Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Clippers Sign Tyrone Wallace, Waive Jamil Wilson

January 6th, 2018 at 4:15pm CST by Austin Kent

JANUARY 6, 4:15pm: Wallace’s signing is official, according to Real GM’s transactions report.

JANUARY 5, 4:58pm: The Clippers will sign Tyrone Wallace and waive Jamil Wilson, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Wallace’s deal with the club will be a two-way pact, as was Wilson’s.

Wojnarowski adds that despite his release, Wilson had looked like a serviceable NBA player during his stint with the Clippers; the organization simply needed backcourt help at this point in the season.

With both Austin Rivers and Patrick Beverley on the sidelines, the Clippers have lacked guard depth behind sixth man Lou Williams. Wallace, the final pick of the 2016 NBA draft, will look to bring some of the skills he’s flashed with Los Angeles’ G League affiliate now that he’s been called up to the big league club.

In 23 contests with the Agua Caliente Clippers, a team he’ll continue to play for intermittently due to the two-way deal, Wallace has averaged 22.8 points and 5.4 assists per game. His ability to score the ball will be much appreciated by the team currently getting just 13.7 points per game out of the starting backcourt of Milos Teodosic and C.J. Williams.

As Wojnarowski mentioned in his tweet, Wilson had played well for the Clips, averaging 7.0 points per game in 18.3 minutes. He started 10 of his 15 games with the big league franchise and played five more in the G League.

Magic Will Retain Khem Birch

January 6th, 2018 at 2:02pm CST by clarkcrum

The Magic will retain rookie big man Khem Birch for the remainder of the 2017/18 NBA season, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Birch’s non-guaranteed minimum salary contract of $815.6K will become fully guaranteed tomorrow evening, whereas the Magic would have only had to pay Birch the first $407.8K (or half) of his contract had they chosen to waive him today or tomorrow morning.

Birch, a 25-year-old rookie out of UNLV, has spent most of his rookie season with the Magic’s G League affiliate in Lakeland, FL. In the six games he has played for the Magic, he has averaged only 1.3 points and less than one rebound per game. However, with Nikola Vucevic now injured, the Magic will keep Birch around as a young prospect vying for playing time behind Bismack Biyombo and Marreese Speights.

Hawks To Guarantee Contracts of Cavanaugh, Taylor

January 6th, 2018 at 1:33pm CST by clarkcrum

Per a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Hawks are expected to guarantee the contracts of Isaiah Taylor and Tyler Cavanaugh before tomorrow’s guarantee deadline. Combined, that adds up to almost $2.0MM in guaranteed money that Atlanta could have saved by waiving the two players.

Taylor, a second-year guard out of Texas, played in seven total games for Houston last season as a rookie before signing with the Hawks in October. He has averaged 5.0 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game in 31 games so far this season primarily as a backup to Dennis Schroder.

Cavanaugh, an undrafted rookie big man out of George Washington, signed a two-way contract with the Hawks in November before ultimately having his contract converted to a standard NBA deal last month. In 26 games played so far this season, he has averaged 5.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

Jazz To Guarantee Contract of Raul Neto

January 6th, 2018 at 12:56pm CST by clarkcrum

The Jazz are expected to guarantee the contract of Raul Neto, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The deadline for Neto’s non-guaranteed deal is tomorrow, January 7, but Utah reportedly has every intention to keep him on their roster, despite a recent injury to his left knee.

Neto, a 25-year-old Brazilian who made his professional debut as a teenager in 2008, signed a three-year deal with the Jazz in July, 2015. He started 53 games as a rookie during the 2015/16 season, but has seen his minutes drop over the last two seasons, this season at least in part due to the Jazz’ acquisition of Ricky Rubio.

Neto has averaged 4.9 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game over 138 career NBA games.

Rockets To Guarantee Green’s Deal, Waive Brown

January 6th, 2018 at 12:37pm CST by Austin Kent

JANUARY 6, 12:37pm: Per Shams Charania of The Vertical, the Rockets would like to re-sign Brown later in the season for the rest of the year and the playoffs.

JANUARY 5, 12:35pm: The Rockets have officially waived Brown, the team announced today (via Twitter).

JANUARY 4, 9:42pm: The Rockets are expected to guarantee Gerald Green‘s contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The deadline for the veteran’s currently non-guaranteed deal is this Sunday but the franchise has every intention of keeping him.

To free up roster space after committing to the 31-year-old offensive sparkplug, the Rockets will waive point guard Bobby Brown. With Green aboard and Brown released, Houston will have one free regular contract slot open for flexibility.

Brown, a 33-year-old veteran of multiple leagues, has seen action in 20 contests for Houston but has ceded playing time to Briante Weber of late. He could, Wojnarowski writes, end up back with the club on a 10-day deal.

