Charlie Adams | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Warriors, Dawson, D-Will, Bulls

December 24th, 2015 at 10:14pm CST by Charlie Adams

Luke Walton has helped the Warriors get off to 26-1 start in Steve Kerr’s absence, but as Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report suggests, it’s been a more difficult task than it might appear on the surface. “When an assistant becomes a head coach, players hate it,” said Andre Iguodala, who went on to praise the job Walton has done at finding a balance between acting as head and assistant coach. As we wait to see if the Warriors can extend their historic start against the Cavs tomorrow, let’s have a look at a few items from around the NBA.

The Clippers have recalled Branden Dawson from the D-League, the team announced on its website. Dawson averaged 4.9 points across seven contests while on assignment with the Grand Rapids Drive.
Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post summarizes Deron Williams’ disappointing tenure in Brooklyn. Williams was supposed to be the face of the franchise, but he had a difficult time staying healthy and his performance on the court suffered as a result. “I felt like I didn’t know if I was ever going to be healthy again,” Williams said to Bontemps. The Mavericks signed Williams to a two-year, $11MM deal this summer.
Jimmy Butler’s comments directed toward Fred Hoiberg have some fans wondering if one of the two will be ousted from Chicago, but Sam Smith of Bulls.com writes in a mailbag column that he’s confident both members of the pair will still be with the Bulls next season.

Northwest Notes: Barton, Thunder, Blazers

December 24th, 2015 at 9:21pm CST by Charlie Adams

Let’s take a quick look at a few notes pertaining to the Northwest Division..

Will Barton’s strong play this season has Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders wondering if the Nuggets’ guard might garner some serious consideration for the Sixth Man of the Year award. Barton inked a three-year, $11MM deal with Denver last summer, and the early returns have the contract looking quite team friendly. Barton is averaging 15.7 points while playing 29.0 minutes per night and hitting 45.9% of his shots from the floor.
Sports Illustrated’s Nate Duncan runs down each of the teams with new coaches this season and grades how well each bench boss has performed thus far. Duncan gives the Thunder’s Billy Donovan a mark of ‘C’, suggesting that Oklahoma City’s defensive schemes might be holding the club back.
The Blazers lost four of their starters over the offseason and haven’t been able to replicate the success they’ve had in recent years, but the pairing of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum has all the makings of a dynamic building block that will yield victories for years to come. Shaun Powell of NBA.com examines how the members of the duo play off of one another so well.

Southwest Notes: Wroten, Pelicans, Grizzlies

December 24th, 2015 at 7:32pm CST by Charlie Adams

The Sixers offered to send the now-waived Tony Wroten to the Pelicans in today’s trade that shipped Ish Smith off to Philadelphia, but New Orleans didn’t have any interest, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports passes along (via Twitter). The Pelicans will instead end up with two future second round picks: Denver’s in 2016 and Philadelphia’s in 2017, according to fellow Yahoo Sports contributor Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

Southeast Notes: Millsap, Bazemore, Marble

December 24th, 2015 at 5:37pm CST by Charlie Adams

The Magic considered Paul Millsap their No. 1 target in free agency last summer and offered him a four-year max deal worth over $80MM, as Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders details. Of course, Millsap eventually re-signed with the Hawks, but he admits he was impressed with Orlando’s presentation and drive to sign him. Here’s more from around the Southeast.

DeMarre Carroll’s departure from Atlanta opened up the door for Kent Bazemore to show off his skills, and he’s excelled in his expanded opportunity with the Hawks, as Taylor examines in the same piece. Bazemore is in the final year of a two-year, $4MM deal and will likely garner offers worth much more than that in free agency this summer.
Playing in the D-League is helping Devyn Marble progress as a player, as he explained to Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. The second-year forward hasn’t gotten much burn with the Magic, who are deep at the wing.
The decision to select Frank Kaminsky with the ninth overall pick in last summer’s draft left some Hornets fans scratching their heads, but recent flashes of brilliance and sincere praise from coach Steve Clifford demonstrate the potential that the Wisconsin product has, writes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.

Sixers Release Tony Wroten

December 24th, 2015 at 4:02pm CST by Charlie Adams

4:02pm: The move is official, the Sixers announced via press release.

3:42pm: The Sixers are releasing Tony Wroten to make room for the recently acquired Ish Smith, a source tells Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Philadelphia had been carrying the league maximum of 15 players. The decision to waive Wroten is a bit of a surprise, since he is one of 10 players on Philly’s roster carrying a fully guaranteed contract, so they’ll be on the hook for the remainder of his $2.179MM salary, assuming he clears waivers.

Wroten was in the fourth and final year of his rookie-scale contract. Although he only played in 30 contests last year due to injury, he led the team in points per game, averaging a total of 16.9 each night. His minutes have been cut down quite a bit this season however, as rookie T.J. McConnell has played relatively well manning the point, and Wroten has struggled shooting since coming back from injury, having hit on just 33.8% of his shots.

