Week In Review 7/12/15-7/18/15
Plans for a new Bucks arena in Milwaukee cleared another major hurdle this week when the Milwaukee State Senate passed the arena funding bill by a vote of 21-10, and now the proposal will go before the State Assembly for ratification. Bucks team president Peter Feigin released this statement on behalf of the franchise: “Today’s vote is a significant step forward in our collective effort to build a new sports and entertainment district in Wisconsin. We appreciate the bipartisan leadership in Madison for bringing this transformative partnership one step closer to reality. We’re optimistic that this financing package will receive support in the Assembly and look forward to working with state, county and city officials.” Besides the positive news for the Bucks and their fans, here’s the rest of the happenings from the week that was…
Trades
- The Wolves sent Chase Budinger to the Pacers in exchange for forward Damjan Rudez.
- The Pistons acquired Steve Blake from the Nets in exchange for forward Quincy Miller.
- The Thunder traded Perry Jones III to the Celtics, along with a second-round pick and cash in exchange for a protected 2018 second-rounder.
- The Magic dealt Maurice Harkless to the Blazers in exchange for a future second-round pick.
You can keep up with all of the offseason trades here.
Free Agent Signings
Eastern Conference
- The Wizards signed Alan Anderson to a one-year deal.
- The Nets signed Andrea Bargnani to a two-year contract.
- The Knicks re-signed Louis Amundson.
- Aron Baynes inked a three-year pact with the Pistons.
- The Bulls signed Brazillian big man Cristiano Felicio.
- Ronald Roberts signed with the Raptors.
- The Pacers re-signed Shayne Whittington.
- The Wizards re-signed Drew Gooden.
- The Magic signed Jason Smith.
- The Hornets signed undrafted Kentucky guard Aaron Harrison.
- The Sixers inked Pierre Jackson.
- The Pistons signed Adonis Thomas to a training camp deal.
Western Conference
- The Grizzlies re-signed Marc Gasol to a five-year deal worth more than $100MM.
- Rajon Rondo signed a one-year deal with the Kings.
- The Mavericks signed Deron Williams after he cleared waivers.
- The Thunder matched Portland’s four-year, $70MM offer sheet for restricted free agent Enes Kanter.
- Luis Montero, a 6’7″ swingman out of the Dominican Republic, signed with the Trail Blazers.
- The Nuggets re-signed Will Barton.
- Cole Aldrich inked a two-year pact with the Clippers.
- The Rockets signed Marcus Thornton to a one-year agreement.
- Austin Rivers re-signed with the Clippers.
- The Kings signed Kosta Koufos to a four-year deal.
- Leandro Barbosa re-signed with the Warriors.
- The Kings signed Marco Belinelli.
- The Spurs signed All-Euroleague First Team center Boban Marjanovic.
- Tibor Pleiss inked a deal with the Jazz.
- The Nuggets signed 2014 draftee Nikola Jokic.
- Jameer Nelson re-signed with the Nuggets.
- The Kings signed Luc Mbah a Moute. The deal was later voided after Mbah a Moute failed his physical.
- The Spurs re-signed veteran forward Matt Bonner.
- The Clippers inked Josh Smith to a one-year pact.
You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.
2015 NBA Draft Pick Signings
- The Suns signed Devin Booker to a rookie scale deal.
- The Kings signed Willie Cauley-Stein to a rookie scale deal.
- The Pacers signed Myles Turner to a rookie scale deal.
- The Pacers signed Joseph Young to a four-year deal.
- The Raptors signed second round pick Norman Powell.
- The Clippers signed second-rounder Branden Dawson.
- The Pistons agreed to sign second round pick Darrun Hilliard.
- The Bucks signed Rashad Vaughn to a rookie scale contract.
You can stay up to date on all of the 2015 NBA Draft signings here.
Contract Extensions
- The Nuggets finalized a four-year, $46MM renegotiation and extension with Wilson Chandler.
Waivers
- The Nets reached a buyout arrangement with Deron Williams.
- The Nuggets waived Jamaal Franklin.
- The Nets waived Cory Jefferson.
- The Celtics waived Phil Pressey.
- The Clippers waived Lester Hudson. Hudson is expected to sign a deal with Liaoning of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Miscellaneous News
- Colton Iverson, whose rights are owned by the Celtics, signed with Pinar Karsiyaka of the Turkish Basketball League.
- Sixers center Joel Embiid will have a second surgery on his right foot and is expected to miss his second consecutive season.
- Anthony Randolph decided to return to Russia and the former NBA forward re-signed with Kuban.
- Gigi Datome is leaving the NBA and has signed a two-year deal with Turkey’s Fenerbahce Ulker.
