Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pelicans Waive Chris Copeland

October 3rd, 2016 at 3:39pm CST by Luke Adams

3:39pm: The Pelicans have officially announced the move via press release.

3:29pm: Less than two weeks after announcing they signed him, the Pelicans have waived veteran forward Chris Copeland, according to Paul Garcia of Project Spurs (via Twitter). The move opens up a roster spot for New Orleans, as the team had been carrying the maximum 20 allowable players.

Copeland, 32, played for the Bucks last season after having also spent time with the Knicks and Pacers over the course of his NBA career. He played sparingly in Milwaukee, averaging just 2.1 PPG in 6.5 minutes per contest for the team, and shot a career-worst 33.3% from the floor, including 27.8% on three-pointers.

Copeland’s deal with the Pelicans hadn’t included any guaranteed money, so the club won’t be on the hook for any salary after releasing him. The club already has 15 players on guaranteed salaries, along with Lance Stephenson on a partially guaranteed deal, so Copeland would have been a long shot to make the regular-season roster.

Hawks Sign Josh Magette

October 3rd, 2016 at 12:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

OCTOBER 3: The Hawks have officially signed Magette, the team announced today in a press release.

OCTOBER 2: The Hawks have reached an agreement with point guard Josh Magette, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Journal Constitution. He is expected to join the team in time for Monday’s practice.

The 26-year-old has spent the past two seasons with the L.A. Defenders in the D-League. He averaged 11.5 points and 9.1 assists in 45 games last season. Magette played college ball at Alabama-Huntsville and spent a year in both the Netherlands and Greece before coming to the D-League.

The move confirms speculation that the Hawks were looking to add a guard after waiving Richard Solomon on Saturday. Starting point guard Dennis Schroder has been slowed by an ankle injury and backup Jarrett Jack is working his way back from a torn ACL. The addition of Magette brings Atlanta back up to the preseason roster limit of 20.

Cavaliers Sign Toney Douglas

October 3rd, 2016 at 11:07am CST by Luke Adams

11:07am: Douglas’ deal with the Cavs doesn’t include any guaranteed money, though he’ll have the opportunity to earn a regular-season roster spot, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com.

10:58am: The Cavaliers have added some veteran depth at the point guard position, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed unrestricted free agent Toney Douglas to a contract. To make room on their 20-man preseason roster, the Cavs have waived big man Eric Moreland, according to the team.

Douglas, 30, began his NBA career in 2009 with the Knicks. After spending three seasons in New York, the point guard has bounced around, playing for the Rockets, Kings, Warriors, Heat, and Pelicans. His time with the Heat overlapped with LeBron James‘ last season in Miami, so the two players will be teammates again this fall in Cleveland.

Last season, Douglas started a career-high 18 games for the Pelicans, appearing in 61 overall contests. The former first-round pick averaged 8.7 PPG, 2.6 APG, 2.3 RPG, and 1.1 SPG, to go along with a shooting line of .411/.399/.848.

While Douglas likely isn’t guaranteed a roster spot for the regular season, he’ll have a good chance to crack the rotation in Cleveland, given the club’s lack of point guard depth. Mo Williams was expected to enter the season as a primary backup behind Kyrie Irving at the point, but Williams decided to retire instead. The only other true point guard on the Cavs’ roster prior to the signing of Douglas was Kay Felder, a second-round rookie who may not be ready to handle a key rotation role right away.

We don’t know the details yet on Douglas’ contract, though it will almost certainly be a minimum-salary pact. If he receives a fully guaranteed deal, or at least a significant partial guarantee, it will be a strong signal that the Cavs expect him to make their 15-man roster.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Hawks Waive Richard Solomon

October 1st, 2016 at 1:05pm CST by Eddie Scarito

1:05pm: The Hawks have officially announced the move via press release.

12:53pm: The Hawks have made their first training camp cut of the preseason, waiving Richard Solomon, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports (on Twitter). The subtraction of Solomon leaves Atlanta with a roster count of 19, one below the league maximum. No official announcement has been made by the team regarding the move.

The power forward’s contract worth $543,471 was non-guaranteed, so Atlanta won’t be on the hook for any salary as a result of this move. The Hawks are likely to sign a guard to replace Solomon on their roster, Vivlamore notes.

