Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Raptors Waive D.J. Augustin

December 9th, 2013 at 3:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Raptors have waived D.J. Augustin, the team announced. The move is a precursor to the completion of the seven-player trade Toronto and the Kings agreed to last night. The deal left the Raptors with 16 players, forcing them to drop one before the swap becomes official. Augustin signed a one-year, $1.267MM deal in the offseason, and since it’s fully guaranteed, his cap hit will remain on Toronto’s books.

The move spares Dwight Buycks and Julyan Stone, who also appeared candidates to be cut. Stone might have made the most sense, since his partially guaranteed contract for the minimum salary has in essence become non-guaranteed, but he remains, as does Buycks, who also makes less than Augustin. There was “no chance” the Raptors would let go of Stone, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.

It’s been a tough comedown for Augustin, the ninth overall pick in the 2008 draft who turned down an extension from the Bobcats a couple of years ago, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer notes (on Twitter). He underperformed after signing a one-year, $3.5MM contract with the Pacers last season, and was averaging just 8.2 minutes per game in 10 appearances for Toronto this year.

Minor Moves: Baynes, De Colo, Spurs, Conroy

December 8th, 2013 at 6:15pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves..

The Spurs assigned center Aron Baynes, guard Nando De Colo, and forward Malcolm Thomas to the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League. Baynes has appeared in 11 games for the Spurs this season, averaging 1.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 7.9 minutes. De Colo has seen action in six contests this season for the Silver and Black, averaging 2.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 9.0 minutes. Thomas was recently signed by the Spurs on Dec. 3 and will make his first appearance for the Toros this season. To keep up with all of this year’s D-League assignments, check out Hoops Rumors’ running list.
Point guard Will Conroy has signed to play in Germany with BBC Bayreuth, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia notes. Conroy appeared in four games with the Timberwolves last season, but the close friend of Brandon Roy wasn’t in an NBA camp this fall.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Warriors Waive Dewayne Dedmon

December 5th, 2013 at 11:46am CST by Zachary Links

The Warriors announced that they have waived center Dewayne Dedmon. The 24-year-old was originally signed as a D-League callup on November 18th.

The 7’0” center appeared in four games with Golden State, logging a grand total of six minutes. During his time with the Warriors, Dedmon also appeared in one game with Santa Cruz while on assignment to the D-League club, registering 23 points and a game-high 14 rebounds in a 117-103 victory over the Austin Toros on November 24th.

The Warriors inked Dedmon at a time when they were desperate for frontcourt help in the wake of Jermaine O’Neal‘s injury. The club even considered asking assistant coach Brian Scalabrine if he would come out of retirement to give the club an extra big.

Pacific Notes: Warriors, Iguodala, O’Neal, Morris

December 4th, 2013 at 6:54pm CST by Zachary Links

Tonight’s look at the Pacific Division..

Warriors GM Bob Myers told reporters, including Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News, that he’s not looking to make any changes at this stage, given Andre Iguodala‘s injury. “No, I think we want to see. It may be one game, two games, three games where we’ve actually been healthy. I think it’d be way too rash to start looking at something until you’ve actually seen the team for a good, extended period of time,” said Myers.
Not much was expected from 18-year vet Jermaine O’Neal when he inked a one-year, $2MM deal with the Warriors, but he’s proven to be a pivotal part of the team, writes Marcus Thompson of the Mercury News.
Turkish team Trabzonspor made an offer to former Lakers guard Darius Morris, according to a report from Djordje Matic passed along by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Morris averaged 6.9 PPG in 12 games for the 76ers this season before he was waived along with Kwame Brown in November.

Charlie Westbrook To Sign In D-League

December 4th, 2013 at 5:59pm CST by Zachary Links

Guard Charlie Westbrook has agreed to sign a deal in the NBA Development League, a league source told Shams Charania of RealGM. Westbrook was in training camp with the Heat this summer and was said to impress, but the logjam of talented veterans was too much for him to overcome.

Westbrook had been deciding on his next professional team and he joined the D-League’s waiver process tonight to determine his franchise. The 24-year-old played four games with the Heat in preseason, with averages of 5.7 minutes and 2.5 points before being released on October 21st.

Undrafted in 2012 out of the University of South Dakota, Westbrook was on the second team all-conference as a senior, scoring over 18 points per game. He spent last season in Italy, where he averaged 16.2 points per contest.

Spurs Sign Malcolm Thomas

December 3rd, 2013 at 8:07pm CST by Zachary Links

8:07pm: The signing is official, according to a press release from the Spurs. The team didn’t announce the terms of the deal, but it’s likely a minimum-salary contract without a guarantee. The addition of the Aaron Mintz client brings San Antonio’s roster to the 15-player limit, as our updated roster counts show.

TUESDAY, 7:43pm: The Spurs have finalized their deal with Thomas, tweets Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News, though there remains no official announcement from the team. Thomas is set to join the team after it returns from Wednesday’s game against the Timberwolves in Mexico City.

SUNDAY, 7:29pm: The Spurs are set to sign power forward Malcolm Thomas, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Thomas, who has been with the D-League’s L.A. D-Fenders, was pulled from tonight’s game against the Bakersfield Jam.

The Spurs and Thomas are quite familiar at this point as Thomas has suited up for both the Spurs and their D-League affiliate in Austin. The 25-year-old has 15 career NBA games to his credit, including three with San Antonio in 2011/12. In 27 D-League contests, Thomas has averaged 13.2 PPG and 9.6 RPG in 32.7 minutes per contest. Thomas was in summer league and training camp with the Bulls this summer, but Chicago didn’t have the room to keep him despite some impressive play.

