Knicks Cut Brandon Knight, Aamir Simms, M.J. Walker
The Knicks have made their end-of-preseason roster cuts, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the team placed Brandon Knight, Aamir Simms, and M.J. Walker on waivers. All three players are candidates to join the Westchester Knicks, New York’s G League affiliate.
Having released Knight, Simmons, and Walker, the Knicks are now carrying 16 players, including 15 on standard contracts. Luka Samanic is expected to be signed to a two-way contract to fill out the 17-man regular season roster.
Of those 15 players on standard deals, only Wayne Selden has a non-guaranteed salary. The Knicks will essentially be paying Selden by the day to start the regular season, so they could move on from him at any time, if they so choose. However, head coach Tom Thibodeau has mentioned a couple times this fall that he’s been impressed with the veteran wing behind the scenes, according to Katz (Twitter link).
Rockets Waive Dante Exum
The Rockets have placed guard Dante Exum on waivers in order to set their roster for the regular season, the team announced today in a press release.
Exum signed a three-year deal with the Rockets last month that had a base value of $8.1MM and included another $8MM+ in likely and unlikely incentives. There were conflicting reports on Exum’s salary details, but Hoops Rumors can confirm that his $2.5MM base salary for the 2021/22 salary was non-guaranteed, so Houston won’t be on the hook for any dead money.
The fact that Exum’s deal was fully non-guaranteed made it a fairly straightforward decision to release him in advance of the regular season, since the Rockets have 15 other players with guaranteed salaries. The team also has both its two-way contract slots filled.
Exum, the fifth overall pick in the 2014 draft, finished last season with Houston after coming over in the four-team James Harden trade, but he didn’t play at all during his time with the Rockets. The former Jazz and Cavs guard will clear waivers and become an unrestricted free agent on Monday.
Celtics Waive Mathews, Pinson, Kornet, Clemons
The Celtics have waived guard Garrison Mathews, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). The team is also cutting Theo Pinson, Luke Kornet, and Chris Clemons, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link). All four players were on non-guaranteed contracts.
According to Weiss, the plan is for Pinson, Kornet, and Clemons to report to the Maine Celtics in the G League, along with Ryan Arcidiacono and Juwan Morgan, who were released on Friday. However, it doesn’t sound like Mathews will join them — he’ll become an unrestricted free agent if and when he clears waivers.
The moves will leave the Celtics with 16 players under contract, including 15 on standard deals. Jabari Parker and Bruno Fernando, who were battling to hold off those camp invitees for spots on the regular season roster, will remain with the team, Weiss notes.
Boston still has an open two-way slot.
Grizzlies Cut Kris Dunn, Two Others
The Grizzlies have waived former lottery pick Kris Dunn, the team announced today in a press release. Matthew Hurt and David Stockton have also been cut, as Memphis finalizes its roster for the regular season.
Dunn, 27, began his career with Minnesota after being selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2016 draft. He was later sent to Chicago in the Jimmy Butler trade and spent three years with the Bulls before signing with Atlanta during the 2020 offseason.
Dunn has struggled to produce offensively at the NBA level, averaging 8.2 PPG and 4.1 APG in 231 career games (24.1 MPG), with a shooting line of .420/.305/.727. His strong defense earned him a two-year contract with the Hawks last offseason, but an ankle injury limited him to just four games. He was traded to Boston and then flipped to Memphis after he exercised his player option for 2021/22.
The Grizzlies acquired Dunn and Carsen Edwards in that trade with Boston last month, but have since waived both players, signaling that the 2026 second-round pick swap included in the deal was the main reason Memphis pulled the trigger.
Dunn will clear waivers on Monday and could draw interest from teams in need of a defensive specialist in the backcourt.
Suns Release Chasson Randle
The Suns have waived veteran guard Chasson Randle, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link).
Randle, 28, has appeared in a total of 119 NBA regular season games for the Sixers, Knicks, Wizards, Warriors, and Magic since making his debut in January 2017. Last season, he signed a two-way contract with Orlando in February and played a regular role for the team in the second half, averaging 6.5 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and 1.8 APG on .388/.338/.792 shooting in 41 games (20.4 MPG).
Randle signed a non-guaranteed contract with Phoenix prior to training camp and appeared in four preseason games for the team, but it appears he won’t make the opening night roster. His release also has no G League implications, since the Suns are one of two NBA teams without an NBAGL affiliate.
For the time being, the Suns are carrying just 15 total players — 14 on standard contracts, plus Chandler Hutchison on a two-way deal.
Spurs Reportedly Preparing For Popovich To Retire Within Next Two Years
The Spurs are preparing for longtime head coach Gregg Popovich to retire within the next year or two, league sources tell Jordan Schultz of ESPN (Twitter link).
According to Schultz, the organization is beginning an “extensive” search to identify Popovich’s successor. That search will cover both external and internal candidates.
In the years leading up to the Tokyo Olympics, there had been speculation that the event would be Popovich’s swan song. However, even after leading Team USA to gold in Japan following a one-year delay, he’s returning to the sidelines in San Antonio for the 2021/22 season.
