Hawks To Sign Edgar Sosa
5:38pm: Sosa’s deal is non-guaranteed, international journalist David Pick tweets.
4:35pm: The Hawks have agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent point guard Edgar Sosa, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (via Twitter). The length and terms of the pact are unknown, but Vivlamore refers to it as a training camp pact, which means it is likely a minimum salary contract with little or no guaranteed money included, though that is merely my speculation.
Sosa, 27, went undrafted out of Louisville back in 2010 after posting career NCAA numbers of 9.7 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. He joined the Pistons summer league entry that season, but he ended up signing overseas with the Italian club Angelico Biella. The point guard spent the 2014/15 campaign playing for Dinamo Sassari in Italy. Sosa’s numbers last season were 10.7 PPG, 1.5 RPG, and 3.5 APG to accompany a slash line of .387/.320/.789.
The 6’3″ guard joins a Hawks squad that already has 18 players on the roster, including 13 with fully guaranteed deals. The team’s coaching staff has some experience with Sosa, with him having played on the Dominican Republic’s squad during this summer’s FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament that Hawks assistant coach Kenny Atkinson was a part of, Vivlamore notes (Twitter link).
Southeast Notes: Washburn, Hawks, Watson
Hornets training camp signee Jason Washburn could not continue to play overseas because the political unrest in Ukraine made it unsafe to do so, Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders writes in her profile of the 25-year-old center. “They [his team] said we can’t pay you anymore – this has really destroyed our economy – and we can’t guarantee your safety,” Washburn said. “We think you should leave.”
Washburn understands that it will be difficult to make Charlotte’s regular season roster, with the team already possessing 14 players with fully guaranteed deals, Camerato adds. “I don’t know the odds [of making the team] and to be honest, I don’t care,” Washburn continued. “I’m going to come in here, soak up what I can, play as hard as I can, if I get my opportunity, try to take as best advantage of it as I can and let the chips fall where they may.”
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Hawks‘ success in 2015/16 will depend on how well newcomers Tim Hardaway Jr. and Justin Holiday perform in replacement of DeMarre Carroll, who signed a free agent deal with Toronto this offseason, Tim Bontemps of The New York Post (Facebook link) writes in his season preview.
- The Magic will look for C.J. Watson to act as a mentor to second-year point guard Elfrid Payton, which was one of the motivating factors for the club in signing Watson to a three-year, $15MM deal this summer, writes Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel.
- The addition of Justise Winslow through the draft was the Heat‘s best long-term addition this offseason, but signing Gerald Green to a one-year, minimum salary deal will have the bigger impact in 2015/16, the staff at Basketball Insiders opine in their season preview for the franchise.
Hawks To Sign DeQuan Jones
The Hawks have agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent small forward DeQuan Jones, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports (on Twitter). The length and terms of the agreement are not known, but Charania referred to it as a training camp deal, meaning that it is likely a minimum salary arrangement that includes little or no guaranteed money, though that is merely my speculation.
The 25-year-old went undrafted out of Miami back in 2012. He then secured a training camp invite from the Magic which he parlayed into a regular season roster spot for the 2012/13 campaign. Jones made 63 appearances for Orlando that season, including 17 starts, and averaged 3.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.3 assists to go along with a slash line of .436/.257/.667. The forward spent the 2014/15 season with Pallacanestro Cantù of the Lega Basket Serie A.
The addition of Jones will give Atlanta a roster count of 18 players, including 13 possessing fully guaranteed pacts. Jones will compete for a regular season roster spot with Terran Petteway, Jason Richardson, and Lamar Patterson, though he certainly will be considered a longshot to make the final cut at the end of the preseason.
Nuggets Sign Matt Janning For Camp
SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2:11pm: The signing has taken place, though the team has made no official announcement, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). It’s a one-year, minimum salary arrangement with limited injury protection, Pincus adds, so it’s an Exhibit 9 contract.