Solomon appeared in 59 games in the Japanese League last season and averaged 11.3 points, 8.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists. His shooting line was .536/.179/.660. In his senior season with the Bears, he averaged 11.0 points and 10.2 rebounds in 29.2 minutes. In July, he played in Orlando for the Suns’ summer league squad and then in Las Vegas with the Thunder.

Rockets Sign P.J. Hairston

September 30th, 2016 at 6:02pm CST by Dana Gauruder

SEPTEMBER 30th: The signing is official, the team announced.

SEPTEMBER 29th: P.J. Hairston will join the Rockets on a training camp deal, Adrian Wojnarowksi of The Vertical tweets. Houston will hold his D-League rights, Wojnarowski adds.

A 2014 first-round pick, the 6’6” small forward played for both the Grizzlies and Hornets last season. He was acquired by the Grizzlies in a deadline deal in which guard Courtney Lee landed in Charlotte.

He started half of the 18 games he played for Memphis last season, averaging 6.9 points and 2.6 rebounds in 20.8 minutes. He started 43 of the 48 games he played for Charlotte, averaging 6.0 points and 2.7 rebounds in 19.5 minutes. Hairston has shot just 34.3% from the field in 111 career game.

Hairston recently worked out for the Nets and Pacers before the Rockets offered him a deal. He also attended the Lakers’ mini-camp for free agents in August.

Southwest Notes: Barnes, Spurs, Grizzlies, Rockets

September 29th, 2016 at 1:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Mavericks don’t expect small forward Harrison Barnes to emerge as a superstar to replace Dirk Nowitzki but he’ll have a much bigger role with them than he did with the Warriors, Tim MacMahon of the Dallas Morning News reports. Barnes received a max four-year, $94MM contract this summer and will be featured much more offensively in Dallas, particularly with the free agent departure of Chandler Parsons. Coach Rick Carlisle told MacMahon that he met with Barnes about the outside expectations that come with signing a huge contract. “I talked to him this summer a lot about that,” Carlisle said. “The bottom line is it’s a challenge that he’s got to love taking on. The important thing is an elevation in responsibility comes at the right rate. You don’t just get a guy like this and throw him out there and tell him he’s got to score 20 a night. … We’ll get it to him in what I feel will be the correct doses and we’ll go from there.”

In other news around the Southwest Division:

The Spurs have waived big man Ryan Richards, according to the team’s website. They signed the 2010 second-round draft choice to a training camp contract earlier this month. He played with teams in Iran, Lebanon and Bahrain last season.
The Rockets have high expectations for center Clint Capela as Dwight Howard‘s replacement, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com writes. The team signed Nene Hilario to back up and mentor Capela, who is expected to move into the starting lineup, Watkins continues. GM Daryl Morey told Watkins that Capela must become an impact player. “Clint is someone for us, to have the season we want to have — to get home court in the Western Conference and to make a deep playoff run and hopefully to go deeper than we’ve ever been in my career — Clint is going to have to take a big step forward,” Morey said. “It’s not an easy step, from playing 15 to 20 minutes against … often, but not always, the starting center to playing 25-plus minutes against front-line guys.”
New Grizzlies coach David Fizdale has big plans for small forward James Ennis, Ron Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes. Ennis was re-signed by the club this offseason on a two-year, $6MM contract and Fizdale sees him as a valuable rotation piece, Tillery continues. “He’s what today’s NBA is. He’s a Swiss Army knife,” Fizdale told Tillery. “He can guard a lot of different people. I’ve got him in a good place and he’s taking advantage of that.”

Grizzlies Sign Chris Crawford

September 26th, 2016 at 1:45pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies’ 20-man roster for training camp is set, the team announced over the weekend in a press release. In addition to the 19 players who started the offseason with the club, or whose deals were previously reported, Memphis has officially signed free agent guard Chris Crawford to fill out its roster.

Crawford was born in Memphis and played his college ball with the Tigers, so it’s a homecoming for the 23-year-old. Since going undrafted in 2014, the young guard has appeared in 64 games for the D-League’s Canton Charge, and has also spent some time in France with Rouen Métropole Basket.

