Louis Amundson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavs Sign Lou Amundson For Camp

September 26th, 2014 at 8:33am CST by Zachary Links

SEPTEMBER 26TH: The deal is official, the team acknowledged, including Amundson on its training camp roster.

SEPTEMBER 19TH: Big man Louis Amundson will be in training camp with the Cavs, agent Mark Bartelstein has confirmed to HoopsHype (via Twitter). The Mark Bartelstein client worked out for Cleveland earlier this week.

Amundson, 31, was released from his non-guaranteed deal with the Bulls in July. The veteran has bounced around quite a bit, having played for five teams in the last four seasons after a successful run in Phoenix’s rotation. He’s been exclusively on minimum-salary contracts the past two seasons and if he sticks with LeBron James & Co. it’ll be for that same figure.

The Cavs have been looking for rim protection of late, and Amundson, who has posted 2.0 blocks per 36 minutes over the course of his career, fits the bill. Cleveland already has deals with 18 players, but only 12 of them have fully guaranteed pacts. Anderson Varejao, who’s set to play a prominent role in the team’s frontcourt rotation as usual, is one of four Cavs with partially guaranteed deals.

Cavs Still Hope To Sign Ray Allen

September 22nd, 2014 at 8:29pm CST by Charlie Adams

The Cavs’ roster reached the training camp maximum size of 20 players when they came to terms on deal with A.J. Price this weekend, but the club’s front office is still holding out hope that it can find a way to land the heavily targeted Ray Allen, reports Jason Lloyd of the Beacon Journal. Allen is contemplating retirement, but Lloyd hears the Cavs still privately believe he’ll return to action and sign with Cleveland.

“I don’t think we’d ever give up on (Allen),” said Cleveland GM David Griffin on Monday. “Until he signs, that’s going to be a target for everybody.”

Allen, 39, is coming off his worst year statistically, but he still shot an impressive 37.5% from beyond the arc. He’s received interest from a variety of teams this summer, including the Spurs, Wizards, and Bulls. While he isn’t likely to put up numbers close to those from the prime of his career, he could still be a valuable bench piece for a Cavs team with title aspirations.

In addition to their continued pursuit of Allen, Lloyd hears Cleveland wants to bring aboard a big man to supplement their frontcourt. The team recently inked Lou Amundson to a minimum-salary deal, and Lloyd hears the the UNLV product is likely to make the opening night roster. Although Griffin said he’s optimistic about center Brendan Haywood‘s progress coming off of injury, Lloyd writes that the Cavs are still “aggressively” seeking to add another rim protector to their squad.

Just 12 of the 20 contracts on Cleveland’s books are fully guaranteed, meaning the Cavs can easily make a move to accommodate Allen or a free agent big man if they’ can strike a deal that both sides see fit. The Cavs are limited to paying any free agent no more than the minimum.

And-Ones: Blazers, Payton, Amundson

September 20th, 2014 at 4:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Blazers made it to the second round of the playoffs last season, which was the first time in the last 14 years that the franchise has accomplished that feat. In their season preview, the crew over at Basketball Insiders predicts that Portland will finish second in the Northwest Division, and the Blazers stronger bench may help them advance deeper in the playoffs this season.

Here’s more from around the league:

Gary Payton is joining the Bucks coaching staff as a special advisor with the express purpose of helping Giannis Antetokounmpo make the transition to point guard, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. Antetokounmpo played the point during the Las Vegas Summer League, and the intent is for him and Milwaukee to continue with the experiment during the regular season, notes Kenendy.
The Cavs impending signing of Lou Amundson brings to Cleveland a player who isn’t interested in scoring, and who understands the value of a rebound, taking a charge and overall defense, all things the suddenly talent-laden Cavs need, Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer writes.
Recent Knicks camp invitee Orlando Sanchez could play a big role for the team this season, Keith Schlosser of SB Nation writes in his profile of the player. With the injury history of New York’s current big men, Sanchez could prove valuable as a mid-season D-League call up, notes Schlosser.

Cavs Audition Lou Amundson

September 15th, 2014 at 9:51am CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs worked out Lou Amundson last week, a source tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Twitter link). They’re among the teams that the Mark Bartelstein client is considering with training camps set to open in two weeks, Sierra adds.

