Spurs Sign Josh Powell
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports tweets that the Spurs have added veteran big man Josh Powell to their training camp roster. Powell joins Derrick Brown, Wesley Witherspoon, Tre Kelley and Tyler Wilkerson as recent signings that will compete for a roster spot in San Antonio.
Powell had most recently played in Puerto Rico and was last seen in the NBA with the Hawks during the 2010-11 season. The Spurs' roster currently stands at 18.
Central Notes: Pacers, Villanueva, Jaric, Pargo
As the Cavs reportedly put the finishing touches on a training-camp contract for Kevin Anderson, their division rivals are staying active as well. Here's the latest on a few Central Division teams:
- Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star examines the Pacers' final couple roster spots, predicting that Sam Young will earn one, while Blake Ahearn and Sundiata Gaines will compete for the other.
- After a forgettable 2011/12 season, Charlie Villanueva is fighting to bounce back for the Pistons this year, as Vince Goodwill of the Detroit News writes. Asked about the amnesty rumors that surrounded him in July, Villanueva admitted that it was hard not to notice: "It burns me up. It just drove me. Instead of being upset, I said, this will pass and I will let my game do the talking."
- Marko Jaric was in recently to work out with the Bulls, according to Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com (via Twitter). Jaric has seven years of NBA experience under his belt, but hasn't played in the league since 2008/09, with the Grizzlies.
- Jannero Pargo expects to finalize a deal within the next couple days, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com (via Twitter). Charania adds that Pargo is "sticking around Chicago," but I would assume that's just where he's working out, rather than an indication he'll sign with the Bulls.
Sixers Sign Four For Training Camp
The 76ers have added four players to their roster for training camp, the team announced today in a press release. Dan Gadzuric, Devin Searcy, Xavier Silas and Damien Wilkins will be in camp with the Sixers, bringing the team's roster count to 17 players.
Of the four, Gadzuric, Silas, and Wilkins all played for NBA teams in 2011/12. Gadzuric's and Silas' appearances were brief, with Gadzuric playing just two games for the Knicks and Silas appearing in a pair of games for the Sixers. Wilkins, however, spent the season with the Pistons, averaging 15.4 MPG in 60 contests, though he posted a career-low 6.9 PER.
As for Searcy, the 6'10" big man went undrafted out of Dayton a year ago and spent the 2011/12 season in Japan, averaging a double-double (13.8 PPG, 10.8 RPG) for the Toyama Grouses. He was also part of the Sixers' summer league squad in Orlando this July.
If all four players are on non-guaranteed deals, which is likely, they'll be competing for the team's final couple roster spots. The Sixers currently have 12 players on fully guaranteed contract, plus Maalik Wayns on a partial guarantee.
Timberwolves To Sign Seth Tarver
The Timberwolves will add former Oregon State shooting guard Seth Tarver to their training camp roster, according to Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500 (via Twitter). Terms of the deal aren't known, but it will almost certainly be a non-guaranteed summer contract.
Tarver, 24, graduated from Oregon State in 2010 after posting 10.2 PPG and 4.6 RPG in his senior year. His numbers since then, in 94 games over two seasons for the D-League's Idaho Stampede, have been nearly identical (10.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG).
The move will bring the Timberwolves' roster to 16 players when it becomes official. Of those 16, 14 have fully guaranteed deals. Will Conroy's contract is partially guaranteed for just $100K.
Agent, Scout, GM Discuss Jeff Green Contract
Over at SI.com, Sam Amick dedicated his Thursday column to addressing what he believes has been the most-discussed contract of the offseason — Jeff Green's four-year, $36MM deal with the Celtics. While I'd argue that Jeremy Lin's offer sheet with the Rockets inspired more conversation that Green's deal, it's hard not to agree that Green's contract is one of the summer's most perplexing.
