Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Grizzlies Sign Bryce Cotton To 10-Day Contract

March 31st, 2016 at 12:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

FRIDAY, 12:52pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release. The contract will cover five games, against the Raptors, Magic, Bulls, Mavs and Wizards.

THURSDAY, 8:37pm:Bryce Cotton will join the Grizzlies on a 10-day contract, tweets Chris Vernon of 92.9 FM ESPN in Memphis. He will replace Ray McCallum, whose second 10-day deal with Memphis will expire overnight. It would thus appear that the Grizzlies will maintain a 17-man roster, two over the usual limit, and that Memphis has received its latest in a line of hardship exceptions to supplement an injury-racked lineup.

Cotton had been with the Spurs’ D-League affiliate in Austin until late January, when he signed with Xinjiang in China. The 6’1″ point guard reached a deal with the Suns on November 25th, but appeared in just three games before being waived in January prior to contracts throughout the league becoming guaranteed.

Cotton, who will earn $49,709 on the 10-day contract, will become the record 28th player to play for the Grizzlies this season. The team has had as many as 18 on its roster at a time because of injury exceptions.

Grizzlies Sign Jordan Farmar For Rest Of Season

March 31st, 2016 at 11:54am CST by Chuck Myron

The Grizzlies have signed Jordan Farmar for the rest of the season, the team announced via press release. The veteran point guard’s 10-day contract expired overnight. The move restores the Memphis roster to 17 players, two over the normal regular season roster limit, so it appears the NBA has once more given the injury-hit Grizzlies a hardship provision for an extra roster spot. Normally, the league hands out extra roster spots for only 10 days at a time, but it appears it’s made an exception for Memphis and Farmar, just as with the contract Tim Frazier signed for the rest of the season with the Pelicans last week.

Farmar has put up strong numbers, averaging 10.8 points, 3.6 assists and 1.2 turnovers in 25.6 minutes per game across five appearances, three of which were starts. The 10-day deal was his first NBA contract since he reached a January 2015 buyout deal with the Clippers, who are the likely first-round playoff opponent for Memphis this year. Farmar’s contract will carry through the playoffs.

The 29-year-old has received the bulk of the playing time at point guard of late, instead of fellow 10-day signee Ray McCallum, while Mike Conley continues to sit out with a sore Achilles tendon. Four other Grizzlies are also dealing with injuries, as the CBSSports.com injury log shows, including Marc Gasol, who’s out for the season. The team faces a decision regarding McCallum in the next couple of days, as his 10-day contract will expire tonight. Xavier Munford, who’s also on a 10-day deal, is under contract through Tuesday.

Farmar, who’s in his ninth NBA season, will make $111,683 on his new contract. The Grizzlies are on the hook for only $78,011 of it, with the league picking up the rest, presuming Farmar and Memphis didn’t tack next season onto the deal, as is sometimes the case with midseason signees.

Pelicans Sign James Ennis To 10-Day Contract

March 30th, 2016 at 2:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:05pm: The signing is official, the team announced. The contract will cover six games, against the Spurs, Nuggets, Nets, Sixers, Celtics and Lakers.

1:31pm: The NBA has indeed given the Pelicans another hardship provision for an 18th roster spot, as Jim Eichenhofer of the team’s website confirms. Eichenhofer doesn’t mention Ennis but suggests the team may make a signing as soon as today. New Orleans has a two-day window from the time the league grants the provision to use it.

8:47am: The Pelicans will sign former Heat and Grizzlies swingman James Ennis, sources tell Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate (Twitter links). The move appears to be a signal that the NBA has given New Orleans another hardship exception for an extra roster spot. Seven Pelicans are out for the season with injuries, including Jrue Holiday and Alonzo Gee, whose season-ending maladies the team announced Tuesday. The Pelicans already have 17 players under contract, two over the normal limit.

Memphis waived Ennis on March 2nd to make room on its roster for Ryan Hollins, and somewhat curiously, the Grizzlies and Ennis haven’t circled back to each other even as the team has made a flurry of moves and received multiple hardship exceptions amid a rash of injuries similar to the trouble the Pelicans have gone through. The Grizzlies nonetheless seemed to have little use for the 25-year-old who was the 50th overall pick in 2013, sending him on eight D-League assignments and only putting him on the floor in 10 games at the NBA level.

Ennis began the season with the Heat, for whom he saw much more playing time before they shipped him out in November via the Mario Chalmers trade. The Heat never sent Ennis to the D-League once they signed him in 2014, and he averaged 5.0 points in 17.0 minutes per game across 62 appearances for Miami last season.

