Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Clippers Waive Kyle Wiltjer

July 15th, 2017 at 5:11pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Clippers have waived Kyle Wiltjer, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). The power forward was traded to Los Angeles in the deal that sent Chris Paul to Houston.

The 24-year-old spent most of his 2016/17 campaign playing for the Rockets’ G-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He was able to see some NBA action last year. He played in 14 games for Houston where he scored a total of 13 points.

Wiltjer played four seasons in the collegiate ranks, spending two seasons at Kentucky before transferring to Gonzaga. He entered the 2016 draft but was not selected.

Sergio Rodriguez Heading Back Overseas

July 15th, 2017 at 1:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Unrestricted free agent point guard Sergio Rodriguez has agreed to a three-year contract with CSKA Moscow, international journalist David Pick tweets.

Rodriguez, who played for the Sixers last season, reportedly preferred to stay in the NBA but CSKA Moscow made a strong push for him after losing its starting point guard, Milos Teodosic, to the Clippers this summer.

The former Euroleague MVP had not played in the NBA since the 2009/10 season before he signed with the Sixers. He appeared in 68 games last season, including 30 starts, and averaged 7.8 PPG and 5.1 APG in 22.3 MPG. Philadelphia filled its point guard spot by moving up to draft Markelle Fultz No. 1 overall.

There didn’t appear to be a whole lot of interest in Rodriguez, 31, in the free agent market as it was flooded with point guards. He played for Real Madrid from 2010-16.

Magic, Jonathon Simmons Agree To Three-Year Deal

July 15th, 2017 at 12:34pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 15, 12:34pm: The breakdown for Simmons’ deal is $6.3MM the first year, declining to $6MM and $5.7MM in the last two years of the contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The final year is partially guaranteed at $1MM, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).

JULY 14th, 3:25pm: Simmons’ three-year deal is worth $20MM, according to Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link). That should leave a little cap room for the Magic after they complete the signing.

2:42pm: The Magic have reached an agreement with Jonathon Simmons and will sign the free agent swingman to a three-year contract, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical. The deal will be fully guaranteed, tweets TNT’s David Aldridge. Because the Spurs withdrew their qualifying offer for Simmons on Thursday, Orlando can sign him outright as an unrestricted free agent.

A former undrafted free agent out of Houston, Simmons played a career-high 78 games for the Spurs last season, averaging 6.2 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 1.6 APG in part-time minutes for the club. Simmons also took on a larger role in the postseason, averaging 15.3 PPG and 3.3 APG in the Warriors’ four-game sweep of the Spurs and entering the starting lineup after Kawhi Leonard went down.

Simmons began the month as a restricted free agent, having received a modest qualifying offer from the Spurs. San Antonio was said to be preparing an offer in the range of $9MM annually for Simmons, but it’s not clear if that offer ever materialized. The Kings, Clippers, Knicks, and Timberwolves were among the teams that expressed interest in Simmons during his restricted free agency, but by the time the Spurs renounced his rights on Thursday, most of those clubs had used up all their cap room.

San Antonio’s decision to pull its qualifying offer before Thursday’s deadline was a bit of a surprise, but it reportedly came after a request from Simmons’ camp. Prior to renouncing Simmons, the Spurs were said to have explored a sign-and-trade scenario that would have sent him to Phoenix for Tyson Chandler, but San Antonio balked at taking on Chandler’s contract.

As for the Magic, they have been fairly quiet so far in free agency — outside of Shelvin Mack, no veteran free agents have signed with the team. Orlando’s new top decision-makers, Jeff Weltman and John Hammond, are known for their willingness to roll the dice on upside, however, and even though Simmons will turn 28 in September, he’s considered a player who has the potential to improve and play a larger role for a team. The Magic have about $8MM in cap room and could open up a little more by waiving non-guaranteed contracts, so it appears they’ll use most or all of that space to lock up Simmons.

Simmons’ path to the NBA was an unusual one. As detailed by Michael C. Wright in an excellent ESPN feature, the 6’6″ guard paid $150 back in 2013 to participate in an open D-League tryout. Less than four years later, he’s on the verge of finalizing his first huge NBA payday.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Bulls Sign Antonio Blakeney To Two-Way Deal

July 15th, 2017 at 9:32am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 15: Blakeney’s contract is a two-year pact, per Sean Highkin of The Athletic (via Twitter). Two-way contracts can be for either one or two years.

JULY 14: The Bulls have finalized their first two-way contract, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed Antonio Blakeney to one of their two-way spots. Chicago has one more opening to add another two-way player.

Two-way contracts, which were introduced Collective Bargaining Agreement, allow NBA teams to keep two extra players under club control without counting them as part of the typical 15-man roster. Those players will essentially be on G League contracts, but they’ll be paid more than the average G League player, and rival NBA teams won’t be able to sign them away from their current team. We go into more details on two-way contracts in our glossary entry on the subject.

Blakeney, who declared for the draft after his sophomore season at LSU, was considered a top-100 prospect by DraftExpress, but went undrafted last month. The 6’4″ guard caught on with the Bulls for Summer League and has made a strong impression in Las Vegas, averaging 16.8 PPG and 5.0 RPG in four Summer League games.

In his final year at LSU, Blakeney averaged 17.2 PPG and 4.8 RPG with a .511/.358/.724 shooting line for the season.

Kings Sign Second-Rounder Frank Mason

July 15th, 2017 at 9:16am CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 15: Mason signed a three-year deal with the Kings, according to Keith Smith of RealGM (via Twitter). Mason’s deal is believed to be fully guaranteed for 2017/18 and he will likely hit restricted free agency in 2020.

