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Rockets Waive Jeff Adrien, Ish Smith

October 27th, 2014 at 10:02am CST by Chuck Myron

The Rockets have waived Jeff Adrien and Ish Smith, the team announced via press release. Shams Charania of RealGM reported overnight that the team would do so with Adrien (Twitter link), adding that Houston was considering Smith or Francisco Garcia for the final cut necessary to take the team’s roster down to the regular season limit of 15. That appears to put rookie Tarik Black on the opening-night roster, as Charania noted, in spite of the lack of a full guarantee on his contract. Adrien and Smith both signed fully guaranteed one-year contracts for the minimum salary with Houston this summer, and the team will be on the hook for them providing they clear waivers.

Smith had held the lead earlier this preseason on fellow point guard Isaiah Canaan, who remains on the roster, but Canaan made a strong push in the past two weeks and the Rockets always felt he had higher long-term potential, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Smith has bounced around to six teams in his four NBA seasons, spending last year with the Suns, where he averaged a career-high 14.4 minutes per game.

Adrien is another journeyman coming off perhaps his finest season, one in which he averaged 10.9 points and 7.8 rebounds in 25.2 mintues per game over 28 appearances with the Bucks after they brought him to Milwaukee in a deadline-day trade with Charlotte. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a team claim the power forward off waivers, though that’s just my speculation.

The moves leave the Rockets with 13 fully guaranteed deals plus Black and the non-guaranteed contract of Patrick Beverley. Charania indicated that Black’s contract would be partially guaranteed when he agreed to his deal, though Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders lists the pact as non-guaranteed.

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Rockets Sign Ish Smith

July 18th, 2014 at 8:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 8:46pm: The signing is official, the team has announced (H/T Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle).

THURSDAY, 4:50pm: The Rockets and guard Ishmael Smith have agreement on a one-year deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The Suns waived Smith two days ago just before his non-guaranteed contract was to become fully guaranteed. Presumably, he’s cleared waivers, allowing the Rockets the chance to sign him. Smith’s new deal is fully guaranteed for the minimum salary, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter).

Smith played 28 games for the Rockets in 2010/11, making him the latest former Rocket to sign with the team this summer. All four free agents with whom the team has come to agreements this month have already played for the Rockets at some time during their careers. Since debuting with Houston, Smith bounced between four other NBA franchises (Memphis, Golden State, Orlando and Milwaukee) before finding a home in Phoenix last season. He played 70 games for the Suns, averaging 3.7 points and 2.6 assists in 14.4 minutes per game.

The 26-year-old Wake Forest product figures to compete with Isaiah Canaan and Troy Daniels next season in Houston for backup point guard duties. The Rockets, of course, traded Jeremy Lin to the Lakers last week in hopes that they could reach an agreement with then-free agent Chris Bosh. Without Lin (or Bosh, as it turned out), adding depth behind Patrick Beverley became a priority.

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Suns To Waive Ish Smith

July 15th, 2014 at 10:52pm CST by Chuck Myron

10:52pm: The Suns have officially waived Smith, the team announced on their official website.

4:50pm: The Suns are waiving Ish Smith this evening to avoid his non-guaranteed contract becoming fully guaranteed for $992,435, reports Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Today’s the last day the team can make that maneuver without shelling out for Smith this year, as our schedule of contract guarantee dates shows.

Smith played a prominent role for the Suns this past season, averaging 3.7 points, 2.6 assists and 14.4 minutes per game. It appears to be a numbers crunch at part to blame for his departure, even given Phoenix’s commitment to lineups featuring two point guards. The Suns added point guards Isaiah Thomas via sign-and-trade and Tyler Ennis through the draft to supplement Eric Bledsoe, whom they intend to retain through restricted free agency, and Goran Dragic.

