Raptors, Suns To Swap Haddadi, Telfair
1:33pm: The second-round pick headed to Phoenix will either be the Raptors' or Kings' 2014 pick, whichever is lower, reports Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter).
1:03pm: The Raptors and Suns have agreed to a deal that will send Sebastian Telfair to Toronto and Hamed Haddadi to Phoenix, reports ESPN.com's Chris Broussard (via Twitter). According to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (via Twitter), the Suns will also acquire a second-round pick in the trade, as ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported earlier today.
Since trading Jose Calderon to the Pistons in the deal that landed them Rudy Gay, the Raptors had been exploring avenues for adding another point guard, having reportedly targeted Eric Maynor and Luke Ridnour along with Telfair. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported this morning that the Raptors had emerged as the frontrunners for Telfair, who had a cheaper salary and trade cost than Toronto's other options.
In addition to landing a protected second-rounder from the Raptors, the Suns will also cut costs a little, as Haddadi is earning just $1.3MM compared to Telfair's $1.57MM. The move also lets the team create playing time for rookie point guard Kendall Marshall, which was Phoenix's initial motivation for exploring a Telfair trade.
Rockets Send Morris To Suns, Get Kings’ Robinson
The Rockets have finalized a pair of deals they agreed upon Wednesday night, sending Marcus Morris to the Suns for a second-round pick and trading Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich, Toney Douglas and $1MM to the Kings for Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt. The second-rounder heading to Houston is Phoenix's own 2013 selection. The Suns, who were at the roster limit of 15 players going into the trade, waived Luke Zeller to make room for Morris.
Houston was reportedly deciding between a pair of deals for Morris, whom the Rockets held out of their win against Oklahoma City on Wednesday. With Houston's top two power forwards gone, it looks like a pair of rookies, in Robinson and Terrence Jones, will man the position as the team fights to hold on to the final playoff spot in the West. One of the motivations to trade Morris was to free up time for Jones, according to HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler.
As Grantland's Zach Lowe points out via Twitter, the pair of moves will save Houston approximately $1.6MM for next season if they decline their option on Garcia. Lowe surmised earlier that Houston would look to cut between $1.5MM and $2MM to clear room for a max deal to land Dwight Howard, who'll be a free agent this summer. The Rockets also get the No. 5 overall pick from this past June's draft in Robinson, who's seen just 15.9 minutes per game as a reserve for the Kings this year. Nonetheless, Robinson is grabbing 4.7 rebounds in his limited action, which would extrapolate to 10.6 rebounds per 36 minutes.
Sacramento had appeared unlikely to make a deal as their ownership situation remains in limbo, but they flipped Robinson for two expiring deals and Patterson, who will enter the final season of his rookie contract next year. The move was all about cost-cutting and not something the Kings current management wished to do, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The Chris Hansen/Howard Ballmer group from Seattle that has a deal in place to buy the Kings was briefed on the trade before it went down, according to fellow Yahoo! Sports scribe Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). It's unclear exactly where the directive to make the trade came from, though SB Nation's Tom Ziller indicated Wednesday night that co-owner Gavin Maloof and Geoff Petrie are the driving forces in the Kings front office at the moment.
The Suns considered trading a first-round pick for Morris when the Rockets drafted him 14th overall in 2011, but wound up nabbing him for a second-rounder, currently projected to be the 35th overall selection. Now the power forward will reunite with his twin brother, Markieff Morris, whom the Suns took 13th overall in 2011. With the next pick that year, the Rockets drafted Marcus.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (All Twitter links) initially broke the news of both trades. Sam Amick of USA Today (All Twitter links) and TNT's David Aldridge (Twitter link) contributed additional details.
Suns Release Luke Zeller
The Suns have released Luke Zeller to clear a roster spot for Marcus Morris, according to ESPN.com's Chris Broussard (via Twitter). Zeller's minimum-salary deal was guaranteed for the rest of the season, so he'll still be paid the full amount and the Suns will still absorb the cap hit.
Releasing Zeller allows the Suns to regain some leverage in trade talks involving Jermaine O'Neal and Sebastian Telfair. Had Phoenix been forced to move one of those two players to clear a roster spot, the offers likely would have been very underwhelming.
Zeller, 25, appeared in 16 games for the Suns this season, averaging 1.2 PPG in very limited minutes.
Celtics Sign Terrence Williams
WEDNESDAY, 1:34pm: The Celtics have officially signed Williams, who received his letter of clearance from China, to a 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release.
MONDAY, 12:06pm: The Celtics have agreed to sign Terrence Williams to a 10-day deal, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). Because Boston has a pair of open roster spots, no corresponding move will be necessary to clear room for Williams.
Williams, the 11th overall pick in 2009, spent most of this season playing in China for the Guangdong Southern Tigers. The 25-year-old averaged 17.9 PPG in 29 games in the Chinese Basketball Association this season, according to Asia-Basket.com. Mark Deeks of ShamSports reported last week that Donald Sloan had replaced Williams on Guangdong after Williams returned stateside due to a death in the family.
