Bulls Cut Kyrylo Fesenko
The Bulls have waived center Kyrylo Fesenko, the team announced. His subtraction brings the roster to 15 players. The move was expected, since the Bulls, who are under a $74.307 hard cap this season, couldn't afford to keep him for opening night without getting rid of one of their guaranteed deals. They'll be eligible to re-sign him on November 19th, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports points out on Twitter, when the veteran's minimum-salary will pro-rate down to a figure the Bulls can manage.
The 7'1" Fesenko was signed on the eve of training camp to a minimum-salary make-good deal without a guarantee. He spent the final month of last season with the Pacers but appeared in only three regular season games, scoring eight points in 17 minutes. He didn't get into any of Indiana's playoff games, though he saw extensive postseason action in 2010, in the middle of his four-season tenure with the Jazz.
Once he clears waivers, Fesenko will be free to sign with any team, so there's no certainty that he'll be back with the Bulls this season. Marko Jaric and Ryan Allen remain with the Bulls on non-guaranteed deals, but they seem destined for the same fate as Fesenko.
Jazz Waive Brian Butch, Trey Gilder
The Jazz have waived training camp invitees Brian Butch and Trey Gilder, according to Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune. The move brings the team's roster down to 17 players, a number that includes Raja Bell, who's trying to negotiate a buyout from the team (Twitter links).
Both Butch and Gilder were on non-guaranteed deals for the minimum salary. The pair signed with Utah in late September, along with fellow invitees Chris Quinn and Darnell Jackson, who remain with the team and in the running for a spot on the opening-night roster. Kevin Murphy, whom the Jazz drafted in the second round this past June, has a partial guarantee of $200K on his deal, and 14 other players, including Bell, have fully guaranteed contracts, making it an uphill battle for Quinn and Jackson if they're to remain with the club.
Gilder had a cup of coffee with the Grizzlies in 2009/10, appearing for five minutes over two games. The 6'9" forward averaged 19.2 points and 7.7 rebounds in 37.0 minutes per game in 34 contests for the D-League's Sioux Falls SkyForce last year. Butch, a 6'11" center from the University of Wisconsin, signed with the Nuggets late in the 2009/10 season, but did not appear in a game. He was also in camp with the Hornets last year, but is still waiting to make his official NBA debut.
Sixers Waive Dan Gadzuric
The Sixers have waived Dan Gadzuric, the team has announced. The 10-year veteran was in camp on a non-guaranteed minimum-salary deal, but he hasn't played in any of the team's preseason games so far.
Gadzuric appeared in just two games last year after the Knicks signed him for the final week of the season, and went scoreless in 13 total minutes. New York made use of his contract, which included a non-guaranteed season in 2012/13, over the summer, shipping his rights to the Blazers in a sign-and-trade for Raymond Felton. The Blazers promptly waived Gadzuric, and the Sixers made him one of four signees who came aboard right before training camp began. One of those four, Xavier Silas, was waived last week, leaving Damien Wilkins and Devin Searcy as the last two remaining.
Gadzuric's exit brings the team's roster down to 15 players, with 13 on guaranteed deals, including Maalik Wayns, whose contract includes a $75K buyout. Last night, Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com reported that the Sixers are likely to get down to 14 players by the start of the regular season, with Searcy next on the chopping block. He confirms via Twitter today that Wilkins has the best among the team's camp invitees of making the opening-night roster.
Hornets Waive Dominique Morrison
SUNDAY, 7:05pm: The Hornets have officially requested waivers on Morrison, who was not present for the team's game against the Magic yesterday in Mexico City.
MONDAY, 11:53am: The Hornets will let go of training camp invitee Dominique Morrison, a source tells Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune. Morrison, a 6'6" small forward who went undrafted out of Oral Roberts University this year, was on a non-guaranteed deal believed to be for the minimum salary. The move will bring the team's roster down to 16 players.
The Hornets have Solomon Alabi, Chris Wright and Lance Thomas in camp on non-guaranteed deals, while Brian Roberts has a partial guarantee of $100K. It's unclear what level of guarantee Darius Miller, the 46th overall pick this past June, has on his deal. That means only 11 players on the team are certain to have fully guaranteed contracts, leaving the Hornets with plenty of flexibility. The regular season roster limit is 15, but they don't have to carry any more than 13 players.
Camp Rumors: Christmas, Wilkins, Brown, Harper
Much of the news this time of year has to do with players fighting for roster spots, and we've already passed along a few such items today. The Timberwolves and Cavaliers have also made cuts, indicating that time is running out for NBA hopefuls to make an impression. Here's a roundup on camp invitees across the league.
