D.J. Wilson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Raptors Sign Armoni Brooks To 10-Day Deal

March 6th, 2022 at 9:16am CST by Arthur Hill

10:14am: Toronto has signed Brooks and released Wilson, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. The Raptors will likely continue to fill that 15th roster spot – which Brooks now occupies – with 10-day signings unless they decide to convert Justin Champagnie‘s two-way contract, Lewenberg adds (Twitter link).

9:16am: Former Rockets guard Armoni Brooks will sign a 10-day deal with the Raptors, tweets Blake Murphy of Sports.net.ca.

Murphy adds that D.J. Wilson might be let go early from his 10-day contract to make room for Brooks. Wilson hurt his knee on Monday in the only game he played after signing his third 10-day agreement with Toronto. That deal is set to expire on Wednesday.

Brooks, 23, was waived by Houston last month to accommodate a three-for-one deal with the Celtics at the trade deadline. A long-distance shooting specialist, he averaged 6.2 points and 2.0 rebounds per game for the Rockets this season, but connected at just 30% from three-point range. He signed with Houston as a two-way player last year and was converted to a standard contract in October.

Brooks had been playing for the College Park Skyhawks in the G League, and there was a report last week that the Rockets had interest in bringing him back.

If Brooks signs before tonight’s contest at Cleveland, he will be eligible for five games during the 10-day deal. Toronto’s next game after that isn’t until Wednesday.

Raptors Sign D.J. Wilson To Third 10-Day Contract

February 28th, 2022 at 12:48pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have signed forward D.J. Wilson to a third 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release. Toronto had an open spot on its 15-man roster, so no one needed to be waived to complete the signing.

Wilson, 26, initially joined the Raptors on a 10-day deal on December 23, then signed a second one on January 7. During his time with the club, the former first-round pick appeared in three games and played well in a limited role, averaging 8.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.7 steals in 16.0 minutes per contest. He also made 8-of-11 shots from the floor (72.7%).

Because Wilson’s first two 10-day contracts were both completed via the COVID-related hardship exception, he wasn’t ineligible to sign another 10-day deal with the Raptors.

A player is limited to two standard (ie. non-hardship) 10-day contracts per season with the same team, so Wilson could technically sign one more 10-day pact with Toronto after this one before a rest-of-season commitment would have to be made.

Wilson will earn $102,831 during his 10 days with the Raptors, who take on a $95,930 cap hit. The deal will run through March 9, making the forward eligible for the team’s next six games.

Although two-way player Justin Champagnie is still a candidate to eventually be promoted to fill the 15th spot on Toronto’s standard roster, Wilson could make a case for a rest-of-season deal if he plays well in the next 10 days.

Raptors Sign D.J. Wilson To Second 10-Day Deal

January 7th, 2022 at 11:28am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran forward D.J. Wilson is back under contract with the Raptors, according to the team. Toronto stated in a press release that Wilson has signed a second 10-day deal using a hardship exception.

Wilson, who first signed with the Raptors on December 22, played well in two games with the club, averaging 12.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG, and 2.5 SPG in 23.5 minutes per contest and making 8-of-11 shots from the floor. However, he entered the health and safety protocols before his deal expired.

Having presumably been cleared in recent days, Wilson is back with the team as the apparent hardship replacement for Yuta Watanabe, who is the only Raptor currently in the health and safety protocols.

A former first-round pick, Wilson will earn $102,831 during his second 10-day stint with Toronto. That money won’t count toward team salary for cap or tax purposes, since it’s a hardship signing. His contract will run through January 16, covering the team’s next five games.

If the Raptors don’t have any players left in the protocols by the time Wilson’s current deal expires, they could still re-sign him, since they have an open spot on their 15-man roster. In that scenario though, his new salary would count toward the cap and tax.

COVID-19 Updates: Vogel, Lue, Pelicans, Raptors, Pokusevski

December 31st, 2021 at 1:47pm CST by Luke Adams

One Los Angeles team is getting its head coach out of the NBA’s health and safety protocols today, while the other has placed their coach in the protocols.

The Lakers got the good news, as Frank Vogel has cleared the protocols and will be back on the sidelines for the team on Friday night vs. Portland, according to Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). David Fizdale will return to his role as Vogel’s lead assistant after serving as the acting head coach for the last 12 days.

