Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wolves Sign Anthony Brown To Two-Way Deal

August 1st, 2017 at 12:50pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 1: The Timberwolves have officially announced their two-way deal with Brown, issuing a press release to confirm the signing.

JULY 25: The Timberwolves have reached an agreement on a two-way contract with free agent guard Anthony Brown, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). As our two-way tracker shows, it’s the first deal of its kind for Minnesota.

Brown, 24, was selected 34th overall in the 2015 draft by the Lakers and spent the 2015/16 campaign in L.A. However, Brown was a surprise cut last fall before the start of the regular season, failing to earn a spot on the Lakers’ 15-man roster when the team opted to keep a couple non-guaranteed players instead.

Brown had subsequent stints with the Pelicans and Magic, but spent most of the 2016/17 season with the G League’s Erie BayHawks, averaging 20.3 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 3.1 APG. He also posted an impressive .467 3PT%, making a greater percentage of three-pointers than two-point shots.

For more details on what two-way contracts are and how they work, be sure to check out our FAQ.

Bulls Sign Ryan Arcidiacono To Two-Way Deal

August 1st, 2017 at 12:06pm CST by ChrisCrouse

AUGUST 1: The Bulls have officially signed Arcidiacono to a two-way contract, the team confirmed today in a press release.

JULY 24: The Bulls have agreed to a deal with Ryan Arcidiacono, Daniele Labanti of Corriere Di Bologna reports. Sean Highkin of The Athletic confirms the signing and adds that it will be a two-way deal.

The Bulls now have used both of their two-way contracts with the team adding Antonio Blakeney to a contract last week. You can keep up with every team’s two-way contract signings with our 2017/18 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker.

The Villanova product played for Chicago’s Summer League team in Las Vegas this offseason. He was set to play for JuveCaserta Basket in Italy before the team was excluded from the Italian League Series A because of financial difficulties.

Ray McCallum To Play In Spain

August 1st, 2017 at 10:21am CST by Luke Adams

Free agent guard Ray McCallum is headed overseas after spending parts of the last four seasons on NBA rosters. As Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays, Spanish team Unicaja Malaga has announced the signing of McCallum.

Unicaja Malaga initially agreed last month to sign another former NBA guard, Marcelo Huertas. However, as international basketball reporter David Pick reported last week (via Twitter), Huertas broke off that agreement and joined Baskonia. According to Pick, (via Twitter), McCallum’s new deal with Malaga – worth approximately $650K – is very similar to the one the team originally offered Huertas.

McCallum, the 36th overall pick in the 2013 draft, spent his first two NBA seasons with the Kings, then played for the Spurs and Grizzlies in 2015/16. A year ago, McCallum was in camp with the Pistons but failed to earn a regular season roster spot.

Although he signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Hornets in February, the 26-year-old didn’t appear in a game for Charlotte and spent most of the season with the Grand Rapids Drive in the G League. McCallum averaged 17.6 PPG, 7.0 APG, and 5.8 RPG in 43 G League contests.

Pacers Waive Center Kevin Seraphin

July 31st, 2017 at 4:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pacers have waived center Kevin Seraphin, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. Seraphin’s salary of $1,974,159 for next season would have been guaranteed if he remained on the roster Tuesday.

Indiana has three other centers – Myles Turner, Al Jefferson and second-round pick Ike Anigbogu – on the roster. The Pacers have 13 players under guaranteed contracts.

Seraphin appeared in 49 games with the Pacers last season, including three starts, and averaged 4.7 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 11.4 MPG. He also played in four postseason games, averaging 7.3 PPG and 3.5 RPG.

Seraphin, 27, played his first five seasons with the Wizards and also toiled for the Knicks for a season before joining the Pacers last summer.

There’s a good chance he will wind up playing in Europe next season. FC Barcelona is reportedly interested in signing him. Seraphin is currently in France, where he’s training for the EuroBasket tournament with his national team.

Bucks Sign Tony Snell To Four-Year Deal

July 31st, 2017 at 4:04pm CST by Austin Kent

JULY 31: More than a month after the Bucks and Snell agreed to terms on a new deal, the team has made it official, issuing a press release to formally announce the signing.

“Tony was an integral part of our team’s improvement last season and we’re excited to re-sign him,” new GM Jon Horst said in a statement. “He is a tireless worker, a terrific teammate and a man of great character. We look forward to having him back with the Bucks as we continue to build toward a championship.”

JUNE 30: The Bucks have agreed on a four-year deal with Tony Snell worth $46MM, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Snell will hold a player option after the third year.

The agreement comes on the heels of a season in which Snell emerged as rotation player on a postseason contender. In 80 games for the Bucks, the swingman posted 8.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per contest.

Wojnarowski had previously written about how the three-and-D player figured to draw considerable interest on the market and the disclosed agreement falls right in line with what he predicted earlier in the month.

Fun Fact: This was the first Woj Bomb of Wojnarowski’s stint with ESPN.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Terrence Jones To Play In China

July 31st, 2017 at 2:28pm CST by Luke Adams

2:28pm: Jones’ one-year deal with Qingdao will be worth $2MM, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

10:27am: Free agent big man Terrence Jones appears set to open the 2017/18 season in China. According to international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link), Jones has reached an agreement with the Qingdao Eagles on “one of the largest single-season deals” in CBA history.

The 18th overall pick in the 2012 draft, Jones emerged as Houston’s starting power forward in his second NBA season, averaging 12.1 PPG and 6.9 RPG in 76 games in 2013/14. However, he has not matched or exceeded those numbers in subsequent years.

