Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hornets Waive Dallas Lauderdale, Brian Qvale

October 24th, 2014 at 10:48am CST by Chuck Myron

The Hornets have waived big men Dallas Lauderdale and Brian Qvale, the team announced via press release. They were on non-guaranteed contracts, as was Justin Cobbs, whom the team also let go. The moves take Charlotte’s roster down to 15 players, and while they can carry as few as 13 for opening night if they choose, it appears as though Jason Maxiell is set to remain with the team into the regular season on his non-guaranteed deal.

Both Lauderdale and Qvale saw just three minutes of action during the preseason, going scoreless. It was Lauderdale’s second straight year in camp with an NBA team after he spent last fall with the Blazers. He played 39 games for Portland’s D-League affiliate last season, averaging 7.5 points and 8.7 rebounds in 29.3 minutes per contest.

Qvale has spent his professional career overseas since going undrafted out of the University of Montana in 2011. He’s played with teams in Turkey, Belgium and Germany, and while it’s conceivable that he’ll remain stateside to play in the D-League this year, the Hornets are without a one-to-one affiliate.

Nets Opt In For 2015/16 With Plumlee, Karasev

October 24th, 2014 at 10:28am CST by Chuck Myron

The Nets have exercised their team options to keep Mason Plumlee and Sergey Karasev on their rookie scale contracts through 2015/16, the team announced. The moves were expected for both, and particularly for Plumlee, who was a part of Team USA’s gold medal-winning squad in the FIBA World Cup this summer after a strong rookie season last year. Plumlee will make nearly $1.416MM in 2015/16, while Karasev is in line for almost $1.6MM that year, as our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker shows.

Plumlee, the 22nd overall pick in 2013, was efficient in his time on the floor last season, racking up a 19.0 PER, and he began to see more significant run after Brook Lopez went down to injury, averaging 9.1 points and 6.0 rebounds in 22.0 minutes per game after the All-Star break. Karasev came to Brooklyn via trade from the Cavs, who drafted him last year three picks before the Nets selected Plumlee. The small forward from Russia made it into just 22 NBA games for an average of 7.1 minutes per contest as a rookie, but Brooklyn, owned by fellow Russian Mikhail Prokhorov, insisted on receiving Karasev in the deal instead of a pair of second-round picks.

The moves give the Nets about $58.7MM in commitments against a projected $66.5MM salary cap for 2015/16, though that figure doesn’t include a player option worth more than $16.7MM for Lopez. It also doesn’t take into account a rookie scale team option worth more than $2MM for Marquis Teague, but the Nets are reportedly close to trading Teague to the Sixers.

Hornets Waive Justin Cobbs

October 24th, 2014 at 10:26am CST by Chuck Myron

10:26am: The move is official, the team announced via press release.

8:48am: The Hornets are waiving Justin Cobbs, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia reports. Carchia indicates that the move has already taken place, and while the team has yet to make an official announcement, Hornets assistant GM Chad Buchanan spoke of the 6’3″ point guard in the past tense in his remarks to the Sportando reporter. Dropping the non-guaranteed contract for Cobbs will reduce the Hornets roster to 17 players.

“Justin was really good for us,” Buchanan said. “He plays hard and is a very mature kid with a good work ethic. He makes shots, isn’t selfish and plays defense. He has a bright future.”

Cobbs played sparingly in two preseason games this month, scoring just two points in about nine total minutes of action. The 23-year-old joined Charlotte after going undrafted out of California and playing for the Grizzlies in summer league. He also attended preseason camp with Laboral Kuxta in Spain before joining Hornets camp, and while the Spanish team’s coach praised Cobbs in comments to Carchia, the coach also indicated that he’s still a year or two away from becoming ready for Euroleague action.

The move leaves the Hornets with 14 fully guaranteed contracts plus non-guaranteed pacts for Jason Maxiell, Dallas Lauderdale and Brian Qvale. Maxiell is the leading contender for the 15th spot on the regular season roster, should the team keep that many for opening night, and Hornets coach Steve Clifford appears to favor holding on to the former longtime Pistons big man, as reports indicated earlier this week.

Knicks Waive D.J. Mbenga, Orlando Sanchez

October 24th, 2014 at 10:00am CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks are have waived center Didier Ilunga-Mbenga and power forward Orlando Sanchez, the team announced (Twitter link). Peter Botte of the New York Daily News and Newsday’s Al Iannazzone reported the team would make the moves minutes before the announcement (Twitter link). The news is no surprise, even though Sanchez has a partially guaranteed deal. Sanchez’s partial guarantee is only $15K, and that amount will stick on New York’s cap figure for the rest of the season unless another team claims him off waivers. Mbenga’s deal is non-guaranteed.

