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Less than five minutes apart, the New Orleans Pelicans waived former Kentucky Wildcats guard DeAndre Liggins, and the Memphis Grizzlies waived center Dakari Johnson.
Liggins appeared in 27 games, including three starts, for the Pelicans last season. He averaged 1.6 points and 1.0 rebounds in 9.0 minutes per game.
The New Orleans #Pelicans announced today that the team has waived guard DeAndre Liggins.
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) August 31, 2018
: https://t.co/uuFRZh1xQ4 pic.twitter.com/lpnpO6F1Dg
Dakari, on the other hand, was just traded to the Orlando Magic from the Oklahoma City Thunder, then to the Grizzlies, less than a month ago along with nearly $2 million in exchange for Rodney Purvis. That move was salary-motivated to remove his $1.4 million guaranteed salary off of the books as Purvis was on a non-guaranteed deal.
This move was also salary-motivated as today is the NBA’s deadline to use the “Stretch” provision.
The @memgrizz are waiving C Dakari Johnson in advance of today's NBA deadline to trigger the 'Stretch' provision. Johnson has one year and $1.3 million left on deal, which Grizzlies can stretch over 3 years at a minimum cap hit of just under $450K per season.
— Michael Wallace (@MyMikeCheck) August 31, 2018
Johnson averaged 1.8 points and 1.1 rebounds in 5.2 minutes per game last season.
Hopefully, they both find new homes before the NBA season begins on October 16.