2014 September | Hoops Rumors

Thunder Sign Michael Jenkins For Camp

September 26th, 2014 at 2:04pm CST by Chuck Myron

MONDAY, 6:39pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

FRIDAY, 2:04pm: The Thunder and free agent shooting guard Michael Jenkins have struck agreement on a deal for training camp, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (on Twitter). Agent Daniel Moldovan tweeted this summer that Jenkins had a camp deal with the Nets after he’d been part of Brooklyn’s summer league squad, but his name wasn’t on the roster that Brooklyn released yesterday. Oklahoma City has the capacity to give more than the minimum salary, but it’s unlikely that Thunder did so, though perhaps there’s a small partial guarantee involved.

The 28-year-old Jenkins has spent much of his pro career overseas after going undrafted out of Winthrop in 2008, having played in Italy the past two seasons. Jenkins averaged 10.3 points and shot 39.9% from three-point range in 25.9 minutes per game for Pallacanestro Cantu last year, but his numbers were even better for Centrale del Latte Brescia the year before, when he put up 17.0 PPG in 31.4 MPG with 41.1% accuracy from behind the arc.

The Thunder have been carrying 14 fully guaranteed deals plus a non-guaranteed pact with Lance Thomas. That ostensibly gives Jenkins a decent shot to make the opening-night roster for Oklahoma City, though the Thunder have only carried 14 players to start the season the last two years.

Key Dates For 2014/15 NBA Season

September 26th, 2014 at 12:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

Today is the last day before training camps begin for a few NBA teams, and the entire league will be in camp by Tuesday. The 2014/15 season is indeed upon us, and several dates will be important as teams continue to craft their rosters. Here’s a look at the key days on the calendar for NBA player movement between now and the end of the 2014/15 regular season:

September 27th: Training camps open for the Spurs, Cavs, Heat, Nets and Kings
September 30th: Training camps open for all other teams
October 27th: Deadline for teams to set opening-night rosters (4pm CT); last day for teams to execute sign-and-trades.
October 28th: Regular season begins
October 31st: Last day teams may sign players to rookie scale extensions; last day teams may exercise team options on rookie scale contracts
December 15th: First day that most players signed during the offseason may be traded
January 5th: First day that teams may sign players to 10-day contracts
January 7th: Teams must waive any remaining non-guaranteed contracts or guarantee them for the rest of the season (4pm CT)
January 15th: Last day teams can apply for disabled player exceptions
February 1st: Former first-round draft picks can begin signing rookie scale contracts that take effect in 2015/16.
February 19th: Trade deadline (2pm CT)
March 1st: Last day players can be waived and remain eligible to play in the postseason with another NBA team
March 10th: Deadline for teams to use disabled player exceptions
April 15th: Regular season ends; last day teams can sign players for 2014/15 regular season or playoffs; luxury tax calculations are based on rosters as of the end of the day

NBA.com and Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ were used in the creation of this post.

Rockets Sign Akil Mitchell For Camp

September 26th, 2014 at 11:07am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 11:07am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

WEDNESDAY, 2:02pm: The Rockets are set to sign former Virginia power forward Akil Mitchell, reports Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (Twitter link). The team has its biannual exception available to give him more than the minimum, but it seems most likely that it’s a minimum-salary deal for training camp that includes a nominal guarantee, at best.

The 6’8″ Mitchell spent time with Houston’s summer league team in July after going undrafted in June. He averaged 3.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per game for the Rockets in the Orlando summer league, numbers that reflect what he did in college, where he put up 6.8 PPG and 7.0 RPG in 25.7 MPG as a senior. He had an expanded offensive role in his junior season, when he scored 13.1 PPG.

Mitchell, 22, is probably the final addition to the camp roster for Houston, which had been carrying deals with 19 players. It’ll be a tough road for him and the other camp invitees to make it to opening night, since 15 Rockets have fully guaranteed deals and Patrick Beverley, the projected starter at point guard, is on a non-guaranteed contract.

Eastern Notes: Garnett, Vogel, Heat, Walker

September 26th, 2014 at 10:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Kevin Garnett finally dismissed all doubt that he would return for the coming season, telling reporters that while he considered retirement, he’s once more decided to put it off, notes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). A report in June indicated that Garnett would be back with the Nets, but Garnett hadn’t spoken publicly about his plans. Retirement could be a ways off, as the 38-year-old said he won’t rule out playing beyond this season, the final year of his contract, as Bondy also relays (via Twitter). Still, Garnett’s comments gave Tim Bontemps of the New York Post the sense that he’s planning to hang it up next summer (Twitter link). There’s more from the player once known as The Kid as we detail the latest from the Eastern Conference:

