Troy Daniels

Odds & Ends: Wade, Colangelo, Deng

The Heat seem to be chief in Dwyane Wade‘s mind as he eyes his early termination option this summer, but the decision won’t necessarily be straightforward, as he tells TNT’s David Aldridge, who shared Wade’s thoughts in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com.

“Well, I want to be here,” Wade said. “I think that’s always the things I’ve always said and I’ve always expressed. And after that, I want to win. I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m starting over and I’m rebuilding. I want to win. And I want to be on a team that has an opportunity to do that, and feel like I’m a big part of that. This is where I want to be. But as players, [having] options is good. Because you don’t know what is to happen or what is to come. So for us, I think we’re in a great situation. Guys have options as players, and they can exercise those options. Who knows what that means? But right now, for us, we’re on a very good team. We enjoy each other. We enjoy this city and we enjoy playing for this organization, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”

Here’s more from Aldridge’s piece and other news from around the league:

  • Bryan Colangelo spoke with Aldridge and attempted to walk back his comments from Friday in which he said he tried to tank as GM of the Raptors in 2011/12.
  • The Pacers reportedly spoke with the Cavs about Luol Deng before the trade deadline, but Andrew Perna of RealGM hears Indiana had no interest in the soon-to-be free agent (Twitter link).
  • The Rockets have recalled Troy Daniels from the D-League, the team announced via Twitter. Daniels had been with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers before the Rockets signed him last month. Houston immediately assigned him back there after inking the deal, which is for the minimum salary, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes in an update to the team’s salary page.

Rockets Waive Brewer, Sign Troy Daniels

SATURDAY, 12:54pm: The Rockets have officially announced the signing of Daniels, per a team release. GM Daryl Morey also verified that Daniels will continue assignment in the D-League.

FRIDAY, 9:39pm: Brewer has officially been waived according to a team release. A person with knowledge of the deal says that Daniels’ contract is indeed a two year deal, according to Feigen.

8:51pm: According to Jason Friedman of Rockets.com (Twitter Link), the team has officially signed Daniels. He’ll remain with the RGV Vipers in the D-League.

3:23pm: The Rockets are waiving Ronnie Brewer to sign Troy Daniels, a source tells Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). It’ll be a two-year deal for Daniels, though 2014/15 will be non-guaranteed, Feigen adds (on Twitter).

Daniels, who’s been playing with Houston’s three-pointer-happy affiliate in the D-League, is considered the best shooter outside the NBA, Feigen tweets, adding that it’s likely the team will send him back to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on D-League assignment after the signing. He’s averaged 23.3 points and 40.8% three-point shooting in the D-League this year after having spent camp with the Bobcats and Rockets this past autumn. Daniels went undrafted out of VCU in June.

Brewer signed a two-year minimum-salary deal with the Rockets in the offseason, but he’s seen limited playing time, scoring just seven points all year in 158 total minutes. The eighth-year veteran’s salary will remain on Houston’s books for this season, providing no one claims him off waivers, but 2014/15 was a non-guaranteed year for him.

Zwerling On Randolph, Anderson, Gordon

The latest dispatch from Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling is chock full of rumors. Let’s dive in:

  • The Grizzlies are shopping Zach Randolph, with Ryan Anderson of the Pelicans as the primary target, Zwerling reports. Memphis wants to see Ed Davis continue to develop, and that may help push Randolph out the door. The Pelicans would have to add salary to such a deal to make it work, and Zwerling mentions Austin Rivers as a possibility, noting that he’s dissatisfied with his lack of playing time and is open to a trade.
  • A source tells Zwerling that he believes the Pelicans will trade Eric Gordon at some point this season.
  • Zwerling hears conflicting reports on whether a rumored Kenneth Faried/Iman Shumpert swap is a possibility for the Nuggets and Knicks, but he says the Knicks are currently reluctant to move Shumpert.
  • It’s unlikely the Suns trade either Marcus Morris or twin brother Markieff Morris, according to Zwerling.
  • The Sixers would trade Evan Turner for Dion Waiters “in a heartbeat,” a source tells Zwerling, though Cavs owner Dan Gilbert reportedly doesn’t want to trade his shooting guard. The Sixers are worried about what Turner may command in restricted free agency this summer. The Suns could be another landing spot for Waiters, Zwerling writes.
  • Courtney Lee, Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries are on the market in Boston. The Celtics offered Avery Bradley a four-year, $24MM extension this fall, but the guard turned it down, looking for a deal with annual salaries of $8MM.
  • The Rockets “adore” D-Leaguer Troy Daniels, Zwerling writes. Daniels is displaying a three-point stroke to go with his 25.1 points per game.

