Trey Burke, 15 Other FAs Attend Bucks’ Mini-Camp
The Bucks are hosting a free agent mini-camp on Tuesday and Wednesday this week as they look to fill out their training camp roster and identify candidates to play for their G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, according to Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The mini-camp, which will give the club a chance to evaluate possible camp invitees, includes a handful of notable names among its 16 participants.
Former lottery picks Trey Burke and Hasheem Thabeet are among the first-rounders who will be in attendance at the mini-camp, as Velazquez details. MarShon Brooks, Toney Douglas, Archie Goodwin, R.J. Hunter, John Jenkins, Perry Jones, and James Young are also set to get a look from the Bucks.
The Bucks don’t have a ton of flexibility to add more players to their offseason roster, having already locked up 16 players to NBA deals and two more to two-way contracts. That leaves just a pair of openings on the team’s 20-man training camp roster. Still, two of those roster players – Gary Payton II and JeQuan Lewis – are on non-guaranteed contracts, so Milwaukee has some flexibility if it wants to make changes at the back of its roster.
In addition to the players listed above, the following free agents are attending the Bucks’ mini-camp, per Velazquez: Cliff Alexander, Gracin Bakumanya, Trahson Burrell, Jeremy Evans, Aaron Harrison, Luke Petrasek, and Jacob Pullen.
Any player that signs with the Bucks figures to get a minimum salary deal that is non-guaranteed or features a very modest guarantee, since the Bucks are currently slightly above the luxury tax line.
Trail Blazers Extend Neil Olshey Through 2021
The Trail Blazers have agreed to a contract extension for Neil Olshey that will keep the president of basketball operations under team control through 2021, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. According to Wojnarowski, Portland will exercise its two remaining options on Olshey’s contract to lock him up through 2020, and the two sides added an extra year to his deal on top of that.
Olshey, who has been the head of basketball operations in Portland since 2012, joined the Blazers after spending multiple seasons with the Clippers as their GM and VP of basketball ops. Since Olshey took over in Portland, the Blazers have compiled a 223-187 (.544) regular season record, earning playoff berths in four of his five seasons.
While some of Olshey’s moves in the summer of 2016 – including signing Evan Turner and extending Allen Crabbe and Meyers Leonard to lucrative long-term deals – received criticism, he has done well overall during his time with the Blazers. Olshey drafted Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum during his first two years with the franchise, and more recently acquired Jusuf Nurkic and a first-round pick in a seemingly lopsided deal with the Nuggets.
The Hawks had interest in interviewing Olshey for their GM job earlier this offseason, but were denied permission by Portland, says Wojnarowski.
According to Basketball Insiders’ data, the Blazers are carrying $124MM+ in guaranteed team salary for 2017/18 and have $114MM+ in guarantees on the books for 2018/19, even without taking a potential Nurkic extension into account. As such, Olshey will have his work cut out for him as he looks to continue building the Blazers’ roster into a title contender.
Wizards Sign Donald Sloan To One-Year Deal
AUGUST 29: The Wizards have finalized their deal with Sloan, officially signing him to a one-year contract, according to RealGM’s transactions log.
AUGUST 17: The Wizards have reached agreement on a one-year deal with free agent guard Donald Sloan, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical.
The 29-year-old played in China last season for the second time in his career. His last NBA experience was in 2015/16, when he played 61 games for the Nets, starting 33.
Sloan has been a journeyman since signing with the Hawks in 2011 after going undrafted out of Texas A&M. He played just five games for Atlanta and three for New Orleans during his rookie year and finished the season with Cleveland. He later returned to New Orleans, then spent two seasons in Indiana.
A 6’3″ combo guard, Sloan is averaging 5.5 points and 3.0 assists per game through his NBA career.
The Wizards now have 19 players under contract, one short of the maximum, with camp a little more than a month away.
Celtics Sign Ex-Hoya L.J. Peak
AUGUST 29: The Celtics have officially signed Peak, per RealGM’s log of NBA transactions.
AUGUST 28: The Celtics and rookie swingman L.J. Peak have agreed to a partially guaranteed contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The former Georgetown forward will likely be ticketed to Boston’s G-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, Wojnarowski adds.
Undoubtedly, Peak would have to be make a huge impression during training camp to nab a spot on Boston’s opening-night roster. Boston now has 19 players on the roster — 14 with guaranteed deals, three more with partial guarantees and a couple of two-way contracts, as Bobby Marks of ESPN.com notes (Twitter link).
The 6’5” Peak played three seasons with the Hoyas. He averaged 16.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG and 3.5 APG last season as a junior, then went undrafted as an early entrant. He played for the Rockets’ summer-league team and averaged 7.3 PPG in 13.7 MPG in four appearances while making half of his 3-point attempts.
Celtics Sign Andrew White
AUGUST 29: The Celtics formally signed White on Monday, according to RealGM’s official NBA transactions log.
