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Month: October 2024

Suns Sign Phil Pressey To 10-Day Pact

February 20th, 2016 at 1:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

1:20pm: The deal is official, the Suns announced (Twitter link). It’ll cover four games, against the Spurs, Clippers, Nets and Grizzlies. The first game, against San Antonio, isn’t until Sunday, and the Suns have a game on March 1st, the day after the contract expires, against the Hornets, so it’s somewhat surprising that Phoenix didn’t wait one more day to sign him.

9:47am: The Suns intend to ink free agent Phil Pressey to a 10-day deal, Marc J. Spears of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports reports (on Twitter). Phoenix has an available roster spot after Jordan McRae‘s second 10-day deal with the team ended on Friday. Teams can only ink players to a maximum of two 10-day contracts per season, so the Suns would have had to sign McRae for the remainder of the season if they wished to retain his services.

Pressey was with the Sixers early this season as their 16 man via the hardship provision. He appeared in 14 games and averaged 3.9 points and 3.3 assists in 12.1 minutes. The point guard became expendable in December when Philadelphia recalled Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall from the D-League after the duo had recovered from injuries, leading to Pressey’s release.

After the Sixers cut him loose, Pressey rejoined the Idaho Stampede, Utah’s D-League affiliate. The 25-year-old appeared in 25 contests for Idaho, averaging 13.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists in 33.9 minutes per outing. His slash line in the D-League this season is .440/.333/.724.

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Eastern Notes: Morris, Frye, Varejao

February 20th, 2016 at 1:10pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said he had no clue that Markieff Morris‘ situation in Phoenix would take the turn that it did when he acquired his twin Marcus Morris this past offseason, writes Ben Standig of CSNMidAtlantic.com. “I didn’t have any idea,” Van Gundy said. “We just knew that we liked Marcus. He was a good player, a professional guy, hard worker. We never had any problems from our end with it. I mean, Marcus was upset when it happened, upset at Phoenix, but it never had any effect on what we were doing in Detroit. He was a real professional.”

Markieff intends to approach his new situation with the Wizards the same way, Standing adds. He already has the support of Marcin Gortat and Jared Dudley, both of whom relayed positive things about Morris, the scribe notes. “You know, it’s just guys that actually know me, and not on the outside looking in,” Morris said. “Guys that I’ve actually played with and been in the locker room with. Things happen. It’s in my past. All I can do is move forward and learn from it. I’m happy to do it. And getting compliments from those guys means a lot. We’re good friends, we keep in touch. They know me as a person.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Cavaliers were able to land Channing Frye on Thursday despite having less in the way of assets to offer Orlando than the Clippers, who were also interested in the stretch-four, Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal notes. Los Angeles backed away from Frye because of the two years and approximately $15MM remaining on his deal, a contract that Cleveland instead views as an asset with the cap set to jump this offseason, Lloyd adds.
  • The Hawks would be wise to consider signing center Anderson Varejao, whom Portland waived after acquiring him from the Cavaliers, Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders opines. Atlanta needs a backup center with Tiago Splitter lost for the remainder of the season, and inking Varejao would carry little risk and wouldn’t impact the franchise’s cap flexibility heading into the offseason, Greene notes.
  • Despite a somewhat slow start to his NBA career, Hornets coach Steve Clifford believes Frank Kaminsky will become a solid starter in the league thanks to how hard he works off the court, Gary D’Amato of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays. “He has an NBA game right now,” said Clifford. “His biggest issue is he’s physically not strong enough to play every night against the starters. He’s worked hard in the weight room. I think in another year you’ll see him take off because of his work ethic.” The 2015 No. 9 overall pick has appeared in 53 games this season and is averaging 7.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per night.
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Hoops Rumors Originals 2/14/16-2/20/16

February 20th, 2016 at 12:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Here’s a look back at the original analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this past week…

