Phil Pressey Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Bucks, Brown, Pressey

October 17th, 2014 at 10:33am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pistons have an agreement on a trade with the Celtics, while they join the Pacers and Rockets with interest in taking Chase Budinger off Minnesota’s hands. The trade market is heating up as the start of the regular season draws near, and here’s more on Detroit’s rivals from the Eastern Conference:

The Bucks quietly added hedge fund manager Jamie Dinan to their ownership team in July, reports Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Dinan is a “substantial investor” in the franchise, though it’s not clear if his stake is equal to that of controlling owners Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry. Seven additional new owners have bought shares of the Bucks, the team announced, and one of them is Jon Hammes, who was rumored to be in the running for a minority share this spring. Just how much of the team Hammes and the other new owners purchased is unknown.
Shannon Brown is indeed a favorite to make the Heat‘s opening-night roster in spite of his non-guaranteed deal, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Brown says team president Pat Riley has praised his athleticism, toughness and defense, as Jackson notes.
Phil Pressey is among a logjam of point guards in Boston with Will Bynum on the way, but Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge calls Pressey one of the team’s best perimeter defenders, as Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald relays.

Western Notes: Terry, Papanikolaou, Lakers

September 16th, 2014 at 8:56pm CST by Alex Lee

With a few weeks until training camps begin, here is the latest news coming out of the Western Conference on Tuesday evening:

Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Rockets‘ deal for Jason Terry will be completed tomorrow (via Twitter). The trade, which will send Terry to Houston and Alonzo Gee and Scotty Hopson to Sacramento, was originally agreed to on August 31st. There was a report yesterday that it would be finalized today, so we should expect an official announcement shortly.
Feigen also expects the signing of Kostas Papanikolaou to become official this week, though he cautions that his buyout ($1.5MM) and the necessary FIBA approval make it a little unpredictable (Twitter link). Papanikolaou’s first-year salary of just under $4.8MM is the most ever given to a second-round pick in his first NBA season.
The Lakers announced today that Paul Pressey, Jim Eyen and Mark Madsen will join Byron Scott on the Los Angeles bench as assistant coaches this season. Beyond that trio, the team also announced Clay Moser, Larry Lewis, Tom Bialaszewski and J.J. Outlaw as members of the staff. Rondre Jackson has been promoted to director of player development and Jordan Wilkes has been hired as an operations assistant, according to the team release.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Celtics To Keep Phil Pressey

July 15th, 2014 at 8:45pm CST by Ryan Raroque

The Celtics have guaranteed Phil Pressey’s contract for 2014/15, a source tells Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). Today was the last day that the team could waive his non-guaranteed salary for this season before it became fully guaranteed. The 5’11 guard signed a three-year deal last summer worth $2.25MM, although only $490K was fully guaranteed. Pressey will earn roughly $816K this upcoming season.

Pressey appeared in 75 games last season, averaging 2.8 PPG, 3.2 APG, and nearly one steal per game in 15.1 MPG. The 23-year-old guard struggled with his shot however, shooting 30.8% from the field and 26.4% from beyond-the-arc.

And-Ones: Smith, Sterling, Kerr, Pressey

April 27th, 2014 at 11:25am CST by Eddie Scarito

Nolan Smith has received partially guaranteed offers from the Bulls and the Thunder for next season, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Smith played in Croatia this season and averaged 17.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 4.1 APG.

Eastern Notes: Humphries, Turner, Young

April 3rd, 2014 at 7:21pm CST by Ryan Raroque

As a guest on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher and Rich show, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge revealed that he’s had discussions with forward Kris Humphries about the possibility of returning next season:

“I have had a few conversations with Kris…(he) knows where we are as an organization and he knows we like him. And he knows there is a lot of uncertainty, depending on which direction we choose to go this summer. None of us know…he knows we like him, his coaches and teammates like him, (but) we just can’t make any promises” (interview transcribed by Gary Dzen of Boston.com).

Here’s more out of the Eastern Conference tonight:

Dzen points out that Ainge was also asked about Jerryd Bayless and Phil Pressey but only offered comment on Humphries.
Having gone from a team with the NBA’s second-worst record to playing for the second seed in the Eastern Conference, Evan Turner has conceivably endured his share of challenges in trying to fit in. The fact that the Pacers have compiled a 12-10 record since the deal while Turner continues to struggle offensively hasn’t helped the situation, but the 6’7 guard tells NBA.com’s Manny Randhawa that he’s confident about being able to contribute sooner rather than later.
Once considered a possible candidate to be traded, Thaddeus Young is looking more and more like a keeper in Philadelphia, writes Dei Lynam of CSN Philly. The 25-year-old forward spoke glowingly about playing for 76ers head coach Brett Brown: “Coach (Doug Collins) didn’t want me to shoot a lot of threes…I didn’t like that at all. And this year Brett tells me, ‘I want you to shoot threes, get to the basket, I want you to do everything.’ I am back to playing the way I was before Coach Collins and Eddie Jordan, just a more free flowing offense…I think I have transitioned and turned things around where (as a player) I can just focus on my job.”
Based on the numbers this season, Brandon Knight‘s production may not have unequivocally surpassed what Brandon Jennings brought to the table during his four-year tenure in Milwaukee; However, Knight being two years younger and more affordable than his predecessor is proof of why the Bucks are better off with him now, opines Steve Aschburner of NBA.com.

