Heat Cut Derrick Williams, Re-Sign Okaro White
3:50pm: The Heat have confirmed in a press release that they’ve re-signed White and waived Williams.
10:44am: Okaro White‘s second 10-day contract with the Heat expired on Sunday night, but the team won’t waste any time in bringing him back into the fold, opening up a roster spot to do so. According to Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter), the Heat will waive veteran forward Derrick Williams and will sign White to a two-year contract.
Miami had been carrying 16 players on its roster, having been afforded a hardship exemption by the NBA due to four separate major injuries. Justise Winslow and Chris Bosh are expected to miss the rest of the season, while Josh McRoberts and Josh Richardson had also been sidelined for weeks. However, with Richardson set to return to the lineup, the team needed to pare its roster down to 15 players, and didn’t want to lose White.
A former FSU standout, White was in camp with the Heat in the fall, but didn’t crack the club’s regular season roster at the time. After playing well for Miami’s D-League affiliate (18.4 PPG, 8.7 RPG in 23 contests), White was called up to the NBA squad again, and has looked good in nine games for the Heat, averaging 4.1 PPG and 2.6 RPG in 16.4 MPG. The team is 9-0 in those games.
As for Williams, the Heat reportedly tried to find a trade partner to accommodate a deal for the former No. 2 overall pick, but came up empty-handed. Williams, who signed a one-year deal with Miami last summer, has appeared in 25 games this season, making 11 starts. He has averaged 5.9 PPG and 2.9 RPG in those contests, with a career-low .394 FG%, and has fallen out of the rotation in recent weeks, despite the team’s injury woes.
[RELATED: Salary Cap Snapshot: Miami Heat]
Because they used their room exception on Dion Waiters during the offseason and are now over the cap, the Heat’s options for signing White are limited. The team has a disabled player exception worth just under $1.3MM available, but it can only be used for a one-year deal, and White will sign a two-year pact. That means he’ll receive a minimum salary, which works out to about $210K for the rest of this season, and $1.32MM for next season, per Bobby Marks of The Vertical (Twitter link). White’s 2017/18 salary won’t be fully guaranteed.
Meanwhile, Williams’ $4.598MM salary will continue to count against the Heat’s cap unless he’s claimed off waivers by another team. His contract could be appealing to a team below the salary floor, since it would move that club nearly $4.6MM closer to the floor, despite the fact that his remaining salary is significantly lower than that.
Kenny Anderson, Jamario Moon Among Additions To BIG3
Five players have been announced as additions to the BIG3 league, President & Commissioner Roger Mason Jr. announced in a press release. Former Slam Dunk Contest participant Jamario Moon will join the league, as will Kenny Anderson, Etan Thomas, Ruben Patterson, and Smush Parker.
“There has been an outpouring of interest from our professional basketball community. We are so excited to bring quality players to the draft. We are building something special with this league. A league for the players, by the players,” Mason Jr. said.
BIG3’s talent pool has come together nicely since its January 11 inception, as NBA legends Allen Iverson, Jermaine O’Neal, Jason Williams, and more are set to resume their careers in a 3-on-3 format. While the league has scooped up players with recent NBA experience, Hall-of-Famers George Gervin and Clyde Drexler will serve crucial roles as coaches and ambassadors of the league.
Kennedy’s Latest: Jefferson, Mahinmi, Ibaka, Magic
A trade between the Hornets and Bucks last week featured three centers, with Roy Hibbert, Spencer Hawes, and Miles Plumlee all changing teams, and that certainly won’t be the last deal of the month involving bigs. A Western Conference executive tells Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype that a handful of teams around the NBA have been shopping recently-acquired big men in the hopes of finding a deal.
According to Kennedy, Pacers center Al Jefferson, Wizards center Ian Mahinmi, and Magic big man Serge Ibaka are among the players believed to be available. Ibaka’s name recently surfaced in trade rumors, and it comes as no surprise that Jefferson and Mahinmi could be had in the right deal as well — Jefferson has seen his role significantly reduced this season in Indiana, while Mahinmi has barely played for Washington due to health problems.
