Jordan Hamilton

Western Notes: Anderson, Douglas, Barron

Ryan Anderson, who has been out of action since February with an MCL sprain in his right knee, could be making his return for the Pelicans next week, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. ”We’re progressing each day and continue to ramp up to be ready,” Anderson said. ”We’ll do a little more on the court. There is a mental aspect where I got to get over the fact that my knee is stronger and OK. There is still some strengthening I need to build up. But we’re doing everything we can and it is frustrating and it’s tough being out.”  In 52 games this season the big man has averaged 14.6 points and 5.1 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per night.

Here’s more out of the Western Conference:

  • Earl Barron‘s deal with the Suns for the rest of the season is indeed just that, without any extra years tacked on, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
  • Jordan Hamilton‘s latest Clippers contract is a two-year arrangement with non-guaranteed salary for next season, Pincus tweets.
  • The Pelicans tacked a non-guaranteed minimum salary for next season onto their deal with Toney Douglas, Pincus relays (Twitter link). His 2015/16 pay becomes guaranteed if he remains under contract through August 1st, as Pincus shows on the Basketball Insiders Pelicans salary page.
  • Bryce Cotton‘s multiyear deal with the Jazz covers both 2015/16 and 2016/17 with non-guaranteed salaries, as Pincus also reports (Twitter link).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Clippers Sign Jordan Hamilton To Multiyear Deal

2:24pm: The deal also covers next season with non-guaranteed salary, Woike adds (on Twitter).

2:22pm: The signing is official, the Clippers announced via press release.

2:12pm: The Clippers will sign Jordan Hamilton for the rest of the season in a move that’s expected to take place today, reports Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers had told reporters Sunday that the move would take place, but it appeared as though the team changed course amid concern over Hamilton’s ankle injury. Now, it looks like the Clippers are once more ready to commit to the former 26th overall pick.

Hamilton earlier signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Clippers, the last of which expired Sunday night. The 24-year-old has averaged 4.0 points in 9.5 minutes per game across eight appearances with the team, draining eight of 14 three-point attempts. He was originally with the Raptors for training camp, earning a $25K partial guarantee, and he briefly spent time with the Jazz at the beginning of the season after Utah claimed him off waivers, though he didn’t see any action there.

The Clippers are limited to the prorated minimum salary for the Aaron Mintz client, though they have the flexibility to tack on an additional season. The move will give the Clippers a full 15-man roster, though the team will retain a modicum of flexibility since Nate Robinson is on a 10-day contract.

Latest On Clippers, Jordan Hamilton

TUESDAY, 12:44pm: Hamilton’s ankle is better than expected, a source told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).

7:49pm: Bolch further clarifies his previous update, explaining that the Clippers may in fact re-sign Hamilton if his ankle injury doesn’t prove to be too severe. Los Angeles will be keeping a close eye on him and will explore other options if his recovery is expected to take too long (Twitter links).

MONDAY, 7:34pm: The Clippers are reversing course on their plan to re-sign Hamilton for the remainder of the season, reports Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter). It’s possible that the decision is result of the team’s apparent interest in Eric Griffin.

SUNDAY, 6:14pm: Clippers coach Doc Rivers told reporters that he plans on keeping guard Jordan Hamilton for the remainder of the season, according to Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter) .  Hamilton’s second (and final allowable) 10-day contract is set to expire at night’s end.

Hamilton was forced to leave Sunday’s game against the Rockets with a sprained right ankle, but Rivers said that injury won’t affect the team’s decision to retain him the rest of the way.  Hamilton, 24, has averaged 3.4 PPG and 1.3 RPG in 9.3 minutes per contest for the Clippers during his late season run.

The former No. 26 overall pick, who’s spent most of his NBA career with the Nuggets, has bounced around quite a bit this season.  After some quick stints with the Jazz and Raptors, he initially landed with the affiliate of the Grizzlies after signing with the D-League, but that club traded him to the Kings affiliate in December.  His numbers were more impressive since the swap that sent him to the up-tempo Reno Bighorns, as he averaged 18.1 points and 7.6 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per game.

