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Greg Oden, Royce White, Others Selected In BIG3 Draft

May 2nd, 2019 at 12:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The BIG3, Ice Cube’s 3-on-3 league, completed its draft for the 2019 season on Wednesday night, and a number of noteworthy former NBA players were among the players selected.

Former NBA first overall pick Greg Oden wasn’t the first player picked in the BIG3 draft, but he did come off the board in the first round, going seventh overall to the Aliens, a team whose roster also includes Kendrick Perkins and Shannon Brown.

The No. 1 selection in the BIG3’s draft was former NBA first-rounder Royce White, whose NBA career was cut short after just three games due to battles with mental health and a fear of flying. White will join an Enemies squad led by captain Gilbert Arenas and co-captains Lamar Odom and Perry Jones III.

The following veterans who appeared in at least 100 games during their NBA careers were also selected in the 31-player draft on Wednesday:

Larry Sanders (3 Headed Monsters)
Josh Powell (Killer 3s)
Shawne Williams (Bivouac)
Jamario Moon (Ghost Ballers)
Donte Greene (Killer 3s)
Jason Richardson (Tri-State)
Alan Anderson (Triplets)
Sam Young (Trilogy)
Brandon Rush (Aliens)
Craig Smith (Enemies)
Mario Chalmers (3 Headed Monsters)
C.J. Watson (Killer 3s)
Carlos Arroyo (Trilogy)
Dion Glover (Bivouac)
Bonzi Wells (Tri-State)

A full breakdown of the 2019 BIG3 draft results can be found right here, while the rosters for the 12 teams set to compete in the ’19 season are here.

And-Ones: Oden, Casspi, One-And-Done, Loyd

June 6th, 2017 at 3:17pm CST by Luke Adams

Sixty teams have been announced for this summer’s The Basketball Tournament, a 64-team, $2MM, winner-take-all competition, writes Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. While no NBA players will play in the tournament, several ex-NBAers – including Sundiata Gaines, Donte Greene, and former No. 1 pick Greg Oden – will participate, and some current NBA players will be coaches.

Let’s round up a few more items from around the basketball world…

Omri Casspi, who was formerly represented by Dan Fegan, has changed agents and signed with CAA Sports, per Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal (Twitter link). Casspi, whose change in representation was reported last month in the wake of Fegan’s legal troubles, will be a free agent this offseason.
Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer takes a deep dive into the changes the NBA may eventually make to the current one-and-done system for players coming out of high school, noting that many team execs don’t necessarily agree with commissioner Adam Silver on the matter.
D-League guard Jordan Loyd is drawing some NBA interest, according to international reporter David Pick, who tweets that Loyd will attend a Nets free agent mini-camp, then will audition for the Clippers and play in Summer League with the Pacers. The 23-year-old averaged 15.1 PPG in 49 games for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in 2016/17.
In a pair of pieces for Basketball Insiders, James Blancarte and Spencer Davies identify several potential trade candidates in both the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference.

International Notes: Bennett, Greene, Kelly

January 11th, 2017 at 6:38pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Anthony Bennett, who was recently waived by the Nets, may head overseas to pursue his next basketball opportunity, sources tell Sam Amico of Pro Basketball Digest. Amico adds that the former No.1 overall pick is also considering the D-League as an option with an eye on signing a few 10-day contracts with NBA clubs.

Bennett flashed promise at UNLV but struggled mightily during his three stops in the NBA. Amico notes that Bennett’s poor performance during his rookie season played a role in Cleveland’s decision to fire then-GM Chris Grant during the middle of the 2013/14 campaign.

Here are a few more international updates on players with NBA ties:

Former Kings big man Donte Greene, a 2008 first-rounder who last played in 2012, has joined Puerto Rican team Capitanes de Arecibo, according to an announcement from the club (hat tip to Sportando). Greene, who turns 29 next month, said back in August that he continues to hope for one more shot from an NBA team.
Maccabi Kiryat Gat of Israel has released former Nets guard Tyshawn Taylor, according to international journalist David Pick (Twitter links). The team will use the roster spot to bring Josh Selby aboard. Selby, who was the No. 49 pick in the 2011 draft, previously played in Israel for Bnei Herzliya.
Sasha Djordjevic, the coach of Bayern Munich, is recruiting Nicolas Laprovittola to play for his team, Pick reports (Twitter link). Laprovittola was waived by the Spurs last month.
Ryan Kelly has garnered interest from Reggio Emilia, a team in Italy, but it’s unlikely he joins the club as he prefers to pursue NBA opportunities, according to Emilio Carchia of Sportando. The Hawks waived Kelly last week.