- Grizzlies restricted free agent Nick Calathes signed with Greece’s Panathinaikos.
- Alexey Shved decided to head back overseas and signed a three-year deal with Khimki Moscow.
- Miroslav Raduljica signed a deal with Panathinaikos of Greece.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 7/17/15
NBA commissioner Adam Silver relayed on Tuesday that the league’s competition Committee issued a recommendation that the six division winners no longer be awarded an automatic top-four seed in the playoffs. Instead, teams in each conference would be seeded based on their overall records. “The recommendation from the Competition Committee is that we should seed one through eight based on conference standings for the playoffs [and] eliminate the preference for a division,” Silver said. “That recommendation was discussed at the Board today.” To implement any changes to the current system the league’s owners would still need to vote on the matter, but Silver indicated that he expected the measure to pass and take effect in time for the 2015/16 campaign.
With the preamble out of the way, here’s today’s topic for discussion: Should the NBA alter the current playoff seeding structure?
The impetus for the seeding change was this year’s opening round series between the Clippers and Spurs, who squared off against each other because the Blazers, who owned a weaker record, won the Northwest Division crown. The idea behind reseeding is that teams would be rewarded for having the better overall record, and not because of their ranking within their division. A number of different scenarios have been floated out there in regards to revamping the current format. In addition to the proposal to eliminate division winners from automatically snagging a top four seed, Mavs owner Mark Cuban has championed the idea that the top 16 teams should make the playoffs regardless of conference or division. The disparity between the ultra-competitive Western Conference and the markedly weaker East was the primary reasoning behind Cuban’s push for change.
What are your thoughts on the current playoff system? Does a change need to be made, or will the disparity between the conferences eventually even out? Will removing the incentive to win one’s division negate some regular season drama, as well as negatively impact some longstanding divisional rivalries? If a change is in order, which proposal do you think would be in the league’s best interest? Or do you have a different plan in mind altogether? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say on the matter.
Western Notes: Clippers, Gasol, Lawson
Mavs owner Mark Cuban, during an appearance on “The Afternoon Show with Cowlishaw and Mosley” (h/t Dallas Morning News), said that he did everything possible to land free agent DeAndre Jordan, who spurned Dallas to re-sign with the Clippers. “Well no initially you do [look back on it], ‘What could we have done differently?’ and you go through the whole process and unless we just held him hostage, there’s nothing we could have done,” Cuban said.
“I mean literally Monday night I was texting him back and forth talking about players. He was asking for Mavs gear. Monday night everything was fine,” Cuban continued. “Tuesday morning everything wasn’t. And then we flew to — I flew to Houston, and then the next day I was with his agent the whole time. And in my mind, I’m like, ‘of course the guy’s going to want to see his agent and is going to meet with him face-to-face and if he changes his mind, that’s great, but at least he’ll have the counsel of his agent to guide him through it.’ And so if I’m standing there talking to his agent, at least I’ll have a sense of what’s going on. He would text his agent, I don’t know if he actually called him, but he definitely texted him while he was sitting next to me, but he never saw him at all the entire night. I don’t know what else I could have done.”
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Nuggets guard Ty Lawson, who suffered his second DUI-related arrest in six months on Tuesday, was ordered to complete a 30-day residential treatment program by a Colorado judge, Kristen Wyatt of The Associated Press reports.
- Thursday’s signing of Josh Smith was the latest splash for the Clippers this summer, but it’s also their latest risk, as Dan Woike of The Orange County Register analyzes. The team has no shortage of players who like the ball in their hands, Smith among them, Woike notes. The Clips didn’t have much room to maneuver financially once they re-signed DeAndre Jordan, so president of basketball operations Doc Rivers had to get creative.
- The five-year contract Marc Gasol signed with the Grizzlies is for the max and will seem him earn a total of $113,211,750, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
- Austin Rivers‘ two-year deal with the Clippers is worth precisely $6,454,902, Pincus reports (Twitter link).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Central Notes: Butler, Ellis, Young
There had been rumblings toward the end of the 2014/15 season that there was tension between Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose, with Rose supposedly becoming frustrated with Butler’s expanded offensive role with the Bulls, rumblings that Butler categorizes as false, Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com writes. “I think he’s always been supportive of me being aggressive, especially on offense,” Butler said. “We all know that I’ll be the aggressor on defense. So from what I can tell, the guy’s always been in my corner.”
