Joey Dorsey

And-Ones: BIG3, 10-Day Contracts, Dorsey

The latest batch of retired NBA players to commit to the new BIG3 League has been announced, tweets Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press. Joining the new three-on-three league will be Latrell Sprewell, Isaiah Rider, Earl Boykins, Brian Cook and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.

Sprewell, 46, averaged 18.3 points per game over the course of a 13-year career and was most recently spotted sitting courtside at a Knicks game with team owner James Dolan. Rider averaged over 19 points four times over the course of six seasons between 1994 and 2000 and is now 45 years old.

Abdul-Rauf, now 47, is the oldest of the bunch but averaged north of 18.0 points per game three times during a nine-year NBA career. Once known as Chris Jackson prior to converting to Islam in 1993, Abdul-Rauf averaged 29.0 points per game in two NCAA seasons with LSU.

There’s more from around the NBA:

  • Now that the Warriors have officially signed Briante Weber to a second 10-day contract, an uncommon contract mechanism has come in to play. As Danny Leroux of RealGM tweets, Weber’s contract will actually last through Golden State’s February 25th game against the Nets because 10-day contracts formally span the longer of either 10 days or three NBA games. For more about 10-day contracts, consider our glossary feature on the matter.
  • Former NBA player Joey Dorsey has signed a contract to play with Best Balikesir in Turkey, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando reports. The 33-year-old last played for the Rockets during the 2014/15 campaign.
  • Several NBA teams including the Nuggets, Spurs and Jazz are said to be pursuing Serbian free agent Milos Teodosic, writes Djordie Matic of Novosti (via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). The 29-year-old will be eligible to sign with a club when his current contract with CSKA Moscow expires on July 1.

Joey Dorsey To Re-Sign With Barcelona

Joey Dorsey, a veteran of the NBA and European basketball, will spend the next two seasons with Barcelona, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. Dorsey, who was released by the Nuggets last August, will make more than $1MM over the life of his new contract.

The 32-year-old Dorsey was one of four players sent from Houston to Denver last summer in the Ty Lawson trade. However, the Nuggets waived him and his $1,015,421 salary before training camp began. He signed with the Turkish club Galatasaray and later joined Barcelona.

A second-round pick by the Trail Blazers in 2008 after reaching the NCAA finals with Memphis, the 6’8″ Dorsey established a reputation as a physical defender and rebounder during his time in the NBA, but never had enough offensive production to stay in one place very long. He averaged 2.6 points and 3.9 rebounds during his four-year career with the Rockets, Kings and Raptors.

Northwest Notes: Rubio, Martin, Foye, Green

Bucks coach Jason Kidd, who holds sway over the team’s personnel decisions, has a longstanding admiration for Ricky Rubio, and while the Timberwolves haven’t been looking for Rubio trades, they’re likely to do so this summer, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. Other recent reports have indicated that Rubio is currently on the block, though Minnesota doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to deal him for the time being, judging by Wojnarowski’s reporting. See more from Minnesota amid the latest from around the Northwest Division:

  • Timberwolves shooting guard Kevin Martin is unlikely to end up in a trade unless he turns down his player option, worth nearly $7.378MM for next season, league sources told Wojnarowski for the same piece. Martin probably won’t do that, since he’d have a tough time making up that money on the free agent market this summer.
  • Randy Foye‘s eminently positive locker room presence appeals to the Nuggets, who won’t be quick to give him up, according to Wojnarowski. The Heat reportedly have interest, and Wojnarowski suggests others do as well.
  • Erick Green, whose second 10-day contract with the Jazz expired Sunday, will return to the D-League affiliate of the Kings, a league source tells Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (Twitter link).
  • Joey Dorsey, whom the Nuggets acquired in the Ty Lawson trade this past summer and later waived in a buyout, has left Turkey’s Galatasaray and will sign with Barcelona of Spain, international journalist David Pick reports (Twitter links).

And-Ones: Dorsey, Skiles, D-League

Former Rockets and Nuggets power forward Joey Dorsey has had issues with Galatasaray coach Ergin Ataman, but he remains committed to the Turkish team, international journalist David Pick writes for Sportando. Dorsey, who inked a one-year pact with Galatasaray in August after reaching a buyout arrangement with Denver, has been heavily recruited by the Greek club Olympiacos, but he intends to stay in Turkey, Pick notes. “Dorsey was almost out of the team, but his last couple of games have been great. He is more committed,” a Galatasaray insider said to Pick.