Amick spoke to agent David Falk, an Eastern Conference scout, and an unnamed rival general manager about Green's deal, gaining insight into how a player who missed 2011/12 with a heart condition earned one of the offseason's biggest guarantees. The piece also includes a few details on Green's contract. Here are some of the highlights:
- According to the rival GM, Green's contract includes a handful of likely and unlikely incentives that could bring the deal to about $40MM over four years. Says the GM: "If they win a championship, it's $1.5MM. If they get to the Finals, it's $750K. If they get to the conference finals, it's a half million. They'll have success, and his deal will probably wind up being worth $10MM a year."
- Unlike Brandon Roy's deal with the T-Wolves, which provides Minnesota some insurance of Roy's knee issues resurface, Green's contract doesn't include any injury insurance for the Celtics related to the 26-year-old's heart.
- According to Falk, the Celtics' doctors "assured the team that the risk of Jeff's suffering a recurrence of his injury is probably significantly lower than the risk of a player who never had it before suffering the same kind of problem…. He's 100% cured."
- The GM on the health questions: "I don't think he's that badly overpaid at 100% health. I think it's a good contract. But throwing in the heart condition and not having an exclusion on a pre-existing condition to protect you? No matter what the doctors tell you, it's scary."
- While I'm a little skeptical about this, Falk says that if Green had simply asked him to go out and get as much money as possible, he could have ended up with an annual salary of $11-12MM, exceeding what he's earning from Boston.
- The scout pointed out that the Celtics were in a tough spot because passing on Green wouldn't have helped them — the team still wouldn't have had any cap space, and wouldn't have freed up any cap exceptions by letting Green walk.
- According to the GM, that's exactly why he dislikes trading for players in situations like Green's or Gerald Wallace's. The GM points out that Nets GM Billy King had to re-sign Wallace, having given up a high lottery pick for him, giving Wallace and his agent all the leverage. Green and the Celtics were in a similar situation.
Mavericks Sign Akognon, Mbenga, Holloway
The Mavericks have officially added three players to their training camp roster, according to a press release from the team. Dallas finalized its deals with Josh Akognon and D.J. Mbenga, which had been previously reported, and also added former Xavier guard Tu Holloway.
Akognon, who graduated from Cal State Fullerton in 2009, averaged 23.9 PPG in his senior year, earning Big West Conference Player of the Year honors. Since going undrafted, he has played primarily overseas, including an impressive 2011/12 season with the CBA's DongGuan New Century Leopards. In 37 games for DongGuan, the 26-year-old was a top-five scorer in the league, averaging 28.2 PPG on 51% shooting.
Mbenga, 31, began his NBA career with the Mavericks in 2004, having been signed as a rookie free agent by Dallas. The seven-footer played three seasons in Dallas before spending time with the Warriors, Lakers, and Hornets. Mbenga, who has appeared in 234 career games, last played in the NBA in 2010/11, with New Orleans.
Holloway, 23, was ranked as this year's 68th-best prospect by ESPN.com's Chad Ford but went undrafted. In his senior year at Xavier, the 6'0" point guard averaged 17.5 PPG and 4.9 APG. Holloway was originally slated to join the Raptors' summer league roster in Las Vegas, but ended up playing for Dallas' squad instead.
All three players figure to be on non-guaranteed deals, bringing the Mavericks' roster to 18 players. We've previously heard that Mbenga has agreed to join Dallas' D-League affiliate if he doesn't earn a spot on the team, while Akognon appears ready to head back to China if he fails to make the regular-season cut.
Heisley Confident Grizzlies Sale Will Be Completed
It has been three and a half months since we first heard that Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley had reached an agreement to sell the franchise to communications technology magnate Robert Pera. Despite the delay in finalizing the transaction, Heisley tells Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal that he remains confident the sale will be completed.
"I don't think it's dragging on," Heisley said. "Putting together the financing involving hundreds of millions of dollars is always a complex process. The banking industry is a lot more cautious and it takes a little longer than it did in the past. But I have no reason to believe that it won't go forward."
Sources familiar with the situation tell Tillery that the deal will not close in September, but is expected to be finalized at some point next month. Once Pera satisfies the terms of the contract, the NBA's Board of Governors, which meets on October 25th, must approve the transaction.
