Darius Miller

Pelicans Re-Sign Darius Miller

JULY 25TH: The deal is official, the team announced.

JULY 18TH: Shortly after adding free agent Jimmer Fredette to their backcourt, the Pelicans have struck a deal with small forward Darius Miller, reports John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune (via Twitter). After being selected by the Pelicans in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft, Miller averaged 3.3 points in 14.6 minutes per contest over two seasons in New Orleans. However, in June the team opted not to extend the Kentucky product a qualifying offer that would have been worth $1.15MM for next season. The terms of this deal are not yet known.

The 6-foot-8 Doug Neustadt client was the sixth Wildcat taken in the 2012 draft, including Miller’s current and former teammate Anthony Davis, who the Pelicans took No. 1 overall. In his senior year, Miller helped lead the Wildcats to a national title, averaging 9.9 PPG on .474/.376/.797 shooting.

Miller figures to provide depth on the wing for the Pelicans, who possess a talented roster but don’t really have any small forwards with Miller’s height or length. A year after adding Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans to a roster that already contained a budding superstar in Davis, the Pelicans added Omer Asik, Jimmer Fredette and have now brought back Miller this offseason.

Qualifying Offers: Monday

Teams must decide today whether to tender qualifying offers to their players eligible for restricted free agency or lose the right to match offers from other teams. We’ll round up all of today’s qualifying offer decisions here:

  • The Pacers declined to tender a qualifying offer to Lavoy Allen, according to Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). Still, there’s mutual interest in a new deal, Buckner adds (on Twitter).
  • The Hawks extended a qualifying offer to Mike Scott, notes Mark Deeks of ShamSports (on Twitter).
  • No surprise here: Chandler Parsons got his QO from the Rockets, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports.
  • The Pacers won’t extend a QO to Evan Turner, writes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
  • Kevin Seraphin officially got his qualifying offer from the Wizards, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com.
  • As expected, the Warriors won’t extend a QO to Jordan Crawford, according to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter).
  • The Hawks have extended a qualifying offer to Shelvin Mack, a source tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
  • The Bucks have told forward-center Ekpe Udoh he will not be tendered an offer thus making him an unrestricted free agent, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo (on Twitter).
  • The Grizzlies have passed on making a qualifying offer to Ed Davis, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Davis was reportedly a favorite of former CEO Jason Levien, but with Zach Randolph having agreed to an extension, it appears that Davis isn’t quite as highly valued in Memphis as he once was. His qualifying offer would have been worth $4,268,609, a slightly smaller amount than he was originally in line for, as I explained.
  • No shock here, but the Pistons extended a qualifying offer to Greg Monroe, tweets Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News, preserving their right to match offers for the fifth-rated player in the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings. The qualifying offer is worth nearly $5.5MM, but he’ll command much more than that.
  • The Pelicans will not give Darius Miller a qualifying offer, reports John Reid of The Times Picayune. The offer would have been worth more than $1.115MM.
  • The Spurs have tendered a qualifying offer to Aron Baynes, notes Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News (on Twitter). It’s worth more than $1.115MM, the same amount as Miller’s would have been.
  • The Knicks have elected not to make a qualifying offer to Toure’ Murry, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). They’d like to re-sign him nonetheless, Stein adds in a second tweet, but other teams have interest, USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt says (on Twitter). The offer would have been worth more than $1.016MM.
  • Othyus Jeffers and Robbie Hummel won’t receive qualifying offers from the Wolves, the team announced (on Twitter). The offers would have been for amounts slightly greater than $1.148MM and $1.016MM, respectively.

Western Rumors: Neal, Miller, Teodosic

The Spurs, like the Thunder last season, have largely stood pat the summer after winning the Western Conference title. The substitution of Marco Belinelli for Gary Neal stands as the most significant change in San Antonio, but, just as Oklahoma City was frequently overlooked in favor of the Lakers in 2012, the Spurs don't appear to be clear favorites to make it back to the Finals. The Thunder are lurking, the Rockets and Warriors have made major upgrades, while the Clippers, Grizzlies and perhaps the Nuggets could also win the West. Here's more on the Spur who got away and other news from the Western Conference:

  • The Timberwolves never spoke with agent David Falk or anyone else from Neal's camp about signing the guard before he reached agreement yesterday with the Buckstweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
  • Nikolaos Lotsos, the agent for Serbian-born guard Milos Teodosic, tells Sports.ru that his client rejected an offer from the Grizzlies so that he can continue his career overseas (translation via Sportando).
  • Darius Miller's minimum-salary contract with the Pelicans became fully guaranteed for the coming season when the team elected not to waive him by the end of yesterday. Previously, the deal had been completely non-guaranteed.