JULY 13: The Kings have signed Frank Mason, according to the team’s website. Sacramento has remaining cap room, so Mason may receive more than just a two-year deal, and it’s possible that it will be worth more than the minimum salary.

Mason spent four seasons at Kansas where he played in 145 games and averaged 13.0 points per contest. He was named the AP National Player of the Year during his senior season after leading his team to a 31-5 record while averaging 20.9 points and 5.2 assists per contest.

Sacramento selected the point guard with the No. 34 overall pick in the 2017 draft. He is one of four prospects drafted by the team.

Raptors Waive Justin Hamilton

July 14th, 2017 at 5:37pm CST by Austin Kent

JULY 14: The Raptors have officially waived Hamilton, per the NBA’s official transactions log.

JULY 9: The Raptors will waive newly acquired center Justin Hamilton and stretch the remainder of his contract, Brian Windhorst of ESPN tweets.

Hamilton and his $3MM 2017/18 deal were acquired from the Nets in the trade that sent DeMarre Carroll to Brooklyn.

Per Bobby Marks of ESPN, the cap hit will be stretched into $1MM over each of the next three seasons. This, he adds, puts the Raptors $2.5MM below the luxury tax line.

Pacers Waive Georges Niang

July 14th, 2017 at 5:25pm CST by marksuleymanov

The Pacers have officially waived 6’8″ forward Georges Niang, according to Adrian Wojnarowksi of ESPN (via Twitter).

The Iowa State product and 50th overall pick in last year’s draft appeared in 23 games with Indiana last season and averaged just 0.9 PPG and 0.7 RPG.

The 24-year-old’s $1.3MM salary for 2017/18 season would have become guaranteed tomorrow if the Pacers kept him on the roster, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks mentioned. Instead, the Pacers will incur a $100,000 cap hit and their room will increase to $5.7MM. Additionally, Marks added that Indiana now has 13 guaranteed contracts for 2017/18, including second round pick Ike Anigbogu.

Bulls Claim David Nwaba Off Waivers From Lakers

July 14th, 2017 at 4:29pm CST by marksuleymanov

The Bulls have claimed shooting guard David Nwaba off waivers from the Lakers, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). The Lakers waived Nwaba on Wednesday as a precursor to completing a deal with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

The 24-year-old Nwaba made his NBA debut with the Lakers in 2016/17 and earned himself a permanent roster spot after a strong showing following two 10-day contracts. While Los Angeles picked up Nwaba’s option for 2017/18, his salary remained non-guaranteed, giving the team the flexibility to create additional cap space.

Nwaba posted solid numbers in his 20-game cameo with the Lakers, averaging 6.0 PPG and 3.2 RPG in 19.8 minutes per game. The Lakers were intrigued by Nwaba’s development and defensive capabilities but understood he would likely be claimed off waivers, per Charania’s report.

Hawks Sign Second-Rounder Tyler Dorsey

July 14th, 2017 at 3:05pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 14: Dorsey’s two-year deal is now official, per Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who tweets that it’s a fully guaranteed, minimum salary contract.

JULY 7: The Hawks have struck a deal with second-round pick Tyler Dorsey, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical, who reports (via Twitter) that the two sides will finalize a fully guaranteed two-year contract.

[RELATED: 2017 NBA Draft Pick Signings]

Dorsey, 21, left Oregon following his sophomore season this spring, after helping lead the Ducks to an appearance in the Final Four. In 39 games last season, the 6’4″ shooting guard averaged 14.6 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.7 APG, and a .423 3PT%.

As the 41st overall pick in this year’s draft, Dorsey will not receive the same sort of four-year deal that first-round picks get. Teams have to sign second-round picks using cap space or exceptions, and while Atlanta has some cap room available, a minimum salary deal wouldn’t be a surprise.

For comparison’s sake, last year’s No. 41 pick, Stephen Zimmerman, signed a three-year minimum salary contract with the Magic, but only the first year was guaranteed — Zimmerman was waived by Orlando earlier this week.

The Hawks drafted Dorsey using the second-round pick acquired from the Hornets in last month’s Dwight Howard trade.

Thunder Re-Sign Andre Roberson

July 14th, 2017 at 2:19pm CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 14: The Thunder have officially re-signed Robinson, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 5: The Thunder and Andre Roberson have agreed on a three-year, $30MM deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links). The scribe adds that Roberson preferred the three-year deal over a four-year contract.

The move will put the Thunder at roughly $125.1MM in team salary, ESPN’s Bobby Marks adds (ESPN Now link). Oklahoma City sits at $5.8MM over the luxury tax line, which will give the franchise a projected tax bill of approximately $8.9MM. The organization will have the entire 2017/18 to shed salary if it wants to avoid paying the tax.

Roberson has developed into one of the league’s better perimeter defenders during his four years with OKC. He was the best defender among all shooting guards last season, according to ESPN’s Real Defensive Plus/Minus, and he added the fifth-most value on the defensive end among all non-bigs, according to NBAMath.com.

Of course, as impressive as Roberson was on defense, he had virtually the opposite impact on the other end of the court, making just 24.5% of his three-pointers and 42.3% of his free throws in 2016/17. He also missed 18 of 21 free throws in the postseason. At age 25, Roberson still has room to develop, but it will be a challenge for the Thunder to turn him into a positive asset on the offensive side of the ball.

In addition to bringing back Roberson, the Thunder have also agreed to sign Patrick Patterson and will send Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to Indiana in exchange for Paul George after the July moratorium ends.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.