Phil Pressey Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jazz Claim Phil Pressey Off Waivers

October 25th, 2015 at 5:35pm CST by Will Joseph

5:35pm: The team announced the move.

4:16pm: The Jazz have claimed Phil Pressey off waivers after the point guard was waived by the Blazers, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports (on Twitter).

Pressey’s deal with the Blazers was non-guaranteed. Pressey, 24, who signed with Portland shortly after the Celtics waived him this summer, averaged 4.8 points, 2.0 assists and 1.0 turnover in 16.4 minutes per game across four preseason appearances.

Pressey has been viewed by many as a natural point guard with good passing instincts, but he is not considered a good shooter. The Jazz currently have 15 players on the roster, the allowed maximum by opening night. Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets that it seems like the move is to secure Pressey’s D-League rights.

Blazers Waive Phil Pressey, Omari Johnson

October 23rd, 2015 at 2:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Blazers have waived Phil Pressey and Omari Johnson, the team announced. Both had non-guaranteed deals. The moves leave Portland with 15 players, the regular season limit. Thus, Tim Frazier, Cliff Alexander and Luis Montero are in position to make the regular season roster despite the lack of full guarantees on their contracts, though the team can make additional moves between now and Monday before setting its roster for opening night. A dozen other Blazers have fully guaranteed salaries, as our roster count shows.

Pressey and Frazier were seemingly in a head-to-head battle for the third point guard job, as Jason Quick of CSNNW.com detailed. The 24-year-old Pressey, who signed with Portland shortly after the Celtics waived him this summer, averaged 4.8 points, 2.0 assists and 1.0 turnover in 16.4 minutes per game across four preseason appearances. Frazier, also 24, put up 5.0 points, 2.8 assists and 1.5 turnovers in 14.7 minutes per contest in his four preseason games. He’s one of the few holdovers on the Blazers roster from the end of last season.

Johnson, on his first NBA contract after going undrafted out of Oregon State in 2011, appeared to be much more of a long shot to make the Blazers opening night roster. The 25-year-old combo forward averaged 2.3 points in 5.9 minutes per game across four preseason contests.

Western Notes: Williams, Pressey, Blazers

September 20th, 2015 at 4:15pm CST by Will Joseph

While Deron Williams was regarded as one of the league’s top point guards not too long ago, just being a serviceable option seems to be the goal nowadays for the former All-Star, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com writes in a lengthy explanatory piece on Williams’ decline. The Mavs signed Williams to a low-risk, two-year contract worth about $10MM with the hopes that the 31-year-old will regain some form.

“I don’t think he’ll be an All-Star again because of how good the West guards are,” one longtime executive told Berger. “I don’t think he’s a top-15 point guard right now, but I think he can eventually get there.”

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Entering his third NBA season, Phil Pressey will begin his first season with the Blazers and enter another training camp competing with Tim Frazier for a backup point guard role, Mike Richman of The Oregonian writes. Both young guards will compete for minutes behind All-Star Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. In his assessment of the player, Richman writes that Pressey is a pure point guard with natural passing instincts who struggles to shoot the ball. Pressey, as Richman points out, has a non-guaranteed contract worth $947,276.
Frazier, who has a non-guaranteed contract worth $845,059, has a shot for more playing time, according to Richman in another story, because he loves to push the pace in transition and is a natural, willing passer.

Celtics Acquire David Lee

July 27th, 2015 at 11:10am CST by Chuck Myron

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

JULY 27TH, 11:10am: The deal is finally official, the Celtics announce. It’s Babb and Wallace headed to Golden State, with Lee going to Boston.

“We are excited to welcome David as a member of the Celtics family,” Boston president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said. “His proven skill set and experience on a championship team will add valuable depth to our frontcourt and a veteran presence to our locker room.”

The Warriors followed with their own press release to confirm the deal.

“On behalf of the entire Golden State Warriors organization, we thank David Lee for his contributions both on and off the court over the last five years,” Warriors GM Bob Myers said. “Throughout his time with the Warriors, David was a great player, competitor and presence in our locker room as well as in the community and was a stabilizing force during a period that saw many positive changes within the organization. Most importantly, he leaves Golden State as an NBA champion. We wish him nothing but the best in the next chapter of his career.”

4:09pm: The teams are still considering “several different ways” to structure the trade and are in no rush, a source tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). In any case, the Celtics have no intention of flipping Lee to another team, Himmelsbach also hears (on Twitter).

