2014 September | Hoops Rumors

Josh Harrellson To Play In China

September 23rd, 2014 at 8:56am CST by Chuck Myron

Three-year NBA veteran Josh Harrellson has signed with China’s Chongqing Flying Dragons, according to Harrellson’s representatives at the Altius Culture agency (on Twitter). The terms are unclear, but most such deals are one-year arrangements that allow the player to return stateside in time to latch on with an NBA club for the stretch run of the regular season.

The 25-year-old didn’t seem to garner much interest in NBA circles this summer after the Pistons waived him in mid-July rather than guarantee his minimum salary for the season. The 6’10” Harrellson played sparingly for the Pistons this past season, averaging 2.9 points in 9.9 minutes per game, and while he set a career high with 38.7% accuracy from behind the three-point arc, he only attempted 31 treys all year.

The Flying Dragons are about to embark on their first season in the Chinese Basketball Association, the country’s top-flight league. Harrellson joins Andray Blatche, Jordan Crawford, Toney Douglas, Al Harrington and Byron Mullens among players migrating from the NBA to China this offseason.

Pistons Sign Lorenzo Brown For Camp

September 23rd, 2014 at 8:32am CST by Zachary Links

THURSDAY, 12:11pm: The deal is official, the team announced.

TUESDAY, 8:32am: Not surprisingly, the deal is for the minimum salary, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders confirms (Twitter link).

MONDAY, 8:55pm: The signing has taken place, according to the RealGM transactions log, although the team has yet to make an official announcement.

THURSDAY, 2:59pm: Hoops Rumors has learned that the deal does not include any guaranteed money.

2:52pm: Free agent guard Lorenzo Brown has reached agreement on a deal with the Pistons, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM (on Twitter). Charania adds that it’s a one-year deal for the 2013 second round pick (link). Brown became a free agent recently after Italy’s Reyer Venezia voided the contract he signed with the club in July because he failed his physical.

Brown appeared in 26 games for the Sixers last season before they cut him back in March to make room for Darius Johnson-Odom. He averaged 2.5 PPG, 1.1 RPG, and 1.6 APG. His slash line was .302/.100/.692.

Gustavo Ayon Signs With Real Madrid

September 23rd, 2014 at 8:19am CST by Zachary Links

SEPTEMBER 23RD: The deal is official, the Spanish ACB league announced (on Twitter; translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The tweet indicates that it’s a two-year contract, rather than a three-year arrangement as originally reported.

SEPTEMBER 19TH: Former Hawks big man Gustavo Ayon has agreed to sign with Real Madrid, according to Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi (on Twitter). Ayon’s contract will be for three years, which is the deal the two sides initially agreed to before his FC Barcelona buyout got in the way. The agreement was first reported by Spanish language outlet Solobasket.

Ayon actually agreed to a deal with Real Madrid earlier this month but FC Barcelona blocked the pact since they held his European rights. The club insisted on a $376K buyout, but the club said yesterday that Ayon was free to sign wherever he wanted to. It’s still not clear if Ayon wrote the check for the buyout, as he said he was willing to do, or if the club simply reliquished its hold on him.

The Spurs and Shandong of China both made formal offers to Ayon but the Real Madrid deal is presumably more lucrative. Shandong has since moved on as they agreed to sign Miroslav Raduljica earlier today.

Ayon is coming off a three-year, $4.5MM contract he signed with New Orleans shortly after the lockout. He wound up heading to the Magic and Bucks before spending last season with the Hawks, who made him an unrestricted free agent this summer when they declined to tender a qualifying offer.

Central Rumors: Turiaf, Blatt, Bucks, Augustin

September 22nd, 2014 at 10:52pm CST by Charlie Adams

The Cavs are still looking to add a big man to their roster, as we passed along earlier tonight. Ronny Turiaf might be an appealing trade target for Cleveland, observes Jerry Zgoda of the Star-Tribune (on Twitter). The center is a favorite of new Cavs power forward Kevin Love, according to Zgoda. We’ll round up more on Cleveland and the Central below:

David Blatt‘s first season coaching the Cavs will be less stressful with talent like Love and LeBron James on the roster, as Blatt tells Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. “Things get a lot easier when LeBron James and Kevin Love come walking into your door,” Blatt said. “It makes my job easier, maybe my responsibility greater but the job easier in terms of having to teach (James) what to do and not to do.”
There’s optimism within Milwaukee that the city has the political pieces in place to satisfy the Bucks‘ quest for a new arena, as David Aldridge of NBA.com passes along in his Morning Tip column. Acquiring a top flight talent like Eric Bledsoe would only aid the Bucks in their mission, opines Aldridge,
NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum was in Milwaukee last week to meet with the Mayor and the Bucks’ new owners, according to Aldridge, who adds that the group spent time identifying potential locations in the city for a new arena.
Pistons president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy was pleasantly surprised that his club was able to afford D.J. Augustin this summer, reports Keith Langlois of NBA.com. Detroit inked the guard to a two-year, $6MM contract in July.

