Mavericks Sign Bernard James
The Mavericks have officially signed second-round pick Bernard James, the team announced today in a press release. James was selected 33rd overall in June's draft, one of three players Dallas acquired on draft night from the Cavs in exchange for 17th overall pick Tyler Zeller. His first-year salary of $473,604 will be fully guaranteed, according to Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com.
James is a former Staff Sergeant in the Air Force, having served in Iraq, Afghanastan, and Qatar. His second-round selection provided one of the more memorable moments of draft night, when the Newark audience serenaded him with "U-S-A" chants. In five games for the Mavericks' Summer League team in Las Vegas, the 6'10" Florida State product nearly averaged a double-double, with 10.9 PPG, 9.0 RPG, and 2.6 BPG.
2011/12 Taxpaying Teams
While teams get their books in order for the 2012/13 season, navigating the salary cap and the luxury tax threshold, Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com takes a look back at the league's 2011/12 finances. Deeks shares the official list of teams that paid the luxury tax in 2011/12, along with the amount each club paid. The list is as follows:
- Los Angeles Lakers: $12,557,264
- Boston Celtics: $7,365,867
- Miami Heat: $6,129,340
- Dallas Mavericks: $2,738,843
- San Antonio Spurs: $2,514,275
- Atlanta Hawks: $666,199
The more punitive luxury-tax penalties introduced in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement have yet to kick in, so the tax penalties for the aforementioned six teams come by way of the old system — teams are penalized $1 for every dollar they spend over the tax line. In 2011/12, that tax line was at $70,307,000, so the Hawks, for instance, spent $70,973,199 on their roster.
Tax penalties for 2012/13 will remain the same as in 2011/12, but next offseason the CBA's increased restrictions take effect in earnest. In the summer of 2013, teams over the luxury tax line are ineligible to acquire players in sign-and-trade deals, while clubs that exceed the tax threshold for the 2013/14 season will pay an incremental rate based on team salary.
Odds & Ends: Celtics, Hawks, Miles, Brewer
- With only four players remaining on the Hawks roster from last season, new general manager Danny Ferry has managed to clean his team's salary structure while keeping hopes high for the future, writes HoopsWorld.com's Lang Greene.
- C.J. Miles, a free agent who most expected to have found a new team by now, will meet with the Cavaliers this week, writes The Dallas Morning News' Eddie Sefko.
- The Timberwolves made Ronnie Brewer a "generous" offer, but the free agent forward decided to sign with the Knicks instead, according to TwinCities.com's Ray Richardson.
- Before signing A.J. Price, the Wizards were interested in signing Jonny Flynn to be John Wall's backup, but decided against it, writes the Washington Post's Michael Lee.
- ESPNNewYork.com's Jared Zwerling breaks down the Knicks decision to acquire Ronnie Brewer and Pablo Prigioni.
- Mavericks second-round pick Bernard James is expected to sign a contract with the team in the next day or two, reports ESPNDallas.com's Jeff Caplan.
- The Trail Blazers reportedly interviewed as many as 10 candidates to fill their empty head coach position in Las Vegas last week, but have yet to contact any of them to say they were advancing to a second round of discussion, according to The Oregonian's Jason Quick. The process remains in its infant stage.
- Agent Mark Bartelstein tells Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle that he hopes Carl Landry and Dominic McGuire will make decisions in the next few days. Those two players, including free agent Brandon Rush, could be part of the Warriors' plan moving forward (Sulia links).
Lakers Interested In Delonte West
The Lakers are interested in signing free agent Delonte West, according to ESPNLosAngeles.com's Dave McMenamin. The 29-year-old West spent last year in Dallas, where he averaged 9.6 PPG and 3.2 APG in 44 games. The team views him as a versatile guard who can fill an important role backing up both Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash.
Los Angeles still has its mini mid-level exception to use, which allows the team to sign someone to a first-year salary of $3.09MM, but Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has said there's a chance his club doesn't use it. If this in fact turns out to be the case, expect the Lakers to offer West a one-year offer at the veteran's minimum (about $1.2MM, in West's case).