3:03pm: Babb is most likely the player headed to the Warriors, tweets Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, who nonetheless won’t rule out that it’ll be Pressey going to Golden State instead.

2:43pm: Berger clarifies that no picks or cash are headed to Golden State in addition to Wallace, but a “filler contract” will go from the Celtics to the Warriors, he says (Twitter link).

2:11pm: Boston will send another player to the Warriors, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link), which conflicts with Berger’s report. That’s perhaps a signal that the Celtics will seek to stay over the cap, a maneuver that would allow them to keep their trade exceptions. In any case, the extra player who would be going to Golden State would be on a make-good deal, Amick adds. Phil Pressey and Chris Babb are Boston’s only players on non-guaranteed contracts.

JULY 7TH: 1:46pm: The Celtics have agreed with the Warriors on a trade that will send David Lee to Boston, reports Tommy Dee of Charged.fm (on Twitter), and as Marc Stein of ESPN.com confirms (Twitter link). Gerald Wallace will head to Golden State, Stein adds (on Twitter). Part of the efficacy of the deal for Golden State is that it can use the stretch provision to waive Wallace and spread his nearly $10.106MM salary, while Lee’s contract is ineligible for the provision because he signed it under the previous collective bargaining agreement, notes SB Nation’s Mike Prada (Twitter link). The Celtics can open cap room, so it won’t matter that Lee’s salary of nearly $15.494MM is more than $5MM in excess of Wallace’s. Indeed, no other players are involved in the deal, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Boston, despite its multitude of trade exceptions, doesn’t possess one large enough to absorb Lee’s salary, and trade exceptions can’t be combined.

The Warriors plan to keep Wallace, despite the tax savings the team could reap if they waive him, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), though they have until August 31st to change their minds and spread his salary in equal thirds over the next three seasons. Golden State was poised to have a payroll in excess of $100MM before their agreement on this deal, and while bringing in Wallace would take that figure closer to $96MM, that’s still well in excess of a tax line projected to fall around $82MM.

Lee provides the Celtics a player who’s shown more production in the last two seasons than Wallace has, even though Lee receded from Golden State’s rotation for stretches this year. He isn’t the superstar or the rim-protector that the Celtics have long sought, but he averaged 18.2 points and 9.3 rebounds in 33.2 minutes per game for a playoff-bound Warriors team in 2013/14.

The Knicks and Lakers had reportedly considered trading for the 32-year-old former All-Star as Lee’s representatives and the Warriors sought takers for his contract, which expires next summer. However, record gate receipts from the team’s run to the Finals left Golden State with greater comfort in paying at least a moderate amount of tax, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe reported. Lowe suggested that it meant the Warriors had become more likely to swing a trade that brought back salary in return, as is the case with this deal.

Boston had reportedly been willing enough to trade Wallace that it would have parted with a first-round pick to make it happen, but it looks like the Celtics won’t have to pay that price. The forward turns 33 later this month and saw only 8.9 minutes per game this past season. His contract, like Lee’s, runs only through 2015/16.

Trail Blazers Sign Phil Pressey

July 24th, 2015 at 6:05pm CST by Eddie Scarito

6:05pm: The deal is official, the team announced.

5:21pm: The Trail Blazers have agreed to sign unrestricted free agent Phil Pressey, Chris Mannix of SI.com reports (Twitter link). The length and terms of the deal are unknown at this time.

Pressey was waived by the Celtics last week, though the team reportedly was reluctant to do so. “Phil may be my favorite player I’ve ever been around in the NBA, as a player, a coach or as an executive,” Celtics executive Danny Ainge said. “It was a very difficult morning for me today. He’s a player I’d want on my team all the time. Unfortunately, we just have an abundance of small guards already. It’s unfortunate. He’s helped us a lot in the last two years, and he’s a classy and hardworking player.”

The 24-year-old will compete to become the primary backup to Damian Lillard in Portland. Pressey made 50 appearances for Boston during the 2014/15 campaign, averaging 3.5 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 12.0 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .368/.246/.673.

Atlantic Notes: Pressey, Prokhorov, Williams

July 15th, 2015 at 2:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

Phil Pressey, whom the Celtics waived today, is already drawing interest from other teams, according to agent Aaron Mintz, as Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe reports, though he’d have to clear waivers before he could sign. In any case, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge had no shortage of praise for the point guard, as Himmelsbach relays.

