Casper Ware Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nets Waive Casper Ware

October 25th, 2014 at 12:09pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Nets have officially waived Casper Ware, the team has announced. Brooklyn had acquired Ware yesterday in the deal that sent Marquis Teague to the Sixers. Ware’s contract was non-guaranteed so the move won’t cost the team any cash. This also reduces the Nets’ preseason roster count to 15, which is the regular season maximum.

The 24-year-old Ware was playing in Italy last season before he signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Sixers, who then signed him to a low-risk multiyear deal. The Nets never figured to keep Ware, and he was acquired strictly as a means to remove Teague’s fully guaranteed deal from their books.

In nine career games, all with the Sixers, Ware has averaged 5.3 PPG, 1.0 RPG, and 1.1 APG. His slash line is .429/.333/.833.

Nets, Sixers Swap Marquis Teague, Casper Ware

October 24th, 2014 at 3:24pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:24pm: The Sixers have followed with a formal announcement of their own. The press release notes that Philly will receive the more favorable of Milwaukee’s and Sacramento’s second-round picks in 2019.

2:47pm: The Sixers have acquired Marquis Teague and a protected 2019 second-round pick from the Nets in exchange for Casper Ware, as Brooklyn announced via press release. The pick headed Philadelphia’s way originally comes from Milwaukee as compensation for the Bucks hiring of coach Jason Kidd. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported the clubs were in trade talks about Teague, and Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News wrote that the clubs were close to finalizing a deal.

Teague is entering the third year of his rookie scale contract, set to pay him more than $1.12MM this season, which is fully guaranteed. A decision is due by a week from today on his fourth-year team option worth in excess of $2.023MM, but a report during the offseason indicated that Brooklyn was unlikely to pick that up. It’s unclear if Philadelphia is similarly willing to pass on the option, though the Sixers have tens of millions more in terms of cap flexibility than the Nets do to keep the point guard on the books.

Ware, another point guard, has a much less decorated pedigree than the other player in the trade. He’s on a non-guaranteed contract for the minimum salary, and he seems a long shot, at best, to remain with Brooklyn until opening night. The now 24-year-old was playing in Italy last season before he signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Sixers, who followed up with a low-risk multiyear deal.

The Nets are likely to waive Ware, a source confirms to Andy Vasquez of The Record, who adds that the team is likely to keep the 15 remaining players on its roster for opening night. That’s a boon for Jorge Gutierrez and Cory Jefferson, who have partially guaranteed contracts, and Jerome Jordan, whom coach Lionel Hollins has advocated keeping in spite of the center’s non-guaranteed deal.

Teague heads to a Sixers team with an unsettled roster featuring 20 players just three days in advance of Monday’s deadline for teams to cut down to no more than 15 guys. He becomes just the 10th fully guaranteed contract on Philly’s books. It’s the second trade within the calendar year of 2014 for Teague, whom the Bulls shipped to Brooklyn in January.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Eastern Notes: Heat, Hawks, Knight, Ware

October 23rd, 2014 at 3:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Heat front office wasn’t deflated when they learned that LeBron James and his talents were returning to the Cavs, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today writes. Miami’s brass looked at the departure as a new opportunity and a fresh chapter, notes Zillgitt. The team wasn’t interested in a long rebuilding process, and Zillgitt points to the team bringing back Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, as well as signing Josh McRoberts and Luol Deng as proof that the team still intends to be contenders in the Eastern Conference.

