Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Knicks’ Willy Hernangomez Attracting Trade Interest

January 7th, 2018 at 10:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Several teams have contacted the Knicks about backup center Willy Hernangomez, according to Ian Begley on ESPN Now.

Playing time has been an issue all season for Hernangomez as Enes Kanter took over as the starting center after being acquired from Oklahoma City, leaving Kyle O’Quinn, Joakim Noah and Hernangomez to compete for the remaining minutes.

Hernangomez has only played in three of the Knicks’ last 16 games and has appeared in just 17 all season. He is averaging 9.7 minutes per night, roughly half of his playing time as a rookie last year. The teams reaching out to the Knicks believe Hernangomez still has potential based on his performance last season, when he averaged 8.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

The Knicks don’t want to part with Hernangomez unless they receive a “prime talent” in return, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. He adds that no concrete offers have been received, but the teams making inquiries have a history of pursuing European players. New York would prefer to deal O’Quinn, who is expected to opt out this summer, but has only received “mild interest” from contenders about him.

A deal has been considered likely for some time as New York tries to solve its overabundance of centers. Hernangomez has the easiest contract to absorb, making $1,544,951 this season with a non-guaranteed $1,676,735 for 2018/19. O’Quinn is earning a little more than $4MM this year with a $4,256,250 player option for next season, while Noah is virtually untradable with two years and nearly $38MM left on his deal.

Jarrett Jack To Have Contract Guaranteed

January 7th, 2018 at 9:08am CST by Arthur Hill

Knicks point guard Jarrett Jack will have his contract guaranteed for the remainder of the season, tweets Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders.

Signed shortly before the beginning of training camp, Jack has taken over as New York’s starting point guard and is averaging 7.2 points and 5.9 assists in 37 games. He has also been a mentor to first-round pick Frank Ntilikina.

The Knicks are the eighth team for the 34-year-old, who is in his 13th NBA season. He has bounced back from a torn ACL he suffered with the Nets in 2015/16.

Nets To Guarantee Spencer Dinwiddie’s Contract

January 7th, 2018 at 8:33am CST by Arthur Hill

Point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, in the midst of a breakout season with the Nets, will have his contract guaranteed for the rest of the year, tweets Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders.

Dinwiddie has been a bargain on his $1,524,305 salary, taking over the starting point guard role and nearly doubling his numbers from last season with 13.0 points and 6.4 assists per game.

The 24-year-old also has a non-guaranteed deal for next season worth $1,656,092. Today marks the deadline for teams to waive players before their salaries become fully guaranteed on Wednesday.

Bucks To Sign Xavier Munford To Two-Way Deal

January 6th, 2018 at 11:21pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Bucks will sign guard Xavier Munford to a two-way contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. Munford is currently playing for the organization’s G League affiliate, where he is averaging 24 points per game.

Milwaukee already has both of its two-way slots filled with Joel Bolomboy and Sean Kilpatrick, so at least one more move will have to be made before Munford can be added. Either player could be released or have his contract converted to a standard NBA deal as the Bucks plan to open a roster spot by waiving guard DeAndre Liggins on Sunday.

Munford signed with the Bucks in early October, but was waived a week later. He has extensive experience in the G League since going undrafted in 2014, but his only time in the NBA was 14 games with the Grizzlies during the 2015/16 season.

Eric Moreland’s Contract To Be Guaranteed

January 6th, 2018 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Pistons will guarantee the contract of Eric Moreland for the rest of the season, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN.

The third-year power forward signed a three-year deal with Detroit in July, but none of the seasons is fully guaranteed. He has a $1,739,333 salary for this season with a $750K guarantee that kicked in opening night and a $1MM guarantee through Wednesday, which is when all NBA contracts become fully guaranteed for the rest of the season.

The 26-year-old played 11 combined games during his first two seasons with the Kings, spending most of his time in the G League. He was waived by the Cavaliers before the start of last season and spent the year with Cleveland’s G League affiliate.

Moreland has appeared in 33 games for the Pistons and is averaging 1.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 11.3 minutes of action. He made his first career start tonight.

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.