Stanton Kidd

And-Ones: McDonald’s Game, ASG, M. Jackson, S. Kidd

The McDonald’s All American Game for top high school basketball prospects has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic for a second straight year, as Shane Laflin of ESPN writes. McDonald’s will still announce its 48-player roster for 2021 (24 boys and 24 girls) later this month and will virtually honor the class, Laflin notes.

The event has served over the years as a showcase for future impact NBA players. The league’s five most recent No. 1 picks – Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz, Deandre Ayton, Zion Williamson, and Anthony Edwards – are among the many future NBAers who have been named to the rosters for the McDonald’s All American Game since 2015 alone.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Defending the NBA’s decision to hold an All-Star Game this season, commissioner Adam Silver said on ESPN’s The Jump that the league also faced criticism for resuming play last summer in the bubble and for beginning its new season in December amid the coronavirus pandemic. “It seems like no decisions during this pandemic come without uncertainty and come without risk,” Silver said, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “This is yet another one of them, and yet it’s my job to balance all those interests and ultimately it feels like the right thing to do to go forward.”
  • Former Warriors head coach Mark Jackson remains interested in coaching in the NBA, but said during an appearance on The Boardroom: Out of Office Podcast that he believes the “narrative” surrounding his time in Golden State has contributed to limiting his opportunities. Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News has the story, including some quotes from Jackson.
  • Former Colorado State forward Stanton Kidd, who appeared in four games for the Jazz during the 2019/20 season, has signed with Hapoel Jerusalem through the end of this season, the Israeli team announced in a press release. Kidd, waived by Utah in November 2019, had been playing for OGM Ormanspor in Turkey before making the move to Israel.

And-Ones: Ujiri, COVID-19 Testing, Injury Policy, P. Gasol

Raptors president Masai Ujiri has filed a countersuit in connection with an incident at Oracle Arena last year on the night his team won the NBA title, writes Laura Armstrong of The Toronto Star. The 108-page claim, filed Tuesday in an Oakland court, relates to an altercation with security guard Alan Strickland, who tried to stop Ujiri from going onto the court to celebrate with the Raptors.

The suit includes a body-cam video allegedly showing that Ujiri wasn’t the aggressor in the dispute. Ujiri can be seen trying to pull out his team credentials before Strickland grabs him by the jacket and pushes him backward, according to Armstrong.

“After being shoved and cursed at, Mr. Ujiri did not respond aggressively toward Mr. Strickland,” the lawsuit states. “… Rather than trying to communicate with Mr. Ujiri, Mr. Strickland chose to dismiss Mr. Ujiri’s claim that he was the Raptors’ president and ignore the all-access credential Mr. Ujiri was trying to show him. Mr. Strickland then forcefully shoved Mr. Ujiri a second time.”

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • The NBA’s “bubble environment” at the Disney World complex continues to be a success. The league announced today that the latest round of testing produced no positive results among the 341 players tested (Twitter link).
  • The league is changing its policy on reporting injuries, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Teams have been told they must be specific about reasons why players are sidelined rather than using general terms such as conditioning, reconditioning, soreness and fatigue. “If a player has been diagnosed with a fracture of any type, the team’s public injury report must disclose the injury even if the player is certain to play in the team’s next game,” the memo states.
  • If Pau Gasol is going to make a comeback next season, it won’t be with Barcelona, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Team president Josep Maria Bartomeu said his franchise can’t afford Gasol. “He is a person who has helped us a lot, he is an ambassador for Barcelona and represents us in the U.S.,” Bartomeu  said. “He is an NBA star, and Barcelona would hardly pay what he asks.” There was speculation of a deal in July, but that later fell through.
  • Stanton Kidd, who briefly played for the Jazz this season, has signed with Ormanspor in Turkey, Carchia writes in a separate story. The small forward started the season with Utah, but was waived in November after appearing in four games.

Stanton Kidd Signs With Australian Team

Former Jazz forward Stanton Kidd has signed with Melbourne United, the team announced on Friday (Twitter link). The club is part of Australia’s National Basketball League.

Kidd, who finished his college career at Colorado State in 2015, has mostly played international ball since then, spending time with teams in Belgium, Germany, and Turkey. The 27-year-old made his NBA debut this fall after signing a partially guaranteed contract with the Jazz in the offseason, appearing in a total of 15 minutes across four games for Utah.

When Utah signed Juwan Morgan last month, Kidd was the odd man out and was placed on waivers to open up a roster spot. He had been a free agent since then, but is now on track to finish the 2019/20 season in Melbourne.

