Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Raptors Sign Jarrod Uthoff

August 2nd, 2016 at 9:29am CST by Will Joseph

AUGUST 2: The Raptors have officially signed Uthoff, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 21: The Raptors and undrafted free agent Jarrod Uthoff have agreed on a partially guaranteed two-year deal, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (on Twitter). It figures to be a minimum-salary pact, since Toronto is over the cap and has used its mid-level exception.

Uthoff will compete for the Raptors’ final roster spot. Uthoff was an All-American at Iowa last season. Among Big Ten players, Uthoff ranked second in scoring (18.9), first in blocked shots (2.7), and tied for 11th in rebounding (6.4).

Uthoff was expected by many draft pundits to get picked as a late first round selection. In a draft that featured a heavy influx of foreign talent, that, of course, was not the case. Uthoff did work out for several teams, including the Clippers, Grizzlies and Suns.

Knicks Sign J.P. Tokoto

August 2nd, 2016 at 8:23am CST by Luke Adams

A day after announcing the signing of undrafted free agent Ron Baker, the Knicks have added another player to their offseason roster, confirming (via Twitter) that they’ve finalized a contract for shooting guard J.P. Tokoto. Details of the agreement aren’t known, but it’s likely a training camp deal with a partial guarantee, as Ian Begley of ESPN.com tweets.

Tokoto, who will turn 23 next month, was a second-round pick in 2015, coming off the board at No. 58. He spent last offseason with the Sixers, but was ultimately cut before the regular season began, and landed in the D-League with the Oklahoma City Blue. The former Tar Heel appeared in 48 D-League contests (25 starts), averaging 11.1 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 1.5 SPG, while shooting 46.0% from the floor. Tokoto also played for the Knicks in Summer League action last month.

A busy offseason has left the Knicks with 14 players on fully guaranteed contracts for the 2016/17 season, with Baker and likely Tokoto receiving partial guarantees. Assuming the team heads into the regular season carrying the maximum 15 players and doesn’t waive a guaranteed salary, Tokoto, Baker, and others should have the opportunity to vie for the one open roster spot.

The Knicks’ roster and depth chart can be found right here.

Warriors, Elliot Williams Agree To One-Year Deal

August 1st, 2016 at 8:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors have agreed to a one-year contract with 27-year-old combo guard Elliot Williams, sources told Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). The contract has a “strong” partial guarantee, Charania adds. Impact Sports, which represents Williams, tweeted out a congratulations to Williams.

Williams appeared in five games with the Grizzlies last season, averaging 1.6 points in 9.0 minutes. In 2014/15, he played a combined 13 games with the Pelicans and Jazz.

The 6’5” Williams made his league debut with the Trail Blazers in 2011/12, appearing in 24 games. His career was sidetracked by an Achilles injury, forcing him to miss the following season.

His most extensive playing time came with the Sixers in 2013/14, when he saw action in 67 games, including the only two starts of his career. He averaged 6.0 points in 17.3 minutes that season.

The Warriors are quite familiar with Williams, as he played for their D-League team in Santa Cruz last season. Williams averaged 28.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 21 games.

Williams has a shot to earn rotation minutes behind Stephen Curry, Shaun Livingston and Klay Thompson. The other guard options are Ian Clark and Pat McCaw.

Knicks Sign Ron Baker

August 1st, 2016 at 11:44am CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 1: More than a month after agreeing to terms with Baker, the Knicks formally announced today that the deal is official (Twitter link).

JUNE 24: The Knicks didn’t have a pick in Thursday’s draft, but the team didn’t waste much time in securing at least one prospect from this year’s class. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter), New York agreed to a partially-guaranteed, one-year deal with Wichita State’s Ron Baker.

Baker ranked as a top-20 senior in this year’s class and a top-80 prospect overall, per DraftExpress.com. The 23-year-old wing wasn’t drafted on Thursday night, despite a solid senior season that saw him average 13.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game for the Shockers.

Baker’s contract will likely be a minimum-salary pact, so even if he receives a decent guarantee in terms of salary, that won’t necessarily guarantee him a roster spot in New York this fall.

Still, the Knicks’ roster is currently fairly barren, with only five players under contract before Baker signs, as the team’s depth chart at Roster Resource shows. The roster will obviously fill up in July, but Baker should be in good position to vie for a place on the regular-season roster.

Amar’e Stoudemire To Play In Israel

August 1st, 2016 at 8:50am CST by Arthur Hill

AUGUST 1, 8:50am: Stoudemire has officially signed a two-year deal with Hapoel Jerusalem, according to Pick (Twitter link). “I’m looking forward to help the team compete for titles,” Stoudemire said.

JULY 31, 10:01am: Amar’e Stoudemire, who announced his retirement on Tuesday, has signed to play in Israel next season, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. Stoudemire officially ended his NBA career at age 33 by signing a ceremonial contract with the Knicks, but he isn’t ready to give up the game completely.

Stoudemire will play for Hapoel Jerusalem, a team he partially owns along with several other investors. Pick notes that he will become the most famous former NBA star ever to play in Israel.

Stoudemire spent 14 years in the NBA, playing for the Suns, Knicks, Mavericks and Heat. He appeared in 52 games for Miami last season, starting 36, and averaged 5.8 points and 4.3 rebounds in nearly 15 minutes per night.

Stoudemire’s links to Israel are based in his embrace of Judaism. When he joined the Heat in 2015, he told Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel that he considers himself “culturally Jewish” and was planning to obtain Israeli citizenship.

