Clippers Sign Luc Mbah a Moute
FRIDAY, 7:48pm: The signing is official, the team announced.
THURSDAY, 6:16pm: The Clippers have reached an agreement with unrestricted free agent forward Luc Mbah a Moute, Dan Woike of The Orange County Register reports (Twitter link). The terms of the arrangement are not yet known, though Woike refers to it as a training camp deal, which likely means that it includes little or no guaranteed money. The addition of Mbah a Moute will give Los Angeles a roster count of 17 players.
Mbah a Moute had previously signed a deal with the Kings, but that agreement was voided after the forward failed his physical. The National Basketball Players Association was reportedly going to file a grievance against the Kings questioning how valid it was for the franchise to void the deal. Mbah a Moute’s representatives at Wasserman Media Group and NBPA officials, using independent medical examinations that say Mbah a Moute was cleared to play, and disputed the legitimacy of the Kings’ procedure and conclusion, according to the report by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
The forward made 67 appearances for the Sixers last season, including 61 as a starter. He averaged 9.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assist to go along with a slash line of .395/.307/.589. His career numbers through seven NBA seasons, which include stints with the Kings and Bucks, are 6.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 1.0 APG.
Blazers Sign Omari Johnson
The Trail Blazers released their official training camp roster, and it indicates that Portland has signed forward Omari Johnson, whose name appears on the team’s official rundown of players. No details regarding his contract have been reported, though it is likely a minimum salary arrangement that includes little or no guaranteed salary, but that is merely my speculation.
Johnson, 25, went undrafted out of Oregon State back in 2011 after averaging 7.2 points and 6.2 rebounds as a senior. His career NCAA numbers were 6.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 0.7 assists to accompany a slash line of .418/.293/.600. The 6’9″ forward spent the 2014/15 campaign playing for the Celtics’ D-League affiliate in Maine where he made 49 appearances, and notched averages of 15.6 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 1.3 APG in 26.2 minutes per night.
The addition of Johnson increases Portland’s preseason roster count to 18 players, including 13 possessing fully guaranteed salaries.
Rockets To Sign Jeremy Tyler
The Rockets have agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent power forward Jeremy Tyler, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter link). The length and terms of the pact are unknown, though Wojnarowski does refer to it as a training camp deal, meaning it likely is for the minimum salary and includes little or no guaranteed money. The addition of Tyler gives Houston a roster count of 19 players, including 14 with fully guaranteed deals.
The 24-year-old’s last NBA regular season action came during the 2013/14 campaign when he played in 41 contests for the Knicks, averaging 3.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks in 9.7 minutes per outing. The Lakers signed him for the preseason last fall, waiving him shortly before opening night. His career numbers through 104 regular season games are 3.6 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 0.4 BPG to accompany a slash line of .450/.000/.557. Tyler was the No. 39 overall pick back in 2011.
Tyler played for the Mavericks’ entry in the Las Vegas Summer League this year, notching averages of 11.8 PPG, 8.3 RPG, and 1.8 SPG in six contests. He reportedly worked out for the Lakers back in August, but no deal was struck.
Warriors Officially Add Four For Camp
The Warriors have officially signed free agent guards Ian Clark and Juwan Staten along with free agent forwards Tony Mitchell and Jarell Eddie, the team announced via a press release. Clark and Eddie will receive approximately half of their salaries if they make the Warriors’ opening night roster, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders noted. Clark would receive $474K on the contract he signed, while Eddie would make $423K. The length and terms of the pacts for Staten and Mitchell have not yet been relayed. Golden State has a roster count of 19 players, including 13 possessing full guarantees.
Clark, 24, had hoped the Nuggets would re-sign him after his summer league performance, in which he averaged 13.4 points per game and made 12 of 24 total three-point attempts, but Denver renounced its rights to him to clear cap room. The guard’s career NBA averages through 53 contests are 2.4 points, 0.7 rebounds, and 0.5 assists to accompany a slash line of .369/.344/.875.
Staten, 23, was the 81st-best draft prospect this year in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider rankings, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress had him at No. 98 about a week before the draft. His playing time shrunk this past season as a senior compared to his junior year, when he averaged six more minutes per game. The 5’11” Ohio native put up 14.2 points, 4.6 assists and 2.0 turnovers in 31.3 minutes per contest for the Mountaineers this year.
Mitchell has yet to make his mark at the NBA level. In 2013/14, the forward saw just 3.8 minutes per game for the Pistons with averages of 1.0 PPG and 1.2 RPG. This past season, Mitchell did not see a single second of NBA action as Pistons coach/exec Stan Van Gundy kept him in the D-League for seasoning to start the year. A late December trade sent Mitchell to the Suns, but he dropped from the roster early on in the New Year. In February, Mitchell signed on with a Puerto Rican club when there was apparently little or no NBA interest.
