Julyan Stone

And-Ones: Dead Money, Baldwin, Cole, Stone

As free agency and the draft near for the NBA’s 30 teams, several clubs still owe money to players that are no longer on their present-day rosters, writes Ethan Fuller of BasketballNews.com.

As Fuller notes, when the league calendar changes this August, about half of the league’s clubs will still owe money to former players. The Pistons are on the hook for the biggest single dead-money charge, as they still have to pay Blake Griffin a total of $29.8MM next season. Other examples include the Hornets (Nicolas Batum), Knicks (Joakim Noah) and Lakers (Luol Deng).

Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Free agent guard Wade Baldwin IV has signed a one-year contract with Baskonia in Spain, the team announced on its website. Baldwin holds 56 games of NBA experience, making stops with Memphis and Portland from 2016-19. He was the No. 17 pick in 2016 and spent the 2020/21 season in Germany with Bayern Munich.
  • ASVEL has parted ways with guard Norris Cole and big man Ismael Bako, the club announced (Twitter link). Cole, who won championships with Miami 2012 and 2013, averaged 13.7 points and 3.6 assists with the French club this season. He is now a free agent.
  • Veteran swingman Julyan Stone has re-signed with Reyer Venezia in Italy, as relayed by EuroHoops. Stone has played 70 NBA games with Denver (2011-13), Toronto (2013-14) and Charlotte (2017-18), spending much of his professional career overseas. “I have achieved great things with Reyer, but the journey is not over yet,” Stone said. “I still can help achieve some things and I will put in my hard work to give us the best chance at success. My role in the team may change, but my motivation will continue to grow.”

And-Ones: Thompson, Mozgov, Stone, FIBA

Klay Thompson‘s max deal was, at best, a risky proposition for the Warriors even before he suffered an ACL tear, according to The Athletic’s John Hollinger. Thompson’s five-year deal has the potential to be the league’s most regrettable contract, according to Hollinger, who takes a look at the 10 worst current free agent deals. The multi-year contracts handed to Tobias Harris, D’Angelo Russell and Harrison Barnes also rank as poor values compared to the purchase price, in Hollinger’s estimation.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • Former NBA center Timofey Mozgov has suffered another injury setback, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. Mozgov, currently signed by Russian team Khimki, will require another knee surgery and miss another 4-6 months of action. He did not play during the 2019/20 season due to knee issues. In November, the NBA permitted the Magic to remove Mozgov’s remaining cap hits from their books after determining that his health issues were likely career-ending.
  • Former NBA guard Julyan Stone has re-signed with Italy’s Reyer Venezia, Dario Skerletic of Sportando relays. Stone averaged 4.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG and 3.1 APG in EuroCup action. Stone played 70 NBA games, most recently for Charlotte (23 games) during the 2017/18 season.
  • The Board of FIBA Europe has officially cancelled the seasons of the FIBA Europe Cup, EuroLeague Women and EuroCup Women, according to Carchia. Play was halted in those leagues during March. The board also decided that FIBA EuroBasket qualifiers, scheduled for November, could be postponed until February, if necessary.

Julyan Stone Signs Deal With Reyer Venezia

After being traded from the Hornets to the Bulls and then waived in order to make room for the Jabari Parker signing, Julyan Stone is heading back to Italy, having signed a contract with his former club, Reyer Venezia, per Sportando (Twitter link).

Stone, 29, went undrafted in 2011 before signing a two-year deal with the Nuggets. He signed a one-year contract with the Raptors for the 2013/14 season and then spent several seasons overseas before coming back to the NBA in 2017, signing a two-year contract with the Hornets.

During his four-season NBA career, Stone has only averaged 1.1 points in 7.2 minutes per game, but has appeared in 70 total contests. He will look to help Reyer reclaim the Lega Basket Serie A title after helping them win the championship in 2017.

Bulls Waive Paul Zipser, Julyan Stone

As part of the series of transactions that saw them make their signing of Jabari Parker official, the Bulls have formally waived forward Paul Zipser and guard Julyan Stone, the team announced in a press release.

The moves were necessary in order to clear the cap room necessary to finalize Parker’s two-year, $40MM deal. Having already traded Jerian Grant, waived Sean Kilpatrick, and withdrawn David Nwaba‘s qualifying offer within the last week or so, Chicago was able to create about $20.6MM in cap space by cutting Zipser and Stone and renouncing their other cap holds and exceptions.

