Mavs Sign Kyle Collinsworth
2:49pm: The deal is official, the Mavs announced via press release.
8:46am: The Mavs signed undrafted rookie Kyle Collinsworth to a two-year deal, Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune reports. Collinsworth confirmed the news via Twitter.
It is unclear what the exact figures are, but it’s a partially guaranteed deal and Collinsworth has secured a training camp invite with a sum of guaranteed money, Jones relays. Collinsworth landed the contract after he shined in summer league play with Dallas.
Collinsworth set an NCAA record of 12 triple-doubles over the course of his career at BYU. His versatility helped him secure the contract and Dallas is a good fit because the Mavs are particularly thin at the wing spots with space on their roster, Jones writes. Collinsworth averaged 15.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game last year for BYU.
Grizzlies, D.J. Stephens Agree To Deal
The Grizzlies and swingman D.J. Stephens have agreed on a partially guaranteed two-year deal, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (on Twitter). Stephens played for the Grizzlies’ summer league team.
The 25-year-old Stephens has three games of NBA experience with Milwaukee in 2014. The Cavs signed Stephens to a training camp deal last September, but then waived him shortly before the season started. In the previous fall, Stephens inked a non-guaranteed minimum-salary camp deal with the Pelicans and was among the team’s final cuts about a week before Halloween in 2014.
Stephens went undrafted out of the University of Memphis in 2013, despite a 46-inch vertical leap. He never averaged double figures in points during his four years at Memphis, but he used his athleticism on the other end of the floor, winning the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year award in his senior season. He played overseas after his college career.
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Pelicans Sign Langston Galloway
JULY 21st: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
JULY 6th, 10:24pm: The pact will pay Galloway $5MM per season, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets.
4:35pm: Galloway received a two-year deal from New Orleans, with a player option for the second season, according to Scotto (Twitter link).
3:46pm: Point guard Langston Galloway will sign with the Pelicans, tweets Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops. Contract details are still being finalized, according to Ian Begley of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Galloway became an unrestricted free agent on Monday when the Knicks rescinded their $2.725MM qualifying offer. Galloway became expendable when New York reached a one-year, $5MM deal with free agent guard Brandon Jennings. Begley notes that New York held Early Bird Rights on Galloway and could have offered up to $6.1MM in the first year of a new deal (Twitter link).
The 24-year-old was a regular part of the Knicks’ rotation this season, his second in the NBA. Galloway appeared in all 82 games, averaging 7.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 24.8 minutes while shooting 39.3% from the field and 34.4% from 3-point range.
He will help offset the loss of Eric Gordon, who signed Saturday with the Rockets. Galloway joins Solomon Hill and E’Twaun Moore as free agent acquisitions for New Orleans this offseason.
Nuggets Re-Sign Mike Miller
JULY 21st: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
JULY 18th: The Nuggets will re-sign Mike Miller to a two-year deal, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Miller will receive more than $5MM over the length of the deal, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link).
Miller played sparingly for the Nuggets last season, seeing 7.9 minutes per game over 47 contests. He shot just 35.5% from behind the arc, down from his career mark of 40.7%.
The Nuggets entered the day with 17 players under contract, as the team’s depth chart at Roster Resource indicates. Juan Hernangomez and Petr Cornelie are included on that list, although both are expected to play overseas next season. Miller will likely make the team and play sparingly again, while serving as a veteran mentor for the franchise’s young talent.
Guerschon Yabusele To Play In China
Guerschon Yabusele, whom the Celtics drafted 16th overall last month, has agreed to a one-year deal with the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe reports. Boston still holds Yabusele’s NBA rights, as Himmelsbach points out.
There have been recent reports suggesting that Yabusele playing overseas was likely, so this news is not entirely surprising. What’s more, the French forward likely needs more seasoning before playing in the league. He is only 20 and he brings versatility and a lot of potential.
At 6’8″ and 240 pounds, Yabusele likely does not lack strength, but there’s been some concern that he’s too short. He has, however, worked to improve his jumper and possesses above-average length and athleticism. He averaged 8.2 points and 6 rebounds in eight summer league games for Boston this year, per Himmelsbach.
Pelicans Ink Solomon Hill To Four-Year Deal
JULY 21st: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
JULY 1st: The Pelicans have agreed to a deal with Solomon Hill, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The pact will be for $48MM over four seasons, reports Scott Kushner of The Advocate (Twitter links). Kushner adds that the deal will be guaranteed and it will contain incentives. Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical tweets that the deal will be for $52MM over four seasons, so perhaps that figure represents his maximum earnings.