  • If you missed the week’s live chat, you can view the transcript here.
  • Chuck Myron ran down the list of the top salaries to change hands via trade during the month of February since 2013.
  • Zach Links highlighted some of the better basketball blogs around in his weekly installment of Hoops Links.
  • Will Joseph answered reader questions in our Weekly Mailbag.
  • We recapped all of the trade deadline moves.
  • To better prepare you for the NBA’s trade deadline we rolled out our Trade Deadline Primer.
  • I ran down the Hawks’ updated 2015/16 salary cap numbers.
  • If you missed any of our daily reader-driven discussions, be sure to check out the Community Shootaround archives.
  • Here’s how you can follow Hoops Rumors on social media and RSS feeds.
  • You can keep track of where your favorite team currently stands in relation to the 2016 NBA Draft lottery with our reverse standings tracker.
  • We reviewed our commenting policy. Play nice everyone.
  • Here’s how you can follow specific players on Hoops Rumors.
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Hornets Sign Jorge Gutierrez To 10-Day Pact

February 20th, 2016 at 12:03pm CST by Eddie Scarito

SATURDAY, 12:03pm: The signing is official, the team announced.

FRIDAY, 7:37pm: The Hornets intend to sign free agent point guard Jorge Gutierrez to a 10-day deal, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor relays (on Twitter). Charlotte currently has a vacant roster spot with only 14 players under contract, so no corresponding move will be required to add Gutierrez. He will act as the team’s third point guard, Reichert notes.

The 27-year-old was in training camp with the Bucks earlier this season but failed to secure a regular season roster slot. Gutierrez dished out 11 assists against only three turnovers in approximately 47 minutes of preseason action, notching a total of 12 points along the way, but it wasn’t enough for him to stick with the team. The playmaker has appeared in a total of 35 NBA contests in his career, owning averages of 3.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists to accompany a slash line of .495/.200/.720.

Gutierrez has appeared in 22 games this season for the Canton Charge, the Cavs’ D-League affiliate, and he’s averaging 11.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.7 assists in 27.8 minutes per outing. His shooting line is .431/.205/.844.

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Bucks Front-Runners To Sign Steve Novak

February 20th, 2016 at 11:33am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Bucks are the overwhelming favorites to sign Steve Novak if and when he clears waivers on Sunday, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Signing with Milwaukee would be a homecoming of sorts for Novak, who played his college ball at nearby Marquette University. The Bucks currently possess 15 players on their roster, so the team will need to release a player in order to clear room to ink the veteran combo forward.

The 32-year-old Novak appeared in only seven games for the Thunder this season, averaging 2.4 points in just 3.4 minutes of action per contest before the Thursday trade that shipped him to the Nuggets. He subsequently agreed to a buyout with Denver, which then waived him. He’s also a candidate for the Cavaliers, according to Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group.

Novak’s career numbers through 10 NBA seasons are 4.7 points and 1.3 rebounds to accompany a slash line of .438/.432/.876. He was the No. 32 overall selection in the 2006 NBA draft.

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Week In Review 2/14/16-2/20/16

February 20th, 2016 at 11:00am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Nets hired Sean Marks as their new GM this week. Marks leaves his job as Spurs assistant GM, inking a four-year contract worth more than $9MM with Brooklyn. He takes over the reigns from assistant GM Frank Zanin, who’d been running the front office since the team removed Billy King from the job last month. “I am very excited to be named the general manager of the Brooklyn Nets, and to become a member of the vibrant and dynamic organization that represents Brooklyn,” Marks said, according to the Nets’ press release. “I would like to thank Nets’ ownership for giving me this opportunity, and I look forward to the challenge of creating a unified culture and building a winning team.”

“After an exhaustive vetting process, we are delighted to have Sean as our general manager,” Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said in Brooklyn’s statement. “His experience on the court, in coaching and management gives him a 360 degree view of the job at hand. His background helping to build one of the greatest teams in the NBA gives him an unparalleled frame of reference. And he impressed us all with his vision, his values, his personality and his enthusiasm for the club. The vote to select him from an incredible list of talent was unanimous. We welcome Sean into our Nets family and look forward to his strong leadership and independent thinking as we build our own success story.”