SEPTEMBER 8TH, 8:43am: The Nuggets and one-year NBA veteran Matt Janning have a non-guaranteed deal for training camp, reports international journalist David Pick (Twitter links). The 27-year-old shooting guard, who was on the Suns roster briefly during the 2010/11 season after he went undrafted out of Northeastern in 2010, picked Denver over a chance to join the Hawks as well as offers from overseas teams, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (on Twitter).
Janning played with Turkish powerhouse Anadolu Efes this past season, averaging 9.2 points in 24.4 minutes per game with 37.9% three-point shooting combined between Turkish league and Euroleague play. He didn’t make it in a game during his 2010 stint with the Suns, who waived him a few weeks after opening night that year. He’s chiefly played overseas since, though he’s made multiple appearances in NBA summer league, the last coming in 2014 with the Timberwolves.
Denver has 14 full guarantees, plus Erick Green, who has a partial guarantee of $100K, and Kostas Papanikolaou, whose contract is non-guaranteed. Conflicting reports exist on whether the Nuggets are poised to waive Papanikolaou. The Nuggets could use some shooting, Wolfson tweets, pointing to that as one reason for Janning to choose them over Atlanta. The Hawks have only 13 full guarantees, though they have partial guarantees out to Mike Muscala, Lamar Patterson and Terran Petteway plus a non-guaranteed deal with Jason Richardson.
Who do you think deserves the final roster spot for the Nuggets? Leave a comment to tell us.
2015 NBA Draft Grades: Southeast Division
The 2015 NBA Draft is squarely in the rearview and a number of draftees have already provided a taste of what is to come with their summer league play. I held off on my grades until now because I wanted a better context in which to evaluate each team’s selections, with free agency and summer league providing greater perspective. Sometimes, selecting the best available player isn’t the best course of action and it is wiser to nab a player who fits a clear need, which should always be considered when rating how each front office fared in the draft. I’ve already run down my thoughts on the Atlantic and Central Divisions, and next up is a look at the Southeast Division:
Atlanta Hawks
Team Needs: Depth, scoring.
Draft Picks:
- No. 50 Overall — Marcus Eriksson, SG, Sweden
- No. 59 Overall — Dimitrios Agravanis, F, Greece
Atlanta’s haul on draft night amounted to two draft-and-stash players whose NBA futures are murky at best, and Tim Hardaway Jr., whom the team acquired from the Knicks in exchange for the No. 19 overall pick that had been garnered in a swap with the Wizards earlier in the draft. So in essence, the Hawks dealt the No. 15 overall pick in the 2015 draft for 2013’s No. 24 overall choice. While I do think that Hardaway could benefit from a change of scenery, I firmly believe that Atlanta would have done better to hold onto its original pick and simply used it to select Kelly Oubre, who was taken by Washington at No. 15 overall.
Oubre, while he didn’t live up to expectations during his lone season at Kansas, has the potential to be a two-way star in the NBA. Hardaway, while being a nice complementary offensive player, has shown himself to be fairly one-dimensional thus far in his professional career. Hardaway is also a bit of a redundant a piece with Kyle Korver already on the roster, which makes the trade even more of a head-scratcher in my view. I would even go as far as saying that keeping the No. 19 overall pick, Jerian Grant, would have benefited the franchise more than adding the former Knicks shooting guard.
Overall Draft Grade: D. While the Hawks did land a proven commodity in Hardaway, Oubre has the potential to be a far better NBA player. Atlanta would have been better served to simply hold onto their original selection instead of wheeling and dealing in the first round.
Charlotte Hornets
Team Needs: Outside shooting, frontcourt depth
Draft Picks:
- No. 9 Overall — Frank Kaminsky, PF, Wisconsin
It feels as if the Hornets have been searching for a player who can stretch the floor on offense for ages, with outside shooting being one of the team’s main weaknesses for a few seasons running. That’s why I found it a surprise that Charlotte passed on Devin Booker with its pick and instead went with Kaminsky. Sure, Kaminsky is certainly capable of filling up a stat sheet from the outside, but the team could have used a wing player who can shoot much more than a stretch-four. Or, perhaps I should say, another stretch-four, given that the team traded for Spencer Hawes this offseason. The addition of Hawes should have allowed for GM Rich Cho to land an impact player on the wing like Booker, or Duke’s Justise Winslow, who may end up haunting Charlotte if he becomes a two-way star in the league.
