Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wizards Sign J.J. Hickson

February 25th, 2016 at 11:18am CST by Chuck Myron

The Wizards have signed J.J. Hickson, the team announced. Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post reported that a deal was expected between the sides after Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports wrote that they were engaged in advanced discussions about a prorated minimum-salary contract that would run through the rest of the season. The pact indeed covers the balance of 2015/16, as Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld confirmed in the team’s press release.

“Signing J.J. for the remainder of the season gives us another solid veteran who will bring more depth to our frontcourt,” Grunfeld said. “His experience, athletic ability and physical presence will be solid additions to our team as we continue our playoff push.”

Hickson became a free agent earlier this week after the Nuggets waived him Saturday. Denver and the Jeff Schwartz client were planning to do a buyout deal, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported shortly before Hickson’s release, though it’s unclear how much salary, if any, Hickson forfeited from the $5,613,500 his Nuggets contract called for him to make this season. Assuming he’s getting the minimum as reported, he’ll make $366,337 with the Wizards as a seven-year veteran, though Washington only has to pay $273,038, the equivalent of the prorated two-year veteran’s minimum, with the league picking up the tab for the rest. That’s key, since the Wizards were already only about $1MM shy of the tax line.

Washington was only carrying only 14 players, one below the regular season maximum, so the team didn’t have to make a corresponding move. The Wizards were short a big man, since they sent Kris Humphries and DeJuan Blair to the Suns for Markieff Morris in a two-for-one trade at last week’s deadline. The 27-year-old Hickson appeared in only three games for the Nuggets after December 8th, but he made nine early-season starts prior to that, eclipsing the eight starts in 73 appearances he made last year.

Suns Claim John Jenkins Off Waivers

February 24th, 2016 at 7:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

7:03pm: The Suns have officially announced the waiver claim of Jenkins.

4:14pm: The Suns have claimed John Jenkins off waivers from the Mavericks, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The team has yet to make a formal announcement, but the move had to have taken place before 4:00pm Central, when Jenkins was set to become a free agent had no team put in a claim. He’s on a three-year minimum-salary contract, and the minimum salary exception only accommodates two-year deals, so Phoenix is using part of the $1.56MM trade exception it created in the Markieff Morris deal last week. It’s a boon for Dallas, which gets to subtract the more than $981K cap hit for Jenkins from this season’s books. The Suns are responsible for that plus his remaining paychecks this year.

Jenkins, who turns 25 next month, goes into Phoenix’s open roster spot, so no corresponding move is necessary. He’ll provide depth on the wing, where the Suns have been thin in the wake of T.J. Warren‘s season-ending broken foot. The Mavericks didn’t give Jenkins much playing time in the regular season, as he’s averaged a career low 9.2 minutes per game, even though he was one of the surprises of the preseason, when he put up 19.7 points in 28.4 minutes a night across seven appearances. Dallas waived Jenkins to make room for David Lee, who came free via buyout from the Celtics.

The Suns have the ability to control Jenkins through 2017/18, since his contract contains non-guaranteed minimum salaries for the next two seasons. He holds promise, having been the 23rd overall pick in 2012, and he’s a passable floor-stretching threat, having hit 35.7% of his 227 3-point attempts over the course of 119 NBA regular season games. Phoenix nonetheless burns the majority of the Morris exception, which declines in value to $578,652, largely unusable except for rookie minimum deals.

Magic Claim Copeland Off Waivers, Intend To Waive

February 24th, 2016 at 6:19pm CST by Eddie Scarito

6:19pm: Orlando saved itself approximately $315K by claiming Copeland as it allowed the team to reach the $63MM salary floor, Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports explains (via Twitter).

5:30pm: The Magic intend to waive Copeland within the next 24 hours, Charania writes in a full-length story. The moves to claim and subsequently waive Copeland are being made to get Orlando above the minimum salary floor, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel tweets.

4:17pm: The Magic have claimed combo forward Chris Copeland off of waivers, Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter link). The addition of Copeland will give Orlando 15 players on its roster, which is the regular season maximum. No formal announcement has been made by the team, but the move had to have taken place prior to 4:00pm Central, which is when Copeland would have officially become a free agent.

