Celtics Re-Sign Jae Crowder
JULY 27TH, 2:09pm: The deal is finally official, the team announced.
“Jae epitomizes everything that we look for in a Celtic,” said Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. “His infectious energy on both ends of the court and his versatile skill set enabled him to win over both the coaching staff and our fan base after his acquisition last season.”
JULY 1ST, 11:02am: The Celtics and free agent Jae Crowder have reached an agreement on a five-year, $35MM deal, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). The Mavericks, who dealt Crowder to Boston back in December were also in the running for the Glenn Schwartzman client. The deal includes no options, and is fully guaranteed, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald adds (Twitter link).
The Celtics had tendered a qualifying offer to Crowder worth $1.2MM earlier this week, making the forward a restricted free agent, which would have allowed Boston to match any offer he received from another team. Crowder had expressed an interest to return to the Celtics, but did note that he planned to test the free agent market.
Crowder appeared in 57 games for the Celtics after arriving via trade, and he averaged 9.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 24.2 minutes per game. His career numbers through 238 contests are 5.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 1.0 APG, with a slash line of .414/.316/.735.
Pacers Sign Rakeem Christmas
2:06pm: The signing is official, the team announced.
1:01pm: The Pacers haven’t formally announced the deal yet, but their official team Twitter account passed along a tweet from Christmas that depicts him signing his contract.
MONDAY, 9:32am: The final two seasons are partially guaranteed, sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM, who hears the deal is for $4.3MM, slightly less than the $4.5MM originally reported (Twitter link)
THURSDAY, 6:14pm: The Pacers and rookie Rakeem Christmas have reached an agreement on a contract, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group reports (on Twitter). The pact is for four-years and $4.5MM, with the first two seasons fully guaranteed, Haynes adds. Christmas was the No. 36 overall selection in this year’s NBA Draft.
Christmas’ draft rights had been acquired from the Cavaliers earlier today in exchange for the 2019 second round pick that Indiana garnered from the Lakers in the Roy Hibbert trade. Cleveland reportedly made the deal for Christmas in order to acquire a draft pick that it could use to help flip Brendan Haywood‘s uniquely valuable non-guaranteed contract.
The 23-year-old averaged 7.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks to go with a slash line of .560/.000/.681 during his four years spent at Syracuse. Christmas logged 17.5 PPG and 9.1 RPG during his senior season.
Hoops Rumors Originals 7/19/15-7/25/15
Here’s a look back at the original analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this past week…
- Chuck Myron ran down the players who had the largest pay decreases from the 2014/15 to 2015/16 season.
- I ran down the 2015/16 roster counts for the Trail Blazers, Kings, Spurs, Jazz, Wizards and Raptors. You can view the entire series here.
- Chuck examined the major moves for each team that remained above the salary cap this offseason, and he reviewed their remaining flexibility.
- We broke down this offseason’s player movement between conferences.
- If you missed the week’s live chat, you can view the transcript here.
- Chuck broke down how contract renegotiations work in the NBA.
- Zach Links highlighted some of the better basketball blogs around in his weekly installment of Hoops Links.
- If you missed any of our daily reader-driven discussions, be sure to check out the Community Shootaround archives.
- I answered reader questions in Hoops Rumors’ Weekly Mailbag.
- Chuck looked at some lucrative deals signed by former second round draft picks this past month.
- Here’s how you can follow Hoops Rumors on social media and RSS feeds.
- Chuck examined how teams are using the room exception.
- We reviewed out commenting policy. Play nice everyone.
Week In Review 7/19/15-7/25/15
One of the last major offseason storylines involves the Cavaliers’ Brendan Haywood and his sizable non-guaranteed contract. Cleveland has been unsuccessful thus far in its attempts to find a trade partner willing to ship useful assets to the Cavs in return for the big man’s pact. The team has reportedly shifted gears and now is focused on flipping Haywood in a deal that creates a traded player exception prior to August 1st, when his contract becomes fully guaranteed, as is shown by our schedule of guarantee dates. The only teams currently possessing enough cap space to absorb Haywood and create a trade exception for Cleveland are the Trail Blazers and the Sixers, with the Jazz also a possibility, provided they trade or cut several players with non-guaranteed contracts prior to landing Haywood. While we await GM David Griffin‘s next move, here’s more from the week that was…
Trades
- The Rockets acquired Ty Lawson and a 2017 second-round pick from the Nuggets in exchange for Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson and a protected 2016 first-round pick. Lawson agreed to make the final season of his contract non-guaranteed as a part of the swap.
