Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Spurs Waive Malcolm Thomas

January 23rd, 2014 at 12:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Spurs have waived Malcolm Thomas, the team announced. His release appears to be a precursor to the signing of Othyus Jeffers to a 10-day contract, a move that the team is considering, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported earlier today. San Antonio had been carrying 15 players before cutting Thomas, requiring the team to waive someone before it could add to its injury-depleted roster.

I surmised when the Jeffers report surfaced that Thomas would be the one to go, since he’s only appeared in a single game for the Spurs, even though he signed a minimum-salary contract on December 3rd. He’s instead played in 10 games on D-League assignment with the Austin Toros, for whom he’s averaged 15.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per contest.

It was somewhat surprising when the Spurs kept Thomas past the leaguewide guarantee date earlier this month, given his lack of playing time with the big club. As a result of that decision, San Antonio will have to pay Thomas his entire salary for this season unless another team claims the Aaron Mintz client off waivers.

The Spurs appear to have a more pressing need on the wing, where Jeffers, a shooting guard, fits the bill better than Thomas, who plays power forward. Shooting guard Danny Green is out for another three weeks or so with a broken finger and, according to Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link), small forward Kawhi Leonard will miss three to four weeks with the hand he broke during last night’s game. The Spurs are also without center Tiago Splitter, though the early portion of his initial timetable for a return is a few days away.

Ivan Johnson Becomes Free Agent

January 22nd, 2014 at 4:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:01pm: The Clippers might have interest in Johnson, according to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).

10:13am: The Zhejiang Golden Bulls have waived Ivan Johnson, the team announced, allowing the power forward to become a free agent and pursue reported NBA interest from several teams, including the Hawks (translation via Shaopeng Shen on Twitter; hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The team also announced the signing of small forward Mike Harris, whom the Jazz waived earlier this month, in a corresponding move.

Johnson was averaging 26.0 points and 9.9 rebounds in China, so it’s unclear why the team released him other than as a favor. Perhaps Johnson and the team agreed to a buyout, though that’s just my speculation. He’d become a mainstay in Atlanta’s rotation the past two seasons before signing with the Chinese team in late August. The Knicks seemed to be the most engaged among the NBA clubs that eyed the Jeremiah Haylett client this past summer.

Any NBA team that signs Johnson will have to arrange for FIBA clearance before the move can become official, but that shouldn’t be too much of a hurdle. He could be in the market for a 10-day contract, though I wouldn’t be surprised if he commanded a deal for the rest of the season right away.

Harris made the Jazz out of camp, and while he averaged 4.2 points in 11.3 minutes per game for Utah, the team decided to waive the fourth-year NBA veteran before his contract became guaranteed. Unless he signed a multiyear deal, which ex-NBA players rarely do with Chinese teams, he could return to the NBA in another month or two, once Zhejiang’s season is complete.

Celtics Sign Vander Blue To 10-Day Deal

January 22nd, 2014 at 10:26am CST by Zachary Links

WEDNESDAY, 10:26am: The Celtics have officially announced their 10-day contract with Blue.

TUESDAY, 8:53pm: In the wake of Avery Bradley‘s injury, the Celtics are set to sign Vander Blue out of the D-League, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Blue was claimed by the Delaware 87ers one week ago. It’ll be a 10-day deal, according to Wojnarowski’s latest update.

The former Marquette guard was waived by Maccabi Rishon LeZion of Israel just before the New Year and was clearly on the NBA radar. Blue was in camp with the Sixers over the summer and had a partially guaranteed deal, so he received a $55K severance from Philly when he was let go.

The 6’5″ shooting guard helped lead Marquette to the Elite Eight in last season’s NCAA tournament, averaging 18.3 PPG in the team’s four March Madness games. He then left the Golden Eagles one year shy of his expected graduation date.

Bulls Sign Mike James To 10-Day Contract

January 22nd, 2014 at 9:50am CST by Chuck Myron

WEDNESDAY, 9:50am: James has officially signed his deal with Chicago, and it’s a 10-day contract, the team announced.

