Damion Lee Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Celtics Waive Three Camp Invitees

October 20th, 2016 at 4:09pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics have reduced their roster from the maximum 20 players to 17, announcing today (via Twitter) that they’ve waived Marcus Georges-Hunt, Damion Lee, and Jalen Jones. The team will have to remove at least two more players from its roster by opening night to get down to the regular season limit of 15.

While Boston has some tough roster decisions ahead, Georges-Hunt, Lee, and Jones were always expected to be cut before the regular season. Their contracts weren’t fully guaranteed, with Lee getting a $50K guarantee, while Georges-Hunt and Jones got $25K apiece. All three players are candidates to join the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics’ D-League affiliate.

With their roster down to 17, the Celtics still appear likely to cut second-round pick Ben Bentil before the season, and either James Young or R.J. Hunter – each of whom has a guaranteed 2016/17 salary – could join him on the waiver wire. GM Danny Ainge is also likely exploring the trade market in an effort to get something of value for one of his back-of-the-roster players, so it will be interesting to see what moves Boston ends up making in the next several days.

Contract Details: Warriors, Nuggets, Celtics, Pistons

September 27th, 2016 at 12:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Teams signing players to training camp deals in the hopes that those players will eventually land with their D-League affiliates often incentivize their offers by including partial guarantees. That appears to be the case with the Warriors — as we noted earlier today, Golden State awarded $50K guarantees to Cameron Jones, Scott Wood, and Elgin Cook, who all seem like good bets to end up with Santa Cruz. Given how modest D-League salaries are, that extra guaranteed money can motivate players to accept D-League assignments rather than seeking more lucrative jobs overseas.

According to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link), another Warriors camp invitee, Phil Pressey, also received a small guarantee, worth $35K. However, JaVale McGee‘s contract with the team is fully non-guaranteed. Of course, McGee seems more likely to earn a spot on Golden State’s regular-season roster than many of his fellow camp invitees, in which case he’d have an opportunity to earn his full $1.4MM+ salary.

Here are a few more salary details from around the NBA, via Pincus:

According to Pincus’ salary information, the Nuggets signed Robbie Hummel and Jarnell Stokes to two-year, minimum-salary contracts, while Nate Wolters got a three-year, minimum-salary deal. Hummel and Stokes received guarantees worth $150K apiece, while Wolters received $50K in guaranteed money.
The Celtics signed Damion Lee to a two-year, minimum-salary contract that features $50K in guaranteed money, while Jalen Jones got a one-year deal with a $25K guarantee, per Pincus (Twitter link).
The one-year, minimum-salary deals Nikola Jovanovic and Trey Freeman inked with the Pistons are both worth about $543K, the rookie minimum. However, Jovanovic got a $30K guarantee from the team, while Freeman’s deal is fully non-guaranteed, Pincus notes.

Celtics Sign Jalen Jones, Damion Lee

September 16th, 2016 at 6:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

SEPTEMBER 16th: The signing is official, according to the RealGM transactions log.

SEPTEMBER 14th: The Celtics have signed undrafted free agents Jalen Jones and Damion Lee, RealGM reports. The exact details of the arrangements are not yet known, but with Boston virtually out of cap room, they are almost assuredly one-year, minimum salary training camp pacts. The duo are far more likely to begin the season as a member of the Maine Red Claws in the D-League than in Boston.

Jones is a 23-year-old shooting guard out of Texas A&M. He appeared in 33 games as a senior, averaging 15.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 27.3 minutes per outing. His slash line on the campaign was .425/.324/.702. Jones participated in the Las Vegas summer league as part of the Raptors’ squad where he averaged 3.2 points on 35.3% shooting.

Lee, who is also 23 and a shooting guard, appeared in 30 games for Louisville in 2015/16, averaging 15.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 33.5 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .428/.341/.843. Lee participated in both the Orlando and Las Vegas summer leagues as a member of Miami’s squad, averaging a combined 7.5 points and 2.0 rebounds on 32.5% shooting.

Northwest Notes: Henderson, Jazz, Wolves

June 15th, 2016 at 11:15am CST by Luke Adams

Earlier in his career, Gerald Henderson‘s top priority as a free agent might have been to find a team that would give him the opportunity to start. However, with his Trail Blazers contract set to expire, Henderson will prioritize contending teams this offseason, recognizing that being a starter isn’t as important to him as it once was.

“It’s great to start; starting the game is a special thing,” Henderson said, according to Cody Sharrett of Blazers.com. “To be a starter in the NBA is a cool thing, I’ve done it for a long time, but what’s really more important to me is playing significant minutes in times where a team needs you and more of your impact while you’re out on the floor – just being a part of what’s going on. You look at different teams, sometimes the best player comes off the bench, it all depends on what kind of team you have. I’d probably say three or four years ago, [starting] was much more important to me.”

