Jason Maxiell agreed to join the Hornets knowing that the team envisions him in a capacity more similar to the reduced role he played for the Magic last year than to the 71-start campaign he had with the Pistons in 2012/13, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer examines.
“It’s both maturing in life and maturing in basketball,” Maxiell said. “Respect your coach, your owner and your teammates, and help the other guys to understand this is a career. It’s not just playing basketball, it’s getting to a place where you can do other things after basketball.”
The pressure’s on the 31-year-old to make an impression this month, since he has a non-guaranteed deal. Here’s more from around the league:
- Doc Rivers admits that the Clippers have a greater need at point guard, a position that Jared Cunningham can play, than at the forwards, Joe Ingles‘ positions, but Rivers insists that he won’t necessarily make a decision on the final regular season roster based on that. Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times has the details.
- The contracts of Thunder camp invitees Lance Thomas, Michael Jenkins, Richard Solomon and Talib Zanna are all non-guaranteed for the minimum salary and cover just one season, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). All four fit the criteria for Exhibit 9 Contracts that would keep the Thunder from paying them if they’re injured during camp, but it’s unclear whether any of them agreed to such a deal.
- Championship dreams led Aaron Brooks to sign for just the minimum salary when he joined the Bulls, as he tells Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders. Former Bulls and fellow Seattle natives Nate Robinson and Jamal Crawford gave Brooks full-throated endorsements of the organization, as Brooks says to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link).
- Agent Charles Briscoe is joining forces with NFL agent Joby Branion to form Vanguard Sports Group, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. Our Agency Database shows that Briscoe, who formerly operated through Briscoe Sports Management, represents Archie Goodwin and Joe Jackson of the Suns, Xavier Silas of the Wizards, and Junior Cadougan, who was briefly with the Bucks last fall.