Chris Smith Joins Erie BayHawks
12:34pm: Smith has rejoined the Erie BayHawks, dressing for the team today in its game against the Idaho Stampede.
WEDNESDAY, 8:30am: A tweet from Smith himself has raised doubts about his D-League team, since it seems to suggest he’s returning to the Erie BayHawks, as Schlosser writes.
TUESDAY, 5:15pm: It was reported earlier this week that the former Knicks reserve Chris Smith would sign with a D-League team but the exact team wasn’t revealed until moments ago by Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside. Smith will be signing a D-League contract with the L.A. D-Fenders, who are owned by the Lakers.
This will not be the first time this season Smith has seen playing time in the D-League, as the Knicks sent him down to their affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, for six games prior to waiving him.
International Notes: Selby, Barbosa, Heat
While most of today’s attention has been focused stateside due to the guarantee date deadline, here are some recent moves that have occurred outside the United States:
- Former Grizzlies point guard Josh Selby has signed with Croatia’s Cedevita Zagreb, according to the team (translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Selby, who was sent to the Cavs in last January’s Marreese Speights trade, also played in China earlier this season.
- Although the Suns agreed to sign Leandro Barbosa to a 10-day contract on Sunday, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic tweets that the signing is being held up by FIBA clearances. Barbosa was in the stands for tonight’s game against the Bulls.
- With Roger Mason‘s contract becoming fully guaranteed today, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweeted that the Heat‘s second-round pick, James Ennis will likely stay in Australia for the remainder of this NBA season.
- Jamaal Tinsley is considering signing overseas, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (on Twitter). Tinsley last played for the Jazz, but was waived in November.
Zach Links and Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Bynum Options: Clippers, Heat, Pacers, Hawks
The dust has barely settled from the Bulls waiving Andrew Bynum this afternoon before teams are beginning to be rumored as possible landing places for the All Star center. Here are a few of the teams rumored to be in the lead for his services.
- The Heat and Clippers have been rumored to be Bynum favorites even before he was traded and waived. Bob Finnan of The News-Herald confirmed those rumors in a tweet this evening. The Heat and Clippers are both already in the luxury tax, so signing Bynum would cost those teams more than just his salary. The Clippers would only be able to sign Bynum to the minimum salary ($1.19MM) whereas the Heat still have their full $3.2MM mini mid-level exception remaining.
- In the same tweet, Finnan speculates the Pacers may also try to sign Bynum purely to ensure the Heat can’t sign him. The Pacers are below the luxury tax but would only be able to offer up to $2.15MM to Bynum via their mid-level exception.
- With center Al Horford out for the season, and a freshly opened roster spot, the Hawks are in the running for Bynum, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Amico adds that Bynum has also previously lived in Atlanta. Due to Horford’s season-ending injury, the Hawks could request the disabled player exception from the league. If Atlanta is granted this exception, the club could offer Bynum up to $5.15MM in salary for a one-year deal.
Rockets Trying To Trade Donatas Motiejunas
Donatas Motiejunas has been asking the Rockets for more playing time for a while now, but with the Rockets unable to ship off Omer Asik, those frontcourt minutes haven’t been around for Houston to give. It appears the Rockets are now looking to give Motiejunas those minutes another way — on a different team. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), the Rockets have been calling teams in order to help find Motiejunas a new team.
Motiejunas shares an agent with Asik and before Houston reached their self-imposed December 19th Asik deadline, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweeted that Motiejunas was desperate for playing time. Prior to that tweet, Motiejunas had played in 12 games, averaging 7.5 MPG; he has since appeared in five games, averaging nearly 10 MPG.
Motiejunas has averaged 2.7 PPG and 1.5 RPG in the games he has played this season. He is currently in the second year of his rookie deal with the Rockets, who picked up his option for next season.
Possible 10-Day Contracts From The D-League
With the D-League Showcase under way in Reno, more league attention has been turned the direction of the young players outside the NBA. The Showcase alone is not the reason for the shift in focus. All of the players on NBA rosters are now guaranteed salaries for the remainder of the season, and teams are now able to sign players to 10-day contracts. Below are a few of the players that have already drawn attention around the league.
- Ike Diogu is playing well at the D-League Showcase and league sources say he could draw interest from Lakers, Clippers, Thunder and Pelicans, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter links).
- James Nunnally of the Bakersfield Jam is a D-League call-up candidate and has had meetings with the Cavs, Bulls, and Thunder at the D-League showcase in Reno, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. Amick later tweeted the Hawks are also a team interested in Nunnally.
- James Southerland has met with at least three teams this week, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com. He has played one game with the Bobcats and spent the summer with the 76ers and Warriors.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Bucks Looking To Trade Gary Neal
It appears the Bucks’ time with Gary Neal may be short-lived. After signing the guard to a two-year contract this summer, the Bucks are trying “everything they can” to trade Neal before the February 20th trade deadline, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein.
Neal, a three-year veteran, has played in 23 games for Milwaukee this season, averaging 20.5 MPG and 10.4 PPG. He is currently playing on a two-year, $6.5MM contract that is fully guaranteed.
The Bucks’ urgency to make a move appears to be stemming from a locker room altercation between Neal and Larry Sanders.
NBA Grants Disabled Player Exception To Nets
As if the Nets league-leading $102MM team salary wasn’t enough money spent this season, the NBA has now approved the Nets to spend up to $5.25MM more. The league has approved a disabled player exception for the Nets, according to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
The disabled player exception allows a team over the cap to replace a player who will be out for the remainder of the season. The Nets’ fall into this category due to Brook Lopez‘s season ending foot injury.