AUGUST 17: Syracuse guard Andrew White has signed a partially guaranteed one-year contract with the Celtics, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. He is probably ticketed for Boston’s G League affiliate in Maine, Himmelsbach adds.
The signing was confirmed to Mike Waters of Syracuse.com by White’s agent, Adie von Gontard.
At 6’7″, White was the leading scorer for the Orange last season at 17.4 points per game, while setting a school record for 3-pointers with 112. He played for the Cavaliers during summer league.
NBA Draft Rights Held: Central Division
When top college prospects like Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball are drafted, there’s virtually no doubt that their next step will involve signing an NBA contract. However, that’s not the case for every player who is selected in the NBA draft, particularly for international prospects and second-round picks.
When an NBA team uses a draft pick on a player, it gains his NBA rights, but that doesn’t mean the player will sign an NBA contract right away. International prospects will often remain with their professional team overseas for at least one more year to develop their game further, becoming “draft-and-stash” prospects. Nikola Mirotic, Dario Saric, and Bogdan Bogdanovic are among the more notable players to fit this bill in recent years.
However, draft-and-stash players can be former NCAA standouts too. Sometimes a college prospect selected with a late second round pick will end up playing overseas or in the G League for a year or two if there’s no space available on his NBA team’s 15-man roster.
While these players sometimes make their way to their NBA teams, others never do. Many clubs around the NBA currently hold the rights to international players who have remained overseas for their entire professional careers and are no longer viewed as top prospects. Those players may never come stateside, but there’s often no reason for NBA teams to renounce their rights — those rights can sometimes be used as placeholders in trades.
For instance, earlier this summer, the Pacers and Raptors agreed to a trade that sent Cory Joseph to Indiana. Toronto was happy to move Joseph’s salary and didn’t necessarily need anything in return, but the Pacers had to send something in the deal. Rather than including an NBA player or a draft pick, Indiana sent Toronto the draft rights to Emir Preldzic, the 57th overall pick in the 2009 draft.
Preldzic is currently playing for Galatasaray in Turkey, and at this point appears unlikely to ever come to the NBA, but his draft rights have been a useful trade chip over the years — the Pacers/Raptors swap represented the fourth time since 2010 that Preldzic’s NBA rights have been included in a trade.
Over the next several days, we’re taking a closer look at the players whose draft rights NBA teams currently hold, sorting them by division. These players may eventually arrive in America and join their respective NBA teams, but many will end up like Preldzic, plying their trade overseas and having their draft rights used as pawns in NBA trades.
Here’s a breakdown of the draft rights held by Central teams:
Chicago Bulls
- Albert Miralles, C (2004; No. 39): Last played in Spain.
- Milovan Rakovic, C (2007; No. 60): Last played in Spain.
- Tadija Dragicevic, F (2008: No. 53): Last played in Greece.
Cleveland Cavaliers
- Vladimir Veremeenko, F (2006; No. 48): Last played in Germany.
- Ejike Ugboaja, F (2006: No. 55): Retired.
- Edin Bavcic, F/C (2006; No. 56): Playing in Austria.
- Sergiy Gladyr, G (2009; No. 49): Playing in Monaco.
- Milan Macvan, F (2011; No. 54): Playing in Germany.
- Chukwudiebere Maduabum, F/C (2011; No. 56): Last played in Japan.
- Ilkan Karaman, F (2012: No. 57): Playing in Turkey.
- Sir’Dominic Pointer, G/F (2015; No. 53): Last played in Israel.
- Arturas Gudaitis, C (2015; No. 47): Playing in Italy.
Detroit Pistons
- None
Indiana Pacers
- Andrew Betts, C (1998; No. 50): Retired.
Milwaukee Bucks
- Andrei Fetisov, F (1994; No. 36): Retired.
- Eurelijus Zukauskas, C (1995; No. 54): Retired.
Previously:
Information from Mark Porcaro and Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.
Jared Sullinger Works Out For Nets
After a photo showing Jared Sullinger wearing Nets gear surfaced on social media, agent David Falk informed Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News that his client is “exploring the opportunity” of signing with Brooklyn. Per NetsDaily (Twitter link), Sullinger was in Brooklyn for a workout with the Nets.
Sullinger, a first-round pick in 2012, was a solid rebounder and scorer for the Celtics during his first four NBA seasons, averaging 11.1 PPG and 7.7 RPG over the course of his time in Boston. However, after he signed with the Raptors for the 2016/17 campaign, his season was derailed by injuries — the big man appeared in just 11 games for Toronto and was ineffective in limited minutes.
If Sullinger is healthy and his weigh isn’t an issue, he’d be an intriguing addition to the Nets’ frontcourt. The five-year veteran is still just 25 years old, and Brooklyn could use some help up front after trading away Brook Lopez, Andrew Nicholson, and Justin Hamilton in various deals this summer. The club acquired Timofey Mozgov and drafted Jarrett Allen, but adding some depth behind Trevor Booker at power forward would make sense.