Kennedy passes along a few more items of interest in his latest piece, so let’s round up a few highlights…
- Kennedy asked multiple sources which NBA teams will be most eager to make a trade before the deadline, and each of those sources mentioned the Magic. Additionally, some people around the league believe general manager Rob Hennigan is on the hot seat in Orlando, writes Kennedy.
- Last week, a Chicago Tribune report indicated that rival executives believe the Celtics and Bulls will revisit Jimmy Butler trade talks this month. Kennedy heard that prediction from several executives as well, though one exec said Chicago can be “tough to negotiate with,” while another suggested that the Bulls might be more inclined to wait until the offseason for a move of that magnitude.
- Trade rumors have swirled around Carmelo Anthony as of late, but the star forward controls his future due to his no-trade clause. According to Kennedy, many people around the league aren’t convinced that the marriage between the Knicks and Phil Jackson will be a long-term one, so it’s possible – as one executive suggests – that Anthony will decide to stay with the Knicks this month and then see if anything happens with Jackson this summer.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 2/6/17
Here are Monday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the league:
2:26pm:
- The Spurs have assigned guard Bryn Forbes to Austin, according to a press release from the club. Forbes has been impressive in D-League action this season, averaging 23.0 PPG in 12 contests.
- Rookie big man Deyonta Davis has been assigned to the Iowa Energy, the Grizzlies announced today in a press release. Memphis has used its D-League affiliate sparingly this season — this will be Davis’ first assignment to Iowa.
12:06pm:
- The Pistons have recalled rookies Henry Ellenson and Michael Gbinije from the D-League, according to a press release issued by the team. The duo played a significant role in Grand Rapids’ Saturday win over the Raptors 905, with Gbinije scoring a team-high 29 points, while Ellenson added 25.
- Speaking of the Raptors, they’ve sent point guard Delon Wright to their D-League affiliate, the team announced today (via Twitter).
- Rookie forward Georges Niang has been assigned to the D-League by the Pacers, the team announced in a press release. Niang, who has played sparingly in 21 games for Indiana, has averaged 17.8 PPG in four games for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
- With their D-League affiliate not in action until Wednesday, the Nets have recalled Chris McCullough, per a team release. It’s already the 17th time this season that Brooklyn has recalled McCullough from Long Island.
Zaza Pachulia Wants To Re-Sign With Warriors
The acquisition of Kevin Durant was certainly the bigger splash, but the Warriors’ offseason signing of Zaza Pachulia irritated rival executives nearly as much, due to the discount the big man took to join the Dubs. As many of his fellow veteran free agents landed massive multiyear deals, Pachulia signed with Golden State on a one-year, $2.9MM contract, and he hasn’t regretted that decision. As he tells Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle, Pachulia hopes to extend his stay in the Bay Area beyond this season.
“I don’t want the season to end,” Pachulia said. “When people ask me about (free agency) this summer, I say, ‘I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here.’ Even after June, I’m staying here.”
After recording a career-high 9.4 RPG to go along with 8.6 PPG in 76 games with Dallas last season, Pachulia has seen his role reduced a little in Golden State — he’s playing just 18.8 minutes per game, his lowest mark since 2010/11. Still, his field goal percentage is a career-best 52.7%, and he has started each of the 44 games he has played for the Warriors. And even if his raw numbers aren’t impressive, Pachulia is thrilled to be a member of the NBA’s top team.
“Winning means so much,” Pachulia said. “Being around this amazing group of guys, this coaching staff, front office, the fans, it means a lot. This is a huge, huge experience for me.”
With Durant and Stephen Curry both up for new contracts this summer, and the salary cap not expected to jump as substantially as it did in 2016, the Warriors may find it tricky to retain all their complementary players. If the club does want to re-sign Pachulia, he may need to accept another modest, short-term deal.
Suns Re-Sign Ronnie Price
The Suns have re-signed veteran point guard Ronnie Price to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today (via Twitter). Price’s first 10-day deal with the team, signed on January 27, expired overnight.
