Armon Johnson Rumors


International Moves: Johnson, Tskitishvili, Jones

December 6 at 4:59pm CST By Chuck Myron

While the majority of NBA executives are holding off on movement until December 15th, when most of the free agents signed this summer can be traded, there's plenty going on overseas. We'll round up the latest here.

Earlier updates:

  • Nikoloz Tskitishvili, whom the Nuggets selected with the fifth overall pick in 2002, has signed to play for Champville in Lebanon, Sportando's Emiliano Carchia reports. He'll replace Dwayne Jones, who played parts of five NBA seasons (Twitter link). Tskitishvili, who hasn't appeared in the NBA since 2005/06, began the season with an Iranian team. 
  • Jermareo Davidson has inked with the Turkish club Antalya, according to Carchia. Davidson, a second-round pick of the Warriors in 2007, last played in the NBA in 2008/09.
  • Jon Pastuszek of NiuBBall.com chronicles the struggles of Tracy McGrady in China, who's straining under the pressure of having to carry the winless Qingdao Double Star Eagles. Pastuszek notes the team is trying to unload fellow American import D.J. Mbenga, according to SinaSports (Chinese link). Mbenga signed with the team after the Mavericks cut him right before training camp.




Magic Waive Christian Eyenga, Armon Johnson

October 23 at 10:31am CST By Luke Adams

The Magic have made a pair of roster cuts, officially waiving Christian Eyenga and Armon Johnson, the team announced today in a press release. The moves reduce Orlando's roster to 18 players.

Orlando had been carrying 16 players on fully guaranteed contracts, so the team needed to trade or waive at least one player who was owed guaranteed money. As such, it's not a huge shock that the Magic dropped Eyenga, who sat out the team's preseason games with a hamstring injury. The 23-year-old, a former first-round pick, was acquired as part of the Dwight Howard trade, and had a $2.12MM option for 2013/14, which it seems won't be exercised. His $1.17MM 2012/13 salary will count against the Magic's cap, however, unless he's claimed on waivers.

With Eyenga and Johnson off the roster, the Magic will need to make three additional cuts to reach the regular-season maximum of 15 players. DeQuan Jones and Chris Johnson also have non-guaranteed deals, making them candidates to be released. E'Twaun Moore's contract is mostly non-guaranteed as well, with just a $90K buyout.




Magic Sign Armon Johnson, DeQuan Jones

September 29 at 11:47am CST By Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 29: The Magic confirmed the signings via press release.

SEPTEMBER 19: The Magic expect to sign Armon Johnson and DeQuan Jones to contracts, according to Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel (via Twitter). The additions, if and when they become official, would brings Orlando's roster to a total of 19 players.

Johnson, 23, was said to be seeking an NBA roster spot earlier this summer. He'll likely be on a non-guaranteed deal with the Magic and will face an uphill battle earning a spot on the roster, but given the team's lack of point guard depth, he should get a long look in training camp. The 6'3" guard has appeared in 47 games with the Trail Blazers and Nets over the last two seasons after being drafted 34th overall in 2010.

Jones, a 6'8" forward, was part of the Magic's summer league roster in Orlando this summer, averaging 6.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in four games. The 22-year-old went undrafted in June out of the University of Miami, where he played just 17.3 minutes per contest in his senior year.




Armon Johnson Seeking NBA Roster Spot

August 8 at 9:57am CST By Luke Adams

Armon Johnson is currently running a youth basketball camp in Reno, Nevada, but will soon turn his attention to securing an NBA contract, as Chris Murray of the Reno Gazette-Journal writes. Johnson tells Murray that he expects to receive a training camp invitation and is confident he'll earn a spot on an NBA roster.

"I’ve been talking to some teams," Johnson said. "Right now, talk is just talk. I don’t want to mention the teams and put rumors out there, but when the time comes, I’ll be ready. I’m very confident I’ll be with a team next year. I’m working my butt off in the gym to be ready for camp, and I’m going to take advantage of whatever opportunity I get."

