Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Grizzlies, Raptors, Pistons Finalize Rudy Gay Deal

January 30th, 2013 at 8:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

8:23pm: The Raptors sent out a press release confirming the deal for all three teams. The second-rounder headed to the Grizzlies is Toronto's own 2013 pick, and Memphis is receiving cash from the Raptors as part of the deal, the statement notes.

8:20pm: Keith Langlois of Pistons.com tweets that Detroit's side of the deal is official, and that Calderon will join the team in time for Friday's game. Since it was the Pistons-Grizzlies part that seemed to have hit a snag earlier, rather than the Raptors-Grizzlies end of it, the swap appears to be squared away. Pistons GM Joe Dumars has released a statement, as Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News passes along (All Twitter links).

7:28pm: The trade call has ended, meaning the deal is now official, a source tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).

6:55pm: The trade call has been delayed slightly, but it's still going on, tweets Doug Smith of the Toronto Star, who adds that the deal is still going to happen.

6:18pm: Goodwill now hears from a source who says the trade will indeed go down (Twitter link).

6:06pm: A source tells Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News there's "one hangup" in the deal, though Goodwill doesn't specify what it could be (Twitter link).

5:56pm: The Pistons' side of the trade has not yet been finalized, Aldridge notes via Twitter, though with the trade call scheduled in a few minutes from now, it's likely we'll soon have official word. Both Prince and Daye are inactive for Detroit's game tonight.

5:33pm: The Raptors will likely waive and buy out the rest of Haddadi's two-year contract, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Haddadi is making $1.3MM this year and is due a partial guarantee of $200K on his fully $1.398MM salary next year. Under terms of the new CBA, the Grizzlies will not be allowed to sign Haddadi again for one year.

5:13pm: The Grizzlies, Raptors and Pistons have all reached agreement on a three-team trade. ESPN's Marc Stein reported the Grizzlies have acquired Jose Calderon and Ed Davis from the Raptors in exchange for Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi. TNT's David Aldridge reports the Pistons will receive Calderon from the Grizzlies in exchange for Tayshaun Prince (Twitter link). Stein added that Austin Daye is also headed to Memphis, and noted the Grizzlies will get a second-round pick from the Raptors as well.

The trade call will be placed to the league office at 7pm Eastern, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. When the trade becomes official, it will end several weeks of speculation about Gay's future in Memphis, as the Grizzlies look to avoid becoming a repeat taxpayer. It also ends months of chatter about Calderon in Toronto. The Pistons apparently beat out the Mavericks for the point guard, as Dallas refused to part with Vince Carter in any potential deal, Stein tweets.

The Grizzlies save significant money in the deal, as the combined salaries of Prince, Daye and Davis add up to $11.9MM, much less than the total of $17.8MM that Gay and Haddadi are getting. Daye can come off the books next season, as he's a restricted free agent this summer. Davis has one more season left on his rookie deal, at $3.15MM, and is set to hit restricted free agency in 2014 unless the Grizzlies extend his deal. Gay's contract runs through 2014/15, a player option season in which he's due to make $19.3MM. The Grizzlies are now $8MM under the luxury tax, which could give them more flexibility to make other moves this season, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com points out (Twitter link). The Grizzlies will pay out $37.2MM less as a result of the moves, Berger adds.

Technically, the deal is actually a pair of two-team trades, rather than one three-team trade, notes Mark Deeks of ShamSports (Twitter link). The Raptors, operating exclusively with the Grizzlies, wind up with Gay's sizable contract, adding roughly $5MM to their payroll, which was at about $61.2MM. They're still well below the $70.307MM tax line, and figure to remain that way even when DeMar DeRozan's four-year, $38MM extension kicks in next season.

The Pistons, meanwhile, part ways with the last remaining member of their 2004 championship team, bringing in a point guard to mentor second-year man Brandon Knight. It also clears cap room, since Calderon's expiring $10.56MM contract will come off the books this summer, while Prince is signed through 2015.

