Jazz Sign Jamaal Tinsley
SATURDAY, 12:45pm: The Jazz have officially announced the move, with a press release on their website.
9:17am: The deal is a one-year, minimum salary pact, according to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (via Twitter). While most contracts signed this month are non-guaranteed, it’s unclear whether or not that’s the case for Tinsley’s deal.
THURSDAY, 12:18am: Utah and Tinsley have reached agreement on a deal, Kennedy reports. He’ll join the team for its game Friday at the Lakers (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 9:09pm: It’s “only a matter of time” before the Jazz bring aboard Jamaal Tinsley, a source tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who says the team’s interest in the point guard has intensified (Twitter link). Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld classifies the possibility of a deal between the two sides as “very likely” (on Twitter). Agent Raymond Brothers said last week that his client, a free agent who spent the last two seasons with Utah, and the team were both giving thought to a reunion.
The Jazz are without rookie point man Trey Burke, the ninth overall selection this June, who suffered a broken right hand earlier this month. John Lucas III, Scott Machado, Lester Hudson and Alec Burks are all internal options at the point, but it’s sounding like the club will seek outside help in the form of the 35-year-old Tinsley, who started 32 games for the Jazz last season.
Tinsley’s addition could spell trouble for the six players trying to make the team on non-guaranteed deals. Utah has 12 guys on fully guaranteed contracts, and rookie Ian Clark has a partial guarantee of $200K. That could leave just one spot open for Hudson, Machado, Brian Cook, Mike Harris, Justin Holiday and Dominic McGuire, and that’s assuming Utah elects to carry a full complement of 15 players to start the regular season.
The Mavericks, Bobcats, Rockets, Suns and Nets all reportedly looked into signing Tinsley during the offseason, but I’d be surprised if Tinsley warranted any more than a minimum-salary deal. Tinsley made the minimum in both years of his previous contract with the Jazz, and neither season was guaranteed when he signed the deal in 2011.
Reaction To Suns/Wizards Trade
Marcin Gortat took to Twitter to share his reaction to the trade that sent him from the Suns to the Wizards today, writing that he’s glad the deal happened before the season instead of in the middle of it. He also tweeted that he doesn’t have any hard feelings toward the Phoenix brass, calling Ryan McDonough “an amazing GM” for the Suns, and he expressed his excitement about playing with Nene. The man known as The Polish Hammer isn’t the only one with an opinion on the deal, and we’ve got more insight here:
- J. Michael of CSNWashington.com calls the trade a win for both teams, and believes the three others headed to the Wizards in this deal — Kendall Marshall, Malcolm Lee and, in particular, Shannon Brown — could be claimed on waivers when Washington cuts them, as expected. If another team claims them, it would take their salaries off the Wizards’ books.
- The pressure is on the Wizards to make the playoffs, and the trade makes the need for a postseason berth even more dire for GM Ernie Grunfeld and coach Randy Wittman, according to USA Today’s Adi Joseph, who thinks there was a touch of desperation involved.
- TNT’s David Aldridge disagrees that the Wizards made the deal out of desperation, calling it “a classic NBA trade” involving one team with playoff hopes and another one robbing the present to invest in the future.
- Miles Plumlee‘s development makes the loss of Gortat easier to stomach, McDonough told reporters, including Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. “Miles Plumlee’s progress is a big reason we did this trade,” McDonough said. “Miles was a big part of the deal we did with Indiana (also getting Gerald Green and a pick for Luis Scola). Our coaching staff has been very pleased with Miles. He’s improved ever since he left Duke and a lot in the short time he’s been with us.”
- There have been trade rumors swirling around Gortat since last season, but McDonough said the team wasn’t especially anxious to move him, as Coro notes in the same piece. “We think he’s an above-average center and it took a great deal to do it,” the GM said, adding that “the way we build the next great Suns team is through the draft.”
- There are fears that Suns acquisition Emeka Okafor will miss the entire season, as we noted earlier.
Jim Buss Promises Kobe Won’t Hit Free Agency
The Lakers are working toward an extension for Kobe Bryant, and co-owner and executive vice president Jim Buss tells Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com that there’s no way the star two-guard will become a free agent this summer, when his current contract is set to expire. Bryant’s torn Achilles tendon has slowed the talks between GM Mitch Kupchak and agent Rob Pelinka, but Buss swears a deal will get done before July 1st.
“I want to put an end to any speculation that we would allow Kobe to become a free agent,” Buss said. “That’s not going to happen. Kobe is a top priority for us. He’s a Laker legend and always will be. I don’t think we’re done winning championships with him yet.”
A report in September indicated negotiations had not yet begun, so it appears the two sides have only recently begun to talk. Bryant said over the summer that he wasn’t keen on the idea of taking a significant paycut, and signing an extension, which would run no more than three years beyond his current deal’s expiration, would represent a sacrifice. Bryant could sign a record five-year deal with the Lakers for close to $184MM if he waited until he became a free agent in July, though such a contract would be unlikely given its size and the 35-year-old Bryant’s age.
