Hornets Waive Sulaimon, Tobey, Ellis
5:42pm: The moves are official, according to a team press release.
SATURDAY 3:49pm: The Hornets will waive Rasheed Sulaimon, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). The player will join the team’s D-League affiliate in Greensboro, the scribe adds. Also being let go are Mike Tobey and Perry Ellis, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com relays (via Twitter). Tobey’s deal included a partial guarantee of $75K, which Charlotte will be responsible for unless he is claimed off waivers by another team.
Sulaimon, who wasn’t selected in this year’s draft, averaged 11.1 points, 3.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds as a senior with the Terrapins last season. The shooting guard played for the Bulls’ summer league team in Las Vegas, but shot just 3-of-13 from 3-point range and reportedly had trouble defending smaller guards.
Ellis averaged 16.9 PPG and 5.8 RPG to go along with a shooting line of .531/.438/.785 during his final year at Kansas. After going undrafted, the 22-year-old joined the Mavericks for Summer League action in Las Vegas.
Tobey, a 7’1″ center out of Virginia, averaged 7.3 PPG and 4.4 RPG in 15.7 minutes per contest during his senior year. The 21-year-old joined the Hornets for Summer League action in Orlando, and recorded 10.0 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.6 BPG, and 1.0 SPG in his five appearances with the squad.
Grizzlies Waive Three, Will Also Cut Jordan Adams
5:32pm: The Grizzlies have waived Stephens, according to a team press release. The team has also waived Wayne Selden Jr. and JaKarr Sampson.
SATURDAY, 2:53pm: The Grizzlies have pared down their roster in advance of the regular season, waiving Jordan Adams and D.J. Stephens, Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune reports (on Twitter). Memphis will be on the hook for Adams’ fully guaranteed salary of $1,465,080 and Stephens’ partial guarantee of $35K, provided they are not claimed off waivers by another club.
Adams, 22, appeared in 32 NBA games since being selected with the No. 22 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. His numbers during that stretch are 3.2 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 8.2 minutes per contest. His career slash line is .402/.385/.607.
The 25-year-old Stephens has three games of NBA experience with Milwaukee in 2014. The Cavs signed Stephens to a training camp deal last September, but then waived him shortly before the season started. The previous fall, Stephens had inked minimum-salary camp deal with the Pelicans and was among the team’s final cuts about a week before Halloween in 2014.
Mavericks Notes: Barnes, Parsons, Curry
Mavs owner Mark Cuban recently joined “Jacques & Will” on 103.3 FM ESPN Radio to discuss a number of topics related to the team (h/t Dallas Morning News). Dallas essentially chose Harrison Barnes over Chandler Parsons, who signed with Memphis this summer, and Cuban noted that Barnes wasn’t viewed merely as a fallback option. “No knock on Chandler. Chandler’s skill is skill but we had the uncertainties I’ve talked about,” Cuban said. “There were questions about his knee and I hope he fights through them and there’s never a question again about his knee but we had those questions. If Harrison Barnes would’ve been an unrestricted free agent, he would’ve been first on our list and that’s who we would have gone after right off the bat. We think defensively he gives us a new look, he can guard 1-4 and in some cases with small-ball 1-5, so when you have Deron Williams and Wesley Matthews and Justin Anderson in particular, and him and Andrew Bogut, that gives us a dimension we otherwise haven’t had in a long time. On the other side of the ball, Harrison isn’t as crafty as Chandler but he’s a lot more physical and he can post up and he shoots about the same from three-point [range]; mid-range isn’t as good yet but his post-up game is better. So I think it’s a different dimension but it’s a lot more athletic.”
The owner also weighed in on the perception that Dallas keeps missing out on its top targets. “We got the guy [Harrison Barnes] we wanted this year. Like I said, we couldn’t go after him and make him our first call on July 1st because he was restricted, so certain things had to happen,” Cuban said. “Had he been unrestricted, that would’ve been our first choice and then it would’ve been a different conversation. The whole thing that we don’t get the big name free agents, I think is just nonsense. We think we have a great organization, we have a top three coach and we’ve got a culture you’d like to play in. My job is to put the players in a position to succeed. We give you every resource you need. I spare no expense trying to win and trying to make sure you’re healthy and we can extend your career.”
Here’s more out of Dallas:
- Coach Rick Carlisle indicated that the Mavs will carry the regular season maximum of 15 players, which means that four or five players will be fighting over the final slot, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com tweets.
- Seth Curry has struggled to find a home in the NBA during his brief career and believes that he has finally found his ideal situation with the Mavericks, Leo Sepkowitz of Slamonline.com relays. “The past few years I’ve been in the League, I’ve really noticed how important that structure and direction is for a team,” Curry says. “Going to a place that’s already established, where I can just come in and get better and keep doing things the right way, it’s gonna make it a lot easier to win. I don’t want to take what I did last year and then take a step back. I want to move forward, grow from it and be a consistent NBA player.”
