Eddy Curry

Mavericks Waive Eddy Curry

4:37pm: The Mavericks have made the move official in a press release.

10:46am: In order to clear a roster spot for Troy Murphy, the Mavericks are expected to waive Eddy Curry, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Curry was claimed off waivers by Dallas last week after he was released by the Spurs.

The Mavs reached an agreement with Murphy yesterday, but because they were carrying the maximum 15 players, a corresponding roster move is required before the deal is finalized. According to multiple reports, Dallas attempted to find a taker on the trade market for Dominique Jones, but were unsuccessful.

Curry's contract was believed to be fully non-guaranteed, so the Mavs will take a small cap hit for the time he spent on the roster, but won't be obligated to pay his full salary. As Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld tweets, the veteran big man, who has looked decent this fall, is expected to draw interest from other teams. If he clears waivers, he'll be free to sign with any club.

Odds & Ends: Paul, Mavs, Curry, DeRozan

We've got a busy NBA slate lined up for tonight, with the Knicks, Timberwolves, and Hawks among the teams opening up their seasons at home. As we look forward to a 12-game evening, let's round up a few odds and ends from around the league:

Mavs Likely To Waive Delonte West, Keep Curry

MONDAY, 9:36am: According to ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter), the Mavs have shopped Dominique Jones in hopes of trading him and buying more time to make a decision on West. However, there have been no takers so far. Dallas has until 4:00pm CT today to set its regular-season roster.

SUNDAY, 11:08am: Mavericks executives appear to have convinced owner Mark Cuban not to try to keep suspended guard Delonte West on the team's roster, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports, adding that West is likely to be waived before Monday's 4:00pm Central time deadline to finalize opening-night rosters. Cuban has hinted that the troubled West could remain with the team, but Eddy Curry looks to be in line to take his roster spot, according to Sefko.

The Mavs suspended West indefinitely Thursday, his second such punishment of the preseason for unspecified conduct detrimental to the team, and Sefko reports Dallas is wary of the influence West might have on its young players. The Mavs moved swiftly to claim Curry off waivers from the Spurs and sign Melvin Ely and Chris Douglas-Roberts, ostensibly to audition for a roster spot that would come open if West were to be let go. All three are on non-guaranteed contracts, but Curry seemed to distinguish himself with 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in Friday's preseason game against the Bobcats.

West is due a guaranteed $1.2MM this season, but the Mavs are only on the hook for $854,389 of it, since he's on a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum. His is one of 15 fully guaranteed deals on the team.

Mavericks Waive Ely, Douglas-Roberts

The Mavericks have waived Melvin Ely and Chris Douglas-Roberts, the team announced via press release. The moves come on the heels of a report that team officials have convinced owner Mark Cuban to waive suspended guard Delonte West, whose roster spot Ely and Douglas-Roberts appeared to be competing for. Instead, it seems that spot will go to Eddy Curry. Ely and Douglas-Roberts, like Curry, were on non-guaranteed deals.

It's the second time Douglas-Roberts has been waived this week, as the Lakers let him go Tuesday after he averaged 4.0 points in 8.3 minutes per game over four preseason contests with L.A. Ely is a veteran of eight NBA seasons, but didn't play in the league last year, instead catching on for five games in Puerto Rico. Neither player appeared in a preseason game for the Mavs after signing Thursday. 

Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com believes both will wind up with the Texas Legends, the D-League affiliate for the Mavs, as the Legends hold their rights in that league.

Mavericks Claim Eddy Curry, May Waive West

9:08pm: Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas reports that West will not return to the team. 

5:01pm: Art Garcia of FOX Sports Southwest tweets that the Mavericks have claimed Curry off of waivers. 

4:47pm: Eddie Sefko of SportsDay DFW writes that Delonte West is expected to be waived or traded in order to make room for Curry's signing. West signed a one-year agreement in July worth $1.22MM but is currently under suspension.  

4:21pm: According to the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter), the Mavericks are close to signing Eddy Curry. In five pre-season games with the Spurs, the 7'0 center averaged 8.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and shot 68% from the field in 15.4 MPG before being waived on Tuesday.

Dallas currently has 15 players on its roster, and would thus have to free up a roster spot in order to bring the ten-year veteran on board.