Clippers Re-Sign Jordan Hamilton

3:23pm: The deal is official, according to the RealGM Transactions Log.

2:00pm: Jordan Hamilton will get a second 10-day contract from the Clippers, according to Arash Markazi of ESPN.com (via Twitter).  Coach Doc Rivers indicated earlier this week that Hamilton would “most likely” get a second deal.

The fourth-year NBA veteran signed his first 10-day pact with the Clips on February 24th.  Rivers was targeting players who’ve gone through buyouts around that time, but wound up using Hamilton to fill out one of his empty spots when he came up short on some of the players he was eyeing.

The former 26th overall pick, who’s spent most of his NBA career with the Nuggets, has bounced around quite a bit this season.  After some quick stints with the Jazz and Raptors, he initially landed with the affiliate of the Grizzlies after signing with the D-League, but that club traded him to the Kings affiliate in December.  His numbers were more impressive since the swap that sent him to the up-tempo Reno Bighorns, as he averaged 18.1 points and 7.6 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per game.

In four games (two starts) for the Clippers, he has averaged 3.3 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 11.5 minutes per contest.

And-Ones: Shaw, Caboclo, Pietrus

Brian Shaw was Phil Jackson‘s second choice after Steve Kerr to become the Knicks‘ new head coach last summer, but Jackson was leery of the compensation it would take to pry Shaw away from Denver, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. While it’s doubtful that New York’s team president would part ways with Derek Fisher after inking him to a five-year deal this past offseason, adding Shaw as a veteran assistant on the Knicks’ coaching staff next season is entirely possible, Berman adds. A friend of the coach relayed that Shaw would have considered it an ideal opportunity to become the Knicks’ head man under Jackson had the Nuggets fired him after last season, the Post scribe relays.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Raptors rookie Bruno Caboclo is now being represented by Relativity Sports, having parted ways with agent Eduardo Resende, Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun reports (Twitter link).
  • Clippers executive and coach Doc Rivers said that the team would “most likely” sign Jordan Hamilton to a second 10-day contract when his initial 10-day pact ends this Thursday, Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times tweets.
  • It wasn’t surprising that Ray Allen announced that he wouldn’t play this season, Chris Mannix of SI.com tweets. Allen is reportedly content with living the life of a retiree, Mannix adds.
  • Former NBA player Mickael Pietrus has inked a deal in Puerto Rico with Mets de Guaynabo, Three Eye Sports reports (Twitter link). The swingman’s last NBA appearance was during the 2012/13 campaign when he appeared in 19 contests for the Raptors. In 557 career NBA games Pietrus has averaged 8.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 0.8 assists. His career slash line is .425/.355/.665.
  • NBA teams are still trying to evaluate Emmanuel Mudiay, and decide if he is worth selecting with the No. 1 overall pick in June’s NBA draft, Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) writes in his profile of the 18-year-old guard. “The two guys with the biggest upsides in the draft are Mudiay and Karl-Anthony Towns,” one NBA GM told Ford. “Jahlil Okafor and D’Angelo Russell are more sure things, but neither of those guys have the ceiling of Mudiay and Towns. And of those four, Mudiay is the best athlete. I can understand a team taking any of those four guys No. 1. But if you’re asking me who has the chance to be a game-changer in the NBA, I think it’s Mudiay. Big risk, big reward.

