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 Release Theo Maledon
5:00pm: The Rockets have officially waived Maledon, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
3:53pm: The Rockets are releasing guard Theo Maledon, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Like Maurice Harkless, Maledon was acquired by Houston as part of the eight-player swap with the Thunder, and will now be waived as the team eats his $1.9MM salary for 2022/23, which is fully guaranteed.
Once the two transactions are complete, the Rockets will still have 16 players on guaranteed standard deals and Willie Cauley-Stein on a non-guaranteed contract, and they’ll need to reduce the standard roster down to 15 players before the regular season starts.
Maledon, 21, was the 34th overall pick of the 2020 draft. He appeared in 116 regular season games (56 starts, 23.3 MPG) with the Thunder over the past two seasons, averaging a combined 8.8 PPG, 2.9 RPG and 2.9 APG on .371/.322/.766 shooting.
Evidently neither the Thunder nor the Rockets were high enough on the French point guard to keep him around, despite his above-average size (6’4″) and youth. Since he only has two years of NBA experience, Maledon is eligible to sign a two-way deal if and when he clears waivers on Thursday, and that might be more likely than another guaranteed standard contract at this point considering a couple of rebuilding clubs decided not to retain him.
Rockets Waive Maurice Harkless
4:30pm: Harkless has been officially waived by the Rockets, according to the transaction log at NBA.com.
3:33pm: The Rockets intend to waive veteran forward Maurice Harkless, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Harkless was traded three times during the offseason. The first deal saw him head from Sacramento to Atlanta as part of the Kevin Huerter deal, then he was dealt to the Thunder in a cost-cutting move that put the Hawks under the luxury tax, and finally he was part of the eight-player trade that saw Derrick Favors land in Houston.
The Rockets have 18 players on guaranteed standard contracts, so they were facing a roster crunch, because the regular season limit is 15 players. They decided that having a 29-year-old on the roster when the rebuilding club’s depth chart is already overflowing with forwards didn’t make a lot of sense, so they’re cutting Harkless and eating his $4,564,980 salary for 2022/23, which is fully guaranteed. Harkless will clear waivers on Thursday, assuming the move is made official today.
A 10-year veteran, Harkless has played for the Magic, Trail Blazers, Clippers, Knicks, Heat and Kings since being selected with the 15th overall pick in 2012. Known as a solid defender, Harkless hold career averages of 6.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 0.9 SPG on .474/.320/.624 shooting in 621 regular season games (371 starts, 22.6 MPG).
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.
Hawks Have Interest In Jae Crowder
The Hawks have emerged as a potential suitor for Suns forward Jae Crowder, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (video link). Crowder has been away from the Suns this preseason as the team looks to trade him.
According to Charania, the Hawks and Suns have had some discussions about Crowder in recent weeks and months, with Atlanta exploring whether there’s a way to add the veteran as a complementary piece to a core headlined by the star backcourt of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray.
An Atlanta package for Crowder, who has an expiring $10.18MM contract, could begin with Justin Holiday, whose own expiring deal is worth $6.29MM. Because their team salary is right around the tax line, the Hawks would have to add at least one more player for salary-matching purposes.
However, minimum-salary veterans Aaron Holiday and Frank Kaminsky aren’t trade-eligible until December 15, Vit Krejci can’t be rerouted in a trade that aggregates his salary until November 27, and the club would presumably be reluctant to part with 2021 first-round pick Jalen Johnson or 2022 first-rounder AJ Griffin.
There are other ways Atlanta could make a deal work, but those structures would require the team to move a more valuable rotation player, such as De’Andre Hunter or Bogdan Bogdanovic.
The Hawks are hardly the only Eastern Conference playoff contender with interest in Crowder. Previous reports have indicated that the Bucks and Heat are potential suitors for the 32-year-old, and Zach Lowe of ESPN confirmed as much last Thursday. The Cavaliers are also rumored to be interested.
During the first week of training camp, Suns head coach Monty Williams told reporters that it would be good to have the Crowder situation resolved by opening night if possible. As Marc Stein writes today at his Substack, Phoenix would like to acquire a player who can immediately step into the rotation rather than settling for future assets.
