Clippers Sign Lester Hudson To 10-Day Deal
12:35pm: The signing is official, Woike tweets.
8:56am: Guard Lester Hudson will sign a 10-day contract with the Clippers today, tweets Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. Hudson, who had been playing with the Liaoning Flying Leopards in China, will be available for today’s game with the Celtics.
He has spent parts of three seasons in the NBA with the Celtics, Grizzlies, Wizards and Cavaliers, with his last NBA action coming in 2012. His career averages are 4.8 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in 10.3 minutes of playing time.
Hudson gained fame in college when he recorded a quadruple-double at Tennessee-Martin. He was twice named Player of the Year in the Ohio Valley Conference before being drafted 58th overall in 2009 by the Celtics.
The signing probably means that Nate Robinson won’t be issued another 10-day contract. Robinson’s balky knee had limited his playing time, and his first deal expired March 16th. It also raises questions about the availability of Jamal Crawford for the rest of the season.
Central Notes: George, Van Gundy, Monroe
The Pacers‘ Paul George feels ready to play, reports Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star. Now it’s just a matter of convincing the medical team. “I feel good but it’s not just me that has to feel good, everyone has to feel good about it,” George said. “That’s what we’re waiting on. It could be close, it could be not but everybody’s got to be on the same page with this.” George hasn’t played since breaking his leg with the U.S. Men’s Basketball Team last summer. He has been ruled out for today’s game and there is no schedule for his return.
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Stan Van Gundy got used to winning with the Magic, but Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel writes that getting used to losing with the Pistons is more difficult. Van Gundy’s first season as coach and president of basketball operations in Detroit has been a series of ups and downs — mostly downs — on the way to a 28-44 record. “It’s a lot of losses and it’s tough,” Van Gundy said. “But you walk in every day, and you’ve got a group of guys that are working hard and everything else. So you owe them your best every single day.”
- If Greg Monroe returns from his knee injury soon, as expected, it will present a new challenge for the Pistons, writes David Mayo of Mlive. Detroit has won five of its last six games and is on the outskirts of the Eastern Conference playoff race, but Monroe’s return will bring changes. “I think to be good, you’ve got to be able to play more than one style,” Van Gundy said. “You’ve got to be able to get down and grind a game out, which I think we can do when we have Greg, and you’ve got to be able to open the floor up, which we can do with this lineup.”
- The Pistons‘ Reggie Jackson will be a restricted free agent this summer, but Mayo writes in a separate story that he sounds like he want to stay in Detroit and play beside Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. “We want to be one of the best backcourts in the league,” Jackson said. “We know we’ve got a long way to go. But we are young and we’ve got a chance to do so.” Jackson is 24; Caldwell-Pope is 22 and on the second year of his rookie contract.
Sixers Rumors: Noel, Sims, Aldemir, Draft
Sixers GM Sam Hinkie deserves credit for seeing the potential of Nerlens Noel, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. With a torn ACL causing the projected first overall pick to slide in the 2013 draft, Hinkie took a gamble by trading Jrue Holiday and the rights to Pierre Jackson to New Orleans for the rights to Noel and a 2014 first-rounder. That risk is finally paying off, as Noel has emerged as a Rookie of the Year candidate and a solid building block for the team’s future.
There’s more this morning from Philadelphia:
- Inactivity is just the latest challenge facing Henry Sims as he tries to find a long-term spot in the NBA, according to Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News. Sims is with his third organization after going undrafted in 2012. Lately, his playing time has been diminished as the Sixers get a better look at Thomas Robinson and Furkan Aldemir, but Sims is taking the demotion in stride. “I’ve been in this league, and for the short amount of time I’ve been in it, I’ve been through it all — trades, bench, starting, sitting in a suit — I just look at it as another thing that I’ve just got to be a pro about,” Sims said. “I’m just trying to sharpen my fundamentals so when my name’s called, I’m going to be ready.”
- Aldemir has had to make his own adjustments since joining the Sixers December 15th, Cooney writes in a separate story. With the Turkish native making $2.7MM this year and $2.8MM next season, the team has increased Aldemir’s playing time to see what he can do. “Every day, I’m working on my individual things — my shooting, my post moves — and I think I improved my body and my skills,” he said. ” I want to use this opportunity. Coach [Brett Brown] is giving me some minutes and I don’t want to break their trust, and I don’t want to break my confidence.”
- A proposed change to the NBA draft lottery that would discourage teams like the Sixers from tanking has caught the attention of Tom Moore of Calkins Media. The proposal would give the three teams with the worst records picks four through six. The other 11 teams in the lottery would compete for picks one through three and seven through 14. That would give lower-level teams incentive to win late in the season to preserve their hopes for the top overall choice.