- Dionte Christmas hasn't seen much playing time in the preseason, but he's still the frontrunner to make the opening-night roster among the five Celtics without fully guaranteed deals, according to Greg Payne of ESPNBoston.com. At $237K, Christmas has the most partially guaranteed money of the team's camp invitees.
- Damien Wilkins is the most likely camp invitee to make the Sixers, writes John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Derrick Brown had a "handful" of other training camp invitations, but chose the Spurs even though they only have one roster spot available because of his affinity for the way the organization is run, reports Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.
- In the same piece, McDonald also passed along a comment from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who indicated the battle for the final roster spot is a tight one.
- Justin Harper has a guaranteed deal with the Magic, but it's only for the minimum salary and, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel notes, he's competing for a roster spot.
- If 6'6" swingman Tony Mitchell beats out three other camp invitees for the last spot on the Kings, it will be because of his defense, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
- Among several observations from the Heat's preseason loss to the Clippers in China, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel wonders if Rodney Carney might have been better served signing with a team that wasn't so deep on the wing.
- Robert Sacre has proven competent as he's started in place of Dwight Howard during the preseason, and Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com argues the Lakers are better off going with younger, cheaper talent for the end of the bench instead of pursuing another veteran.
Cavaliers Waive Kelenna Azubuike
The Cavs have waived Kelenna Azubuike, the team announced via Twitter. Azubuike had a guaranteed minimum-salary deal, meaning the team is still on the hook for $1.07MM. Since his contract covered both 2011/12 and 2012/13, the Cavs have to pay him the full minimum amount based on his years of service, instead of the two-year veteran's minimum of $854,389. The move brings the team's roster down to 17 players.
Cleveland acquired Azubuike in a draft-night trade with the Mavericks, who had signed him in March for the rest of 2011/12 with a team option for 2012/13. The 6'5" shooting guard appeared in just three games for Dallas, scoring a total of seven points in 18 minutes. He saw a little more time with the team's D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, averaging 6.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 12.7 minutes over seven contests. Azubuike had his best days with the Warriors, starting 51 games and averaging 14.4 PPG and 5.0 RPG while shooting 44.8% from three-point range in 2008/09.
The decision to let go of Azubuike's guaranteed deal presumably opens up another roster spot for Micheal Eric, Kevin Jones or Samardo Samuels, all of whom have partially guaranteed deals, and Donald Sloan, whose contract is non-guaranteed. Daniel Gibson has a partially guaranteed contract, too, but the team would be obligated to pay him $2.49MM if they let him go, making him less likely to be cut.
Recent Rookie-Scale Extensions
The deadline for teams to reach rookie-scale extension agreements with eligible fourth-year players is a little more than two weeks away. Blake Griffin got the max from the Clippers in July, and Serge Ibaka reached a four-year, $49MM accord with the Thunder in August, but those are the only two players to sign extensions so far this offseason. History indicates there will be more, and all of them don't figure to be as lucrative as the deals Griffin and Ibaka got.
Though some of the rules have changed since the new CBA was implemented in 2011, most notably the stipulation that only one player per team may receive a five-year deal, a look back at rookie-scale extensions from the last several years reveals some clues about the kind of players who might get extensions this year. The volume of secondary players on this list suggests guys like Eric Maynor, Gerald Henderson and Taj Gibson won't be overlooked by their teams, despite most of the extension talk centering around names like James Harden, Stephen Curry and Brandon Jennings.
While the idea behind a rookie extension is to lock a player up long-term, it doesn't mean the player is a safe bet to finish the contract with his team. Jameer Nelson is the only one of the five players who inked a five-year extension in 2007 who remains with the team he signed with, and he's with the Magic only because he signed a new deal this summer after opting out of the final season of his extension.
The extension recipients are listed below by the year in which they signed. The extensions kick in the season after they're signed, meaning the agreements reached in 2007 didn't show up in the ledger until 2008/09. For more about players eligible for extensions this year, check out our Extension Candidate series.
