Casper Ware

And-Ones: Brantley, Crawford, Ware, Labissiere

Free agent forward Jarrell Brantley has been acquired by the Greensboro Swarm, G League affiliate of the Hornets, Hoops Rumors has learned. Brantley recently left Russian club UNICS Kazan following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

As Ian Begley of SNY.tv notes (via Twitter), Brantley was sued by UNICS Kazan for $250K after leaving. He received a letter of clearance after a maximum six-day window, allowing him to sign in the G League. The state of the lawsuit is unclear, Begley adds.

Brantley played 37 games with the Jazz between 2019-21. The 25-year-old was drafted No. 50 overall in 2019 after spending four seasons at the College of Charleston.

There’s more around the basketball world tonight:

  • The Long Island Nets have re-acquired guard Jordan Crawford from the G League’s available player pool, the team announced in a press release. Crawford, who will replace Tyrone Wallace while Wallace plays for the Pelicans on 10-day deal, holds 281 games of NBA experience with five teams.
  • Free agent guard Casper Ware has signed with CSKA Moscow, the team announced (Twitter link). Ware played nine games with the Sixers during the 2013/14 campaign.
  • Former NBA big man Skal Labissiere has signed in Puerto Rico with Cangrejeros de Santurce, as relayed by Sportando. The 6’10” Kentucky product was drafted No. 28 overall in 2016. He last played in the NBA during the 2019/20 campaign, appearing in 33 games with Portland.

And-Ones: Parker, Ware, Nouhi, Brazil

Longtime Spurs guard Tony Parker has long-term plans to own an NBA team, he told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. Parker, the president and majority owner of French team ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, is part of the French group Olympique Lyonnais and hopes to eventually purchase an NBA franchise. “Right now, we have different objectives and goals,” he told Spears. “But in five to 10 years … I am the type of person who always dreams big.”

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • Former NBA point guard Casper Ware has opted out of his NBL contract with the Sydney Kings, ESPN’s Olgun Uluc reports. Ware was the highest paid foreign player in the NBL this past season and would have had his 2020/21 salary cut by 50% under a new agreement between the league and its players. The Kings will continue to hold Ware’s NBL rights if he chooses to return to Australia for the upcoming season. Ware, who averaged 17.9 PPG this past season, played for the Sixers during the 2013/14 season.
  • Belgian guard Ayoub Nouhi has decided to forgo his final two years of college ball with UT-Arlington and begin his pro career, according to Sportando’s Ennio Terrasi Borghesan. Nouhi did not enter his name in the 2020 draft, but would become auto-eligible in 2021 if he plays professionally this year. He appeared in 26 games as a sophomore, averaging 1.9 PPG in 12.5 MPG.
  • Brazil’s NBB league has cancelled the remainder of its season, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. Former NBA guard Leandro Barbosa tested positive for COVID-19 after the league halted play in March.

Northwest Notes: Blazers, Jazz, Wolves, Nuggets

While most NBA teams are focusing on workouts for 2018 draft prospects these days, this is also a time of year when clubs take a closer look at veteran free agents, bringing them in for auditions of their own. The Trail Blazers are doing just that at a mini-camp this week, as Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype details (Twitter link).

According to Kennedy, former Sixers, Rockets, and Nets swingman K.J. McDaniels is among the players earning a look from the Trail Blazers, along with Casper Ware, Kadeem Jack, Isaiah Cousins, Kyle Randall, and a number of others. A handful of current Portland players, including Zach Collins and Caleb Swanigan, participated in those sessions alongside the free agents on Monday, Kennedy notes.

Here’s more from around the Northwest division:

Wizards Waive Eddie, O’Bryant, Ware

The Wizards have pared down their roster to 15 players in preparation for the regular season, waiving Jarell Eddie, Johnny O’Bryant and Casper Ware, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (via Twitter). As a result of parting ways with Eddie, Washington will be on the hook for his partially guaranteed salary of $175,000 for this season, unless he is claimed off waivers by another team. No money will remain on the books for O’Bryant and Ware, as their deals were completely non-guaranteed. This also means that Sheldon McClellan and Danuel House  have made the Wizards’ regular season squad, Charania adds.

Ware, who last appeared in the NBA during the regular season in 2013/14 with the Sixers, spent this past campaign overseas where he split time between Tianjin Ronggang (China) and ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne (France). In 31 combined games, the guard averaged 15.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 27.3 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .394/.354/.793.

Eddie, 24, played in 26 games for the Wizards a season ago, notching averages of 2.4 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.2 assists in just 5.7 minutes per outing. His slash line was .308/.319/1.000.

O’Bryant appeared in 66 games for the Bucks in 2015/16, averaging 3.0 points and 2.7 rebounds in 13.0 minutes per outing. His shooting line on the campaign was .411/1.000/.675.