“Phil may be my favorite player I’ve ever been around in the NBA, as a player, a coach or as an executive,” Ainge said. “It was a very difficult morning for me today. He’s a player I’d want on my team all the time. Unfortunately, we just have an abundance of small guards already. It’s unfortunate. He’s helped us a lot in the last two years, and he’s a classy and hardworking player.”

Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

An announcement could come within the next two weeks that Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has bought Bruce Ratner’s 20% stake in the Nets, a move that would give Prokhorov 100% of the team, Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher says (video link). The possibility still exists that Prokhorov will move in the other direction and sell off his majority interest, but the indications are strong that he’ll indeed buy the remaining shares of the team, Bucher says. Such a deal would also see Prokhorov’s interest in the Barclays Center rise from 45% to 100%, according to Bucher. Still, the move may well have more to do with debt that Ratner’s company owes Prokhorov and his partners than Prokhorov’s desire to own all of the team and the arena, since according to NetsDaily, Ratner faces a deadline to resolve that debt.
The precise amount of money the Nets will have on their cap each of the next five years as a result of the buyout and stretch of Deron Williams‘ contract is $5,474,787, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (All Twitter links). That means he gave up exactly $16MM in the buyout. His new contract with the Mavericks is worth $5.4MM this year and $5.6MM next season, according to Pincus, so assuming he remains on that contract through the end of 2015/16, and assuming he and the Nets didn’t waive set off rights, Brooklyn’s obligation for 2015/16 will be further reduced to about $3.197MM.
Shooting guard Daniel Hackett, who worked out for the Knicks, has a verbal agreement to sign with Olympiacos of Greece, sources tell Sportando Emiliano Carchia. New York was willing to sign Hackett for training camp, Carchia adds, but it looks like he’ll stay overseas.
Fenerbahce Ulker said the contract that former Celtics forward Gigi Datome signed with them covered two years, but it includes a player option for a third, according to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.

Celtics Waive Phil Pressey

July 15th, 2015 at 12:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

12:22pm: The move is official, the team announced.

11:39am: Ainge confirmed that he’s about to put Pressey on waivers, tweets Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald, though the executive doesn’t sound excited about it. “It’s really tough for us to waive Phil,” Ainge said.

11:00am: The Celtics have chosen to waive Phil Pressey rather than guarantee the minimum salary for the two-year veteran, reports Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). Today is the last day the team can release Pressey before his $947,276 salary, currently non-guaranteed, locks in. Pressey was also reportedly a candidate to go to the Warriors in the David Lee trade, which has still yet to become official, so it would appear more likely that Boston will include Chris Babb in that swap.

Pressey saw 11 starts as a rookie, averaging 15.1 minutes per game that season, but he saw less playing time this year even though he was a more efficient scorer. President of basketball operations Danny Ainge liked his perimeter defense, but the point guard position is crowded in Boston, with Marcus Smart, Isaiah Thomas, Evan Turner and this year’s No. 16 overall pick, Terry Rozier, among the team’s options.

Boston’s acquisition of Perry Jones III from the Thunder on Tuesday spelled further trouble for Pressey, since it added another already-guaranteed deal to the roster. The Celtics seemingly remain a work in progress, and while teams don’t have to cut down to 15 players until the end of training camp, it appears that Boston doesn’t want to commit to Pressey at this point. He’d be eligible to re-sign with the Celtics if he clears waivers.

Celtics Rumors: Pressey, Faverani, Iverson, Allen

July 11th, 2015 at 6:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

Phil Pressey‘s plan to impress Celtics’ brass during summer league didn’t work out the way he hoped, writes Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. Pressey left Las Vegas before the team’s first game, and Murphy speculates that his time with the Celtics may be ending soon. Boston assistant coach Micah Shrewsberry said the organization never intended to use Pressey in summer league games. “With Marcus [Smart] playing, and just being able to get Terry [Rozier] a lot of reps in his first couple of games, try him out with a lot of reps at the one, we were able to see what we had, too,” Shrewsberry said. “Phil was there in case anything happened, to give us an extra body. Fortunately nothing happened.” The Celtics have a wealth of guards under contract, and Pressey may be the odd man out. His contract becomes guaranteed for $947,276 on Wednesday.

