Adonis Arms

Grizzlies Waive Harrison, Arms, Johnson

The Grizzlies have trimmed their roster by waiving guards Shaquille Harrison, Adonis Arms and David Johnson, the team announced (via Twitter).

Harrison signed with Memphis in late August, and there has been speculation that he might be given playing time during Ja Morant‘s 25-game suspension. The Grizzlies can’t move Morant to the suspended list until after five games, so it’s possible that Harrison may be re-signed early in the season.

Harrison has been with five teams during his six years in the NBA. He appeared in five games with Portland last season after joining the team on a 10-day contract in late March.

Arms and Johnson both signed with the Grizzlies on Wednesday and appear headed for the team’s G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle. If they have Exhibit 10 contracts, they’ll be able to earn a bonus of up to $75K if they spend at least 60 days with the team.

Harrison played in four of Memphis’ preseason games, averaging 0.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 12.1 minutes per night. Neither Arms nor Johnson saw any game action during their brief time with the team.

Memphis’ roster is now set for the regular season with 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.

Grizzlies Sign Adonis Arms, David Johnson

The Grizzlies tweaked their preseason roster by signing Adonis Arms and David Johnson, the team announced in a press release. Jason Preston and Timmy Allen, who both signed with the team on Monday, were waived to make room.

Because Memphis already has 15 guaranteed contracts and all three of its two-way slots filled, all four players are likely to end up in the G League. Assuming they all have Exhibit 10 deals, they can earn up to a $75K bonus by spending at least 60 days with the Memphis Hustle.

Arms, a 25-year-old guard, finished last season with the Hustle after being acquired from Grand Rapids in a G League trade. He spent time with both Denver and Phoenix during the 2022 preseason and played for the Nets in this year’s Summer League.

Johnson, a 22-year-old guard, was drafted in the second round by Toronto in 2021, but only appeared in two NBA games before being waived last October. He spent most of his time with Raptors 905 in the G League, but was traded to the Hustle in late August.

The moves leave the Grizzlies with 21 players on their preseason roster, with three needing to be trimmed by Monday’s league-wide cutdown date.

Suns Waive Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Adonis Arms

The Suns have waived Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Adonis Arms, the team announced in a press release relayed by Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports (Twitter link). Phoenix also confirmed that it has waived Saben Lee, whose release showed up earlier this week on NBA.com’s transactions log.

The moves bring the team’s roster down to 14 players, plus two on two-way deals. The Suns have 13 players with fully guaranteed contracts, along with Jock Landale, who appears to have made the team with a partially guaranteed deal.

Luwawu-Cabarrot has been a journeyman since being selected with the 24th pick in the 2016 draft, playing for five teams in six years. He appeared in 52 games with the Hawks last season and signed with Phoenix shortly before the start of training camp.

Arms signed with the Suns on Tuesday after he was waived by the Nuggets. Phoenix doesn’t have a G League team, so it’s not able to secure Arms’ G League rights.

Suns Sign Adonis Arms, Saben Lee

The Suns have signed guards Adonis Arms and Saben Lee, according to a team press release relayed by Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports (Twitter link).

Arms went undrafted this year out of Texas Tech, then played for the Nuggets’ summer league team. He was also on Denver’s training camp roster but was waived on Sunday. In his last college season, he averaged 8.6 PPG on .448/.308/.744 shooting, along with 4.4 RPG, 2.8 APG and 1.0 SPG.

Lee played the past two seasons with the Pistons. He was included in the Bojan Bogdanovic trade with the Jazz, who waived the former second-round pick on Sunday. Lee appeared in 85 total games for Detroit, averaging 5.6 points, 2.9 assists, and 2.4 rebounds in 16.3 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .434/.265/.731.

The Suns no longer have a G League team, so the club has no need to sign-and-waive players to secure their NBAGL rights. We’ll see what Phoenix’s plans are for Arms and Lee, who are both eligible to sign two-way contracts.

Nuggets Release Adonis Arms, Grant Golden

4:41pm: The Nuggets have officially waived both Arms and Golden, according to NBA.com’s transaction log. That leaves the team with 18 players under contract for the time being.


