Pops Mensah-Bonsu Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Parsons, Davis, Jerrett

November 20th, 2014 at 10:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

By making Chandler Parsons a restricted free agent last summer the Rockets allowed him to hit the jackpot financially a year ahead of schedule, Dwain Price of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes. “I won’t send them [Houston] a Christmas present, but I’m very thankful for them letting me out a year early,” said Parsons. “I understood the whole logic behind it, and Dallas did a great job of making it difficult for them to match it [their offer sheet] for their future plans, so I totally get it. It’s a business and I’m very thankful and humble and glad that the Rockets gave me the opportunity initially with the draft. I had a great three years there, and I’m just excited to be here [Dallas] now.”

Here’s more from the west:

Pops Mensah-Bonsu has signed with Hapoel Jerusalem, the team announced (translation via David Pick of Eurobasket.com, on Twitter). The four-year NBA veteran was briefly in training camp with the Nuggets this fall.
The Pelicans‘ Anthony Davis is a basketball talent that almost never happened, with the big man almost quitting the game for good during his late-blooming development, Christopher Reina of RealGM writes. Davis has since become the league’s most incredible prodigy and New Orleans is quickly building a contending team around its young star, Reina adds.
The Thunder have recalled Grant Jerrett from the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA D-League, the team announced in a press release. This two-day stint was Jerrett’s second D-League assignment of the season, though his first trip lasted a mere three hours.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu Leaves Nuggets Camp

October 1st, 2014 at 8:07pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Pops Mensah-Bonsu has left the Nuggets training camp for personal reasons, and he won’t return, tweets Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post. This presumably means that Denver will place the four-year veteran’s non-guaranteed contract on waivers, though it’s unclear as to what the team’s plan is at this point. It’s also unclear at this time precisely why Mensah-Bonsu left camp. His exit reduces the Nuggets preseason roster count to 18.

Mensah-Bonsu had turned down a pair of lucrative offers from European clubs in order to sign with the Nuggets. While he was a longshot to make the regular season roster, Denver has had injury issues the past couple of seasons, and with Danilo Gallinari, JaVale McGee, and Wilson Chandler all question marks to make it through a full season, it’s possible that with a strong camp Mensah-Bonsu could have made the team.

The 6’9″, 31 year-old has made stops in Turkey, Italy and Spain since his departure from the NBA after the 2010/11 campaign, averaging 8.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per game last season for Turkey’s Galatasaray. For his NBA career, Mensah-Bonsu has averaged 3.0 PPG and 3.0 RPG. His career slash line is .410/.000/.589.

Western Notes: Thunder, Pelicans, Wolves

October 1st, 2014 at 1:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

Two members of the Thunder front office made the list of a dozen potential candidates for future GM openings that SB Nation’s Tom Ziller compiled. Assistant GM Troy Weaver, who excels in scouting and relationships, and Michael Winger, a salary cap expert, have already drawn interest from other teams, as their respective rumors pages show. Many believed that Winger would have been in line for the Cavs GM job if the team had decided against retaining David Griffin this summer, Ziller adds. While we wait to see if the presence of Sam Presti and perhaps two other future GMs gives Oklahoma City the necessary edge to get over the hump and win this year’s title, here’s more from around the Western Conference:

The Pelicans considered waiving and stretching Austin Rivers in addition to the notion of trading the former No. 10 overall pick as they sought to clear room to acquire Omer Asik this summer, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe. Still, the Pelicans held on to Rivers, and they demanded “real assets” in any trade that would involve him, Lowe writes, adding that New Orleans regarded waiving him as the least desirable option. The Grantland scribe suggests that ties between coach Monty Williams and the Rivers family complicate the team’s decision about whether to pick up the fourth-year option on Rivers’ contract by the October 31st deadline.
The Wolves offered 40th overall pick Glenn Robinson III a four-year contract, but he turned it down for his partially guaranteed one-year pact, similar to the dynamic between No. 32 pick K.J. McDaniels and the Sixers, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Alonzo Gee‘s deal with the Nuggets is non-guaranteed for the minimum salary and covers one season, but it becomes guaranteed if he remains on the roster through October 29th, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The team’s non-guaranteed contract with Pops Mensah-Bonsu is of the identical structure, except his wouldn’t become guaranteed until the leaguewide guarantee date in January, Pincus adds.
Ronnie Price‘s non-guaranteed deal with the Lakers becomes partially guaranteed on November 15th, Pincus writes for the Los Angeles Times, though he doesn’t say just how much Price would be assured of that day. In any case, the veteran point guard has picked up a key supporter, since Kobe Bryant likes what he sees from his teammate so far, as Pincus details.

