Shavlik Randolph

Clippers To Acquire Austin Rivers

4:23pm: Markazi now says the Clippers will indeed send a 2017 second-rounder Boston’s way, adding that the Clips tried hard not to give up the pick (Twitter link).

3:25pm: The Clippers aren’t giving up a second-rounder, according to Markazi (Twitter link), which conflicts with Murphy’s report.

3:08pm: The Celtics will receive a 2017 second-round pick from the Clippers, and Boston will waive Douglas-Roberts once he comes in via the trade, according to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald (Twitter links).

2:50pm: Douglas-Roberts is also headed to Boston in the deal, reports Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). That would be enough salary coming off the Clippers’ books to make the trade legal, though it would still leave the Clips closer to the hard cap than they had been.

2:40pm: Shavlik Randolph is heading from the Suns to the Celtics, Bullock is going to the Suns, and Rivers is going to the Clippers, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Coro hinted at a potential Bullock-Randolph exchange a few minutes earlier (on Twitter). Randolph is on an expiring contract with a salary worth nearly $1.228MM. The Clippers would need to give up more than Bullock’s salary of nearly $1.201MM to take back Rivers, who makes $2.44MM, so it appears there’s still more to be worked out. The Clippers, a tax team, can’t take back more than 125% plus $100K of what they give up via trade, and they must stay under their hard cap.

1:42pm: Bullock is back in play for the Suns, Coro tweets.

1:14pm: One of the teams involved nixed the idea of Bullock going to the Suns, though the matter might be revisited, tweets Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.

12:50pm: Farmar will not be heading to the Celtics in the deal, Murphy tweets.

12:43pm: The Celtics have told Austin Rivers that the trade will be finalized today, a source tells Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).

12:36pm: The Suns are drawing increasing mention as the likely third team in the deal, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The involvement of Phoenix, which is under the cap, would allow the Celtics not to have to take back any salary for Rivers, Stein points out, and that would also let the Celtics create a trade exception. The belief is that the Suns covet Bullock, though the Clippers would prefer not to surrender him, according to Stein. In any case, Rivers still hasn’t reported to Boston, though that’s with the permission of the Celtics, who’ve promised him that they’ll send him to the Clippers, and that remains the plan (All Twitter links).

THURSDAY, 9:08am: The Clippers appear to be making progress toward finalizing the trade, and it’ll probably involve some combination of Farmar, Douglas-Roberts and Bullock, a league source tells Bolch. Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge still insists there’s a chance Rivers remains with Boston, as he said this morning in a radio appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub with Rich Shertenlieb and Fred Toucher, according to Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com (Twitter link). It nonetheless appears that the deal remains on track, Rohrbach adds. The Celtics and Clippers are still looking for a third team, according to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.

12:54pm: Chris Douglas-Roberts is a “strong candidate” to be dealt, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, noting that Douglas-Roberts is on an expiring contract. The small forward has a one-year deal for the minimum salary.

WEDNESDAY, 11:20am: The belief has been that the Clippers have been talking to the Suns about taking on salary the Clippers would need to unload to complete the Rivers deal, according to Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times. It’s unclear if the Clippers would prefer to bring Phoenix into the Rivers trade to make it a three-team swap or make separate transactions.

NBA: Houston Rockets at New Orleans PelicansTUESDAY, 11:01pm: The Celtics aren’t done reshaping their roster after all of their recent trades. Boston will reportedly ship Austin Rivers to the Clippers, but the move will have to wait until Boston can clear roster space for two expiring contracts, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald reports (Twitter links). The Celtics will also nab themselves a second round draft pick in the deal, Bulpett adds. Boston currently has 15 players on its roster, including the newly acquired Nate Robinson.

To clear the required roster spots, the Celtics are reportedly likely to attempt to reach buyout arrangements with Robinson and Tayshaun Prince. As for whom the Celtics would need to clear room for, assuming the roster spots they needed to clear were for players they would receive from Los Angeles, both Reggie Bullock and Jordan Farmar have been mentioned as potential trade candidates. However, Farmar doesn’t necessarily qualify as a player with an expiring deal, since he has a player option for 2015/16 worth $2,170,465.

Rivers will join his father, Doc Rivers, in Los Angeles. The elder Rivers was reportedly concerned about the perception that would surround a father trading for and coaching his son, but Clippers GM Dave Wohl and assistant coaches Lawrence Frank and Mike Woodson have reportedly encouraged Doc to forgo his concerns and make the deal.

The younger Rivers has never quite lived up to having been selected No. 10 overall by New Orleans back in 2012, and he could benefit from a change of scenery. He’s in the last year of his rookie deal, and he’s set to become a free agent at the end of the season. Rivers’ career numbers are 6.9 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 165 total contests. His career slash line is .390/.332/.631.