Executive Of The Year Candidate: Danny Ferry
Hawks GM Danny Ferry has had his troubles off the court and is currently still on an indefinite leave of absence. On the court, the team he put together has surpassed expectations on its way to locking up the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks are 55-18 on the season with a roster void of a true superstar. Atlanta currently ranks fourth in the league on defense in terms of raw points allowed, giving up 97.0 points per game, and 10th on offense, scoring 102.4 points per game. The Spurs are the only other team in the league to rank in the top 10 in both categories.
Team building isn’t usually done in one year. There are exceptions, like the 2008 Celtics, where the main parts of the team come together in one offseason. However, the Executive of the Year award usually exists to honor the culmination of all the transactions that a GM or team president has made in order to turn a roster into a masterpiece on the court.
Atlanta hired Ferry after the 2011/12 season and about a week later, he traded Joe Johnson, who was the team’s leading scorer, to the Nets. While the trade didn’t bring immediate help, it allowed for future flexibility. Later in the offseason, Ferry acquired Kyle Korver from the Bulls in exchange for cash. After the 2012/13 season, Ferry hired Mike Budenholzer, who is a favorite to win the 2014/15 Coach of the Year.
During the same offseason, Ferry signed Paul Millsap. The forward was coming off a good season with Utah and most likely expected to land a deal that vastly exceeded the two-year, $19MM contract he signed with Atlanta. Having such a productive player on such a team-friendly pact does wonders for the roster-building process; just ask the Mavs, who were able to offer Chandler Parsons a bloated offer sheet because of Dirk Nowitzki’s team-friendly deal. Millsap’s deal isn’t as far below market value as Nowitzki’s deal is, but it allows for tremendous flexibility in roster construction all the same.
To become an Eastern Conference power, the Hawks never went into full rebuild mode. Ferry has never had the opportunity to pluck potential stars from the top of the draft, as the Hawks haven’t had a pick higher than No. 15 under his reign. Instead, like most good GMs, he had to search through the third and fourth tier of prospects to find players who could make an NBA rotation and contribute. He found contributors in 2012 second round pick Mike Scott and 2013 No. 17 overall pick Dennis Schroder. Both players have been key in helping the Hawks achieve their goals this season.
All of Ferry’s moves have put the Hawks in the position they’re in, but he has been absent from the team for most of the league year. Although some of the Hawks players seem to be open to having him back in the front office, uncertainty with the team’s ownership situation makes a resolution in the near future unlikely. Budenholzer has been running the front office in Ferry’s absence, and perhaps Budenholzer should be a candidate for the award himself. In a vacuum, Ferry probably would win Executive of the Year, as the team has a decent shot at winning the Eastern Conference while being under the salary cap, but the perils of his candidacy make it unlikely he takes home the honor.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Southwest Notes: Llull, Bertans, Gasol
GM Daryl Morey shot down the rumor that the Rockets are preparing to give draft-and-stash prospect Sergio Llull a contract for three years, totaling at least $17MM, calling it simply “not true” in an interview on Mad Radio, one of Houston’s local sports stations. Morey did say that the team may have interest in bringing the point guard aboard in the future. Houston acquired Llull’s rights from the Nuggets during the 2009 draft.
Here’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Spurs international prospect Davis Bertans tore his right ACL while playing for Laboral Kutxa of Spain’s Liga ACB, writes Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Bertans will likely miss at least six months of action. The small forward was the 42nd overall pick in the 2011 draft and San Antonio acquired his draft rights as part of the Kawhi Leonard trade.
- Marc Gasol hasn’t ruled out leaving the Grizzlies and joining the Knicks, according to Fred Kerber of the New York Post. Kerber cautions that re-signing with Memphis seems to be the most likely option for Gasol, who has family ties to the city. The center reiterated that he isn’t concerned with his free agency at the moment. “I haven’t put any time in it,” Gasol said of his impending offseason decision. “The truth is, I haven’t put any time or any thought in that. It can have no impact right now. It can’t help me or my team. It’s not the time.”
- James Harden is making a strong case to win the MVP award this season and he credits his familiarity in Houston as part of the reason that he is able to take his game to new heights, writes Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press. “[I’m] just more comfortable, knowing my teammates, being comfortable with myself on the court,” Harden said. “Knowing how to get shots, knowing how to get my teammates shots, and once I feel comfortable I can worry about doing other things.” The Arizona State product is in the second year of a five-year extension worth over $78MM, the maximum for a player with his level of experience.
