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Magic Waive Greg Stiemsma

October 22nd, 2015 at 9:18am CST by Chuck Myron

The Magic have waived Greg Stiemsma, the team announced via press release. The move takes the Magic down to 15 players, the regular season roster limit. Orlando has 13 fully guaranteed contracts, and while teams aren’t required to carry more than that many players, most start the season with 15, which suggests Orlando has made its final preseason cut. If that’s the case, center Nnanna Egwu and Devyn Marble will make the Magic opening night roster on their non-guaranteed deals. Stiemsma was attempting to do the same after signing a non-guaranteed deal with the Magic shortly before the start of training camp last month.

Stiemsma, 30, went scoreless and grabbed two rebounds this month in his lone preseason appearance, which lasted close to 10 minutes. A strained Achilles tendon kept him out of the first few exhibitions this fall, notes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. The five-year NBA veteran was on the Raptors roster all of last season, but he rarely saw playing time, averaging just 3.9 minutes per contest over a scant 17 games.

The release is one of two transactions the Magic have made in the past 24 hours, as Orlando also waived Melvin Ejim late Wednesday. Saturday is the last day teams can waive summer contracts without them counting against the books, so the Magic could still make moves that bump Egwu and Marble from the roster.

Magic Waive Melvin Ejim

October 21st, 2015 at 10:02pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Magic have waived small forward Melvin Ejim, the team announced via a press release. Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel was the first to report the news (via Twitter). Ejim’s minimum salary deal includes a partial guarantee of $150K for the 2015/16 season, which Orlando will still be on the hook for, providing he clears waivers.

Ejim put up 9.2 points and 6.8 rebounds in 30.1 minutes per game for the Magic’s summer league team this year after spending this past season with Virtus Roma in Italy. He made four preseason appearances for the Magic this summer, averaging just 3.5 points in 8.0 minutes of action per contest. The 6’7″ small forward went undrafted in 2014 in spite of a solid senior season in 2013/14, when he averaged 17.8 PPG and 8.4 RPG in 32.1 MPG for the Cyclones.

Orlando’s preseason roster count now sits at 16 players, including 13 with fully guaranteed pacts. The Magic will still need to pare down their roster by at least one more player prior to the October 26th deadline.

Jazz Sign E.J. Singler

October 21st, 2015 at 4:48pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Jazz have signed unrestricted free agent small forward E.J. Singler, the team has announced. The length and terms of the arrangement are not yet known. It is likely a minimum salary pact that includes little or no guaranteed money, but that is merely my speculation.

Singler, 25, is the younger brother of Thunder small forward Kyle Singler. Utah’s Singler went undrafted in 2013 and was in training camp last season with the Trail Blazers. He spent the rest of the 2014/15 season with BC Kalev/Cramo of Estonia, appearing in 60 games, 19 of them starts, and averaging 6.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 17.2 minutes of action per contest. During the 2013/14 campaign he played for the Idaho Stampede, Utah’s D-League affiliate, logging averages of 14.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 28.2 minutes in 22 appearances.

Utah’s roster now sits at 16 players, including 12 with full guarantees on their salaries. The Jazz will need to pare down that number by one prior to Monday’s deadline to finalize regular season rosters. Singler was likely signed with an eye on retaining his D-League rights, though that is speculation on my part.

Wolves Exercise Options On Five Players

October 21st, 2015 at 4:00pm CST by Will Joseph

4:00pm: The Wolves have officially announced that they have picked up the options on the five players (Twitter link).

WEDNESDAY, 3:20pm: The Wolves have indeed picked up the options, as Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports hears (Twitter link), though the team has yet to make an official announcement.

SUNDAY, 1:26pm: The Wolves plan to exercise options on Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Dieng and Adreian Payne early this week, Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press reports (on Twitter).

The moves are largely expected and do not come as a surprise, as Krawczynski tweets. All the options are for the 2016/17 season and the deadline is November 2nd.

All five players are young and each have high ceilings. They each are also affordable. Wiggins’ option is for $6,006,600, LaVine’s is $$2,240,880, Muhammad’s is $3,046,299, Dieng’s is $2,348,783 and Payne’s is $2,022,240.

The options for Wiggins, LaVine and Payne are for the third years of their respective rookie scale contracts and the options for Muhammad and Dieng are for the fourth. We regarded Wiggins’ option as a slam dunk, Dieng’s option as highly likely and the other three as generally expected.

