Cavs To Sign Deron Williams
Deron Williams has cleared waivers and he will sign with the Cavaliers, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets that the signing is expected to be completed on Monday.
The agreement is for the remainder of the season and it will cost Cleveland $908,431 this season with $259,526 of that figure being Williams’ salary and remaining cost being luxury tax payments, Bobby Marks of The Vertical tweets. The move will bring the Cavs payroll to slightly over $126.9MM, which is the highest is league history.
Dallas was looking to trade Williams at the deadline, but no deal materialized. Shortly after the deadline, it was reported that the Mavs were working on a buyout agreement with Williams and his preferred destination was Cleveland.
LeBron James has been adamant about the team adding a playmaker to help take the burden off of him and the addition of Williams should help with that issue. The 32-year-old can play the traditional point guard role for the Cavs when Kyrie Irving and James sit, but he’s also comfortable playing off the ball, so he should see regular minutes alongside Irving and James as well.
Williams is averaging 13.1 points and 6.9 assists per game this season. He has a 53.2 true shooting percentage and he’s sporting a 15.3 player efficiency rating.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 2/25/17
Here are the D-League transactions for today:
- The Thunder have assigned forward Josh Huestis to their D-League affiliate, the team announced via press release. In 23 starts with the Oklahoma City Blue, Huestis has averaged 14.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
- The Cavaliers have recalled rookie point guard Kay Felder from their D-League affiliate, the team revealed on their official website. Felder has averaged 30.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game in his only three stints with the Canton Charge.
Pelicans Waive Omri Casspi, Sign Reggie Williams
February 25: The Pelicans have now signed Williams to a 10-day contract. The club formally announced the addition in a press release on their official website.
February 24: The Pelicans will waive Omri Casspi and use his roster spot to sign Reggie Williams, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (Twitter link). Casspi, acquired from Sacramento alongside DeMarcus Cousins, suffered a broken thumb in his team debut on Thursday.
Justin Verrier of ESPN initially reported Casspi would miss 4-to-6 weeks with the injury (Twitter link). According to Marc Stein of ESPN, the Pelicans felt Casspi’s absence would leave them short-handed on the wing in midst of a playoff hunt. The decision to cut Casspi wasn’t an easy one, as GM Dell Demps resisted the temptation to flip Casspi leading up to the deadline (Twitter links).
If Casspi doesn’t play another game in 2016/17, he’ll have finished the year averaging 6.1 points through a career-low 23 games. As Bobby Marks of The Vertical points out, the Pelicans are only responsible for $906K of Casspi’s salary, unless he’s claimed on waivers (Twitter link).
The 30-year-old Williams appeared in five games with the Pelicans in December, recording 25 points in that span. A veteran of five NBA teams, Williams averaged 18.2 points this season with the D-League’s Oklahoma City Blue. A lifetime 36.6% 3-point shooter, Williams will supplant Casspi as a long distance threat off New Orleans’ bench.
Bucks Sign Axel Toupane To 10-Day Deal
February 25: The Bucks formally signed Toupane this afternoon, the team announced via a press release on their official website. Their roster is now full at 15.
February 23: The Bucks will sign small forward Axel Toupane to a 10-day contract, tweets Chris Reichert of The Step Back.
Toupane has been playing for Toronto’s affiliate in the D-League, where he is averaging 16.1 points and 3.9 rebounds through 27 games. His only NBA experience came in 21 games for the Nuggets last season.
Milwaukee has a roster spot open after trading center Roy Hibbert to Denver earlier today. The Bucks received a protected 2019 pick in the deal.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 2/24/17
Here are Friday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- Rookie point guard Kay Felder has been sent to the D-League by the Cavaliers, per a team press release. It’s just the third assignment of the season for Felder, who has averaged 30.0 PPG in two games for the Canton Charge.
- The Raptors recalled Bruno Caboclo, Pascal Siakam, and Fred VanVleet from the D-League today, the team announced (via Twitter). The trio helped lead the Raptors 905 to a Thursday night win, with VanVleet (26 points, 11 assists) and Siakam (15 points, 12 rebounds) recording double-doubles.
- The Warriors have assigned Damian Jones to the D-League, tweets Anthony Slater of The San Jose Mercury News. Jones will likely play for the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s affiliate, tonight in Reno.
