Grizzlies Re-Sign Jon Leuer
JULT 15TH: The Grizzlies' re-signing of Leuer is now official, tweets Tillery.
JULY 2ND: Right on the heels of their extension agreement with Tony Allen, the Grizzlies have agreed to re-sign Jon Leuer, according to Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). It'll be a three-year, $3MM deal, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The 6'10" forward is a client of Mark Bartelstein, according to the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.
Leuer came to the Grizzlies in a trade with the Cavs back in January that sent Wayne Ellington, Josh Selby, Marreese Speights, and a future first-round pick to Cleveland. The 6'10" forward has moved around quite a bit over the course of his young career.
After being drafted by the Bucks heading into the lockout year, he signed up to play in Germany, but came back in time for the start of the 2011/12 season. The 2012 Samuel Dalembert draft night deal brought him to the Rockets, who waived him shortly thereafter, paving the way for him to hook up with Cleveland.
Leuer has averaged 3.7 PPG in ten minutes per contest over the last two years.
Hawks Sign Elton Brand
1:14pm: The Hawks have formally announced Brand's signing in a press release, making it official. The veteran's one-year pact with the team will be worth $4MM, reports Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. While that's an increase over the $2.1MM Dallas paid him last season, it's a significant pay cut from the $18MM+ overall salary he was earning after being amnestied by the Sixers.
12:20pm: The Hawks have reached an agreement on a one-year deal with Elton Brand, agent David Falk tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. Terms of the contract have yet to be reported, but Brand figures to sign for a portion of Atlanta's cap space, rather than the minimum salary.
Brand, 34, is coming off a season with the Mavericks in which he established new career-lows in a number of categories, including PPG (7.2) and RPG (6.0). Still, he remained relatively efficient (15.2 PER), and Falk tells HoopsHype that he believes his client could play another four or five years.
The Mavs were believed to be in the hunt for Brand, who also drew interest from the Knicks, Lakers, and Cavs, among other teams. For the Hawks, the former first overall pick becomes the latest addition to a revamped frontcourt that lost Josh Smith and Zaza Pachulia, but has gained Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll.
Jennings Not Interested In Playing For Bucks?
Now that the Hawks have matched Milwaukee's offer sheet for Jeff Teague, the Bucks are back in the market for a point guard, and the best one available remains under team control. However, according to Sean Deveney of the Sporting News, Brandon Jennings isn't interested in returning to Milwaukee to play for the Bucks next season.
There have been signals in the past that Jennings isn't enthusiastic about a long-term stay in Milwaukee, based on various comments he has made over the last couple years. It's possible he'd change his tune if he received a lucrative four-year offer from the Bucks, but so far it seems neither Milwaukee nor any other team has shown a willingness to match Jennings' asking price, which was reported to be $12MM annually.
The Bucks' one-year qualifying offer is still on the table for Jennings. He has indicated previously that he wouldn't rule out the possibility of signing that offer, rare an occurrence as it is. Doing so would mean he'd remain with the Bucks for another year, earning a $4.53MM salary, before hitting unrestricted free agency next summer.
When Tom Ziller of SBNation.com explored Jennings' options earlier today, he suggested that the free agent guard could accept his qualifying offer, get proactive in seeking a sign-and-trade destination, or consider playing in China for a season.
Grizzlies Re-Sign Tony Allen
JULY 15TH: The Grizzlies have officially announced Allen's new deal in a press release.
JULY 2ND: The Grizzlies have reached agreement on a contract extension with Tony Allen, according to Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal (via Twitter). The deal will pay Allen $20MM over four years, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
There were a number of teams gunning for Allen this summer, including the Nuggets, Mavericks, Knicks, Trail Blazers, Pacers, and Bucks. Allen's last contract paid him $9.45MM over three years, so this new deal gives the 31-year-old a solid raise coupled with security to take him through the 2016/17 season.
Allen has never been a tremendous scorer but he has blossomed into one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. The veteran made 79 starts for the Grizzlies last season and averaged 8.9 PPG with 4.6 RPG in 26.7 minutes per game, a career high.
Allen is represented by Raymond Brothers of I AM Sports, as shown in the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.
Kings Sign Carl Landry
JULY 15TH, 12:58pm: The Kings have officially signed Landry, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 6TH, 3:35pm: The value of Landry's deal has yet to be finalized, but it will be between $26MM and $27MM, and it will likely include a player option as well, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.com.
3:23pm: Carl Landry will sign with the Kings, agent Mark Bartelstein tells TNT's David Aldridge (Twitter link). The power forward will get a four-year, $26MM package, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The 29-year-old had been in serious talks with the Clippers, but it appears they were outbid, as Marc Stein notes on Twitter, pegging the value of Landry's deal at $27MM. Either way, the Clippers were limited to their mid-level exception, and the Kings were willing to surpass that.
Landry spent last season with the Warriors, but declined his $4MM player option. He said his first priority was to re-sign with Golden State, and even though the W's recent moves appear to have enabled the team to have the flexibility to re-sign him and Jarrett Jack, the prospect of a tidy raise appears to have been too tempting for Landry.
The Blazers and Bucks appeared to be in the mix as well, and Landry expected a half dozen teams to pursue him. The former second-round pick averaged 10.8 points and a career-high 6.0 rebounds this past season, but his value has shown up better in advanced metrics, as his career PER is 17.7, well above average.
The Kings had been angling for more expensive targets this summer, but withdrew their four-year, $56MM offer to Andre Iguodala, and gave up on retaining Tyreke Evans, sending the restricted free agent out in a sign-and-trade that netted Greivis Vasquez. The team could use the money it's saved on another complementary piece to go along with Landry.
