Bulls Sign Jordan Crawford To Camp Deal
SEPTEMBER 28TH, 1:10pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release. Combined with the other two signings the team made today, Chicago has 18 players for training camp.
SEPTEMBER 17TH, 7:58am: The Bulls will sign four-year veteran Jordan Crawford to a non-guaranteed contract, giving the former first-round pick a chance to return to the NBA after an injury-riddled year split between China and the D-League, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. The Bulls have only 13 contracts that are known to be guaranteed, as our roster count shows, ostensibly giving the Wasserman Media Group client a strong chance to stick for opening night, but Chicago traditionally carries fewer than 15 players at the start of the regular season.
Crawford averaged 29.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 33.5 minutes per game across five appearances for Xinjiang Guanghui in China this past season before suffering an eye injury that lingered for months. He recovered in time to sign with the D-League in March, joining the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, then a shared affiliate, for whom he once more put up strong numbers in a small sample size, notching 22.6 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 4.5 APG in 35.7 MPG over eight contests. His production was more muted in summer league for the Mavs squad in July this year, though again, that was only a tiny sample size of six games.
The 26-year-old who turns 27 next month had his best moments with the Celtics in 2013/14, when he started 35 games for an injured Rajon Rondo and proved he could handle the point despite having traditionally played on the wing. He put up 13.7 PPG and 5.7 APG against 2.2 turnovers per game in 30.7 MPG, but a midseason trade sent him to the Warriors, who failed to give him much playing time.
Chicago has Cameron Bairstow on a partial guarantee of $425K and offseason signee Cristiano Felicio, both of whom will compete with Crawford in camp to try to win their way to the regular season roster. The Bulls have a crowded backcourt, with Crawford pitted against six guards on fully guaranteed contracts — Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose, Tony Snell, Aaron Brooks, Kirk Hinrich and E’Twaun Moore — as former Nets executive Bobby Marks points out (on Twitter). That would bode well for Bairstow and Felicio, both of whom are frontcourt players.
Do you think Crawford will stick with the Bulls for the regular season? Leave a comment to tell us.
Bulls Sign Marcus Simmons, Jake Anderson
The Bulls have signed former USC shooting guard Marcus Simmons and former Iowa State point guard Jake Anderson, the team announced via press release. The moves, combined with the official signing of Jordan Crawford, give the Bulls 18 players, including 13 with fully guaranteed contracts.
Simmons, 27, has played overseas and in the D-League since going undrafted in 2011. He was a reserve for the D-League Fort Wayne Mad Ants this past season, averaging 4.0 points in 16.7 minutes per game across 41 appearances and shooting just 28.8% from three-point territory.
Anderson played under new Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg in 2010/11. The 28-year-old also has a history with the Bulls organization, having played on Chicago’s summer league squad in 2012. Like Simmons, Anderson went undrafted in 2011, spending his first pro season in the D-League before heading overseas.
Heat Sign Tre Kelley
The Heat have signed Tre Kelley, the team announced. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported earlier this month that the 30-year-old combo guard was working out with the Heat. The move fills the final open spot against the 20-man preseason roster limit, as our roster count for the Heat shows.
It’s the second time Miami has signed Kelley since he went undrafted out of South Carolina in 2007. The first time was shortly before training camp in 2008, but he lasted only about a week before the Heat waived him. The combo guard signed a camp deal with the Thunder the next year and another with the Grizzlies in 2010, but he’s yet to appear on an NBA regular season roster, instead spending time overseas and in the D-League. He was with Pertevniyal Istanbul of Turkey and second-tier Italian team Sigma Barcellona last season, putting up 17.8 points, 7.4 assists and 3.4 turnovers in 33.7 minutes per game combined between the two European clubs.
The Heat have 13 fully guaranteed contracts plus Tyler Johnson, who has a partial guarantee. It’s unclear if Kelley has any guarantee on his deal, though Miami has avoided handing out partial guarantees this summer. Johnson signed his deal last season.
