Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Rodrigue Beaubois To Play In Belgium

March 26th, 2014 at 4:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

Former Mavericks guard Rodrigue Beaubois will play for Belgacom Spirou in Belgium, the team announced via Twitter. La Nouvelle Gazette originally reported the news (translation via Sportando). Beaubois was in talks with the Celtics about a 10-day contract last month, but a deal never materialized, and earlier this week we heard the 26-year-old turned down an offer to play in Italy and was set to audition for a French team. Beaubois, the 25th overall pick in 2009, has been out of the NBA since his rookie contract expired last summer.

The Bouna Ndiaye client was apparently set to work out for the Wizards and the Grizzlies last month before auditioning for the Celtics, although another report indicated that Washington had no plans to bring him in. The Heat wanted to have Beaubois work out for them shortly before camp, but he suffered a wrist injury that prevented that from happening. The Sixers had offseason interest, too.

Beaubois, a native of Guadeloupe, saw his role diminish with the Mavs last season, as his 12.2 minutes per game were the fewest of his career. His per-36-minute numbers in points, shot attempts and rebounds last year were also career lows.

Kings, Chris Johnson Call Off Deal

March 26th, 2014 at 12:45pm CST by Charlie Adams

WEDNESDAY, 12:45pm: The deal has come apart, and the Kings no longer plan to sign Johnson, Deeks reports (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 7:20pm: The Kings are set to sign Chris Johnson tomorrow, reports Mark Deeks of ShamSports,com. The big man out of LSU is not to be confused with the Celtics player of the same name. We heard that the Bobcats worked out Johnson a couple of weeks ago, but Charlotte ended up signing DJ White to a 10-day contract instead, leaving the opportunity for the Kings to swoop in and ink the athletic center.

Johnson, 28, has been playing in China since November. He’s averaged impressive numbers of 20 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2 blocks per night in 29 games for Zhejiang Guangsha Lions. During his most recent stint in the NBA, Johnson played 30 contests for for the Timberwolves and averaged 3.9 points per game while posting an impressive 18.9 PER.

It’s not clear whether Sacramento is giving Johnson a 10-day deal or signing him for the rest of the season and possibly beyond, writes Deeks. The Kings have an open roster spot after waiving Jimmer Fredette and opting not to retain Orlando Johnson, who signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the club. The acquisition of Johnson will now put the Kings’ roster at an NBA maximum of 15 players.

Bucks Sign D.J. Stephens To 10-Day Deal

March 26th, 2014 at 10:10am CST by Zachary Links

MARCH 26TH: The Bucks have officially signed Stephens, the team announced (Twitter link).

MARCH 24TH: Milwaukee is circling back around to Stephens now that their 10-day deal with Chris Wright has lapsed, as the Bucks will sign Stephens to a 10-day contract on Wednesday, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.

MARCH 14TH: The Bucks are set to sign former University of Memphis swingman D.J. Stephens to a 10-day deal, according to Greek site EBasket. Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (on Twitter) has confirmed the news. Stephens had interest from several clubs heading into last year’s draft but was not selected.

In 18 games with Greek team Ilysiakos this season, Stephens has averaged 9.9 PPG and 8.8 RPG. The 23-year-old averaged less than eight points and seven rebounds in his senior season at Memphis, but his highlight reel of blocks and eye-popping dunks had scouts drooling. At the pre-draft combine, Stephens registered a 46″ vertical leap, the highest ever recorded by the NBA. For reference, LeBron James and Michael Jordan have never recorded more than a 44″ vertical.

Sasha Vujacic Signs To Play In Italy

March 25th, 2014 at 8:03am CST by Chuck Myron

Former Lakers, Nets and Clippers shooting guard Sasha Vujacic has signed with Reyer Venezia of Italy, the team announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Massimo Oriani of La Gazzetta dello Sport originally reported the deal. The contract covers the rest of the season for the 30-year-old, who had briefly returned to the NBA last month on a 10-day contract with the Clippers. Doc Rivers said shortly after the deal expired that the club might re-sign Vujacic at some point this season if there was a roster spot available, and though the Clippers have just 14 players at this point, it looks like a reunion won’t materialize.

Vujacic spent most of this season attempting to revive his NBA career, which had been dormant since 2010/11, but his recent decision to join the Interperformances agency might have signaled a shift in plans. He spent 2011/12 and 2012/13 playing for Anadolu Efes in Turkey.

The Slovenian native last played in Italy before the Lakers drafted him 27th overall in 2004. He won a pair of championships with the purple-and-gold, but in parts of eight NBA seasons, he’s never averaged more than 9.8 points per game. He set that career high with the Nets in 2010/11, the only year he averaged as many as 20 minutes per contest.

