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Jazz Waive Cook, McGuire, Holiday, Hudson, Machado

October 26th, 2013 at 11:48am CST by Zachary Links

The Jazz announced that they have cut Brian Cook, Dominic McGuire, Justin Holiday, Lester Hudson and Scott Machado. Utah’s roster is now down to 15, including the injured Brandon Rush and Marvin Williams.

Today’s news means that Mike Harris and Jamaal Tinsley have both made the cut for the Jazz. Tinsley’s signing, necessitated when rookie point guard Trey Burke broke his hand earlier this month, likely cost one of today’s camp cuts a spot on the team. All five were on fully non-guaranteed deals, so the Jazz aren’t on the hook for their salaries.

Everyone the Jazz brought to camp has NBA experience, and that includes Harris, who’ll begin his fourth NBA season on opening night. The power forward has played sparingly, totaling just 34 games across stints with the Rockets and Wizards, but coach Tyrone Corbin values the mobility of his 6’6″, 235-pound frame, as Jody Genessy of the Deseret News points out (on Twitter).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Odds & Ends: Kobe, LeBron, Cavs

October 24th, 2013 at 11:11pm CST by Ryan Raroque

T.J. Simers of the OC Register writes that Lakers executive Jim Buss believes he has an understanding with Kobe Bryant regarding next summer, in which he’ll let him hit free agency, spend the money accordingly on free agents, and offer whatever’s left to the Lakers’ star afterwards. When Simers asked him to elaborate, Kobe “vaguely” responded: “We’ve probably talked (about it)…but I’m putting off any thought of that.”

In another piece, Kobe spoke with Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times about his inability to mesh with Dwight Howard last season: “We saw different ways of going about leading this team…Dwight wanted to do it one way and he felt like it was effective. I wanted to do it another way. It was constant tension the second half of the season.”

Here are a handful of tonight’s links to pass along from around the Association:

LeBron James remained diplomatic when asked if winning a third consecutive ring would provide an answer to whether or not he’ll stay in with the Heat beyond this year: “When that bridge comes, I’ll cross it with my family…And we’re going to make the right choice. We’ve been in this position before, I’ve been in this position before, and I’ll be excited about it, but we’ll see what happens” (Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald).
LeBron was also quick to assert that his focus is on the upcoming season, and later emphasized Dwyane Wade‘s health as the key to Miami’s success: “Winning, that’s my only concern right now, winning…I want to put a third ring on the guys that have two. I want to put a first ring on the guys that don’t have any and I want to put a fourth on [Udonis Haslem] and D-Wade. So, that’s my goal…Without (Dwyane), this ship doesn’t continue to move without him, and I hope he knows that,..I think he knows that because he’s a big part of what we do.”
Cavaliers coach Mike Brown is still undecided about how he’ll handle the rotation at small forward this season, having been torn between Alonzo Gee and Earl Clark: “Nobody’s really separated themselves drastically from the other guy…One game, one guy’s played pretty good, then another guy’s played pretty good. … I told those guys, it can go into the regular season, just keep yourself ready to go in case your number’s called” (Jodie Valade of The Plain Dealer).
Steve Nash spoke with Mark Medina of InsideSoCal.com about the challenges of staying healthy at this point in his career.
USA Today’s Sam Amick goes over what he’s learned so far after watching the pre-season.
Jody Genessy of the Deseret News says that the Jazz’ signing of Jamaal Tinsley makes Lester Hudson and Scott Machado longshots to make the final cut.

Odds & Ends: Jazz, Odom, Howard, Nelson, Brooks

October 15th, 2013 at 9:03pm CST by Alex Lee

With seven preseason games on the schedule for Tuesday night, let’s take a look at some odds and ends from around the NBA:

Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune spoke to Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin and some of the team’s camp invitees — including Justin Holiday, Scott Machado and Brian Cook — about the roster cuts the team will have to make within the next couple of weeks to get down to 15 players.
We haven’t heard too much about Lamar Odom since the strange reports about his off-the-court issues surfaced in August. Ramona Shelburne of ESPN LA tweets that the Lakers reached out to Odom recently, but that the contact was strictly for personal reasons.
With the Magic in town to face the Rockets on Wednesday, Dwight Howard spoke to Orlando-area reporters, including Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, about what has been a whirlwind of a two years for the Houston center. While Howard expressed regret about how things ended in Orlando, he implied that the situation in Los Angeles was different, and that Houston simply represented the best place for him to be.
Meanwhile in post-Dwight Orlando, 31-year-old Jameer Nelson is happy to play the role of elder statesman on a young and improving Magic team, writes Jeff Caplan of NBA.com. Caplan writes that Nelson, a veteran in the second year of a three-year deal, is aware that he will probably be shopped this winter unless the Magic surprise everyone and contend.
We heard earlier tonight from Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News that MarShon Brooks had expressed a desire to be traded from the Nets before he was part of the blockbuster with the Celtics. Bondy provides several quotes from Brooks, now in Boston, in his complete story: “I wasn’t really sure with [Jason Kidd becoming coach]. I didn’t know what to expect. Last year obviously we knew what was going on, it was so rocky, I didn’t know if I was playing. There just wasn’t any structure to any of my minutes.. So it was kind of hard for me to perform under those circumstances and obviously I didn’t want to be in that situation next year.”

