Pistons Sign Hasheem Thabeet For Camp
THURSDAY, 12:13pm: The team has followed up with an official announcement, via press release.
WEDNESDAY, 10:40pm: The contract has been signed, according to the RealGM transactions log.
3:45pm: The Pistons have signed Hasheem Thabeet, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). The deal is non-guaranteed according to Stein, though the length and terms have not been disclosed yet. Thabeet’s signing brings Detroit’s preseason roster count to 19, with 16 of those players on fully-guaranteed contracts. With the Pistons’ glut of bigs on the roster Thabeet would seem to be a real long shot to stick past training camp.
Thabeet was traded from the Thunder to the Sixers in a roster clearing move back in August. Philadelphia had no intention of keeping Thabeet, and they waived him on the final day before his non-guaranteed $1.25MM salary for this coming season was to have become fully guaranteed.
The former second-overall draft pick out of UConn never came close to living up to his draft position. In five seasons Thabeet has averaged just 2.2 PPG and 2.7 RPG. His career shooting numbers are .567/.000/.568.
Southwest Notes: Chandler, Pelicans, Blue
Tyson Chandler said Tuesday that he feels “indebted” to the Mavs for bringing him back to the team, observes Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Mavs owner Mark Cuban hinted that he intends to keep Chandler around after his contract expires at season’s end, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com notes.
Here’s the latest out of the Southwest Division:
- The Spurs worked out Vander Blue last week before Blue committed to a camp deal with the Wizards, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. Blue was a part of San Antonio’s summer league team in July.
- Cuban is excited about the Mavericks 2014/15 campaign, Price writes in the same piece linked above. Cuban said, “I am so fired up, you have no idea. You know how important I think chemistry is, so just being able to get a feel for how all the guys get together and how they get along [is important]. Everybody’s fired up, everybody pushing each other. Dirk Nowitzki has got a big old smile on his face, so it’s exciting.”
- The small forward position looks to be the Pelicans‘ weakest link heading into training camp, John Reid of the Times-Picayune opines. That’s why newly signed John Salmons has a chance to make an impact this season, and he’ll compete for a starting job with Darius Miller and Luke Babbitt, notes Reid.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Thunder, Clippers, Bledsoe
The Thunder revealed that the name for their new D-League team will be the Oklahoma City Blue in a press release they issued earlier today. As for why that name was chosen, Brian Byrnes, the Thunder’s senior vice president of Sales and Marketing said, “Blue is one of our primary Thunder colors, but it has become more than just a color for us. It has come to represent the passion, loyalty and unity of our fans and our community in their support for our team. Our players wear it proudly on their uniforms, our fans sport Thunder blue shirts, Thunder blue flags fly across Oklahoma and our statewide Blue Alliance fan groups show their connection to our team and what it stands for.”
Here’s more from out west:
- Clippers president and head coach Doc Rivers praised the offseason addition of Spencer Hawes, and said the center turned down larger offers to come to Los Angeles, Dan Woike of the Orange County Register writes. Rivers said, “I thought he was a great fit. Because of salary and where we’re at, I didn’t think we could get him.” The coach also noted in the article that the franchise getting to the point where players will take less money to play there is a positive sign.
- Clippers owner Steve Ballmer hopes to have a team president who will handle day-to-day operations of the team in place soon, Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter link).
- Ballmer also announced that Eric Miller, former owner Donald Sterling’s son-in-law, has left his position as director of basketball administration, Dan Woike of the Orange County Register tweets.
- The Suns are reportedly set to re-sign Eric Bledsoe to a five-year, $70MM extension, and Steve Kyler and Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders debate whether it was a mistake on Phoenix’s part.
- Shareef Abdur-Rahim is no longer with the Kings, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee reports. Abdur-Rahim was the director of player personnel and GM of of the Reno Bighorns, the Kings’ NBA D-League team.
Eastern Notes: Ferry, Antetokounmpo, Raptors
With the racism scandal still fresh in Atlanta, Hawks GM Danny Ferry‘s former teammate Tim Duncan came to his defense, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News writes. Duncan acknowledged during a radio interview that Ferry made a mistake in his comments regarding Luol Deng, but denied Ferry had an issue with race. Duncan said, “Knowing Danny, he’s not what everybody’s saying about him. He’s not a racist.”
Here’s more from the east:
- Bucks second-year player Giannis Antetokounmpo is embracing the team’s experiment of moving him to point guard, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. On Milwaukee asking him to change positions, Antetokounmpo said, “I’m not going to say I was shocked by it. It’s something that I feel comfortable with and I’ll play wherever Coach wants me to play, especially when it’s Coach Kidd who thinks that I can play point guard. That makes me feel like, ‘I can play it. I can play point guard.’ I’m going to try my best and just listen to Coach. I’ll do whatever Coach says to do and I’ll get more comfortable.”