Odds & Ends: Bledsoe, Turner, Bradley

The Suns might not get a discount on Eric Bledsoe this summer after passing on an extension for him last night, but team president of basketball operations Lon Babby would be OK with seeing Bledsoe’s price tag escalate if he has a breakout year. Matt Petersen of Suns.com shares that and more from Babby in the wake of last night’s extension deadline.

“I can’t say that we received an unqualified declaration of [Bledsoe wanting to stay in Phoenix long-term], but I wouldn’t expect that,” Babby said. “That’s part of the issue. He’s only been with us for a short time. But if you’re asking me is there any indication he’s not happy here, absolutely not. I think he’s very, very happy and we’ll do everything we can to make sure he’s happy. He’s an important part of this franchise for a long, long time to come.”

There’s more on a pair of players who’ll also hit restricted free agency this summer as we round up the latest from the Association:

  • Evan Turner said earlier that he and Sixers GM Sam Hinkie didn’t have any talks about an extension, and that silence extends to any mention of Turner’s future in Philadelphia, as Turner told reporters, including Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News. Turner isn’t sure if that future includes the Sixers after seeing the team trade Jrue Holiday, a player he called a “walking legend.” (Twitter links).
  • Avery Bradley isn’t concerned that the Celtics passed on what reportedly would have been a four-year extension, telling Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald and other assembled media today that he’d love to stay in Boston.
  • We already knew that the Rockets had protected B.J. Young from tonight’s D-League draft, and Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle notes the team did the same for fellow camp casualties Jordan Henriquez and Troy Daniels (Twitter link).
  • In an interview with the YES Network, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov shared his enthusiastic response when informed of the prospect of the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce trade and explained that his desire for a non-traditional coach led him to Jason KiddNewsday’s Roderick Boone has the details.
  • Commissioner-in-waiting Adam Silver spoke with Jared Weiss of CLNS Radio about the this season’s leaguewide rollout of SportVU cameras, expressing the league’s desire to create a level playing field in terms of the data and technology available to teams.

Rockets Waive Troy Daniels

The Rockets have placed Troy Daniels on waivers, tweets Jason Friedman of Rockets.com. The move leaves Houston with 17 players, meaning the team will have to make two more cuts to get down to the 15-man regular season limit.

Daniels seemed the most likely casualty among the Rockets with non-guaranteed contracts. Reggie Williams has the largest partial guarantee, at $474K, but he’s up against Ronnie Brewer, whose deal is guaranteed for $100K, and Greg Smith and Patrick Beverley, who are on non-guaranteed deals. All four have been NBA rotation-level players, so Rockets GM Daryl Morey has a few tough calls on his hands, though Beverley, who has alternated at point guard with Jeremy Lin, seems safe.

The Rockets didn’t use Daniels in any of their preseason games. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reported yesterday that the team was expected to let him go, and it appears Daniels will wind up signing with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s D-League affiliate.

