Celtics To Sign Marcus Georges-Hunt
The Celtics have agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent Marcus Georges-Hunt, Keith Smith of RealGM reports (via Twitter). The scribe terms it a training camp arrangement, so it’s likely for the league-minimum and includes little or no guaranteed salary.
The addition of the undrafted forward out of Georgia Tech will give Boston 19 players on its roster, which is one below the preseason maximum, but four over the regular season limit. So the 22-year-old will certainly have his work cut out for him if he hopes to remain on the roster through tip-off on opening night, especially considering 16 of those players I mentioned possess fully guaranteed deals. In all likelihood, if Georges-Hunt manages to impress the coaching staff, he’ll be ticked for Maine and the team’s D-League affiliate.
Georges-Hunt appeared in 36 games as a senior for the Yellowjackets, logging averages of 16.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 32.4 minutes per outing. His slash line on the campaign was .454/.342/.823. He played for Brooklyn’s squad in the Las Vegas Summer League this year, averaging 2.8 points and 1.0 rebound in 13.2 minutes per contest over four appearances.
Hoops Rumors Originals: 8/14/16-8/20/16
Here’s a look back at the original content and analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this past week.
- Arthur Hill examined Giannis Antetokounmpo as an extension candidate.
- We asked readers to do over the 2005 NBA Draft. Here’s who you selected for picks No. 10, No. 11, No. 12, No. 13 and No. 14 overall.
- We also began our trip back to the 2008 NBA Draft, having readers vote for picks No. 1 and No. 2 overall.
- You can stay up to date on any contract extensions agreed to this season with our tracker.
- Will Joseph highlighted some of the better basketball blogs around in his weekly installment of Hoops Links.
- We looked at the 2016/17 Salary Cap figures for the:
- Arthur answered reader questions in our Weekly Mailbag. Here’s how you can submit your own questions for our mailbag feature.
- We ran down the largest expiring contracts for the 2016/17 campaign.
- In our Community Shootarounds this week we discussed:
- The most anticipated games on the 2016/17 NBA schedule.
- What FIBA rules the NBA should consider adopting.
- Team USA’s chances of winning gold in Rio.
- The merits of a hypothetical Ricky Rubio/Rudy Gay trade.
- Who will be the Most Improved Player for the upcoming season.
- How successful the Pistons’ offseason was.
- Our Free Agent Tracker continues to have up-to-date data on this summer’s contract agreements and signings from around the NBA.
- If you haven’t already, be sure to download the Trade Rumors app for your iOS or Android device.
Week In Review: 8/14/16-8/20/16
With 2016’s offseason winding down and the preseason on its way, here’s a look back at all the notable news and events from around the NBA this past week:
Signings/Agreements
NBA
- The Thunder signed Ronnie Price.
- The Nets signed Trevor Cooney.
- The Nuggets signed D.J. Kennedy.
- The Warriors signed Phil Pressey.
- The Trail Blazers signed Grant Jerrett.
- The Heat signed Beno Udrih.
- The Wizards signed Casper Ware.
- The Bucks signed Jason Terry.
- The Jazz signed Joel Bolomboy.
- The Nuggets agreed to a deal with Nate Wolters.
International
- Earl Clark signed with the Turkish club Beskitas.
- Joey Dorsey re-signed with Barcelona.
- Devin Ebanks signed with Reales de La Vega in the Dominican Republic.
News/Rumors
- Jarnell Stokes hired Priority Sports as his new representation.
- The Bucks hired Craig Robinson as the franchise’s vice president of player organization and development.
- The Hawks hired Richard Midgley as their west coast scout.
- The Hornets officially announced that the “Spectrum Center” will be replacing “Time Warner Cable Arena” as the name of the team’s home arena.
- The Lakers hired Coby Karl, son of former NBA coach George Karl, to be head coach of their D-League affiliate.
- New Orleans was selected to replace Charlotte as the host for the 2017 All-Star Game.
- The Lakers hired Jud Buechler, Brian Keefe and Theo Robertson as player development coaches.
Bucks To Re-Sign Steve Novak
The Bucks are planning to re-sign unrestricted free agent Steve Novak, according to Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The details of the proposed arrangement are unknown, but with Milwaukee over the cap, it is more than likely for the veteran’s minimum. The team does still have the Room Exception available, but it would be surprising if it was used in this instance. The addition of Novak would give the team 15 players under contract, which is the regular season maximum.
Milwaukee is seeking to add veteran leadership to its bench, which also prompted the reported signing of Jason Terry, notes Gardner. The Bucks currently have the youngest roster in the league and the additions of the 38-year-old Terry and 33-year-old Novak would bring some balance and leadership to the locker room, Gardner adds. Novak has worked with the Bucks medical and training staff this summer to rehab the sprained left MCL that prematurely ended his season and his deal would be finalized after receiving medical clearance, a team source told Gardner.