Luke Adams contributed to this post

Free Agent Notes: Bonner, O’Bryant, Warriors

August 10th, 2016 at 1:01pm CST by Luke Adams

After spending the first two seasons of his NBA career in Toronto, sharpshooting big man Matt Bonner has played for the Spurs for the last decade. However, Bonner is not currently under the contract with the team and doesn’t sound overly optimistic about returning to San Antonio for the 2016/17 season (hat tip to Jeff Garcia of Spurs Zone).

“Currently they haven’t signed me,” Bonner said of San Antonio, during a segment on Concord News Radio (SoundCloud link). “Unless something changes going into the season, I would probably not be with the Spurs.”

While Bonner may not re-sign with the Spurs, he continues to work out and is hopeful for another opportunity with an NBA team, intending to exhaust every option before moving on to the next stage of his life: “If nothing happens and I know for sure it’s over that I’m not going to be playing again, then I can walk away at peace.”

Here’s more on a few free agents around the league:

A second-round pick in the 2014 draft, Johnny O’Bryant was recently waived by the Bucks and finds himself out of work. However, O’Bryant and agent Gerald Collier are optimistic that they’ll find a new home for the young forward as Collier tells Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times. “We’re still exploring our options,” Collier said. “There are four or five teams that are showing interest. We want to get a roster spot, a guaranteed deal… Our goal is stay in the league. Johnny has improved in each season he’s been in the NBA and he’s still young; he just turned 23 (on June 1). We have received a lot of positive feedback, so we’re staying patient. We’ll see what happens.”
Former Kings big man Donte Greene, a 2008 first-rounder who last played in 2012, is still hoping to get one more shot at an NBA roster, writes Brian Rzeppa of D-League Digest. Greene describes himself as “hungry as ever” as he attempts to get back on the radar of NBA teams. “I’m just older, more mature and smarter,” Greene said. “I was young in Sacramento and I was kind of in college mode with partying and it hurt me, it hurt my reputation in the NBA and I haven’t had the chance to show that I’m older now and more focused and know what it takes to succeed not only in basketball but in life.”
In an Insider-only ESPN.com piece, Jeremias Engelmann and Steve Ilardi outline their picks for the eight best free agent signings of the NBA offseason. Three of those signings were completed by the Warriors, with Kevin Durant, Zaza Pachulia, and David West all making the cut. The Suns‘ addition of Jared Dudley and the Raptors‘ signing of Jared Sullinger are among their other picks.

Western Notes: Grizzlies, Thompson, Suns

August 23rd, 2014 at 8:59am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Grizzlies allowed a trade exception worth $1,160,040 to expire when they failed to use it by the end of Friday. Memphis had created the exception in the deal that sent Tony Wroten to the Sixers a year ago. It’s the second trade exception that the Grizzlies have let lapse in the past week or so, after their $1,027,424 Donte Greene trade exception expired on the 15th.

Here’s more from out west:

Mychal Thompson discussed the trade rumors this summer regarding his son, Klay Thompson. Thompson was rumored to be a key piece for the Wolves in any deal involving Kevin Love heading the Warriors. The elder Thompson said, “He was put on the table by the owner and the general manager. Jerry West and Steve Kerr pulled him off the deal,” tweets Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group.
The elder Thompson also told Leung (Twitter link), that he thought the Warriors would land Love. “I really thought [Joe] Lacob the owner was just going to veto everybody’s opinion,” Thompson said.
After their surprise success last season, very little has gone right for the Suns this offseason, writes Bob Young of the Arizona Republic. Young chronicles the franchise’s difficulties this summer, including the contract impasse with Eric Bledsoe; the failure to land Love; losing Channing Frye in free agency; and P.J. Tucker‘s arrest.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Nets To Work Out Ivan Johnson, Others

June 1st, 2014 at 10:12am CST by Chuck Myron

SUNDAY, 10:12am: According to his agent, French SF Yakhouba Diawara has been invited to the Nets mini-camp this Tuesday, reports David Pick of Eurobasket (Twitter link). Also attending will be Michael Snaer, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. In 27 games with the Italian team Enel Brindisi, Snaer averaged 8.0 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 1.1 APG.

