Carl Landry

And-Ones: Robinson, BIG3, Caboclo, Landry

Mitchell Robinson, who had considered leaving school to prepare for the 2018 NBA draft, has decided to play this season at Western Kentucky, reports Chad Bishop of WBKO in Bowling Green, Ky. The 7-foot center, who is ranked 14th in the DraftExpress mock draft for next year, is a freshman and will be immediately eligible to play. Robinson committed to Texas A&M in 2015, but changed his mind after A&M assistant Rick Stansbury left to become head coach at WKU. Robinson, 19, was considering overseas offers before deciding to remain in college.

There’s more basketball news today:

  • Trilogy wrapped up a perfect season and claimed the first BIG3 title Saturday with a win over the 3 Headed Monsters, writes Adi Joseph of USA Today. Rashad McCants, the first pick in the league’s draft, scored the final five points in a 51-46 victory. McCants, who spent most of his five-year career with the Timberwolves, remains angry about the premature end of his time in the NBA. “Most importantly it’s just shutting the book on a career that never really reached full potential,” McCants said. “The years of a potential prime are vanished without a trace because of a few upper-level executives that decided to make my life a living hell. Ice Cube brought me in with a chance to reinvent myself.”
  • Raptors forward Bruno Caboclo has been removed from the Brazilian National Team after refusing to enter a game in the AmeriCup tournament, relays Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. “Bruno Caboclo committed an act of indiscipline refusing to enter on the court when the coach requested him to do that,” said team manager Renato Lamas. “We cannot allow any player to commit any act of indiscipline while wearing the jersey of the Brazilian National Team.” 
  • Carl Landry, who spent time with five teams during his nine years in the NBA, will play for China next season, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. Landry, who will turn 34 next month, will join the Jilin Tigers. His last NBA experience came in 2015/16 when he played 36 games for the Sixers.

Carl Landry To Hold Open Audition

Like his fellow free agent – and former teammate – Jarrett Jack, veteran forward Carl Landry will hold an open audition for NBA teams this month as he attempts to land with a club, reports ESPN’s Marc Stein. Unlike Jack and some of the other veteran free agents seeking NBA jobs, Landry isn’t recovering from a major injury, but wants to show potential suitors that he’s in shape and ready to contribute.

A nine-year NBA veteran, Landry appeared in 36 games for the Sixers last season, averaging 9.8 PPG and 4.1 RPG while shooting 55.6% from the floor. The 33-year-old had a guaranteed contract with Philadelphia for this season, but given the team’s frontcourt logjam and Landry’s aversion to sitting on the bench, the team decided to waive him before training camps got underway. He has been a free agent since then.

Although Landry hasn’t found a new NBA home yet, there may be opportunities opening up around the league in the coming days and weeks. Teams can begin signing players to 10-day contracts today, and after all 30 teams carried full 15-man rosters for the first couple months of the season, several clubs are opening up roster spots this month. Currently, four teams – Charlotte, Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Antonio – have just 14 players under contract, and more clubs figure to open up roster spots in the next few days, prior to the 2016/17 salary guarantee deadline.

Eastern Notes: Landry, Pleiss, Bucks, Hezonja

On Wednesday, the Sixers announced they’d waived two big men, in veteran forward Carl Landry and center Tibor Pleiss. The timing of the moves was interesting, since August 31 represented the deadline for teams to waive players and stretch their 2016/17 cap hits across the next three years.

According to Derek Bodner of PhillyMag.com (Twitter links), however, the Sixers won’t stretch the cap hits for Landry and Preiss, which makes sense, considering how far below the salary floor Philadelphia already is this year — carrying $9.5MM in dead money for the two bigs won’t have a major impact on the team’s spending flexibility.

