Pistons Sign Gigi Datome
JULY 15TH, 10:50am: The Pistons have officially signed Datome, according to the team's official Twitter feed.
JULY 9TH, 10:54am: Datome's deal with the Pistons will be for two years and $3.5MM, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). That means he'll be signed using either cap space or a portion of the team's room exception.
10:42am: Italian forward Luigi "Gigi" Datome has announced via Facebook that he has decided to sign with the Pistons (hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). It's not clear what the terms of the agreement are, but Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press says the news is "legit," and suggests a two-year deal is likely (Twitter links). Here's Datome's Facebook post, converted to English via Google Translate, so there may be a few details lost in translation:
"I decided to become a player for the Detroit Pistons. I think it may be the right place for me to make a quantum leap in my career and to fulfill the dream of a lifetime. I am very excited to join the group of players in Detroit. I want to thank my family, the President Toti, all Virtus Roma and with it his fans for their continued support and wish to Virtus the best for the future."
Datome, 25, has spent the last several seasons playing for Virtus Roma in Italy. In 48 games during the 2012/13 season, the small forward averaged 16.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and shot 51.5% from the field, earning MVP honors in the Italian League.
Even after reaching agreements with Josh Smith and Will Bynum, the Pistons should still have some room under the cap, so I'd expect Datome to be signed using a portion of that space, rather than on a minimum-salary deal.
Pistons Re-Sign Will Bynum
JULY 15TH: The Pistons have made the Bynum signing official, the club announced today on Twitter.
JULY 8TH: The Pistons are set to re-sign Will Bynum, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The deal is worth $5.75MM in total over two seasons, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com (via Twitter).
Earlier today, we learned that Detroit put an offer out to the point guard and it would appear that both sides decided to move quickly towards an agreement. The 30-year-old has spent the last five years of his career with the Pistons and is coming off of a season in which he averaged 9.8 PPG and 3.6 APG in 18.8 minutes per contest.
Detroit has been targeting a number of free agent point guards, including Bynum, Jose Calderon (who has signed with the Mavs), and Chauncey Billups. The Knicks were also eyeing Bynum, but they'll have to look elsewhere for a one guard.
Pistons Trying To Land Rajon Rondo
The Pistons are interested in acquiring Rajon Rondo, and they'd like to package Brandon Knight and an expiring contract in a deal with the Celtics to get him, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes in his weekly league roundup. Still, that offer wouldn't come close to prying the point guard from Boston, Washburn notes.
It's not the first time we've heard the Pistons connected to Rondo. Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News said earler this month that the team would likely be at the front of the line if Boston makes its All-Star available, echoing a report from Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that the Pistons have made their interest clear. Celtics GM Danny Ainge insists he won't move Rondo this summer in spite of the departure of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and coach Doc Rivers, the team's other cornerstones.
Rondo, 27, is recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in late January, and he seems likely to miss the early portion of this coming season. He's locked up through 2015 on a team-friendly contract that will pay him $11,954,545 in 2013/14. Knight is entering the third season of his rookie-scale contract, and the Pistons have a pair of sizable expiring deals to pair with him. Charlie Villanueva and Rodney Stuckey are set to make about $8.5MM each. Detroit isn't planning on using the amnesty clause to get rid of Villanueva, which would allow the team to use him as a trade chip this season.
The Celtics acquired three first-round picks in their trade with the Nets, but Washburn writes that the Pistons couldn't add to Boston's haul of first-rounders. Detroit owes the Bobcats a first-round pick, and the protection attached to it extends through 2016. The Ted Stepien Rule, which prevents teams from trading first-round picks in consecutive seasons, would prevent the Pistons from sending out a first-rounder in one of the next few drafts, but I think they could give up a 2018 or 2019 first-round pick, if the Celtics are interested.
Odds & Ends: Clippers, Heat, Blazers, Pistons
Here’s today’s look around the Association..
- Eric Patten of NBA.com sat down with colleague Scott Howard-Cooper and chatted about the Clippers. So far, Howard-Cooper gives the club high marks for the offseason that they’ve had. Their sole objective this summer was to retain Chris Paul, and they got him to sign by landing Doc Rivers as coach. While J.J. Redick is getting a lot of attention, he also notes that Darren Collison is a smart signing at a very reasonable price.