Pistons Sign Jordan Bachynski For Camp
SEPTEMBER 28TH, 11:24pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
SEPTEMBER 25TH, 5:56pm: The signing has indeed taken place, according to the RealGM transactions log, though the team has yet to make an announcement.
SEPTEMBER 16TH, 12:14pm: The Pistons and former Arizona State big man Jordan Bachynski have agreed to a non-guaranteed deal, a source tells Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). It’ll be the first official NBA contract for the 7’2″ Bachynski, who was with the Raptors and Magic for summer league this year. He’s the 20th Piston with either a signed contract or a verbal agreement to join the team, meaning the Pistons are at the preseason roster limit.
Bachynski, now 26, averaged 11.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and an impressive 4.0 blocks in 30.9 minutes per game as a senior for the Sun Devils in 2013/14. He played four games with Turkey’s Ekishehir Basket early last season before surfacing stateside with the D-League affiliate of the Knicks. The Westchester Knicks gave him limited burn, as he notched 6.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 2.2 BPG in 19.0 MPG. He managed even less playing him in summer league, averaging 4.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG and 1.4 BPG in just 10.0 MPG across eight appearances.
Detroit was one of several NBA teams to work him out prior to the 2014 draft, though he went unselected. Bachynski’s odds of sticking with the Pistons for opening night don’t look strong, since the Pistons have 17 fully guaranteed contracts, more than any other team in the league, as I examined last month. The team also has Adonis Thomas, who has a $60K partial guarantee, and Eric Griffin on a non-guaranteed deal, as our roster count shows.
Do you think Bachynski deserves a spot on an NBA regular season roster? Leave a comment to tell us.
Spurs Sign Rasual Butler, Deshaun Thomas
The Spurs revealed they’ve signed Rasual Butler today, listing him on a roster they handed out to reporters at media day, according to Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News. Deshaun Thomas, the team’s second-round pick from 2013, has also signed with San Antonio, the roster reveals. That roster also serves as the team’s first acknowledgement of previously reported deals with Youssou Ndoye and Keifer Sykes.
The leadership of the 36-year-old Butler, as well as his shooting, impressed the Spurs during voluntary workouts recenty, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). San Antonio had evidently been eyeing the veteran swingman for a while, as The Oregonian’s Jason Quick identified the team’s interest shortly after free agency began in July. Butler had reportedly been wanting to re-sign with the Wizards or join the Heat or the Trail Blazers, but he’s ultimately chosen San Antonio, which has no more than the minimum salary to give him.
The same is true for Thomas, to whom the Spurs made their required tender of a one-year, non-guaranteed offer for the minimum salary earlier this month, as international journalist David Pick reported. It’s not clear whether Thomas signed that tender or the sides worked out different terms, but it’s no surprise to see him end up in Spurs camp, since he recently posted photos to Instagram showing him in Spurs workout gear and had been willing to play for the team if it made an offer, as Pick noted. The 24-year-old big man played in France and Spain the past two seasons after the Spurs made him the 58th overall pick in 2013.
Wojnarowski first reported that Ndoye, a 24-year-old center who went undrafted out of St. Bonaventure this summer, would join the Spurs for camp, though he noted that expectation was that Ndoye would ultimately end up with the Spurs D-League affiliate. San Antonio can keep the D-League rights to as many as four of the players it cuts at the end of the preseason.
Sykes seems ultimately destined for the D-League, too, though that’s just my speculation. The 21-year-old point guard went undrafted out of Wisconsin Green Bay in June. Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports first reported his deal.
The moves give the Spurs a full 20-man camp roster, though only 13 have fully guaranteed deals.
Heat Sign John Lucas III
SEPTEMBER 28TH, 10:51am: The signing is official, the Heat announced via press release.
3:30pm: Lucas has agreed to a non-guaranteed training camp deal with the Heat, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel reports (Twitter links). Lucas was close to signing a deal with the Clippers prior to Los Angeles adding Pablo Prigioni, Winderman also relays.