Meanwhile, Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue has entered the protocols, according to an announcement from the team. Lue, the 10th head coach to be affected by the protocols this month, will be replaced in the short term by assistant Brian Shaw.

Here are more protocol-related updates from across the NBA:

The Pelicans got Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naji Marshall, and Jose Alvarado back at practice today following their respective stints in the COVID-19 protocols, tweets Christian Clark of NOLA.com. New Orleans isn’t entirely out of the woods though — center Jonas Valanciunas has entered the protocols, per Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link).
According to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link), Raptors rookie Justin Champagnie has exited the protocols, leaving Isaac Bonga as the only player from the team’s standard roster still affected. However, one of Toronto’s replacement players – D.J. Wilson – has now entered the protocols, Murphy notes.
Thunder forward Aleksej Pokusevski is no longer in the protocols and will be available for Friday’s contest vs. the Knicks, says Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (Twitter link).

Raptors Complete Three 10-Day Signings

December 23rd, 2021 at 8:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have officially signed guard Tremont Waters and forwards D.J. Wilson and Juwan Morgan to 10-day contracts, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. The deals were completed on Wednesday, so they’ll run through December 31.

Toronto’s agreements with Waters, Wilson, and Morgan were all previously reported. The team, which currently has eight players in the health and safety protocols, is also expected to sign Nik Stauskas and Brandon Goodwin to 10-day deals via hardship exceptions, though there have been rumors that at least one of them tested positive for COVID-19.

The Raptors had their game on Wednesday in Chicago postponed and won’t resume play until December 26, so they theoretically could’ve gotten a couple extra games out of their new additions if they’d waited until Sunday to complete the signings. However, I suspect the NBA’s new roster rules required the team to finalize at least three of its hardship signings on Wednesday, even though the game in Chicago was postponed. The Bulls, who will also be off until Sunday, completed two 10-day deals on Wednesday too.

Waters, Wilson, and Morgan should be available for the Raptors’ next three scheduled games vs. Cleveland (Sunday), Philadelphia (next Tuesday), and the Clippers (next Friday).

Raptors To Sign D.J. Wilson Via Hardship Exception

December 21st, 2021 at 7:48pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Free agent power forward D.J. Wilson will sign a 10-day contract with the Raptors via a hardship exception, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).

The 25-year-old was drafted with the No. 17 pick out of Michigan by the Bucks in 2017. He was traded to the Rockets during the 2020/21 season. In 142 games, the 6’10 big man holds career averages of 4.3 PPG and 3.1 RPG, across 12.3 MPG.

Wilson was most recently with the Thunder’s NBAGL affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, averaging 13.9 PPG and 9.7 RPG.

Josh Lewenberg of TSN notes (Twitter link) that Wilson will be Toronto’s fifth replacement player added to address the team’s wide array of absences. The team has also reached deals with Brandon Goodwin, Tremont Waters, Juwan Morgan, and Nik Stauskas.

Per our COVID-19 tracker, the Raptors have seven players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols: Precious Achiuwa, Dalano Banton, Scottie Barnes, Malachi Flynn, Pascal Siakam, Gary Trent Jr., and Fred VanVleet.

Additionally, Khem Birch and David Johnson remain absent with injuries, while Justin Champagnie is dealing with a non-COVID illness. Veteran point guard Goran Dragic is away from the team indefinitely for personal reasons.

Thunder Release D.J. Wilson, Scotty Hopson

October 15th, 2021 at 1:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have waived forward D.J. Wilson and guard Scotty Hopson, the team announced today. The moves reduce Oklahoma City’s roster count to 18 players, for the time being.

Wilson, the 17th overall pick in the 2017 draft, spent the first three-and-a-half season of his career in Milwaukee before being traded to Houston at last season’s trade deadline. He had fallen out of the Bucks’ rotation, but averaged 6.1 PPG and 3.8 RPG with a shooting line of .416/.339/.696 in 23 games (14.3 MPG) during his stint with the Rockets.

Hopson, who appeared in two NBA games in 2014 with Cleveland and one in 2018 with Dallas, has spent most of his career in the G League or playing in international leagues. The 6’7″ wing played for Melbourne United in 2020/21 after appearing in 41 G League games for the Oklahoma City Blue from 2018-20.

Hopson looks like a good bet to rejoin the Blue for the upcoming season, and it’s possible Wilson will join him.