Although he has been with the team for the last week and a half, Price has yet to play a single minute for the Suns this year. In 62 games for Phoenix last season, he averaged 5.3 PPG and 2.4 APG, earning himself a two-year, $5MM contract with the Thunder last summer. However, Oklahoma City rethought that commitment in the fall, opting to waive Price at the end of the preseason rather than carrying him on the 15-man roster.
Price’s new 10-day contract will run through February 15, at which point the Suns will have to decide whether or not to retain him for the rest of the season. Considering the veteran hasn’t had a rotation role at all so far, I’d be a little surprised if Phoenix locked him up beyond this deal — the club could benefit from having an open roster slot heading into the trade deadline, and may want to use that 15th roster spot to take a shot on a younger player.
Nuggets Re-Sign Johnny O’Bryant
10:55am: The Nuggets have officially signed O’Bryant to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release.
9:40am: After his first 10-day contract with the team expired on Saturday night, Johnny O’Bryant will sign a second 10-day deal with the Nuggets, league sources tell Chris Haynes of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Assuming the agreement is finalized today, O’Bryant will be eligible to play tonight against Dallas, and will remain a Nugget through February 15.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors’ 10-day contract tracker]
O’Bryant, 23, was the 36th overall pick in the 2014 draft, and spent his first two NBA seasons with the Bucks. In 100 games for the club, O’Bryant averaged 3.0 PPG and 2.4 RPG. The LSU product signed as a free agent with the Wizards prior to training camp last fall, but didn’t earn a regular-season roster spot with the team.
O’Bryant subsequently joined the D-League’s Northern Arizona Suns, averaging 18.5 PPG and 8.7 RPG in 24 games for Phoenix’s affiliate this season. He even added a three-point shot to his game during his time in the NBADL, making 38.0% of his attempts and averaging more than one three-pointer per game. That earned O’Bryant a 10-day contract with the Nuggets, for whom he appeared in two games over the course of his 10-day deal. He averaged 3.5 PPG and 1.5 RPG in those games.
Once O’Bryant is officially re-signed, the Nuggets will again be carrying the maximum 15 players on their roster. If they want to keep the young power forward beyond his second 10-day deal, the Nuggets will have to commit to a rest-of-season contract.
Hoops Rumors’ 2017 10-Day Contract Tracker
For the last month, NBA teams have been eligible to sign free agents to 10-day contracts, and the bulk of the signings that have taken place during that span have been of the 10-day variety. Hoops Rumors has created a database that allows you to keep on top of those deals, tracking every 10-day signing all season long. So far, 16 different players have signed 10-day contracts in 2017.
Our 10-Day Contract Tracker includes information on all 10-day contracts signed from the 2006/07 season on, giving you a chance to identify trends regarding your favorite teams and players. The search filters in the database make it easy to sort by team, player and year. Just be sure to write a player’s last name first if searching in that field. You can even see whether a player and team signed a second 10-day contract, and if the short-term deals led to an agreement that covered the rest of the season.
For instance, if you want to see how many 10-day deals current Nets guard Sean Kilpatrick has signed over the course of his career, you can find that information here. Similarly, if you want to see all the 10-day contracts that the Cavaliers have signed in recent years, you can do so here.
A link to our 10-Day Contract Tracker can be found at any time in the Tools menu at the top of the page, or in the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features.” We’ll be keeping it up to date for the rest of the season, so be sure to check back to keep tabs on the latest signings as they become official.
Northwest Notes: Jokic, Sanders, Grant
The Nuggets have a stockpile of young, promising assets but make no mistake, Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post writes, Nikola Jokic is their budding star. The second-year big man was shifted into the final spot of the team’s pregame starting lineup routine several weeks ago and hasn’t been able to duck out of the spotlight since.
While Jokic’s traditional numbers have improved dramatically since the Nuggets formally slid him back ahead of Jusuf Nurkic on the depth chart, his impact on the team’s overall offensive rating is significant, too. In 11 January contests, Jokic averaged 23.9 points, 11.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. When he’s on the court, Dempsey explains, the team’s offensive rating is 11 points higher.
Of course now that the Nuggets have pinpointed Jokic as the foundation on which they’ll build their future not everybody in the locker room is pleased with where things are headed. In his own piece for the Denver Post, Mark Kiszla writes that certain players are pouting now that things haven’t worked out in their favor.
