Grizzlies waive Zach Cleveland; Lakers cut two players

As we explained on Friday, most teams around the NBA will complete their cuts on Saturday so that those players clear waivers before the start of the regular season and don’t leave any dead money on their respective clubs’ caps. However, if the Grizzlies release a player with a guaranteed salary, his cap hit will be the same regardless of whether he hits waivers Saturday, Sunday or Monday.

Cleveland, who went undrafted this June after playing his college ball at Liberty, is expected to become an affiliate player for the Memphis Hustle, the Grizzlies’ G League team. He’ll earn a bonus worth $91K if he spends at least 60 days in the NBAGL.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers also made a pair of cuts on Saturday, placing Rafael Castro and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones on waivers, per Law Murray of The Athletic. Both Castro and Tait-Jones appear likely to report to the Coachella Valley Lakers in the G League.

Like the Grizzlies, the Lakers have more than 15 players on guaranteed standard contracts, so while Los Angeles needs to make at least one more transaction in order to comply with the roster rules for the start of the regular season, the team might not finalize that move until Sunday or Monday.

The Lakers are said to be exploring the trade market to try to avoid waiving a player with a guaranteed salary. 2024 first-rounder Dalton Knecht is viewed as the most likely candidate to be traded or cut. According to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, the Lakers have been in contact with the Bulls and Jazz, among other teams. A previous report indicated that L.A. has also talked to the Bucks about a potential Knecht deal, which Siegel confirms.