Hilton Armstrong Rumors

Pacific Notes: Johnson, Buss, James, Iguodala, Thompson

September 10th, 2022 at 8:48am CST by Dana Gauruder

Suns GM James Jones said there have been talks with Cameron Johnson‘s reps regarding a possible rookie scale extension, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets.

“We’re having discussions. Cam is a big part of what we do,” Jones said. “Really excited for the progress he’s shown over the last few years, especially last year. He’s primed to take some steps forward.”

We broke down a potential extension for Johnson this week, including what the numbers might look like.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Lakers owner Jeanie Buss told Howard Beck in a Clutch Points podcast that she wants LeBron James to retire as a Laker. “With LeBron we have a line of communication between the two of us, and he knows that he can reach me anytime and vice versa,” Buss said. “I think he feels appreciated. I know I appreciate that he signed an extension to stay here and continue to lead the Laker team. He’s a fantastic leader both on and off the court. I feel like we’re blessed to have him as a Laker. I want to see him retire as a Laker.”
A decision on whether Andre Iguodala will retire or return to the Warriors will be made in the coming days, coach Steve Kerr said in an interview with 95.7 The Game (Twitter link). “We’ll touch base in the next couple days. (GM Bob Myers) and I are giving him the space to make whatever decision he wants. We’ll support him either way, but we hope he comes back.” Iguodala said on his podcast hasn’t yet decided what he wants to do, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets.
Klay Thompson‘s brother Mychel Thompson has been named as video coordinator for the Warriors, according to a team press release. On the coaching staff, Hilton Armstrong and Anthony Vereen have been named player development coaches and Will Sheehey has been named player development analyst.

Pacific Notes: Warriors, Armstrong, Paul, Anthony

August 10th, 2021 at 12:38pm CST by Arthur Hill

A $659K contract guarantee kicks in Wednesday for Gary Payton II, which may affect the Warriors‘ decision to keep him on the roster, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. There’s an expectation that Golden State will release Payton with the hope of re-signing him if he clears waivers, Slater adds. That would give him a chance to win a roster spot in camp on a non-guaranteed deal.

Payton finished last season with the Warriors, appearing in 10 games after signing a pair of 10-day contracts in April. Slater points out that the team could use a defensive specialist like Payton to make up for the losses of Kelly Oubre and Kent Bazemore.

Golden State’s roster will be nearly set heading into camp, Slater notes. Thirteen players have guaranteed contracts and a large part of Damion Lee‘s deal will become guaranteed if he remains with the team through August 15, which is expected. Payton may wind up competing for the final roster spot with Mychal Mulder, whose contract is non-guaranteed. A source told Slater that the Warriors are “still monitoring” the free agent market in hopes of adding another veteran.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Former NBA center Hilton Armstrong has joined the Warriors‘ coaching staff, Slater adds. He will work in the video department and has been involved with the Summer League team in Sacramento and Las Vegas.
Suns guard Chris Paul should be healed in plenty of time for training camp after having surgery on his left wrist after the NBA Finals, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “For Chris, it was something minor,” general manager James Jones said in an ESPN interview. “He’ll be ready in a couple of weeks to get back out on the court with these guys as we start to try to get back after this short offseason.”
Carmelo Anthony is thrilled to finally team up with his long-time friend LeBron James on the Lakers, per Mark Medina of USA Today. They have both been in the league for 18 years, but are teammates for the first time after Anthony agreed to a one-year contract with L.A. “Most people would say you should’ve gotten together years ago or earlier in our careers. But we were in two different lanes,” Anthony said. “We were in two different paths. Everything comes full circle.”

Hilton Armstrong To Play In Turkey

August 6th, 2014 at 8:21am CST by Chuck Myron

Former NBA lottery pick Hilton Armstrong has a deal with Besiktas of Turkey, agent Misko Raznatovic tweets (hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The Warriors waived Armstrong last week just before his non-guaranteed salary for the coming season was to become fully guaranteed.

The 29-year-old is returning overseas, where he spent parts of 2011/12 and 2012/13 before briefly reviving his NBA career with Golden State this past season. The 12th overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft played in France and Greece, and he’s also seen time in the D-League over the past few years. His 15 games with the Warriors last season represented his only NBA regular season action since the 2011 lockout.

