Bryce Dejean-Jones Rumors

Bryce Dejean-Jones Dies At 23

May 28th, 2016 at 8:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Matt Bush / USA TODAY Sports Images

8:58pm: An NBA security report states that Dejean-Jones was calling for his girlfriend when he was shot through the bedroom door, tweets Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. A portion of the report tweeted by Justin Verrier of ESPN.com says an autopsy is being conducted, and toxicology reports won’t be returned for “a couple weeks.”

5:18pm: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has released a statement on the death of Dejean-Jones. “The NBA family mourns the tragic loss of New Orleans Pelicans point guard Bryce Dejean-Jones,” Silver said. “Bryce inspired countless people with his hard work and perseverance on his way to the NBA, and he had a bright future in our league. Our thoughts and sympathies are with Bryce’s family and the entire Pelicans organization during this difficult time.”

4:51pm: Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry offered condolences on hearing of Dejean-Jones’ death, tweets Brett Dawson of The Advocate. “I have all the respect for Bryce,” Gentry said. “I just had a real soft spot in my heart for him because I just felt like he was headed in the right direction. I thought he was ready to blossom as a player. I really did.”

3:55pm: An email from the apartment manager says Dejean-Jones tried to enter the residence of “an estranged acquaintance,” but went to the wrong place, tweets Justin W. Waldrop of Fox 4 in Dallas.

3:45pm: Dejean-Jones went to the wrong floor of his girlfriend’s apartment, tweets international journalist David Pick. He found himself locked out and pounded on the door several times before entering. Police say it doesn’t appear that Dejean-Jones and the apartment resident knew each other before the shooting, according to Justin Verrier of ESPN.com.

SATURDAY: 2:08pm: Pelicans rookie Bryce Dejean-Jones has died at age 23, reports Travis Hines of The Ames Tribune. Dejean-Jones was shot in the abdomen and bled to death, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. His death has been confirmed by the Dallas County (Texas) coroner’s office.

Dejean-Jones was allegedly involved in an early-morning break-in at a Dallas residence when the shooting took place, according to Sarah Mervosh of The Dallas Morning News. The person who lives at the residence told police that he shot Dejean-Jones after the player kicked down his bedroom door at 3:20 a.m. today. Dejean-Jones was taken to a hospital, where he died from the bullet wound. Dallas Police Homicide is conducting an investigation. Texas law permits people to use deadly force to protect themselves and their homes, Mervosh notes.

Dejean-Jones signed with New Orleans in midseason after going undrafted out of Iowa State. He inked 10-day deals in January and Feburary and played his way into a three-year contract. He averaged 5.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in 14 games before being sidelined with a broken right wrist.

The Pelicans have released a statement on Dejean-Jones’ death, saying, “It is with deep sadness that the Pelicans organization acknowledges the sudden passing of Bryce Dejean-Jones. We are devastated at the loss of this young man’s life who had such a promising future ahead of him. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bryce’s family at this difficult time.”

Western Notes: Walton, Pelicans, Gallinari, Paul

March 29th, 2016 at 2:49pm CST by Chuck Myron

Warriors assistant Luke Walton is reportedly poised to become a top candidate for the Knicks coaching vacancy, and the Lakers, Suns, Rockets and Kings are expected to target him, too, but former colleague Alvin Gentry thinks Walton still doesn’t gets the credit he deserves, notes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Gentry, now head coach of the Pelicans, was on Golden State’s staff last year with Walton, who inherited Gentry’s role as lead assistant and guided the Warriors to a 39-4 record while head coach Steve Kerr recovered from back surgeries. “Luke did an unbelievable job of managing egos, of rotations he played,” Gentry said. “Everything that happened there, he pushed the right buttons, so I was disappointed when people said anybody can coach that team. That’s not true at all. He has an unbelievable understanding of the game. I think [Knicks president] Phil [Jackson] knows that. [Luke] stayed in the league for a long time because of the basketball IQ he has. He gets along great with players. He’s going to be a terrific coach in the league – I really do think that.”

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Jrue Holiday and Alonzo Gee are out for the rest of the season, which ends two weeks from Wednesday, the Pelicans announced. That means seven New Orleans players are finished for 2015/16. Holiday, who fractured his orbital bone, and Gee, who ruptured a right quadriceps muscle, join Anthony Davis, Quincy Pondexter, Eric Gordon, Bryce Dejean-Jones and Tyreke Evans on the shelf for the year. Ryan Anderson and Norris Cole are also dealing with less severe injuries, the team said.
Danilo Gallinari doesn’t expect to play again this season for the Nuggets, as he said in an interview with Sky Sport of Italy (video link; translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Coach Michael Malone told reporters early this month that the team was thinking about shutting him down even if he recovered before season’s end from the two torn ligaments he suffered in his right ankle February 26th. Denver has since signed Axel Toupane for the balance of the season and beyond.
Chris Paul won’t play for Team USA in the Olympics this year, telling Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins that he’s withdrawing his name from consideration for the squad. “I feel my body telling me that I could use the time,” the 30-year-old said. Paul can opt out of his contract with the Clippers after next season.