GM Dell Demps was very high on the combo forward and had been targeting him since the beginning of free agency, Kushner adds. Sources tell Kushner that the team feels Hill is a high-IQ, team player and a good passer, comparing the forward to DeMarre Carroll (Twitter link). New Orleans wants Hill to be the team’s new “two-way” small forward, Stein tweets.
Hill was set to make roughly $2.3MM next season for the Pacers, but Indiana decided not to exercise its team option for the final year of his rookie deal. Hill had an up-and-down career for the Pacers before breaking out in the playoffs this past year.
Pelicans, E’Twaun Moore Agree To Deal
JULY 21st: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
JULY 1st: The Pelicans have reached an agreement with free agent guard E’Twaun Moore, reports Scott Kushner of The Advocate (Twitter link). According to Kushner, Moore will sign a four-year, $34MM deal with New Orleans when the July moratorium ends. The deal won’t include any option years, Kushner adds (via Twitter).
In recent days, the Pelicans have been linked to several guards and wings, including Evan Turner, Jeremy Lin, and Tyler Johnson, among others. The team has now added a player at both positions — after reaching an agreement with forward Solomon Hill earlier today, they’ve now struck a deal with Moore, a combo guard.
Moore, 27, started a career-high 22 games for the Bulls, and was solid in that role, averaging 12.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in his starts, while shooting 46.2% on three-pointers. He’ll probably be a bench option in New Orleans, but the Pelicans front office is high on Moore, who met with GM Dell Demps today, per Kushner (Twitter link).
The Wolves were among the other teams to reach out to Moore today, though the Bulls had been viewed as the favorites to retain him until the Pelicans swooped in with a four-year offer.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nets Notes: Bennett, Marks, Lin
Anthony Bennett‘s two-year deal with the Nets is a low-risk, high-reward gamble for Brooklyn, considering the team has few draft picks, Brian Lewis of the New York Post details. Bennett will make a guaranteed $1,015,696 this season and another $1,087,745 if he’s on the roster opening night 2017, Lewis reports. The former No. 1 overall pick is focused on sharpening his rebounding and using his athleticism on defense, but Bennett’s confidence must also improve for him to stick, Lewis writes.
Here’s more out of Brooklyn:
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The Nets enter their fifth season in Brooklyn still lacking an identity, but instead of depending on aging stars with large contracts, the team’s hopes rest in GM Sean Marks‘ and head coach Kenny Atkinson‘s abilities, Seth Berkman of The New York Times writes. Bojan Bogdanovic and Brook Lopez are the only players on the Nets who have played at least two seasons with the team, as Berkman points out.
- A significant reason Jeremy Lin joined the Nets was because he wants to prove he can be a full-time starting point guard, Michael Scotto of The Associated Press relays. “That’s a huge thing for me because in free agency I kind of said I want to see how great I can become,” Lin said. “I’ve played a lot of different roles, I’ve sacrificed for a lot of teams I’ve been on in the past. I’ve taken smaller roles to try to help the team succeed. Now I have that chance to take a much bigger role and be a much bigger part.”
Pacers Sign Aaron Brooks
JULY 21ST: The deal is official, the team announced via Twitter.
JULY 18TH: More than a week after reporting that the Pacers and Aaron Brooks were in “advanced discussions” on a one-year contract, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets that the two sides have reached an agreement. According to Charania, it’ll be a one-year, $2.5MM deal for Brooks in Indiana.
A well-traveled NBA veteran, Brooks will be joining his sixth team, having already spent time with the Rockets, Suns, Kings, Nuggets, and Bulls. Most recently, the 31-year-old played 69 games for Chicago last season, averaging 7.1 PPG and 2.6 APG in a backup role.
In Indiana, Brooks will be a part of a revamped point guard depth chart, with Jeff Teague expected to be the starter. The Pacers acquired Teague in a three-way trade earlier this month that sent George Hill to the Jazz, and they don’t appear anxious to re-sign last season’s backup, Ty Lawson.
[RELATED: Indiana Pacers’ depth chart at RosterResource.com]
Despite an active offseason that has seen the club acquire Thaddeus Young and sign Al Jefferson, the Pacers remain under the cap, so they should be able to finalize the signing of Brooks using cap room, rather than any sort of exception.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.