Trevelin Queen Signs Two-Way Deal With Pacers
9:00pm: Queen’s two-way contract with the Pacers is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
4:43pm: Guard Trevelin Queen is signing a two-way contract with the Pacers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
It’s a quick turnaround for Queen, who was just waived by the Sixers over the weekend.
The 25-year-old shooting guard had a two-year, minimum-salary contract with a $330K guarantee for the upcoming season. He was named G League MVP with Rio Grande Valley last season and appeared in 10 games with the Rockets after signing a two-way contract in December.
The Pacers have an open two-way slot, so they won’t have to make a corresponding move. Kendall Brown holds the other two-way contract.
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.
Rockets Sign Trhae Mitchell
The Rockets have signed Trhae Mitchell, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
While Feigen didn’t specify, it’s likely an Exhibit 10 deal.
The 6’6” Mitchell, 25, played for Houston’s G League team, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, last season and averaged 10 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 28 games, including 23 starts. He also appeared in five games for the Rockets’ Summer League team.
It’s likely Mitchell will soon be placed on waivers, then return to the Rio Grande team. If he has an Exhibit 10 deal, he could earn a bonus up to $50K.
Nate Pierre-Louis Signs Exhibit 10 Deal With Lakers
Guard Nate Pierre-Louis has signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Lakers, Adam Zagoria of NJ.com tweets.
Pierre-Louis was a member of Los Angeles’ Summer League squad and appeared in seven games. He averaged 4.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 16.1 minutes in those contests.
He played for the Lakers’ G League team, the South Bay Lakers, last season and started 28 of 32 games. He averaged 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 32 appearances.
He’ll likely be waived soon, then return to the South Bay club with the possibility of earning a bonus up to $50K if he sticks with that team for at least 60 days.
Pierre-Louis played three seasons at Temple and went undrafted in 2020.
The Lakers waived Bryce Hamilton to create an opening on the 20-man roster for Pierre-Louis, according to NBA.com’s transaction log. Hamilton’s next step is probably South Bay as well.
Frank Jackson Waived By Suns
The Suns have waived guard Frank Jackson, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
Jackson signed a non-guaranteed contract with Phoenix last month. He appeared in two preseason games.
Jackson, 24, has five years of NBA experience, though he missed his entire rookie season due to a foot injury. He was an early second-round pick in 2017 and spent his first three NBA seasons with the Pelicans. He played the last two seasons with the Pistons.
Jackson averaged 9.8 PPG in 40 games during his first season in Detroit and made 40.7% of his 3-point tries. He averaged a career-best 10.6 PPG in 53 games last season but his 3-point shooting cratered to 30.8%.
Jackson became a free agent in late June when Detroit declined its $3.15MM option on his contract. He’ll return to the open market later this week, assuming he clears waivers.
Rockets Claim Ex-Heat Forward Darius Days
The Rockets claimed forward Darius Days off waivers and may give him their available two-way contract, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Days was waived by the Heat on Sunday, right after his two-way contract was converted to an Exhibit 10 deal. Miami was hoping Days would clear waivers and that he’d join its G League affiliate in Sioux Falls. However, the Rockets had other plans for him.
Days was given a two-way contract in mid-July after a strong Summer League showing with the Spurs. The strong play of rookie Jamal Cain this season led Miami to give him the two-way slot Days previously held.
Days, a 6’7″, 245-pound forward, played four seasons at LSU and averaged 13.7 points and 7.8 rebounds for the Tigers last season.
LaMelo Ball Has Grade 2 Ankle Sprain
Hornets All-Star guard LaMelo Ball has a Grade 2 ankle sprain and will miss some games early in the regular season, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Ball underwent an MRI that confirmed the initial diagnosis of a left ankle sprain, which he suffered during Monday’s preseason game, the team’s PR department tweets. His return to full basketball activities will be determined by his response to rehab and treatment.
According to InStreetClothes.com’s Jeff Stotts (Twitter link), some other notable guards such as Mike Conley, Ja Morant, and Trae Young have suffered similar sprains in recent seasons. The average time lost is seven games or 19 days.
There’s a measure of relief in the Charlotte organization that the injury wasn’t more severe, Charania adds in another tweet. The injury occurred during the third quarter against Washington when his foot was stepped on by the Wizards’ Anthony Gill as Ball was driving the lane.
With Ball sidelined, James Bouknight, Dennis Smith Jr. and Cody Martin could see additional backcourt minutes.
Celtics Waive Luka Samanic, Sign A.J. Reeves
OCTOBER 11: Reeves has officially signed his Exhibit 10 deal with the Celtics, tweets Weiss.
