Pacers Ink Jordan Hill
1:25pm: It’s a one-year, $5MM deal, tweets Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star.
JULY 14TH, 1:06pm: The deal is official, the team announced.
“We’re happy to have Jordan as part of our team,” Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said. “He brings size and energy to our front court and we look forward to see how he plays an up-tempo game. We know he can rebound and score points for us and we look forward to having him.”
JULY 9TH, 6:49pm: The Pacers and unrestricted free agent Jordan Hill have committed to signing a contract, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reports (Twitter links). The length and amount of the deal is not yet known, as the details are still being worked out, Deveney adds.
This soon-to-be signing likely comes as a blow to the Mavericks, who were reportedly interested in Hill, as well as have a void at the pivot, which the 27-year-old could have helped fill. The Lakers had expressed interest in re-signing Hill, though the acquisition of Roy Hibbert likely ended any chance of Hill returning to Los Angeles next season. The Lakers had declined their $9MM team option on Hill for 2015/16.
Hill, a BDA Sports Management client, is coming off a career year for production. The five-year veteran averaged 12.0 points per game this past season, the first in which he’s put up a double-digit scoring average. His 7.9 rebounds and 26.8 minutes per game, as well as his 57 starts, were also career highs.
Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Miller, Ellington, Mickey
The Sixers, for all their losing on the court, continue to turn a profit, and the value of the franchise has at least tripled since owner Josh Harris and his partners bought the team in 2011, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports. Thus, Harris continues to appear patient with a slow, draft-focused rebuild, and even as last month’s draft was going on, the Sixers were in talks with teams in the bottom half of the lottery, seeking to acquire their picks, Lowe hears. Philadelphia is reportedly interested in Norris Cole, but it remains to be seen if that manifests into the first free agent signing of much significance in the tenure of GM Sam Hinkie. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:
- The Nets appeared likely to waive Quincy Miller shortly after acquiring him from the Pistons on Monday, but a source tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com that Brooklyn plans to keep him at least through the start of training camp in the fall (Twitter links). It’ll cost the Nets a $50K partial guarantee if they keep him through Wednesday.
- Wayne Ellington‘s two-year deal with the Nets is worth $3,067,500, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
- The Celtics and No. 33 overall pick Jordan Mickey began negotiations on Monday, reports Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald (on Twitter), and confidence about the ability to reach a deal surrounded the opening of the talks, MassLive’s Jay King hears. Still, neither side is in a hurry, Bulpett tweets. Mickey, a client of Matt Babcock, is expected to seek guaranteed money, King writes.
- Gigi Datome spoke with the Mavericks, Clippers and Wizards, but those teams wouldn’t promise him that he’d be a part of their rotations, tweets Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. The former Celtics forward just signed with Turkey’s Fenerbahce Ulker.
- Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge doesn’t see deals for veterans like David Lee and Amir Johnson as antithetical to a youth-focused approach, believing that vets can serve important mentorship roles, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald details.
Spurs, Knicks Work Out Elliot Williams
TUESDAY, 12:41pm: Williams worked out for the Spurs on Monday, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM (on Twitter). San Antonio appears to be limited to the minimum salary, with the $2.814MM room exception ticketed for Manu Ginobili. Still, the Spurs are open to adding at least one more wing player, according to Charania.
MONDAY, 9:59am: The Knicks worked out four-year veteran Elliot Williams on Sunday, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Williams, the 22nd overall pick in 2010, signed a total of five 10-day contracts this past season, split among three different teams, but he didn’t end up on any deal that covered a longer amount of time.
Reports have linked the Knicks and their $2.814MM room exception to Alexey Shved, but Williams may well be a cheaper alternative at shooting guard. Williams averaged 6.0 points in 17.3 minutes per game across 67 appearances for the Sixers in 2013/14. He split his time between the Jazz, Hornets and Pelicans in 2014/15.
New York also completed its planned workout with shooting guard Daniel Hackett, who went undrafted out of USC in 2009 and has since played extensively overseas, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). He averaged 9.9 PPG in 27.4 MPG for EA7 Emporio Armani Milano of Italy this past season.
Pacers Sign Joseph Young
TUESDAY, 12:25pm: The deal is official, the team announced.
12:20pm: The first two years are guaranteed, Charania adds.
MONDAY, 12:08pm: The Pacers and No. 43 overall pick Joseph Young have reached agreement on a four-year deal worth more than $4MM, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Indiana appears poised to use a sliver of its cap room on the combo guard from the University of Oregon, who’s getting a deal more lucrative than the two years and nearly $1.4MM that the minimum-salary exception could provide. The most he could make in a four-year minimum-salary deal is $3,502,513, so he’s receiving more than the minimum in at least one of those seasons.
