Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Sixers Waive Travis Outlaw

October 27th, 2014 at 8:55pm CST by Alex Lee

The Sixers have waived Travis Outlaw, the team announced. Philadelphia acquired Outlaw from the Knicks earlier today along with a 2019 second-round pick and the right to swap 2018 second-rounders, all in exchange for Arnett Moultrie. News of Outlaw’s release was expected, as the Sixers needed to trim their roster to 15 by today’s afternoon deadline. The team also confirmed the releases of Marquis Teague and Elliot Williams within the same announcement.

Outlaw’s release is just the latest example of Philly GM Sam Hinkie using his team’s cap space to stockpile future assets, as the Sixers continue to pay no mind to the present. Believe it or not, Moultrie was the longest-tenured player on Philadelphia’s roster. Meanwhile, Outlaw hits free agency at age 30, 11 years after he was drafted in the first round of out high school by the Blazers. He has a career scoring mark of 8.5 points per game, but hasn’t averaged over 20 minutes of playing time since the 2010/11 season with the Nets. He is in line to collect $3MM from the Sixers this season provided he clears waivers.

Bucks Waive Micheal Eric

October 27th, 2014 at 8:36pm CST by Chuck Myron

8:36pm: The release of Eric is official, the team announced.

4:32pm: The Bucks are waiving their non-guaranteed contract with Micheal Eric, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The team had been carrying 16 players, one over the regular season roster limit, so someone had to go. Milwaukee tried to find a way to accommodate the 26-year-old big man, but was simply unable to, according to Charania. He nonetheless seemed the likeliest cut, since he’s on a non-guaranteed contract, and the only other player without a fully guaranteed salary on the team is Kendall Marshall, who’ll likely play a large role this season.

Eric averaged 5.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in 14.9 minutes per game across four preseason appearances this month, the second time in three years he spent training camp with an NBA team. The first time was with the Cavs in 2012, but he saw significantly less playing time for Cleveland that October before hitting waivers. The former Temple Owl has spent much of his pro career in the D-League after going undrafted in 2012.

The native of Nigeria was one of only two camp invitees for the Bucks this year. Eric beat out Elijah Millsap and 2013/14 holdover Chris Wright to become the final contender for a spot on the regular season roster.

Sixers Waive Marquis Teague, Elliot Williams

October 27th, 2014 at 8:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

8:31pm: The release of Teague and Williams is now official, the team announced.

4:21pm: The Sixers are waiving Marquis Teague and Elliot Williams, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Wojnarowski indicates the moves have already taken place, though the team has made no formal announcement. The Sixers faced a 4:00pm Central deadline to cut ties with at least three players to meet the league’s 15-man regular season roster limit, so it’s likely Teague and Williams are already on waivers. The same is probably true of Travis Outlaw, whom the team was reportedly likely to release just as it traded for him.

Teague had just arrived in Philadelphia via last week’s trade with the Nets. His salary of about $1.12MM is fully guaranteed for this season. He had a team option for about $2.023MM for 2015/16, but that option goes away once he clears waivers. It’s been a quick descent for the 29th pick from 2012, whom the Bulls sent to the Nets via trade last season. He’s averaged 2.3 points in 9.6 minutes per game for his career.

Williams was about to start season two of a four-year non-guaranteed contract, one that he’d signed after missing a year with a torn left Achilles tendon. The 22nd overall pick from 2010 was a rotation player for the Sixers last year, averaging 6.0 PPG in 17.3 MPG, but Philadelphia elected against bringing him back this year, even though the team’s roster is worse than last year’s.

The moves will leave the Sixers with just nine fully guaranteed contracts, plus a small partial guarantee to JaKarr Sampson. The team’s other five players are on non-guaranteed deals, leaving Philadelphia with plenty of flexibility and likely setting up more transactions.

Suns Pick Up Option On Miles Plumlee

October 27th, 2014 at 7:02pm CST by Alex Lee

The Suns have picked up their rookie scale team option on Miles Plumlee for the 2015/16 season, the team announced. The Duke product will make just over $2.109MM in his fourth season, as our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker shows. Phoenix also exercised rookie scale options on Archie Goodwin and Alex Len earlier today. Plumlee emerged as a pleasant surprise for the Suns last season after being acquired via trade from Indiana last July.

