Carlon Brown

And-Ones: Oladipo, Rice, Daniels, Ollie

UConn is headed to the NCAA championship game under second-year head coach Kevin Ollie. Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times thinks that the Lakers should try and pry Ollie away from Connecticut to become their next head coach. Pincus believes Ollie would be a good fit, with the added bonus of being a potential draw for Kevin Durant down the road, since Durant has an affinity for Ollie since his time spent as an assistant with the Thunder. Here’s a roundup of the rest of the night’s notes:

  • The Wizards have recalled rookie Glen Rice Jr. from their D-League affiliate, per a team release. Rice has spent multiple stints with both the D-League and NBA clubs, and has averaged 2.9 points and 9.9 minutes played in 11 games with the Wizards.
  • An NBA scout tells Adam Zagoria that UConn’s DeAndre Daniels ought to declare for this summer’s draft (Twitter links). “He’s playing the best he’s ever played, he might as well go for it,” the scout said. “It elevates his draft stock. He is taking a big step on the biggest stage.”
  • The Magic could have Rookie of the Year candidate Victor Oladipo play on their summer league team in the coming months, coach Jacque Vaughn tells John Denton of Magic.com. While it’s unusual for a player as established as Oladipo to see summer league action, it is being considered as an option in case Orlando decides to continue experimenting with him as a point guard.
  • After going undrafted and spending time in the D-League, Carlon Brown has improved his game overseas, leading the Israeli league in scoring. Brown tells Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders that the path he hopes will lead to an NBA opportunity has been worth it. “Going from college to the D-League to here has definitely been a learning experience, a humbling experience, gratifying to know that my patience and my hard work has paid off,” says Brown. “For me as a person it just lets me know that I’m headed in the right direction, that if I really put my mind to it like I did this summer to change my ways and habits that I can improve and I can dramatically improve my stats and be a better player. Hopefully I can continue to do that.”

International Notes: McGrady, Cooley, Snaer

The NBA free agent market is drying up, leading many players to look for work overseas. Here's the latest from the international scene:

  • Tracy McGrady spent most of 2012/13 in China before hooking on with the Spurs in the final week of the regular season, and he's mulling whether to return to China or seek another NBA deal, according to the Global Times.
  • We heard yesterday that undrafted big man Jack Cooley spurned several training camp invitations from NBA teams for a deal with a Turkish team, and agent Adam Pensack let Shams Charania of RealGM.com know the identity of those clubs, some of whom offered partially guaranteed contracts. The Blazers, Grizzlies, Spurs, Thunder, Nets, Heat, Lakers, Rockets, Pacers and Cavs all wanted to sign Cooley, Pensack says.
  • The Nets also invited Michael Snaer to camp, but Sportando's Enea Trapani hears that he'll sign with Enel Brindisi of Italy instead (Twitter link).
  • report last month indicated that 42nd overall pick Pierre Jackson, whom the Pelicans acquired in the Jrue Holiday trade, would sign with ASVEL Villeurbanne of France, and Jackson added confirmation via Instagram. Tony Parker owns a share of the French team.
  • Shooting guard Carlon Brown was in training camp with the Warriors last fall and spent the season in the D-League, but he'll be overseas for 2013/14, having signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv of Israel. The Israeli league announced the signing via Twitter (hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).

Warriors Waive Four Players

The Warriors have made four cuts, reducing their roster to 15 players with less than a week until the regular season gets underway. Golden State has waived camp invitees Carlon Brown, Lance Goulbourne, Rick Jackson, and Tarence Kinsey, according to a press release from the team.

Golden State began training camp with the maximum 20 players under contract, but released Stefhon Hannah earlier in the month. With 15 players still under contract, the Warriors could be poised to enter the regular season with their current roster. Kent Bazemore is the only player remaining on the team without a fully guaranteed contract, though he has a partial guarantee and seems to be a good bet to make the team.

Warriors Sign Brown, Goulbourne, Jackson, Kinsey

The Warriors have officially signed four free agents, the team announced via press release. Carlon Brown, Lance Goulbourne, Rick Jackson and Tarence Kinsey will all be in camp, and though the team did not disclose the terms, it's likely they all have non-guaranteed minimum-salary deals. The moves put Golden State at 19 players, one short of the maximum number they can bring to camp, with a space left open if the team wishes to complete a deal with Alex Renfroe, who was reportedly close to signing with the team earlier this month.

We heard a report from HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy a week ago that the team had signed Kinsey, so this just makes that move official. Kinsey is the only one of the four with NBA experience, having played parts of three seasons with the Grizzlies and Cavs, the last coming in 2008/09. The 6'6" shooting guard has averaged 4.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per game in 109 NBA contests, with a PER of 11.0. He spent last season with Anadolu Efes in Turkey.

The 6'5" Brown went undrafted out of Colorado this June, averaging 12.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG and 2.0 APG in 28.5 minutes for the Buffaloes in 2011/12. The shooting guard played with the Bobcats in summer league, putting up 9.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG and 1.4 APG in 22.3 MPG. Goulbourne, a 6'8" swingman, also went undrafted out of Vanderbilt this past June, having put up 8.7 PPG and 6.9 RPG in 27.9 MPG in his final season for the Commodores. Neither Brown nor Goulbourne appeared in Chad Ford's list of the Top 100 draft prospects for ESPN.com (Insider only). Jackson, a 6'9" power forward from Syracuse, spent his first pro season last year with Chorale Roanne Basket in France, putting up 8.6 PPG and 5.6 RPG in 17.0 MPG.

The signees figure to compete against each other for the final spot on the regular season roster, since the team already has 14 contracts that are fully guaranteed. A 15th player, Kent Bazemore, has a deal that's partially guaranteed for $25K.