Here’s more on the Sixers’ Wednesday transactions, along with a few more Eastern Conference items:

  • According to Bodner (via Twitter), Landry, who is entering a contract year, wanted an opportunity to play a decent amount of minutes in 2016/17. The Sixers had a crowded frontcourt and didn’t view Landry as a long-term piece, so the team was willing to cut him to allow him to seek that opportunity elsewhere.
  • In his recap of the Bucks‘ offseason, Bobby Marks of The Vertical gives the front office credit for “thinking outside of the box” when it comes to the Thon Maker draft pick, and suggests that Matthew Dellavedova and Mirza Teletovic are “blue-collar” additions.
  • Fifth overall pick Mario Hezonja had an underwhelming rookie season in Orlando, prompting Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer to examine how the Magic might use him this year, and how much patience they’ll have with him.
  • Discussing Tyler Johnson, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra praised the young guard’s “incredible work ethic,” adding that Johnson “makes you re-sign him,” as Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel details. Johnson technically signed a four-year, $50MM offer sheet with the Nets this summer, which Miami matched.

Sixers Waive Carl Landry, Tibor Pleiss

The Sixers have created a couple open spots on their roster, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical, who reports (via Twitter) that the team has waived veteran big men Carl Landry and Tibor Pleiss. Both players will become free agents if and when they clear waivers.

A nine-year NBA veteran, Landry appeared in 36 games for the Sixers last season, averaging 9.8 PPG and 4.1 RPG while shooting 55.6% from the floor. He should draw interest from NBA teams in need of veteran frontcourt help. As for Pleiss, Philadelphia acquired the German big man last week in a salary-dump trade, and we heard yesterday that the team intended to part ways with him.

Landry had a salary of $6.5MM owed to him for the 2016/17 season, while Pleiss was set to make $3MM. Both figures were fully guaranteed, however, so the Sixers will still be on the hook for nearly $10MM in salary for the two players.

By waiving Landry and Pleiss in advance of today’s stretch provision deadline, Philadelphia will also have the option of stretching the two cap hits over the next three years. However, the Sixers currently sit well below the 2016/17 salary floor, so it would be a little surprising if the team added money to its cap in future seasons in order to reduce this year’s cap hits.

After waiving Landry and Pleiss, the Sixers will still have plenty of frontcourt depth on their roster, with young players like Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor, Ben Simmons, Dario Saric, and Joel Embiid leading the way at the forward and center positions. The club will also reduce its roster count to 18 players, meaning there will be two open spots on the 20-man offseason roster. Only 11 of those 18 contracts currently on the books are fully guaranteed.

Pacific Notes: Suns, Landry, Curry

The Suns miscalculated during the 2013/14 season when the team dealt away Marcin Gortat in an effort to speed up the rebuilding process by bottoming out, but instead won 48 games, Zach Lowe of ESPN.com writes. “We were never trying to lose games,” team owner Robert Sarver told Lowe. “We were trying to play young players who we thought could be part of the next great Phoenix team, and some of them just played a lot better than we thought they would.” It was the unexpected success of that campaign that led Phoenix to chase immediate wins at the expense of long-term team-building, Lowe adds, which is a major reason for the mess the franchise is currently in. The ESPN scribe also opines that coach Jeff Hornacek shouldn’t necessarily be held accountable for the team’s woeful record this season, and for the sake of continuity he should be allowed another opportunity in 2016/17.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • Nik Stauskas and Carl Landry, both of whom were traded by Sacramento to the Sixers, say that they harbor no ill will toward the Kings organization for shipping them away, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “There’s no hard feelings,” Landry said. “The organization and the owner [Vivek Ranadive] and the vets, everybody in that organization gave me an opportunity. I am not going to go out there and try to score more points than needs to be scored. I’m just going to go out there and try to get a win. That’s it. Nothing personal.” Stauskas laid the blame for being dealt on himself, Pompey adds. “I didn’t play the way I wanted to my rookie year,” Stauskas said, “and obviously they felt like they wanted to go in a different direction. That’s the way the NBA works.
  • Warriors superstar Stephen Curry has taken some surprising criticism for the way he plays potentially “ruining” young players who attempt to emulate him. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle strongly disagrees, and compares the point guard to Apple visionary Steve Jobs, Michael Florek of The Dallas Morning News writes. “He’s changed the way we live,” Carlisle said of Jobs. “He and Bill Gates have done that. Steph Curry is changing the way the game is going to be played in the future. I’m sure of it. That’s a historic thing. The way AAU coaches and kids coming up are going to view the game, I’m confident it’s going to have a big influence. He’s an exciting guy to watch, and he’s a menacing guy to game plan for.”

