Hornets Sign Marvin Williams
JULY 21ST: Williams and the Hornets have made the deal official, the team announced via press release.
“He will be a key piece of our frontcourt rotation with his versatility and ability to play both forward positions,” Hornets GM Rich Cho said.
JULY 12TH: Marvin Williams has agreed to a two-year, $14MM deal with the Hornets, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The team had shown steady interest in the forward throughout free agency, but negotiations were paused while the team awaited Utah’s decision to match their offer for restricted free agent Gordon Hayward. The contract doesn’t represent a raise from Williams’ five-year, $37.5MM deal that just expired in Utah, but he did fair better than the $3MM-$6MM range we gauged from similar players in our Free Agent Stock Watch profile of Williams.
Williams had drawn interest from several teams, and the Jazz were reportedly looking to bring him back to Utah. The Jazz valued the 28-year-old enough to reject a trade that offered a first round pick in exchange for the veteran this past season. The veteran will land with his third NBA team in his tenth season, replacing Charlotte’s starting power forward Josh McRoberts, who left for Miami as a free agent.
The Tandem Sports & Entertainment client performed at or below his career averages in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals last season, but made a career-high 1.3 three-pointers per game at a 35.9% rate. The No. 2 pick from the 2005 draft hasn’t lived up to expectations since turning pro, but has established himself as a solid contributor across multiple categories. He will look to experience more team success with a Charlotte club that made the playoffs last season, something the Jazz haven’t accomplished since acquiring Williams from the Hawks in 2012.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
And-Ones: Love, Wiggins, Sterlings, Durant
The Cavs aren’t dangling Andrew Wiggins in trade talks with the Wolves about Kevin Love, at least for the time being, a source tells Bob Finnan of The News-Herald, who was the first to report last week that Cleveland was open to the idea of parting with Wiggins. So, while no one involved would guarantee Finnan that Wiggins wouldn’t wind up in a Love deal, it sounds like that idea is on the backburner for now. Here’s more from around the Association:
- Testimony has resumed today in the probate trial between Clippers owners Donald and Shelly Sterling after the judge made a pair of decisions Friday that appear to help Shelly Sterling’s case, as USA Today’s David Leon Moore details. The judge has the power to allow Shelly Sterling to go forward with her sale of the Clippers to Steve Ballmer, if he rules in her favor, even if Donald Sterling decides to appeal, according to Moore.
- A member of the players association’s executive committee told TNT’s David Aldridge that the union will discuss the idea of taking action should the Sterlings continue to own the Clippers at the start of next season, as Aldridge writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com.
- Thunder assistant coach Brian Keefe, whom Knicks head coach Derek Fisher has reportedly lured to serve as a Knicks assistant, was the member of the Oklahoma City staff whom Kevin Durant trusted the most, Aldridge notes in the same piece.
- A source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that Knicks GM Steve Mills recently pulled his name from contention for the union’s executive director vacancy. Mills re-emerged as a candidate this spring after having been the apparent front-runner last summer prior to taking the Knicks job.
- The final two seasons of the four-year contract between Devin Harris and the Mavs are a little more lucrative than previously reported. He’ll make nearly $4.728MM in year three and nearly $4.903MM in the final season, which is partially guaranteed for almost $1.34MM, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports details on his Mavs salary page.
Bulls Re-Sign Kirk Hinrich
JULY 21ST: Hinrich and the Bulls have made the deal official, the team announced.
“Kirk has always been a big part of creating the professional culture we want day in, day out surrounding our club,” Bulls GM Gar Forman said in the team’s statement. “He helps our team in so many ways, and Kirk had other opportunities elsewhere, but we are very happy he chose to remain in a Bulls uniform.”
JULY 13TH: 8:14pm: David Aldridge of NBA.com (on Twitter) has the specifics. It’s a two-year, $5.6MM deal using the room exception and it includes a player option on year two.
4:06pm: The Bulls are set to re-sign Kirk Hinrich, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com (on Twitter). The deal is more than the veteran’s minimum but less than he was offered elsewhere, according Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com (on Twitter). The Hornets and Jazz were among Hinrich’s other suitors.
Earlier today, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter) reported that even though the Hornets have been pursuing Hinrich, the belief was that he’d still wind up back in Chicago.
In 73 games (61 starts) last season for the Bulls, Hinrich averaged 9.1 PPG and 3.9 APG in 29 minutes per contest. Hinrich has put up a 10.8 PER over the last two seasons, a far cry from the 17.0 PER he put up in his best season for the Bulls (2006-07).
Spurs Re-Sign Matt Bonner
JULY 21ST: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
JULY 13TH: 4:40pm: It’s a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.
4:17pm: Matt Bonner sent a text to Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News (on Twitter) saying, “I’m coming back.” Presumably, this means that Bonner has re-signed with the defending world champions.
There has been mutual interest in a reunion between the Spurs and Bonner and little talk of another team making a run at the forward. The Red Rocket has spent the last eight seasons with the Spurs, averaging 5.9 PPG and 3.2 RPG in silver and black. Last season, Bonner averaged 3.2 PPG and 2.1 RPG in 11.3 minutes per contest, the least amount of playing time he’s seen in his NBA career.
Bulls Sign Cameron Bairstow
The Bulls have signed Cameron Bairstow, whom they selected with the 49th overall pick in last month’s draft, the team announced via press release. The terms of his contract are unclear, but a report last week indicated that the team had made a three-year offer to the former New Mexico big man.
“We like Cameron’s combination as a player with his size, energy and physicality,” Bulls GM Gar Forman said in the team’s statement. “He is a hard worker who will only get better with time.”