Kaminsky is limited athletically, and while he is certainly a fierce competitor who is very skilled offensively, his defensive shortcomings will lower his overall ceiling as a prospect. I’m rooting for “Frank the Tank” to succeed in the league, but I can easily see him becoming a specialist like Steve Novak, and reduced to sporadic minutes in reserve. Which is not what you want out of a top 10 pick, especially given some of the talent still on the board when Charlotte was on the clock on draft night.
Overall Draft Grade: C+. The selection of Kaminsky was puzzling given the presence of Hawes, the team’s greater needs at the wing and center positions, and the availability of Winslow and Booker at the No. 9 spot. Kaminsky is a solid player, but the team could have utilized this pick much more effectively.
Miami Heat
Team Needs: Youth, depth at wing and at center.
Draft Picks:
- No. 10 Overall — Justise Winslow, SF, Duke
- No. 40 Overall — Josh Richardson, SG, Tennessee
Team president Pat Riley likely stared at his draft board in disbelief when the Heat’s pick was due and he saw that Winslow was still available at No. 10 overall. Winslow had been projected by a number of mock drafts to be a potential top five pick, so landing him where Miami did cannot be considered anything but a steal for the franchise. The former Duke swingman can provide depth for both Dwyane Wade at shooting guard and Luol Deng at small forward, and given the age and injury concerns for both players, that’s a huge boon for the team. There are concerns about Winslow’s ability to hit his outside shots consistently, but his athleticism and defensive abilities should garner Winslow regular minutes as he figures things out.
The addition of Richardson isn’t likely to have much, if any, impact on the coming season for Miami. It’s doubtful that the swingman will make the team’s regular season roster, though his defensive acumen should ensure him a slot on the Heat’s D-League affiliate for 2015/16.
Overall Draft Grade: A+. It’s hard to find any fault with the Heat selecting a player of Winslow’s potential, especially with the 10th overall pick. Fantastic job for Riley, who continues to show why he’s one of the best executives in the game by not overthinking the selection.
Orlando Magic
Team Needs: Depth, outside shooting.
Draft Picks:
- No. 5 Overall — Mario Hezonja, SG, Croatia
- No. 51 Overall — Tyler Harvey, SG, Eastern Washington
Like Charlotte, it seems as if Orlando has been searching for a player who can light up the scoreboard from the outside for an eternity. The Magic are hoping that Hezonja, whom the team selected over better-known talents like Justise Winslow, Stanley Johnson, Devin Booker, and Frank Kaminsky with the fifth overall pick, will be the bounty of their quest. While Hezonja certainly has the skills and athletic ability to justify such a high selection, there are legitimate concerns regarding his maturity level and ability to accept coaching, which, if true, will hamper the Croatian’s development significantly. But if Hezonja manages to live up to his predraft hype, the Magic landed themselves a potential star who can fill up the rim from anywhere inside the arena.
My concern for Orlando is the high washout rate of European draftees in the NBA, and the risk the franchise took in nabbing Hezonja that high in the first round. While the upside of Hezonja is certainly tantalizing, the team may have been better served to select a more NBA-ready player in Willie Cauley-Stein, Winslow, or Booker at that slot. All of whom would have filled an obvious need for Orlando, and carried less risk while doing so.
I’m a bigger fan of GM Rob Hennigan nabbing Eastern Washington sharpshooter Tyler Harvey toward the bottom of the second round than I am of his selection of Hezonja. Harvey needs development as a player, but he’s a lethal shooter who needs to be accounted for by defenders the moment he crosses the halfcourt line. There are concerns with his level of athleticism, but he is a smart and savvy player who has the potential to become a solid contributor off of the bench for Orlando in a few seasons.
