SUNDAY, 10:02am: The signing is official, the team announced via a press release.
FRIDAY, 7:55pm: The signing has been completed, as is shown in the RealGM transactions log.
THURSDAY, 2:13pm: The Hornets will sign big man Jason Maxiell to a non-guaranteed contract, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter links). Charlotte has the capacity to give more than the minimum salary, though that seems unlikely if the nine-year vet isn’t receiving any guaranteed money.
The 31-year-old Andy Miller client has been a free agent since shortly after the Magic waived him in July rather than assure him of the $2.5MM non-guaranteed salary that was in his deal for the coming season. Maxiell saw significantly less playing time in Orlando than he had during most of his eight seasons with Detroit, and he didn’t seem to garner much attention on the market this summer, aside from a preliminary inquiry from the Heat.
I figured there was a decent chance that Maxiell would wind up looking overseas in search of guaranteed salary when I examined his free agent stock, but it looks like he’ll try to make the Hornets instead. Charlotte only has guaranteed money on the books for 14 players, so Maxiell appears to have a fairly clear path to opening night if he can beat out fellow camp invitees Justin Cobbs, Dallas Lauderdale and Brian Qvale.