He’ll see $49,709 on his 10-day contract with New Orleans and add to a shrinking reserve of healthy Pelicans. Dante Cunningham, Omer Asik, Luke Babbitt, Toney Douglas, Tim Frazier, Jordan Hamilton, Kendrick Perkins and Alexis Ajinca are the only New Orleans players without some sort of ailment, The Advocate’s Brett Dawson notes (Twitter link).

Pistons Sign Lorenzo Brown To Second 10-Day

March 28th, 2016 at 9:22am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pistons have signed point guard Lorenzo Brown to a second 10-day contract, the team announced via press release. His initial 10-day pact expired overnight. The latest deal costs $55,722 and covers five games, against the Thunder, Mavericks, Bulls, Heat and Magic. Detroit is a game up in the loss column on Chicago for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The first 10-day contract was essentially an insurance policy for the team, coach/executive Stan Van Gundy conceded, as Reggie Jackson nursed a virus and Spencer Dinwiddie dealt with a deep bone bruise in his ankle. Neither Jackson nor Dinwiddie currently appear on the CBSSports.com injury report, and fellow point guard Steve Blake is also healthy, but the Pistons are nonetheless keeping Brown in their 15th roster spot for the time being.

Brown has yet to appear in a game with Detroit. He averaged 2.5 points in 7.6 minutes per game across eight appearances on a pair of 10-day contracts with the Suns earlier this year. The 25-year-old who was the 52nd pick in the 2013 draft has spent most of the season with the Pistons D-League team. Detroit is plenty familiar with him not just from his D-League experience but also from his 2014 preseason stint on the Pistons NBA roster.

Sixers Sign Christian Wood To 10-Day, Waive Weems

March 27th, 2016 at 4:53pm CST by Will Joseph

The Sixers signed Christian Wood to a 10-day contract and waived Sonny Weems, the team announced via press release. Wood had been playing for the Delaware 87ers, the Sixers’ D-League affiliate.

In a move made to lift the Sixers’ salary earlier this month, the team claimed Weems off waivers from the Suns and released Wood from his previous 10-day contract. That was the second time this season that Philadelphia relinquished Wood, who hit waivers in January when the team decided to sign Elton Brand.

Wood has appeared in 32 games in the D-League this season, averaging 17 points and 9 rebounds in 29 minutes per game. Wood, who went undrafted in 2015, signed with the Sixers on September 14th. He has appeared in 14 career NBA games with Philadelphia, averaging 4 points and 2 rebounds per contest.

Grizzlies Sign Munford To Second 10-Day Contract

March 27th, 2016 at 1:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Grizzlies have signed point guard Xavier Munford to a second-10-day contract, the team announced today. Munford, who first signed with Memphis on March 16th, has averaged 2.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists in five games with the team.

Munford was the latest addition to the injury-plagued Grizzlies’ roster after the league granted a request under the hardship provision to carry 17 players. With starting point guard Mike Conley likely out for the rest of the regular season, Memphis also recently signed Ray McCallum and Jordan Farmar.

Before joining the Grizzlies, Munford played 41 games with the Bakersfield Jam in the D-League. He was part of the D-League’s All-Star Game this season, ranking sixth in the league in assists and 11th in scoring.

Nets Sign Henry Sims To Second 10-Day Contract

March 27th, 2016 at 9:38am CST by Arthur Hill

The Nets have signed center Henry Sims to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today. Sims has appeared in four games for Brooklyn since inking his first 10-day deal March 17th. He is averaging 4.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in 13.3 minutes of playing time.

Sims spent most of this season with the Grand Rapids franchise in the D-League after being cut by the Suns in preseason. He also has NBA experience with the Cavaliers and Sixers, starting 32 games for Philadelphia last season.

With the Nets not having control of their first-round picks over the next three drafts, GM Sean Marks has expressed a desire to discover players through 10-day contracts. Once Sims’ new 10-day deal expires, the Nets will have to sign him for the rest of the season if they want to keep him on the roster.

Pelicans Sign Tim Frazier For Rest Of Season

March 26th, 2016 at 2:07pm CST by Chuck Myron

SATURDAY, 2:07pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.

FRIDAY, 12:48pm: The Pelicans will sign Tim Frazier to a contract that runs through season’s end, GM Dell Demps told reporters, including Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate (Twitter link). Today is the last day of Frazier’s 10-day contract, and the plan is for the team to re-sign Frazier on Saturday, The Advocate’s Brett Dawson relays (on Twitter). Frazier joined the Pelicans on a hardship exception and is one of 17 players on the roster, including Jordan Hamilton, who signed a 10-day contract today. The league normally hands out hardships in 10-day intervals, which would seemingly prevent the team from signing Frazier for the rest of the season unless it offloads other players first, but with five New Orleans players out for the balance of 2015/16, it appears the league has seen fit to bend its policy.