Armstrong isn’t the only highly drafted former NBA player heading to Besiktas this summer. Former Celtics power forward and 2011 27th overall selection JaJuan Johnson also hooked up with the club, according to Mark Porcaro of Secret Rival.

Warriors Waive Hilton Armstrong

July 30th, 2014 at 4:56pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:56pm: Golden State has officially placed Armstrong on waivers, the team announced via press release.

4:23pm: The Warriors are waiving center Hilton Armstrong, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Armstrong’s minimum-salary deal has been to set to become fully guaranteed if the team doesn’t waive him by the end of Friday, but it appears Golden State will do so.

The 29-year-old signed four different contracts this past season with the Warriors, who first added him in December and later inked him to a pair of 10-day deals. They secured him for the balance of the season with a week to go before the playoffs, tacking on the non-guaranteed 2014/15 salary. It was the first NBA action in three years for the former No. 12 overall pick, but he saw fewer than 100 minutes in the regular season. He made it into all seven games of Golden State’s playoff series against the Clippers, but he only saw 17 total minutes across those appearances.

The move gives the hard-capped Warriors some extra wiggle room, as they had been roughly $4.5MM beneath the tax line and $8.5MM under the tax threshold, the latter of which is the line they can’t cross. That room will come in handy if the team, which has been involved in Kevin Love talks, needs to accommodate salary in a trade. The Warriors can open up nearly another $1MM if they waive Draymond Green by the end of Friday, but they’ll almost certainly not do that.

Warriors Sign Armstrong For Rest of Season

April 9th, 2014 at 5:20pm CST by Cray Allred

The Warriors have signed Hilton Armstrong for the remainder of the season, per a team release. This will be Armstrong’s fourth contract with Golden State this season, as he has spent time with the team on a non-guaranteed deal and two 10-day contracts. He has appeared in 12 games for the Warriors, averaging 1.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 5.3 minutes per contest.

It’s likely that the Warriors decided to ink the big man for the stretch run due to concerns over David Lee‘s health heading into the playoffs. Veteran centers Andrew Bogut and Jermaine O’Neal haven’t been very durable over the last few years, although Bogut has managed to play in over 80% of Golden State’s games this year. Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle tweets that the team has no plans to call up Ognjen Kuzmic or Nemanja Nedovic from Golden State’s D-League affiliate, two players the Warriors brought up for depth earlier in the season.

The 29-year-old Armstrong had spent parts of five seasons with five other NBA franchises before not playing in the league for the entirety of the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons. The Warriors have kept tabs on him all season; in between stints with Golden State, he has played for their D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz.

Warriors Sign Armstrong To 10-Day Contract

March 30th, 2014 at 4:38pm CST by Eddie Scarito

4:38pm: The Warriors have officially announced the signing.

11:20am: The Warriors have signed Santa Cruz center Hilton Armstrong to a 10-day contract, bringing him back to the team at a time when they are short on big men heading into today’s game against the Knicks, reports Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group. Armstrong, 29, played in eight games for Golden State this season and will be on his third stint with the team. He previously was signed in December before being waived later that month. In February, he signed a 10-day contract with the Warriors and returned to Santa Cruz after it expired and the team chose not to re-sign him.

Starting center Andrew Bogut was scheduled to undergo an MRI exam Saturday after suffering a pelvic contusion the previous night in a win against Memphis. and power forward David Lee is also questionable to face New York due to a strained right hamstring suffered eight days ago in a loss to the Spurs.

Armstrong averaged 12 PPG and 7.4 RPG in 32 appearances for Santa Cruz and had 19 points and 13 rebounds in a loss at Los Angeles on Saturday. For the year, Armstrong has averaged 0.8 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 4.4 minutes per contest with Golden State.

