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Wizards Sign Ty Lawson

April 12th, 2018 at 9:40am CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards have signed Ty Lawson to the fill the final open spot on their roster, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Per the NBA’s transactions log, the move was made official on Wednesday, the final day teams could sign players to their roster.

Lawson, 30, spent the 2017/18 season in China playing for the Shandong Golden Stars. In 46 Chinese League contests, the NBA veteran averaged 25.5 PPG, 6.5 APG, and 2.2 SPG, shooting 40.1% on three-point attempts.

The Wizards were linked to Lawson two months ago when John Wall was sidelined with his knee injury, but the team signed Ramon Sessions to help provide point guard depth. Even with Wall back in the lineup and Sessions still on the roster, Washington has circled back to Lawson, who received his letter of clearance once his playoff run in China on Wednesday, per Charania.

Because he wasn’t waived by an NBA team after March 1, Lawson will be eligible to play in the postseason for the Wizards, though he seems unlikely to see much – if any – action.

The Wizards had been one of two teams with an open spot on the 15-man roster, so they didn’t have to make a corresponding move to create space for the point guard. Charlotte will finish the 2017/18 season as the only club with fewer than 15 players on its standard NBA roster.

Rockets Sign Aaron Jackson, Cut Tim Quarterman

April 11th, 2018 at 8:34pm CST by clarkcrum

8:34pm: The moves are official, per Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston.

7:18pm: The Rockets plan to sign guard Aaron Jackson for the remainder of the season, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Jackson just recently finished his season as a member of the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association.

Jackson, 31, graduated from Duquesne in 2009, leaving as the school’s all-time leader in games played, third all-time in assists, and sixth all-time in steals. He was a member of CSKA Moscow in Russia from 2012 to 2017, winning a EuroLeague title in 2016.

Because Houston already has a full 15-man roster, the team plans to release recently signed guard Tim Quarterman in order to make room for Jackson, Charania adds.

Quarterman was signed on March 30 to a two-year deal, but next season’s contract was reportedly non-guaranteed. Quarterman should earn a little over $96K for his brief stint in Houston.

Wolves Convert Amile Jefferson To Standard Contract

April 11th, 2018 at 2:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves have converted Amile Jefferson‘s two-way contract to a standard NBA deal, the team announced today in a press release. The move ensures that the rookie forward will be eligible to play in the postseason, assuming Minnesota earns a spot.

Jefferson, who turns 25 next month, went undrafted out of Duke in 2017 and joined the Timberwolves for training camp. After being waived by the team prior to the start of the regular season, Jefferson headed to the Iowa Wolves for the 2017/18 season. He remained there all year, never appearing in a game for the NBA squad even after signing a two-way contract in January.

In 47 G League games, Jefferson averaged 17.8 PPG and 12.8 RPG for Iowa, making shots at a 62.4% rate. He set a new NBAGL record by racking up 36 double-doubles.

Minnesota still had an open spot on its 15-man squad, so no corresponding roster move was required to make room for Jefferson. With the Cavs, Lakers, Clippers, and Raptors having also made moves to fill their roster openings in recent days, the Hornets and Wizards are the only two teams that still have open spots. It’s not clear if Washington intends to sign a 15th man by the end of the day — Charlotte’s season ended on Tuesday, so the Hornets will head into the offseason without a full roster.

Raptors Convert Lorenzo Brown To Standard NBA Contract

April 11th, 2018 at 9:55am CST by ChrisCrouse

APRIL 11: The Raptors have formally converted Brown’s two-way contract to a standard NBA deal, the team announced today (via Twitter). Toronto now has a full 15-man roster heading into the postseason — two-way player Malcolm Miller is the only Raptor who won’t be eligible for the playoffs.

APRIL 10: The Raptors will sign Lorenzo Brown for the remainder of the season, according to Blake Murphy of Raptors Republic. Brown is currently on a two-way deal with Toronto.

The point guard won the G League’s Most Valuable Player Award this season, appearing in 32 games for the Raptors 905. He averaged 18.8 points, 8.8 assists, and 5.2 rebounds per game while playing for Toronto’s NBAGL affiliate.

By having his contract converted, Brown will be eligible to play for the Raptors in this year’s NBA postseason. Players on two-way deals are not eligible for postseason play, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors recently detailed.

Toronto had an open spot on its 15-man roster, so no corresponding move will be required to make room for Brown.

