Vernon Macklin Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pelicans Waive Vernon Macklin

October 10th, 2014 at 8:03am CST by Eddie Scarito

FRIDAY, 8:03am: The move is official, the team announced.

THURSDAY, 7:10pm: The Pelicans have indeed placed Macklin on waivers, according to the RealGM transactions log, though the team has yet to make an official announcement.

5:01pm: The Pelicans are waiving Vernon Macklin, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). Macklin was in training camp on a minimum salary, non-guaranteed deal. This move will leave New Orleans with 18 players on their preseason roster, with 12 players’ contracts being fully guaranteed, and three others possessing partial guarantees.

Macklin faced tough competition trying to secure a regular season roster spot in a crowded Pelicans frontcourt. He was competing for backup minutes with Patric Young, Luke Babbitt, and Darius Miller. Young has a much higher upside than Macklin, and has been showing flashes of talent during training camp, which could have led to the Pelicans deeming Macklin expendable.

The 27-year-old big man out of Florida played in the summer league with the Magic this year, averaging 5.4 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 15.6 minutes per contest. He saw just 5.9 minutes per game in 30 contests during the 2011/12 season with the Pistons, who selected him 52nd overall in 2011.

And-Ones: Butler, Caven, Jefferson, Macklin

October 9th, 2014 at 9:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Jimmy Butler is focusing on basketball rather than becoming a restricted free agent next summer, writes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. Friedell adds that Butler may seek more than the $9.7MM annual salary that former Bulls teammate Luol Deng received this offseason from the Heat. When the topic of the new TV deal was broached, Butler deflected the question, saying, “I don’t know nothing about a TV deal. I just know that it’s my contract year, and I got to play well and I want to help us win. That’s all that I know.” Butler will be one of the first players to sign a deal in the new cap era, Friedell notes.

Here’s more from around the league:

The contracts of D.J. Mbenga (Knicks), Jason Kapono (Warriors), and Yuki Togashi (Mavs) are all non-guaranteed, minimum salary camp deals, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). Kapono’s deal is for one season, Pincus notes on Golden State’s salary page.
One of Europe’s top prospects, Joonas Caven, a 6’11” big man from Finland, will enter the NBA D-League Draft this year, according to his agent K.C. Callero, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress reports (Twitter link). Caven is targeting the 2015 NBA Draft and the D-League will act as a showcase for his talents, notes Carchia.
The Pelicans waived Vernon Macklin so that he could pursue an opportunity to play in Europe, John Reid of The Times-Picayune reports (Twitter link).
One of the newest members of the Mavs, Richard Jefferson, accepted a veteran’s minimum deal this offseason, but that doesn’t mean he is willing to settle for a minimal role, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. MacMahon adds that Jefferson understands that he won’t be a starter but he is determined to find his niche on the team. “I like to believe myself to be an everyday contributor,” said Jefferson. “Whether it works out that way remains to be seen, but my job is just to stay ready.“

Chris Crouse contributed to this post.

Pelicans Sign Vernon Macklin For Camp

September 26th, 2014 at 5:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 26TH, 5:12pm: The signing is official, New Orleans announced courtesy of a press release.

SEPTEMBER 12TH, 10:13am: Macklin signed his deal this week, just as new teammates Dionte Christmas and Kevin Jones did, according to the RealGM transactions log, though the Pelicans haven’t made any formal announcement.

SEPTEMBER 8TH, 8:06am: Power forward Vernon Macklin will join the Pelicans for camp on a non-guaranteed contract, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Macklin has played in the D-League, the Philippines, Turkey and China after a 23-game stint with the Pistons in 2011/12.

The 27-year-old spent summer league with the Magic this year, averaging 5.4 points and 3.6 rebounds in 15.6 minutes per contest. He saw just 5.9 minutes per game during his regular season time with Detroit, which drafted him 52nd overall in 2011. It appeared as though he drew interest from multiple NBA teams after the Pistons allowed him to hit unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2012, but there’s otherwise been little chatter about him formally rejoining the NBA until now.

New Orleans offers Macklin a decent shot to make the opening-night roster, since the Pelicans only have 12 fully guaranteed contracts. The 6’10” big man would nonetheless have to beat out Luke Babbitt, Darius Miller, Patric Young or some combination of the three, all of whom have partial guarantees.

Contract Details: Barbosa, Turkoglu, Roberts Jr.

