Celtics Sign Andre Dawkins To Second 10-Day
MONDAY, 3:35pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
SUNDAY, 3:15pm: Andre Dawkins told A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com (on Twitter) that he will be signing another 10-day deal with the Celtics. Dawkins’ first 10-day deal expires today.
Dawkins spent the bulk of this 10-day stint in the D-League, though he was recalled briefly to join Boston for a practice a few days ago and he was also brought back to the team earlier today. The 23-year-old was waived by the Heat in January as they opted not to guarantee his rookie minimum salary for the season.
Miami was reportedly interested in bringing back the John Spencer client on a 10-day contract at some point this season, but the Celtics ostensibly beat them to the punch. The former Duke Blue Devil went undrafted this summer, but he joined the Rockets and Heat for summer league and made Miami’s opening-night roster out of training camp. In four games with Miami, Dawkins played a grand total of 22 minutes.
Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (on Twitter) first reported that a second 10-day deal for Dawkins was expected.
Grizzlies Sign JaMychal Green To 10-Day Pact
MONDAY, 3:31pm: The signing of Green is official, Memphis announced via press release.
SUNDAY, 2:03pm: Thomas won’t be offered another 10-day deal, according to Wojnarowski.
1:35pm: The Grizzlies will sign forward JaMychal Green to a 10-day contract, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). Green, 24, recently completed a 10-day contract with the Spurs.
Green averaged 2.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in five appearances with the Spurs. While he didn’t get tons of playing time to show what he could do, he garnered interest as a possible 10-day signee from multiple teams, including the Grizzlies.
The power forward spent the preseason with the Spurs and was with San Antonio’s D-League affiliate in between stints with the big club. The Knicks, Bulls, Bucks, and Blazers also reportedly had him on their radar for a 10-day deal.
As our roster counts show, Memphis has a spot open on its 15-man roster thanks to the expiration of Tyrus Thomas‘ 10-day deal.
Eastern Notes: Lowry, Pistons, Heat, Kidd
DeMar DeRozan stayed in touch with Kyle Lowry this summer but didn’t try to pressure him into re-signing with the Raptors, and the soft-sell approach worked, as the point guard tells TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Lowry confirms that the Rockets met with him on the first day of free agency but suggests that the Heat only made contact via email, as Lowry also says to Aldridge. Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Pistons GM Jeff Bower looked into trade possibilities as the team sought a point guard, but no amenable deal emerged that would have allowed Detroit to acquire a player on an expiring contract, as president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy told reporters today. Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press has the details. Detroit, which temporarily filled its vacancy with a 10-day deal for John Lucas III today, reportedly had interest in Norris Cole, who’s on an expiring deal, but the team evidently couldn’t work out a deal for him.
- Lucas is willing to stick around if the Pistons want him beyond his 10-day contract, though he acknowledges that the team has made no promises for after the 10 days, as Ellis observes in the same piece.
- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called 10-day signee Tyler Johnson “the model of player development” today, as Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald tweets, leading Goodman to wonder if the club has long-term plans for the guard. Miami can’t sign Johnson to anymore 10-day deals this season after this one expires at the end of Saturday, so a season-long commitment would be required if he’s to remain with the Heat.
- Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders makes the case that Jason Kidd should be a leading candidate for Coach of the Year thanks to the job he has done in his first year with the Bucks. Kidd is no stranger to surprising turnarounds as a player, since he helped take the Nets from a 26-56 team in 2000/01 to the Eastern Conference title in 2001/02 upon his arrival. We’re only just past the midway point of the season, but Hamilton has Kidd as his top coach of the 2014/15 season, ahead of Steve Kerr and Mike Budenholzer.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Warriors Willing To Pay Luxury Tax In 2015/16
Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob told Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group that he’s willing to pay the luxury tax in 2015/16, acknowledging that it’s very likely the team’s payroll will be “substantially” over the tax line. The Warriors have more than $77.5MM in salary committed to just eight players for next season, and that doesn’t include a new deal for soon-to-be restricted free agent Draymond Green, along with other variables. The league won’t set the tax threshold for next season until July, but Sean Deveney of The Sporting News wrote in December that the latest projection pegged it at $81MM.
