Jazz Sign William Howard
JULY 17: The signing is now official, according to a release from the team.
JULY 15: French forward William Howard, who was on Utah’s roster for Summer League play this month, has reached a verbal agreement to sign with the Jazz, league sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link).
As Jones details, the deal has not yet been made official because there’s a small buyout issue to be sorted out. Howard technically remains under contract with Limoges, but Crawford Palmer – the sports director of the French club – confirmed that all involved parties are looking to free up Howard to join the Jazz. As Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays, Utah is expected to pay a buyout worth 150K Euros.
Howard, 25, averaged 10.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 2.2 APG in 16 EuroCup contests in 2018/19. Although he was part of Utah’s Summer League team, he didn’t actually play in any games, having been ruled out of the team’s final matchup on Saturday due to right groin soreness.
Still, as Jones details, the Jazz like Howard’s shooting ability and wanted to add more depth on the wing.
Details of Howard’s new contract with the Jazz aren’t yet known.
Jazz Sign Stanton Kidd
After spending Summer League with the Jazz, combo forward Stanton Kidd has signed with the team, according to a release tweeted by Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News.
Utah was interested in adding Kidd last summer, but he had another year left on his contract with Turkish team Darussafaka and no escape clause to let him join the NBA. He averaged 7.9 PPG and 3.3 RPG in 50 EuroLeague and Turkish League games this season.
Now 27, Kidd played for the Jazz entry in two leagues this summer, averaging 7.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in three games in Salt Lake City and posting an 8.2/2.6/1.4 line in five games in Las Vegas.
The Jazz have been in the market for wing depth and like the defense and athleticism that Kidd brings, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic. Utah also finalized a deal today with William Howard.
Cheick Diallo To Sign With Suns
The Suns have reached a two-year deal with Cheick Diallo, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Phoenix holds a team option on the second season, according to Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The 22-year-old power forward spent the past three seasons in New Orleans. He has been a steady rotation player during the last two years and averaged 6.0 points and 5.2 rebounds in 64 games this season.
Phoenix could only offer Diallo a veteran’s minimum deal, which will pay about $1.7MM and $1.8MM over the next two years, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The Suns now have 15 players under contract, not counting their two-way deals.
Pistons Claim Christian Wood
The Pistons have claimed Christian Wood off waivers, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Wood, who has a partial guarantee on his salary that takes effect opening night, was waived Monday by the Pelicans. The power forward/center would be guaranteed $822,679 on his $1,645,357 salary for next season if he remained on the roster for the first game. The full salary won’t be guaranteed until January 10, when all league contracts become guaranteed.
Detroit inherits that contract with the successful waiver claim. The Pistons now have 17 players on their roster with 14 guaranteed contracts – according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link) – and are $223K below the luxury tax.
Wood, 23, is no stranger to the waiver wire. New Orleans claimed him in March after the Bucks let him go. He played just eight games for the Pelicans, but averaged 16.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per night. He has also had brief stays with the Sixers and Hornets since entering the league.
Celtics Notes: Kemba, Kanter, Fall, Green
As the Celtics introduced offseason additions Kemba Walker and Enes Kanter at a press conference today, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told reporters, including A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston (Twitter link), that landing Walker and Kanter was his “Plan A” heading into the offseason.
While it’s hard to believe that a franchise so frequently linked to Anthony Davis would have considered Walker and Kanter its top priorities, Ainge’s comments make more sense if you assume he’s talking about Boston’s plan on June 30. By that point, the Lakers had already agreed to acquire Davis and the C’s had a good idea that Kyrie Irving and Al Horford wouldn’t be back.
In fact, Ainge said today that the Celtics started to get a sense as early as March or April that Irving may not be back in Boston for the 2019/20 season (Twitter link via Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston).
“I was obviously thinking a move in a different direction at that point, thinking of the different options,” Ainge said, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.com.
We have much more on the Celtics today, so let’s dive in…
- Kanter said today that a recruiting call from Walker (via Ainge’s phone) helped convince him to join the Celtics. “Kemba was one of the biggest reasons I came here,” Kanter said, per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link).
- The Celtics attempted to work out sign-and-trade deals with the Sixers and Nets for Horford and Irving, respectively, but both teams wanted more draft pick compensation than Boston was comfortable with, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Turning those free agent departures into sign-and-trades might have allowed Boston to retain more cap flexibility or pick up an extra asset or two.
- Having agreed in June to sign Tacko Fall to an Exhibit 10 contract, the Celtics haven’t indicated yet that they intend to alter their plans for the rookie following his impressive Summer League performance. However, his showing in Las Vegas certainly caught the team’s eye. “We want to take his development very seriously,” Ainge said of Fall (Twitter link via Himmelsbach). “He’s a high priority for us to develop.”
- Another Summer League standout, Javonte Green, is drawing significant interest overseas, according to Himmelsbach, who tweets that it’s probably unrealistic to expect the wing to become an affiliate player for the Maine Red Claws.
