Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Jaron Johnson

NBA Teams Designate Affiliate Players

November 3rd, 2015 at 4:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

NBA teams cut as much as 25% of their rosters at the end of the preseason, but franchises that have D-League affiliates have a way to maintain ties to many of the players they release from the NBA roster. An NBA team can claim the D-League rights to up to four of the players it waives, as long as the players clear waivers, consent to join the D-League, and don’t already have their D-League rights owned by another team. These are known as affiliate players, as our Hoops Rumors Glossary entry details.

NBA teams allocated 46 affiliate players to the D-League at the beginning of the season last year, and this year, that number has risen to 56, according to the list the D-League announced today. These players are going directly to the D-League affiliate of the NBA team that cut them and weren’t eligible for the D-League draft that took place Saturday. Teams that designated fewer than the maximum four affiliate players retain the ability to snag the D-League rights of players they waive during the regular season, but for now, this is the complete list:

Boston Celtics (Maine Red Claws)

Cleveland Cavaliers (Canton Charge)

Dallas Mavericks (Texas Legends)

Detroit Pistons (Grand Rapids Drive)

Golden State Warriors (Santa Cruz Warriors)

Houston Rockets (Rio Grande Valley Vipers)

Indiana Pacers (Fort Wayne Mad Ants)

Los Angeles Lakers (Los Angeles D-Fenders)

Memphis Grizzlies (Iowa Energy)

Miami Heat (Sioux Falls Skyforce)

New York Knicks (Westchester Knicks)

Oklahoma City Thunder (Oklahoma City Blue)

Orlando Magic (Erie BayHawks)

Philadelphia 76ers (Delaware 87ers)

Phoenix Suns (Bakersfield Jam)

Sacramento Kings (Reno Bighorns)

San Antonio Spurs (Austin Spurs)

Toronto Raptors (Raptors 905)

Utah Jazz (Idaho Stampede)

Also, several players who were on NBA preseason rosters are on D-League rosters through means other than the affiliate player rule. Most of them played under D-League contracts at some point within the last two years, meaning their D-League teams have returning player rights to them. Others entered through last weekend’s D-League draft, while others saw their D-League rights conveyed via trade. Most of these players aren’t with the D-League affiliate of the NBA team they were with last month, with a few exceptions.

Roster information from Adam Johnson of D-League Digest, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor and freelancer and Hoops Rumors contributor Mark Porcaro was used in the creation of this post.

Retweet 54 Share 10 Send via email0

Wizards Release Five Players

October 24th, 2015 at 4:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:39pm: The moves are official, the Wizards announced via press release.

4:30pm: The Wizards are releasing Josh Harrellson, Ish Smith, Jaron Johnson, Jaleel Roberts and Toure’ Murry, reports Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post (Twitter link). The team has yet to make a public announcement, but Castillo indicates the moves have indeed taken place. All were on non-guaranteed deals except Roberts, who had a $10K partial guarantee. The subtractions leave Washington with 15 players, all of whom have fully guaranteed salaries.

The players hitting waivers today faced long odds to make it to opening night, including Harrellson, who acknowledged he was likely auditioning for 29 other teams with his preseason performance. He averaged 3.9 points in 7.3 minutes per game over seven preseason appearances. The 26-year-old big man was making his return after 2014 back surgery that forced him to miss all of last season.

It was surprising to see Smith on a non-guaranteed deal with little chance to crack the opening night roster, given his strong performance down the stretch with the Sixers last season. The 27-year-old point guard averaged 12.1 points, 6.1 assists and 2.8 turnovers in 27.1 minutes per game in 25 contests for Philaelphia. He was again an efficient ball-distributor despite lower scoring in the preseason with Washington this month, notching 2.2 points, 4.0 assists and 1.0 turnover in 11.5 minutes per game over five preseason contests.

Murry, 25, rejoined the Wizards during the offseason after he was briefly with the team on a pair of 10-day contracts last season. The two-year NBA veteran combo guard averaged 3.5 points in 7.5 minutes per game during four preseason contests.

Johnson spent last season with the Rockets D-League team after going undrafted out of Louisiana Tech in 2014. The 23-year-old shooting guard posted 2.0 points in 4.7 minutes per game over six preseason appearances for Washington.

The Wizards signed Roberts in August after he went undrafted out of UNC Asheville in June and played for Washington’s summer league team in July. The 23-year-old center put up 3.3 points in 6.9 minutes per game in three preseason contests.