He started 79 times for the Phoenix and played 24.6 minutes per game, averaging 8.1 points and 7.8 boards while shooting nearly 52 percent from the field. He led the Suns in rebounding and blocks (1.13 per game). Plumlee was selected 26th overall in 2012 by the Pacers but only managed 3.9 minutes per game in his rookie season before coming to the desert as part of the package for Luis Scola. He figures to again be the primary starter at center this season for a Suns team with playoff aspirations.

Suns Pick Up Options On Len, Goodwin

October 27th, 2014 at 6:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

6:45pm: The options for Len and Goodwin have officially been picked up, the team announced.

3:27pm: The Suns are picking up their rookie scale team options on Alex Len and Archie Goodwin for 2015/16, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter links). Charania indicates that the moves have already taken place, though the team has yet to make any formal announcement. Len will make more than $3.807MM and Goodwin more than $1.16MM next year, as our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker shows. The Suns also have decision due by Friday’s deadline on a rookie scale team option of more than $2.109MM for Miles Plumlee, but they’ll almost assuredly pick it up, too.

Len, the fifth pick in 2013, had a slow start to his rookie campaign last season as injury kept him from contributing much at first. He still wound up appearing in half the team’s games, averaging 2.1 points in 8.8 minutes per contest. Goodwin, the 29th overall pick in the same draft, saw similar playing time, and he also appeared in five games for Phoenix’s D-League affiliate.

Picking up the options for both would bring the Suns up to about $50.3MM in commitments for 2015/16, and Plumlee’s option would take that figure to roughly $52.4. That still leaves at least some flexibility beneath a projected $66.5MM salary cap.

Bulls Pick Up Option On Tony Snell

October 27th, 2014 at 5:33pm CST by Alex Lee

The Bulls have picked up their rookie scale team option on Tony Snell for the 2015/16 season, the team announced. The athletic third-year forward out of New Mexico will make just under $1.536MM next season, as our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker shows. Snell, who the Bulls took with the 20th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, averaged 4.5 points in 16 minutes per game for Chicago in his rookie year. He was named First-Team All-NBA Summer League this summer after averaging 20 points and four rebounds over five games in Las Vegas.

Snell’s elite athleticism and defensive potential made him a popular sleeper in the 2013 draft, which was in many ways similar to how K.J. McDaniels was viewed by some this past June. As of four months ago, the Bulls still seemed sold on Snell as a rotation-caliber talent, though there was talk that he was dangled in trade talks prior to the draft. He’ll enter the season as one of many options off the bench on a deep Bulls team.

The move brings Chicago’s commitments for 2015/16 to $60.2MM. That’s fairly close to the projected $66.5MM salary cap, and that figure doesn’t include a new deal for Jimmy Butler, who’ll be set for restricted free agency if he and the Bulls don’t sign an extension by the end of Friday.

Jazz Claim Hamilton, Ingles, Waive Felix

October 27th, 2014 at 5:18pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Jazz have waived Carrick Felix, and they’ve claimed Jordan Hamilton and Joe Ingles off waivers, the team announced in a pair of releases. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported the waiver claims and tweeted the news that the team would release Felix. Utah had been carrying 14 players, so at least one had to go to accommodate the pair of claims. Hamilton, whose minimum-salary deal is partially guaranteed for $25K, comes from the Raptors, so Toronto is no longer on the hook for that money. The Clippers had placed their non-guaranteed contract with Ingles on waivers.

Hamilton made it tough on the Raptors this month, though they ultimately decided to go with Greg Stiemsma over both Hamilton and Will Cherry as they all battled for one open regular season roster spot with matching $25K guarantees. Hamilton averaged 9.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game in the preseason, more playing time than he had seen in any of his three regular seasons since becoming the 26th overall pick in 2011.