Jamal Cain Gets Two-Way Contract With Heat
1:15pm: The Heat have issued a press release confirming that their series of moves – converting Cain to a two-way deal, waiving Days, and signing Mulder – are now official.
10:33am: The Heat will convert Jamal Cain‘s Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
The team will waive Darius Days from his two-way contract to accommodate the move, and his roster spot will be given to Mychal Mulder.
Cain, a 23-year-old small forward, signed the Exhibit 10 deal in July after going undrafted out of Oakland. He played for the Heat’s Summer League team and has been impressive during the preseason, causing Miami officials to fear that he might not clear waivers if he was let go.
The Heat still have plans for Days, assuming he clears waivers, Chiang writes in a full story. His two-way contract was converted to an Exhibit 10 deal on Saturday, and he appears headed to Miami’s G League affiliate in Sioux Falls if he’s not claimed by another team.
Days was given a two-way contract in mid-July after a strong Summer League showing with the Spurs. He appeared in two preseason games, but saw limited action.
Rockets Sign Willie Cauley-Stein
OCTOBER 9: The deal with Cauley-Stein is official, the Rockets announced in a press release.
AUGUST 12: The Rockets and free agent center Willie Cauley-Stein have agreed to a one-year contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Terms of the deal aren’t yet known, but Charania suggests that Cauley-Stein will compete in training camp for a spot on the regular season roster. That means it’s almost certainly a minimum-salary deal and likely won’t be fully guaranteed.
Cauley-Stein, who will turn 29 next Thursday, appeared in a total of 20 games last season for the Mavericks and Sixers, playing a limited role. In 2020/21, the big man averaged 5.3 PPG and 4.5 RPG in 53 contests (17.1 MPG) for Dallas. He has also spent time with Sacramento and Golden State since entering the league as the sixth overall pick in 2015.
The Rockets currently have 20 players under contract, so they’ll have to waive or trade someone in order to make Cauley-Stein’s signing official.
Sixers Waive Trevelin Queen
10:19am: Queen has officially been waived, the Sixers announced in a press release.
9:59am: The Sixers are waiving Trevelin Queen, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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.
By waiving Queen before the season begins, Philadelphia was able to avoid a $198K tax variance charge, according to Sixers reporter Derek Bodner (Twitter link).
Queen’s departure leaves the team with 19 players and it means the battle for the final roster spot will likely be between shooting guard Isaiah Joe and center Charles Bassey, Bodner adds (via Twitter). Joe has a $1.78MM non-guaranteed contract that will become fully guaranteed if he’s still on the roster on opening night, while Bassey has a $75K guarantee on his $1.563MM deal.
Jaxson Hayes To Miss At Least Two Weeks With Elbow Injury
Jaxson Hayes suffered a torn UCL in his left elbow during Friday’s preseason game, the Pelicans announced in a press release.
Hayes will go through a rehab program, and his condition will be reevaluated in two weeks. That means he’ll miss at least the first two games of the regular season, Oct. 19 at Brooklyn and Oct. 21 at Charlotte.
The 22-year-old center appeared in 70 games last season and averaged 9.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in 20 minutes per night. He’s had a steady role as a backup big man since being selected with the eighth pick in the 2019 draft.
Hayes is among 18 players eligible to receive rookie scale extensions before the October 17 deadline. If he and the team don’t come to an agreement, Hayes will be a restricted free agent next summer.
Rob Pelinka Gets Extension Through 2026
The Lakers have reached an agreement on a multiyear extension with general manager and VP of basketball operations Rob Pelinka, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
The extension will take Pelinka through the 2025/26 season, Haynes adds, and it means his contract will expire at the same time as new head coach Darvin Ham’s.
Pelinka has been the team’s general manager since 2017 and was promoted to the VP position in 2020. He was responsible for aggressive moves in the early part of his tenure, including the signing of LeBron James in 2018 and the trade for Anthony Davis a year later. Those additions led to a championship in 2020.
Pelinka is trying to bring about a quick turnaround in L.A. after two straight disappointing years, including an 11th-place finish in the West last season. Pelinka fired Frank Vogel as head coach in April, replacing him with Ham, and convinced James to sign a second extension with the team this summer.