The swingman believes the only reason his relationship with Rose was even discussed is because of Chicago’s season ending on a disappointing note in the NBA playoffs, Friedell adds. “The only reason that it came up is because we lost,” Butler said. “I don’t think we have any beef or whatever you want to call it. I think we just want to win. We didn’t win, so now [people say] we’re beefing, now we have a problem with each other, and I don’t think that’s the case.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- The league has temporarily disallowed the four-year deal worth approximately $44MM that Monta Ellis inked with the Pacers, Zach Lowe of Grantland reports in a series of tweets. Lowe is quick to stress that Ellis will indeed become a member of the team, but Indiana simply ran out of necessary cap room, and will need to change the order in which some other transactions are finalized to make Ellis’ deal work.
- The salaries that Ellis is set to earn with that Pacers contract are $10.3MM this coming season, $10,763,500 in 2016/17, $11.227MM in 2017/18, and he has a player option for the final season worth $11,690,500, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- Pacers 2015 second-rounder Joseph Young will be paid $1,007,026 and $1,052,342 the first two years of his deal, both of which are fully guaranteed, and $1,097,658, which is non-guaranteed, during the 2017/18 campaign, Pincus relays, adding that a fourth season, worth $1,142,974, is a team option (Twitter link).
Raptors Sign Bismack Biyombo
JULY 17TH, 9:09pm: The signing is official, the Raptors announced in a press release.
JULY 4TH, 12:39pm: The Raptors have reached an agreement with unrestricted free agent Bismack Biyombo, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. The deal is for two years, and $6MM, Wojnarowski adds. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer had pegged Toronto as the likely landing spot for Biyombo earlier this week.
Toronto GM Masai Ujiri and coach Dwane Casey went into the offseason wanting to upgrade the team’s defense, notes Wojnarowski. The 6’9″ Biyombo, along with the team’s other free agent prize, DeMarre Carroll, who agreed to a four-year, $60MM deal with Toronto on Wednesday, can certainly help that desire become a reality.
Biyombo, a former seventh overall pick, did not receive a qualifying offer from the Hornets after making 64 appearances for the team last season. The 22-year-old averaged 4.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks in 19.4 minutes per contest, and owned a slash line of .543/.000/.583. Through 284 career games, his numbers are 4.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 1.6 BPG.
2015/16 Roster Counts: Phoenix Suns
During the offseason it’s OK for teams to carry as many as 20 players, but clubs must trim their rosters down to a maximum of 15 by opening night. In the meantime, some teams will hang around that 15-man line, while others will max out their roster counts. Some clubs may actually have more than 15 contracts that are at least partially guaranteed on the books. That means they’ll end up paying players who won’t be on the regular season roster, unless they can find trade partners.
With plenty more movement still to come, here’s the latest look at the Suns’ roster size, the contract guarantee status of each player, and how each player came to be on Phoenix’s roster.
(Last Updated 3-12-16, 5:00pm)
Fully Guaranteed (14)
- Eric Bledsoe (G) — 6’1″/25 years old. Acquired via trade with Clippers.
- Devin Booker (G) — 6’6″/18 years old. Drafted with No. 13 overall pick in 2015.
- Chase Budinger (F) — 6/7″/27 years old. Free agent signing.
- Tyson Chandler (C) — 7’1″/32 years old. Free agent signing.
- Archie Goodwin (G) — 6’5″/20 years old. Draft rights acquired via Warriors.
- John Jenkins (G) — 6’4″/24 years old. Claimed off waivers from Mavericks.
- Brandon Knight (G) — 6’3″/23 years old. Acquired via trade with Bucks.
- Alex Len (C) — 7’1″/22 years old. Drafted with No. 5 overall pick in 2013.
- Jon Leuer (F) — 6’10″/26 years old. Acquired via trade from Grizzlies.
- Ronnie Price (G) — 6’2″/32 years old. Free agent signing.
- Mirza Teletovic (F) — 6’9″/29 years old. Free agent signing.
- P.J. Tucker (F) — 6’6″/30 years old. Free agent signing.
- T.J. Warren (F) — 6’8″/21 years old. Drafted with No. 14 overall pick in 2014.
- Alan Williams (C) — 6’8″/23 years old. Free agent signing.
10-Day Contracts (0)
- None
TOTAL ROSTER COUNT (14)
Suns Re-Sign Brandon Knight
JULY 17TH, 7:32pm: The signing is official, the Suns announced. “We are delighted to have reached a multi-year agreement with Brandon,” said president of basketball operations Lon Babby. “He will be an integral member of our team on the court and will enhance our culture with his leadership and professionalism.”
1:57pm: The Suns won’t be trading Bledsoe even though they’ve secured a deal with Knight, as a source strongly emphasized to TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link).
1:48pm: The Suns and Knight have reached agreement on those five-year, $70MM terms, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports confirms (Twitter link).