Kendall Marshall To Join D-League

December 3rd, 2013 at 1:54pm CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 3RD: Marshall has been claimed by the Delaware 87ers in the D-League’s waiver process, tweets Wojnarowski. The 87ers are the Sixers’ affiliate, so they’ll hold Marshall’s D-League rights, but he’ll still be free to sign with any NBA team, if he gets an offer.

NOVEMBER 27TH: About a month after being traded by the Suns and subsequently released by the Wizards, Kendall Marshall will join the NBA D-League, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski reports that Marshall has entered his name into the D-League’s pool of players, and will land on a team next week following the league’s waiver process.

Marshall, 22, received offers from teams in China and Europe, says Wojnarowski. However, it seems the young point guard believes his best route back to the NBA involves remaining stateside. Wojnarowski reported earlier in the month that Marshall was drawing some NBA interest, and we heard this week from Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio that sources expected him to sign somewhere by the New Year. A strong showing for Marshall in the D-League may motivate an NBA team to take a flier on the 2012 lottery pick.

After being selected 13th overall a year ago by the Suns, Marshall had a disappointing rookie campaign, averaging just 3.0 PPG in 48 contests, to go along with a .371 FG% and 7.8 PER. The UNC product was included in the trade that sent Marcin Gortat to Washington, but was quickly waived by the Wizards, who didn’t have space on the roster to carry him into the regular season.

Southwest Notes: Hollins, Roberts, Spurs

December 1st, 2013 at 3:07pm CST by Zachary Links

Former Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins reportedly spoke with Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks about joining his staff as assistant, and Hollins confirms to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com that he was offered the job. He turned it down, however, intent on seeking out another NBA head coaching gig. Here’s more out of the Southwest Division..

Pelicans point guard Brian Roberts is on a fully guaranteed minimum-salary contract, but he’s fallen out of the rotation, and that might put his roster spot in jeopardy, as Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune examines.
The Spurs announced that they have assigned center Aron Baynes and guard Nando De Colo to the D-League’s Austin Toros. Baynes has appeared in ten games for the Spurs this season, averaging 1.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 8.1 minutes. De Colo has seen action in six contests this season for the Silver and Black, averaging 2.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 9.0 minutes. To keep track of all of this year’s D-League assignments, check out Hoops Rumors’ running list.
Jeff McDonald of the Express News (on Twitter) wouldn’t be surprised to see Baynes and De Colo back in San Antonio tomorrow.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Lakers Waive Elias Harris

November 29th, 2013 at 4:45pm CST by Luke Adams

4:45pm: Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles confirms (via Twitter) that the Lakers’ decision to release Harris was financially motivated, and not a signal that another player will be added to the roster.

4:10pm: The Lakers have officially released Elias Harris, the team announced today (Twitter link). The move reduces L.A.’s roster count to 14 players, one below the regular-season maximum.

Harris, 24, went undrafted out of Gonzaga in June before joining the Lakers’ summer league squad and eventually signing a partially guaranteed deal with the team. The 6’8″ forward appeared briefly in a pair of games with the Lakers this season, and also recorded 18 points in his only D-League game for the Los Angeles D-Fenders. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent, assuming he clears waivers.

As for the Lakers, while the move opens up a roster spot, it’s not immediately clear if the team plans to add a replacement for Harris. 10-day contracts can’t be inked until the new year, but the club could sign a player to a non-guaranteed contract, which wouldn’t become guaranteed until January 10th.

If the Lakers don’t intend to fill that 15th spot, Harris’ release likely represents a money-saving move. The team was already on the hook for Harris’ partial guarantee worth $100K, but that amount would have begun to increase next week, had he remained on the roster.

Odds & Ends: Heat, Nowitzki, HGH, Biedrins

November 27th, 2013 at 11:13pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Heat‘s visit to Cleveland tonight brought the specter of LeBron James hitting the free agent market next summer to the forefront, but Jonathan Tjarks of RealGM.com argues that the four-time MVP should stay in Miami if he wants to continue winning championships. The Heat are a strong draw for other free agents, too, and it’s no surprise that players take discounts to come to Miami, which offers an up-tempo system, the chance to play with LeBron, and title contention, Tjarks writes. Here’s more from around the NBA:

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is confident Dirk Nowitzki won’t seek too much money from the team in contract negotiations this summer, and says the Mavs are “going to do all we can to keep him forever,” notes Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Cuban also told reporters that the NBA is open-minded about studies on the use of human growth hormone for helping athletes recover from injury. Cuban intends to fund the research, but that sort of HGH use in the NBA would first require U.S. government approval. Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com has the details.
Andris Biedrins admits impending free agency is on his mind, and the Jazz center hinted at retirement, saying in part that, “I know this is my last year,” as Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune passes along. Of course, Biedrins could be referring to the last year of his contract, rather than his career.
Gerald Green has fit in surprisingly well in Phoenix, writes Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld, who sees potential for him to be a long-term piece for the Suns.
Kim English has signed to play in France with Chorale Roanne, the team announced (translation via Sportando). Emiliano Carchia of Sportando first reported the deal for the Leon Rose client and former Pistons guard.
Jabari Davis of HoopsWorld doesn’t expect the Heat‘s Big Three to hit the open market next summer, but offers up a list of plenty of other potential free agents for teams to consider in 2014.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.