Celtics Waive Ryan Kelly
As expected, the Celtics have waived Ryan Kelly, with the team announcing the move via press release. This paves the way for the forward to join Boston’s D-League affiliate in Maine, which was why the team inked him to a deal on Friday.
Kelly, who was waived by the Hawks earlier this week, spent his first three seasons in the NBA as a member of the Lakers after being selected 48th overall in the 2013 draft. After averaging 22.9 minutes per contest during his first two seasons in Los Angeles, Kelly saw his playing time reduced last season, playing just 13.1 MPG in 36 contests. He averaged 4.2 PPG and 3.4 RPG in those games, shooting just 36.9% from the floor, 13.5% from beyond the arc, and 68.5% from the line.
The Celtics still have one more cut to make to reduce their roster to the regular season maximum of 15 players, and it is likely going to be either R.J. Hunter or James Young who gets the axe.
Heat Part Ways With Five Players
3:06pm: The Heat have announced via press release that the moves are official.
1:40pm: The Heat intend to part ways with Briante Weber, Beno Udrih, Okaro White, Luis Montero and Vashil Fernandez, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel relays (All Twitter links). The team will be on the hook for $100K for White, $327,989 for Weber and $980,431 for Udrih, unless those players are claimed off waivers by another team.
Udrih played 36 games with Miami last season before agreeing to a buyout in February to help the team avoid the luxury tax, which certainly gained him some fans within the organization. In those 36 games for the Heat last season, Udrih averaged 4.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 16.3 minutes per outing. He shot .434/.333/.882 from the field.
Weber, 23, appeared in a combined seven games with Miami and Memphis in 2015/16. He averaged 4.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 24.1 minutes per outing while shooting .359/.000/.750.
White went undrafted out of Florida State in 2014 and then headed overseas, spending the 2014/15 campaign with the Italian club Granarolo Bologna, where he averaged 12.2 points and 6.9 rebounds on the season. White then headed to Greece, spending this past season with Aris BC, notching averages of 13.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 26.8 minutes per outing. He shot .465/.337/.791 from the field on the year.
A 6’7″ swingman from the Dominican Republic, Montero signed with the Heat after being waived by the Blazers earlier this month. He appeared in 12 games as a rookie last season for Portland, averaging 1.2 points and 0.3 rebounds per night in limited playing time. Montero played just one game this preseason for Portland before he was cut, scoring three points against Utah on October 3rd.
Fernandez went undrafted this June after spending his four-year college career at Valparaiso. The 6’10” big man averaged just 5.6 PPG during his senior season, but also chipped in 7.3 RPG and 3.3 BPG over the course of 36 games.
Bucks To Waive Roberts, Johnson, O’Brien
The Bucks intend to waive Jaleel Roberts, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders reports (via Twitter). The Bucks will also waive Orlando Johnson and J.J. O’Brien, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated adds (on Twitter). None of the players have any guaranteed money included in their deals, so Milwaukee won’t be responsible for any money to the trio.
Roberts, 25, played his college ball for UNC-Asheville, going undrafted in 2015 after averaging 7.0 PPG and 5.0 RPG in his senior season. Despite his modest college stats, Roberts received a training camp invite from the Wizards last season, and after being waived by Washington last fall, the seven-footer rejoined the club for Summer League play this July. The big man will likely look to join the NBA D-League, though, since the Bucks do not have an affiliate in the league, they won’t be able to hold onto his rights.
Johnson, 27, has been with four teams in four seasons after being drafted in the second round by the Kings in 2012. He signed two 10-day contracts last season, one with the Suns in February and one with the Pelicans in March. He appeared in two games with Phoenix and five with New Orleans.
An undrafted 24-year-old out of San Diego State, O’Brien played for the Jazz in Summer League action a year ago, then later signed a 10-day contract with the team. However, he only appeared in two regular season contests for Utah. O’Brien spent the majority of the 2015/16 season with the Idaho Stampede, averaging 14.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 2.8 APG, and 1.5 SPG for the D-League squad.
Central Notes: Jackson, Monroe, Miles
When the Pistons inked Reggie Jackson to five-year, $80MM deal back in 2015, quite a few heads around the league turned, believing that Detroit overpaid for the guard. But with the spike in the salary cap, Jackson’s deal is viewed far more favorably, resulting in quite a few trade inquiries for the guard, Keith Langlois of NBA.com notes. “It seems like a lot of people – I don’t mean teams – but a lot of people who do the analysis of all these moves are a year behind in terms of their vision and the way they analyze moves,” coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said. “We got killed for signing Reggie for too much money and then we were hit with virtually every team in the league wanting to trade for him because he’s locked in at what now is a very, very good salary.”
