Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nuggets Sign Jerrelle Benimon

September 30th, 2014 at 11:08am CST by Zachary Links

SEPTEMBER 30TH: The signing is official, the Nuggets announce as they release their training camp roster.

AUGUST 19TH: The team has yet to announce the transaction, but Benimon has indeed signed a contract with Denver, according to the RealGM transactions log. The power forward is one of three players with partially guaranteed contracts on the Nuggets, as our roster counts show.

AUGUST 14TH: Undrafted rookie Jerrelle Benimon has agreed on a partially guaranteed two-year deal with the Nuggets, league sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM (on Twitter). Benimon worked out for the Nuggets in mid-June and even though he went undrafted, he clearly made a strong impression with them.

The former Towson standout helped engineer the greatest single-season turnaround in Division-I history. The Tigers went from a 1–31 record in 2011/12 to an 18–13 mark in the following year. In that year, the 6’8″ forward averaged 17.1 PPG and 11.2 RPG off of 53% shooting from the floor. For an encore, Benimon put up 18.7 PPG and 11.2 RPG in his senior season.

Nuggets Sign Marcus Williams

September 30th, 2014 at 11:07am CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 30TH: The signing is official, the Nuggets announce as they release their training camp roster.

SEPTEMBER 23RD: The deal has been signed according to the RealGM transaction log, although no announcement from the team has been made yet.

SEPTEMBER 22ND, 10:52am: The contract will cover one season, Charania notes via Twitter.

10:30am: The Nuggets and former University of Arizona forward Marcus Williams have agreed to a deal, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Williams is not to be confused with the former University of Connecticut point guard by the same name. It’s likely a minimum-salary deal for camp, though the Nuggets have most of their $5.305MM mid-level exception to give him more. It’s not clear whether the deal includes any guaranteed salary.

Williams played 11 NBA regular season games in two seasons with the Clippers and Spurs after San Antonio made him the 33rd overall pick in 2007, but he’s been out of the league since the Spurs waived him in the 2009 preseason. He’s spent time with San Antonio’s D-League affiliate since then, and he’s also been a mainstay for China’s Shanxi Zhongyu. He’s averaged 30.7 points over the last three seasons with the Chinese club, a mark that’s put him near the top of the scoring leaders in the Chinese Basketball Association, a circuit dotted with NBA veterans.

Denver appears to offer Williams, who’ll turn 28 in November, a decent chance to make it to opening night, since the Nuggets had been carrying only 13 fully guaranteed deals. Jerrelle Benimon, Erick Green and Quincy Miller all have partially guaranteed minimum salaries.

Hawks Sign Jarell Eddie For Camp

September 29th, 2014 at 4:34pm CST by Eddie Scarito

SEPTEMBER 29TH: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

SEPTEMBER 19TH: The Hawks and Jarell Eddie have agreed to a training camp deal, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). The contract is likely non-guaranteed according to Charania. This signing brings Atlanta’s preseason roster count to 16, with 14 of those players being signed to fully-guaranteed contracts. The other player, Mike Muscala, has his contract partially guaranteed for $408,241, which makes Eddie a longshot to make the opening night roster.

The 6’6″ forward went undrafted this year out of Virginia Tech after averaging 13.1 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 1.1 APG his Senior year. His slash line was .358/.376/.776.

Eddie will compete John Jenkins, Kyle Korver, and DeMarre Carroll for minutes at small forward, with Korver the likely starter.

Dexter Pittman Signs With Hawks

September 29th, 2014 at 4:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

SEPTEMBER 29TH: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

SEPTEMBER 24TH: Free agent Dexter Pittman has agreed to a deal with the Hawks, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). Terms of the deal weren’t revealed, but it’s likely a minimum salary camp deal with a nominal guarantee at best. This signing gives Atlanta a total of 17 players on their preseason roster, with 14 of those being fully-guaranteed and one other player who has a partial guarantee.

The 6’11” 26-year-old out of Texas appeared in two games for the Hawks last season while on a 10-day contract that was cut short when Pittman was released in order to make room on the roster for Mike Muscala. In 50 career games, including six starts, Pittman has averaged 2.3 PPG and 1.8 RPG. His career field goal percentage is 45%.

Pittman will compete with Muscala and Pero Antic for a spot backing up Al Horford at center, though he’s unlikely to stick on the roster until opening night without an especially strong training camp. Pittman had also worked out for the Lakers back in August, but it’s unlikely that L.A. made any contract offer.