Rockets Sign Robert Covington, B.J. Young
MONDAY, 12:11pm: The Rockets have officially announced the signings of both Covington and Young in a press release. Isaiah Canaan's signing was formally announced within the same release.
SUNDAY, 12:40pm: Robert Covington went undrafted out of Tennessee State last month, but he reportedly reached an agreement on a partially guaranteed two-year deal with the Rockets soon after the draft. It appears the deal has been finalized, as Covington tweets that he's signed his contract, and GM Daryl Morey also took to Twitter to welcome him to the team. Morey also welcomed former Arkansas point guard B.J. Young in the same tweet, though no official announcement has been made.
The 6'7" Covington averaged 17.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game as a senior last season for Tennessee State, which competes in the Ohio Valley Conference. The 22-year-old saw fewer minutes per outing for the Rockets summer league team in Orlando this past week, but he still managed 12.4 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 23.4 MPG.
The partial guarantee on Covington's deal is likely around $150K, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress noted when he broke the story of his agreement last month. Presumably, the full amount is equivalent to the minimum salary.
Eastern Notes: MWP, Rondo, Ariza, Jennings
As the third week of NBA free agency gets underway, let's round up a few items related to Eastern Conference teams….
- Agent Marc Cornstein confirms to Marc Berman of the New York Post that there's mutual interest between the Knicks and his client, Metta World Peace. World Peace and his reps are expected to weigh several options before making a decision.
- Celtics fans shouldn't have to worry about Rajon Rondo pulling a Ray Allen anytime soon. At his summer camp in Kentucky, Rondo declared that he "would never play for the Miami Heat" (link via WEEI.com).
- The players the Celtics acquired from the Nets in their blockbuster trade aren't as valuable as the draft picks involved, but MarShon Brooks could end up being a hidden gem, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com.
- With his free agency a year away, Wizards forward Trevor Ariza has signed with agent Rob Pelinka of Landmark Sports, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Ariza had previously been represented by David Lee.
- Tom Ziller of SBNation.com examines a few potential outcomes for Brandon Jennings' free agency, including accepting the Bucks' qualifying offer.
Pistons Sign Gigi Datome
JULY 15TH, 10:50am: The Pistons have officially signed Datome, according to the team's official Twitter feed.
JULY 9TH, 10:54am: Datome's deal with the Pistons will be for two years and $3.5MM, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). That means he'll be signed using either cap space or a portion of the team's room exception.
10:42am: Italian forward Luigi "Gigi" Datome has announced via Facebook that he has decided to sign with the Pistons (hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). It's not clear what the terms of the agreement are, but Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press says the news is "legit," and suggests a two-year deal is likely (Twitter links). Here's Datome's Facebook post, converted to English via Google Translate, so there may be a few details lost in translation:
"I decided to become a player for the Detroit Pistons. I think it may be the right place for me to make a quantum leap in my career and to fulfill the dream of a lifetime. I am very excited to join the group of players in Detroit. I want to thank my family, the President Toti, all Virtus Roma and with it his fans for their continued support and wish to Virtus the best for the future."
Datome, 25, has spent the last several seasons playing for Virtus Roma in Italy. In 48 games during the 2012/13 season, the small forward averaged 16.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and shot 51.5% from the field, earning MVP honors in the Italian League.
Even after reaching agreements with Josh Smith and Will Bynum, the Pistons should still have some room under the cap, so I'd expect Datome to be signed using a portion of that space, rather than on a minimum-salary deal.
Pistons Re-Sign Will Bynum
JULY 15TH: The Pistons have made the Bynum signing official, the club announced today on Twitter.
JULY 8TH: The Pistons are set to re-sign Will Bynum, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The deal is worth $5.75MM in total over two seasons, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com (via Twitter).
Earlier today, we learned that Detroit put an offer out to the point guard and it would appear that both sides decided to move quickly towards an agreement. The 30-year-old has spent the last five years of his career with the Pistons and is coming off of a season in which he averaged 9.8 PPG and 3.6 APG in 18.8 minutes per contest.
Detroit has been targeting a number of free agent point guards, including Bynum, Jose Calderon (who has signed with the Mavs), and Chauncey Billups. The Knicks were also eyeing Bynum, but they'll have to look elsewhere for a one guard.
Hoops Rumors’ 2013 Free Agent Tracker
If you haven't done so yet, be sure to check out Hoops Rumors' 2013 Free Agent Tracker. Using our tracker, you can quickly browse the offseason's contract agreements, sorting by team, position, contract length, total salary, and a handful of other variables.
For instance, if you want to see all the Clippers' summer signings, you can sort by team and find all of the club's free agent additions listed here. If you're curious to see how many players signed contracts of four years or more, you can sort by contract length and bring up that list right here.
A few additional notes on the tracker:
- Not all of the agreements listed in the tracker are finalized yet. As signings become official, we'll continue to update and modify the data as needed. This also means that many of the dollar figures listed in the tracker won't be 100% accurate yet.
- Contract amounts aren't necessarily fully guaranteed, and are based on what's been reported to date.
- A restricted free agent who has agreed to an offer sheet won't be listed as "signed" until his current team decides whether to match the offer. For instance, if Gary Neal were to sign an offer sheet with a rival team, he wouldn't be listed as "signed" until we heard whether or not the Spurs had matched the offer.
Our Free Agent Tracker can be found anytime on the right sidebar under "Hoops Rumors Features" or at the top of the page in the "Tools" menu. It will be updated throughout the offseason, so be sure to check back for the latest info. If you have any corrections, please let us know right here.