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Eastern Notes: Sanders, Sixers, Cavs

April 9th, 2014 at 8:37pm CST by Cray Allred

Larry Sanders‘ five-game suspension began tonight, per Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Sanders was already ruled out for the rest of the season due to injury, but a source tells Gardner that Sanders received medical clearance so that the league would allow his suspension to begin now. The Bucks have five games remaining, so Sanders won’t miss any time to begin the 2014/15 campaign. The Bucks will have Sanders, if healthy, available to start the season, and the big man will lose significantly less in prorated pay by serving the suspension on the last year of his rookie scale deal ($3.1MM) rather than the first year of his hefty extension ($11MM). Here’s more from around the East:

  • Coach Brett Brown told Tom Moore of Calkins Media that it’s “really important” that the Sixers find a star in the draft this summer. Philly could wind up with two top-10 picks, one of which could become the No. 1 overall selection if the ping pong balls bounce in their favor.
  • Brown also told Moore that it’s too early to project whether rookies Michael Carter-Williams or Nerlens Noel could become stars in their own right. “Stars want to play with stars. And it’s too early to say anything about Michael (Carter-Williams) or what you can project Nerlens (Noel) out to be. Just because somebody’s chosen high in the draft doesn’t mean they’re going to be a star, either,” said Brown.
  • In a video spot, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, says that the Sixers should keep Henry Sims around next year. Sims is under a non-guaranteed, $0.9MM contract for next season, and the second-year center has averaged 11.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game this season.
  • The Cavs recalled Scotty Hopson and Sergey Karasev from their D-League affiliate prior to tonight’s game, per a tweet from Bob Finnan of The News-Herald.
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Eastern Notes: Anthony, Cavs, Bucks, Sixers

April 6th, 2014 at 11:08am CST by Eddie Scarito

Celtics center Joel Anthony has a $3.8MM player option this summer that he is expected to exercise, but he’s still unsure of his decision, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Anthony said, “When the season’s over, I’ll talk with my agent and look to see what we’re going to do.” Anthony hasn’t seen much playing time, primarily because he is new to the system and the club wanted to play Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk in the frontcourt, opines Washburn. But he also believes that Anthony could be a more useful asset next season when the Celtics move forward from rebuilding mode.

More from the East:

  • The Cavs have assigned Sergey Karasev and Scotty Hopson to the Canton Charge of the NBA D-League, the team announced. Karasev has appeared in 18 games for the Charge with averages of 13.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.4 APG and 1.0 SPG in 30.0 minutes per game. Hopson was signed on March 31st and has appeared in one game for Cleveland this season.
  • Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio looks at what issues the Cavs will have to address prior to next season.
  • The Sixers are on their way towards securing the second worst record in the NBA. Tom Moore of Calkins Media looks at what the team’s options would be if they secured the second pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. Moore’s scenario is based on the Bucks selecting Andrew Wiggins with the first overall pick.
  • The reports that the Bucks might be sold as early as this weekend are premature, as Don Walker and Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detail. Steve Greenberg of Allen & Co., the firm that owner Herb Kohl retained to bring in new team investors, said, “The process is ongoing. There is a lot of speculation out there. There is an active and ongoing process with respect to the Bucks. But we are not going to comment on speculation.”
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Eastern Notes: Hopson, Augustin, Heat

April 1st, 2014 at 8:57pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Cavs used the room exception to sign Scotty Hopson on Monday, but because the maximum 4.5% raise permitted via the exception is tied to what he actually makes, rather than the exception’s full value, Hopson isn’t a particularly intriguing trade chip. Mark Deeks of ShamSportsexplains the matter in his latest piece for the Score, noting that Hopson’s salary of about $1.37MM this season and $1.44MM next season is roughly equivalent to what a veteran of 10 seasons or more would make on a minimum-salary deal. Hopson is ineligible to be traded until July 10th, meaning he’s of no use for a draft-night trade.

More news from around the east:

  • Since being picked up by the Bulls after Toronto waived him in December, D.J. Augustin has averaged 14.3 PPG on nearly 42 percent shooting, including 41 percent from 3-point range, in 30.4 minutes per contest. He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, but would love to return to Chicago, writes Cody Westerlund of CBSChicago.com.
  • The Heat‘s “Big Three” of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh can all become free-agents after the season. There has been speculation that one or all three would consider leaving Miami, but before making any decision, the trio plan to sit down together to discuss their options, writes Darren Rovell of ESPN.com.
  • Phil Jackson has been to only two of the eight games the Knicks have played since he took over their basketball department. Some say Jackson should be with the team as much as possible to get to know the players and staff and help them in any way he can as they try to make their playoff push, but Carmelo Anthony is not one of them, writes Al Iannazzone of Newsday. Anthony said, “He’s smart. He knows what he’s doing. He’s been in this situation before with fighting for spots and trying to win basketball games. So he knows what to expect, and now he’s on the outside looking in. I guess he’s giving us our space. We’re not really concerned about that.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Cavs Sign Scotty Hopson

March 31st, 2014 at 12:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

12:11pm: Hopson’s salary will be about $1.44MM next season, rather than $2.5MM, Lloyd now says (Twitter link).

10:45am: The Cavs have signed Turkish league swingman Scotty Hopson, the team announced. The deal was originally reported by Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). It’ll run through the rest of the season, and it’s non-guaranteed for 2014/15, Lloyd tweets.

The Cavs used their room exception to accommodate the contract, which is worth $2.5MM next season, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). He’ll receive a prorated portion of the room exception this year. The room exception actually allows for a salary of up to $2,743,125 next season, but it’s unclear if he’s receiving that much. In any case, the inflated contract creates some trade flexibility for the summer, as Lloyd explains in a full piece. Hopson’s contract can be used as trade ballast to allow the Cavs to acquire a larger contract, and since the deal is non-guaranteed, Hopson’s new team could simply waive him in that scenario.

The 6’6″ Hopson went undrafted out of Tennessee in 2011, and he’s conducted his pro career almost entirely overseas. He hooked on with the Heat’s summer league team this past offseason, but he didn’t wind up in an NBA preseason camp. He’s averaged 10.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 24.9 minutes per game with Anadolu Efes in Turkey this season.

The signing fills what had been Cleveland’s final open roster spot. The team cycled through three players on 10-day contracts before settling on Hopson, as our 10-Day Tracker shows. Seth Curry‘s 10-day deal with the team ended just last night, and Lloyd reported that the team didn’t intend to re-sign him.

 

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