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Jazz Sign Isaiah Cousins

October 3rd, 2018 at 3:16pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz have re-filled their 20-man preseason roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed Isaiah Cousins to a contract. Cousins will replace Trey Lewis, who was waived by Utah earlier today.

A 6’4″ combo guard, Cousins was a second-round pick out of Oklahoma in 2016. Although the Kings drafted and signed Cousins, he didn’t stick with the club, instead spending the last two seasons in the G League and with French team Cholet Basket.

Last season, Cousins appeared in 36 games for Utah’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, recording 13.2 PPG, 4.2 APG, and 3.6 RPG with a .431/.408/.741 shooting line. The Jazz don’t project to have any openings on their 15-man NBA roster heading into the 2018/19 season, so they likely envision the 24-year-old as a G League piece once again.

Cousins was one of 32 veteran free agents who participated in a mini-camp with the Jazz back in June.

Knicks Sign John Jenkins

October 3rd, 2018 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 3: The Knicks have officially signed Jenkins, the team announced today (via Twitter).

OCTOBER 2: Having opened up a roster spot by waiving Tyrius Walker earlier today, the Knicks will sign John Jenkins to re-fill their 20-man preseason roster, reports Marc Berman of The New York Post (Twitter links). According to Berman, Jenkins – who caught the Knicks’ eye during his Summer League stint with the Trail Blazers – will likely end up playing in the G League.

Jenkins, a 2012 first-round pick out of Vanderbilt, played 145 regular season NBA contests for the Hawks, Mavericks, and Suns, last appearing in an NBA game in December of 2016.

Jenkins spent the 2017/18 campaign with San Pablo Burgos in Spain, recording a team-high 12.7 PPG in 22 Spanish League games, before joining Portland for the 2018 Summer League. In seven Las Vegas Summer League games, Jenkins shot a blistering 69.6% from the field, averaging 12.0 PPG.

With Jenkins apparently poised to fill Walker’s spot on the Knicks’ roster, it remains unclear when Jeff Coby will complete his reported deal with the club. New York has 19 players under contract, leaving room for just one signing for now, though the club figures to waive other camp invitees and buy out Joakim Noah in the near future.

Kings Sign Gabe Vincent To Exhibit 10 Contract

October 3rd, 2018 at 1:10pm CST by Luke Adams

After opening up a spot on their roster by waiving Taren Sullivan, the Kings have signed undrafted rookie guard Gabe Vincent to an Exhibit 10 contract, tweets James Ham of CSN Bay Area.

Sullivan, who played his college ball at UC-Santa Barbara, went undrafted earlier this year after averaging 12.4 PPG and 3.3 APG with a .450/.377/.805 shooting line in his senior season.

As they did with Sullivan, the Kings are likely just adding Vincent to their 20-man roster briefly in order to secure his G League rights for the upcoming season. Vincent is a particularly good fit for Sacramento’s G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings, since he’s a native of Stockton.

Sacramento is back up to 20 players as a result of the signing.

Jazz Release Trey Lewis

October 3rd, 2018 at 12:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz have made their first roster cut of the preseason, announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived guard Trey Lewis. Lewis will clear waivers on Friday, assuming he goes unclaimed.

Lewis, who went undrafted out of Louisville in 2016, has played in Germany and France since beginning his professional career. He joined the Jazz for the Utah and Las Vegas Summer Leagues in July and made a strong enough impression that the club signed him in August, bringing him to training camp.

Although Lewis won’t crack Utah’s 15-man regular season roster, he looks like a candidate to land with the Salt Lake City Stars, the Jazz’s G League affiliate, assuming he opts to sign an NBAGL contract rather than heading back overseas.

The Jazz now have 19 players on their preseason roster, including 14 on fully guaranteed contracts and two on two-way deals.

Knicks Sign, Waive Phillip Carr

October 3rd, 2018 at 11:52am CST by ChrisCrouse

OCTOBER 3: Having secured his G League rights for Westchester, the Knicks have now waived Carr, the team announced today (via Twitter).

OCTOBER 2: The Knicks have signed Phillip Carr, according to the team’s Twitter feed. Ian Begley of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link) that the contract is likely an Exhibit 10 deal.

Contracts with the Exhibit 10 clause are worth the league’s minimum salary and don’t come with any compensation protection. They can include a bonus in the $5K to $50K range for players should the team waive them and they sign with the team’s G League affiliate and remain there for 60 days.

Carr is likely to spend most of his 2018/19 season with the Westchester Knicks. The forward played for Morgan State over the past three seasons, scoring 13.4 points per game. He was not selected in the 2018 draft.

Having signed Carr, the Knicks once again have a full 20-man roster. That means that reported agreements with John Jenkins and Jeff Coby remain on hold for now.

Kings Waive Taren Sullivan

October 3rd, 2018 at 10:47am CST by Luke Adams

Shortly after signing him to an Exhibit 10 contract, the Kings have waived undrafted swingman Taren Sullivan, according to NBA.com’s log of official transactions.

Sullivan played all four of his collegiate seasons at Division II school Findlay, averaging 17.2 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 3.2 APG in 28.9 MPG as a senior. He made a strong impression during the G League Player Invitational in August, leading the event with 18.5 PPG on 63.6% shooting.

