Richard Hamilton Eyeing NBA Return?
Former NBA player Richard Hamilton is considering making an NBA return this season, Ananth Pandian of CBSSports.com relays. Hamilton told Pandian that he his agent put out feelers to several teams and he is planning on training hard for the next 30 days. If his body holds up during that time period, Hamilton is going to attempt a comeback, the scribe adds.
“I’m giving myself thirty days where I am really hitting the gym.” Hamilton said. “I’m working on my game. I’m in the weight room. I’m running my two, three miles a day. And I’m trying to see if my body can hold up. If my body can hold up after these thirty days, I will be making a comeback.”
The 38-year-old last played in the NBA during the 2012/13 season with the Bulls, appearing in 50 games and averaging 9.8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 21.8 minutes per outing. The Leon Rose client retired with more than $109MM in earnings over the course of his time in the NBA, according to Basketball-Reference. He averaged 17.1 PPG and 3.4 APG with 34.6% three-point shooting and a 16.5 PER for his career.
Hamilton acknowledged it will be difficult to rejoin the league after being away from the game for three years and will only come back if it is the right situation, Pandian writes. “If I get the opportunity where I can come in and earn my minutes,” Hamilton said. “I think that I will be able to make an impact on someone’s NBA team.” The swingman also noted that one reason he wants to play again is because of his children and to get another shot at winning a title. “I’m actually doing it for [my kids] and for myself, too, to get an opportunity to make one more run at it,” Hamilton said. “And if there’s an opportunity, where I could go out and win another championship, I’m all for it.” I’d also wager the deals handed out this summer courtesy of the spike in the salary cap played a part, but I can’t fault Hamilton for giving it a go.
Heat Sign Willie Reed
JULY 13th, 5:36pm: The signing is official, the team announced.
JULY 10th, 7:18pm: Reed’s deal is expected to be finalized Monday, Winderman tweets.
6:41pm: Reed has agreed to a two-year minimum-salary deal with Miami, tweets Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops. The contract includes a player option for the second year.
6:29pm: After a flurry of moves today, the Heat could add power forward Willie Reed to their roster by Monday, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Reed would bring Miami’s roster to the 15-player limit,but partial guarantees would provide some flexibility (Twitter link).
The 26-year-old saw his first NBA action this season with Brooklyn, averaging 4.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in 39 games. Reed wasn’t taken out of St. Louis in the 2011 draft and spent four years playing overseas and in the D-League before getting a chance with Brooklyn.
Earlier today, Miami signed free agents James Johnson and Wayne Ellington, picked up Luke Babbitt in a trade with New Orleans, re-signed Udonis Haslem and matched the Nets’ $50MM offer sheet to Tyler Johnson.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Dario Saric Plans To Join Sixers Next Season
JULY 13TH 5:22pm: Sixers GM Bryan Colangelo informed Saric’s Turkish club that the team intends to sign him this weekend, international journalist David Pick tweets.
JULY 9TH, 5:53pm: Dario Saric intends to be on the Sixers’ roster next season, relays Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops. Saric made his intentions clear today after leading Croatia to an Olympic berth with a win over Italy.
“I am going back home and then to USA for the 76ers,” said Saric, who was named MVP of the Olympic qualifying tournament.
Philadelphia officials have been engaged in contract talks with Saric in recent weeks, so his announcement isn’t a huge surprise. He reportedly has a buyout in the neighborhood of $800K from his Anadolu Efes team in Turkey, and NBA rules permit the Sixers to cover $650K of that. Philadelphia acquired the rights to the 22-year-old power forward in 2014 in a draft-day deal with Orlando.
Grizzlies Sign James Ennis To Two-Year Deal
JULY 13TH, 4:58pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
JULY 3RD, 1:10am: The Grizzlies have reached an agreement with free agent small forward James Ennis on a two-year, $6MM contract, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). It’ll be a fully guaranteed deal, according to Charania.
Ennis, who turned 26 on Friday, was eligible for restricted free agency this summer, but the Pelicans opted not to issue him a qualifying offer, despite his strong finish to the season. In nine games for New Orleans down the stretch, Ennis averaged 15.9 PPG, with an impressive .500/.480/.792 shooting line. He put up 29 and 28 points in his final two games of the year.
A second-round pick in 2013, Ennis made his NBA debut in 2014, and was a part-time player for the Heat in that 2014/15 season. His production in Miami, and in a 10-game stint in Memphis last season, was far more modest than those numbers he put up for the Pelicans.
