After waiving Tony Bradley on Monday before his contract became guaranteed for the rest of the season, the Pacers plan to bring him back on a 10-day deal, a league source tells Tony East of Forbes. Bradley cleared waivers earlier today and is now a free agent.
Indiana’s next game isn’t until Thursday, so East speculates that the signing may not take place until then. The Pacers play on back-to-back nights January 16 and 17, so they could make Bradley’s contract cover six games by having it stretch from the 8th to the 17th.
East notes that the team needs depth at center because backup big man Isaiah Jackson is still sidelined with a concussion that has kept him out of action since December 22. Micah Potter, who joined the team on December 26, has started two of the last three games and appears to have a secure spot on the roster after being retained past today’s contract guarantee date.
Bradley was seeing consistent playing time earlier in the season as part of a three-man center rotation along with Jackson and Jay Huff. However, he suffered a fracture on the tip of his right thumb more than two weeks ago and has been playing while wearing a splint ever since.
The Pacers saved $1.55MM in cap room and opened up a roster spot by releasing Bradley on Monday. His salary on a 10-day contract will be nearly $132K, which will bring the team to within roughly $5.7MM of the luxury tax line, according to East, who states that Indiana is almost certain to stay out of the tax considering its 6-31 record.
Bradley was in his second season with the Pacers after joining the team on a pair of 10-day deals last March and being signed for the remainder of the season. He has appeared in 29 games this season, averaging 3.9 points and 2.6 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per night.
He will be eligible to sign another 10-day contract with Indiana after the first one expires. After that, the Pacers would have to give him a standard deal to keep him on the roster for the rest of the season.