Trail Blazers Waive Anthony Morrow, Two Others
The Trail Blazers have made their roster cuts in advance of the regular season, according to beat reporter Casey Holdahl, who tweets that Anthony Morrow, Archie Goodwin, and Isaiah Briscoe have been waived by the team.
The cuts of Briscoe and Goodwin were anticipated. Although they received training camp invitations from the Blazers, Briscoe and Goodwin were viewed as long shots to make the team’s regular season roster, with 14 players on guaranteed salaries already under contract.
Morrow, however, was the favorite to earn the 15th and final spot on Portland’s regular season roster. The veteran sharpshooter has a career .417 3PT%, and was viewed as a good fit to become an outside threat off the bench for a team that lost Allen Crabbe over the summer. Still, Morrow struggled last season, shooting just 30.8% from three-point range, and with the exception of a 12-point game against Toronto last week, didn’t do much in the preseason.
Rather than carrying Morrow on the regular season roster, it appears Portland will open the season with a 14-man squad. That makes some sense, considering the Blazers are currently over the tax line; any extra contract would increase the club’s projected year-end tax bill.
Portland is now carrying 15 total players — 14 on NBA deals and one on a two-way contract.
Joel Bolomboy, Royce O’Neale Compete For Last Jazz Slot
The final roster spot on the Jazz will come down to Joel Bolomboy and Royce O’Neale, Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets. Bolomboy was a second-round pick of the club’s in 2016 and O’Neale signed on with the franchise as a free agent in July.
Notably, both players have guaranteed deals, the latter having impressed the club enough to land a three-year deal with a guaranteed first year despite having played internationally since going undrafted in 2015.
Bolomboy was a mainstay on Utah’s G League affiliate last season and performed admirably at that level. He never did secure a sizable role on the Jazz amid their impressive 2016/17 campaign, however.
Jones specifies in his tweet that a decision between the two players has not been made. The transitioning club, fresh off of a busy offseason that saw them lose a pair of significant free agents, could use either Bolomboy or O’Neale as a depth piece this season.
At first glance, the club’s stable of solid, veteran swingmen appears more established than their frontcourt, a potential impediment to O’Neale.
Regardless, the team would likely bring either into the fold with their G League affiliate when they officially determine who to waive.
Bulls Release Bronson Koenig, Jaylen Johnson
The Bulls have waived Bronson Koenig and Jaylen Johnson, the team announced in a press release. After the announcement, the club’s roster sits at 18.
Koenig, who also had a brief tenure with the Bucks this offseason, was signed by the Bulls in late September. The sharp-shooting guard out of Wisconsin, however, will return to the free agent market as a potential affiliate player of the Chicago’s G League club.
Johnson served a slightly longer stretch with the Bulls, having signed on a week earlier in September. He went undrafted as an early entrant candidate out of Louisville last June.
Hornets Trim Roster With Four Cuts
The Hornets have released Terry Henderson, Isaiah Hicks, Luke Petrasek and T.J. Williams, the team announced in a press release. After the cuts, Charlotte’s roster sits at 14 players.
All four of the players waived were on non-guaranteed deals and could end up with the club’s G League squad as affiliate players.
Notably absent from the list of cuts is Treveon Graham, the last of Charlotte’s five non-guaranteed players on the roster through training camp. It’s possible, considering where the Hornets’ roster stands, that Graham makes the team to start the season.
Magic Waive Damjan Rudez, Kalin Lucas
The Magic have released Damjan Rudez and Kalin Lucas, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel tweets. The decision brings Orlando’s roster down to 15 players.
Rudez, a 31-year-old veteran of three NBA seasons, played 45 games for the Magic last year but had a negligible impact on the court. Had Rudez managed to secure a spot with the team, it would have likely been because of his positive influence in the locker room.
Lucas, a 28-year-old point guard out of Michigan State last saw NBA action back in 2014/15 when he played a single game for the Grizzlies.
With Rudez and Lucas out of the picture, it appears as though Khem Birch will stick with the team through the start of the regular season.
