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Eastern Rumors: Pistons, Wilbekin, Pacers

August 3rd, 2015 at 6:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Ersan Ilyasova would have been a top target for the Pistons if he had been a free agent this summer, coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy told Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. Ilyasova was acquired in a trade with the Bucks, who re-signed restricted free agent Khris Middleton, another Detroit target, according to Langlois. “If he’d been a free agent, he’d have been the guy at the top of our list at power forward,” Van Gundy said of Ilyasova. The Pistons also would not have pursued a free agent small forward if Marcus Morris had been made available sooner. He was acquired in a salary dump by the Suns in early July after Detroit came up empty in its aim to sign either DeMarre Carroll or Danny Green. “There’s no question we would have opted to take him rather than go into free agency had that been there [before July 1],” Van Gundy said to Langlois. “It wasn’t at the time, so we did try to make a play for a couple of guys. But when it didn’t work out and that presented itself, we were fortunate.”

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

Scottie Wilbekin received a $200K guarantee from the Sixers for the upcoming season, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The remainder of the four-year, $3.5MM contract that the ex-University of Florida point guard signed is not guaranteed, Pincus adds. Wilbekin will make $525,093 in the first year if he’s still on the roster January 10th. He played in Australia and Greece last season after going undrafted.
Monta Ellis has the potential to ultimately become one of the Pacers’ greatest free agent signings, argues Mark Montieth of Pacers.com, who nonetheless ranks David West, who bolted for the Spurs this summer, as the most significant free agent addition in team history. Montieth addressed that and other topics in a mailbag format.
Drew Gooden‘s $3.547MM salary for the 2016/17 season becomes guaranteed on July 15th, according to Pincus (Twitter link). The Wizards forward, who has a guaranteed $3.3MM contract for the upcoming season, has a no-trade restriction on his deal which lifts on January 15th.

Sixers Sign Malcolm Lee, Waive Drew Gordon

December 5th, 2014 at 4:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:12pm: The signing of Lee is official, the Sixers announced in a press release. The team also confirmed that Gordon has been waived in the same announcement.

3:03pm: The Sixers are signing Malcolm Lee and waiving Drew Gordon to make room, reports Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Pompey’s tweet indicates that the move has already taken place, though the team has yet to make an official announcement. Philadelphia wanted to add a point guard with both Tony Wroten and Alexey Shved out with injuries for tonight’s game against Oklahoma City, Pompey adds (on Twitter). Gordon signed a four-year non-guaranteed deal for the minimum salary nearly a month ago, while Lee returns to the team after having spent the preseason with Philadelphia.

Lee, a two-year NBA veteran, has been playing with the Sixers D-League affiliate since Philly kept his D-League rights when it waived him in October. The 24-year-old was averaging just 6.0 points, 4.0 assists and 2.0 turnovers in 22.5 minutes per game in four D-League appearances this season. His production in the minor league is relatively similar to the numbers he put up in 35 NBA games over two seasons with the Timberwolves, for whom he averaged 4.0 PPG, 1.4 APG, 0.8 TPG in 15.2 MPG.

Gordon has been in his second stint with the Sixers, who brought him to camp and originally released him at the same time they made identical moves with Lee. The power forward, who’s also 24 years old, saw little playing time in nine games with Philadelphia over the past few weeks, putting up 1.9 PPG and 2.0 rebounds per game in 7.9 MPG. He’s the brother of Magic rookie Aaron Gordon, this year’s No. 4 overall pick.

The Sixers will continue to carry 15 players in the wake of this move, though only eight have full guarantees and two more have partially guaranteed pacts. Philadelphia also appears to be close to adding draft-and-stash prospect Furkan Aldemir, a 6’9″ rebounding ace who plays Gordon’s position of power forward.

And-Ones: Leonard, Millsap, Mekel, Sixers

November 11th, 2014 at 1:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Kawhi Leonard says he was “never upset” that the Spurs passed on a rookie-scale extension for him before last month’s deadline, as he tells USA Today’s Sam Amick.

“I don’t think I’m going anywhere,” Leonard said. “I mean they love me here. I like the organization, and if it was up to me, I want to finish out with one team like a lot of great players have done, to stay with one organization their whole career and just be loyal to that. You never know. We’ll see what happens next summer, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be in a Spurs jersey for my whole life.”