Spurs Waive Keifer Sykes

October 21st, 2015 at 1:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Spurs have waived Keifer Sykes, the team announced via press release. He joins Jimmer Fredette, Deshaun Thomas and Youssou Ndoye on the waiver wire, as previous reports from Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports foretold that the Spurs were cutting them, too. Sykes, a 21-year-old point guard who went undrafted out of Wisconsin Green Bay this year, was on a non-guaranteed contract, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Today’s moves leave the Spurs with 16 players, including 13 on fully guaranteed deals.

Sykes failed to score, record an assist or commit a turnover in nearly 19 minutes of preseason action spread over three games. He fared better with the Cavs in summer league, averaging 9.4 points in 18.3 minutes per contest.

San Antonio’s final roster spot appears to be a one-on-one battle between veterans Rasual Butler and Reggie Williams, presuming the Spurs keep Matt Bonner and his sizable partial guarantee. Neither Butler nor Williams has any guaranteed salary. The Spurs aren’t obligated to carry more than 13 players, a consideration since the team is over the luxury tax threshold, but most teams carry 15 on opening night.

Who do you think the Spurs should keep for the regular season? Leave a comment to let us know.

Spurs Waive Jimmer Fredette

October 21st, 2015 at 1:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:01pm: Fredette’s release is official, the team announced via press release.

10:18am: The Spurs are waiving former No. 10 overall pick Jimmer Fredette today, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The ex-BYU star signed with San Antonio in late July on a one-year, minimum salary contract that was guaranteed for only $507,711, half of the full season’s salary, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reported. The Spurs will be responsible for that amount if he clears waivers. It’s the latest fall from grace for the popular and once-heralded prospect who’s failed to gain traction in the NBA since the Kings drafted him in 2011.

The partially guaranteed contract meant that a spot on the regular season roster was no certainty, even though his partial guarantee was the league’s third largest for this season. A vaunted outside shooter coming out of college, he averaged only 2.0 points and 13.2 minutes per contest in two preseason appearances for San Antonio, failing to connect on all three of his three-point attempts. He made just 18.8% of his three-pointers last year with the Pelicans, though he’s a 38.1% shooter from behind the arc for his four-year NBA career.

Fredette’s scoring and minutes per game have decreased each year since he put up a modest 7.6 PPG in 18.6 MPG for the Kings in 2011/12. Sacramento waived his rookie scale contract in a buyout deal shortly after the trade deadline in 2014, and he signed with the Bulls soon thereafter. He rarely made it off the bench in Chicago and inked a one-year, fully guaranteed contract for the minimum salary with New Orleans in the summer of 2014.

The move will leave San Antonio with 17 players, since they’re also waiving Deshaun Thomas and Youssou Ndoye, as Charania reported earlier. The Spurs have 13 full guarantees plus a $749,594 commitment to Matt Bonner that represents the league’s largest partial guarantee for 2015/16.

Do you think we’ll see Fredette get another chance in the NBA? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Spurs Waive Deshaun Thomas, Youssou Ndoye

October 21st, 2015 at 1:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:00pm: The moves are official, the team announced via press release.

10:11am: The Spurs have waived Deshaun Thomas and Youssou Ndoye sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The team has yet to make an official announcement, though Charania indicates the moves have already taken place. Ndoye went undrafted out of St. Bonaventure this year, while the Spurs picked Thomas 58th overall in the 2013 draft, so releasing him means the team is relinquishing his draft rights. Both have non-guaranteed contracts, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The subtractions will leave San Antonio with 18 players, meaning at least three more cuts have to take place before opening night. The Spurs have 13 fully guaranteed salaries, as our roster count shows.

Thomas, a 24-year-old combo forward, totaled nine points on 2 for 9 shooting in about 29 minutes of play spread over two preseason appearances. The former Ohio State standout who averaged 19.8 points in his final season with the Buckeyes appeared intent on joining the Spurs this season after playing two years overseas, and he signed for the terms of the required tender San Antonio had to make to keep his draft rights. While a release from the Spurs today would give any NBA team a crack at Thomas, San Antonio can elect to keep his D-League rights.

It appears San Antonio will be doing just that with Ndoye, as the expectation when he and the team reached agreement was reportedly that he would end up with the D-League Austin Spurs. Ndoye still plans on signing with San Antonio’s D-League affiliate should he clear waivers, as Charania writes in a full story. The 24-year-old center averaged 3.3 PPG in 10.0 MPG across three preseason appearances.