The Pelicans, Mavericks, Clippers, Warriors, and Hawks were reportedly among the other teams to inquire on Ennis this week. But he’ll join the Grizzlies, who have already committed more than $250MM to Mike Conley and Chandler Parsons in free agency, as our tracker shows.
Heat Sign Stefan Jankovic
The Heat continue to fill out their preseason roster, announcing that they have signed unrestricted free agent forward Stefan Jankovic. The length and terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is more than likely a minimum salary arrangement.
Jankovic went undrafted out of the University of Hawaii this year and is currently playing on Miami’s Summer League squad in Las Vegas where he has appeared in two games, notching a total of eight points, three assists and two rebounds in 26 minutes of action.
The 22-year-old was named the Big West Player of the Year this past season after averaging 15.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, 1.2 assists in 24.7 minutes of action over 33 games. Jankovic shot 54.3% from the floor overall, 39.3 % from three-point range and 77.2% from the foul line.
Warriors Sign Damian Jones
The Warriors have locked up the final pick of the 2016 first round, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed center Damian Jones to his rookie contract. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Jones will get a four-year deal that features two guaranteed years and two teams options.
Assuming Jones signed for 120% of the rookie-scale slot for the No. 30 pick, he’ll be in line for a $1,171,560 salary in 2016/17, and a four-year contract worth $5,977,897. The deal will put him in line for a contract extension in 2019, or restricted free agency in 2020.
[RELATED: 2016 Draft Pick Signings]
A seven-footer out of Vanderbilt, Jones averaged 13.9 PPG and 6.9 RPG during his junior year before declaring for the draft. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com ranked him as the 21-best prospect in this year’s draft class.
The Warriors have undergone significant changes at the center position since the offseason began. Festus Ezeli and Andrew Bogut are gone, and Anderson Varejao remains unsigned. The team signed Zaza Pachulia to help fill that opening at center, but Jones figures to compete for a spot in the regular rotation in his rookie year.
A breakdown of the Warriors’ roster and depth chart can be found right here.
Warriors Re-Sign James McAdoo
JULY 13, 2:48pm: The Warriors have officially re-signed McAdoo, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 8, 2:00pm: It’ll be a minimum-salary deal for McAdoo, who will earn $980,431, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
1:46pm: The Warriors are bringing back another one of their free agents, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, who reports (via Twitter) that James McAdoo is re-signing with the club on a one-year deal. McAdoo had been an unrestricted free agent after Golden State declined to extend him a qualifying offer.
McAdoo, 23, has spent the first two years of his NBA career with the Warriors, but the former UNC forward hasn’t seen much action so far. In 2015/16, he appeared in 41 regular-season games for Golden State, averaging 6.4 minutes in those contests.
While McAdoo has flashed some promise, it remains to be seen whether he’ll get the opportunity to take on a larger role in Golden State going forward. The team has lost several of its free agents – including Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli, Marreese Speights, Leandro Barbosa, and Brandon Rush – and traded Andrew Bogut. However, the Warriors have also added a few pieces, re-signing Ian Clark and landing Zaza Pachulia, David West, and – of course – Kevin Durant. in free agency. The club also drafted Damian Jones and Patrick McCaw.
[RELATED: Golden State Warriors’ depth chart at RosterResource.com]
Although they didn’t extend him a qualifying offer, the Warriors still have McAdoo’s Early Bird rights, so they could go over the cap and pay him more than a minimum salary. It’s not yet clear what McAdoo’s new deal will be worth.
Community Shootaround: Most Improved Lottery Team In East?
This past spring, the Bulls, Wizards, Magic, Bucks, Knicks, Nets, and 76ers all failed to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, finishing in the lottery. All seven of those teams have been very active so far this offseason, signing free agents and adding players to their roster via trades and/or the draft.
The Bulls and Knicks have perhaps been the most visible of the Eastern lottery teams in recent weeks, beginning with the five-player trade they completed that sent Derrick Rose to New York and Robin Lopez to Chicago. Since then, the Bulls have added Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo in free agency, while the Knicks have signed Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee, and Brandon Jennings, among others.
