Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Luke Petrasek Headed To Camp With Hornets

September 18th, 2017 at 11:27am CST by Arthur Hill

Columbia forward Luke Petrasek will join the Hornets for training camp, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.

Petrasek was a second-team all-Ivy League selection as a senior last season. He averaged 15.1 points and 5.7 rebounds and ranks fifth on the school’s all-time blocked shots list.

Following Saturday’s signing of Terry Henderson, the Hornets are now at the maximum of 20 players for camp. Charlotte has just 13 guaranteed salaries, so there will be at least two roster spots up for grabs.

Boris Diaw Set To Play In France

September 17th, 2017 at 8:14am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 17, 8:14am: Diaw’s signing is official, the French club announced in a tweet.

SEPTEMBER 14, 1:47pm: Veteran NBA forward Boris Diaw will head back to France to start the 2017/18 season, according to David Cozette of SFR Sport (Twitter link), who reports that Diaw has agreed to sign with Levallois Metropolitans. The deal will feature an NBA out clause, per Sportando (Twitter link).

Diaw, 35, has spent the last 14 seasons in the NBA, beginning his career with the Hawks before moving on to the Suns, Bobcats, Spurs, and Jazz. Diaw started 33 games and appeared in 73 overall regular season contests for Utah last season, but saw his production dip — his PPG (4.6), FG% (.446), and 3PT% (.247) marks were all among the worst of his career. He had a $7.5MM salary for 2017/18 that would have become guaranteed if the Jazz had not waived him in July.

While Diaw has played in the NBA for nearly a decade and a half, he’s no stranger to French competition either. Before being drafted 21st overall in 2003, Diaw spent multiple seasons with Pau-Orthez in France, and he returned to his home country during the 2011 lockout to play for JSA Bordeaux. The veteran forward has also represented France in several international tournaments.

Levallois Metropolitans, Diaw’s new team, was formerly known as Paris-Levallois Basket. The club was led last season by former Florida State standout Jason Rich and Knicks draft-and-stash big man Louis Labeyrie, but both players have found new homes for the 2017/18 campaign, so the team figures to lean heavily on Diaw.

Hornets Sign Terry Henderson

September 16th, 2017 at 12:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets have signed undrafted rookie Terry Henderson to their 20-man offseason roster, according to a tweet from his agency, Assist Sports (Twitter link). RealGM’s official NBA transactions log confirms that the signing has been finalized.

Henderson, 23, began his college career at West Virginia, but transferred after his sophomore year and played the rest of his college ball at North Carolina State. The move to N.C. State was a homecoming for the 6’5″ shooting guard, who is a Raleigh native — he’ll remain in North Carolina after having signed with his hometown Hornets.

In his final college season, Henderson appeared in 32 games, averaging 13.8 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 1.6 APG, with a shooting line of .433/.384/.769. NCAA eligibility and transfer rules prevented Henderson from returning to the Wolfpack for one more year in 2017/18, as Luke DeCock of The Charlotte Observer detailed in the spring.

While the Hornets only have 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts at the moment, Henderson seems more likely to head to the G League and become an affiliate player for the Greensboro Swarm than he does to crack the team’s 15-man regular season roster.

Timberwolves Re-Sign Shabazz Muhammad

September 16th, 2017 at 12:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

SEPTEMBER 16: Muhammad’s new deal with the Wolves includes a second-year player option, tweets Keith Smith of RealGM.com. That option will be worth the minimum salary, so it’s likely to be declined, but it gives Muhammad some insurance in the event of a major injury or a poor showing in 2017/18.

Muhammad also got a 15% trade kicker on his contract, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN.

SEPTEMBER 15: The Timberwolves have issued a press release formally announcing that Muhammad’s deal has been finalized.

SEPTEMBER 12: Veteran free agent Shabazz Muhammad is nearing a deal that will keep him in Minnesota, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Muhammad will receive a veterans minimum salary of $1.6MM, and his Bird rights will remain in place for a potentially longer contract next summer (Twitter link).

The 24-year-old swingman has spent his first four NBA seasons with the Timberwolves. He entered the offseason as a restricted free agent, but became unrestricted when the Wolves renounced his rights to free up cap room.

Muhammad remained a free agent for so long because he has been unwilling to accept a minimum deal, but that’s all Minnesota has left to offer. The Wolves spent big on free agents this summer, signing Taj Gibson and Jeff Teague and using their mid-level exception to acquire Jamal Crawford. Several teams reached out to Muhammad early in free agency, with the Hawks, Nets, Bucks and Knicks among the suitors.

