Pacific Notes: Thompson, Lakers, Vujacic
Warriors owner Peter Guber expressed regret Monday after sending an email that appeared to play on ethnic stereotypes, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports details. At least one team employee took offense, according to Spears. Hawks controlling owner Bruce Levenson is selling his stake in the Atlanta franchise after the discovery of an email he sent that contained racial overtones, and Hawks GM Danny Ferry is on indefinite leave of absence from the team after his racially charged comments. It remains to be seen if any such fallout with happen with Guber in the wake of the Donald Sterling scandal that touched off heightened awareness around the league. Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Extension-eligible Klay Thompson reiterated his desire to stay with the Warriors in comments to Michael Lee of The Washington Post, who notes Stephen Curry‘s verbal influence on the team’s decision to keep Thompson out of Kevin Love trade proposals. “It’s arguments either way if you make a move or what not, how your team is going to look and if it’s a good move or not,” Curry said to Lee. “Obviously, you know that other guy was pretty good, but when you have a core that’s continuing to get better, you got a lot of good chemistry, we fit together, it makes sense. And you want to fight for that. [Thompson is] nowhere near his ceiling.”
- The Lakers aren’t planning to apply to have Steve Nash‘s salary wiped from their cap based on a medical retirement, GM Mitch Kupchak told reporters Monday, as Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times notes (Twitter link). Nash hasn’t announced his retirement even though the 40-year-old is out for the season with nerve damage in his back. The team is instead applying for a Disabled Player Exception.
- Sasha Vujacic has signed with Spain’s Laboral Kuxta, the Euroleague announced. Sportando’s Enea Trapani first reported the move involving the eight-year NBA veteran who spent time last season with the Clippers on a 10-day contract. He’ll replace former Kings swingman Orlando Johnson, whom the team is letting go, according to Trapani.
Southwest Notes: Barea, Mavs, Pelicans, Cotton
The Rockets were the busiest Southwest team on roster cut-down day, waiving a total of five players to get down to 15. However, the Mavericks had an interesting day as well, deciding to waive reserve point guard Gal Mekel in hopes of reuniting with recently released J.J. Barea. Let’s see what else is going on in the Southwest tonight:
- As Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News writes, any team that wants to claim Mavericks-target Barea off waivers would need more than about $4.5MM in cap space, or a trade exception or disabled player exception of at least that size. Sefko mentions the rival Rockets as a team that might want to claim Barea but likely wouldn’t based on its lack of flexibility.
- The Mavericks tried to acquire Barea from the Wolves last season but the teams couldn’t come to an agreement, according to Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press (via Twitter).
- The Pelicans‘ desire to re-sign Omer Asik is a factor in the team declining to pick up the 2015/16 option on Austin Rivers, writes John Reid of the Times Picayune. Reid adds that with Eric Gordon likely to opt in to his $15.5MM salary for next season, New Orleans preferred the additional financial flexibility.
- Bryce Cotton, who was released by the Spurs last week, plans to sign with San Antonio’s D-League affiliate in the next few days, sources tell Jabari Young of Comcast Sports Northwest (via Twitter).
Jazz Signed, Then Waived Tre’ Bussey
MONDAY, 10:39pm: Bussey was indeed signed and then waived by the Jazz after working out with the team in Salt Lake City, reports Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (via Twitter). Genessy adds that the Idaho Stampede, Utah’s D-League affiliate, didn’t retain Bussey’s rights due to a complication, which is why he filed to enter the D-League draft. The Jazz signed him Thursday and waived him Friday, according to the RealGM transactions log.
SUNDAY, 2:15pm: Bussey never actually signed with the Jazz, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM, despite interest from Utah. However, he has filed to enter the D-League draft.
SATURDAY, 5:52pm: Although no team announcement was made regarding the signing of Tre’ Bussey, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets that the rookie has been waived. Three Eye Sports reported that Bussey was signed yesterday (on Twitter). It’s likely that Utah inked the Georgia Southern product with the sole intention of releasing him and securing his D-League rights.
In his senior year, Bussey averaged 16.2 PPG with a slash line of .457/.385/.662. The 22-year-old told Gino Pilato of DLeagueDigest.com earlier this month that he is hoping to develop an NBA-caliber game at point guard in the D-League.