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Odds & Ends: Jazz, Suns, 2014 FAs, Turner

October 25th, 2013 at 3:26pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune, Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey offered up some thoughts on the team’s decision not to trade Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap last season, and discussed a rebuilding process that dates back to the Deron Williams trade. Lindsey referred to the 2013/14 season as one of “discovery,” and suggested that other teams will be keeping an eye on Utah to see how the club’s plan progresses

“If it works, I think they’ll really like it,” Lindsey said. “It’s a copycat league.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:

  • Ishmael Smith and Kendall Marshall are likely fighting for a single roster spot with the Suns, according to head coach Jeff Hornacek (Twitter link via Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic). If Smith earns that spot, Marshall figures to be cut just 16 months after being selected in the draft lottery.
  • Sean Deveney of the Sporting News takes an early look at the 2014 free agent market, and talks to several executives who believe there will be more smoke than fire next summer. “It’s a lot of hot air,” said one general manager. “You’re going to see most guys just re-sign with the teams they are on and not much else.”
  • Evan Turner isn’t stressing about his contract situation, telling Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link) that whether he signs an extension or becomes a free agent, “I’m gonna get money regardless.”
  • In his latest piece for SBNation.com, Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com explains why second-round picks are becoming increasingly valuable to NBA teams.
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Suns Notes: Butler, Beasley, Frye, Oriakhi

August 30th, 2013 at 11:37am CST by Luke Adams

The Suns completed a pair of transactions yesterday, officially signing fifth overall pick Alex Len, and sending Caron Butler to the Bucks for Ish Smith and Viacheslav Kravtsov. On the heels of those deals, GM Ryan McDonough spoke to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic about the Butler deal, Michael Beasley's future, and a few other Suns-related topics. Let's dive in…

  • According to McDonough, the Butler trade had nothing to do with Beasley's situation, despite the fact that the money saved in the deal could make waiving the troubled forward more palatable. The GM expects resolution on Beasley in "the next week or so," and Coro suggests the former second overall pick will likely be released.
  • Assuming Channing Frye, who missed last season with heart problems, is able to participate in training camp, the Suns expect to have at least 16 players on guaranteed contracts in camp. "All the results we’ve gotten on Channing are positive," McDonough said. "We’re just waiting for a conclusion."
  • Coro also says that second-round pick Alex Oriakhi will be in camp with the team, which is interesting, since the big man signed a professional deal with a French team several weeks ago.
  • Smith and Kravtsov are expected to battle for regular-season roster spots, though it might be an uphill battle for Smith, since Phoenix already has several players capable of playing the point, including Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, Kendall Marshall, Malcolm Lee, and even Archie Goodwin.
  • Further discussing the Butler trade, McDonough noted that the decision to move the veteran forward was a difficult one. "Caron is a great player," McDonough said. "Our timeline and Caron’s timeline were different at this stage of his career. This was just a unique opportunity because Milwaukee aggressively pursued him."
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Odds & Ends: Abdur-Rahim, Kazemi, Butler

August 29th, 2013 at 6:17pm CST by Ryan Raroque
According to a team press
release, former NBA All-Star and Kings' director of player
personnel Shareef Abdur-Rahim has
been named as the general manager of the Reno Bighorns, which serves as Sacramento's D-League affilliate. Abdur-Rahim will be joined by Chris Gilbert,
who was named assistant general manager. Here are some more of this evening's miscellaneous news and notes:

  • Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer tweets that the 76ers could still send second-round pick Arsalan Kazemi overseas for the coming season. 
  • Caron Butler is "thoroughly excited" about returning home to Wisconsin to play for the Bucks, writes Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times. 
  • Suns GM Ryan McDonough issued a statement about the team's trade agreement with Milwaukee, saying that the deal was about creating more cap space (Paul Coro of AZCentral.com). 
  • Yannis Koutroupis of Hoopsworld profiles this year's rookie head coaches and identifies some challenges that may lie ahead for each of them. 
  • Later in the same piece, Koutroupis wonders if Marcin Gortat is the next player in Phoenix to be on the move. 
  • The newly created Delaware 87ers of the NBDL acquired the rights of 16 players via the D-League's expansion draft last night (NBA.com). Among the more notable names on that list with NBA experience are Ish Smith, Sean Williams, Willie Warren, Jerome Dyson, and Josh Akognon. Smith and Akognon remain on NBA rosters, but if they were released and wanted to play in the D-League, Delaware would hold their rights.
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Suns Trade Caron Butler To Bucks

August 29th, 2013 at 3:37pm CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 3:37pm: The Bucks have officially announced in a press release that their acquisition of Butler is complete. It looks like it'll just be Smith and Kravtsov for Butler, with no draft picks involved.