The Grizzlies head into camp with just 13 players on guaranteed contracts, so it’s possible Crawford could land a regular-season roster spot with the club, but a return overseas or to the D-League seems more likely. Vince Carter, whose salary is partially guaranteed, figures to earn one of the two open roster spots in Memphis, with Tony Wroten, D.J. Stephens, Wayne Selden, Troy Williams, and JaMychal Green vying with Crawford for the other one.

Mo Williams To Retire

September 26th, 2016 at 12:26pm CST by Luke Adams

Five days ago, Mo Williams posted a tweet indicating he was returning to the NBA – and to the Cavaliers – for one more year. Apparently that’s no longer the case. According to Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net (via Twitter), Cavs GM David Griffin announced today that Williams’ agent informed him of his client’s decision to retire.

Williams, the 47th overall pick in the 2003 draft, spent a year in Utah before heading to the Bucks and blossoming into a starting point guard. Over the course of his 13-year NBA career, Wiliams also played for the Cavaliers, Clippers, Trail Blazers, Timberwolves, Hornets, and enjoyed second stints with the Jazz and the Cavs.

An All-Star in 2009, Williams averaged 13.2 PPG, 4.9 APG, and 2.8 RPG for his career, shooting 37.8% on three-point attempts in his 818 regular-season contests. The 33-year-old also appeared in 62 playoff games, winning his first championship with the Cavs this June.

Williams had been set to earn $2,194,500 for the 2016/17 season, so we’ll see how the Cavs handle that cap hit. The team may end up just waiving the veteran guard, eating his salary, but perhaps the two sides can work out a buyout agreement that takes Cleveland off the hook for some of that $2MM+.

Meanwhile, Williams’ departure thins out the point guard ranks for the Cavs. Behind Kyrie Irving, the team will be relying on rookie Kay Felder and perhaps camp invitee Markel Brown, though he’s more of a combo guard. For what it’s worth, Griffin says the Cavs are “comfortable” with the point guard position, adding that it will be a “an incredibly competitive” training camp (Twitter link via Amico).

Cavs Sign Jonathan Holmes, Finalize Camp Roster

September 26th, 2016 at 11:42am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers have officially announced their camp roster, and there’s one new name on the list of 20 players. According to Cleveland’s announcement, the team has signed 6’9″ forward Jonathan Holmes to its roster for camp.

Holmes, who played his college ball at Texas, went undrafted in 2015 after his final season with the Longhorns. He joined the Lakers for training camp, and suffered a dislocated right shoulder before the season began. While the injury sidelined him for the next several months, it did ensure that he earned his full salary for the 2015/16 from Los Angeles.

In Cleveland, Holmes likely won’t make the team’s 15-man roster for the regular season, but it’s possible he’ll end up being assigned to the club’s D-League affiliate, the Canton Charge. I’d expect his deal to be a minimum-salary pact that contains little to no guaranteed money.

As for the Cavs, their announcement today confirmed several previously-reported signings — agreements with players like John Holland, Dahntay Jones, and Cory Jefferson are now official. Cleveland is also carrying the maximum allowable 20 players, and J.R. Smith‘s name isn’t among them, though of course that doesn’t prevent the two sides from eventually working out a deal.

Nets Sign Chase Budinger

September 26th, 2016 at 9:44am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 26: The Nets have officially signed Budinger, the team announced today in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 21: With training camps set to begin next week, the Nets have added another veteran player to their roster, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who reports (via Twitter) that free agent forward Chase Budinger has reached an agreement with the team. Terms of the deal aren’t yet known.

Budinger, 28, spent last season with the Pacers and the Suns, appearing in 66 total games. He played a career-low 14.1 minutes per game and saw his production decline across the board — Budinger’s 4.1 PPG, .279 3PT%, and .696 FT% were all easily the worst marks of his career.

Still, heading into last season, Budinger was a career 35.8% from three-point range, and he could still provide a little value as a shooter off the bench. It’s not clear whether he’ll receive a guaranteed contract from the Nets, but he’ll likely have the opportunity to compete for a roster spot either way.

Brooklyn already has 15 guaranteed salaries on its books, and Budinger will be the 19th player the team is bringing to camp. However, the Nets are well below the salary cap – as well as the salary floor – and a handful of those guaranteed contracts are minimum-salary deals, so if someone has to be waived to make room for Budinger, it wouldn’t have a real impact on the club’s flexibility.