3:28pm: NBA vets Ivan Johnson, Malcolm Lee, Kim English, Kevin Murphy and DaJuan Summers will join Liggins, Greene, Machado, Kennedy and others in working out for the club on Tuesday, the Nets announced. Lance Thomas will also participate, as Adam Zagoria of SNY reported earlier this week.

THURSDAY, 9:56am: Four free agents with NBA experience will visit with the Nets next week, according to Lenn Robbins of Nets.com, who says the team will see DeAndre Liggins, Donte Greene, Scott Machado and D.J. Kennedy (Twitter links; hat tip to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv). The Nets are holding a mini-camp soon, so it seems like the foursome will be among those working out for the club.

Liggins has the most recent NBA experience among that group, having played in the NBA this past season on a pair of 10-day contracts with the Heat. The 26-year-old only appeared in one game for a single minute for Miami, but he made 39 appearances for the Thunder in 2012/13 and also saw playing time for the Magic the year before. He’s averaged 1.6 points in 7.1 minutes per game in the NBA since Orlando drafted him 53rd overall in 2011.

Greene, a former 28th overall pick, has the most extensive NBA experience, appearing in 253 games and making 82 starts for the Kings over four seasons, but he’s been out of the NBA since 2011/12, save for a late-season signing with the Grizzlies in 2012/13. He failed to get in a game during his time with Memphis. Machado, an undrafted former Iona standout, split this past season between France and the D-League after stints with the Rockets and Warriors in 2012/13. Kennedy, from St. John’s, has just two games with the Cavs in 2012/13 on his NBA resume, and he spent this past season playing in Israel and France.

Mini-camps at this time of year usually only help teams fill summer league rosters, but these four probably stand a chance at joining the Nets for preseason this fall, given their experience. The Nets, with a bloated payroll and limited flexibility, will have to do most of their free agent shopping with the minimum-salary exception.

Donte Greene Waived By C’s, Will Sign In China

September 18th, 2013 at 7:45am CST by Luke Adams

WEDNESDAY, 7:45am: The Chinese team expected to sign Greene is the Dongguan Leopards, according to HoopsHype (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 3:06pm: The Celtics have officially waived Greene, the team announced today in a press release.

10:58am: A little over a month after they acquired him, the Celtics will waive Donte Greene, agent Chris Grier Luchey tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Twitter link). According to Luchey, Greene has a deal lined up with a club in China, which can be finalized once his release from the C's is official.

The swap that sent Greene to Boston and Fab Melo to Memphis was one of the more unusual trades of the summer, since Melo was also released by the Grizzlies following the deal. The Celtics included more than enough cash to cover Melo's $1.31MM salary in the trade, but the money they sent to the Grizz doesn't count for cap or tax purposes. Greene's salary, meanwhile, is non-guaranteed, so Boston won't be on the hook for any of it once the move is official, and should slip below the tax line in the process.

By waiving Greene, the C's will reduce their roster count to 18 players, including 14 on guaranteed contracts. For Greene, it won't be the first time he signs to play international ball. Before he reached an agreement with the Grizzlies last season, the 25-year-old forward briefly spent time with Atleticos de San German in Puerto Rico.

Celtics, Grizzlies Swap Fab Melo, Donte Greene

August 15th, 2013 at 11:23am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics have acquired Donte Greene from the Grizzlies in exchange for Fab Melo and cash considerations, the C's announced today in a press release. Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal first reported that the two sides were working on a deal involving Greene and Melo.

Melo, the 22nd overall pick in last year's draft, only appeared in six NBA games for the Celtics in 2012/13. The Syracuse product spent most of the season with Boston's D-League affiliate, averaging 9.8 PPG and 6.0 RPG in 33 contests for the Maine Red Claws. While he's considered a young big man with raw potential, he's also viewed as a long-term project, and given his lack of significant progress in his rookie season, it seems the Celtics didn't want to wait on him.

