Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wizards Sign Daniel Orton For Camp

September 23rd, 2014 at 8:50pm CST by Cray Allred

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

SEPTEMBER 23RD: The Wizards are close to signing Daniel Orton for training camp, reports J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Orton is expected to sign a summer contract within the next few days, and it will be non-guaranteed.

Michael reports that Orton also worked out for the Pistons and Lakers, and canceled another workout with the Clippers once they signed Ekpe Udoh. Orton’s conditioning is better than it was during summer league, and Washington was the best fit for the third-year center because they covet frontcourt pieces more than his other suitors, Michael tweets.

The Vartanian/Simmons Sports Management client has played a total of 50 games in parts of the last three seasons with the Magic, Thunder, and Sixers. The big man has averaged 2.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game for his career.

Grizzlies Sign Michael Beasley For Camp

September 23rd, 2014 at 6:53pm CST by Alex Lee

THURSDAY, 2:30pm: The deal is official, the team announced.

TUESDAY, 6:53pm: Michael Beasley has reached an agreement on a non-guaranteed contract with the Grizzlies, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Beasley spent this week working out with Memphis, according to Wojnarowski, who writes that the former No. 2 overall pick has chosen the Grizzlies because of the opportunity to make the team as a backup power forward. The Memphis roster now stands at 20, but with only 14 fully guaranteed deals Beasley figures to have a reasonable shot to break camp with the team. The Grizzlies are limited to giving him the minimum, since the sliver of their mid-level exception that they have remaining exceeds the amount of the rookie minimum, but not the minimum for a player with the six years of experience that Beasley has.

The talented but troubled Kansas State product, still only 25 years old, was drafted by Miami in 2008 and spent time with the Timberwolves and Suns before returning to the Heat for a second term last season. The Jared Karnes client auditioned for the Spurs last week, had a pair of workouts with the Lakers earlier in the offseason and had reportedly drawn interest from a few other teams. Beasley would have liked to have re-signed with the Heat, but concerns over his defense and maturity persuaded the team against bringing him back, we heard earlier this month.

Beasley has averaged 13.2 points and 4.9 rebounds over six years in the league. Last season, on a loaded Miami team, he posted career-low averages in points (7.9), rebounds (3.1) and minutes (15.1). He will be competing against fellow non-guaranteed camp invitees Earl Clark, Patrick Christopher, Luke Hancock, Kalin Lucas and Hassan Whiteside for the Grizzlies final roster spot.

Lakers Sign Jeremy Tyler, Jabari Brown For Camp

September 23rd, 2014 at 5:13pm CST by Alex Lee

The Lakers have added Jeremy Tyler and Jabari Brown to their roster for training camp, the team announced today, while also confirming the official deals for Keith Appling and Roscoe Smith. After adding Wayne Ellington yesterday, the team’s roster now stands at 18 heading into camp, with 13 of the spots occupied by fully guaranteed contracts. The Lakers training camp roster should eventually balloon to 19 or 20, according to Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News (via Twitter).

Tyler is a three-year veteran who has spent time with the Warriors, Hawks and Knicks since being drafted by Charlotte in the second round of the 2011 NBA Draft. Tyler and Ellington were two of five players to work out with the Lakers earlier this month. Tyler was waived by the Kings a week prior after being dealt to Sacramento by the Knicks in August along with Ellington, coincidentally. The 23-year-old power forward has averaged 3.6 points and 2.6 boards over 104 games in his NBA career.

Brown, who led the SEC in scoring in 2013/14, went undrafted in June after leaving Missouri following his junior season. The shooting guard averaged 19.9 points and shot 41 percent from three for the Tigers last season en route to a first team all-SEC selection. He was a college teammate of fellow Lakers rookie Jordan Clarkson, who signed with the team in August.

Roscoe Smith To Attend Lakers Camp

September 23rd, 2014 at 5:02pm CST by Zachary Links

SEPTEMBER 23RD: The signing is official, the team announced.

AUGUST 4TH: Former UNLV and UConn forward Roscoe Smith has accepted an invite to Lakers training camp, a source tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (on Twitter). The 23-year-old went undrafted in June.

Smith was a second-round draft candidate but likely went undrafted thanks to his age and lack of size for his more natural power forward position. Smith, who celebrated his 23rd birthday in May, stands at 6’8″ and weighed in at just 202 pounds this summer.

