Jordan Hamilton To Play In Russia
Jordan Hamilton has signed a deal to play overseas for the Russian club Krasny Oktyabr, the team announced (translation courtesy of Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). The length and terms of the pact are unknown, and it’s not clear if his deal contains an NBA out clause that would allow him to return stateside this season.
The 24-year-old was selected in the first round of the 2011 NBA draft by the Mavericks, who dealt him that night to the Nuggets. Hamilton played his first two-plus seasons with Denver, then was shipped to the Rockets for Aaron Brooks midway through the 2013/14 season. He inked a multiyear deal with the Clippers last season after completing a pair of 10-day contracts with the team. The swingman became expendable thanks to the offseason additions of Lance Stephenson, Paul Pierce, and Wesley Johnson, and Hamilton was subsequently waived by Los Angeles at the beginning of August in an effort to clear roster space.
The 6’7” shooting guard appeared in 14 games for the Clippers last season, averaging 2.7 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 8.7 minutes per game. His career numbers through parts of four NBA campaigns are 5.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.7 assists to accompany a slash line of .405/.366/.671.
Week In Review 8/16/15-8/22/15
J.R. Smith, who was the most prominent unsigned free agent remaining, finally agreed to re-sign with the Cavaliers this week. The two sides reached a deal on a two-year pact that includes a player option for the 2016/17 season, which will allow the guard to once again test the free agent market next offseason if he wishes.
Smith took to his personal Instagram account to relay the news, writing, “Happy to say that I am returning to the Cavs! It’s been a long ride this summer but I can say for sure, well worth the wait. When I opted out of my contract, I wanted to understand the landscape of the NBA and where I fit best. The Cavaliers had things they needed to do in order to piece together a championship caliber roster. I ended up deciding that instead of potentially securing a larger deal elsewhere, I wanted to rejoin an incredible organization in pursuit of the ultimate goal, an NBA championship. Thank you to the Cavaliers for making this happen. Can’t wait to get started!”
The 29-year-old’s decision to decline his one-year, $6.4MM player option for certainly didn’t pay off, as he will now earn $5MM this coming season under the terms of his new pact. But a chance to once again contend for an NBA title should help alleviate some of his angst regarding his lower income level for the upcoming campaign. Here’s more from the week that was…
Free Agent Signings
Eastern Conference
- The Bucks signed former University of Wisconsin power forward Marcus Landry.
- The Cavaliers reached a deal with free agent Jared Cunningham.
- The Hornets agreed to a deal with undrafted free agent forward Sam Thompson.
- The Hawks signed a deal with unrestricted free agent Jason Richardson.
- The Wizards agreed to sign undrafted center Jaleel Roberts.
- The Hornets agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent center Jason Washburn.
- The Heat signed undrafted shooting guard Corey Hawkins.
Western Conference
- The Jazz signed undrafted guard Treveon Graham.
- The Lakers reached a contract agreement with Michael Frazier.
- The Grizzlies signed center Michael Holyfield.
- The Suns and shooting guard Terrico White agreed to a deal.
- The Warriors and Jarell Eddie reached an agreement on a training camp deal.
- The Suns agreed to a camp deal with former Harvard combo forward Kyle Casey.
You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.
Waivers
- The Nuggets waived Joey Dorsey as part of a buyout arrangement. Dorsey agreed to a deal with Galatasaray of Turkey.
Miscellaneous News
- The Raptors and Jonas Valanciunas signed an extension worth $64MM over four years.
- Dorell Wright signed a deal with China’s Chongqing Dragons.
- The Kings hired longtime NBA sabermetrician Roland Beech to head up their analytics department.
- Colton Iverson officially signed with the Turkish team Pinar Karsiyaka.
- Joel Embiid underwent a second surgery on his right foot and he is expected to miss the entire 2015/16 season.
- The NBA officially announced that Kiki Vandeweghe has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations for the league.
- The Rockets hired Matt Brase as the coach of Rio Grande Valley Vipers, their D-League affiliate.
- The Bulls hired Toni Kukoc as a special adviser to president and COO Michael Reinsdorf.