Sixers Sign Casper Ware To 10-Day Contract

March 24th, 2014 at 10:15am CST by Chuck Myron

10:15am: The deal is official, according to Sixers spokesperson Michael Preston (Twitter link).

8:29am: The Sixers will sign the defensive-minded Casper Ware to a 10-day contract today, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Philadelphia’s 10-day deal with Darius Johnson-Odom expired Sunday night, leaving an open roster spot. Emiliano Carchia of Sportando first reported Philly’s interest in the point guard, who most recently played for Virtus Bologna of Italy.

The 5’10” Ware has racked up honors at mediocre levels of basketball. He won back-to-back Big West Player of the Year honors in his final two seasons at Long Beach State, and he was the Big West Defensive Player of the Year as a junior. He went undrafted in 2012 and wound up in Italy’s second division, where he won MVP honors last year. He hasn’t been able to duplicate his success at Italy’s highest level this season, averaging 11.7 points, 2.2 points and 2.7 rebounds in 31.0 minutes per game.

He’ll now have a chance to see how he fares against another jump up in competition. His only glimpse of NBA action so far has been in summer league with the Pistons in 2012 and the Rockets this past offseason.

Celtics Re-Sign Chris Babb To Three-Year Deal

March 21st, 2014 at 2:36pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:36pm: It’s a three-year contract that’s non-guaranteed next season and for 2015/16, reports Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. That means Babb received essentially the same deal that the Celtics gave Johnson, as I speculated. Murphy also confirms that it’s a minimum-salary arrangement.

FRIDAY, 9:54am: Boston has made the signing official, the team announced. The statement confirms that it’s a multiyear deal, but it doesn’t provide any further details.

THURSDAY, 1:00pm: The Celtics will re-sign Chris Babb to a deal that covers the rest of the season and beyond, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Babb is on the final day of his second 10-day contract with the team. Babb’s latest pact will likely be non-guaranteed for next season, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it also covers 2015/16 with non-guaranteed salary, since that’s the very sort of deal that Chris Johnson got from the team this year following his 10-day contract.

Babb’s new deal will be the 15th guaranteed contract on the books for the Celtics this season, meaning Boston is likely done making moves for 2013/14. The 24-year-old former Iowa State shooting guard hasn’t dazzled in his limited playing time in Boston, averaging 2.2 points on 2.3 field goal attempts in 11.5 minutes per game. Still, coach Brad Stevens has called him a “perfect fit,” and Stevens seems particularly high on Babb’s defensive ability.

The Greg Lawrence client was initially with the Celtics in training camp this fall after going undrafted in June, though he saw time in summer league with the Suns. He failed to make Boston’s opening-night roster, but the Celtics kept his D-League rights and Babb wound up playing for the C’s D-League affiliate, posting 12.0 points and 35.4% three-point shooting in 37.5 minutes per game over 33 appearances. That led to his first 10-day contract, which he signed on the final day of February.

Cavs Sign Seth Curry, Release Shane Edwards

March 21st, 2014 at 11:22am CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavaliers have officially signed Seth Curry to a 10-day contract, the team announced. To make room, Cleveland terminated its 10-day deal with Shane Edwards, which was set to expire tonight. Curry, the 23-year-old former Duke shooting guard, appeared to have a deal with the Cavs earlier this week, but the team seemed to waffle and considered re-signing Edwards instead. The Cavs also apparently had their eyes on another player. Ultimately, the Cavs circled back to their original target. Curry, brother of Warriors star Stephen Curry, had a brief stint with the Grizzlies earlier this season after going undrafted this past summer.

Seth Curry was also in camp with the Warriors in the fall, but he failed to make the opening-night roster. He appeared in just one game for a four-minute stretch with the Grizzlies, who waived him in January shortly before his contract would have become guaranteed for the rest of the season. Memphis decided against bringing him back on a 10-day, and he’s been playing with the Warriors D-League affiliate ever since. The 6’2″ client of Jeff Austin is averaging 19.4 points and 5.9 assists in 35.3 minutes per game for the Santa Cruz Warriors.

Today’s moves leave Cleveland with 15 players, 14 of whom are on guaranteed contracts. Edwards appears to be headed back to the D-League affiliate of the Cavs, where he played before signing his 10-day deal.

Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group initially reported that Curry and the Cavs had a deal (Twitter link). Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal followed with a report that Curry, Edwards and another player were all in the mix to fill Cleveland’s open roster spot. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio identified Edwards as the favorite and wrote that he’d head back to the D-League if he didn’t re-sign with the Cavs. The Plain Dealer followed with a report that Curry would sign, and Lloyd seconded that (Twitter link). The Plain Dealer’s Mary Schmitt Boyer followed up minutes later to note that Curry had put pen to paper on his contract.

Bobcats Sign DJ White To 10-Day Deal

March 21st, 2014 at 10:53am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 10:53am: The team has officially announced its 10-day deal with White.