TUESDAY, 4:34pm: The Bulls will re-sign point guard Mike James, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. The 38-year-old made the team out of training camp, but the Bulls waived him last month after signing D.J. Augustin. Chicago traded Marquis Teague to the Nets today for big man Tornike Shengelia, so the return of James replenishes the Bulls’ point guard depth. USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt wrote last month that the team might bring James back if it traded Teague.

It’s unclear if the agreement is for a 10-day contract or a deal that covers a rest of the season. Cartier Martin is on his second 10-day with the Bulls, who hope to re-sign him for the season once it expires. That would still leave Chicago with a pair of open roster spots, leaving plenty of room for James. The Bulls are within $1MM of the luxury tax line, so it seems the timing of the decision to bring James aboard in the wake of today’s trade, which sheared $285,848 from Chicago’s payroll, is financially motivated.

The Bernie Lee client saw just 38 minutes total in his first stint with the Bulls this season, but he started 23 games for the Mavericks last year, averaging 8.2 points, 4.4 assists and 25.8 minutes per game in those starts. He also played with the Bulls during the 2011/12 season.

Hawks Re-Sign James Nunnally

January 22nd, 2014 at 9:06am CST by Chuck Myron

WEDNESDAY, 9:06am: The deal is now official, the team announced.

TUESDAY, 9:30am: The Hawks will sign James Nunnally to a second 10-day contract on Wednesday, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com. His first deal with the team expired last night, when it appeared Atlanta was still debating whether to keep the 23-year-old forward, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). The Hawks will have to decide whether to keep Nunnally for the rest of the season when his second 10-day contract ends.

Nunnally hasn’t had a chance to make much of an impression during his time with the Hawks, who’ve put him on the court for a single eight-minute appearance so far. He’s done most of his work this season with the Bakersfield Jam of the D-League, averaging 18.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. The Suns had him in training camp this fall, and he averaged 3.0 PPG in 10.5 minutes per game during the preseason.

Atlanta has 14 guaranteed contracts, so keeping Nunnally around for the rest of the season would make that 15, limiting the team’s flexibility. Even if the Hawks decide against keeping him, it sounds like he has plenty of other opportunities for NBA work. He was one of the most sought-after camp invitees, and he met with the Cavs, Bulls and Thunder before signing his first 10-day deal with the Hawks.

Daniel Orton To Join Celtics D-League Team

January 21st, 2014 at 4:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

Free agent center Daniel Orton will sign with the D-League and play for the Maine Red Claws, the affiliate of the Celtics, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports (Twitter links). The Red Claws are acquiring his D-League rights via trade from the Tulsa 66ers, according to Amick. Orton had offers from Chinese teams, Amick adds, but he will instead showcase his skills within the range of most NBA observers.

The Sixers waived Orton earlier this month, just before his contract would have become guaranteed for the rest of the season. Philadelphia had picked him up during the preseason a few days after the Thunder cut him loose. The 6’10” Orton was the 29th overall pick of the 2010 draft out of the University of Kentucky, but he missed the 2010/11 season with injury and has yet to blossom. He’s appeared in a total of 51 NBA games so far, with career numbers of 3.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game with a 10.6 PER.

He hasn’t fared too much better when his NBA teams have assigned him to the D-League, putting up 12.4 PPG and 7.8 RPG in 27.8 minutes per game over 31 contests. If he impresses this time around, the Celtics will have the flexibility to sign him to the big club, since they have only 13 guaranteed contracts. Orton will nonetheless remain eligible to sign with any NBA team.

Nets Swap Backup PGs With Pelicans, Bulls

January 21st, 2014 at 11:09am CST by Charlie Adams

The Nets have officially announced a pair of trades, acquiring Marquis Teague from the Bulls in a one-for-one swap for Tornike Shengelia, and sending Tyshawn Taylor and cash to the Pelicans in exchange for the draft rights to Edin Bavcic, a 29-year-old big man playing in Greece.

The moves won’t greatly impact any of the teams’ rotations, as none of the active players involved in the trade have averaged as much as 13 minutes per game this season, and each of them has seen multiple D-League assignments. Teague was a first-round pick in 2012, but he struggled to find minutes for Chicago. Shengelia doesn’t figure to be a critical piece for the Bulls, but he is a big body who can potentially provide frontcourt depth off the bench. Shams Charania of RealGM.com tweets the Bulls intend to give him a shot at some minutes. Bavcic was originally a second-round draft choice of the Raptors in 2006, but he’s never played in the NBA, so it appears he’s merely a throw-in.

