Bulls Claim Felder, Waive Eddie And Stone
The Bulls have claimed point guard Kay Felder, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. They will waive swingman Jarell Eddie, league sources told Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Chicago will also shed center Diamond Stone to reach the 15-man roster limit, Charania adds in another tweet.
The Cavaliers traded Felder along with veteran forward Richard Jefferson to the Hawks on Saturday in order to shed salary and create roster space. Atlanta then immediately waived both players.
Felder, a second-round pick in 2016, appeared in 42 regular-season games last season and averaged 4.0 PPG and 1.4 APG in 9.2 MPG. He had a $457K guarantee on his $1,312,611 salary for this season. There is a team option on his $1,544,951 contract for next season.
The Bulls have Kris Dunn and Jerian Grant as their top point guards but Cameron Payne was declared out for 3-4 months in September after undergoing foot surgery.
Eddie, 25, played for the Wizards and Suns over the last two seasons. He played sparingly in 26 games for Washington during the 2015/16 season.
Eddie then played for the G League’s Windy City Bulls before hooking on with Phoenix late last season. He saw action in five games with the Suns last season after signing a pair of 10-day contracts.
Though he signed a contract for $1,471,382, most of the money was non-guaranteed. He collected a couple of extra days’ salary by remaining on the roster through Saturday.
Chicago still has plenty of shooting guards and small forwards on the roster, including Paul Zipser, Denzel Valentine, Justin Holiday, David Nwaba and rookie Antonio Blakeney. Zach LaVine and Quincy Pondexter are still rehabbing from knee injuries.
Stone received a modest guarantee after signing with Chicago in September. Stone, who played his rookie season with the Clippers, was also waived by the Hawks after Atlanta acquired him in late July. Robin Lopez, Christiano Felicio and rookie Lauri Markkanen are the main options at center.
Bucks Claim DeAndre Liggins Off Waivers
The Bucks have filled the 15th and final spot on their roster by claiming veteran swingman DeAndre Liggins off waivers, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Milwaukee opened up that roster spot by waiving Gerald Green on Saturday.
Liggins, 29, is coming off his most successful NBA season, having appeared in 62 total contests for the Cavaliers and Mavericks, starting 19 games with Cleveland. However, since being cut by the Cavs just before the end of the regular season, Liggins has been a fixture on the NBA’s transactions wire.
Since the start of April, Liggins has been claimed off waivers (from Cleveland) by the Mavericks, traded to the Rockets, traded to the Clippers, traded to the Hawks, waived by the Hawks, signed by the Heat, and now claimed off waivers from Miami by the Bucks.
We’ll see if Liggins sticks with the Bucks, since his contract is non-guaranteed. For now though, Milwaukee’s waiver claim of the well-traveled guard/forward appears to take the team out of the running for Richard Jefferson, as Marc Stein of The New York Times tweets. The Bucks and Nuggets were among the teams linked to Jefferson, who cleared waivers this afternoon.
Dennis Schroder Will Face Discipline Related To Battery Charge
Although Hawks guard Dennis Schroder was arrested on a battery charge last month, he’s set to open the regular season with the team this week as the legal process plays out. However, regardless of how his case concludes, Schroder can expect to be disciplined by the Hawks eventually, the team confirmed today.
General manager Travis Schlenk issued a statement on the situation, confirming that there’s an “ongoing investigation” into the details of the incident involving Schroder, and that the team intends to support its point guard through the process. However, that support comes with a caveat.
“From our preliminary findings, we are aware that Dennis was involved in a physical altercation,” Schlenk said. “That behavior is unacceptable, will not be tolerated by the Hawks organization, and will result in discipline for Dennis at the appropriate time once the matter has been more fully developed through the law enforcement process and otherwise.
“Dennis has accepted responsibility for his actions. He looks forward to learning from this incident and focusing on the season.”
While the Hawks have already decide to discipline Schroder, the severity on the penalty may depend on how the case plays out. The young point guard might also face a suspension from the NBA.
With Atlanta entering a full-fledged rebuilding phase this offseason, Schroder will be relied upon to be a leader on and off the court for the Hawks. The 24-year-old had a breakout season in 2016/17, averaging 17.9 PPG, 6.3 APG, 3.1 RPG, and a .451 FG%. Those numbers all represented career highs.
