Toney Douglas Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Grizzlies Sign Toney Douglas To Second 10-Day Deal

February 9th, 2017 at 12:43pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies have re-signed Toney Douglas to a second 10-day contract after his original 10-day deal with the club expired last night, the team announced today in a press release. The new agreement will keep Douglas locked up through February 18.

After appearing in six games for the Grizzlies earlier this season, Douglas was cut in mid-December as the team started getting a little healthier. Memphis opted to bring back the veteran point guard in late January on a 10-day deal — since then, he has appeared in five more games for the team, including last night’s win over Phoenix, in which he scored 11 points in 25 minutes.

While Douglas’ overall numbers this season for the Grizzlies (5.3 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 2.1 APG, .377 FG%) are modest, the club has played well when he has been in the lineup. In Douglas’ 11 games, the Grizzlies are 10-1, with the lone loss coming on the road in Cleveland in December.

Like Douglas’ previous 10-day contract, his new deal will count for $57,672 toward Memphis’ cap, though the FSU product will earn a salary worth a little more than $77K. When that contract expires, the Grizzlies will either have to let Douglas return to the free agent market or sign him to a rest-of-season contract, since teams can’t sign players to three 10-day contracts in the same year.

Grizzlies Re-Sign Toney Douglas, Waive Troy Williams

January 30th, 2017 at 11:26am CST by Austin Kent

JANUARY 30: The Grizzlies have officially re-signed Douglas to a 10-day deal, announcing in a press release that they’ve waived Williams to create a roster spot.

JANUARY 29: The Grizzlies are finalizing a deal to bring Toney Douglas back on a 10-day contract, tweets Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com. The team waived the 30-year-old point guard on December 15 after a six-game stint.

Initially signed by the Grizzlies in early December via a hardship exception, Douglas will hit the ground running at least somewhat familiar with the systems in place in Memphis. He averaged 5.8 points per game during his first stint there and the club went 5-1.

The Grizzlies are expected to release Troy Williams to make room on their roster. After going undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft, Williams caught on with Memphis and saw action in 22 games. Though briefly featured heavily in early December — he played 30-plus minutes six times between November 26 and December 13 — the 22-year-old last took the court for the Grizzlies on December 18.

Grizzlies Waive Toney Douglas

December 15th, 2016 at 3:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies are waiving Toney Douglas, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who reports (via Twitter) that three of Memphis’ injured players are getting close to returning. Douglas was signed by the Grizzlies using a hardship exception, which allowed the team to add a 16th man to its roster since four players were sidelined for an extended period.

We had already heard that James Ennis, one of those four injured Grizzlies players, was nearing a return, but Wojnarowski says that two others – Mike Conley and Chandler Parsons – have also made significant progress (Twitter links). According to Wojnarowski, Conley could get back on the court as soon as this weekend, which would be a surprisingly fast turnaround. When the veteran point guard went down with a back injury, reports indicated he would be re-evaluated in a month and would likely miss at least six weeks — that was just over two weeks ago.

Up until his injury, Conley had been one of the NBA’s most valuable players, so there were some questions about how the Grizzlies would perform without him. Since he went down, however, Memphis has played some of its best ball of the season, putting up a 7-2 record, with wins against the Warriors and Cavaliers. The team’s only two losses in that stretch came against Cleveland and Toronto, the two top teams in the East.

While Douglas didn’t play a ton during his time with the Grizzlies, he saw 17.8 minutes per game in six contests, averaging 5.8 PPG, 2.7 APG, and 2.7 RPG. Assuming he’s officially waived today, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent this weekend, while Memphis will carry a cap hit of just over $100K for him, per Bobby Marks of The Vertical (Twitter link).

Grizzlies Sign Toney Douglas

December 5th, 2016 at 10:50am CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies have officially added free agent point guard Toney Douglas to their roster, the team announced today in a press release. While the Grizzlies had a full 15-man squad, they were granted a hardship exception by the NBA due to their injury woes, allowing the team to sign a 16th man.

With starting point guard Mike Conley expected to miss at least six weeks due to a back injury, Memphis had been left with rookies Andrew Harrison and Wade Baldwin manning the point. In the wake of Conley’s diagnosis, the Grizzlies were linked to several veteran point guards, including Norris Cole, but ultimately seemed to gravitate toward Douglas.