Atlantic Notes: Lopez, Landry, Zeller

The emergence of rookie Kristaps Porzingis clouds the future of Knicks offseason signee Robin Lopez, surmises Marc Berman of the New York Post, who earlier reported that the team is thinking about taking Lopez out of the starting five. He’s played 20 minutes or fewer in seven of his last nine games, though he’s shown hints of more efficient play and says he’s beginning to get a handle on the triangle offense, as Berman relays.

“I’m starting to see the opportunities,’’ Lopez said. “I’m starting to see when I’m supposed to look for me — on the block. When I’m supposed look for the pick and roll, where the cuts are going to be. I know it will get better. I’m getting a better idea of what I’m supposed to do offensively.’’

See more on the Knicks and the rest of the Atlantic Division:

  • The Cavs are in first place in the Eastern Conference with J.R. Smith and a now-healthy Iman Shumpert, but the Knicks have seen strong play from Lance Thomas, and coach Derek Fisher doesn’t regret New York’s participation in last January’s three-way trade with Cleveland and Oklahoma City. Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News has the details. “Seems like both for J.R. and Shump it’s worked out well. They seem happy,” Fisher said Tuesday. “We like our team as it is at this point.”
  • Sixers offseason trade acquisition Carl Landry, the only player on the team older than 25, made his season debut Wednesday after a wrist injury cost him the first two months of the season, and he’s embracing a leadership role, observes Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News. The team has been in the market for additional veteran influences of late.
  • Tyler Zeller was an extension candidate this past summer, but the Celtics were reportedly interested in a deal only if it would come at a discount to them, and that hesitancy seems wise now that the center is averaging only 8.5 minutes a game. Still, the soon-to-be free agent posted a season-high 14 points Monday, and his lack of complaints about fluctuating minutes reveals a value, coach Brad Stevens contends, as A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNBoston.com notes. The Celtics organization is “even more endeared” to Zeller because of the way he’s handled the situation, Stevens said, according to Blakely.

Eastern Notes: Fournier, Green, Young

Evan Fournier‘s camp sought significantly more than $10MM a year in extension talks this fall, sources told Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. The Bouna Ndiaye client turned down a four-year, $32MM offer from Orlando, as Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reported earlier. The Magic might wish they’d upped the number in their proposal, Lowe opines, believing that the team’s decision to bench former No. 2 overall pick Victor Oladipo is, at its simplest, because Fournier is a better player and better option for the Magic as a starting two guard than Oladipo is. See more from the Eastern Conference:

  • Gerald Green drew criticism for his defense from Suns coach Jeff Hornacek last season, but the Heat signed him in large measure because they saw potential in him for that end of the floor, and the 29-year-old has embraced that part of the game, as Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post details. He wants to parlay his performance on a one-year, minimum-salary deal into a long-term contract with the Heat, Lieser writes. “I’m trying to find a home, and can’t Miami be my home?” he said. “That’s where my intentions are. So what is a Miami Heat requirement? To D-up. I know if I want to be here the rest of my career, [forget] offense. I gotta D up. That’s where my mind is at.”
  • Frequent D-League assignee James Young had perhaps his best NBA game Monday against New Orleans, an auspicious sign for the development of last year’s 17th overall pick, and it wouldn’t have happened if not for Celtics coach Brad Stevens, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. It was Stevens who decided to cut short Young’s latest D-League assignment Friday, believing he might need him for depth purposes with R.J. Hunter out.
  • The Sixers have assigned Carl Landry and Christian Wood to the D-League, as Brian Seltzer of Sixers.com relays via Twitter. It’s a rehab assignment for Landry as he continues to make his way back from a right wrist injury, Seltzer notes, and he’s not expected to play any games for the Delaware 87ers, the Sixers affiliate, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).