Here’s more from the week that was…

Trades

Signings

You can stay up to date on all the 10-day deals handed out with our 10-day contract tracker.

Waivers

Miscellaneous News

D-League News

  • Former first-round pick Jordan Hamilton, who finished last season with the Clippers, signed with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
  • Jeff Ayres, whose second 10-day deal with the Clippers expired last week, rejoined the the Idaho Stampede, the Jazz’s D-League affiliate.

You can stay up to date on all the D-League assignments and recalls for the season here.

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Celtics Waive David Lee, Mavs Poised To Sign

February 20th, 2016 at 10:17am CST by Eddie Scarito

SATURDAY, 10:17am: The Mavs are expected to sign Lee via the room exception once he clears waivers, Charania tweets.

4:20pm: The two sides agreed to a buyout and Lee is expected to sign with a new team once he clears waivers, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe tweets.

FRIDAY, 4:18pm: The Celtics have officially waived power forward David Lee, the team announced. The veteran was reportedly set to work out a buyout arrangement with the team, which is presumably the case, though no mention of an agreement was made, nor how much salary Lee gave up to facilitate his release. The Mavericks are the frontrunners to sign Lee once he clears waivers, Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports tweets.  Lee clearing waivers is a virtual certainty since no team currently has the free cap space to absorb his $15.5MM salary. Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com reported buyout talks between the two parties.

Boston attempted to find a taker for Lee prior to Thursday’s trade deadline, but the power forward reportedly had “no value” around the league, even though his expiring deal presented an opportunity for cap relief this summer to any team acquiring him. “Everything doesn’t always work out the way you want it to,” Lee said. “I’m just disappointed from the fact that I wanted to come here and make a major impact. And that didn’t happen for one reason or another. The last two places I had been before I may have been able to make that impact. It is what it is.”

Lee had also relayed that he had no animosity toward the Celtics over his lack of playing time. “I’ve kind of seen the writing on the wall with what’s going on the last month,” Lee continued. “But once again, this is a business. We all know that. I want to be in a place where I’m successful and where I’m wanted. The Celtics are a great group of people here. I have absolutely zero negative things to say about my coaching staff and teammates, who, obviously as you know, I get along well with. So we’ll just see how things develop over the next 24 or 48 hours here, but it’s looking like something’s most likely going to happen [with the buyout].”

Lee, who has not played since January 10th, has appeared in 30 games for Boston this season and is averaging 7.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 15.7 minutes of action per contest.

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Atlantic Notes: Okafor, Marks, Frazier

February 20th, 2016 at 8:52am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics came close to pulling off a significant trade involving the Nets‘ 2016 first round pick prior to Thursday’s trade deadline, but the other team pulled out at the last minute, team executive Danny Ainge relayed in a radio appearance on the “Toucher & Rich” show (h/t Dan Feldman of NBCSports.com). “We were very close,” Ainge said. “One story I can probably share with you is – I can’t tell you the team or the name – but it was very close. It was something we had been deliberating on for two days straight. The other team was doing that. And we were wrapping ourselves around a big package to do a deal. And at the very last minute, they just said they did not want to do it. They just backed out. So, it was a deal that was talked about, thought about. And that was probably the closest that we came. We were willing to do one deal, and it just didn’t happen. Both teams weren’t ready to go. And it was a really, tough close deal. And it was certainly not a no-brainer. There was risk on both sides’ part. But at the end of the day, both teams were not ready to do it.”

Though Ainge declined to name both the player and the team he was referring to in the radio spot, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald hears that the talks centered around Sixers rookie center Jahlil Okafor. While fans of both Boston and Philadelphia are left to ponder what might have been if that trade had been consummated, here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • New GM Sean Marks‘ contract with the Nets is a four-year deal that will pay him in excess of $9MM over that span, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).
  • The Knicks considered signing point guard Tim Frazier, whom the Blazers waived Thursday, but New York instead decided on D-League shooting guard Jimmer Fredette, whom they plan to ink to a 10-day deal, Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal relays (via Twitter).
  • The Sixers parted ways with JaKarr Sampson on Thursday, but the second-year player had all good things to say about his former team despite being waived, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes, having earlier reported that the Sixers want to re-sign him if he clears waivers. “I don’t have anything negative to say about Philly,” Sampson said. “I feel like a lot of people in my situation might have something negative to say about Philly, like a ‘why-me’ type of thing. But I don’t have anything negative to say about the organization. I love those guys. They showed me a lot of love since I’ve been there. The fan base and everything … are great people. Even though we were losing, they still showed us love because we played hard.”
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And-Ones: Marks, Foye, Lee