The 23-year-old has looked strong in the summer league, as Charania notes, averaging 22.5 points in 29.8 minutes per game in four appearances. He was a scorer in college, too, having put up 20.7 PPG in 36.7 MPG as a senior this past season. Young shot 39.0% from behind the arc for his college career, and he’s adept a getting to the hoop, too, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com writes in his profile, having ranked him the 30th-best prospect in the draft.
Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress had him lower, at No. 53, so Young’s draft position largely split the difference between his projections. He’s a client of Kevin Bradbury, as Givony notes, and he projects to help fill the need for more perimeter players in Indiana’s new, more fast-paced approach.
Pacers Sign Monta Ellis
JULY 14TH, 12:20pm: The signing is official, the team announced.
“He’ll be a great addition to our team,” president of basketball operations Larry Bird said. “And he fits our needs for how we want to play. We’re excited to have him. He adds another veteran in our lineup and we think he’ll be a great fit, complementing George Hill in the backcourt.”
Despite the earlier reports, it’s a straight signing, not a sign-and-trade.
2:06pm: The expectation is that if the Mavs don’t sign DeAndre Jordan, they’ll have talks with the Pacers about turning the Ellis deal into part of a sign-and-trade that would bring Roy Hibbert to Dallas, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com reported earlier that Hibbert is a consideration for the Mavs if Jordan is out of the picture.
JULY 2ND, 12:10pm: The Pacers and Monta Ellis have reached agreement on a four-year deal, reports Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The contract will be worth $44MM with a player option after year three, Broussard adds (on Twitter). Ken Berger of CBSSports.com has the value of the deal at an estimated $45MM (Twitter link). The Pacers had reportedly offered a deal with similar terms over three years on Wednesday, when the sides met, so it appears the player option season has sprung up since then.
The client of Happy Walters and Jeff Fried turned down a four-year, $48MM offer from the Kings, sources tell Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Hawks, Nuggets, and Heat were also reportedly in pursuit, and the interest was seemingly mutual between Ellis and Miami. The Mavs didn’t rule out a return, but they had other priorities, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com reported, and they didn’t intend to give him a raise on the roughly $8MM salaries he’d seen with them.
Indiana proved more willing to give the 29-year-old the raises he sought as he turned down his $8.72MM player option to stay in Dallas. The Pacers will use the cap flexibility created when David West decided against picking up his $12.6MM player option to accommodate the shooting guard, who figures to rev up Indiana’s offense, filling the playmaker role that Lance Stephenson used to occupy, as Chris Crouse of Hoops Rumors examined when he looked at Ellis’ free agent stock. The Pacers have wanted a more up-tempo attack, as they made clear this past spring.
Timberwolves Sign Nemanja Bjelica
JULY 14TH, 11:32am: The deal is official, the team announced (on Twitter).
1:40pm: Bjelica’s deal is worth $11.7MM over three years, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Bjelica confirmed that he’s heading to Minnesota in a statement released to Wojnarowski through Tellem. Minnesota will foot the maximum $625K toward his buyout from Turkey’s Fenerbahce Ulker, Wojnarowski adds. The total amount of that buyout was reportedly 1.2 million euros, the equivalent of more than $1.325MM, so Bjelica will have to pay the rest himself.
JULY 6TH, 1:12pm: The Timberwolves have reached a deal with draft-and-stash prospect Nemanja Bjelica, reports Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter link). Krawczynski reported in late June that the sides were close to agreement, and Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders more or less promised to get a deal done shortly thereafter. The sides had reportedly spoken about a $12MM deal over three years, but it’s unclear just how much the reigning Euroleague MVP is getting to come stateside.
The Arn Tellem client had reportedly been seeking between $5MM and $7MM a year, numbers that likely would have forced Minnesota to use its entire $5.434MM mid-level exception, though both sides have apparently held mutual interest for some time now. Minnesota acquired the rights to Bjelica in a trade on draft night in 2010, when the Wizards selected him 35th overall. Other teams reportedly had interest in trading for his rights this spring, but the Wolves clung to them.
Bjelica left Fenerbahce a few days ago after a season in which he averaged 11.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 26.1 minutes per game. He’s 27 years old, so he would appear to be an already fully developed prospect, save for whatever seasoning he’ll pick up in the NBA this year.