Bucks Waive Gutierrez, Landry, Powell

October 21st, 2015 at 11:55am CST by Chuck Myron

The Bucks have waived Jorge Gutierrez, Marcus Landry and Josh Powell, the team announced, taking the roster down to the 15-man regular season maximum. The trio had non-guaranteed contracts while the other 15 Bucks are on fully guaranteed deals, so today’s moves come as no surprise. Damien Inglis and Johnny O’Bryant, both high second-round picks from 2014, were the Bucks players with the smallest guarantees, each promised less than $1MM, but their places on the roster appear safe for now.

Gutierrez was a holdover from last season, having joined the team on a pair of 10-day contracts that led to a multiyear deal. The 26-year-old former Nets point guard dished out 11 assists against only three turnovers in about 47 minutes of preseason action, totaling 12 points along the way, but it wasn’t enough for him to stick.

Landry, 29, was attempting an NBA comeback after last having seen regular season action during 2009/10 with the Knicks and Celtics. A native of Milwaukee, the combo forward averaged 2.5 points in 10.5 minutes per game during his four preseason appearances and looked sharp in practice, according to Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times (Twitter link).

Powell was also trying to revive his NBA playing career after spending last season as a player development coach with the Rockets. The 32-year-old former Lakers power forward has appeared in only one regular season game since the 2010/11 season. He went scoreless in about 23 minutes total over four preseason games with the Bucks.

Celtics Waive Clarke, Miller, Randolph

October 20th, 2015 at 4:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:12pm: All three players have officially been released, the Celtics announced.

3:07pm: The Celtics will waive Coty Clarke, Malcolm Miller and Levi Randolph today, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald (Twitter link). Corey Walden, the team’s other camp invitee, will remain for the time being, but all are expected to end up signing with Boston’s D-League affiliate, Bulpett says. Miller, Randolph and Walden have matching $25K guarantees, while Clarke is on a non-guaranteed contract. The release of Clarke, Miller and Randolph will take Boston down to 17 players, 16 of whom have fully guaranteed deals, as our roster count shows.

Clarke, a 23-year-old combo forward, and Miller, a 22-year-old small forward, went scoreless in preseason cameos that encompassed less than a minute of playing time, while the 23-year-old Randolph, a shooting guard, managed three points in slightly more time on the court. The Celtics also got a look at Miller on their summer league team in July, when he averaged 4.0 points in 12.1 minutes across seven appearances.

More pressing for the Celtics is their decision regarding the final preseason cut, which will involve letting go of a full season’s salary unless they work a trade. Perry Jon es III has appeared to be most at risk for a release among the 16 Celtics with full guarantees, as Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe said to Hoops Rumors last month, but Jones has drawn praise from Celtics coach Brad Stevens and others.

Who do you think should be the final cut for the Celtics? Leave a comment to let us know.

Lakers Waive Robert Upshaw, Michael Frazier

October 20th, 2015 at 1:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers have waived Robert Upshaw and Michael Frazier to drop their roster to 17 players, the team announced. Upshaw, a troubled but intriguing prospect, has a $35K partial guarantee while Frazier is assured of $50K. The Lakers will be responsible for those amounts if they clear waivers. The team still has 12 fully guaranteed contracts plus five more without full guarantees, so more decisions await before the team has to cut down to 15 players for opening night.

It appeared Upshaw would sign with the Lakers much sooner than he did this past offseason as he continued to deal with personal matters. Both Fresno State and Washington dismissed the now 21-year-old center as he dealt with substance abuse issues, and he went undrafted this past June in spite of talent that would suggest he would have merited a pick. He struggled on offense, as Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times points out (Twitter link), averaging just 2.5 points in 14.1 points per game across four preseason appearances, laying to rest speculation that he would beat out Robert Sacre, who has a fully guaranteed salary, for a regular season roster spot.

Frazier, 21, also struggled to score in his four preseason games, posting 2.0 PPG in 13.4 MPG. The shooting guard went undrafted out of Florida this year, though he was the 55th-best prospect, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com.

Tarik Black, Jabari Brown, Marcelo Huertas and Metta World Peace are still with the Lakers on non-guaranteed deals, while Jonathan Holmes has a partial guarantee worth $100K. Holmes dislocated his right shoulder during Monday’s game, and he’ll be immobilized for the next couple of weeks, according to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. The partial guarantee covers about a month’s worth of games, but if he’s still unable to play after that, the Lakers will have to shell out more of his salary until he’s able to play, regardless of whether they waive him, as Pincus explains.

Who do you think the Lakers should keep for opening night? Leave a comment to let us know.