Royal Ivey

And-Ones: Turner, Whiteside, Parsons, Rubio

In an interesting interview with Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe, Evan Turner explained how he ended up reaching an agreement with the Trail Blazers earlier today, expressing confidence that he’ll be a great fit in Portland. Turner suggested that he’d “play in Boston every single day of the week” if all other factors were equal, but the Celtics would have only have offered him about half what the Blazers did, and the C’s likely would’ve reduced his role as well.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:

  • Hassan Whiteside‘s max salary isn’t set in stone yet, according to Ethan J. Skolnick of The Miami Herald, who tweets that the young center would be willing to take a little less if Kevin Durant wants to sign with the Heat.
  • Chandler Parsons called his decision to sign with the Grizzlies the toughest of his life, calling Portland “incredible” and citing Memphis’ coaching staff as a major factor in his choice. Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com has the quotes from Parsons.
  • Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press is skeptical that the Timberwolves will trade Ricky Rubio this summer, tweeting that head coach Tom Thibodeau wants to work with the point guard. Krawczynski expects Rubio to be on Minnesota’s roster when training camp rolls around.
  • Dubbed last week as the favorites to reach a deal with Spanish point guard Sergio Rodriguez, the Nets are are still trying to get a deal done with Rodriguez, but sources tell Mike Mazzeo and Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that an agreement looks “unlikely.”
  • The Thunder issued a press release today confirming the hiring of Adrian Griffin as an assistant on Billy Donovan‘s staff, as was reported last month. Vin Bhavnani and former NBA guard Royal Ivey also received promotions and are now assistant coaches, per the team.

Western Notes: Papanikolaou, Liz, Ivey, Gay

Kostas Papanikolaou’s two-year deal with the Rockets is non-guaranteed, surprisingly, but this year’s salary of nearly $4.798MM becomes fully guaranteed if he remains on the roster through Sunday, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). His second-year salary of almost $4.6MM becomes fully guaranteed if he sticks through September 28th next year, Pincus adds.

Here’s more from out west:

  • Dominican Republic guard Victor Liz is working on a deal to re-sign overseas, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). Liz had reportedly been offered a training camp invite by the Mavericks.
  • Former Hawks player Royal Ivey will be an assistant coach for the Thunder‘s D-League affiliate, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (Twitter link).
  • With Rudy Gay picking up his player option to return to Sacramento, the Kings have stability at the small forward position for the first time in years, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Royal Ivey To Sign With Chinese Team

TUESDAY, 9:02am: Ivey will play with the Guangdong Southern Tigers, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia.

MONDAY, 8:58am: The Thunder’s reunion with guard Royal Ivey was brief, as the 32-year-old is accepting an offer from a Chinese team and won’t sign another 10-day contract with Oklahoma City, reports Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. The 10-day deal he signed with the Thunder on January 16th expired after Saturday’s win against the 76ers.

Ivey appeared in only two games for a total of five minutes in his latest stint with Oklahoma City. The Harlem native also played for the Thunder during the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons. The Thunder had ostensibly brought back Ivey to provide depth in the wake of Russell Westbrook‘s injury, though it doesn’t appear they needed to call on Ivey for any significant playing time. It’s unclear whether Oklahoma City had any interest in bringing him back on a second 10-day deal.

Slater doesn’t say which Chinese team Ivey is joining, but he could be eligible to return to the NBA as early as next month if his team in China fails to make the playoffs. Regardless of which Chinese team he signs with, the Jim Tanner client will have a shot at returning to American soil before the NBA regular season is over.

Thunder Ink Royal Ivey To 10-Day Contract

THURSDAY, 11:16am: Oklahoma City has announced the signing of the Jim Tanner client, via press release.

WEDNESDAY, 10:16am: The Thunder will sign Royal Ivey to a 10-day contract pending the results of today’s physical, tweets Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report. The 32-year-old guard was in camp with the Hawks this past fall, and spent the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons with Oklahoma City. The Thunder have two open roster spots, so there’s plenty of room for Ivey.

A second-round pick by the Hawks in 2004, Ivey has managed to spend at least part of every season since then on an NBA roster despite never averaging more than 19.2 minutes per game. He was with the Sixers last season, when he scored 3.2 points in 13.2 minutes a night.

Ivey, familiar with the Thunder’s system, will help shore up a backcourt that’s missing the injured Russell Westbrook. The team reportedly interviewed D-League guard Manny Harris about a week ago, but apparently Ivey’s beaten out the former Cavalier for a spot, at least for now.

Amico On Bynum, Roster Cuts, Hamilton, 76ers

Andrew Bynum represented one of the more interesting free agent cases of the offseason, and his new contract reflects that: Bynum could earn as little as $6MM with the Cavaliers if he’s released on or before January 7th, or as much as $24MM+ if he plays out the two years of his deal. It doesn’t look like the former All-Star will be in Cleveland’s lineup when the regular season gets underway, but he’s making progress, according to head coach Mike Brown, who confirmed today that Bynum has gone through “most of practice.”

Sam Amico of the FOX Sports Ohio has the latest details on the ex-Laker, along with plenty of other tidbits from around the league, so let’s check out the highlights from his piece….

  • Shannon Brown and Kendall Marshall are drawing interest around the league, with clubs expecting them to be waived by the Wizards tomorrow. Marshall could hear from the 76ers, a league source tells Amico.
  • Other recently released players who are receiving some level of interest include Royce White, Josh Childress, Damion James, Vander Blue, Royal Ivey, Jermaine Taylor, and Seth Curry.
  • At least seven teams have inquired on free agent guard Richard Hamilton, a GM tells Amico. The former Bull appears likely to wait until midway through the season to sign with a team, perhaps anticipating that a guaranteed deal or a non-minimum contract will be more attainable at that point.
  • “Scuttlebutt around the league” suggests that there’s a good chance the Sixers move the expiring contracts of Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes by the trade deadline.