Southeast Notes: Jack, Biyombo, Dragic, Ware

New Hawks point guard Jarrett Jack hopes to begin non-contact work in practice next week, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta is being careful with Jack, who is still recovering after tearing ligaments in his right knee in January. “I can tell you my knee feels 100 times better this month than it did last month,” Jack said. “Coach and [the staff] are on me about rushing to get back. They tell me to take my time. They’d rather have me for the longer stretch of the season than just this early part. I’m going to take it day by day. Patience isn’t something I was blessed with, so I’m going to do my best until the time is right to step back on the court.”

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

  • Magic center Bismack Biyombo understands that big money makes players targets for criticism, especially when they aren’t starting, relays Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel. Biyombo’s outstanding performance in last season’s playoffs earned him a $17MM raise, as he signed a four-year, $72MM deal with Orlando. The contract tied him with Evan Fournier as the highest-paid player on the team, but it didn’t make him the starting center. That role is still held by Nikola Vucevic. “People say things, say I can’t do this, do that … but all that matters to me is winning,” Biyombo said. “I’m really not going to care. I’m playing for my teammates. I love the game. I don’t take a day off. I don’t miss games. If I give 150 percent, I can go home happy.”
  • Miami’s Goran Dragic clarified some remarks Friday, saying he didn’t intend to convey unhappiness with the Heat, relays Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. In an interview last week with TNT’s David Aldridge, Dragic admitted that the loss of Dwyane Wade to free agency and Chris Bosh to health problems have put the current Miami team in a much different position than he expected when he re-signed last summer. “He asked me that question,” Dragic explained. “Didn’t I sign to be part of a great team, championship team? I said, ‘Yeah, of course.’ Then I said sometimes your career, this is business, you cannot have every decision go the way you want it on your own. This is a team decision. Sometimes you need to do two steps back to go one step forward. I’m happy to be here. This is the team that I want to be here. But I understand this is business.”
  • John Wall‘s recovery from offseason knee surgery has made Casper Ware a long shot to make the Wizards, writes J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic. In a column assessing the chances of each free agent to make Washington’s roster, Michael notes that the offseason additions of Trey Burke and Tomas Satoransky also hurt Ware’s chances.

Contract Details: Kings, Lakers, Raptors, Wizards

Although he may not make the Kings‘ regular-season roster, second-round guard Isaiah Cousins received a $100K guarantee on his one-year, minimum-salary contract, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). If Sacramento waives Cousins at the end of the preseason, the club will lose his NBA rights. However, the Kings will be able to hold onto his D-League rights and assign him to the Reno Bighorns. That $100K guarantee may make Cousins more willing to accept a low-paying D-League assignment rather than seeking out a job overseas.

Here are a few more contract details on recently-signed contracts, via Pincus:

  • Thomas Robinson received a non-guaranteed, one-year summer contract from the Lakers, Pincus tweets. Robinson’s non-guaranteed $1,050,961 salary is the same figure he would have been guaranteed if he’d exercised his player option with the Nets back in June.
  • Pincus passes along another Lakers contract note, tweeting that Tarik Black‘s new deal includes a 10% trade kicker.
  • New Raptors sharpshooter Brady Heslip is likely ticketed for the team’s D-League affiliate, but Toronto made it worth his while to sign a minimum-salary deal, guaranteeing him $56,500, according to Pincus (Twitter link).
  • A pair of Wizards camp invitees, Johnny O’Bryant and Casper Ware, signed one-year, non-guaranteed summer contracts with the team, tweets Pincus.

Wizards Ink Casper Ware To Camp Deal

SEPTEMBER 21: Approximately a month after agreeing to terms with him, the Wizards have officially signed Ware, according to RealGM’s NBA transactions log.

AUGUST 18: The Wizards have agreed to a contract with unrestricted free agent Casper Ware, Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post reports (on Twitter). The scribe labels it as a training camp deal, which means it likely includes little or no guaranteed money. Washington is well over the cap, so it is likely for the league minimum salary, though, the team does still have its Room Exception available, but it would be surprising if that was used in this instance.

Washington already has 16 players under contract, including 12 possessing full guarantees on their deals, so Ware certainly has his work cut out for him to make the regular season roster. He’ll be competing with Trey Burke, Tomas Satoransky and Marcus Thornton for a spot on the bench.

Ware, who last appeared in the NBA during the regular season in 2013/14 with the Sixers, spent this past campaign overseas where he split time between Tianjin Ronggang (China) and ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne (France). In 31 combined games, the guard averaged 15.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 27.3 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .394/.354/.793.