Southwest Notes: Wright, Stephenson, Dejean-Jones

March 1st, 2016 at 4:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

Brandan Wright is liable to miss anywhere from a week to eight weeks with a sprained MCL in his right knee that the team revealed in a statement Monday. The Grizzlies didn’t say whether the sprain is a Grade I, which is the milder form, or a Grade II, which would keep him out longer, notes Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt hears it’s merely a Grade I (Twitter link), but coach Dave Joerger hinted at a much more pessimistic outlook, saying it will be difficult for the Grizzlies the rest of the year without him, Tillery relays (Twitter links). See more on the Grizzlies and other news from the Southwest Division:

Talk of the Grizzlies picking up Lance Stephenson‘s $9.405MM team option for next season that Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal referred to last week appears to have been speculative, as Herrington portrays it within his Pick-and-Pop column. It would take either an unexpected late-season flourish or an offseason gone awry for Stephenson’s option to look appealing to Grizzlies, Herrington believes.
James Ennis seems like the Grizzlies player most likely to be cut if the team wants to add someone else, Herrington posits in the same piece.
Bryce Dejean-Jones doesn’t have any guaranteed money beyond this season in his deal with the Pelicans, which is a three-year pact for the minimum salary, but he can trigger a partial guarantee of $80K for next season if he participates in summer league and a skill and conditioning program, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links). It’s unclear how his broken right wrist will affect his ability to fulfill those requirements. The partial guarantee would go to $100K if he sticks on the roster through July 25th, Pincus adds.
Marcus Thornton‘s release from the Rockets was just that, rather than a buyout deal, as Pincus shows Thornton didn’t give up any salary when he hit waivers last week (Twitter link).

Bryce Dejean-Jones Out For Season

February 26th, 2016 at 2:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

Bryce Dejean-Jones will miss the rest of the season for the Pelicans after surgery this morning on his broken right wrist, the team announced. Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate reported Thursday that the former 10-day signee who’d ascended to the starting lineup would likely miss six to eight weeks, a timetable that put his return in serious jeopardy. The team re-signed him just last week to a three-year deal that includes a partial guarantee for next season.

Dejean-Jones started in 11 of the 14 appearances he made with the Pelicans after signing the first of two-day contracts January 21st. The 23-year-old shooting guard who went undrafted this past spring out of Iowa State averaged 5.6 points in 19.9 minutes per game and shot 12 for 32 from 3-point range.

Tyreke Evans and Quincy Pondexter have also suffered season-ending injuries, while Omer Asik is out for up to two weeks, as John Reid of The Times Picayune tweeted on Tuesday. The Pelicans already have a disabled player exception worth $1,691,012 for Pondexter, and while an another such exception isn’t a possibility, the Pelicans would qualify for a 16th roster spot via hardship if doctors determine Asik is likely to be out any longer, or if another long-term injury surfaces. Coach Alvin Gentry said Eric Gordon will return from his injury Saturday, as The Associated Press notes.

Western Notes: Dejean-Jones, D-League, Walton

February 25th, 2016 at 7:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Bryce Dejean-Jones, whom the Pelicans recently inked to a three-year pact, has been diagnosed with a fractured right wrist after having an MRI today and he will undergo surgery on Friday morning to repair the damage, the team announced. No official timetable has been announced for Dejean-Jones’ recovery, but Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate relays that the guard will likely miss six to eight weeks of action as a result of the injury (Twitter link). Dejean-Jones has appeared in 14 games for the Pelicans this season and is averaging 5.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in 19.9 minutes per contest.

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While Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton will certainly be a hot name this offseason for any potential coaching vacancies, a number of GMs around the league have expressed trepidation at the prospect of giving Walton a head coaching position, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes. “I think Luke has a chance to be a good coach; he knows the game, but I would be worried that he’s not ready for that job yet,” a league executive told Deveney. “You’d have to worried about that. The thing is, if your owner has been hearing Warriors, Warriors, Warriors for the last two years, and he sees Luke Walton setting records, you’re probably going to hear something like, ‘Why can’t we get a coach like that?’ And so you wind up taking a chance even if he does not have the experience level you’re looking for.”
The Grizzlies assigned power forward Jarell Martin to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Martin’s sixth trek to Iowa this season. He is averaging 13.6 points and 6.3 rebounds in 30.6 minutes over seven D-League contests.
Power forward Duje Dukan has been assigned by the Kings to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This marks Dukan’s sixth sojourn of the season to Reno.