- During an interview with Reggie Miller regarding injured Pacers swingman Paul George, team president Larry Bird said that despite his star player’s horrific injury, he would still like George to return to Team USA, Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star relays. “I hope so. That’s one of his goals,” Bird said. “He wants to play for Team USA. I think that any kid that gets the opportunity to do that and they want to play for their country, they should have that opportunity. And I think Paul will be there in Brazil (Olympics).”
- In their season preview the staff at HoopsHype predict that the Raptors will repeat as champs in the Atlantic Division.
- Despite last season ending with his potential game-winning shot being blocked by Paul Pierce in the playoffs, the Raptors‘ Kyle Lowry showed significant growth on and off the court, writes Jonathan Abrams of Grantland in his profile of the player and his career.
2014/15 Expanded Roster Counts
With training camps set to begin shortly, teams are still shuffling their rosters and players are still being added to fill any remaining spots. It can be difficult to keep track as there tends to be a flurry of activity this time of year as many players will be brought in for a look on non-guaranteed camp deals.
In 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 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 a player 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 each team’s roster size and the contract guarantee status of each player.
(Last Updated 4-11-15, 3:57pm)Read more
No Deal For Sixers, Malcolm Lee
SEPTEMBER 29TH: Lee is not among the players listed on the preseason roster the team sent via press release, so presumably the deal is off.
SEPTEMBER 24TH: The Sixers have reached agreement with Malcolm Lee, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it’s likely a standard non-guaranteed camp deal for the 24 year-old out of UCLA. This brings Philadelphia’s preseason roster count to 18, with eight of those players having fully-guaranteed contracts, and four whose deals carry partial guarantees.
The 6’5″ shooting guard worked out for the Lakers and the Nets during the Summer, and his most recent appearance in the league was with the Timberwolves during the 2012/13 campaign. In 35 career games, including 12 starts, Lee has averaged 4.0 PPG, 1.9 RPG, and 1.5 APG. His career slash line is .385/.294/.703.
Lee will get a look in camp at the the wing as a potential backup to projected starter Tony Wroten, and with the Sixers expected to challenge the league record for losses in a season, the roster is wide open for Lee to stick around through opening night.
Hawks Sign Kent Bazemore
SEPTEMBER 23RD: The deal is at last official, the team announced via press release.
SEPTEMBER 11TH: The Hawks and Bazemore finally put pen to paper Wednesday, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The team has yet to make an official announcement. It’s likely that the signing took so long to complete because Atlanta wanted to preserve cap space, though that’s just my speculation. The Hawks could have used cap space to acquire other players and circled back to sign Bazemore using the room exception. As it stands, they’re using cap space to ink Bazemore.
JULY 11TH: 9:50pm: Bazemore’s agent, Austin Walton, confirmed the deal and that it is fully guaranteed, tweets Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.
9:31pm: Kent Bazemore has reached an agreement to join the Hawks, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The deal is for two years and $4MM, according to Stein. Shams Charania of RealGM tweets that the deal is fully guaranteed, and contains no options.
The shooting guard was traded along with MarShon Brooks from the Warriors to the Lakers in the Steve Blake deal on February 19th of this year. Bazemore’s career numbers are 4.1 PPG, 1.1 RPG, and 0.9 APG.
The 25 year old who originally went undrafted out of Old Dominion also received interest from the Hornets, Lakers, Rockets, Spurs, Warriors and Celtics.
Ramon Sessions Signs With Kings
MONDAY, 8:48pm: The Kings have formally announced Sessions’ signing.
SATURDAY, 11:22am: Sessions’ deal is fully guaranteed with no options (team or player), Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link).
10:55am: Free agent guard Ramon Sessions has signed with the Kings, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! 
Sports reports. The deal is for two years and $4.2MM, and Sacramento used their biannual exception for the acquisition. This brings the Kings’ preseason roster total to 19, and with Sessions’ deal most likely guaranteed for next season, Sacramento now has 12 fully-guaranteed deals, and two players carrying partial guarantees on their contracts. The Bucks had renounced their rights to Sessions last month, but there were rumors that the Rockets were interested in acquiring him via a sign-and-trade arrangement.
He appeared in 28 contests for Milwaukee last season after a February trade with the Bobcats which sent Sessions and Jeff Adrien to the Bucks for Luke Ridnour and Gary Neal. Sessions career numbers are 11.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 4.7 APG. His career slash line is .439/.311/.800.
Sessions will compete with Darren Collison for the starting point guard spot, though Collison is the likely frontrunner. He also can contribute at the shooting guard position, making him a versatile bench piece. Hoops Rumors’ Cray Allred detailed what Sessions brings to a team in his Free Agent Stock Watch piece on the 6’3″, 28 year-old out of Nevada.
Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images
And-Ones: Chandler, Taylor, Heat, Ayon
The Knicks’ Phil Jackson had upset Tyson Chandler with comments he made regarding changing the culture of the franchise and removing any parts that have had a negative influence. But Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders doesn’t believe Jackson’s comments were directed at Chandler, but instead at J.R. Smith and the departed Raymond Felton. Blancarte also notes that Chandler’s issues were with former head coach Mike Woodson, not the franchise, and that Jackson traded Chandler so they wouldn’t lose him for nothing when he left as a free agent next Summer.
