Jonathan Gibson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Gibson, Mavs, Rockets

November 22nd, 2016 at 10:37am CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans got off to a horrible start to the 2016/17, losing their first eight games, but they seem to be trending in the right direction lately, writes Oliver Maroney of Basketball Insiders. As Maroney points out, the club has looked particularly effective since Jrue Holiday‘s return, and will get another boost when Tyreke Evans gets back on the court, which could happen soon. With Anthony Davis reaffirming his loyalty to the franchise, things in New Orleans don’t look quite as bleak as they did earlier this month.

Here’s more from around the Southwest division:

Jonathan Gibson looks like a volume shooter through his first few games with Dallas, but considering how much trouble most of the Mavericks – outside of Harrison Barnes – are having scoring, it’s worth keeping Gibson around based on his potential, says Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. The Mavs have some flexibility with the rookie guard, whose salary won’t become guaranteed until January 10.
In a separate Morning News link, Sefko weighs in on early potential free agent targets for the 2017 Mavericks, suggesting that the team ought to have its eye on point guards, even if stars like Stephen Curry and Chris Paul are unlikely to change teams. The team also figures to have a hole at center, but Sefko thinks that could be addressed in the draft.
Finally, Sefko observes that the Mavericks achieved a rare feat on Monday night, when their starting lineup featured four undrafted players due to the injuries that have plagued the roster.
Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy lavished praise on the Rockets‘ coaching staff, singling out assistant Jeff Bzdelik and suggesting Mike D’Antoni‘s influence on James Harden has had a huge impact on the club. Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle has the details and quotes.

Mavericks Notes: Acy, Gibson, Nowitzki, Barnes

November 20th, 2016 at 10:21am CST by Arthur Hill

The Mavericks’ release of Quincy Acy may not be permanent, according to Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Dallas waived the well-traveled forward on Friday after injuries left the team with a depleted backcourt. A roster spot was needed to bring back guard Jonathan Gibson, and Acy, who had appeared in just six games and was averaging 8.0 minutes per night, was let go. “We tried to get a medical exception, but we didn’t have enough guys injured,” said owner Mark Cuban. “He [Acy] is the best. I told him I’ve paid guys twice and three times in a season before, so be ready. I was heartbroken. We needed point guards. It was just a numbers game.”

There’s more this morning out of Dallas:

Gibson’s 26-point performance Saturday night was the most by an undrafted player in his first or second NBA game in 24 years, posts Tim MacMahon on ESPN Now. Gibson, 29, had been playing overseas since being going undrafted in 2010.
Cuban believesHarrison Barnes is poised to take over as the face of the franchise once Dirk Nowitzki retires, writes Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders. Nowitzki, 38, has been limited by Achilles soreness and has gotten into just three games this season. He signed a new deal over the summer paying him $50MM for two years. Barnes, who received more than $94MM over four seasons, has become the team’s leading scorer in his absence. “That happens to every franchise,” Cuban said. “Father Time is undefeated and we’ll have to deal with it. I think Harrison [Barnes] is showing a lot of signs that he can be that person. Not to try to put too much pressure on him, but it’s a job he wants and he’s willing to work for it. Hopefully, we’ll be able to add other pieces that are on the same plain.”
The team has no plans to shut down Nowitzki for an extended period because of the injury, Sefko writes in a separate piece. “We’re just playing it safe with Dirk,” Cuban said. “With so many guys out, there’s no reason to rush him back. The old, ‘If this was a playoff game, he’d be playing.’ But when you’re missing three of your other top six or seven, that puts too much pressure on him.”
With the Mavericks looking like a lottery team after a league-worst 2-10 start, Adam Grosbard of The Dallas Morning News examines some of the players expected to go early in the 2017 draft.

Western Notes: Parsons, Sterling, Gibson

November 18th, 2016 at 7:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Chandler Parsons returns to Dallas tonight, which will be his first visit since departing the Mavericks as a free agent this summer, and while the forward expects to be booed, he believes fan anger is misplaced, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com relays. “Houston, I get it. I said some stupid stuff on the way out of Houston [after three seasons],” Parsons told MacMahon. “Dallas, I don’t understand. It’s like getting mad at somebody for getting in a car wreck and breaking their arm. Like, how in the world can you be mad at somebody for getting hurt? It makes no sense. That’s just so wrong to get mad at somebody for getting hurt, like they want to go through the rehab, want to go through the pain, want to go through the misery of not playing. I can never understand that aspect of it. So when it comes to Dallas, you’re going to get mad at me because Dirk Nowitzki decided to take less money to bring in a really good player and then unfortunately he gets hurt? That’s why you’re mad? Sure, boo.”

