Heat Sign Michael Beasley
Three years after the Heat parted ways with their 2008 lottery pick, Michael Beasley is headed back to Miami. The Heat announced today (Twitter link) that Beasley has signed with the team, following his release from the Suns.
It won't cost the Heat anything to roll the dice on Beasley, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, who hears that the 24-year-old has agreed to a non-guaranteed, make-good contract. The source adds that the club considers the fall audition to be no-risk, and worth the gamble, according to Winderman.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported over the weekend that Miami was weighing the possibility of signing Beasley. Team sources shot down the rumor to multiple local beat reporters, but it appears that was a smoke-screen, or the club either reconsidered its stance.
The second overall pick in the 2008 draft, Beasley had the least productive year of his career in 2012/13, setting career-lows in PPG (10.1), RPG (3.8), and FG% (.405), among other categories. It also marked the fifth straight season that his PER has declined, from 17.2 in his rookie year to 10.8 in '12/13.
The general consensus among NBA fans and observers suggests Beasley still has plenty of talent, which could shine through if he can get his off-court issues under control. As Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com wrote earlier today at SBNation.com though, there hasn't been a whole lot of evidence recently to suggest that the Kansas State product can be an above-average NBA contributor. Perhaps reuniting with Erik Spoelstra and Dwyane Wade in Miami will help Beasley to deliver on the promise he showed as a Wildcat.
The Heat currently have 13 players on guaranteed contracts, and have suggested there's a decent chance their regular-season roster won't include additional players. Still, Beasley becomes the fourth player the club will bring to camp on a non-guaranteed contract, so the team certainly figures to consider its options next month for those last two roster spots.
Odds & Ends: Bulls, Beasley, Heat, Cavaliers
Let's round up a few Wednesday odds and ends from around the NBA….
- The Bulls have some good assets in the pipeline, such as Nikola Mirotic, a Bobcats first-round pick, and the opportunity to clear some cap space next summer. Nonetheless, this year's roster may provide Chicago its best chance at a title over the next few years, says Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com, wondering if 2013/14 will be the current core's final run.
- Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times explores a similar topic, writing that the Bulls' apparent willingness to let Luol Deng hit unrestricted free agency in 2014 indicates the team may have its eye on other targets.
- As teams consider whether to take a flier on free agent Michael Beasley, Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com cautions that Beasley's potential and talent may have been overstated. The troubled forward hasn't been effective since he played at Kansas State and has regressed in each of his NBA seasons, says Deeks.
- Due to increasing tax penalties, many NBA teams, including the Heat, figure to be less inclined to carry the maximum 15 players this season, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel in his latest mailbag.
- In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Amin Elhassan lists the top 30 potential free agents of 2014, ranked in order of their expected average annual salary.
- The Cavaliers officially announced today that Steve Hetzel will coach the team's D-League affiliate, the Canton Charge.
Knicks Sign Toure Murry
SEPTEMBER 11TH: The Knicks have officially announced (Twitter link) the signing of Murry, as well as the signing of Chris Smith, whose deal was reported last month. Both deals are fully non-guaranteed, per Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).
SEPTEMBER 5TH: According to ESPN's Marc Stein, Knicks summer league standout Toure Murry has accepted a training camp invite with New York after a strong late push from the Heat. Despite Miami's efforts to bring the former D-Leaguer on board for camp, Murry is said to have wanted the opportunity to build upon his summer success with the Knicks. With 12 guaranteed contracts, two partially-guaranteed contracts (Jeremy Tyler and C.J. Leslie), and what is most likely a non-guaranteed pact for Murry, New York's roster now stands at 15.
In five games and two starts for the Knicks in the Las Vegas Summer League, the 6'5 guard averaged 7.6 PPG and 1.2 SPG in 20.8 MPG, stringing along a shooting line of .424/.333/.727. Murry also played in the NBDL during 2012/13, appearing in four games as a member of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Back in mid-July, ESPN New York's Jared Zwerling (via Twitter) noted head coach Mike Woodson's interest in the 23-year-old point guard: "He's a guy that we've really got to keep our eyes on possibly bringing to camp."
