Gary Harris Signs Four-Year Extension
Oct. 12: The Nuggets have officially signed Harris to the reported four-year contract extension, the team announced on its website.
Oct. 7: Nuggets guard Gary Harris will sign a four-year, $84MM extension with the team, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Wojnarowski reports that the deal will feature $74MM in guaranteed money, with an additional $10MM available in incentives and bonuses.
Harris had an October 16 deadline to reach an agreement on the extension or he would have been a restricted free agent next summer. The 23-year-old shooting guard will make a little more than $2.5MM this year, so he is looking at a nice raise when the extension kicks in for 2018/19. He will rank among the 10 highest-paid shooting guards in the league, posts Bobby Marks on ESPN Now.
The extension could give Denver as much as $113MM in guaranteed salary for next season, Marks tweets, raising potential tax concerns if Wilson Chandler ($12.8MM) and Darrell Arthur ($7.46MM) both opt in.
The 19th player taken in the 2014 draft, Harris won a starting job in his second season and has developed into a valuable member of a young Denver team. He averaged a career-best 14.9 points per game last year and shot 42% from 3-point range, although early-season injuries limited him to 57 games.
The Nuggets are also hoping to reach an extension with reserve guard Will Barton, but his deadline isn’t until next summer because he isn’t on a rookie contract.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nets Sign Kamari Murphy, Tahjere McCall
2:03pm: The Nets have issued a press release confirming the signing of Murphy and also announcing a deal with another undrafted free agent, rookie guard Tahjere McCall. McCall finished his college career at Tennessee State, averaging 14.3 PPG and 5.1 APG last season.
Both players will likely end up playing for the Long Island Nets. As for Brooklyn, the club is now carrying 19 players.
1:02pm: The Nets have reached an agreement to sign undrafted rookie forward Kamari Murphy, a league source tells Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). No corresponding roster move will be necessary, since Brooklyn waived three players on Wednesday.
The signing of Murphy appears to be aimed at gaining his G League rights as an affiliate player. The Brooklyn native, who played for the Nets in Summer League action, will likely be cut by the team before the regular season begins and then would be on track to join the Long Island Nets for the start of the G League season.
Murphy, who spent two seasons at the University of Miami after starting his college career at Oklahoma State, averaged 7.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG in 2016/17.
Lakers Sign Travis Wear
The Lakers have signed free agent forward Travis Wear, the club announced today in a press release. According to Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum SportsNet (Twitter link), the contract is an Exhibit 10 deal, which will give Wear a bonus if he ends up playing in the G League.
That Exhibit 10 clause also allows Wear’s contract to be converted into a two-way contract, though it remains to be seen whether that will happen. The Lakers do have one open two-way slot, with Alex Caruso occupying the other one.
Wear, 27, is an UCLA alum who saw some NBA action for the Knicks in 2014/15. He hasn’t played in an NBA game since that season, but he played for the Lakers’ Summer League team this year and spent last season with the Los Angeles D-Fenders, averaging 12.7 PPG and 7.2 RPG in the G League. The Lakers’ affiliate, now known as the South Bay Lakers, still holds Wear’s G League rights.
The Lakers’ roster count is now at 19 players.
Jazz Waive Torian Graham
Three days after signing him, the Jazz have waived guard Torian Graham, the team announced today in a press release. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent on Saturday if and when he clears waivers.
Graham, a 6’4″ shooting guard, spent last season at Arizona State. In 33 games, he averaged 18.6 PPG with 4.2 RPG, and was the team’s biggest outside shooting threat — he made three-point shots at a 38.7% rate, pouring in 3.3 per game.
Graham’s brief stay on Utah’s NBA roster will allow the Jazz to make him an affiliate player for the Salt Lake City Stars, their G League team. Assuming Graham doesn’t sign with another NBA club, he figures to open the G League season in Salt Lake City.
Utah’s roster count is now at 19 players, including a pair on two-way contracts. The Jazz will need to make two more roster cuts before the regular season begins.
Heat Waive Larry Drew II, Sign Tony Mitchell
The Heat have made a change to their roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived guard Larry Drew II. Using the newly-opened roster spot, the club signed free agent forward Tony Mitchell.
Drew, who signed with the Heat last month, has been a regular contributor for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League affiliate, for the last several years, appearing in 96 games for the squad since 2013. He figures to return to Sioux Falls to open the 2017/18 campaign.