Pacific Notes: Nash, Granger, Armstrong

March 4th, 2014 at 9:47am CST by Chuck Myron

The Clippers have a comfortable lead of four and a half games for first place in the Pacific Division, but the Warriors and Suns are separated by just half a game in their battle with the Mavericks and Grizzlies for one of the final three playoff spots in the Western Conference. There’s plenty at stake at the bottom of the division, too, where the Lakers and Kings are in a three-way tie with the Jazz for the worst record in the West and the improved draft lottery chances that come with that distinction. Here’s the latest from the Pacific:

Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni doubts that Steve Nash will return this season, but the 40-year-old point guard remains intent on coming back for 2014/15, notes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.
Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders indicated earlier this week that Danny Granger is on a deal for just the rest of this season with the Clippers, but he actually signed a two-year deal with a player option for next season, Pincus clarifies (on Twitter). It’s a minimum-salary contract, and I’d be a little surprised if Granger picks up that option, since he could probably command more as a free agent this summer.
The Warriors don’t anticipate re-signing Hilton Armstrong to another 10-day contract, tweets Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group. The center made it into only a single game for just seven minutes while on his 10-day deal Golden State, which expired Monday night. The Warriors have invited Armstrong to rejoin their D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, where the 29-year-old has made 23 appearances this season.

Warriors Sign Hilton Armstrong To 10-Day Deal

February 22nd, 2014 at 12:35pm CST by Cray Allred

The Warriors have signed Hilton Armstrong to a 10-day contract, per a team press release. The 29-year-old center entered the NBA in the 2006/07 season and has averaged 3 PPG and 2.6 RPG over his career. This will be his second stint with Golden State this year, after not playing a minute of NBA action in the 2011/12 and 2012/13 season.

In his first stretch with the Warriors, Armstrong played well in small minutes over seven games, before Goldsen State waived his non-guaranteed contract. The big man has been playing as an unrestricted free agent in the D-League since that release, averaging 12.9 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and 1.8 BPG for the Santa Cruz Warriors.

Warriors Waive Hilton Armstrong

December 30th, 2013 at 7:54am CST by Luke Adams

Less than three weeks after adding him to the roster, the Warriors have released Hilton Armstrong, the team announced overnight in a press release. Armstrong had been on a non-guaranteed contract, so Golden State won’t be on the hook for his full-season salary.

Armstrong, 29, played sparingly in seven games for the Warriors this month, compiling six points and 16 rebounds overall in about 28 total minutes. It was the big man’s first NBA action since the 2010/11, but he held his own, recording a PER of 18.0 in the limited sample size.

The move reduces the Warriors’ roster count to 14 players, leaving them with an opening to add another player at some point. Teams can begin signing 10-day contracts next Monday, so perhaps the team will bring Armstrong back on a 10-day deal or two later in the season.

Warriors Notes: O’Neal, Armstrong, Douglas

December 13th, 2013 at 10:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

Wednesday’s come-from-behind win against the Mavericks was a boost for the Warriors, who would have fallen to within a game of .500 had they lost. Golden State instead entered tonight at 13-10 and tied with Dallas for eighth place in the Western Conference, but the Warriors didn’t envision merely scrapping for a playoff spot this season. Injuries have played a role in the slow start, but it looks like the team has at least considered shaking up the roster with a trade, as witnessed by the team’s rumored interest in Kyle Lowry. It sounds like Lowry won’t wind up in a Warriors uniform, but Golden State will nonetheless be a team to watch if its struggles continue. Here’s more on the W’s:

Jermaine O’Neal had surgery today on a torn ligament in his right wrist, but he took to Twitter to insist that he will return at some point this season (hat tip to The Associated Press). GM Bob Myers says O’Neal will probably miss about two months, according to 95.7 The Game (Twitter link). A report yesterday indicated it was likely that O’Neal was done for the year.
Coach Mark Jackson explained to reporters, including Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group, why the team chose to sign Hilton Armstrong this week rather than bring back Dewayne Dedmon to fill its need for a backup center. “Just overall we thought we needed a guy that was more game ready today, not to say that Dewayne isn’t, but this is no time for us to experiment. We needed a proven guy off the bench,” Jackson said.
Amid the rumors linking Golden State to Lowry, Jackson also said the team still believes in backup point guard Toney Douglas, as Kawakami also notes in his piece.
The best outcome for David Lee and the Warriors isn’t a trade that would ship him out of town, but a return to the All-Star form the power forward exhibited last season, opines fellow Bay Area News Group scribe Marcus Thompson.