While he maintains that his first choice was to remain in Dallas, Parsons is happy with his new team in Memphis, MacMahon adds. “I think it’s a perfect situation for me,” said Parsons. “I see so much potential that I can add to this team. It just kind of solidifies that I made the right decision.” Here’s more from out West:

Former Clippers owner Donald Sterling has reached a settlement with the NBA in his lawsuit over the $2 billion sale of the team to Steve Ballmer, Nathan Fenno of The Los Angeles Times reports. The suit was filed back in 2014 and alleged that the NBA, commissioner Adam Silver and others engaged in a wide-ranging conspiracy to remove him as owner of the team, Fenno adds. The details and value of the settlement were not released to the media.
Jonathan Gibson, who signed with the Mavericks earlier today, turned down offers to play in China while he awaited an NBA opportunity to materialize, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com tweets.
The Nuggets can’t afford to be patient with the disappointing play of Emmanuel Mudiay for much longer if the team hopes to show improvement in the win column this season, Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post writes. “Let’s be honest, if there’s a situation where [Mudiay] is not playing well, or anybody else is not playing well, we have the depth to make changes,” coach Michael Malone said. “We want to win games. A big part of last year was culture and development. This year … if we’re healthy, we feel it needs to be about winning, as well, to get our fans back and to feel good about the direction we’re heading in.”

Mavs Waive Quincy Acy, Re-Sign Jonathan Gibson

November 18th, 2016 at 8:58am CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 18: The Mavericks have made it official, announcing in a press release that they’ve re-signed Gibson and requested waivers on Acy.

NOVEMBER 17: In need of some point guard depth, the Mavericks are bringing back a familiar face, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical. According to Charania (via Twitter), Dallas will re-sign free agent guard Jonathan Gibson, waiving Quincy Acy to create room on the 15-man roster.

Gibson, who turned 29 last Tuesday, signed a three-year deal with the Mavericks back in July. However, even though that contract included a guaranteed salary for 2016/17, Dallas opted to part ways with him during the preseason roster cutdown. With Deron Williams, Devin Harris, and J.J. Barea all banged up, however, the Mavs needed to add another point guard to complement Seth Curry.

As for Acy, the veteran big man was another offseason signing for the Mavs, inking a two-year deal with a guaranteed first-year salary. The 26-year-old only appeared in six games for Dallas this season, averaging a career-low eight minutes per contest. Acy was limited by foot and eye injuries, but is healthy now and will have the opportunity to catch on with another club once he clears waivers, tweets Charania.

As we noted earlier today, when we examined 2016/17 dead money for Southwest clubs, Gibson already counted for about $543K against the Mavs’ cap. His new deal will add about $469K in prorated salary to Dallas’ books, per Bobby Marks of The Vertical (Twitter link). Meanwhile, Acy’s $1.051MM salary will stay on the cap as well, increasing the Mavs’ dead-money total and pushing the team closer to the tax line.

Mavericks Waive Five Players, Keep Dorian Finney-Smith

October 22nd, 2016 at 5:35pm CST by ChrisCrouse

5:35pm: The team has indeed waived the five players, Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com confirms (Twitter link).

SATURDAY 5:25pm: The Mavs will waive Jonathan Gibson, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link). MacMahon adds that Dallas will opt to give Dorian Finney-Smith its 15th and final roster spot, meaning the team will also waive Kyle Collinsworth, Keith Hornsby, Jaleel Cousins and C.J. Williams.

Gibson’s release is particularly surprising because his minimum salary deal is fully guaranteed for the upcoming year. Dallas also chose to keep Nicolas Brussino, whose contract became guaranteed on Thursday.

Brussino and Finney Smith are both forwards and the Mavericks appear to be looking for upside and versatility in the players they keep at the end of their bench. Gibson, who turns 29 next month, doesn’t fit that profile. He can score the ball, but he has limitations on the defensive end.