SEPTEMBER 17TH, 2:55pm: Eight-year veteran John Lucas III is working out in the Heat’s practice facility with players from the team as they ready for the start of training camp, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It’s not uncommon for free agents to work out in team facilities during the offseason, but that usually ends around Labor Day. Stein’s report doesn’t specify whether the Heat are auditioning him, but he’s a “natural roster target” for Miami, given that the team is said to be seeking guard depth, Stein tweets.
Chatter about the Bernie Lee client has been quiet since mid-July, when Stein reported that the Magic, Spurs, Mavericks and Clippers were interested in him, as were the Pistons, with whom Lucas finished this past season. Lucas joined Detroit on a pair of 10-day contracts before signing on a deal that covered the rest of 2014/15, as our 10-Day Contract Tracker shows, averaging 4.7 points and 2.9 assists against 0.8 turnovers in 12.9 minutes per game in 21 contests.
The Heat have 13 fully guaranteed contracts, four non-guaranteed deals, and Tyler Johnson, who’s assured of at least half of his one-year veteran’s minimum salary. Johnson figures to serve as the third point guard, but he’d be in line as the primary backup to Goran Dragic if Miami trades Mario Chalmers, which the team hasn’t ruled out doing as soon as next month, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald recently reported. Thus, the Heat would be in need of a point guard like Lucas.
Would Lucas be the right guy for the Heat? Leave a comment to let us know.
Andrew Harrison To Sign In D-League
Second-round pick Andrew Harrison will sign with the D-League affiliate of the Grizzlies, the team that holds his NBA rights, according to Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). Memphis announced its 20-man camp roster earlier today, and it doesn’t include Harrison, this year’s 44th overall selection. The Grizzlies can still sign him at any point to the NBA roster, though they’d have to make a corresponding move, since they don’t have an open roster spot.
The Suns made Harrison the 44th overall selection this June and traded his rights shortly thereafter to Memphis for Jon Leuer. The Kevin Bradbury client can’t negotiate with any other NBA teams, though he did have the option of signing a one-year, $525,093 minimum salary tender without a guarantee that the Grizzlies had to make this month to retain his draft rights. The point guard who turns 21 next month has evidently decided against that, and he’ll instead start the year on a D-League contract making no more than $25,500.
Harrison was the fifth-ranked prospect in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index coming out of high school in 2013, but his stock fell precipitously in college. He joins No. 48 pick Dakari Johnson, No. 51 pick Tyler Harvey, No. 52 pick Satnam Singh and No. 53 pick Sir’Dominic Pointer among this year’s second-rounders expected to sign in the D-League, as our draft picks signings page indicates. Harrison’s twin brother, Aaron, went undrafted but is with the Hornets on a deal that’s partially guaranteed for $75K.
Do you see Andrew Harrison panning out once he gets to the NBA? Leave a comment to tell us.
Grizzlies Sign Five For Camp
The Grizzlies have formally signed Yakhouba Diawara, Ryan Hollins, Michael Holyfield, Lazeric Jones and Daniel Nwaelele, the team announced via press release. All five moves were expected, based on previous reports. The moves give Memphis a full 20-man roster for the preseason, as our roster count shows. All are making the minimum salary, since the Grizzlies don’t have the capacity to give more after signing Brandan Wright for the mid-level exception earlier in the offseason, and all are reportedly non-guaranteed
Diawara, 33, returns to the NBA after an absence of more than five years. The native of France played last season in Italy. Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports first reported the deal between Memphis and the swingman.
Hollins, who turns 31 next month, gives the Grizzlies depth on the interior. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports first reported the deal, and he and Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal had details about the arrangement, which covers one season.
Holyfield went undrafted this year out of Sam Houston State but joined the Grizzlies for summer league this year before formally signing with the team. Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders first reported the deal for the center who turns 23 in November, revealing that it’s a one-year pact.
