Bucks To Waive Roberts, Johnson, O’Brien
The Bucks intend to waive Jaleel Roberts, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders reports (via Twitter). The Bucks will also waive Orlando Johnson and J.J. O’Brien, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated adds (on Twitter). None of the players have any guaranteed money included in their deals, so Milwaukee won’t be responsible for any money to the trio.
Roberts, 25, played his college ball for UNC-Asheville, going undrafted in 2015 after averaging 7.0 PPG and 5.0 RPG in his senior season. Despite his modest college stats, Roberts received a training camp invite from the Wizards last season, and after being waived by Washington last fall, the seven-footer rejoined the club for Summer League play this July. The big man will likely look to join the NBA D-League, though, since the Bucks do not have an affiliate in the league, they won’t be able to hold onto his rights.
Johnson, 27, has been with four teams in four seasons after being drafted in the second round by the Kings in 2012. He signed two 10-day contracts last season, one with the Suns in February and one with the Pelicans in March. He appeared in two games with Phoenix and five with New Orleans.
An undrafted 24-year-old out of San Diego State, O’Brien played for the Jazz in Summer League action a year ago, then later signed a 10-day contract with the team. However, he only appeared in two regular season contests for Utah. O’Brien spent the majority of the 2015/16 season with the Idaho Stampede, averaging 14.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 2.8 APG, and 1.5 SPG for the D-League squad.
Pistons Sign, Waive Mamadou N’Diaye
2:55pm: The Pistons announced that they have waived N’Diaye via a second press release.
10:59am: The Pistons have signed center Mamadou N’Diaye to a contract, the team announced via press release. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is almost assuredly a minimum salary deal with little or no guaranteed salary included. Coming this late in the preseason, inking Ndiaye was likely done with an eye on retaining his D-League rights as an affiliate player.
The 7’6″ big man went undrafted this year after spending three season at UC Irvine. The 23-year-old averaged 12.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks during his junior campaign in 2015/16.
N’Diaye played in the Las Vegas Summer League as a member of Golden State’s squad. In three contests he went scoreless, averaging 1.7 rebounds and 0.3 blocks in 5.8 minutes per outing. N’Diaye attempted two shots, missing both of them.
Pistons Waive Lorenzo Brown, Trey Freeman
2:54pm: The Pistons confirmed the moves are official via press release.
1:49pm: The Pistons intend to waive Trey Freeman and Lorenzo Brown, Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press reports (on Twitter). Neither player’s deal included any guaranteed money, so Detroit won’t be on the hook for any salary as a result of parting ways with the pair.
Freeman played for the Rockets summer league squad in Las Vegas this year, appearing in five games and averaging 5.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 18.4 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .265/.200/.750. The 23-year-old went undrafted after completing his senior campaign at Old Dominion. Freeman’s numbers for the 2015/16 season were 22.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 35.1 minutes per night. His shooting numbers on the year were .429/.349/.829.
Brown, 26, appeared in eight contests for the Suns a season ago, averaging 2.5 points, 0.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 7.6 minutes per night. His slash line was .320/.125/.750.
Raptors Waive Five Players
The Raptors have reduced their roster count to 15 players, announcing that guards Drew Crawford and Brady Heslip, forwards E.J. Singler and Jarrod Uthoff and center Yanick Moreira have been waived. Toronto will be on the hook for Singler’s partial guarantee of $50K, Heslip’s partial guarantee of $56,500 and Uthoff’s partial guarantee of $50K as a result of these moves, provided another team doesn’t claim them off of waivers.
Crawford and Moreira each spent last season overseas, with Crawford playing for Bnei Hertzeliyya in Israel, while Moreira split time between UCAM Murcia (Spain) and Rouen (France). Crawford has also spent some time in the D-League, playing for the Erie BayHawks in 2014/15 after playing his college ball at Northwestern. Moreira spent two seasons at SMU before going undrafted last year.
After going undrafted out of Baylor in 2014, Heslip joined the Bighorns for a brief stint before heading overseas and playing in Bosnian and Italian leagues. Last season, the 26-year-old played for Acqua Vitasnella Cantù in Italy, averaging 12.7 PPG and shooting 45.5% on three-pointers in 29 Italian League contests.
Singler spent some time with the Raptors 905 in the D-League last season, allowing Toronto’s decision-makers to take a closer look at him. The 26-year-old has yet to appear in a regular-season NBA game since finishing his college career with the Ducks, though he has had brief preseason stints with the Trail Blazers (2013) and Jazz (2015). In his senior year at Oregon back in 2012/13, Singler averaged 11.7 PPG and 4.9 RPG in 37 contests, shooting 35.9% from three-point range.
Uthoff went undrafted this year despite being 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).
