Hawks Sign James Johnson
According to a congratulatory tweet from sports agency firm Priority Sports, James Johnson has signed a contract with the Hawks. Though the terms of the deal were not mentioned, the pact could likely be a training camp invitation or a partially guaranteed deal. In 54 games and 11 starts for the Kings last season, the 6'9 power forward averaged 5.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG, and shot 41.3% from the field in 16.3 MPG. With the addition of Johnson, Atlanta currently has a total of 19 players heading into training camp.
Drafted 16th overall by the Bulls in 2009, Johnson hasn't lasted more than two seasons with an NBA team since then, splitting his first four years in the league between Chicago and Toronto before landing with Sacramento in 2012/13. To date, the Wake Forest product's best season was arguably with the Raptors in 2011/12, where he played a total of 62 games with 40 starts, averaging 9.1 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 1.4 BPG in 25.2 MPG.
Eastern Notes: World Peace, Bucks, Rose, Hawks
So far this morning, we've passed along word of Nerlens Noel's contract with the Sixers, and heard confirmation from the Raptors that they've signed three players to training camp deals. Here are a few more items from around the Eastern Conference:
- Metta World Peace tells Dan Duggan of Newsday that he "got calls from Oklahoma and the Clippers and all these teams" when he was amnestied by the Lakers, but he's happy with his decision to sign with the Knicks.
- Speaking at the Bucks Partner Summit in Milwaukee yesterday, future NBA commissioner Adam Silver made it clear that the city is in need of a new arena, writes Rich Kirchen of The Business Journal. "At the end of the day compared to other modern arenas in the league, this arena is a few hundred thousand square feet too small," Silver said. "It doesn’t have the sort of back-of-house space you need, doesn’t have the kinds of amenities we need."
- Derrick Rose has said in the past that he has little interest in actively recruiting other players to the Bulls, and as he prepares to return from an ACL injury, he's sticking to that stance. "I don't recruit. If anyone wants to play with me, I don't mind playing with, it could be anyone in the NBA, but as far as recruiting, I never did and never will," Rose told Rappler.com (link via ESPNChicago.com).
- Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld examines the Hawks' signing of Paul Millsap, which he views as one of the more underappreciated moves of the summer.
Hawks Reach Agreement With Damien Wilkins
Over two years removed from his last action for the Hawks, Damien Wilkins is set to rejoin the team, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Charania reports (via Twitter) that the Hawks have reached an agreement with Wilkins on a training camp contract.
Wilkins, 33, had a solid season off the Sixers bench in 2012/13, appearing in 61 games and recorded 6.4 PPG to go along with a 12.5 PER. Both marks were the highest he'd posted since his days with the Seattle SuperSonics. Nearly a week ago, we heard that Wilkins had been working out with the Hawks in Atlanta, and that he had worked out for the Spurs as well.
Earlier today, it was reported that the Hawks will bring Royal Ivey into camp next month, so it seems the club is targeting veteran NBA free agents with its latest camp invites, rather than undrafted rookies or players from overseas. With Ivey and Wilkins on board, Atlanta's roster count will be up to 18 players, though only 12 of them have fully guaranteed contracts.
Royal Ivey To Join Hawks For Camp
Despite never averaging more than 5.6 PPG or higher than an 11.0 PER, Royal Ivey has appeared in at least 25 games in every NBA season since he was drafted in 2004. He'll have a chance to try to earn a roster spot and continue that streak this fall, as he joins the Hawks for training camp, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (via Twitter).
Ivey, 31, appeared in 53 games for the Sixers last season, averaging 13.2 minutes per contest. The former second-round pick recorded 3.2 PPG, with most of his points coming from long-range — he shot 42.0% on three-pointers, scoring about 65% of his points from downtown.
We heard back in August that Ivey was set to work out for the Hawks, but Atlanta wasn't the only team to exhibit some interest in the veteran guard. The Spurs also reportedly worked him out, and Ivey drew interest from the Suns and Bucks as well.
