Heat Waive Josh Harrellson
The Heat have officially waived big man Josh Harrellson, according to a team press release. Harrellson was on a non-guaranteed contract, so the team won't be on the hook for his full-season salary.
Harrellson, 23, saw very limited action in Miami this season, logging just 28 total minutes in five games with the team. The 45th overall pick in 2011, Harrellson will become an unrestricted free agent assuming he clears waivers.
Having also waived Terrel Harris over the weekend, the Heat now have 13 players on their roster, leaving two open spots.
Rockets Sign Patrick Beverley
MONDAY, 12:25pm: Beverley's contract has been finalized and he's practicing with the team today, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
FRIDAY, 10:22am: Back in December, Eurohoops.net and the Houston Chronicle reported that point guard Patrick Beverley would sign with the Rockets. While Houston still hasn't officially added Beverley to its roster, the 24-year-old has signed a three-year contract with the team, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).
Nikos Varlas of Europhoops.net notes that the Russian basketball federation has to send Beverley's letter of clearance to Houston, which is only a formality. When that happens, the Rockets will be able to finalize the signing, and will have to release a player from their 15-man roster.
As Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors observed last month and as Feigen hints (via Twitter), Scott Machado seems like the logical candidate to be cut, since he plays the same position as Beverley and only has a partial guarantee on his contract. Houston has until Monday to release Machado and avoid paying him a full-season's salary.
Rockets Waive Scott Machado
The Rockets have released rookie guard Scott Machado, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Machado had been on a partially guaranteed contract, and his departure will open up a roster spot for Patrick Beverley. Beverley has already signed a deal with the Rockets, and will officially be added to the roster once he receives FIBA clearance.
As a first-year player, Machado would have made a full-season salary of $473,604 had his deal been guaranteed for the season. The contract had a 50% guarantee on it, so the 22-year-old will receive $236,802 from Houston. Machado will be one of a handful of players being paid by the Rockets but no longer on the roster, as Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors explored this weekend.
If Machado clears waivers and can't find an NBA deal, the Rockets would likely have interest in seeing him on their D-League affiliate, tweets Feigen.
Pacers Sign Dominic McGuire
11:09am: The Pacers officially announced the signing in a press release, confirming that it's a 10-day deal.
11:04am: Dominic McGuire will join his third team of the season, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, who tweets that McGuire signed a deal with the Pacers today. I would guess it's a 10-day contract for the forward, who was released by the Hornets on Friday.
The Pacers waived Sam Young yesterday, so the team won't need to make another move to clear a roster spot for McGuire. At the time of Young's release, Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star mentioned McGuire as a player Indiana could be targeting.
McGuire, who began the season with the Raptors, posted nearly identical numbers in nine games for the Hornets (2.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 16.1 MPG) as he did in 15 games with Toronto (2.1 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 15.3 MPG). The 27-year-old has also played for the Wizards, Kings, Bobcats, and Warriors during his six-year NBA career.
Hornets Sign Donald Sloan
MONDAY, 10:08am: The Hornets have signed Sloan to a 10-day contract, according to Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Picayune (via Twitter).
SUNDAY, 8:25am: Former Cavs point guard Donald Sloan is on his way back to the NBA after a brief D-League stint, as Sportando's Emiliano Carchia tweets, and Marc Stein of ESPN.com fills in the blank with the news that the Hornets are the team set to sign him (Twitter link). If the Hornets wait until Monday to make the signing official, it could be a 10-day contract for Sloan, who got a pair of 10-day deals from New Orleans last season. Otherwise, the 6'3" Texas A&M product is likely in line for a minimum-salary contract for the rest of the season.
The Cavs released Sloan on Christmas when they claimed Shaun Livingston off waivers, and Sloan made his debut Friday with the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the D-League. He posted back-to-back 22-point games with the Skyforce this weekend, and also put up 10 rebounds and seven assists in last night's contest. The 24-year-old averaged 4.1 points and 1.9 assists in 12.9 minutes per game for the Cavs this year, but lost the job of Kyrie Irving's primary backup to Jeremy Pargo. His numbers were down from last year, when he split the season between the Hawks, Hornets and Cavs, notching 5.5 PPG and 3.2 APG in 20.3 MPG.
The Hornets, at the minimum 13 players after waiving Dominic McGuire on Friday, have been going with two point guards in Greivis Vasquez and backup Brian Roberts. It's unclear whether the addition of Sloan is meant to provide more depth or signals the end in New Orleans for Roberts and his non-guaranteed contract. The Hornets would have to place Roberts on waivers today or Monday to avoid guaranteeing his minimum-salary deal for the rest of the season.
The addition of Sloan, another point guard, runs counter to the indication given this weekend by coach Monty Williams, who said the team wanted to have flexibility to add another small forward. Nonetheless, New Orleans would still have an additional roster spot available even they don't release anyone when Sloan comes aboard.