Mavericks Notes: Gibson, Harris, Barnes

October 1st, 2016 at 6:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

After traveling the world to play basketball, the Mavericks’ Jonathan Gibson may be looking at his best shot at making an NBA roster, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. The 27-year-old point guard is among seven players fighting for the last two spots on the Mavs’ roster. He entered camp with a fully guaranteed rookie salary of $543K and the knowledge that Dallas is looking for a younger guard to help back up Deron Williams. Gibson played last season in China, where he averaged 42 points per game but finished second to Jordan Crawford in the scoring race. Basketball has taken him to five countries, including a 37-day stay in Iran. “The people were nice,” Gibson said. “It wasn’t like it looks on TV. Going over there, I was [worried]. But once I got there, it was OK.”

There’s more news out of Dallas:

Quickness is the main concern for veteran guard Devin Harris after undergoing three offseason surgeries, Sefko writes in a separate piece. Harris began the summer by having his left foot repaired, along with ligaments in his left thumb, then later had another surgery on his foot to straighten his big toe. “I’m in decent shape, but the first couple days out here, I was watching and thought, ‘These guys are moving fast,'” Harris said. “I haven’t gone that fast in a while. So I just have to get back to that speed. It’s different doing sprints as opposed to getting in real game shape.” Harris is confident that he will be fully ready by opening night.
The Mavericks made a huge financial commitment to Harrison Barnes even though he wasn’t their first choice in free agency, notes Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer. Dallas entered July hoping to land Mike Conley, Nicolas Batum and Hassan Whiteside, but when they all made other choices, the Mavericks turned to Barnes and are now hoping he can become the star he was projected to be out of high school.
Despite their additions over the past two seasons, the Mavericks don’t look like a team that can contend after Dirk Nowitzki retires, contends Tim Cowlishaw of The Dallas Morning News.

Contract Details: Conley, Jefferson, Speights

July 18th, 2016 at 8:47am CST by Luke Adams

Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders has updated many of the team-by-team salary pages at Basketball Insiders with new information, and while it’s worth checking out the full breakdown for your favorite team, we have a few noteworthy items from the latest series of updates to pass along. Let’s dive in…

Mike Conley‘s five-year max deal with the Grizzlies includes an early termination option for the fifth year, which essentially functions like a player option. If Conley choose to waive that ETO and opts into the final year of his contract, his $34.5MM salary would be guaranteed for $22.427MM. However, if Conley plays in at least 55 games in either 2018/19 or 2019/20, that salary becomes fully guaranteed.
The third year of Al Jefferson‘s three-year contract with the Pacers is only partially guaranteed. The team currently owes him $4MM for the 2018/19 season, but if he stays on the roster, he’d earn his full $10MM salary.
Marreese Speights‘ minimum-salary deal with the Clippers is for two years, not just one. However, Speights has a player option on that second year, so he’ll likely opt out if he has a good year in Los Angeles.
Deron Williams‘ one-year contract with the Mavericks is actually worth $9MM rather than $10MM on the cap, though he has $1MM in unlikely incentives.
Dorian Finney-Smith, Jonathan Gibson, and Nicolas Brussino all got nearly-identical three-year, minimum-salary deals from the Mavericks. Gibson is the only one whose first year is fully guaranteed though — Finney-Smith and Brussino will start with just $100K guaranteed apiece.
When Paul Zipser‘s agent announced his rookie contract with the Bulls, he said it featured two guaranteed years. There’s also a third year on that pact worth the minimum salary that’s not fully guaranteed.

Mavericks Sign Jonathan Gibson

July 15th, 2016 at 2:47pm CST by Eddie Scarito

JULY 15, 2:47pm: The signing is official, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com.

JULY 13, 10:39pm: The Mavericks have agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent point guard Jonathan Gibson, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (via Twitter). It will be a three-year pact that includes guarantees, Charania adds. The scribe’s report doesn’t specify the type or amount of the guarantees, nor which years of the arrangement they cover.

Gibson, 28, has been playing for Dallas’ summer league squad, making three appearances and averaging 22.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 29.5 minutes of action. He’s shooting .511/.440/1.000 from the field in Las Vegas this summer.

The guard went undrafted out of New Mexico State in 2010 after completing his senior campaign. He has primarily played overseas since then, spending the 2015/16 season in China with Qingdao. Gibson appeared in 36 games for the Double Star Eagles this past season, averaging 42.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.1 assists on 46.7% shooting overall.