A former first-round pick, Douglas has 370 career regular-season NBA games under his belt, having made appearances for the Knicks, Rockets, Kings, Warriors, Heat, and Pelicans. The 30-year-old had one of his most productive seasons last year for New Orleans, averaging 8.7 PPG and 2.6 APG in a part-time role, while shooting 39.9% on three-point attempts. However, he was unable to land a regular-season roster spot on NBA team this fall, having been cut in camp by the Cavaliers.

While terms of Douglas’ new deal with the Grizzlies aren’t known, it will likely be a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary pact. The deadline for all non-guaranteed 2016/17 salaries to become guaranteed is January 10, so if Douglas is still on the Memphis roster at that point, the team will have to decide whether or not to keep him around, with Conley perhaps nearing a return by then.

The Grizzlies became eligible to apply for a hardship exception after Saturday’s game, since the club had at least four injured players who had missed at least three consecutive games. Conley, Chandler Parsons, James Ennis, Brandan Wright, and Vince Carter all fit that bill for Memphis.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Southwest Notes: Motiejunas, Douglas, Harrison

December 4th, 2016 at 12:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets aren’t facing an easy decision about matching the Nets’ offer sheet for Donatas Motiejunas, writes James Herbert of CBS Sports. The four-year, $37MM deal only has $5MM in guaranteed money. Motiejunas would get another $3.5MM this season if he is still on the roster January 10th, and his salary for next season would be guaranteed if he is not waived before March 1st. There is a July 7th trigger date for each of the final two non-guaranteed seasons.

While the financial risk is small, there are other factors that may make the Rockets hesitate. Motiejunas was limited by back trouble last season, and a trade to Detroit in February was rescinded because he couldn’t pass a physical. Houston officials are worried about how much Motiejunas’ condition may deteriorate in two seasons, tweets Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. Also, because the offer sheet came after November 23rd, which is three months before the trade deadline, Motiejuans can’t be dealt for the rest of the season. He can’t be traded without his consent for a full year. In addition, there are also concerns about whether his post-up style would fit in with coach Mike D’Antoni’s philosophy. The Rockets must make a decision on whether to match by Monday.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Grizzlies are now in position to be granted an injury exception, which they are expected to use to sign veteran guard Toney Douglas, according to Ronald Tillery of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. League rules say the exception can be granted once a team has at least four players miss three consecutive games and several will be out for an extended time. The Grizzlies reached that threshold after Saturday’s game, when they were missing six players. Douglas is in Memphis now waiting for the paperwork to be finalized, tweets Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com.
The Grizzlies are impressed by the performance of rookie guard Andrew Harrison, who moved into the starting lineup after an injury to Mike Conley, writes Mike Bohn of USA Today. “I know we short handed, but got a bunch of tough guys on this team that believe we [can] win,” Harrison said. “Losing Mike was big, he’s an MVP candidate in my eyes, but we know what we got to do: We got to bring it every night.”
The job of carrying on the Spurs‘ tradition has fallen to Tony Parker now that Tim Duncan has retired, according to The Vertical’s Michael Lee. Parker is in his 16th season in San Antonio, making him the longest-tenured Spur. “I just want to make sure we keep winning and keep the tradition going,” he said. “Obviously, we’re always going to miss Timmy and you can’t replace Timmy. We just have to do it a different way.”

Grizzlies Eyeing Toney Douglas

December 2nd, 2016 at 8:54am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran free agent Toney Douglas, initially identified as one of a handful of available point guards being considered by the Grizzlies, has emerged as the frontrunner to be signed by the team, according to Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com (via Twitter). Memphis could add Douglas to its roster in the coming days if the team gets approval for a hardship exception in the coming days, says Wallace.

Grizzlies starting point guard Mike Conley is expected to miss at least six weeks with a back injury, leaving rookies Andrew Harrison and Wade Baldwin to man the point in Memphis. Harrison has held his own as Conley’s backup this year, but the Grizzlies have been much less effective without Conley on the floor, and appear to be interested in adding a veteran to complement their young duo.

Norris Cole, who started his career with the Heat when Memphis head coach David Fizdale was an assistant in Miami, was the first point guard mentioned as a potential candidate to join the Grizzlies, and became available this week when he was released by his team in China. It now appears that the Grizz are leaning toward Douglas instead of Cole, though nothing has been finalized yet.