While that GLPI showing helped him earn a deal with the Kings, Sullivan’s stint on the roster was brief. Still, Sacramento has now secured the NBAGL rights for the 6’6″ wing, and he looks like a good candidate to join the Stockton Kings in the G League this season.

With Sullivan no longer under contract, Sacramento now once again has an opening on its 20-man preseason roster.

Cole Aldrich Waived, Expected To Play In China

October 2nd, 2018 at 2:32pm CST by Luke Adams

2:32pm: The Hawks have waived Aldrich, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). The timing of the move is likely no coincidence, as the path is now clear for the center to sign a deal overseas.

2:15pm: Veteran NBA center Cole Aldrich is expected to play in China during the 2018/19 campaign, a source tells Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link). Goodman doesn’t offer any specifics on which team Aldrich is expected to join for the coming season.

Aldrich, who will turn 30 later this month, remains under contract with the Hawks for now. However, he has a non-guaranteed contract, and Atlanta is already carrying 15 players on fully guaranteed salaries, making the big man a long shot to earn a spot on the regular season roster.

It’s not uncommon for a player to line up a contract agreement in another league if he expects to be released by his NBA team. Earlier this offseason, for instance, news broke of David Stockton‘s new deal with German team Medi Bayreuth approximately two weeks before he was actually waived by the Jazz.

In Aldrich’s case, he and his representatives may have received word that a roster spot in Atlanta isn’t in the cards and gotten a head start on seeking out another professional opportunity. That remains unconfirmed though.

Aldrich spent the last two seasons in Minnesota, playing a limited role for the Timberwolves. In 2017/18, he appeared in just 21 games and played only 49 total minutes. While his contract covered the 2018/19 season, Aldrich’s salary for the coming year only featured a modest partial guarantee, so the Wolves waived him in June before the full guarantee kicked in, making him an unrestricted free agent. He subsequently received a camp invite from the Hawks.

Kings Sign Taren Sullivan To Exhibit 10 Deal

October 2nd, 2018 at 11:21am CST by Dana Gauruder

OCTOBER 2: The Kings have officially signed Sullivan to an Exhibit 10 contract, tweets Jason Jones of The Athletic. The young forward looks like a candidate to end up with the Stockton Kings, Sacramento’s G League affiliate.

OCTOBER 1: The Kings have agreed to a camp deal with Taren Sullivan, Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated tweets.

The undrafted 6’6” wing player attended Findlay, a Division II school in Ohio, and was the leading scorer at the G League player invitational.

Sullivan played all four of his collegiate seasons at Findlay and averaged 17.2 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 3.2 APG in 28.9 MPG as a senior. He also had workouts with the Cavaliers and Grizzlies, according to Woo.

Sacramento had an open spot on its 20-man camp roster after waiving Brandon Austin on Sunday.

Knicks Waive Tyrius Walker

October 2nd, 2018 at 9:21am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have released a training camp invitee from their 20-man preseason roster, announcing today (via Twitter) that they’ve waived rookie guard Tyrius Walker. New York had signed the former Morehouse standout to a camp deal last month.

Walker averaged 22.8 PPG in his final college season, buoyed by a .475/.357/.802 shooting line. Because he played for a Division II school, Walker’s competition wasn’t as strong as that of most of his fellow prospects, and he didn’t receive strong draft consideration. However, he did earn a spot on the Knicks’ Summer League squad in Las Vegas, and posted 6.3 PPG in three games (11.3 MPG).

Although the Knicks will likely open up a spot on their 15-man regular season roster soon when they buy out Joakim Noah, Walker was never considered a strong candidate to fill that spot. He is, however, a candidate to join the Westchester Knicks, New York’s G League affiliate.

Walker had been on an Exhibit 10 deal, meaning he’ll be eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K if he heads to Westchester and spends at least two months with the Knicks’ NBAGL squad.

With a newly-created opening on their roster, the Knicks may finalize the signing of Jeff Coby, who reportedly reached an agreement with the club prior to training camp.

Patrick McCaw Passes On Qualifying Offer

October 1st, 2018 at 8:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Restricted free agent guard Patrick McCaw is expected to decline his one-year, $1.71MM qualifying offer from the Warriors, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

If that comes to fruition, McCaw would remain an RFA. McCaw was reportedly offered a two-year contract from the Warriors but also plans to turn that down. The previous report indicted it was a $4MM offer but ESPN’s Marc Spears tweets that Golden State proposed a two-year deal worth approximately $5MM with the second year not guaranteed.

McCaw had an October 1st deadline to sign the qualifying offer.

By NBA rules, teams are permitted to extend the qualifying offer deadline beyond that date, so the Warriors could leave McCaw’s QO on the table. However, clubs rarely agree to push back that deadline, since removing the qualifying offer from the equation improves a team’s leverage, limiting the restricted free agent’s options.

His qualifying offer is worth $200K more than his minimum salary of $1.51MM. He’s apparently willing to roll the dice with the hope that Golden State will let him go. As Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets, McCaw could drag out the process and force the Warriors to move on without him, hoping they won’t match offer sheet once his roster spot is committed to someone else.

The Warriors have been holding a spot open for McCaw, who struggled during his sophomore season in 2017/18. In 57 games (16.9 MPG), the former second-round pick averaged 4.0 PPG, 1.4 RPG, and 1.4 APG with a .409/.238/.765 shooting line.

McCaw is the only restricted free agent left on the market.