And you know what? We’re OK with that,” Lacob said to Kawakami about the likelihood the team will pay the tax. “I tell [GM] Bob [Myers] all the time; he keeps asking me, ‘Are you sure?’ We’re prepared to do whatever it takes to win a championship; I’ve said that before. You want to do it when the timing is right. Maybe the timing’s right, right? We’re pretty good. And so, I think we need to take advantage of that and go for it. Our fans, that’s what they want to hear. And the truth is, it’s what I want to hear. And what I want to think. And what our management and ownership … there isn’t one owner that I know of or one person in management here that doesn’t think this way. Luxury tax? It’s not something you want to do, it’s very penal. But [we] can’t be worried about that right now. That is really not the issue. The issue is being the best team we can be and we’re going to do whatever it takes.
Lacob was reluctant this fall to commit to the tax for next season as he negotiated an extension for Klay Thompson, as Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com wrote in October. The owner nonetheless consented to an extension that will pay Thompson up to $15.5MM next season. However, Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick of USA Today wrote last month that all signs pointed to the Warriors matching any offer for Green, even if it forced them to pay the tax. Green is a bargain on the minimum salary this season amidst a career year in which he’s overtaken the starting power forward spot from David Lee, who’s on the books for nearly $15.494MM next season, the final year of his deal.
The owner told Kawakami that he couldn’t say whether he would re-sign Green or how hard he would pursue a new deal with him, citing NBA rules. Still, Lacob offered that Green was “born to be a Warrior,” as Kawakami notes. “And we love him,” Lacob added. “I certainly think today as we look at our team, he’s part of our core and can’t imagine it being otherwise.”
Most executives around the league assume the salary cap will spike to $90MM for 2016/17, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote recently, and Lacob believes the rising cap, which lifts the tax line with it, will prevent the Warriors from having to pay the tax beyond next season, as he told Kawakami. The Warriors aren’t taxpayers this season and never have been, so they’re in no immediate danger of triggering the onerous repeat taxpayer penalties that would kick in after three years in the tax. Still, Lacob left the door open to continued tax payments if necessary.
“I can just tell you that the team is performing at a very high level here and as long as we have great players that we can hold onto, we’re going to do it,” he told Kawakami. “You don’t try to do these things for one year. We want to be a great team that hopefully wins a championship soon and that can sustain that over a long period of time. So it is our intention to do that no matter what.”
Golden State already has more than $53.9MM on the books for 2016/17, which is the final season on the contracts for Stephen Curry, Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala. The next year, the Warriors only have about $17.8MM committed.
Warriors Re-Sign James McAdoo
1:22pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
11:27am: Agent Jim Tanner confirms the deal to Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group.
11:13am: The Warriors and James McAdoo have agreed upon a second 10-day deal, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM. The rookie power forward had gone back to Golden State’s D-League team after the expiration of his first 10-day contract last week, but Warriors coach Steve Kerr spoke at that time of McAdoo as someone he hoped would be a part of the club’s future. The Warriors have an open roster spot, so there won’t be a need for a corresponding move.
The 22-year-old was the sixth-ranked player in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index coming out of high school in 2011, but his stock gradually slipped during his three years at North Carolina, and he went undrafted this past summer. The Warriors had him on their summer league team and gave him a $35K partial guarantee on his contract for camp. McAdoo failed to make the opening-night roster, but the Warriors retained his D-League rights, and he’s averaged 19.3 points and 9.6 rebounds in 32.9 minutes per game over 24 appearances for Golden State’s D-League affiliate.
This second arrangement will be the final 10-day contract the Warriors are allowed to give McAdoo this year, so at the end of it, Golden State will either have to sign him for the season or let him sit in NBA free agency and risk another team snapping him up. McAdoo spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors shortly before the draft.