Muhammad has developed into a reliable reserve for Minnesota over the past two seasons. He appeared in 78 games last year, starting just one, and averaged 9.9 points per night.

According to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter link), Muhammad turned down a higher offer from another team to return to the Wolves — that rival suitor may have been the Lakers, who were linked to the free agent swingman and have their full room exception available. Additionally, Muhammad’s new deal will give him the ability to veto trades during the 2017/18 season.

Suns Sign Alec Peters To Two-Way Contract

September 16th, 2017 at 12:05pm CST by ChrisCrouse

SEPTEMBER 16: The Suns have finally made their agreement with Peters official, having formally signed him to a two-way contract earlier this week, according to RealGM’s log of NBA transactions.

Phoenix has now filled both two-way slots on its roster, with former Lamar standout Mike James occupying the other one.

JULY 6: The Suns will sign Alec Peters to a two-way contract, league sources tell Chris Reichert of 2 Ways & 10 Days (Twitter link). Peters was selected by Phoenix with the No. 54 pick in the 2017 draft.

Players on two-way deals will spend most of their season in the G-League since they cannot spend more than 45 days with an NBA club, as our glossary page on two-way contracts shows.

Peters spent four years at Valparaiso and won the Horizon League Player of the Year award during his senior year. He scored 23.0 points while grabbing 10.1 rebounds per contest last season.

Pelicans Sign Tony Allen To One-Year Deal

September 15th, 2017 at 4:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

SEPTEMBER 15: The Pelicans have officially signed Allen, announcing their deal today in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 11: The Pelicans are finalizing a one-year contract with veteran swingman Tony Allen, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets.

Barring a late breakdown in negotiations, this ends a prolonged free agent odyssey for the 35-year-old defensive stalwart. Early in the process, the Clippers were reportedly interested in working out a sign-and-trade deal for Allen until their roster got overloaded with newcomers. The Timberwolves were also interested, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com reported.

It was apparent that the Grizzlies were moving on from Allen when one of the free agents they signed, shooting guard Ben McLemore, broke his foot and they still didn’t show any serious interest in Allen.

New Orleans needed another small forward after Solomon Hill suffered a torn hamstring, an injury that is expected to sideline him for most of the upcoming season.

Allen has only played for two teams in his NBA career. He spent his first six seasons with the Celtics before joining Memphis for the 2010/11 season. He was a rotation player for the Grizzlies over the past seven seasons and started 66 games for them last year. Overall, he appeared in 71 games and averaged 9.1 PPG, 5.5 RPG and 1.6 SPG in 27.0 MPG. He’s a career 28% shooter from long range, which has made him an increasing offensive liability in a league that has become heavily reliant on 3-point shooting.

Allen should still see quite a bit of action at both small forward and shooting guard, where Jrue Holiday is expected to start with the addition of point guard Rajon Rondo. With the offensive firepower provided by Holiday, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, the Pelicans can afford to have a defensive specialist at the wing spot.

As for the terms of Allen’s one-year deal, those haven’t yet been reported, but the Pelicans still have their bi-annual exception ($3.29MM) available and have a bit more breathing room below the luxury tax line after trading Quincy Pondexter earlier this month.

Knicks Sign Jarrett Jack To Non-Guaranteed Contract

September 15th, 2017 at 12:17pm CST by Austin Kent

SEPTEMBER 15, 12:17pm: Jack has officially signed his one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Knicks, sources tell Ian Begley of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

SEPTEMBER 14, 4:10pm: The Knicks have agreed on a deal with veteran point guard Jarrett Jack, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders writes. The deal is said to be a one-year, non-guaranteed pact.

We wrote just last week that the Knicks were in the market for a veteran point guard, supposedly considering a number of options ranging from Jack to Trey Burke and Archie Goodwin. Already rostered on the squad are Ramon Sessions and promising – but raw – lottery pick Frank Ntilikina.

Where Jack slots into the Knicks’ plans remains to be seen. The deal that Scotto reports is non-guaranteed, so it’s possible that the club will simply gauge Jack’s effectiveness through training camp. The 33-year-old has been ravaged by injuries since the first half of the 2015/16 season.

If Jack can establish himself as reliably healthy – a potentially significant “if” – he could potentially slot into the starting position ahead of Sessions, a career backup. If Jack ends up getting released, Sessions and second-year man Ron Baker could share the role until Ntilikina is ready to assume the top spot, which may not happen this season.

