Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavaliers Sign Dwyane Wade

September 27th, 2017 at 4:09pm CST by ChrisCrouse

SEPTEMBER 27, 4:09pm: After clearing waivers, Wade has signed his new contract with the Cavs and will report to the team’s evening practice session tonight, says Wojnarowski. Assuming Wade’s signing is official, that means the Cavs have also waived JaCorey Williams, as reported earlier today.

SEPTEMBER 26, 4:37pm: Dwyane Wade plans to sign with Cleveland once he clears waivers, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Wade agreed to a buyout with the Bulls earlier this week and he’ll be free to sign with any club on Wednesday. Cleveland currently has 20 players under contract–the maximum allowed for training–so an immediate corresponding move will be needed to make the transaction official.

It was reported earlier today that Wade had “no intention of going anywhere” else besides Cleveland and that the two sides were nearing an agreement. The Thunder, Heat, Lakers, Warriors, and Spurs were all linked to the 35-year-old, though it appears Wade simply wants to compete for a championship alongside his good friend LeBron James.

Wade’s deal with the Cavaliers will be for one season at the minimum salary, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). The Chicago native is entering his 15th season in the league, meaning his minimum salary will come in at approximately $2.33MM.

Wade was scheduled to make $23.8MM in Chicago this season, but the team’s offseason plans forced him to consider a buyout agreement. The Bulls traded away Jimmy Butler and appear to be in a full rebuild, something that didn’t appeal to Wade. After seemingly amicable negotiations with Chicago’s front office, Wade ended up forfeiting roughly $8MM for the right to be a free agent.

With Wade in the fold, the Cavs could roll at as many as three new starters on opening night, just four months after representing the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. The team traded away Kyrie Irving this summer, netting Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder along with Ante Zizic and a pair of future picks, and many speculate that the team could slide Kevin Love to the five in order to make room for Crowder in the first unit.

Wade played a career-low 29.9 minutes per contest in Chicago last season and it would be surprising if he tops that mark with Cleveland this year. In 60 games with the Bulls in 2016/17, he averaged 18.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists while posting a player efficiency rating of 18.5.

Photo courtesy of USA Today.

Rockets Sign George De Paula

September 27th, 2017 at 11:33am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets have officially signed Brazilian guard George de Paula to their roster, the team announced today (via Twitter). The move brings Houston’s roster count back up to 20 players after the club parted ways with Shawn Long on Tuesday.

De Paula, 21, went undrafted in June and caught on with the Rockets’ Summer League team in July. ESPN’s Chris Haynes (Twitter link) first reported his agreement with the club.

While details of the agreement aren’t known, the newly-signed guard figures to receive little to no guaranteed money to join the Rockets for camp. De Paula is a good bet to ultimately land with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s G League team, as an affiliate player.

Cavaliers To Waive JaCorey Williams

September 27th, 2017 at 11:16am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers intend to create room on their roster to sign Dwyane Wade by waiving undrafted rookie JaCorey Williams, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link).

Williams’ tenure as a Cavalier was short-lived — the team just made his signing official on Tuesday. However, with a full 20-man roster and Wade set to clear waivers later today, Cleveland needed to make a move in order to create an opening for the future Hall-of-Famer.

A report on Tuesday night had indicated that Kendrick Perkins may be on the chopping block, but the veteran center remains on the Cavs’ roster for now. Still, more cuts will come soon.

Once they waive Williams and sign Wade, Cleveland will be back up to 20 players, including 16 on guaranteed contracts. By opening night, the club will have to get down to 15 players, which will mean trading or cutting one player on a guaranteed deal — or more than one, if the Cavs want to keep any of their non-guaranteed players, such as Perkins, Kay Felder, or Edy Tavares.

Williams, a 6’8″ forward, played his first three college seasons at Arkansas, but didn’t see much action for the Razorbacks, averaging just 11.9 minutes per game in 96 total contests for the program. After transferring to Middle Tennessee State for his senior year, he enjoyed a breakout season, averaging 17.3 PPG and 7.3 RPG. Williams, who was named the Conference USA Player of the Year for 2016/17, joined the Warriors for Summer League action in July before his brief stint with the Cavs. He’ll be on the lookout for a new team once he clears waivers.