Brown, like Green, had a non-guaranteed contract for 2017/18 and will need to be waived by the Rockets before January 7.

Green has played five games for the Rockets since signing with the club in late December, averaging 21 points per game over his most recent four. He’s dropped 27 and 29 points in his last two contests.

Lakers Release Andrew Bogut

January 6th, 2018 at 12:12pm CST by marksuleymanov

12:12pm: The Lakers have officially requested waivers on Bogut, the team announced in a press release.

11:51am: The Lakers will release veteran big man Andrew Bogut, giving him a chance to latch on with a playoff contender for the rest of the season, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical.

Los Angeles signed Bogut to a one-year, partially guaranteed deal in September to provide a veteran presence to a young Lakers team. Bogut’s deal would have become fully guaranteed on January 10 but teams can avoid that by waiving players on non-guaranteed deals by January 7, allowing them to clear waivers before the deadline.

The 33-year-old appeared in just 24 games (five starts) with the Lakers, averaging 1.5 PPG and 3.3 RPG. However, Bogut still provides defensive value and playoff experience as he was a member of the Warriors’ 2014/15 NBA championship-winning team.

You can follow along with all transactions related to the non-guaranteed contracts at this link.

Rockets Sign Demetrius Jackson To 10-Day Contract

January 6th, 2018 at 11:36am CST by marksuleymanov

The Rockets have terminated their two-way deal with point guard Demetrius Jackson, tweets Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days. As Johnson notes, Jackson has signed a 10-day contract with the Rockets. However, he does not figure into the team’s plans, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

Jackson, 23, will spend time with Houston’s G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and appear in the G League showcase during his 10-day deal. The second-round pick (45th overall) from the 2016 NBA Draft appeared in 12 games with the Rockets this season, averaging just 0.7 PPG and 0.9 RPG. In 14 games with the Valley Vipers, Jackson has averaged 14.0 PPG and 4.1 APG in 30.9 minutes per game.

After he was waived by the Celtics in the offseason, Jackson signed a two-way deal with the Rockets, becoming the first player in franchise history to sign such a deal. Jackson saw more playing time early in the season when Chris Paul was out with injury but lagged on the depth chart behind Bobby Brown as the backup.

Sixers Sign James Young To Two-Way Deal

January 5th, 2018 at 5:46pm CST by Luke Adams

5:46pm: The signing is official, the team announced in a press release.

7:41am: After opening up a two-way contract slot on Thursday, the Sixers are expected to fill it soon. According to Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days, Philadelphia plans to sign former first-round pick James Young to a two-way deal.

Young, the 17th overall pick in the 2014 draft, spent the first three years of his NBA career in Boston, but had his fourth-year option declined by the Celtics and became a free agent last summer. After catching on briefly with the Bucks, the 22-year-old was waived during the preseason and headed to the G League to play for Milwaukee’s affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd.

While Young’s career NBA numbers aren’t impressive (2.3 PPG in 89 games), he has looked good in the G League this season. In 20 games for the Herd, the former Celtic has posted 22.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 3.0 APG, with a .443/.371/.765 shooting line.

The Sixers waived one of their two-way players, Jacob Pullen, on Thursday, creating an opening. The team will have to officially sign Young sometime before January 15, which is the last day teams can add players on two-way contracts. If he finalizes his two-way deal today, Young will be eligible to appear in the NBA for about 25 days, a prorated portion of the standard 45-day limit.

Sixers Waive Jacob Pullen

January 4th, 2018 at 4:20pm CST by Austin Kent

The Sixers have released two-way guard Jacob Pullen, Derek Bodner of The Athletic tweets. The point guard had played sparingly for the big league club, seeing NBA action in only three games.

Pullen inked his two-way deal in October and played in 14 games for the franchise’s G League affiliate in Delaware, averaging 15.7 points and 4.5 assists per game in the process.

The 28-year-old’s release will open a roster spot for the Sixers. Currently James McAdoo holds the team’s other two-way slot.

Wizards Waive Michael Young

January 3rd, 2018 at 2:21pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards have waived one of their players on a two-way contract, announcing today in a press release that rookie forward Michael Young has been released. The move opens up one of Washington’s two-way contract slots, with forward Devin Robinson still holding the other.

Young, 23, was one of the first players to sign a two-way contract back in July. The Wizards don’t have a G League affiliate of their own, so the former Pitt standout spent time with the Sixers’ and Suns’ affiliates, averaging 12.4 PPG and 5.7 RPG in 23 total G League contests.

According to contract data from Basketball Insiders, Young’s two-way contract was for two years, with $50K guaranteed in each season. The Wizards will remain on the hook for that full amount, though salaries for two-way players don’t count against a team’s cap.

January 15 is the deadline for teams to sign players to two-way contracts for 2017/18, so the Wizards will have nearly two weeks to fill the opening created by waiving Young.