Sixers Notes: Hinkie, Embiid, Brown, Landry

Sixers owner Josh Harris admits that it’s difficult to watch his team lose, but he insists that he doesn’t want to sacrifice the franchise’s long-term rebuilding plan, notes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Harris is still supportive of GM Sam Hinkie, pointing to the work he’s done via trade, and he doesn’t question the team’s decision to draft Joel Embiid third overall last year despite the fact that he’s likely to miss a second season in a row because of his ailing right foot, as Tom Moore of Calkins Media observes (All Twitter links).

‘When we drafted Joel, it was a good risk to take. I was really disappointed [about the news of his second foot surgery],” Harris said. “When you talk to the doctors, they’re quite optimistic. You have to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”

See more from Philadelphia:

  • Harris and Hinkie didn’t talk about an extension for coach Brett Brown, whose contract expires at the end of the 2016/17 season, but they made it clear they’re fond of him. “I give Brett an A for the job he’s done. He’s an incredible player development person,” Harris said, according to Moore (Twitter links). “I hope and expect Brett to be around the team for a long, long time.” Hinkie believes Brown has also excelled in ways that aren’t readily apparent, as Pompey relays“I’m proud to see all of you like Brett Brown as much as I like Brett Brown,” Hinkie said to reporters, including Moore, as he pointed to stories about the idea of an extension“It’s been a real pleasure — and I suspect it’ll continue to be a real pleasure — to work with him. He and I have a great relationship. He’s been a fantastic partner.”
  • Carl Landry is still about five or six weeks away from a return following June 2nd surgery to repair a torn ligament in his wrist, but Hinkie indicated that the team intends for him to stick around despite his status as a veteran who’s making a relatively sizable amount of money, as Pompey details. His $6.5MM salary is the highest on the team. “We talked a lot about this situation and how it’s different the way people might perceive it [as nothing more than a salary dump], and the importance of his voice and how that might matter,” Hinkie said. “That doesn’t take away from his game. I think he will be able to play fine.”
  • Nik Stauskas, whom the Sixers acquired along with Landry via trade this summer, regrets approaching his rookie year last season with trepidation, as he tells Pompey for a separate piece. “Coming into last year, I had no clue what to expect,” Stauskas said. “I was a little bit nervous, maybe a little bit scared. Coming into the NBA for me was almost a different ball game. Looking back on it, that was probably one of the biggest mistakes I made. It’s still just basketball. It just happens to be with different players in a different league.”
  • Undrafted rookie Christian Wood has just a $50K guarantee on his deal with the Sixers, but he’s looked impressive so far, Pompey opines. Brown has praise for the power forward, and particularly for the development of his three-point shot.

Sixers Likely To Move Carl Landry

The Sixers are looking to move veteran forward Carl Landry, who apparently doesn’t factor into the franchise’s plans for next season, Jake Fischer of SI Now reports (Twitter link). Philadelphia intends to try and trade Landry, and falling short of that, will look to reach a buyout arrangement with the player or waive him outright, Fischer notes.

Landry, 31, is set to earn $6.5MM for each of the next two campaigns, and was acquired by the Sixers as part of the trade that garnered the franchise shooting guard Nik Stauskas. The other veteran big man obtained in that deal, Jason Thompson, was dealt today to the Warriors in exchange for Gerald Wallace.

The veteran forward appeared in 70 contests for the Kings during the 2014/15 season, averaging 7.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 0.4 assists in 17.0 minutes per game. Landry’s career numbers through eight NBA seasons are 10.9 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 0.7 APG, and he owns a slash line of .534/.176/.788.