Cavs Sign Kendrick Perkins For Playoff Roster

April 11th, 2018 at 9:11am CST by Dana Gauruder

APRIL 11: The Cavaliers have officially signed Perkins, the team announced today in a press release. As cap expert Albert Nahmad tweets, Perkins will earn $13K+ for his one day of NBA service during the regular season, but the move will cost the team over $43K due to tax penalties.

APRIL 9: The Cavaliers will be signing veteran center Kendrick Perkins to the final spot on their playoff roster, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Perkins was released by the club during the preseason, then played 27 games for their G League affiliate, the Canton Charge.

Perkins, 33, averaged 8.7 PPG, 7.1 RPG in 21.3 MPG in G League play. He appeared to be on the verge of an agreement with Cleveland in February, so the imminent signing is not a major surprise.

It’s likely that Perkins will see little, if any, action in the playoffs. But he does give coach Tyronn Lue another big body as insurance. Perkins has not appeared in an NBA game since the 2015/16 season.

He spent his first 7 1/2 seasons with the Celtics before getting traded to the Thunder. He played four-plus seasons with Oklahoma City, then saw action in 17 games with Cleveland in 2014/15 season.

In his most recent NBA season, he played 37 games for the Pelicans.

Warriors Sign Quinn Cook Through 2018/19

April 10th, 2018 at 10:28am CST by marksuleymanov

APRIL 10, 10:28am: The Warriors have officially signed Cook to his new two-year deal, tweets Charania. As cap expert Albert Nahmad notes (via Twitter), Cook’s new contract will pay him just shy of $15K for this season, but will cost Golden State about $54K in additional tax penalties. He’ll get a guaranteed minimum salary for 2018/19.

APRIL 8, 3:10pm: The Warriors have agreed to a multi-year deal with point guard Quinn Cook that he is expected to sign by Tuesday, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports. As we noted earlier today, Golden State waived forward Omri Casspi to open a roster spot for Cook.

The guaranteed NBA contract makes Cook eligible for the NBA playoffs. With two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry sidelined for the first round of the playoffs, Cook will enter the postseason as the Warriors’ starting point guard.

Cook has filled in admirably for Curry, averaging 9.4 PPG and 2.7 APG while shooting 44.8% from three-point range in 31 games (16 starts).

The 25-year-old split last season between the Mavericks and Pelicans, appearing in just 14 games. The Duke University product went undrafted in 2015 and spent time in the G League until receiving his first NBA opportunity last season.

Lakers Sign Andre Ingram

April 9th, 2018 at 3:32pm CST by Luke Adams

3:32pm: The Lakers have officially signed Ingram, the team announced today in a press release.

2:42pm: The Lakers are signing veteran G-Leaguer Andre Ingram to a rest-of-season contract that will cover the last two games of the 2017/18 campaign, reports Bill Oram of The Orange County Register (Twitter link). L.A. currently has an open spot on its 15-man roster, so no corresponding roster move will be required.

Ingram, a 6’3″ guard, has played in the G League for 10 seasons, appearing in 384 games for the Utah Flash (now known as the Delaware Blue Coats) and the South Bay Lakers (formerly the Los Angeles D-Fenders).

In 2017/18, Ingram averaged 9.1 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 47 games (22.8 MPG) for South Bay. He’s a three-point specialist, having converted 47.5% of his long-distance attempts this season, and an NBAGL-record 713 over the course of his career (46.1%).

Despite his extensive G League experience, Ingram has never played in an NBA game. At age 32, he’s unlikely to be part of the Lakers’ long-term plans, and his contract won’t extend until next season, given L.A.’s desire to maximize its 2018 cap room. As such, the move looks like an opportunity to give Ingram a chance to play in the NBA for a couple games, and to get him two or three days’ worth of an NBA salary.

A three-day minimum salary for Ingram would be worth just shy of $14K.

Clippers Sign C.J. Williams To Three-Year Deal

April 9th, 2018 at 1:05pm CST by Luke Adams

1:05pm: The Clippers have signed Williams to a new three-year contract, a source tells Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter links). According to Turner, as expected, the second and third years of the deal won’t be guaranteed.

9:03am: The Clippers are set to elevate swingman C.J. Williams from his two-way contract to a spot on the 15-man NBA roster, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). According to Charania, the two sides are finalizing a three-year agreement.

Williams, 28, went undrafted out of North Carolina State back in 2012, and had played for a handful of international and G League teams since then. He made his NBA debut for the Clippers earlier this season and has now appeared in 36 games (16 starts) on his two-way deal, averaging 5.3 PPG on .446/.310/.813 shooting.