Through 12 seasons, including 343 starts, Jack has averaged 11.0 points and 4.5 assists per game. Aside from a two-game stint with the Pelicans last season, Jack’s last stint saw him post 12.2 and 5.4 across two seasons with the Nets.

Trail Blazers Sign Isaiah Briscoe To Camp Deal

September 14th, 2017 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 14: The Blazers have officially signed Briscoe to a camp deal, the team announced today in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 13: The Trail Blazers have reached an agreement with former Kentucky guard Isaiah Briscoe, who will join the club on a training camp deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link). Once it’s finalized, the signing will bring Portland’s roster count to 17 players.

Briscoe, 21, declared for the NBA draft in the spring following his sophomore year at Kentucky, despite ranking outside the top 80 on many experts’ draft boards. The 6’3″ guard worked out for several teams leading up to the draft, including the Blazers, but suffered an ankle injury in mid-June and had to cancel his last few sessions. He went undrafted.

In his second season with the Wildcats, Briscoe posted solid averages of 12.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 4.2 APG, though he continued to struggle with his outside shot. After making just 13.5% of his long-distance attempts in his freshman year, the New Jersey native improved his three-point percentage in 2016/17, but only to a modest 28.8%.

While the Sixers picked up Briscoe for Summer League play in July, it’s the Trail Blazers who will take an extended look at him this fall. Currently, the Blazers have 14 players on guaranteed contracts, and it’s possible they’ll keep that 15th regular season spot open to start the season, in order to keep their tax bill down. If they do carry a 15th man, the Blazers figure to consider Briscoe, Archie Goodwin, and any other players they may invite to camp.

Portland is one of the three NBA teams without an NBA G League squad, so Briscoe won’t have the opportunity to become an affiliate player for the Trail Blazers. However, if the club likes what it sees from the rookie guard, a two-way contract is a possibility — the Blazers have only used one of their two-way openings so far.

Suns Sign Peter Jok

September 14th, 2017 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 14: The Suns have formally signed Jok, according to RealGM’s official log of NBA transactions.

AUGUST 24: Undrafted shooting guard Peter Jok has reached an agreement on a partially guaranteed contract with the Suns, reports Chad Leistikow of The Des Moines Register (hat tip to Sportando). Guardian Mike Nixon tells Leistikow that Jok had three other offers, but opted for a deal with Phoenix.

“I feel like it’s a great opportunity for myself because it puts me in a position to earn a spot on the team,” Jok said in a text message to the Register. “And if I don’t, then I’ll be playing for [the Suns’] G League team to work on my game, which I see as a positive.”

With 14 players officially on NBA contracts and two more on two-way deals, the Suns currently have 16 players on their roster. That number increases to 18 with the additions of Jok and Alex Len, who remains a restricted free agent.

Although Phoenix is approaching its 20-man offseason limit, the club still has just 12 players on fully guaranteed contracts, so Jok could have an opportunity to compete for a regular-season roster spot. If the 23-year-old doesn’t break camp with the Suns, he’ll likely join the Northern Arizona Suns, Phoenix’s G League team, as an affiliate player.

In his final year at Iowa, Jok averaged an impressive 19.9 PPG to go along with 5.5 RPG and 2.6 APG. The 6’6″ guard had a shooting line of .467/.380/.911. Jok joined the Pelicans for Summer League play last month, but only had a part-time role in three games with the team, averaging 9.0 PPG in 17.9 MPG.

Perry Jones Signs Camp Deal With Pelicans

September 14th, 2017 at 1:19pm CST by Dana Gauruder

SEPTEMBER 14: Jones’ deal with the Pelicans has been finalized, per RealGM’s official log of NBA transactions.

SEPTEMBER 11: Forward Perry Jones has agreed to a training camp deal with the Pelicans, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Jones, 25, has not appeared in an NBA game since the 2014/15 season. The Thunder used a late 2012 first-round selection on him and he remained on their roster for three seasons. He played 143 games for Oklahoma City, averaging 3.4 PPG and 1.8 RPG in 14.7 MPG.

He played in Russia and the G-League last season. He appeared in 24 games with the Iowa Energy, posting averages of 6.9 PPG, 3.0 RPG and 1.8 APG in 21.8 MPG while shooting just 31.3% from the field.

Jones faces an uphill battle in making the roster, even though forward Solomon Hill could miss most of the season with a hamstring tear. The Pelicans are reportedly finalizing a contract with veteran swingman Tony Allen.