Under the disabled player exception, the Nets are allowed to sign a player for one season for the lesser of 50% of the injured player’s salary or the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. The 2013/14 non-taxpayer mid-level exception is $5.15MM and Lopez’s 2013/14 salary is $14.69MM.
The disabled player exception also allows the Nets to trade for a player in the last season of their contract if that player is making no more than the lesser of 50% of the injured player’s salary plus $100,000 or the non-taxpayer mid-level exception plus $100,000. Because of Lopez’s large salary, the Nets will be allowed to trade for any player making up to $5.25MM this year.
The Nets had until January 15th to apply for this and the exception will expire by March 10th. Of course, the team will no longer be able to use the exception to acquire a player via trade after the February 20th deadline.
How They Were Signed: Minimum Salary Exception
As we continue to look at how teams have signed players on their roster, it is fitting on the last day that players unguaranteed salaries become guaranteed that we focus on the way most unguaranteed players were signed – the minimum salary exception.
Teams that are over the salary cap can sign a player for their allotted minimum salary for up to 2 years. Below is a player’s minimum salary dependent on how many years they have played in the NBA.
Players with no NBA playing experience can be signed to a minimum salary deal. This is typical of second round draft picks because only first-round picks are guaranteed a rookie scale contract.
To incentivize teams to sign older players, the NBA has agreed to reimburse teams that sign a player with three or more years’ experience, with a few stipulations. The NBA will only reimburse the amount over what it would cost if that player had played in the NBA for two years and will only reimburse the team if the player was signed to a one year deal.
Below is a team by team list of players who were signed using the minimum salary exception. You can read more details on the exception here.
Because this article is posted past the 4pm deadline, all players listed below are now fully guaranteed for this season. Additionally, keep in mind the players listed below were signed under the exception. Other players may have been signed to a minimum salary contract but their team had cap space and thus didn’t need the exception to sign that player.
- Atlanta Hawks
- Boston Celtics
- None
- Brooklyn Nets
- Charlotte Bobcats
- Chicago Bulls
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Dallas Mavericks
- Denver Nuggets
- None
- Detroit Pistons
- Golden State
- Houston Rockets
- Indiana Pacers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Miami Heat
- Milwaukee Bucks
- None
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans
- New York Knicks
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Orlando Magic
- Philadelphia 76ers
- None
- Phoenix Suns
- Portland Trailblazers
- Sacramento Kings
- None
- San Antonio Spurs
- Toronto Raptors
- Utah Jazz
- Washington Wizards
StorytellersContracts, ShamSports, and Larry Coon’s CBA FAQ’s were used in the creation of this post.
Pacific Notes: Warriors, Suns, Brown, Kings
The Warriors have let the WNBA know that they’re interested in taking over a franchise, a day after the Los Angeles Sparks’ ownership ceased operations, writes Michelle Smith of ESPNW. “Our ownership group has maintained their interest in operating a WNBA team in the Bay Area since acquiring the Warriors three years ago,” Warriors team spokesman Raymond Ridder said. “We’ve had exploratory conversations relating to this topic with the WNBA on several occasions since 2010, including most recently regarding the Los Angeles franchise. At this point, our dialogue remains in the exploratory stage as we evaluate the complexities of any such acquisition now or in the future.”
A few other notes around the Pacific Division.
- The Suns, rookie GM Ryan McDonough, and Coach of the Month Jeff Hornacek are exceeding expectations, writes Jan Hubbard of Sheridan Hoops. While many thought the Suns would be one of the teams tanking for the first overall draft pick, it appears the Suns will now pursue rebuilding through other means. Hubbard believes the Suns will be able to continue being successful this season without hurting their chances at being successful in the near future. Hubbard believes the Suns holding six first-round picks and max cap space will allow them to successfully rebuild in the near future.
- Former Lakers and Suns player Shannon Brown is continuing to talk to NBA teams but according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo, he is becoming more engaged with offers in China. (Twitter Link) Brown hasn’t played in the NBA this season since being traded in October from the Suns to the Wizards and then waived shortly thereafter.
- The Kings have recalled Hamady N’Diaye from their D-League affiliate after assigning him yesterday. This is the second time the Kings have sent N’Diaye to the D-League for only a day. N’Diaye has appeared in 14 games for the Kings this season, averaging 5.3 minutes in those appearances.
- Although it appeared all was going well for Derrick Williams during the seven games he started for the Kings, things have gone downhill since he has been sent to the bench. Williams started the seven games following his trade from the Timberwolves but was benched shortly after the Kings acquired Rudy Gay from the Raptors. According to James Ham of Cowbell Kingdom, Kings’ coach Michael Malone thinks Williams has been the player affected the most by the Gay trade. Malone has informed Williams, though, to keep his head up and that there is currently no pressure on him.
Zach Links and Charlie Adams contributed to this post.
Lakers, Cavs Rekindle Bynum/Gasol Talks
Although it was rumored two days ago that the trade talks between the Cavaliers and Lakers had stalled, Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com are reporting that talks between the teams have started back up and progressed throughout the day today.
In fact, according to the ESPN report, the talks have progressed so rapidly the Cavaliers are hoping to have the trade completed by tomorrow. The reasoning for the deadline tomorrow is because a trade needs 48 hours to be finalized and Andrew Bynum‘s contract becomes fully guaranteed if he’s not released by Tuesday. The Lakers (and other teams) are looking at trading for Bynum as an easy way to lower their payroll (via immediately waiving Bynum) in the middle of a season. This is especially important to the Lakers as they are trying to avoid the dreaded repeater tax.
According to Windhorst and Shelburne, the Lakers desire to obtain a young player or a draft pick in exchange for Pau Gasol appears to be what has been stalling the trade talks all along.