Retweet 14 Share 2 Send via email0

Southeast Notes: Bazemore, Heat, Wizards

September 29th, 2015 at 9:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Hawks guard Kent Bazemore is entering the final season of his current deal, but there is mutual interest between the team and the 26-year-old in reaching an agreement on a new contract next offseason, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution writes. Speaking about his feelings for Atlanta, Bazemore said, “I’ve come to love Atlanta. Of the whole summer, I was probably only gone two weeks. I’ve spent a lot of time here. I just moved into a new house. I’m renting it. Maybe I can buy it next year.” Bazemore and the Hawks will have to wait until next summer to work out a new deal since his current deal was signed for less than four years, meaning Bazemore is ineligible to sign an extension during the season, Vivlamore adds.

Here’s the latest from the Southeast Division:

  • Heat assistant Dan Craig was officially named as head coach of the franchise’s D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the team announced. The news of Craig’s hiring was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
  • Jaron Johnson‘s one-year deal with the Wizards is non-guaranteed and for the league minimum, while Jaleel Roberts‘ agreement is also for the minimum, but his includes a partial guarantee of $10K, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (Twitter links).
  • The Heat‘s deals with John Lucas III and Tre Kelley are one-year pacts for the league minimum and do not include any guaranteed salary, Pincus tweets.
  • Hawks coach/executive Mike Budenholzer said that it may make more sense for the team to carry the regular season maximum of 15 players rather than keeping a slot open, Vivlamore tweets. Atlanta currently has 13 players inked to fully guaranteed deals.
  • The Hornets are hoping that Jeremy Lamb will get off to a fresh start in Charlotte after not seeing much playing time during his three seasons with the Thunder, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes. Lamb was acquired back in June in exchange for for Luke Ridnour and a 2016 second-round pick.
  • Greg Stiemsma‘s and Nnanna Egwu‘s one-year, minimum salary deals with the Magic are non-guaranteed, while Keith Appling and Jordan Sibert‘s minimum salary arrangements include partial guarantees of $100K, Pincus relays in a series of tweets.
  • The presence of Goran Dragic, who re-signed with the Heat this offseason, was a big draw for Amar’e Stoudemire to join Miami as a free agent, Surya Fernandez of SB Nation tweets. Of Dragic, Stoudemire said, “If he would have stayed in Phoenix, I would have thought about going back to Phoenix.“
Retweet 13 Share 4 Send via email0

Wizards Officially Sign Five For Camp

September 25th, 2015 at 2:13pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Wizards have officially signed Josh Harrellson, Jaron Johnson, Toure’ Murry, Jaleel Roberts and Ish Smith, the team announced. All five moves were expected, and none of them have any guaranteed salary, according to reports. The Wizards already have 15 fully guaranteed deals, so it would be tough for today’s camp additions to stick for opening night. All except Johnson are known to be on one-year contracts for the minimum, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, though it would be surprising if Johnson signed for terms that were any different.

Harrellson, a three-year veteran big man, is returning to the NBA after sitting out last season as he recovered from back surgery. Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports first reported the deal with the 26-year-old.

Charania also revealed that Johnson, a 23-year-old shooting guard, would attend Wizards camp. Johnson spent last season with the D-League affiliate of the Rockets after going undrafted out of Louisiana Tech in 2014.

The Wizards are familiar with Murry from his time on a pair of 10-day contracts with the team last season. J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic reported the deal between the Wizards and the 25-year-old combo guard.

Roberts is poised to celebrate his 23rd birthday next month in Wizards camp. Charania reported that the center who went undrafted out of UNC-Asheville this year would head to Washington.

Four teams had Smith at one point or another in 2014/15, and though he had a strong finishing kick with the Sixers, the 27-year-old point guard will have to fight to stay on the roster in Washington. Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post reported Smith’s deal with the Wizards.

Which Wizards camp invitee has the greatest potential to surprise and remain on the roster for the start of the regular season? Leave a comment to tell us.

Retweet 6 Share 2 Send via email0

Wizards To Sign Jaron Johnson For Camp

September 24th, 2015 at 1:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Wizards and 23-year-old shooting guard Jaron Johnson have agreed to a non-guaranteed deal for training camp, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Johnson went undrafted out of Louisiana Tech in 2014 and spent last season with the D-League affiliate of the Rockets. Houston also had Johnson on its summer league team this year. Washington already has 15 fully guaranteed contracts plus four additional pacts for camp, so presumably Johnson will round out the team’s training camp roster.

Johnson averaged more minutes per game in the D-League this past season than he did in his final collegiate year, as he put up 15.1 points and 4.5 rebounds with 37.2% three-point shooting in 29.9 MPG for the D-League Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He didn’t shoot as well across the small sample size of five summer league contests, but he was nonetheless a more efficient per-minute scorer than he had been in college.

The Wizards reportedly have two other guards, Ish Smith and Toure’ Murry, on camp deals, along with big men Josh Harrellson and Jaleel Roberts. Washington is without a D-League affiliate, so Johnson wouldn’t have a way to stay in the team’s system if the Wizards cut him at the end of the preseason, which seems likely.

Retweet 12 Share 3 Send via email0