Copeland was waived by the Bucks on Monday in order to clear a roster slot for the signing of Steve Novak. Orlando is utilizing a portion of the $8,193,029 trade exception that was created as part of the deal that shipped Channing Frye to the Cavaliers since Copeland earns more than the minimum salary. The Magic will now be responsible for the remainder of Copeland’s $1.1MM salary for 2015/16 and his entire cap hit.

The Bucks had signed Copeland this past offseason, but the veteran never made much of an impact with the team. The 31-year-old is averaging 2.1 points and 0.5 assists in 6.5 minutes per game this season.

Pistons Sign Justin Harper To 10-Day Contract

February 24th, 2016 at 8:55am CST by Dana Gauruder

WEDNESDAY, 8:55am: The signing is official, the team announced via press release. The contract will cover four games, against the Sixers, Raptors, Bucks and Spurs. Meanwhile, the Pistons will re-evaluate Johnson in a week, the team also announced.

TUESDAY, 12:03am: The Pistons plan to sign power forward Justin Harper of the Los Angeles D-Fenders to a 10-day contract, league sources tell The Vertical’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). The 6’10” Harper was averaging 14.8 points and 5.0 rebounds for the D-Fenders, Chris Reichert of Upside Motor tweets.

The 26-year-old Harper has not appeared in an NBA game since the 2011/12 season, when he played 14 games with the Magic. He was on the Nets’ training camp roster last fall but was waived after appearing in six preseason games.

A series of events led to the Pistons’ interest in Harper. They acquired power forward Donatas Motiejunas from the Rockets in a three-team deal at the trade deadline but it was voided on Monday because Motiejunas didn’t pass the team’s physicals. The voided trade left the team with an open roster spot.

Over the past two games, the Pistons have suffered injuries to their frontcourt. Power forward Anthony Tolliver is expected to miss two to four weeks with a knee injury, and rookie swingman Stanley Johnson sprained his shoulder against the Cavaliers on Monday night, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.

Suns Waive DeJuan Blair

February 22nd, 2016 at 6:11pm CST by Eddie Scarito

MONDAY, 6:11pm: The team officially announced today that Blair has been waived (Twitter link).

THURSDAY, 5:15pm: The Suns will waive newly acquired power forward DeJuan Blair, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic reports. The news that Phoenix would waive Blair or Kris Humphries was first relayed by Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. Blair was shipped to the Suns along with Humphries in exchange for Markieff Morris earlier today.

Blair is earning $2MM this season, the remainder of which Phoenix will be on the hook for. The power forward is under contract for 2016/17, but that salary is non-guaranteed, so the Suns won’t have any impact on their salary cap for next season as a result of this move.

The 26-year-old appeared in 29 contests for the Wizards this season and averaged 2.1 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists in 7.5 minutes of action per outing. His shooting numbers are .412/.000/.385.

Warriors Sign Anderson Varejao

February 22nd, 2016 at 6:07pm CST by Will Joseph

MONDAY, 6:07pm: The team officially announced the signing via press release.

SUNDAY, 8:32pm: The Warriors have signed Anderson Varejao, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The team has yet to make an official announcement, but Charania indicates the two sides have reached an agreement. Varejao signed at the veteran’s minimum for the rest of the season, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports tweets.

Marc Stein of ESPN.com first reported earlier today that Golden State was the front-runner to sign Varejao, with the Spurs also reportedly having had mutual interest. The minimum salary for Varejao will be prorated. So, if he were to officially sign Monday on a deal that covers only the rest of the season, he would receive $458,575, with $289,755 coming from the Warriors and the NBA picking up the rest. Golden State, which is between $10MM and $15MM above the luxury tax threshold, would be in line to pay an additional $724,388 in taxes for the Varejao deal, making the total cost, in combined payroll and taxes, a projected $1,014,143. That number would go down slightly each day the Warriors wait to formally make the signing.

Golden State is currently carrying 15 players on its roster with each contract being fully guaranteed, so a subsequent move will be needed. The Warriors have a need in the frontcourt with Festus Ezeli still out because of arthroscopic knee surgery and Andrew Bogut nursing an Achilles injury.

