Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Thunder To Sign Isaiah Canaan To Camp Deal

September 24th, 2017 at 12:43pm CST by Arthur Hill

Free agent guard Isaiah Canaan will sign a non-guaranteed deal with the Thunder, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical.

Canaan has been searching for a team all summer after being waived by the Bulls at the end of June before his $200K guarantee for the upcoming season kicked in. The 26-year-old guard got into 39 games for Chicago last season, averaging 4.6 points in about 15 minutes per night.

If he earns a roster spot, Oklahoma City will be his fourth NBA team. He has also played for the Rockets and Sixers during his first four years in the league.

Canaan’s signing comes a day after Trey Burke agreed to a deal with the Thunder, then reconsidered and decided to seek a different opportunity. OKC has been looking for a veteran point guard to back up Russell Westbrook.

Thunder To Sign Trey Burke

September 23rd, 2017 at 3:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

[UPDATE: Burke has reportedly backed out of a potential deal with the Thunder. Read the full story here.]

The Thunder are putting the finishing touches on a deal with free agent point guard Trey Burke, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical.

The 24-year-old has been looking for an opportunity since the Wizards refused to extend him a qualifying offer after the end of last season. Burke spent one year in Washington after being acquired in a trade with the Jazz, averaging 5.0 points and 1.8 assists in 57 games. He was the primary backup to John Wall for much of the season, but fell out of the rotation after Washington signed Brandon Jennings in February.

Burke attended a workout for the Timberwolves earlier this month and a free agent mini-camp with the Bucks in late August. He received interest from the Knicks as well.

If Burke makes the Oklahoma City roster, he will compete with newly signed Raymond Felton to be a veteran backup to Russell Westbrook.

Knicks To Waive Chasson Randle

September 23rd, 2017 at 1:13pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks will waive guard Chasson Randle to create a roster opening for the Carmelo Anthony trade to be completed, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical.

New York was at the roster limit of 20 players before agreeing this afternoon to send Anthony to Oklahoma City in exchange for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a draft pick. The Knicks had five non-guaranteed contracts heading into camp and elected to part with Randle.

Parting with Randle won’t cost the Knicks anything, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. The 24-year-old would have been guaranteed $50K if he had remained on the roster through Tuesday.

Randle played for the Knicks and Sixers last season and spent significant time in the G League. He was waived by New York before the season started, then signed two 10-day deals with Philadelphia in January, followed by a long-term contract. However, he was waived less than a month later after appearing in just eight games.

Randle signed with the Knicks in late February and got into 18 games, averaging 5.3 points in 12.5 minutes per night.

Gary Neal Signs With Spanish Team

September 23rd, 2017 at 1:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

Veteran shooting guard Gary Neal, who played briefly for the Hawks last season, has reached an agreement in Spain, according to Sportando. Neal will play for Tecnyconta Zaragoza.

Neal appeared in two games for the Hawks after signing a 10-day deal in January. He scored four points in 18 total minutes and wasn’t re-signed. He returned to the G League, first with the Texas Legends, then the Reno Bighorns.

Neal, who will turn 33 next month, played for six teams in six NBA seasons. His best year was 2013/14, when he averaged 10.5 points per game while splitting time with the Bucks and Bobcats.

Thomas Robinson Signs To Play In Russia

September 23rd, 2017 at 10:44am CST by marksuleymanov

Former first-round pick from the 2012 NBA Draft, Thomas Robinson, has agreed to a deal to play for Khimki Moscow in Russia, according to basketball journalist David Pick (Twitter link).

Robinson, 26, was selected fifth overall by the Kings in 2012. However, in five NBA seasons, Robinson has played for six teams, including the Kings, Rockets, Blazers, Sixers, Nets, and most recently the Lakers. In 48 games (one starts) in Los Angeles last season, Robinson averaged 5.0 PPG and 4.6 RPG.

Last month, Robinson worked out for the Celtics as the team looked to fill a roster spot, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Robinson told HoopsHype earlier this offseason that he just wanted a chance and that he could be a top-10 rebounder in the NBA.

Robinson joins a Khimki roster that includes former NBA players Alexey Shved, Charles Jenkins, James Anderson, and Tyler Honeycutt. In 2013, Robinson was traded along with Honeycutt and Francisco García to the exchange for Patrick Patterson, Toney Douglas, and Cole Aldrich. Khimki’s roster also features Marko Todorović, the Blazers’ 45th overall pick from 2013, who once was traded to the Rockets in a deal to acquire Robinson.

Rockets Sign Chris Johnson

September 22nd, 2017 at 8:55pm CST by Austin Kent

SEPTEMBER 22: Johnson’s deal is now official, per the NBA’s transactions log.

SEPTEMBER 21: The Rockets will sign swingman Chris Johnson tomorrow, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. The journeyman’s deal will be partially guaranteed.

Johnson is one of two recent NBA players who share the same name, this one – the younger one at 27 years of age – having played more recently than the other via a 70-game stint with the Jazz in 2015/16.