Although he has shown promise in stints with the Nets, Rockets, and Kings in three NBA seasons, Williams has recorded just 7.6 PPG and an 11.4 PER in his career. Williams, who was a camp invitee for the Pistons in the fall, will provide at least short-term depth for a Celtics team that has lost Rajon Rondo, Jared Sullinger, and Leandro Barbosa to season-ending injuries in the last month.
Washburn reported earlier today that the Celtics were close to signing Williams.
Heat Re-Assign Dexter Pittman To D-League
Tonight's D-League assignments..
- The Heat announced that they have re-assigned center Dexter Pittman to the Sioux Falls SkyForce of the D-League. Pittman, 24, was just recalled from Sioux Falls on Wednesday. After seeing time in 35 games last season, Pittman has seen action in just four contests this year.
Sixers Sign Jeremy Pargo For Rest Of Season
4:45pm: The Sixers have officially signed Pargo a contract for the remainder of the season, the team announced today in a press release.
12:34pm: Following the expiration of Jeremy Pargo's 10-day contract with the 76ers, the team has agreed to re-sign the point guard to a rest-of-season deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
No corresponding move to clear a spot on the roster will be necessary for the Sixers, who had been carrying 13 players. Even with Pargo under contract for the rest of the season, the club will have one open roster spot to facilitate a trade or sign another free agent.
Pargo, who appeared in 25 games for the Cavaliers earlier this season, was released by Cleveland when the team acquired three Grizzlies players in exchange for Jon Leuer. The Sixers signed Pargo to a 10-day deal back on February 7th, and saw the 26-year-old averaged 8.0 PPG and 2.7 APG in three contests before deciding to re-sign him for the season.
Jeremy is the younger brother of current free agent Jannero Pargo, who signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Hawks and was recently said to be drawing interest from the Celtics.
Bill Walker Signs To Play In D-League
Former Celtics and Knicks swingman Bill Walker has signed to play in the D-League and will be assigned to a team Tuesday, agent Mike Naiditch told Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Walker was recently linked to the Grizzlies as they sought to fill out their roster following last month's three-for-one trade with the Cavs.
Walker, a second-round draft pick in 2008, spent four seasons in the NBA, but hasn't returned to the league since the Knicks waived him shortly before the end of the regular season last year. He's averaged 5.8 points and 37.9% three-point shooting in 15.2 minutes per game for his career. His best season by far took place in 2009/10, when he notched 11.9 PPG and shot 43.1% from behind the arc in 27.4 MPG with the Knicks after coming over from Boston in a deadline trade.
He joins a host of former NBA players in the D-League, including Shelvin Mack, Jerome Jordan and DaJuan Summers. Those three and others are on the rosters for the D-League All-Star Game this weekend.
Rockets Recall Jones, Smith From D-League
Today's D-League assignments and recalls can be found below, with any additional moves added to the top of the list throughout the day:
- The Rockets have recalled Terrence Jones and Greg Smith from their D-League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. The Rockets won't play again until next Wednesday, but the Rio Grande Valley Vipers have an even longer layoff, with their next game coming on February 22nd. While Smith has appeared in just three contests for the Vipers, Jones earned a spot in the D-League's All-Star game, averaging 18.4 PPG and 9.3 RPG in 17 games so far.
D-League Moves: Pittman, Miller, Stone
We'll keep track of today's D-League assignments and recalls right here, with any additional moves added to the top of the page:
- Dexter Pittman has been recalled from the D-League by the Heat, according to a team release. Pittman averaged 9.0 PPG and 7.3 RPG in three games during his most recent stint with the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
- The Nuggets have recalled Quincy Miller and Julyan Stone from their D-League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. While Miller has averaged 11.3 PPG for the Iowa Energy in 23 D-League games, Stone struggled during his stint with the club, going scoreless in his last four contests. Neither player figures to see much action with the Nuggets, but they'll provide depth for tonight's game in Brooklyn, particularly if Andre Iguodala, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, and JaVale McGee remain sidelined.
Donald Sloan Signs In China
WEDNESDAY, 12:47pm: Sloan has finalized a contract with Guangdong, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). Berger adds in a second tweet that the deal is only for the rest of this season.
TUESDAY, 12:41pm: For teams like the Celtics, who may be looking at D-League prospects in search of backcourt help, one prime candidate appears to be off the market. According to Mark Deeks of ShamSports, Donald Sloan has left the D-League and will replace Terrence Williams on China's Guangdong Southern Tigers. Williams came home due to a death in the family, says Deeks (Twitter links).
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports (via Twitter) that Sloan is closing in on a "lucrative" contract with Guangdong, though it's not clear if it will just be for the remainder of this season. Deeks suggests that the Texas A&M product will be returning stateside after the CBA season ends, and could catch on with an NBA team later this season.
Sloan, 24, appeared in 20 games for the Cavaliers earlier this season, earning some extra playing time when Kyrie Irving was sidelined. He also signed a 10-day contract with the Hornets and appeared briefly in three games for New Orleans.
Although Sloan has yet to make a real impact at the NBA level, he has excelled for the D-League's Sioux Falls SkyForce this year, averaging 22.1 PPG, 7.4 APG, and 6.5 RPG, while leading the team to an 8-2 record in his 10 contests.