Mavericks Convert McKinley Wright To Two-Way Deal
The Mavericks have converted McKinley Wright‘s Exhibit 10 deal into a two-way contract, the team announced (via Twitter). In addition, Dallas has also signed guard Grant Riller.
Wright, who will turn 24 later this month, signed a two-way contract with the Timberwolves last August after going undrafted out of Colorado. He appeared in just five games for Minnesota, spending most of the season with the team’s G League affiliate in Iowa, where he averaged 19.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 7.7 assists in 18 games.
Wright played for the Suns in this year’s Las Vegas Summer League in July and was on Team USA’s roster for the World Cup qualifiers in August before signing with the Mavs on an Exhibit 10 contract. He’ll join Tyler Dorsey as the team’s two-way players.
As for Riller, his deal with Dallas is likely aimed at getting his G League rights. He’ll probably be waived soon and join the Texas Legends, the Mavs’ NBAGL affiliate.
Timberwolves Waive Dozier, Elleby, Lawson
The Timberwolves reached the 15-man roster limit by waiving guard PJ Dozier, forward CJ Elleby and guard A.J. Lawson, according to a team press release.
Dozier was signed to an Exhibit 10 contract last month. He spent the last three seasons with the Nuggets, where he averaged 6.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in 97 games (six starts).
Elleby received an Exhibit 10 contract in early August and appeared in two preseason games. He spent the last two seasons with the Trail Blazers. Last season, he averaged 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in 58 games.
Lawson held one of the team’s two-way contracts but Minnesota chose to give big man Luka Garza his two-way spot. Lawson signed his two-way deal in July. The Garza signing was officially announced in a press release on Saturday.
Lawson saw action in three preseason games for the Wolves and also played for the Mavericks’ summer league squad, for which he averaged 15.6 PPG and 6.0 RPG in five games.
Given Dozier and Elleby’s NBA experience, it wouldn’t be a surprise if either gets claimed. Dozier returned to basketball activities this summer after tearing his ACL last December.
Nets Waive Chris Chiozza, RaiQuan Gray
The Nets pared down to the 15-man regular season roster limit by waiving guard Chris Chiozza and forward RaiQuan Gray, according to a team press release.
Chiozza was signed an Exhibit 10 contract last month and could return to the Nets’ G League team in Long Island if he isn’t claimed. The same goes for Gray, who was also on an Exhibit 10 deal. Both players are eligible for a $50K bonus if they spend at least 60 days with the Long Island club.
Chiozza appeared in two preseason games. He has 91 regular season NBA games under his belt, including 40 with the Nets from 2019-21. He saw action in 10 playoff games with Brooklyn during that span. He has also played for the Warriors, Wizards and Rockets with career averages of 3.3 PPG and 2.4 APG in 11.4 MPG.
Gray saw action in one preseason game. The No. 59 overall pick in the 2021 draft out of Florida State, Gray signed a G League contract last fall and spent his first professional season with the Long Island Nets. In 26 regular season NBAGL games (22.8 MPG), the 6’8″ forward averaged 6.3 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 3.0 APG on .441/.240/.821 shooting.
Brooklyn could potentially tweak its roster before opening night if it so desires, but the team is currently carrying 15 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals.
Hornets Sign Theo Maledon To Two-Way Contract
OCTOBER 15: The Hornets have officially signed Maleon to his two-way deal, the team confirmed today in a press release. Charlotte created room on its roster by waiving Jaylen Sims and Anthony Duruji on Friday.
OCTOBER 14: Theo Maledon, who cleared waivers on Thursday after being cut by Houston on Tuesday, won’t have to wait long to get back on an NBA roster. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), Maledon is signing a two-way contract with the Hornets.
Maledon, the 34th overall pick of the 2020 draft, appeared in 116 regular season games (56 starts, 23.3 MPG) with the Thunder over the past two seasons before being traded to the Rockets last month. He averaged 8.8 PPG, 2.9 RPG and 2.9 APG on .371/.322/.766 shooting across those two years.
While Maledon struggled to score efficiently in Oklahoma City, he has good size for a point guard (6’4″) and is still just 21 years old, so it seemed likely that another NBA team would take a flier on him. The Frenchman reportedly wanted to remain stateside rather than returning to Europe to continue his career.