Contract Details: Butler, World Peace, Suns

March 31st, 2014 at 9:38am CST by Chuck Myron

Mark Deeks has updated his salary databases at ShamSports, and, as usual, he’s revealed several nuances about the latest contracts signed around the NBA. We’ll pass along the details we hadn’t previously heard about here:

Caron Butler gave up $1MM in his buyout deal with the Bucks. He signed for that same amount for the remainder of this season with the Thunder, who dipped into their mid-level exception to accommodate Butler’s $1MM salary.
Metta World Peace gave up $305,166 of this season’s $1.59MM salary in his buyout deal with the Knicks. All contracts with player options include a clause indicating whether or not the player receives the money for his option year in the event that he’s waived before deciding on the option. It looks as if the clause in World Peace’s deal stated that he would not receive the option-year pay, since Deeks doesn’t list any of World Peace’s $1,931,550 salary for 2014/15 on New York’s books.
Shavlik Randolph‘s contract with the Suns includes a non-guaranteed year for 2014/15, rather than a team option, as we suspected.
If the Hawks exercise their team option on the fourth season of Mike Muscala‘s deal, the contract will nonetheless remain non-guaranteed until the leaguewide guarantee date. It’s similar to the structure of the contracts a handful of Sixers have, including recent signee Jarvis Varnado.
Chris Johnson also has such a deal with the Celtics, although there are a pair of guarantee dates attached to the third and fourth seasons. The third year becomes fully guaranteed providing he’s not waived on or before September 1st, 2015, and the fourth year becomes fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before September 1st, 2016.
The Celtics also arranged for a couple of guarantee dates on Phil Pressey‘s three-year contract. Next season is non-guaranteed if he’s waived on or before July 15th, but if the Celtics keep him beyond that date, it’s fully guaranteed. The same happens for the third year of the deal on July 15, 2015.
The Rockets have a team option on Troy Daniels worth the minimum salary for next season.
Luke Babbitt‘s two-year deal with the Pelicans is for the minimum salary. Next season isn’t guaranteed, but it becomes partially guaranteed for $100K if he isn’t waived on or before July 22nd.
The Magic used cap room to sign Dewayne Dedmon to a three-year contract that gives him $300K for the rest of this season, slightly more than what he would have made on a prorated minimum-salary deal. Dedmon is set to make the minimum salary in the other two seasons covered in the pact. Next season is non-guaranteed if he’s waived on or before opening night, when it becomes partially guaranteed for $250K. The final season is non-guaranteed if he’s waived on or before August 1st, 2015, when it becomes fully guaranteed.

Celtics Rumors: Rondo, Bayless, Crawford

January 24th, 2014 at 11:00am CST by Chuck Myron

Celtics GM Danny Ainge denied earlier this season that any team had so much as inquired about Rajon Rondo‘s availability via trade, and while that seemed a little far-fetched, he isn’t changing his story much.

“I actually did have a team call me and say, ‘Hey, would you have any interest in trading Rondo?’ Before he even offered me a package,” Ainge said to Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe. “And I said no. And that’s it. That’s as long as the conversation happened.”

There’s plenty more from Ainge amid our look at the latest on the Celtics:

The Celtics boss also tells Holmes that the trade rumors about Rondo have emanated from outside the organization. “It’s just people, like I think recently, somebody, one of the national media guys, made a comment like, ‘Oh, I was talking with some NBA people on the road and they all think Danny is going to trade Rondo,'” Ainge said. “Well, it’s not like there’s a source. It’s just people that have their own opinion, sitting around, having a Diet Coke, talking about what I’m going to do with Rondo. Which is fine.”
Ainge says he’s hesitant to build around a single player, whether it’s Rondo or anyone else. “Nobody is ‘the future of the franchise,'” Ainge said to Holmes. “A franchise is bigger than any one individual. But we love him. That’s what [the extension offer] explains.”
Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com examines what Rondo could make on an extension if he signed one now, and compares it to the more lucrative alternatives of signing an extension this summer or waiting to ink a deal as a free agent in 2015.
Jerryd Bayless shares his impressions of the Celtics since coming to Boston via trade earlier this month and reiterates his desire to remain with the team long-term in a blog post on his personal website (hat tip to Forsberg).
Ainge let Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald know that part of the motivation to trade Jordan Crawford was to open up more playing time for Phil Pressey. Still, Ainge says he remains high on Crawford and MarShon Brooks, who also departed in that deal, and Ainge added that he’ll keep an eye on both when they hit free agency this summer.
The Celtics have six extra draft picks between this year and 2018, and that’s a reflection of a long-held philosophy that Ainge explains to Bulpett. “I’ve always believed that you build through the draft,” he said. “And whether those drafted players are Al Jefferson, who you love, and Delonte West, who we developed and loved, and then move them for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen — or whether those draft picks turn into Rajon Rondo or Paul Pierce and they’re with you forever.”