 

Spurs Waive Eddy Curry, Derrick Brown

With a week until the regular season gets underway, the Spurs have cut two players from their roster, the team announced today. According to a press release, the team has waived camp invitees Eddy Curry and Derrick Brown, reducing the roster count to 16 players.

The decision to waive both players is a little surprising, considering coach Gregg Popovich seemed to indicate over the weekend that Curry and Brown were the top candidates to earn the team's 15th and final roster spot. Curry looked decent in camp, while Brown had a solid 2011/12 campaign for the Bobcats, so it wouldn't be unexpected to see either player draw interest, and perhaps a waiver claim.

With Curry and Brown no longer on the roster, Josh Powell and Wesley Witherspoon seem to be in contention to be the 15th man, assuming San Antonio decides to carry the maximum. In addition to Powell and Witherspoon, the Spurs also have DeJuan Blair and Gary Neal on non-guaranteed contracts, though neither player appears in any danger of being released.

Western Notes: Stephen Curry, Bogut, Spurs

Here are some rumblings out of the Western Conference tonight: 

Camp Rumors: Curry, Brown, Varnado, Blazers

The first regular season action is just 10 days away, so it's crunch time for players gunning for the last spots on the end of an NBA bench. There's news about several training camp hopefuls this afternoon, and we've rounded it up here.

  • Spurs coach Gregg Popovich gave strong indication before today's preseason game that the competition for the last roster spot in San Antonio is down to Eddy Curry and Derrick Brown, tweets Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. Josh Powell and Wesley Witherspoon are also trying to make the team, while it appears DeJuan Blair and Gary Neal, the other Spurs without full guarantees, are safe.
  • McDonald also notes, via Twitter, that Popovich said Curry has lost 20 pounds, and that's on top of the 100 pounds he lost while with the Heat last year, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
  • Curry said he didn't entertain the idea of returning to the Heat this summer, as Winderman reports in the same piece. "It was frustrating. It was bittersweet," Curry said of his season in Miami, during which he saw little playing time. "Got a ring out of it, but it definitely wasn't the year I was looking forward to and wasn't what I worked for."
  • Winderman also writes that a hamstring injury has likely torpedoed any chance Jarvis Varnado had of making the Heat's regular season roster.
  • The Trail Blazers are one of three teams left at the 20-player preseason roster limit, and GM Neil Olshey said he's going to wait as long as possible before making cuts, tweets Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge. "Some of it is strategic," according to Olshey, and Golliver interprets that remark to mean the team is trying to funnel some of its camp invitees to its D-League affiliate.

Odds & Ends: McGrady, Curry, Spurs, Vujacic

The Thunder, Lakers, Spurs, and Celtics are considered the most dangerous threats to the Heat this season, but ESPN.com's Tom Haberstroh thinks he's put together the team most capable of knocking off the defending champs. In an Insider-only piece, Haberstroh puts together a squad of "Heat Beaters" that adheres to the NBA's salary cap rules by surrounding a pair of superstars (Chris Paul and Dwight Howard) with a number of players on rookie-scale deals, including Serge Ibaka, Taj Gibson, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard.

Here are a few other Thursday links from around the league:

Camp Notes: Curry, Douglas-Roberts, Roberts

Thursday night brought another round of roster cuts, as the Rockets, Spurs, and Hawks all released players, moving a step closer to finalizing their regular-season rosters. Plenty of camp invitees around the league remain on the bubble though, so let's round up the latest updates on a few roster hopefuls….

  • Eddy Curry has performed well for the Spurs in camp and preseason so far, and is optimistic about his chances of making the team, as he tells Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News."I think I’m going to make it," Curry said. "Until they tell me I’m not, I feel like I’m part of this team."
  • In a Q&A with Brian Kamenetzky of ESPNLosAngeles.com, Chris Douglas-Roberts says he was talking to a few teams before signing with the Lakers. According to Douglas-Roberts, he passed up a situation or two where earning a roster spot likely would have been easier.
  • Although he graduated from Dayton four years ago, Brian Roberts has yet to play in a regular season NBA game. However, he has made a good early impression in Hornets camp, as Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com writes.
  • Displaying an ability to play point guard appears to be Jamar
    Smith
    's best chance to earn a spot on the Celtics, but coach Doc Rivers
    isn't sure yet whether the Southern Indiana product is a point or not,
    according to Greg Payne of ESPNBoston.com.