As we noted on Friday, the Clippers are one of seven NBA teams that still have an open roster spot available, so the club won’t have to cut anyone to make room for Williams. It makes sense that L.A. is opting to fill that roster opening with one of its two-way players — both Williams and guard Tyrone Wallace made strong cases to earn a standard NBA contract heading into the offseason.

As for the details of Williams’ new contract, Charania doesn’t offer many specifics, but the fact that it covers three years (2017/18, plus two more seasons) suggests that the Clips are using their mid-level exception to finalize the signing. The minimum salary exception would only allow for a two-year deal.

The Clips previously used their MLE to sign Milos Teodosic, Jawun Evans, and Sindarius Thornwell, leaving about $775K remaining on it. A portion of that money figures to be used to sign Williams, with minimum salaries likely to follow for 2018/19 and 2019/20 — those salaries almost certainly won’t be fully guaranteed.

Hornets Hire Mitch Kupchak As President, GM

April 8th, 2018 at 5:14pm CST by marksuleymanov

5:14pm: The Hornets have officially named Kupchak their president of basketball operations and general manager, per a team press release.

3:58pm: The Hornets and Mitch Kupchak have agreed to a deal that will make him the president and general manager of the organization, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. A press conference will be held sometime next week to introduce Kupchak, Wojnarowski notes.

A report earlier this week noted that the Hornets formally offered the vacant position to Kupchak. In addition to Kupchak, the Hornets interviewed several other candidates, including Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, Sixers VP of player personnel Marc Eversley and Heat assistant GM Adam Simon.

Charlotte started their search for a new general manager after informing Rich Cho he wouldn’t be retained back in February. Cho, who was also the GM of the Trail Blazers, took over the job for Charlotte in 2011.

Kupchak, a three-time NBA champion as a player, took over the Lakers’ basketball operations job in the summer of 2000. He helped lead Los Angeles to four NBA championships in that stretch. Kupchak revitalized the team with a major trade for Pau Gasol in 2008, which led to back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010.

In recent years, the Lakers entered a rebuilding stage with acquisitions such as Steve Nash and Dwight Howard not panning out. Kupchak was relieved of his duties in February 2017 as the Lakers underwent a front office overhaul.

As Wojnarowski writes, Kupchak and Hornets owner Michael Jordan — who favored Kupchak for the role — have a longstanding relationship built from their ties to the University of North Carolina and late coach Dean Smith.

Kupchak will be tasked with building a playoff-caliber team as the Hornets will miss the postseason for the second straight season. He will also have to work under monetary confines as the Hornets are capped out with every player except two ( Michael Carter-Williams and Treveon Graham) under contract for 2018/19.

Warriors Waive Omri Casspi; Quinn Cook Signing Imminent

April 8th, 2018 at 8:57am CST by Arthur Hill

In a long-anticipated move, the Warriors have waived veteran forward Omri Casspi to create a roster opening for Quinn Cook, writes Mark Medina of The San Jose Mercury News.

Cook, Golden State’s starting point guard with Stephen Curry sidelined by injury, must have his two-way deal converted to a standard NBA contract by Tuesday to be eligible for the postseason. The Warriors have discussed a two-year arrangement that will run through the 2019/20 season, but don’t plan to officially sign Cook until Tuesday, when playoff rosters must be finalized.

The Warriors were facing a deadline of 5pm Eastern today to waive Casspi because he has a guaranteed contract, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN. The deadline allows 48 hours for Casspi to pass through waivers and is set for today because some teams wrap up the season on Tuesday, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

Golden State’s front office was hoping to keep Casspi, but decided the team needed all of its centers — Zaza Pachulia, David West, JaVale McGee, Kevon Looney and Damian Jones — to provide more flexibility for playoff matchups, adds Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link). It’s an unfortunate outcome for Casspi, who bypassed a potentially better deal with the Nets last summer to sign for the veteran’s minimum with the Warriors in hopes of winning a title, Stein adds (Twitter link). Even if another team were to claim him, Casspi wouldn’t be eligible for the playoffs because he was on Golden State’s roster past March 1 (Twitter link).

The decision on Casspi was influenced by a sprained right ankle that has kept him out of the past 10 games, Medina notes. A recent MRI showed inflammation in the ankle and he had discomfort when making hard cuts. Casspi appeared in 53 games this season, averaging 5.7 points and 3.8 rebounds and shooting .455 from 3-point range.