Bryant could make slightly more per season if he signed a maximum-salary extension, but even that may be far-fetched, since that would entail a salary of more than $32.7MM next season. The talks may ultimately center around just how much less than the max Bryant is willing to take to allow the team to seek free agents with its ample projected cap space for this summer.
The timing of this pronouncement from Buss seems odd, since he told T.J. Simers of the Orange County Register on Thursday that he and Bryant had an understanding that Bryant would hit free agency.
Magic Cut Gladness, Harris, Joseph, Osby
The Magic have waived Mickell Gladness, Manny Harris, Kris Joseph and Romero Osby, the team announced via press release. That means camp invitee Solomon Jones appears to have made the team, since the moves pare Orlando’s roster down to 15 players. The move is also fortuitous news for Kyle O’Quinn, who has a non-guaranteed deal just like Jones and the four who got cut.
Osby may be the most notable subtraction, since he was the team’s second-round pick this past June. His deal called for him to make $682,180 this season, more than every other second-rounder from this year except one, despite the fact he was drafted 51st overall, closer to the end of the second-round than the beginning. It was fully non-guaranteed, but it would have become guaranteed for $100K had he made it to opening night. He appeared to have been battling Jones for a roster spot, and the seven-year veteran’s dependability and experience gave him the edge, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link).
Gladness, Harris and Joseph all have NBA experience, too, though the three of them put together have less than half as many NBA games under their belts as Jones does. All four of the players cut will become free agents once they clear waivers.
Emeka Okafor May Miss All Of 2013/14
There hasn’t been any official timetable given for Emeka Okafor‘s recovery from a herniated disk in his neck, but Chris Mannix of SI.com hears the injury could keep him out all season (Twitter link). Others, including TNT’s David Aldridge, have noted that the Suns didn’t acquire Okafor and his expiring contract for what he could give them on the court, and it appears he may never take the court for Phoenix at all (Twitter link).
The notion that Okafor might miss the entire season clearly lent a sense of urgency to the Wizards negotiations to trade for Marcin Gortat. Washington has aspirations of making the playoffs this season, and the team would have been forced to scramble for a center if Okafor couldn’t play. Wizards coach Randy Wittman could have made Nene the starting pivotman, but the Brazilian prefers to guard opposing power forwards, as Mannix points out on Twitter.
Okafor will make $14,487,500 this season in the final year of his deal. The Suns will likely go with Miles Plumlee, whom they acquired via trade this summer from the Pacers, or Alex Len, the fifth pick from this year’s draft, as their starting center.
Warriors Sign Andrew Bogut To Extension
8:08pm: The Warriors have officially announced the extension, via press release.
6:32pm: The Warriors and Andrew Bogut have reached agreement on a contract extension, Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher tweets. It’s a three-year deal for approximately $42MM, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The team has a press conference scheduled for 8pm Central time, presumably to announce the pact.
The base salary is $36MM, reports USA Today’s Sam Amick (on Twitter). The rest is salary Bogut can unlock via incentive clauses, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Bogut can trigger the incentives if he plays in at least 65 games each season and win league honors, such as selection to the All-Star Game, All-Defensive Teams or the Defensive Player of the Year Award, Amick writes. The oft-injured center said earlier this month, shortly after he and agent David Bauman of the Lagardere Unlimited firm began talks with the Warriors, that he’d be willing to agree to incentives related to the number of games he plays. If Bogut can stay healthy and perform like a top-five or top-seven center in the league, he’s likely to get the full amount of his deal, Wojnarowski says (Twitter link).
Bogut said multiple Western Conference teams had already inquired about his plans for free agency, which he was set to hit after this season, when he’s due $14MM under what would have been the final year of his contract under its initial terms. Veterans rarely ink extensions, since they’re limited to three years instead of the four or five years they can get on the open market. Bogut, who’s played just 44 regular season games the past two seasons, took the unusual step, cashing in while the Warriors and other teams still value his ability.
Bogut’s deal starts at $14MM in 2014/15, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, with declining salaries in the remaining two seasons (Twitter link). That will give the Warriors added flexibility as Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes approach eligibility for extensions of their own, and reduce the team’s commitment to Bogut past his 30th birthday. A $14MM salary next season for Bogut would give the team about $65MM in commitments for next season, well above the projected $62.1MM cap but with plenty of wiggle room under the tax line.
Knicks Rumors: Chris Smith, Murry, Tyler
Chris Smith wasn’t among the five players whom the Knicks waived today, so he’s set to remain with the team as it begins the regular season. Coach Mike Woodson has acknowledged that the presence of J.R. Smith, Smith’s brother, would help Chris make the opening-night roster, and while Smith agrees, he feels he would be on the roster regardless of whether his brother were there.
“Did it help me? Of course,” Chris said to reporters, including Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, about the family connection (Twitter link). Still, he added that, “I feel like I earned my position on the team.”
