Marcus Denmon

Former Spur Brandon Paul To Play In China

Former Spurs shooting guard Brandon Paul has reached a deal to join China’s Zhejiang Golden Bulls, a source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. According to Carchia, Paul will be replacing ex-NBA guard Archie Goodwin and injured guard Marcus Denmon on Zhejiang’s roster.

Paul, 27, made his NBA debut last season and appeared in 64 total games for the Spurs. While he only averaged 2.3 PPG and 1.1 RPG in just 9.0 minutes per contest, he provided the team with strong perimeter defense.

Paul’s contract with San Antonio included a non-guaranteed salary for 2018/19, but the club waived him in July, before that money became guaranteed. Since being cut by the Spurs, Paul has been linked to several international teams, including clubs in Spain, Montenegro, and Greece. He also worked out for the Cavaliers and Timberwolves in early September.

After going undrafted in 2013 out of Illinois, Paul spent time with international club in Russia, Spain, and Turkey, so the move to China won’t be his first stint overseas. He’ll join a Zhejiang team that also features former NBA big man Tyler Hansbrough and is currently out of the CBA playoff picture at 8-16.

Southeast Notes: Wade, Winslow, Magic, Hawks

While word surfaced earlier this week that a team in the Chinese Basketball Association has offered Dwyane Wade a three-year contract worth $25MM, Rodney McGruder would like to see the future Hall-of-Famer stick with the Heat.

“I hope he stays with us,” McGruder said of his Heat teammate on Tuesday, per Manny Navarro of The Miami Herald. “That’s his personal decision, but I would love to have him back. … I’ve got a sense that he wants to play in the NBA [based off of] when he came back to play for us [at the February trade deadline] and the things that he showed in the playoffs.”

Although Wade hasn’t announced any decisions yet, international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link) is told that the rumblings linking Wade to China “aren’t as serious as advertised.”

According to Pick, the Zhejiang Golden Bulls – the club that reportedly made that $25MM offer to Wade – have secured another scorer for the upcoming season by agreeing to sign Marcus Denmon to a $1.2MM deal. A former Missouri standout, Denmon was a second-round pick in the 2012 draft but never appeared in an NBA regular season game.

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

Spurs Notes: Gasol, Roster Battle, Denmon, D-League

Pau Gasol may not be the best replacement for the retired Tim Duncan, cautions Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders. In the site’s season preview of the Spurs, Blancarte notes that while Gasol remains an effective passer and all-around player, most of his scoring comes from the midrange area, where San Antonio already produces much of its offense. Gasol left the Bulls to sign a two-year, $30MM deal with the Spurs in July. Although Blancarte picks San Antonio to repeat as Southwest Division champions, he expresses concern about the age of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili and states that Kyle Anderson and Jonathon Simmons will have to be ready to take on larger roles.

There’s more news out of San Antonio:

  • The Spurs have 14 players with guaranteed contracts and a four-way battle is shaping up for the final roster spot, Eric Pincus writes in the same story. Patricio Garino, Ryan Arcidiacono, Bryn Forbes and Ryan Richards are expected to compete for the 15th position, with the D-League looming as a consolation prize.
  • San Antonio has waived its rights to Marcus Denmon, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The Spurs made the former Missouri combo guard the 59th pick in the 2012 draft. He has spent his professional career overseas and played last season in the Turkish Basketball League.
  • An Austin Spurs tryout Saturday attracted 110 players hoping to duplicate Simmons’ unlikely path to the NBA, writes Lorne Chen of NBA.com. Simmons was a semi-pro player who was thinking about giving up basketball when he came to the 2013 tryout. He impressed coaches enough to earn a contract with the D-League team, then graduated to the NBA two seasons later. “Jonathon came from this spot and has been a part of our group ever since,” said Austin GM Andy Birdsong. “And the thing is there are many stories like his coming out of the D-League. It’s a real story. It’s one that’s tangible. And it gives the guys here a lot of hope.”

And-Ones: Anthony, Denmon, Wizards

Carmelo Anthony has elected to take half of his $22.5MM salary this season up front, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. Because his five-year, $124MM contract is structured similarly for future seasons, Anthony will receive a total of $62MM up front over the course of his deal, notes Berman. This won’t have any bearing on the Knicks‘ salary cap, but likely is among the largest immediate payouts in NBA history, Berman points out. League rules stipulate the maximum allowable advance is 50 percent of a player’s annual salary.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Marcus Denmon has signed with Enel Brindisi of the Italian League, the team announced via their Facebook page (translation by Enea Trapani of Sportando). Denmon was a former second round pick of the Spurs. Enel Brindisi signed him after negotiations with Orlando Johnson fell through, notes Trapani.
  • 34 players in the NBA currently have trade kickers in their contracts, and Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders runs down the list.
  • Although other teams have made more noise this summer, one team that has quietly improved itself is the Wizards, writes Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders. In the article, Camerato looks at the additions the team has made, and the impact they could have on Washington’s season.

Texas Notes: Mavericks, Dwight, Denmon

Mark Cuban of the Mavericks and James Dolan of the Knicks are polar opposites when it comes to their willingness to talk about their teams, but both of them opened up this weekend. The loquacious Cuban went into a lengthy soliloquoy about his roster-building philosophy on his personal blog, as we passed along yesterday, while Dolan consented to a rare 90-minute interview with Shalini Ramachandran of the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Dolan held forth on high finance, his Cablevision empire, and even his rock-star experience touring with The Eagles, but said nary a word about his Knicks. So, we'll focus on reflections from Cuban's comments instead, and round up the day's news out of Texas:

  • The Mavs have traded away their own first-round pick in every draft since 2007, and SB Nation's Tom Ziller wonders whether Cuban's tactic of unloading those picks just as other teams are so eager to scoop them up will catch on around the league.
  • Jonathan Tjarks of RealGM.com calls the Mavs inability to sign new Rockets star Dwight Howard a "death blow" to Cuban's plan, and opines that clearing cap space for a run at a superstar is an unreliable strategy.
  • Spurs 2012 second-round pick Marcus Denmon spent the past season playing for Chalon in France, and this year he'll play for Tofas Bursa in Turkey, as the Turkish outfit announced on its website (translation via Sportando's Emiliano Carchia).

Draft Updates: Sunday

With the draft just four days away, teams are scurrying to get their plans in order before Thursday evening's big event in Newark, NJ. Saturday saw another full slate of draft rumors and Sunday's already shaping up to look the same. Ft. Worth Star-Telegram's Dwain Price reports the Mavs will be looking to add a rotation-type player with the 17th pick. We'll keep track of all of the day's latest draft news and happenings with the most recent information on top.

  • The Rockets are looking to move into the top 10, dangling some combination of picks 14, 16 and Kyle Lowry, says Chad Ford.  Ford suspects that the Rockets are eyeing UConn's Andre Drummond and could be speaking with the Kings at pick 5 and the Raptors at pick 8.
  • Jodie Valade addresses the comparisons between Bradley Beal and Ray Allen in a story for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, implying that Beal could be more versatile than Allen.
  • Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group takes a look at potential Warriors targets Moe Harkless, Terrence Ross and Quincy Miller and where the selection of the three wings would make sense for Golden State.

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