September 15th, 2014 at 9:50pm CST by Cray Allred

Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders is always diligent in keeping us informed of the nitty gritty details for all of the contracts around the league, and after his latest round of updates, he figures there are 493 contracts in place, 400 of which are guaranteed, and at least 43 of which will have to be cut before the regular season begins (Twitter links). We’ll link to his team salary sheets, noting specific player revelations where they apply:

Leandro Barbosa‘s one-year pact for the minimum with the Warriors is partially guaranteed at $150K.
Hedo Turkoglu‘s one-year minimum deal with the Clippers is fully guaranteed.
Ronald Roberts Jr.‘s deal with the Sixers is for four years at the minimum salary, including a team option for the final year. This season is partially guaranteed at $35K.
Chris Crawford‘s two-year contract with the Cavs is indeed for the minimum, with a partial guarantee of $20K this year, and a fully non-guaranteed 2015/16.
Jerome Jordan‘s camp deal with the Nets is for the minimum, as expected. The one-year agreement will become partially guaranteed at $150K if he remains with Brooklyn through October 25.
Dionte Christmas, Vernon Macklin, and Kevin Jones have identical one-year deals with the Pelicans, each of which are non-guaranteed.

Southwest Notes: Lewis, Rockets, Terry

September 8th, 2014 at 9:00pm CST by Zachary Links

Here’s tonight’s look at the Southwest Division..

Charlie Villanueva signing with the Mavericks can’t be a good sign for Rashard Lewis and his chances of getting something done with Dallas, tweets Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. The team recently 86’d their one-year, $1.4MM offer after learning that Lewis needed an operation on his right knee.
The Rockets certainly wanted his expiring contract, but they also had their eye on adding a veteran guard when they traded for Jason Terry, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. With that in mind, Feigen wonders if the Rockets might want to add an experienced player at the center position. Trouble is, Houston has 19 players under contract and 16 with guaranteed deals. For now, it looks like Houston will hope to see some development out of Joey Dorsey, Donatas Motejunas, and Josh Powell.
Free agent forward Vernon Macklin, who signed a non-guaranteed training camp deal with the Pelicans, rejected overseas deals to hook on with New Orleans, according to Shams Charania of RealGM. Kevin Jones, who also has a non-guaranteed deal with the Pelicans, had significant interest from the Pacers before Paul George‘s season-ending injury.

Renounced Players: Wednesday

July 10th, 2013 at 9:58pm CST by Luke Adams

As teams clear cap space to finalize signings and trades, it may mean renouncing Early Bird or Bird rights to their own free agents, in order to remove cap holds from the books. Once a player is renounced, his previous team has no more claim to him that any other team — he could still be re-signed, but it would have to be done using cap space or an exception. Some of those decisions are more notable than others, but for completion's sake, we'll track the latest of these cap-clearing moves right here:

Mo Williams is the most prominent name among the several whose rights the Jazz renounced today, according to the RealGM transaction log. Al Jefferson, DeMarre Carroll and Earl Watson, who already have deals to join other teams, are also on the list, as are the long-retired Brevin Knight and Greg Ostertag.
Bobcats are set to re-sign Josh McRoberts, but they won't be using their Early Bird rights to do so, as they've renounced his rights, RealGM shows. The team also renounced their rights to Reggie Williams, who's heading to the Rockets, and it cut ties with DeSagana Diop, Byron Mullens and Jannero Pargo, too.
Golden State will sign Jermaine O'Neal, so the Suns have renounced his rights, as well as their rights to Wesley Johnson and Diante Garrett, as RealGM notes.

Earlier updates:

The Hawks have cleared out unwanted cap holds from their books, renouncing their rights to Hilton Armstrong, Erick Dampier, Devin Harris, Dahntay Jones, Randolph Morris, Zaza Pachulia, Johan Petro, Josh Smith, and Etan Thomas, according to RealGM.com's transactions log.
RealGM.com also has the Trail Blazers renouncing multiple players, including Luke Babbitt, J.J. Hickson, Eric Maynor, and Nolan Smith.
Most interestingly, according to RealGM.com, the Bucks have renounced their rights to Monta Ellis. That doesn't necessarily preclude a sign-and-trade, but it would mean the team would have to use cap space rather than Ellis' Bird rights to accommodate a deal.
The Pelicans have renounced their rights to Louis Amundson, Xavier Henry, and Roger Mason Jr., the team announced today in a press release.
In order to clear cap room for their signings, the Pistons renounced Will Bynum, Jose Calderon, Vernon Macklin, Corey Maggette, Jason Maxiell, and Ben Wallace, according to RealGM's transactions log. The Pistons plan to re-sign Bynum, but removing his $6MM+ cap hold and signing him to a smaller figure using cap space makes the most sense.
After renouncing their rights to Chauncey Billups and Lamar Odom, the Clippers have also renounced Bobby Simmons, according to RealGM.com's transactions log.