Regarding his decision to remain with Galatasaray, Dorsey said, “‘Where is the old Dorsey At?’ This is what they been saying all over the news and in the newspaper here overseas. I’m overweight and out of shape and lazy in practice. It hurt me so bad when I heard this, first of all I wanted to leave the team ’cause it was problems and guys being selfish, and after talking to coach nothing changed, so I said [expletitve] it, but after talking to [Vassilis] Spanoulis [who plays for Olympiacos], it wasn’t professional to let my fans down and not play good so I’m dedicating this year to the fans of Galatasaray.

Here’s more from around pro basketball:

  • The Hawks have assigned Tim Hardaway Jr. and Edy Tavares to the D-League, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports (via Twitter). This will be Hardaway’s first trip to the D-League of the season and Tavares’ second. Both players will be assigned to the Canton Charge, the Cavs‘ affiliate, since Atlanta does not have its own D-League team, Vivlamore adds.
  • A third key players union executive hired since executive director Michele Roberts came aboard has resigned, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter links). Evie Goldstein, the director of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, is the latest to depart, according to Berger, joining former COO Domonique Foxworth and former communications director Tara Greco.
  • Magic coach Scott Skiles was hired to improve the team’s discipline and defense, but he’s made a significant impact on Orlando’s offense thus far, Brett Koremenos of RealGM writes. With the team’s personnel largely unchanged from 2014/15, much of the credit should go to Skiles, who has improved the Magic’s execution, resulting in more efficient possessions on the offensive end, Koremenos notes.

Joey Dorsey, Turkey’s Galatasaray Strike Deal

AUGUST 29TH, 8:38am: The signing is official, the team announced (translation by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).

AUGUST 18TH, 8:15am: Joey Dorsey and Galatasaray of Turkey have agreed to a deal worth more than $650K, a source tells international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Agent Misko Raznatovic confirmed the pact (on Twitter). The salary would indicate that it’s a one-year arrangement, and Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi says that’s indeed the case (Twitter link). Pick indicates that the sides have already put pen to paper, though it would appear to be contingent upon a release from the Nuggets, who still have him under contract after acquiring him from the Rockets as part of the Ty Lawson trade. Dorsey has a guaranteed salary of more than $1.015MM coming his way this season as one of 15 Nuggets with fully guaranteed pacts.

Dorsey signed last summer with Houston on a guaranteed two-year, minimum-salary deal that brought him back to the NBA after an absence of three years. Injuries to Dwight Howard and others allowed Dorsey to make an NBA career-high 17 starts this past season, one in which he averaged 2.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in 12.4 minutes per game. The 31-year-old nonetheless saw only 13 total minutes in the playoffs.

Denver is well-loaded at power forward and center, Dorsey’s positions, with Jusuf Nurkic and draft-and-stash signee Nikola Jokić manning the pivot and Kenneth Faried, J.J. Hickson, Joffrey Lauvergne and the newly re-signed Darrell Arthur at the four. Power forward Kostas Papanikolaou is also on the roster at power forward, but his salary of nearly $4.798MM is non-guaranteed, and conflicting reports have emerged about whether the Nuggets will keep him.

Do you think we’ll see Dorsey in the NBA again? Leave a comment to tell us.

Nuggets Waive Joey Dorsey In Buyout Deal

1:12pm: Denver has waived Dorsey, the team announced via press release. He’s giving up $200K of his salary in the buyout, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links), who also indicates that the Nuggets waived their set-off rights as part of the arrangement. That means the Nuggets will have to pay Dorsey $815,241 if he clears waivers, regardless of the money he makes playing elsewhere the rest of this season.

10:49am: The Nuggets and Joey Dorsey have agreed to a buyout deal that will facilitate his departure for Turkey’s Galatasaray, reports Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post (Twitter link). Dorsey, whom Denver will waive as part of the arrangement, has already signed a deal worth more than $650K with Galatasaray, as international journalist David Pick reported earlier this morning. The Nuggets had been set to pay him a guaranteed salary of more than $1.015MM for this season. It’s unclear how much of that Dorsey has agreed to forfeit.

Another NBA team could claim Dorsey off waivers and foil his plan to go overseas once the Nuggets release him, but that’s an unlikely outcome, since his salary is fully guaranteed. Dorsey, whom the Nuggets acquired from the Rockets in the Ty Lawson trade, averaged a career-high 12.4 minutes per game and made 17 starts, also a career best, for Houston last season, though injuries to Dwight Howard and others helped him to his place in the rotation. The Rockets were reportedly ready to trade him in December to free up a roster spot for Josh Smith, but Houston found no takers and released Tarik Black instead, a move that paved the way for Dorsey’s starts, all of which came after Smith replaced Black. The 31-year-old Dorsey was out of the mix by the playoffs, when he saw just 13 total postseason minutes.