Blazers Pick Up Damian Lillard’s 2015/16 Option

September 29th, 2014 at 1:56pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Blazers have exercised their team option on the fourth year of Damian Lillard‘s rookie scale contract, the team announced. Chris Haynes of the Plain Dealer first reported the move (Twitter link). Lillard’s salary of $4.236MM for the 2015/16 season is locked in as a result, and it’s largely a perfunctory transaction, since it would have been shocking if Portland had let go of the budding star. The team will wait until the October 31st deadline draws near to decide on its other rookie scale options, for Thomas Robinson, C.J. McCollum and Meyers Leonard, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian (Twitter links).

The 24-year-old Lillard, who won the Rookie of the Year award in 2013, has quickly established himself as one of the league’s best point guards. He made his first All-Star Game and was on the All-NBA Third Team last season. His buzzer-beater at the end of the sixth game of Portland’s first-round series against the Rockets last spring lifted the Blazers to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2000.

Portland had little more than $13MM in commitments for 2015/16 before picking up Lillard’s option. That leaves GM Neil Olshey with plenty of flexibility to secure soon-to-be free agent LaMarcus Aldridge to a new long-term deal and build around the Aldridge-Lillard core.

Suns Sign Zoran Dragic

September 29th, 2014 at 12:37pm CST by Chuck Myron

MONDAY, 12:36pm: The deal is official, the team announced.

“Zoran’s will to win and intensity stand out every time he steps on to the court,” GM Ryan McDonough said in the team’s statement. “He has been a very productive player in Euroleague, ACB and FIBA competitions. He excels defensively and in transition and I think our fans will quickly recognize his passion for the game.”

FRIDAY, 7:55am: Coro clarifies that a total of only $3.4MM will count against the cap for the Suns over the two seasons of the deal (Twitter link), so it appears as though the $4,012,500 figure that was reported earlier includes the $600K that Phoenix is allowed to contribute toward the buyout without it counting against the cap. That would mean the precise cap hits for Phoenix in 2014/15 and 2015/16 combined would come to $3,412,500, close to the figure that Amick reported, as we noted below.

Dragic confirmed the deal to Gal Zbačnik of Kosarki.si, while Unicaja Malaga formally announced Dragic’s departure from the team (on Twitter; translations via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia)

3:36pm: The total value of Dragic’s deal is $4,012,500, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link).

12:26pm: The amount buyout for the BDA Sports Management client was negotiated down to $1MM, reports Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. It’s not entirely clear whether it was Dragic’s camp, the Suns, or both who pushed the Spanish team to lower its demand.

THURSDAY, 11:01am: The Suns are set to sign Spanish league shooting guard Zoran Dragic to a two-year guaranteed deal, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. It’ll be worth a total of $3.5MM, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (on Twitter). Multiple reports from earlier indicated that Dragic had informed Spain’s Unicaja Malaga that he was leaving the team and would pay a buyout of about $1.1MM, with the Suns having placed a two-year offer on the table. Phoenix appears to be using some of its approximately $5.7MM in cap space remaining after Wednesday’s re-signing of Eric Bledsoe.

The 25-year-old will join older brother Goran Dragic on the Suns, and the addition will ostensibly aid Phoenix in its efforts to retain Goran long-term. The Suns beat out the Pacers, Kings, Heat, Magic, Spurs and Mavs, all of whom appeared to show interest in signing Zoran Dragic within the past month. Houston, too, was in the mix earlier this year, and the Rockets were reportedly the leading contender for him as of May. The Rockets have also eyed Goran Dragic, who played a season and a half for Houston earlier in his career.

Zoran Dragic has longed to play in the NBA, though he appeared prepared to begin the season overseas. His buyout costs more than the $600K Excluded International Player Payment Amount that an NBA team can dole out without it counting against the salary cap and without the money essentially coming out of Dragic’s paycheck. Still, a report indicated that Goran Dragic, who’ll make $7.5MM from the Suns this season, would likely pay part of the buyout for his brother.

The recent FIBA World Cup helped the 6’5″ Zoran Dragic make his case for a spot on an NBA roster, as he averaged 12.9 points and 4.0 rebounds in more than 26 minutes per game and made 13 of 30 three-point attempts playing alongside his brother on the Slovenian national team. His numbers had been less impressive last season for Unicaja Malaga, when he put up 10.6 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 20.3 MPG while shooting just 32.7% from behind the arc.

The deal gives the Suns 15 fully guaranteed pacts, as our roster counts show, likely setting the roster for opening night. It further diminishes the chances that Earl Barron and Casey Prather, who’d been with the club on non-guaranteed arrangements, will make it to opening night.

