The Pistons officially renounced their rights to Wayne Ellington, who has signed with the Lakers, and Dennis Smith Jr., according to the RealGM transactions log. The Hornets renounced four players, including Bismack Biyombo, while the Spurs renounced their rights to a whopping 13 players. San Antonio’s list includes Donatas Motiejunas and David Lee, who haven’t appeared in an NBA game for years. Renouncing those rights allows teams to maximize their cap room in free agency.
We have more from the basketball world:
- Donta Hall has signed with France’s Betclic Elite side AS Monaco, Sportando relays. Hall, who turns 24 on Saturday, played 13 games with the Magic this past season on two 10-day contracts and an end-of-the-season deal via the hardship exception. The power forward also played a total of nine games for the Pistons and Nets in 2019/20.
- Overtime Elite has added another top European prospect. Izan Almansa has signed with the league, Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets. The 6’9” Almansa, a 16-year old Spanish power forward, is the second player OTE has signed from Real Madrid’s youth program and seventh international prospect.
- While free agency is winding down, the trade market could continue to percolate in the coming weeks, John Hollinger of The Athletic writes. Ben Simmons and Damian Lillard top the list of stars who could be on the move, while the Raptors and Magic are teams to watch, with the latter possibly taking on an onerous contract in order to acquire future assets.
- The ESPN duo of Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks also take a look at unresolved storylines this month involving free agency, the trade market and potential extensions.
It seems strange they would have to renounce the rights of players that have already signed elsewhere.
Anyone think Dennis Smith gets another chance? I thought he did well enough in Detroit to at least get a job as a back up PG somewhere.
DSJ and Ntilikina making teams regret taking them instead of Donavan Mitchell or Bam. Some teams can draft well and some are horrible at it. Can you imagine Mitchell with Luca right now or in NY?
It’s all about opportunity. Mitchell was not more talented than Smith or Ntikilina. Teams are not that dumb. Mitchell had an opportunity to grow in Utah that may not have been the same in NY or Dallas. It grew his confidence which enabled him to reach his potential. Likewise, Smith or Ntikilina did the opposite. In a different setting, maybe their confidence could have grown instead of them getting beat down.
Plus you also have to figure that if Mitchell had gone to Dallas and had the same rookie year, then Dallas would not have been able to draft Luka in the first place. Lot of things would have fallen differently just by changing one variable.
Think Ntilikina will Sign with a team as a third string pg. Smith should got to the G league or Europe and improve his game . He still has a chance to be a good role player .