Let’s check in on a few more items from out of the Northwest…

The Jazz are hosting six more players for pre-draft workouts today, the team announced (via Twitter). The list of participants: Josh Gray (LSU), Rosco Allen (Stanford), Tanner Plomb (West Point), Trey Lewis (Louisville), Brannen Greene (Kansas), and James Webb III (Boise State).
The Timberwolves worked out Kentucky’s Skal Labissiere individually on Tuesday, and also had Ryan Arcidiacono (Villanova), Tim Quarterman (LSU), Wes Washpun (Northern Iowa), Devin Thomas (Wake Forest), and Josh Scott (Colorado) in for a group workout, reports Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter links). Damion Lee (Louisville) had also been scheduled to participate, but pulled out due to an injury.
The Trail Blazers are hosting multiple free agent mini-camps and are saying they may end up signing multiple participants from those camps, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Russ Smith and Erick Green were among the free agents in attendance at Portland’s first veteran mini-camp.
As Erik Horne of The Oklahoman details, Andre Roberson enjoyed a breakout season in 2015/16, and is becoming a reliable two-way wing just in time for the opening of his contract extension window. If the Thunder don’t sign Roberson to an extension this year, he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency next summer.

Draft Notes: Selden, Onuaku, Richardson

June 10th, 2016 at 10:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Here’s the latest happenings regarding the upcoming NBA Draft, which will be held on June 23rd in Brooklyn, New York:

Former Kansas shooting guard Wayne Selden has worked out for the Lakers, Rockets, Spurs and Bulls in addition to previously reported sessions with the Knicks and Bucks, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (via Twitter).
Former Louisville small forward Damion Lee has participated in workouts for the Clippers, Celtics, Suns, Spurs, Wizards, Jazz and Raptors, plus, he has upcoming visits scheduled with the Mavericks and Thunder, Kennedy tweets.
The Grizzlies have workouts scheduled on Sunday with Ben Bentil (Providence), Isaiah Cousins (Oklahoma), Brice Johnson (North Carolina), Gary Payton II (Oregon State), Malachi Richardson (Syracuse) and Selden, the team announced via press release.
Draft prospects Chinanu Onuaku (Louisville) and Joel James (North Carolina) have signed with Tandem Sports for representation, Kennedy reports (via Twitter).
Former Manhattan power forward Jermaine Lawrence will work out for the Warriors on Saturday, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets.
The Jazz held workouts today for Julian Jacobs (USC), Payton, Kyle Collinsworth (BYU), Dakarai Tucker (Utah), Alpha Kaba (France) and Denzel Valentine (Michigan State), the team announced.

Draft Notes: Labissiere, Poeltl, Murray

June 8th, 2016 at 10:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Here are the latest news and notes regarding the 2016 NBA Draft, which will be held on June 23rd in Brooklyn, New York:

The Nuggets have workouts scheduled on Thursday for Josh Adams (Wyoming), Kay Felder (Oakland), Brice Johnson, (North Carolina), Chris Obekpa, (UNLV), Malachi Richardson, (Syracuse) and Guershcon Yabusele (France), the team announced via press release.
The Suns held a group workout today for Johnson, Richardson, Alpha Kaba (France) and Maodo Lo (Columbia), the team announced in a series of tweets. Working out individually for Phoenix today was Skal Labissiere (Kentucky) and Jakob Poeltl (Utah).
Kentucky combo guard Jamal Murray said he intends to work out for just four teams: the Celtics, Suns, Timberwolves and Pelicans, Jay King of MassLive tweets. The teams on Murray’s list hold picks No. 3 to No. 6 in June’s draft, King notes.
The Wolves will bring in Damion Lee (Louisville) and Ryan Arcidiacono (Villanova) as part of a group workout on June 14th, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN notes (Twitter links).

Draft Notes: Maker, Zimmerman, Richardson

June 4th, 2016 at 3:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Here’s the latest news and notes regarding the upcoming 2016 NBA Draft, which will be held on June 23rd in Brooklyn, New York:

The Wolves held a workout on Friday for Matt Costello (Michigan State), Ryan Spangler (Oklahoma) and Mike Tobey (Virginia), Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN relays (via Twitter).
The Jazz have workouts scheduled for today with Michael Gbinije (Syracuse), Damion Lee (Louisville), James Robinson (Pittsburgh), Josh Scott (Colorado), Malachi Richardson (Syracuse) and Kyle Wiltjer (Gonzaga), the team announced.
Working out for the Grizzlies on Sunday will be Petr Cornelie (France), Julian Jacobs (USC), Alpha Kaba (Mega Leks), Abdel Nader (Iowa State), Josh Adams (Wyoming) and Jarrod Uthoff (Iowa), the team announced via press release.
The Pistons held workouts on Friday for Thon Maker (Australia), Cornelie, Stephen Zimmerman (UNLV), Pascal Siakam (New Mexico State), Isaiah Taylor (Texas) and Cat Barber (NC State), Keith Langlois of NBA.com relays (Twitter links).