Garnett was in touch with Paul Pierce as the Wizards signee went through free agency and called his departure for Washington “bittersweet,” as Bontemps chronicles (Twitter links). KG said he was in the dark during former coach Jason Kidd‘s exit from the Nets, however, as Andy Vasquez of The Record tweets.
Frank Vogel is entering the final year of his contract to coach the Pacers, but he tells Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports that he’d like to remain in the job “forever.” President of basketball operations Larry Bird has suggested that the team is open to negotiating an extension with Vogel before this season begins, as Agness points out.
The Heat never made offers to veterans Andray Blatche, Ramon Sessions, Jordan Crawford, Wayne Ellington and others, team president Pat Riley and GM Andy Elisburg say, according to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. Winderman surmises that the frustration that many veterans stuck at the end of the Heat’s bench expressed last year made the team wary of adding too many players with expectations of playing time.
The Hornets are just beginning extension talks with Kemba Walker, but GM Rich Cho indicated to reporters Thursday that he’s pleased with the point guard’s growing maturity, as Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders points out.

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Grunwald, Sixers

September 26th, 2014 at 9:25am CST by Chuck Myron

The Keith Bogans trade enables the Celtics to create a trade exception equivalent to the value of Bogans’ $5,285,816 salary, but just how they structure the deal to come up with that exception isn’t clear. They could absorb the $1.6MM salary of John Lucas III into their $2.09MM Courtney Lee trade exception, essentially exhausting it while preserving the full amount of their $4.25MM trade exception from the Kris Humphries deal, a path that Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders suggests (Twitter link). Alternatively, they could fold Lucas into the Humphries exception, reducing its value to $2.65MM while leaving the $2.09MM Lee exception intact. In any case, the minimum salaries of Erik Murphy, Dwight Powell and Malcolm Thomas don’t figure into the equation, since Boston can absorb them into the minimum salary exception. There’s more on the aftermath of the trade amid the latest from the Atlantic Division:

Thomas and Lucas, on non-guaranteed contracts, are long shots to remain with the Celtics come Tuesday, when training camp begins, though Murphy, who has a partial guarantee of $100K, will be “evaluated,” tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. Goodman indicates that Powell is likely to stick, at least for camp, with his fully guaranteed deal.
Former Knicks GM Glen Grunwald admits that he was caught off guard when the team decided to fire him a year ago and disputes owner James Dolan’s assertion that he wasn’t well-versed in analytics, as Grunwald tells Marc Berman of the New York Post.
It’s a stark reality for the stripped-down Sixers, and coach Brett Brown emphasized that he won’t measure success in terms of wins and losses this year, as he spoke to reporters, including Tom Moore of Calkins Media. Asked whether he’s on board with the drastic rebuilding process, Brown quipped, “I have to be, don’t I?”

Cavs Sign A.J. Price To Camp Deal

September 26th, 2014 at 8:35am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 8:35am: The deal is official, the team acknowledged, including Price on its training camp roster.

MONDAY, 9:52am: The Cavs have agreed to a training camp deal with A.J. Price, as Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer writes at the bottom of his weekend column. It’s not clear if there’s any guaranteed money involved or if the contract will cover more than one season, but it’s almost certainly for the minimum salary, since that’s all the Cavs can give.

Price made the Wolves out of camp last season on a non-guaranteed deal, though the team waived him in April, long after his minimum salary had become guaranteed for the season and about a month after he underwent an appendectomy. The point guard didn’t play following the surgery, and he saw just 99 minutes all season across 28 appearances for Minnesota. Price, who turns 28 next month, was a part of the rotation in his previous stops with the Pacers and Wizards after Indiana made him the 52nd overall pick in 2009.

The Excel Sports Management client likely rounds out the Cavs preseason roster, since the team had been carrying deals with 19 other players. Price is likely competing for one of two spots up in the air for the opening night roster, since Cleveland has 12 fully guaranteed pacts, while Anderson Varejao is one of the Cavs on a partially guaranteed contract.

Cavs Sign Lou Amundson For Camp

September 26th, 2014 at 8:33am CST by Zachary Links

SEPTEMBER 26TH: The deal is official, the team acknowledged, including Amundson on its training camp roster.

SEPTEMBER 19TH: Big man Louis Amundson will be in training camp with the Cavs, agent Mark Bartelstein has confirmed to HoopsHype (via Twitter). The Mark Bartelstein client worked out for Cleveland earlier this week.

Amundson, 31, was released from his non-guaranteed deal with the Bulls in July. The veteran has bounced around quite a bit, having played for five teams in the last four seasons after a successful run in Phoenix’s rotation. He’s been exclusively on minimum-salary contracts the past two seasons and if he sticks with LeBron James & Co. it’ll be for that same figure.

