Patrick Beverley

Southwest Notes: Mavs, Wright, Beverley, Rockets

With three games on the postseason schedule tonight, including two that could be series-enders, it appears we're in for another fun night of NBA ball. While we prepare for the evening's action in New York, Indiana, and Oklahoma City, let's check in on a few items out of the Southwest Division….

  • As the Mavericks prepare their to-do list for what Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News calls "the most important summer in franchise history," the top priority is figuring out exactly how much money they'll have to spend this offseason, according to Sefko.
  • There's mutual interest between Brandan Wright and the Mavericks in seeing the big man back in Dallas next season, but Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com predicts Wright won't come cheap. MacMahon expects bidding for the free-agent-to-be to start in the four-year, $16MM range.
  • Patrick Beverley would love to stay long-term with the NBA team that took a chance on him, telling Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston (Twitter link) that he'd "definitely love to be [with the Rockets] forever."
  • Jemele Hill of ESPN.com is the latest to make the case for why Dwight Howard ought to sign with the Rockets rather than the Lakers or any other suitors this summer.

Western Notes: Mayo, Wright, Beverley

The Dallas Morning News relayed some quotes from Mavericks beat writer Eddie Sefko today, from his appearance on 1310 AM The Ticket. Regarding O.J. Mayo, Sefko doesn't think that the Mavs will make an offer "too far north of the mid-level exception" and estimates a reasonable offer to be close to around a four-year deal at around $30MM. He also thinks that Mayo's starting offers will be for the mid-level exception. As for Brandan Wright, Sefko believes that retaining the 6'9 big man as a reserve in addition to finding a starting center would help shore up their rotation at the five spot. Here are a few more miscellaneous notes out of the Western Conference tonight:
  • Fresh off of his 16-point, 12-rebound, and six assists performance against Oklahoma City, Rockets guard Patrick Beverley isn't fazed at all by the playoff atmosphere, crediting the hostile environment from his experiences in Europe for his ability to handle the pressure now (Jonathan Feigen of Ultimate Rockets writes): “It’s different here. You have cities versus cities, states versus states. There, it’s countries against countries. I’ve played in games and got hit in the face with quarters, played with my face bleeding. I’ve played in hostile environments a lot. The first round of the playoffs I can deal with.” 
  • Max Ogden of Sheridan Hoops gives an update on Kostas Papanikolaou, the 48th selection of last year's NBA draft by the Knicks whose draft rights were later traded to the Trail Blazers. The 22-year-old forward has continued his progression for the defending Euroleague champion Olympiacos. 
  • NBA commissioner David Stern commended the Rockets for how they handled Royce White's situation, saying "we'll see what happens" with regard to White's future (Reid Laymance of Ultimate Rockets). 
  • This NBA.com article focuses on Andre Miller, who at age 37 is leading the third-seeded Nuggets in his quest to get out of the first round for the first time in nine playoff appearances. 

Ingram On Howard, Grizzlies, Celtics, Boozer, Bargnani

The latest from around the NBA as reported by Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld.com:

  • The Lakers are keeping their options open with regards to Dwight Howard, but as of now they are determined to keep him in Los Angeles.
  • Ingram doesn't think the Grizzlies should trade Rudy Gay or Zach Randolph this season, writing that they are close enough to title contention to keep the core together in the short term.
  • The Celtics need to find younger players to build around Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley, Ingram writes.
  • Given Carlos Boozer's recent stretch of excellent play, Ingram doesn't see the Bulls trading him.
  • While the Raptors would love to trade Andrea Bargnani, it is unlikely that any player he could net in return is worth trading him for.
  • Ingram talk to Rockets rookie Patrick Beverley about his transition from the D-League to the NBA.
  • Ingram writes that the firing of head coach Alvin Gentry has injected a sense of urgency into the Suns locker room.

Players Still Ineligible To Be Traded

Today is January 15th, which means that a number of players who had been ineligible to be traded until this point are now free to be moved by their respective teams. As Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors outlined last month, Eric Gordon, Brook Lopez, Kris Humphries, Ersan Ilyasova, and Jeff Green are among the players who weren't eligible to be dealt until today.