Celtics Sign Jonathan Holmes, Devin Williams

September 26th, 2017 at 5:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics have finalized their training camp roster by signing Jonathan Holmes and Devin Williams to fill their last two roster spots, the team announced today in a press release. Boston is now carrying the maximum 20 players.

Holmes, 24, went undrafted out of Texas in 2015 and saw his rookie season derailed by a torn labrum. Last fall, Holmes joined the Cavs for camp but didn’t make the team’s regular season roster and spent most of the season playing in the G League for the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s affiliate. The power forward’s rights were traded to the Maine Red Claws this week, signaling that the C’s expect him to play for their G League squad.

As for Williams, the 23-year-old power forward played his final game for West Virginia in 2016, forgoing his senior year to enter the draft. He went undrafted last June and spent last season with Melbourne United in Australia and with the Greensboro Swarm in the G League.

The two signings signal that the Celtics won’t carry Daniel Dixon on their training camp roster at this time. Multiple outlets reported in August that Dixon had reached an agreement with Boston, but that deal either fell through or will be finalized at a later date.

Suns Sign T.J. Warren To Four-Year Extension

September 26th, 2017 at 4:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

SEPTEMBER 26: The Suns have officially signed Warren to a rookie scale extension, the team announced today in a press release.

“We are excited about extending T.J.’s contract,” Suns GM Ryan McDonough said in a statement. “T.J. has improved every year and we think he has the potential to continue to grow as he just begins to approach his prime. We view T.J. as an important part of our young core going forward and we are glad that we were able to reach an agreement on this extension.”

SEPTEMBER 25: The Suns and forward T.J. Warren have come to terms on a four-year, $50MM extension, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Warren will make $3.15MM this season and was eligible to become a restricted free agent next summer. The deadline for the extension was October 16.

Warren became a starter last season, averaging 14.4 PPG and 5.1 RPG in 31.0 MPG. He appeared in 66 games, 59 as a starter, and missed 13 games in November and December due to a head injury. The 6’8” Warren, who is expected to be Suns’ starting small forward again this season, has made 50.2% of his shots during his three-year career but needs work on his 3-point game (31.2%).

Phoenix can afford to extend a young player on the rise, as it has just $62.7MM on guaranteed commitments for the 2018/19 season, not including Warren’s new deal.

The Suns only lose $2MM on cap space because Warren had a $9.5MM free agent cap hold next offseason, Bobby Marks of ESPN notes.

With Warren in the fold, the Suns should have a stable roster in the next couple of years. The only significant player headed to unrestricted free agency next summer is center Alex Len, who recently signed his qualifying offer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rockets Waive Shawn Long

September 26th, 2017 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets have formally waived big man Shawn Long, the team announced today (via Twitter). Long will clear waivers and become an unrestricted free agent on Thursday, assuming no other NBA team places a claim on him.

An undrafted free agent out of Louisiana-Lafayette, Long appeared in 18 games for the Sixers in his rookie season, and was productive in limited minutes. The 6’9″ center averaged 8.2 PPG and 4.7 RPG in just 13.0 minutes per contest. He was even better in the G League, averaging a double-double (20.2 PPG, 11.1 RPG) in 39 games for the Delaware 87ers.

Despite his solid rookie year, Long wasn’t viewed as part of Philadelphia’s long-term plans, and was sent to Houston in a June trade when the Rockets were collecting non-guaranteed salaries with an eye toward including them in a bigger deal.

Ultimately, the Rockets never found a use for Long in a trade, and are now waiving him before they’re committed to paying any of his 2017/18 salary — the 24-year-old would have seen his non-guaranteed contract become partially guaranteed for $50K if he had remained under contract beyond today.

Houston now has 19 players on its training camp roster.

Jazz Sign Taylor Braun

September 26th, 2017 at 1:59pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz have filled the final spot on their 20-man training camp roster by signing free agent swingman Taylor Braun, the team announced today in a press release.

Braun, who went undrafted out of North Dakota State in 2014, has caught on with a couple NBA teams for Summer League action since then, but has mostly spent his time playing overseas. Braun played in Belgium during his first professional season, and has spent the last couple years in Germany.