Pelicans Sign Dejean-Jones To Three-Year Deal

February 19th, 2016 at 10:06am CST by Eddie Scarito

FRIDAY, 10:06am: The signing is official, the team announced via press release. The move, coupled with the waiver of Jarnell Stokes, gives New Orleans 15 players.

THURSDAY, 8:09pm: The Pelicans are finalizing a multiyear arrangement with free agent shooting guard Bryce Dejean-Jones, Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports reports (via Twitter). It will be a three-year deal that includes a partial guarantee for next season, Charania notes. This implies that Dejean-Jones’ salary for 2017/18 will be non-guaranteed. Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate was the first to relay that New Orleans was in line to ink Dejean-Jones.

The second 10-day deal that Dejean-Jones signed with the Pelicans expired last week, leaving New Orleans no other option but to sign him for the remainder of the season if it wished to retain him, given that teams are only permitted to sign players to two 10-day contracts per season. The Lakers, Grizzlies, Jazz, Spurs and Suns also reportedly checked in on Dejean-Jones, though it is unclear if any of those teams made him a formal contract offer.

Dejean-Jones is averaging 6.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in 19.9 minutes per game this season, having made 10 of his 26 3-point attempts. New Orleans had originally signed him in August to a deal for training camp that included a $50K partial guarantee for this season, but Dejean-Jones didn’t make the opening night roster. He appeared in nine games for Utah’s D-League affiliate before the Pelicans signed him in January to the first of his 10-day pacts.

New Orleans is using its mid-level exception to accommodate the deal, since the team is over the cap and thus otherwise limited to handing out contracts of no more than two years in length. It’ll be the fourth contract, and the second for Dejean-Jones, that the Pelicans will have crammed into their mid-level. The others are Dante Cunningham‘s three-year, $8.395MM deal, Alonzo Gee‘s two-year, $2.699MM pact, and Dejean-Jones’ preseason contract.

Pelicans, Others In Talks With Bryce Dejean-Jones

February 17th, 2016 at 2:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:12pm: The Lakers, Grizzlies, Jazz, Spurs and Suns have contacted Dejean-Jones, though they haven’t necessarily made offers, Kushner tweets.

FEBRUARY 17TH, 12:56pm: New Orleans is waiting until after the trade deadline, Kushner writes. Dejean-Jones would prefer to stay with the Pelicans instead of jumping to another team, according to Kushner, who indicates that he nonetheless wants guaranteed salary that stretches beyond this season. Dejean-Jones is seeking a two- or three-year deal, as Kushner has also reported.

FEBRUARY 11TH, 11:15am: The Pelicans are in talks with Bryce Dejean-Jones about a deal that would bring him back to the team for the rest of the season, and the rookie shooting guard is having conversations with other teams, too, reports Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate (Twitter link). The second 10-day deal that Dejean-Jones signed with the Pelicans expired overnight, and while other NBA teams can sign him to 10-day contracts this year, New Orleans can no longer do so.

The 23-year-old started in eight of his 11 appearances for the banged-up Pelicans, who are missing Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans because of injuries. Gordon is due back shortly as he recovers from the broken right ring finger he suffered last month, but conflicting reports exist about whether Evans will miss the balance of the season. Quincy Pondexter’s left knee forced him out for the season in January.

Dejean-Jones is averaging 6.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in 19.9 minutes per game, having made 10 of 26 3-point attempts. His connection with the Pelicans dates to the summer league this past July, shortly after he went undrafted out of Iowa State. New Orleans signed him in August to a deal for training camp that included a $50K partial guarantee, but he didn’t make the opening night roster. He appeared in nine games for the D-League affiliate of the Jazz before the Pelicans signed him in January to the first of his 10-day pacts.

The Pelicans already have 14 players under contract through at least the end of the season, so re-signing Dejean-Jones would leave the team without a flexible roster spot. New Orleans has one more game before the All-Star break, tonight at Oklahoma City, and its next game isn’t until February 19th, one day after the trade deadline.

