2014 September | Hoops Rumors

Spurs Open To Sign-And-Trade Of Aron Baynes

September 19th, 2014 at 10:37am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 10:37am: Yao Ming’s Shanghai Sharks are among the teams in China looking to sign Baynes away from San Antonio, sources tell ESPN.com’s Marc Stein (on Twitter). Baynes, meanwhile, is still in the process of weighing all his options (link). The Spurs would still retain his NBA rights if he chose to play abroad.

MONDAY, 11:46am: The Spurs are open to a sign-and-trade deal that would send center Aron Baynes elsewhere, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The 27-year-old is the only remaining unsigned restricted free agent in the league aside from Eric Bledsoe, as our Free Agent Tracker shows.

Reports over the last month have indicated that Baynes and the Spurs have at least some level of mutual interest in an arrangement that would keep him in San Antonio, even as Baynes has cast his eyes toward signing in Europe while the Spurs have considered other players. San Antonio has 14 fully guaranteed pacts and is carrying Bryce Cotton, Josh Davis and JaMychal Green, each of whom has a nominal guarantee on his deal. The Spurs have carried fewer than 15 players on their opening-night roster in each of the past three seasons, as I noted earlier, so adding Baynes to the mix would leave them poised to go against their recent history. Reports have also linked San Antonio to Ray Allen, Julyan Stone, Ryan Hollins and others in recent weeks.

San Antonio is not without financial flexibility, possessing both its $5.305MM mid-level exception and $2.077MM biannual exception. The Spurs could use part of either to ink Baynes and send him out in a sign-and-trade, perhaps for non-guaranteed salary in return.

Nets Void Hamady Ndiaye’s Deal

September 19th, 2014 at 9:40am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 9:40am: The Nets announced that they have voiced Ndiaye’s deal. The Nets’ roster now stands at 16 players.

As we learned yesterday, the Rutgers product’s deal was non-guaranteed until October 25th, so the Nets aren’t on the hook for anything. Had Ndiaye remained with the club at that point, his contract would have been guaranteed for $25K.

WEDNESDAY, 10:31am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

9:44am: The Nets and center Hamady Ndiaye have agreed to a deal for training camp, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). It’ll have to be a minimum-salary contract for the 7’0″ 27-year-old, since that’s all the Nets can give, though it’s unclear whether he’s receiving any guaranteed money.

Ndiaye spent part of three seasons with the Wizards and Kings, having made Sacramento’s opening night roster as a non-guaranteed training camp invitee last season. The Kings waived him in January just before his contract would have become guaranteed for the entire season. The Pinnacle Management Corp. client reportedly worked out for the Sixers shortly thereafter, but he wound up joining Philadelphia’s D-League team instead. He spent the last couple of weeks competing for his native Senegal in the FIBA World Cup, averaging 5.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in nearly 17 minutes a game.

The Nets have been carrying only 13 fully guaranteed deals, but they have a partially guaranteed arrangement with 60th overall pick Cory Jefferson, and Jorge Gutierrez‘s deal becomes partially guaranteed if he sticks with the club past September 26th. Ndiaye would probably have to outplay Jefferson, another big man, to earn a spot for the regular season.

Miroslav Raduljica To Play In China

September 19th, 2014 at 8:06am CST by Zachary Links

Center Miroslav Raduljica has signed a one-year deal with the Shandong Flaming Bulls, sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM. Raduljica took to Twitter this morning to relay the news and he sounds rather excited. “Next station in my career is CBA league, I’m looking forward to playing for Shandong!,” the big man wrote.

Raduljica, 26, was waived by the Clippers in late August shortly after he came over in the Jared Dudley trade. The 7-footer spent his lone NBA season with Milwaukee last year but didn’t get a whole lot of burn. Across 48 games, the big man averaged just 9.7 minutes per night and put up 3.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest.

Earlier this month it was reported that the center was leaning toward signing a lucrative contract with a European team if the NBA offers didn’t improve. The Matt Babcock client didn’t get the NBA deal he was after and presumably found something better in Shandong than in Europe. Teams reportedly called the Bucks last season to inquire on Raduljica and he had interest from several NBA teams this summer, including the Spurs and 76ers, according to Charania.

Wizards Sign Damion James

September 18th, 2014 at 11:27pm CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 29TH: The deal is official, the team announced.

SEPTEMBER 18TH: The Wizards have signed small forward Damion James, according to the RealGM transactions log, though the team has yet to make an official announcement. J. Michael of CSNWashington.com reported earlier this week that an agreement was close. It’s almost certainly for the minimum salary, since that’s all the Wizards can give, though it’s unclear whether it involves any guaranteed salary.