The 34th overall pick in the 2010 draft was waived by the Trail Blazers last year in order to clear a roster spot for Joel Przybilla. Johnson finished the season with the Nets, and is now an unrestricted free agent. At age 23, Johnson is likely to receive a shot from a team intrigued by his youth and athleticism, but the Nevada product isn't taking anything for granted.

"I took from last season that the NBA is a business and you just have to cherish every moment that you have," Johnson said. "You never know what can happen and life has its ups and downs and every moment in your life you just have to cherish as a whole."

Johnson is one of a number of free agent point guards still on the market, as our Free Agent Tracker shows.


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Dwight Howard Rumors: Monday

July 9 at 3:30pm CST By Luke Adams

It may not be many more days until our long national Dwightmare is over. Yesterday's reports on Howard suggested talks involving the Magic, Nets, and Cavaliers were getting serious, and that Orlando plans to make "one last sweep" around the league before deciding whether to accept the Nets' offer. While we wait to see if anything is agreed upon today, here are the latest rumblings on the Howard front:

  • Chad Ford's ESPN.com report includes some more slight tweaks to the framework described below. Ford adds Chris Duhon to the list of players headed to the Nets, suggests the Magic would receive one fewer first-rounder (a total of three instead of four), and says the Cavs would receive $3MM in cash.
  • Ford's report, along with tweets from the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, suggest that the Cavs and Clippers still aren't entirely on board. The Plain Dealer tweets that talk of a deal getting close is premature, while Berger says the Clips haven't agreed to anything yet and are one of several potential fourth-team facilitators in the mix (Twitter links).

Earlier updates:

  • It "sounds like" the Magic, Nets, and Cavs have found a fourth team to facilitate the Howard blockbuster, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. According to Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Twitter link), that team is the Clippers -- Los Angeles would acquire MarShon Brooks in exchange for a lottery-protected first-round pick, which would go to the Magic.
  • In addition to the framework described by Wojnarowski below, the Magic would also receive Armon Johnson from the Nets in the proposed deal, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, who cautions in a second tweet that pieces could still move in or out.
  • Before either team agreed to any deal, Magic doctors would need to examine Brook Lopez and Nets doctors would need to examine Dwight Howard, says Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links).
  • Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports had the details of the proposed three-team blockbuster: The Nets would receive Dwight Howard, Jason Richardson, and Earl Clark, the Magic would receive Brook Lopez, Damion James, Shelden Williams, and Luke Walton, and the Cavs would receive Kris Humphries, Sundiata Gaines, and Quentin Richardson. The Nets would also send three first-round picks to the Magic, one to the Cavs, and would send MarShon Brooks to a fourth team to acquire another first-rounder for the Magic.
  • A source tells the Cleveland Plain Dealer that a deal involving the Cavs looks doubtful at this point (Twitter link).
  • Don't expect a Howard deal to go down today, tweets Brian K. Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.  Getting Andrew Bynum from the Lakers would be Orlando's best deal, but the club is concerned about his knees holding up, Schmitz tweets.
  • Kris Humphries would be seeking a four-year deal with the Cavs and wouldn't be willing to sign a one-year deal, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Sign-and-trades require a three-year minimum, but only one year needs to be guaranteed. Frankly, with a rumored 11 to 14 players involved in the proposed deal, and many of them needing to be involved via sign-and-trade, I'd be surprised if Humphries was the only player that could hold things up.
  • We should expect resolution on the Nets/Magic talks pretty soon, according to Alex Raskin of HoopsWorld, who says Brooklyn intends to move on if a deal can't be consummated in the near future.
  • The Nets are willing and able to take on Jason Richardson's salary in the proposed three-team deal, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com.
  • Bob Finnan of the News-Herald hears that the Nets want one of the Cavaliers' first-round picks in the trade, which could be a dealbreaker for Cleveland.
  • Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal and J.A. Adande of ESPN throw some cold water on the Howard talk. A source tells Adande that "to act like it's almost done is overblown" Twitter link), while Lloyd continues to hear that there's "isn't much to it" on the Cavs' end (Twitterlinks).
  • Numerous reporters, including Fred Kerber of the New York Post (Twitter link), are noting that the talks between the Nets, Magic, and other teams have "a lot of moving parts," but that progress is being made. According to Kerber, the odds are better than 50/50 that Howard is sent to the Nets.
  • Magic brass are meeting this morning to discuss whether to pull the trigger on the proposed Nets/Cavs deal, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.
  • A fourth team may be entering the mix to take MarShon Brooks, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who adds that up to 14 players could be involved (Twitter link).
  • Although the Cavs look like the Nets' best bet to find a taker for Kris Humphries, Brooklyn has found traction on two other possible scenarios, says Wojnarowski.