Nuggets Sign Pops Mensah-Bonsu For Camp

September 30th, 2014 at 3:24pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:24pm: The team has made the deal official, including Mensah-Bonsu’s name on an updated version of the camp roster.

TUESDAY, 1:04pm: Mensah-Bonsu practiced with the team today, observes Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post, confirming that the veteran will indeed be with the team (Twitter link). The Nuggets have yet to publicly acknowledge any signing, however, and they haven’t made any announcement regarding their reported deals with Alonzo Gee and Joe Alexander, either.

MONDAY, 4:51pm: The deal is non-guaranteed, a source tells Pick (Twitter link).

4:10pm: Four-year NBA veteran Pops Mensah-Bonsu has turned down a pair of lucrative offers from European clubs to instead agree to join the Nuggets for training camp, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. The Nuggets have the capacity to give the 31-year-old more than the minimum, but it seems unlikely they would do so for the 6’9″ power forward who last appeared in an NBA regular season game during the 2010/11 season. It’s unclear whether there’s any guaranteed money involved.

Mensah-Bonsu has made stops in Turkey, Italy and Spain since his departure from the NBA, averaging 8.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per game last season for Turkey’s Galatasaray. Still, it’ll be the second straight autumn in which the former George Washington University standout will join an NBA team for camp, since he did so with the Wizards last year.

Nuggets GM Tim Connelly is making a habit of bringing players long absent from the NBA to Denver’s camp, having done so with Joe Alexander and Marcus Williams already this year. The Nuggets have 13 fully guaranteed deals and two that contain partial guaranees, so there’s no clear path for Mensah-Bonsu or the other two NBA vets to make it to opening night.

International Notes: Jackson, Mensah-Bonsu, Gaffney

October 28th, 2013 at 8:53am CST by Luke Adams

Most international teams aren’t making many roster moves these days, but with a sudden glut of intriguing players hitting the free agent market due to NBA roster cuts, it’s reasonable to expect clubs overseas to take notice. Several NBA camp invitees have already landed with new teams, and more are likely to follow. Here are the latest noteworthy international signings:

After being waived by the Pacers, Darnell Jackson has signed with the Shanghai Sharks, according to Hoops Rumors contributor Mark Porcaro (via Twitter). Jackson joins Von Wafer, who signed with the Chinese club earlier this month.
Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who finished last season with Italy’s EA7 Milano and participated in camp with the Wizards, has signed with Galatasaray in Turkey, according to the team (hat tip to Sportando). Mensah-Bonsu had a successful stint in Turkey with Besiktas during the 2011/12 season, winning the Turkish Basketball League championship, the Turkish Cup, and the EuroChallenge title.
After being released by the Grizzlies, Tony Gaffney has agreed to rejoin Telekom Baskets Bonn, the German team he played for in 2011/12, tweets Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. As our international player movement tracker shows, Gaffney finished last season with Joventut in Spain.
Interested in how your favorite NBA team’s draft-and-stash player is doing overseas? Mark Porcaro has you covered with a new piece at Secret Rival.

Wizards Waive Silas, Childress, Mensah-Bonsu

October 24th, 2013 at 5:07pm CST by Luke Adams

5:07pm: The Wizards announce that they’ve also waived Childress and Mensah-Bonsu in addition to Silas (Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today via Twitter). The roster now stands at 15.

4:46pm: While the news has yet to be confirmed by the team, Xavier Silas has been released by the Wizards, according to an update on his Instagram account. J. Michael of CSNWashington.com reported last night that Washington was expected to cut Silas, Josh Childress, and Pops Mensah-Bonsu, so perhaps when the team makes an official announcement, it’ll include word on all three players.

Silas, 25, went undrafted out of Northern Illinois in 2011 after averaging 22.3 PPG in his senior year. Since then, he has had played overseas and in the D-League, and briefly saw NBA action for the Sixers during the 2011/12 season, appearing in two games for Philadelphia. As Silas noted in his Instagram update and as Michael Lee of the Washington Post detailed, the 6’5″ guard was impressive in his brief preseason audition with the Wizards, scoring 12 points in just 10 minutes.

Releasing Silas reduces Washington’s roster count to 17, while cutting Childress and Mensah-Bonsu as well would ensure that the team’s roster is regular-season-ready.