Interestingly enough, Stein writes that the Houston native had garnered acclaim from former Knicks star and current broadcaster Walt Frazier for his hard-nosed play and defensive presence over the summer, adding that Frazier's high praise had factored into convincing Murry to try and make New York's roster.
Pacific Notes: Buss, Lakers, Nunnally, Kings
Many Lakers fans have been skeptical about executive vice president Jim Buss assuming a decision-making role in the organization previously held by his late father, Jerry Buss. But Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes that Jim had gained the trust of his father, and that the two men worked together in making decisions like the hiring of Mike D'Antoni, who they felt was a better fit than Phil Jackson. Shelburne's piece includes plenty of interesting tidbits and quotes from Buss, who adds that he'd be "all for it" if Jackson wanted to work with the Lakers on a consultant basis.
Here's more from around the Pacific Division:
- In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Bradford Doolittle proposes a few steps for rebuilding the Lakers, including re-signing Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol next summer, trading Steve Nash, and keeping their 2014 first-round pick.
- Sources indicate to Henry Abbott of ESPN.com that the Lakers could have trouble attracting impact free agents next summer, in part because it's not clear how much cap space the team will have, and in part because of Kobe's reputation as a difficult teammate.
- Yesterday, we heard that free agent swingman James Nunnally would work out for the Spurs and Jazz. Today, Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside adds a couple more teams to the mix, writing that Nunnally will also audition for the Suns, as well as the Pelicans, in the hopes of earning a camp invite.
- Without the petition signatures that Chris Hansen's money was able to buy, there's not much momentum left for the anti-arena effort in Sacramento, according to Marcos Breton of the Sacramento Bee.
How Agencies Fared In Free Agency (Part 1)
NBA agents work to represent the best interests of their clients all year round, but those agents really earn their money – including a nice commission – during free agency. Not many players will earn maximum-salary contracts like Chris Paul and Dwight Howard, so an agency that squeezes out a couple extra million dollars or an extra guaranteed year in negotiations can make a huge difference for a client.
Based on the data in our 2013 free agent tracker, well over 100 players signed contracts with NBA teams that included at least a partial guarantee. By cross-referencing those contract figures with the information in our agency database, we can get an idea of which agencies fared this best this summer, and determine whether certain reps have developed similar negotiating habits for multiple clients.
A few caveats before we dive into the breakdown:
- The info in our free agent tracker is based on contract details that have been reported to date. In some cases, a player has been said to have a partial guarantee on his contract, but we haven't heard specifics on how big that guarantee is. If those details have yet to be reported, we're excluding those players from our calculations, and considering them to be non-guaranteed for now. That includes guys like Ronnie Brewer, Lance Thomas, Trent Lockett, Richard Howell, and Rodney Williams, among others.
- Players who signed overseas, players believed to have accepted non-guaranteed camp invites, and draft picks who signed deals with NBA teams aren't included in this summary. That means, for our purposes, BDA Sports won't get credit for Luke Babbitt's deal in Russia (an international signing), Wasserman Media won't get credit for Fab Melo's deal with the Mavs (reportedly a non-guaranteed camp invite), and Relativity Sports won't get credit for Nick Calathes' deal with the Grizzlies (Memphis held Calathes' draft rights, rather than signing him as a free agent).
- Our overall figures for each agency are based on guaranteed salary, which doesn't include team options, but does include player options and early termination options, since the player is guaranteed that money if he chooses to accept it. The figures in our tracker are also rounded to the nearest thousand, so our totals may not be accurate down to the dollar, but they're very close.
- There are a small handful of 2013 signees whose agents we have yet to confirm, but those guys all signed minimum-salary contracts, so their absence won't have a significant impact our totals.
Without further ado, here's a look at the first 10 agencies to secure guaranteed NBA deals for multiple NBA clients this offseason. Part two of our feature, which will include the summer's top eight agencies, will be published tomorrow.
Agency: Impact Sports Basketball
Notable deals: Jeff Pendergraph, Spurs (2/$3.579MM); Donald Sloan, Pacers (2/$1.832MM)
Overall guaranteed money: $5.411MM
Their overall total may not show it, but Impact Sports did a nice job in free agency this season, securing multiyear guarantees for a couple of players that don't figure to be cracking an NBA team's starting lineup anytime soon. In addition to finding deals for Pendergraph and Sloan, the agency also secured camp invites for clients like Dexter Pittman and Michael Snaer.