Nets Notes: Pierce, King, Kidd

September 22nd, 2014 at 10:06pm CST by Charlie Adams

The Nets are looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Miami in the Conference Semifinals, but they’ll have to move forward into the new season without Paul Pierce, who spurned Brookyln to sign a deal with the Wizards earlier this summer. The Nets and Pierce couldn’t reach an agreement on a new contract, and we’ve detailed the reasons why below, amid tonight’s look at the latest out of Brooklyn..

Nets GM Billy King said money was a factor in the team’s decision not to re-sign Pierce and acknowledged that the team is trying to reign in its spending as he spoke to reporters, including Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “We did [want to bring Pierce back]. That was the plan of attack and I think as we started negotiating, the numbers that they asked for were, you know,” King said. “And I thought at one point that he was definitely leaving. And then you started switching gears because you start hearing that he’s going to end up at a different place. So then you start preparing. And then when he came back to us [to try to negotiate again], we already moved on.”
Furthermore, Jason Kidd‘s departure from the Nets had no bearing on Pierce’s decision to skip town, according to Robert Windrem of NetsDaily, who hears that the 36-year-old initially sought a two-year deal worth $10MM from Brooklyn (Twitter link). The Nets weren’t about to shell out that much, and they were also concerned about his deteriorated defensive abilities, Windrem says.
The Nets expect to finish as a top four team in the East, tweets Rod Boone of Newsday, noting that Brooklyn had the same goal last season. An improved Eastern Conference will challenge the Nets’ chances, but Brooklyn will have an opportunity to improve on last year’s sixth-place finish if its players can stay healthy.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Southwest Rumors: Leonard, Mohammed, Asik

September 22nd, 2014 at 9:32pm CST by Charlie Adams

Kawhi Leonard isn’t making any promises about signing an extension with the Spurs before the October 31st deadline for him to do so, but he tells Jabari Young of the San Antonio News-Express that he’s pleased with the other moves the team made this summer. He expressed particular satisfaction with new deals for Boris Diaw and Patty Mills, as well as Tony Parker‘s extension. “I’m happy about that just in case the Spurs do extend me and if I am a Spur for life,” Leonard said. “That’s a great thing to know that Tony will be there.” Let’s have a look at the latest from the Southwest:

Nazr Mohammed had expressed interest in returning to the Spurs for the 2014/15 season, but San Antonio clearly didn’t reciprocate the feeling, Young tweets. Mohammed, who won a championship with the Spurs in 2005, re-signed with the Bulls on minimum-salary contract this afternoon.
While taking on Omer Asik‘s bloated contract is definitely a risk for the Pelicans, Jimmy Smith of the Times-Picayune thinks New Orleans potentially stands to reap some major benefits from the decision. Specifically, Smith thinks Asik’s presence will help alleviate the pressure placed on Anthony Davis, who otherwise received the brunt of opposing teams’ attention last year in a less-than-stellar frontcourt.
Some of the advice that helped Kostas Papanikolaou decide to sign with Houston came from former Rockets shooting guard and fellow Greek native Vassilis Spanoulis, an unlikely source given the frustration Spanoulis felt upon his exit from the team. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle has the details.
The Mavericks had a busy offseason, and it’s one that Jae Crowder believes will push Dallas to the next level of competition, as Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram transcribes. “I feel like we picked up some championship-level pieces,” Crowder said. “I’m not just blowing gas… “One thing Cuban was talking about was just having a good mix of older guys and younger guys, and I feel like that’s exactly what they did this summer with bringing in a good group of guys.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Ramon Sessions Signs With Kings

September 22nd, 2014 at 8:48pm CST by Eddie Scarito

MONDAY, 8:48pm: The Kings have formally announced Sessions’ signing.

SATURDAY, 11:22am: Sessions’ deal is fully guaranteed with no options (team or player), Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link).

10:55am: Free agent guard Ramon Sessions has signed with the Kings, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! NBA: Atlanta Hawks at Milwaukee Bucks Sports reports. The deal is for two years and $4.2MM, and Sacramento used their biannual exception for the acquisition. This brings the Kings’ preseason roster total to 19, and with Sessions’ deal most likely guaranteed for next season, Sacramento now has 12 fully-guaranteed deals, and two players carrying partial guarantees on their contracts. The Bucks had renounced their rights to Sessions last month, but there were rumors that the Rockets were interested in acquiring him via a sign-and-trade arrangement.

He appeared in 28 contests for Milwaukee last season after a February trade with the Bobcats which sent Sessions and Jeff Adrien to the Bucks for Luke Ridnour and Gary Neal. Sessions career numbers are 11.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 4.7 APG. His career slash line is .439/.311/.800.