It’s the third straight September that James has signed a new deal, and the former 24th overall pick is surely hoping for better luck this time after he failed to make it to opening night on non-guaranteed contracts with the Hawks and Nuggets. The Mark Bartelstein client has nonetheless found his way onto NBA rosters in each of the past two seasons via 10-day contracts, and the Spurs signed him for the final few days of the regular season and the playoffs this spring, though he failed to appear in a postseason game.

Washington has been carrying 13 guaranteed deals, and the team’s contract with Glen Rice Jr. is partially guaranteed, so that seemingly sets up a battle between James and Xavier Silas, both wing players, for the team’s 15th regular season roster spot. Still, it would be somewhat surprising to see the Wizards leave four open spots beneath the 20-man preseason roster limit, and Michael indicated in his report this week that there’s a strong chance the Wizards won’t carry 15 players on opening night.

Grizzlies Sign Kalin Lucas To Camp Deal

September 18th, 2014 at 10:56pm CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 25TH: The deal is official, the team announced.

SEPTEMBER 18TH: The signing has taken place, according to the RealGM transactions log, though the team has yet to make a formal announcement.

SEPTEMBER 16TH: The Grizzlies and former Michigan State standout Kalin Lucas have struck a deal, as the agent for Lucas tells Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia (Twitter link). Presumably the arrangement will be for camp, perhaps with a diminutive guarantee involved. The Grizzlies have a sliver of their mid-level exception left to pay a bit more than the minimum salary, but it seems unlikely they’ll make that commitment in this case.

Lucas was briefly in camp with the Bulls last autumn, but it appeared they signed him specifically so they could reach the roster threshold necessary to ink others to Exhibit 9 contracts and reduce their liability. The Bulls cut him just as camp began to avoid running the risk that he’d be injured and they’d have to keep him on the roster and pay his salary during the regular season. The Grizzlies already have at least 14 non-Exhibit 9 contracts on the books, so Lucas will likely get a legitimate shot to participate in the preseason with Memphis.

The 25-year-old point guard averaged 8.3 points and 1.8 assists in 15.5 minutes per game with the Grizzlies summer league team in July, and he spent much of last season with the D-League’s Iowa Energy. Otherwise, he’s played overseas, with stops in Greece and Turkey, since going undrafted in 2011.

Eastern Notes: Hawks, Ndiaye, Magic, Raptors

September 18th, 2014 at 10:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Hawks enter the upcoming campaign with the gloom of a racism scandal hanging over the franchise. In his season preview Adi Joseph of USA Today predicts Atlanta’s record will improve slightly, and the team will snag the No. 7 seed in the east despite the outside distractions that GM Danny Ferry‘s and majority owner Bruce Levenson’s comments have brought.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Hamady Ndiaye‘s contract with the Nets is non-guaranteed until October 25th, but if he remains on the roster past that date a $25K guarantee kicks in, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
The Raptors have one of the younger teams in the league and every significant player from last season is returning, and Basketball Insiders season preview predicts another Atlantic Division crown is on the way to Toronto.
While the Magic didn’t add any superstar players in free agency this offseason they still have been quite busy tweaking their roster. Ken Hornack of Fox Sports Florida runs down Orlando’s additions and what each brings to the franchise.

Western Notes: Kings, Mavs, Robinson III

September 18th, 2014 at 8:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Kings aren’t done tinkering with their roster, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes. Despite signing Darren Collison GM Pete D’Alessandro would still like to add another ballhandler into the mix. Jones also believes the franchise should be concerned about not having a second round pick in next year’s draft since those selections are growing increasingly valuable, as they allow teams to add young players at lower salaries to their rosters.

Here’s the latest from out west:

Alonzo Gee is still expected to be waived by the Kings prior to the start of training camp after he was acquired along with Scotty Hopson in the deal that sent Jason Terry to the Rockets. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio thinks that there is a good chance that Gee ends up in training camp with the Lakers since Coach Byron Scott was a fan of the player during their time together in Cleveland.
The Wolves have guaranteed $250K of Glenn Robinson III‘s minimum salary deal, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link).
After the Cavaliers, the team that has done the most to improve themselves this summer is the Mavericks, the staff at Basketball Insiders write in their season preview. They were divided on how Dallas would fare this upcoming season, with the predictions ranging from the team finishing second to ending the season fourth in the Southwest Division.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/09/17/6716192/kings-offseason-moves-will-continue.html#storylink=cpy