The Spurs reportedly passed on Leonard’s request for a max extension because they prefer maintain maximum cap flexibility for next summer, even though they’ve indicated that they’ll match any offer another team might make for the player Gregg Popovich calls a “coach’s dream.” Here’s more from around the NBA:

Paul Millsap acknowledged Monday that he’ll look around when he hits free agency in the summer, but he made it clear that the Hawks are the front-runners to re-sign him, as Marc Berman of the New York Post chronicles. “Anywhere could be an option,” Millsap said. “But my loyalty right now is in Atlanta. Free agency is free agency. When it happens, I’ll weigh my options and see where I’m at. But I’m happy in Atlanta right now.’’
A report late last month indicated that the Thunder had interest in Gal Mekel before they were beset by injuries, but with Ish Smith having joined the team as a 16th player and some of the wounded recovering, Mekel and OKC aren’t in active talks, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
Details are scarce about the contract that Drew Gordon signed Monday with the Sixers, but it is a multiyear arrangement, according to the RealGM transactions log.
The Timberwolves lost a star when Kevin Love forced a trade this summer, and Flip Saunders recognizes the importance of creating an environment that will help prevent a repeat in the future with Andrew Wiggins, as Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick examines.

Sixers Re-Sign Gordon, Waive Malcolm Thomas

November 10th, 2014 at 1:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:39pm: The team has officially re-signed Gordon, and in so doing, the Sixers have released Thomas, the team announced. That $474K partial guarantee for Thomas will remain on Philadelphia’s books for the rest of the season.

11:24am: The Sixers are set to bring back camp invitee Drew Gordon on a new deal, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). That means a corresponding move is on the way, since Philadelphia has been carrying the maximum 15 players, as our roster counts show. The 24-year-old has been playing for the Sixers D-League affiliate since Philly kept his D-League rights following his release from the NBA roster last month.

Gordon has played primarily overseas after going undrafted out of New Mexico in 2012. The power forward split last season between Italy and Turkey, showing efficiency on the boards in putting up 8.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per contest. He carried that sort of production over to the preseason this year, as he notched 6.7 PPG and 6.0 RPG in 20.3 MPG across six appearances. He’s the older brother of the Magic’s Aaron Gordon, the fourth overall pick from this past June.

It’s not easy to see who’ll be the Sixer to go, since they have five players on non-guaranteed contracts and another two with partial guarantees. All five of the non-guaranteed players have made at least one start for the team so far, with the exception of K.J. McDaniels, this year’s 32nd overall pick, who’d seem a most unlikely cut. JaKarr Sampson has made a pair of starts on his partially guaranteed deal, and while Malcolm Thomas has yet to make a start and is dealing with fluid in his left knee, his minimum salary is partially guaranteed for $474K, a larger guarantee than several of his teammates have.

Sixers Waive Lee, Gordon, Roberts Jr.

October 25th, 2014 at 6:51pm CST by Cray Allred

6:51pm: Philadelphia has officially waived all three players, the team announced via press release.

6:14pm: Although no team announcement has been made, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets that the Sixers have waived Drew Gordon, Malcolm Lee, and Ronald Roberts Jr. All three were on low-risk, four-year contracts with Philadelphia.

The Sixers will be on the hook for partial guarantees of $35K, $40K, and $50K for Roberts Jr., Gordon and Lee, respectively. Coach Brett Brown has mentioned the D-League as a possibility for Roberts Jr., who broke off an overseas deal to join the Sixers in camp. The team is allowed to retain the D-League rights for up to four players cut before the season.

The cuts bring the Sixers roster down to 17, two above the maximum they can carry into the regular season. The team has plenty of flexibility as it approaches the deadline to trim the roster, with seven remaining contracts that aren’t guaranteed, as well as plenty of cap room to eat guaranteed salary if they choose to do so.