Novak has garnered some interest around the league, per his agent Mark Bartelstein, but the veteran has been holding off on making a decision because his clear preference is to remain in Milwaukee. “There have been a few teams that we’ve talked to; you always got to keep your doors open,’’ Bartelstein had said earlier this week. “But we’re still talking with the Bucks and, hopefully, we’ll make a deal with them. Steve would love to stay in Milwaukee. It’s a very special place for him.’’
The forward was the No. 32 overall pick in 2006. He has appeared in 459 career regular season games, averaging 4.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per outing. He owns a career shooting line of .438/.431/.877.
Western Notes: Lakers, Jianlian, Singler
The Lakers have hired Jud Buechler, Brian Keefe and Theo Robertson as player development coaches, BA Turner of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Casey Owens has also been hired as an assistant coach/advance professional scout, while Will Scott has been named a video coordinator to round out Luke Walton’s staff. Brian Shaw, Jesse Mermuys and Mark Madsen had previously been named as assistants by Walton.
In other news around the Western Conference:
- Veteran coach Del Harris believes Yi Jianlian’s second foray into the NBA will go much more smoothly than his first one, Kevin Wang of ESPN.com reports. Jianlian signed a one-year deal with the Lakers this week that could be worth as much as $8MM. Yi bounced around the league for five seasons before returning to China in 2012. Harris, who is familiar with Yi after coaching the Chinese national team, said Yi’s style of play fits Walton’s offensive scheme. “I think that is the right team for him,” Harris told Wang. “He should be able to play for them and will really fit the style Luke employed so well last year [with the Warriors].”
- Mavs guard Deron Williams believes LeBron James solidified his legacy by winning a championship with the Cavaliers, he said in an NBC Radio interview that was excerpted by the Dallas Morning News. James formed a “super team” with the Heat but proved he could win it all with an arguable lesser cast, according to Williams. “He went back to a team that won – what? – 20 games before he got there, and took them to the Finals, and now they won a championship,” Williams said. “And if you take him off that team, I don’t know where they’d be, they’d still be a good team, but they wouldn’t be competing for a championship.”
- Thunder small forward Kyle Singler is preparing himself for a much larger role in the wake of Kevin Durant’s decision to join the Warriors, Erik Horne of The Oklahoman writes. Singler got in the gym right after the season and worked out with the summer league team, Horne continues. “When I was trying to think about how I want to maximize my summer, my first thing I wanted to do was play as much basketball as possible,” Singler told Horne. Oklahoma City doesn’t have another small forward with Singler’s combination of size, length and shooting ability, making him a prime candidate to receive the bulk of Durant’s minutes, Horne adds.
Community Shootaround: Detroit Pistons
The Pistons took a low-key approach to the offseason. Content with the young pieces assembled over the past two seasons, head coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy opted to improve his bench.
Detroit did pursue one top-level free agent, Al Horford, but quickly realized that wasn’t going to happen. So, Van Gundy made some under-the-radar signings, essentially splitting up the salary-cap room available to ink three reserves — point guard Ish Smith, power forward Jon Leuer and center Boban Marjanovic.
Smith should be a major upgrade as the backup to Reggie Jackson. The Pistons had aging Steve Blake at that spot during the second half of last season. Leuer is also expected to play a major role and gives the club more versatility up front compared to the player he’s replacing, Anthony Tolliver.
Van Gundy is banking on improvements from within as his young core grows together. Jackson just finished his first season as a full-time starter. Combo forward Tobias Harris, acquired at the trade deadline, will now have a full season to blend in with the starting unit.
The Pistons are also expecting big things from second-year swingman Stanley Johnson, who jumped right into the rotation as a rookie and flashed some star potential.
The whole roster revolves around center Andre Drummond, who led the league in rebounding despite free throw shooting woes that often kept him on the bench during crunch time.
The Pistons will have very little cap space next summer unless they dump some salary, so the players on the current roster need to build on the franchise’s first playoff appearance in seven seasons.
This leads us to our question of the day: Did the Pistons do enough this offseason to become serious contenders in the Eastern Conference?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.
Poll: 2008 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 2)
Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.
Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.
We just finished revisiting the lottery portion of the 2005 NBA Draft, which was one of the weakest in recent memory. In drafts light on impact talent, the GM who can find a diamond in the rough is king. But drafts that have a number of star-potential players can also be difficult and many an executive has made what turned out to be the wrong call. Greg Oden over Kevin Durant immediately springs to mind (sorry Blazers fans), likewise taking Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan…ouch!
The 2008 draft, which is the next one we’ll be tackling, had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.
In our first round of voting, our fans selected Westbrook as the player the Bulls should have taken with the first overall pick. Of course, Chicago took Rose, who posted MVP numbers prior to injuries taking hold. Westbrook received just over 79% of the votes, with Rose a distant second at 14.5%.