- The Pacers acquired the rights to rookie forward Rakeem Christmas from the Cavaliers in exchange for a 2019 second-round pick.
You can keep up with all of the offseason trades here.
Free Agent Signings
Eastern Conference
- Reggie Jackson re-signed with the Pistons.
- The Raptors agreed to a training camp deal with undrafted power forward Michale Kyser.
- Ronald Roberts signed with the Raptors.
- The Magic and Keith Appling agreed to a partially guaranteed two-year deal.
- Joel Anthony re-signed with the Pistons.
- The Pacers re-signed Rodney Stuckey.
- The Cavaliers agreed to a deal with Richard Jefferson.
- The Hornets signed Tyler Hansbrough.
- The Raptors signed a training camp pact with Michale Kyser.
- The Pistons inked Adonis Thomas to a training camp deal.
- The Bucks and Chris Copeland agreed to a one-year deal.
- The Celtics agreed to a training camp deal with Levi Randolph.
- The Hawks signed training camp deals with Lamar Patterson and Terran Petteway.
- The Raptors signed swingman Axel Toupane.
- The Knicks intend to sign undrafted forward Darion Atkins.
- The Knicks agreed to a deal with undrafted guard Wesley Saunders.
Western Conference
- The Pelicans re-signed unrestricted free agent Luke Babbitt.
- Manu Ginobili re-signed with the Spurs.
- The Kings signed a deal with undrafted Wisconsin forward Duje Dukan.
- The Mavs reached an agreement with John Jenkins.
- The Mavericks and center Jarrid Famous agreed to a one-year deal.
- Quincy Acy inked a deal with the Kings.
- The Rockets re-signed K.J. McDaniels.
- Jonathon Simmons inked a deal with the Spurs.
- The Pelicans agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent Kendrick Perkins.
- Seth Curry signed a deal with the Kings.
- The Clippers agreed to sign Pablo Prigioni.
- The Spurs signed Jimmer Fredette to a training camp deal.
- The Kings signed Caron Butler.
- John Jenkins signed a deal with the Mavericks.
- The Mavericks signed undrafted forward Maurice Ndour.
- The Trail Blazers signed undrafted free agent Cliff Alexander.
- Phil Pressey inked a deal with the Blazers.
- The Mavericks signed center Jarrid Famous.
You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.
2015 NBA Draft Pick Signings
- The Pistons and No. 38 pick Darrun Hilliard signed a three-year deal.
- The Pistons signed No. 8 overall pick Stanley Johnson to a rookie scale deal.
- The Pacers inked Rakeem Christmas to a four-year pact.
- The Rockets signed Sam Dekker to a rookie scale deal.
You can stay up to date on all of the 2015 NBA Draft signings here.
Waivers
- The Suns waived Jerel McNeal.
- The Nuggets waived newly acquired point guard Pablo Prigioni.
Miscellaneous News
- Guillermo Hernangomez, the 35th overall pick last month, will return to Real Madrid this coming season.
- The Nets promoted Steve Jones, the team’s manager of video operations, to assistant coach for player development.
- Aaron White, whom the Wizards drafted 49th overall last month, agreed to a deal with Telekom Baskets Bonn of Germany.
- Jared Dudley will miss approximately three or four months after undergoing surgery Tuesday to fix a herniated disk in his lower back.
- Celtics draftee Marcus Thornton signed a one-year pact with the Sydney Kings of Australia’s National Basketball League.
- The Warriors withdrew their $1,147,276 qualifying offer to Ognjen Kuzmic, making him an unrestricted free agent.
- Free agent Jeff Taylor agreed to a one-year deal with Real Madrid.
- Stephen Jackson retired from pro basketball.
