Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Suns Sign Leandro Barbosa For Season

January 28th, 2014 at 1:16pm CST by Zachary Links

TUESDAY, 1:16pm: The Suns have officially announced their signing of the Excel Sports Management client.

MONDAY, 9:54pm: We learned last week that the Suns planned on keeping guard Leandro Barbosa for the rest of the season. After tonight’s win, President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby and Coach Jeff Hornacek informed the veteran that he will in fact be with the club for the remainder of the 2013/14 campaign, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.

The veteran guard admitted to being nervous over being in contract limbo, but he’s breathing a sigh of relief after hearing the good news.

“My shoulder is not 100 percent but I’m trying to help the team,” Barbosa said. “It’s a great, talented team. Very fun. I’m happy that I found out I’m going to stay. I’m going to pray and thank God because it was a hard time for me when I did the surgery. If I look back and see what I’ve been through, many people didn’t believe I could come back and play for the NBA again. Now, they say they want to stay with me for the rest of the year. It’s a great thing. There are more things for me to do. It’s not like I’m going to get the contract and chill. Now I’m going to work really hard because I really want to help the team and I know I can. But, for now, thank you Phoenix.”

The 31-year-old returned to the NBA following some tough injury rehab and a successful stint playing in his native Brazil. While filling in for the injured Eric Bledsoe, Barbosa has put up 8.6 PPG and 2.0 APG with a PER of 10.6 in 21.5 minutes per contest.

Celtics Re-Sign Chris Johnson

January 28th, 2014 at 9:33am CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics have officially announced the signing of Chris Johnson to a second 10-day deal. A source told Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald on Sunday that the small forward from Dayton was likely to stick with the team once his deal expired. Johnson is not to be confused with the LSU center by the same name who played for the C’s in 2010/11.

The 6’6″ 23-year-old fit right into the Boston rotation on his first 10-day contract, averaging 10.0 points in 26.8 minutes per game with a 15.7 PER. He’s already logged more minutes than he received over the course of two 10-day contracts with the Grizzlies last season. Johnson, a client of Pinnacle Management Corp., spent camp this fall with the Nets and was playing with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League when the Celtics brought him in for a workout earlier this month. Boston signed him to his first 10-day deal shortly thereafter.

When his latest 10-day contract expires, the Celtics will have to decide whether to sign Johnson for the season or let him walk. They also have Vander Blue on a 15-day deal that expires Friday night, but with just 13 guaranteed contracts, they have room to keep both for the rest of the season if they so desire.

Shawne Williams Signs With D-League

January 27th, 2014 at 2:34pm CST by Ryan Raroque

3:34pm: The team officially announced the move via Twitter, moments after Wojnarowski broke the story.

JANUARY 27TH, 2:27pm: Williams will play for the Los Angeles D-Fenders, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The D-Fenders are the affiliate of the Lakers.

JANUARY 23RD: Gino Pilato of DLeagueDigest.com reports that former Lakers forward Shawne Williams is heading to the NBDL. Williams had been waived by Los Angeles earlier this month, and likely figures that showcasing himself in the D-League will help him eventually land another 10-day contract with an NBA team.

Initially, I thought Williams would find a way to replicate some of the success he displayed with Mike D’Antoni in New York two seasons ago, especially considering his 20.2 MPG this season were pretty much on par with the 20.7 MPG he received back then. With that being said, his shooting percentages from the field overall and from distance this year (.377 and .327) were noticeably less efficient than his numbers were in 2010/11 (.426 and .401).

Williams appeared in 32 games with 11 starts this season, averaging 5.2 PPG and 4.5 RPG. As Pilato notes, this will be Williams’ first stint in the NBDL.

Celtics To Re-Sign Chris Johnson

January 26th, 2014 at 9:52pm CST by Chuck Myron

JANUARY 26th: A source tells Mark Murphy (via Twitter) that Johnson will probably get a second 10-day deal.

JANUARY 17th, 11:19am: The team announced the signing, via press release. Having waited an extra day to make the deal official means the club gets to squeeze in an extra game for Johnson, whose contract won’t expire until after Boston’s game against the Nets on January 26th, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald points out (Twitter link).