Here’s the latest from around the league:
- Miroslav Raduljica‘s contract with the Shandong Lions is for one year and approximately $1.5MM, Enea Trapani of Sportando reports. Raduljica was waived by the Clippers in late August shortly after he came over in the Jared Dudley trade, and he recently signed with the Chinese team.
- Nine months after he ruptured his Achilles tendon in a game against the Pistons, the Hornets‘ Jeff Taylor is healed and ready to compete for minutes with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Lance Stephenson, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes.
- Gustavo Ayon‘s deal with Real Madrid is for three years and 5.2 million euros, David Pick of Eurobasket reports. The contract also comes with an NBA escape clause each Summer, as well as a team option for the third season, notes Pick.
- The Heat will undoubtedly have a new look this season with the departure of LeBron James to Cleveland. Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel looks at ten questions facing coach Erik Spoelstra and the rest of the Miami organization.
Week In Review: 9/15/14-9/21/14
The impasse between the Suns and Eric Bledsoe continues to drag on, with neither the player or the team seemingly willing to bend on their negotiating stances. With each week that passes it seems more likely that Bledsoe will be forced to sign a qualifying offer and play out the season in Phoenix before becoming an unrestricted free agent next Summer. The latest wrinkle in the saga was Minnesota jumping into the mix and being willing to offer Bledsoe the max contract he is seeking, but it would require the Suns to participate in a sign-and-trade for the deal to work, something that Phoenix is reportedly disinterested in at the present time.
Here’s a rundown of the rest of the wheelings and dealings from the week that was…
- Xavier Silas agreed to a training camp deal with the Wizards.
- The Pistons brought in Denzel Bowles for a workout, but the big man is also in talks with the Jilin Northeast Tigers.
- Lou Amundson worked out for the Cavs, and was later signed to a camp deal.
- Orlando signed Seth Curry, Kadeem Batts, and Drew Crawford to training camp deals.
- Former NBA player Slava Kravtsov signed with China’s Foshan Long Lions.
- The Sixers inked JaKarr Sampson to a four year deal.
- Big man Ryan Hollins drew interest from the Lakers, Kings, Bulls, and Spurs.
- The Grizzlies and Earl Clark agreed to a camp deal.
- Jamaal Franklin worked out for the Spurs.
- The Bucks signed Michael Eric to a minimum salary deal.
- Joe Ingles and the Clippers came to terms on a non-guaranteed, minimum salary contract.
- The Wolves might bring point guard Myck Kabongo to training camp with the team.
- Ben Hansbrough and Andrew Warren auditioned for the Pistons.
- The league suspended Nuggets power forward J.J. Hickson without pay for five games for a violation of the NBA’s drug policy.
- Gustavo Ayon fielded offers from the Spurs, Real Madrid, and Shandong, eventually deciding to sign with Real Madrid.
- The Kings and Rockets finalized the trade that sent Jason Terry and a pair of second-rounders to Houston for Alonzo Gee and Scotty Hopson.
- Orlando Sanchez signed a partially guaranteed deal with the Knicks.
- Former Nets point guard Tyshawn Taylor agreed to a deal with the Russian club Dynamo Moscow.
- James Nunnally signed with Estudiantes of the Spanish League.
- The Wolves signed the No. 40 overall pick in this year’s draft, Glenn Robinson III, to a one-year, partially guaranteed deal.
- Michael Beasley was in San Antonio to audition for the Spurs.
- The Bulls signed E’Twaun Moore to a two year deal.
- Brady Heslip and the Wolves inked a training camp deal.
- Minnesota also signed Kyrylo Fesenko.
- Jordan Crawford agreed to sign with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association.
- The Nets signed center Hamady Ndiaye, but the contract was voided when it became known that Ndiaye had an injury that would cause him to miss training camp.
- Memphis signed Kalin Lucas to a training camp deal.
- Zoran Dragic is in advanced discussions to leave Unicaja Malaga and join the NBA.
- The Kings finalized their deal with Omri Casspi.
- Ryan Hollins agreed to a deal to sign with Sacramento.
- The Pelicans began talks with the representatives for Iranian small forward Samad Nikkhah Bahrami.
- Lorenzo Brown and the Pistons came to terms on a non-guaranteed contract.
- The Grizzlies signed big man Hassan Whiteside to a non-guaranteed deal for training camp.
- Miroslav Raduljica signed a one year deal with the Shandong Flaming Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association.
- The Hawks and Jarell Eddie agreed to a training camp deal.
- Damion James signed a camp deal with the Wizards.
- There’s a chance that DeAndre Liggins won’t be joining the Clippers for training camp.
- Andray Blatche is headed to China after inking a deal with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers.
- The Kings signed free agent guard Ramon Sessions to a two year, $4.2MM agreement.
- Jared Cunningham put pen to paper and signed with the Clippers.