By moving Melo's guaranteed rookie-scale contract in exchange for Greene's non-guaranteed minimum salary deal, the Celtics immediately reduce team salary by about $300K, and could shave another $1MM or so off by releasing Greene. Considering Boston was above the tax line by about $780K before the deal, those savings could be crucial.

The Grizzlies should create a trade exception worth Greene's salary ($1,027,424) in the transaction by absorbing Melo using the rest of their Marreese Speights TPE. For Boston, Greene can't be absorbed using the minimum salary exception since he's on a three-year deal, so the C's create a small TPE worth the difference between Melo's salary and Greene's ($283,816).

Both the Grizzlies and Celtics now have 14 guaranteed contracts on their respective rosters. The Grizz will likely add a 15th when they officially announce the signing of Nick Calathes.

Grizzlies, Celtics Talking Fab Melo, Donte Greene

August 13th, 2013 at 9:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies are "working on" a trade that would send Fab Melo to Memphis and Donte Greene to Boston, according to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal (via Twitter). It's not clear how close the two sides are to an agreement, or whether the deal would include additional pieces.

Melo was selected 22nd overall by the Celtics in 2012's draft, but only appeared in six NBA games in his rookie season. The Syracuse product spent most of the season with Boston's D-League affiliate, averaging 9.8 PPG and 6.0 RPG in 33 contests for the Maine Red Claws. Greene, meanwhile, signed a late-season contract with the Grizzlies that included a non-guaranteed 2013/14 salary. He didn't appear in a game for Memphis.

Melo's and Greene's salaries are close enough that a swap wouldn't require additional players. Under normal circustances, I'd expect Memphis to have to include cash and/or future draft considerations to land a young big like Melo. However, the 23-year-old's underwhelming rookie season, along with the Celtics' proximity to the tax line, should give the Grizz leverage.

If Boston were to move Melo's guaranteed deal, then release Greene's non-guaranteed contract, it would reduce team salary by about $1.3MM — for a rebuilding club currently above the tax threshold by about $78K, those savings could be worth parting with last year's first-round pick.

This post was first published on August 15th at 10:19am CST.

Western Notes: Allen, Kings, Cuban

May 25th, 2013 at 6:59pm CST by Spencer Lund

Despite the Grizzlies place in the thick of their Western Conference Finals series against the Spurs, their perimeter defensive specialist, Tony Allen, will be an unrestricted free agent this July.

Allen spoke with Ramona Shelburne at ESPN.com yesterday about the blue collar "Grit and Grind" Grizzlies, their blue collar Memphis fans, and–towards the end of the piece–his impending free agency. Said Allen:

"I don't even understand the business side. When July hits, somebody is going to have to sit me down and explain it. All I know is I'm a Grizzly and I believe I'm going to be a Grizzly when it's over with.

"I bleed blue. I think they going to keep me. But if they don't, I understand.

"I don't even think about it now. I just play. I love being in Memphis. I love the city. Hopefully I stay here. It feels like home."

Speaking of Allen's Grizzlies, here are some more notes from around the Western Conference:

Grizzlies coach, Lionel Hollins, tells ESPN.com's Kevin Arnovitz "Flopping isn't a part of the game and it shouldn't be a part of the game," in response to the controversy surrounding the flagrant 1 called on Manu Ginobili after his foul on Allen knocked him out of the air.
According to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com (Twitter link), Austin Daye will go on the Grizzlies' inactive list for game 3 tonight in favor of Donte Greene. Marc J. Spears of Y! Sports, confirms (Twitter link).
ESPNDallas.com's Tim MacMahon brings us the highlights from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's interview on 103.3 FM's ESPN Dallas Game Day.
MacMahon also tells us after hearing from Cuban, that the Mavericks owner has a two year plan to turn the Mavericks into title contenders.
The new owner of the Kings, Viveck Ranadive, is looking at Warriors assistant, Mike Malone, to coach the team. But Matt Steinmetz at CSNY Bay Area says he'd be surprised if the Kings hire a coach before finding a general manger (Twitter link).