Atlantic Notes: Nets, Knicks, Thomas
It’s been a busy Monday in the Atlantic division, with the Knicks and Sixers completing a trade and then promptly cutting both players involved. That wasn’t it for Philly, which added a forward before cutting two others. Meanwhile, the Celtics cut five players to get down to the required roster count of 15. With final rosters set, let’s see what else is going on in the Atlantic:
- After waiving Casper Ware on Saturday to get their roster down to 15, the Nets now have some flexibility with Jorge Gutierrez, Cory Jefferson and Jerome Jordan, none of whom have deals that become fully guaranteed until the leaguewide guarantee date in January, tweets Robert Windrem of Nets Daily. With opening-night rosters finalized, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News also points out that the Nets luxury tax bill of around $35MM for this season, as it stands now, pales in comparison to last season’s mammoth $90MM total (via Twitter).
- Knicks head coach Derek Fisher indicated that Travis Outlaw was suffering from an Achilles injury that hurt his chances of making the team, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Outlaw was traded to Philly earlier today, opening up a roster spot for Travis Wear, who the Knicks initially had planned to cut and send to the D-League, according to Berman.
- Sixers signee Malcolm Thomas was set to play in China and was ready to leave on Tuesday before Philly reached out to him over the weekend, notes Tom Moore of Calkins Media (via Twitter).
- Meanwhile, Max Rappaport of Sixers.com points out that the careers of Thomas and Sixers coach Brett Brown intersected in San Antonio in 2012, when Thomas appeared in three games with the Spurs. “He’s got a chance — really his first chance, in my opinion — to [get] minutes and [have] a role. He sees we’ve got a bunch of young guys he’s competing with, and he probably sees a lot more daylight than he may have with Utah, the Spurs, or Chicago,” Brown said.
Sixers Waive Travis Outlaw
The Sixers have waived Travis Outlaw, the team announced. Philadelphia acquired Outlaw from the Knicks earlier today along with a 2019 second-round pick and the right to swap 2018 second-rounders, all in exchange for Arnett Moultrie. News of Outlaw’s release was expected, as the Sixers needed to trim their roster to 15 by today’s afternoon deadline. The team also confirmed the releases of Marquis Teague and Elliot Williams within the same announcement.
Outlaw’s release is just the latest example of Philly GM Sam Hinkie using his team’s cap space to stockpile future assets, as the Sixers continue to pay no mind to the present. Believe it or not, Moultrie was the longest-tenured player on Philadelphia’s roster. Meanwhile, Outlaw hits free agency at age 30, 11 years after he was drafted in the first round of out high school by the Blazers. He has a career scoring mark of 8.5 points per game, but hasn’t averaged over 20 minutes of playing time since the 2010/11 season with the Nets. He is in line to collect $3MM from the Sixers this season provided he clears waivers.
Bucks Waive Micheal Eric
8:36pm: The release of Eric is official, the team announced.
4:32pm: The Bucks are waiving their non-guaranteed contract with Micheal Eric, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The team had been carrying 16 players, one over the regular season roster limit, so someone had to go. Milwaukee tried to find a way to accommodate the 26-year-old big man, but was simply unable to, according to Charania. He nonetheless seemed the likeliest cut, since he’s on a non-guaranteed contract, and the only other player without a fully guaranteed salary on the team is Kendall Marshall, who’ll likely play a large role this season.
Eric averaged 5.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in 14.9 minutes per game across four preseason appearances this month, the second time in three years he spent training camp with an NBA team. The first time was with the Cavs in 2012, but he saw significantly less playing time for Cleveland that October before hitting waivers. The former Temple Owl has spent much of his pro career in the D-League after going undrafted in 2012.
The native of Nigeria was one of only two camp invitees for the Bucks this year. Eric beat out Elijah Millsap and 2013/14 holdover Chris Wright to become the final contender for a spot on the regular season roster.
Sixers Waive Marquis Teague, Elliot Williams
8:31pm: The release of Teague and Williams is now official, the team announced.
4:21pm: The Sixers are waiving Marquis Teague and Elliot Williams, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Wojnarowski indicates the moves have already taken place, though the team has made no formal announcement. The Sixers faced a 4:00pm Central deadline to cut ties with at least three players to meet the league’s 15-man regular season roster limit, so it’s likely Teague and Williams are already on waivers. The same is probably true of Travis Outlaw, whom the team was reportedly likely to release just as it traded for him.