Jazz Sign Juwan Morgan, Waive Stanton Kidd

The Jazz have made a change to the back of their 15-man roster, waiving forward Stanton Kidd and signing forward Juwan Morgan to fill the newly-opener roster spot, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic. NBA.com’s log of transactions confirms Utah has officially signed Morgan.

Morgan, an undrafted rookie out of Indiana, was a full-time starter as a senior in 2018/19, averaging 15.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG, and 1.5 BPG in 35 games (29.9 MPG). He signed with the Jazz for Summer League and for training camp, but was waived before the regular season begin, joining the Salt Lake City Stars, Utah’s NBAGL affiliate. He got off to a strong start in the G League, recording 15.6 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 1.8 SPG, and 1.8 BPG on 71.8% shooting in five games and earning a call-up.

As for Kidd, the 27-year-old earned a regular season roster spot in Utah out of camp, but saw limited action for the team in the first month of 2019/20, logging 15 total minutes in four games. He didn’t score a single point during those appearances.

A league source tells Jeff Rabjohns of Peegs.com that Morgan’s deal is a multiyear contract, though it’s almost certainly a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary pact. Kidd’s minimum-salary contract was partially guaranteed for $250K, so Utah will remain on the hook for that amount.

Contract Details: Jazz, MCW, Muscala, Robinson

More contract details continue to trickle in as the 2019 free agency period winds to a close. Below are some additional reports regarding signings for the Jazz, Magic, Thunder, and Wizards:

  • According to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, the Jazz gave Stanton Kidd a $250K guarantee on his 2019/20 salary. The guarantee for William Howard is only $50K, but jumps to $250K if he remains on the roster through the first game of the regular season.
  • Per Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports, Michael Carter-Williams’ one-year deal with the Magic is a fully-guaranteed, veteran’s minimum contract.
  • The Thunder signed big man Mike Muscala to a two-year, $4.31MM deal with a player option for the second season, reports Michael Scotto of The Athletic. A minimum-salary arrangement for Muscala, a six-year veteran, equals $4,311,628, so that’s what his contract figures to be given the Thunder’s cap situation.
  • The Wizards used part of their mid-level exception to sign Justin Robinson, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports that the rookie point guard inked a three-year deal with a $250K guarantee in year one. His first-year salary is also $988,310, $90K more than what would have been permitted had he been signed with the minimum-salary exception.

Western Notes: Jazz, D’Antoni, Clippers, Thunder

After trading away Derrick Favors and signing Bojan Bogdanovic, the Jazz had a little leftover cap room and took advantage of that remaining space by signing Miye Oni, William Howard, and Stanton Kidd to three-year contracts, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Utah would have been limited to two-year deals if the club had exhausted its cap space.

The Jazz intend to have Howard, Kidd, and others compete for the 15th and final roster spot in training camp, per Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter links), who notes that both Howard and Kidd received partial guarantees for the 2019/20 season.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

  • Appearing on SiriusXM NBA Radio this week, agent Warren LeGarie said that his client Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni is perfectly happy to enter the 2019/20 season – the final year of his deal – without a contract extension (Twitter link via Howard Beck of Bleacher Report). It’s not even something we’re considering right now,” LeGarie said of a potential extension. “We have a contract.”
  • Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show (video link) this week, Clippers consultant Jerry West raved about the team’s ownership and culture, as Dan Feldman of NBC Sports relays. “He’s just a great owner and one of the nicest men I’ve ever been around in my life,” West said of Steve Ballmer. “… He’s willing to spend on players. He’s willing to spend on personnel within the front office. And as I mentioned before, I’ve never been around any organization that is better than this one. That’s for sure.”
  • In trading Paul George, Russell Westbrook, and Jerami Grant, the Thunder appeared to be pivoting toward an all-out rebuild. Brett Dawson of The Athletic explores how that rebuilding process might be impacted if Chris Paul starts the 2019/20 season on Okahoma City’s roster.

Jazz Sign Stanton Kidd

After spending Summer League with the Jazz, combo forward Stanton Kidd has signed with the team, according to a release tweeted by Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News.

Utah was interested in adding Kidd last summer, but he had another year left on his contract with Turkish team Darussafaka and no escape clause to let him join the NBA. He averaged 7.9 PPG and 3.3 RPG in 50 EuroLeague and Turkish League games this season.

Now 27, Kidd played for the Jazz entry in two leagues this summer, averaging 7.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in three games in Salt Lake City and posting an 8.2/2.6/1.4 line in five games in Las Vegas.

The Jazz have been in the market for wing depth and like the defense and athleticism that Kidd brings, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic. Utah also finalized a deal today with William Howard.