Of those four teams, the Hawks have the fewest fully guaranteed contracts on their books, with just 12 so far. That should give Ivey an opening to earn a regular-season roster spot, though he'll have some competition. Shelvin Mack, David Lighty, and Eric Dawson all have non-guaranteed deals, while Mike Scott has a partial guarantee on his contract.
Southeast Rumors: Wizards, Magic, Heat
The way the Magic, Hawks and Bobcats stand with training camp approaching figures to make for some intrigue in the weeks ahead, as I examined this weekend. Those three teams have fewer than 13 guaranteed contracts, so there are regular season jobs up for grabs. The same might not be true for the Heat and the Wizards, though Michael Beasley's presence could make it interesting for Miami, and there are other developments for Washington's team, as we detail:
- Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld remains in charge, but D.C.'s front office is getting a makeover, the team announced on its website. Tommy Sheppard gets a promotion and will presumably serve as Grunfeld's right-hand man. The Wizards have brought in other officials from the Raptors, Thunder and Hawks.
- Washington's offseason additions will allow the Wizards to play more small-ball this season, as J. Michael of CSNWashington.com examines. The opposite approach is taking place in Orlando, where No. 2 overall pick Victor Oladipo will play the point and Maurice Harkless will see some action at two guard, HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy tweets.
- In today's mailbag, a reader asks Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel if Michael Beasley could eventually find his way into the Heat's starting lineup ahead of Udonis Haslem. Winderman doesn't see that as a likely outcome, as the starting five is already overloaded with scorers. Beyond that, Beasley has to prove himself as being worthy of a roster spot and worth an extra $2MM+ when factoring in his salary along with the luxury tax.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: Wilkins, Smith, Heat, Wizards
A pair of Eastern Conference teams have reached agreements with free agents today, as the Sixers worked to finalize a deal for Darius Morris, while the Bulls signed a pair of players – Patrick Christopher and Kalin Lucas – for camp. Here's more from around the East:
- Free agent forward Damien Wilkins has been working out for the Hawks in Atlanta, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com. The 33-year-old, who has played for the Hawks, Pistons, and Sixers in the last three seasons, also worked out for the Spurs last week, says Charania. No deal is imminent, but the Hawks appear to have some interest.
- Two months after he officially signed his deal with the Pistons, Josh Smith tells Keith Langlois of Pistons.com that he feels great about choosing Detroit. "Our team, our roster, is very impressive to me," Smith said. "Everybody wants to get better and everybody wants to do it together. Whenever you are able to be a part of something like that, it’s special."
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel is surprised the Heat would bring back a player like Michael Beasley, who "didn't exactly do things the Heat way," and that the team may give him minutes over guys like James Jones and Rashard Lewis, who have "toed every Heat line."
- Although Mike James has played for several NBA teams since 2009, this will be the first time since then he has participated in training camp, writes Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside. James reportedly agreed to a camp deal with the Bulls.
- The Wizards have hired former Raptors executive Marc Eversley as vice president of scouting, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
Eastern Notes: LeBron, Hawks, Heat, Sixers
With his free agency potentially less than a year away, LeBron James continues to brush off questions about his future. Most recently, it was ESPN.com's Chris Broussard who asked the Heat superstar about his plans for the summer of 2014.
"I have absolutely no idea," James said. "I would love to spend the rest of my career in Miami with this great team and great organization as we continue to compete for championships. That's ideal. But we don't know what may happen from now to the end of the season. That's the nature of the business. It's the nature of not knowing what tomorrow brings."
As the reigning MVP continues to focus on the coming season, let's check out a few more notes from around the Eastern Conference:
- Former Texas-San Antonio guard Chris Allen will work out for the Hawks today, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com (via Twitter).
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel believes 2012 second-rounder Justin Hamilton is more likely to start the 2013/14 season with the Heat's D-League affiliate in Sioux Falls, rather than with the NBA club.
- Sixers second-round pick Arsalan Kazemi may be headed to Iran for the coming season, tweets Mark Porcaro of Secret Rival. That news isn't confirmed yet, and wasn't included in the daily update of our international player movement tracker, but we did hear earlier this summer that the Oregon product was expected to play overseas in 2013/14.
