Amida Brimah

Spurs Sign Amida Brimah, Julian Washburn

The Spurs have added a pair of players to their offseason roster, signing Amida Brimah and Julian Washburn to one-year contracts, according to RealGM’s transactions log. Those deals are be Exhibit 10 contracts, tweets Keith Smith of RealGM.

Brimah, who played his college ball at UConn, went undrafted in 2017 and joined the Spurs for training camp. The 7’0″ center has yet to make his NBA debut, but spent the 2017/18 season with the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate, averaging 6.6 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 2.6 BPG in 48 games (22.6 MPG).

Washburn, meanwhile, is a former UTEP small forward who went undrafted in 2015 and has spent time with the Austin Spurs and international clubs since then. He helped the Spurs’ G League squad win the NBAGL title earlier this year, starting both games in the club’s best-of-three series sweep over the Raptors 905. Most recently, Washburn played for the Cantebury Rams in New Zealand.

The Spurs now have 18 players under contract. That number will increase by one when Drew Eubanks finalizes his reported two-way deal, but will decrease by one when the club officially removes Manu Ginobili from its roster.

Spurs Waive Amida Brimah, London Perrantes

The Spurs have waived guard London Perrantes and big man Amida Brimah, the team announced in a press release. The cuts drop San Antonio’s roster down to 17.

The club had initially signed Perrantes back in August after he went undrafted in June. The University of Virginia product had played and performed well for the Heat during the Orlando and Las Vegas summer leagues.

Brimah, also undrafted this past June, was initially picked up in late September.

Spurs Sign Amida Brimah

The Spurs have officially announced their roster for training camp, and the 19-man squad includes one new name. According to the team, free agent center Amida Brimah is now a member of the Spurs.

Brimah, who played his college ball at the University of Connecticut, averaged 7.6 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 2.6 BPG in 33 contests (24.7 MPG) during his senior year. The seven-foot prospect went undrafted in June, but caught on with the Bulls for Summer League action, appearing in four games for the team in Las Vegas.

Terms of Brimah’s deal aren’t known, but it figures to be a non-guaranteed summer contract. He’s a long shot to make the Spurs’ regular season roster, but should be a good bet to end up with the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League squad, as an affiliate player.

Atlantic Notes: James, Celtics, Pre-Draft Workouts

Rumors are swirling that LeBron James will look to leave Cleveland for a second time after next season and potentially head out west. If he is not on the Cavaliers after 2017/18, James’ departure would have a domino effect across the league. A. Sherrod Blakely joined Mike Felger and Gary Tanguay at CSN New England to discuss Celtics general manager Danny Ainge‘s potential moves if James heads out West and weakens the Eastern Conference.

Blakely believes that no matter James’ future, Ainge should not focus on what’s going around the league, focusing instead on his own team. The Celtics have the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft and are coming off a year where they were the first seed in the East. The Celtics have their own issues to address, including the impending free agency of Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, and others.

In any case, the Celtics are in the best position of any Eastern Conference team to unseat the Cavaliers as the class of division and a James departure after next season only strengthens that.

Here are other notes from around the Atlantic Division:

Draft Notes: Josh Jackson, Fultz, Smith Jr., Heat

Kansas forward Josh Jackson paid a visit to Kings today, but didn’t go through a workout, tweets Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Jackson is expected to be one of the first players selected next week and probably won’t be around for Sacramento’s pick at No. 5. There have been rumors that the Kings would like to move up, but a report today said they aren’t willing to give the Sixers the fifth and 10th picks to get No. 3.

There’s more from a full day of draft workouts:

Northwest Notes: Hill, Favors, Workouts

Keeping Gordon Hayward in Utah is the top priority for the Jazz this offseason, but re-signing him alone isn’t going to help the team climb in the Western Conference standings, Benjamin Mehic of the Deseret News writes.

The team must also shore up its point guard position. George Hill will be a free agent this summer and the team will have trouble finding a top-notch point guard replacement should he bolt. Hill has expressed a desire to return, as Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors mentioned in the team’s offseason preview. However, many players say flattering things about their current team as they head into free agency only to leave for another club.