As a freshman at UConn, Smith started 33 games and put up 5.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. He also started in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, helping the Huskies to the National Championship. The following season, he saw his playing time decrease thanks to the arrival of Andre Drummond.

After UConn was banned from postseason play thanks to academic issues, he transferred to UNLV and per the rules sat out the 2012/13 season. Smith averaged 11.1 points per game and 10.9 rebounds per game.

Keith Appling To Join Lakers For Camp

September 23rd, 2014 at 5:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 23RD: The signing is official, the team announced.

AUGUST 4TH: Undrafted point guard Keith Appling and the Lakers have reached agreement on a non-guaranteed deal, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The arrangement will give the former Michigan State Spartan a chance to make the team out of training camp.

The 6’1″ Appling was a mainstay for coach Tom Izzo during his four-year college career, averaging more than 30 minutes per game each season from his sophomore campaign forward, in spite of a lack of flashy numbers. He averaged 11.2 points, 4.5 assists and 2.1 turnovers per game this past season. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress listed him as the 76th-best draft prospect for this year, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranked him 80th.

The Lakers had been carrying only 12 players with a contract or an agreement to sign, so it seems like the 22-year-old Appling, a Michael Silverman client, will have a reasonable chance to make the opening-night roster. That’s especially true given the dearth of point guards on the team, which has just Jeremy Lin and oft-injured 40-year-old Steve Nash to man the position.

Lakers Sign Wayne Ellington

September 23rd, 2014 at 4:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 23RD: Ellington’s 2014/15 salary of $1,063,384 contains no preseason guarantees, writes Eric Pincus of the L.A. Times, who adds that if the former Tar Heel is on the roster through November 15 he is assured of $315,646. If he is still a Laker on December 1 that number grows to $581,692. Any non and/or partially guaranteed contracts, like Ellington’s, become fully guaranteed league-wide on January 10, as Pincus notes.

SEPTEMBER 22ND, 6:29pm: Ellington’s deal is partially guaranteed, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter link).

5:47pm: The Lakers have signed Wayne Ellington, the team announced (Twitter link). The terms are unclear, but the Lakers are without the ability to give him more than the minimum salary. The 28th overall pick from the 2009 draft had been a free agent since a couple of days after the Kings waived him in a cost-cutting move more than three weeks ago.

The Arn Tellem client was one of a handful of free agents who reportedly worked out for the Lakers earlier this month. It’s been an offseason of movement for Ellington, whom the Mavs traded to New York the day before the draft in the Tyson Chandler swap. New York sent him to Sacramento in an August trade, but his guaranteed salary of more than $2.771MM was a tight squeeze under the luxury tax threshold for the Kings, who are believed to have used the stretch provision to spread out their obligation to him.

Ellington set career lows this past year in most categories, including minutes per game, as the Mavs found little use for the 6’4″ shooting guard. Still, his 42.4% three-point shooting was the best such mark in his five NBA seasons to date.

He joins 15 others who have deals with the Lakers, including 13 on fully guaranteed contracts. Keith Appling has a non-guaranteed arrangement, and it’s unlikely that Roscoe Smith has more than a nominal guarantee on his pact, so it seems Ellington possesses a strong chance to make the opening-night roster.

Pistons Sign Josh Bostic For Camp

September 23rd, 2014 at 3:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 12:12pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

TUESDAY, 3:59pm: Sierra corrects his original report and now says that Bostic will be in camp with the Pistons instead (Twitter link). Detroit would appear to offer an even tougher path to opening night for Bostic, since the Pistons already have 16 fully guaranteed deals and a non-guaranteed arrangement with Lorenzo Brown. The Pistons have the capacity to exceed the minimum salary, but it’s unlikely that they will.

3:27pm: The Warriors will sign swingman Josh Bostic for training camp, a source tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Twitter link). The Warriors are limited to giving the 6’5″ 27-year-old only the minimum salary, though it’s unclear if any of it will be guaranteed.

Bostic went undrafted in 2009 out of the University of Findlay, an NCAA Division II school in Ohio. He’s played overseas since spending the 2010/11 season in the D-League, with stops in Belgium, France and Russia. He split last season between France’s Chalon Sur-Saone and Russia’s Spartak St. Petersburg, averaging a combined 9.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in 27.6 minutes per game. His long-distance game probably won’t help his long-shot bid to make the opening night roster with Golden State, since he only made 22.8% of his 3.2 three-point attempts per contest overseas last year.