The Cavs have been looking for rim protection of late, and Amundson, who has posted 2.0 blocks per 36 minutes over the course of his career, fits the bill. Cleveland already has deals with 18 players, but only 12 of them have fully guaranteed pacts. Anderson Varejao, who’s set to play a prominent role in the team’s frontcourt rotation as usual, is one of four Cavs with partially guaranteed deals.

Kings Sign David Wear For Camp

September 25th, 2014 at 11:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 25TH: The deal is official, the team confirmed on its training camp roster.

SEPTEMBER 4TH, 10:33pm: Wear has signed his contract with the Kings, according to the RealGM transaction log. There’s still yet to be an official announcement from the team.

1:54pm: It’ll be a non-guaranteed contract that covers one season, as Jones writes in his full story.

1:17pm: The Kings are set to sign undrafted former UCLA small forward David Wear to a deal for training camp, reports Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). Presumably it’ll be a minimum-salary contract, with perhaps a small partial guarantee.

The 6’9″ 23-year-old performed a few predraft workouts for NBA teams, but there wasn’t much buzz surrounding Wear in advance of draft night. He spent summer league with the Bulls, averaging 4.8 points and 2.0 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game across five appearances. He didn’t put up eye-popping numbers at UCLA, either, going for 6.5 PPG and 3.8 RPG in 22.9 MPG. His playing time decreased each successive year after he saw 28.4 MPG as a sophomore. Wear transferred to UCLA after spending his freshman year at North Carolina.

Wear joins 16 others who have agreements with the Kings, though only 12 of those deals are fully guaranteed, as our roster counts show. That includes Jason Terry, whom the team has agreed to trade to the Rockets for one or more non-guaranteed contracts. The Kings are also reportedly expected to waive Jeremy Tyler, whom Sacramento acquired via trade last month.

Kings Sign Trey Johnson For Camp

September 25th, 2014 at 11:59pm CST by Cray Allred

SEPTEMBER 25TH: The deal is official, the team confirmed on its training camp roster.

SEPTEMBER 11TH: It’s indeed a non-guaranteed deal for the minimum salary, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). It covers just one season, as Pincus shows on the Kings salary page at Basketball Insiders.

SEPTEMBER 9TH: The team has yet to make an official announcement, but the signing has taken place, according to the RealGM transactions log.

SEPTEMBER 5TH: The Kings have reached an agreement on a one-year deal for Trey Johnson, tweets Chris Haynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The contract details have yet to be reported, but it’s likely a non-guaranteed deal that only gives Johnson a roster spot for training camp. Johnson hasn’t been in the league since the 2011/12 season, and has only played in 23 total games across three NBA seasons. No other teams had reportedly shown any interest in Johnson this summer.

Once Sacramento executes an agreed-upon trade to send Jason Terry to the Rockets, the Kings will only have 11 guaranteed contracts for the 2014/15 season, giving Johnson a decent opportunity to make the team. The team must carry a minimum of 13 players for the regular season, so the guard will be competing for one of at least two open spots, unless the team adds another piece on a guaranteed deal before then.

The 6’5″ shooting guard has averaged 2.6 PPG on .333 shooting in his limited time in the league, and wasn’t featured heavily as a starter in his most recent overseas stints with Eurobasket clubs out of Israel and Venezuela. He has also spent parts of four seasons in the D-League, turning in his best season as a professional in a 2010/11 campaign in which he averaged 25.5 PPG

And-Ones: Pistons, LeBron, Contract Details

September 25th, 2014 at 10:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pistons have a new direction as a franchise now that Stan Van Gundy has taken over as team president and head coach. In their season preview the crew at Basketball Insiders don’t see the team becoming contenders just yet, and their predictions have Detroit finishing either third or fourth in the Central Division.

Here’s more from around the league:

Nuggets signees Joe Alexander and Marcus Williams, new Lakers Keith Appling, Jabari Brown, Roscoe Smith and Jeremy Tyler, Heat additions Andre Dawkins and Shawn Jones, Wizards wing men Xavier Silas and Damion James, and Hasheem Thabeet of the Pistons are all on non-guaranteed one-year contracts for the minimum salary, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders details (All four Twitter links here).
LeBron James might be gone from Miami, but he takes with him a number of lessons the Heat organization taught him about professionalism, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com writes. James is a much different person than when he was with the Cavs the first time, notes Windhorst, and the additions of Shawn Marion, Mike Miller, and James Jones are indications that Cleveland wants to bump up the work ethic and preparation habits of their younger players.
When asked about departed free agent Trevor Ariza, who left the Wizards to sign with the Rockets this summer, Marcin Gortat believed Ariza’s decision wasn’t about finances, tweets Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. Gortat said, “In my opinion I think he was trying to get back to the West. I don’t think it was about the money.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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