“When I traveled to Israel for the first time, the world took hold of that and [the media] made it a big deal, and … it just kind of blew up from there,” he said. “But I was always this way, even when I was in Phoenix or even in high school here in Florida. But it just happened to become more visible when I traveled to Israel.”

Cavaliers Release Dahntay Jones

July 30th, 2016 at 5:19pm CST by Arthur Hill

5:19pm: Cleveland may re-sign Jones to a veteran’s minimum deal, tweets Chris Reichert of Upside and Motor.

4:30pm: The Cavaliers have released veteran swingman Dahntay Jones, tweets Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal. Jones’ full $1,551,659 salary for next season would have become guaranteed Monday if he had remained on the roster.

Cleveland signed the 35-year-old swingman April 13th, and he appeared in just one game before the regular season ended. Jones made it into 15 playoff contests, mostly in a mop-up role, averaging 1.1 points in 3.3 minutes per night. His most notable moment was a one-game suspension for hitting Toronto’s Bismack Biyombo in the groin.

Jones was selected by the Celtics in the first round of the 2003 draft and traded to the Grizzlies on draft night. He has also played for the Pacers, Nuggets, Mavericks, Clippers, Hawks and Kings in his 13-year NBA career.

Rockets Sign Pablo Prigioni

July 29th, 2016 at 5:05pm CST by Eddie Scarito

JULY 29th, 5:05pm: The signing is official, the team announced.

JULY 13th, 10:50pm: The Rockets and unrestricted free agent Pablo Prigioni have reached an agreement on a contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (Twitter link). It will be a two-year pact for the point guard, Wojnarowski adds, but the dollar amount of the arrangement is unknown at this time.

The 39-year-old appeared in 59 games for the Clippers this past season and averaged 2.56 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.2 assist in 13.9 minutes per outing. His slash line was .374/.295/.875.

Prigioni becomes the only other true point guard currently on Houston’s roster and will serve as a veteran backup to starter Patrick Beverley.

Spurs Sign Patricio Garino

July 29th, 2016 at 1:34pm CST by Luke Adams

1:34pm: The Spurs have issued a press release officially announcing the signing.

12:55pm: The Spurs have reached an agreement on a partially-guaranteed deal for Argentinian forward Patricio Garino, a source tells Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter links) confirms that San Antonio is signing Garino, noting that the George Washington product is playing in the Olympics this summer alongside Spurs veteran Manu Ginobili.

Garino, 23, spent four years at George Washington, increasing his production in each season. In 2015/16, the 6’7″ forward averaged 14.1 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.4 SPG, and 0.8 BPG while shooting 43.0% on three-point attempts.

The Spurs hold the NBA draft rights to many international players, and signed a couple of them already this month, locking up Livio Jean-Charles and Davis Bertans. However, Garino was an undrafted free agent, who was free to sign with any team. According to Cauchi, the newest Spur received interest from teams in Spain, Germany, and Italy as well.

Terms of Garino’s new deal aren’t known, but based on San Antonio’s cap limitations, a two-year, minimum-salary contract seems likely.

Pacers Waive Shayne Whittington

July 29th, 2016 at 11:26am CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers have waived big man Shayne Whittington, the team announced today in a press release. The move allows the team to avoid paying Whittington’s $980,431 salary for the 2016/17 season, which would have become fully guaranteed if he remained on the roster beyond August 1.

Whittington, 25, has spent parts of the last two seasons with the Pacers, going back forth between Indiana and Fort Wayne, where the team’s D-League affiliate plays. During that time, the Western Michigan alum has appeared in 27 total NBA games, averaging a modest 2.5 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 5.5 minutes per contest.

With Whittington no longer in the mix, the Pacers have reduced their roster to 15 players, the regular-season limit. Of those 15 players, 14 have guaranteed salaries, while Glenn Robinson III also has an August 1 guarantee deadline. Assuming Robinson sticks around past Monday, he and his 14 teammates look like they’ll make up Indiana’s opening-night roster, though teams can carry up to 20 players in the offseason, so the Pacers figure to add a few more players for training camp in the coming weeks.

As for Whittington, he still has a chance to earn his full salary on his current contract if he’s claimed off waivers. However, it’s more likely that he’ll hit the open market. A non-guaranteed or partially-guaranteed contract with an NBA team – perhaps even Indiana – is one option, though he could also decide to explore overseas opportunities.

Bulls Re-Sign Spencer Dinwiddie

July 28th, 2016 at 4:51pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Bulls have circled back to guard Spencer Dinwiddie, with the team announcing via press release that he has been re-signed. The length and terms of the arrangement were not relayed in the release, but odds are that it is a minimum salary deal with little or no guaranteed money included. The addition of Dinwiddie gives the Bulls a roster count of 15, which is the regular season maximum.

Chicago had waived Dinwiddie back on July 7th in an effort to clear cap room for free agent pursuits. The Bulls had acquired the 23-year-old from Detroit in exchange for power forward Cameron Bairstow in June.

Dinwiddie completed the 2015/16 campaign, his second in the NBA, with averages of 4.8 points, 1.8 assists, 1.4 rebounds and 13.3 minutes over 12 contests. He was drafted by the Pistons with the No. 38 overall selection in the 2014 NBA Draft. Dinwiddie owns career averages of 4.4 points, 2.7 assists, 1.4 rebounds and 13.3 minutes through 46 regular season games in the league.