Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wizards Cut Lucas, James, Silas

October 25th, 2014 at 2:13pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:13pm: The trio of Silas, James, and Lucas have indeed been waived, the team announced in a press release.

SATURDAY, 1:10pm: The Wizards have waived Silas, James, and John Lucas III, Michael reports (Twitter link). No official word from the team has been made, and their was no mention of Butler also being waived. After these moves the team’s preseason roster count stands at 15, so the Wizards wouldn’t be required to make any further cuts.

8:29pm: Michael has updated his report to reflect that Butler, James and Silas have yet to be released, and could actually still be retained. Though, in a later story, the CSN Washington scribe suggests that the chances the Wizards retain any of the trio is slim.

TUESDAY, 9:38am: The Wizards are set to part ways with Rasual Butler, Damion James and Xavier Silas, reports J. Michael of CSNWashington.com, who writes amid his story on Washington’s deal with John Lucas III. That indicates that the club will place its non-guaranteed contracts with the trio on waivers in advance of Monday’s deadline to set its opening-night roster. The addition of Lucas will give the team 15 players with at least a partial guarantee, which puts the squeeze on Butler, James and Silas.

The three swingmen appeared to have better chances at remaining with the team into the regular season once Bradley Beal went down with injury, but it looks like GM Ernie Grunfeld is going a different direction to bolster his backcourt. James and Silas were reportedly the strongest contenders among the three to remain with the team. Silas went to training camp with the Wizards this fall for the second year in a row, while James was the 24th overall pick in 2010 and showed promise before a series of injuries derailed his career. The 35-year-old Butler was hoping to duplicate what he did with Indiana last year, when he made the Pacers out of camp and wound up contributing in the playoffs.

The subtraction of Butler, James and Silas will drop the Wizards to 15 players, seemingly setting the club’s opening-night roster. Washington released Daniel Orton, Vander Blue and David Stockton earlier in the preseason.

Suns Waive Earl Barron

October 25th, 2014 at 1:54pm CST by Eddie Scarito

1:54pm: Barron has been officially waived, the team has announced.

1:34pm: The Suns have waived Earl Barron, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic reports (Twitter link). No official announcement from the team has been made, but this move would reduce Phoenix’s preseason roster count to 15 players, which is the regular season maximum. Barron’s contract was non-guaranteed, so the team’s look at Barron didn’t cost them anything.

Apparently, Barron didn’t impress the Suns enough to unseat one of their younger big men from the team’s rotation. If he’s healthy Barron should have an opportunity to catch on with another team now, or later on during the season on a 10-day contract, as veteran big men tend to be in higher demand as the season progresses and injuries begin to take their toll on rosters.

In 124 career games, Barron has averaged 4.9 PPG and 3.7 RPG. His career slash line is .375/.071/.716.

Rockets Sign Richmond, Waive Geron Johnson

October 25th, 2014 at 1:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Rockets have made a pair of moves today. The team has signed Akeem Richmond and waived Geron Johnson, the team announced in a press release. These moves do nothing to alleviate Houston’s current preseason roster logjam, and the team still has 20 players under contract. The Rockets will still need to pare down their roster by five prior to the deadline. Signing Richmond this close to the wire is likely aimed at retaining his D-League rights for the season, though the is merely my speculation. It isn’t known yet if Johnson’s deal included any guaranteed money, nor if Richmond’s does.

Johnson was inked only yesterday, with the team waiving Akil Mitchell to clear the required roster slot. Johnson went undrafted this past June, but the Rockets were among the teams that worked him out prior to the draft, and he subsequently joined Houston’s summer league team in July. The 22-year-old guard averaged just 8.9 points in 27.9 minutes per game as a senior with Memphis last season, but he did log 4.9 RPG, excellent numbers from a backcourt player.

The 6’0″ Richmond went undrafted this year out of East Carolina, after spending his first two seasons with Rhode Island. His career collegiate numbers are 11.7 PPG, 2.2 RPG, and 1.1 APG. His career shooting numbers were .384/.384/.824.

Spurs Cut Ties With Three Players

October 25th, 2014 at 12:43pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Spurs have waived forwards JaMychal Green, Fuquan Edwin, and Robert Vaden, the team announced in a press release. Edwin and Vaden were both inked just yesterday to non-guaranteed deals, so San Antonio won’t owe the pair any money. Green has a partial guarantee on his contract, so he’ll walk away with $60K for his troubles. These moves reduce the team’s preseason roster count to 15, so the team won’t have to make another move prior to the regular season commencing.