Hawks Notes: Snyder, Adonis Thomas, Camp
After entering the offseason with more cap space than virtually any other NBA team, the Hawks didn't end up landing one of the summer's top free agents, but came away with a decent haul that included Paul Millsap, Jeff Teague, and Elton Brand, among others. As he looks back at the offseason and ahead to training camp, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution passes along a few tidbits on the Hawks, so let's round those up….
- As was previously reported, Atlanta assistants Quin Snyder and Kenny Atkinson both interviewed for the Sixers' head coaching opening before Brett Brown was hired. However, Snyder withdrew his name from consideration before a decision was made, according to Vivlamore.
- Adonis Thomas will likely be invited to Hawks training camp, though nothing is official yet. The former Memphis Tiger went undrafted in June, but played for Atlanta's Summer League squad in July.
- The Hawks are a good bet to carry 14 players on their regular-season roster, since GM Danny Ferry likes having some flexibility for that 15th spot, writes Vivlamore. However, the team still figures to add more players to its camp roster. In addition to Eric Dawson and David Lighty, Atlanta will probably bring two to four more players to camp, including a guard and a small forward.
Magic, Mavs, Hawks Eyeing Devin Ebanks
HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy reported more than a month ago that four clubs had interest in former Laker Devin Ebanks, and while three of them appear to have dropped out of the running, two more have joined the pursuit. The Magic, Mavericks and Hawks have expressed interest in Ebanks, Kennedy tweets this evening. Atlanta is the only team repeated from the late July report that also named the Bucks and Bobcats.
Ebanks has spent his entire three-year career with the Lakers, who drafted him 43rd overall in 2010. The team initially gave him a two-year contract, so he was up for restricted free agency last summer and wound up signing his qualifying offer. The Lakers decided against extending a QO this time around, making him an unrestricted free agent. The team hasn't been linked to him since, so it appears he won't be back in purple and gold.
The former West Virginia Mountaineer enjoyed his best pro season in 2011/12, when he began the year as the starting small forward for the Lakers. That assignment didn't last, and he's otherwise struggled to find playing time, averaging 11.3 minutes per game for his career. Still, he's only appeared in nine D-League contests, and the Lakers didn't assign him to the L.A. D-Fenders, their affiliate, at all last season.
The Mavs have 15 players, all of whom are on guaranteed contracts, while the Hawks and Magic have fewer than 15 guaranteed deals, as our roster counts show. That may give Atlanta and Orlando an edge for the David Bauman client.
Eastern Notes: Ayon, Cavs, Heat, Bucks
While the Heat, Pacers, Bulls, Nets, and Knicks are generally viewed as locks to earn postseason spots in the Eastern Conference, those final three spots are up for grabs, and Lang Greene of HoopsWorld argues that the Raptors are being overlooked as a contender. In his NBA AM piece, Greene takes a look at the Raps, writing that they'll be competing with clubs like the Pistons, Hawks, Wizards, Cavs, and Bucks for those last few playoff berths in the East. Here are a few more Wednesday items out of the conference:
- Even when he was released by the Bucks, Gustavo Ayon didn't consider returning to Europe, as he tells Gonzalo Aguirregomezcorta of ESPNDeportes.com. The Hawks ultimately claimed Ayon off waivers, and the Mexican big man is looking forward to trying to carve out a larger role in Atlanta.
- The Cavaliers are still working to finalize the details, but they'll hire Steve Hetzel to coach their D-League squad, the Canton Charge, according to Bob Finnan of the News-Herald. Hetzel has served as the Pistons' player development coach for the last several seasons.
- Ira Winderman's Wednesday mailbag for the South Florida Sun Sentinel is an all-Michael Beasley edition, but Winderman can't fathom the Heat looking into bringing back its former second overall pick.
- The Bucks have officially announced the assistant coaches who will be a part of Larry Drew's staff in 2013/14.