Eastern Notes: LeBron, Caldwell-Pope, Brand

October 9th, 2014 at 6:37pm CST by Eddie Scarito

LeBron James and the Heat organization didn’t always see eye to eye, but he doesn’t harbor bitterness toward the team even though he’s entirely comfortable with his choice to head back to the Cavs, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. His departure from Miami this summer surprised the Heat organization and left his old teammates feeling stung, but it’s a stretch to say there’s true animosity between them and the four-time MVP, as Windhorst explains. Chris Bosh backtracked an earlier claim that he hadn’t spoken to James since he left for Cleveland and said today that they did talk briefly in August, Windhorst notes in a separate piece.

Here’s more from the east:

Pistons guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has signed with Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, Brian Windhorst reports (Twitter link). Caldwell-Pope was formerly represented by Thad Foucher of The Wasserman Media Group.
Veteran forward Elton Brand is entering his 16th season, but he’s not ready to say that this will be his last in the league, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (Twitter link). Brand re-signed with the Hawks this summer for one year, $2MM after averaging 5.7 PPG and 4.9 RPG last season. Brand also told Vivlamore (Twitter link) that he talked to “five or six” teams before deciding to return to Atlanta.
Sixers signees Malcolm Lee and Drew Gordon are on four-year deals that pay the minimum salary each year, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). They have partial guarantees of $50K and $40K, respectively, for this season, but their money is otherwise non-guaranteed. The Sixers also put a team option on the final season of each of their contracts.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Sixers Sign Lee, Gordon, Cut Bogans, Varnado

October 7th, 2014 at 3:53pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Sixers have signed Malcolm Lee and Drew Gordon, and they waived Keith Bogans and Jarvis Varnado to make room on the 20-man preseason roster, the team announced (Twitter link). The team reportedly came to agreements with both Lee and Gordon prior to camp, but they were left off the team’s roster when training camp began. The dismissal of Varnado is somewhat surprising, since he had a $75K partial guarantee and the team had been carrying eight players with non-guaranteed contracts. Bogans was one of those eight, and his nearly $5.3MM salary was the largest by far, so it’s certainly not a shock to see Philadelphia part ways with him. The Sixers have plenty of capacity to exceed the minimum salary in their new arrangements with Lee and Gordon, but the terms aren’t immediately clear.

Lee was one of a handful of players to work out for the Lakers in late August, and he also worked out for the Nets earlier in the summer, though that audition seemed to be geared mostly toward summer league. The 24-year-old guard appeared in summer league with the Raptors, but the two-year NBA veteran will attempt to officially return to the league with the Sixers after sitting out 2013/14, in part because of injury. Gordon, a 24-year-old power forward, was with the Sixers in summer league after splitting this past season between Italy and Turkey. He also had a stop in Serbia after going undrafted out of New Mexico in 2012, and this will be his first NBA preseason experience.

Bogans joined the Sixers after a pair of trades brought him from the Celtics through Cleveland. He sat out much of last season as Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge sought to use his sizable non-guaranteed deal in a trade. Varnado hooked on with both the Bulls and the Sixers via 10-day contracts last season, and Philadelphia elected to keep him for the balance of 2013/14 when its short-term deal with the power forward ran out, tacking the partially guaranteed 2014/15 season onto his contract.

The moves leave the Sixers with a full 20-man preseason roster. Only nine of their players known to have fully guaranteed deals, and the release of Varnado makes it an even more wide open race for the final regular season roster spots.

Sixers Sign K.J. McDaniels, Jerami Grant

October 1st, 2014 at 9:47am CST by Chuck Myron

9:47am: McDaniels will make the minimum salary this year, as Wojnarowski reveals in his full story, one that suggests that the small forward simply signed the required tender that teams must make in order to retain the rights to their second-round picks. He rejected a long-term offer with terms similar to what Grant has in his contract, as agent Mark Bartelstein explains to Wojnarowski.

“The 76ers have a philosophy that they’re adhering to, and we totally respect that, but it doesn’t fit for K.J. and us,” Bartelstein said. “I just totally disagree with the idea of doing a four-year deal that includes a structure of two non-guaranteed years. We think K.J. is going to be a good player, and it came down to doing a one-year deal and letting the market determine his value. There’s no hard feelings. The Sixers’ philosophy has worked for them. It just doesn’t work for us.”