There could be an immediate path to playing time for Maledon in Charlotte, where starting point guard LaMelo Ball is recovering from a Grade 2 ankle sprain. Terry Rozier is expected to be the Hornets’ primary ball-handler while Ball is on the shelf, but the team doesn’t have a ton of depth at the position — Dennis Smith Jr., who is in training camp on a non-guaranteed deal, will likely be the backup.
The Hornets are currently only carrying one two-way player, Bryce McGowens, so the other two-way slot is open. However, the club has a full 20-man roster and will have to waive one of its camp invitees to make room for Maledon.
Atlantic Notes: Brogdon, Boucher, Porter Jr., Curry, Irving, Smart
The Raptors and Celtics both expressed an interest in trading for Malcolm Brogdon this summer but he told the Pacers he’d prefer Boston, Brogdon said during a SiriusXM NBA Radio appearance, as Brian Robb of MassLive.com relays.
“We knew there was Boston, we knew Toronto we knew (the Wizards),” Brogdon said of his trade options. “(The Wizards) fell off after the draft since they were thinking about trading that 10th pick for me. Toronto and Boston popped up. We had a choice to pursue — there wasn’t an offer on the table yet from either of them but the Pacers came to me and said we could pursue either of them and which one would I rather pursue?”
It’s unclear what sort of offer the Raptors might’ve made for Brogdon, since they don’t have obvious salary-matching pieces they’d want to part with. However, it was ultimately a moot point, since the guard encouraged the Pacers to pursue a deal with Boston.
“I thought this team was farther along,” Brogdon said of the Celtics. “They have a superstar in Jayson Tatum and probably another superstar in Jaylen Brown as well. I thought it would be a great fit for me because I wanted to win right now.”
Brogdon is projected as Boston’s sixth man entering the regular season.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Raptors big man Chris Boucher will be out “a couple of weeks” due to a hamstring injury, according to coach Nick Nurse, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca tweets. Forward Otto Porter Jr. hasn’t been on the court in recent weeks due to a similar injury and will likely miss some time.
- Seth Curry, who had left ankle surgery in May, apparently won’t be ready for the season opener. Nets coach Steve Nash said Curry still has some hurdles to clear but has been getting some individual work in, Nick Friedell of ESPN tweets.
- Nets guard Kyrie Irving admits he has some regrets about the way last season played out, he told Friedell in a Q&A session. “I think we all think about times we could have made better decisions, and times we wish we could have done things differently and I feel the same way at times throughout my life. … I legitimately just want to play the long game and not put too much pressure on myself or the people that I’m around,” he said.
- Celtics guard Marcus Smart suffered a minor groin injury when he slipped on a wet spot in the preseason finale against Toronto on Friday, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe tweets. “I feel like I’m all right. But the adrenaline is still going right now,” Smart said. “Hopefully, in the morning I feel all right.”
Magic Waive Devin Cannady, Jay Scrubb, Simi Shittu
The Magic have waived guards Devin Cannady and Jay Scrubb, along with big man Simisola Shittu, the team announced today in a press release.
Cannady finished the 2021/22 season in Orlando, signing a multiyear deal that kept him under contract with the team offseason. However, his ’22/23 salary was non-guaranteed, so he had an uphill battle to crack the regular season roster on a team that already had 15 players on guaranteed contracts.
Cannady averaged 10.0 PPG and 2.0 APG in five games (29.0 MPG) with the Magic last season, knocking down 15-of-37 three-pointers (40.5%) in those five appearances.
Scrubb and Shittu both signed their Exhibit 10 contracts within the last week, so it comes as no surprise that they’ve been released. There’s a good chance we’ll see both players suit up for the Lakeland Magic, Orlando’s G League affiliate, and it’s possible Cannady will join them — Lakeland still holds his returning rights.
The Magic now have a legal regular season roster, with 15 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals. It’s unclear if the club intends to make any more moves between now and Monday’s roster deadline.
Thunder Sign Scotty Hopson, Waive Adam Mokoka
The Thunder have signed free agent guard Scotty Hopson, waiving recently signed guard Adam Mokoka to create room on their 20-man preseason roster, the team announced on Saturday.