Denver will have 14 fully guaranteed contracts once it formally sheds Dorsey. Erick Green has a $100K partial guarantee on his minimum salary, and conflicting reports shroud the future of Kostas Papanikolaou and his non-guaranteed salary of nearly $4.798MM. The Nuggets are limited to paying no more than the minimum salary to outside free agents after using the room exception to re-sign Darrell Arthur.

Rockets Acquire Ty Lawson

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

JULY 20TH, 4:25pm: The Nuggets have waived Prigioni, and the deal is official, Denver announced in a press release. In a condition of the trade, Lawson has agreed to make the 2016/17 season, the final year of his contract, non-guaranteed, sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). As part of the deal, the Nuggets receive cash considerations, Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweets. The press release from the Rockets notes that it’s their own lottery-protected 2016 pick going to Denver.

SUNDAY, 8:16pm: The Rockets have reached a deal with the Nuggets that will send Ty Lawson to Houston, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Marc Stein of ESPN.com had tweeted just moments earlier that the sides were deep in talks. Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson and a protected 2016 first-round pick go to Denver, Wojnarowski adds (All Twitter links). Houston will receive a 2017 second-round pick in addition to Lawson, as Wojnarowski also reports (on Twitter). The first-rounder going to Denver is lottery-protected, and the second-rounder headed to Houston is unprotected, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The move, when it becomes official, will bring an end to Lawson’s tenure with the Nuggets even though GM Tim Connelly and coach Michael Malone both expressed their support for the troubled point guard in recent days.

Chris Mannix of SI.com last week identified the Rockets as a team with interest in the point guard even in the wake of his latest DUI-related arrest, which came Tuesday morning in Los Angeles. It was his second such arrest in six months. Lawson entered a 30-day residential treatment program on Saturday.

Houston made more sense as a Lawson suitor than the Pistons or the Lakers, the two other teams Mannix identified in his report from last week, since both Detroit and L.A. made major investments in point guards this summer. The Pistons agreed to re-sign Reggie Jackson for $80MM and the Lakers drafted D’Angelo Russell No. 2 overall. The Lakers indeed made a determined push, but the Nuggets preferred what Houston offered, Stein reports (on Twitter). Rockets re-signed Patrick Beverley, but only for $23MM over four years. Beverley and Lawson now figure to compete for minutes.

The Kings and Nuggets reportedly spoke about Lawson prior to the draft, but Sacramento apparently wasn’t willing to give up the No. 6 pick in exchange for him in large measure because of the 27-year-old’s off-court issues. By contrast, Lawson’s talent appears to have convinced Houston it’s worth taking a shot on him, as he’s coming off a career-high 9.6 assists per game.

The trade nonetheless carries financial consequences for the Rockets. Lawson’s contract calls for him make more than $12.404MM this season and in excess of $13.213MM in 2016/17, and the exchange as reported so far will push Houston over the $84.74MM luxury tax threshold by about $500K, according to former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The Rockets have until the end of the regular season to go under that line and avoid paying the tax. Houston faces a hard cap of $4MM above the tax line if it signs No. 32 pick Montrezl Harrell to a contract that covers more than two seasons at the minimum salary, as Marks also points out (on Twitter). The swap also means the Rockets aren’t in line to open cap space next summer, Marks adds (Twitter link).

The Nuggets meanwhile go under the cap with the deal and are set to open an estimated $46MM in cap space next summer, Marks tweets. Papanikolaou’s salary of nearly $4.798MM for this coming season is non-guaranteed, and Prigioni’s salary of almost $1.735MM carries only a $440K partial guarantee. Dorsey’s pay of about $1.015MM and Johnson’s approximately $845K salary are fully guaranteed, but they don’t make much of a dent in the Nuggets payroll.

The most significant on-court effect for Denver is that No. 7 overall pick Emmanuel Mudiay, also a point guard, has a clear shot to lead the team. The Nuggets re-signed Jameer Nelson, who seems to have a decent shot to begin the coming season as a starter, but Mudiay is clearly the team’s future at the position, and Malone had no shortage of enthusiasm about his play during summer league, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

Did the Nuggets get a fair return for Lawson, considering the circumstances? Leave a comment to have your say.

Rockets Put Five On Trade Block

The Rockets are trying to make deals involving five players in order to create a roster spot for Josh Smith, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The available players are Isaiah Canaan, Joey Dorsey, Tarik Black, Nick Johnson and Clint Capela.

