NOVEMBER 19TH: Buycks is set to work out for the Lakers, among other clubs, Pick reports (on Twitter).
NOVEMBER 12TH: There’s a strong chance that Buycks ends up in China, a source tells Pick (Twitter link).
NOVEMBER 9TH, 7:20pm: Buycks is also under consideration by the Grizzlies, who waived guard Kalin Lucas earlier today, David Pick of Eurobasket reports (Twitter link). No signing is imminent, Pick adds.
5:28pm: Buycks had attempted to get out of his contract with Valencia last week in order to land a deal with the Thunder or Pacers, Pick reports (Twitter links). Pick also adds that Buycks is talking with a few NBA teams, but the Lakers aren’t currently one of them.
1:54pm: Buycks and Valencia have officially parted ways, the team announced (translation via Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi).
NOVEMBER 7TH, 12:48pm: Dwight Buycks and his camp have reached a buyout agreement Valencia of Spain and are in discussions with the Lakers and Thunder, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. The Lakers had reportedly invited Buycks to training camp before he accepted a one-year deal with Valencia in July.
The 25-year-old point guard has put up 12.0 and 2.0 assists in a little more than 20 minutes per game in three Euroleague competition contests and 7.6 PPG and 1.4 APG in 16.6 MPG across all eight of Valencia’s games so far. Buycks earned a deal with the Raptors for last season after a breakout performance in the 2013 summer league, as Charania notes, but he made only 14 appearances, and Toronto waived him in July rather than guarantee his salary for another year.
The Thunder just signed Ish Smith to a non-guaranteed deal to become the club’s 16th player, an allowance the NBA has given them to offset their multitude of injuries. Oklahoma City is reportedly poised to seek a 17th player if Perry Jones III is to miss significant time, so perhaps Buycks is whom they’re targeting for that would-be opening.
Point guard is also an apparent need for the Lakers, who are without Steve Nash for the season. Ronnie Price has been seeing backup minutes on his non-guaranteed deal, but that deal becomes partially guaranteed if the Lakers don’t waive him by the end of November 15th. The Lakers have a similar arrangement with shooting guard Wayne Ellington, but all the rest of their contracts are guaranteed, and they haven’t received an allowance for a 16th player.