Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Andray Blatche Signs With Chinese Team

September 20th, 2014 at 7:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

7:00pm: Pick has informed Hoops Rumors that the $2MM figure first reported for Blatche’s deal is correct.

12:25pm: Andy Miller, Blatche’s agent, has confirmed the signing, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets.

12:08pm: The deal is for approximately $2.5MM, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports notes (Twitter link).

11:55am: According to his sources, David Pick of Eurobasket (Twitter link) reports that Blatche has signed the deal, and it is for one-year, $2MM.

9:52am: Free agent big man Andray Blatche is close to signing a deal to play in the Chinese Basketball Association, Sohu.com reports (translation by Enea Trapani of Sportando). The interested team is the Xinjiang Flying Tigers, who have already inked Jordan Crawford, and were in negotiations with Lester Hudson, before things fell apart.

There were rumors that the Flying Tigers were interested in signing Aron Baynes, who has also been linked to Yao Ming’s Shanghai Sharks. According to Hupu.com, Xinjiang’s management confirmed the addition of a big man who participated in the FIBA World Cup, but officials denied the deal was with Baynes, so it looks like Blatche is their target.

Blatche is an unrestricted free agent after averaging 11.2 PPG and 5.3 RPG in 22.2 minutes per contest with an 18.8 PER for the Nets last season. The Heat, Raptors, and Clippers had all been rumored to be interested in the 6’11”, 27 year-old. If Blatche does indeed sign with the CBA, he would still have an opportunity to sign with an NBA team late in the season, since the Chinese League ends play in February, with the playoffs generally concluding in mid-to-late March. For more on Blatche, check out Chuck Myron’s Free Agent Stock Watch profile on the player.

DeAndre Liggins To Join Clippers For Camp?

September 20th, 2014 at 12:38pm CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 20TH, 12:38pm: An NBA executive has told Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link), that Liggins will not be with the Clippers in training camp, contrary to earlier reports.

SEPTEMBER 2ND, 4:01pm: Three-year NBA veteran DeAndre Liggins will sign a deal for training camp with the Clippers, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (on Twitter). That means he’ll almost certainly be on a non-guaranteed contract for the minimum salary, allowing the team to continue to chase veteran targets with guaranteed money.

Liggins saw just one minute of playing time in the NBA last season while he was on a pair of 10-day deals with the Heat, and he didn’t see much more action in earlier stints with the Thunder and Magic after Orlando drafted him 53rd overall in 2011. The 26-year-old swingman has played primarily in the D-League, earning an All-Star selection on that circuit this past season. The Clippers caught a look at him while he played for their summer league team in July, when he averaged 7.2 points in 23.2 minutes per contest. He also suited up for the Pistons summer league squad this year.

The addition of the Henry Thomas client gives the team deals with 12 players, though the Clippers are reportedly close to agreements with Chris Douglas-Roberts and Hedo Turkoglu. Reports have also indicated that the club has interest in Ray Allen and Ekpe Udoh.

Wolves Offer Eric Bledsoe Max Deal

September 19th, 2014 at 4:53pm CST by Zachary Links

4:53pm: The Suns have no interest in a sign-and-trade deal with Minnesota, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. According to Wojnarowski’s sources the Suns are only interested in trading Bledsoe for an All-Star, or a potential All-Star player, and had only considered Kevin Love in a possible sign-and-trade scenario with the Wolves.

3:53pm: The Suns own the Wolves’ 2015 first-round pick but it’s top-12 protected. Removing or reducing the protection could be a part of the Bledsoe talks, tweets Windhorst.

3:25pm: The Wolves are offering Eric Bledsoe a four-year, $63MM maximum level contract, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. The offer turns up the heat on the Suns, who have offered the restricted free agent a four-year, $48MM deal. The Wolves don’t have the necessary cap room to sign the guard outright, so they’d have to swing a sign-and-trade deal with Phoenix.

Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN reported yesterday that the Wolves were still in talks with the Suns on a sign-and-trade deal even after the completion of the Kevin Love deal. The possibility of the Wolves making a play for the 24-year-old seemed somewhat remote after Love was shipped to the Cavs, but it’s now very much a reality.

While the Suns and the Rich Paul client have been in a stalemate this summer, Phoenix was reportedly willing to dial up their offer if necessary. An increase of roughly $15MM probably wasn’t what they had in mind, however. Bledsoe’s camp made it known to Phoenix and every other team that he was only interested in signing a max contract. Otherwise, he said he was prepared to sign a one-year, $3.7MM qualifying offer with the Suns that would enable him to become an unencumbered free agent next summer. Fellow restricted free agent Greg Monroe made the same threat to the Pistons and made good on his promise earlier this summer.

In a sign-and-trade deal, the Suns would want Andrew Wiggins, according to Wolfson (on Twitter). That’s less-than-preferable for the Wolves, however, and that wouldn’t be a match, according to Wolfson. This is purely speculative, but since the Wolves were entertaining a Love-for-Bledsoe swap and Wiggins was the primary haul of the Love deal with Cleveland, it’s seems possible that the Wolves would consider including the No. 1 overall pick.