Spurs To Waive Jean-Charles, Garino, Anthony
The Spurs are paring down their roster for the regular season and are set to waive Livio Jean-Charles, Patricio Garino, and Joel Anthony, Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). Garino’s deal has a partial guarantee of $100K and Jean-Charles’ pact worth $1,188,840 is fully guaranteed, which San Antonio will be on the hook for unless the players are claimed off waivers by another team. No guaranteed money was included in Anthony’s arrangement.
Jean-Charles was a draft-and-stash prospect, taken No. 28 overall during the 2013 draft. The 6’9”, 22-year-old Charles played the last four seasons for the French League club ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, which is co-owned by San Antonio point guard Tony Parker. Last season he appeared in 25 games, averaging 5.9 points and 4.6 rebounds in 21.2 minutes.
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.
Anthony, 34, spent the last two seasons in Detroit, playing sparingly for the Pistons. In 2015/16, he averaged a career-low 5.1 minutes per game in 19 regular-season contests.
Magic Waive Nick Johnson, Ramon Galloway
The Magic have officially parted ways with guard Nick Johnson, the team announced via press release. Johnson’s minimum salary agreement includes no guaranteed money, so Orlando won’t have any cap consequences as a result of the move.
Johnson appeared in four preseason games for the Magic, averaging 4.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 10.2 minutes per outing. His career NBA regular season numbers through 28 games, all with the Rockets, are 2.3 PPG, 1.4 RPG and 0.4 APG to accompany a shooting line of .347/.238/.680.
The team also announced that Ramon Galloway, who was signed on Friday, was also let go. Orlando’s roster count is now at 15 players, which is the regular season maximum.
Jazz Waive Chris Johnson
The Jazz have waived forward Chris Johnson, the team announced via press release. The player’s contract was non-guaranteed, so there will be no cap consequences resulting from letting him go.
Johnson appeared in all six preseason games for Utah, averaging 5.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 11.2 minutes. He appeared in 82 games the Jazz over the past two seasons, averaging 3.5 points and 1.8 rebounds in 13.0 minutes per contest.
Wolves Waive Rasual Butler, Toure’ Murry
1:50pm: The Wolves confirmed the moves via press release.
1:18pm: The Timberwolves intend to waive Rasual Butler and Toure’ Murry, Chris Haynes of ESPN.com reports. The moves won’t result in any salary remaining on the team’s books, as both player’s deals were non guaranteed. Minnesota’s roster will stand at 15 players once the players are officially released.
Butler, 37, appeared in 46 games last season for the Spurs, and wasn’t a big part of the team’s rotation, averaging just 2.7 PPG and 1.2 RPG in 9.4 minutes per contest. For his career, Butler has played in more than 850 total contests (regular season and postseason), averaging 7.5 PPG and 2.4 RPG with a .362 3PT% during regular-season play.
Murry, 26, appeared in 51 games for the Knicks during the 2013/14 season, but has only played in five NBA regular season games since then, enjoying brief stints in Utah and Washington. His career averages are 2.6 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 7.0 minutes per outing to accompany a slash line of .433/.417/.610.
Nuggets Waive Robbie Hummel, Nate Wolters
11:37am: The Nuggets officially announced the moves via press release.
8:22am: The Nuggets will waive Robbie Hummel and Nate Wolters, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post reports (via Twitter). These moves reduce the team’s roster count to 15 players, which is the regular season maximum. Denver will be on the hook for $50,000 for Wolters and $150,000 for Hummel, provided the players aren’t claimed off waivers by another team.
Hummel played in Italy last season for Emporio Armani Milano. He suffered a shoulder injury midseason and he was released by the team. The Wolves selected the former Purdue star with the No. 58 overall selection in the 2012 draft. He spent two season in Minnesota, averaging 3.9 points and 2.7 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game.
Wolters, the 38th pick in 2013 draft, played in Turkey last season. He appeared in 58 games with the Bucks, including 31 starts, in 2013/14. He averaged 7.2 points and 3.2 assists that season. He then played another 11 games with Milwaukee the following season and 10 more with the Pelicans off the bench. According to international journalist David Pick (Twitter link), Wolters is headed overseas after agreeing to a contract that is worth $200K-$225K with Red Star Belgrade.
Hawks To Waive Josh Magette
The Hawks will part ways with point guard Josh Magette, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders reports (on Twitter). Atlanta won’t be on the hook for any salary as a result of the move, given that Magette’s contract was non-guaranteed. The Hawks’ roster will stand at 15 players after waiving Magette.
Magette made three preseason appearances for Atlanta, averaging 1.0 point, 1.0 rebound and 1.67 assists in 5.7 minutes per contest. He shot 50% from the field overall.
The 26-year-old 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.