Sending off Taylor will provide a bit of much-needed financial relief for Brooklyn, which is currently set to face about $80MM in luxury tax penalties in July. Shengelia and Taylor will both earn $788,872 this season, while Teague will make $1,074,720. The move will save the Nets from paying some extra tax dollars this season, but Teague’s contract runs through 2014/15, one year longer than the pacts Shengelia and Taylor are signed to.

Since the Pelicans had an open roster spot and Taylor is on a minimum-salary contract, they can absorb him without giving up a player. Brooklyn creates a vacancy on its roster with the moves, as the Nets had been carrying the maximum 15 players all season.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports was the first to report the trades, which were agreed upon Saturday (Twitter links). Originally, it appeared the Pelicans would send the Nets a heavily protected second-rounder, but it looks like the teams agreed on including Bavcic in the deal instead.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Bulls Re-Sign Cartier Martin

January 20th, 2014 at 11:17am CST by Chuck Myron

11:17am: The Bulls hope to sign Martin for the season once his second 10-day deal expires, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link).

10:30am: Martin’s deal with Chicago is official, the team has announced.

8:00am: The Bulls and Cartier Martin have agreed on a second 10-day contract, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com. His first 10-day expired last night.

Martin appeared in three games for an average of 13.7 minutes on his first deal with Chicago, averaging 5.0 points per game with a 15.9 PER over that diminutive sample size. The 29-year-old small forward spent most of the season with the Hawks, for whom he averaged 6.6 PPG in 17.5 MPG, with a 10.1 PER. Atlanta waived him on the final day before his contract would have become guaranteed for the entire season.

The Bulls have only 12 other players, so they’d have had to bring on someone else within 14 days if they weren’t re-signing Martin. Teams can carry fewer than 13 players for no more than two weeks at a time. Martin says he had interest from other clubs before he initially signed with Chicago, so it behooves the Bulls to strike quickly to retain the ASM Sports client.

Suns Re-Sign Leandro Barbosa

January 18th, 2014 at 12:30pm CST by Zachary Links

JANUARY 18th, 12:30pm: The Suns have signed Barbosa to a second ten-day deal, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). Barbosa, 31, has averaged 9.3 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 2.3 APG in four games for Phoenix.

JANUARY 8th, 4:35pm: The Suns have officially signed Barbosa to a 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release. Phoenix now has a full 15-man roster.

SUNDAY, 3:28pm: The Suns plan to sign Leandro Barbosa to a 10-day deal, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter). Teams can start signing players to 10-day deals tomorrow.

Barbosa, 31, spent 41 games with the Celtics last season, averaging 5.2 PPG and 1.4 APG in 12.5 minutes per contest. The veteran was on the Lakers’ short list when they suffered a rash of injuries at the point guard position, a major need for the club before the recent emergence of Kendall Marshall.

The deal brings Barbosa back to the club where he spent his first seven NBA seasons and did his finest work. Barbosa suffered a torn ACL before the trade deadline last season but since then he’s been scorching the Brazilian league and appears fully recovered.

D-League Notes: Melo, Wright, Covington

January 18th, 2014 at 12:26pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest from the NBA Developmental League..

A team source tells Gino Pilato of D-League Digest that Fab Melo has entered his name into the D-League player pool. Last season, Melo spent 33 games of his rookie season with the Maine Red Claws, Boston’s D-League affiliate. Melo, who bounced around a bit during his short professional career, is likely headed back to the NBADL with hopes of landing a ten-day contract
Chris Wright, a current member of the Red Claws, is playing well and hopes to bag a ten-day deal with an NBA team, Pilato writes. On the season, Wright is averaging 21.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game. He’s also averaging 36.2 minutes in 20 games so far. A small forward from Dayton, he’s not to be confused with the former Georgetown shooting guard by the same name.
Rockets rookie Robert Covington is back from the D-League as Houston wants to have plenty of bodies in practice this week, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. However, it’s not clear if this is a prelude to Covington officially getting recalled to the varsity squad.