Mavs Convert Gian Clavell To Two-Way Contract
3:18pm: The Mavs have officially converted Clavell’s deal to a two-way contract, the team confirmed in a press release. Dallas’ regular season roster is now set.
2:36pm: The Mavericks will get down to the regular season roster limit by converting Gian Clavell‘s NBA contract to a two-way deal, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Clavell’s contract with Dallas included an Exhibit 10 clause, giving the team the flexibility to turn it into a two-way pact before the regular season begins.
Clavell, who turns 24 next month, was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Year last season at Colorado State, averaging 20.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game with the Rams. The 6’4″ guard also has extensive international experience with the Puerto Rican National Team.
Although Clavell didn’t receive any guaranteed money when he signed with the Mavericks this offseason, he impressed the team during the preseason. Most notably, he recorded 19 points, five rebounds, and five assists in a win last Thursday over Atlanta. Teams reportedly inquired about his availability recently, but the Mavs opted to hang onto their rights to Clavell.
Once they officially convert Clavell’s contract, the Mavs will have 15 players on their NBA roster, with two on two-way contracts.
Raptors Exercise Options On Wright, Poeltl, Siakam
The Raptors have exercised three team options for the 2018/19 season, announcing today in a press release that they’ve picked up Delon Wright‘s fourth year option, as well as third-year options for Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam.
[RELATED: Decisions On 2018/19 Rookie Scale Team Options]
Wright, the 20th overall pick in the 2015 draft, appeared in just 27 games for the Raptors last season, with Kyle Lowry and Cory Joseph ahead of him on the depth chart for most of the year. However, with Joseph no longer on the roster, Wright figures to be in line for a larger role as he and Fred VanVleet back up Lowry. His fourth-year option for 2018/19 will count for $2,536,898 on Toronto’s cap.
Poeltl and Siakam, meanwhile, will also be relied upon for more significant roles this season. The two 2016 first-rounders didn’t play a ton as rookies last season, but the offseason departures of Patrick Patterson, P.J. Tucker, and DeMarre Carroll will open up more frontcourt minutes in the Raptors’ rotation.
Poeltl, last year’s ninth overall pick, has the most expensive 2018/19 option of the three, at $2,947,320. Siakam’s is worth $1,544,951. The Raptors will have to decide next offseason on fourth-year options for 2019/20 for the duo. If those are exercised, Poeltl and Siakam will become extension-eligible in the summer of 2019, and would be on track to be restricted free agents in 2020.
Kendrick Perkins To Join Cavs’ G League Affiliate
Veteran center Kendrick Perkins has decided to accept an assignment to the Cavaliers’ G League affiliate, the Canton Charge, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Perkins is taking the same path as fellow vet Emeka Okafor, who will play for the Sixers’ G League affiliate this fall.
Perkins, who will turn 33 next month, was in camp with the Cavaliers and spent the preseason with the team, but was unable to crack the regular season roster. With 16 players on fully guaranteed contracts and another with a partial guarantee, Cleveland had to send veteran forward Richard Jefferson and second-year guard Kay Felder to Atlanta in a salary dump just to get down to 15 players after waiving Perkins and others.
Because he has never played in the G League before, Perkins’ rights aren’t held by one of the league’s 26 clubs. That opens the door for him to become one of Cleveland’s affiliate players for 2017/18. NBA teams can designate up to four players they’ve waived in the preseason as affiliate players, assuming those players sign G League contracts.
Of course, while Perkins may start the season in the G League, his goal will be getting another shot with an NBA team. “I will make a roster,” he tells Jake Fischer of SI.com (Twitter link).
The 13-year veteran has appeared in 781 career regular season games, plus another 143 postseason contests, but didn’t suit up for an NBA club last season. Although Perkins will play for the Cavs’ affiliate in the G League, Cleveland won’t hold his NBA rights, so he’ll be free to sign with any team if he gets an offer.
Extension Rumors: Randle, Smart, McDermott, LaVine
As I detailed this morning, Monday isn’t just the last day of 2017 for fourth-year players to sign rookie scale extensions — it’s also the final day that extension-eligible veterans can sign new deals if they have more than one year remaining on their current contracts. That’s why veteran players like Spurs big man LaMarcus Aldridge are engaged in talks about possible extensions.