However, in addition to rules that keeps players from being traded until December 15th or January 15th, the CBA also includes a stipulation that a team must have a player on its roster for three months before being able to trade him. That means guys who have signed contracts since October 15th are still ineligible to be dealt.

Here are the players who can't be traded quite yet, along with the dates they'll become trade-eligible:

Leandro Barbosa (Celtics): January 18th
Daniel Orton (Thunder): January 31st
Shaun Livingston (Cavaliers): February 15th

Because the trade deadline arrives on February 21st, players signed after November 21st won't become trade-eligible until after the season. Here are the guys who fit that description:

Jeff Adrien (Bobcats)
James Anderson (Rockets)
Patrick Beverley (Rockets)
Daequan Cook (Bulls)
Kevin Jones (Cavaliers)
Mickael Pietrus (Raptors)
Garrett Temple (Wizards)

In addition to recent signees, players who were claimed off amnesty waivers last July are also ineligible to be traded until July 2013. Some amnesty victims, like Andray Blatche, cleared waivers without being claimed and signed new contracts, so they're trade-eligible now, but the following players can't be moved this season:

Elton Brand (Mavericks)
Brendan Haywood (Bobcats)
Luis Scola (Suns)

Finally, players on 10-day contracts, such as Dominic McGuire, Maalik Wayns, and Josh Harrellson, also won't be trade-eligible at any point this season, even if they eventually receive rest-of-season contracts.

D-League Moves: Beverley, Wroten, Jones, Joseph

Here are Monday's D-League assignments and recalls, with the latest moves added to the top of the page throughout the day:

  • After Jeremy Lin sprained his ankle at practice today, the Rockets will recall the recently-signed Patrick Beverley from the D-League, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Since joining the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Beverley has averaged 13.7 PPG, 7.0 APG, and 6.7 RPG in three contests.
  • After a brief stint with the Reno Bighorns, Tony Wroten has been recalled from the D-League by the Grizzlies, according to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal (via Twitter). Quincy Pondexter is out with a knee injury, and Rudy Gay will miss tonight's game while attending his grandmother's funeral, so Wroten will provide some extra depth for Memphis.
  • Terrence Jones has been recalled from the D-League by the Rockets, tweets Feigen. Jones, 2012's 18th overall pick, had been on his third D-League assignment with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, having averaged 19.2 PPG and 11.0 RPG in nine contests for the club this season.
  • The Spurs have recalled Cory Joseph from their D-League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. Joseph was assigned to the Austin Toros back on December 17th for the third time this season. In 14 games with the Toros, Joseph has averaged 20.7 PPG and shot 44.2% from three-point range.

Odds & Ends: Kaman, Fredette, Beverley

Chris Kaman, making $8MM this year as one of many Mavs on a one-year contract, told Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida that he wants to return to Dallas next year, but he isn't sure whether the team will have him. Kaman's preference is for long-term contracts (Sulia links). "Nobody wants to do a one-year deal," he said. "If anybody prefers, they would do a long-term deal if they felt comfortable in the situation. So everybody kind of is just trying together to be a team. I think sometimes that creeps in. 'I’m in this one-year deal, I better play good.' It’s not that it’s selfish but it’s just a lot of pressure for a player." The handful of players without fully guaranteed contracts who got the ax today probably wouldn't mind a one-year deal right now, but it's all relative in the NBA. Here's more from around the Association.  

D-League Moves: Beverley, Leuer

We'll keep track of today's D-League movement in this post, with the latest news on top. You can follow all of this season's D-League assignments and recalls right here.

  • The Rockets, in a press release that officially announced the signing of Patrick Beverley, also revealed that he's been assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League. The 6'1" point guard has yet to play in either the NBA or the D-League after going undrafted in 2009. Houston brought Beverley over from Spartak St. Petersburg in Russia, for whom he was named Eurocup MVP last season.
  • The Cavaliers have recalled Jon Leuer from the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. Leuer figures to be on the bench for the Cavs' game tonight in Chicago. Leuer was assigned to the Canton Charge last week, and played in two games for the club during his stint. The 23-year-old had double-doubles in both contests, leading the Charge to a pair of victories. Canton is now 7-1 this season with Leuer, and just 3-7 without him.