2011/12 (usual October deadline extended into January because of the lockout)
- Danilo Gallinari, Nuggets (four years, $42MM)
- Kosta Koufos, Nuggets (three years, $9MM)
- Kevin Love, Wolves (four years, $60.826MM)
- Russell Westbrook, Thunder (five years, $78.585MM)
- Derrick Rose, Bulls (five years, $94.315MM)
2010
- Mike Conley, Grizzlies (five years, $40MM)
- Jared Dudley, Suns (five years, $21.25MM)
- Al Horford, Hawks (five years, $60MM)
- Joakim Noah, Bulls (five years, $60MM)
- Kevin Durant, Thunder (five years, $89.163MM)
2009
- Rajon Rondo, Celtics (five years, $55MM)
- Renaldo Balkman, Nuggets (three years, $5.025MM)
- Thabo Sefolosha, Thunder (four years, $13.8MM)
- LaMarcus Aldridge, Blazers (five years, $62.5MM)
- Brandon Roy, Blazers (five years, $82.303MM)
- Andrea Bargnani, Raptors (five years, $50MM)
2008
- Danny Granger, Pacers (five years, $60MM)
- Jason Maxiell, Pistons (four years, $20MM)
- Martell Webster, Blazers (four years, $20MM)
- Andrew Bynum, Lakers (four years, $57.2MM)
- Francisco Garcia, Kings (five years, $29.6MM)
- Deron Williams, Jazz (four years, $62.6MM)
- Andrew Bogut, Bucks (five years, $60MM)
- Chris Paul, Hornets (four years, $62.6MM)
2007
- Kris Humphries, Raptors (three years, $9.3MM)
- Al Jefferson, Timberwolves (five years, $65MM)
- Jameer Nelson, Magic (five years, $38.5MM)
- Devin Harris, Mavericks (five years, $43MM)
- Kevin Martin, Kings (five years, $53MM)
- Dwight Howard, Magic (five years, $83.236MM)
Atlantic Notes: Copeland, Bynum, DiLeo, Celtics
It's easy to get carried away with preseason numbers, but Chris Copeland's 21 points in 19 minutes for the Knicks last night might have been enough to earn the training camp invitee a spot on the regular season roster, Mark Berman of the New York Post thinks (Sulia link). Mychel Thompson still has a shot to beat Copeland out, Berman believes, but John Shurna lacks strength and is a longshot to avoid getting cut. As we continue to size up just who will be around on opening night, here's the latest from the Atlantic Division.
- Even without Andrew Bynum, out with a bone bruise on his right knee, the Sixers are a better team this year than last, argues Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News.
- John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer believes the shortcomings of Rockets GM Daryl Morey, who makes heavy use of analytics, demonstrate why the Sixers were smart to go with Tony DiLeo as GM instead of a numbers guy.
- Celtics basketball operations president Danny Ainge has made it clear to coach Doc Rivers that he wants to see significant minutes from the team's rookies this season, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald writes.
- The Celtics are in the midst of three games in four days, and Rivers said the team may begin to pare down its 18-man roster once this busy stretch is done, Bulpett notes.
Northwest Rumors: Aldridge, Morrison, Fournier
The Timberwolves have already made news, cutting ties with a pair of training camp invitees, and there are a few other items of interest out of the Northwest Division this morning.
- LaMarcus Aldridge sees himself as a legitimate No. 1 option, and doesn't think the Blazers need to acquire anyone else to play that role, he told Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.
- Adam Morrison, in camp with the Blazers on a non-guaranteed minimum-salary deal, said he had similar offers from other NBA teams but chose the Blazers in part because of their proximity to his home in Spokane, Washington, writes Joe Freeman of the The Oregonian as he details the comeback attempt of the 2006 No. 3 overall pick. Morrison also said the team let him know it would give him a legitimate shot of making the opening-night roster, but Friday's waiver claim of fellow small forward Justin Holiday adds to the competition for a spot.
- Evan Fournier was the lone international product to be taken in the first round of this year's draft, and though the Frenchman didn't figure to make the Nuggets' rotation when training camp began, the 19-year-old is making a push for regular playing time as a shooting guard, according to Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post.
Timberwolves Waive Phil Jones, Seth Tarver
The Timberwolves waived training camp invitees Phil Jones and Seth Tarver to bring the roster down to 18 players, the team announced via Twitter. Both were believed to have been on non-guaranteed minimum-salary deals, having been signed right before camp began. Neither made an appearance in any of the three preseason games the Wolves have played so far.
Jones, a 6'10" center, played in Romania in 2011/12 after he was ruled academically ineligible midway through his senior season at UNC Charlotte in 2010/11. Tarver is a 6'5" swingman who averaged 10.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 28.2 minutes over the past two seasons for the Idaho Stampede of the D-League. He was in camp with the Blazers in 2010 and 2011.
The moves leave Jermaine Taylor, Mike Harris, Chris Johnson and Will Conroy to battle for the final roster spot, since all 14 other players on the roster have fully guaranteed contracts. Conroy would appear to have a slight edge, since his deal is partially guaranteed for $100K. The 6'11" Johnson, from LSU, is not to be confused with the 6'6" Dayton product of the same name in camp with the Magic.