The 6’5″ Vaden technically has one year of NBA experience, even though he’s never appeared in a regular season or playoff game. The Thunder signed him to a multiyear deal in the final days of the 2010/11 season and traded him the following preseason to the Timberwolves, who cut him before opening night. He was most recently with Belfius Mons-Hainaut in Belgium where he appeared in 10 games, logging 9.0 PPG and 1.6 RPG in 27 minutes per night. Vaden was originally drafted with the No. 54 pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Hornets (then known as the Bobcats). In four college seasons split between Indiana and UAB, Vaden averaged 15.8 PPG and 4.6 RPG. He also spent two seasons in the NBA D-League for the Tulsa 66ers, averaging 11.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game.

Edwin went undrafted this year after spending four seasons at Seton Hall. In 127 career games for the Pirates, he averaged 12.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 1.4 APG while playing 30.3 minutes a night. Edwin played for the Thunder in the summer league, appearing in three games, and notching 1.3 PPG in 7.5 minutes per night. Both he and Vaden were likely inked with the intention of retaining their D-League rights, though that’s just my speculation.

The 6’8″ Green went undrafted in 2012 and spent all of 2012/13 in the D-League. He spent training camp with the Clippers last year, but was cut before the season. He averaged 12.3 PPG and 8.1 RPG on .496 shooting while in the D-League.

Blazers Waive Diante Garrett, Darius Morris

October 25th, 2014 at 12:24pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Blazers have officially waived Diante Garrett and Darius Morris, the team announced via Twitter. These moves reduce Portland’s preseason roster count to 15, meaning they won’t be required to release any other players prior to the regular season beginning. Morris’ contract didn’t come with any guaranteed cash, but the team will owe Garrett $30K per their arrangement.

Garrett was on the fringe of the rotation for the Jazz last season, averaging 3.5 points and shooting 37.5% from three-point range in 14.8 minutes per game. That was after a season in which he spent the entire campaign on the Suns roster but only appeared in 19 contests.

The 23-year-old Morris reportedly turned down an offer from a Serbian team earlier this summer and took his shot at making the Blazers squad. In 94 career contests, the 6’4″ point guard has averaged 3.7 PPG and 1.5 APG. His career slash line is .399/.354/.653.

Nets Waive Casper Ware

October 25th, 2014 at 12:09pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Nets have officially waived Casper Ware, the team has announced. Brooklyn had acquired Ware yesterday in the deal that sent Marquis Teague to the Sixers. Ware’s contract was non-guaranteed so the move won’t cost the team any cash. This also reduces the Nets’ preseason roster count to 15, which is the regular season maximum.

The 24-year-old Ware was playing in Italy last season before he signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Sixers, who then signed him to a low-risk multiyear deal. The Nets never figured to keep Ware, and he was acquired strictly as a means to remove Teague’s fully guaranteed deal from their books.

In nine career games, all with the Sixers, Ware has averaged 5.3 PPG, 1.0 RPG, and 1.1 APG. His slash line is .429/.333/.833.

Raptors Waive Will Cherry, Jordan Hamilton

October 25th, 2014 at 11:55am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Raptors have officially waived Will Cherry and Jordan Hamilton, the team announced (Twitter link). These moves reduce Toronto’s preseason roster count to 15 players, which is the league’s regular season limit. Both players had their deals partially guaranteed for $25K, so the Raptors are on the hook for a total of $50K as a result. Presumably, that means Greg Stiemsma has made the opening-night roster on his $25K partially guaranteed deal.

The 6’1″, 23-year-old Cherry averaged 12.8 PPG and 4.0 RPG while logging 25.3 minutes per contest in five games for the Cavs Summer League team in Las Vegas. Cherry also played for the Cavs’ D-League affiliate last season, when he provided 11.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 4.5 APG in 30.4 MPG.

Hamilton is a player who is sure to garner interest from other NBA teams looking for some help on the wing. The 24-year-old out of Texas for his career has appeared in 126 games, averaging 5.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 0.8 APG. His slash line is .406/.358/.671.

Knicks To Pick Up Option On Shane Larkin?

October 25th, 2014 at 10:51am CST by Chuck Myron

OCTOBER 25TH, 10:51am: The Knicks may have changed their minds about exercising Larkin’s option, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). New York might be leaning towards keeping as much cap space free as possible for next summer, Wojnarowski notes.