Jones is a 25-year-old point guard who went undrafted out of UCLA in 2012 and has spent time overseas since then, playing in Israel, Greece and Hungary. Charania first reported the deal, and Pincus reports that it’s a one-year contract.
Nwaelele is a 31-year-old Air Force veteran who’s spent much of his time since going undrafted in 2007 serving out his military commitment. Marc Stein of ESPN.com first reported the deal, which is a one-year arrangement, according to Pincus.
Hawks Waive Jason Richardson
The Hawks have waived the retiring Jason Richardson, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The move took place Friday, according to Pincus, though the team made no formal announcement. Atlanta signed the 34-year-old swingman last month, so even though he walked away before the start of training camp, the release still had to take place. He was on a one-year contract for the minimum salary without any guaranteed money, so the Hawks aren’t on the hook for any money.
Richardson said in December that “retirement is three or four years away from now,” but knee trouble and an aversion to making simply a token appearance on a roster evidently led to a change of heart. The fifth overall pick in the 2001 draft was much more than roster filler for much of his career, but that wasn’t the case for the majority of his tenure with the Sixers, who acquired him in 2012 as part of the Dwight Howard trade. He made his return to the court last season after missing more than two years because of injuries and appeared in 19 games, averaging career lows in points and minutes per game as well as field goal percentage.
It was in stark contrast to the high-flying scoring force he was for much of his career. Richardson topped 20 points per game three times, including his best scoring average of 23.2 PPG in 2005/06 with the Warriors, his original team. He went on to play with the Bobcats, Suns and Magic before finishing up in Philadelphia. Thanks to the more than $6.6MM he made this past season, the Jim Tanner client topped $100MM in career earnings across his 14 seasons in the league, totaling about $105.356MM, according to Basketball-Reference. His Hawks salary would have been the lowest of his career.
What stands out to you about Richardson’s career? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
Raptors Sign Anthony Bennett
MONDAY, 8:16am: The signing is official, the team announced (Twitter link).
SUNDAY, 1:03pm: Bennett has taken a physical and put pen to paper with the Raptors, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Toronto has yet to make an official announcement.
4:29pm: Barring a snag, Toronto is expected to sign him to a one-year deal, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
FRIDAYm 4:05pm: The Raptors will sign Anthony Bennett, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The former No. 1 overall pick just cleared waivers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The Blazers, Sixers, Cavaliers and Jazz, the four teams with the flexibility to claim Bennett off waivers, all passed on doing so, though only Portland and Philadelphia reportedly joined Toronto with interest in the combo forward. Minnesota is on the hook for $3.65MM to Bennett this season via the terms of his buyout deal with the team, and the Raptors will pay him the minimum salary of $947,276, since that’s all they can give outside free agents after using up their cap space and other exceptions.
Bennett’s deal represents a homecoming for the Toronto native, though the Blazers had appeared to have the edge. Portland assistant coaches Jay Triano and David Vanterpool double as coaches for the Canadian national team, and Bennett looked strong playing for that squad this summer. Bennett put up 15.6 points in about 26 minutes per contest in the Pan-American Games, though his numbers went down to 7.6 PPG in nearly 17 MPG during the FIBA Americas Championship.
Toronto has been carrying 14 fully guaranteed contracts plus four partially guaranteed deals, as our roster count shows. The level of guarantee on Bennett’s pact isn’t immediately clear, though his addition would seemingly make it that much more difficult for Michale Kyser, Ronald Roberts Jr., Shannon Scott and Axel Toupane, the quartet with partially guaranteed deals, to stick for opening night.
The Raptors are seemingly poised to start DeMarre Carroll as a small-ball power forward, with Patrick Patterson and Luis Scola behind him. James Johnson, another combo forward, also figures to pose a challenge to Bennett as he seeks playing time.
Do you think the Raptors are the right team for Bennett? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.