Two recent reports have suggested this could be Popovich’s last season as the Spurs’ head coach, but both Zach Lowe of ESPN and Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report warned not to rule out the possibility of the 72-year-old sticking around for another year beyond that. Based on Schultz’s report, it sounds like two more years would be the longest Popovich would continue coaching.
Lowe’s story last month stated that former Spurs assistant Will Hardy and former San Antonio star Manu Ginobili are the two candidates most frequently mentioned in league circles as candidates to succeed Popovich, despite the fact that it’s unclear whether Ginobili has legitimate interest in coaching. Current Spurs assistants – including Becky Hammon – are also believed to be candidates, along with former Popovich assistants such as Brett Brown and Jacque Vaughn, per Fischer.
Unlike most teams that decide to part ways with a coach at the end of a season – or during a season – the Spurs will be able to take their time with their search, with no need to finalize a decision in a matter of weeks or even months. And unlike most coaches who part ways with NBA organizations, Popovich seems likely to have some input on who his replacement will be.
Popovich is the oldest head coach in NBA history and one of only two coaches in league history that has held the job in his 70s.
He has been the Spurs’ head coach since December of 1996, making him the NBA’s longest-tenured head coach by more than a decade. Erik Spoelstra of the Heat, who took the reins in April 2008, is the league’s second-longest tenured coach. No other coaches have held their current job further back than 2014.
Celtics Sign Luke Kornet, Chris Clemons To Camp Deals
The Celtics officially completed their previously–reported deals with big man Luke Kornet and guard Chris Clemons on Friday, signing both players to training camp contracts, per RealGM’s transactions log.
Kornet, 26, has appeared in a total of 133 regular season games for the Knicks, Bulls, and Celtics since entering the NBA in 2017/18 out of Vanderbilt. The 7’2″ forward/center was traded from Chicago to Boston at the 2021 deadline and played a semi-regular role for the Celtics down the stretch, putting up 4.4 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 18 games (14.1 MPG).
Clemons played on a two-way deal with Houston two seasons ago after going undrafted out of Campbell. He appeared in 33 games that year but he tore his Achilles prior to the 2020/21 campaign. He was waived in January after Houston acquired Kevin Porter Jr.
Both Kornet and Clemons will likely be waived shortly, and are good bets to join the Maine Celtics, Boston’s G League affiliate.
Bulls Converting Tyler Cook’s Contract To Two-Way Deal
The Bulls will hang onto big man Tyler Cook for the regular season, converting his Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Chicago’s roster now appears set for the regular season. In addition to their 13 players on guaranteed contracts, the Bulls are carrying Cook and Devon Dotson on two-way deals, along with Alize Johnson and Matt Thomas on non-guaranteed contracts.
Although Johnson and Thomas each have fewer than four years of NBA experience, they were ineligible to be converted to two-way contracts due to the deals they signed — neither one included Exhibit 10 language, but Cook’s did, making him the obvious candidate to fill the team’s open two-way slot.
A 6’8″ forward out of Iowa, Cook played for the Cavaliers and Nuggets as a rookie in 2019/20, then spent time with the Nets and Pistons during the 2020/21 campaign. After signing a 10-day contract with Brooklyn, he inked a pair of 10-day pacts with Detroit and then agreed to a multiyear deal in April. The team waived him at the end of July.
In 32 total games in 2020/21 for the Nets and Pistons, Cook averaged 4.9 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 32 games (13.7 MPG). He made 67.0% of his field goal attempts, but just 48.6% of his free throws.
Knicks Sign Brandon Knight
The Knicks announced today in a press release that they’ve added free agent guard Brandon Knight to their roster.
Knight, 29, was the eighth overall pick in the 2011 draft and has appeared in 446 regular season games, averaging 14.1 PPG and 4.0 APG in 29.5 minutes per contest over the course of his NBA career. However, he hasn’t played for an NBA team since the 2019/20 season, pre-bubble. He saw action in 25 games for the Cavaliers and Pistons that year, posting 7.3 PPG and 2.8 APG in 18.5 MPG.
While we don’t know exactly what the Knicks’ plan is, most signings this week have been for G League purposes, so it’s possible the veteran will be waived shortly and will report to the Westchester Knicks, New York’s NBAGL affiliate.
Technically, the Knicks are only carrying 14 players on guaranteed contracts, leaving the 15th spot on their regular season roster up for grabs. However, it’d be a surprise if club handed that spot to a player signed this late in the preseason.
Pacers Release Three Players
The Pacers have waived Justin Anderson, Bennie Boatwright, and Derek Culver, the team announced today in a press release. All three players were signed on Friday night to non-guaranteed deals.
The expectation is that all three players will join the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the G League. Last month, Fort Wayne acquired the G League returning rights for Anderson (from the Long Island Nets) and Boatwright (from the Memphis Hustle). Indiana can make Culver an affiliate player, since no G League team holds his rights.
Barring more last-minute tweaks, the Pacers’ roster looks relatively set for the regular season. The team has 12 players on guaranteed contracts, with non-guaranteed players Kelan Martin, Oshae Brissett, and Brad Wanamaker still sticking around for now to fill out the standard 15-man roster. DeJon Jarreau and Duane Washington occupy Indiana’s two-way slots.