Here’s more from the east:

The Hawks have hired Goldman Sachs and Inner Circle Sports to help facilitate the sale of the franchise, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (Twitter link).
With 16 players remaining on their preseason roster the Celtics have at least one more personnel move to make prior to the regular season commencing. A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com hands out his preseason grades for the players and notes where each currently fits in Boston’s plans.
New Bucks team owners Wes Edens and Marc Lasry face their first major franchise decision, Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times writes. The two have to decide the contract future of Brandon Knight, whom they have until October 31st to work out an extension with or else he is eligible to become a restricted free agent next summer, notes Woelfel. Knight’s numbers and age compare favorably with Eric Bledsoe‘s, but many around the league feel that the Suns overpaid when the re-signed Bledsoe to a five year, $70MM deal, so Knight may be hard pressed to duplicate Bledsoe’s near $14MM per season average, the Journal Times scribe relays.
The Sixers still have 20 players on their preseason roster and a number of decisions to make before Saturday’s deadline to waive players so that they’re off the team by the time opening-night rosters are set on Monday. Casper Ware is in camp on a non-guaranteed deal, but has a very real shot to stick with the team, Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com writes. “I feel good about it,” Ware said. “I don’t know what they have planned, I just control what I can control and play hard.”

Eastern Rumors: Arenas, Stephenson, Bucks

April 24th, 2014 at 12:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Gilbert Arenas reiterated on SiriusXM NBA Radio today that he’s still holding out hope for an NBA comeback, as USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt tweets, and that echoes Arenas’ comments from December. The Magic are probably rooting for his return to the league, since that could allow them to use set-off rights to recoup a small portion of the millions they still owe him on his amnestied contract. While we wait to see if Agent Zero, still just 32 years old, makes it back to the Association, here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Sean Deveney of The Sporting News heard from a GM around the beginning of February who expected Lance Stephenson to receive offers with eight-figure annual salaries, but an executive now tells Deveney that the soon-to-be free agent will probably command only $7-8MM a year.
Outgoing Bucks owner Herb Kohl borrowed money from the NBA a total of five times in 2009 and 2010 to help keep the team going, reports Rich Kirchen of the Milwaukee Business Journal. Kohl told Kirchen that he’s spent more than $100MM of his own money on the team during his nearly three decades of ownership.
Casper Ware‘s multiyear contract with the Sixers extends through 2016/17, but the team only inked Adonis Thomas through the end of 2013/14, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports (Twitter link).
Eric Dawson, who spent preseason with the Hawks this past fall, is headed to play for Heilongjiang Zhaozhou Feng Shen of China’s second-tier league, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. Dawson has also spent time in the D-League and Iran this season.

Sixers Rumors: Ware, Sims, Moultrie

April 15th, 2014 at 11:44am CST by Chuck Myron

The Sixers are locked into finishing with the league’s second worst record, as our Reverse Standings show, somehow managing to lose out on pole position for the top draft pick despite an NBA-record-tying losing streak of 26 games this season. Philadelphia’s eyes have been on next season and beyond for a while, and here’s the latest on the team’s plans for what’s ahead:

The team’s latest deal with Casper Ware is a multiyear arrangement that includes non-guaranteed salary after this season, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Sixers have yet to make an official announcement.
Henry Sims also has a non-guaranteed deal for next season, but coach Brett Brown is enamored with him and hopes the team hangs on to the midseason trade acquisition, notes Jason Wolf of The News Journal.
Arnett Moultrie, back from his five-game drug suspension, has a fully guaranteed salary worth more than $1.136MM coming his way next season, but Brown indicated that it’s not certain whether he has a future with the team, as Wolf writes in the same piece.
Brown also spoke about the team’s plans for a new practice facility and trumpeted its value for attracting free agents, as Wolf also points out. However, sources tell Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News that the site the team envisioned for the building is a no-go, leaving the team scrambling to find a new location.

Sixers To Re-Sign Casper Ware

April 15th, 2014 at 8:09am CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 8:09am: Ware and the Sixers have agreed to a deal for the rest of the season, as Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News reports at the end of his latest piece.

MONDAY, 10:31am: Point guard Casper Ware is practicing with the Sixers today even though his second 10-day contract with the team expired Sunday night, as Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News note (Twitter links). That appears to signal that the Sixers are signing him for at least the rest of the season.

The former Long Beach State standout has averaged 12.6 minutes per game with the team in seven appearances after it signed him out of Italy. Ware’s posted 4.1 points and 1.1 assists per contest, though defense is his strong suit, and he’s notched an impressive 1.1 steals per game in his limited playing time.