- Will Bynum agreed to re-sign with the Guangdong Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association.
- Warriors 2015 first-rounder Kevon Looney underwent surgery on his right hip and is expected to miss a minimum of four to six months.
Wolves, Blazers Explored ‘Major’ Trade
Sources have informed Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter links) that the Blazers and Wolves had talks regarding what Bonnell termed, “a major deal,” though the discussions ended without any deal being struck. Bonnell also noted that the discussions were salary cap room driven, though he didn’t specify which players may have been involved, nor which team initiated the talks. The Trail Blazers currently have just $48,304,966 in guaranteed salary on the books for 2015/16, while the Timberwolves are over the $70MM salary cap with a total of $73,620,533 in guaranteed salary committed for next season, so it stands to reason that Minnesota was the franchise looking to shed some payroll, though that is merely my speculation.
The Wolves currently have a roster count of 17, including 16 players possessing fully guaranteed pacts, while Portland currently has 17 players on its roster, 12 of whom have fully guaranteed contracts. One aspect that could have made facilitating a trade easier is that almost all of Minnesota’s roster is eligible to be traded immediately since the franchise wasn’t especially active on the free agent market this offseason. Players who sign in the summer can’t be traded until December 15th at the earliest, or for 30 days after signing if they’re a draft pick.
There have been reports relaying that the Wolves were entertaining the idea of trading Ricky Rubio, who is scheduled to earn $12.7MM this coming season. Portland wouldn’t appear to be a match for the point guard, seeing as Damian Lillard is already firmly entrenched as the starter and franchise centerpiece at the point. Lillard certainly has the ability, if not the size, to play shooting guard full time, but it’s highly doubtful that the team would look to acquire Rubio, unless a third team were to potentially get involved.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/21/15
On Thursday, the Raptors officially announced that they and center Jonas Valanciunas reached an agreement on a contract extension worth $64MM over four years. The pact also includes a player option on the fourth year. “Jonas’ contributions continue to improve with each season and we view him as a significant part of what we are building in Toronto,” Toronto GM Masai Ujiri said in the team’s press release regarding the deal.
The extension didn’t come as a surprise after Ujiri had relayed this past spring that Valanciunas was “a huge part of our team” for the future. Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun had reported in early July that the Raptors planned to work toward extensions with both Valanciunas and Terrence Ross, though the team’s front office has seemed to be especially enamored with Valanciunas, and they seemed to blame the team’s coaching staff for the slow development in the center’s game. The Raptors and head coach Dwane Casey overhauled the team’s group of assistant coaches this offseason, bringing in Rex Kalamian, Andy Greer and Jerry Stackhouse to hopefully hasten Valaciunas’ development along.
Valanciunas’ $60MM deal makes him one of the league’s most highly paid big men, eclipsing the $12MM a year that Nikola Vucevic snagged on the extension he signed with the Magic this past fall. Enes Kanter came away with a max deal of about $70MM this summer as the salary structure of the NBA continues to change in advance of the projected leaps in the salary cap. This brings me to today’s topic: What are your thoughts on Jonas Valanciunas’ extension with the Raptors?
Do you feel that a $15MM annual salary is in line with Valanciunas’ production and potential? With salaries expected to jump dramatically on deals signed beginning next Summer, will this pact be looked at as a bargain in a few short seasons, or a bust? Whatever your feelings are on the matter, we want to hear them. Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.
Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot me a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @EddieScarito to submit topics or ideas for what we should present in future posts.
Spurs Remain Interested In Rasual Butler
The Spurs continue to show interest in signing unrestricted free agent forward Rasual Butler, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops reports (via Twitter). San Antonio’s interest in the veteran was first noted by Jason Quick of The Oregonian back in early July. Butler has also reportedly garnered attention this Summer from the Warriors and the Trail Blazers, and Portland was even said to have made a contract offer to the 36-year-old, though Butler was in no hurry to sign at the time.