The Clippers had some interest in Wroten last season, as Dan Woike of the Orange County Register points out on Twitter, but they don’t have room on their roster to accommodate a waiver claim or eventual signing, barring a corresponding move. It’s fair to infer the Pelicans passed up on the chance to acquire Wroten, so it appears his value has taken a hit as a result of his poor play this year.

Rockets Re-Sign Jason Terry

August 24th, 2015 at 3:44pm CST by Charlie Adams

3:44pm: The Rockets have finally followed up with an official announcement via press release.

AUGUST 24TH, 2:07pm: Terry says via Twitter that he’s officially signed (hat tip to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle). The team has made no formal announcement, though GM Daryl Morey has acknowledged the signing with a tweet of his own.

AUGUST 19TH, 3:50pm: Terry has confirmed that he’ll be returning to Houston for the 2015/16 campaign, Mark Berman of FOX 26 tweets.

10:46pm: Along with Berman, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle and John Reid of the Times Picayune all hear that Terry has made up his mind to sign with the Rockets for the minimum salary (three Twitter links). Watkins also adds to his earlier report (on Twitter), citing a source who says the Rockets expect Terry to officially sign Wednesday.

9:47pm: Terry will decide between the Rockets and Pelicans on Wednesday morning, Watkins tweets, contradicting Charania’s previous report that Terry has made up his mind to return to Houston next season.

AUGUST 18TH, 9:09pm: Jason Terry has decided to re-sign with the Rockets on a one-year deal, according to Shams Charania of RealGM. The Pelicans made a strong push to ink the veteran guard, as Charania notes and as Mark Berman of FOX 26 passed along in a story last week, but he instead appears poised to re-join Houston for the 2015/16 season. The Jazz were another team that the RealGM scribe reports had strong interest in Terry.

A report shortly after players became eligible to sign new contracts in July indicated that Terry was close to returning to Houston on a one-year deal, but an agreement apparently didn’t come to fruition until recently, just over a week after ESPN’s Calvin Watkins reported the Rockets were unsure if they were still in the mix to land the 37-year-old guard. The move, once official, will give Houston 13 fully guaranteed contracts for the upcoming year, presuming Terry is getting a full guarantee. The Rockets have yet to sign second-round selection Montrezl Harrell.

Charania pegs the value of Terry’s deal to be $1.5MM, although he is potentially rounding up since a minimum-salary contract for a player with 10 or more years of experience is worth slightly less than that at $1,499,187. If the deal is indeed for the minimum salary, it preserves a portion of the mid-level exception for Harrell. Terry’s minimum salary is $1,499,187, but the Rockets would only have to pay $947,276, the equivalent of the two-year veteran’s minimum, since it’s a one-year deal. It’s unclear how much partially guaranteed money Chuck Hayes has, but without him, a fully guaranteed deal for Terry would leave the Rockets about $2.5MM shy of the $88.74MM hard cap they’d trigger if they give Harrell a deal that either runs longer than two years, is worth more than the minimum, or both.

The Rockets renounced Terry’s Bird Rights earlier this month, meaning they couldn’t offer him any more than the approximately $2MM they had remaining on their mid-level exception, although they came to terms on a deal worth the minimum salary. Houston will save more than the difference between the two figures, however, since the Rockets are a taxpaying team.

Although Terry’s most formidable years are behind him, he’s capable of contributing in a limited capacity off the bench. In 77 appearances for Houston last season, Terry averaged 7.0 points and 1.9 assists in 21.3 minutes per contest. He saw an expanded role in the postseason when Patrick Beverley was sidelined with an injury, posting nightly marks of 9.2 points and 2.8 points in 28.6 minutes. With Ty Lawson and Beverley likely atop the depth chart at point guard, Terry seems positioned to play limited minutes and provide another veteran presence for a team hoping to contend for a title in 2015/16.

Western Notes: Davis, Blazers, Warriors, Warren

July 28th, 2015 at 10:34pm CST by Charlie Adams

Anthony Davis seems to be completely on board with the Pelicans’ decision to bring aboard Alvin Gentry as head coach next season, John Reid of the Times Picayune suggests. After winning the championship as an assistant with the Warriors last season, Gentry looked into the national TV’s cameras while holding the Larry O’Brien Trophy and exclaimed to Davis that a title was in the duo’s future in New Orleans. Davis said he was impressed with the conviction shown by Gentry, according to Reid, and Davis also added that he’s excited about the mix of old and new assistant coaches that Gentry will be working with next season.

Given the brutal nature of the Western Conference, it might be a stretch to suggest the Pelicans will be in the same spot next year that the Warriors are in now, but with Davis locked in as the franchise’s cornerstone for at least five more seasons, New Orleans will have a shot to be great if they can continue to build around the 22-year-old phenom. We’ll look at more from out West below..