If Hill is lured away, the most likely option for the Jazz is promoting Dante Exum to the starting unit, though that could hurt the team in the win column since Exum hasn’t quite proven himself in the league yet.

Here’s more from the Northwest:

Draft Notes: Knicks, J. Jackson, Suns, Lakers

There are a number of potential player/team matches in the top 10 of this year’s draft that might make sense on paper, but should be avoided in reality, according to the staff at The Ringer. Danny Chau identifies De’Aaron Fox as a less than ideal fit for the Sixers, while Jonathan Tjarks makes the case for why the Knicks should steer clear of Dennis Smith Jr.

Other picks to be avoided, in the views of The Ringer’s NBA writers? The Mavericks and Lauri Markkanen; the Kings and Jayson Tatum; and the Magic and Jonathan Isaac.

Here are a few more draft-related items from around the basketball world:

Draft Notes: Kanter, Bucks, Swanigan

Kerem Kanter has withdrawn from the draft, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com tweets. Kanter, who is the younger brother of NBA player Enes Kanter, graduated from Green Bay and will play for Xavier this year.

Here’s more on the upcoming draft:

Draft Workouts: Nets, Smith Jr., Magic, Bucks, Celtics

The Nets will be the only non-playoff team without a close eye on Tuesday night’s lottery results, since the Celtics have swap rights to their first-round pick. But after that swap is made, the Nets will hold the rights to the first-round picks for the two teams in action on Monday night, the Celtics and the Wizards. And Brooklyn is busy exploring its options for those two late first-round selections, along with its second-round pick.

According to Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com, the Nets will bring in Rawle Alkins, Melo Trimble, Kobi Simmons, Davon Reed, Amida Brimah, and Omer Yurtseven for a group workout on Tuesday. On Thursday, Brooklyn will take a closer look at Josh Hart and Tyler Dorsey. Meanwhile, Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan is also expected to be a part of that Thursday workout, per Nathan Baird of The Journal & Courier (Twitter link).

As Brooklyn does its homework on the non-lottery prospects in this year’s draft class, let’s check out a few more workout-related updates, including an additional note on Swanigan:

Draft Updates: Tuesday Night

Underclassmen who submitted their names for draft consideration have until tomorrow —  May 25th — to decide whether or not to remain in the draft. If those players don’t withdraw from consideration by Wednesday’s deadline, they’ll forgo their remaining NCAA eligibility and will be available to NBA teams in June. Here’s the latest news and notes regarding the 2016 NBA Draft:

  • Seton Hall sophomore guard Isaiah Whitehead intends to remain in the draft and will sign with agents Andy Miller and Stephen Pina of ASM Sports, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets. Whitehead is a projected second round pick, with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress slotting him as the No. 59 overall player.
  • Villanova junior swingman Josh Hart is withdrawing from the draft and will return to school for his senior season, Evan Daniels of Scout.com tweets.
  • Northwestern State junior point guard Zeke Woodley intends to withdraw from the draft and return to school for his senior campaign, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter).
  • Freshman center Moustapha Diagne is withdrawing from the draft and will attend junior college next season with an eye on making the jump to division one the following year, Goodman tweets.
  • Gonzaga junior center Przemek Karnowski is withdrawing from the draft and returning to school for his senior season, Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com relays (Twitter link).
  • Center Amida Brimah and guard Rodney Purvis have withdrawn from the 2016 NBA Draft and are returning to UConn for their senior seasons, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays.
  • San Diego State sophomore small forward Malik Pope is withdrawing from the draft and will return to school for his junior season, the player announced on his Twitter feed.
  • Thon Maker is being viewed as a potential first-rounder after his excellent showing in front of NBA personnel in New York City, Zagoria tweets. The 19-year-old is currently slotted No. 40 overall by Givony.
  • Washington State’s Josh Hawkinson, Conor Clifford and Ike Iroegbu are withdrawing from the draft and will return to school for the 2016/17 season, Goodman tweets.