San Antonio has in excess of $85MM in guaranteed salary already committed for the 2015/16 campaign, which includes 13 players inked to guaranteed contracts, as our roster count for the team illustrates. The Spurs, who are over both the salary cap and luxury tax line, can offer Butler no more than the veteran’s minimum salary. Whether or not that sum would be enough to entice Butler to play in Texas remains to be seen, but certainly the lure of joining a solid organization like the Spurs should hold some level of appeal. San Antonio already has starter Kawhi Leonard to man the three spot, as well as Kyle Anderson and Reggie Williams on the depth chart as reserves.
Butler, a 13-year NBA veteran, averaged 7.7 points and 2.6 rebounds in 75 appearances with the Wizards last season. His career numbers are 7.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 0.8 assists to go along with a slash line of .402/.363/.749.
Poll: 2003 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 1)
Drafting players is far from an exact science, and many a GM has been second-guessed for his draft night decisions. I’m willing to bet that every team executive has at least one pick that he would like a mulligan for. While life, and the NBA, doesn’t allow for such opportunities, we at Hoops Rumors decided it would be fun to give our readers a second take at picking players, complete with the benefit of hindsight.
Over the last two weeks our readers went back and revised history with their take on the 2013 NBA Draft lottery. The final results of those 14 picks were:
- Cavaliers: Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Magic: Victor Oladipo
- Wizards: Nerlens Noel
- Hornets: Rudy Gobert
- Suns: Michael Carter-Williams
- 76ers: Ben McLemore
- Kings: Mason Plumlee
- Pistons: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
- Jazz: Dennis Schröder
- Trail Blazers: Allen Crabbe
- 76ers: Shabazz Muhammad
- Thunder: Gorgui Dieng
- Celtics: Kelly Olynyk
- Wolves: Tim Hardaway Jr.
We now take a journey back to June of 2003, and revisit a draft that saw the likes of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh available to potentially change the fortunes of a few struggling franchises. Wade was the first of that group to win an NBA championship, though James and Bosh would later join him in Miami and go on to win multiple titles together years later, while Melo is still seeking his first trip to the NBA Finals. Detroit, which owned the No. 2 overall pick that season, chose to go with Darko Milicic, which didn’t work out so well for the Pistons. Not all picks pan out, but that one is especially painful given the talent that the Pistons passed over to select the big man, who owns career averages of 6.0 points and 4.2 rebounds, and has been out of the NBA since making a single appearance for the Celtics back in 2012/13.
We begin our revisionist history with the Cavaliers, who owned the first overall pick courtesy of their 2002/03 record of 17-65. While it was tempting to begin this draft with pick No. 2, and simply assume that LeBron would be the first overall choice, I decided to leave the fate of the Cavs’ franchise in your hands. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Cleveland’s pick and check back Saturday afternoon for the results, as well as to cast your vote for who the Pistons will select with the No. 2 overall pick that they had acquired from Memphis. Will it be Milicic once again, or will you decide to right that wrong?
But don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the No. 1 overall pick and why you voted the way that you did. Also, if you DIDN’T vote for LeBron with this selection, I’d especially like to hear your thoughts as to why.
If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here.
Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Johnson, Crawford
Sixers center Joel Embiid underwent a second surgical procedure on his injured right foot this week, and he is expected to miss the entire 2015/16 campaign as a result. While the news that the 2014 No. 3 overall pick will miss his second consecutive campaign is bad enough, there’s also a strong chance that Embiid will also miss the beginning of the 2016/17 season, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (video link), with a hat tip to Chris Walder of TheScore.com.
“Talking to my sources, they want to see him return around October – not this October, but the next October, for that season,” Pompey said. “And he may not even return for the start of that season. He may miss a couple games. But that’s their goal.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Raptors will miss Amir Johnson ‘s intangibles and hustle this season, with the forward having signed a two-year, $24MM pact with the Celtics this offseason, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. “He went from a role player to a very big piece of what we were doing,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said of his former player. “He became the core of what we were doing in Toronto. We went from a young, up and coming team to grow. We’ll miss his leadership, his toughness. He has a quiet toughness about him that we will miss with our team.”