Spears On Prince, Plumlee, Kings, Kenyon
It’s no surprise to see the Hawks and Warriors atop the latest power rankings from Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, but Spears doesn’t just list the NBA’s 30 teams from top to bottom. He passes along several tidbits of note with the trade deadline just two and a half weeks away. He seconds an earlier report from Marc Stein and Ian Begley of ESPN.com that the Knicks are shopping Jose Calderon, but much of what Spears has is new information, and we’ll hit the highlights here:
- Boston is unlikely to find a trade for Tayshaun Prince before the deadline, Spears hears from a source. Prince reportedly plans to push for his departure the Celtics, though he’s publicly said that he’s committed to playing for Boston, at least for the time being. A buyout deal appears likely should the Celtics fail to garner the draft pick they’re looking for in a swap, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald wrote last month, though coach Brad Stevens hopes to keep Prince for the balance of the season.
- The Suns aren’t garnering much interest as they try to trade Miles Plumlee, a source tells Spears, though that’s not a shock, since the team is reportedly looking for at least one first-round pick.
- Sacramento continues to pursue an “athletic big man” to pair with DeMarcus Cousins, according to Spears’ source. The Kings are reportedly shopping Derrick Williams, and Jason Thompson is among the Sacramento players the team is apparently open to trading.
- The Knicks didn’t re-sign Kenyon Martin this summer after he spent the previous two seasons with them because the team felt he wouldn’t be a fit for the triangle offense, Spears says. Martin and the Bucks followed a pair of 10-day contracts with a deal for the rest of the season.
Nuggets Offer Hickson, McGee For Lopez
12:11pm: The Nets and Nuggets haven’t spoken about Lopez in a week, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
MONDAY, 7:47am: Denver’s offer included one of the 2015 first-round picks the team received in return for Timofey Mozgov last month, sources tell Stein, who writes in a full piece. The Mozgov trade gives Denver the rights to Oklahoma City’s first-round pick this year if it’s No. 19 or lower and Memphis’ first-rounder if it’s anywhere from No. 6 to No. 14.
FRIDAY, 11:20pm: The Nuggets are continuing to attempt to pry Brook Lopez away from the Nets, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Denver has been offering Brooklyn a package of JaVale McGee and J.J. Hickson for Lopez, a deal that the Nets have firmly refused, Stein adds. Chris Mannix of SI.com had reported earlier today that the Nuggets were pursuing Lopez, but were unwilling to part with Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried, Jusuf Nurkic or Wilson Chandler in a trade. Denver had reportedly expressed interest in acquiring Lopez earlier this month as well.
Denver’s proposed swap would work under the salary cap rules without requiring any additional players to be included. Hickson is making $5,381,750 for this season and is set to earn $5,613,500 in 2015/16. McGee’s 2014/15 salary is $11.25MM, and he is due $12MM for the following season. On the Nets side of the would-be deal, Lopez is earning $15,019,762 this year, and has a player option for 2015/16 for $16,744,218.
The oft-injured McGee has only appeared in 15 games this season for the Nuggets. He is averaging 5.1 points and 3.1 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per contest. His career numbers are 8.5 PPG and 5.6 RPG. His slash line is .542/.200/.586 in 374 career games. The 29-year-old Hickson has appeared in 39 games for Denver, including five as a starter. He is logging 8.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. His shooting numbers for the season are .494/.000/.618.
Lopez has been the subject of numerous trade rumors the past few weeks. The Thunder, Hornets and the Nets were reportedly close to a three-way deal for the center, but the Nets decided that they didn’t want Lance Stephenson in return. The Heat were also noted to have made a bid for Lopez, offering Brooklyn a proposal that reportedly included Chris Andersen, Norris Cole and Josh McRoberts. The organization appears to be undecided on whether or not to keep Lopez, but it will likely take a more enticing package than Denver had offered in McGee and Hickson for Brooklyn to budge, though that is just my speculation.