3:07pm: The Nuggets will waive Exhibit 10 signee Adonis Arms, per Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link).

The 6’5″ guard will now be able to sign on with Denver’s G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, according to Wind, who adds that the Nuggets could ink another player to an Exhibit 10 contract by Monday.

Arms went unsigned out of Texas Tech this past summer. During his 2021/22 season with the team, he averaged 8.6 PPG on .448/.308/.744 shooting, along with 4.4 RPG, 2.8 APG and 1.0 SPG.

Denver is currently fielding a full 15-man roster. Both its two-way player slots are also occupied. Kellan Grady and Grant Golden will be the team’s remaining Exhibit 10 players when Arms’ release becomes official.

Northwest Notes: Prince, Wolves, Nuggets, Jordan, Arms

Taurean Prince‘s two-year extension with the Timberwolves was initially reported to be worth $16MM, but its base value actually comes in at just $14.56MM, and the second year is non-guaranteed, Hoops Rumors has learned.

Prince’s new deal also includes $195K in likely incentives per year, along with another $870K in annual unlikely incentives, so if he plays out the full two-year contract and maxes out its value, it’ll be worth $16.69MM in total.

The second year of Prince’s new deal would become fully guaranteed if he remains under contract through June 28, 2023.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

  • It might be a while before we know if the Timberwolves “won” the deal for Rudy Gobert, and even evaluating what constitutes a win will be complicated, writes Michael Rand of The Star Tribune. However, Rand views the deal as trading “nine dimes for a dollar,” and believes it’s the kind of move the team needed to make to be serious about contending for a title.
  • Mike Singer of The Denver Post (subscription required) acknowledges that the Nuggets‘ deal with DeAndre Jordan may not have been an exciting way to kick off free agency, but says the team did its homework on Jordan, vetted his engagement, and felt comfortable bringing him into the locker room. “They’d learned enough about former center DeMarcus Cousins that they weren’t willing to make the same commitment,” Singer writes.
  • Both Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports and Singer (Twitter links) believe that Adonis Arms, who is signing an Exhibit 10 contract with the Nuggets, is a strong candidate to eventually fill Denver’s open two-way slot. Currently, Collin Gillespie is the only Nugget signed to a two-way deal.
  • In case you missed it, our Community Shootaround discussion on Monday explored what’s next for the Jazz following the blockbuster Gobert trade.

Nuggets Add Adonis Arms On Exhibit 10 Deal

JULY 9: Arms has officially signed with the Nuggets, according to RealGM’s transactions log.


JUNE 24: Texas Tech combo guard Adonis Arms will sign with the Nuggets, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. It will be an Exhibit 10 contract, according to Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link).

Arms, 23, played five seasons of college basketball, but only one for the Red Raiders. The 6’6″ guard was an honorable mention All-Big 12 selection after averaging 8.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 37 games.

An Exhibit 10 deal is a one-year, minimum-salary contract that counts toward a team’s 20-man offseason roster limit, but doesn’t count against the cap unless the player makes the regular season roster. Although it’s not guaranteed, a player on an Exhibit 10 contract can earn a bonus of up to $50K if he’s waived and then joins his team’s G League affiliate. An Exhibit 10 contract can also be converted into a two-way deal before the start of the regular season.

Knicks Notes: Ivey, Mitchell, Arms, Brunson

The Knicks would be better off pursuing a deal with Sacramento for the No. 4 pick and drafting Jaden Ivey, rather than trying to make a blockbuster deal for Donovan Mitchell, Bryan Fonseca of the Basketball News argues. They could dangle their lottery pick, offer an addition first rounder and add in young players if necessary to entice the Kings to make a deal. However, a report suggests the Kings are unlikely to make such a trade.

In contrast, the Knicks would have to give up much of their young talent and/or draft capital to grab the Jazz’s attention, Fonseca contends.