Agency: Pinnacle Management Corp.
Notable deals: Samuel Dalembert, Mavericks (2/$5.5MM); Metta World Peace, Knicks (2/$3.255MM)
Overall guaranteed money: $10.027MM
The Knicks are known for having a handful of CAA clients on their roster, but it's worth noting that two Pinnacle clients (World Peace and Beno Udrih) took discounts to join the club this summer. That may merely be a coincidence, considering both players talked about how much they wanted to play in New York, but it's interesting nonetheless.
Agency: Falk Associates Management Enterprises
Notable deals: Gary Neal, Bucks (2/$6.5MM); Elton Brand, Hawks (1/$4MM)
Overall guaranteed money: $12.1MM
David Falk might not be the same super-agent he was a decade or two ago, but he and his agency are still doing solid work around the edges. This summer's deals for Neal, Brand, and Toney Douglas are all fully guaranteed, with Brand and Douglas landing slightly larger salaries than I would've predicted. FAME also convinced the Spurs to withdraw their qualifying offer to Neal, opening up the market for him a little.
Agency: Goodwin Sports Management
Notable deals: Matt Barnes, Clippers (3/$7.646MM); Nate Robinson, Nuggets (2/$4.123MM)
Overall guaranteed money: $14.352MM
Goodwin Sports only has a handful of current NBA players on its roster, so this was an eventful offseason for the agency, and the results were something of a mixed bag. I was surprised that Robinson couldn't score a slightly larger payday, but landing Francisco Garcia a deal with a second-year player option was impressive, after he underperformed on his last contract. Goodwin negotiated a second-year player option for Robinson as well, so both he and Garcia will have the opportunity to explore free agency again next summer.
Agency: Interperformances
Notable deals: Manu Ginobili, Spurs (2/$14.5MM), Reggie Williams (2/$474K)
Overall guaranteed money: $14.974MM
Luol Deng and the Bulls explored a possible contract extension this summer, but Ginobili's negotiations with the Spurs likely remained the top priority for Herb Rudoy and Interperformances. Despite the fact that Ginobili will take a significant pay cut when it comes to annual salary, the agency still did well to get him a $14.5MM guarantee — given Manu's declining production and health concerns, a contract worth around mid-level money wouldn't have been a surprise.
Agency: Vartanian/Simmons Sports Management
Notable deals: Paul Millsap, Hawks (2/$19MM)
Overall guaranteed money: $19MM
The first of two agencies on our list that didn't actually have multiple NBA clients sign guaranteed deals this summer, Vartanian/Simmons had to be included for representing one of the league's marquee free agents. Still, Millsap's pact with the Hawks is generally viewed as one of the more team-friendly contracts of the offseason. Perhaps Millsap was so enamored of Atlanta's pitch that he didn't feel the need to shop around further, but it's hard to believe another team wouldn't have topped the Hawks' offer.
Agency: IAM Sports & Entertainment
Notable deals: Tony Allen, Grizzlies (4/$20MM); Al-Farouq Aminu, Pelicans (1/$3.75MM)
Overall guaranteed money: $23.75MM
Raymond Brothers and IAM Sports locked up one of the jewels of the 2013 draft by signing Victor Oladipo, but July wasn't overly active for the agency. Allen and Aminu both re-signed with their previous teams, and in my opinion, the years and dollars for both players are pretty fair.
Agency: Williams & Connolly
Notable deals: Zaza Pachulia, Bucks (3/$15.6MM); Brandan Wright, Mavericks (2/$10MM)
Overall guaranteed money: $25.6MM
Free agency perhaps wasn't quite as dramatic this time around for Williams & Connolly, who also represent players like Ray Allen and Jeremy Lin. Allen's and Lin's free agencies last summer resulted in wars of words between the Heat and Celtics, and Knicks and Rockets, but Pachulia and Wright signed fairly quietly. In any case, I like both deals for the agency — Pachulia in particular seems a little overvalued at $5MM+ per year, so Williams & Connolly did well to get all three years guaranteed.
