Thursday was the final day for NBA teams to waive players signed to non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed deals without their contracts becoming fully guaranteed. Only six players were waived this week, which means that most players who were on the bubble had their salaries lock in for the season. Listed below, courtesy of Hoops Rumors’ Chuck Myron, are all the players whose contracts became fully guaranteed on Thursday:
- Cliff Alexander (Trail Blazers)
- Cameron Bairstow (Bulls)
- Tarik Black (Lakers)
- Matt Bonner (Spurs)
- Rasual Butler (Spurs)
- Ian Clark (Warriors)
- Robert Covington (Sixers)
- Jared Cunningham (Cavaliers)
- Toney Douglas (Pelicans)
- James Ennis (Grizzlies)
- Cristiano Felicio (Bulls)
- Tim Frazier (Trail Blazers)
- Langston Galloway (Knicks)
- JaMychal Green (Grizzlies)
- Aaron Harrison (Hornets)
- Marcelo Huertas (Lakers)
- Chris Johnson (Jazz)
- Luc Mbah a Moute (Clippers)
- James Michael McAdoo (Warriors)
- T.J. McConnell (Sixers)
- Luis Montero (Trail Blazers)
- Eric Moreland (Kings)
- JaVale McGee (Mavericks)
- Mike Muscala (Hawks)
- Lamar Patterson (Hawks)
- JaKarr Sampson (Sixers)
- Donald Sloan (Nets)
- Ish Smith (Sixers)
- Hollis Thompson (Sixers)
- Jeff Withey (Jazz)
- Metta World Peace (Lakers)
While none of the players listed above possess cap crippling salaries, retaining them could potentially restrict their respective team’s flexibility to make trades or to add players via 10-day contracts for the remainder of the season. Which brings me to the topic/question for today: Which of the players listed above should have been released by his team prior to Thursday’s leaguewide contract guarantee date?
Who do you feel should have been jettisoned by their team, not only to clear their salary off the books, but to allow for a roster slot for a potential 10-day signing or addition via trade in the future? If you are an eternal optimist and feel that all of the listed players should have been retained, who do you believe will make the biggest impact over the remaining games this campaign? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the subject. We look forward to what you have to say.
Huertas. Dude is awful. Gets embarrassed, can’t play defense, decent shooter, basically the only thing he can do is pass. I would’ve rather signed some d leauge point guards not Nate Robinson over him
You would definitely want more than 2.8 3-pointers launched per 36 mins from your point guard. Those are Ricky Rubio figures (Without everything else Rubio provides)
I’m gonna agree with you on the embarrassment part especially. Dude is front runner for Shaqtin A Fool MVP right now
Good for Portland for keeping Cliff Alexander. I believe he can be a contributor in the league down the road. He just needs to get more minutes at the NBA level, though the D-League appearances help.