Douglas, 30, was a teammate of Cole’s on the Pelicans last season, averaging 8.7 PPG and 2.6 APG for New Orleans, while shooting a career-best 39.9% on three-pointers. The former first-round pick was with the Cavaliers in camp this season, but was waived by the team during the preseason roster cutdown.

Although the Grizzlies currently have a full 15-man roster, they’ll soon be eligible to ask the NBA to grant them a hardship exception. This rule allows teams to apply for an extra roster spot when at least four injured players have missed three or more consecutive games, and will continue to miss time. Chandler Parsons, James Ennis, and Brandan Wright meet that criteria already, with Conley – and possibly Vince Carter – set to join them after Saturday’s game.

Latest On Grizzlies’ Point Guard Situation

November 29th, 2016 at 5:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With Mike Conley expected to miss at least six weeks of action due to fractures in his lower back , the Grizzlies have a major hole to fill at point guard. It was relayed earlier that Memphis could look to sign Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole or Xavier Munford to boost its depth at the one spot, and now Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical has added a few potential targets to that list — Kendall Marshall, Toney Douglas and Will Bynum. Also, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com has thrown some cold water on the possibility of the Grizzlies signing Chalmers, since the guard is not physically ready to play at this time.

Marshall, who turned 25 this past summer, has played for the Suns, Lakers, Bucks, and Sixers since entering the NBA as a lottery pick in 2012. He was sent from Philadelphia to Utah in an offseason trade, and was promptly cut by the Jazz in August before his salary for 2016/17 became guaranteed. Marshall, who has averaged 5.0 PPG and 4.9 APG in 160 career NBA contests, has been a free agent since then, and is currently playing in the D-League after being claimed by the Reno Bighorns.

Douglas began his NBA career in 2009 with the Knicks. After spending three seasons in New York, the point guard has bounced around, playing for the Rockets, Kings, Warriors, Heat, and Pelicans. The 30-year-old averaged 8.7 PPG, 2.6 APG, 2.3 RPG, and 1.1 SPG, to go along with a shooting line of .411/.399/.848. He was waived by the Cavs during the preseason to clear a roster spot for the re-signing of J.R. Smith.

Bynum, 33, has appeared in 360 total regular season NBA games for three different teams since 2005, though, he hasn’t played in a regular season contest since the 2014/15 season. For most of the last two seasons, Bynum has played for the Guangdong Southern Tigers in China. He averaged 17.8 PPG and 6.5 APG for the CBA club in 2015/16. The guard was among the Hawks’ final preseason cuts this year.

Cavs Re-Sign J.R. Smith, Waive Douglas

October 15th, 2016 at 11:37am CST by Eddie Scarito

SATURDAY, 11:37am: The Cavs officially announced the signing, as well as that guard Toney Douglas has been waived to clear a spot for Smith.

FRIDAY, 9:14pm: The fourth year of Smith’s deal is non-guaranteed, Stein relays (Twitter links ). However, a full guarantee will kick in if he remains on the roster after the 2018/19 campaign comes to a close, the scribe adds. The guard will earn $45MM during the first three years of the pact, according to Stein.

8:18pm: According to Stein (Twitter link), a hard push from Sixers GM Bryan Colangelo to ink Smith is was spurred Cleveland to up its offer to the guard.

7:29pm: The Cavs and unrestricted free agent J.R. Smith have finally ended their stalemate, with the shooting guard agreeing to a new contract with the team, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). It will be a four-year, $57MM arrangement, according to the scribe. There is no word yet if the agreement includes any options (player or team), nor if the entire pact is fully guaranteed.

Smith had been reportedly seeking an annual salary of $15MM, while the Cavs reportedly preferred to sign him to a contract in the $10MM to $12MM range. In the end, Smith will receive an average annual salary of $14MM, per the terms Stein relayed.

It was surprising that negotiations lasted this long between the two sides given their mutual desire to keep the relationship going. The Celtics reportedly had serious interest in signing Smith, though Boston wouldn’t have been able to offer Smith a salary starting more than $9MM unless they made a trade to clear cap space. The possibility of Smith signing elsewhere, which likely would have upset superstar LeBron James, may have played a factor in Cleveland upping its offer. Though, that is merely speculation on my part.