11:00pm: The Knicks have indeed exercised their team option on Larkin, as is indicated by the RealGM transactions log. The team has not made any formal announcement as of yet.

OCTOBER 16TH, 10:03am: The Knicks have decided to exercise their team option to keep point guard Shane Larkin on his rookie scale contract for 2015/16, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Larkin will make $1,675,320 that season, the third of his four-year contract, as our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker shows. The deadline is October 31st for the team to make the move official.

The Mavs sent Larkin to New York as part of the Tyson Chandler trade this summer. The 18th pick in the 2013 draft didn’t see much playing time as a rookie, averaging 2.8 points and 1.5 assists in 10.2 minutes per game. He’s seen nearly twice as many minutes in preseason games with the Knicks, averaging 20.9, but he’s still put up just 2.5 PPG and 1.5 APG. Phil Jackson and his staff are nonetheless satisfied with what they’ve seen from him the past few weeks, Wojnarowski writes.

Jackson is trying to keep the team’s cap sheet as clean as possible for 2015/16 as he plans a run at marquee free agents. The Knicks only have about $31.4MM in commitments for that season, so adding Larkin’s salary to that wouldn’t make much of a dent against a projected $66.5MM salary cap. Still, that figure doesn’t include a nearly $6.4MM player option that J.R. Smith possesses and more than $1.4MM in non-guaranteed salary for Pablo Prigioni. It also leaves out the team option on Tim Hardaway Jr., worth more than $1.3MM, that the Knicks will almost assuredly pick up. Iman Shumpert is up for a rookie scale extension this month, but it doesn’t appear as though the sides will come to terms.

Jazz Opt In With Trey Burke, Rudy Gobert

October 25th, 2014 at 8:31am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Jazz have exercised their third year team options for Trey Burke and Rudy Gobert, the team has officially announced. This doesn’t come as a surprise since both players factor into Utah’s longterm rebuilding plans. Burke is set to make $2,658,240 and Gobert $1,175,880 during the 2015/16 season. By exercising these options the Jazz now have approximately $47.6MM in guaranteed money on the books for that campaign.

Burke is continuing to develop after being selected in 2013 with the ninth overall pick. During his rookie season he appeared in 70 games, including 68 as a starter, averaging 12.8 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 5.7 APG. His slash line was .380/.330/.903. The pressure is on Burke to improve his outside shooting and cut down on his 1.9 turnovers per game. Utah drafted Dante Exum with the No. 4 pick in this year’s NBA Draft, and Exum projects more as a point guard at this stage of development.

The 7’1″ Gobert was also part of the 2013 draft class, being selected 27th overall. During his rookie campaign, Gobert appeared in 45 games, averaging 2.3 PPG and 3.4 RPG, while logging 9.6 minutes a night.

Warriors Waive Five Players

October 25th, 2014 at 8:05am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Warriors have waived Aaron Craft, Jason Kapono, Sean Kilpatrick, James Michael McAdoo, and Mitchell Watt, the team announced in a press release. These moves will reduce Golden State’s preseason roster count to 15, which is the regular season maximum. None of these moves come as a surprise as all were longshots to make the regular season roster. All of the players except for Kapono had partial guarantees for $35K. Kapono’s deal was non-guaranteed, so the Warriors aren’t on the hook for any money for him.

Craft averaged 8.9 PPG and 4.7 APG during his four seasons at Ohio State. He put up 7.4 points in 22.0 minutes per contest in July during Las Vegas summer league play for the Warriors after going undrafted in June. The 22-year-old also joined the Sixers for the Orlando summer league, though he didn’t see nearly as much playing time. Craft appeared in four preseason games, averaging 3.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.00 steal in 14.7 minutes per contest.

The veteran Kapono appeared in five preseason games, averaging 3.2 and 1.6 rebounds in 8.7 minutes per game. The 6’8″, 33 year-old swingman last played in the NBA during the 2011/12 season when he appeared in 27 games for the Lakers. Kapono’s career numbers over nine seasons are 6.7 PPG, 1.7 RPG, and 0.8 APG. His career slash line is .442/.434/.835. He had officially announced his retirement back in May of this year, but decided to give making the Warriors a shot.

The undrafted Kilpatrick signed with the Warriors on October 20th but did not see any action in the preseason. McAdoo appeared in five preseason games, averaging 5.6 PPG, 3.6 RPG and 1.2 SPG in 13.0 minutes per contest. Watt appeared in two preseason games, averaging 3.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and a team-leading 1.5 blocks while logging 9.5 minutes per game.