Suns Waive Sullinger, Scott; Sign Ronnie Price
FEBRUARY 24, 5:52pm: The Suns have waived Mike Scott and Jared Sullinger while signing Ronnie Price for the remainder of the season, the team announced through a press release.
FEBRUARY 23, 9:00pm: The Suns will waive Jared Sullinger and Mike Scott, both acquired in trades today, and plan to sign Ronnie Price for the rest of the season, tweets Doug Haller of AZ Central Sports.
Phoenix received Sullinger and two second-round draft picks from Toronto in exchange for P.J. Tucker. Sullinger missed most of the season after foot surgery in October and played in just 11 games for the Raptors.
Scott was acquired from Atlanta along with the draft rights to Cenk Akyol and cash considerations in exchange for a protected second-round pick. This was Scott’s fifth season with the Hawks, but he had fallen out of the rotation and appeared in just 18 games.
Price had signed two 10-day contracts with the Suns, with the last one expiring February 15th. The 33-year-old point guard saw action in just two games.
Hornets Sign Johnny O’Bryant To 10-Day Deal
3:14pm: The Hornets have officially signed O’Bryant to a 10-day contract, the team announced this afternoon in a press release.
7:32am: After playing on a pair of 10-day contracts with the Nuggets earlier this season, Johnny O’Bryant is poised to join a new team, according to Chris Reichert of The Step Back, who reports (via Twitter) that the Hornets will sign the free agent forward to a 10-day contract.
The Hornets have been carrying 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, along with a pair of players – Ray McCallum and Mike Tobey – on 10-day contracts. The latest 10-day deals for both McCallum and Tobey expired overnight, so it seems the Hornets won’t retain both players.
Assuming the team finalizes a deal with O’Bryant, there would still be one opening on the roster to sign McCallum, Tobey, or someone else. Since McCallum and Tobey each signed two 10-day contracts with Charlotte, they would need to be signed for the season to stick with the Hornets.
O’Bryant, 23, was the 36th overall pick in the 2014 draft, and spent his first two NBA seasons with the Bucks. In 100 games for the club, O’Bryant averaged 3.0 PPG and 2.4 RPG. The LSU product signed as a free agent with the Wizards prior to training camp last fall, but didn’t earn a regular-season roster spot with the team.
O’Bryant subsequently joined the D-League’s Northern Arizona Suns, averaging 18.5 PPG and 8.7 RPG in 24 games for Phoenix’s affiliate this season. He even added a three-point shot to his game during his time in the NBADL, making 38.0% of his attempts and averaging more than one three-pointer per game. That earned O’Bryant a couple 10-day contracts with the Nuggets, for whom he appeared in seven games, averaging 2.9 PPG and 1.6 RPG.
Pelicans Sign Jarrett Jack To 10-Day Deal
12:33pm: The Pelicans have officially signed Jack to a 10-day contract, the team announced today (via Twitter).
9:56am: The Pelicans will add a veteran point guard to fill the final opening on their roster, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who reports that Jarrett Jack has agreed to sign a 10-day contract with the team.
Jack, 33, was one of a handful of free agent guards to audition for the Pelicans this week in the wake of the team’s DeMarcus Cousins acquisition, which sent three guards – Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, and Langston Galloway – to Sacramento. Hollis Thompson and Jack have earned 10-day contracts with New Orleans, while Mario Chalmers, Quinn Cook, and Reggie Williams also worked out for the club this week.
After averaging 12.8 PPG and 7.4 APG through 32 games with the Nets last season, Jack suffered a torn ACL in January, cutting his season short. As a free agent this past summer, the Georgia Tech alum signed with the Hawks, but he was waived when his knee injury lingered into the preseason. It appears he’s fully healthy now.
Jack’s signing will give the Pelicans a full 15-man roster for now, with 13 of those players on guaranteed full-season contracts.
Hawks Sign Lamar Patterson, Ryan Kelly
FEBRUARY 24, 10:25am: The Hawks have formally signed both Patterson and Kelly to multiyear contracts, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Consitution (via Twitter). Vivlamore notes that the deals have team options, so they’re likely only guaranteed for this season.