Eddie, who turns 24 in October, made his mark as a three-point shooter while in the D-League for most of last season, nailing 127 of his 281 in-game attempts, a sizzling 45.2%, for the affiliate of the Spurs. He averaged 12.9 points in 26.2 minutes per game, but nonetheless made only 18 starts in 44 appearances for that team and didn’t receive a call-up to San Antonio. The Spurs and the Pacers both had him on their summer league squads last month, and he continued his sharpshooting, connecting on 46.3% of his 67 shots from behind the arc.
Thunder Officially Ink Three For Camp
The Thunder officially announced the signings of Dez Wells, Julyan Stone, and Talib Zanna via a press release. Zanna’s deal is reportedly a one-year deal for the league minimum that includes no guaranteed salary. The length and terms of the deals for Wells and Stone have not been reported, but it would be surprising if the terms were different from Zanna’s. Oklahoma City enters training camp with a roster count of 18 players.
Wells had previously been extended a training camp invite by the Wizards, as well as by five other unnamed teams. He reportedly turned down Washington’s offer because they already possess 15 players on guaranteed pacts, and he wanted better odds at landing a regular season roster spot. In 28 appearances during his senior season with the Terrapins, Wells averaged 15.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.8 assists to go along with a slash line of .464/.510/.806.
Stone, 26, saw his last NBA action come during the 2013/14 campaign when he appeared in 21 contests for the Raptors and averaged 0.9 points in 5.7 minutes per game. His NBA career has also includes parts of two seasons spent with the Nuggets. Stone’s career NBA numbers overall are 1.3 PPG, 1.0 RPG, and 1.1 APG to go along with a slash line of .440/.211/.722. The 6’6″ guard spent the 2014/15 season playing for Umana Reyer Venezia of Italy.
Zanna, who turns 25 in October, split summer league between the Thunder and Cavs, putting up 6.0 points and an efficient 4.7 rebounds in 15.7 minutes per game. Indeed, at 6’9″, he showed a touch on the boards in the D-League this past year, pulling down 11.0 RPG to go with 13.3 PPG in 27.7 MPG. It’s a skill he didn’t show as much of in college, where he topped out at 8.6 RPG in 30.3 MPG as a senior.
Hawks Officially Sign Three For Camp
The Hawks have officially signed Earl Barron, DeQuan Jones and Edgar Sosa, the team announced via a press release. All three moves were expected, and though only Sosa’s pact was reported to be non-guaranteed, neither Jones’ or Barron‘s deals are likely to include any guaranteed salary, though that is merely my speculation. Atlanta now has the preseason maximum of 19 players on its roster. This number doesn’t include swingman Jason Richardson, who announced his retirement on Thursday.
The 34-year-old Barron hadn’t drawn much interest in free agency this summer, as our rumors page for him indicates, but he’s shown a knack for making his way onto NBA rosters despite limited playing time. Last season’s 16 games with the Suns were the most Barron had played in an NBA season since 2010/11, when he totaled 21 appearances split among three teams. The center’s best season was 2007/08, when he appeared in 46 contests, and 15 of them as a member of the starting lineup, for the Heat.
Jones, 25, went undrafted out of Miami back in 2012. He then secured a training camp invite from the Magic which he parlayed into a regular season roster spot for the 2012/13 campaign. Jones made 63 appearances for Orlando that season, including 17 starts, and averaged 3.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.3 assists to go along with a slash line of .436/.257/.667. The forward spent the 2014/15 season with Pallacanestro Cantù of the Lega Basket Serie A.
Sosa, 27, went undrafted out of Louisville back in 2010 after posting career NCAA numbers of 9.7 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. He joined the Pistons summer league entry that season, but he ended up signing overseas with the Italian club Angelico Biella. The point guard spent the 2014/15 campaign playing for Dinamo Sassari in Italy. Sosa’s numbers last season were 10.7 PPG, 1.5 RPG, and 3.5 APG to accompany a slash line of .387/.320/.789.
Cavs To Sign Chris Johnson
The Cavaliers and unrestricted free agent center Chris Johnson have agreed to a deal, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group reports. The arrangement is for one year at the league minimum and does not include any guaranteed salary, Haynes adds.