With Utah, his latest of five brief tenures with NBA franchises, Johnson averaged 2.9 points in 12.2 minutes per game. He’ll enter camp with the Rockets as their 20th player, a number that includes the reported agreement with Bobby Brown.

Houston already boasts a decent amount of depth at the three, so Johnson will have an uphill battle clawing his way into the mix with Trevor Ariza, P.J. Tucker and Troy Williams before opening day.

Suns Acquire Troy Daniels In Trade

September 22nd, 2017 at 6:25pm CST by Austin Kent

The Grizzlies have traded shooting guard Troy Daniels to the Suns in exchange for a second-round pick, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets.

John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7, also privy to the deal, adds that the Suns will also acquire a second-round pick in the deal and that the pick the Grizzlies will acquire is heavily protected.

As details emerged, Charania has summarized the deal as follows: Phoenix receives Daniels and the middle of Memphis’ second-rounders (they hold their own, Charlotte’s and Miami’s). The Grizz, in contrast, who free up nearly $4MM in cap room this season by pulling the trigger here, acquire the top-55 protected second-rounder.

Shipping Daniels to Phoenix drops Memphis down to 19 players (15 guaranteed), freeing up a roster spot and creating a little extra spending flexibility as they pursue a deal with restricted free agent JaMychal Green.

Having spent time with four franchises over the course of his four-year career, Daniels’ impact on the court is negligible. He hasn’t, however, been given a significant chance to showcase his abilities.

Daniels’ best season in the NBA thus far was his first. As a rookie with the Rockets, he posted 8.4 points in 17.7 minutes per game.

Bucks Waive JeQuan Lewis

September 22nd, 2017 at 4:15pm CST by Austin Kent

The Bucks have waived JeQuan Lewis, the team announced in a press release on its website. The guard initially signed on with the club in early July but couldn’t break through what’s turned out to be a crowded backcourt.

The release of Lewis marks Milwaukee’s third cut in the past two weeks. Yesterday they requested waivers on Bronson Koenig and prior to that they waived Jalen Moore.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes, the Bucks had signed Lewis to an Exhibit 10. Had he remained with the franchise’s G League affiliate for 60 days, he would have earned $50K.

Lewis went undrafted out of VCU this summer.

Suns Sign Anthony Bennett

September 22nd, 2017 at 1:36pm CST by Luke Adams

1:36pm: The Suns have officially signed Bennett, according to RealGM’s transactions log.

10:00am: The Suns have reached an agreement to sign former first overall pick Anthony Bennett to a contract, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). According to Charania, Bennett’s deal with Phoenix will be non-guaranteed.

Bennett, 24, has bounced around the NBA since being selected with the No. 1 overall pick by the Cavaliers in the 2013 draft. After spending his rookie season in Cleveland, Bennett was part of the trade that sent Kevin Love to the Cavs, and played for the Timberwolves in his second season. Since then, the power forward has also spent time with the Raptors and Nets, but didn’t see much action for either club. In total, he has averaged 4.4 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 151 career NBA games (12.6 MPG).

Bennett’s most recent NBA experience came early in the 2016/17 season, when he appeared in 23 games for Brooklyn. He was waived by the Nets in January and headed to Turkey to play with Fenerbache for the rest of the season. According to Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun (Twitter link), the UNLV product battled an ankle injury over the summer, but he seems to be healthy enough now to get a look from the Suns.

Currently, the Suns are carrying 12 players on fully guaranteed contracts, which could leave an opening for Bennett to make the team’s regular season roster. However, Alex Len is expected to sign his qualifying offer soon, and would claim one of those final three spots. Derrick Jones, who is on a non-guaranteed contract, looks like a good bet to make the roster too, so Bennett may end up competing with the likes of Elijah Millsap and Peter Jok to be Phoenix’s 15th man.

Sixers Sign Jacob Pullen

September 22nd, 2017 at 1:34pm CST by Luke Adams

1:34pm: The Sixers’ deal with Pullen is official, per RealGM’s log of NBA transactions.

8:43am: The Sixers and point guard Jacob Pullen have agreed to a deal that will see Pullen attend training camp with the club, according to international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link).

Pullen, a former Kansas State standout, went undrafted in 2011 and has spent his professional career since then playing for a variety of teams overseas. Following stints in Italy, Israel, Spain, and Croatia, the 27-year-old spent the 2016/17 season playing for BC Khimki in Russia, averaging 8.9 PPG in 23 VTB United League games and 10.3 PPG in 17 EuroCup contests. He also recently attended a free agent mini-camp hosted by the Bucks.

While terms of Pullen’s agreement with the Sixers aren’t yet known, he’ll have an uphill battle to actually earn a regular season roster spot with the club. Philadelphia only has 12 players on fully guaranteed contracts, but Robert Covington, Richaun Holmes, and T.J. McConnell aren’t among those players with full guarantees, and they’re essentially locks to open the season on the roster.

Finalizing a deal with Pullen would give the 76ers a roster count of 18 players with training camp around the corner.