The Suns obviously want to keep Bledsoe (at the right price) but they would still have a very strong backcourt without the Kentucky product. The Suns have a highly-talented guard in Goran Dragic and the addition of free agent guard Isaiah Thomas on a four-year, $27MM deal would also lessen the sting. Phoenix also has first-round guard Tyler Ennis in reserve.

Bledsoe averaged 17.7 points and 5.5 assists across 43 games for the Suns last season after being traded from the Clippers. Unfortunately, he suffered a knee injury which cost him a good chunk of his 2013/14 campaign.

Jude LaCava of FOX 10 in Phoenix (on Twitter) first reported that the Wolves were prepared to offer Bledsoe a max deal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nets Void Hamady Ndiaye’s Deal

September 19th, 2014 at 9:40am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 9:40am: The Nets announced that they have voiced Ndiaye’s deal. The Nets’ roster now stands at 16 players.

As we learned yesterday, the Rutgers product’s deal was non-guaranteed until October 25th, so the Nets aren’t on the hook for anything. Had Ndiaye remained with the club at that point, his contract would have been guaranteed for $25K.

WEDNESDAY, 10:31am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

9:44am: The Nets and center Hamady Ndiaye have agreed to a deal for training camp, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). It’ll have to be a minimum-salary contract for the 7’0″ 27-year-old, since that’s all the Nets can give, though it’s unclear whether he’s receiving any guaranteed money.

Ndiaye spent part of three seasons with the Wizards and Kings, having made Sacramento’s opening night roster as a non-guaranteed training camp invitee last season. The Kings waived him in January just before his contract would have become guaranteed for the entire season. The Pinnacle Management Corp. client reportedly worked out for the Sixers shortly thereafter, but he wound up joining Philadelphia’s D-League team instead. He spent the last couple of weeks competing for his native Senegal in the FIBA World Cup, averaging 5.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in nearly 17 minutes a game.

The Nets have been carrying only 13 fully guaranteed deals, but they have a partially guaranteed arrangement with 60th overall pick Cory Jefferson, and Jorge Gutierrez‘s deal becomes partially guaranteed if he sticks with the club past September 26th. Ndiaye would probably have to outplay Jefferson, another big man, to earn a spot for the regular season.

Miroslav Raduljica To Play In China

September 19th, 2014 at 8:06am CST by Zachary Links

Center Miroslav Raduljica has signed a one-year deal with the Shandong Flaming Bulls, sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM. Raduljica took to Twitter this morning to relay the news and he sounds rather excited. “Next station in my career is CBA league, I’m looking forward to playing for Shandong!,” the big man wrote.

Raduljica, 26, was waived by the Clippers in late August shortly after he came over in the Jared Dudley trade. The 7-footer spent his lone NBA season with Milwaukee last year but didn’t get a whole lot of burn. Across 48 games, the big man averaged just 9.7 minutes per night and put up 3.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest.

Earlier this month it was reported that the center was leaning toward signing a lucrative contract with a European team if the NBA offers didn’t improve. The Matt Babcock client didn’t get the NBA deal he was after and presumably found something better in Shandong than in Europe. Teams reportedly called the Bucks last season to inquire on Raduljica and he had interest from several NBA teams this summer, including the Spurs and 76ers, according to Charania.

Wizards Sign Damion James

September 18th, 2014 at 11:27pm CST by Chuck Myron

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

SEPTEMBER 18TH: The Wizards have signed small forward Damion James, according to the RealGM transactions log, though the team has yet to make an official announcement. J. Michael of CSNWashington.com reported earlier this week that an agreement was close. It’s almost certainly for the minimum salary, since that’s all the Wizards can give, though it’s unclear whether it involves any guaranteed salary.

It’s the third straight September that James has signed a new deal, and the former 24th overall pick is surely hoping for better luck this time after he failed to make it to opening night on non-guaranteed contracts with the Hawks and Nuggets. The Mark Bartelstein client has nonetheless found his way onto NBA rosters in each of the past two seasons via 10-day contracts, and the Spurs signed him for the final few days of the regular season and the playoffs this spring, though he failed to appear in a postseason game.

Washington has been carrying 13 guaranteed deals, and the team’s contract with Glen Rice Jr. is partially guaranteed, so that seemingly sets up a battle between James and Xavier Silas, both wing players, for the team’s 15th regular season roster spot. Still, it would be somewhat surprising to see the Wizards leave four open spots beneath the 20-man preseason roster limit, and Michael indicated in his report this week that there’s a strong chance the Wizards won’t carry 15 players on opening night.

Grizzlies Sign Kalin Lucas To Camp Deal

September 18th, 2014 at 10:56pm CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 25TH: The deal is official, the team announced.

SEPTEMBER 18TH: The signing has taken place, according to the RealGM transactions log, though the team has yet to make a formal announcement.