- Two-year NBA veteran Nate Wolters signed with Besiktas of Turkey.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 7/24/15
With the month of July nearly over most of the bigger name free agents have already locked down their new deals and know what jerseys they will don for next season. The most notable remaining unrestricted free agent is J.R. Smith, who left $6.4MM on the table when he declined his player’s option with Cleveland for the 2015/16 campaign back in June. While there’s still a good chance that Smith will re-sign with the Cavs, his chances of topping that salary amount for next season are rapidly dwindling along with most of the teams’ available cap space. Smith experienced a bit of a career revival after escaping New York at midseason, though his postseason shooting woes, and ill-advised elbow to Jae Crowder‘s face that earned him a two game suspension, could not be considered closing out the season on a high note.
This brings me to the topic of the day: Where does J.R. Smith play next season, and how much do you predict he’ll earn for 2015/16?
Smith can be an explosive scorer when he’s “on” and playing under control. He’s also only two seasons removed from winning Sixth Man of the Year honors, and he did manage to steer clear of trouble while with the Cavs, except for that one postseason incident. The 29-year-old also fit into the Cavs’ rotation quite well, and the team has expressed a desire to re-sign Smith, though they reportedly weren’t pleased at him opting out of his deal.
Is remaining in Cleveland the best option for Smith, or do you see another team being a better fit? What sort of deal can Smith expect to land at this stage of the offseason? Does anyone out there believe he’ll top the $6.4MM he was set to earn? All these questions and more are fair game. Take to the comments section below to express your opinions, share your thoughts, and kill some time with your fellow hoops fans. 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.
2015/16 Roster Counts
During the offseason it’s OK for teams to carry as many as 20 players, but clubs must trim their rosters down to a maximum of 15 by opening night. In the meantime, some teams will hang around that 15-man line, while others will max out their roster counts. Some clubs may actually have more than 15 contracts that are at least partially guaranteed on the books. That means they’ll end up paying players who won’t be on the regular season roster, unless they can find trade partners.
Here’s the complete listing of teams’ current roster counts sorted by conference and division:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
Central Division
Southeast Division
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Northwest Division
Pacific Division
Southwest Division
Pacific Notes: James, Rivers, Lakers, Kings
Summer league point guard Mike James impressed the Suns, but the team doesn’t seem to have a need for another point guard, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Multiple teams are in pursuit, according to Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link), but he’s under contract with Laboral Kuxta Vitoria in Spain, Coro points out, suggesting that it would likely require a guaranteed deal with an NBA team to make it worthwhile for him to exercise his buyout clause. James, who’s not to be confused with the 12-year veteran by the same name, is inclined to play one more season in Spain, Charania adds.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Austin Rivers‘ brief tenure with Relativity Sports has met an end, tweets Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal. Rivers joined the agency after splitting with David Falk this past season. Relativity represented him as he came to a two-year deal for nearly $6.455MM to stay with father Doc Rivers and the Clippers.
- The deals that Caron Butler, Quincy Acy, and Seth Curry agreed to with the Kings are all two-year, minimum salary arrangements that are fully guaranteed the first year and include player options for the second season, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- The performance of the Lakers‘ Summer League squad was underwhelming, leaving some around the league skeptical of the long-term future of a number of the team’s younger prospects, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes. “You don’t want to draw any conclusions from a few summer games obviously,” one league executive told Deveney. “But I think in general, the way to put it is that they probably value their assets more than the rest of the league values them. Everyone gambles on young guys. You just don’t know. For [the Lakers], they could all turn out to be fine, but they’re a long way from that now.”
- The new Kings arena cleared another legal hurdle Friday, as a judge issued a ruling in favor of the city of Sacramento and against plaintiffs who asserted that the team and the city struck a side deal, writes Tony Bizjak of The Sacramento Bee. The arena is already under construction.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: Larkin, Stuckey, Copeland
The Nets believe that the right system can bring out the potential that made Shane Larkin a first round pick back in 2013, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com writes. “I talked to [GM] Billy [King] and Lionel [Hollins] as soon as free agency started, and they told me they wanted me to come in and just play my game,” Larkin said. “I’m more of a pick-and-roll guy, up and down. “And that’s the thing they told me they wanted me to come in and do. For them to tell me they wanted me to come in push the tempo, bring some energy to the team, that was everything I wanted to hear.”