The 6’10” Bairstow saw a vastly enhanced role with New Mexico in his senior year this past season, averaging 20.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in 32.9 minutes per game. It was the first time he’d posted a double-digit scoring average in his four years with the Lobos, who fed him nearly twice as many shot attempts during his senior season as they did when he was a junior.
It’ll almost certainly be a minimum-salary contract, since the Bulls have very nearly exhausted their cap room.
Suns Sign Anthony Tolliver
JULY 21ST: The deal is official, the team announced on its website.
“Anthony is a great fit for our style of play,” GM Ryan McDonough said. “His shooting, professionalism and leadership will help us as we try to continue to build a strong foundation going forward.”
JULY 16TH: 10:03am: Each season is worth $3MM, but only $400K of Tolliver’s salary is guaranteed in the second season, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. In any case, a full $3MM salary for 2014/15 means the club will have to use cap space on him, rather than the room exception.
8:34am: The Suns and forward Anthony Tolliver have agreed on a two-year, $6MM deal, agent Larry Fox confirmed to Shams Charania of RealGM. Phoenix beats the Clippers, Cavs, Pistons, Spurs, Wizards and the incumbent Hornets, all of whom apparently had serious discussions with the 29-year-old who was coming off career-high 41.3% accuracy from three-point range last season.
Tolliver averaged 6.1 points in 20.3 minutes per game for Charlotte in 2013/14, though he wasn’t much of a factor in the team’s four-game ouster in the first-round of the playoffs, totaling just 21 minutes for the entire series. The Hornets renounced his Bird rights last week, but they still had the means to re-sign him using cap space, at least until they came to their deal with Lance Stephenson.
Phoenix is likely using cap space on Tolliver, though it’s possible that the Suns could squeeze him into the $2.732MM room exception, depending on the timing of the official signing, if the precise figures in his contract add up to slighly less than $6MM. In any case, Tolliver, who went undrafted in 2007, is in line for the highest salary of his career, per Basketball-Reference.
Heat, Pacers Interested In Chris Singleton
The Heat and Pacers are among the teams who’ve shown interest in free agent combo forward Chris Singleton, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The Wizards declined their fourth-year option last fall on their rookie scale contract with the former 18th overall pick, setting him up for unrestricted free agency this summer.
The 24-year-old has seen his minutes decline sharply each year following his rookie season, from a high of 21.7 per game when he started 51 games in the lockout-shortened 2011/12 campaign to just 10.0 per contest this past season. He notched 3.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and shot 36.8 from three-point range when he did see the court in 2013/14, and his 8.8 PER, while unimpressive, was a career high.
Neither Miami nor Indiana can shell out more than the minimum salary for the client of BDA Sports Management, though by the looks of Spears’ report, it seems there are other NBA clubs with interest who haven’t been identified. It’s nonetheless doubtful that they’d go above the minimum even if they could for the one-time heralded prospect who’s yet to find his way in the NBA.
Pacers Sign Rodney Stuckey
JULY 21ST: The Pacers and Stuckey have made the deal official, the team announced via press release.
“Rodney is a very talented player who can create and score in a variety of ways,” Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said in the team’s statement. “We’re very happy to get a player with his experience and who has made it very clear of his desire to win.”
JULY 16TH: 8:49pm: The contract will be for the veteran’s minimum, tweets Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star.
7:09pm: The Pacers and Rodney Stuckey have reached agreement on a one-year contract, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (on Twitter). Indiana quickly targeted Stuckey after incumbent shooting guard Lance Stephenson departed for the Hornets earlier today. Terms of the deal aren’t known yet. Indiana cannot offer more than the veteran’s minimum unless a sign-and-trade can be worked out with Detroit.
Stuckey will move on from the Pistons, where he spent the first seven years of his career. His per-game scoring average of 13.9 in 2013/14 is comparable to that of Stephenson, but the latter’s playmaking ability far exceeds Stuckey’s, who racked up considerably fewer assists and rebounds in Detroit. Still, the Creative Artists Agency client will look to carve out a significant role within the Pacers offense, where they have been short on scoring firepower during a dominant defensive run.
Mavs Sign Richard Jefferson
JULY 21ST: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
JULY 13TH: Free agent Richard Jefferson is finalizing a one-year deal with the Mavericks, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). RJ’s deal is for the veteran’s minimum, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein (on Twitter).
Jefferson, 34, spent last season with the Jazz and averaged 10.1 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 27 minutes per contest. Jefferson isn’t quite the player that he was during his Nets heyday, but the Mavs are getting a solid veteran piece for next to nothing.
While he won’t be making big bucks this season, RJ has plenty of money already in the bank. According to Basketball-Reference, Jefferson has earned nearly $107MM over the course of his career.
D-League President Dan Reed Resigns
D-League president Dan Reed has stepped down from his post to take a job with Facebook, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Harvard Business School grad had been with the NBA or the D-League in some form or fashion since 2004, and had overseen the D-League for the past seven years. It’s unclear if the NBA has plans to immediately name a replacement or an interim chief for the 18-team minor league.
Only one team in the D-League had a one-to-one affiliation with an NBA franchise when Reed took over in 2007, and now there’s only one club without such an arrangement for 2014/15. Figuring out how to have the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the lone team without a direct partnership, serve 13 NBA clubs this coming season will be an immediate challenge for whomever assumes the job in Reed’s place.
Reed served as the NBA’s Senior Director of Team Marketing and Business Operations before he moved into the role of D-League president. He succeeded Phil Evans, who had held the D-League presidency since 2002, a year after the league’s inception.