Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Magic Waive Doron Lamb

June 30th, 2014 at 10:30am CST by Chuck Myron

The Magic have waived Doron Lamb, the team announced, confirming a report from Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. His minimum-salary contract was set to go from non-guaranteed to fully guaranteed if the team hadn’t waived him by the end of Tuesday.

The 22-year-old shooting guard hits unrestricted free agency after his second season in the league, having averaged 3.6 points in 13.1 minutes per game for Orlando this past year. He came to the Magic as part of the J.J. Redick trade with the Bucks at the deadline in 2013.

Milwaukee made the Arn Tellem client the 42nd overall pick in 2012, but last season’s production to similar to his output as a rookie. He’ll likely be in the market for another minimum-salary deal, perhaps with a partial guarantee.

Rockets Decline Option On Troy Daniels

June 30th, 2014 at 8:35am CST by Chuck Myron

The Rockets have turned down their team option on postseason revelation Troy Daniels, the team announced. The team intends to extend a qualifying offer to the swingman today, just as it will with Chandler Parsons, to make both of them restricted free agents in hopes of retaining them for next season, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Rockets brass will pitch marquee free agents on the idea of having both Daniels and Parsons back, Feigen adds (Twitter links).

Daniels was set to make the one-year veteran’s minimum of $816,482 on the option next season. His qualifying offer will be worth $200K more than that. There’s a decent chance he’ll command more than the minimum after emerging as a key rotation player in the playoffs, averaging 7.8 points on sizzling 53.3% three-point shooting in the final four games of Houston’s first-round loss to the Blazers. Even if that sample size proves too small to merit a raise, the qualifying offer means he’ll represent a slightly larger cap hit on Houston’s books as the team chases LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and other stars in free agency.

The Rockets signed Daniels shortly after the trade deadline, cutting Ronnie Brewer to make room. He only appeared in five regular season games, but dazzled in the D-League, putting up 21.9 PPG and shooting 40.1% from behind the arc.

Rockets Decline Chandler Parsons’ Option

June 30th, 2014 at 8:19am CST by Cray Allred

MONDAY, 8:19am: Houston has officially declined the option, the team announced.

SATURDAY, 12:58pm: The Rockets have informed Chandler Parsons that they’ve declined his team option for the 2014/15 season, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The news doesn’t come as much of a shock since we heard earlier this month that the team had planned on making such a move and letting Parsons hit restricted free agency.

It’s very likely that Parsons will be back in Houston next season. If the team had picked up their 2014/15 option worth roughly $960K, Parsons would hit unrestricted free agency during the summer of 2015, and Houston would risk losing the sharpshooting wing to a rival suitor. Electing to decline the team option will make Parsons a restricted free agent this summer, meaning the Rockets can match any offer sheet presented to him.

In three years with Houston, Parsons has averaged 14.1 points per night and shot 47.3% from the floor. He’s proven himself to be one of the most valuable players selected in the 2011 draft, despite slipping out of the first round. Parsons played more minutes than any member of the Rockets last season.

By declining the team option, Houston will likely have to pay Parsons significantly more next season than they would have otherwise, but it appears they’re willing to sacrifice a bit of flexibility in order to keep Parsons on the squad long-term.

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

Francisco Garcia Opts Out

June 30th, 2014 at 8:17am CST by Zachary Links

JUNE 30TH: Garcia has informed the team that he has turned down his option and will hit free agency, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

JUNE 22ND: Francisco Garcia intends to opt out of his contract for 2014/15 with the Rockets, agent Aaron Goodwin tells Sam Amick of USA Today (on Twitter). Garcia would have earned $1.3MM with Houston next season but he’ll take a look elsewhere in hopes of a better deal.

Garcia, 32, averaged 5.7 points in 19.7 minutes per game over 55 regular season appearances for the Rockets, but his minutes dried up in the playoffs. He saw 18 minutes in Game 1 against the Blazers, four minutes in Game 2, and was squeezed out of the picture for the rest of the series in favor of Troy Daniels.

The Rockets have full Bird Rights on the swingman and they’ll have extra flexibility now that he is opting out. Garcia is a nice bench piece, but Houston is thinking much bigger with their sights set on Carmelo Anthony.

Clippers Waive Willie Green

June 29th, 2014 at 10:40pm CST by Cray Allred

SUNDAY, 10:40pm: Green has officially been waived, the Clippers announced.

SATURDAY, 12:47pm: A source tells Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times that the Clippers wish to re-sign Green to another deal (Twitter link).

10:16am: The Clippers are planning against keeping Willie Green‘s non-guaranteed contract on the books for 2014/15, league sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM. While the report frames the decision as a declined team option, Green’s deal is actually a non-guaranteed year that becomes fully guaranteed if he isn’t waived before July 1st. Presumably, the Clippers are planning to waive Green prior to that deadline.

Qualifying Offers: Sunday

June 29th, 2014 at 10:19pm CST by Charlie Adams

Here’s the latest on teams’ decisions of whether or not to extend qualifying offers to their potentially restricted free agents:

E’Twaun Moore has expressed interest in a possible return to the Magic, but Orlando pulled back their qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent, reports Marc Stein of ESPN (via Twitter). Moore’s cap hold will now be on the team’s books for $915,243 as a result.
The Lakers have extended a qualifying offer to Ryan Kelly, reports Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter). Los Angeles’ offer to Kelly, worth $1,016,482, makes the second-year Duke product a restricted free agent.

Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh Opt Out

June 29th, 2014 at 4:05pm CST by Charlie Adams

SUNDAY, 4:05pm: Pat Riley was informed today by agent Henry Thomas that Bosh is exercising his early termination option and will become an unrestricted free agent, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports (Twitter link).

5:28pm: Bosh is “on the verge” of opting out, and will do so before the deadline on Monday, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel.

3:18pm: Bosh has not yet decided whether he’ll opt out or not, his agent tells David Aldridge of TNT (Twitter link).

SATURDAY, 2:37pm: Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will opt out of their current deals and enter free agency this summer, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press and Chris Broussard of ESPN (Twitter links). Wade and Bosh become the latest members of Miami to opt out of their deals, following news that LeBron James and Udonis Haslem had done the same.

Wade’s decision to exercise his early termination option and pass on the final two years of his deal means that he’ll forfeit over $41.8MM in guaranteed salary. He’s unlikely to garner an offer worth a higher annual value in free agency, given his age and concerns about his health.

Bosh, who’s sacrificing a guaranteed $42.6MM, will likely be able to fetch a higher salary than Wade, and Broussard hears the big man is seeking a five-year pact worth $15-$16MM per year. Such a deal would be worth less than what Bosh would have made had he chosen not to opt out.

The duo’s motivation to sacrifice so much money is a result of their desire to make a future work with LeBron, who’s seeking a max contract, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Although LeBron’s priority remains to find a way to make a future work with Miami, a failure by the organization toward improving their roster to his satisfaction could mean the four-time MVP leaves Miami, says Wojnarowski.

If the Heat renounce the Bird Rights of their free agents, they will have a record $55MM in cap room this summer, with only Norris Cole‘s contract guaranteed on the books next season. To no surprise, Pat Riley has already confirmed to reporters, including Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post, that he hopes to bring back Wade and Haslem for the 2014/15 campaign (Twitter link).

Kings Release Willie Reed

June 29th, 2014 at 2:46pm CST by Cray Allred

SUNDAY, 2:46pm: The team officially announced the move via a press release.

SATURDAY,11:11am: The Kings have released Willie Reed, league sources tell Shams Charania of RealGm. Reed will catch on with the Pacers summer league squad, though that does not necessarily mean that he is in line for a look as a roster addition in Indiana.

Reed spent most of last year in the D-League before Sacramento signed him to a pro-rated contract late in the season. The power forward didn’t play a single minute for the Kings, signed more as an asset for Sacramento’s D-League affiliate.

The Bell Management International client has never seen NBA action. He earned $102,089 on his deal with the Kings, and the nonguaranteed salary they waived for the upcoming season would have been $915,243. He had a similar experience as a late-season addition to the Grizzlies in 2012/13, where he was never utilized before eventually being released by Memphis.

Qualifying Offers: Saturday

June 28th, 2014 at 7:11pm CST by Charlie Adams

The start of the NBA’s 2014 free agency period is just a little less than two days away, and teams continue to extend qualifying offers to their eligible free agents. The offers are rarely accepted, but the player becomes a restricted free agent as a result of the tender. Choosing not to extend an offer to a player who’s eligible for one means the player becomes an unrestricted free agent, prohibiting the player’s current club from matching offer sheets from rival suitors. For a full explanation, check out the Qualifying Offers entry in the Hoops Rumors Glossary. We’ll track today’s qualifying offer updates right here:

The Wizards haven’t made their final decision, but are likely to extend a qualifying offer to Kevin Seraphin, tweets Michael Lee of The Washington Post.

Earlier updates:

The Celtics have extended a $3.6MM qualifying offer to Avery Bradley, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
The Pelicans will not extend a qualifying offer to Brian Roberts, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW (on Twitter). Becuase Roberts started 42 games for New Orleans last season, he met the starter criteria, which boosted the amount of his qualifying offer to $2,875,131, as Hoops Rumors’ Chuck Myron explains.
Trevor Booker also met the starter criteria last season, and the Wizards have decided not to tender him a qualifying offer, writes Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Booker’s offer would have been worth $4,677,708.
Earlier today, we heard the Lakers would refrain from extending a qualifying offer to Kent Bazemore.
The Raptors extended qualifying offers to Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson, and Nando De Colo.

Raptors Extend Offers To Vasquez, Patterson

June 28th, 2014 at 11:51am CST by Cray Allred

11:51am: The team has announced that a qualifying offer for each player has been officially extended.

11:07am: The Raptors will extend qualifying offers to Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson, and Nando De Colo today, tweets Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. The players will all become restricted free agents as a result of the offers, giving Toronto the right to match any offers they secure on the open market.

Both Vasquez and Patterson were acquired as pieces in the Rudy Gay trade with Sacramento this season. Vasquez, who has played well as both a starter and backup in his short career, triggered an increased qualifying offer of $4.7MM. Patterson, a steady rotation big who excels as a shooter, will receive a reduced offer at roughly $4.3MM.

De Colo’s offer will be roughly $1.8MM. De Colo arrived in Toronto via a trade deadline deal with the Spurs, and played limited minutes as a backup wing. All three will assuredly seek more lucrative offers from other teams for Toronto to match or decline, as qualifying offers will remain on the table during that process.