Wizards Expected To Cut Childress, 2 Others

October 23rd, 2013 at 10:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Wizards are set to waive camp invitees Josh Childress, Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Xavier Silas, a source tells J. Michael of CSNWashington.com (Twitter link). All three are with the team on non-guaranteed deals. Washington entered the preseason with 15 guys on fully guaranteed contracts, so it appears none of the players the team brought to camp compelled the Wizards to cut one of their guaranteed salaries. The team released D’or Fischer, its other camp invitee, last week.

All three of the Wizards about to hit waivers have NBA experience, and none more extensive than Childress. The swingman from Stanford impressed in a sixth-man role for the Hawks during his first four-year stint in the NBA, but he hasn’t been able to regain his footing in the league after signing a lucrative deal with a Greek team in 2008. He returned to the NBA in 2010/11, but the Suns amnestied his contract after two seasons, and he didn’t make it until New Year’s Day last season with the Nets. He scored eight points in 32 minutes over four preseason games with Washington.

Mensah-Bonsu spent this month trying to return to the NBA after a two-season absence, while Silas has been seeking to add to his abbreviated NBA regular season game log, which includes just a pair of games with the Sixers in 2011/12. Neither saw significant action in any of the Wizards’ preseason games.

Southeast Notes: Magic, Oden, Cole, Wizards

October 15th, 2013 at 9:55am CST by Luke Adams

The Magic have 19 players under contract, but only 12 fully guaranteed deals on their books, meaning there could be a couple regular-season roster spots up for grabs in Orlando. And as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel notes, camp invitees Solomon Jones and Mickell Gladness took advantage of their audition on Monday against the Mavericks — Jones scored 11 points and grabbed eight boards, while Gladness blocked six shots in just 16 minutes of action.

As Jones and Gladness continue to compete for NBA jobs, let’s check out a few other items from around the Southeast Division….

One of the reasons Greg Oden chose to sign with the Heat over a host of other NBA suitors was because Miami doesn’t have any motivation to rush him onto the court, so a fast start for the Heat this season will help keep the team from hastening his return, writes Ethan Skolnick of Bleacher Report.
In his latest mailbag, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel suggests Norris Cole‘s performance in 2013/14 could significantly affect the Heat‘s decisions at the point guard position. Cole is the only Miami player on a guaranteed contract beyond this season, while Mario Chalmers will hit unrestricted free agency next summer.
With a new five-year max extension under his belt, John Wall talks to Howard Beck of Bleacher Report about his increasing expectations for the Wizards‘ coming season and for the long term in Washington.
Michael Lee of the Washington Post takes a look at Pops Mensah-Bonsu‘s uphill battle to regain a spot on an NBA roster. Mensah-Bonsu is currently in camp with the Wizards.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu To Join Wizards For Camp

September 24th, 2013 at 4:49pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards are working to complete their camp roster this week, having reached an agreement with a fourth invitee, according to Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Lee tweets that Pops Mensah-Bonsu will attend camp with the Wizards, along with three other players who had previously been reported: Josh Childress, Xavier Silas, and D'or Fischer.

Mensah-Bonsu, 30, has played in parts of four NBA seasons for five different teams, but hasn't been linked to any NBA teams lately. As our archive of Mensah-Bonsu news and rumors shows, he has bounced around among international teams in recent years, finishing last season in Italy, where he recorded 8.0 PPG in nine games with EA7 Milano.

The 6'9" forward becomes the 19th man on the Wizards' roster. As I pointed out earlier today, because Washington has 15 guaranteed contracts on its books already, earning a roster spot will be an uphill battle for any of the team's camp invitees, including Mensah-Bonsu.

International Notes: Hudson, Mensah-Bonsu, Graham

April 17th, 2013 at 12:32pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks are ensuring that the last day of the NBA regular season features at least a couple roster moves, but there's also plenty of roster activity going on in other professional leagues around the world. Here's the latest:

Emiliano Carchia of Sportando passes along a report suggesting that Spain's Unicaja Malaga is targeting Lester Hudson, who played for the Cavs and Grizzlies last season before averaging 27.8 PPG this year in China.
Carchia also reports that former NBA forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu will join Italian team Olimpia Milano. Mensah-Bonsu had initially been set to join Italy's Cimberio Varese, but decided to accept a better offer from Milano, according to Carchia.
Joey Graham parted ways with one Puerto Rican team earlier this week, but Luis Modestti reports (via Twitter) that the Raptors' 2005 first-round pick will continue his career with another club in Puerto Rico, signing with Mets de Guaynabo (English link via Sportando).