Hamed Haddadi To Play In China
For the second time in the last week, China's Sichuan Blue Whales are set to add a notable ex-NBA player, having signed Hamed Haddadi, according to Mohammad Amin of Asia-Basket.com. Sichuan reportedly reached an agreement with former lottery pick Jonny Flynn as well.
Haddadi, 28, drew interest from the Knicks this summer, though the team ultimately decided to sign Cole Aldrich rather than Haddadi. The Iranian big man was said earlier this month to be weighing offers from NBA teams and Chinese clubs. By heading overseas, Haddadi figures to have more financial security — according to Amin, he'll earn about $1.3MM USD in China.
The Grizzlies and Raptors both included Haddadi in trades prior to the deadline last season, with the five-year veteran ultimately ending up in Phoenix. He finished the year strong, averaging 4.1 PPG and 5.1 RPG in just 13.8 MPG in 17 contests for the Suns. Back in early August, when I examined the remaining free agents with the best rebounding numbers, Haddadi ranked atop the list.
Haddadi's new team, the Sichuan Blue Whales, played in China's National Basketball League last season, but are reportedly set to be promoted to the Chinese Basketball Association for the coming year.
Eastern Links: Wizards, Pistons, Heat, Raps, Bulls
The Wizards have a number of option decisions due before the end of the month, and not all of them will be easy, as J. Michael of CSNWashington.com writes. Jan Vesely is coming off a disappointing year, and Chris Singleton has been sidelined by foot surgery, but president Ernie Grunfeld says the team already has a pretty good idea of where its players stand.
"We have a good feel for where [Singleton] is and what he brings to the table and it is an important year for these guys," Grunfeld said. "That's a decision we'll make at the appropriate time which will probably be at the end of [October]."
Here's more from around the East:
- Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News breaks down a few of the issues the Pistons need to address during training camp, including Brandon Jennings' fit, Greg Monroe's contract situation, and coaxing positive contributions out of Rodney Stuckey.
- The Heat had been hoping to bring in Rodrigue Beaubois "for an audition," but a wrist injury prevented it, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. It's not clear whether Miami would have invited Beaubois to camp or just had him in for a workout, but either way, the possibility doesn't seem to be on the table at the moment.
- In his latest mailbag, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel discusses the importance of a title for the Heat's potential 2014 free agents, and examines the possibility of a Joel Anthony trade.
- New GM Masai Ujiri is taking a patient approach to retooling the Raptors' roster, and tells Eric Koreen of the National Post that he hopes to eventually wake a "sleeping giant" in Toronto.
- The Bulls may not be the favorites to come out of the East, but there's certainly no shortage of talent and depth on the roster as Chicago prepares to open camp, says Sam Smith of Bulls.com. Smith also fields readers' questions in a mailbag.
Bulls Sign Dahntay Jones
10:23am: The Bulls have officially announced the signing of Jones and their five other camp invitees: Patrick Christopher, Mike James, , Kalin Lucas, Dexter Pittman, and D.J. White. The team's camp roster is now finalized, according to a press release.
9:04am: 10-year veteran Dahntay Jones has found an NBA home for at least the next few weeks, according to Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype.com, who hears from agent Mark Bartelstein that Jones will sign with the Bulls (Twitter link).
Jones, 32, has spent time with the Grizzlies, Kings, Nuggets, Pacers, Mavericks, and Hawks since being drafted 20th overall in 2003. He enjoyed his best run with the Pacers from 2009 to 2012, averaging 7.6 PPG and an 11.1 PER in three seasons with the team. In 2012/13, he played limited minutes in 78 total contests for Dallas and Atlanta, scoring 3.4 PPG and shooting just 36.9% from the floor, by far his worst mark since his rookie year.
The Bulls, who have traditionally been averse to paying tax penalties, are over the threshold this year, but may look to reduce their bill by carrying the minimum 13 players. In that case, there would likely only be one spot up for grabs for the team's camp invitees, since 11 players have guaranteed contracts, and rookie Erik Murphy has a $250K guarantee on his deal. That will make it an uphill battle for Jones to earn a regular-season roster spot, though his chances would increase if Chicago decided to carry 14 or 15 players.
Nets To Bring Gutierrez, Johnson, Forbes To Camp
As I noted a week ago when I looked at teams already carrying 15 or more guaranteed contracts, the Nets already have a full roster and likely won't be shaking it up before the season gets underway. Still, the team will bring a handful of camp invitees on board for the next few weeks. Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com reports (via Twitter) that Brooklyn has signed Jorge Gutierrez and Chris Johnson, while Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News tweets that Gary Forbes will also be in camp with the club.