Knicks Notes: Shved, Carmelo, Boozer, Lopez
Alexey Shved has turned down an offer from the Knicks as he mulls returning to play in Europe, agent Obrad Fimic tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com, and Shved’s American agent, Mark Bartelstein, said to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com that it’s unlikely Shved re-signs with the Knicks (Twitter links). Shved has been seeking the $2.814MM room exception, but none of the three offers the Knicks have made were for that amount, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post.
“We didn’t get to the right number with the Knicks,’’ Fimic told Berman. “Maybe next season. We are considering a return to Europe where we have two huge offers.’’
Fimic said to Russia’s Tass news outlet that three NBA teams made offers (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Here’s more on the blue-and-orange:
- Knicks president Phil Jackson told reporters Monday that he hasn’t been in contact with Carmelo Anthony since the start of free agency, and Anthony’s skeptical about the team’s slow approach to rebuilding, a source close to the star forward told Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
- The Knicks are focused on finding a backup center, as Jackson also said to the media Monday and as Berman relays in the above-linked piece. The team is reportedly among those interested in Carlos Boozer, but while the Knicks have had internal conversations about him, they haven’t made a move on him yet, Berman writes. Center Alex Kirk, who was briefly a Knick last season, has impressed the team in summer league, the Post scribe adds.
- Robin Lopez is getting precisely $54,015,500 in his four-year deal with the Knicks, while Kyle O’Quinn‘s four-year contract is worth $16,012,500, including a fourth-year player option, and the one-year deal Lance Thomas signed is for $1,636,842, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
Sixers Interested In Norris Cole
The Sixers have expressed interested in Pelicans restricted free agent Norris Cole, reports Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). The point guard’s free agency has been slow-going so far, as the Pelicans have reportedly made a push to re-sign him but are only willing to go so far.
[RELATED: Sixers Notes: Wroten, Bogans, Embiid]
The Rich Paul client went from Miami to New Orleans in the Goran Dragic trade at the deadline, when the Wizards, Thunder, Bucks and Cavs all reportedly had varying degrees of interest in him. None of those teams have been linked to him this summer. The Sixers, as usual, have the cap space necessary to outbid other suitors. Aside from an apparent training camp deal with undrafted free agent T.J. McConnell, Philadelphia has yet to make a move in free agency.
The Pelicans, who can match all competing bids, made Cole a qualifying offer worth nearly $3.037MM. New Orleans is capped out, but it has his Bird rights and no other logical option on the roster to back up at point guard, aside from Toney Douglas, who’s on a non-guaranteed deal, and Tyreke Evans, who sees plenty of time at other positions.
For all the hottest NBA rumors and deals, follow us on Twitter!
Gigi Datome To Play In Turkey
Gigi Datome is leaving the NBA and has signed a two-year deal with Turkey’s Fenerbahce Ulker, the team announced. Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia first reported the sides were finalizing a deal (Twitter link). It’s worth 1.7 million euros a year, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter), and that’s the equivalent of more than $1.876MM. The Celtics last month elected not to make a qualifying offer to Datome that would have been worth $2,187,500.
It’s no surprise to see the Italian forward head back overseas, as Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe reported early this month that he was torn as he considered whether or not to stay in the NBA. The most recent rumors connected him to European teams, and clubs from overseas began lining up for him months ago.
The two-year NBA veteran made playing time a priority as he pondered his future, Himmelsbach wrote. Datome saw much more burn with the Celtics than he did this season in Detroit, where he made it into only three games before the midseason trade that took him to Boston. Still, he averaged only 10.7 minutes per contest for the C’s, and while coach Brad Stevens was a fan, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge had only measured interest.
Magic Sign Jason Smith
JULY 14TH, 9:17am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
JULY 7TH, 3:09pm: The Magic will sign Jason Smith, his agency, Priority Sports says (Twitter link). It’s a one-year, $4.3MM deal, as Shams Charania of RealGM hears (Twitter link). His agent tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv it’s for $4.5MM (Twitter link). Either way, the Magic appear to be using some of their cap space to exceed the $3,933,600 the Knicks could have used to retain the Mark Bartelstein client using his Non-Bird rights. The Knicks are taking in Kyle O’Quinn from the Magic via sign-and-trade, but it doesn’t look like the Smith signing will be part of that transaction.
Smith wanted to return to New York, which signed him to a one-year deal last summer, and while team president Phil Jackson reportedly liked the idea, and the sides spoke this month, but it wasn’t clear whether the Knicks would offer more than the $2.814MM room exception. The Lakers also apparently expressed interest.
The Magic have reached deals with Smith, C.J. Watson and Tobias Harris after missing out on Paul Millsap. The 7’0″ Smith swings between center and power forward and started a career-high 31 games this past season.