Lester Hudson Signs In China
Unable to find an NBA offer to his liking, Lester Hudson has signed with the Dongguan Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to a NetEase report (Chinese link; translation via HoopsHype). Hudson becomes the second NBA free agent to sign in China this week, on the heels of Tracy McGrady's agreement with the Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles.
Hudson, 28, played for Qingdao last season, averaging an impressive 33.6 PPG to go along with 7.0 RPG and 6.3 APG in 32 contests. He has also appeared in 52 NBA games for five teams, enjoying the most succcessful stint of his three-year NBA career in 2011/12, when he averaged 12.7 points in 13 games for the Cavs. However, he was unable to secure a deal with an NBA team this summer, and was reportedly dropped from his agency after he failed to show up to a workout his representatives scheduled with the Bobcats.
"I worked so hard to get him a workout, and he didn’t show," agent Tyler Glass told Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. "The Bobcats were annoyed and they should have been. They’re a professional organization. You don’t skip out on workouts…. He really can play in the league. But what happened with the Bobcats… Word gets around."
It's not clear whether the incident involving the Bobcats significantly impacted Hudson's ability to earn a camp invite, or whether he simply received a more lucrative offer from the CBA's Leopards. Either way, we can cross another NBA free agent off the ever-dwindling list of available players.
Steve Blake, Chris Duhon Available Via Trade
The Lakers have "made it clear to the rest of the league" that Steve Blake or Chris Duhon are on the trading block and could be had in a deal, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein. No trades involving either player are imminent, but Stein wonders if the duo could draw more interest down the road when injuries begin to pile up around the league and outlooks aren't so "rosy."
Blake, 32, has suffered a dip in production since joining the Lakers two seasons ago, and still has two years remaining on his contract at $4MM annually. As such, Duhon could be the more attractive trade target for any interested teams. The 30-year-old hasn't been at the top of his game in recent years either and is also under contract for two more years, but his $3.75MM salary in 2013/14 is only guaranteed for $1.5MM.
Within Stein's piece, the ESPN.com scribe adds that if the Lakers are able to move Blake or Duhon, it's possible the team could re-add Derek Fisher to its roster, assuming the veteran point guard is still on the market. Considering the Lakers are ineligible to re-sign Fisher until March 15th, 2013, the one-year anniversary of their trade that sent him to Houston, it's very possible the 38-year-old will have found work elsewhere by then.
Odds & Ends: Blatche, Draft, Kaman, Milicic
Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com looks at the struggle homosexual athletes face as they decide whether to come out of the closet. Multiple league sources told Arnovitz that players who are believed to be gay have a tougher time landing deals. "From a front-office standpoint, anything that would take away from team chemistry, fair or not, is a concern," one source said. "The truth is that a lot of players don’t want that guy in the locker room. And, sadly, execs have to factor in how their star player and major guys are going to react." There's no telling whether that's had an effect on some of the players still seeking contracts this year or those who have already been cut. Here's the rest of the night's news from around the league.
- Nets big man Andray Blatche told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News that a talk with Nets coach Avery Johnson led him to sign with Brooklyn instead of the Heat. "I came in and worked out (with the Heat). They told me where I’m at, where I need to get, that they’re interested, they need me," he said. "But the conversation I had with Avery was more what I needed from him. It was about putting together a personal plan for me. I felt that would help me get to where I needed to be."
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks the top five 2013 draft prospects in the SEC, led by Nerlens Noel and two fellow Kentucky freshmen (Insider only).
- Offseason signee Chris Kaman could give the Mavericks an offensive weapon at center like they've never had before, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News says.
- Though the Celtics fully guaranteed Darko Milicic's minimum-salary contract, the team had no expectations for him, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com, who adds that the former No. 2 has nonetheless made a strong showing so far.
- Reggie Jackson is making the most of his opportunity to challenge extension candidate Eric Maynor for the Thunder's backup point guard job, as The Oklahoman's Darnell Mayberry observes.
- Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel shares that Bucks coach Scott Skiles has hinted at an expanded role for guard Beno Udrih, who's entering the final season of his sizable five-year, $32.393MM contract.
Northwest Rumors: Blazers, Lawson, Miller, Batum
The Oregonian's Joe Freeman examines the decisions the Blazers face in advance of the October 31st deadline for exercising their 2013/14 team options on Luke Babbitt, Nolan Smith and Elliot Williams. According to Freeman, the team could come within $500K of having enough cap space to sign a free agent to a maximum-salary deal next summer if it declines all three options. Freeman seems to think, given the makeup of the Blazers roster, it would make the least sense to pick up Babbitt's option, despite the injury to Williams that's expected to keep him out the entire season. Check out other option decisions facing teams with our Rookie Contract Option Tracker, and read on for from the Blazers and other Northwest Division clubs.
- Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post suggests Ty Lawson and new agent Happy Walters could be in line for a five-year, $65MM extension from the Nuggets before the October 31st deadline. Hochman also passes along some advice for Lawson from new teammate Andre Iguodala, who re-signed with the Sixers in 2008 after failing to come to an extension agreement in 2007.
- Andre Miller has been an ironman over his 13-year NBA career, missing only six regular season games, but he's sitting out of select preseason games for the first time, Aaron J. Lopez of Nuggets.com notes. The Nuggets signed the 36-year-old Miller to a three-year, $14.625MM deal this summer that includes a partial guarantee for the final season.
- Nicolas Batum told Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune he signed his offer sheet with Minnesota this summer knowing he'd be pleased to wind up with either the Timberwolves or the Blazers. "I chose Minnesota because I knew (Portland) could match," Batum said. "I knew those two teams were going to be the best options for me. I wouldn’t have signed with anybody else. And I wanted to challenge the Blazers, to see if they really like me or not."
Which Fading Star Is Most Likely To Survive Cuts?
It seems like Andray Blatche, with the Nets on a non-guaranteed deal, is a strong bet to make the team, since Tim Bontemps of the New York Post reported this week that "it's pretty clear" he'll be in coach Avery Johnson's rotation at the start of the season. Yet many other players on non-guaranteed contracts simply have their eyes on the last spot on the bench, much less significant playing time. As our list of non-guaranteed contracts shows, several former stars and wayward lottery picks are in training camps with teams this month, hoping they can revive their careers or at least draw another NBA paycheck.
Let us know which of the players listed below has the best shot to make his team's regular season roster. Feel free to refer to our roster counts for the Eastern and Western conferences if you want to get a better feel for their chances. If you think another marquee name on a make-good deal has a better shot than anyone listed here, click "none of the above" and let us know who you have in mind in the comments.
Which Fading Star Is Most Likely To Survive Cuts?
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Rasheed Wallace, Knicks 35% (240)
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Jonny Flynn, Pistons 16% (107)
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Terrence Williams, Pistons 12% (82)
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Adam Morrison, Blazers 12% (82)
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Josh Childress, Nets 12% (79)
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Eddy Curry, Spurs 7% (46)
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None Of The Above 6% (41)
Total votes: 677
Atlantic Rumors: Iguodala, Sixers, Moon, Bradley
Sixers swingman Jason Richardson made waves earlier today, telling reporters he expected the Magic to trade him because of his representation by Dan Fegan, who also serves as Dwight Howard's agent. He's not the only player involved in the Howard/Andrew Bynum blockbuster causing a stir, as news from around the Atlantic Division trickles in.
- Former Sixers star Andre Iguodala recently told Matt Moore of CBSSports.com that he hasn't really enjoyed the game the past couple of years and felt drained by constant criticism. Doug Collins doesn't perceive that as a swipe at him, telling Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News, "I feel great about our time together."
- Evan Turner also took Iguodala's remarks in stride, as Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com reports.
- Free agent Jamario Moon, who saw his best days with the Raptors, has switched agents as he continues to hold out hope of latching on with an NBA team, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld tweets. He's now with Jared Karnes after having been represented by Wallace Prather.
- Avery Bradley and Celtics coach Doc Rivers agree on a mid-December timetable for the guard's return from surgery on both shoulders, reports A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. There's no return date for center Chris Wilcox, who's suffering from back spasms as he battles back from heart surgery.
- Celtics coach Doc Rivers is searching for one more player to join Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jeff Green in the team's crunch-time lineup, Blakely writes.
- Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside wonders whether Chris Smith's injury will open the door for fellow shooting guard and training camp invitee Mychel Thompson to make the Knicks opening-day roster. Smith and Thompson are on non-guaranteed minimum-salary deals.
Rockets Cut Kyle Fogg, Demetri McCamey
7:19pm: The team has put Fogg and McCamey on waivers, Feigen confirms.
4:56pm: The Rockets will waive camp invites Kyle Fogg and Demetri McCamey, a couple of weeks after they were signed in tandem, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The team is interested in having both play for its D-League affiliate, Feigen says. When the moves become official, Houston's roster will be at 18 players.
Fogg and McCamey are both 6'3" guards, but only Fogg saw action in the Rockets' preseason opener last night. He scored three points in over four minutes of court time, but it was evidently not enough to allow him to continue his pursuit of making the NBA with Houston after going undrafted out of Arizona this June. McCamey played in five summer league games for the Bulls this year, averaging 4.4 points and 1.6 assists in 13.7 minutes per game.