Nets Re-Sign Armon Johnson

April 20 at 2:01pm CST By Luke Adams

The Nets have re-signed Armon Johnson for the rest of the season following the expiration of his 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release.

After appearing in just a single game for the Blazers earlier this season, Johnson was waived to clear a spot on the roster for Joel Przybilla. The 23-year-old guard has received a shot at more playing time with the Nets, averaging 4.4 PPG on 58.8% shooting in five contests (8.8 MPG).

As our 10-day contract tracker shows, Johnson joins Gerald Green as the only other Net to be signed to a rest-of-season deal following a 10-day contract this year. New Jersey has signed a total of five players to at least one 10-day deal.




Minor Moves: Selby, Jazz, Ahearn, Randolph

April 9 at 9:40pm CST By Michael Pina

In a team statement, the Nets announced they have signed guard Armon Johnson to a 10-day contract (Twitter link). The move was likely made to help replace Jordan Farmar, who will miss the rest of the season with a groin injury. The 6'3" Johnson has played just five minutes this season with the Trail Blazers.  

  • The Grizzlies recalled Josh Selby from the D-League, according to J. Michael Falgoust of USA Today (via Twitter).  If that sentence looks familiar, that's because Memphis has sent the guard to Reno and recalled him three times this season.  That's the maximum number of times that a player can be demoted in a year, so Selby won't be sent down again.
  • The Jazz are expected to sign Blake Ahearn to a ten-day contract, according to Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune (via Twitter).  Ahearn is the D-League's all-time leading scorer and led the league in scoring this season 23.8 PPG while shooting over 40% from three-point range.
  • Former NBA player Shavlik Randolph has officially signed with Puerto Rico's Piratas de Quebradillas, according to Sportando. He spent the first part of this season in China. 




Odds & Ends: Cavs, Chandler, World Peace, Ellis

March 13 at 2:20pm CST By Luke Adams

No trades have been agreed upon yet, but with less than 48 hours remaining until Thursday's trade deadline, it shouldn't be long before we see our first deadline deal of 2012. In the meantime, let's round up a few odds and ends from around the NBA:




Northwest Notes: T-Wolves, Morrow, Blazers, Jazz

February 28 at 3:02pm CST By Luke Adams

A pair of Northwest teams are on the road tonight to open the second half -- the Jazz play the Kings in Sacramento, while the Timberwolves head to the Staples Center to face the Clippers. As we wait for the season to resume following the All-Star break, let's check in on some updates out of the Northwest Division....




Trail Blazers Waive Armon Johnson

February 27 at 11:07am CST By Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers have waived Armon Johnson, the team announced today (hat tip to Ben Golliver of Blazers Edge). The move clears a spot on the roster for Joel Przybilla, who passed a physical yesterday and should officially join the Blazers today.

Portland was said to be deciding between waiving Johnson or Greg Oden, who is out for the year after undergoing microfracture surgery on his knee. As Jason Quick of the Oregonian points out (via Twitter), the Blazers may believe another team will claim Johnson on waivers, freeing Portland of his salary.

Johnson, who turned 23 last Thursday, only appeared in one game this season for the Blazers after playing in 38 a season ago. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link) believes that Johnson's youth and athleticism will attract interest, and wonders if the Lakers could make a play for the 6'3" guard. According to Golliver, the Blazers "aggressively shopped" Johnson last month, seeking a second-round pick, but didn't find a taker (Twitter link). If he's not claimed on waivers, Johnson would become a free agent later this week.








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