Mbenga was making his first foray back into the NBA since the 2010/11 season, save for a brief preseason stint with the Mavs in 2012. The 33-year-old reunited with Knicks team president Phil Jackson, who coached him on back-to-back Lakers championship teams in 2009 and 2010. The seven-year NBA veteran scored two points in less than five minutes of action in his lone preseason appearance this month. Sanchez saw just a single minute in his only preseason game. The 26-year-old went undrafted out of St. John’s this summer before competing for the Dominican Republican in FIBA World Cup action. Sanchez will sign to play for the Knicks D-League affiliate, agent B.J. Bass tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).

The Knicks still have 18 players on their roster, though they probably won’t have much trouble deciding whom to cut to winnow down to 15 players in time for Monday’s opening-night roster deadline. They have 14 guaranteed contracts plus a partial guarantee for Samuel Dalembert, who’s expected to play a significant role. Langston Galloway and Travis Wear are long shots to make the club in spite of their nominal partial guarantees, as is new signee Jordan Vandenberg.

Knicks Sign Jordan Vandenberg

October 23rd, 2014 at 6:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks have signed center Jordan Vandenberg, the team announced (on Twitter). New York is limited to the minimum salary for the Australian native who went undrafted out of North Carolina State this June, though it’s unclear if he’ll receive any guaranteed salary. The 7’1″ Vandenberg becomes the 20th player on the Knicks roster.

New York is familiar with the 24-year-old from his stint with the team’s summer league squad. He played just 10 minutes total in a pair of summer league games, and he only averaged more than 12 minutes a night once during his five seasons at N.C. State, where he received a medical redshirt in his third year despite appearing in seven contests. Vandenberg averaged 4.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 22.3 minutes per game as a senior this past season.

The Knicks likely have their opening night roster set with 14 fully guaranteed contracts plus a partial guarantee with Samuel Dalembert, so it seems they’re making this move with the D-League in mind, although that’s just my speculation. New York can keep the D-League rights to as many as four of the players it cuts during the preseason, but veterans like D.J. Mbenga, who’s with the Knicks on a non-guaranteed deal, rarely wind up in the D-League, which is usually the domain of younger players like Vandenberg.

Magic Sign Nikola Vucevic To Extension

October 23rd, 2014 at 3:43pm CST by Alex Lee

THURSDAY, 3:43pm: Vucevic has signed the extension and the deal is official, the team has announced.

7:11pm: The base salary of the deal is for $48MM with incentives that could push it to $53MM, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (via Twitter).

TUESDAY, 6:21pm: The Magic are finalizing a four-year, $53MM contract extension with Nikola Vucevic, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. The year-by-year salary breakdown is the only detail still up in the air, according to Robbins (via Twitter). The pact does not include any opt out clauses and will thus keep him in Orlando through the 2018/19 season. The 23-year-old Montenegrin is a former first round pick entering his fourth season in the NBA, which gave the Magic until October 31 to come to an agreement that would prevent him from becoming a restricted free agent next summer. Vucevic is scheduled to make $2.751MM this season in the final year of his rookie deal.

Vucevic exploded in 2012/13 after coming over from Philadelphia in the Dwight Howard blockbuster. He averaged 13.1 points and 11.9 rebounds per game in his sophomore season, making him the league’s second leading rebounder behind Howard. While Vucevic was again excellent last season, his overall numbers seemed to plateau more than an improving young player’s should in his third year, as our Chuck Myron pointed out in Vucevic’s entry in our Extension Candidate series. Chuck also predicted a four-year, $48MM pact for the center in our 2014 Rookie Scale Extension Primer.

We heard in July that the Magic would prioritize extending Vucevic and teammate Tobias Harris, also entering his fourth season, once the season approached. Those rumors proved true even before tonight’s news broke, as there was neutral interest reported last month and just last week there was word that Vucevic and the Magic were in talks.

Spurs Waive Bryce Cotton, Josh Davis

October 23rd, 2014 at 1:09pm CST by Eddie Scarito

1:09pm: Both players have officially been waived, the team announced.

12:57pm: The Spurs intend to waive Josh Davis and Bryce Cotton, Mike Monroe of The San Antonio Express-News reports (Twitter link). Both players’ deals carry partial guarantees, with Cotton set to receive $50K, and Davis due $20K if they are not claimed on waivers. These moves will reduce San Antonio’s preseason roster count to 16, with JaMychal Green and his partially guaranteed deal being the lone one on the Spurs’ books that isn’t fully guaranteed.