The Blazers waived the 33-year-old Varejao after acquiring him from the Cavs in a deadline-day trade. He told Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and Cleveland Plain Dealer that he has no hard feelings toward the Cavs and is excited to join the Warriors (Twitter link). Varejao, who has never played for any other team aside from the Cavs, is averaging 2.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

Magic Waive Jared Cunningham

February 22nd, 2016 at 4:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:30pm: The move is official, the Magic’s public relations department announced via Twitter.

4:13pm: The Magic have waived Jared Cunningham, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). The team hasn’t publicly acknowledged the move, but it took place today, according to Robbins. The release was expected, with Magic-employed beat writer John Denton going so far as to write that Orlando would cut the former 24th overall pick who came via Thursday’s trade with the Cavaliers. The reason Cunningham lingered on the Magic roster for as long as he did is because they were waiting on Channing Frye, who went to Cleveland in the swap, to pass his physical. He did so earlier today, according to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Cunningham won his way onto the regular season roster for the Cavs with a strong preseason, averaging 12.4 points in 25.3 minutes per game, enough of a case for Cleveland to risk paying approximately $3.8MM in extra luxury tax penalties on top of their $947,276 obligation on his minimum salary. That risk became even more profound when the Cavs kept him past the date in January when his one-year contract became fully guaranteed. His tight bond with LeBron James surely didn’t hurt his case to stick around in Cleveland, but he averaged only 2.6 points in 8.9 minutes during the regular season, and the Cavs ultimately moved off his salary, and all the tax implications connected with it, on the final day possible, shipping him to the Magic.

The 24-year-old is still in line to make his full $981,348 salary, with the Magic on the hook for $947,276 of it and the league picking up the rest. That assumes he clears waivers, however. Every team except Orlando and Cleveland is eligible to claim him off waivers, as long as they have an open roster spot, and he seems like a decent candidate for a claim, given his first-round pedigree, relative youth and preseason performance.

Pistons, NBA Void Donatas Motiejunas Trade

February 22nd, 2016 at 3:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:06pm: The Pistons confirmed the voiding of the trade, via press release.

“Standard with all trades, medical clearance on all players involved is required for completion. Medical clearance was not given on all players and the trade is being rescinded,” Bower said in Detroit’s statement. “In view of privacy considerations relating to medical information, we will have no further comment.”

1:15pm: The Pistons and the NBA are in the process of voiding the three-team Donatas Motiejunas trade, sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The power forward didn’t pass Detroit’s physical, The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski notes (on Twitter), so the deal between the Pistons, Rockets and Sixers is off. Motiejunas, Marcus Thornton and Denver’s 2017 second-round pick will return to the Rockets, the Pistons will get back Joel Anthony and their top-eight protected 2016 first-round pick, while the Sixers will once more have the rights draft-and-stash player Chukwudiebere “Chu” Maduabum. The Sixers released JaKarr Sampson to facilitate the trade, but they won’t get him back, since he’s agreed to a two-year deal with the Nuggets.

Houston had slipped beneath the luxury tax line with the trade, according to The Vertical’s Bobby Marks, so today’s news has negative financial consequences for the Rockets, who are again in line to be taxpayers. The threat that the trade might fall apart grew over the weekend when the Pistons asked for and received an extra 24 hours to examine Motiejunas, who has dealt with lingering back trouble after undergoing surgery in April. The 25-year-old has appeared in only 14 games this season.

The Pistons had latitude to seek a change to the terms of the trade, including the protection attached to the first-rounder that was to go to Houston, according to Marks (Twitter link), but instead it appears they’ve decided, with the NBA’s blessing, to nix it altogether. Rescinding the trade will leave the Pistons and Sixers with one open roster spot apiece while the Rockets will go from two open roster spots to a full 15-man roster. Houston was reportedly among the teams interested in signing veteran rebounder Reggie Evans but now would have to cut somebody to do so.