Atlantic Notes: Garnett, Lopez, ‘Melo, Sampson
The Raptors have a whopping 14-game lead in the Atlantic Division, leaving the intrigue for the bottom of the division. The Knicks and Sixers are tied for last place in the division and, as our Reverse Standings show, for the second spot in the draft lottery. The future is the focus for those teams, but time may be running short for another prominent name in the Atlantic, as we detail:
- Kevin Garnett says he’s “all in” with the Nets, and while he downplayed the idea of buying out his contract, he won’t rule it out, as Alex Raskin of The Wall Street Journal writes. “I don’t know what management is going to do,” Garnett said. “When my situation comes up, I’ll obviously give it some attention. Other than that, my attention is trying to get us on a winning streak, get us on a road where everybody’s playing together.”
- Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post believes JaVale McGee would be part of any Nets-Nuggets swap involving Brook Lopez, no matter the other parts involved.
- The “prevailing theory” is that Carmelo Anthony will sit out for the balance of the season once the All-Star break is over to rest his sore knee, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. For what it’s worth, the Knicks star won’t commit to playing in mid-March, Berman notes.
- The Sixers had considered sending JaKarr Sampson on D-League assignment a couple of weeks ago, but two strong defensive games led the team to move him into the starting lineup instead, coach Brett Brown said, as Max Rappaport of Sixers.com writes. Sampson, an undrafted rookie, is in the first year of a four-year contract that doesn’t include any guaranteed money beyond this season.
Pistons Sign John Lucas III To 10-Day Contract
MONDAY, 9:43am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
SUNDAY, 2:12pm: The Pistons plan to sign John Lucas III to a 10-day deal, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Lucas is being brought aboard to help fill the void created by the loss of star guard Brandon Jennings.
Lucas, a seven-year NBA vet, called off a scheduled workout with the Lakers back in November to sign with a Chinese team, the Fujian Sturgeons. That somewhat surprising decision capped what proved to be a very weird offseason for the 32-year-old guard. The Jazz had him under contract for a non-guaranteed $1.6MM at the beginning of the offseason, but they traded him to the Cavs in July. Cleveland flipped him two months later to the Celtics, who promptly waived him. The Wizards picked him up in late October, presumably with an eye on keeping him for the start of the regular season, but Washington put him back on waivers before opening night.
Now, Lucas is on his way back to the Association, this time to help give Detroit backcourt depth in the wake of Jennings’ torn Achilles. Jennings was averaging 19.8 points and 7.0 assists since the departure of Josh Smith and helped lead the club to a 12-4 record in that time period.
The Pistons had their eye on Heat guard Norris Cole as a possible backcourt addition, but it’s not clear if they’ll continue to pursue him via trade.
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The Nets and Hornets reportedly had talks about a proposed trade that would have sent Joe Johnson to Charlotte for Lance Stephenson, Gerald Henderson and Marvin Williams. That discussion has apparently ended, at least for now, but reader
- While those three players only cost a tad less than $3MM under what Johnson will make next season, that puts the Nets in a much more manageable position for getting under the tax line next season. Further, having three players making that money saves them from having to fill those spots with other players, shaving another $1-2MM. Finally, each one of those contracts individually would be easier to move than Johnson’s $25MM, and the chances are better that at least one of them rebounds to regain some trade value. Assuming the Nets aren’t attaching a sweetener, this is a pretty good salary dump, even if on the surface it doesn’t appear to dump that much salary.
The Magic are reportedly close to firing Jacque Vaughn, but Billy Winters doesn’t think that would solve the problems in Orlando.
- I really really … really don’t get the point of firing and bringing in a new coach midseason. Let Jacque finish the season. Hire a new coach and put into place the new system in the offseason. Try and trade [Ben] Gordon and [Channing] Frye and play the young guys as much as possible. This will give you time to evaluate the talent more so now and gives the team a chance for a higher pick in the draft.
Jose Calderon is a prominent trade candidate as the February 19th deadline nears, and barnzi19 has an idea that would involve another player who’s apparently on the block.
- What about Calderon to the Kings for Derrick Williams? Kings need a solid backup PG and Williams has underperformed at the PF spot for the Kings. Williams’ contract expires this season so it is a low risk to the Knicks.
Check out what more readers had to say in previous editions of Hoops Rumors Featured Feedback. We appreciate everyone who adds to the dialogue at Hoops Rumors, and we look forward to seeing more responses like these from you!