- After rescinding Daniel Theis‘ qualifying offer over the weekend, the Celtics still had a tiny bit of cap room to sign a rookie to a contract longer than two years, ESPN’s Bobby Marks noted (via Twitter). However, making their deals with Theis, Kanter, and Brad Wanamaker official today eliminated that cap room.
Reggie Bullock Undergoes Cervical Disc Surgery
The health issue that scuttled Reggie Bullock‘s initial two-year, $21MM deal with the Knicks has been revealed, with the club announcing today (via Twitter) that the veteran swingman underwent surgery in New York for a cervical disc herniation.
The Knicks didn’t provide a specific timetable for Bullock’s recovery, indicating that they’ll issue an update on his progress around the start of training camp. A report on Tuesday suggested that he would likely miss at least the first month of the regular season.
After Bullock’s original agreement with New York fell apart, the two sides struck a new two-year deal that slotted into the team’s room exception rather than using cap space. According to Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights (via Twitter), it’s worth $8.2MM over two seasons, though the second year is only partially guaranteed for $1MM.
It’s not clear if Bullock’s cervical disc issue arose during the offseason or if it was something he played through while he was a member of the Lakers last season.
Warriors Waive Julian Washburn
After being acquired in a trade earlier this month, two-way player Julian Washburn has now been waived by the Warriors. Golden State confirmed the move today in a press release.
Washburn, 27, played for the Grizzlies on a two-way contract last season, appearing in limited minutes over the course of 18 games for the club after signing in January. The 6’8″ forward appeared in a total of 38 G League contests for the Austin Spurs and Memphis Hustle, recording 11.7 PPG and 5.3 RPG with a shooting line of .477/.406/.743.
Washburn’s two-way deal featured a second year, but the Grizzlies agreed to sign John Konchar to fill their second two-way slot alongside Yuta Watanabe.
[RELATED: 2019/20 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
Rather than simply waiving Washburn, Memphis had him the outgoing piece in the trade that sent Andre Iguodala, a first-round pick, and cash to the Grizzlies. While the Warriors briefly held onto Washburn, it seems the team would rather fill that two-way slot with another player.
Kings Sign Tyler Lydon
JULY 17: The Kings have officially signed Lydon, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 14: The Kings have agreed to a two-year deal with free agent forward Tyler Lydon, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojarowski (Twitter link).
The agreement is for the league minimum and also contains a partial guarantee, Sean Cunningham of ABC10 Sacramento tweets.
Lydon appeared in 25 games with the Nuggets last season, seeing an average of 3.8 minutes per contest. He was traded to Denver shortly after being selected No. 24 overall in the 2017 draft by Utah, spending part of his professional career in the NBA G League.
“I feel like I’m good enough to play in this league, and I’ll believe that ‘til the day I die,” Lydon said last week before agreeing to his deal, according to Stephen Haynes of the Poughkeepsie Journal. “It’s like, ‘Give me one chance to prove that I belong.’”
Lydon started his career with a deep Denver team that was unable to give him a clear role. His season was cut short after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus, with the 23-year-old working extensively to improve his strength and shooting skills since then.
Sacramento now has 18 players on its active roster, including two-way players Kyle Guy and Wenyen Gabriel.
Daniel Theis Re-Signs With Celtics
JULY 17: The Celtics have officially re-signed Theis, the club confirmed today in a press release.
JULY 2: The Celtics have reached an agreement to keep forward/center Daniel Theis, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The two-year, $10MM deal was confirmed by Theis’ agents, Michael Tellem and Aaron Mintz of CAA.
Boston will use its Early Bird rights to re-sign Theis, allowing the team to exceed the cap, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The deal won’t be finalized until after the Celtics exhaust their cap space by adding Kemba Walker.
Theis has been a reliable backup since coming to Boston in 2017. He appeared in 66 games this season, starting twice, and averaged 5.7 points and 3.4 rebounds in about 14 minutes per night.
Theis may complete the Celtics’ efforts to fortify the center position after losing Al Horford in free agency and trading Aron Baynes. They reached an agreement with Enes Kanter on Sunday and French center Vincent Poirier earlier today.
Boston has no plans to pursue free agent DeMarcus Cousins, believing the “potential drama” outweighs any benefits, according to Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald (Twitter link).
Celtics Re-Sign Brad Wanamaker To One-Year Deal
JULY 17: Wanamaker’s new one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Celtics is now official, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 2: The Celtics will bring back Brad Wanamaker, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The deal will be for one season and, likely, at the minimum.
The point guard played in 36 games for the Boston last season. Wanamaker went undrafted out of the University of Pittsburgh in 2011 and ended up playing overseas.
Wanamaker shot 41.0% from behind the arc on a total of 39 attempts for Boston last season. The soon-to-be 30-year-old will fit in behind new addition Kemba Walker on the team’s depth chart.