As for Mitchell, the Alabama alum had a brief NBA stint back in 2013/14, playing sparingly in three games for the Bucks. Since then, he has spent most of his time playing for teams overseas. Mitchell – not to be confused with the North Texas product who shares the same name and played for the Pistons in 2013/14 – also looks like a good bet to land with the Sioux Falls Skyforce at some point.
With the pair of roster moves, the Heat’s roster count remains at 20 players. Miami, which is carrying one player on a two-way contract, will need to eventually remove four players from its NBA roster to reach the 15-man maximum.
Southeast Notes: Wizards, Zeller, Hezonja
The battle for the Wizards‘ final regular season roster spot figures to come down to Donald Sloan and Carrick Felix, and head coach Scott Brooks calls it one of the “toughest” roster decisions he’s had to make in recent years, writes Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. The decision may ultimately come down to what sort of player the Wizards want to keep around, since Sloan, a veteran point guard, and Felix, an athletic swingman, would play different roles.
In theory, the Wizards could keep both players on the roster. The team only has 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, leaving two openings. However, a 14th player – Sheldon Mac – has been ruled out for most or all of the season with a torn Achilles, and Washington will be on the hook for his salary until he recovers, whether or not he’s on the roster. By waiving him and keeping both Sloan and Felix, the Wizards would essentially be paying 16 players, an undesirable outcome for a club already well over the luxury-tax line.
Here’s more from around the Southeast division:
- Having signed a new four-year extension with the Heat this offseason, Josh Richardson is now determined to bounce back from an injury-plagued 2016/17 season, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel writes.
- The offseason arrival of Dwight Howard supplanted Cody Zeller from the starting lineup, but the Hornets‘ backup center remains valuable to the team as he enters the first year of a new contract. Sam Perley of Hornets.com has the story on Zeller.
- Mario Hezonja, 2015’s fifth overall pick, took a step backward during his second NBA season last year. However, he has been solid in the preseason as he looks to cement a role in the Magic‘s rotation, says John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com.
- Backup Hawks point guard Malcolm Delaney spoke to Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype about making the leap to the NBA last year, his decision to join the Hawks, and his expectations for Atlanta in 2017/18. “With our system and the way we move the ball, we could surprise a lot of people,” Delaney said. “My goal is always going to be to win. I don’t believe in rebuilding. I certainly don’t believe in tanking. I’m going out to win every game because this is my contract year and I’ve gotten to this point because of winning.”
Sixers Notes: Embiid, Rotation, Holmes, Okafor
Shortly after finalizing his new five-year extension with the Sixers, Joel Embiid made his 2017 preseason debut with the team in Brooklyn on Wednesday, and the center’s performance in the game likely made 76ers fans a little more comfortable with their team’s big-money commitment. Playing just 15 minutes, Embiid poured in 22 points to go along with seven boards and three assists. He also made 14 of 18 free throws.
Of course, Embiid was one of the NBA’s best players on a per-minute basis last season as well, so his showing on Wednesday night didn’t come as a total surprise. For Embiid, the primary goal is to stay healthy enough to blow past last year’s career high of 31 games played and become a more frequent contributor to Philadelphia’s lineup.
Here’s more on the Sixers:
- Although Sixers head coach Brett Brown had previously said not to read much into his preseason rotations, Wednesday provided a preview of what the team’s regular season rotation might look like, writes Sarah Todd of Philly.com. Embiid was somewhat limited and Markelle Fultz didn’t play, but otherwise it wouldn’t be a surprise to see everyone in similar roles on opening night.
- Sixers big man Richaun Holmes confirmed to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer that his fractured left wrist won’t require surgery, and will heal on its own. The club plans to re-evaluate the injury after about three weeks.
- Jordan Brenner of SBNation.com has a fascinating and in-depth profile on Jahlil Okafor, who has become the forgotten man in Philadelphia as fans focus on other recent top-three picks Embiid, Fultz, and Ben Simmons. While Okafor says he still respects the organization and wants to succeed with the Sixers, he admits that he’s unsure about whether there’s still a role for him with the club. “Sometimes I do think it would be great to get a fresh start, be on a new team, new surroundings, new teammates,” Okafor said. “I think about that often and I think that’s something that could benefit me.”