OCTOBER 10: The Celtics have waived big man Luka Samanic, Jared Weiss of The Athletic tweets. In a corresponding move, they’re adding guard A.J. Reeves on an Exhibit 10 contract, Adam Zagoria tweets.
Boston signed Samanic to a non-guaranteed training camp deal in late September. It’s likely he’ll join the Maine Celtics of the G League once he clears waivers.
Reeves went undrafted after playing four seasons at Providence, where he averaged 9.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 25.3 MPG last season in 28 games.
Reeves will likely hit the waiver wire soon and join the Maine club, where he could earn a bonus up to $50K if he sticks there for 60 days.
The No. 19 pick in the 2019 draft, Samanic appeared in 36 games with the Spurs during his first two NBA seasons, averaging 3.8 PPG and 2.2 RPG on .430/.294/.576 shooting in 9.9 minutes per contest. He was waived by San Antonio before his third season and spent most of 2021/22 on a two-way deal with the Knicks before being cut in March.
Samanic was affected by plantar fasciitis last season and didn’t play for the Knicks. He appeared in eight total contests for the Westchester Knicks in the G League and put up big numbers, averaging 27.6 PPG, 10.4 RPG, and 3.4 APG.
Central Notes: Nesmith, Pistons Lineup, Middleton, Drummond
Pacers guard Aaron Nesmith is nursing a foot injury and his availability for opening night is in question, according to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files.
Nesmith is expected to play a second-unit role after being acquired from the Celtics in the Malcolm Brogdon deal. Coach Rick Carlisle said the former first-round pick has “a plantar fascia issue.”
“He’ll miss some time,” he said. “The hope is that there’s a possibility he could be back for the opener, but we don’t know for sure. As the days go on, we’ll have a better feel for that.”
We have more from the Central Division:
- The Pistons could alter their frontcourt lineup depending on matchups, according to Mike Curtis of the Detroit News. Recently acquired Bojan Bogdanovic will join Saddiq Bey at the forward spots with Isaiah Stewart in the middle against certain teams. When a bigger lineup is desired, Bogdanovic could come off the bench with Marvin Bagley III sliding into the starting five.
- Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said Khris Middleton is “making progress” but “he’s still got a ways to go,” Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. The Bucks are hopeful Middleton will return early in the season after undergoing surgery in August to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist.
- Bulls backup center Andre Drummond is looking to become a 3-point threat, Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago writes. “It’s something that I spoke to the coaching staff in the summertime when I signed here, that it’s something that I’ve worked on, that I want to be able to stay on the floor, and I want to be able to add different facets to my game to be able to help this team win,” Drummond said. “And if I’m able to make that corner 3 when I’m wide open, it adds another element to our team.”
Lakers Notes: Schröder, Davis, Wembanyama
Dennis Schröder claims he never declined a four-year, $80MM offer from the Lakers during his first stint with the club, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
“There never was a contract, never rejected anything,” said Schröder, who signed a one-year, $2.64MM contract last month. “I don’t know who brought it up, but that’s the media, you know? But at the end of the day, no contract and I’m just happy to be here. Like you said, unfinished business and we just got to take care of the stuff and win a chip [championship]. That’s, I think, the goal, and other than that, with the contract, that’s not true. “
As Dave McMenamin of ESPN notes, it’s likely a case of semantics. When L.A. broached a conversation about an extension in February 2021, Schröder’s reps said they would rather wait until the offseason to discuss a contract. In other words, the Lakers were presumably willing to put a lucrative extension offer on the table, but may not have been given the chance to formally do so.
Schröder, who wound up signing a one-year, $5.9MM deal with Boston in 2021, hopes he’ll get another contract offer from the Lakers.
“Of course, it would be great to sign a big deal and a longer-term deal, and that’s my goal still,” he said. “But the end of the day, we are here now and I’m going to do everything I can right now to just help my teammates win ballgames.”
We have more on the Lakers:
- Schröder practiced for the first time on Monday and will see a few minutes of action in Wednesday’s preseason game against Minnesota. He looks forward to fighting for minutes with Patrick Beverley, Turner writes. “I’ve played against him a couple of times. I seen today already he’s a little different, and I mean, I like it,” he said. “We all competitors, and we try to get after it.”
- Will Anthony Davis start at power forward or center? New coach Darvin Ham said that Davis playing the ‘five’ spot is a real possibility, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register tweets. As Ham put it, it’s “definitely on the table.”
- The stir caused by probable 2023 top pick Victor Wembanyama could benefit the Lakers, Goon opines. Non-contenders may be more willing to move quality veteran players. Salary matching with Russell Westbrook’s $47.1MM contract would still be a challenge but potential trade partners might be less demanding regarding Los Angeles’ 2027 and 2029 first-rounders.