THURSDAY, 12:44pm: The Celtics plan to sign Johnson on Friday, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

11:14am: Chris Johnson and the Celtics are finalizing a deal, and the expectation is that he’ll sign a 10-day contract, tweets Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. Adrian Wojnarowski reported overnight that Johnson was in town for a workout with the club. The small forward from Dayton is not to be confused with the Chris Johnson from LSU who played with the Celtics during the 2010/11 season. The move brings Boston’s roster to 14 players.

Johnson has been averaging 19.4 points and 6.8 rebounds in 37.2 minutes per game for the D-League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers this season, after spending training camp with the Nets. His only official NBA action came on a pair of 10-day contracts with the Grizzlies last season, when his averages were 3.6 PPG, 1.4 RPG and 12.8 MPG.

The Celtics traded away Jordan Crawford and MarShon Brooks yesterday, and they’ve excused Keith Bogans from the team, so Johnson will bolster the team’s dwindling wing depth. Boston will have an open roster spot even after adding Johnson, and Wojnarowski’s report seemed to suggest the team might be working out other players.

Johnson is a client of Pinnacle Management Corp., as our Agency Database shows.

Lakers Re-Sign Manny Harris To 10-Day Deal

January 26th, 2014 at 12:53pm CST by Jonathan Nehring

The Lakers have re-signed guard Manny Harris to his second 10-day contract tweets Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports. This was a move Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times hinted to expect today in a tweet this morning.

The third-year veteran point guard appeared in five games for the Lakers during his first 10 game stint logging 21.0 minutes with 6.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 1.6 APG, and 1.2 TO. When this contract expires the Lakers will have to decide whether to keep the Henry Thomas client for the remainder of the season or to let him become a free agent.

Prior to signing with the Lakers, Harris had spent this entire season with the Lakers’ D-League affiliate, with which he led the D-League in scoring with 30.6 PPG.

Minor Moves: Darius Morris, Faverani, Goodwin

January 26th, 2014 at 12:29pm CST by Jonathan Nehring

Here are a few minor transactions that have occurred so far today.

The Clippers had to decide by today whether they would retain point guard Darius Morris for the remainder of the season or allow him to become a free agent. It appears they opted to let Morris go as Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times tweeted this morning. With Chris Paul hoping to return from injury by the All-Star break, it seems the Clippers will rely primarily on Darren Collison for the nine games prior to the break. Morris appeared in 10 games for the Clippers averaging 5.4 MPG with 0.9 PPG, 0.5 APG. He is now a free agent. The Clippers now have 14 players under contract.
The Celtics announced in a team release they have recalled center Vitor Faverani from their D-League affiliate in time for today’s matchup against the Nets. The move was expected as Celtics GM Danny Ainge stated yesterday when Faverani was sent down that it would be “just a quick assignment to get Vitor some more game action, and he’ll be back with the Celtics for shootaround tomorrow morning.“ Faverani saw 26 minutes of play last night, in which he recorded 13 points and 7 boards.
According to a team release to NBA.com, the Suns have recalled guard Archie Goodwin from their D-League affiliate in time for Phoenix’s matchup against the Cavaliers tonight. Goodwin was sent down Thursday and was able to appear in two games during his short stint. In those two games Goodwin put up impressive numbers, averaging 44.0 MPG, 29.5 PPG, and 6.0 RPG.

Jazz Claim Malcolm Thomas Off Waivers

January 25th, 2014 at 5:12pm CST by Jonathan Nehring

The Jazz have claimed forward Malcolm Thomas off waivers reports Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Thomas was waived by the Spurs two days ago. Since the Spurs waived him after his contract was guaranteed for the season, by claiming Thomas off waivers the Jazz will take over responsibility for paying the remainder of his minimum-salary contract.

Thomas appeared in only one game for the Spurs this season but did play 10 games for their D-League affiliate. During his time with the Austin Toros he averaged 15.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per contest. Over his three year span in the league, Thomas has appeared in only 16 games, averaging 1.1 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 0.3 BPG.

The motivation behind this move puzzles the Deseret News’ Jazz beat writer Jody Genessy but Wojnarowski claims Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey “has long been intrigued with Thomas.”

Prior to claiming Thomas, the Jazz had 14 players on their roster. Being one shy of the NBA roster limit, there is no need for the Jazz to make a concurrent roster cut.