Jeff Ayres Tops D-League Draftees


The NBA D-League held its Draft today, with Jeff Ayres going first overall to the Idaho Stampede, the Jazz’s D-League affiliate. The selection of Ayres was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor was the first to report that Ayres signed a D-League contract making him eligible for today’s draft. In addition to Ayres, the top of the draft was saturated with selections of players who had not survived the October 26th league-wide cut down date, when rosters were required to be pared down to the regular season maximum of 15 players, including the likes of Jimmer Fredette, Perry Jones III, and Cartier Martin.

The 28-year-old Ayres, once known as Jeff Pendergraph, averaged 2.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in 7.5 minutes per game during the 2014/15 season for San Antonio. Rumors of NBA interest in the big man were scarce over the summer after the Spurs renounced their Early Bird rights to him in an effort to clear cap room for their offseason free agent haul, according to RealGM. Ayres had inked a one-year deal with Shanxi of the Chinese Basketball Association worth a reported $1MM back in early September, but he was unceremoniously waived by the club at the beginning of October.

It was a bit of a surprise to see Jones slip to the No. 3 overall pick, with the 24-year-old possessing one of the higher upsides among the pool of potential draftees. However, it wasn’t a shock to see the Knicks nab Fredette, who was born in Glens Falls, New York, and who will likely become a fan-favorite in Westchester in short order. With the Knicks’ backcourt depth dangerously thin, as well as being one of the poorer units statistically in the NBA thus far, Fredette has an excellent chance of returning to the NBA at some point this season, though he is still free to sign with any NBA team that were to come calling.

Here is the full list of first round selections. You can view the complete round by round summary of picks here:

  1. Idaho Stampede (Jazz) — Jeff Ayres
  2. Westchester Knicks (Knicks) — Jimmer Fredette
  3. Iowa Energy (Grizzlies) — Perry Jones III
  4. Iowa Energy (Grizzlies)  — Cartier Martin
  5. Delaware 87ers (Sixers) — Rysheed Jordan
  6. Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets) — Amir Williams
  7. Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors) — Sam Thompson
  8. Delaware 87ers (Sixers) — David Laury
  9. Iowa Energy (Grizzlies) — Rick Jackson
  10. Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets) — Jarvis Summers
  11. Maine Red Claws (Celtics) — Askia Booker
  12. Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets) — Cliff Hammonds
  13. Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder) — Rodney Carney
  14. Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat) — Jabril Trawick
  15. Canton Charge (Cavaliers) — Antonio Barton
  16. Austin Spurs (Spurs) — Jean Victor Nguidjol
  17. Bakersfield Jam (Suns) — Kevin Young
  18. Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors) — Jared Shaw
  19. Raptors 905 (Raptors) — Mike Anderson

And-Ones: Davis, Sixers, Ware

Former All-Star Baron Davis is still set on completing his comeback to the league, as he details in a first-hand account for NBA.com. The 36-year-old explains his motivations and reasons for wanting to get back on the court. Earlier this summer, Davis said he feels like he could play 15-20 minutes per game. He hasn’t played since he suffered a devastating knee injury in the 2012 playoffs.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Expectations will be heavy for Jahlil Okafor this season with the Sixers, especially since he has a good chance to lead all rookies in minutes this season, Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe writes. Joel Embiid’s absence will allow the big man to blend with  Nerlens Noel for what could be an effective center/power forward combination, Washburn adds.
  • Casper Ware, who last played in the league in 2013/14 as a member of the Sixers, signed a $350K deal with Tianjin Steel of China, a source told international reporter David Pick (on Twitter).

International Moves: Motum, Burton, Ware

Many of the dozens of players who recently found themselves on the market after having spent training camp with NBA teams end up in the D-League, but more lucrative deals usually require a trip overseas. International circuits are still reaping the benefits from the deluge of NBA cuts that took place in advance of last week’s deadline for teams to pare their rosters to 15, and here’s the latest on those moving from the Association to more distant outposts:

  • Brock Motum followed up his time in Jazz camp with a deal to play for the Adelaide 36ers in his native Australia, the team announced (hat tip to Sporando’s Emiliano Carchia). The deal runs through 2015/16, but it allows the 24-year-old to leave for an NBA deal, according to Roy Ward of The Sydney Morning Herald. It’s unclear how much Motum will make, but he opted for Australia over the D-League because of better money and the belief that the competition is superior, Ward writes.
  • Kings camp cut Deonte Burton has signed with Germany’s Ratiopharm Ulm on a pact that covers the rest of the season, the team announced (translation via ).
  • Former Sixers guard Casper Ware is also off to Germany, having signed with EWE Baskets Oldenburg, the team announced (translation via Carchia). The contract covers the balance of 2014/15, according to the club. Ware was briefly a member of the Nets after a trade sent him to Brooklyn 10 days ago, but he wound up on waivers the day after that.