Warriors Waive Trevor Thompson
The Warriors have waived big man Trevor Thompson, Sean Cunningham of ABC10 in Sacramento tweets. The seven-footer will presumably end up with Golden State’s G League affiliate in Santa Cruz.
The move trims Golden State down to 18 players with the rest of the cuts expected to come after the team’s preseason finale on Friday night.
Quinn Cook One Of Three Hawks Cut
The Hawks have waived Quinn Cook, Jeremy Evans and Tyler Cavanaugh, Bobby Marks of ESPN writes. The moves were required in order to create cap space to take on Richard Jefferson and Kay Felder.
Cook, a Duke product that suited up for both the Mavs and Pelicans last season, was signed by Atlanta in early September. Evans, a six-year NBA veteran and long-time Jazz forward was signed on later in the month.
The Hawks could potentially see all three players end up with their G League team in Erie, the first two with returning rights and undrafted rookie Cavanaugh as an affiliate player.
Atlanta will incur a $100K cap hit on Cook and another $50K on Evans but all were on non-guaranteed deals with opening day – and its inherent 15-player roster limit – looming.
The moves actually bring Atlanta’s roster down to 15 players but the additions of Jefferson and Felder will obviously push them back over until they’re themselves waived, which is expected.
Had the opportunity to land a pair of second-round picks by eating the Cavaliers’ unwanted contracts not fallen in their lap, it’s plausible that the Hawks could have carried Cook into the regular season. Shortly after the point guard was brought aboard by Atlanta we wrote about the opportunity in front of him.
Rockets Sign Danuel House
The Rockets have signed 24-year-old guard Danuel House, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. House played one single minute in one single game for the Wizards last season after going undrafted in 2016.
Considering that Houston already waived four players to knock their roster down to 15 players earlier today, it’s likely that they release House too, with the idea of bringing him aboard their G League team.
Northwest Notes: Thunder, Harris, Dudley
The Thunder have three players who’ve grown used to getting the final shot over the course of long, impressive careers. Now, Royce Young of ESPN writes, they’ll have to figure out who gets the ball when the game is on the line.
While Russell Westbrook was the painfully obvious choice last season, he’s joined on the Thunder by Carmelo Anthony and Paul George. Both Anthony and George have traditionally been the focal point of their teams’ offenses and were often the go-to options down the stretch, the latter even going so far as to lambaste former teammate C.J. Miles for taking a last-second shot in the playoffs last spring.
“Carmelo’s been a closeout guy the places he’s been, the same thing with Paul. But any time you have a team you have to do it by finding the open man,” Thunder head coach Billy Donovan said. “Clearly for us last year, somebody creating and generating a shot for himself or someone else, it was Russell. But obviously now with Carmelo and Paul being here, I think it’s about making the right play and right decision.”
One knock on the Thunder in the past has been their reliance on isolation basketball when the game is on the long. Considering the roster balance last season, that style of play was more or less expected. With a number of legitimate offensive threats in 2017/18, however, the expectations for ball movement – and making sound decisions – should rise.
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Details on Gary Harris‘ contract have emerged, Bobby Marks of ESPN writes. The cap hit for the Nuggets guard in 2018/19 will be $16.5MM and that mark will rise annually until the deal terminates at $20.5MM in 2021/22. There are also $2.5MM of additional, unlikely, bonuses each year.
- There’s no clear frontrunner to fill the primary backup power forward role for the Nuggets this offseason. Chris Dempsey of Altitude Sports writes about how the changing NBA could impact Denver’s frontcourt depth chart in 2017/18.
- A prediction that the Timberwolves could send Cole Aldrich and a second-round pick to the Suns for Jared Dudley has legs, Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News tweets. Minnesota has been particularly interested in Dudley’s recovery from offseason toe surgery.
Nets Waive Tahjere McCall, Kamari Murphy
The Nets have released a pair of preseason signees, Brian Lewis of the New York Post. The club has waived Tahjere McCall and Kamari Murphy, both of whom were signed yesterday.
The hasty turnaround is no surprise, the Nets hold both players’ G League rights so they’ll presumably end up suiting up for the club’s affiliate in Long Island.