Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bucks Waive Chris Copeland

February 22nd, 2016 at 10:50am CST by Will Joseph

MONDAY, 10:50am: The move is official, the team announced.

SUNDAY, 8:11pm: The Bucks have waived Chris Copeland, according to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Twitter). The team has not issued an official announcement, but Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times indicates via Twitter that the move has been made to make room for Steve Novak.

Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com first reported Saturday that the Bucks would likely release Copeland. The Bucks are responsible for the remainder of Copeland’s $1.1MM salary, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports tweets. The Bucks reportedly signed Novak today once he cleared waivers.

The Bucks signed Copeland this past offseason, but the veteran never made 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. As a journeyman and late-bloomer, Copeland likely won’t draw much interest around the league.

Warriors Release Jason Thompson

February 22nd, 2016 at 10:09am CST by Will Joseph

MONDAY, 10:09am: The move is official, the team announced via press release.

SUNDAY, 9:00pm: The Warriors waived Jason Thompson to make room for Anderson Varejao, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The Warriors will use the stretch provision, Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group tweets. Thompson had $2.65MM guaranteed for 2016/17, but the Warriors can stretch $883,333 over the next three seasons, Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports points out via Twitter.

The Warriors acquired Thompson this past offseason in a trade from the Sixers. Thompson, whom the Kings had traded to the Sixers earlier in July, has had the worst season of his career, statistically speaking, so it is no surprise the Warriors are parting ways. A starter for most of his carer, Thompson has appeared in only 28 games and has made only one start.

It will be interesting to see if any team adds Thompson, 29, who has been in decline since the 2013/14 season. The Warriors reportedly reached an agreement with Varejao on Sunday. The Warriors had a need in the frontcourt with Festus Ezeli still out because of arthroscopic knee surgery and Andrew Bogut nursing an Achilles injury, but seemingly had no desire to play Thompson.

Knicks Sign Jimmer Fredette To 10-Day Deal

February 22nd, 2016 at 9:59am CST by Chuck Myron

MONDAY, 9:59am: The signing is official, the Knicks announced (on Twitter). The contract will cover five games, against the Raptors, Pacers, Magic, Heat and Trail Blazers.

SUNDAY 9:04am: Fredette confirmed that he will likely be signing a 10-day contract with Knicks as soon as Monday, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports relays (Twitter link).

FRIDAY, 1:48pm: The Knicks plan to sign Jimmer Fredette, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). It’ll be a 10-day contract, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick (on Twitter). The former 10th overall pick has spent much of the season with New York’s D-League affiliate, and this past weekend he won the MVP award in the D-League All-Star Game. The Knicks have an open roster spot, so they don’t have to make a corresponding move.

Fredette is averaging 22.3 points in 36.2 minutes per game across 28 regular season D-League appearances this season. He’s regained his vaunted outside shooting touch, nailing 40.4% of his 3-pointers. That’s much better than the 9 for 49 clip he’s produced at the NBA level in his limited playing time over the past two seasons. Still, his most profound struggles have come on defense, and his shortcomings on that end reportedly played a key role in New York’s decision to sign Thanasis Antetokounmpo instead of Fredette earlier this season.

The Pelicans had Fredette on their roster for a brief time in November, when he reprised the role of little-used reserve that he played last year with New Orleans. He was with the Spurs in the preseason this past fall on a partially guaranteed deal, but he didn’t make the opening night roster, a signal of how mightily the former BYU star has struggled to translate his college success to the pro level.

Fredette, who turns 27 this coming Thursday, will make close to $60K on the 10-day deal, an amount that exceeds his D-League salary for the entire season. New York will pay close to $56K, the equivalent of the cost of a prorated minimum-salary 10-day contract for a two-year veteran. The NBA picks up the rest.

Mavs Sign David Lee

February 22nd, 2016 at 9:51am CST by Chuck Myron

MONDAY, 9:51am: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.

8:52pm: Mavs coach Rick Carlisle confirmed the team will officially sign Lee Monday morning, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com tweets.

SUNDAY, 4:13pm: The Mavericks have signed David Lee, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Dallas has yet to make an official announcement, but Stein indicates the deal is done.

The 11th-year veteran had just cleared waivers from the Celtics, who released him Friday as part of a buyout deal. Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports reported Saturday that Dallas was expected to sign Lee using the prorated room exception, which is a form of the mid-level.

The room exception is worth $2,102,224 as of today. Its original value was $2.814MM, but according to collective bargaining agreement rule, it began to prorate by 1/170th each day on January 10th. Lee cleared waivers because no team had the free cap space to absorb his $15.5MM salary. Boston attempted to find a taker for Lee prior to Thursday’s trade deadline, but the power forward reportedly had “no value” around the league.

Lee, who has not played since January 10th, has appeared in 30 games for Boston this season and is averaging 7.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 15.7 minutes of action per contest.

Mavs Waive John Jenkins

February 22nd, 2016 at 9:50am CST by Will Joseph

MONDAY, 9:50am: The move is official, the team announced via press release.

8:51pm: Mavs coach Rick Carlisle confirmed the team has made the move, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com tweets.

SUNDAY, 8:29pm: The Mavs will waive John Jenkins on Monday to make room for the signing of David Lee, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports.

Jenkins, a shooting guard, will be released because the Mavs have a surplus of guards, according to Sefko. Jenkins has made 21 appearances, but was on the inactive list in three of the last five games, as Sefko points out. He is averaging 3.3 points and 9.2 minutes per game.