Larkin admits to having been uncomfortable playing in the Knicks‘ triangle offense last season, Youngmisuk adds. “I mean the triangle is a good offense if you have the type of players that fit within that offense,” Larkin said. “And I don’t feel like it was the best offense for me. I’m not talking bad about it. It’s a great offense. I wish them nothing but the best.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- The presence of former teammate Jason Kidd as coach was a major factor for Chris Copeland‘s decision to sign with the Bucks, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes. “The biggest hook for me was Jason Kidd, by far,” Copeland said. “Obviously, he was a friend of mine before all this. He was a great mentor for me in New York and someone I continue to grow under. An incredible mind on and off the floor.”
- The final season of Jordan Mickey‘s four-year pact with the Celtics is a non-guaranteed team option, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- Brazilian big man Cristiano Felicio‘s contract with the Bulls is a two-year deal, and he will earn $525,093 in 2015/16 and $874,636 the following season, with both years non-guaranteed, Pincus relays (Twitter link).
- Rodney Stuckey‘s three-year contract with the Pacers will see him earn $7MM each season, and includes a player option for the final year, Pincus relays (on Twitter).
2015/16 Roster Counts: Washington Wizards
During the offseason it’s OK for teams to carry as many as 20 players, but clubs must trim their rosters down to a maximum of 15 by opening night. In the meantime, some teams will hang around that 15-man line, while others will max out their roster counts. Some clubs may actually have more than 15 contracts that are at least partially guaranteed on the books. That means they’ll end up paying players who won’t be on the regular season roster, unless they can find trade partners.
With plenty more movement still to come, here’s the latest look at the Wizards’ roster size, the contract guarantee status of each player, and how each player came to be on Washington’s roster.
(Last Updated 3-9-16, 3:00pm)
Fully Guaranteed (15)
- Alan Anderson (G/F) — 6’6″/32 years old. Free agent signing.
- Bradley Beal (G) — 6’5″/22 years old. Drafted with No. 3 overall pick in 2012.
- Jared Dudley (G/F) — 6’7″/30 years old. Acquired via trade from Bucks.
- Jarell Eddie (G) — 6’7″/24 years old. Free agent signing.
- Drew Gooden (F) — 6’10″/33 years old. Free agent signing.
- Marcin Gortat (C) — 6’11″/31 years old. Acquired via trade with Suns.
- J.J. Hickson (F/C) — 6’9″/27 years old. Free agent signing.
- Markieff Morris (F) — 6’10″/25 years old. Acquired via trade with Suns.
- Nene (F/C) — 6’11″/32 years old. Acquired via trade with Nuggets.
- Kelly Oubre (G/F) — 6’7″/19 years old. Draft rights acquired via Hawks.
- Otto Porter (F) — 6’8″/22 years old. Drafted with No. 3 overall pick in 2013.
- Ramon Sessions (G) — 6’3″/29 years old. Acquired via trade with Kings.
- Garrett Temple (G/F) — 6’6″/29 years old. Free agent signing.
- Marcus Thornton (G) — 6/4″/28 years old. Free agent signing.
- John Wall (G) — 6’4″/24 years old. Drafted with No. 1 overall pick in 2010.
10-Day Contracts (0)
- None
TOTAL ROSTER COUNT (15)
Blazers Sign Cliff Alexander
6:07pm: The Blazers have officially announced the signing.
4:18pm: The Trail Blazers have signed undrafted free agent Cliff Alexander, the player announced via his Twitter account (h/t to Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com). The length and terms of the agreement are unknown, and it is likely a training camp deal, though that is merely my speculation. There has been no official announcement from the team as of yet.
The 6’8″ forward out of Kansas began the 2014/15 NCAA season as a top five recruit and a projected 2015 NBA lottery pick. But inconsistent play and effort saw Alexander’s stock rapidly fall, and his decision to leave school after a single campaign was directly tied to an NCAA investigation related to Alexander receiving improper benefits. The 19-year-old just completed a run playing Summer League ball for the Nets.
Alexander made 28 appearances for the Jayhawks last season, averaging 7.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks to go along with a slash line of .566/.000/.671.