We have more on the Knicks:

  • Adonis Arms was among the draft prospects who worked out for the Knicks on Thursday, Ian Begley of SNY.tv tweets. The Texas Tech guard averaged 8.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG and 2.8 APG last season.
  • Keeping the Ivey theme going, Begley gets insights from a variety of sources on how the Purdue point guard would fit in with New York’s current roster.
  • Kyle Neptune, a former assistant coach and now head coach at Villanova, gives a ringing endorsement for Jalen Brunson if the Mavs free agent lands in New York. “I always bet on Jalen Brunson, so whatever situation he’s put in, I’m going to bet on him,” Neptune told Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “He has the wherewithal, the intelligence, the work ethic, to figure out any situation, period. … He may not be the most flashy guy, but in terms of a guy who is going to get some things done and help your team win and keep your team together, he’s the highest level. He’s a guy that lives it every day.”

Jazz Notes: Far From Contending, Mini-Camp, Prospect Workouts

All four of the 2021/22 Conference Finalists — the Warriors, Mavericks, Celtics and Heat — proved how far the Jazz are from contending for a championship, Sarah Todd of The Deseret News opines.

Todd notes that head coach Quin Snyder, whose status remains uncertain for next season, said Utah was very close to competing at the highest level at his end-of-season press conference.

This year, I thought that our record didn’t necessarily reflect what we could do in the playoffs. I felt like we were this close to having a spark and kicking it in and finding that unity, that extra secret sauce, and taking off. And obviously that didn’t happen,” Snyder said, per Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune.

Todd disagrees. Even assuming the Jazz had advanced past Dallas in the first round (they lost in six games), Todd is doubtful the Jazz would have been able to take the Suns to seven games in the second round, as Dallas was able to do.

She also doesn’t think the Jazz would have fared any better than the Mavs did against the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, if they’d gotten past Phoenix.

Ultimately, the Todd believes the flawed roster was too much to overcome, and Utah’s front office will have a tough job improving it this summer.

Here’s more from Utah:

Draft Notes: Ivey, Murray, Sharpe, Daniels, Roddy, Minott, Segu

While Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith and Paolo Banchero are the consensus top three prospects in this year’s draft, it’s rare that the top three picks in a draft end up being the three players who enjoy the best pro careers, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz.

The ESPN duo identifies Jaden Ivey, Keegan Murray, Shaedon Sharpe and Dyson Daniels as the other prospects who are the best bets to emerge as top-three players from the 2022 draft class, breaking down the strengths of that quartet and considering which lottery teams might benefit the most from their talents.

We have plenty of draft-related news to pass along:

  • Colorado State’s David Roddy has worked out for the Magic, Nuggets and Rockets, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets. The power forward is ranked No. 47 on ESPN’s Best Available list.
  • Memphis forward Josh Minott has workouts lined up with the Magic, Raptors, Hawks, Spurs, Bulls and Hornets, Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com tweets. Minott is ranked No. 48 on ESPN’s Best Available list.
  • Buffalo guard Ronaldo Segu will continue to pursue professional opportunities and forgo his remaining year of college eligibility, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets. He averaged 14.9 PPG and 5.1 APG last season.
  • Nathan Mensah is withdrawing from the draft and returning to San Diego State, the school announced in a press release. Mensah is the reigning Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year.
  • Josh Mballa is pulling out of the draft and transferring from Buffalo to Ole Miss, Jeff Goodman tweets. Mballa averaged 13.0 PPG and 8.6 RPG last season.
  • Texas Tech guard Adonis Arms has workouts scheduled with the Nuggets, Pistons, Pelicans, Magic and Jazz, Keith Smith of Spotrac tweets.
  • Northern Colorado’s Bodie Hume will remain in the draft, Rothstein adds in another tweet. The senior forward averaged 11.0 PPG and 6.2 RPG last season.
  • Potential top-10 selection Johnny Davis wants to model his game after Devin Booker. Another potential top-10 pick, Daniels, believes he’s a combination of Tyrese Haliburton offensively and Alex Caruso or Lonzo Ball defensively. Numerous draft prospects told The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov which NBA players they most closely resemble or strive to be.