Northwest Notes: Jazz, Kidd, Thunder, Nuggets

After he played well for them in the Utah and Las Vegas Summer Leagues last month, the Jazz are reportedly interested in bringing Stanton Kidd to training camp. However, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, Kidd remains under contract with Turkish team Darussafaka for another year and his deal doesn’t have an NBA out.

Carchia reports that the Jazz and Kidd’s camp are exploring ways to get him out of his deal overseas, but until that happens, Utah won’t be able to add the former Colorado State swingman to their offseason roster. If Kidd does come stateside, it’s not clear what sort of his contract he’d sign — Carchia suggests a two-way deal is a possibility, but Naz Mitrou-Long and Tyler Cavanaugh currently occupy the Jazz’s two-way contract slots.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

  • The Thunder are finalizing an agreement to add Bob Beyer to their coaching staff as an assistant, tweets Royce Young of ESPN.com. Beyer, who has previously served as an assistant in Toronto, Orlando, Golden State, Charlotte, and Detroit, would replace Adrian Griffin on Billy Donovan‘s bench.
  • While Paul George was already well-liked in Oklahoma City, his popularity in OKC figures to rise to another level after he decided to re-sign with the Thunder two years after Kevin Durant left, writes Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman.
  • After a busy offseason, the Nuggets have their most talented top-to-bottom roster since the one that advanced to the Western Conference Finals in 2009, opines Chris Dempsey of Nuggets.com. Dempsey runs through a checklist of Denver’s summer accomplishments, which included solidifying the reserve point guard spot with Isaiah Thomas and carving out a larger role for Trey Lyles.

Jazz Host 32 Free Agents At Veteran Mini-Camp

The Jazz are hosting a veteran mini-camp on Friday and Saturday, with 32 players set to participate in the event, the team announced in a press release.

While the list of participants isn’t exactly star-studded, there are a handful of intriguing names, including several players who have spent time in NBA training camps and some who have played in regular season games. Lavoy Allen, K.J. McDaniels, Diamond Stone, Jarrod Uthoff, and Mike Tobey are among the free agents at Utah’s mini-camp who have logged NBA minutes.

While many of the participants in this weekend’s mini-camp won’t ever play in an NBA game, the event has paid dividends for the Jazz in the past. As Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News writes, Royce O’Neale made a strong impression on the franchise during a free agent mini-camp in 2016, which eventually led to O’Neale signing a contract with Utah last summer and becoming a key part of the rotation in 2017/18.

“We tried to get him that summer (2016), tried to sign him but he decided to go to Spain and made the right choice for him because he got better over there and it ended up working out in the long run for him,” Jazz director of scouting Bart Taylor said. “Royce is a great story and we like to say it puts pressure on us to find another one.”

Taylor is optimistic about identifying another future contributor among this year’s group.

“There’s some good talent out here,” Taylor said. “I like to joke with all our guys and say there’s three or four guys out here that’ll play in the NBA, but you’ve got to find them. So there’s definitely a few guys out here that we like, a lot of guys actually that we really like but we’re just trying to see how they do over the course of the three practices and hopefully one of them does turn into Royce.”

Here’s the full list of participants for Utah’s free agent mini-camp:

Western Notes: Jordan, Draft, Nuggets

The Mavericks don’t have a great track record of attracting top-tier free agents to Dallas, but the franchise badly needs to land Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPNDallas.com writes. Jordan represents the Mavs’ last hope to put a championship-caliber team together around Dirk Nowitzki, Taylor opines. The 26-year-old big man has expressed through back channels that he’ll be “extremely interested” in signing with the Mavs this offseason, but the Clippers have indicated that re-signing Jordan is the team’s top priority.

Here’s the latest from the NBA’s Western Conference:

  • The Nuggets will begin their pre-draft workouts on Wednesday, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post reports (Twitter links). The first group to display their wares for Denver will consist of J.J. Avila, Askia Booker, Derek Cooke, Alex Herrera, Stanton Kidd, and Mitch McCarron, Dempsey notes. Working out for the team on Thursday will be Daniel Bejarano, Michael Frazier II, Cam Griffin, and Brett Olson, the Denver Post Scribe relays.
  • Arizona guard T.J. McConnell said that he worked out for the Spurs, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
  • Working out for the Jazz on Wednesday will be Dallin Bachynski, Ryan Harrow, Kendall Gray, Tyler Harvey, Hugh Greenwood, and Tyler Kalinoski, the team announced.
  • Duke freshman point guard Tyus Jones‘ first team workout will be for the Mavericks this coming Monday, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN reports (via Twitter).
  • The Timberwolves have workouts scheduled with Harvey and Michael Qualls for this Friday, Wolfson tweets.