Lakers Get Disabled Player Exception For Hill

January 30th, 2013 at 5:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

The league has granted the Lakers their request for a disabled player exception for power forward Jordan Hill, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. It will be worth $1.78MM, or half of Hill’s salary for this season. The Lakers aren’t likely to use the exception, as Medina notes via Twitter, but it does give them one more way to acquire help down the stretch in case they need it.

L.A. already had a prorated portion of their midlevel exception remaining, worth about $1.235MM at this point, so now they possess multiple tools other than the midlevel exception to bring someone aboard. They can add $100K to the disabled player exception to acquire a player via trade. The Lakers have 14 players on their roster, so a spot is open.

D-League Moves: Kevin Jones, Julyan Stone

January 30th, 2013 at 1:47pm CST by Luke Adams

We'll track today's D-League assignments and recalls right here, with any further moves added to the top of the page throughout the day:

Rookie forward Kevin Jones has been re-assigned to the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers announced today in a press release. Jones didn't see any action during his recent stint with Cleveland, but has appeared in 15 NBA games so far. He has also excelled in his six contests with the Charge, averaging 23.8 PPG and 12.3 RPG.
The Nuggets have assigned Julyan Stone to their D-League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. Stone, who missed more than two months of the season while recovering from right hip surgery, will join Quincy Miller, the other Nugget currently playing for the D-League's Iowa Energy.

Heat Re-Sign Chris Andersen

January 30th, 2013 at 11:25am CST by Ryan Raroque

WEDNESDAY, 11:25am: The Heat have officially re-signed Andersen to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release. Andersen's initial deal expired overnight, while his new deal is set to expire on February 8th.

TUESDAY, 9:39pm: Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski tweets that Chris Andersen will sign another 10-day contract with the Heat on Wednesday. The 34-year-old veteran played his first game of the season with Miami last Friday, tallying two points and two rebounds in four minutes of play against the Pistons.

With Jarvis Varnado recently re-signed, the addition of Andersen will push the Heat's roster limit to the maximum of 15. Should Miami decide to keep the 10-year veteran beyond this next deal, they would have to offer him a guaranteed contract for the rest of the season.

The Heat now have a bigger sample size to evaluate Andersen's ability to contribute, as the team has six games over the span of the next ten days (compared to just three games during his first deal). Looking at his per game averages with Denver in 2011/12 (5.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 1.4 BPG in 15.2 MPG), it will be interesting to see if head coach Erik Spoelstra will give the 6'10 forward more minutes to showcase himself over the next week and a half.

Timberwolves Re-Sign Johnson, Gelabale

January 29th, 2013 at 1:41pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves have re-signed center Chris Johnson to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today (Twitter link). The Wolves have also inked Mickael Gelabale to a second 10-day deal (Twitter link). The initial contracts for both players expired last night.

Johnson, 27, had an excellent first 10 days with Minnesota, scoring 15 points in his debut and averaging 9.2 PPG on 72.0% shooting in five total games. He's not to be confused with the player with the same name who is currently on a 10-day contract with the Grizzlies.

Gelabale, meanwhile, got off to a strong start with the T-Wolves as well, posting 11 points and four rebounds in his first game with the club. The French forward also scored 15 in last Friday's loss in Washington.

With the signings, Minnesota's roster is back up to 16 players. The Wolves aren't required to waive anyone to get down to the usual maximum of 15, since they were granted an injury exception by the NBA earlier in the month, allowing them to carry an extra man.

Celtics Recall Fab Melo From D-League

January 29th, 2013 at 11:42am CST by Luke Adams

Here are Tuesday's D-League assignments and recalls, with any additional moves added to the top of the page throughout the day:

The Celtics have recalled Fab Melo from the Maine Red Claws, the team announced today in a press release. The last time Melo was recalled from the D-League, it was so his concussion could be treated by Celtics doctors. The rookie big man reportedly sat out Maine's most recent game with a quad strain, so the C's may have similar intentions this time around.