Let’s move on to the next pick. The Heat made a choice they soon came to regret — forward Michael Beasley. Beasley lasted just two seasons with the Heat before he was moved to the Timberwolves. Beasley had a second stint with the Heat and appeared in 20 games with the Rockets last season, but obviously never developed into a franchise-type player.
Who should the Heat have taken with the second overall pick? Please check back on Saturday for results.
Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. Also, if I fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and I’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.
Selections
- Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
- Heat — ??? [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.
Central Notes: Smith, Terry, Novak, Pistons
Money is the only sticking point in negotiations between J.R. Smith and the Cavaliers, writes Sam Amico of Amicohoops.net. Smith wants to stay in Cleveland where he is comfortable with coach Tyronn Lue and was an important contributor to the Cavs’ championship run. The organization is happy with Smith’s clutch shooting and improved defense. However, the two sides appear to be far apart on salary, and it’s not certain that the situation will be resolved before the Cavaliers open training camp September 26th. Smith, who turns 31 next month, made $5MM last season. He has reportedly seen his bargaining power weakened by a lack of interest from other teams.
There’s more from the Central Division:
- The Bucks are looking for leadership by adding veterans Jason Terry and Steve Novak to the league’s youngest roster, writes Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Terry, 38, confirmed today that he will sign with Milwaukee, and Novak, 33, is expected to re-sign soon after spending the end of last season with the Bucks.
- The Pistons expect to have about $5MM in cap room next summer, but several decisions could push that number higher or lower, states Aaron McMann of MLive. The $5MM figure assumes that Detroit picks up the options on Stanley Johnson and Darrun Hilliard and that Aron Baynes opts out of the final year of his deal. However, the Pistons still need to find a third point guard and make a decision on whether to re-sign Reggie Bullock, who will be a free agent after next season.
- The fear of losing Baynes next summer prompted the Pistons to target Boban Marjanovic, writes Keith Langlois of NBA.com. Detroit offered Marjanovic an offer sheet worth $21MM over three years, and the Spurs, who didn’t have his Bird rights, declined to match. Marjanovic has limited NBA experience, and coach/executive Stan Van Gundy credits extensive scouting work for enabling the Pistons to identify him as a worthwhile prospect.
Jazz Sign Joel Bolomboy
The Jazz have signed second-round pick Joel Bolomboy, the team announced today. The 6’9″ power forward/center was the 52nd selection in June’s draft.
Born in the Ukraine, Bolomboy starred at Weber State, averaging 17.1 points and 12.6 rebounds per game as a senior. He was named the Big Sky Conference’s MVP and Defensive Player of the Year last season.
Bolomboy was part of Utah’s summer league team in Las Vegas, averaging 7.6 points and 5.9 rebounds in nine games.
New York Notes: Wroten, Hernangomez, Bennett
The Knicks had long-term plans for point guard Tony Wroten when they signed him in mid-March, Charley Rosen of Today’s Fastbreak reveals in the latest installment of “The Phil Jackson Chronicles.” Wroten, who was waived in June after New York traded for Derrick Rose, was originally set to get an extended audition this offseason. Jackson, the team president, said the Knicks signed Wroten during the season rather than waiting for free agency because it wanted to have him available for summer league play.
“Signing Tony now also gives us more time to evaluate him,” Jackson said in March about Wroten, who was recovering from surgery on a partially torn ACL in his right knee. “Can he make it all the way back? Can he grasp our philosophy? Tony is only 22 and, if everything does work out, he certainly fits the description of the type of point guard that we’re looking for. It’s a futuristic move for us. A move that gives us another choice. And it’s one of the things we have to do to find suitable talent.” Wroten never appeared in a game for the Knicks. The Grizzlies claimed him off waivers, then released and later re-signed him.
There’s more news from the Atlantic Division:
- Willy Hernangomez, a Spanish center who will face Team USA at the Olympics today, has a chance to be part of the Knicks‘ rotation next season, writes Fred Kerber of The New York Post. That’s the opinion of ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla, who is considered an expert on international basketball. “He does not have ‘starter’ or ‘stardom’ written all over him yet, but he has a chance because of his youth, mobility and size to develop into a good player in time,” Fraschilla said. “If you could find a 6-11 second-round pick who’s only 22 years old and is beginning to prove himself both at the Olympics and in the second-best league in the world in Spain, you’d say it is a bonus for the Knicks.”
- Former overall No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett says he likes the “brand new vibe” in Brooklyn as he tries to resurrect his career with the Nets, relays NetsDaily.com. “For the most part, [I’m] going in here with an open mind, no pressure, just going out there and playing,” Bennett says in a new video posted on YouTube. Bennett signed a two-year deal that will pay him a guaranteed $1,015,696 this season and $1,087,745 if he’s on the roster for opening night in 2017.