WEDNESDAY, 1:24pm: The Bobcats are planning to sign DJ White to a 10-day contract once they receive clearance from FIBA, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Shams Charania of RealGM reported earlier today that the team was strongly considering the big man. FIBA, basketball’s international governing body, requires that players switching countries seek clearance from the organization before signing a contract. White has spent most of the season playing in China with the Sichuan Blue Whales. FIBA approval is usually a formality, meaning it’s probably only a matter of time before the 27-year-old joins the Bobcats.

White spent part of 2010/11 and all of 2011/12 with Charlotte, averaging 7.3 points and 3.8 rebounds in 82 appearances as a Bobcat. That’s so far the most productive stretch the former 29th overall pick has enjoyed in the NBA. He made it into a dozen games with Boston last year, but like this season, White spent most of 2012/13 playing in China. The former Indiana Hoosier averaged 20.2 PPG and 8.5 RPG with Sichuan this year, but he did so primarily as a reserve.

The Bobcats appear to envision White as a third-string center, even though he’s only 6’9″. Charlotte worked out a handful of players last week in hopes of finding a center to replace Brendan Haywood, who appears likely to miss the season, but coach Steve Clifford has acknowledged the difficulty of finding free agent pivotmen this time of year, Bonnell notes.

Charlotte has an open roster spot, so the team won’t have to cut anyone to bring White aboard. I speculated that the Bobcats might offer the Jeff Wechsler client a deal for the rest of the season instead of a 10-day contract, but it looks like White will have to prove himself on a short-term deal before the team commits to him for the balance of the year.

Knicks Sign Shannon Brown For Rest Of Season

March 20th, 2014 at 2:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks have signed Shannon Brown for the rest of the season, the team announced via Twitter. The tweet notes that the team’s latest deal with Earl Clark has expired. The Knicks inked Clark to a pair of 10-day contracts at the same time they did so with Brown, so presumably that means New York doesn’t plan to re-sign Clark. The Knicks now have 14 guaranteed contracts, so they can add another player to replace Clark if they choose.

Brown first joined the Knicks late last month after the team waived Metta World Peace and Beno Udrih. The eighth-year veteran guard saw fewer minutes for New York than Clark did, but neither received significant playing time. Clark played a total of 70 minutes in nine games, averaging 2.6 points per contest. Brown has only seen the floor for 57 minutes across nine games, notching 1.8 PPG. Still, it appears the Knicks prefer to keep an extra guard instead of a forward like Clark.

It’s the first player personnel decision for the Knicks since Phil Jackson came aboard as team president. Brown played for then-coach Jackson for parts of three seasons with the Lakers, winning two championships. Clark also played for the Lakers, but that was after Jackson had stepped down as coach.

Brown has spent much of this season out of the league after the Wizards waived him shortly before the start of the season. He was with the Spurs in February on a pair of 10-day contracts, but San Antonio elected not to keep him for the season. New York’s decision to commit to Brown is a slight boon for the Wizards, who can defray a tiny amount of their remaining debt to the Mark Bartelstein client via set-off rights. Washington released Brown in spite of his $3.5MM guaranteed salary before the season to get down to 15 players after the unbalanced Marcin Gortat trade.

Kings Sign Royce White To Second 10-Day Deal

March 18th, 2014 at 3:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

MARCH 18TH: The Kings have officially announced their deal with White, via press release.

MARCH 15TH, 8:28am: Royce White will get his rumored second 10-day contract with the Kings, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). As expected, White is working out in Sacramento while the team is on the road, and could be available to play when the team returns home on Tuesday. Spears says the Kings are confident White can travel. The timing of this deal means they will face the decision to keep White for the rest of the year or part ways with him before their next road trip arrives.

MONDAY, 12:16pm: The Kings appear set to keep Royce White on the team with a second 10-day contract, as TNT’s David Aldridge writes within his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Aldridge suggests it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Kings sign the former first-round pick for the rest of the season after the second 10-day deal runs out.

White has played a pair of home games with the Reno Bighorns, Sacramento’s D-League affiliate, and will appear in two more before his initial 10-day contract expires at the end of Saturday. The Kings assigned the forward to the D-League at the same time they signed him Thursday.

White and the team haven’t had in-depth conversations about how to accommodate his mental health difficulties, and both sides are taking their partnership slowly, a source tells Aldridge. The Kings are interested in seeing if White still has the desire necessary to play at a high level and, if so, evaluating how he responds with the Bighorns, Aldridge hears. White is averaging 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 26.9 minutes over his two games with the Bighorns so far.

The plan is for White to join the big club on his second 10-day deal, which would set him up to make his official NBA debut. The Kings have a four-game homestand scheduled for shortly after White’s first 10-day contract expires, so that would allow him to play in games without having to travel and test his long-held fear of flying.