Agency: BDA Sports Management
Notable deals: Chase Budinger, Timberwolves (3/$15MM); Josh McRoberts, Bobcats (2/$5.423MM)
Overall guaranteed money: $31.071MM
No team in part one of this feature had nearly as many clients sign at least partially-guaranteed deals as BDA, who had eight by our count. There isn't a marquee name among BDA's group — Budinger is the only player to receive a guarantee worth more than McRoberts' $5.423MM. But BDA made sure plenty of players, all the way down to guys like Ian Clark and Matthew Dellavedova, received at least a partial guarantee.
The most curious case here was Greg Oden's. BDA negotiated player options for several of their other players, including Budinger, McRoberts, and Darren Collison, so it's odd that Oden didn't ultimately get the second-year option he was initially reported as having. That suggests to me that the former first overall pick badly wanted to play for the Heat, giving the team leverage to make a smaller offer (in both years and dollars) than other suitors might have.
Agency: Octagon Sports
Notable deals: David West, Pacers (3/$36.6MM)
Overall guaranteed money: $36.6MM
Like Vartanian/Simmons, Octagon represented only one big-name free agent this summer, negotiating a new three-year deal in Indiana for West. While it wasn't necessarily the busiest summer for the agency, the coming season could make up for that. Jimmer Fredette, Kendall Marshall, and Rudy Gay are among the Octagon clients whose names may surface in trade rumors before February's deadline.
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Cameron Jones Accepts Warriors’ Camp Invite
Free agent guard Cameron Jones will attend training camp with the Warriors next month, according to Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside. The nature of Jones' agreement with Golden State isn't known, but presumably he'll sign a non-guaranteed camp deal.
Jones, 24, has played in the D-League the last two seasons, and was a member of Golden State's affiliate in Santa Cruz in 2012/13. Referred to as the "best-kept secret in the D-League" by Warriors assistant GM Kirk Lacob, Jones averaged 12.6 PPG in 50 D-League contests last season. The Northern Arizona product helped lead Santa Cruz to the D-League Finals, and played for the Warriors' squad that won the Summer League championship in Las Vegas in July.
In addition to the 12 players they have on guaranteed contracts, the Warriors will also bring Kent Bazemore, DeWayne Dedmon, and Seth Curry to camp along with Jones. Bazemore has a partially guaranteed deal and is a strong bet to earn one of the three open regular-season roster spots, while Dedmon is also believed to have a partial guarantee on his deal. 2012 draft pick Ognjen Kuzmic is expected to join the club in camp as well, though that has yet to be officially confirmed.
Poll: Should The Bulls Re-Sign Luol Deng?
Earlier today it was reported that the Bulls and Luol Deng have stalled in negotiating a contract extension, suggesting it's a realistic possibility that the 28-year-old two-time All-Star will move onto another team once his contract expires after this season. Should the team let Deng walk? Or should they make sure he spends the rest of his prime in Chicago?
Should The Bulls Re-Sign Luol Deng?
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Yes 52% (406)
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No 48% (376)
Total votes: 782
Odds & Ends: Heat, Nash, Sixers
A few random notes from around the league.
- The Heat have told agents they may be content keeping the 13 guaranteed contracts they already have on their roster, rather than adding more players for the season, according to a tweet from the South Florida Sun Sentinel's Ira Winderman.
- InsideSoCal.com's Mark Medina breaks down Steve Nash as starting point guard for the Lakers this season and what the team should expect—specifically related to his place on the depth chart and whether he can stay healthy.
- Brandon Williams has accepted a job with the Sixers beneath general manager Sam Hinkie, according to a tweet from Grantland.com's Zach Lowe. Williams previously worked in basketball operations for the league.
Southwest Notes: Nunnally, Najera, Nowitzki
A few notes from around the Southwest division.
- According to RidiculousUpside.com's Keith Schlosser, James Nunnally, who spent last season playing for the Bakersfield Jam, will work out for several teams including the Spurs and Jazz.
- Former NBA player Eduardo Najera added general manager to his job title with the Texas Legends, along with head coach of the Mavericks' D-League affiliate, according to a tweet from Yahoo! NBA reporter Marc J. Spears.
- According to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki says he won't rule out participating in the 2016 Olympic games, competing for his native Germany.