Overall Draft Grade: B+. I’ll give Hennigan credit for taking a gamble on the upside of Hezonja, but there were a number of players who could have filled the team’s needs at No. 5 overall who didn’t possess as many question marks about their NBA future.
Washington Wizards
Team Needs: Small forward, depth.
Draft Picks:
- No. 15 Overall — Kelly Oubre, SF, Kansas*
- No. 49 Overall — Aaron White, F, Iowa
*Acquired from Hawks in exchange for the No. 19 overall pick and two future second-rounders.
The Wizards entered the draft needing to land themselves a wing player who would complement their starting backcourt tandem of John Wall and Bradley Beal, as well as to replace Paul Pierce, who signed a free agent deal with the Clippers this offseason. Washington made a smart trade with Atlanta, swapping first-rounders and giving up two future second round picks in exchange for the opportunity to land Oubre.
The swingman out of Kansas was a disappointment during his lone season with the Jayhawks, never coming close to delivering on the preseason hype that his impending arrival in Lawrence wrought. Oubre’s freshman campaign had a rocky start, with the 19-year-old often looking completely lost on the court and receiving sporadic playing time as a result. But Oubre did turn things around as the season progressed, and Washington landed itself a heck of a talent outside of the lottery. Oubre’s defense is more NBA-ready than his offense is, and he’ll learn the hard way that it takes more than athleticism to be an effective scorer in the pros. But I do expect Oubre to develop into a starter, and possibly a future All-Star, though it often won’t be a smooth ride. But full credit is due to the Wizards’ front office, who made a solid deal on draft night to land themselves a player who fits their needs perfectly.
Overall Draft Grade: A+. Great move by GM Ernie Grunfeld to move up in the first round via trade and to land Oubre at No. 15 overall. He fits an obvious team need, and Oubre has the potential to be a two-way star in a few seasons.
Pelicans Sign Sean Kilpatrick
THURSDAY, 10:08am: The deal is official, the Pelicans announced.
WEDNESDAY, 5:40pm: The Pelicans have signed unrestricted free agent shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). The arrangement is a two-year, minimum salary deal that includes a partial guarantee of $50K for the 2015/16 season, Pincus adds. The 25-year-old was also a participant in recent workouts with the Hawks, Spurs and Lakers.
The former Cincinnati Bearcat averaged a strong 18.2 points in 28.7 minutes per game in summer league play for the Bucks this year, but Milwaukee already has 15 players on its roster possessing full guarantees. The path to a regular season roster spot for Kilpatrick would appear to be a bit less muddled with the Pelicans, with the team having 13 players with fully guaranteed pacts on its roster currently.
Kilpatrick appeared in four contests for the Timberwolves while on a 10-day contract during the 2014/15 campaign, averaging 5.5 points in 18.0 minutes per appearance. He spent the bulk of last season in the NBA D-League, playing for the affiliates of the Sixers and Warriors.
Southeast Notes: Sefolosha, Hornets, Gordon
- The Hornets improved this summer, but so did others around them in the Eastern Conference, and with an unbalanced roster, they’ll still have a tough time making the playoffs this season, opines Tim Bontemps of the New York Post (Facebook link).
- The key for Aaron Gordon will be establishing himself as a starter this season, but the development of last year’s No. 4 overall pick will take some time for the Magic, writes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.
- Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel isn’t counting on any of the Heat‘s camp invitees to make the regular season roster, but, in his opinion, Corey Hawkins stands a decent chance to make a strong impression with his three-point prowess, just as Andre Dawkins did when he made it to opening night last year.
Pelicans In Mix As Sean Kilpatrick Nears Camp Deal
One-year NBA veteran shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick is closing in on signing a deal for training camp, and the Pelicans are squarely in the mix, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). The 25-year-old who was with the Timberwolves on a 10-day contract last season was a participant in recent workouts with the Pelicans, Hawks, Spurs and Lakers.