Gutierrez, a 6'3" guard out of California, played 50 games for the D-League's Canton Charge last season, averaging 10.5 PPG and 4.7 APG. Johnson, not to be confused by the Chris Johnson who currently plays for the Timberwolves, is a 6'6" swingman out of Dayton who made his NBA debut for the Grizzlies last season, appearing in eight games with Memphis before the team decided to let his second 10-day contract expire.
As for Forbes, the 28-year-old spent two seasons in the NBA, playing for the Nuggets and Raptors from 2010 to 2012. In 111 career games, the 6'7" forward posted 5.8 PPG and 2.0 RPG to go along with a decent 12.4 PER in 13.5 minutes per contest. Forbes spent last season playing for China's Zhejiang Guangsha Lions, recording impressive averages of 28.4 PPG and 7.8 RPG in 27 games. He reportedly worked out for the Lakers and Knicks last month.
With no easy way onto the Nets roster for these three camp invitees, it's possible that one or more of them will ultimately end up playing for Brooklyn's D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor.
Clippers Sign JaMychal Green
Free agent power forward JaMychal Green will join the Clippers in training camp, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com, who tweets that Green has signed with the team. Green figures to compete for a regular-season roster spot with other bigs in camp, including Brandon Davies and Louis Amundson.
Green, an Alabama product, went undrafted last June, and joined the Spurs for training camp. When he didn't make San Antonio's regular-season roster, he joined the club's D-League affiliate, the Austin Toros. The 23-year-old appeared in 40 games for Austin, including 25 starts, and averaged 12.3 PPG and 8.1 in 24.2 minutes per contest for the season.
The Clippers are currently carrying 13 players on guaranteed contracts, leaving a couple roster spots potentially available for the likes of Green, Davies, Amundson, and Maalik Wayns.
Sixers Sign Hollis Thompson
The Sixers have added another player to their training camp roster, signing Hollis Thompson, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com (via Twitter). The addition of Thompson will bring the team's roster count to 18 players.
Thompson, 22, went undrafted out of Georgetown a year ago. He participated in camp with the Thunder, but was cut before the start of the season, and spent the year with OKC's D-League affiliate, the Tulsa 66ers. In 48 games with the 66ers, Thompson wasn't overly productive, averaging 8.1 PPG and 3.8 RPG to go along with .447/.288/.722 shooting.
Sixers camp is expected to be fairly wide open next month. With only 11 players on fully guaranteed contracts, there should be room for Thompson and other invitees to compete for roster spots.
Reactions To Knicks GM Change
Earlier today, we learned that the Knicks bumped Glen Grunwald as General Manager and brought Steve Mills back to the organization to take his place. The move came without any real warning and at this time, we still don't know what the motive was behind the decision. Here's the latest reaction to the news..
- The timing of the move appears to be illogical as Grunwald just completed the final transaction of the summer, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Meanwhile, coach Mike Woodson has a team option for 2014/15 and he no longer has the allegiance of Grunwald, his former college teammate at Indiana.
- Berman heard that Mills and team owner James Dolan were at the team practice facility today in Tarrytown to talk to the players about the move (Twitter link).
- After talking with Knicks insiders, Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report (on Twitter) believes that Allan Houston is being groomed as the next GM. The longtime Knicks guard is currently in their front office and is well-respected around the league.
- Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter) guesses that the GM change means that Houston will see an increased role in operations and Woodson has less job security than he did yesterday. In another piece, Begley wonders what this all means as far as Isiah Thomas' ties to the franchise and tries to make sense of why such a decision was made now.
- Keith Schlosser of Knicks Journal finds it strange that the team had moved so abruptly to replace Grunwald, especially since they aren't necessarily hiring someone who has proven to build a teams worthy of competing for an NBA title.
Eastern Notes: Bulls, Wizards, Hawks
K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune discusses the health of Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, Luol Deng's uncertain long-term future with the franchise, how Mike Dunleavy Jr. will look to mesh with the roster, and how Jimmy Butler will handle a move to starting shooting guard as five things to look at for the Bulls going into fall. Here's more out of the Eastern Conference tonight:
- Aggrey Sam of CSN Chicago (via Twitter) says that Chicago's official training camp roster is expected to be released tomorrow but doesn't expect Malcolm Thomas or Chris Wright to be on the list.
