Raptors Granted Disabled Player Exception
The Raptors have been granted a disabled player exception due to Otto Porter‘s season-ending foot surgery, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca.
A disabled player exception grants an over-the-cap team some extra spending power when it loses a player to an injury deemed more likely than not to sideline him through at least June 15.
The exception is worth either half the injured player’s salary or the value of the mid-level exception, whichever is lesser. In this case, Porter’s salary for 2022/23 is $6MM so Toronto’s DPE will be worth $3MM.
As we explain in our glossary entry, the disabled player exception can be used to sign a free agent, to claim a player off waivers, or to acquire a player in a trade. The exception can only be used on a single player and can only accommodate a player on a one-year deal. A free agent signee can’t get a multiyear contract, and any trade or waiver target must be in the final year of his contract.
Although the disabled player exception gives a team extra cap flexibility, it doesn’t open up an extra spot on the 15-man roster. The club must have a roster spot available to use the DPE to add a player.
Teams had until January 15 to apply for disabled player exceptions, so if a player suffers a season-ending injury anytime between now and the end of the season, a DPE won’t be available for his club. Porter underwent surgery on January 10, so obviously Toronto applied for the DPE before the deadline.
The Raptors – and any other team with a disabled player exception – will have until March 10 to use their DPE.
Stephen Curry To Be Reassessed After All-Star Break
Warriors All-Star Stephen Curry has been out since February 4 after injuring his left leg against the Mavericks. Imaging after the game, a 119-113 Warriors win, revealed that the 6’2″ vet incurred a lower left leg contusion and partial tears to his superior tibiofibular ligaments and interosseous membrane.
Curry will be reevaluated following the league’s All-Star Weekend festivities next week, the Warriors announced today in a press release (Twitter link).
Thus, he will not have an opportunity to suit up for his ninth All-Star appearance in Salt Lake City. He had been voted in as a Western Conference starter. A timeline for his return may be established more clearly after All-Star weekend.
The reigning 2022 NBA Finals MVP had been enjoying a stellar 2022/23 campaign. Through his 38 healthy games, the 34-year-old has been averaging 29.4 PPG on .495/.427/.922 shooting splits. He’s also contributing 6.4 APG, 6.3 RPG, and 1.0 SPG.
Golden State could certainly use him sooner rather than later. The club has more or less treaded water across the 17 contests Curry has missed thus far, going 8-9 in those games.
Trail Blazers To Waive Greg Brown III
The Trail Blazers intend to waive Greg Brown III, a source tells Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (Twitter link).
Portland was very active ahead of the trade deadline, and while the team had an open roster spot, it is acquiring three players for one as part of the Josh Hart deal, so Brown will be the odd man out.
Still just 21 years old, Brown was the 43rd overall pick in 2021 after spending one college season at Texas. The raw, athletic forward has only made 16 appearances for a total of 93 minutes in 2022/23.
Brown was a highly touted prospect entering college, but hasn’t found much success in the pros in his first two seasons. He holds career averages of 4.0 PPG and 2.4 RPG on .422/.294/.636 shooting in 64 games (11.5 MPG).
Brown will receive his full $1.54MM salary for ’22/23, but his deal was non-guaranteed next season, so waiving him will only affect Portland’s cap for this season.
Boban Marjanovic To Be Waived, Re-Signed By Rockets
The Rockets intend to waive and then re-sign Boban Marjanovic, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscriber link).
Houston is receiving two players as part of the Eric Gordon trade and needs to release one from its current roster to finalize the deal, and Marjanovic will temporarily be the odd man out, Feigen writes.
However, assuming he goes through the waiver wire without getting claimed (which is a formality, as he makes $3.5MM and seldom plays), the Rockets will re-sign Marjanovic to a minimum-salary contract and retain his Bird rights, a person with knowledge of the situation tells Feigen.
The 34-year-old backup center will earn an additional $1MM this season as part of the moves, Feigen adds. Marjanovic has only appeared in 17 games for a total of 72 minutes this season, but he’s held in high regard as a locker room presence.
Bucks Acquire Jae Crowder In Three-Team Deal
[UPDATE: This trade was folded into the Durant blockbuster and turned into a four-team deal. It’s now official.]
4:24pm: Eric Nehm of The Athletic has the details on the second-round picks the Bucks are trading in the three-team deal. They are as follows:
To the Pacers:
- Either the Bucks’ own 2023 second-round pick or the least favorable of the Cavaliers’ and Warriors’ 2023 second-round pick.
- Note: If the season ended today, the Bucks would get the Cavaliers’ second-round pick (which is less favorable than the Warriors’ pick) and then would send the Cavs’ pick to Indiana, since it’s more favorable than Milwaukee’s second-rounder.