SEPTEMBER 16TH: The Grizzlies and former Michigan State standout Kalin Lucas have struck a deal, as the agent for Lucas tells Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia (Twitter link). Presumably the arrangement will be for camp, perhaps with a diminutive guarantee involved. The Grizzlies have a sliver of their mid-level exception left to pay a bit more than the minimum salary, but it seems unlikely they’ll make that commitment in this case.

Lucas was briefly in camp with the Bulls last autumn, but it appeared they signed him specifically so they could reach the roster threshold necessary to ink others to Exhibit 9 contracts and reduce their liability. The Bulls cut him just as camp began to avoid running the risk that he’d be injured and they’d have to keep him on the roster and pay his salary during the regular season. The Grizzlies already have at least 14 non-Exhibit 9 contracts on the books, so Lucas will likely get a legitimate shot to participate in the preseason with Memphis.

The 25-year-old point guard averaged 8.3 points and 1.8 assists in 15.5 minutes per game with the Grizzlies summer league team in July, and he spent much of last season with the D-League’s Iowa Energy. Otherwise, he’s played overseas, with stops in Greece and Turkey, since going undrafted in 2011.

Kings Sign Omri Casspi

September 18th, 2014 at 3:53pm CST by Cray Allred

SEPTEMBER 18TH: The deal is finally official, the team announced.

JULY 30TH: It’ll be a guaranteed deal, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com.

JULY 25TH: The Kings are finalizing a one-year contract at the league minimum with Omri Casspi, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Casspi somewhat surprisingly cleared waivers earlier today, as the Kings had reportedly planned to put in a claim. It nonetheless appears as though they maintained interest, and the feeling had been mutual for Casspi, who spoke in recent days of his fondness for a return to Sacramento.

Signing the Dan Fegan client for just one year at the minimum, as opposed to claiming his two-year contract off waivers, will save the team enough money to keep it beneath the luxury tax line. The Kings had been at $75,852,705 in team salary, according to the latest estimates from Basketball Insiders, just $976,295 shy of the tax threshold. Casspi will make $1,063,384 as a five-year veteran at the minimum salary, but Sacramento will only be on the hook for the portion equivalent to the two-year veteran’s minimum of $915,243, since it’s a one-year contract. The league will pick up the tab for the rest.

That provision only applies to one-year deals, so if the Kings had claimed Casspi’s two-year contract off waivers, they would have had to pay his full salary, pushing them into tax territory and likely prompting the team to waive or trade Quincy Acy. Sacramento and Acy this week agreed to push back the date upon which his salary would become fully guaranteed so the club could explore its options.

Casspi’s camp is quite pleased with the agreement that will bring him back to the team with which he spent his first two NBA seasons, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. The native of Israel averaged 9.5 points in 24.5 minutes per game with 37.1% shooting as a King, but those numbers dropped precipitously when a trade sent him to Cleveland. He rebounded this past season with the Rockets, but the Pelicans nonetheless saw fit to let him go soon after they acquired him as part of the Omer Asik trade.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Ryan Hollins Signs With Kings

September 18th, 2014 at 3:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

THURSDAY, 3:28pm: The deal is official, the team announced.

WEDNESDAY, 7:13pm: Ryan Hollins has agreed to a deal to sign with the Kings, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). Exact contract details aren’t yet known, but it is a one-year, fully-guaranteed deal according to Spears. The Lakers, Bulls, Heat, and Spurs had also expressed interest in the twenty nine year-old seven-footer out of UCLA. This will bring Sacramento’s preseason roster count to 19.

As for what he brings to Sacramento, Hollins will compete with Reggie Evans and Sim Bhullar for minutes as DeMarcus Cousins‘ backup. He offers the Kings high-percentage shooting, defense, and rim protection, as Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors points out in his Free Agent Stock Watch article on the veteran center.

Hollins spent last season with the Clippers, where he appeared in 61 contests, averaging 2.3 PPG and 1.5 RPG. His slash line was .736/.000/.625. In eight seasons in the NBA, Hollins’ career numbers are 3.8 PPG and 2.2 RPG.

Grizzlies Sign Hassan Whiteside To Camp Deal

September 18th, 2014 at 1:04pm CST by Zachary Links

SEPTEMBER 25TH: The deal is official, the team announced.

SEPTEMBER 18TH: The Grizzlies have signed big man Hassan Whiteside to a non-guaranteed deal for training camp, a source tells Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal (on Twitter).

Whiteside spent parts of two seasons with the Kings but has been out of the NBA since 2011/12. Sacramento liked the potential of the 7-footer when they took him with the No. 33 overall pick in the 2010 draft, but he was too raw to stick on the roster.

Since being waived by the Kings in the summer of 2012, Whiteside has had stints in the D-League and with multiple clubs in Lebanon and China. The 25-year-old hooked on with China’s Jiangsu TX earlier this year and finished the season averaging 29.6 points per contest, making him one of the top scorers in the league.

In 19 games for the Kings between 2010/11 and 2011/12, Whiteside averaged 1.5 PPG and 2.1 RPG in 5.8 minutes per contest.