- The Knicks reportedly have interest in acquiring Jamal Crawford from the Clippers, and Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders believes that landing Crawford would take additional pressure off of Carmelo Anthony on the perimeter and also provide good spacing for the entire Knicks offense overall. Greene also notes that trading for the guard wouldn’t have a negative impact on the Knicks’ salary cap since Crawford is in the final season of his current deal.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/20/15
Sixers center Joel Embiid underwent a second surgical procedure on his right foot this week, and he is more than likely going to miss his second straight campaign. The 21-year-old has yet to play a regular season NBA minute since being selected by Philly with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. Sixers GM Sam Hinkie, no stranger to taking chances, knew Embiid’s medical issues made him a gamble, but he decided to roll the dice anyway on the big man from Cameroon, by way of Kansas University. It was a high-risk, high-reward proposition for the Sixers, and one that has in no way panned out for the franchise as of this writing.
This brings me to the topic of the day: Will Joel Embiid ever play for the Sixers, and if so, what kind of production should the team expect from him?
Will Embiid ever live up to being the No. 3 overall pick? While we’re not looking at a taking Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan situation here, is there a player who the Sixers should be haunted by passing on to select the young Kansas center? What are the best/worst case scenarios that you envision for Embiid’s NBA career? Will he even have what can be considered a career, or do you see him never suiting up in the league? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions. Sixers fans, feel free to vent and work out whatever issues you may have with the team if necessary. We look forward to what you have to say.
Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot me a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @EddieScarito to submit topics or ideas for what we should present in future posts.
Western Notes: Claver, Lucas, Jazz
Forward Victor Claver, who spent the last three seasons as a member of the Trail Blazers, officially has an offer on the table from the Spanish club Baskonia, the team announced (translation courtesy of Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Valencia currently owns Claver’s rights in Spain and the team has five days to match the contract offer made by Baskonia to Claver, Carchia notes. Claver has appeared in 80 NBA contests and has averages of 3.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.7 assists, and he owns a slash line of .398/.293/.585.
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Kalin Lucas, who appeared in one game for the Grizzlies last season, auditioned for the Qingdao Eagles of the Chinese Basketball Association, but was not offered a contract by the team, international journalist David Pick relays (via Twitter).
- The Jazz announced today that the team promoted Mark McKown to director of sports science/assistant coach and Isaiah Wright to head strength and conditioning coach.
- The Blazers aren’t quite starting over as a franchise, but the loss of LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency to the Spurs has forced executive Neil Olshey to invest in intriguing but unproven talent this offseason, Michael Lee of The Washington Post writes. “That’s one of things I’m looking forward to, is what this team is going to become,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “The way Neil has constructed the roster, it’s a strong plan with a lot of young players that have a lot of room to grow. I think it’s a plan that is going to be challenging, fun and very rewarding.”
Kevon Looney Out 4 To 6 Months
Warriors 2015 first-rounder Kevon Looney underwent a successful right hip arthroscopy this morning to repair a torn labrum, the team announced in a press release. The forward is expected to miss a minimum of four to six months before returning to basketball activity, according to the team.
“Kevon has his entire NBA career ahead of him and we felt that, in consultation with our medical staff, Kevon and his representatives, it was best to address the issue now,” said Warriors GM Bob Myers. “He will have our complete support throughout the rehabilitation process and we are confident he will make a full recovery.”
The forward out of UCLA possesses lottery-level talent, but long-term concerns about his hip likely caused him to last until the No. 30 overall pick this year. Looney had believed that he could continue to play without surgery but subsequent medical evaluations deemed a procedure necessary. “I had suffered a hip injury when I first got to UCLA, and I played the whole season with it,” Looney had told Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group back in July. “I went through the [draft] workouts with it. I still can play now. I can play just fine. I can walk good. I’m not hurting right now. I’m looking to the doctors to tell me what they really want to do, but this is an injury that I had, and I can actually play with, and I can actually do well with it.“
Looney, 19, appeared in 36 contests for the Bruins last season, averaging 11.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.3 steals in 30.9 minutes per game. His slash line was .470/.415/.626.