Ingles was a hot commodity after his showing for the Australian national team in the World Cup. The Jazz were among a host of teams that were eyeing the swingman as early as this past spring, and he ultimately decided on the Clippers, though it was surprising to see him fail to garner any guaranteed salary. He’ll make the minimum this year.

Felix’s minimum salary was fully guaranteed, so Utah is on the hook for that money unless he clears waivers. The 33rd overall pick from last year played nine D-League games and seven NBA contests last year with the Cavs, who sent him out primarily for financial reasons in the July trade that brought him to Utah. He has a non-guaranteed salary for 2015/16 that will disappear if he clears waivers.

Utah creeps closer to this year’s $63.065MM cap with today’s pickups, but the Jazz still have less than $60MM in committed salary for this season.

Blazers Opt In With Leonard, McCollum

October 27th, 2014 at 4:37pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Blazers have exercised their rookie scale team options for 2015/16 with Meyers Leonard and CJ McCollum, the team announced. Leonard will make nearly $3.076MM for that season while McCollum has more than $2.525MM coming to him, as our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker shows.

Leonard has struggled to live up to having been the 11th pick in the 2012 draft, and his minutes per game were nearly cut in half last season from what he saw as a rookie. The 22-year-old has diversified his game over the offseason, displaying an outside jumper in camp this month as the Blazers experiment with converting the 7’1″ Leonard into a power forward. It’s somewhat surprising that Portland was willing to commit to him and not to former No. 5 overall pick Thomas Robinson, whose team option will reportedly go unexercised. The $1.6MM gap between Robinson’s option, the more expensive of the two, and Leonard’s appears to have made a difference.

McCollum entered his rookie season with lots of promise after Portland grabbed him 10th overall last year, but injury helped limit him to just 38 games, and he saw just 12.5 MPG in those appearances. The guard made it into just six of the team’s 11 playoff games last season for 4.0 MPG.

Portland already picked up Damian Lillard‘s rookie scale option for next season, but even with Lillard, Leonard and McCollum on the books, they only have about $23.1MM tied up for 2015/16. Still, LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez are all set to hit free agency, so there’s reason for the Blazers to keep their ledger relatively clean.

Celtics Waive Will Bynum

October 27th, 2014 at 3:51pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics have waived point guard Will Bynum, the team announced via press release. The move had appeared likely since shortly after Boston acquired him via trade from the Pistons, though the Celtics made attempts to move his guaranteed salary rather than simply release it. The Celtics will be on the hook for Bynum’s nearly $2.916MM salary for this season unless another team claims him off waivers. Boston also announced the waiver of five other players in its press release, so the team is at the 15-man regular season roster limit.

Bynum has spent the past six seasons with Detroit, primarily as a backup point guard. He figured to be the third-stringer behind Brandon Jennings and D.J. Augustin this year, and there wasn’t much room for him on the Celtics, either, with Rajon Rondo and lottery pick Marcus Smart around, among others.

The C’s appeared to acquire Bynum in large measure to reduce the amount of guaranteed salary they would have to eat, as Joel Anthony, who went to the Pistons in that trade, will make $3.8MM this season, about $900K more than Bynum. Boston had been carrying 16 fully guaranteed deals all preseason, but it seems there wasn’t a trade to be had that could fix that logjam and save the C’s from releasing one of those contracts.

Celtics Waive Jarell Eddie

October 27th, 2014 at 3:44pm CST by Cray Allred

MONDAY, 3:44pm: The move is official, the team announced.

SUNDAY, 5:53pm: Boston has indeed waived Eddie, as is shown on the RealGM transactions page.

SATURDAY, 6:26pm: The Celtics are waiving Jarell Eddie, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Pincus indicates that the move has already taken place, though the team has yet to make an official announcement. The undrafted rookie was claimed off of waivers by Boston Thursday after the Hawks released him from their training camp roster.

His one-year contract was non-guaranteed, so Boston merely inherited his D-League rights and no actual costs by claiming and waiving the small forward. Of course, another team could still claim Eddie off waivers from the Celtics, which would remove those D-League rights from Boston. Eddie spent time with the Wizards summer league team, and he impressed Atlanta brass in his preseason tenure there.