Hornets Notes: Williams, Forwards, Free Agents

Sitting at 26-48, the Hornets head to Golden State tomorrow night to take on the Warriors.  With only eight games remaining, it sounds like the team will have some decisions to make in the offseason.  Let's round up all things New Orleans here on this Tuesday night:

  • Hornets coach Monty Williams does not foresee the Hornets (soon to be the Pelicans) having any problems attracting top talent this offseason, writes John Reid of The Times-Picayune.  Along with the name change, the New Orleans franchise has a 55,000 square foot practice facility in the works as well as ample cap space to make a splash.  Williams says that multiple free-agents-to-be have suggested to him during games that they'd love to play for him in New Orleans. 
  • Williams addressed the idea of changes to the team's roster over the summer, notes Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com (Twitter link). "That’s just the nature of it. When you have a record like we have, you’re not going to settle for this production," Williams said.
  • Williams expressed his displeasure with the team's small forwards earlier this season, and Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune echoes that sentiment, imploring the team to prioritize an upgrade at the three this summer.  As it stands now, the Hornets use Al-Farouq Aminu, Darius Miller and Lance Thomas at that spot, who barely combine for 12 points per night. 
  • The Hornets could have as many as eight players become free agents when the season ends in two weeks, including the entire small forward trio mentioned above, Reid writes.  Aminu will become a free agent, along with Xavier Henry, Roger Mason and Louis Amundson.  The Hornets must decide whether to extend team options to Miller, Thomas and backup point guard Brian Roberts.  Per Reid, this has resulted in an environment where the current players are desperate to make an impression. While Reid doesn't mention him, Terrel Harris has a non-guaranteed deal next season and could also become a free agent. 

Hornets Recall Darius Miller From D-League

We'll round up the day's D-League assignments and recalls in this post, with the latest moves on top.

  • The Hornets announced they've recalled rookie Darius Miller from the D-League's Iowa Energy. In his nearly monthlong assignment, the 6'8" small forward didn't exactly light it up for Iowa, averaging 9.9 points and 3.5 rebounds in 27.2 per game over 11 contests. Still, the Kentucky product has seen a fair amount of playing time for the big club this year, getting in 23 games and posting 2.0 PPG in 13.6 MPG. 

D-League Moves: Warriors, Wroten, Samuels

Today's D-League assignments and recalls:

  • Kent Bazemore and Jeremy Tyler continue to bounce back and forth between Golden State and Santa Cruz, having been re-assigned to the D-League by the Warriors. The team announced the move in a press release.
  • The Grizzlies have recalled Tony Wroten from their D-League affiliate, according to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal (via Twitter). The rookie guard had just been sent to the Reno Bighorns last Wednesday.
  • The Cavs announced that they have recalled Samardo Samuels from the D-League's Canton Charge.  Samuels, who turns 24 in January, has seen time in 18 games for Cleveland so far this year.
  • The Mavericks announced today that they have recalled Jared Cunningham from the Texas Legends of the D-League.  During his seven game stint with the Legends he averaged 18.1 points, 3.0 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.0 steals in 37 minutes per contest.
  • The Hornets announced that they have assigned forward Darius Miller to the D-League's Iowa Energy.  Miller has appeared in 23 games this season for the Hornets, averaging 2.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  New Orleans drafted the 6'8" Kentucky product with the 46th overall pick in the 2012 draft.

Hornets Sign Darius Miller

The Hornets have officially signed second-round pick Darius Miller, the team announced today in a press release. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but according to Storyteller's Contracts, the 46th overall pick will receive a two-year deal worth the minimum salary that includes a guaranteed first year.

Miller, 22, was the last of six Kentucky players to be selected in June's draft. In his senior year, he helped lead the Wildcats to a national title, averaging 9.9 PPG on .474/.376/.797 shooting. He'll join Austin Rivers and college teammate Anthony Davis as rookies on this year's Hornets squad.

Draft Rumors: Tuesday

With two days remaining until the 2012 draft, we've seen a first-round pick change hands for the first time this offseason, as the Timberwolves agreed to send the 18th overall pick to Houston in exchange for Chase Budinger and the rights to Lior Eliyahu. The general consensus is that the move is the precursor to a bigger deal for the Rockets, and Houston isn't the only team rumored to be shopping picks. Here are today's draft-related rumors, with the newest updates added to the top of the page throughout the day….

  • Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld tweeted that the Bucks are looking to move into the top 10, and are supposedly targeting John Henson
  • Kennedy says that the Rockets are still trying to acquire another first round pick, most recently in discussions with the Hornets about the 10th pick before talks broke down (Twitter link). He also tweeted that the Lakers and Nets are both looking to acquire a first rounder.  

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Draft Updates: Wednesday

With 15 days remaining until draft night, we'll round up today's notes on draft workouts, stock watches, and potential selections right here, with the latest up top:

Earlier updates:

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Draft Rumors: Tuesday

We'll track the day's draft-related news and rumors here, with the newest updates up top:

  • Jonathon Givony of DraftExpress has measurements from Chicago's draft combine, including max verticals for all the prospects in attendance.
  • Neither Perry Jones III or Terrence Jones blew away Warriors management when they worked out for Golden State, writes Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. The Warriors continue to hope they can use their lottery pick to upgrade at small forward, and both Joneses project as power forwards.

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