D-League Moves: Thunder, Mavs, Rockets, Suns

January 28th, 2013 at 3:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are today's D-League assignments and recalls, with the latest moves at the top of the page:

Jeremy Lamb and Daniel Orton, who have been shuttled back and forth between the Thunder and the Tulsa 66ers all season, were recalled from the D-League, the club announced today in a press release.
The Mavericks have re-assigned Jared Cunningham to the D-League, according to a team release. The move will give Cunningham a chance to play more minutes, as he'd only appeared briefly in one game for the Mavs since being recalled from the Texas Legends on December 31st.
The Rockets have recalled rookie big man Donatas Motiejunas from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team announced in a press release. Motiejunas had been on his third assignment to the D-League, where he has averaged 20.3 PPG and 9.7 RPG for the Vipers in seven games this season.
Diante Garrett has been recalled from the D-League by the Suns, the team announced today (Twitter link). In seven games for the Bakersfield Jam since being assigned to the team earlier this month, Garrett averaged 15.1 PPG and 7.4 APG, shooting a blistering 62.5% on three-pointers.
The Nets have recalled Tornike Shengelia and Tyshawn Taylor from the Springfield Armor, the team announced today in a press release. Both players have played extremely well in their two D-League stints this season, with Shengelia averaging 28.3 PPG, 13.7 RPG, and 7.0 APG in three games, while Taylor has recorded 26.5 PPG and 7.5 APG in four contests. However, Shengelia is currently out indefinitely with concussion symptoms.

Pacers Re-Sign Sam Young

January 28th, 2013 at 2:14pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers have officially re-signed Sam Young, the team announced today in a press release. Indiana had waived Young earlier in January after he sprained his ankle and before his contract could become guaranteed for the season.

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star reported (via Twitter) that the Pacers were expected to re-add Young to the roster to replace Dominic McGuire, whose second 10-day contract has expired. While Young takes McGuire's place as the team's 15th man, it's not clear whether the 27-year-old is back on a 10-day contract or rest-of-season deal.

Young was averaging 3.6 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 16.0 minutes per game earlier this season with the Pacers, before he went down with the ankle injury. Presumably, since the team is comfortable re-signing him at this point, Young's ankle has healed and he'll be available immediately.

Mavs Sign Mike James For Rest Of Season

January 28th, 2013 at 11:07am CST by Alex Lee

MONDAY, 11:07am: The Mavs officially announced, via press release, that they have signed James for the rest of the season.

SUNDAY, 9:14pm: The Mavericks have guaranteed the contract of Mike James for the remainder of the 2012/13 season, tweets Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Telegram. James' second 10-day deal, signed January 18, was set to expire on Sunday night. The Mavericks made no secret of their plan to sign James for the rest of the year. The veteran point guard has averaged 3.3 points and 11 minutes in 9 games in Dallas.

Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News wrote earlier today that the decision on James was expected to come down tonight, and that the perception of Rodrigue Beaubois would likely play a part in the decision. Marc Stein of ESPN confirms the deal, via Twitter, and says that the Celtics would have had interest if the Mavs passed.

Sixers Re-Sign Shelvin Mack

January 28th, 2013 at 9:04am CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers have re-signed Shelvin Mack to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release. Mack's initial 10-day deal, signed on January 17th, expired over the weekend.

Mack didn't play much during his first 10 days with the Sixers, only appearing briefly in last Monday's loss to the Spurs and Saturday's victory against the Knicks. The 22-year-old saw more extended action earlier in the season during his time with the Wizards, but was cut by Washington before his contract became guaranteed earlier this month.

The Sixers had been carrying 13 players, so no corresponding move is necessary to clear room for Mack, who will be the 14th man. If Philadelphia wants to keep the point guard around past his second 10-day contract, the club would need to ink him to a rest-of-season deal.