The 31-year-old started a career-high 77 games for the Cavs during the 2015/16 season, and also started all 21 of the team’s playoff games. During the season, he averaged 12.4 PPG and shot 40.0% from long distance, making 2.6 threes per game.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cavaliers Notes: Roster Spots, McRae, Shumpert

October 9th, 2016 at 9:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

A four-man race has developed for the final two spots on the Cavaliers’ roster, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. With four preseason games remaining, the competition has boiled down to shooting guards Jordan McRae and DeAndre Liggins, small forward Dahntay Jones and point guard Toney Douglas. Coach Tyronn Lue has promised that those four, plus everyone with non-guaranteed deals, will get a chance to prove themselves before cuts have to be made. Rookie point guard Kay Felder and veteran swingman James Jones are believed to be sure things for the final roster, and another spot will likely belong to J.R. Smith, who has been in a contract standoff with the Cavs all summer. Vardon believes McRae and Liggins are the current favorites to earn the last two positions.

There’s more news out of Cleveland:

McRae is no longer being considered as a possible backup to point guard Kyrie Irving, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “It’s not fair to him,” Lue said. “It’s something he hasn’t done his whole career. You can put guys in position, they’ve got to come out and just score the basketball. But to tell them they’ve got to get into their sets, little guards picking up full court and just having to think so much when you’re a natural scorer, it is kind of tough.” Lue is looking at a committee approach, with Liggins, Felder and Douglas all logging time as reserve point guards. McRae has been the Cavs’ leading scorer in the past two games with 20 points each night.
With Smith still absent, Iman Shumpert has been impressive in training camp, Fedor writes in the same piece. The fifth-year shooting guard has started just six games since coming to Cleveland in January of 2015, but he took over the starter’s role in camp and seems likely to begin the season in that position. Shumpert is trying to bounce back from a disastrous season in which he shot a career-low 37% from the field and 30% from 3-point range. “J.R. here or J.R. not here, Shump still has the same role on our team,” Lue said, “and that’s to come out and be a stopper every single night and take and make his open shots.”

Eastern Notes: Bulls, Morris, Cavs, Heat

October 6th, 2016 at 7:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Bulls’ decision to trade Derrick Rose and let Joakim Noah walk in free agency is already proving to be addition by subtraction, Steve Aschburner of NBA.com opines. Not only did they rid themselves of two oft-injured players but both have created distractions during the preseason, Aschburner continues. Rose has missed practice and game time with the Knicks because of a civil lawsuit involving rape allegations, while Noah has created hard feelings with his behavior at West Point, where New York is holding camp, Aschburner notes. The way Rose managed the timing of his rehabs and returns also created issues in the Bulls’ organization, as did his comments prior to last season that he was looking forward to free agency in 2017, Aschburner adds.

In other developments around the Eastern Conference:

Wizards power forward Markieff Morris focused this summer on improving his 3-point shot, Candace Buckner of the Washington Post reports. Morris has averaged 32.3% from long range during his career and made 31.6% of his 3-point attempts after he was dealt from the Suns to Washington during last season’s trade deadline. Morris attempted more mid-range shots (265) than any other area on the floor, Buckner notes, but Morris wants to make the 3-point shot a bigger part of his game. “It’s kind of like you have no choice now with the way the league is,” Morris told Buckner. “You got to be able to make that shot at the four. I’ve been working all summer trying to get better at it, continuing to get better at it.”
Journeyman Toney Douglas is confident he’ll win the backup point guard job with the Cavaliers despite coming to camp with a non-guaranteed contract, Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net writes. Douglas, who played 61 games for the Pelicans last season, joined Cleveland this week and is competing mainly with rookie Kay Felder for that spot. “I’m a veteran player,” he told Amico. “I can play defense, lock up, hit open shots, run the offense and find guys when they’re open. I can do all that.”
The Heat face a tough decision on point guard Briante Weber, according to Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders. Though Weber has only played in seven NBA games, he has shown enough upside that it will be difficult for the Heat to keep him off the opening-day roster, Taylor continues. Weber also has a partially-guaranteed contract, but veteran Beno Udrih looms as the main backup point man and Josh Richardson should return during the first month of the season from his knee injury, Taylor notes. If Weber is let go, another team would snatch him up quickly, Taylor adds.