Earlier today, Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson said he was in negotiations with West, and that he hoped the two parties could work something out. Throughout his eight-year career, West has been involved in several on- and off-court incidents that have prevented him from signing long-term deals with one franchise. The Lakers would be his fifth team.
Mavs Notes: Free Agency, West, Stotts, Kaman
Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson appeared on fishbowlnetworkradio.com on Monday, speaking about a number of topics related to his team's offseason. As Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star Telegram writes, Nelson says Deron Williams was the key to the Mavericks' summer — Nelson believes the Mavs would have re-signed Jason Terry and Jason Kidd if Williams had chosen Dallas. Those are interest comments, since Terry and Kidd both had huge cap holds on the Mavs' books. If Dallas hoped to re-sign both players at reasonable rates, the team couldn't have renounced its rights to either player, which means there would have been no cap room for Williams. Perhaps a sign-and-trade could have been worked out with the Nets if D-Will had chosen the Mavs.
In any case, Nelson also weighed in a few more issues, so let's round up the highlights….
- The Mavericks have two open roster spots, and rookie Bernard James is expected to take one of the two. Delonte West could re-sign and take the other spot, but that's no certainty, as Nelson points out: "There’s also an argument for keeping that last roster spot open, because sometimes you get lucky towards the end of the summer." The GM adds that the Mavs are still in negotiations with West and are hopeful that they'll work something out.
- Nelson feels like assistant coach Terry Stotts is a great head coach candidate, and says the team is prepared to lose him if the Trail Blazers decide to hire him.
- According to Nelson, Chris Kaman was at or near the top of the team's list of free agent targets after D-Will. The GM expects Dirk Nowitzki to benefit significantly from Kaman's presence.
- Mavs owner Mark Cuban also spoke to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com about the offseason and the new CBA, pointing out that he wants his team to avoid the luxury tax not necessary for financial reasons but because taxpaying teams will face significant restrictions on roster moves starting next summer.
Terry Stotts Interviews With Trail Blazers
Mavericks assistant coach Terry Stotts has become a candidate for Portland's head coach position, writes ESPNDallas.com's Tim MacMahon. Stotts interviewed with Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey on Tuesday, and is expected to get a second interview.
The 54-year-old Stotts joined Dallas' coaching staff in 2008, and has previous head coaching experience with the Hawks and Bucks, sporting a 114-168 record with both organizations. Several assistant coaches have reportedly been interviewed by the Trail Blazers over the last few weeks, including Michael Malone, Adrian Griffin, Elston Turner, Lester Connor, Brian Shaw, David Joerger, Mike Budenholzer, Phil Weber, Patrick Ewing, and Steve Clifford.
Odds & Ends: Maggette, Kirilenko, Harrington
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban spoke about his team's offseason moves during the broadcast of a summer league game on Friday, reports Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Cuban expressed lament over Dallas' inability to sign Deron Williams, but is confident that his roster has a strong young nucleus heading into next season. "… We can keep these guys, let them jell and play together, build around Dirk and have room for hopefully someone to come or to trade or whatever happens." Here's the latest news and happenings from around the league…
- Corey Maggette says he's ready to mentor the younger players on the Pistons roster after arriving in Detroit via trade from Charlotte this offseason, writes Stephen Brotherston of HoopsWorld. The 32-year-old former Duke star's benefit to the franchise will be to serve as a leader for head coach Lawrence Frank both on and off the court. "I am very happy to be there," Maggette said. "I have been following the team for a long time going back to the Detroit Pistons with the ‘Bad Boys’ and Joe Dumars, who is the president right now. This is a great opportunity."
- Nets general manager Billy King told FOX Sports Radio on Saturday that Brooklyn is in talks with Andrei Kirilenko to fill one of its two remaining roster spots, according to NetsDaily.com. King said Kirilenko looked strong while playing in Europe and would be a good fit for the Nets at the forward position. "We got a couple guys we're talking to. Nazr Mohammed is visiting now in New Jersey with his wife. We'd like to sign him as a back-up and then … We're talking to Kirilenko."