Frazier has delivered a strong performance for the depleted Pelicans, averaging 14.6 points, 4.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds in 26.0 minutes per game. His 3.2 turnovers per contest are disconcerting, but it’s tough to quibble with the numbers the second-year pro has put up in his brief time with New Orleans since inking the 10-day contract March 16th. The 25-year-old point guard didn’t have the same sort of opportunities with Portland earlier this season, when he saw just 7.8 minutes a night, but Frazier showed glimpses of his capabilities last year, when he averaged 5.5 assists and 2.3 turnovers in 21.7 minutes per game across 11 total appearances for the Blazers and Sixers.

Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans, Quincy Pondexter and Bryce Dejean-Jones are the Pelicans expected to miss the rest of the season, while Norris Cole, Jrue Holiday and Ryan Anderson have also been dealing with injuries, according to the CBSSports.com injury report. Toney Douglas has been starting at the point with Frazier backing him up.

The Pelicans still have portions of their mid-level and biannual exceptions remaining, so it’s unclear what Frazier will make. Frazier would see at least $94,448, the prorated minimum salary, if he formally signs Saturday.

Pelicans Sign Jordan Hamilton To 10-Day Deal

March 25th, 2016 at 11:14am CST by Eddie Scarito

FRIDAY, 11:14am: The signing is official, the team announced, acknowledging that the deal came via the hardship provision. Frazier’s 10-day contract runs through the rest of today, so the Pelicans have 17 players for now, two above the usual limit. Hamilton’s pact covers five games, against the Raptors, Knicks, Spurs, Nuggets and Nets.

THURSDAY, 7:22pm: The Pelicans plan to sign swingman Jordan Hamilton to a 10-day contract, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (Twitter link). The 25-year-old is currently playing for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s D-League affiliate. New Orleans currently has 16 players on its roster, including Tim Frazier, whose first 10-day pact with the team expires on Friday. It’s unclear if the Pelicans will decline to ink the point guard to a second 10-day arrangement or if the team will be adding Hamilton via a second hardship allowance.

New Orleans should have little difficulty being approved for a 17th roster spot, having been besieged by injuries this season. The team is currently missing Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon, Bryce Dejean-Jones, Tyreke Evans and Quincy Pondexter, all of whom are out for the remainder of the campaign. Adding to the team’s woes, Jrue Holiday and Ryan Anderson are both expected to be out of action through the weekend. In order for a team to be granted an extra roster spot, it must have three players who have missed at least three straight games because of injury or illness, plus a fourth player who is also unable to perform.

Hamilton, 25, had signed with the Russian club Krasny Oktyabr, aka Volgograd, back in August but parted ways with the team in November. He joined the Rockets’ D-League affiliate in February and has appeared in 14 games, averaging 14.9 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 29.2 minutes per contest.

The 6’7” Hamilton appeared in 14 games for the Clippers during the 2014/15 season, averaging 2.7 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 8.7 minutes per game. His career numbers through parts of four NBA campaigns are 5.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.7 assists to accompany a slash line of .405/.366/.671.

Nuggets Ink Axel Toupane To Two-Year Deal

March 25th, 2016 at 10:40am CST by Eddie Scarito

FRIDAY, 10:40am: The signing is official, the Nuggets announced via press release. The team also acknowledged it on Twitter. It will pay $61,776 this season.

THURSDAY, 3:21pm: The Nuggets have reached agreement with Axel Toupane on a two-year deal, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). Next season’s salary is non-guaranteed, Charania adds. Denver only has the prorated minimum salary to give, so the rookie will see no more than $64,864 this season, with the precise value dependent on when he formally signs the contract. The non-guaranteed pay for next season is $874,636.

The shooting guard’s second 10-day pact expired overnight, so Denver had to make a decision about whether to sign him or let him walk. The Nuggets have a roster count of 15 players, the league maximum for the regular season, so inking Toupane will limit Denver’s roster flexibility the rest of the campaign. The team is dealing with a number of injuries, with Wilson Chandler lost for the season, Danilo Gallinari on the shelf until April with ankle woes and Kenneth Faried struggling with back issues.

Toupane has appeared in 11 games for the Nuggets and is averaging 3.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 13.8 minutes per outing. His shooting line is .263/.292/.857.