DeQuan Jones

Pacers Waive Three Players

A busy Saturday on the NBA transactions wire continues, with the Pacers announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived training camp invitees DeQuan Jones, Trey McKinney-Jones, and Ben Moore.

The series of roster moves for the Pacers should set up the club for the regular season, barring any further transactions. Indiana is currently carrying the maximum 17 players — 15 on NBA contracts and two on two-way deals.

With no additional cuts necessary, two players without fully guaranteed contracts – Jarrod Uthoff and Damien Wilkins – appears poised to open the season with the Pacers.

As for the three players who are now on waivers, McKinney-Jones is a veteran of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and seems like a good bet to return to the Pacers’ G League squad. Moore may also end up there as an affiliate player, but it’s not clear if Jones will land in Fort Wayne — he previously played for the Reno Bighorns in the G League, and I believe Reno still holds his returning rights.

Pacers Sign DeQuan Jones To Camp Deal

SEPTEMBER 7: The Pacers have officially signed Jones, per RealGM’s log of NBA transactions.

SEPTEMBER 6: DeQuan Jones will sign a training camp deal with the Pacers, tweets Chris Reichert of 2 Ways and 10 Days.

The 27-year-old small forward has previous NBA experience with the Magic in 2012/13. He appeared in 63 games, averaging 3.7 points in 12.7 minutes per night.

Jones has a history with the Pacers, playing for their entry in the Orlando Summer League in 2014. He was with the Hawks for training camp last fall, but was cut before the season started and signed with the Chiba Jets in Japan. He later joined Lille Métropole in France. Jones has also played in Italy and the G League.

Hawks To Waive Earl Barron, DeQuan Jones

The Hawks are waiving center Earl Barron and combo forward DeQuan Jones, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports (Twitter link). The team has yet to make an official announcement, though Vivlamore indicates the moves have already taken place. Both players came to camp on non-guaranteed deals, so Atlanta won’t be responsible for any salary as a result of these moves. The team’s roster count will drop to 15 players, which is the regular season maximum, once these two cuts become official.

The 34-year-old Barron’s 16 games with the Suns in 2014/15 were the most he had played in an NBA season since 2010/11, when he totaled 21 appearances split among three teams. The center’s best season was 2007/08, when he appeared in 46 contests, and 15 of them as a member of the starting lineup, for the Heat. The big man’s career numbers through 140 regular season NBA contests are 4.6 points and 3.5 rebounds to go along with a slash line of .371/.167/.702.

Jones, 25, went undrafted out of Miami back in 2012. He then secured a training camp invite from the Magic which he parlayed into a regular season roster spot for the 2012/13 campaign. Jones made 63 appearances for Orlando that season, including 17 starts, and averaged 3.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.3 assists to go along with a slash line of .436/.257/.667. The forward spent the 2014/15 season with Pallacanestro Cantù of the Lega Basket Serie A.

Hawks Officially Sign Three For Camp

The Hawks have officially signed Earl Barron, DeQuan Jones and Edgar Sosa, the team announced via a press release. All three moves were expected, and though only Sosa’s pact was reported to be non-guaranteed, neither Jones’ or Barron‘s deals are likely to include any guaranteed salary, though that is merely my speculation. Atlanta now has the preseason maximum of 19 players on its roster. This number doesn’t include swingman Jason Richardson, who announced his retirement on Thursday.

The 34-year-old Barron hadn’t drawn much interest in free agency this summer, as our rumors page for him indicates, but he’s shown a knack for making his way onto NBA rosters despite limited playing time. Last season’s 16 games with the Suns were the most Barron had played in an NBA season since 2010/11, when he totaled 21 appearances split among three teams. The center’s best season was 2007/08, when he appeared in 46 contests, and 15 of them as a member of the starting lineup, for the Heat.

Jones, 25, went undrafted out of Miami back in 2012. He then secured a training camp invite from the Magic which he parlayed into a regular season roster spot for the 2012/13 campaign. Jones made 63 appearances for Orlando that season, including 17 starts, and averaged 3.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.3 assists to go along with a slash line of .436/.257/.667. The forward spent the 2014/15 season with Pallacanestro Cantù of the Lega Basket Serie A.

Sosa, 27, went undrafted out of Louisville back in 2010 after posting career NCAA numbers of 9.7 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. He joined the Pistons summer league entry that season, but he ended up signing overseas with the Italian club Angelico Biella. The point guard spent the 2014/15 campaign playing for Dinamo Sassari in Italy. Sosa’s numbers last season were 10.7 PPG, 1.5 RPG, and 3.5 APG to accompany a slash line of .387/.320/.789.

Hawks To Sign DeQuan Jones

The Hawks have agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent small forward DeQuan Jones, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports (on Twitter). The length and terms of the agreement are not known, but Charania referred to it as a training camp deal, meaning that it is likely a minimum salary arrangement that includes little or no guaranteed money, though that is merely my speculation.