Western Notes: Rockets, Lakers, Nash, Thunder

With the NBA’s opening night just four days away, let’s round up some items out of the Western Conference on the last Friday of the offseason:

  • Philadelphia released Royce White yesterday, but it will be the Rockets, not the 76ers, who are on the hook for his $1.7MM+ salary, tweets Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. When Houston sent White to the Sixers, it was reported that the deal included cash considerations, so perhaps the amount in the trade was equal to White’s salary.
  • Phil Jackson recently spoke to Seth Davis about a number of topics, including the Lakers, and while that interview won’t air until next week, Mark Medina of InsideSoCal.com passes along a few of the Zen Master’s comments. Among the notable items: Jackson says he’s unlikely to ever coach in the NBA again due to his health.
  • Steve Nash is currently the oldest player on an NBA roster, and there’s some concern from the Lakers about his health heading into the season. However, while he acknowledges to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com that he’s at a “different stage” in his career, he says he’s up to the challenge.
  • After waiving Diante Garrett today, the Thunder aren’t in the market for a third point guard, according to head coach Scott Brooks (Twitter link via Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman).
  • In the wake of early speculation about Kevin Durant‘s 2016 free agency, ESPN.com’s Larry Coon (Insider link) details Durant’s options, concluding that the Thunder star figures to take a wait-and-see approach.
  • Dee Bost, who was waived by the Trail Blazers, and Troy Daniels, who is expected to be released by the Rockets, will soon sign with their clubs’ respective D-League affiliates, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.com.

Rockets Expected To Cut Troy Daniels

With three cuts to make before opening night, the Rockets likely will wait until Monday’s deadline to make their last couple moves, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. However, according to Feigen, the team is expected to waive undrafted rookie Troy Daniels by Saturday.

Daniels, 22, averaged 12.3 PPG and shot 40.3% on three-pointers in his final season at VCU, then joined Charlotte’s Summer League squad in July and eventually agreed to participate in camp with the club. After being released by the Bobcats earlier this month, Daniels found a temporary home with the Rockets, signing a camp deal last week.

The Rockets will be able to hang onto the D-League rights for three players they cut this month, and Daniels is a good bet to be one of those three, so it could just be a matter of time before we see him land with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Rockets Sign Troy Daniels

While most NBA teams are paring down their preseason rosters, the Rockets have increased theirs by one today, officially signing free agent guard Troy Daniels, according to the team (Twitter link). Daniels had been in camp with the Bobcats before being released last week.

Daniels, 22, averaged 12.3 PPG and shot 40.3% on three-pointers in his final season at VCU, then auditioned for the Jazz and Pacers in June before going undrafted. He joined Charlotte’s Summer League squad in July, then eventually agreed to participate in camp with the club.

With the addition of Daniels, the Rockets’ roster count is back up to 18, including 13 players on fully guaranteed deals. Daniels is unlikely to make the team’s regular-season roster, so perhaps he’ll end up with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s D-League affiliate.

Bobcats Release Abdul Gaddy, Troy Daniels

The Bobcats released a pair of camp invitees today, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, who tweets that Abdul Gaddy and Troy Daniels have been waived. The pair of cuts reduces Charlotte’s roster count to 16 players.

Both Gaddy and Daniels went undrafted in June before playing for the Bobcats’ Summer League squad in July. Gaddy, out of Washington, and Daniels, a VCU product, were both believed to be on fully non-guaranteed contracts, so Charlotte won’t be on the hook for their salaries.

Assuming the Bobcats’ 12 fully guaranteed players and Jannero Pargo ($300K guaranteed) make the roster, that leaves up to two potential openings for Patrick O’Bryant, James Southerland, and Jeff Adrien. O’Bryant, a 7’0″ center, may have seen his chances at a roster spot increase today when the team announced Brendan Haywood would be sidelined for the next 12 weeks after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left foot that will require surgery.

Troy Daniels To Camp With Bobcats

Former VCU guard Troy Daniels has accepted a training camp invite from the Bobcats, a source tells Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report (Twitter).  Contrary to a previous report, Daniels did not agree to a deal with Charlotte in late June.

Daniels averaged 12.3 PPG and shot 40.3% on three-pointers in his final season with the Rams.  The guard auditioned for the Jazz and Pacers in June but wound up going undrafted.  Daniels will be joined in camp by former lottery pick Patrick O’Bryant.