Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacers Sign Forward Jarrod Uthoff

September 25th, 2017 at 5:35pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 25, 5:35pm: The signing is official, per team release.

SEPTEMBER 21, 1:53pm: The Pacers have reached an agreement on a deal with free agent forward Jarrod Uthoff, reports Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). When Indiana finalizes the signing of Uthoff, it will bring the team’s roster count to 20 players, the offseason maximum.

Uthoff, 24, played his college ball at Iowa before going undrafted in 2016. After spending some time in the G League, Uthoff signed a 10-day contract with the Mavs in March, then stuck around for another 10-day contract and a rest-of-season deal. He was traded to the Rockets after the season when Houston was collecting non-guaranteed contracts, and was subsequently waived before his 2017/18 salary became guaranteed.

Although Uthoff played sparingly during his end-of-season run with the Mavs, he put up excellent shooting numbers in the G League. In 37 games for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Raptors 905, and Texas Legends, the 6’9″ forward made an impressive 46.2% of his attempts from three-point range, averaging 11.1 PPG.

The Pacers only have 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, so it’s possible Uthoff will get an opportunity to earn one of the club’s final two roster spots. He’ll compete with the likes of DeQuan Jones, Trey McKinney-Jones, Ben Moore, and Damien Wilkins.

Bulls Buy Out Dwyane Wade

September 25th, 2017 at 4:25pm CST by Austin Kent

SEPTEMBER 25, 4:25pm: Wade has been formally placed on waivers, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. He will clear waivers on Wednesday, Charania adds.

SEPTEMBER 24, 8:36pm: The Bulls and Dwyane Wade have reached an agreement on a buyout, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweets.

The early favorites for Wade’s services are the Spurs, Cavaliers and Heat, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Miami is currently positioned to pay him the most money this season.

Within minutes, Wojnarowski followed up with another tweet saying that Cleveland was a “clear frontrunner.”

Per Bobby Marks of ESPN, the Heat can sign Wade for $4.2MM and the Spurs can sign him for $3.3MM. The Cavaliers at $2.5MM could pay little over the veteran’s minimum.

The idea of Wade suiting up elsewhere in 2017/18 has been a popular topic ever since the organization traded Jimmy Butler to the Timberwolves earlier this summer.

It’s been said that Wade felt misled by the organization at the beginning of the offseason, given assurances that the team would remain competitive in his final year with the squad should he opt into his 2017/18 player option.

Wade, of course, did opt in but the Bulls soon changed course, trading Butler for a package centered around Zach LaVine and Minnesota’s No. 7 overall pick.

In the months since, the Bulls and Wade have gone back and forth in seemingly amicable negotiations.

Per Wojnarowski (also on Twitter), Wade will forfeit about $8MM of his $23.8MM contract, leaving the Bulls on the hook for around $16MM through 2017/18.

Considering that Chicago currently runs the risk of falling below the salary floor for the season, keeping the bulk of the veteran’s deal on their books isn’t particularly cumbersome.

Chicago came to an agreement with Nikola Mirotic earlier today that would have pushed the Bulls above the $89.2MM floor but the Wade buyout will drop them below yet again as training camps around the league begin in earnest.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Raptors Sign Andy Rautins

September 25th, 2017 at 12:50pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 25: The Raptors have officially signed Rautins to complete their roster for training camp, the club confirmed today in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 22: The Raptors will fill the final spot on their roster with former Syracuse sharpshooter Andy Rautins, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Rautins has agreed to a camp deal with Toronto. Wojnarowski notes that Rautins’ shooting made an impression on the Raptors in workouts.

Rautins, the 38th overall pick in the 2010 draft, only appeared in five NBA games with the Knicks, and hasn’t played in a regular season contest since the 2010/11 season. Since then, the 6’4″ shooting guard has played for a handful of teams overseas, in addition to spending time in the G League.

Most recently, Rautins has spent the last two seasons in Turkey playing for Gaziantep. In 2016/17, he appeared in 30 Turkish League games for the team, averaging 11.9 PPG and 4.7 APG to go along with a .391 3PT%.

While Rautins won’t enter training camp as a favorite to earn a regular season roster spot with the Raptors, the team is only carrying 13 guaranteed salaries, leaving up to two slots available on the roster. K.J. McDaniels, Kyle Wiltjer, Alfonzo McKinnie, and Kennedy Meeks also figure to be in the running for those spots.

It’s also worth noting that Rautins is the son of Leo Rautins, who has been covering the Raptors as a broadcaster since the team’s inception.

Thunder Sign Markel Brown, Finalize Camp Roster

September 25th, 2017 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have announced their 20-man roster for training camp, confirming a few previously-reported agreements and announcing one new deal. The following players are now members of the Oklahoma City roster, according to the team:

Bryce Alford, G (previously reported)
Markel Brown, G
Isaiah Canaan, G (previously reported)
Rashawn Thomas, F (previously reported)

Brown, the 44th overall pick in the 2014 draft, spent two seasons with the Nets from 2014 to 2016, averaging 5.3 PPG on an unimpressive .382/.297/.781 shooting line. Unable to find an NBA job last season, Brown signed with Russian club Khimki for the 2016/17 campaign. Now, he’ll get a chance to head to camp with the Thunder.

The signing of Brown signals that the Thunder won’t bring center Yannis Morin to camp at this point. Multiple outlets reported in July that Morin had reached an agreement with OKC, but the French big man isn’t listed on the team’s training camp roster.

Rockets Re-Sign Bobby Brown

September 25th, 2017 at 12:07pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 25: More than two months after agreeing to terms with Brown, the Rockets have officially confirmed his new deal in a press release that announces the club’s 20-man training camp roster.