Amundson has been a free agent since the middle of July, shortly after the Bulls released his non-guaranteed deal. That was no surprise, since the Bulls signed him late last season chiefly so he could serve as a trade chip, and it never appeared as though Chicago had any intention of keeping him into this coming season. The 31-year-old has bounced around quite a bit, having played for five teams in the last four seasons after a successful run in Phoenix’s rotation. He’s been exclusively on minimum-salary contracts the past two seasons, and it’d be surprising to see him land more than that for this year. Cleveland is limited to giving out no more than the minimum.

The Cavs have been looking for rim protection of late, and though he’s listed at just 6’9″, Amundson has recorded 2.0 blocks per 36 minutes over the course of his eight years in the NBA. Cleveland already has deals with 18 players, but only 12 of them have fully guaranteed pacts. Anderson Varejao, who’s set to play a prominent role in the team’s frontcourt rotation as usual, is one of four Cavs with partially guaranteed deals.

Bulls Waive Amundson, Brewer, James

July 15th, 2014 at 4:17pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls have waived Lou Amundson, Ronnie Brewer and Mike James, the team announced via press release. The move wipes their non-guaranteed salaries from Chicago’s books. All three were on minimum-salary deals to which Chicago signed them at the end of last season in the hopes they could end up helping the Bulls aggregate salaries in a trade. Instead, Chicago opens up the cap space necessary to complete their deals with Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic.

The trio will hit free agency unless another team picks them up off waivers. The trio combined to play a total of three minutes for the Bulls after the team signed them, but each isn’t too far removed from a more prominent role. James finished the 2012/13 season as the starting point guard for Dallas, Brewer started 34 games for the Knicks that year, and Amundson, though long a reserve, was well-regarded enough to merit deals with three teams that season.

Eastern Notes: Hornets, Draft, Bulls

June 21st, 2014 at 8:42pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Hornets‘ top priority this offseason is finding players who can shoot from the outside, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte GM Rich Cho said, “I think shooting is hard to find – especially mid-range shooting. You don’t see a lot of kids practicing that. Shooting is at a premium now because a lot of teams want to take threes instead of long twos, just from an efficiency standpoint. In an ideal world you want a shooter who can also really defend. But in the real world, there’s not a lot of that.”

Contract Details: Knicks, Pelicans, Heat, Bulls

June 21st, 2014 at 7:43pm CST by Chuck Myron

August 1st will be a key date for many teams and players in the NBA, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports details in the latest update to his salary database. Knicks guard Shannon Brown and Melvin Ely of the Pelicans have their minimum-salary contracts fully guaranteed if their respective teams don’t waive them by the end of that day, Deeks reports. It’s also the day when Justin Hamilton of the Heat earns a partial guarantee of $408,241 and Bulls big man Lou Amundson has his deal partially guaranteed for $300K if they’re not waived, according to Deeks. The salary data guru has a few more revelations, as we note below:

Hamilton’s partial guarantee increases to $612,362 should the Heat elect not to waive by the end of December 1st.
Lamar Odom‘s deal becomes fully guaranteed if he remains on the Knicks roster past September 10th.
The Knicks have another deadline to consider on September 15th, the final day they can waive Jeremy Tyler without owing him a $100K partial guarantee.
Jorge Gutierrez receives a $25K partial guarantee if he sticks with the Nets past September 26th.
Jarvis Varnado‘s deal with the Sixers is already partially guaranteed for $75K.

And-Ones: Buford, Popovich, Chandler

April 15th, 2014 at 11:42pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Spurs GM R.C. Buford is “incredibly happy” in San Antonio and has no intention of leaving even as Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili near retirement age, as Buford tells Grantland’s Zach Lowe (audio link; transcription via Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News). McCarney, in the intro to his transcription, notes that Gregg Popovich has backed away from his assertion a year ago that he’ll retire when Duncan does, referring to Popovich’s remark as merely a joke.