Northwest Notes: Wolves, Nuggets, Kanter
During the 1996 draft, the Wolves nearly drafted Kobe Bryant with the No. 5 overall pick, writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “We teetered on the idea of getting another [player right out of high school] because we had success with [Kevin Garnett],” said Flip Saunders, who was the coach of the team that year, just as he is now. “But we kind of thought it would be too much having two of those guys who were young at that time and still in the process of developing KG as a young player.” Minnesota ended up drafting Ray Allen and subsequently trading him to Milwaukee for Stephon Marbury.
Here’s more from the Northwest Division
- The request to commit another $24.5MM in public money in order to further renovate the Target Center, which is the Wolves‘ home arena, passed a City Council panel vote, reports Eric Roper of the Star Tribune. Roper notes that there are still potential roadblocks in securing the additional funding, but the latest news is reason for optimism. The city of Minneapolis previously committed $50MM toward the renovation.
- Executives of the Nuggets are “very happy” with the job done by interim coach Melvin Hunt, sources tell Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. Mannix notes that although the team will conduct a thorough search for a new head coach after the season, Hunt’s performance will earn him some consideration for the job.
- Enes Kanter didn’t enjoy being an NBA player until he got to the Thunder, writes Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News. “The difference is I like playing basketball [in Oklahoma City], that’s the most important thing,’’ Kanter said. “I never liked playing basketball before in my NBA career. That’s the first time I felt like playing basketball for my team, for the fans, for my teammates, for coaches — everybody.’’ The center spent his entire career with the Jazz before being traded to the Thunder at this year’s deadline.
Pacific Notes: Love, Lakers, Sacre, Len
Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook teaming up and playing for the Lakers is a real possibility, opines Nick Dudukovich of Fansided.com. Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com discussed the rumors of Love leaving Cleveland either this season or next on his podcast, which airs on ESPN Cleveland. Windhorst notes that out of all the stars in the league, the player that Love has the best relationship with is Westbrook.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Robert Sacre would like to play for Los Angeles next season, writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “I would love to be back here. It would be fun,” said Sacre. “You’re a Laker. What else can you ask for? There’s no other franchise like it. It’s an honor to wear purple and gold.” Sacre has a non-guaranteed salary for the 2015/16 season, which is worth slightly more than $981K.
- Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic believes that Alex Len is the center of the future for the Suns. Phoenix picked up Len’s rookie scale option before the season and the team is likely to make the same decision regarding Len’s 2016/17 option, although that is just my speculation.
- Pablo S, Torre of ESPN The Magazine chronicles Jeremy Lin‘s time to date for the Lakers and his career up to this point. Lin is in the last season of a three-year deal worth slightly over $25MM that he originally signed with Houston. The point guard will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
Nuggets Claim Ian Clark Off Waivers
6:50pm: The move is official, the Nuggets announced.
4:30pm: The Nuggets have claimed Ian Clark off of waivers, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). Clark was waived by the Jazz on Thursday in order for the team to ink Chris Johnson for the remainder of the season. The addition of Clark will raise the Nuggets’ roster count to 14 players.
Denver will have to pay the remainder of his $816,482 one-year veteran’s minimum salary once the move becomes official. That’ll amount to a small fraction of that number for the Nuggets, but the entire salary goes on the team’s cap figure. That helps the team move closer to the $56.759MM team salary floor without costing Denver more than a few weeks of pay on his minimum salary deal. The Nuggets have been carrying only about $54.1MM against the cap, so the move wouldn’t bring the team all the way to the floor, but even if Denver doesn’t make up the rest of the difference, the team wouldn’t have to distribute quite as much among its players as penalty for failing to meet the minimum payroll.
The Jazz are also under the cap, but not far enough that the subtraction of Clark from their team salary would bring them under salary floor. So, Utah simply benefits from not having to pay Clark for the final weeks of the season.
Clark’s contract is set to expire at season’s end. The waiver claim would give the Nuggets a chance to tender Clark a qualifying offer worth slightly more than $1.147MM, which would make him a restricted free agent, allowing the team to match any offer he receives this summer. In the short term, the 24-year-old would presumably be behind Randy Foye and Gary Harris on the team’s depth chart.
