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David West Announces Retirement

August 30th, 2018 at 9:06am CST by Luke Adams

Longtime NBA big man David West has announced his retirement from the NBA after 15 seasons. West issued a statement on Twitter confirming his decision, which comes one day after he turned 38 years old.

“I have been fortunate enough to live out my childhood dream of playing in the NBA. After 15 seasons I have decided to retire from the game of basketball,” West wrote. “I am humbled and thankful for the support of my family, friends, coaches, teammates, organizations, and fans throughout this experience. To anyone who has ever cheered me on, been in my corner, prayed, or simply said a nice word on my behalf, I am grateful.”

West, who began his career as a New Orleans Hornet after being selected with the 18th overall pick in the 2003 draft, played in New Orleans for his first eight years in the NBA, earning a pair of All-Star nods in 2008 and 2009 and teaming with Chris Paul during many of the most successful seasons in franchise history.

West later spent four years with the Pacers, one with the Spurs, and his last two in Golden State, where he won a pair of NBA championships with the Warriors. For his career, the former Xavier standout averaged 13.6 PPG and 6.4 RPG in 1,034 regular season games. He also appeared in 118 postseason contests, contributing 11.3 PPG and 5.6 RPG in the playoffs.

Although West earned nearly $100MM in salary throughout his NBA career, per Basketball-Reference, his last few years in the league were defined by his willingness to play for the veteran’s minimum for championship contenders.

After winning his first title in 2017, West re-signed with the Warriors, but reports at the time indicated that it was expected to be his last year, with retirement coming in 2018. That’s exactly what happened, with West’s announcement coming just days after another accomplished NBA veteran, Manu Ginobili, announced his own retirement.

While it’s unclear what the next step will be for West, he has long been one of the most widely-respected players in the game, according to Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports, who tweets that the 38-year-old could have a future in anything from coaching to broadcasting to front office work. It likely won’t take long for West to receive coaching and front office offers, if he wants them, notes Zach Lowe of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Spurs Sign Quincy Pondexter

August 29th, 2018 at 11:16am CST by Dana Gauruder

AUGUST 29: The Spurs have officially signed Pondexter, the team announced today in a press release.

AUGUST 27: Free agent wing Quincy Pondexter has agreed to a one-year contract with the Spurs, ESPN’s Chris Haynes tweets. It’s a partially-guaranteed deal, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets.

Pondexter will essentially take the roster spot, and perhaps the role, of Manu Ginobili after the long-time Spur announced his retirement on Monday. He’ll likely compete for minutes at small forward with rookie Lonnie Walker and Dante Cunningham behind Rudy Gay.

The 6’7” Pondexter, 30, played 23 games with the Bulls last season, including a start. He averaged 2.0 PPG in 8.5 MPG and was waived at the beginning of February after the Nikola Mirotic deal with the Pelicans.

Pondexter started his career with the New Orleans franchise in 2010, then played for the Grizzlies the next 3 1/2 seasons before returning to the Pelicans for half a season.

For his career, Pondexter has averaged 5.0 PPG in 17.3 MPG over 302 appearances. He’s a career 35.7% shooter from long range, though he shot an icy 13.6% in limited action last season.

Sixers Sign Anthony Brown

August 29th, 2018 at 8:45am CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers have signed Anthony Brown to their offseason roster, according to RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions. It’s a one-year, minimum-salary pact with an Exhibit 10 clause, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Philadelphia now has 19 players under contract.

Brown, a second-round pick in 2015, spent his first two NBA seasons with the Lakers, Pelicans, and Magic before signing a two-way contract with the Timberwolves last summer. The 6’7″ forward only appeared in one game for Minnesota, but had a strong year in the G League, averaging 18.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 3.6 APG with a .459/.402/.797 shooting line in 45 contests for the Iowa Wolves.

Brown’s two-way deal with the Timberwolves expired earlier this summer, and the club moved on by signing Jared Terrell and C.J. Williams to fill its two-way slots, leaving the former Stanford standout on the lookout for a new team.