Farmar, who signed with the Clippers for the full value of the biannual exception this past offseason, is reportedly displeased with his role on the Clippers, as Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com wrote about a month ago. He’s currently logging a career-low 14.7 minutes per game. Bullock, 23, is averaging 2.3 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.2 assists in 10.5 minutes per game over 25 appearances for Los Angeles this season. His shooting numbers are .426/.385/.800.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Suns Guarantee Shavlik Randolph’s Contract

9:08pm: Randolph’s deal for 2014/15 is for $1.23MM, the minimum for a seven-year veteran, reports Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic.

7:02pm: The Suns will fully guarantee the 2014/15 contract of Shavlik Randolph, writes Shams Charania of RealGM, citing Randolph’s agent Joel Bell in the report. The terms of the now-guaranteed contract are not yet known, though Randolph is likely on a minimum-salary deal as our schedule of contract guarantee dates indicates. Charania adds that today was the final day the Suns could guarantee Randolph’s deal before releasing him.

The Suns signed the 30-year-old power forward last March after the former Dukie put up some impressive numbers in China. The deal covered the remainder of last season and included a non-guaranteed year in 2014/15, which the team has now guaranteed. Randolph averaged 6.8 minutes in 14 contests in Phoenix, contributing 1.4 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.

The Suns are the fifth team Randolph has played for in seven seasons in the NBA. He spent a few years overseas before latching on with the Celtics in 2012/13, where he averaged 4.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in 16 games. He will likely provide depth inside in Phoenix behind fellow Duke product Miles Plumlee and Markieff Morris.

Contract Details: Butler, World Peace, Suns

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.

Suns Sign Shavlik Randolph, Waive Kravtsov

3:46pm: The contract will cover the remainder of this season with a team option for 2014/15, according to Shams Charania of RealGM. It’s rare for team options to be a part of free agent contracts, so it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s a non-guaranteed year rather than an option year.

1:21pm: The Suns have signed Shavlik Randolph, according to Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. The team also officially announced the moves. Randolph is a 30-year-old power forward who’s played for four teams NBA teams over the course of his career, most recently for the Celtics in 2012/13, where he averaged 4.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in 16 games. The specifics of the contract haven’t been revealed yet.

Randolph had been playing overseas in China, where he put up impressive marks of 22.3 points and 12.3 rebounds per night, albeit in just six appearances. This move should help bolster the Suns frontcourt depth as the team looks to make some noise in the playoffs after missing three straight postseasons.

In order to make room for Randolph, the Suns have waived rarely used center Slava Kravtsov. Throughout 20 contests, Kravtsov played just 59 minutes, and averaged one point per night. Phoenix will be on the hook for the remainder of his $1.5MM salary.

Shavlik Randolph To Play In China

1:51pm: Randolph's one-year deal with Foshan will be worth at least $1.5MM, according to Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge.

10:07am: Prior to signing with the Celtics in the second half of the 2012/13 season, Shavlik Randolph played in China for the CBA's Foshan Lions. Having been waived this summer by Boston, Randolph is now headed back to China, according to Sportando contributor David Pick, who tweets that the big man will return to Foshan.

Randolph, 29, inked a pair of 10-day deals with the Celtics in 2012/13 before signing with the team for the remainder of the season. The former Duke Blue Devil only recorded 4.2 PPG and 4.4 RPG in 16 contests for Boston, but was significantly more productive overseas. Randolph appeared in 28 games for Foshan, averaging 32.0 PPG, 14.6 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks in 36.5 minutes per contest while shooting 53.1% from the floor.

Because the CBA regular season ends in February, Randolph should have a chance to return stateside and catch on with an NBA team once he plays out the season in China.

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Zwerling On Knicks, Ivan Johnson, Humphries

Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com has tweeted a string of updates on the Knicks today, as we've noted in a pair of posts. Marc Berman of the New York Post delivered plenty more on the Knicks earlier today, and this evening Zwerling delivers a full story on the latest from New York. We'll hit the highlights from Zwerling's piece here:

  • The Knicks and Ivan Johnson are discussing a potential deal. The former Hawks power forward had been holding out for a team to commit its mini mid-level exception to him, but his interest in the Knicks, who can only offer the minimum, indicates that his price may have come down.
  • The Knicks' interest in Kris Humphries is mutual, but the Celtics are still unlikely to buy him out.
  • Other big men the Knicks are considering include Cole Aldrich, Hamed Haddadi, Jerome Jordan, Gani Lawal, Shavlik Randolph and Henry Sims.
  • The Knicks remain interested in Beno Udrih and Bobby Brown, but Zwerling confirms Berman's report that the team is no longer looking at Delonte West.
  • Berman wrote that the Knicks are expected to invite Toure Murry to training camp, and Zwerling hears that the team will do the same with "a few young developmental point guards."

Celtics Release Shavlik Randolph

6:01pm: The team officially confirmed the move, via press release.

4:48pm: The Celtics have informed Shavlik Randolph that they won't be picking up his team option, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Randolph's contract doesn't technically include a team option, but his 2013/14 salary is non-guaranteed, which amounts to the same thing. That salary was set to become fully guaranteed if the big man remained on Boston's roster beyond today.