JULY 20: The Rockets have reached an agreement with free agent guard Bobby Brown, according to international basketball journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Brown confirmed to Alykhan Bijani of ESPN 97.5 Houston (Twitter link) that he’s re-signing with the club.

Brown, 32, returned to the NBA last year for the first time since the 2009/10 season, joining the Rockets after spending several years playing in Europe and Asia. Although he was a standout scorer during most of his international stops, Brown didn’t play much for Houston in 2016/17, appearing in 25 regular season games and seeing just 123 total minutes of action. He also played limited minutes in five postseason contests.

While Brown didn’t make much of an impact on the court, it sounds like he has played a key role off it for the Rockets. The California native was said to be one of the key players involved in the recruitment of Chris Paul to Houston, along with James Harden and Trevor Ariza.

Brown’s contract with the Rockets expired in June, and he didn’t receive a qualifying offer from the club to make him a restricted free agent, so his efforts to get Paul to Houston looked a little unusual. It makes sense that the club would be willing to bring him back on a minimum salary contract — it remains to be seen whether he’ll get a full or partial guarantee on his deal, however.

Pistons Re-Sign Beno Udrih, Finalize Camp Roster

September 25th, 2017 at 11:53am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have formally announced their training camp roster, confirming that 19 players will start the preseason with the club. In addition to the 16 players who were already officially under contract with the club, Detroit has announced the signings of point guard Beno Udrih, forward Derek Willis, and center Landry Nnoko.

The Pistons’ agreements with Willis and Nnoko were reported all the way back in July, so those moves have long been anticipated. However, the team’s deal with Udrih is new.

Udrih, 35, was a Piston last season, spending the year with the franchise after being claimed off waivers in the fall. The Slovenian guard provided some depth at the point, appearing in 39 games for Detroit and averaging 5.8 PPG to go along with 3.4 APG. As Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press tweets, Udrih has spent the offseason working out in Detroit, hoping to catch on with an NBA team.

Details of Udrih’s contract haven’t been reported, but I’d expect a non-guaranteed pact. If that’s the case, the Pistons would head into camp with 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, and Udrih, Willis, Nnoko, and Eric Moreland also vying for roster spots.

Hawks Sign John Jenkins

September 25th, 2017 at 11:39am CST by Austin Kent

SEPTEMBER 25: The Hawks have officially signed Jenkins, the team announced today in a press release. Atlanta now has a full 20-man roster heading into training camp.

SEPTEMBER 24: The Hawks have agreed to a deal with swingman John Jenkins, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders tweets. The addition of Jenkins brings Atlanta’s roster count up to 20.

The 26-year-old last saw action with the Suns in 2016/17 but only played four games, previously he has served with the Hawks and the Mavs.

While details of Jenkins’ agreement with the Hawks aren’t known, a non-guaranteed contract seems likely.

Hawks Acquire, Waive DeAndre Liggins

September 25th, 2017 at 11:19am CST by Austin Kent

SEPTEMBER 25: In a pair of press releases, the Hawks confirmed today that they’ve acquired Liggins and cash from the Clippers in exchange for draft considerations, and subsequently waived Liggins.

Per Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constutition (Twitter link), the Clippers actually received a 2018 second-round pick in the swap, but it’s protected from 31-55, meaning it almost certainly won’t change hands.

SEPTEMBER 24: The Clippers have traded DeAndre Liggins and cash to the Hawks, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN writes. The deal will create a $1,577,230 trade exception.

Going back to the Clippers will be the draft rights to an as yet undetermined player.

The Hawks will turn around and waive the veteran Liggins, who they initially acquired from the Rockets ahead of the Chris Paul deal this summer.

By unloading Liggins today, the Clippers have managed to sneak to $122K below the luxury tax line. Had they waived and not traded Liggins, they would have been on the hook for an additional $26K.

Cavaliers Sign Kendrick Perkins To Camp Roster

September 25th, 2017 at 10:27am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 25: The Cavaliers have formally signed Perkins, according to the official camp roster released today by the club.

SEPTEMBER 21: Veteran center Kendrick Perkins was in attendance at LeBron James‘ Cavaliers mini-camp in Santa Barbara this week, and received an invitation to come to training camp with the club, a source tells Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. According to Vardon, Perkins will join the Cavs in camp, though he’s unlikely to make the regular season roster.

Perkins, who will turn 33 in November, last played in the NBA during the 2015/16 season for the Pelicans, averaging 2.5 PPG and 3.5 RPG in 37 regular season contests (14.6 MPG). Although he was unable to find an NBA home in 2016/17, Perkins isn’t ready to call it a career yet, and is looking to make a comeback.

A longtime starter for the Celtics and Thunder, Perkins posted very modest numbers during his last couple years in the league, and his skill-set doesn’t make him a great fit in the modern NBA. Still, it’s possible his locker room presence and leadership would make him worth a spot on some team’s 15-man roster.

That team likely won’t be the Cavaliers, however. After their Kyrie Irving trade with the Celtics, Cleveland has 15 players with fully guaranteed salaries on its roster, and that number doesn’t include youngsters Kay Felder or Edy Tavares.

Spurs Sign Amida Brimah

September 25th, 2017 at 10:14am CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have officially announced their roster for training camp, and the 19-man squad includes one new name. According to the team, free agent center Amida Brimah is now a member of the Spurs.

Brimah, who played his college ball at the University of Connecticut, averaged 7.6 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 2.6 BPG in 33 contests (24.7 MPG) during his senior year. The seven-foot prospect went undrafted in June, but caught on with the Bulls for Summer League action, appearing in four games for the team in Las Vegas.

Terms of Brimah’s deal aren’t known, but it figures to be a non-guaranteed summer contract. He’s a long shot to make the Spurs’ regular season roster, but should be a good bet to end up with the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League squad, as an affiliate player.