Ware is one of a half-dozen players who’ve signed 10-day contracts with the Sixers this season, as our 10-Day Tracker shows. Jarvis Varnado is the only one who’s received a deal covering the rest of the season so far, though the team’s 10-day deal with Adonis Thomas carries through the final day of the regular season. Varnado received a four-year deal that isn’t fully guaranteed beyond this season, a contract structure that GM Sam Hinkie has employed liberally in his first season on the job. The Sixers probably have a similar long-term arrangement with Ware, though that’s just my speculation.

Sixers Re-Sign Casper Ware To 10-Day Contract

April 4th, 2014 at 7:57am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 7:57am: The Sixers have officially announced the deal, via press release.

WEDNESDAY, 4:51pm: Ware hasn’t received confirmation from the team about whether he’ll receive another 10-day deal, as he told reporters, including Tom Moore of Calkins Media (Twitter link).

8:09am: The Sixers will sign point guard Casper Ware to a second 10-day contract, tweets Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. His first deal with the team is set to expire after Philadelphia’s game against the Bobcats tonight.

Philadelphia’s decision to bring aboard the 5’10” Ware was a surprise, since he was by no means a dominant figure for Virtus Bologna of Italy, where he had been playing. The Sixers have nonetheless plugged him into their rotation, as he’s averaged 16.0 minutes per game over four NBA contests. He’s notched 3.8 points, 1.3 assists and 0.8 turnovers, and he’s made just five of his 23 attempts from the floor.

The 24-year-old Rize Management client will get at least a few more games to try to find his stroke. He and fellow 10-day signee James Nunnally occupy the final two spots on the Sixers roster.

Sixers Sign Casper Ware To 10-Day Contract

March 24th, 2014 at 10:15am CST by Chuck Myron

10:15am: The deal is official, according to Sixers spokesperson Michael Preston (Twitter link).

8:29am: The Sixers will sign the defensive-minded Casper Ware to a 10-day contract today, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Philadelphia’s 10-day deal with Darius Johnson-Odom expired Sunday night, leaving an open roster spot. Emiliano Carchia of Sportando first reported Philly’s interest in the point guard, who most recently played for Virtus Bologna of Italy.

The 5’10” Ware has racked up honors at mediocre levels of basketball. He won back-to-back Big West Player of the Year honors in his final two seasons at Long Beach State, and he was the Big West Defensive Player of the Year as a junior. He went undrafted in 2012 and wound up in Italy’s second division, where he won MVP honors last year. He hasn’t been able to duplicate his success at Italy’s highest level this season, averaging 11.7 points, 2.2 points and 2.7 rebounds in 31.0 minutes per game.

He’ll now have a chance to see how he fares against another jump up in competition. His only glimpse of NBA action so far has been in summer league with the Pistons in 2012 and the Rockets this past offseason.

Sixers Interested In Casper Ware

March 11th, 2014 at 11:58am CST by Chuck Myron

The Sixers have interest in point guard Casper Ware and may invite him to audition for the team, a source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. It’s unclear if the interest in Ware, who just parted ways with Virtus Bologna of Italy, is tied to the team’s workouts with four others or its apparent multiyear deal with Jarvis Varnado. Signing Varnado for the season would give Philadelphia 15 guaranteed contracts, so the team would have to cut one of those deals to sign Ware or anyone else.

Ware went undrafted out of Long Beach State in 2012, and aside from summer league stints with the Pistons and Rockets the past two offseasons, he’s conducted his pro career overseas. He was the MVP of Italy’s second-tier league last year, though his numbers tailed off this season with a step up to Italy’s first division. He averaged 11.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists on just 36.3% shooting in 31.0 minutes per game.

His best assets may lie on defense. He was the Big West Defensive Player of the Year during his junior year in college, and over his four-year college career, he averaged 1.6 steals per game.