Camp Cuts With Guaranteed Money
A few more camp cuts await, as the Wizards stand at 18 players after Friday’s trade and the Rockets are holding tight at 17 guys. The players Washington lets go will all be on guaranteed contracts, since the team doesn’t have anyone on its books without a full guarantee on his deal. Houston could waive its pair of non-guaranteed contracts, but that would mean parting with Patrick Beverley and Greg Smith, both important contributors, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors pointed out last night.
Most of the players released from camp rosters this month were on non-guaranteed deals, but several of them had at least a partial guarantee, and two — Royce White of the Sixers and Chris Johnson of the Timberwolves — had fully guaranteed contracts. The Sixers, with plenty of cap room to accommodate extra payouts, owe more than $1.85MM to players who won’t be on their regular season roster.
Ironically, the smallest partial guarantee in the NBA this month, the $15K promised to Lance Thomas, managed to survive cuts. The largest partial guarantee to be paid out to a player waived this month is the $200K the Knicks owe C.J. Leslie.
Here’s a breakdown of every partially or fully guaranteed contract let go in October, sorted by team. Note that it doesn’t count players who were waived before camp, like Quentin Richardson and Chris Duhon.
76ers
- Royce White ($1,719,480) — full guarantee
- Gani Lawal ($100K)
- Rodney Williams ($35K)
- Vander Blue (unknown amount)
- Khalif Wyatt (unknown amount)
Clippers
- Brandon Davies ($50K)
Hawks
- Adonis Thomas ($50K)
Kings
- Brandon Heath ($35K)
- Trent Lockett ($35K)
Knicks
- C.J. Leslie ($200K)
- Jeremy Tyler ($100K)
Rockets
- B.J. Young ($40K)
Timberwolves
- Chris Johnson ($916,099) — full guarantee
Trail Blazers
- Dee Bost ($50K according to HoopsWorld; $25K according to ShamSports)
- E.J. Singler ($50K)
- Richard Howell (unknown amount)
Warriors
- Seth Curry ($75K)
- DeWayne Dedmon ($25K)
HoopsWorld and ShamSports were used in the creation of this post.
Sixers Cut Rodney Williams, Gani Lawal
SUNDAY, 9:34am: The Sixers officially announced the moves, via Twitter.
SATURDAY, 2:49pm: The Sixers have let go of Rodney Williams and Gani Lawal, a source tells Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News (Twitter links). The team will absorb Lawal’s $100K partial guarantee and the $35K partial guarantee on Williams’ contract. Their subtraction leaves the Sixers with 14 players, one under the regular season max and one more than the minimum.
Williams and Lawal appeared to be the most vulnerable among the team’s remaining non-guaranteed players, and Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer predicted yesterday that the last roster spot would come down to one of them (Twitter link). That assumed Philly would carry 15 players, but the team apparently will go with fewer. Cooney speculates on Twitter that Kwame Brown could be next to go, though he’s on a fully guaranteed deal for nearly $3MM and would likely have to agree to a buyout.
Atlantic Rumors: Noel, Bradley, Brooks, Stevens
Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer believes Nerlens Noel must grow physically and emotionally if he’s to live up to his expectations in the NBA, so, according to the Inquirer scribe, he’d be better off not returning from his left knee injury at any point this season. Coach Brett Brown this week attempted to dispel the notion that any decisions had been made about when Noel would play again, after making it seem on Monday as though Noel was likely to miss the season. The Sixers hoped injured center Andrew Bynum would come back to lead them deep into the playoffs last year, but there’s not much on the line this time around for Philly’s ragtag bunch. Here’s more from the Atlantic:
- The Celtics and Avery Bradley continue talks about an extension, but no deal is imminent for the Mitchell Butler client, writes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. The 2014/15 team option on MarShon Brooks‘ contract is still a matter of debate in the front office, Murphy adds.
- Former Suns GM Steve Kerr doesn’t say whether he was interested in Brad Stevens, but he does tell Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe that several GMs around the league had wanted to hire Stevens before the Celtics did.
- Isiah Thomas last coached in the NBA with the Knicks in 2007/08, but he explains to Washburn that he hasn’t closed the door on a return to the bench.
- Trade acquisition Andrea Bargnani struggled for the Knicks in preseason, and he isn’t a lock to keep his job as starting power forward, as Marc Berman of the New York Post details.