Celtics Waive Joseph And Varnado, Blockbuster In The Works?
10:35pm: Sam Amick of USA Today says that "Cousins is not going to the Celtics" and that teams who have been asking about his availability continue to being rebuffed (Twitter link).
7:08pm: Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (via Twitter) says that while nothing is imminent, Boston is one team to keep an eye on around the trade deadline.
6:51pm: Blakely writes that although it's unlikely that Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett, or Paul Pierce will be moved, there has been "growing" interest in Courtney Lee, who may be expendable with the return of Avery Bradley to the Celtics' lineup. Blakely also mentions forward Brandon Bass as another player who could possibly be on the move.
6:45pm: A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com tweets that the decision to waive Joseph and Varnardo may have opened the door to what could be a blockbuster deal, according to a league source. One name that has repeatedly been mentioned in speculative trade talk has been Kings' center DeMarcus Cousins (Twitter link).
5:10pm: While rounding up today's list of waived players, ESPN's Marc Stein also tweeted that forward Kris Joseph and center Jarvis Varnado had both been waived by the Celtics today.
The 6'7 Joseph had been selected by Boston as the 51st pick of the 2012 NBA Draft, appearing in six games this season and averaging 1.2 PPG in 4.0 MPG. Varnado had only played in five games, averaging 1.2 PPG in 3.6 MPG.
With the roster now at 13, ESPN Boston's Chris Forsberg speculates that the Celtics could target a veteran big man and a backup ball-handling guard to fill the two newly created roster spots. Forsberg also mentions that those potential moves could depend on the big man's asking price.
D-League Moves: Barton, Smith
The Portland Trail Blazers have assigned rookie small forward Will Barton and second-year point guard Nolan Smith to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA D-League, the team announced (link via Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com). They will both be sent down in time to appear at the D-League Showcase in Reno, Nevada.
Barton has appeared in 28 games for the Blazers this season, averaging 2.9 PPG and 1.4 RPG. Smith has played in 18 games and averaged 2.5 PPG and 1.8 APG. We'll keep track of today's NBDL assignments and recalls below:
- IndyStar.com reports that the Pacers have recalled Miles Plumlee from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
- Director of 76ers PR Michael Preston tweets that Philadelphia has recalled Arnett Moultrie.
76ers Waive Maalik Wayns
Marc Stein of ESPN (via Twitter) reports that the 76ers have released guard Maalik Wayns. The Villanova product had played in 20 games this season, averaging 2.5 PPG in 7.8 MPG.
Stein also tweets that although Philadelphia has the option of offering another 10-day contract to Wayns once he clears waivers, it isn't clear whether or not the team will go after someone else instead. The roster now stands at 13.
Pacers Release Young, Eyeing McGuire?
4:26pm: The Pacers have officially waived Young, according to Wells (via Twitter).
1:48pm: The Indiana Pacers are expected to release Sam Young today, reports Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star (via Twitter). Wells points out that Young suffered a severe ankle sprain that is expected to keep him out several weeks, just as teams are forced to make a decision on whether to guarantee nonguaranteed contracts.
Wells also reports that the Pacers are likely to sign another player to a 10-day contract for short-term wing help, which the team has needed since the injury to Danny Granger. Wells speculates that the team may look to sign forward Dominic McGuire, who was waived by the Hornets over the weekend.
Cavs Waive Samardo Samuels, Nets And Thunder Interested?
3:49pm: Sam Amico of FoxSportsOhio.com reports that the Brooklyn Nets and Oklahoma City Thunder may have interest in signing Samuels.
12:14pm: The Cavs have waived power forward Samardo Samuels, the team announced. The team had until Monday to place him on waivers in order to avoid paying his minimum-salary contract for the rest of the season. The move leaves the Cavs with 14 players, 11 of whom are on fully guaranteed deals. Daniel Gibson's contract is partially guaranteed for $2.49MM, while Shaun Livingston and Kevin Jones are without any guarantee.
Samuels' deal included a partial guarantee of $200K, but since he's already earned more than that amount this season, Cleveland doesn't owe him any more money. He was in the final season of a three-year pact he signed with the team after going undrafted in 2010 out of Louisville. The 6'9" native of Jamaica averaged 5.9 points and 3.4 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per game for his career, but his numbers have steadily declined since his rookie season. This year, he's down to 3.2PPG, 1.2RPG and 10.9MPG.
Samuels was caught up in a minutes crunch at his position, where he was competing with Jones, Luke Walton and Jon Leuer for playing time behind starter Tristan Thompson. If they want to give him another shot without committing to him for the entire season, the Cavs could opt to bring him back on a 10-day contract, which can be signed starting Monday.