Hawks Release Royal Ivey

The Hawks have waived veteran guard Royal Ivey, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). The move reduces Atlanta’s roster to 16 players, so at least one more cut is still on the way.

Earlier this week, Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio noted that the Hawks were expected to keep just one of Ivey and Shelvin Mack as their third point guard, but that the player who was released was likely to catch on with another club. That could be good news for Ivey, who has played in the NBA every year dating back to his debut in 2004.

The Hawks only have 12 players on fully guaranteed contracts, so it remains to be seen how many players they’ll carry into opening night. Mike Scott looks like a good bet to be the 13th man, and Mack is presumably safe, but Eric Dawson and Cartier Martin remain on the bubble.

Amico’s Latest: 76ers, DeRozan, Hawks, Hamilton

This week’s Amico Report from Sam Amico has been published at FOX Sports Ohio, and it features a few rumors and rumblings from around the NBA. Let’s check in on Amico’s latest updates….

  • Jimmer Fredette and Omer Asik are among the potential trade candidates “generating whispers” around the league, says Amico. He adds that practically every Sixer, besides the team’s two 2013 lottery picks (Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams), could also be available.
  • One GM tells Amico that there’s “strong league-wide interest” in DeMar DeRozan, though the Raptors don’t seem too interested in anything that’s been offered.
  • When James Johnson was waived today by the Hawks, I speculated that he could explore overseas options, but Amico suggests there are a few NBA teams with Johnson on their radars.
  • With the Hawks expected to keep either Royal Ivey or Shelvin Mack as their third point guard, the player that gets cut will likely be grabbed by another NBA club, according to Amico.
  • While no teams have stepped up with a commitment to him yet, free agent guard Richard Hamilton is “drawing loads of interest,” writes Amico.

Eastern Notes: Rondo, Heat, Ivey, Magic

The Western Conference looks like it’ll be wide open this season, as the results from last night’s poll show. However, the same can’t be said for the Eastern Conference. Online sportsbook Bovada.lv gives the Heat even odds to come out of the East in 2014 for the fourth straight year. As we look forward to Miami getting its title defense underway, let’s round up a few notes from around the conference….

  • While the Celtics finally got the rebuilding process underway this summer by dealing Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry to the Nets, Rajon Rondo isn’t looking for an escape route of his own, as he tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. “This is my team; why would I want to leave?” Rondo said. “Why would I want out? I’ve never really backed away from a challenge.”
  • Asked about the possibility of Eric Griffin earning a spot on the Heat‘s regular-season roster, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel echoes something we heard from Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald yesterday, predicting that Michael Beasley and Roger Mason Jr. will grab the last two openings.
  • Royal Ivey‘s short-term goal involves landing a roster spot with the Hawks, but he hopes to transition into coaching in the not-too-distant future, writes Lang Greene of HoopsWorld.
    “I see a couple more years and then I want to do other ventures,” Ivey said. “I think I have a chance to coach and I’m definitely going to take heed to that.”
  • 14 NBA teams currently have one-on-one relationships with their D-League affiliates, and the Magic are hoping to become No. 15, writes Don Coble at Jacksonville.com. Magic CEO Alex Martins tells Coble that the team has “made it clear” to the NBA that it would like to set up a D-League squad in Jacksonville, rather than share the Fort Wayne Mad Ants with five other NBA clubs.

Royal Ivey To Join Hawks For Camp

Despite never averaging more than 5.6 PPG or higher than an 11.0 PER, Royal Ivey has appeared in at least 25 games in every NBA season since he was drafted in 2004. He'll have a chance to try to earn a roster spot and continue that streak this fall, as he joins the Hawks for training camp, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (via Twitter).

Ivey, 31, appeared in 53 games for the Sixers last season, averaging 13.2 minutes per contest. The former second-round pick recorded 3.2 PPG, with most of his points coming from long-range — he shot 42.0% on three-pointers, scoring about 65% of his points from downtown.

We heard back in August that Ivey was set to work out for the Hawks, but Atlanta wasn't the only team to exhibit some interest in the veteran guard. The Spurs also reportedly worked him out, and Ivey drew interest from the Suns and Bucks as well.

Of those four teams, the Hawks have the fewest fully guaranteed contracts on their books, with just 12 so far. That should give Ivey an opening to earn a regular-season roster spot, though he'll have some competition. Shelvin Mack, David Lighty, and Eric Dawson all have non-guaranteed deals, while Mike Scott has a partial guarantee on his contract.

Suns, Bucks Expressed Interest In Royal Ivey

The two teams who worked together to complete the most recent trade of the 2013 offseason currently have their eye on the same free agent, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (via Twitter). Kennedy reports that the Suns and Bucks have expresseed interest in Royal Ivey, with Ivey expected to work out for Phoenix in the near future.

Ivey, 31, was reportedly set to work out for the Hawks and Spurs near the end of August, and was mentioned as a potential Sixers target earlier in the offseason. Based on the reported interest, it seems as if the veteran guard should have no trouble securing a camp invite, but it's not clear if he'll be able to land more than a non-guaranteed contract.

Neither the Bucks nor the Suns seem to be in good position to offer Ivey any sort of guarantee, since both teams already have at least 15 guaranteed contracts on their books, and aren't likely to have open roster spots this fall.

In 2012/13, Ivey appeared in 53 games for the Sixers, the most he's played in the NBA since the 2008/09 season. Averaging 13.2 minutes per contest, the former second-round pick recorded 3.2 PPG, with most of his points coming from long-range — he shot 42.0% on three-pointers, scoring about 65% of his points from downtown.