While Brown appears set to attend training camp with the 76ers, there’s no clear path to a spot on Philadelphia’s 15-man regular season roster. The club currently has 14 players on guaranteed contracts, with T.J. McConnell and his non-guaranteed salary seemingly penciled in for the 15th and final spot.

Jazz Sign Trey Lewis

August 28th, 2018 at 5:39pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Jazz have signed Trey Lewis, according to Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News (via Twitter). The terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.

Lewis played at Louisville with Jazz star Donovan Mitchell. Woodyard has previously written about the duo’s close relationship.

The 6’2″ guard played for Utah’s two Summer League teams this offseason. During his four games in Las Vegas, he averaged 9.0 points, 3.0 rebounds. and 2.3 assists per contest.

Lewis went undrafted in 2017 and spent his 2017/18 season playing aboard. He split time between JL Bourg-en-Bresse of the LNB Pro A in France and Ratiopharm Ulm of the Basketball Bundesliga in Germany

Grizzlies Waive Kobi Simmons

August 28th, 2018 at 4:35pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Grizzlies have waived Kobi Simmons, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (Twitter link). Simmons had been on a two-way contract with Memphis.

Simmons played in 32 games for the Grizzlies last season, averaging 6.1 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 20.1 minutes of action per contest. He also spent time in the G League, playing for the Memphis Hustle where he saw 30.9 minutes per game during his 26 appearances.

Simmons went undrafted during the 2017 draft after playing just one season at the University of Arizona. He inked a two-way deal with Memphis last summer.

Jarnell Stokes Signs Contract With Heat

August 27th, 2018 at 6:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

AUGUST 27: The signing is official, according to the team’s Twitter feed.

AUGUST 20: The Heat have agreed to a contract with forward Jarnell Stokes, Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype tweets.

Terms were not disclosed but it’s almost certainly a training camp deal.

The 6’9” Stokes hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since the 2016/17 season, when he made two cameos with the Nuggets. He was in the Heat organization the previous year and saw action in five games. He also played 21 games with the Grizzlies after being acquired in a draft-night trade with the Jazz. He was the 35th pick of the 2014 draft.

Stokes played in China last season before getting waived in early February. He played for the Bulls’ summer league team in July and averaged 5.0 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 10.2 MPG over five Las Vegas games.

His biggest claim to fame was being the G League MVP in 2016 after posting averages of 2o.6 PPG and 9.3 RPG for the Sioux Falls SkyForce.

Timberwolves, Deng Adel Agree To Camp Deal

August 27th, 2018 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves have reached an agreement with undrafted forward Deng Adel, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania, Adel will sign a training camp contract with Minnesota.

A former Louisville standout, Adel entered the 2018 draft after a junior year in which he averaged 15.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 2.8 APG with a .448/.350/.786 shooting line for the Cardinals. While he wasn’t selected on draft night, Adel always seemed like a candidate to catch on with an NBA team for training camp — ESPN’s Jonathan Givony ranked him as the 78th-best prospect in this year’s class.

While Adel looks like a candidate to end up with Minnesota’s G League affiliate – the Iowa Wolves – if he’s released before the NBA regular season begins, it’s possible he’ll have an opportunity to compete for a spot on the 15-man roster.

Currently, the Wolves only have 13 players on standard NBA contracts, including 12 on guaranteed deals and one (James Nunnally) with a partial guarantee. That leaves at least one opening – and perhaps two – on Minnesota’s regular season roster. The team figures to continue filling out its 20-man offseason roster with more contenders for those slots.

Manu Ginobili Announces Retirement

August 27th, 2018 at 1:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Longtime Spurs guard Manu Ginobili has announced his retirement from the NBA. The team issued a press release today confirming the news, while Ginobili published his own statement via Twitter.

“Today, with a wide range of feelings, I’m announcing my retirement from basketball,” Ginobili wrote. “IMMENSE GRATITUDE to everyone (family, friends, teammates, coaches, staff, fans) involved in my life in the last 23 years. It’s been a fabulous journey. Way beyond my wildest dreams.”