Sessions will compete with Darren Collison for the starting point guard spot, though Collison is the likely frontrunner. He also can contribute at the shooting guard position, making him a versatile bench piece. Hoops Rumors’ Cray Allred detailed what Sessions brings to a team in his Free Agent Stock Watch piece on the 6’3″, 28 year-old out of Nevada.

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images

Cavs Still Hope To Sign Ray Allen

September 22nd, 2014 at 8:29pm CST by Charlie Adams

The Cavs’ roster reached the training camp maximum size of 20 players when they came to terms on deal with A.J. Price this weekend, but the club’s front office is still holding out hope that it can find a way to land the heavily targeted Ray Allen, reports Jason Lloyd of the Beacon Journal. Allen is contemplating retirement, but Lloyd hears the Cavs still privately believe he’ll return to action and sign with Cleveland.

“I don’t think we’d ever give up on (Allen),” said Cleveland GM David Griffin on Monday. “Until he signs, that’s going to be a target for everybody.”

Allen, 39, is coming off his worst year statistically, but he still shot an impressive 37.5% from beyond the arc. He’s received interest from a variety of teams this summer, including the Spurs, Wizards, and Bulls. While he isn’t likely to put up numbers close to those from the prime of his career, he could still be a valuable bench piece for a Cavs team with title aspirations.

In addition to their continued pursuit of Allen, Lloyd hears Cleveland wants to bring aboard a big man to supplement their frontcourt. The team recently inked Lou Amundson to a minimum-salary deal, and Lloyd hears the the UNLV product is likely to make the opening night roster. Although Griffin said he’s optimistic about center Brendan Haywood‘s progress coming off of injury, Lloyd writes that the Cavs are still “aggressively” seeking to add another rim protector to their squad.

Just 12 of the 20 contracts on Cleveland’s books are fully guaranteed, meaning the Cavs can easily make a move to accommodate Allen or a free agent big man if they’ can strike a deal that both sides see fit. The Cavs are limited to paying any free agent no more than the minimum.

Pacific Notes: Bledsoe, Lakers, Griffin, Redick

September 22nd, 2014 at 7:05pm CST by Charlie Adams

When the Suns made it clear they weren’t interested in working out a sign-and-trade that would send Eric Bledsoe to the Wolves, teams around the league started presenting Phoenix with offers of their own for the restricted free agent, writes David Aldridge of NBA.com. Bledsoe and the Suns have until October 1st to work out a new deal, or else the talented young guard is reportedly poised to sign the team’s qualifying offer which would otherwise expire that day. Here’s more from the Pacific Division..

The Lakers would be a logical destination for Bledsoe, writes Aldridge in the same piece. Steve Nash‘s old age and the club’s cap flexibility next summer help make Los Angeles a realistic landing spot for the 24-year-old, opines Aldridge.
Blake Griffin opposed the idea that he and his Clippers teammates should mount a protest last spring in the immediate wake of the Donald Sterling controversy, believing that any such action would lend undue influence to Sterling, as Griffin explains to Zach Baron of GQ. Griffin added that he’s satisfied with the league’s response.
J.J. Redick never foresaw a boycott taking place, either, as he tells Jeff Caplan of NBA.com. “I always felt we were going to play,” Redick said. “Doc’s [coach Doc Rivers] leadership during the entire situation was outstanding. We followed his lead. He felt we should play. I also was confident that [NBA commissioner] Adam Silver would take the correct course of action before any sort of league-wide protest took place. And Adam did.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Hornets Sign Brian Qvale For Camp

September 22nd, 2014 at 5:08pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Hornets have signed former University of Montana center Brian Qvale, the team announced via press release. The release also included formal announcements of the team’s deals with Justin Cobbs and Dallas Lauderdale. David Pick of Eurobasket.com originally reported the team was set to sign Cobbs, while Chris Haynes of the Plain Dealer first had the news on Lauderdale. Terms for all three remain unclear, but while the team has the capacity to give each of them more than the minimum salary, it seems unlikely that’s the case with any of the trio.

The 6’11” Qvale has spent the past three years playing overseas after he went undrafted in 2011. His addition to the Hornets roster is particularly surprising, given that he’s never attended camp with an NBA team before and didn’t take part in summer league action this past July. His career has taken him to Turkey, Belgium and last year to Germany, where he averaged 13.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 26.8 minutes per game for Medi Bayreuth.

Charlotte’s roster swells to 17 with today’s signings. The team has fully guaranteed pacts with 14 players, leaving Qvale, Cobbs and Lauderdale to fight for the 15th spot on the team’s opening-night roster, providing GM Rich Cho decides to carry a full complement of players into the regular season.

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