Thunder Sign Richard Solomon, Talib Zanna

September 29th, 2014 at 11:53am CST by Chuck Myron

The Thunder have signed power forwards Richard Solomon and Talib Zanna, the team announced via press release. Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman was the first to report the deals (Twitter links). The team also confirms previously reported agreements with Lance Thomas and Michael Jenkins. The team has the capacity to give more than the minimum to Solomon and Talib, both of whom went undrafted this past June, but it’s unlikely the Thunder did so. It’s not clear whether there’s any guaranteed money on their respective deals.

Solomon averaged a double-double as a senior this past season at Cal, notching 11.0 points and 10.2 rebounds in 29.2 minutes per game. Zanna came fairly close as a Pittsburgh senior, with 13.0 PPG and 8.6 RPG in 30.3 MPG, before joining the Sixers for summer league in July.

The moves will give Oklahoma City 18 players for camp. The Thunder have 14 fully guaranteed pacts, leaving Zanna and Solomon to fight with Thomas and Jenkins for the final regular season roster spot, presuming the team carries the NBA-maximum 15 players on opening night.

Celtics Re-Sign Christian Watford

September 29th, 2014 at 11:33am CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics have re-signed power forward Christian Watford, the team announced via press release. The statement also confirmed the team’s deals with shooting guard Rodney McGruder and point guard Tim Frazier. The C’s waived Watford on Saturday to accommodate the team’s acquisition of four players in return for Keith Bogans, but they had an agreement to re-sign Watford even as they let him go, since Boston released others to make room. The Celtics had the capacity to exceed the minimum salary with Watford, McGruder and Frazier, but it’s unlikely they’ve done so. The amount of guaranteed money for the trio is unclear.

Watford went undrafted out of the University of Indiana in 2013, spending time in summer league with the Pacers, Mavs, Pistons and Warriors the past two offseasons and heading to Israel’s Hapoel Eilat for the 2013/14 season. He averaged 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in 27.9 minutes per game in his final season with the Hoosiers.

The additions, plus the long-awaited official announcement of the C’s deal with Evan Turner, gives Boston 20 players for camp. Presuming Turner’s deal is fully guaranteed, the Celtics have 16 such contracts, plus a partial guarantee to Erik Murphy, meaning the team will have to return to the trading block to avoid having dead money on the books come opening night. It also means that Watford is unlikely to remain for the regular season, though it’s possible the C’s will retain his D-League rights.

Celtics Sign Evan Turner

September 29th, 2014 at 11:07am CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 29TH: The deal is finally official, the team announced via press release. Boston cleared room under the preseason limit of 20 players with a series of moves in the past few days to accommodate Turner.

JULY 21ST: The Celtics and Evan Turner are finalizing a deal for a portion of the mid-level exception, reports Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald (on Twitter). The Pacers made the former No. 2 overall pick an unrestricted free agent when they declined to tender his qualifying offer last month.

The Wolves appeared to be Boston’s primary competition for Turner, who was reportedly Minnesota’s top priority even though the team apparently envisioned signing him to only a one-year deal. The length of his arrangment with the Celtics is unclear.

Boston has more than $78.7MM in commitments on the roster for the coming season, a figure that puts them above the tax line but below the tax apron. The Celtics can waive close to $7.018MM in non-guaranteed salary, but in any case, the team won’t be able to sign Turner to a starting salary exceeding $3.278MM without triggering a hard cap of $80.829MM for this season.

Celtics Waive Malcolm Thomas, John Lucas III

September 29th, 2014 at 11:07am CST by Eddie Scarito

MONDAY, 11:07am: The releases are official, the team announced.

SUNDAY, 4:26pm: The Celtics have waived Malcolm Thomas and John Lucas III, Marc Stein of ESPN.com is reporting (Twitter link). Both players were recently acquired in the trade that sent Keith Bogans to the Cavaliers, and Bogans has since been traded to the Sixers in a move that garnered Cleveland a valuable trade exception. The Celtics, too, were afforded a trade exception for the same $5,285,817 amount when they relinquished Bogans.

A roster move was expected from the Celtics who had 21 players on their preseason roster. That number includes Evan Turner whose signing has not been formally announced yet. This should change shortly now that Boston is down to 19 players after waiving Thomas and Lucas.

The team had waived Christian Watford on Friday, but reports have indicated that the team intends to re-sign the forward this week. So, Watford’s return would put Boston at the preseason limit of 20 players, including Turner, meaning the team’s camp roster is likely set.