Both were on non-guaranteed, minimum-salary deals, so their subtraction from the roster won't do much to alleviate the team's logjam of 18 players on either fully or partially guaranteed contracts.
Pacific Rumors: Nash, Duhon, Johnson-Odom
Eric Pincus is one of many NBA writers changing affiliations as the season approaches, heading from HoopsWorld to the Los Angeles Times, where he'll cover the Lakers. He gets a head start on his new gig in today's piece for HoopsWorld, as he wonders whether the team's improvements to its bench will be enough this season. He's got more on the Lakers, and we'll pass along that and other updates out of the Pacific Division.
- New Suns point guard Goran Dragic was "shocked" by the sign-and-trade deal that put Steve Nash in a Lakers uniform, as Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes. It's a move that would have taken Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby by surprise at the beginning of the summer, as well. "My first reaction was I can't do that," the Suns executive said. "As time went on, (Suns owner) Robert Sarver was really good and said, 'We have to make a basketball decision that's best for our franchise.' "
- Nash believes the Suns will be all right without him, as Spears writes in the same piece. "They can be a surprise team this year," Nash said. "They brought in a lot of guys who can play. They brought in some young guys and put themselves in a position to build. I think they did a great job."
- Chris Duhon isn't represented by Dan Fegan, but like former Magic teammate Jason Richardson, he wasn't surprised Orlando included him in the Dwight Howard blockbuster, Pincus reports. “I kind of anticipated being traded and it’s fortunate that I was able land in a nice spot here in L.A," Duhon said. "I’m just going to try to make the most of this opportunity."
- Pincus also sizes up the chances 6'2" guard Darius Johnson-Odom, the 55th pick this past June who's in Lakers camp on a non-guaranteed deal, has of making the regular season roster. With Devin Ebanks and Jodie Meeks penciled in as the backup two guards, and four point guards on the roster, Johnson-Odom faces long odds, Pincus opines.
- Dwight Howard says it wasn't just his back that was affected by the herniated disk that required season-ending surgery last year, as Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times tweets. "It affected my nerves to the point where my whole left leg just went dead," Howard said.
- ESPNLosAngeles.com scribe Arash Markazi sizes up the impact new shooting coach Bob Thate could have on the Clippers.
Richardson Expected Trade From Magic
Jason Richardson has cut ties with agent Dan Fegan, but he says he fully expected the Magic to trade him over the summer when he was still represented by the man who also serves as the agent for Dwight Howard, reports John Denton of Magic.com (Twitter link). The Magic sent Richardson to the Sixers as part of Howard's trade to the Lakers this summer.
"Anybody associated with Dan Fegan was going to get traded," Richardson told reporters, including Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link).
The Magic franchise was seemingly on hold last season as Howard waffled on whether he wanted to remain in Orlando. He wound up waiving the early termination option on his contract for 2012/13 right before the trade deadline this past March, but regretted the move. Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reported on the eve of the deadline that the Magic were "incensed" with Fegan, believing he was trying to convince the star center to leave. Fegan also leaked information from a meeting Magic executives held with Howard in July, a couple weeks before the blockbuster trade that sent Howard and Richardson out of Orlando.
Richardson said he wished he could have done more during his time in Orlando, Schmitz tweets. The Magic acquired him from the Suns in December of 2010, and his numbers took an immediate hit. He averaged 11.6 points and 3.6 rebounds with a 13.3 PER last year, all of which were career lows. His numbers of 13.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 13.2 PER in a partial season with Orlando in 2010/11 weren't much better.
Fegan recently made a move of his own, leaving Lagardère Unlimited to join Happy Walters at the newly created Relativity Sports agency. Walters represents Earl Clark, another of the players involved in the Howard trade. The other player the Magic unloaded in that deal, Chris Duhon, is represented by Kevin Bradbury and Bill Duffy. Al Harrington, whom the Magic got from Denver in the deal, is believed to be the only Fegan client on the Magic roster, according to RealGM.com.
Spurs Waive Tyler Wilkerson
The Spurs announced via press release that they've waived Tyler Wilkerson, bringing their roster down to 18 players. Wilkerson saw limited action in the team's first pair of preseason contests, averaging 2.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in 4.0 minutes per game.
The team officially inked Wilkerson to a non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract on the eve of training camp, but we heard in August that the team had extended him an invitation after being impressed by his performance for their summer league team. The 6'8" Marshall product put up 9.3 PPG and 5.0 in 20.7 MPG during four summer games.
San Antonio has 13 players with some sort of guarantee on their contracts, leaving Derrick Brown, Eddy Curry, Gary Neal, Josh Powell and Wesley Witherspoon to fight for the remaining spots, though the Spurs could choose to carry only 13 men in the regular season.