The two lottery teams from the Southeast – the Wizards and Magic – have also undergone some roster upheaval this summer. Washington re-upped restricted free agent Bradley Beal and made changes elsewhere, bringing in Ian Mahinmi, Andrew Nicholson, and Jason Smith, while letting go of Nene, Jared Dudley, and Ramon Sessions. Orlando was even more active, re-signing Evan Fournier, trading for Serge Ibaka, and adding D.J. Augustin, Jeff Green, and Bismack Biyombo.
The Bucks have been a little quieter, but they secured a pair of solid role players in free agency, signing Matthew Dellavedova and Mirza Teletovic. They also drafted Thon Maker, adding another athletic prospect with upside to a promising young core.
Like Milwaukee, the Sixers didn’t make a huge splash, but with Gerald Henderson, Jerryd Bayless, and Sergio Rodriguez entering the mix, the rebuilding franchise has more of a veteran presence. And if Dario Saric finalizes a deal with Philadelphia, the club feels it has three players – Saric, Joel Embiid, and No. 1 pick Ben Simmons – capable of competing for the Rookie of the Year award.
Finally, the Nets missed out on two RFA targets, when their offer sheets for Tyler Johnson and Allen Crabbe were matched. Their other free agent signings, including Jeremy Lin, Greivis Vasquez, Trevor Booker, Luis Scola, and Justin Hamilton – have been modest.
Today’s discussion question focuses on these seven teams, and their offseason transactions. Which team do you think improved the most? Which series of moves do you like best? Which of these non-playoff teams do you think is most likely to end up qualifying for the postseason next spring?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the Bulls, Wizards, Magic, Bucks, Knicks, Nets, and Sixers. We look forward to hearing what you have to say.
Timberwolves Sign Cole Aldrich
JULY 13: The Wolves have formally signed Aldrich, the team announced today (via Twitter).
JULY 3: Veteran center Cole Aldrich will sign a three-year, $22MM deal with the Timberwolves, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The 27-year-old center spent the 2015/16 season with the Clippers and averaged 5.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in 60 games.
Aldrich decided last month to opt out of his contract with L.A., which would have paid him the league minimum, approximately $1.23MM. The Clippers had hoped to keep the unrestricted free agent, but he chose to accept the offer from Minnesota.
The Bloomington, Minn., native will serve as a backup to Rookie of the Year Karl-Anthony Towns. The Timberwolves will be his sixth NBA franchise.
Atlantic Rumors: Sixers, Westbrook, C’s, Nets
Speaking to SiriusXM NBA Radio (SoundCloud link) in Las Vegas, Sixers general manager Bryan Colangelo acknowledged that his team’s roster is “top-heavy,” with a logjam of young talent at the center position. Although Colangelo said the Sixers like Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid, and Jahlil Okafor, he suggested, half-jokingly, that he’s “absolutely not” comfortable heading into the season with all three still on the roster.
“What we are comfortable doing is saying we’re not going to make a bad deal just to make a deal,” the Sixers GM said. “I think we could be a better basketball team if we could distribute that talent better, and maybe take one of those assets and address other needs on the roster. But I think right now, it’s best to say we like all of them [and] we want to see if we can make the most out of each of them in terms of their contributions to this team. At the end of the day, the reality says one probably has to go at some point — but only when the deal is right.”
Here’s more from out of the Atlantic division:
- Although there’s no indication yet that the Thunder are exploring a Russell Westbrook trade, rival general managers think GM Sam Presti will do so sooner rather than later if he suspects that Westbrook is leaning toward leaving as a free agent next summer, says Howard Beck of Bleacher Report (video link). According to Beck, many of those rival GMs believe that the Celtics are the most likely landing spot for Westbrook if Oklahoma City does pursue a trade.
- Having missed out on a pair of RFA targets, the Nets are currently mulling making an offer to another RFA, Dion Waiters, as we heard over the weekend. According to Brian Lewis of The New York Post, Brooklyn has also displayed interest in Terrence Jones, Jordan Hill, and Maurice Harkless.
- Nets general manager Sean Marks, who acknowledged that his team is in the market for wing players, also said that he’s in no rush to meet the salary floor, as Lewis details. “At some point we have to get there,” Marks said. “But it’s not immediate right now. We’re not just going to go out and spend for the sake of spending. It’s about us doing the right things at the right times.”
- Celtics first-rounder Ante Zizic is headed back to Cibona Zagreb, his team in Croatia, tweets international basketball journalist David Pick. Boston GM Danny Ainge had previously confirmed that Zizic, who reportedly received some interest from other European clubs, would remain overseas for the 2016/17 season.