It’s the end of an era in San Antonio, where the Spurs have now seen Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, and Ginobili depart within the last two-plus years.

Ginobili, 41, was the 57th overall pick in the 1999 draft, making him one of the best second-round picks in NBA history. After being drafted, he played overseas for three more seasons, then joined the Spurs in 2002, spending the next 16 years with the franchise.

Over the course of his NBA career, Ginobili appeared in 1,057 regular season contests, averaging 13.3 PPG, 3.8 APG, and 3.5 RPG. He also played in 218 more postseason contests, winning four championships with the Spurs. A two-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA player, the Argentinian shooting guard was the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2008.

Ginobili, who had been the NBA’s second-oldest active player and now becomes one of just seven players to spend his entire career of 16 years or more with a single time, will eventually be a Hall-of-Famer.

The Spurs had Ginobili under contract for one more season and had wanted him back for the 2018/19 campaign, but he’ll call it a career before finishing out that deal. If Duncan’s retirement in 2016 is any indication, San Antonio figure to waive Ginobili at some point and allow him to earn his $2.5MM salary for the coming season.

Ginobili’s departure will open up a spot on the Spurs’ projected regular season roster — with the veteran guard no longer in the mix, the club has just 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, so there will be at least one spot up for grabs, if not two. It’s not yet clear if San Antonio will make any roster moves to fortify its backcourt in the wake of Ginobili’s retirement.

According to the Spurs, Ginobili will speak to the media about his retirement decision at some point before training camps begin, but it won’t happen this week.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Hawks Sign Vince Carter

August 24th, 2018 at 12:36pm CST by Arthur Hill

AUGUST 24: Nearly a month after agreeing to terms with the Hawks, Carter has officially signed his one-year contract with the team, tweets Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta now has 15 players on guaranteed contracts for the 2018/19 season.

JULY 25: Vince Carter has reached agreement on a one-year deal with the Hawks, tweets Michael Scotto of The Athletic. Carter will receive a veteran’s minimum contract worth $2.4MM, adds Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

The deal guarantees a 21st season for Carter, who will turn 42 in January. The oldest active NBA player, he spent last season with the Kings, playing about 18 minutes per night and averaging 5.4 PPG in 58 games.

The Hawks envision Carter as a mentor who will be a strong locker room leader for a young roster, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

After six years of playing for contenders in Dallas and Memphis, this is Carter’s second straight signing for a team that has little chance of making the postseason.

A return to the Raptors, where Carter began his NBA career in 1998, might have made a nice story, but it appears unlikely to ever happen, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. Lewenberg adds that Carter has gotten opportunities to come back to Toronto, but hasn’t followed through.

The Hawks have used up virtually all of their cap space after completing their acquisition of Carmelo Anthony earlier today, and have committed most of their room exception to Alex Len. As such, it made sense that Carter would receive a minimum-salary contract — it’s all Atlanta could offer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Warriors Sign Danuel House To One-Year Deal

August 22nd, 2018 at 8:18am CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 22: The Warriors have officially signed House, according to RealGM’s transactions log.

JULY 25: The Warriors are signing free agent swingman Danuel House to a one-year contract, league sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). House’s deal will be a non-guaranteed training camp contract, according to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link).

House, who went undrafted out of Texas A&M in 2016, has spent time with the Wizards, Suns, and various G League teams since entering the league. Last season, he inked a two-way contract with Phoenix in December and appeared in 23 games for the club.

While House’s overall numbers with the Suns were modest, he finished the season strong when he got the opportunity to take on a major role down the stretch. In Phoenix’s final five games, the 25-year-old averaged 14.6 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 3.4 APG with a .492 FG%. That wasn’t enough to earn a qualifying offer last month though, so he became an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Golden State currently has 13 players on guaranteed contracts, with restricted free agent Patrick McCaw expected to get a new deal at some point. If the team carries a full 15-man roster into the regular season, House should get a chance to earn that final opening, but the in-the-tax Warriors may leave that 15th spot open to start the year.