Here are more of tonight’s miscellaneous news and notes:

On the idea that the Knicks might be focusing on the summer 2015 rather than be competitive next season, Tyson Chandler hopes that it isn’t the case: “I definitely don’t want to waste another season….I’m not into wasting seasons. Your time is too short in this league and I want to win a championship, another one” (Marc Berman of the New York Post reports). Berman adds that with his expiring contract and ability to still play at a high level, Chandler could be Phil Jackson‘s number one trading chip this summer.
It appears that soon-to-be restricted free agent Gordon Hayward would like to stay with the Jazz, but he acknowledges that nothing’s certain at this point, notes Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Currently without a contract after July, Utah head coach Tyrone Corbin isn’t ready to field questions about his impending future just yet, writes Falk in a separate piece. Corbin elaborated: “I don’t know if that’s a good question to ask right now…I have a lot of evaluating to do that I want to do for myself and figure out what’s my next step.”
The Rockets have recalled Robert Covington and Isaiah Canaan from the D-League, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
Melvin Ely‘s contract with the Pelicans runs through next season with non-guaranteed salary, reports Mark Deeks of ShamSports, writing for the Score. The ninth-year veteran’s minimum salary he’d get makes him a trade chip in the same manner that Scotty Hopson is for the Cavs, but Ely comes much more cheaply, as Deeks points out.
Deeks also reports that the Bulls’ deal with Louis Amundson, like teammates Ronnie Brewer and Mike James, covers next season with non-guaranteed salary.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Bulls Sign Lou Amundson

April 10th, 2014 at 11:59am CST by Cray Allred

11:59am: The team has formally announced the signing on its website.

THURSDAY, 8:54am: It’ll be a straight rest-of-season contract, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM, indicating that it won’t extend into 2014/15. The signing will take place later today, Charania notes.

WEDNESDAY, 9:03pm: In addition to bringing on Mike James, the Bulls will fill out their roster by signing Lou Amundson in the near future, a league source tells Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com. Amundson will be signed for the remainder of the season, and will be available for the playoffs.

James’ signing is set for Thursday, but it is unclear yet when Amundson will sign. The eighth-year big was waived in December by the Pelicans, and hasn’t played in the NBA since, despite rumored interest from the Wizards. Amundson has career averages of 3.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

If Admundson’s signing goes through, Chicago’s roster will be set for their postseason run. After waiving Erik Murphy and bringing in Jimmer Fredette, Ronnie Brewer, and now James and Amundson, the Bulls are set to reach the 15-man roster limit after spending part of the year under the 13-man minimum. It’s believed that the Bulls will avoid paying the luxury tax this season, regardless of whether Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson earn their potential salary bonuses. Trading away Luol Deng and having Murphy’s waived contract claimed by the Jazz dropped the team’s salary obligations enough to create room for the influx of new faces.

Wizards Likely To Sign Drew Gooden

February 25th, 2014 at 8:23am CST by Zachary Links

TUESDAY, 8:23am: J. Michael of CSNWashington adds Antawn Jamison and Justin Hamilton to the list of others the Wizards are considering, but Michael confirms that Gooden is the favorite to land a 10-day deal. The team may also hold off on signing anyone to give Chris Singleton a shot at playing time, Michael writes.

MONDAY, 5:11pm: Gooden will be in D.C. tomorrow to ink his deal with the Wizards, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. Meanwhile, Michael Lee of the Washington Post (on Twitter) hears that it’s “unlikely” that Washington will sign anyone before tomorrow night’s game against the Magic. He cites Lou Amundson and DeSagana Diop as other 10-day possibilities for the Wizards.

4:11pm: It’s likely that the Wizards will sign Drew Gooden to a 10-day deal, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The 32-year-old hasn’t stepped foot on an NBA court since April of last year but he could help fortify Washington’s frontcourt depth in the wake of Nene‘s injury.

We learned last month that Gooden was working out in hopes of landing an NBA deal. Over his 16 games in Milwaukee last season, the 11-year veteran averaged 13.7 points and 6.5 rebounds in 26.2 minutes per game, which added up to a PER of 18.88. The Bucks wound up using the amnesty clause on the 6’11” big man over the summer, taking his $13.37MM salary between this season and next off of their books.

While other amnesty victims from this past summer like Metta World Peace and Mike Miller were able to hook on elsewhere, there were few, if any, nibbles on Gooden.