FEBRUARY 23, 7:15pm: The Hawks will fill their two open roster spots by signing Lamar Patterson and Ryan Kelly for the rest of the season, writes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Patterson played four games with the Hawks this year, but he recently returned to the D-League after his second 10-day contract expired. The 25-year-old shooting guard appeared in 35 games for Atlanta last season, but spent much of the year in the D-League. He was drafted by the Bucks in the second round in 2014 and traded to the Hawks the next day.
Kelly played nine games for Atlanta this season before being waived January 9th. He has been playing for the D-League’s Maine franchise. The 25-year-old power forward spent his first three NBA seasons with the Lakers.
Sixers Trade Nerlens Noel To Mavericks
8:48pm: The trade is official, according to a press release from the Sixers. The announcement suggests that if the 2017 first-round pick from the Mavs isn’t conveyed, Philadelphia will receive Dallas’ second-round picks for 2017 and 2020.
11:58am: According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter links), if the Sixers don’t receive the Mavs’ first-round pick this year, they’ll instead receive 2017 and 2018 second-round picks from Dallas. Since that first-rounder is top-18 protected, it seems very unlikely to change hands, so the conditions on the pick make the deal look even better for the Mavs.
11:30am: There are still some moving parts to sort out in the deal before it becomes official, according to Jake Fischer of SI.com, who tweets that the trade may expand to involve a third team so that the Sixers don’t have to waive a player.
10:46am: The Sixers are in agreement with the Mavericks on a deal that will send Nerlens Noel to Dallas, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, Philadelphia will receive Justin Anderson and a first-round pick from the Mavs. ESPN’s Marc Stein adds (via Twitter) that the Sixers will also get Andrew Bogut‘s expiring contract.
According to Stein (via Twitter), the first-round pick heading to the Sixers in the deal will be top-18 protected in 2017, which makes it unlikely that it will change hands this year. As our 2016/17 Reverse Standings show, Dallas currently projects to have the No. 7 overall pick, though Noel should help improve this year’s team. Future protections on the first-rounder have not yet been reported.
Noel, who will turn 23 in April, was frequently mentioned as a trade candidate earlier this season, particularly after he publicly questioned the Sixers’ decision to head into camp with a logjam at center. However, the former sixth overall pick had played well as of late, averaging 8.9 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and a career-best .611 FG% in less than 20 minutes per game for the season.
Recent trade rumors had focused more on Jahlil Okafor than Noel, so it will be interesting to see if the Sixers end up moving Okafor today as well. In his full report on the trade, Wojnarowski suggests Okafor is now likely to stay put. However, as Jake Fischer of SI.com notes (via Twitter), the Sixers have been “steadfast” this week in their efforts to move Okafor, so it would be a change of direction to hang onto him now.
[RELATED: Latest on Jahlil Okafor]
For the Mavs, Noel represents a substantial upgrade at center, giving the team the sort of athletic, rim-protecting big man it had been seeking. As Wojnarowski tweets, Dallas has “long been intrigued” by Noel, and will look to lock him up this summer. The Kentucky product will be a restricted free agent, so the Mavs will have the opportunity to match any offers he receives from other teams.
From the Sixers’ perspective, the move represents a chance to pick up a young player and a draft pick while also potentially not having to worry about reaching the salary floor. Anderson has yet to make a real impact in his two NBA seasons, but he’s still just 23 years old and won’t be a restricted free agent until the summer of 2019. Meanwhile, the combined salaries for Bogut ($11MM+) and Anderson ($1.51MM) are worth approximately $8MM more than Noel’s salary, allowing Philadelphia to surpass the salary floor.
However, if the Sixers were to flip Bogut in another deadline deal, that could change the equation, and the team has yet to decide what they’ll do with the veteran center, per Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link). ESPN’s Chris Haynes reports (via Twitter) that Bogut and the Sixers are expected to engage in buyout talks, with potential suitors like the Cavs keeping a close eye on the situation. However, TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter links) suggests Philadelphia could reroute the former No. 1 pick to another team, with the Celtics as one possibility.
A couple final bookkeeping notes on the swap: Assuming it’s completed as reported, Dallas should have the opportunity to create a pair of trade exceptions in the deal. One would be worth about $6.64MM (the difference between Bogut’s and Noel’s salaries), while the other would be worth approximately $1.51MM (Anderson’s salary). The Mavs should also now comfortably avoid the luxury tax this season, having previously been about $1MM away from the tax threshold.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.