The guard appeared in 23 contests for the Jazz this season, averaging 1.9 points in 7.0 minutes per game. Clark has made seven appearances this season for the Idaho Stampede, Utah’s D-League affiliate, averaging 14.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 32.0 minutes per contest.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
2015/16 Salary Commitments: Timberwolves
With the NBA trade deadline passed, teams are focusing on locking down playoff spots or vying for a better chance in the draft lottery. Outside of the players who are added on 10-day deals, or those lucky enough to turn those auditions into long-term contracts, teams’ rosters are relatively set for the remainder of the season.
We at Hoops Rumors are in the process of taking a look ahead at each franchise’s salary cap situation heading into the summer, and the free agent frenzy that occurs every offseason. While the exact amount of the 2015/16 salary cap won’t be announced until July, the cap is projected to come in somewhere around $67.4MM, with the luxury tax threshold projected at approximately $81MM. This year’s $63.065MM cap represented an increase of 7.7% over 2013/14, which was well above the league’s projected annual increase of 4.5%.
We’ll continue onward by taking a look at the Wolves’ cap outlook for 2015/16…
Here are the players with guaranteed contracts:
- Anthony Bennett — $5,803,560
- Gorgui Dieng — $1,474,440
- Zach LaVine — $2,148,360
- Kevin Martin — $7,085,000
- Shabazz Muhammad — $2,056,920
- Adreian Payne — $1,938,840
- Nikola Pekovic — $12.1MM
- Ricky Rubio — $12.7MM
- Andrew Wiggins — $5,758,680
Here are the players with non-guaranteed contracts:
- Lorenzo Brown — $947,276
Players with options:
- Chase Budinger (Player Option) — $5MM
The Wolves’ Cap Summary for 2015/16:
- Guaranteed Salary: $51,065,800
- Options/Non-Guaranteed Salary: $5,947,276
- Total: $57,013,076
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Week In Review 3/22/15-3/28/15
The Thunder’s playoff hopes took a major blow with the announcement that Kevin Durant would undergo surgery on his ailing right foot and miss the rest of the season. Durant played in just 27 games this season, the first time in his NBA career that he’s missed more than eight contests. The 26-year-old is expected to return to basketball activity in four to six months, OKC GM Sam Presti said in the official statement, a timeframe that should hopefully have Durant ready for the start of training camp in the fall. Here’s the rest of the week’s happenings…
Signings
- The Suns signed A.J. Price to a 10-day contract and released Seth Curry.
- Toure’ Murry inked a second 10-day pact with the Wizards.
- The Kings signed David Wear to a 10-day deal.
- Metta World Peace signed a contract with Italy’s Pallacanestro Cantù for the remainder of the season.
- The Pelicans signed Toney Douglas for the remainder of the season.
- Jack Cooley signed a multiyear deal with the Jazz.
- The Jazz waived Ian Clark and signed Chris Johnson to a multiyear deal of his own.
- The Hawks inked Austin Daye to a second 10-day contract.
- Earl Clark signed a 10-day deal with the Nets.
- The Wizards released Toure’ Murry and signed Will Bynum to a 10-day deal.
2015 NBA Draft News
- LSU sophomore power forward Jarell Martin will enter the 2015 NBA draft.
- Fellow LSU sophomore Jordan Mickey is also leaning toward entering the 2015 NBA draft.
- University of Florida junior shooting guard Michael Frazier has decided to enter this year’s NBA draft.
- There were conflicting reports regarding UNLV freshman shooting guard Rashad Vaughn‘s plans to enter the draft.
News/Rumors
- Free agent JaVale McGee relaxed his stance on requiring a player option for the 2015/16 season.
- Jose Calderon is likely done for the season after undergoing a procedure on his strained left Achilles tendon
- The Rockets are reportedly willing to give draft-and-stash point guard Sergio Llull a three-year deal worth a total of at least $17MM.
- Andrei Kirilenko plans to retire at the end of this season.
- The Wizards and the Nets are both interested in one-to-one affiliations with D-League teams.
- Bojan Dubljevic, whose rights are owned by the Timberwolves, will be with Valencia of the Euroleague for at least the next two seasons without the possibility of arranging a buyout.
- The Jazz officially acquired the Idaho Stampede, becoming the eighth NBA team to fully own and operate their own D-League franchise
- All of the week’s NBA D-League assignments and recalls can be found here.
- The Sixers and rookie Glenn Robinson III reportedly have mutual interest in working out a deal that would keep the player in Philadelphia beyond this season.
- The Mavericks have indicated that they have interest in re-signing Amar’e Stoudemire after the season.
- Chris Mullin is a candidate to take over for Steve Lavin, who was fired as coach of St. John’s University.
- The Rockets announced that Donatas Motiejunas will be restricted from basketball activities for one to two weeks because of back issues.