Pera has worked to put together a group of local investors that will account for roughly 30-35% of the team's ownership, assuming the deal is approved, and Heisley praised the prospective owner's efforts to include the Memphis community.
"I'm tremendously pleased," Heisley said. "I've always said since I first got here that the more that people from Memphis are involved the better this situation is. There's more (Memphians) involved than when I put it together and that's good. I'm sure they'll find Pera a great guy to work with."
Atlantic Rumors: Wallace, Knicks, Holiday, Fields
Yesterday, we heard that Nick Young wasn't expecting to sign with the 76ers, the Knicks still have interest in Josh Howard, and Rajon Rondo believes the Celtics are one of five teams with a realistic shot at an NBA title in 2012/13. We've got a few more updates out of the Atlantic Division today, so let's round them up right here:
- The Knicks are said to be considering signing Rasheed Wallace, and Tyson Chandler is on board with the idea, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com writes. "I don't know what the situation is, but he's a great communicator on defense and we know he can knock down the open three and the jump shot," Chandler said. "To have myself and Amare [Stoudemire] and to have Marcus Camby and Rasheed as backups, it's going to be nice."
- A report back in early July suggested Jrue Holiday would seek a max extension from the Sixers this offseason, something Holiday was asked about yesterday. "That's the type of player that I want to be," Holiday said, according to John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I want to be seen as that type [of max-contract] player. But I'm not really worried about it; that's not the type of player that I am, honestly. I'm not really a money man. I'd rather get the wins."
- After signing what many observers felt was an overpriced three-year deal with the Raptors, Landry Fields says he's not feeling any extra pressure to live up to the contract, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star.
Overseas Rumors: Thomas, Martin, Jordan
As NBA training camp rosters fill up, players who remain unsigned could turn to non-NBA clubs for their best shot at a payday. Here's the latest on a few players still on the market who may be considering teams overseas:
- Malcolm Thomas, who was recently said to be seeking a guaranteed NBA contract, is in advanced talks with Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv, reports David Pick of Sportando. According to Pick, Thomas' agent Aaron Mintz and Maccabi coach David Blatt recently had "very positive" discussions.
- Maccabi Tel Aviv also hasn't ruled out the possibility of signing unrestricted free agent Kenyon Martin, according to a Walla Sport report (translation via HoopsHype). It's not clear whether Martin would have interest in playing in Israel — since he's seeking more than the veteran's minimum from NBA teams, I'd think it would require a significant financial commitment from Maccabi to draw Martin overseas.
- China's Qingdao Double Star Eagles are interested in signing Jerome Jordan, according to a QQ.com report passed along by Sportando. Jordan, who made his NBA debut last season with the Knicks, appears headed to Grizzlies camp, but it's not clear if he's officially signed anything with Memphis yet.
Warriors Have Tried To Buy Out, Trade Biedrins
Speaking to the media yesterday, head coach Mark Jackson conveyed some displeasure with Andris Biedrins, noting that he had "everybody in here (at the team's facility), other than Andris Biedrins." While Jackson's disappointment in Biedrins figures to impact the big man's playing time, it's his contract that concerns the front office. According to Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld, the Warriors have tried to initiate talks about a buyout, and have repeatedly attempted to trade Biedrins, but have found little interest in either option.
That the Warriors have looked for ways to unload Biedrins' contract is no surprise. Coming off the worst season of his career (8.8 PER), Biedrins is owed $9MM this year, and another $9MM on a player option for 2013/14. His contract would have been a prime candidate to be amnestied, had the Warriors not already used the clause to waive Charlie Bell when they were making a run at DeAndre Jordan last December.
With essentially two years remaining on Biedrins' deal, I'd be surprised if the Warriors gain much traction in either buyout or trade talks this year, but it's something to keep an eye on as the trade deadline approaches. Golden State would likely have to pair Biedrins with an attractive asset like a young player or a future first-rounder to draw even a modicum of interest on the trade market.