February 19th, 2016 at 11:24pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Thunder GM Sam Presti referred to the trade with Denver that netted the team Randy Foye, as well as saved the team approximately $9.8MM in cap commitments, as “smart business,” Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman relays (Twitter link). “The roster spot clearly gives us some flexibility to survey other opportunities to improve,” Presti said. “Then financially, that obviously wasn’t the intent of the deal, but because of the presence of Dakari Johnson, Semaj Christon and Alex Abrines in the drafts that we’ve had previously, we feel pretty good about those guys. So the draft choices in this particular draft were more valuable to Denver. And the money that we were able to save, the way that we’ve operated here, that allows us to reinvest in the team and clearly our team is going to become more and more expensive.”

Here’s more from around the league:

  • The Bucks didn’t make a deal prior to Thursday’s trade deadline and a big reason was that the team considers Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker to be virtually untouchable, Charles F. Gardner of The Journal Sentinel writes. One of the duo would likely have had to be included in any swap for a big-name player, which was a non-starter as far as the franchise was concerned, notes Gardner. “Those guys are vault guys,” coach Jason Kidd said. “They’re in the vault. You don’t start a conversation with Jabari or Giannis. There’s no conversation to be had, right. So word gets around that those guys are untradeable.“
  • The Celtics came close to dealing David Lee, who was waived earlier today, and viewed his expiring contract as a means to work a swap for a marquee player at the trade deadline, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe writes. “We almost had trades a few times, or thought there was a possibility,” team executive Danny Ainge said. “His [Lee] contract was a good way for us to get into a lot of the conversations we had.“
  • Dmitry Razumov, the chairman of the Nets‘ board of directors, indicated that new GM Sean Marks will guide the team’s search for a new head coach but team ownership will also have input in the process, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com relays (ESPN NOW link). The team is likely to strongly consider San Antonio assistant coach Ettore Messina for the vacant slot, Frank Isola of The New York Daily News opined when Marks’ hiring was first announced.
  • The Blazers sent $75K to the Heat in exchange for point guard Brian Roberts, which is the minimum allowable amount per league rules, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
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2015/16 Salary Cap Update: Atlanta Hawks

February 19th, 2016 at 10:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 is set at $70MM, which is good for an 11% increase from last season, and the luxury tax line is fixed at $84.74MM. With the February 18th cutoff date for trades now past and the de facto deadline of March 1st for buyouts rapidly approaching, we at Hoops Rumors are in the process of updating the salary cap commitments for each NBA franchise for the 2015/16 campaign. Here’s the cap breakdown for the Atlanta Hawks, whose regular season roster can be viewed here:

  • 2015/16 Salary Cap= $70,000,000
  • 2015/16 Luxury Tax Line= $84,740,000
  • Fully Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $71,162,768*
  • Remaining Cap Room= -$1,162,768
  • Amount Below Luxury Tax Line= $13,577,232

*Note: This amount includes the $75K owed to Terran Petteway, who was waived by the team.

Cap Exceptions Available:

  • Room Exception= $2,814,000
  • Trade Exception=  $947,276 (Justin Holiday. Expires on February 18th, 2017)

Cash Available to Send Out In Trades= $3,400,000

Cash Available to Receive Via Trade= $3,400,000

Note: Despite the trade deadline having passed, the NBA season technically doesn’t end until June 30th. Teams are able to again make trades upon the completion of the regular season or when/if they are eliminated from the playoffs, whichever comes later. So these cash limits still apply.

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

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