Currently, the Nets have 18 players under contract, but two of those players are on two-way contracts and three others have non-guaranteed deals. That leaves two potential spots available on the club’s 15-man roster — Spencer Dinwiddie is a good bet to grab one of those spots, but the other remains open for someone like Sullinger.
Cavs Notes: Shumpert, Arena Renovations, Rose
As we noted on Monday, the Cavaliers are still interested in trading Iman Shumpert, even as they consider whether to complete the Kyrie Irving trade with the Celtics as is. Shumpert has been linked to a handful of teams this offseason, having nearly been sent to the Rockets in July. The Timberwolves are also among the clubs that has spoken to the Cavs about the veteran swingman, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link).
Sources tell Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net that while several teams have shown interest in Shumpert, that interest hinges on the Cavs’ willingness to attach a draft pick to him. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders makes a similar point in his latest piece, noting that if the Cavs are seeking an extra draft pick from the Celtics in the Irving mega-deal, Cleveland could flip that pick in a Shumpert trade in order to move him.
Here’s more on the Cavs as they consider their options with Irving and Shumpert:
- Within the article linked above, Kyler notes that moving Shumpert without taking back significant salary might also make the Cavaliers more comfortable about taking on Isaiah Thomas‘ contract, even if they have concern about his hip, since dealing Shumpert would further reduce their projected tax bill.
- With funding from the city of Cleveland uncertain, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert has nixed a proposed $140MM renovation to Quicken Loans Arena, as Karen Farkas of Cleveland.com details. Community groups had opposed spending taxpayer money on the project, which was announced by the Cavs eight months ago.
- Speaking to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, new Cavaliers point guard Derrick Rose opens up about his time with the Knicks, his motivation going forward, and a handful of other topics.
Wolves Rumors: FAs, Muhammad, Wiggins, Roth
The Timberwolves are still carrying just 11 players on guaranteed contracts for 2017/18, but head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau expects that number to increase in the near future. As Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune details, Thibodeau and the Wolves plan to add three players on guaranteed minimum contracts, retaining some flexibility with the 15th and final roster spot.
As has been the case for more than a month now, the Wolves intend to add a backup point guard and two wings to their roster. While the market for backup point guards has thinned out considerably, there are still several interesting wings on the market, including Tony Allen, Gerald Green, Anthony Morrow, and Mike Dunleavy.
Here’s more on the Wolves:
- Of course, as Minnesota looks to add a couple wings, Shabazz Muhammad remains an option, if he’s willing to settle for a minimum salary contract, writes Zgoda. “There’s an opportunity here for him,” Thibodeau said of Muhammad. “He has several opportunities to look at.”
- The process of signing Andrew Wiggins to a contract extension will be delayed by his agent change, but Thibodeau and the Wolves still expect that deal to get done in the “next few weeks,” as Zgoda details.
- Nemanja Bjelica and Justin Patton continue to recover from foot injuries. According to Zgoda, Thibodeau is hopeful that Bjelica will be ready for training camp and Patton will good to go for the Wolves’ regular season opener.
- Thibodeau confirmed that the Wolves explored the possibility of acquiring Kyrie Irving from the Cavaliers, per Zgoda. “You have the responsibility to explore every possibility,” Thibodeau said. “If it makes sense for us, we’ll do it. If it doesn’t, we move on. We love the players we have. We know there’s a lot of work to do.”
- Former Timberwolves player and current scout Scott Roth is set to become the first head coach of the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s newly-purchased G League affiliate, according to Zgoda. Roth will be tasked with his helping to develop young players for the Wolves, as well as implementing Thibodeau’s strategic concepts in Iowa.
Sasha Vujacic Reaches Deal With Italian Team
After spending the last two seasons with the Knicks, veteran guard Sasha Vujacic is set to head back overseas. Italian team Fiat Torino announced today (Italian link) that it has reached an agreement to sign Vujacic.
International basketball reporter David Pick, who classifies the contract as an offer sheet, indicates (via Twitter) that it’s worth $350K. According to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, the agreement includes an NBA buyout clause that must be exercised by September 17. Vujacic will presumably be locked in with Fiat Torino for the 2017/18 season if that buyout clause goes unused.
For Vujacic, the move to Italy will represent a homecoming of sorts — the Slovenian shooting guard began his professional career with Italian club Snaidero Udine back in 2001, spending his first three seasons with the team. He eventually made the leap to the NBA in 2004, spending several years with the Lakers before being traded to the Nets in 2010.
Since 2010, Vujacic has gone back and forth between the NBA and international leagues, spending time with the Nets, Clippers, and Knicks in addition to playing for teams in Turkey, Italy, and Spain. In 10 total NBA seasons, the 33-year-old has appeared in 581 games, averaged 5.3 PPG, 1.9 RPG, and 1.3 APG, while shooting 36.7% on three-pointers. Vujacic struggled through one of his worst seasons as a pro last year in New York, shooting just 30.9% from the floor for the Knicks.