The Blazers didn’t have to trade any players over to the Cavs in the deal that netted them Brendan Haywood’s $10.5MM, non-guaranteed deal since they sent the minimum $75K in cash Cleveland’s way, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders points out in a tweet.
Portland renounced Joel Freeland‘s Bird Rights, Pincus also tweets. Freeland spent the last three seasons with the Blazers before deciding to sign overseas in Russia on a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow.
The Warriors should have a trade exception worth $5.4MM as a result of the trade that sent David Lee to the Celtics, Pincus observes in another tweet.
Jonathan Tjarks of RealGM concludes that given the Suns’ roster situation, they’ll need to see improvement from players they already have on the team, like second-year wing T.J. Warren, rather than bringing in new faces. It’s still not totally clear how Warren’s unorthodox game will translate to the NBA however, as Tjarks surmises.

Contract Details: Powell, Mavs, Barton, Pacers

July 28th, 2015 at 9:18pm CST by Charlie Adams

The terms of a contract between a newly acquired player and his team aren’t always immediately clear since clubs typically don’t release salary figures in official signing announcements. Below are some specifics on recently inked deals, all courtesy of Basketball Insiders’ Eric Pincus:

The precise value of No. 46 pick Norman Powell‘s three-year deal with the Raptors is $2,539,382, as Pincus shows (via Twitter). This season’s salary is the only one that exceeds the minimum.
Newly acquired Mavericks swingman John Jenkins’ 2015/16 minimum salary is fully guaranteed, according to Pincus (Twitter link), who also confirms Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork’s report that recent Dallas signee Maurice Ndour’s minimum-contract is guaranteed for the upcoming year.
Will Barton will make precisely $10,590,000 over the course of his new three-year deal with the Nuggets, Pincus relays on Twitter.
The Pacers’ three-year deal with Lavoy Allen is worth a total of $12.05MM, but it includes a team option in the final year of the deal, as Pincus notes on his salary page for Indiana.
Glenn Robinson III’s starting salary with the Pacers is for slightly above the minimum at $1.1MM, Pincus tweets. The minimum salary for a player with GRIII’s experience would be $845,059, as our glossary entry for the minimum salary exception shows.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Southeast Notes: Magic, Napier, Hornets, Williams

July 28th, 2015 at 8:07pm CST by Charlie Adams

The Magic have amassed just 68 wins in the 246 games that they’ve played since Dwight Howard last suited up for Orlando, but the player and personnel additions made by the team this offseason are providing a sense of hope throughout the organization, as Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders details. Even with a weak Eastern Conference, it’ll be tough the Magic to sneak into the playoffs next season, but a look at all the young talent on the club gives fans plenty to be excited about. Orlando is currently rostering 10 players under 25 years old, including the newly acquired Shabazz Napier, whose recent trade we detail further in tonight’s look at the Southeast Division:

The 2016 second-round pick going from the Magic to the Heat in the Napier trade is Orlando’s own, and it’s top-55 protected, as RealGM shows. In the likely event that the pick doesn’t convey to the Heat this year, the Magic don’t owe Miami anything.
The Heat sent their own unprotected 2020 second-round pick to the Celtics in the Zoran Dragic trade, and the 2019 top-55 protected second-rounder going to Miami in the deal is Boston’s own, according to RealGM. The Celtics skip out on their debt if that pick falls within the protected range.
Elliot Williams is no certainty to make the Hornets’ regular season team after signing a deal to join the team for training camp, but he feels a little more comfortable about his chances of sticking with the organization because GM Rich Cho and assistant GM Chad Buchanan were both with the Blazers when Williams played there, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer notes.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Southwest Notes: Gee, Cunningham, Barea, Spurs

July 20th, 2015 at 10:43pm CST by Charlie Adams

The Pelicans used a portion of their mid-level exception to sign Alonzo Gee and Dante Cunningham, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders passes along (on Twitter). Gee will earn $1.32MM this season, while Cunningham will take home a bit more at $2.85MM. That means New Orleans still has $1.294MM of its mid-level exception remaining and 10 guaranteed contracts on the books. We’ve got more contract details in tonight’s look at the Southwest Division:

The front-loaded deal J.J Barea inked with the Mavericks will pay him slightly more than $16MM over four years, as Pincus reveals in his updated Dallas salary page. He’ll earn $4.29MM this season, $4,096,950 the following year, $3,903,900 in year three, and $3,710,850 during the 2018/19 season. The Mavs upped the Puerto Rican guard’s yearly salaries after missing out on DeAndre Jordan.
It has been a busy offseason in San Antonio, and the most overlooked move that the Spurs have made is the addition of 7’3” center Boban Marjanovic, as David Pick details for Bleacher Report. Marjanovic was a relative unknown prior to last season, but his efficient play and massive size netted him some lucrative offers from European teams that he turned down in favor of the Spurs, as Pick relays.
LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, David West, and Danny Green all have player options in the final years of their contracts, as Pincus notes on his updated Spurs salary page.

Author: Charlie Adams