Hopson, who appeared in one game for the Thunder last season while on a 10-day contract, has been a regular for the Oklahoma City Blue for the last few seasons. In 2021/22, he averaged 13.5 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 3.2 APG in 32 games (27.8 MPG) for OKC’s G League team.
Mokoka, 24, spent two seasons on a two-way contract with the Bulls from 2019-21. During that time, he appeared in 25 games at the NBA level, averaging 1.9 points in 6.7 minutes per game. The Frenchman returned to his native country last year to spend the season with Nanterre 92.
Mokoka will likely report to the OKC Blue as an affiliate player, while Hopson figures to join the Blue as a returning-rights player once he has been waived, which could happen later today. Assuming both players signed Exhibit 10 contracts, they’ll be eligible to earn bonuses worth up to $50K if they spend at least 60 days with the Blue.
The Thunder still have a full 20-man roster and will need to get down to 17 players (15 on standard contracts, plus two on two-way deals) by Monday evening.
Los Angeles Notes: Westbrook, Schröder, Wall, Clippers
Russell Westbrook‘s availability for the Lakers season opener appears to be in jeopardy. Westbrook left the team’s preseason game against Sacramento with a left hamstring injury, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register tweets.
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said after the game that Westbrook told him he’d be OK, according to ESPN. Westbrook came off the bench for the preseason finale, a move that Ham described as a “realignment.”
We have more on the Los Angeles teams:
- The Lakers “essentially” paused Westbrook trade discussions at the start of training camp, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on NBA Today (Twitter link). They’re expected to start engaging potential suitors again during the season, once teams start to get a clearer sense of what their rosters and rotations look like and how they stack up against the rest of the league.
- Dennis Schröder is being evaluated for a right finger injury and didn’t travel with the team to Sacramento, according to Shams Charania on The Rally (Twitter link). The Lakers have some concerns that it could be a long-term injury, Charania adds. Schröder returned to the Lakers for a second stint on a one-year, $2,641,682 free agent contract.
- John Wall has not only boosted the Clippers’ backcourt but also the locker room, according to Marcus Morris. The veteran forward believes the Clippers’ camaraderie has improved due to Wall’s presence and his aggressive, talkative nature, a contrast to many of his new teammates, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets.
- Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker says that most fans are “violently opposed” to the idea of changing the team’s name, Law Murray of The Athletic writes. “It means something to them,” Zucker said. “That this is a team that has direction, that has endured, that has been through a lot and has found its way forward and has a very, very clear North Star at this point. And there are people who have attached themselves to that idea and that notion, and it’s important to them, and they don’t want to see that disappear.”
Bulls Cut Carlik Jones, Okaro White
The Bulls have made multiple cuts, waiving guard Carlik Jones and forward Okaro White, according to NBA.com’s transaction log. The team also officially released two-way player Justin Lewis, as was reported on Friday.
Jones had been in camp with the Bulls in recent weeks after a strong Summer League showing with the team. He appeared in three preseason games. White, meanwhile, just signed with Chicago earlier this week.
It’s possible – but not certain – that both players will end up suiting up for the Windy City Bulls, Chicago’s G League affiliate.
Lewis, meanwhile, is recovering from an ACL injury and is expected to remain around the team as he goes through his rehab process, as K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago reported on Friday.
The Bulls now have 15 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals, so their roster is ready for the regular season, though that doesn’t mean they won’t make any last-minute moves before Monday’s deadline.
Hawks Claim Jared Rhoden
The Hawks have claimed guard Jared Rhoden, according to the NBA transactions log. Rhoden was waived earlier this week by the Trail Blazers.
It’s unlikely Rhoden will wind up on Atlanta’s 15-man opening night roster. By claiming him, the Hawks can make him an affiliate player with the College Park Skyhawks, since he was on an Exhibit 10 deal. Portland doesn’t have a G League affiliate.
He can become an affiliate player with Atlanta’s franchise if he’s waived and then joins the Skyhawks.
Rhoden, who went undrafted out of Seton Hall in June, played for Sacramento’s Summer League teams in July before signing a training camp contract with Portland.