Randolph, 29, inked a pair of 10-day deals with the Celtics in 2012/13 before signing with the team for the remainder of the season, as our 10-day contract tracker shows. The former Duke Blue Devil appeared in 16 contests for Boston, averaging 4.2 PPG and 4.4 RPG. He'll become an unrestricted free agent, assuming no team claims him on waivers.

By cutting Randolph, the Celtics will reduce their roster count to 15 players, the maximum amount a team can carry during the regular season.

Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Brown, Celtics, Randolph

Let's round up the latest out of the Atlantic Division, with a heavy focus on items out of New York and Boston….

  • Euroleague star Bobby Brown worked out for the Knicks yesterday, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, adding that New York is considering Brown for one of its remaining roster spots. The former NBA point guard averaged 18.8 PPG and 5.3 APG in 24 Euroleague contests for Italy's Siena this past season.
  • The Knicks continue to negotiate a possible deal for Kenyon Martin, GM Glen Grunwald confirmed yesterday to reporters, including Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com. Although the Knicks can only offer Martin slightly above the minimum, Grunwald said talks with the big man and his agent were "going pretty well."
  • In addition to acquiring a handful of first-round picks from the Nets in the Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett blockbuster, the Celtics already created a significant trade exception, as Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe writes.
  • Celtics management would like to bring back Shavlik Randolph, whose non-guaranteed contract becomes fully guaranteed after August 1st, but he may end up being a cap casualty, says Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
  • Murphy adds that once the Celtics work through all the red tape involved, they're expected to officially sign Vitor Faverani to a three-year deal worth about $6MM. A report earlier this week indicated that the two sides had reached a contract agreement.
  • Several days ago, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star tweeted that, due to physical issues, Julyan Stone "won't sign now" with the Raptors, after having previously agreed to a deal with the team. While we originally interpreted that to mean the signing had been delayed, it appears, based on Smith's latest blog entry, that it has been nixed entirely. As such, we'll return Stone to our list of current free agents.

Eastern Links: Randolph, Jay-Z, Maxiell, Casey

After a very productive year in China, Shavlik Randolph is playing some of the best ball of his NBA career for the Celtics, but as he tells Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, he's not about to take his current role for granted.

"I’m not the kind of player who can even think about relaxing," Randolph said. "I’m not really gifted enough or talented enough to relax and still go out there and perform. Some guys are, but I’m not. And, look, this can all change in any game. Washington played big (in Sunday’s win by the Celtics), so we needed size. Maybe that got me more time. But I’m going to be ready whatever my role is."

Here's more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • Jay-Z has begun the process of selling his small share of the Nets in order to be able to become a certified NBA agent, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. According to Wojnarowski, rival agents are anxious about the rapper's ability to attract top prospects and current stars, given his cultural standing.
  • With Jason Maxiell facing unrestricted free agency this summer, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press suggests that the forward has likely played his last game with the Pistons. Maxiell, an eight-year veteran, has spent his entire NBA career with the club.
  • One of basketball's newest Hall-of-Famers, Gary Payton, tells Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun that he thinks it's unfair to consider Raptors head coach Dwane Casey as on the hot seat. "I think he shouldn’t be under fire, but that’s just the way business goes," Payton said. "I think he understands that and I think he’ll be fine. Give him one more year, ’til you let Rudy [Gay] be there for a whole year and see what happens."
  • In his latest piece for the Sporting News, Sean Deveney names the Bucks, Hawks, and Cavaliers as a few teams that could be hunting for a new head coach this summer.
  • Writing for SheridanHoops.com, Jon Pastuszek of NiuBBall.com wonders if Yi Jianlian could help a playoff-bound NBA team, listing the Celtics, Pacers, and Knicks among the potential fits.

Celtics Sign Shavlik Randolph For Season

THURSDAY, 2:20pm: The Celtics have officially re-signed Randolph, the team announced in a press release. The release refers to it as a multiyear deal, which likely means, as Charania reported, that it will be guaranteed for this season and non-guaranteed for next season.

WEDNESDAY, 2:41pm: Randolph's deal with the Celtics will include a team option for next season, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.com.

11:25am: The Celtics officially signed D.J. White for the remainder of the season today, and will do the same tomorrow with another player whose second 10-day contract will expire. Head coach Doc Rivers told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter link) that, in the interest of continuity, Shavlik Randolph will be re-signed to a rest-of-season deal.

After not playing during his first 10 days with the club, Randolph has appeared in three contests during his second 10-day deal. His best performance came last Saturday in a 105-88 win over the Bobcats, as he piled up six points, eight rebounds, a pair of steals in just over 15 minutes of action. Prior to making his NBA return with Boston, the big man appeared in 28 games for the Foshan Long Lions in China, averaging 32.0 PPG, 14.6 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks in 36.5 minutes per contest while shooting 53.1% from the floor.

Once they formally announce their rest-of-season deals with White and Randolph, the Celtics will have 15 players under guaranteed contracts. So if the team wanted to add another player before season's end, a corresponding roster move would be necessary to open up a spot.