Western Notes: Blazers, Rondo, Thunder

The Trail Blazers, who have an empty roster spot, are more likely to sign a younger player who they could possibly develop for a role off the bench next season than bring in a veteran, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com writes. There are a few NBA D-League players who Portland could target, including Seth Curry and Glen Rice Jr., or the team may look to ink Jordan Hamilton if the Clippers don’t sign him for the remainder of the season, Young notes. Hamilton was recently inked to his first 10-day contract of the season with Los Angeles.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

  • Despite his recent one game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team that resulted from a dust up with Mavs coach Rick Carlisle, Rajon Rondo is committed to helping Dallas to contend for a title this season, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com writes. “I’m going to do what’s best for the team and play my heart out for these next 22 games we have left, and [help] make a run in the playoffs,” Rondo said. “We’ve moved forward and our team has moved forward, and we’ve got a game to look forward to tomorrow.  You know, I’m playing with some great players, with the addition of Amar’e [Stoudemire] now, and I think we’ve got a great chance to win a championship. So, that’s my main focus. I’m going to continue to work to get better and do what’s best to lead this team.
  • The veteran point guard also said that he and the team both want to achieve the same goals, Sneed relays (Twitter link). “I’ve talked to pretty much everybody in the organization, and everyone is pretty much on the same page,” Rondo said.
  • The trades that Thunder GM Sam Presti made this season will help the team not only in 2014/15, but in the summer of 2016 when Kevin Durant becomes a free agent, Shaun Powell of NBA.com writes. The depth that Presti has added should make the team more competitive, which will in turn make the franchise harder to walk away from for Durant, Powell opines. The Slim Reaper is enthusiastic about the Thunder’s mid-season moves, Powell adds. “It shows how great our organization is,” Durant said. “You keep getting talent after talent and keep rolling them in there like that. It shows we’ve got a great eye for talent.

Clippers Sign Jordan Hamilton To 10-Day Deal

2:43pm: The deal is official, the team announced.

11:05am: The Clippers plan to sign Jordan Hamilton to a 10-day contract today, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The fourth-year NBA veteran has been playing for Sacramento’s D-League affiliate, as Wojnarowski notes. He’s poised to go into one of the two open roster spots the Clips have.

Hamilton joined the D-League in November, shortly after the Jazz waived him and brought an end to a stint that lasted barely more than a week. Utah had claimed Hamilton off waivers just before opening night after the Raptors let him go following the spirited battle he put up for the roster spot that ultimately went to Greg Stiemsma. He was one of several players to work out for the Lakers earlier this season. The former 26th overall pick, who’s spent most of his NBA career with the Nuggets, initially played with the affiliate of the Grizzlies after signing with the D-League, but that club traded him to the Kings affiliate in December. Not surprisingly, his numbers have been more impressive since the swap that sent him to the up-tempo Reno Bighorns, as he’s averaged 18.1 points and 7.6 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per game.

Clippers coach Doc Rivers has been targeting players who’ve gone through buyouts, but the team has come up empty in that market so far. Would-be target Tayshaun Prince ended up in a trade instead of a buyout deal, and Kendrick Perkins spurned the Clips in favor of the Cavs. The Clippers also tried to insert themselves in the running for Amar’e Stoudemire, but the Mavs quickly established themselves as front-runners before ultimately signing him.

And-Ones: McGrady, Draft, Hamilton

The league has been canvassing team executives about the idea of eliminating as much as half of the preseason to make the regular season about 10 days longer, thus building more off days into the schedule, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports. Any reduction in the preseason wouldn’t take place until the 2016/17 season at the earliest, according to Lowe, and the league has also brought up the idea of allowing organized team activities during the offseason like
the National Football League does, Lowe writes.

Here’s more from around the NBA and abroad:

  • A recent report from Bleacher Report’s Les Carpenter left some ambiguity about whether Tracy McGrady wanted to return to the NBA, but McGrady confirmed via his verified Facebook account that he no longer wants to play.
  • There will be more than a dozen NBA scouts in Spain tonight to observe Barcelona taking on Fenerbahce, with their primary focus being on Mario Hezonja, a projected lottery pick in the 2015 NBA draft, Chris Mannix of SI.com reports (Twitter link).
  • Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) has released his second mock draft of the year. Ford projects the top three picks in the 2015 draft to be Jahlil Okafor (Duke), Karl-Anthony Towns (Kentucky), and Emmanuel Mudiay (Guangdong).
  • The Reno Bighorns of the NBA D-League traded for the rights to former NBA player Jordan Hamilton today, the team announced in a press release. In the deal, the Bighorns, the affiliate of the Kings, also acquired the Rio Grande Valley Vipers’ second round pick in the 2015 D-League draft. In return, Reno sent their 2015 first round pick in the D-League draft to the Iowa Energy, the Grizzlies’ D-League affiliate. Hamilton spent the 2014 preseason with the Raptors, before being acquired off of waivers by the Jazz, who later waived him themselves. The Lakers had expressed some interest in Hamilton, but declined to sign him after he worked out for the team last month.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Franklin, Chandler