Johnson, 30, went undrafted out of LSU back in 2009, and is not to be confused with swingman Chris Johnson out of Dayton. The Johnson who’s headed to Cleveland last appeared in the NBA back in 2012/13, when he made 30 appearances for Minnesota. His career NBA averages are 2.9 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks to accompany a slash line of .562/.000/.699. He spent the 2014/15 campaign playing in China.
The addition of Johnson gives Cleveland a roster count of 18 players, though that number does not include restricted free agent Tristan Thompson, who is still unsigned, nor Quinn Cook, who’s reportedly expected to reach a deal amid conflicting reports on whether he already has.
Nets To Sign Yanick Moreira?
SEPTEMBER 25TH, 3:46pm: Moreira’s name does not appear on the team’s official training roster, which indicates that the agreement has indeed been called off.
SEPTEMBER 18TH, 19:14: Moreira has a minor ligament tear in his left foot which will sideline him for four to six weeks, and thus cause him to miss training camp, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com tweets. No formal announcement has been made by the team, but this presumably means that the agreement between the two sides will be called off.
SEPTEMBER 16TH, 7:13pm: The Nets have agreed to a training camp deal with unrestricted free agent center Yanick Moreira, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter link). The length and terms of the arrangement are not yet known, but Charania does note that the contract will be non-guaranteed. Moreira went undrafted this year out of SMU after averaging 11.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per contest as a Senior.
It had been reported back in July that Moreira had agreed to a training camp deal with the Clippers, though no official announcement was ever made by the team or the player. It’s unclear if the two sides ever had an arrangement, or if one party decided to back out of a proposed deal. What is clear, however, is that Moreira will have an easier path to securing a regular season roster spot with the Nets, who currently have 12 fully guaranteed pacts, than the Clippers, who possess 14 players with full guarantees on their contracts.
Moreira, 24, had worked out for the Celtics, Jazz, Suns and Nets leading up to this year’s NBA Draft, and he was a starter on the Clippers summer league team, averaging 9.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 25.1 minutes per game.
Nets Sign Ryan Boatright
SEPTEMBER 25TH, 3:35pm: Boatright appears on the team’s official training camp roster, which serves as confirmation from the Nets that Boatright has been signed.
JULY 3RD, 6:50pm: The Nets have reached a contract agreement with Ryan Boatright, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (on Twitter). The pact is for two years, $1.4MM, with $75k guaranteed, Pincus adds. Boatright will earn $525,093 next season and $874,636 for the 2016/17 campaign. Minimum-salary deals for two years or less, such as this one, are some of the few allowed to become official during the July Moratorium.
Boatright went undrafted after four seasons at the University of Connecticut. His career NCAA numbers are 14.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists, with a slash line of .416/.380/.794. The 6’0″ guard will add depth behind Deron Williams if he makes the regular season roster.The 22-year-old considered turning pro after UConn won the title back in 2014, as he told Hoops Rumors’ Zach Links prior to the 2015 NBA Draft. “Yes, I was going to go pro right after we won,” said Boatright. “I knew my name was hot and I had a great tournament. However, after I spoke with everyone whose opinion I trusted, I felt like one more year would be good for me. The last day before the deadline, I decided to go back to school to show everyone that I could run the team and be a true point guard.“
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 9/24/15
In a recent Q&A with Akis Yerocostas, editor of SB Nation’s Sactown Royalty, as part of our ongoing Top Bloggers series, he opined that the Kings were better off not having signed Wesley Matthews or Monta Ellis, whom they were reportedly targeting, and instead splitting their cap space between Rajon Rondo, Kosta Koufos and Marco Belinelli.
Yerocostas’ full response to our query was, “I’m actually a bit happier that the Kings missed out on those two bigger names. While I would have loved to have a player of Matthews’ caliber on the team, the fact that he’s coming off of a major injury makes me a little squeamish about offering him what would have been the second biggest contract on the team. Ellis would have been a smaller financial commitment, but I’ve never been a fan of his fit on a team that already features two heavy usage scorers in DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay. The Kings were instead able to use that money to acquire some solid depth at key positions. Rajon Rondo might not be the Rondo of old anymore, but he’s still a top-tier playmaker and is only locked down for one year (meaning the Kings can cut ties pretty easily if things don’t work out). Koufos was probably one of the best bench bigs in the league last season and will bring a real defensive presence in the middle, and Belinelli brings the kind of shooting the Kings have been lacking for years. I don’t know if the Kings would have been able to add as much depth if they had signed Matthews or Ellis.”
This brings me to the question/topic of the day: Would the Kings have been better served to land either Wesley Matthews or Monta Ellis this summer, or was adding more depth across the board a better move for the team in the long run?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the matter. We look forward to what you have to say.