“He’s a guy with a great, great contract and those guys are all looking,” Van Gundy continued. “And then people think you’ll panic a little bit when a guy has an injury. He’s a very good player on a good contract and when we signed it there were a whole lot of people criticizing it. It’s people who look at things differently and in the moment and hadn’t adjusted to what’s going on. There’s been interest in him and there’s always interest in good players. There’s interest in Andre Drummond, obviously, and interest in Reggie. People are always just seeing what you’re thinking and seeing if you’ll move on any of those guys and what it would take. And Reggie’s a guy that drew really, really good interest.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- The Bucks are preparing for the possibility that Greg Monroe is going to exercise his player option for the 2017/18 campaign, league sources tell Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. The big man has a tough call to make, with him being set to earn $17,884,176 next season, which is the final one of his current deal. With the cap set to jump to over $100MM next summer, the opportunity to chase a long-term deal may be appealing, but Monroe is also a more traditional big man in a league that is moving away from that model. A strong campaign would likely decrease the chances of him opting in, though that is merely my speculation.
- C.J. Miles‘ knee injury won’t require surgery, but the Pacers aren’t sure when the swingman will be cleared to return to action, Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star notes. Miles said he felt he would need at least two full practices without any pain to feel confident about his knee for the season opener, Taylor adds. “I’m definitely not going to get in a game without a chance be in practice,” Miles said. “I wouldn’t want to even do that if I was going to be a detriment to the team. That would be selfish on my part.”
- Van Gundy noted that the Pistons are hoping to sign both Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Bullock to extensions prior to this season’s deadline, James Hawkins of The Detroit News relays. “We definitely have a desire to get something done with both of them,” Van Gundy said. “I think both agents are clear on that from our side. It’s a matter of two things — a matter of what they want to do and a matter of, obviously, money. So that’s where the negotiations are but I think both their agents are very clear that we would prefer to get something done and that we like those guys and would like to extend them.“
Pistons Sign, Waive Mamadou N’Diaye
2:55pm: The Pistons announced that they have waived N’Diaye via a second press release.
10:59am: The Pistons have signed center Mamadou N’Diaye to a contract, the team announced via press release. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is almost assuredly a minimum salary deal with little or no guaranteed salary included. Coming this late in the preseason, inking Ndiaye was likely done with an eye on retaining his D-League rights as an affiliate player.
The 7’6″ big man went undrafted this year after spending three season at UC Irvine. The 23-year-old averaged 12.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks during his junior campaign in 2015/16.
N’Diaye played in the Las Vegas Summer League as a member of Golden State’s squad. In three contests he went scoreless, averaging 1.7 rebounds and 0.3 blocks in 5.8 minutes per outing. N’Diaye attempted two shots, missing both of them.
Pistons Waive Lorenzo Brown, Trey Freeman
2:54pm: The Pistons confirmed the moves are official via press release.
1:49pm: The Pistons intend to waive Trey Freeman and Lorenzo Brown, Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press reports (on Twitter). Neither player’s deal included any guaranteed money, so Detroit won’t be on the hook for any salary as a result of parting ways with the pair.
Freeman played for the Rockets summer league squad in Las Vegas this year, appearing in five games and averaging 5.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 18.4 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .265/.200/.750. The 23-year-old went undrafted after completing his senior campaign at Old Dominion. Freeman’s numbers for the 2015/16 season were 22.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 35.1 minutes per night. His shooting numbers on the year were .429/.349/.829.
Brown, 26, appeared in eight contests for the Suns a season ago, averaging 2.5 points, 0.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 7.6 minutes per night. His slash line was .320/.125/.750.
Raptors Waive Five Players
The Raptors have reduced their roster count to 15 players, announcing that guards Drew Crawford and Brady Heslip, forwards E.J. Singler and Jarrod Uthoff and center Yanick Moreira have been waived. Toronto will be on the hook for Singler’s partial guarantee of $50K, Heslip’s partial guarantee of $56,500 and Uthoff’s partial guarantee of $50K as a result of these moves, provided another team doesn’t claim them off of waivers.
Crawford and Moreira each spent last season overseas, with Crawford playing for Bnei Hertzeliyya in Israel, while Moreira split time between UCAM Murcia (Spain) and Rouen (France). Crawford has also spent some time in the D-League, playing for the Erie BayHawks in 2014/15 after playing his college ball at Northwestern. Moreira spent two seasons at SMU before going undrafted last year.
After going undrafted out of Baylor in 2014, Heslip joined the Bighorns for a brief stint before heading overseas and playing in Bosnian and Italian leagues. Last season, the 26-year-old played for Acqua Vitasnella Cantù in Italy, averaging 12.7 PPG and shooting 45.5% on three-pointers in 29 Italian League contests.
Singler spent some time with the Raptors 905 in the D-League last season, allowing Toronto’s decision-makers to take a closer look at him. The 26-year-old has yet to appear in a regular-season NBA game since finishing his college career with the Ducks, though he has had brief preseason stints with the Trail Blazers (2013) and Jazz (2015). In his senior year at Oregon back in 2012/13, Singler averaged 11.7 PPG and 4.9 RPG in 37 contests, shooting 35.9% from three-point range.
Uthoff went undrafted this year despite being an All-American at Iowa last season. Among Big Ten players, Uthoff ranked second in scoring (18.9), first in blocked shots (2.7), and tied for 11th in rebounding (6.4).