Despite their early-season success, the Pelicans‘ core isn’t likely to become a championship-contending one, Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders opines. One of the main issues with the current roster is the lack of talent on the perimeter, and with Eric Gordon likely to exercise his $15.5MM player option for next season, it will be difficult to upgrade the roster until the summer of 2016, notes Duncan. One option Duncan suggests for the Pelicans to rid themselves of Gordon’s deal earlier is for New Orleans to package its 2016 first-rounder in a trade along with Gordon in order to encourage a team to take on his expiring contract, though the Pelicans owe a protected 2015 first-round pick to Houston, so they would have trouble sending out a 2016 first-rounder, thanks to the Stepien Rule.

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

  • Duncan also added that re-signing Omer Asik this offseason will be an organizational priority because of that protected first-round pick that the Pelicans surrendered to the Rockets in order to acquire him.
  • Jamaal Franklin recently agreed to a one month extension to his contract with the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). Franklin’s original agreement with the team was for two months, and this extension will still allow him to return to the NBA in January when teams are able to sign players to 10-day contracts, Wojnarowski adds. The 23-year-old shooting guard appeared in 21 contests for the Grizzlies last season and he averaged 1.9 points in 7.7 minutes per game.
  • It’s possible that if Tyson Chandler had not broken his leg last season, New York’s 2013/14 campaign wouldn’t have been such a disaster and the Knicks wouldn’t have traded the big man to the Mavericks, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com writes. Chandler is happy to be back in Dallas and while he stops short of being thankful for the injury, he is pleased with how things turned out for him this offseason, MacMahon adds. “I look at life as like everything happens for a reason,” Chandler said. “There’s no mistakes made. At the time, [the injury] was devastating clearly, but I feel like everything happens for a reason.”
  • The Iowa Energy have acquired former first round pick Jordan Hamilton via waivers, the team has announced. Hamilton reportedly worked out for the Lakers last week after a brief stint with the Jazz earlier this month. Though he’ll play for the Grizzlies‘ D-League affiliate, Hamilton is free to sign with any NBA team that would desire his services.

Jordan Hamilton To Sign With D-League

Swingman Jordan Hamilton will sign with the D-League, reports Gino Pilato of D-League Digest (Twitter link). The former 26th overall pick in the NBA draft reportedly worked out for the Lakers last week after a brief stint with the Jazz earlier this month. He’ll be subject to the D-League waiver system, according to Pilato, so it’s not yet clear which D-League team he’ll play for.

Hamilton signed this summer with the Raptors on a minimum-salary deal that was partially guaranteed for $25K, and despite a strong performance in the preseason, when he averaged 9.5 points on 54.5% three-point shooting in 18.3 minutes per game, Toronto let him go just before opening night. The Jazz claimed him off waivers, but he didn’t appear in any of Utah’s first five games and the Jazz put him back on waivers a little more than a week into the season. The Aaron Mintz client was one of several players to try out for the Lakers last week, but the team has so far elected not to make a move. Hamilton’s decision to sign with the D-League will keep him available to ink with any NBA team should he draw interest.

The 24-year-old has spent most of his career with the Nuggets, who acquired him on draft night in 2011. They declined their fourth-year team option on his rookie scale contract, which would have covered this season with about $2.11MM in guaranteed salary, and shipped him to the Rockets at the deadline last season.