Odds & Ends: Tinsley, Durant, 76ers, Bogut
Only three players who remained unsigned this month started more games for their team last year than the 32 that Jamaal Tinsley started for the Jazz, who finally re-signed him to a minimum-salary contract this week. The point guard still didn’t get anxious as he stayed at home without a contract this fall.
“Not at all,” Tinsley said to Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune. “I’ve been through way tougher things in my life than this. I’m blessed to get the opportunity to play basketball. I’d do this for free. I’ve been running up and down the court the last four (or) five months without a job. … So it wasn’t frustrating.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote this week that the Thunder “would be wise not to relax” about Durant’s willingness to remain in OKC when his contract ends in 2016, and Durant tells Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman that he’s not sure what his future holds.
- Thaddeus Young hopes he remains with the Sixers, the only NBA team he’s ever played for, but he understands the team is in flux and could trade him or teammates Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes this season, as Tom Moore of The Intelligencer observes. “There definitely is some talk,” Young said. “At the end of the day, it’s a business. If they see fit to trade one of us, two of us or all three of us, we have to pack up and go. It’s still a job. We have to remain calm and we can’t be mad.”
- Whether or not Young stays, the Sixers roster will almost certainly change during the season, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. GM Sam Hinkie acknowledges that plenty of work remains to turn the team into an elite organization.
- Kevin Pelton figures Andrew Bogut will be healthy for most of the three years of his extension, but he still thinks the Warriors absorb more financial risk than Bogut does, arguing in an Insider piece for ESPN.com that the team should have waited until he hit free agency to do a deal.
- Pelton mentions the Mavericks as a potential suitor for Bogut had he become a free agent, and Warriors brass indeed perceived the Mavs as a threat, just as they saw the Bobcats as a rival for Stephen Curry, tweets Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group.
Phil Jackson On Coaching, His Next Job, Lakers
Phil Jackson said this week that it’s unlikely he’ll ever coach in the NBA again, and he reiterated that point and touched on many others in a conversation with Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. He has spoken with owners of teams around the league about a front office role, and he told Bresnahan he envisions serving as more of a consultant than a GM. Wherever he winds up, he made it clear that it won’t be with the Lakers, even though his comments suggest at least some of his blood runs purple-and-gold, perhaps a nod to his fiancee and Lakers co-owner Jeanie Buss. The entire piece is worth reading, especially for Lakers fans, but we’ll share a few highlights here:
On returning to the Lakers in any capacity:
“At the present time I don’t see how that would work out with the way the organization is set up right now. There would have to be some seismic shift.”
On the Lakers’ flirtation with him during last year’s coaching search:
“I know it was difficult for Jeanie because I wasn’t putting my hat in the ring and they asked me to come and interview for the job, of which I think they had no intention of actually following through. I think those things stuck at the core of Laker die-hard fans.”
On his feelings toward the Lakers:
“I want people to know that I really want to support the Lakers and I’m here to support Jeanie in her effort to keep this franchise vital and vibrant. I have every intention of trying to help them move forward.”
Poll: Will Royce White Return To The NBA?
Perhaps the most high-profile roster cut this week was the Sixers’ decision to let go of Royce White, the 16th pick from the 2012 draft. White’s psychological disorders have been well-documented since his time playing college ball at Iowa State, where he excelled as a versatile 6’8″ force. There were doubts about his mental health leading up to the draft, but his abilities on the basketball court made him a top-five talent, as far as Rockets GM Daryl Morey was concerned. Morey, who had three first-round picks last year, figured he would use one on the high-risk, high-reward White.
Alas, Morey’s gamble went bust. White and the Rockets engaged in a back-and-forth all season long about language that White wanted to have inserted into his contract to provide for his mental health. The Rockets countered that the league’s collective bargaining agreement wouldn’t allow them to put special provisions in his standard rookie-scale deal, and White went the entire regular season without appearing in an NBA game, only hitting the court during preseason and for 16 games with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s D-League affiliate.
Morey decided to write off his loss halfway through the two-year guaranteed portion of White’s contract, trading him to the Sixers for Philadelphia’s 2014 second-round pick. Morey sweetened the deal for his former assistant, newly minted Sixers GM Sam Hinkie, adding the rights to Turkish prospect Furkan Aldemir and, as we learned yesterday, enough cash to cover White’s 2013/14 salary.