In his final college season back in 2013/14, Braun averaged 17.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 3.8 APG, and 1.5 SPG, making 41.4% of his three-point attempts. He was named the Summit League Player of the Year and helped North Dakota State pull off an upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Having signed Braun, the Jazz now have 20 players under contract, including 15 on guaranteed deals and two on two-way contracts. Braun figures to be one of the three players in Utah camp on non-guaranteed contracts, along with Naz Mitrou-Long and Raul Neto.

Kings Sign Marcus Williams

September 26th, 2017 at 1:44pm CST by Luke Adams

Former first-round pick Marcus Williams is back on an NBA roster, according to the Kings, who issued a press release today announcing that they’ve signed the veteran point guard to a contract. Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed, but a non-guaranteed pact seems likely.

Williams, 31, was the 22nd overall pick in the 2006 draft, but the UConn product spent just four years in the league, appearing in 203 total games for the Nets, Warriors, and Grizzlies. He hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since the 2009/10 season, making the signing a curious one for the Kings.

Although he hasn’t been playing in the NBA since 2010, Williams has continued his professional career overseas, spending time with clubs in Russia, China, Spain, Serbia, and Montenegro. Most recently, he signed a deal in March with Cholet Basket in France.

The signing of Williams may have been influenced by Kings assistant general manager Ken Catanella. The veteran executive worked in the Nets’ front office from 2006 to 2008, which were the same years that Williams spent with the club.

Williams should not be confused with the former Arizona forward of the same name, who last played in the NBA for the Spurs in 2008/09.

Cavaliers Sign JaCorey Williams

September 26th, 2017 at 1:37pm CST by Luke Adams

1:37pm: Williams’ deal with the Cavs is now official, the team confirmed in a press release.

8:24am: The Cavaliers will fill the final spot on their 20-man training camp roster by signing undrafted rookie JaCorey Williams, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. According to McMenamin, Williams will likely ink an Exhibit 10 deal, which could be converted into a two-way contract next month.

Williams, a 6’8″ forward, played his first three college seasons at Arkansas, but didn’t see much action for the Razorbacks, averaging just 11.9 minutes per game in 96 total contests for the program. After transferring to Middle Tennessee State for his senior year, Williams enjoyed a breakout season, averaging 17.3 PPG and 7.3 RPG. He was named the Conference USA Player of the Year for 2016/17.

After Williams went undrafted in June, it initially appeared that he may end up in camp with the Warriors, but his agreement with Golden State only spanned Summer League play. Rather than joining the defending NBA champions, Williams will head to camp with the Eastern Conference champs, and the Cavs are intent on having him develop with the Canton Charge, their G League affiliate, McMenamin notes. Williams may end up as an affiliate player if he doesn’t land in one of the club’s two-way slots.

While the Cavs will have a full 20-man roster after finalizing Williams’ deal, the signing won’t preclude a pursuit of Dwyane Wade, who is on track to clear waivers on Wednesday. Cleveland would need to waive or trade a player to add Wade, but such a move would have been necessary by opening night anyway if Wade chooses the Cavs, since the team already has 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts.

Bulls Re-Sign Nikola Mirotic

September 26th, 2017 at 12:17pm CST by marksuleymanov

SEPTEMBER 26: The Bulls have officially re-signed Mirotic, the team announced today in a press release. The club’s roster count is now at 19 players, including 13 on guaranteed deals.

SEPTEMBER 24: The Bulls have agreed to re-sign Nikola Mirotic to a two-year, $27MM deal, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical. Mirotic has a right to veto any trade in the first year of his new Bulls deal, Charania adds. Mitrocic’s second year will include a team option, per Vincent Goodwill of CSN Chicago (Twitter link).

Mirotic, 26, has been a steady scoring presence for Chicago the last three seasons. The Montenegro native averaged 10.6 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 70 games (15 starts) for the Bulls last season. The 6’10” forward was one of the last restricted free agents on the market — with Mirotic returning to Chicago and Alex Len signing his qualifying offer in Phoenix, Grizzlies forward JaMychal Green is now the final unsigned RFA.

Earlier this week, we noted that Mirotic had not made any progress but that his qualifying offer remained on the table. Now, he has a multiyear deal that will keep him in Chicago.