Teague had just arrived in Philadelphia via last week’s trade with the Nets. His salary of about $1.12MM is fully guaranteed for this season. He had a team option for about $2.023MM for 2015/16, but that option goes away once he clears waivers. It’s been a quick descent for the 29th pick from 2012, whom the Bulls sent to the Nets via trade last season. He’s averaged 2.3 points in 9.6 minutes per game for his career.
Williams was about to start season two of a four-year non-guaranteed contract, one that he’d signed after missing a year with a torn left Achilles tendon. The 22nd overall pick from 2010 was a rotation player for the Sixers last year, averaging 6.0 PPG in 17.3 MPG, but Philadelphia elected against bringing him back this year, even though the team’s roster is worse than last year’s.
The moves will leave the Sixers with just nine fully guaranteed contracts, plus a small partial guarantee to JaKarr Sampson. The team’s other five players are on non-guaranteed deals, leaving Philadelphia with plenty of flexibility and likely setting up more transactions.
Kings Work Out Terrence Williams
The Kings brought free agent Terrence Williams in for another workout today, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. Sacramento also had the former lottery pick in for an audition in late July, though we hadn’t since heard any rumblings until now. As our 2014/15 Expanded Roster Counts post shows, the Kings are one of three teams with a roster spot to spare as we get set to tip off the season tomorrow night (Chicago and Memphis are the two others). The team released guard Trey Johnson over the weekend.
While the Kings have a combination of upside and experience in both the backcourt and under the rim, the roster is riddled with uncertainty on the wing behind starter Rudy Gay. Omri Casspi and Derrick Williams figure to get the bulk of the time behind Gay for now, presenting an opportunity for the much-traveled Williams to join an NBA roster for the first time in nearly two years.
The Nets took Williams No. 11 overall out of Louisville in 2009 but traded him to Houston only 88 games into his NBA career. He landed with Sacramento a season later and spent 24 games with the Celtics in the 2012/13 season, which was the last time he played in the league. He’s averaged 7.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 153 NBA games. The forward spent much of last season with the Lakers D-League affiliate, where he averaged 20.5 points, 6.4 assists and 5.0 rebounds in 35.7 minutes per game. He has also played professionally in China, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Turkey.
Suns Pick Up Option On Miles Plumlee
The Suns have picked up their rookie scale team option on Miles Plumlee for the 2015/16 season, the team announced. The Duke product will make just over $2.109MM in his fourth season, as our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker shows. Phoenix also exercised rookie scale options on Archie Goodwin and Alex Len earlier today. Plumlee emerged as a pleasant surprise for the Suns last season after being acquired via trade from Indiana last July.
He started 79 times for the Phoenix and played 24.6 minutes per game, averaging 8.1 points and 7.8 boards while shooting nearly 52 percent from the field. He led the Suns in rebounding and blocks (1.13 per game). Plumlee was selected 26th overall in 2012 by the Pacers but only managed 3.9 minutes per game in his rookie season before coming to the desert as part of the package for Luis Scola. He figures to again be the primary starter at center this season for a Suns team with playoff aspirations.
Suns Pick Up Options On Len, Goodwin
6:45pm: The options for Len and Goodwin have officially been picked up, the team announced.
3:27pm: The Suns are picking up their rookie scale team options on Alex Len and Archie Goodwin for 2015/16, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter links). Charania indicates that the moves have already taken place, though the team has yet to make any formal announcement. Len will make more than $3.807MM and Goodwin more than $1.16MM next year, as our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker shows. The Suns also have decision due by Friday’s deadline on a rookie scale team option of more than $2.109MM for Miles Plumlee, but they’ll almost assuredly pick it up, too.
Len, the fifth pick in 2013, had a slow start to his rookie campaign last season as injury kept him from contributing much at first. He still wound up appearing in half the team’s games, averaging 2.1 points in 8.8 minutes per contest. Goodwin, the 29th overall pick in the same draft, saw similar playing time, and he also appeared in five games for Phoenix’s D-League affiliate.
Picking up the options for both would bring the Suns up to about $50.3MM in commitments for 2015/16, and Plumlee’s option would take that figure to roughly $52.4. That still leaves at least some flexibility beneath a projected $66.5MM salary cap.