- The Bucks’ own 2024 second-round pick.
- The Pacers’ 2025 second-round pick (which was traded to Milwaukee in a prior deal).
To the Nets:
- The Bucks’ 2028 second-round pick.
- The Bucks’ 2029 second-round pick.
As we relayed in a separate story, Terry Taylor is also being waived by the Pacers to help accommodate the incoming players.
11:05am: Veteran forward Jae Crowder is being traded to the Bucks, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), who reports that the Nets have agreed to a trade that will send Crowder to Milwaukee, with the Bucks giving up a total of five second-round picks.
Sources tell Charania (via Twitter) that it will be a three-team trade, with Bucks forward Jordan Nwora and two second-round picks (via the Bucks) heading to the Pacers. Indiana is waiving reserve center Goga Bitadze to make room for Nwora, Charania adds (Twitter link).
In addition, the Pacers will receive guard George Hill, an Indianapolis native who had a previous five-year stint with Indiana, and a third second-round pick, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter). Center Serge Ibaka will also be heading to the Pacers, per Charania (Twitter link). Both players were previously on the Bucks.
Here’s the deal as we know it so far, with bits and pieces coming in over time:
- Bucks receive Crowder ($10.18MM)
- Nets receive two second-round picks via Milwaukee (not confirmed), save a ton of money toward the luxury tax
- Pacers receive Nwora ($3MM), Hill ($4MM), Ibaka ($2.9MM salary, $1.8MM cap hit) and three second-rounders (not confirmed) via Milwaukee; will waive Bitadze.
The Pacers are one of only two NBA teams with cap space available — the Spurs are the other — so they can take on money without having to worry about matching salaries. As the deal stands, Indiana will have to waive two more players and its cap space is down to $1.9MM, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. Only Nwora is under contract beyond this season — Hill and Ibaka are on expiring deals.
Crowder, 32, has sat out the entire 2022/23 season while awaiting a trade. He was sent to the Nets as part of the blockbuster trade that will send Kevin Durant to Phoenix, and now will be rerouted to Milwaukee.
The Bucks had been linked to Crowder for months in trade rumors — they were recently granted permission to speak with him, and now they are finally acquiring him.
In 67 games (28.1 MPG) with Phoenix in ’21/22, Crowder averaged 9.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.9 APG and 1.4 SPG on .399/.348/.789 shooting. He makes $10.18MM in the final year of his contract.
According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (Twitter link), Suns head coach Monty Williams spoke to Crowder over the summer to inform him that Cameron Johnson (who was also sent to the Nets in the Durant deal) would be the starting power forward in ’22/23.
Crowder responded by saying he would prefer a contract extension or a trade. Evidently Williams found the 3-and-D specialist “too difficult to manage” and preferred to have him away from the team, per Gambadoro.
Bitadze is earning $4.77MM in the final season of his rookie scale contract. The former 18th overall pick has only appeared in 21 games for an average of 9.6 minutes per contest this season. He will become an unrestricted free agent if he clears waivers.
Nwora, meanwhile, was the 45th overall pick of the 2020 draft. He re-signed with the Bucks on a two-year, $6.2MM contract in the offseason, but hasn’t played much, appearing in 38 games with averages of 6.0 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 15.7 MPG.
The 24-year-old has some offensive upside — he has converted 37.6% of his career three-pointers, including 39.2% this season. However, he’s a subpar defender and obviously wasn’t in the Bucks’ long-term plans. The Pacers will be taking a flyer on him in addition to adding a trio of second-rounders.
Ibaka seems likely to be bought out or waived by the Pacers and headed elsewhere as a free agent. Hill is less certain — as previously mentioned, he likely he has fans in the organization due to his previous run with the team.
Spurs Release Dewayne Dedmon
4:20pm: The Spurs have officially waived Dedmon, according to a press release from the team.
4:17pm: Veteran journeyman center Dewayne Dedmon will be waived by the Spurs just days after San Antonio acquired him via trade, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The Heat flipped a 2028 second-round draft pick to the Spurs to get off of Dedmon’s money earlier this week, while the Spurs sent Miami back $110K.
The 33-year-old seven-footer was in the midst of his third season with the Heat after inking a two-year, $9MM free agent deal to return in 2022. He had been squeezed out of the rotation by the emergence of two-way big Orlando Robinson in recent weeks. A minutes-related squabble on the bench prompted Miami to take the extreme step of suspending Dedmon for a game.
Provided Dedmon clears waivers, he will become an unrestricted free agent, and be free to latch on with any team besides the Heat.