The Warriors have been carrying deals with 18 other players, including 13 on fully guaranteed pacts. All the rest have partially guaranteed minimum salaries, so there will be plenty of competition for the final spots on the team’s regular season roster.

Hawks Re-Sign Elton Brand

September 23rd, 2014 at 3:37pm CST by Alex Lee

SEPTEMBER 23RD: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

SEPTEMBER 12TH, 10:02am: The signing has taken place, according to the RealGM transactions log, though the team has yet to make an official announcement.

SEPTEMBER 10TH, 6:54pm: The Hawks will re-sign Elton Brand to a one-year deal for $2MM, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Brand spent his 15th NBA season as a role player in Atlanta, averaging 5.7 points and 4.9 rebounds in 73 appearances for the Hawks. He shot 53.9 percent from the field in 19.4 minutes per contest, helping Atlanta to land the eighth and final playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

There were reports a few weeks back that Brand and the Hawks were in talks, and the Duke product also reportedly drew interest from the Heat and Knicks this offseason. The 35-year-old has had some injury issues at points in his career and took some time to consider retirement before committing to a 16th season in June. His PER declined for the third straight season in 2013/14 and, at 14.05, was the lowest mark of his career.

The Hawks drafted Adreian Payne at No. 15 in June to add to a frontcourt that already includes Al Horford and Paul Millsap. While Brand, a David Falk client, should get legitimate minutes in 2014/15, he figures to have a somewhat reduced role. He made $4MM in Atlanta last season. If his deal is fully guaranteed, it would make 14 such contracts on the books for the upcoming season in addition to Mike Muscala‘s partially guaranteed deal.

Hawks Sign Kent Bazemore

September 23rd, 2014 at 3:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

SEPTEMBER 23RD: The deal is at last official, the team announced via press release.

SEPTEMBER 11TH: The Hawks and Bazemore finally put pen to paper Wednesday, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The team has yet to make an official announcement. It’s likely that the signing took so long to complete because Atlanta wanted to preserve cap space, though that’s just my speculation. The Hawks could have used cap space to acquire other players and circled back to sign Bazemore using the room exception. As it stands, they’re using cap space to ink Bazemore.

JULY 11TH: 9:50pm: Bazemore’s agent, Austin Walton, confirmed the deal and that it is fully guaranteed, tweets Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.

9:31pm: Kent Bazemore has reached an agreement to join the Hawks, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The deal is for two years and $4MM, according to Stein. Shams Charania of RealGM tweets that the deal is fully guaranteed, and contains no options.

The shooting guard was traded along with MarShon Brooks from the Warriors to the Lakers in the Steve Blake deal on February 19th of this year. Bazemore’s career numbers are 4.1 PPG, 1.1 RPG, and 0.9 APG.

The 25 year old who originally went undrafted out of Old Dominion also received interest from the Hornets, Lakers, Rockets, Spurs, Warriors and Celtics.

Heat Sign Shawn Jones For Camp

September 23rd, 2014 at 3:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 23RD: The signing is finally official, as the team has followed up with a formal announcement.

AUGUST 7TH: The Heat have reached a non-guaranteed deal with undrafted power forward Shawn Jones, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). It appears it’ll be a summer contract for the former Middle Tennessee State Blue Raider, giving him a chance to make the club out of training camp. It’ll almost certainly be a minimum-salary arrangement, especially since the Heat are limited to handing out no more than that.

Jones, 22, was the 99th-best draft prospect this year in the rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiled, and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress didn’t list him within his top 100, pegging him as only the 81st-best senior in the 2014 draft class. The 6’8″ Jones was nonetheless impressive on the boards at the Portsmouth Invitational, a seniors-only predraft showcase, averaging 11.7 rebounds in 31.0 minutes per game in three contests. He pulled down 5.2 RPG in 14.6 MPG in summer league action with the Clippers.

Miami has been active in recent days, striking deals with Shawne Williams and Tyler Johnson. The addition of Jones gives the team agreements with 15 players, though only 11 are known to have fully guaranteed salaries, as our roster counts show.