Odds & Ends: Burke, Jefferson, NBPA

October 12th, 2013 at 10:57pm CST by Spencer Lund

Jazz rookie Trey Burke fractured his right index finger and will be evaluated on Monday tweets Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. Genessy notes, via Twitter, that Scott Machado has been given the most time behind Burke and John Lucas III at point guard this preseason.

Genessy also wonders, in a tweet, whether the Jazz will bring someone else in depending on the severity of Burke’s injury, and mentions Jamaal Tinsley as a possibility. Marc Stein of ESPN tweets that he’s heard of interest from the Jazz about the Bulls’ Marquis Teague, and postulates they may revisit that with Burke going down. The Jazz will find out Monday whether Burke’s fractured finger will require surgery, Stein adds (Twitter).

Here are a smattering of other links from around the league tonight:

After the Bobcats‘ big free agent, Al Jefferson, severely sprained his ankle, he told the AP in Milwaukee that he’s trying to be back for opening night, tweets the Charlotte Observer’s Rick Bonnell.
That’s 18 days away, Bonnell adds on Twitter, and he wonders in his next tweet whether the Bobcats might look to add a center in the interim.
The Mavericks pickup of DeJuan Blair this summer might be huge for them, as we noted earlier tonight. Blair is looking forward to playing his former team, the Mavs intra-state rival Spurs, writes the Star-Telegram’s Dwain Price.
Blair’s bitterness about his time in San Antonio is evident when he tells Price, “[the Spurs] didn’t give me nothing when I was there. I mean, the fans gave me everything, but everything else, it is what it is. I don’t look at that. I look for us to get a win.”
Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News reports that the NBPA will not pay their new union head the $3MM annually that former executive director Billy Hunter made before he was ousted. Union sources say the annual pay will be around $1.5MM for the new executive director.
The Knicks lost to the Celtics by 30 tonight in preseason action, but Touré Murry and Ike Diogu both made a case for a roster spot, writes ESPN New York’s Ian Begley.

Western Rumors: Evans, Jazz, Nuggets

October 5th, 2013 at 9:53pm CST by Spencer Lund

New Pelicans wing Tyreke Evans landed hard on his left ankle tonight during their preseason game against the Rockets. John Reid of Times-Picayune reports that he was helped off the court.

Fellow Times-Picayune beat reporter Jimmy Smith tweets that X-Rays were negative on Evans' left ankle. But the team will do an MRI later tonight to be sure there's no structural damage. Evans signed with the Pelicans after a three-team trade involving the Blazers and Kings in July.

Here's more from around the West as preseason games started today…

Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets that Jazz guard Ian Clark has been underwhelming in training camp. The undrafted rookie performed spectacularly for the Heat and Warriors in summer league, winning the summer league championship MVP in Vegas.
The Jazz signed Clark to a partially guaranteed two-year minimum deal with the Jazz. Still, he's been pressing, Oram adds in a tweet. Though the Salt Lake Tribune scribe doesn't believe he'll be waived (Twitter).
Oram continued to update on the Jazz training camp roster tonight, tweeting that with Marvin Williams and Brandon Rush hurt, many believe the Jazz will keep 15 on their roster with Scott Machado or Lester Hudson likely to claim one of the remaining spots for opening night.
JaVale McGee and Kenneth Faried must improve their one-on-one defense as stressed by new Nuggets coach Brian Shaw, writes Benjamin Hochman in his mailbag column for the Denver Post.

Jazz Sign Scott Machado

September 26th, 2013 at 5:40pm CST by Luke Adams

THURSDAY, 5:40pm: Both Jody Genessy of the Deseret News and Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune pass along that Machado's signing has become official (Twitter links).

TUESDAY, 8:28am: The Jazz have added another player to their training camp roster, having signed Scott Machado, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com (Twitter link). Machado had been waived by the Warriors earlier in the offseason.

Machado, 23, started last season with the Rockets, playing in six games for the team before being released in time for January's guarantee deadline. The Iona product signed with the Warriors late in the season but didn't appear in an NBA contest with Golden State. Machado spent most of the year playing for the two squads that eventually met in the D-League Finals, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and the Santa Cruz Warriors. In 28 games for the two clubs, he averaged 8.9 PPG and 5.1 APG in 24.0 minutes per contest.

The Jazz currently have 12 guaranteed contracts on their roster, along with a partially guaranteed deal for Ian Clark. Jerel McNeal also has a fully non-guaranteed contract, but it looks like Machado will become the first real camp invitee for the club. I expect more will follow, but with a couple regular-season roster spots potentially open, Machado should have a chance to compete for one in camp.

