Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Mavericks Sign, Waive Tony Bradley

October 20th, 2023 at 3:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

October 20: Bradley has been waived by the Mavs (Twitter link), which suggests he signed an Exhibit 10 deal and will be playing for the Texas Legends — Dallas’ G League affiliate — to start 2023/24.

October 19: The Mavericks have signed veteran center Tony Bradley, the team’s PR department tweets.

Bradley has played for Utah, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City and Chicago over his six NBA seasons. He holds career averages of 4.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 179 games, including 18 starts.

It’s unknown what type of contract Bradley signed. Dallas had 14 players with guaranteed deals, so conceivably he could round out its bench. However, the Mavs already have rookie Dereck Lively, Dwight Powell and Richaun Holmes as options at center and Markieff Morris is considered the favorite to be the team’s 15th man.

Bradley reportedly drew interest from Golden State during the offseason. Last season, the big man was on the Bulls’ roster, but was waived in February when the team signed Patrick Beverley. Bradley saw limited playing time in 12 games, averaging 1.6 points in 2.8 minutes per night.

Lakers Waive Quinndary Weatherspoon

October 20th, 2023 at 3:13pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Lakers are waiving Quinndary Weatherspoon, who signed on Thursday, the team announced (via Twitter).

The 27-year-old shooting guard is likely headed to L.A.’s G League affiliate in South Bay. Assuming he has an Exhibit 10 contract, he can earn a bonus worth up to $75K if he spends at least 60 days with the G League team.

A second-round pick in 2019, Weatherspoon played 31 combined games in two seasons with the Spurs and another 11 for the Warriors before moving on to China last year. He appeared in two games for Maccabi Ra’anana in Israel during the preseason before getting the opportunity with the Lakers.

L.A. is now down to 14 players with fully guaranteed contracts, plus three two-way players, which is how the roster will likely look when the season begins. However, the team could still sign and waive more players before the cutdown date to obtain their G League rights.

Celtics Sign James Banks To Exhibit 10 Deal

October 20th, 2023 at 2:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

Free agent center James Banks has signed with the Celtics, according to the Real GM transactions log.

It’s an Exhibit 10 contract, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac, who adds that Banks will ultimately be sent to Boston’s G League affiliate in Maine. The team recently completed a trade for Banks’ returning player rights. The Exhibit 10 language gives Banks an opportunity to earn a bonus up to $75K if he spends at least 60 days with Maine.

Banks, 25, has played the last two years in the G League with the Birmingham Squadron and the Texas Legends. He averaged 5.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in nine regular season games with Texas last season.

With the addition of Banks, the Celtics have 19 players on their preseason roster.

Clippers Sign Joey Hauser, Cut Two Players

October 20th, 2023 at 1:54pm CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers have officially signed rookie forward Joey Hauser while waiving guard Nate Darling and forward Bryson Williams, the team announced today.

Hauser went undrafted out of Michigan State earlier this year. He averaged 14.4 points and 7.0 rebounds in 34.1 minutes per game in 34 appearances during his final college season, posting an impressive shooting line of .484/.461/.876.

Hauser, whose brother Sam Hauser plays for Boston, signed a two-way contract with the Jazz in July, but was waived last month when Utah decided to bring in Josh Christopher on a two-way deal. Signing him to an Exhibit 10 contract will give the Clippers his G League rights and will put Joey in line for a bonus worth up to $75K if he spends at least 60 days with the Ontario Clippers, L.A.’s G League team.

Darling and Williams, who joined the Clippers on Exhibit 10 deals of their own earlier this month, are likely ticketed for Ontario once they clear waivers.

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.