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports doesn’t buy the notion that Chris would have made the team on his own merits, arguing (on Twitter) that the deal was sealed when J.R. re-signed with the team this summer. Here’s more on the blue-and-orange, via Begley’s Twitter account unless otherwise noted:
- Woodson said Smith and Toure Murry will spend time on assignment to the Erie BayHawks, the D-League affiliate of the Knicks.
- Woodson said the team waived Jeremy Tyler because of a need for healthy bodies. Tyler is out as he recovers from foot surgery, though Woodson added that the team will continue to keep tabs on him. The Knicks likely won’t be able to use their D-League affiliate to do so, however. The Santa Cruz Warriors own Tyler’s D-League rights since that was the last D-League team he played for, as Marc Berman of the New York Post points out on Sulia.
- The Knicks kept Cole Aldrich instead of Ike Diogu because Aldrich is younger, bigger and a true center, Woodson also said.
Goran Dragic Next In Line To Leave Suns?
There is a “growing expectation” around the league that the Suns will at some point try to trade Goran Dragic in a deal similar to this afternoon’s Marcin Gortat swap, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com writes in his report on today’s deal. The Suns remain in talks with point guard Eric Bledsoe about a rookie-scale extension, and Dragic plays the same position. The Suns have expressed optimism that Bledsoe and Dragic can coexist as backcourt partners, but that might be more a stopgap solution than a long-term plan.
Dragic, 27, is entering the second season of a four-year deal that pays him $7.5MM annually and includes a player option for 2015/16. Phoenix may be loath to commit that kind of money long-term to a player who shares a position with one of its young building blocks. The Suns might be more inclined to keep Dragic around if they can’t reach a deal on an extension for Bledsoe by the October 31st deadline, but the Suns ultimately wield the hammer with Bledsoe, since they could match offers for him if he becomes a restricted free agent next summer.
The notion that the Suns may look to do a deal similar to the Gortat trade suggests GM Ryan McDonough will again look for a first-round pick, as he did today when he secured the Wizards’ 2014 first-rounder and this summer when he acquired the same bounty from Indiana for Luis Scola. The Suns have their own 2014 first-round pick, and they could wind up with the 2014 first-rounders of the T-Wolves, Pacers and Wizards, depending on how protection on each of those draft choices plays out. McDonough might want to fortify his picks for 2015 and beyond, drafts for which the only pick the Suns are owed is the Lakers’ 2015 first-rounder.
Thunder Pick Up 2014/15 Options On Three
The Thunder have exercised their 2014/15 options on Reggie Jackson, Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones III, the team announced. The options cover the third NBA seasons of Lamb and Jones, while Jackson is secured for his fourth, as our rookie contract option tracker shows. Jackson is the only one who’s played a significant role for Oklahoma City so far, but none of the option pickups come as a surprise.
Jackson and Lamb will both earn a little more than $2.2MM in 2014/15, while Jones will see about half as much. Their respective draft positions and relative years of experience determine their salaries. Lamb, drafted 12th in 2012, is the only lottery pick of the group. Jones was the 28th pick in that same draft, while Jackson came off the board at No. 24 in 2011.
The $5,535,570 worth of payroll the Thunder is adding to its books for 2014/15 pushes its total commitments to $67,592,441, well above the estimated $62.1MM salary cap.
Odds & Ends: Oden, Celtics, Turner, 76ers
Greg Oden stepped on an NBA court for the first time in nearly four years tonight, throwing down a dunk and grabbing a pair of rebounds in four minutes of preseason action for the Heat tonight. It still doesn’t constitute an official return the way a regular season appearance would, but it’s a positive sign for the Heat as they attempt to turn Oden from a minimum-salary gamble into a bargain of an inside presence. Here’s more from around the Association:
- The Celtics don’t plan to keep any of their four players on non-guaranteed deals into the regular season, preferring instead to carry a 14-man roster in a money-saving effort, tweets Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
- The Timberwolves front office is reportedly high on Evan Turner, but there’s no talk of a deal that would send the former No. 2 overall pick to Minnesota, according to Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News (Twitter link).
- James Anderson and Daniel Orton have fully non-guaranteed deals, but they’ve all “all but wrapped up” spots on the Sixers opening-night roster, writes Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times. Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer looks at Orton’s efforts to make the team, which includes losing nine pounds since the Sixers signed him a week ago.
- The Blazers cut three players yesterday, but coach Terry Stotts was effusive in his praise of E.J. Singler, as Mike Tokito of The Oregonian details.
- Kings lead assistant coach Brendan Malone resigned today, the team announced, with GM Pete D’Alessandro citing “factors associated with the rigors of coaching in the NBA” for why Malone is stepping down after 27 years in the NBA. Malone is the father of head coach Michael Malone. Chris Jent will slide up the bench and replace the elder Malone as lead assistant, according to the team (Twitter link).
- David Stern characterized as “relatively upbeat” a report that the Bucks gave to the league’s owners on the status of the team’s quest to fund a new arena, as Don Walker of the Journal Sentinel reports.