Jazz Waive Jerel McNeal

September 26th, 2013 at 5:05pm CST by Alex Lee

THURSDAY, 5:05pm: Oram hears that the Jazz waived McNeal because he received a big contract to play overseas (Twitter link).

WEDNESDAY, 5:40pm: The Jazz have announced they have waived point guard Jerel McNeal, tweets Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune. As Oram indicated, McNeal signed two 10-day contracts with the Jazz last year and played with the team in the Orlando Summer League. McNeal, a Marquette product, has never actually appeared in an NBA game despite spending time on league rosters over the past couple of seasons.

As our Luke Adams wrote earlier this month, McNeal's contract with Utah would have guaranteed him at least $884,293 this season if he was not waived on or before October 31st. His release comes one day after the Jazz inked fellow point guard Scott Machado yesterday.

Because the move comes so close to the start of training camp, Steve Luhm of the Tribune can't help but wonder if the Machado signing led to McNeal and his agent requesting his release (Twitter links). However, David Locke of Locked on Jazz tweets that it may have been the late-July addition of Ian Clark that spelled the end for McNeal, since the guards are so similar. Along with Machado and Clark, the Jazz will now have Trey Burke, John Lucas and Alec Burks all capable of running the point in camp.

The Jazz currently have 12 guaranteed contracts on their roster, along with a partially guaranteed deal for Clark.

Jazz Sign Scott Machado

September 24th, 2013 at 8:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz have added another player to their training camp roster, having signed Scott Machado, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com (Twitter link). Machado had been waived by the Warriors earlier in the offseason.

Machado, 23, started last season with the Rockets, playing in six games for the team before being released in time for January's guarantee deadline. The Iona product signed with the Warriors late in the season but didn't appear in an NBA contest with Golden State. Machado spent most of the year playing for the two squads that eventually met in the D-League Finals, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and the Santa Cruz Warriors. In 28 games for the two clubs, he averaged 8.9 PPG and 5.1 APG in 24.0 minutes per contest.

The Jazz currently have 12 guaranteed contracts on their roster, along with a partially guaranteed deal for Ian Clark. Jerel McNeal also has a fully non-guaranteed contract, but it looks like Machado will become the first real camp invitee for the club. I expect more will follow, but with a couple regular-season roster spots potentially open, Machado should have a chance to compete for one in camp.

Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Wroten, Rondo, Machado

August 23rd, 2013 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Many teams around the NBA have completed most or all of their roster moves for the offseason, but the Sixers figure to remain active over the next few weeks. Philadelphia made a small deal yesterday, picking up 2012 first-rounder Tony Wroten from the Grizzlies for virtually nothing, allowing the team to roll the dice on a 20-year-old with some upside and little risk. As I wrote earlier this month, the Sixers would need to add some salary to their books to meet the minimum payroll threshold, but there's also no real penalty if the club doesn't reach that floor.

Here's more on the Wroten deal and a few other items from around the Atlantic:

In the wake of the Sixers' deal with Memphis, Sean O'Connor of Liberty Ballers examines what Wroten brings to Philadelphia, concluding that if Sam Hinkie keeps making moves with little downside, they'll eventually pay off in a big way.
Focusing on a few teams who could be active on the trade market, Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld writes about the Sixers and Celtics in today's NBA AM piece, noting that the C's still seem committed to building around Rajon Rondo, rather than moving him.
Scott Machado tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com that a spot on the Knicks' training camp roster was an option for him until the team signed Beno Udrih (Twitter link). Machado has alternatives though, and may spend a year overseas, since he has received four offers from international teams, according to Zwerling.

Warriors Waive Jones, Machado, Murphy

July 24th, 2013 at 3:44pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Warriors have waived Dwayne Jones, Scott Machado and Kevin Murphy, the team announced today. Jones and Machado were late-season signings from this past spring, while Murphy joined the team as part of a three-team trade two weeks ago.

All three were on non-guaranteed minimum-salary contracts, but they all would have received at least a partial guarantee if Golden State hadn't waived them on or before August 1st. The contracts for Jones and Machado would have become fully guaranteed if they had stayed on the roster past that date, while Murphy's would have been guaranteed for $75K.

The team's roster is at 13 players, which gives Golden State plenty of flexibility heading into training camp. Teams can have as many as 20 players on their camp rosters, a limit that shrinks to 15 for the regular season. The Warriors have a hard cap this season, but the subtraction of a few minimum-salary players won't make too much of a difference considering they were more than $7MM shy of the hard cap before today's moves.

None of the three saw significant playing time last season. Jones and Machado didn't make it into any regular season games with the Warriors, instead appearing only briefly during the playoffs. Machado did play in six regular season contests during his stint with the Rockets in 2012/13. Murphy spent 2012/13 with the Jazz, who made him the 47th pick of the 2012 draft.