Jones did provide solid part-time production for the Pelicans in 2016/17, averaging 11.5 PPG and 5.9 RPG in 51 games for New Orleans. However, the 25-year-old was waived in February after the club’s acquisition of DeMarcus Cousins, and while he caught on quickly with the Bucks, Jones didn’t play much in Milwaukee and was waived again in April.

According to Sam Amico of Amico Hoops, Jones received interest from a handful of NBA clubs, but wasn’t interested in signing a minimum salary deal. It sounds like the contract he received from Qingdao will represent a larger payday, along with the opportunity for a much more substantial role.

Hawks Waive Diamond Stone

July 31st, 2017 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks have waived second-year center Diamond Stone, per Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Shortly after Vivlamore published his report, the Hawks issued a press release confirming the roster move.

Stone was one of two players acquired from L.A. by the Hawks in a three-way trade with the Clippers and Nuggets earlier this month. Jamal Crawford, the other player who landed in Atlanta as a result of that trade, was bought out by the club shortly after the move was finalized, so the Hawks have now cut both players involved in the deal. The Hawks also received a first-round pick in that swap, which was clearly the most important part of the package.

While Stone wasn’t Atlanta’s primary target in that trade, it’s still somewhat surprising that the team has waived him already. The big man’s minimum salary contract for 2017/18 was guaranteed, and he’s just one year removed from being drafted 40th overall. However, apparently the Hawks weren’t interested in using one of their 15 regular-season roster spots on Stone.

The Hawks could choose to stretch Stone’s $1,312,611 cap hit over the next three seasons, though the club isn’t in any cap trouble this season, so it may make sense to just keep his full salary on the books for 2017/18.

With Stone out of the mix at center, the Hawks figure to lean on Dewayne Dedmon, Mike Muscala, and Miles Plumlee.

Magic Waive Marcus Georges-Hunt

July 31st, 2017 at 12:13pm CST by Luke Adams

The Magic have trimmed their roster count by one, waiving shooting guard Marcus Georges-Hunt today. The club issued a press release formally announcing the move and making it official.

Georges-Hunt, 23, joined the Celtics for training camp a year ago after going undrafted out of Georgia Tech, but didn’t earn a regular season roster spot with Boston. The 6’5″ guard spent most of the 2016/17 season with the Maine Red Claws, averaging 15.8 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 4.4 APG, and being named to the All NBA D-League Third Team.

Georges-Hunt’s performance earned him another NBA shot — he signed a deal with the Magic in April and appeared in five games for the team down the stretch. That contract included a second year, but Georges-Hunt’s minimum salary for 2017/18 was non-guaranteed until the fall, so Orlando won’t be on the hook for any of that money.

Georges-Hunt will become an unrestricted free agent if he clears waivers on Wednesday.

Celtics Sign Shane Larkin

July 31st, 2017 at 11:15am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 31, 11:15am: The Celtics have officially signed Larkin, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 20, 12:35pm: Larkin’s deal will be for one year, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype. Larkin’s one-year deal with the Celtics will be fully guaranteed, a source tells Jay King of MassLive.com.

JULY 20, 10:10am: The Celtics have reached an agreement with Shane Larkin that will bring the point guard back to the NBA, reports international basketball journalist David Pick (via Twitter). Terms of the deal aren’t known, but Larkin and the C’s have agreed to terms, according to Pick, who suggests that the point guard is leaving $6MM+ on the table by returning stateside (Twitter link).

Larkin, the 18th overall pick in the 2013 draft, spent time with the Mavericks, Knicks, and Nets before heading overseas last season. Having signed with Spanish team Baskonia for the 2016/17 campaign, Larkin was one of the most productive point guards in Europe, averaging a team-high 14.1 PPG and 4.9 APG in 37 Spanish League games for Baskonia. He also led the club in PPG (13.1) and APG (5.7) in 33 Euroleague games.

Larkin didn’t exactly turn heads during his first stint in the NBA, averaging a modest 5.8 PPG and 3.2 APG in 202 regular season games. However, he’s still just 24 years old, and Pick suggests that Larkin was widely viewed as the top Euroleague free agent point guard after Milos Teodosic signed with the Clippers.

While Boston appears willing to roll the dice on Larkin, it’s not clear if the Miami alum will be guaranteed a spot on the regular season roster. With Avery Bradley and Demetrius Jackson no longer on the team, I’d expect Larkin to have an inside track on a 15-man roster spot to provide backcourt depth, particularly since he reportedly turned down a far more lucrative offer from Barcelona in order to join the C’s. Still, the back of the roster could get a little crowded, given the arrivals of players like Abdel Nader, Semi Ojeleye, Daniel Theis, and possibly Guerschon Yabusele.

The Celtics are virtually out of cap room and have used the room exception on Aron Baynes, so Larkin appears likely to receive a minimum salary deal.

Thunder Will Reportedly Sign Bryce Alford

July 30th, 2017 at 9:47pm CST by Austin Kent

The Thunder will reportedly sign guard Bryce Alford, Erik Horne of the Oklahoman writes. The UCLA product, Horne relays, stated as much in an Instagram post earlier today.

While there has been no formal verification, it’s not unlikely that the club added the point guard via a non-guaranteed to deal in order to get a good look at him at training camp. The addition of Alford brings Oklahoma City’s roster to 16 players.

The Thunder are in the market for a reliable backup point guard. After playing 2016/17 with Semaj Christon manning the position behind Russell Westbrook, Sam Presti has brought veteran Raymond Felton on board and now Alford, a volume three-point shooter that put up 7.5 triples per game in his senior season with the Bruins.