Atlantic Links: Nets, Celtics, Knicks

October 3rd, 2013 at 8:18pm CST by Ryan Raroque

There have been some instances in which talented tandems that played together early on eventually blossomed into stars on different teams. A few pairs that come to mind include Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter in Toronto, Jerry Stackhouse and Allen Iverson in Philadelphia, and Jermaine O'Neal and Rasheed Wallace in Portland. However, not many of them get another chance to reunite and try to capture some of what could have been. Brooklyn's Joe Johnson and Paul Pierce shared their thoughts about the opportunity to finally achieve success together after looking back at a 2001/02 mid-season trade that saw Johnson – then a Celtics rookie – get traded from Boston and subsequently develop into a star in Phoenix and Atlanta (Tim Bontemps of the New York Post). With that aside, here are a few links to pass along out of the Atlantic Division tonight:

With Rajon Rondo still out in Boston, Marc D'Amico of Celtics.com looks at the team's other options at point guard – Avery Bradley, Jordan Crawford, and rookie Phil Pressey. In another piece, Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston describes how this team nearly full of new faces has quietly looked to foster their camaraderie during camp.
ESPN New York's Ian Begley reports that Knicks assistant GM Allan Houston was in attendance to witness tryouts for the team's D-League affiliate, the Erie Bayhawks. Among those who made strong impressions were swingman Dami Sapara, center Kyle Hunt, forward Akeem Ellis, as well as big men Brian Addison and Desmond Blue.
Begley also mentions that Knicks guard Iman Shumpert sat out of today's practice with what was called a "minor" right shoulder injury, although Marc Berman of the New York Post suggests that this could possibly open the door for J.R. Smith to earn the starting shooting guard spot.
As Eric Koreen of the National Post notes, the competition for reserve minutes at the wing positions on the Raptors is wide open. Later in the article, Koreen also takes a brief look at rookie Dwight Buycks. In another team-related piece, Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun takes notice of the more competitive vibe felt at this year's camp compared to last year.
Jason Kidd and a few other Nets offered their comments on what Andrei Kirilenko brings to the table with Roderick Boone of Newsday. In a separate article, Lenn Robbins of BrooklynNets.com gathers some thoughts from coach Kidd and Paul Pierce after today's training camp session.

Contract/Cap Details: Pressey, Ledo, Roberts

July 25th, 2013 at 11:11am CST by Luke Adams

As various reporters and cap experts continue to fill on the gaps on team salaries, let's check out the latest details….

Phil Pressey's deal with the Celtics is a three-year, minimum-salary pact, with a fully guaranteed first season, tweets Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld. Because it's a three-year contract, the C's likely used a portion of their mid-level execption to get it done.
Ricky Ledo's four-year deal with the Mavericks will pay him $550K in year one, but will be worth the minimum for the other three years, tweets Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The first two years are guaranteed.
Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com examines how much cap space the under-the-cap teams actually still have, and how much more they could theoretically create.
Since he wasn't waived by last Saturday, Brian Roberts' salary for the upcoming season appears to be guaranteed, per ShamSports' breakdown of the Pelicans salaries.
The Hawks are close to buying out Lucas Nogueira's contract, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Atlanta is allowed to contribute up to $550K toward a contract buyout, and the price for this year's 16th overall pick will be somewhere below $1MM, says Carchia.

Celtics To Sign Phil Pressey

July 22nd, 2013 at 4:17pm CST by Chuck Myron

MONDAY, 4:17pm: The Celtics have officially signed Pressey, according to a press release.

THURSDAY, 12:05am: The contract includes some guaranteed money, Washburn writes.

WEDNESDAY, 9:42pm: The Celtics and Phil Pressey have agreed to a multiyear deal, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. The team and the undrafted point guard from Missouri were reportedly working toward a contract this weekend, after the two sides put together an arrangement for summer league.

Washburn reported shortly after the draft that he expected the team to "immediately go after" Pressey, and the Celtics had him in the fold for summer league by the next morning. A more formal contract took a little longer, but Pressey has at least earned a chance to showcase his skills in Celtics training camp. Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com reported this weekend that the two sides were talking about a one-year deal, and though it now appears his contract will cover at least two seasons, it's not clear how much of a guarantee is involved.

The 5'11" Pressey averaged 9.4 points, 6.6 assists and 4.0 turnovers per game in five summer league contests in Orlando last week, but he was more impressive in college, where SEC coaches voted him first-team all-conference this past season. Both Chad Ford of ESPN.com and Jonathan Givony had him within the top 60 in their final rankings before the draft, so it was somewhat surprising that a team didn't use a second-round pick on him.