Osceola Magic. In that scenario, he could receive a bonus worth up to $75K — on top of his G League salary — if he spends at least 60 days with Osceola.

Once the deal is official, the Magic’s offseason roster will be full, with 21 players under contract.

Celtics Sign, Waive Brandon Slater; Cut Two Others

September 29th, 2023 at 8:18am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics officially completed a series of roster moves on Thursday, per RealGM, signing and then waiving forward Brandon Slater while also cutting wing Jordan Schakel and forward Taylor Funk.

Slater went undrafted in June after spending five years playing for Villanova at the college level. As a super-senior in 2022/23, he averaged 9.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in 29.0 minutes per game across 34 appearances (all starts) for the Wildcats.

Schakel had signed with the Celtics earlier this week, while Funk joined the roster in early September. Like Schakel and Funk, Slater likely received an Exhibit 10 contract, which will make him eligible for a bonus worth up to $75K if he spends at least 60 days with the Maine Celtics, Boston’s G League affiliate.

The series of roster moves reduces Boston’s roster count to 18 players under contract, including 11 on guaranteed deals, four on non-guaranteed pacts, and three on two-way contracts. The team will likely fill out its 21-man roster before training camp begins next week, with DJ Steward among the anticipated additions.

Nets Waive Scottie Lindsey, Kyler Edwards

September 29th, 2023 at 7:45am CST by Luke Adams

Just days after signing the duo, the Nets have waived guards Scottie Lindsey and Kyler Edwards, the team announced on Thursday.

Neither cut comes as a surprise. As we noted when Brooklyn added Lindsey and Edwards, the Long Island Nets recently acquired both players’ returning rights, so the plan was always for them to be waived and then to head to the Nets’ G League team. Their Exhibit 10 contracts will make them eligible for bonuses worth up to $75K if they spend at least 60 days with Long Island.

Lindsey, 27, has played primarily in the G League since going undrafted out of Northwestern in 2018, spending time with the Grand Rapids Drive, Erie BayHawks (now the Birmingham Squadron), Windy City Bulls, and Maine Celtics. He has also played in professional leagues in Portugal and Canada.

Last season, Lindsey appeared in a total of 44 regular season and Showcase Cup games for Maine, averaging 11.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in 24.3 minutes per contest, on .435/.332/.860 shooting.

Edwards, 24, went undrafted out of Houston in 2022 and spent his rookie season playing for the Motor City Cruise, the Pistons’ G League affiliate. In 41 regular season and Showcase Cup appearances for the Cruise, the 6’4″ shooting guard averaged 11.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 25.6 minutes per contest, posting a shooting line of .397/.335/.738.

Brooklyn now has 18 players under contract. Thirteen of those players are on guaranteed deals, three have non-guaranteed salaries, and a pair are on two-way contracts.

Categories:
Transactions

Pelicans Sign, Waive Devin Cannady

September 29th, 2023 at 7:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans signed and then waived free agent guard Devin Cannady, according to RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions.

Will Guillory of The Athletic first reported that New Orleans would be signing Cannady, noting (via Twitter) that the 27-year-old wouldn’t be participating in training camp due to a previous commitment to USA Basketball.

Cannady, 27, appeared in 13 NBA regular season games as a member of the Magic from 2021-22, averaging 6.5 points in 16.8 minutes per night with a shooting line of .361/.396/.786.

Since going undrafted out of Princeton in 2019, he has primarily played in the G League, spending time with the Long Island Nets, Lakeland Magic, and South Bay Lakers. He helped lead Lakeland to an NBAGL title in 2021, earning a G League Finals MVP award.

Appearing in a total of 48 regular season and Showcase Cup contests for South Bay last season, Cannady averaged 12.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 30.1 minutes per game. His shooting line was .412/.360/.881.

The fact that New Orleans cut Cannady so quickly after signing him signals that he likely received an Exhibit 10 contract, which will make him eligible for a bonus worth up to $75K if he spends at least 60 days with the Pelicans’ G League team, the Birmingham Squadron. However, his returning rights are still held by South Bay for now, so the Squadron will need to make a trade to acquire them.

The Pelicans also officially signed Kaiser Gates to his two-way contract, per RealGM’s transaction log. Gates’ agreement with the club was reported last week.

Warriors Waive Jayce Johnson

September 28th, 2023 at 11:15pm CST by Rory Maher

Shortly after signing the 7’0″ center, the Warriors announced (via Twitter) that they have waived Jayce Johnson.

Previous reporting indicated that Johnson would be vying for Golden State’s final two-way spot in training camp. However, the team decided to cut ties early, which means Johnson will likely be heading to the G League again in 2023/24 to play for the Santa Cruz Warriors.

Based on the Exhibit 10 clause in Johnson’s contract, he could receive a bonus worth up to $75K if he spends at least 60 days with Santa Cruz.

Last season, Johnson averaged 9.4 PPG, 13.5 RPG and 1.3 BPG in 32 regular season games (25.8 MPG) with Santa Cruz. The former Utah and Marquette big man was the NBA G League’s leading rebounder in 2022/23.

The Warriors now have 20 players under contract, one shy of the offseason maximum.