New Orleans has plenty of roster flexibility, with 13 fully guaranteed salaries and a partial guarantee for Bryce Dejean-Jones the team’s only commitments so far. They were reportedly to have worked out shooting guard Corey Webster, a prospect from New Zealand. The Hawks and Spurs also have only 13 full guarantees apiece, but they have plenty of others on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed arrangements. The Lakers have a dozen full guarantees but are similarly stocked with multiple players who are without fully guaranteed salary.
The 6’4″ former Cincinnati Bearcat averaged an impressive 18.2 points in 28.7 minutes per game in summer league for the Bucks this year, but Milwaukee has 15 full guarantees and it’s unclear if the team has interest in him for camp. The Timberwolves have 16 fully guaranteed deals, so Kilpatrick would seemingly have a tough time making the regular season roster in Minnesota despite his experience there. The Wolves signed Kilpatrick in large measure because he was in close proximity to New York when they were short a player before a game against the Knicks, but he saw plenty of playing time in his brief stint with Minnesota, putting up 5.5 PPG in 17.9 MPG.
Southeast Notes: Hawks, Beal, Frye, Heat
The Hawks have gone through several key changes since Bruce Levenson self-reported racially charged emails he’d sent and announced a year ago today that he was selling the team, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recaps. Tony Ressler took over for Levenson as the principal owner, Mike Budenholzer assumed former GM Danny Ferry‘s responsibilities and received a promotion, and Tiago Splitter and Tim Hardaway Jr. replaced DeMarre Carroll and Pero Antic as key parts of the roster. The team now faces the challenge of improving upon a season that saw “the most remarkable on-court run in franchise history,” as Vivlamore puts it. While we wait to find out where the Hawks go from here, see more from the Southeast Division:
- Some people around the Wizards had questioned Bradley Beal‘s work ethic and whether he could become a great player, but the season that Paul Pierce spent in Washington helped Beal more than anyone else on the team, many Wizards insiders feel, reports Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders. Pierce opted out and signed with the Clippers, so it remains to be seen how Beal, whose extension candidacy I examined in depth Friday, will perform without the veteran mentor.
- Channing Frye put up his lowest numbers in five years this past season after signing a four-year, $32MM deal with the Magic, and while he started 51 games, the Magic insisted that they brought him in as more of a complementary player than as a starter, writes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. Next month, the 32-year-old Frye will try to hold off Aaron Gordon, who turns 20 in a few weeks, for a starting spot, but Frye would best serve the Magic in a reserve role that would emphasize his floor-stretching abilities, Schmitz believes.
- Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel won’t be surprised if the Heat open the regular season with only 14 players on the roster, though he contends in his mailbag column that the team faces depth issues.
Southeast Notes: Heat, Magic, Hawks
There’s a decent chance that the clause in James Ennis‘ contract with the Heat that makes it fully guaranteed if he makes the opening day roster will hamper Ennis from securing one of the final spots with Miami, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes in a mailbag Q&A. Ennis signed a three-year deal with the Heat in July. Ennis’ contract this season is worth $845,059. Ennis’ contract could still be modified, Winderman adds.
Here’s more from around the Southeast Division:
- The Magic missed on landing Paul Millsap, who re-signed with the Hawks, but Orlando locked up Tobias Harris and have built through the draft. The franchise would be best served if it continued to build through the draft after this upcoming season and then it has a better chance of being a preferred destination for free agents, Shaun Powell of NBA.com writes in a 30 teams in 30 days series.
- Citing Kyle Korver‘s age (34), Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders pegs the Hawks shooting guard, who was an All-Star last season, as a player who will likely see a decline in production this season. Korver has been very solid in Atlanta, but the Hawks added veteran Jason Richardson and acquired Tim Hardaway Jr. this summer to add depth to the shooting guard position.