- Michael Lee of CSN Washington wonders if John Wall is ready to lead the Wizards to the playoffs, who will step up in the absence of Emeka Okafor, if Bradley Beal is primed for a breakout season, what to expect from Otto Porter, and the health of Nene as the team's top storylines heading into training camp.
- Hawks GM Danny Ferry wouldn't set a timeline for the return of Louis Williams (who is still recovering from reconstructive knee surgery), though he did say that the eighth-year guard has been playing one-on-one games and has had no restrictions in doing so. Ferry also appeared encouraged about what Dennis Schröder can contribute to the team now as a promising prospect and said that Lucas Nogueira and Mike Muscala still need to continue their development overseas (USA Today via the Associated Press).
- As Tom Layman of the Boston Herald points out, Celtics coach Brad Stevens will look toward Avery Bradley to be the team's floor general while they wait for the return of Rajon Rondo. In another piece, a handful of college coaches had positive comments for Stevens regarding how they believe he'll be able to transition to the NBA game (NBA.com via the Associated Press).
- With Steve Mills in place as the Knicks' newest GM, Yannis Koutroupis of Hoopsworld thinks that it will be important for Mills to start forming a strong relationship with Carmelo Anthony now, especially with the possibility that he could become a free agent this upcoming summer.
- Since arriving in New York City, Anthony has been able to build his brand and explore plenty of business opportunities, writes Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report. From the sound of it, Zwerling doesn't think that Anthony will be leaving New York anytime soon, even with an opt-out clause at the end of the season.
- Ian Begley of ESPN New York examines the orange and blue's current situation at small forward.
- With the rest of the NBA's power elite growing tired of the Heat's dominance, Sam Amick of USA Today delves into why the 2013/14 season could be Miami's toughest campaign for a title yet. Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times notes that the Bulls are especially eager to put a halt to the Heat's reign as the NBA's top dog.
Dwight On McHale, Health, Houston
Jason Friedman of Rockets.com sat down with Houston center Dwight Howard for a Q&A session earlier today. Here are some highlights from the transcript:
On his relationship and strong connection with head coach Kevin McHale:
I think Kevin sees a lot of potential in me and how I can grow as a player. I’m so excited to have him as my coach and just having the opportunity to really learn and grow from him. I’m just happy that he has more life than he’s had in a while. I think he’s very excited. Just watching him and just the few times I’ve been around him getting the chance to talk basketball and to share his past experiences with me, I really enjoy it.
How he feels now compared to last year's offseason, when he was still recovering from injuries:
I’m so much better. My body feels a lot better. The little aches and pains that I was having for the most part of last season are gone already. It’s going to continue to get better. I’m very excited. I’m excited about the possibilities of what I’ll be able to do this season because my body is so much healthier. It’s a big difference. Last year I couldn’t really move the way I’m used to moving until the end of the season. Some of my bounce is coming back. I’m so happy about that.
On the idea of playing pick-and-roll with James Harden and Jeremy Lin:
We’ve had a lot of conversations about it. The main thing that I tell any guard that I play with is that when I set the screen, attack that big. Make the defense make a decision. Make my man make a decision. If he’s going to stay with me, you’re going to get a dunk or a layup. If he leaves me, just throw it to the rim. We’ve talked about all of this. The biggest thing I tell those guys is that every time they get the ball in the pick-and-roll is to just be aggressive – it opens up the whole floor. I want to be aggressive in rolling, but there’s times where, the way that I set those guys up, it’s going to open up everything for everybody else. I’m going to get my shots.
People who know basketball understand the effects of a good screen-and-roll. It starts with the point guard, it goes on to the bigs and then the rest of the guys on the perimeter. So I’m looking forward to it.
On rediscovering his joy in Houston:
The last two years haven’t been easy. It was very tough to get through that, but storms don’t last forever. One thing that I allowed those situations to do to me was take my joy away. I can’t let that happen. These guys, especially these young guys, they’ve brought some life back to me. Just being in this city, the opportunities we have as a team and the things I feel like I can do for this community, it’s given me new life. I’m excited about it and just so full of joy to be able to get back to doing what I do, and doing it with joy.
Bucks Officially Sign Cadougan, Jones, Graham, Czyz
According to Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel, the Bucks have officially signed Junior Cadougan, Trey McKinney Jones, Stephen Graham, and Olek Czyz to non-guaranteed deals. We heard about the invitations of Cadougan, Jones, and Czyz earlier this month, although it should be noted that Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times had implied the training camp addition of Graham earlier this afternoon.
These signings will bring Milwaukee's training camp roster to 19, which is currently made up of 15 guaranteed and four non-guaranteed contracts.