WEDNESDAY, 8:51am: McDaniels is getting a one-year, non-guaranteed deal, setting himself up for restricted free agency next summer, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 9:10pm: McDaniels hasn’t signed his contract as of this afternoon and didn’t report to training camp Tuesday, reports Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Pompey implies that McDaniels isn’t happy with the team’s offer, but adds that the Sixers do expect him to sign it soon.

MONDAY, 4:22pm: The Sixers have signed K.J. McDaniels and Jerami Grant, two of the team’s second-round picks from June, the team acknowledged as it released its training camp roster via press release. The team has plenty of cap space, but it’s not immediately clear how much of it goes to McDaniels and Grant, nor is it known whether their deals are guaranteed. The roster also serves as an official announcement of previously reported deals with No. 3 overall pick Joel Embiid, Ronald Roberts Jr. and JaKarr Sampson. Absent from the roster are Malcolm Lee, Drew Gordon and Pierre Jackson, whom offseason reports indicated the Sixers had agreed to sign, so presumably those deals are off.

McDaniels, the 32nd overall pick, is a small forward who’s a heady player with a strong motor who seems poised to outperform his draft position, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors wrote when he examined the former Clemson Tiger’s prospect profile. Grant, a combo forward from Syracuse, carries plenty of athleticism but plenty of unknowns, too, though he appears to be a strong value as a second-rounder, as Eddie’s profile of the No. 39 overall pick reads. Vasilije Micic and Jordan McRae, the team’s other second-round picks, are playing overseas, as our list of draft pick signings shows.

Philadelphia is bringing 20 players to camp, though only eight are known to have fully guaranteed salary. Roberts, Sampson and Jarvis Varnado have partially guaranteed deals, but it’s seemingly an otherwise wide-open competition for opening-night roster spots.

No Deal For Sixers, Drew Gordon

September 25th, 2014 at 5:56pm CST by Eddie Scarito

SEPTEMBER 29TH: Gordon is not among the players listed on the preseason roster the team sent via press release, so presumably the deal is off.

SEPTEMBER 25TH: The Sixers and power forward Drew Gordon have agreed to a deal, Orazio Cauchi of Sportando reports. Length and terms of the agreement were not disclosed but it’s likely a non-guaranteed training camp invite for the 6’8″, 24 year-old out of New Mexico. This signing would put Philadelphia’s preseason roster count at 19, with only eight of those deals being fully guaranteed, and four others carrying partial guarantees.

Gordon went undrafted in 2012 after splitting his college time between UCLA and New Mexico. His career numbers were 10.0 PPG and 8.0 RPG. His career slash line was .541/.500/.689. He played for Philadelphia in this year’s Las Vegas Summer League where he averaged 6.6 PPG in six appearances.

The Sixers roster is wide open with the team having purged itself of most of its veteran talent, so there is a chance that Gordon could make it onto the opening night roster. The starter at power forward figures to be either Nerlens Noel, if he doesn’t man the pivot, or Luc Mbah a Moute. Gordon will be competing with Arnett Moultrie and Jarvis Varnado for minutes as a backup.

International Notes: Mbenga, Pruitt, Karasev

April 3rd, 2013 at 11:26am CST by Luke Adams

The only official NBA roster move so far today saw Jannero Pargo ink a rest-of-season deal with the Bobcats. However, a handful of teams overseas have been active, so let's check in on a few transactions of note….

D.J. Mbenga, who was in camp with the Mavericks this fall and spent some time in China earlier in the season, has signed with Barako Bull Energy in the Philippines, the team announced on its Twitter account (hat tip to Sportando).
Former Celtic Gabe Pruitt has spent most of the season in the D-League, but is heading overseas to join Greek team AGOR Rethymno, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando writes.
Italian club Dinamo Sassari announced the signing of Drew Gordon, who went undrafted last summer (link via Sportando). The New Mexico product played with the Mavs in last July's Summer League, and started the 2012/13 season with Serbia's Partizan Belgrade.
Russian journalist Vladimir Spivak reports (via Twitter) that 19-year-old forward Sergey Karasev is expected to officially announce soon that he'll enter the 2013 NBA draft. Karasev, who is ranked as this year's 27th-best prospect by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com, was said last month to be leaning toward not entering the draft, so we'll have to wait for official word from his camp.