Sixers Acquire Stauskas, Landry, Thompson

6:35pm: The Sixers and Kings have issued press releases announcing the trade is official. Philly gets Stauskas, Landry, Thompson, Sacramento’s 2018 first-round pick and the right to swap first-rounders in 2016 and 2017. Sacramento gets the rights to Gudaitis and Mitrovic.

“Jason, Carl and Nik are all tremendous professionals and we’re grateful for their contributions,” Kings president of basketball and franchise operations Vlade Divac said in Sacramento’s statement. “Jason leaves an indelible mark in Sacramento as the team’s alltime leader in games played, but he was also a champion in the community. Carl and Nik were well regarded as teammates and respected stewards of the organization during their time as Kings. We wish them all great success in the future.”

JULY 10TH, 11:48am: Neither team has made an official announcement, though the RealGM transactions log and salary cap expert Larry Coon (Twitter links) indicate the trade has indeed taken place. Sacramento creates trade exceptions equivalent to the salaries of Stauskas, Landry and Thompson, but those are poised to disappear once the team formalizes its free agent signings.

JULY 3RD, 11:35am: Executives around the league are talking about the notion that the Kings might back out of the deal now that they’ve missed on Ellis and Matthews, though none of those execs truly expect Sacramento to pull out, reports Jake Fischer of SI Now (Twitter link).

JULY 2ND, 8:54am: A future second-round pick is also going to Sacramento, Wojnarowski writes in his full story. The Sixers receive Sacramento’s 2018 first-round pick and the right to swap first-rounders with the Kings in 2016 and 2017, a league source tells USA Today’s Derek Bodner (Twitter link). The overseas assets that the Kings receive are the rights to Arturas Gudaitis and Luka Mitrovic, the 47th and 60th picks, respectively, in last week’s draft, ESPN’s Pablo Torre tweets. Gudaitis just signed a two-year deal with an option for a third year with Lietuvos Rytas of Lithuania, the team announced (translation via Orazio Cauchi of Sportando). The Sixers are interested in keeping Landry, Thompson and Stauskas rather than waiving any of them, a source said to Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News (on Twitter).

10:56pm: The Sixers will receive a protected first round pick from the Kings, and swap rights with Sacramento in the first round of two other drafts, Zach Lowe of Grantland tweets.

JULY 1ST, 10:17pm: The Sixers and Kings have agreed to a deal that would send Jason Thompson, Carl Landry, and Nik Stauskas to Philadelphia, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter links). Philadelphia is expected to send Sacramento the rights to overseas players in return, notes Wojnarowski (on Twitter), though it is unclear which players will be involved.

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

The deal is a salary dump for Sacramento, tweets Wojnarowski, with the Kings clearing room for pursuing free agents. Thompson is set to earn $6,431,250 in 2015/16, Landry $6.5MM, and Stauskas $2,869,440. Sacramento is clearing the decks for a pursuit of point guard Rajon Rondo, swingman Wesley Matthews, and possibly Monta Ellis, the Yahoo! scribe adds (via Twitter).

Stauskas, 21, is the prize here for the Sixers, who were willing to absorb the contracts of Thompson and Landry to acquire him, Wojnarowski tweets. The young shooting guard failed to impress in Sacramento after being selected with the No. 8 overall pick back in the 2014 NBA Draft. In 73 appearances during his rookie campaign, Stauskas averaged 4.4 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.9 assists, with a slash line of .365/.322/.859. He should have every opportunity to develop on a young Sixers team badly in need of shooters.

Thompson still has two years remaining on his deal, though his salary of $6,825,000 for the 2016/17 campaign is partially guaranteed for just $2.65MM. In 81 contests last season, the 28-year-old averaged 6.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 24.6 minutes per game. Landry, 31, also has two years remaining on his contract, though both seasons are fully guaranteed. He logged 70 appearances last season for the Kings, posting 7.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 0.4 APG in 15.0 minutes per night.