Nurkic, Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari are three players who Kiszla suggests need to think long and hard about whether they want to be in Denver long-term. He adds that their attitudes are not conducive to winning, which a Nuggets team in the hunt for a playoff spot ought to take into consideration as the February 23 trade deadline approaches.
That’s not all out of the Northwest Division:
- While the Jazz have gotten their fair share of attention as an emerging Western Conference threat, one player that hasn’t gotten the recognition he probably deserves is Joe Johnson. “It’s almost like we forget about Joe — or you guys do — until he does something great,” head coach Quin Snyder tells Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. The 35-year-old was brought board with a two-year deal to provide experience on a young roster. Utah currently sits fourth in the West with a 32-19 record.
- The Trail Blazers have no interest in adding big man Larry Sanders, tweets Jason Quick of CSN Northwest. The team is too close to the tax line to take on any addition salary. Sanders, who seeks to return to the league after abruptly retiring in 2015, is making his rounds working out with various franchises in need of a big man.
- Retired forward Harvey Grant sees similarities between his first few years in the league and his son’s. Jerami Grant is in his third NBA season but just his first with the Thunder. “He reminds me so much of me,” the elder Grant told Brett Dawson of the Oklahoman. “It took me about three years to really get where I wanted to get, and once I scratched that surface, I just took off.“
Pacific Notes: Anthony, Clippers, Lakers, Papagiannis
The Western Conference is an offensive arms race, writes Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times, and in order for the Clippers to keep up with teams like the Warriors and Rockets, they’ll need to trade for Carmelo Anthony.
Even when Clippers veteran Chris Paul returns from a thumb injury, the Clippers will have some work to do if they want a legitimate shot at making it to the NBA Finals, especially as the teams in contention around them continue to improve. Anthony’s ability to score the ball, Hernandez suggests, could shift L.A.’s fortune. What’s more, the presence of Anthony on the roster could influence pending free agents Paul and Blake Griffin to stay in town.
On Thursday, a report from Marc Berman of the New York Post discussed the idea of Anthony ultimately coming off the bench for the Clippers, as opposed to getting shipped off to Cleveland and replacing Kevin Love on the Cavaliers. There, and again in Hernandez’s column, the idea is floated that Anthony could be acquired without any of Griffin, Paul or DeAndre Jordan involved in an outgoing package.
It’s hard not to like the sound of an Austin Rivers and Jamal Crawford package if you’re a Clippers fan but there’s no indication that those pieces alone would be enough to convince the Knicks to pull the trigger.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- The Lakers made the decision to bring Magic Johnson back into the executive fold and the move could have a significant impact on the franchise, writes Sam Amick of USA Today. The fact that Johnson will advise on both business and basketball decisions could eat into Jim Buss‘ role. Buss, the team’s vice president of basketball operations, once said that he would step aside from the position if the Lakers weren’t contending for titles by 2017.
- In addition to the uncertainty surrounding Jim Buss’ future role with the Lakers organization, general manager Mitch Kupchak‘s job is reported to be “on the line,” writes Bill Oram of the Orange County Register.
- The Clippers need to do a better job distributing backcourt minutes, writes Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, citing inconsistent workloads as a possible concern for a team that’s already struggled with injuries. “Usually Austin or Raymond Felton has a big-minute night, and we try to reverse it the next night, especially when we go with three guards,” head coach Doc Rivers said. “When we play bigger, it’s easier, so that’s the other solution to it.”
- The Kings have benefited substantially from their D-League affiliation with the Reno Bighorns, writes Chris Reichert of The Step Back, and nowhere is that more evident than in the development of lottery pick Georgios Papagiannis. The club is able to work with Papagiannis and stay involved with his growth as a player in ways that they never would be able to had he been stashed abroad.
- Seven-year veteran Eric Bledsoe continues to make strides for the Suns and is enjoying his best season as a pro. “He’s taking amazing steps in his development,” head coach Earl Watson said Thursday . “It’s allowed him to become more efficient, and he’s seeing the game differently. What’s scary, in a positive way, is that he still has room to grow.”