Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jazz Sign Dante Exum

July 11th, 2014 at 6:40pm CST by Eddie Scarito

6:40pm: The signing is official, the team has announced.

5:20pm: The Jazz have signed the No. 5 overall pick Dante Exum, reports Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (Twitter link). He’ll likely receive slightly more than $3,615,000 this coming season, as our chart of salaries for 2014 first-round picks shows, and confirmed by Gennesy via a second tweet. Exum joins No. 23 overall pick Rodney Hood, who signed earlier today, in Utah.

Exum will most likely begin his career as a shooting guard, but may eventually shift over to the point guard position, especially if last year’s first rounder, Trey Burke is unable to develop into an effective starter.

Cavs Trade Alonzo Gee To Pelicans

July 11th, 2014 at 4:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:46pm: The deal is official, the Cavs announce. Gee goes to the Pelicans, and Cleveland will get the Clippers’ 2016 second-round pick, which New Orleans acquired in a previous trade, protected through pick No. 55. If it doesn’t fall within the final five selections in 2016, the Pelicans don’t owe the Cavs anything.

4:36pm: The Cavs will still acquire No. 45 overall pick Dwight Powell from Charlotte as part of a reworked Haywood deal, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).

3:09pm: The Pelicans will waive Gee upon receiving him from the Cavs, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).

2:57pm: The Cavs and Pelicans have struck agreement on a deal that sends Alonzo Gee to New Orleans, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Marc Stein of ESPN.com first reported the teams were close to a deal, which nullifies the agreement that Cleveland had to send Gee to the Hornets for Brendan Haywood. Cleveland apparently still plans to acquire Haywood from Charlotte via other means, as Stein reported. A source also told Stein that Gee could wind up as part of the Pelicans’ deal with the Rockets to acquire Omer Asik,

Gee’s $3MM salary for this season is non-guaranteed, so it’s conceivable that the Pelicans envision waiving him to create the necessary cap flexibility to accommodate their deal for Asik, though that assumes New Orleans is giving up salary as part of the trade. The Cavs are reportedly still trying to clear room for a max contract for LeBron James, as Stein wrote earlier, and losing Gee, whose salary can be taken off the books, wouldn’t advance Cleveland toward that end unless other deals are in the works.

The 27-year-old Gee has been a part of the rotation for Cleveland for the better part of the last two seasons, and he started all 82 games in 2012/13. He mostly came off the bench this past season, averaging 4.0 points in 15.7 minutes per game.

Cavs, Pelicans Close To Alonzo Gee Deal

July 11th, 2014 at 2:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:48pm: The Cavaliers have other means to acquire Haywood from the Hornets as planned, and it’s also possible that Gee winds up in the Pelicans’ deal with the Rockets for Asik, according to Stein (Twitter links).

2:13pm: The Cavs and Pelicans are close to a deal that would send Alonzo Gee to the Pelicans, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein casts it as part of an effort from Cleveland to clear max cap room for LeBron James, but it was believed that Cleveland already had max cap room for James, and that the Cavs had agreed to a deal that would send Gee to the Hornets. Additionally, sending Gee away wouldn’t create any extra cap flexibility, because his $3MM is non-guaranteed. Gee indeed isn’t part of the Haywood deal, Stein adds (Twitter link).

Gee makes sense as an acquisition for the Pelicans, who are also trying to clear cap room to facilitate their deal to acquire Omer Asik from the Rockets. Ostensibly, it seems they would be sending salary to Cleveland, so perhaps the Cavs are in other talks to clear salary, though that’s just my speculation.

New Orleans has reportedly considered waiving former No. 10 overall pick Austin Rivers to make room for Asik, but if the Pelicans acquire Gee and give up salary, they might be able to create the requisite cap room by waiving Gee instead.

Pacers Sign C.J. Miles

July 11th, 2014 at 10:37am CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 11TH: The Pacers formally announced the signing via press release, making it official.

“We’re very glad to have C.J. and he really wanted to be here,” president of basketball operations Larry Bird said. “He brings versatility to the small forward and shooting guard positions. He’s a great shooter and scorer. We think he’ll fit nicely with the culture of our team.”

JULY 2ND: The Pacers have reached agreement with C.J. Miles on a multiyear deal, reports Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). It’s a four-year, $18MM pact, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). Wojnarowski wrote earlier that the Pacers envisioned using part of their $5.03MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception on Miles after committing a portion of it to Spanish league sharpshooter Damjan Rudez.

The Adrian Clark client and Pacers officials had been set to meet Tuesday as Indiana’s interest became clear. The Pacers moved quickly on the former Cavalier, and have been the league’s most active team in free agency so far, coming to terms with Rudez as well as the undrafted Shayne Whittington. The movement comes after news of an impasse between the club and Lance Stephenson, and money for Stephenson beneath the tax line for Indiana is quickly drying up. The team also reportedly has interest in Rodney Stuckey.