Here are a few more of the latest updates on extension-eligible players:
- The Lakers and Julius Randle had “cordial conversations” about a new deal, but everyone understands the club’s salary cap situation, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. With L.A. looking to preserve 2018 cap room, no extension is expected for Randle.
- Barring a sudden change, Marcus Smart and the Celtics are set to let today’s deadline pass without a new deal in place, a league source tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald tweets a similar sentiment, citing a source who says there’s “a pulse but not much else” in the Smart negotiations.
- The Knicks are “highly unlikey” to sign newly-acquired sharpshooter Doug McDermott to a new deal today, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN. As Begley observes, there’s no rush for the Knicks, who will have all season to see how McDermott fits in New York.
- K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune suggested over the weekend that it’s a matter of when – not if – the Bulls lock up Zach LaVine to a new contract. It appears the “when” won’t be today though. Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link) hears from a source that a rookie scale extension for LaVine is “not likely.”
Spurs, LaMarcus Aldridge Discussing Extension
The Spurs and LaMarcus Aldridge are discussing the possibility of a contract extension, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Currently, Aldridge remains under contract for two years, with a guaranteed $21.46MM salary for 2017/18 and a player option worth $22.35MM for 2018/19. If he and the Spurs were to reach an agreement today, it would allow him to opt in for ’18/19 and then tack on up to three more years. In that scenario, an extension could have a starting salary worth up to 120% of his ’18/19 figure.
Although today represents the deadline for contract extensions for veterans with multiple years left on their respective contracts, Aldridge would have until June 30 to work out an extension with the Spurs if he were to turn down his player option. An extension along those lines could be worth up to 120% of the big man’s 2017/18 salary.
Aldridge, 32, saw his production drop off a little in San Antonio last season. His 17.3 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and .477 FG% were all below his career averages, while his 18.6 PER was his lowest mark since 2009/10. It would be an unusual moment for the Spurs to sign him to an extension unless they’re confident in a bounce-back season and believe they can get him at a discounted rate.
Not counting player options for Aldridge, Danny Green, or Rudy Gay, the Spurs currently only have about $56MM in guaranteed money on their books for the 2018/19 season.
Jazz Waive Joel Bolomboy
The Jazz have set their roster for the regular season by waiving Joel Bolomboy, the team announced today in a press release. The move reduces Utah’s roster count to 17 players — 15 on NBA deals and two on two-way contracts.
Bolomboy, the 52nd overall pick in the 2016 draft out of Weber State, appeared in just 12 games for the Jazz last season. While he didn’t earn a regular role with the NBA club, the 23-year-old power forward did see plenty of action for Utah’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars. In 24 G League games, Bolomboy averaged 16.6 PPG and an impressive 13.3 RPG.
A report out of Utah last week had suggested that the battle for the final spot on the Jazz’s roster was coming down to Bolomboy vs. Royce O’Neale. It’s possible Utah could make another move before today’s deadline, but for now it appears that O’Neale has made the team.
As for Bolomboy, he’ll clear waivers and become a free agent on Wednesday, assuming he isn’t claimed. His 2017/18 salary was fully guaranteed, so the Jazz will remain on the hook for his $1,312,611 cap hit.
No Extension Expected For Rockets, Clint Capela
Rockets big man Clint Capela is on track to become a restricted free agent in the summer of 2018, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle, who reports that the two sides won’t reach an agreement on an extension today.
Capela, 23, enjoyed the best season of his young career in 2016/17, establishing new career-highs in PPG (12.6), RPG (8.1), FG% (.643), and a handful of other categories. He made 59 starts last season and figures to split minutes at center with Nene in 2017/18.
[RELATED: Extension Candidate: Clint Capela]
Despite Capela’s impressive production, it’s not a huge surprise that the Rockets are willing to go restricted free agency in 2018 with him. Over the last 15 years or so, the team hasn’t generally done rookie scale extensions unless there’s an opportunity to lock up a star — Yao Ming and James Harden were the only players to get rookie scale extensions prior to free agency.
For his part, Capela doesn’t sound too concerned about the possibility of reaching the open market as a restricted free agent next summer. The Rockets will have the opportunity to match any offer sheet he signs at that point.
“Honestly, my agent handles that,” Capela said, per Feigen. “If I sign, that’s good. But it won’t matter. If I have to wait until next year, it won’t bother me. I’m here. I’m healthy. I’m playing. That’s all that matters.”