Rockets Sign Patrick Beverley

MONDAY, 12:25pm: Beverley's contract has been finalized and he's practicing with the team today, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

FRIDAY, 10:22am: Back in December, Eurohoops.net and the Houston Chronicle reported that point guard Patrick Beverley would sign with the Rockets. While Houston still hasn't officially added Beverley to its roster, the 24-year-old has signed a three-year contract with the team, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).

Nikos Varlas of Europhoops.net notes that the Russian basketball federation has to send Beverley's letter of clearance to Houston, which is only a formality. When that happens, the Rockets will be able to finalize the signing, and will have to release a player from their 15-man roster.

As Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors observed last month and as Feigen hints (via Twitter), Scott Machado seems like the logical candidate to be cut, since he plays the same position as Beverley and only has a partial guarantee on his contract. Houston has until Monday to release Machado and avoid paying him a full-season's salary.

Odds & Ends: Nolan Smith, Beverley, Draft

It was an active day around the Association, and it might be that way for a while. Monday is the start date for 10-day contracts and the final day teams can waive players on non-guaranteed deals in time for them to be off rosters by January 10th, when those contracts would become guaranteed for the balance of the season. Come Monday, we'll also be just two weeks and a month from the trade deadline. As we count down, here's the latest NBA scuttlebutt.

  • Nolan Smith has fired agent Joel Bell, who asked the Blazers to trade his now former client, as Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com reports. Smith said he has never asked for a trade himself, and as we passed along earlier, he also spoke with Haynes about his upcoming free agency, professing his love for Portland in the process. Sam Amick of SI.com identified Smith as a trade candidate earlier today. 
  • Sean Deveney tweets financial details on Patrick Beverley's $850K buyout from Spartak St. Petersburg. The Rockets, who are expected to sign Beverley, paid the maximum $550K while Beverley chipped in the rest out the $700K in earnings he had already drawn on his $1MM contract with the Russian club.
  • Chris Mannix of SI.com mentions Kansas freshman shooting guard Ben McLemore as a darkhorse for the No. 1 pick and ranks the top 20 draft prospects for June, with Kentucky center Nerlens Noel atop the list. 
  • Hornets coach Monty Williams said the team wants to have the flexibility to bring in new players at small forward, as John Reid of The Times-Picayune notes, and presumably that's why New Orleans waived Dominic McGuire today. Williams has been unpleased with the play of the team's threes since before McGuire signed last month, and now the coach is calling for improvement from Al-Farouq Aminu, who'll be an unrestricted free agent in the summer because the Hornets declined his fourth-year option prior to the season.  

Western Notes: White, Beverley, Childress, Kings

Although a report surfaced recently suggesting that Royce White could explore the possibility of playing in Europe, where he wouldn't have to fly to games, the Rockets rookie insists that's not the case. He announced today via Twitter that he expects to play for Houston "once this current situation is resolved." White turned down a D-League assignment earlier this week, citing a lack of a mental health protocol.

Here are a few more Thursday updates out of the Western Conference:

  • Patrick Beverley is still expected to sign with the Rockets, once he receives FIBA clearance, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). Beverley's deal, which we heard about back in December, will mean the Rockets will have to release another player to clear a roster spot.
  • Josh Childress isn't interested in a 10-day contract at this point, so the Timberwolves or any other team would have to give him a full-season guarantee if they were to sign him, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
  • According to Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld, word in NBA circles suggests that "major change" is coming to the Kings next summer when Geoff Petrie's contract ends and new management is brought in.
  • DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans are among the names Ian Thomsen of SI.com thinks will be dangled before the trade deadline, suggesting that if the Kings are considering a "major house-cleaning," both players could be moved.