Miles, 27, averaged 9.9 points and 39.3% three-point shooting in 19.3 minutes per game for Cleveland this past season, starting 34 contests. The deal with Indiana is the most lucrative of his nine-year NBA career, as he topped out at $3.7MM annually with the Jazz, according to Basketball-Reference.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Pacers Re-Sign Lavoy Allen

July 11th, 2014 at 10:33am CST by Zachary Links

JULY 11TH: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.

“We’re very happy to have Lavoy back,” Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said. “When he had the opportunity to play, he played well. He fits in with what we’re trying to accomplish here and every day he’s committed to getting better.”

JULY 5TH: The Pacers have reached a deal with Lavoy Allen to keep him in Indiana, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. The two sides reached agreement late last night, according to Candace Buckner of The Star (on Twitter).

The Pacers declined to extend a qualifying offer to Allen on June 30th, but there was still mutual interest in working out a new deal. Less than a week later, the forward found his way back to the Pacers. Allen came to the Pacers in the February deal that brought Evan Turner to Indiana.

In 65 games for the Sixers and Pacers last season, Allen averaged 4.7 PPG and 4.8 RPG in 16.5 minutes per contest.

Pacers Sign Damjan Rudez

July 11th, 2014 at 10:31am CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 11TH: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

“Damjan is one of the best shooters in Europe,” Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said. “With his size and knowledge, he can play two positions for us. He has experience, maturity and really knows how to play. He had a number of options, he chose us and we’re thrilled he did. We look forward to having him in a Pacer uniform.”

JULY 2ND: 2:43pm: Rudez will make $1.1MM next season, multiple sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe (Twitter links). That together with the team’s other deals puts the Pacers about $5MM below the projected luxury tax line, Lowe estimates.

11:08am: Deeks confirms Scola’s salary is now roughly 50% guaranteed for this season, though the precise guarantee remains unclear (Twitter link).

10:27am: The move will not affect Scola’s status, as he remains in the team’s plans, a source tells Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter links). Buckner cites Scola as having a $2.5MM partial guarantee, and while Mark Deeks of ShamSports lists that guarantee at $940,946, he adds that it’s subject to increase via bonus clauses. It’s not clear whether those bonuses have taken effect, but Buckner seems to suggest they have.

9:47am: The Pacers have reached agreement on a three-year deal with Spanish league power forward Damjan Rudez, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Rudez will receive a portion of the club’s $5.305MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception, while the team hopes to use the rest of it on C.J. Miles as it pursues the Cavs swingman, according to Wojnarowski.

Indiana was among several teams reportedly interested in the 27-year-old Rudez as of last month. The Raptors, Jazz and Cavs were also in the mix, and Cleveland was apparently working toward a deal with him. He put on quite a shooting display and felt comfortable at a Cleveland mini-camp recently, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. Rudez, variously listed at 6’8″ and 6’10”, was only a part-time starter for CAI Zaragoza this past season, but his 47.3% three-point shooting on 4.1 attempts per game is surely what had teams so excited.

The timing of the deal is curious considering the report from earlier this morning that talks with Lance Stephenson had struck an impasse. Indiana has limited flexibility beneath the projected $77MM tax line, one which the franchise has made a point of not crossing. The addition of another power forward with such tight finances might spell the end of Luis Scola‘s time in Indiana, since his salary of more than $4.868MM is only guaranteed for less than $1MM.

Warriors Sign Shaun Livingston

July 11th, 2014 at 10:06am CST by Zachary Links

JULY 11TH: The signing is official, the Warriors announce via press release.

“We are very happy that Shaun made the decision to join our team,” Warriors GM Bob Myers said. “He is a veteran player who, we believe, adds a lot to our roster with his versatility. He possesses the size and skills to play both backcourt positions, which will provide Coach Kerr with added depth and options throughout the season.”

JULY 1ST: The Warriors have reached agreement on a deal with free agent point guard Shaun Livingston, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). It’ll be a three-year deal with a partial guarantee in the final season of the contract, Wojnarowski adds (on Twitter). Livingston will earn $16MM, which is the full midlevel exception, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (on Twitter). Golden State is hard-capped at a projected $81MM after using the full mid-level on Livingston, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.

The Spurs, Wolves, Kings, Hornets, and Magic all reached out to the 6’7″ guard at the official start of free agency. The Warriors weren’t as heavily linked to Livingston, but it appears that they have come away with one of the more impressive reserve one guards in this year’s free agent crop.