10:52pm: If the Suns re-sign Knight, they would seriously consider trading Bledsoe, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets.
JULY 1ST, 5:46pm: Brandon Knight, who will become a restricted free agent on July 1st, will sign a five-year, $70MM contract with the Suns, reports Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times, who cites a league source. Of course, it is illegal for sides to have discussed a dollar amount and length of a potential deal before July 1st, but that doesn’t mean negotiations didn’t happen.
Knight, 23, was traded to the Suns in February in a multiple-team deal. He has expressed interest in re-signing with the Suns and mentioned that he was looking for that to happen swiftly. The Suns, reportedly, want to bring him back, and Knight told them that he has no issues sharing duties with Eric Bledsoe in the backcourt. Interestingly, Knight’s reported deal worth $13MM annually for five years are the exact terms the Suns gave Bledsoe last September.
Knight was averaging 17.8 points per game and 5.4 assists per game before the Bucks dealt him to the Suns. He then played 11 games for the Suns, averaging 13.4 points per game and 4.5 assists per game. After suffering an ankle injury March 9, Knight missed 16 of the Suns’ final 17 games. He underwent minor arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle in April.
Atlantic Notes: Afflalo, Shved, Tokoto
Arron Afflalo is excited to be a member of the Knicks, and said the lure of playing in New York, as well as the team’s emerging culture, were the main reasons why he signed with the organization, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. “It was just the fan base, the environment, the chance to play with Carmelo Anthony again, the chance to play with other great players, the mutual interest from the coaching staff and [front office], and the culture they’re trying to build,” Afflalo said. “I just thought it was a good fit for me.” The veteran guard believes he can thrive in the triangle offense, Kennedy adds. “I’ll fit well,” Afflalo said. “I’m pretty versatile with my game, being able to post up or shoot threes to create small pockets of space or get my teammates some shots. I think I’ll fit fine.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The first year of Pierre Jackson‘s four-year deal with the Sixers carries a guarantee of $750K, tweets Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Alexey Shved‘s contract with Khimki Moscow will pay him a total of $10.2MM, making him the highest paid player in Europe, David Pick of Eurobasket.com relays (Twitter link). The 26-year-old had reportedly turned down a contract offer to return to the Knicks.
- Sixers second-rounder J.P. Tokoto understands he’s unlikely to see regular minutes this season, but is willing to do whatever the team asks of him, Pompey writes in a separate piece.
“I know what it is,” the No. 58 overall pick said of his role. “I’m a realist. I know what it is coming into it. Being a defensive guy coming in, whether it’s garbage minutes or giving the vet, you know the guy playing more minutes than me, giving him a breather, coming in disrupting the other team’s offense.“
Spurs Sign Boban Marjanovic
FRIDAY, 7:08pm: The Spurs have issued a press release announcing the deal is official.
TUESDAY, 8:28am: The Spurs haven’t made an official announcement, but the signing has taken place, as the RealGM transactions log shows.
1:38pm: It’s a one-year deal, agent Misko Raznatovic tells Pick (Twitter link).
FRIDAY, 1:09pm: The Spurs and All-Euroleague First Team center Boban Marjanovic have a deal, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter links). The Serbian who turns 27 in August has blossomed overseas since going undrafted in 2010.
Marjanovic spent the past season with KK Crvena Zvezda in his home country, averaging 13.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in 22.4 minutes per game. His size is an asset, as he’s variously listed at either 7’3″ or 7’4″. Still, he posted only 0.9 blocks per contest this year, though that might be because few dare to challenge him at the rim.
Financial terms are unclear for the BeoBasket client, though San Antonio appears to have exhausted its cap room, and the room exception seems ticketed for Manu Ginobili. That would leave only the rookie minimum salary of $525,093 for Marjanovic unless the Spurs can make more cap-clearing moves.
Bucks Sign First-Rounder Rashad Vaughn
The Bucks have officially signed Rashad Vaughn to a rookie scale contract, the team has announced. The guard out of UNLV was the No. 17 overall selection in this year’s NBA Draft. Vaughn was the Mountain West Conference’s Freshman of the Year for the 2014/15 season.
Vaughn will earn more than $1.733MM this coming season in the first year of a four-year deal, presuming he receives the standard 120% of the rookie scale, which is most likely the case. The player can expect to take home $1,811,040 in 2016/17, $1,889,040 in 2017/18, and $2,901,565 in the contract’s final year.
The 18-year-old spent one season with the Runnin’ Rebels, appearing in 23 games and averaging 17.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. His shooting numbers were .439/.383/.694. He was the No. 38 overall ranked player in this year’s draft according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com rated Vaughn as a first round pick, slotting him at No. 22 overall.