Across his 30 games behind All-Star Heat center Bam Adebayo this season, Dedmon averaged 5.7 PPG and 3.6 RPG, while posting shooting splits of .496/.297/.727.
Wizards Working On Buyout For Will Barton
The Wizards are in the process of negotiating a contract buyout for veteran swingman Will Barton, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Barton was identified last month as a potential buyout candidate if he remained in Washington through the trade deadline, so it’s not a surprise to see this news emerge just hours after the deadline passed.
After being packaged with Monte Morris in the offseason trade that sent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith to Denver, Barton had a disappointing season for his hometown team in D.C., averaging just 7.7 points per game on 38.7% shooting in 40 appearances (19.6 MPG).
Barton’s three-point shooting remained solid (38.0%) this season and he had several good years with the Nuggets before last summer’s trade, so he should garner some interest as a low-cost free agent addition if he and the Wizards officially complete a buyout agreement.
Pacers To Waive Serge Ibaka, Terry Taylor
The Pacers will waive veteran big man Serge Ibaka, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link) first reported that Indiana was expected to cut Ibaka.
Indiana is also expected to waive second-year forward Terry Taylor, per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).
The Pacers are acquiring Ibaka as part of the three-team deal that is sending Jae Crowder to the Bucks, but he will never officially suit up for Indiana. Assuming he clears waivers, Ibaka might find some suitors amongst the contenders, though he was just on one of the best teams in the league and struggled to receive playing time.
The 33-year-old unfortunately hasn’t looked the same after having back surgery a couple years ago. He appeared in 16 games for the Bucks this season, averaging 4.1 points and 2.8 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per contest.
After going undrafted out of Austin Peay in 2021, Taylor had a solid rookie season once he cracked Indiana’s rotation, averaging 9.2 points and 5.2 boards while shooting 61.4% from the field in 33 games (21.6 minutes). However, he hasn’t played much in year two, averaging just 8.8 minutes per night across 26 games in 2022/23.
Taylor’s deal for next season is non-guaranteed, so waiving him will only affect this season’s cap.
If our math is correct, the Pacers will still need to waive one more player as part of the trade with the Bucks — they’re adding three players, but had a full 15-man roster, and only two from the pre-trade roster (Taylor and Goga Bitadze) will reportedly be released. The team has to open up a spot for all three incoming players even though Ibaka will be waived.
Buyout Rumors: Love, Ross, Beverley, Sixers
Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman doesn’t expect to have buyout talks with veteran big man Kevin Love, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Love has an expiring $28.9MM contract and was recently removed from coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s rotation after Dean Wade returned from injury. Love hasn’t played at all since logging 12 minutes in a January 24 game.
Love is the last link to the Cleveland teams that made the NBA Finals in four straight seasons, and he can serve as a mentor to a Cavs roster with little playoff experience.
There’s more news on the buyout market:
- Magic swingman Terrence Ross is a potential buyout candidate to keep an eye on, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Ross is making 38.1% of his three-pointers this season and would appeal to teams in need of another shooter.
- Patrick Beverley was an emotional leader for the Timberwolves last season, but Minnesota doesn’t plan to pursue him if he agrees to a buyout, sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link). The 34-year-old guard was traded today from the Lakers to the Magic, who aren’t expected to keep him.
- Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com speculates about which veteran buyout candidates might be targets for the Sixers.
- As we relayed in earlier stories, buyouts are considered likely for Reggie Jackson (Hornets), John Wall (Rockets), and Russell Westbrook (Jazz).
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Buyout Agreement Likely For Hornets, Reggie Jackson
The Hornets are likely to reach a buyout agreement with veteran guard Reggie Jackson after acquiring him from the Clippers in a deal for Mason Plumlee, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Jackson, 32, was the Clippers’ full-time starter at point guard last season, but fell out of the team’s starting five in 2022/23. For the season, he has averaged 10.9 PPG and 3.5 APG on .418/.350/.924 shooting in 52 games (25.7 MPG).
Since he’s on an expiring $11.2MM contract, waiving Jackson won’t leave the Hornets with any dead money on their books beyond this season.
The plan in Charlotte in for the Hornets to focus on getting their young players more minutes down the stretch, according to Charania, who adds that Jackson will prioritize teams that can give him the opportunity to contend.
As Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (video link) observes, it could be a robust buyout market this month. In addition to Jackson, Haynes names John Wall, Serge Ibaka and Danny Green as viable possibilities. Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley are also expected to be bought out by their new teams, so there should be no shortage of veteran point guards available in free agency.
The Suns are a team to keep on eye on for Jackson if the Hornets complete a buyout, according to Haynes. The Clippers are the only team that would be ineligible to sign Jackson.