Nuggets Waive Josh Childress
The Nuggets have waived veteran forward Josh Childress from their roster, league sources tell JD Shaw of Def Pen Hoops. Although the team has yet to announce the move, Childress confirmed it in a text message on Wednesday night, Shaw writes.
The Nuggets are one of four NBA teams without a G League affiliate for the 2017/18 season, so the team didn’t bother inviting many non-guaranteed players to camp, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to retain them as affiliate players after waiving them. Still, Denver did extend an invite to Childress, who hadn’t played in the NBA since the 2013/14 season but saw action in the BIG3 earlier this year.
According to Shaw, the Nuggets and Childress both recognized that he would likely be waived at some point, since the club was already carrying 15 players with fully guaranteed salaries. However, attending camp with Denver helped Childress attract some interest overseas. Once he clears waivers, the 34-year-old will be free to sign with an international team.
As for the Nuggets, their roster is now regular-season-ready, with 15 players on NBA contracts and two on two-way deals.
Could Trey Burke Win The Knicks’ Starting Point Guard Spot?
Trey Burke may have a unique opportunity to showcase his ability and make a case to stay on the Knicks’ roster for the season despite only signing with the team just days before final cuts are due.
New York currently has 15 players on the books with guaranteed salaries for the upcoming season and by virtue of not being one of those players, Burke is on the outside looking in. However, Joakim Noah will be suspended for the first 12 games of the season, meaning the team will have an additional roster spot available for those contests.
[RELATED: Knicks Sign Trey Burke]
It was reported earlier today that the Knicks view Burke as a potential G-League player. Still, the former no.9 overall pick is confident that he’ll stick with the team during Noah’s suspension and force New York to cut a player on a guaranteed deal once the big man returns.
“I believe in myself. I’m looking forward to coming out here every day and proving myself,” Burke tells ESPN’s Ian Begley (via ESPN Now link). “Obviously I want to make this roster. We know nothing is given. For me, my faith took me a long way. So I believe that I will make the roster even if no one else does so we’ll see what happens.”
Should the club trade Courtney Lee, something it appears willing to do, and choose not to take back a player in the deal, Burke would have a better shot at making the opening night roster. His main competition for the 12-game audition is veteran Jarrett Jack, who signed a non-guaranteed deal with the club last month. Absent of a trade, it seems there’s a battle between an aging veteran and a former lottery pick who never reached his potential.
Jack came to New York’s training camp looking to prove that he’s healthy after a knee injury ended his 2016/17 campaign. The point guard hasn’t had any setbacks during the team’s three preseason games. He scored 22 points and dished out 12 assists over 69 minutes of action.
Projected starting point guard Ron Baker missed a couple of preseason games with an ankle injury and No. 8 overall pick Frank Ntilikina hasn’t been able to suit up yet because of a knee ailment. The injury woes likely compelled the team to bring in another option to run the point.
None of the team’s point guard options make a particularly strong case to start. The Knicks appear willing to take things slow with Ntilikina. Baker is likely best-suited for a reserve role; same with Jack if he makes the squad, though both players are capable of running the show, especially considering New York’s lack of stellar expectations this season. New addition Ramon Sessions got a pair of starts this preseason, though he didn’t exactly light the world on fire, tallying just 11 assists over 56 minutes of action.
The Knicks have one more preseason game remaining (Friday against the Wizards) and if Burke shines, he could find himself on the opening night roster. With that comes a dozen games to prove he belongs not only on the team, but also in the first-unit alongside his former college teammate Tim Hardaway Jr.
Burke faces an uphill battle to win a starting spot. However, the Knicks’ lack of top-notch options, coupled with Burke’s presumed familiarity with the team’s second-highest-paid player, give this former National Player of the Year award recipient a chance to become the franchise’s top floor general.
Will Burke make the opening night roster and will he be able to carve out a role with the Knicks?
Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comment section below. We look forward to what you have to say!
Nets Make Roster Cuts
The Nets have waived Milton Doyle, Jeremy Senglin and Akil Mitchell, according to a team press release. The team’s roster now sits at 17 players.
Doyle and Senglin each signed partially guaranteed deals with Brooklyn back in August and neither player was expected to make the opening night roster. The duo is expected to head to the Long Island Nets, as the affiliate owns each player’s G-League rights.
Mitchell came to the Nets late last month to round out their training camp roster. The Virginia product may also be heading to the franchise’s G-League affiliate, a team he played for last season.