Central Notes: Bynum, Alexander, Gibson

September 18th, 2014 at 7:24pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Will Bynum, who is now the longest-tenured member of the Pistons, couldn’t be happier with the arrival of Stan Van Gundy, writes Keith Langlois of NBA.com. “Stan is straightforward with me and in return I’m the same way,” he said. “I’m all business, all work when we’re here. I’m trying to be the first one in everything that we do, every single day, I’m the one challenging, talking, keeping the guys motivated and I’m trying to take on the leadership role. I’ve been here the longest. My character fits a leader because I’m always going to be the one that works the hardest. That’s what Stan is. Stan’s a worker. He’s a basketball guy, he’s on the court, and I’ve learned a lot just in the short amount of time being here.”

Here’s more from the Central Division:

E’Twaun Moore is expected to provide the Bulls with backcourt depth, Adam Fluck of NBA.com writes. “E’Twaun is a young guard who we really like and he’s got a lot of potential,” said Chicago GM Gar Forman. “He’s shown that he’s got some versatility given he can play at both the one and two. He can also shoot the ball. We feel he’s absolutely our kind of guy—he’s a worker and we are confident he’ll be a good fit with our roster.” Moore also considered the Cavs and the Grizzlies before choosing the Bulls, Fluck notes.
With the signings of Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic the power forward position is getting crowded in Chicago. Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders believes the Bulls should consider dealing Taj Gibson since he might be more valuable as a trade asset since his minutes and production are likely to decline this season.
Former Bucks lottery pick Joe Alexander has auditioned for a number of NBA teams, David Pick of Eurobasket reports (Twitter link). Alexander has been out of the NBA since the 2009/10 season when he appeared in eight games for the Bulls.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Pietrus, Sophomores, Crawford

September 18th, 2014 at 5:50pm CST by Zachary Links

NBA coaches need to be in charge, they need to have the final say on matters, and they need to have the backing of the front office. Of course, that’s not always the way it is and, for the most part, NBA teams wind up getting run by their players, writes Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. Smith would be very impressed with a General Manager who would call in a star player and tell him to shape up or ship out, but that rarely happens. Here’s more from around the Association..

The Kings worked out free agent forward Mickael Pietrus this week in Sacramento, league sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM (via Twitter).
Word of Jordan Crawford‘s deal in China just leaked out today, but the guard tells his followers on Twitter that the deal was actually agreed upon a month ago.
Being a rookie in the NBA can be hard on most players who have to adjust to the talent level the league offers as well as the grueling schedule. Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com takes a look at some second-year players who could be facing career-defining seasons.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Kings Sign Omri Casspi

September 18th, 2014 at 3:53pm CST by Cray Allred

SEPTEMBER 18TH: The deal is finally official, the team announced.

JULY 30TH: It’ll be a guaranteed deal, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com.

JULY 25TH: The Kings are finalizing a one-year contract at the league minimum with Omri Casspi, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Casspi somewhat surprisingly cleared waivers earlier today, as the Kings had reportedly planned to put in a claim. It nonetheless appears as though they maintained interest, and the feeling had been mutual for Casspi, who spoke in recent days of his fondness for a return to Sacramento.

Signing the Dan Fegan client for just one year at the minimum, as opposed to claiming his two-year contract off waivers, will save the team enough money to keep it beneath the luxury tax line. The Kings had been at $75,852,705 in team salary, according to the latest estimates from Basketball Insiders, just $976,295 shy of the tax threshold. Casspi will make $1,063,384 as a five-year veteran at the minimum salary, but Sacramento will only be on the hook for the portion equivalent to the two-year veteran’s minimum of $915,243, since it’s a one-year contract. The league will pick up the tab for the rest.

That provision only applies to one-year deals, so if the Kings had claimed Casspi’s two-year contract off waivers, they would have had to pay his full salary, pushing them into tax territory and likely prompting the team to waive or trade Quincy Acy. Sacramento and Acy this week agreed to push back the date upon which his salary would become fully guaranteed so the club could explore its options.

Casspi’s camp is quite pleased with the agreement that will bring him back to the team with which he spent his first two NBA seasons, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. The native of Israel averaged 9.5 points in 24.5 minutes per game with 37.1% shooting as a King, but those numbers dropped precipitously when a trade sent him to Cleveland. He rebounded this past season with the Rockets, but the Pelicans nonetheless saw fit to let him go soon after they acquired him as part of the Omer Asik trade.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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