Vernon Macklin Signing With Turkish Team

August 19th, 2012 at 10:11am CST by Daniel Seco

Former Pistons power forward Vernon Macklin will take his talents abroad next season as he is expected to sign with Gaziantep of Turkey, according to his agent Greg Nunn who spoke with HoopsHype. Macklin, 26 in September, averaged 2.0 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 23 contests with Detroit during the 2011-12 season.

"Vernon decided to turn down three NBA camp invites," Nunn said. "He feels he needs to play to showcase his talents and return to the NBA next year."

Macklin became an unrestricted free agent earlier this offseason when the Pistons did not extend the former Florida big man a qualifying offer. Since then, Macklin has drawn attention from a variety of NBA teams including the Nets, Suns, Wizards, Bucks and Lakers. The second-year forward thrived during a stint with Fort Wayne as he averaged a double-double in the D-League over the course of 10 games.

Odds & Ends: Atkinson, Spurs, Macklin, Amundson

August 6th, 2012 at 9:52pm CST by Chuck Myron

Knicks assistant coach Kenny Atkinson will be leaving New York and taking the same position with the Hawks, according to ESPNNewYork.com's Ian Begley. Atkinson was a crucial cog in the development of Jeremy Lin. Here's more of what we're hearing from around the Association:

With a report being released tonight that Spurs assistant general manager Dennis Lindsey might be heading to the Jazz to become their new general manager, Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News writes that other teams are gutting San Antonio's front office.
Vernon Macklin's agent has informed Hoopshype.com that his client is currently drawing interest from the Nets, Suns, Bucks, Wizards, and Lakers. Macklin spent last season in Detroit, and is also drawing interest overseas, in Turkey and Greece.
Free agent power forward Louis Amundson is in discussions with a number of teams, but has yet to make up his mind, Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com reports, adding that he's likely to sign for a team's mini mid-level exception (Twitter link). It's not clear whether Zwerling means the taxpayer's mini mid-level of $3.09MM or the room exception, a mini-midlevel of $2.575MM available to teams under the cap. However, the list of remaining mid-level exceptions that Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors put together Friday provides a hint. Only the Lakers have all of the taxpayer's mini mid-level available, and they're looking for backcourt help, meaning that if Amundson goes for a mini mid-level, it's likely to be the room exception currently held in full by nine teams.
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel ponders the merits of Dexter Pittman, 45th overall pick Justin Hamilton and free agent Mickell Gladness as reserve center options for the Heat. As Winderman points out, Pittman will almost assuredly be on the team, since his minimum-salary contract is guaranteed.
The Jazz starting lineup isn't set in stone, and Jody Genessy of the Deseret News handicaps the team's positional battles.
Sam Smith of Bulls.com catches up with recent Bulls signee Nazr Mohammed, a Chicago native who says he always dreamed for playing for his hometown team.

Vernon Macklin Becomes Unrestricted Free Agent

June 29th, 2012 at 8:27am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons did not extend a qualifying offer to Vernon Macklin, tweets Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. As such, the power forward will become an unrestricted free agent, and Detroit won't have the opportunity to match any offers. Ellis adds, via Twitter, that the Pistons are "really high" on Macklin, and could re-sign him, but may not have the roster space.

Macklin, Detroit's second-round pick a year ago, played in 23 contests for the team, averaging 2.0 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 5.9 MPG. To make him a restricted free agent, the Pistons would have had to tender him a one-year qualifying offer worth about $962K.

Central Notes: Macklin, Pacers, Jamison

April 9th, 2012 at 2:23pm CST by Michael Pina

Pistons rookie Vernon Macklin, a second-round pick in last year's draft, earned rave reviews for his D-League stint, Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News writes. He averaged 14.3 PPG and 14.5 RPG in 10 games for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Macklin is a restricted free agent, but looks forward to working with Pistons strength and conditioning coach Arnie Kander this summer, notes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.

HoopsWorld.com's Joel Brigham writes about how the Pacers firm stance to be patient in their rebuilding process has paid off. Instead of dealing franchise player Danny Granger when the public assumed they'd do just that, the team has decided to wait out the development of their last few draft picks. Their restraint appears to be working.
Cavaliers forward Antawn Jamison may not be in the team's future plans, but his recent strong play and consistent professionalim deserves some recognition, writes The Plain Dealer's Tom Reed.