The 23-year-old Davis played for three colleges, first for North Carolina State as a freshman, where he averaged 2.6 PPG and 1.7 RPG in 10.4 minutes a night. During his sophomore and junior seasons at Tulane, Davis averaged 17.6 PPG and 10.7 RPG. For his senior campaign with the San Diego State Aztecs, his numbers were 7.7 PPG and 10.1 RPG. His slash line for this past season was .455/.000/.472.

Cotton went undrafted out of Providence where he notched 21.8 points, 5.8 assists and 2.4 turnovers per game during his senior season with the Friars. Several teams offered to draft him if he agreed to play overseas next season, but he rejected those offers for a shot at the NBA. The NBA D-League is a possibility for both players, as teams can retain the D-League rights for up to four players that they waive.

Nets Waive Willie Reed

October 23rd, 2014 at 10:39am CST by Chuck Myron

The Nets have waived power forward Willie Reed, the team announced via press release. The 24-year-old had signed a non-guaranteed contract, so Brooklyn isn’t on the hook for any of his salary. The move takes the Nets down to 16 players, with one more subtraction required before opening night.

Reed is technically a two-year veteran, even though he’s never played an NBA regular season game. He’s signed at the end of the regular season each of the last two years with the Grizzlies and Kings, respectively, but those teams cut him loose before he saw any action. The 6’10” Reed averaged 4.0 rebounds in 16.6 minutes per game in two preseason contests this month, but it wasn’t enough to win a spot for opening night.

Brooklyn has 13 fully guaranteed contracts plus $75K guaranteed for Cory Jefferson and $25K for Jorge Gutierrez, but Jerome Jordan has impressed on his non-guaranteed deal. Coach Lionel Hollins admitted he’s rooting for Jordan to stick with the team.

Rockets Sign Geron Johnson, Waive Akil Mitchell

October 23rd, 2014 at 9:40am CST by Chuck Myron

The Rockets have signed former University of Memphis shooting guard Geron Johnson and waived power forward Akil Mitchell, the team announced via press release. The terms of the deal for Johnson aren’t immediately clear, but it’s probably a minimum-salary arrangement, perhaps with a nominal guarantee. Houston will be stuck with the $150K partial guarantee on Mitchell’s contract unless another team claims him off waivers.

Johnson went undrafted this past June, but he’s been on Houston’s radar for a while. The Rockets were among the teams that worked him out prior to the draft, and he joined Houston’s summer league team in July. The now 22-year-old Johnson averaged just 8.9 points in 27.9 minutes per game as a senior with the Memphis Tigers last season, but he grabbed 4.9 rebounds per contest even though he’s only 6’3″.

Mitchell also went undrafted this summer and scored his deal with the Rockets shortly before training camp began. Still, he didn’t play in any of the team’s preseason games and a report last week indicated he hadn’t been with the Rockets for several days.

Houston still has 20 players on its roster, and with 15 fully guaranteed contracts plus a non-guaranteed pact with starting point guard Patrick Beverley, the Rockets have a logjam they must resolve by Monday’s deadline for teams to set their opening-night rosters. Johnson seems unlikely to remain with the team into the regular season, so it appears the Rockets are signing him chiefly to be able to claim his D-League rights, though that’s just my speculation.

Jazz Waive Dahntay Jones, Jack Cooley

October 22nd, 2014 at 10:37pm CST by Eddie Scarito

10:37pm: Both players have indeed been waived, the team has officially announced.

4:41pm: The Jazz have waived Dahntay Jones and Jack Cooley, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). The team has yet to make an official announcement, but these moves would reduce Utah’s preseason roster count to 15 players, which is the regular season maximum. Jones was in camp on a non-guaranteed minimum salary deal, but Cooley’s arrangement came with a partial guarantee for $65K, so he won’t walk away empty-handed. Cooley is likely headed to the NBA D-League, notes Pincus.

The 6’9″ Cooley went undrafted following his senior year at Notre Dame in 2013, but performed well in summer league action that year. Still, he didn’t catch on with an NBA team for camp or the regular season. Instead, the big man headed overseas, averaging 12.6 points and 6.9 rebounds in 22.9 minutes per game in Turkey.

Jones spent last season out of the NBA, which was the first time he went without a deal in the league since he went 20th overall in the 2003 draft. Jones’ numbers in 589 career games are 5.6 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 0.9 APG. His career slash line is .441/.334/.751. Jones doesn’t seem like a candidate for the D-League, but he probably hopes to catch on with another team prior to the regular season. He could also try sign with a team on a 10-day contract later in the season.