White’s brief tenure in Philadelphia was a quiet one. He made few headlines, and the story that he didn’t accompany the team for its exhibition games in Europe was somewhat overblown, since the Sixers left other players on their roster home, too. White appeared in five preseason games this month and even started one, averaging 5.0 points and 4.4 rebounds in 18.1 minutes per contest. He seemed mentally and physically prepared to play.
Still, Hinkie and the Sixers decided that it wasn’t worth keeping White around, even though they have a roster that’s roundly expected to finish with the league’s worst record this season. That leaves more questions than answers surrounding the future of a player whom Morey, and likely other league executives, considered better than most lottery picks based on talent alone less than a year and a half ago.
White’s future might not include the NBA. He’s never played in a regular season game, so, officially, he has yet to make his debut. Let us know whether you think he ever will, and leave a comment to explain your thinking.
Mavericks Waive Mickey McConnell
The Mavs have released camp invitee Mickey McConnell, the team announced via press release. The move, which had been expected, reduces Dallas’ roster count to 15, so no further cuts will be required before opening night.
McConnell, 24, spent last season playing for Tezenis Verona in Italy, averaging 13.6 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 2.7 APG in 32 games. He appeared in five contests for the Mavs during the preseason, but was on a non-guaranteed contract, on a club which already had 15 players on guaranteed deals. As such, he was a long shot to make the NBA roster, but could end up with Dallas’ D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends.
Central Links: Kadji, Cavs, Robinson, Pistons
Here’s the latest out of the Central Division on a busy day of roster moves in the NBA:
- The Cavs’ release of DeSagana Diop, Jermaine Taylor, Elliot Williams and Kenny Kadji means that Henry Sims and Matthew Dellavedova have made the Cavs’ 15-man roster, as Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal writes. The Cavs like Kadji, however, and they’re expected to protect the power forward from the D-League draft and retain his rights for the Canton Charge once he clears waivers.
- Bob Finnan of The News-Herald has more on Sims, who made the team on a non-guaranteed deal, and sizes up the chances the Cavs‘ other cuts have of ending up with the Charge.
- Nuggets guard Nate Robinson misses Chicago but he understands why the Bulls didn’t re-sign him, writes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. “It’s a business,” he said. “Everybody knew I wanted to come back, but they had other things in mind. They signed a great shooter in (Mike) Dunleavy. They got a good rookie (Tony Snell). They’ve got a great team. I miss it. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t. … I had a hell of a year and it was a great run.”
- It’s too early to call the Pistons’ big frontline a success, but they’re optimistic about having Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe, and Josh Smith on the floor together, writes Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Nuggets Cut Damion James
The Nuggets have waived small forward Damion James, the team announced on its website. The move takes the club’s roster down to 15 players, the regular season maximum.
He had the only non-guaranteed contract remaining on the team, and though he played Jordan Hamilton to a draw, according to Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post, Hamilton’s fully guaranteed $1.169MM salary gave him a decided advantage. The move to cut James had been expected, as Dempsey tweeted earlier today.
Quincy Miller, whose deal is guaranteed for $150K, remains on the team, and assuming he makes it to opening night, his contract will become fully guaranteed. Most deals that aren’t fully guaranteed don’t become so until January 10th, but Miller is among several players who have earlier dates written into their contracts.
Rockets Waive Troy Daniels
The Rockets have placed Troy Daniels on waivers, tweets Jason Friedman of Rockets.com. The move leaves Houston with 17 players, meaning the team will have to make two more cuts to get down to the 15-man regular season limit.
Daniels seemed the most likely casualty among the Rockets with non-guaranteed contracts. Reggie Williams has the largest partial guarantee, at $474K, but he’s up against Ronnie Brewer, whose deal is guaranteed for $100K, and Greg Smith and Patrick Beverley, who are on non-guaranteed deals. All four have been NBA rotation-level players, so Rockets GM Daryl Morey has a few tough calls on his hands, though Beverley, who has alternated at point guard with Jeremy Lin, seems safe.
The Rockets didn’t use Daniels in any of their preseason games. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reported yesterday that the team was expected to let him go, and it appears Daniels will wind up signing with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s D-League affiliate.