In addition to waiving Zipser and Stone, the team also had to renounce Noah Vonleh‘s cap hold of $10MM+ and give up its mid-level and trade exceptions. The Bulls had three trade exceptions available, the largest of which was worth nearly $9MM. The club will now only have access to the $4.449MM room exception.

Zipser ($1.545MM) and Stone ($1.656MM) each had non-guaranteed salaries for 2018/19, so the Bulls are no longer on the hook for any money for either player.

Zipser, 24, averaged 4.0 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 54 games (15.3 MPG) for the Bulls last season. He indicated in June that he didn’t expect the team to bring him back.

As for Stone, he was only included in last week’s three-way trade with the Hornets and Magic so that the Bulls technically received something in the deal — he was always expected to be released. The veteran guard had a very limited role for the Hornets last season, averaging just 0.8 PPG, 1.3 RPG, and 1.1 APG in 23 contests (7.6 MPG)

Bulls Clearing Cap Room For Forthcoming Move?

The Bulls have been cutting costs in a series of minor moves over the last week, having traded Jerian Grant, waived Sean Kilpatrick, and withdrawn David Nwaba‘s qualifying offer. As K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune details, the transactions signal that the Bulls are looking to create the flexibility necessary to complete a more significant move using cap room. A source tells Johnson that there’s a “strong internal belief” that Chicago will finalize another move.

Although the Bulls technically remain an over-the-cap team due to their various exceptions and cap holds, they can create up to about $20.6MM in cap room by waiving Julyan Stone and Paul Zipser, renouncing Noah Vonleh, and renouncing their trade exceptions. All of those moves are expected to happen, according to Johnson.

Johnson suggests that the Bulls’ forthcoming transaction will likely involve either shoring up their wing position or absorbing an unwanted contract with an asset attached. While Chicago has been linked to restricted free agents like Jabari Parker, Rodney Hood, and Marcus Smart intermittently within the last few weeks, I’d be very surprised if the club intends to make an offer to any of those players that requires $20MM+ in space. Clint Capela is the only RFA who might warrant such an offer, but he seems like an improbable target for the Bulls, who drafted Wendell Carter just three weeks ago.

Accommodating a salary dump looks like a more logical path for the Bulls. One popular theory that has been making the rounds is a swap that sends Carmelo Anthony ($27.93MM) and draft assets to Chicago for Cristiano Felicio ($8.47MM). This theoretical deal, which we touched on earlier this week, was fleshed out this morning by cap expert Albert Nahmad.

Such a trade may appeal to the Thunder, who could clear about $20MM from their 2018/19 cap and create nearly $100MM in projected luxury-tax savings by replacing Anthony’s salary with Felicio’s. It’d also make sense for the Bulls, who could carve out additional cap room for 2019 and/or 2020 and could perhaps acquire an extra draft pick for taking on Anthony. The Bulls would subsequently buy out Carmelo in this hypothetical scenario.

However, this is all speculation at this point. All we know for now is that the Bulls’ recent series of moves suggests they have something in mind for their cap room. We’ll have to wait to see what exactly that is.

Hornets, Bulls, Magic Complete Three-Way Deal

JULY 8, 8:27am: The trade is now official, according to press releases from all three teams. In addition to receiving Biyombo, the Hornets will also acquire 2019 and 2020 second-round picks from the Magic. Orlando holds multiple second-rounders in each year, so it’s not yet clear which selections are changing hands.

“There were some elements of (the trade) that we were discussing individually the last few weeks, but the deal actually came together just [on Saturday],” said Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman. “It was really kind of a quick-hitter.”

The Bulls intend to waive Stone, per Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link).

JULY 7, 8:20pm: The trade has been agreed to in principle, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

JULY 7, 7:51pm: Charlotte, Chicago and Orlando are close to a trade that would send Timofey Mozgov to the Magic, Bismack Biyombo to the Hornets and Julyan Stone to the Bulls, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Bulls guard Jerian Grant will also go to Orlando in the deal, Woj adds (Twitter link).

The Hornets will give up more than $17MM in the trade between Mozgov’s $16MM salary for next season and Stone’s non-guaranteed $1,656,092. This will be the second trade of the summer for Mozgov, who was shipped from the Nets to the Hornets in a deal that became official yesterday. He has two years left on his current contract, with a $16.72MM salary for 2019/20.