Meanwhile, it appears the Thunder have also officially signed Zavier Simpson, whose Exhibit 10 deal with the team we reported on Thursday. Oklahoma City hasn’t formally announced the signing, but Simpson is listed on the team’s official roster page.

Northwest Notes: Billups, Lillard, Thunder, Jazz

October 8th, 2021 at 10:10pm CST by Rory Maher

Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups recently sat down for an interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio (Twitter link), and he says he’s not going to be preaching “stay here” to star point guard Damian Lillard.

Billups adds that he won’t be constantly discussing whether or not Lillard wants to stay with the team with his star player, saying he has a responsibility to coach the rest of the players. However, he definitely wants him to stay, and believes Lillard when he says he’s “all in” for the upcoming season with the Trail Blazers.

Here’s more from the Northwest:

Former first-round pick D.J. Wilson knows he might be a long-shot to make the Thunder‘s 15-man regular season roster, but that’s not going to stop him from trying, writes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. Mussatto notes that the Thunder had their eyes on Wilson in the 2017 draft, but the Bucks selected him (17th) before Oklahoma City was able to (21st). Wilson is on a non-guaranteed training camp contract.
In a tweet, Mussatto says the Thunder are being cautious with Vit Krejci, who’s a year removed from an ACL tear. Coach Mark Daigneault said Krejci has been cleared to play, but he’s still not a full participant in practices. This could be a result of the “slight setback” Krejci had last week. Mussatto adds that the bigger issue for Krejci is his visa status, which has no timeline for a resolution.
One reason the Jazz appealed to Rudy Gay in free agency is they had the best regular season record in the NBA last season, so he doesn’t feel any pressure to rush his recovery process following heel surgery, tweets Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune.

Thunder Sign Rob Edwards, D.J. Wilson

September 27th, 2021 at 10:16am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have filled out their 20-man training camp roster by signing guard Rob Edwards and forward D.J. Wilson, the club announced in a press release.

Edwards, who went undrafted out of Arizona State in 2020, played for the Oklahoma City Blue – the Thunder’s G League affiliate – as a rookie in 2020/21. The 6’6″ guard averaged 12.5 PPG and 3.5 RPG with a .440 3PT% in 15 NBAGL games (21.3 MPG).

Wilson, the 17th overall pick in the 2017 draft, spent the first three-and-a-half season of his career in Milwaukee before being traded to Houston at last season’s trade deadline. He had fallen out of the Bucks’ rotation, but averaged 6.1 PPG and 3.8 RPG with a shooting line of .416/.339/.696 in 23 games (14.3 MPG) during his stint with the Rockets.

Terms of the deals weren’t disclosed, but it’s safe to assume they’re both non-guaranteed training camp contracts. Oklahoma City now has 13 players with guaranteed salaries, five on non-guaranteed deals, and a pair on two-way pacts.

Central Notes: Millsap, Bulls Offseason, Simmons, Ehambe

September 3rd, 2021 at 8:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

With Paul Millsap agreeing to join the Nets, the Bulls don’t have a lot of attractive free agent options to add to their frontcourt depth, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago notes. Millsap strongly considered the Bulls but they now have to shift gears. They could bid for restricted free agent Jarred Vanderbilt, take a flier on D.J. Wilson or add an international player to fortify the power forward spot. They could also sign small forward James Ennis and use him in smaller lineups, Johnson adds. Otherwise, they may have to pursue a trade.

We have more from the Central Division:

The Bulls improved their roster with their busy offseason but it’s fair to wonder whether all of those changes made sense as a whole, Zach Harper of The Athletic opines. While they have upgraded in the backcourt and the wing spots with the additions of Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan, their frontcourt options have thinned.
Pursuing a trade for Ben Simmons doesn’t make sense for the Pistons, James Edwards of The Athletic contends. In a deal with the Sixers, Detroit would likely have to part with Jerami Grant and at least one of their top young players as well as draft picks, and adding Simmons’ contract would limit their flexibility to make other moves. It also wouldn’t help their issues regarding 3-point shooting, Edwards adds.
Moses Ehambe is grateful he got the opportunity to be an assistant with the Pacers, though he was not retained in the aftermath of Nate Bjorkgren’s departure, Scott Agness of FieldhouseFiles writes. “This is where you want to be,” Ehambe said in the comprehensive interview. “Now it’s about staying.”