There’s more news from Boston this evening:

Vitor Faverani, who was waived by the Celtics in December, has reached a two-year agreement to play for Maccabi Tel Aviv, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. The 6’11” center will reportedly receive more than $669K per season. Faverani started eight games for the Celtics as a rookie in 2013/14, but a torn meniscus in his left knee cut his season short after 37 games. He was still on the roster early last season, but didn’t see any game action.
Colton Iverson, whose rights are owned by the Celtics, has signed with Pinar Karsiyaka of the Turkish Basketball League, Blakely writes in a separate story. The Pacers made Iverson the 53rd choice in the 2013 draft and immediately traded him to Boston for cash. He was expected to play for the Celtics’ summer league team, but left to pursue opportunities outside the United States. The Celtics are encouraging him to keep playing overseas to improve his game, according to Blakely.
Former Penn coach Jerome Allen will become an associate head coach with the Celtics, according to Garrett Miley of Cityofbasketballlove.com.

Atlantic Notes: Garnett, Hollins, Raptors, Knicks

February 6th, 2015 at 12:18pm CST by Chuck Myron

Grantland’s Zach Lowe suggests that Kevin Garnett will be the subject of trade discussions between now and the deadline. The 20th-year vet is appealing to teams looking for a either bench upgrade, an expiring contract or both, according to Lowe, identifying the Warriors, Hornets and Raptors in that group. However, it doesn’t appear from Lowe’s report that those teams are indeed going after Garnett, who has one of the NBA’s few true no-trade clauses. There’s more on the Nets amid the latest from around the Atlantic Division:

Nets GM Billy King denies that Lionel Hollins‘ job is in jeopardy in the wake of a report that the team had upped its scrutiny of the coach, observes Johnette Howard of ESPNNewYork.com. “I don’t know where that story came from about Lionel, but it’s not true,” King said. That report indicated that Hollins’ criticisms of Nets players had rankled ownership, but King says he likes the coach’s demanding approach, Howard writes.
Raptors GM Masai Ujiri said Thursday that he’s always listening to trade proposals but added that he doesn’t have a lot going on for now, notes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. The team has reportedly been looking for an upgrade at power forward and has been linked to David West, Taj Gibson and Kenneth Faried.
Langston Galloway says he received “pretty significant” offers from multiple European teams but turned them down to play with New York’s D-League affiliate this season, as he tells Chris Mannix of SI.com, who writes in his Open Floor column. The Knicks signed Galloway out of the D-League last month to a pair of 10-day contracts before inking him to a multiyear pact.
If the Triangle Offense fails to work for the Knicks by next season and Phil Jackson continues to insist that coach Derek Fisher use it, that puts Fisher in a compromising position not just in New York but for any coaching job he’d want to take in the future, opines Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal.
The Celtics have recalled Phil Pressey from the D-League, the team announced (Twitter link). Pressey’s first career assignment to the D-League lasted but one day, long enough for him to record 34 points, nine assists and six turnovers in a single game for Boston’s affiliate.

Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Walton, Celtics

February 5th, 2015 at 4:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The success of the Sixers’ 2014/15 campaign will be gauged by the amount of players the team finds who are “keepers,” Sam Donnellon of The Philadelphia Daily News writes. Two players who just might fit that description are Hollis Thompson and Robert Covington, Donnellon notes. Both players are proving themselves to be valuable assets who could play large roles in Philadelphia’s future, the Daily News scribe adds.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics have assigned Andre Dawkins and Phil Pressey to the Maine Red Claws, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be the fourth trip of the season to the D-League for Dawkins, and the first trek for Pressey.
Luke Walton was all set to join Derek Fisher‘s staff as an assistant this past offseason, but with the blessing of Knicks president Phil Jackson, who is Walton’s mentor, Warriors coach Steve Kerr nabbed Walton first, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. The Knicks could have used Walton’s expertise with the triangle offense to help ease the transition, one that hasn’t gone smoothly, Berman adds. “It’s definitely tough,’’ Walton said. “I think Derek knows that. I know Phil knows that. It’s about patience and building. And I don’t think you come in right away and teach a brand-new team who has never known the triangle and executing it the way it needs to be executed in the first season. When we played triangle [in LA], we had the same core and then added a couple of new guys each year. And it was the same coaches running practice with it every day, drilling. Even then it takes players a while to fully grasp it.’’
The Sixers are making progress as a franchise but still have quite a bit of work to do before they can become a winning team, Tom Moore of Calkins Media writes. The primary void that the team has is in its distinct lack of a star player who GM Sam Hinkie can build around, Moore notes.