Western Notes: Kings, Clippers, Rockets, Warriors

February 11th, 2016 at 2:56pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Kings will try to make defensive improvements at the trade deadline, GM Vlade Divac said on “The Grant Napear Show” on CBS Sports 1140 in Sacramento, tweets James Ham of CSN California. The Rockets would prefer to add a shooter via trade, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link). The Clippers are expected to assess their need for a backup point guard with Austin Rivers injured, according to Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). The Warriors, meanwhile, aren’t looking to fix what isn’t broken, as GM Bob Myers said in a radio appearance on 95.7 The Game, as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group relays (Twitter link).

“It’d have to be something unbelievable to really mess with the chem & the personnel on the team,” Myers said.

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Divac acknowledged that he was thinking about making a coaching change and had full authority to do so, but simply decided against it, as he said in an appearance on “The Grant Napear Show” on CBSports 1140 in Sacramento, notes Sean Cunningham of KXTV-TV in Sacramento (Twitter link). However, the resistance that Kings minority-share owners put up against eating the rest of George Karl‘s salary also played into the decision to keep the coach, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com said today in an appearance on ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike” show (audio link), and as RealGM transcribes. That jibes with an earlier suggestion from Sam Amick of USA Today. Vivek Ranadive owns a controlling share of the team, but it doesn’t constitute a majority of the franchise, Windhorst points out.
Communication with management didn’t go smoothly for former Kings coach Tyrone Corbin last season, as he said this week on SiriusXM NBA Radio’s “NBA Today” show (Twitter link; audio link). “It was a mess. The organization was kind of playing it both ways,” Corbin said.
Bryce Dejean-Jones and the Pelicans have only slightly different figures in mind, Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate hears, advancing his earlier report that the rookie shooting guard is in talks with the Pels and other teams (Twitter links). The shooting guard is seeking a two- or three-year deal following the expiration of his second 10-day contract with New Orleans on Wednesday, Kushner adds. The Pelicans are ineligible to sign him to any more 10-day deals.
The Rockets offered Josh Smith more money in free agency last summer than the minimum-salary deal he signed with the Clippers, Rockets GM Daryl Morey said on the “Chad, Joe & Lo” show on 95.7 The Game in the Bay Area (audio link; transcription via HoopsHype). Smith wound up with the Rockets anyway via trade.

Pelicans Sign Dejean-Jones To Second 10-Day Deal

February 1st, 2016 at 12:32pm CST by Will Joseph

MONDAY, 12:32pm: The signing is official, the team announced. New Orleans plays six games in the next 10 days, against the Grizzlies, Spurs, Lakers, Cavs, Timberwolves and Jazz.

SUNDAY, 2:51pm: The Pelicans will sign combo guard Bryce Dejean-Jones to a second 10-day contract on Monday, Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate reports. Dejean-Jones’ original 10-day pact expired at the end of Saturday.

In his last two games as a starter filling in for Tyreke Evans, Dejean-Jones has averaged 11 points and 5.5 rebounds, as John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune notes. It is also worth noting that shooting guard Eric Gordon is still out because of a broken finger. Dejean-Jones’ second 10-day contract would be set to expire on February 10th and the Pelicans would then have to either sign him for the rest of the season or simply let him go. The sides are working toward a long-term pact, according to Kushner.

Dejean-Jones had signed with the Pelicans in August as an undrafted free agent after earning a spot on New Orleans’ summer league team. He averaged 8.8 points in 18.2 minutes per game during the preseason, but the Pelicans waived him prior to opening night.

Pelicans Sign Bryce Dejean-Jones To 10-Day Pact

January 21st, 2016 at 3:24pm CST by Eddie Scarito

THURSDAY, 3:24pm: The signing is official, the team announced.

WEDNESDAY, 5:31pm: The Pelicans intend to sign combo guard Bryce Dejean-Jones to a 10-day contract, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link) and Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports confirms (via Twitter). The addition of Dejean-Jones will give New Orleans a roster count of 15 players, which is the regular season maximum.

New Orleans needs to add backcourt depth in the wake of losing shooting guard Eric Gordon for four to six weeks after he underwent surgery to repair a broken right finger earlier today. The Pelicans are ineligible to apply for a disabled player exception, because the deadline to do so was this past Friday. Gordon and Quincy Pondexter, who underwent season-ending surgery today, are the only Pelicans with current long-term injuries, so a hardship provision of a 16th roster spot isn’t a possibility.

Dejean-Jones had signed with the Pelicans back in August as an undrafted free agent after winning a spot on the New Orleans summer league team. He averaged 8.8 points in 18.2 minutes per game during the preseason, but a slew of injuries helped convince the Pelicans to waive him prior to opening night. He’s since joined the Jazz affiliate in the D-League and has posted 19.2 points in 31.3 minutes per contest across nine appearances.