Smith, who was released Monday by the Pistons, cleared waivers Wednesday afternoon and announced publicly that he plans to sign with Houston for the team’s $2.077MM biannual exception. However, the Rockets have the maximum 15 players under contract and cannot make Smith a formal offer until an opening is created. Stein said the Rockets are confident they can work out a deal, and would prefer a trade to waiving one of the players.

Black is the only one of the five without a fully guaranteed contract, agreeing to a two-year, partially guaranteed deal in August. Canaan makes $816K this year and a non-guaranteed $947K next season. Dorsey will be paid more than $948K this season and more than $1MM next year. Capela and Johnson are both rookies. Capela, a first-round draft pick, makes $1.189MM this year and is under team control through 2018/19. Johnson, a second-rounder, earns a little over $500K and is under team control through 2017/18.

Texas Notes: D-League, Mitchell, Dorsey, Spurs

The Spurs have officially announced that they have renamed their D-League affiliate, the Austin Spurs. The team was formerly known as the Austin Toros. “The rebranding of the Austin franchise is a terrific opportunity to capitalize on the substantial equity of the Spurs brand,” said Spurs Sports & Entertainment President of Business Operations, Rick Pych.  “The name change creates an instantly recognizable link between the two franchises and is a natural progression based on the important role the Austin team plays in the development of young players, general managers and coaches who are on their way to reaching their dream of making it to the NBA.”

Here’s more from the “Lone Star” state:

  •  Akil Mitchell and Robert Covington have not been with the Rockets for several days, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle writes. It was previously noted that Houston intended to part ways with Convington, and was exploring possible trade options for the player. Feigen also speculates that Houston intends to send both Covington and Mitchell to their D-League affiliate. Teams can retain the D-League rights for up to four players that they waive, and the Rockets preseason roster count currently sits at 20.
  • Joey Dorsey is still working his way back from foot and ankle issues that have caused him to miss extended time during Houston’s training camp, Feigen writes. “I have just been trying to figure out the guys on the team and not look for my shot,” Dorsey said. “One of the coaches told me, ‘Joey, just go out there and play. Do what you do. Do what you did in Europe.’ I was like, ‘OK, forget it. I am going to look to score. If I look to score and they double-team me, then I will kick it out for a shot.’ That is the biggest thing. He told me to just go out there and stop trying to worry about playing perfect and just go out and play.
  • Despite their sustained run of excellence, one thing the Spurs have never accomplished is winning back-to-back titles. Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) breaks down San Antonio’s anticipated regular season roster as the team sets out to defend its crown.
  • The Spurs have remained contenders for so many years thanks to their ability as a franchise to turn players no one anticipated into stars, such as Kawhi Leonard, opines Kevin Spain of USA Today.

Rockets Sign Joey Dorsey

FRIDAY, 8:44pm: The signing is official, the Rockets have announced (hat tip to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle).

6:23pm: The deal is for the minimum salary, and it’s fully guaranteed, Feigen writes in his full story

11:50am: The deal is guaranteed, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, though it remains unclear if its fully so or just partially guaranteed (Twitter link).

11:28am: Agent Giorgios Dimitropoulos confirms the deal to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 11:14am: Center Joey Dorsey is returning to the NBA after agreeing to a two-year, $2MM deal with the Rockets, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The 30-year-old has been out of the NBA since the 2010/11 season after playing a total of 61 NBA games over three years with the Rockets, Kings and Raptors. He spent this past season playing for FC Barcelona Regal in Spain, a Euroleague Final Four team, as Wojnarowski points out. The minimum salary would provide $1,963,584 over two seasons for Dorsey, so it would appear that the Rockets are using the minimum-salary exception. It’s not clear how much guaranteed money is involved.

Dorsey started just 10 games and averaged 5.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 15.4 minutes per game for Barcelona this past season. He played with Olympiacos in Greece the season before, so his teammate the past two years has been Kostas Papanikolaou, with whom the Rockets have reportedly been engaged in advanced discussions about a deal. Houston’s agreement with Dorsey wouldn’t necessarily preclude a deal for Papanikolaou, particularly if Dorsey is only getting the minimum salary.

The Rockets were set to be without a legitimate backup center in the wake of their agreement to send Omer Asik to the Pelicans, though it remains to be seen whether Dorsey is capable of assuming a role in the team’s rotation. He’s nonetheless familiar to the Houston front office, which originally acquired him on draft night in 2008 after the Blazers drafted him 33rd overall.