WEDNESDAY, 11:37pm: Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic hears the Suns will receive point guard Ish Smith, center Viacheslav Kravtsov, and a draft pick (Twitter link). Even though the Bucks acquired Kravtsov on July 31st as part of the Brandon Jennings sign-and-trade, they're exempt from the two-month moratorium on packaging him in a trade with another player, since they're under the cap.

10:45pm: The Bucks and Suns have reached agreement on a trade that will send Caron Butler to Milwaukee, according to HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy (Twitter link). Butler has already been told the trade will indeed happen, a source tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who adds that the teams are still working on the details of the deal (Twitter link). Butler is a native of Racine, Wisconsin, which is about 30 miles south of Milwaukee, and it appears the Suns are attempting to do a favor for the 33-year-old, who's heavy on community involvement, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.

Since the Suns acquired Butler from the Clippers in a three-way swap that became official July 10th, Phoenix can't package Butler with any other players in a trade until September 10th, under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement. However, the club can trade the veteran by himself at any time. It's conceivable that the teams could wait a couple of weeks to officially announce the trade if Milwaukee wants anyone else on the Suns roster, but given the timing of the deal and the speed with which it seems to have come together, I think Butler will be the only Sun going to Milwaukee.

The rebuilding Suns are looking for draft picks and short-term contracts, Stein noted. That jibes with the notion that the Bucks are unlikely to give up any of their key players in the swap, as Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times wrote when he first reported that the teams were in trade talks. I speculated earlier this evening that a big man would likely be headed to Phoenix, since the Bucks have eight of them on their roster. Milwaukee is about $7.5MM below the cap, but Butler's set to make an even $8MM in the last season of his deal this year, so the Bucks can't absorb him in the trade without sending a player to the Suns.

Butler averaged 10.4 points per game last season, his lowest output in nine years, but the two-time All-Star has added the three-point shot to his arsenal in recent years, nailing 38% of his 3.8 long-range attempts per game the past three seasons. He shot just 31.2% on 1.8 three-point tries per contest over the first eight years of his career. That outside threat will help the Bucks make up for the losses of Brandon Jennings, J.J. Redick and Mike Dunleavy, who went to other teams this summer, and Carlos Delfino, who signed with the Bucks but could miss a part of the regular season recovering from a fractured bone in his foot.

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Recap Of Deadline Trades

February 21st, 2013 at 7:44pm CST by Sean Highkin

A complete recap of trades that were completed before Thursday's trade deadline:

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Bucks To Acquire Redick In Six-Player Deal

February 21st, 2013 at 3:27pm CST by Luke Adams

The Magic have agreed to trade J.J. Redick to the Bucks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, Milwaukee will send Doron Lamb, Beno Udrih, and Tobias Harris to Orlando in the deal (Twitter link). Along with Redick, Gustavo Ayon and Ish Smith are heading to Milwaukee, tweets Wojnarowski.

After a flurry of Redick rumors leading up to the deadline, the Bucks emerged as the frontrunners in the hours leading up to 2:00pm, as the Spurs, Pacers, and other suitors fell out of the running. While it initially appeared that Milwaukee was targeting Redick to replace Monta Ellis if Ellis was part of a Josh Smith trade, the club ultimately pulled the trigger on Redick anyway, meaning the sharpshooter will join a backcourt that features Ellis and Brandon Jennings.

Meanwhile, the Magic had been seeking a first-round pick in exchange for Redick, but will instead acquire a pair of young prospects in Lamb and Harris, along with Udrih's $7.37MM expiring contract, which will come off the books this summer. According to various reports, the only first-round picks Orlando was offered for Redick would have been very late in the first round. Given the value of draft picks and rookie-scale contracts in the new CBA, teams seemed reluctant to give up any picks better than that.

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Odds & Ends: Williams, Warriors, Magic, Roy

January 2nd, 2013 at 10:52pm CST by Sean Highkin

The latest news and notes from around the NBA on Wednesday evening:

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