Waiver claims represent a tiny fraction of player acquisitions in the NBA, but with close to 100 players set to hit waivers in the next two weeks, chances are we’ll see a few of them get claimed. Three of the eight players claimed off waivers since last October were camp cuts, although that trio combined to appear in just two regular season games last season for the teams that claimed them. That’s in part because this time of year the motivation to claim a player may be about more than just his NBA rights.
The Blazers waived Justin Holiday shortly after claiming him last year, but they protected his D-League rights, meaning Holiday wound up with Portland’s affiliate when he signed to play in the D-League. NBA teams are allowed to keep three camp cuts out of the D-League draft. As Blazers GM Neil Olshey has explained, many teams, including Portland, wait until the last moment to release their camp invitees so that other teams don’t grab their NBA rights, cut them, and protect them for their own D-League teams.
Holiday remained at Idaho most of the year without the Blazers signing him to an NBA deal, and the Sixers scooped up Holiday’s rights when they brought him to Philadelphia near the end of the season. Still, if an NBA team is interested in keeping tabs on one of the players who’s waived by another club this month, the waiver claim may well come into play.
Here’s a look at each of the players claimed off waivers since last October, with an asterisk by the name of anyone who is still with the team that claimed him.
- *Gustavo Ayon — The Hawks claimed him from the Bucks on July 28th.
- Josh Akognon — The Grizzlies claimed him from the Mavericks on July 23rd.
- *James Anderson — The Sixers claimed him from the Rockets on July 13th.
- *Tim Ohlbrecht — The Sixers claimed him from the Rockets on July 13th.
- Shaun Livingston — The Cavaliers claimed him from the Wizards on December 25th, 2012.
- Eddy Curry — The Mavericks claimed him from the Spurs on October 25th, 2012.
- Reeves Nelson — The Rockets claimed him from Lakers on October 22nd, 2012.
- Justin Holiday — The Blazers claimed him from the Cavaliers on October 12th, 2012.
The RealGM transaction log was used in the creation of this post.