The Nets were facing an uphill battle to keep Livingston in Brooklyn. The guard’s decision to sign with the Nets for the veteran’s minimum last summer was largely tied to his relationship with coach Jason Kidd, who will now be manning the sidelines in Milwaukee. Since Brooklyn is a taxpaying team and only own Livingston’s Non-Bird Rights, the Nets were only able to offer him a contract with a starting salary of $3.278MM through the taxpayer’s mid-level exception, which is smaller than the non-taxpayer’s version he’ll be receiving. After resurrecting his career last season, Livingston found a much better payday elsewhere. His Non-Bird rights would have afforded him just 120% of the minimum salary for next season, which meant it was taxpayer’s mid-level or bust for Brooklyn.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Magic Sign Ben Gordon

July 11th, 2014 at 9:54am CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 11TH: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

“Ben brings valuable experience to our team,” GM Rob Hennigan said in the team’s statement. “His competitiveness and ability to score and stretch the floor adds versatility to our backcourt and overall roster. We are excited to welcome Ben to the Orlando Magic family.”

JULY 2ND: The Magic and Ben Gordon have struck a deal on a two-year, $9MM arrangement, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The second year is a team option, according to TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link). That’s a shocking amount for the shooting guard who ended last season out of the league after Charlotte waived him in March.

Orlando has made several cap clearing moves in recent days, but it’s nonetheless odd to see the team lob such a high-dollar offer Gordon’s way. There are no real teeth to the NBA’s minimum team salary rules, since the penalty for not reaching that amount holds that a team simply must distribute the difference between its team salary and the salary floor among its players.

The deal is a coup for agent Raymond Brothers. The Bulls, Clippers, Rockets and Thunder reportedly had interest in Gordon when he and the Bobcats were working on their buyout, but Charlotte wound up waiving him one day too late for him to participate in the playoffs with another team, an oddly timed move. Gordon was apparently reluctant to sign with some of those interested teams anyway, since they were dangling two-year deals that would have prevented him from hitting free agency this summer. As it turns out, that reluctance was wise.

Gordon, 31, played in just 19 games this past season, averaging career lows in points per game (5.2), minutes per game (14.7), and three-point shooting (27.6%), among a host of other categories. Once a feared sixth man, the Pistons dealt him to Charlotte in a 2012 deal that ultimately cost them the No. 9 overall pick this year to rid themselves of the last two years of his five-year, $58MM contract.

Hawks Waive John Salmons

July 11th, 2014 at 7:53am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 7:53am: The Hawks have indeed waived Salmons, the team announced via press release. The release states that the team officially made the move Thursday, so the guaranteed portion of Salmons’ salary remains only $1MM.

THURSDAY, 1:49pm: Atlanta continues to explore its options regarding Salmons, Vivlamore writes in an updated version of his story, noting on Twitter that the possibility of trading Salmons still exists.

1:36pm: The Hawks will waive John Salmons by the end of today, a source tells Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Today’s the last day the Hawks can waive him before his $1MM partially guaranteed salary becomes fully guaranteed for $7MM, as our schedule of contract guarantee dates shows.

The Joel Bell client agreed to delay that date from July 1st before the trade that sent him from the Raptors to the Hawks became official, and while that seemingly gave Atlanta a window to see if it could flip the 34-year-old swingman, it appears no such swap is in the works. Salmons will almost assuredly clear waivers and become a free agent in two days, and while he no longer boasts a double-digit scoring average, as he did for four straight seasons earlier in his career, he remained a part of the rotations in Sacramento and Toronto this past season, splitting the year between both the Kings and Raptors. He averaged 5.2 points and shot 38.7% from three-point range in 22.1 minutes per game overall in 2013/14.

The move will free up cap flexibility for the Hawks, who’ve pursued Luol Deng, among others, so far this month. It’s flexibility that Atlanta’s likely been planning for all along, since they weren’t expected to keep Salmons from the moment they acquired him.

Blazers Sign Chris Kaman

July 10th, 2014 at 10:54pm CST by Zachary Links

JULY 10TH: The deal is official, the team announced.

JULY 3RD, 10:54pm: Sam Amick of USA Today (on Twitter) has the full breakdown. Kaman gets $4.8MM in year one and $5MM in year two with only $1MM guaranteed. That gives him a total of $9.8MM if he completes the contract.

10:32pm: The Blazers have reached agreement on a two-year, $10MM deal with Chris Kaman, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The second year of the deal is partially guaranteed (link).

Kaman, 32, played in just 39 games last season for the Lakers thanks to a calf injury and averaged 10.4 PPG and 5.9 RPG. The big man has missed quite a bit of time over the course of his career due to various injuries but has still provided a big presence and double digit scoring in most of his NBA campaigns. For his career, Kaman has averaged 11.7 PPG with 7.9 RPG. Kaman’s career PER is a so-so 14.7 but he has comfortably topped that number in each of his last five seasons.

Kaman’s deal might indicate an inflated market for free agent bigs. Surely, a deal of this size for Kaman bodes well for higher-caliber frontcourt players like Channing Frye and Spencer Hawes.