Teams typically have 72 hours to administer physicals to the players they receive via trade, so it’s possible for deals to fall apart even after clubs formally announce them, even though it’s rare. The Thunder’s doctors didn’t like what they saw when they evaluated Tyson Chandler in 2009, leading the NBA to void Oklahoma City’s trade with the Hornets that year. Pistons GM Jeff Bower was the Hornets GM then, so he’s now seen voided trades from opposite perspectives.

The death of the trade is a boost to Anthony’s job prospects, since the Sixers were reportedly poised to waive him once the deal was ratified. Still, it’s perhaps a financial loss for him, since he could have latched on elsewhere for a salary that would have gone on top of the $2.5MM he’s seeing this year on his existing contract.

Conversely, it can’t help the earning potential for Motiejunas, who’s set for restricted free agency in the summer. It was a lock that either Motiejunas or fellow soon-to-be restricted free agent Terrence Jones would leave the Rockets this summer, as Zach Lowe of ESPN.com wrote before the trade agreement last week.

The voiding of the trade scraps the pair of trade exceptions, worth $2,288,205 and $947,276, respectively, that the Rockets were able to create. It also kills off a $211,795 trade exception for the Pistons, though that one would have been virtually unusable anyway.

Which team do you think suffers the most because the trade is getting voided? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Nuggets Sign JaKarr Sampson

February 22nd, 2016 at 2:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:14pm: The signing is official, the team announced, confirming that it’s a multiyear arrangement (Twitter link). USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt tweets that it contains a partial guarantee for next season, which conflicts with Charania’s report.

10:48am: The contract will be guaranteed for the rest of this season by rule, but it’ll be non-guaranteed for next season, Charania writes in a full piece that also includes confirmation of the deal from agent Seth Cohen.

10:03am: The Nuggets and former Sixers combo forward JaKarr Sampson are finalizing a two-year contract, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The Sixers had wanted to re-sign him after releasing him Thursday to make room for their three-way trade with Houston and Detroit, one that’s held up as the Pistons continue to evaluate the health of Donatas Motiejunas. Detroit is sending Joel Anthony to Philadelphia as part of the swap, and Philadelphia offloaded Sampson to make room for Anthony, whom the Sixers reportedly intend to waive once the trade is finalized.

Denver has two open roster spots after having released J.J. Hickson and Steve Novak on Friday, so the Nuggets don’t have to make a corresponding move to add Sampson. It’ll likely be a minimum-salary contract, since that’s all Denver could give unless Hickson and Novak gave back large portions of their respective salaries in their buyout deals. Sampson was making the minimum salary, worth $845,059 to him as a one-year veteran, on his contract with Philadelphia. Assuming his new deal is also worth the minimum, it’ll be pro-rated, and thus too small for Philly to reap any savings via set-off. So, Sampson is poised to receive whatever the Nuggets give him on top of his full $845,059 from the Sixers.

Sampson, 22, is in his second NBA season after going undrafted out of St. John’s in 2014 and winning a spot on the Sixers despite a four-year contract that originally contained only $50K in guaranteed salary. He started 32 games as a rookie and 18 this season, with a career scoring average of 5.2 points per game. His numbers are virtually identical this year to those from last year, except his 3-point shooting. He made 24.4% on 127 total attempts last season, a woeful performance that’s led him to much fewer shots behind the arc this year, as he’s attempted only 34 and made just six.

Bucks Sign Steve Novak

February 22nd, 2016 at 10:51am CST by Will Joseph

MONDAY, 10:51am: The signing is official, the team announced, also confirming Copeland’s release.

SUNDAY, 4:22pm: The Bucks have signed Steve Novak, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The team has yet to make an official announcement, but Stein indicates the deal is done.

Stein first reported on Saturday that the Bucks planned to sign Novak. The veteran small forward just cleared waivers from the Nuggets, who released him Friday as part of a buyout deal. Denver acquired him from the Thunder in the Randy Foye trade.

The Thunder rarely used Novak this season. He made only seven appearances, averaging just 3.4 minutes per game. The move presents a bit of a homecoming for Novak, who played his college ball at Marquette University. The Bucks will be Novak’s ninth different team in 10 seasons in the league. By signing Novak, who carved out a name for himself over his career for his 3-point shooting prowess, the Bucks are also expected to waive small forward Chris Copeland.