In Biyombo, Charlotte picks up a shot blocker to replace Dwight Howard, who went to Brooklyn in the Mozgov deal. Biyombo’s contract is nearly in line with Mozgov’s, paying him $17MM in 2018/19, with a player option for the same amount the following season. Orlando breaks up a logjam at center that had existed since drafting Mohamed Bamba, while Mozgov becomes the third-string center in Orlando and probably won’t see much more playing time than he did in Brooklyn.

Chicago plays a minor role in the trade, creating modest savings by sending out Grant’s $2,639,314 salary in exchange for Stone’s non-guaranteed figure. The Bulls could be looking to shed any salary they can before their expected matching of the Kings’ offer sheet for Zach LaVine.

Stone’s guarantee date is August 1, posts Bobby Marks on ESPN Now, and the Bulls can increase their cap room to $16MM by letting him go and getting rid of Noah Vonleh‘s cap hold. Taking on Biyombo’s contract pushes the Hornets up to $120.3MM in salary with 14 guaranteed deals, just $3.4MM under the luxury tax.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 12/31/17

Here are the G-League moves from around the NBA today:

  • The Hornets recalled Dwayne Bacon from the organization’s G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, the team announced in a press release. In 28 games for Charlotte, Bacon has averaged 3.6 PPG and 3.1 RPG. He was acquired along with cash considerations from the Pelicans for draft rights to Frank Jackson during the 2017 NBA Draft.
  • The Hornets also recalled guard Julyan Stone from the Greensboro Swarm. per the press release. Stone has appeared in four contests for the Hornets, posting totals of  1.5 PPG, 1.5 RPG and 1.8 APG.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 12/26/17

Here are the notable G-League transactions around the NBA today:

  • The Hornets recalled rookie Dwayne Bacon from the organization’s G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, the team announced in a press release. In 28 games for Charlotte, Bacon has averaged 3.6 PPG and 3.1 RPG. He was acquired along with cash considerations from the Pelicans for draft rights to Frank Jackson during the 2017 NBA Draft.
  • In a separate move, the Hornets assigned guard Julyan Stone to the Greensboro Swarm on Tuesday, according to a press release. Stone has appeared in four contests for the Hornets, posting totals of  1.5 PPG, 1.5 RPG and 1.8 APG. This marks Stone’s third assignment to the G League.
  • The Spurs announced in a press release that guard Derrick White has been recalled from the team’s G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs. White has appeared in seven games for San Antonio, averaging 1.3 PPG and 1.3 RPG.
  • The Trail Blazers assigned guard C.J. Wilcox to the Santa Cruz Warriors, per a press release. After appearing in 20+ games in each of the past three seasons for the Magic and Clippers, Wilcox has yet to see NBA action in 2017/18 due to arthroscopic knee surgery. Wilcox signed a two-way deal with Portland in August.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 12/23/17

Here are the G-League moves from around the NBA today:

11:08pm:

  • The Grizzlies have recalled Ivan Rabb from their Memphis Hustle affiliate, the team announced on its website. The 20-year-old is averaging 15.8 points and 9.9 rebounds in 15 G League games.

1:29pm:

  • The Cavaliers have recalled center Ante Zizic from the G League’s Canton Charge one day after assignment, per an official press release from the team. Zizic scored 23 points on 10-17 (.588) shooting and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for the Charge in last night’s game against the South Bay Lakers.

11:33am:

  • The Hornets announced via press release on Saturday that guard Julyan Stone has been recalled from the team’s G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm. Stone, 29, has appeared in four games for Charlotte this season, averaging  1.5 PPG, 1.5 RPG and 1.8 APG.
  • The Hornets also announced (via Twitter) that two-way player Mangok Mathiang has been transferred to Charlotte from the G League affiliate Greensboro Swarm. Mathiang has appeared briefly in three games for the Hornets this season.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 12/22/17

Here are the minor league moves from around the Association today:

  • The Pacers have recalled T.J. Leaf and Ike Anigbogu from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team announced in a press release. Leaf averaged 23.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in three contests with the affiliate squad.
  • The Rockets recalled Zhou Qi from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
  • The Cavaliers assigned Ante Zizic to their affiliate, the Canton Charge announced in a press release. In four games with the minor league squad, Zizic has posted 15.8 points and 8.5 rebound sin just 23.5 minutes per contest.
  • The Grizzlies have assigned Ivan Rabb to the Memphis Hustle, the Grizz announced in a press release. The rookie has averaged a double-double in 14 games with the G League squad.
  • The Hornets assigned Julyan Stone to their G League affiliate, the team announced in a press release. The last time the guard suited up for the Greensboro Swarm, he put up 14 assists in 24 minutes.