Joey Dorsey

Rockets Sign Joey Dorsey

FRIDAY, 8:44pm: The signing is official, the Rockets have announced (hat tip to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle).

6:23pm: The deal is for the minimum salary, and it’s fully guaranteed, Feigen writes in his full story

11:50am: The deal is guaranteed, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, though it remains unclear if its fully so or just partially guaranteed (Twitter link).

11:28am: Agent Giorgios Dimitropoulos confirms the deal to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 11:14am: Center Joey Dorsey is returning to the NBA after agreeing to a two-year, $2MM deal with the Rockets, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The 30-year-old has been out of the NBA since the 2010/11 season after playing a total of 61 NBA games over three years with the Rockets, Kings and Raptors. He spent this past season playing for FC Barcelona Regal in Spain, a Euroleague Final Four team, as Wojnarowski points out. The minimum salary would provide $1,963,584 over two seasons for Dorsey, so it would appear that the Rockets are using the minimum-salary exception. It’s not clear how much guaranteed money is involved.

Dorsey started just 10 games and averaged 5.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 15.4 minutes per game for Barcelona this past season. He played with Olympiacos in Greece the season before, so his teammate the past two years has been Kostas Papanikolaou, with whom the Rockets have reportedly been engaged in advanced discussions about a deal. Houston’s agreement with Dorsey wouldn’t necessarily preclude a deal for Papanikolaou, particularly if Dorsey is only getting the minimum salary.

The Rockets were set to be without a legitimate backup center in the wake of their agreement to send Omer Asik to the Pelicans, though it remains to be seen whether Dorsey is capable of assuming a role in the team’s rotation. He’s nonetheless familiar to the Houston front office, which originally acquired him on draft night in 2008 after the Blazers drafted him 33rd overall.

Josh Powell Signs In Greece

Shortly after failing to earn a spot on the Spurs' regular season roster, Josh Powell has signed with Greek's Olympiacos, according to the team's website (hat tip to Sportando). Powell was San Antonio's final cut of the offseason after spending the preseason in camp with the Spurs.

Powell, 29, has played 315 games with six teams over the course of his six-year NBA career. He last appeared in the league in 2010/11, when he averaged 4.1 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 54 contests for the Hawks.

For Olympiacos, Powell will take the place of Joey Dorsey, who recently published a frustrated post on his Facebook page indicating that he'd played his last game in Greece. Dorsey apologized for the post and said he hoped to remain with Olympiacos, but it appears the team has released him anyway.

Odds & Ends: Tinsley, Martin, Pekovic, Dorsey

Here are a few bits of news from around the league on this Monday evening. 

Northwest Rumors: Harden, Dorsey, Lawson

The James Harden trade continues to make news, as Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman weighs in with a lengthy list of observations while Ken Berger of CBSSports.com deems the trade a success for the Thunder, the Rockets and Harden. Berger holds it up as an illustration of the bold, proactive moves that small-market teams must make to stay competitive. As the rest of the NBA digests what the move means, here's more news on the Thunder and their Northwest Division rivals.

Odds & Ends: Smith, Dorsey, Suns, Pacers

There seems to be an increasing reluctance to lock fourth-year players up to extensions prior to their restricted free agency, Sean Deveney writes in his latest piece for The Sporting News. With this year's extension deadline looming, only Blake Griffin and Serge Ibaka have re-upped with their respective teams so far. As we wait to see which other extension candidates may sign new deals in the next few days, let's tackle a few odds and ends from around the Association:

Joey Dorsey To Stay In Greece

After winning the most recent Euro League title as a member of Olympiakos, Joey Dorsey's agent has told Yahoo! Sports columnist Adrian Wojnarowski that the former Raptor will re-sign with Olympiakos. As recent as mid-July, several NBA teams, including the Rockets, reportedly had interest in signing the 28-year-old big man. But he's chosen to stay in Greece. 

Dorsey's played for three different teams since being drafted out of Memphis in 2008. He hasn't competed in the NBA since 2010/11, when he posted averages of 3.1PPG and 4.4RPG in only 12 MPG. 

Free Agent Rumors: Wallace, Grizzlies, Fisher

We're into the home stretch of the July moratorium, and it won't be long before all the moves that have been agreed upon in the last week are made official. In the meantime, teams have two more days to prepare for the next stage of free agency, and the rumors continue to swirl. You can track all of the contract agreements to date using our Free Agent Tracker, and you can follow many of today's free agent rumors right here, with the latest up top….

  • There's a "pretty good chance" that Ben Wallace will return to the Pistons next season, a source tells Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News.
  • A source told The Commercial Appeal (via Twitter) that it's unlikely that the Grizzlies will sign Russian guard Alexey Shved.  Shved allegedly received offers from the Grizzlies, Cavs, and T'Wolves.
  • However, the Grizzlies are working to bring veteran guard Willie Green to Memphis, The Commercial Appeal tweets.  The soon-to-be 31-year-old averaged 7.6 PPG last year for the Hawks.

Earlier updates:

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Joey Dorsey Drawing Interest From Rockets

After Joey Dorsey's Olympiacos squad advanced to the Final Four in the Euroleague postseason, the former Memphis Tiger took the opportunity to discuss his future. The original story from Superbasket is in Greek, but Sportando provides a translation of some of Dorsey's more interesting comments:

"It would be nice to continue here," Dorsey said. "There are several NBA teams that are already interested in me and watched me live. But I feel my priority is Olympiacos. I am a sentimental guy. I will talk with Olympiacos before anyone else. In Toronto I used to play 13-14 minutes per game — here I feel I am much more important for the team. The Rockets came to see me recently. They believe in me and they show it. We talk a lot and I think in the summer they will make me an offer."

Dorsey, 28, was a second-round pick in the 2008 draft, spending time with the Rockets, Kings, and Raptors over the next three years. He played 43 of his 61 career games with Toronto in 2010/11, before heading overseas for this season.