The 25-year-old went undrafted out of Miami back in 2012. He then secured a training camp invite from the Magic which he parlayed into a regular season roster spot for the 2012/13 campaign. Jones made 63 appearances for Orlando that season, including 17 starts, and averaged 3.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.3 assists to go along with a slash line of .436/.257/.667. The forward spent the 2014/15 season with Pallacanestro Cantù of the Lega Basket Serie A.

The addition of Jones will give Atlanta a roster count of 18 players, including 13 possessing fully guaranteed pacts. Jones will compete for a regular season roster spot with Terran Petteway, Jason Richardson, and Lamar Pattersonthough he certainly will be considered a longshot to make the final cut at the end of the preseason.

Kings Waive DeQuan Jones, Brandon Heath

12:20pm: The Kings have confirmed in a press release that the team has cut Jones and Heath.

8:32am: We heard yesterday that the Kings’ first round of roster counts would arrive soon, and according to Jonathan Santiago of Cowbell Kingdom, that decision has already been made. While the team hasn’t confirmed the moves yet, Santiago reports (via Twitter) that Sacramento has released camp invitees DeQuan Jones and Brandon Heath.

Jones, 23, recorded averages of 3.7 PPG, 1.7 RPG, and an 8.4 PER as an undrafted rookie last season for the Magic. Heath, who went undrafted out of San Diego State in 2007, played for Lukoil Academic in Bulgaria in 2012/13, averaging 12.0 PPG and 4.7 APG in 39 contests. Both players appeared very briefly in a single preseason game for the Kings.

Once the Kings make the two cuts official, their roster count will be down to 16 players. 14 of those guys have guaranteed contracts, and Trent Lockett has a partial guarantee on his deal, making him the odds-on favorite to be the club’s 15th man. Hamady N’Diaye also remains under contract, on a non-guaranteed deal.

Kings Sign DeQuan Jones

The Kings have added another player to their training camp roster, signing DeQuan Jones, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com (via Twitter). Jones' contract will be fully non-guaranteed, Deeks adds in a second tweet.

Jones, 23, went undrafted in June 2012, but signed with the Magic as a free agent, and ended up earning a rotation spot with the team, starting 17 of his 63 contests in his rookie season. After the 6'8" forward recorded averages of 3.7 PPG, 1.7 RPG, and an 8.4 PER, Orlando decided against tendering him a qualifying offer that would have made him a restricted free agent.

Sacramento's roster count now stands at 16 players, including 14 guaranteed contracts. In addition to Jones' non-guaranteed deal, the team is carrying Trent Lockett on a partially guaranteed contract. That partial guarantee may give Lockett the upper hand on the team's final roster spot, but it's only worth $35K, so it shouldn't be a difference-maker if Jones or another invitee outperforms him in the preseason. C.J. Aiken is also expected to participate in Kings camp.

Southeast Notes: Jones, Magic, Harrington

When the Magic declined to tender a qualifying offer to DeQuan Jones last month, that left open the possibility that the team could re-sign him as unrestricted free agent.  However, Jones spoke with Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, who says that the Magic told him that won't happen.  In 12.7 minutes per contest last season, the University of Miami product averaged 3.7 PPG and 1.7 RPG.  Here's more out of the Southeast Division..

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Odds & Ends: Howard, Haslem, Mavericks

Dwight Howard's upcoming courtship with a host of teams, both longshots and more realistic destinations, is the talk of the league tonight and probably will be moving forward as we come up on the start of the NBA's free agency period, starting with the July moratorium from the 1st to the 9th. 

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports put a column up earlier tonight stipulating that Howard's first discussion will be with a large, and star-studded coterie of the Rockets' former Hall-of-Famers, current stars, coaches and executives, but next up will be with the Warriors and Hawks on Monday and Mavericks and Lakers on Tuesday.

ESPNLosAngeles.com's Arash Markazi believes it'll be former coach, Phil Jackson, and his fiancee Jeanie Buss, who could be the final piece as to whether or not Howard stays with the Lakers or leaves for one of the other teams with the cap room to absorb a max deal (Twitter). Phil recently met with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak, but both remained tight-lipped about what they discussed in that meeting (Twitter). 

Let's look at more from Howard and others from around the league in yet another helter-skelter night in the NBA:

DeQuan Jones To Become Unrestricted Free Agent

The Magic have decided against making a $988,872 qualifying offer to DeQuan Jones, meaning he'll become an unrestricted free agent Monday, tweets Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Jones will play for the Magic's summer league team, as Robbins notes via Twitter, so he may still wind up re-signing with Orlando.

The undrafted Jones made the Magic roster out of training camp, and surprisingly emerged as a starter early in the season. The small forward from the University of Miami averaged 3.7 points on 43.6% shooting in 12.7 minutes per game for the Magic this past season.

Jones made the minimum salary in 2012/13, and I'd be surprised if he signed for more than the minimum this summer. His QO would have been for slightly more than the minimum, and if the Magic had given it to him, he probably wouldn't have received better offers.