The Milwaukee Common Council voted to approve the city’s $47MM portion of the public funding for a new Bucks arena, meaning the funding plan for the project has crossed the final barrier. The $500MM building still needs the council’s approval for its design, with that matter likely to come to the table this fall. Still, it appears the arena is well on its way to becoming a reality, even though minority owner and team executive Mike Fascitelli recently admitted the arena might not open until the fall of 2018, one year after the NBA’s deadline. The state, Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee are ponying up half the cost of the arena, with current and former Bucks owners reportedly paying the other $250MM of the estimated cost.
Here’s more from the week that was…
Free Agent Signings
- The Knicks signed DaJuan Summers.
- The Warriors signed Tony Mitchell.
- The Thunder signed Julyan Stone.
- The Cavaliers agreed to a contract with Austin Daye.
- The Grizzlies and Ryan Hollins agreed to a deal.
- The Nets signed Chris Daniels.
- The Lakers signed Metta World Peace.
- The Clippers agreed to a deal with Luc Mbah a Moute.
- The Magic signed Greg Stiemsma and Nnanna Egwu.
- The Grizzlies signed Dan Nwaelele.
- The Wizards agreed to a contract with Jaron Johnson.
- The Grizzlies agreed to a deal with Yakhouba Diawara.
- The Trail Blazers signed forward Omari Johnson.
- The Rockets agreed to a deal with Jeremy Tyler.
- The Raptors agreed to sign Anthony Bennett.
- The Cavaliers agreed to sign center Chris Johnson.
- Jordan McRae reportedly signed his required tender from the Sixers.
- The Hawks signed Earl Barron.
You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.
Waivers
- The Timberwolves and Anthony Bennett reached an agreement on a buyout arrangement.
- The Grizzlies waived Patrick Christopher.
- The Nuggets waived Kostas Papanikolaou.
D-League News
- Former Kentucky center Dakari Johnson will sign with the Thunder’s D-League affiliate. Oklahoma City drafted the 7-footer 48th overall this past June.
- Magic second-round pick Tyler Harvey will spend the season with the D-League affiliate of the Magic, who drafted him 51st overall in June.
- Heat assistant Dan Craig was hired as head coach of the franchise’s D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
Miscellaneous News
- The Warriors reportedly offered Harrison Barnes a four-year, $64MM contract extension proposal, which was rejected by the forward’s camp.
- The Wizards reportedly offered an extension to Bradley Beal, but it was worth less than the maximum salary he’s seeking because the team wants to preserve cap flexibility for next summer.
- Veteran NBA shooting guard Jason Richardson announced his retirement.
- Luke Ridnour will reportedly sit out this season and it’s likely he won’t play in the league again.
- Bulls small forward Mike Dunleavy underwent a successful low back microdiscectomy procedure and he is expected to be out of action for 8-10 weeks.
- Thunder director of strategic planning Jason Ranne is headed back to the Wasserman Media Group, which used to employ him, for an executive position within the agency.
- The Blazers promoted associate video coordinator Jim Moran to assistant coach.
- Three-year NBA veteran Chris Singleton signed with Lokomotiv Kuban of Russia.
- The Spurs announced that they’ve hired former Magic head coach Jacque Vaughn as a pro scout.