- Nuggets forward Al Harrington spoke to InsideHoops.com about his recovery from three different surgeries and his hopes to be healthy enough to play on opening night of the regular season.
Mavericks Sign Jared Cunningham
The Mavericks have signed 24th overall pick Jared Cunningham, the team has announced. Terms weren't disclosed, but if he signs for 120% of his rookie scale amount, as most first-round draft picks do, he'll make a first-year salary of $1,156,320.
The 6'5" shooting guard averaged 17.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists, and made 45.0% of his shots from the floor in his junior season at Oregon State in 2011/12.
Odds & Ends: Nets, Lakers, Felton, Sixers
ESPN's Chris Broussard (video link) ran down his winners and losers of the NBA offseason thus far and the Nets top his list thanks in large part to their acquisition of Joe Johnson. The Lakers are also in the winners circle after landing Steve Nash and Antawn Jamison. Later, Broussard puts the Mavericks in the losers category as they failed to sign Deron Williams or trade for Dwight Howard. Here's more from around the league..
- Chris Bernucca of Sheridan Hoops recaps the Lakers' offseason and dismisses talk of Nash and Kobe Bryant clashing stylistically. However, he notes that the training staff in Los Angeles will have to pull the same kind of magic as the Suns staff did in order to keep the aging point guard healthy.
- Point guard Raymond Felton is looking to revitalize his career with the Knicks, writes Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. The 28-year-old was less-than-stellar in the first half of the year with Portland but showed promise after coach Nate McMillan was fired, averaging 14.4 PPG on 46.3% shooting with 7.7 APG.
- The Sixers did a solid job of addressing their lack of size in the frontcourt this offseason and improved their team overall this summer, opined Charles Barkley in an interview with CSNPhilly.
Odds & Ends: Nowitzki, Collison, Humphries, Hill
NBA superstars are often reluctant to take a back seat to anyone, but that's just what Mavs coach Rick Carlisle wants to see Dirk Nowitzki do. For the Mavs to contend for a championship again, someone other than Nowitzki must be the best player on the team, Carlisle told radio station 1070 the Fan in Indianapolis (via the Dallas Morning News). Of course, after missing out on Deron Williams, it doesn't appear like Nowitzki will have to relinquish his status as the team's alpha dog any time soon, unless Dallas somehow jumps to the forefront of Dwight Howard trade talk. We've got more news and analysis from around the league here:
- Mark Bartelstein, the agent for Warriors free agents Brandon Rush and Dominic McGuire, will speak with Wolves GM David Kahn this weekend, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.
Earlier updates:
- Carlisle, in the same interview, also said he's excited to see what the extra motivation of a contract year will do for the play of point guard Darren Collison, acquired in a trade with the Pacers.
- Brian Kamenetzky of ESPNLosAngeles.com looks at the effect re-signing Jordan Hill will have on the Lakers. He also notes that the team doesn't have any money committed beyond 2013/14, except for the final season of Steve Nash's contract.
- Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News examines how agent Dan Fegan patiently waited for the market to turn in favor of client Kris Humphries, who re-signed with the Nets on a two-year, $24MM deal, taking advantage of the team's inability to acquire Dwight Howard.
- With Humphries, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace and Brook Lopez, the Nets are believed to be first team with five players making at least $10MM a year, writes Chris Bernucca of SheridanHoops.com.
- The Spurs are high on 6'9" free agent Eric Dawson, who signed a pair of ten-day contracts with the team last season, and he's a candidate to return, says Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. It might be tough for him to make the team right out of camp, though, since the team already has five big men under contract, as McDonald notes (Twitterlinks).
- The offseason is only a few weeks old, but Ben Golliver already has a list of free agency winners and losers on CBSSports.com. The Heat, Nets, Pacers, Lakers, Mavs and Nuggets have come out on top, Golliver says, while the Magic, Knicks, Bulls, Suns, Rockets and Trail Blazers didn't fare so well.