Spurs Sign Othyus Jeffers To 10-Day Deal

January 24th, 2014 at 3:44pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:44pm: The Spurs have officially announced the signing.

FRIDAY, 10:34am: Coach Gregg Popovich says the team will sign Jeffers to a 10-day contract today or Saturday, depending on how quickly he can travel to join the team (Twitter link).

THURSDAY, 3:43pm: Jeffers and the team are on track to finalize their deal later today or early Friday, tweets Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News, relaying the news from fellow Express-News reporter Mike Monroe. The team waived Thomas earlier, clearing the roster spot necessary for Jeffers to sign.

11:07am: The banged-up Spurs have set their sights on inking D-Leaguer Othyus Jeffers to a 10-day contract, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. A signing would require the team to waive someone, since San Antonio is at the 15-man roster limit. Kawhi Leonard broke his right hand last night, joining Tiago Splitter and Danny Green among the injured Spurs.

Jeffers, a 6’5″ shooting guard, has averaged 22.8 points and 11.4 rebounds per game in 22 contests for the Iowa Energy this season after spending camp with the Timberwolves. The two-year NBA veteran last appeared in the league during the 2010/11 season with the Wizards. He also got into a single game with the Spurs that season while on a 10-day contract.

Power forward Malcolm Thomas would seem the most logical choice for a cut. He made his debut for the Spurs on Sunday, even though he’s been under contract with the team since December 3rd. He’s spent much of his time with San Antonio on four separate assignments to the D-League.

Sixers Re-Sign Dewayne Dedmon

January 24th, 2014 at 10:29am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 10:29am: The deal is official, according to the team.

THURSDAY, 7:38pm: According to Moore, the 76ers will re-sign Dedmon to another 10-day contract (Twitter link).

8:25am: Sixers coach Brett Brown has little doubt the team will re-sign center Dewayne Dedmon to a second 10-day contract once his existing deal expires tonight, observes Tom Moore of Calkins Media. The Sixers announced yesterday that fellow big man Brandon Davies would miss four to six weeks with a broken finger, making it even more likely that Dedmon will get another deal, notes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.The team will make its decision today, according to Brown.

“I like what we’ve seen in him,” Brown said of Dedmon. “There’s a size and an enthusiasm and an energy.”

Dedmon says he isn’t sure of his status, but it appears the Michael Silverman client will be sticking around Philadelphia. The Warriors have also been interested in bringing him back after waiving him earlier this season, though Golden State has a full 15 man roster after acquiring Jordan Crawford and MarShon Brooks via trade last week.

The rookie has put up 3.6 points in 14.8 minutes per game for the Sixers after appearing for just six minutes total in more than two weeks with Golden State. Philadelphia has 14 guaranteed contracts, so the team will soon have decide whether to commit its final open roster spot to Dedmon. The Sixers would have to sign him for the season or let him go once his second 10-day contract expires.

Pelicans Waive Tyshawn Taylor

January 23rd, 2014 at 1:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:22pm: The Pelicans reached a buyout agreement with Taylor, according to John Reid of The Times Picayune, though it’s unclear how much money the one-year veteran gave up.

THURSDAY, 11:12am: The team has officially announced the move.

WEDNESDAY, 4:55pm: The Pelicans have waived Tyshawn Taylor, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). John Reid of The Times Picayune noted earlier that the team was unsure about Taylor’s future in New Orleans after acquiring him via trade from the Nets on Tuesday. The move opens up a roster spot for the Pelicans, who had been carrying the maximum 15 players.

Reid’s story suggested that Taylor might buy out the remainder of his guaranteed minimum-salary deal, but it’s not clear whether that happened. If there was no buyout, the point guard’s $788,872 will remain on the Pelicans’ books unless another team claims him off waivers. There’s a chance that a team could put in a claim, given the diminutive size of the 23-year-old’s contract and the fact that he’s unlikely to sign for more money elsewhere. Regardless, the Nets sent enough cash to New Orleans to cover their obligation to Taylor, so the Pelicans aren’t taking a financial hit.

Shedding Taylor gives the Pelicans more flexibility to add an interior player, as I explained earlier today. New Orleans is reportedly seeking a big man.