Jenkins performed well in the preseason for the Mavs, but he couldn’t make much of a dent in their rotation once the season started. The Mavs signed Jenkins to a three-year deal this past offseason with only the first season guaranteed. Jenkins’ salary for this season is $981,349. Jenkins, 24, a former first round pick, struggled for playing time in each of his three years in Atlanta, never averaging more than the 14.8 minutes per game he saw as a rookie in 2012/13.

Nets Waive Bargnani In Apparent Buyout Deal

February 20th, 2016 at 3:53pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Nets have waived Andrea Bargnani, the team announced via press release. The sides were in buyout talks, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported earlier today, so it would seem the former No. 1 overall pick has agreed to give back part of his salary. Bargnani signed a two-year, minimum salary contract this past summer that was to give him $1,362,897 this season with a player option worth $1,551,659 for next year.

The sides have appeared headed for a buyout for the past few days, with Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports reporting this week that a buyout was almost certain to happen if the Nets didn’t trade Bargnani by Thursday’s deadline. The 30-year-old Bargnani’s 6.6 points and 13.8 minutes per game are career lows by a wide margin, though he recorded a season-high 25 minutes in an 18-point performance against the Pistons less than three weeks ago, on February 1st.

He’ll be postseason-eligible for any team he might sign with if he clears waivers. He’s also a candidate for a waiver claim, since all 29 teams are eligible to snag him, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports points out (on Twitter).

Bucks Plan To Sign Novak, Likely Waive Copeland

February 20th, 2016 at 3:52pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Bucks plan to sign Steve Novak on Sunday or Monday once he clears waivers, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Earlier today, it was reported that the Bucks were the front-runners to sign the 32-year-old. Milwaukee will likely waive Chris Copeland to create a roster spot for him, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports via Twitter.

Novak, who played his college ball at Marquette University, agreed to a buyout with the Nuggets on Friday after the team acquired him in the Randy Foye trade. Prior to the trade, Novak saw action in seven games for the Thunder, averaging just 3.4 minutes per game.

Copeland signed a $1.1MM deal with the Bucks last offseason, but hasn’t seen the court much during his time in Milwaukee. The 31-year-old is averaging 2.1 points and 0.5 assists in 6.5 minutes per game this season. He is sporting a career low 5.6 player efficiency rating.

Clippers Sign Alex Stepheson To 10-Day Deal

February 20th, 2016 at 3:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

SATURDAY, 3:25pm: The signing is official, according to the team’s Twitter feed.

THURSDAY, 3:49pm: The Clippers plan to sign Alex Stepheson to a 10-day contract, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Stepheson, the D-League’s leading rebounder, was with the Grizzlies in training camp this past fall but didn’t make the opening night roster.

Stepheson has appeared in 31 contests this season for the Iowa Energy, Memphis’ D-League affiliate, notching averages of 15.9 points, 13.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 34.2 minutes per night. His shooting line is .579/.000/.486.

The 28-year old will help provide frontcourt depth with Blake Griffin out indefinitely, though it remains unclear how much he will be needed after Los Angeles reportedly added Jeff Green via trade earlier today.

Suns Sign Phil Pressey To 10-Day Pact

February 20th, 2016 at 1:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

1:20pm: The deal is official, the Suns announced (Twitter link). It’ll cover four games, against the Spurs, Clippers, Nets and Grizzlies. The first game, against San Antonio, isn’t until Sunday, and the Suns have a game on March 1st, the day after the contract expires, against the Hornets, so it’s somewhat surprising that Phoenix didn’t wait one more day to sign him.

9:47am: The Suns intend to ink free agent Phil Pressey to a 10-day deal, Marc J. Spears of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports reports (on Twitter). Phoenix has an available roster spot after Jordan McRae‘s second 10-day deal with the team ended on Friday. Teams can only ink players to a maximum of two 10-day contracts per season, so the Suns would have had to sign McRae for the remainder of the season if they wished to retain his services.

Pressey was with the Sixers early this season as their 16 man via the hardship provision. He appeared in 14 games and averaged 3.9 points and 3.3 assists in 12.1 minutes. The point guard became expendable in December when Philadelphia recalled Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall from the D-League after the duo had recovered from injuries, leading to Pressey’s release.

After the Sixers cut him loose, Pressey rejoined the Idaho Stampede, Utah’s D-League affiliate. The 25-year-old appeared in 25 contests for Idaho, averaging 13.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists in 33.9 minutes per outing. His slash line in the D-League this season is .440/.333/.724.

Hornets Sign Jorge Gutierrez To 10-Day Pact

February 20th, 2016 at 12:03pm CST by Eddie Scarito

SATURDAY, 12:03pm: The signing is official, the team announced.

FRIDAY, 7:37pm: The Hornets intend to sign free agent point guard Jorge Gutierrez to a 10-day deal, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor relays (on Twitter). Charlotte currently has a vacant roster spot with only 14 players under contract, so no corresponding move will be required to add Gutierrez. He will act as the team’s third point guard, Reichert notes.

The 27-year-old was in training camp with the Bucks earlier this season but failed to secure a regular season roster slot. Gutierrez dished out 11 assists against only three turnovers in approximately 47 minutes of preseason action, notching a total of 12 points along the way, but it wasn’t enough for him to stick with the team. The playmaker has appeared in a total of 35 NBA contests in his career, owning averages of 3.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists to accompany a slash line of .495/.200/.720.

Gutierrez has appeared in 22 games this season for the Canton Charge, the Cavs’ D-League affiliate, and he’s averaging 11.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.7 assists in 27.8 minutes per outing. His shooting line is .431/.205/.844.