- Even though the Heat say that they don’t plan to use the amnesty clause on anyone, their stated openness to using the taxpayer mid-level exception makes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel think that they might amnesty someone. Adding a player at the taxpayer midlevel right now would cost around $15MM total for next season, so they’d likely look to ease their tax bill if they went that route.
- Trail Blazers General Manager Neil Olshey told reporters that Dorell Wright was the top wing the team targeted in free agency, writes Mike Richman of OregonLive.com. Portland signed Wright to a two-year, $6MM deal earlier this month.
- The Pistons wisely showed restraint during this summer’s free agent frenzy, writes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
Pistons Release Kim English
The Pistons have released second-year guard Kim English, tweets Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Detroit reached an agreement with Chauncey Billups earlier today, further maxing out the roster and making English the odd man out.
A 24-year-old Missouri product, English played 41 games for the Pistons last season and also spent some time in the D-League. Overall, he averaged 2.9 PPG over 9.9 minutes. English was drafted a year ago by Detroit with the 14th pick of the second round, which made the second year of his deal unguaranteed.
The 2013/14 season on English's contract would have become fully guaranteed had he not been waived on or before July 12th. Assuming he clears waivers, he'll become an unrestricted free agent.
Mavericks Sign Jose Calderon
JULY 11th: The Mavericks announced today, via press release, that they have officially signed Calderon.
JULY 5th: The Mavs and point guard Jose Calderon have agreed to a four-year deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Marc Stein of ESPN.com originally reported the two sides were closing in on the deal (Twitter link). Chris Broussard of ESPN.com hears that Calderon will get a total of $29MM (on Twitter). The move appears to be the team's first step along its "Plan B" after missing out on Dwight Howard.
Calderon is leaving the Pistons, who acquired him as part of the Rudy Gay trade in January. The team had sought to re-sign him, but his decision to go to Dallas was a matter of timing, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News (Twitter link). The deal is fully guaranteed, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com, who adds that Calderon seriously considered a pitch from the Kings as well. The veteran point guard also showed interest in the Lakers, though it's not clear whether L.A. reciprocated that interest.
The 31-year-old saw his assists per game fall to 7.1 this season after averaging close to nine per game the previous two years, but he remains one the league's canniest distributors. His 11.3 points per game in 2012/13 were the second most of his career, behind only the 12.8 PPG he notched in 2008/09.
Pistons Won’t Use Amnesty Provision
The Pistons won't use their amnesty provision this year, a source tells TNT's David Aldridge (Twitter link). As I noted in our amnesy primer, Charlie Villanueva and Greg Monroe were Detroit's only remaining eligible players, and Monroe wasn't going anywhere, so this news essentially means that Villanueva is safe.
Aldridge notes that the likely reason for the decision is to ensure that team salary exceeds the required $52.8MM floor, but the salary of amnestied players still counts for floor calculations, so I don't think that's it.
Perhaps Detroit simply just has little incentive to pay Villanueva to play elsewhere, especially since the cap room the move would create probably wouldn't be used to sign anyone else. When you take into account all the players the Pistons have signed or will sign, plus their drafted players, there are 17 guys in the mix for 15 roster spots, so further additions seem unlikely. Villanueva's expiring $8.58MM deal could also be used to facilitate a trade later on in the season.
Because Villanueva and Monroe are both entering the final year of their respective contracts, this decision, if it's final, means Detroit won't use its amnesty clause during the course of the 2011 CBA.
Odds & Ends: Johnson, Blair, Mavs, Deng, Jazz
Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars introduced free agent signee Josh Smith to the media today, but Dumars says he isn't done upgrading the roster, as Rod Beard of the Detroit News observes. The team also brought Rasheed Wallace aboard as an assistant coach this week, providing a link to its championship past. Here's more from the rest of the league as teams and players covet the Larry O'Brien trophy:
- Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution hears Ivan Johnson is drawing interest from several teams, including the Hawks (Twitter link). Atlanta declined to offer Johnson a qualifying offer this summer, but the team can still re-sign him as an unrestricted free agent. Johnson let go of agent Larry Williams last week.
- The Mavs have "poked around" free agent DeJuan Blair, as Jeff Caplan of NBA.com tweets, so it appears the club may have some level of interest. The team is focusing on its frontcourt, and GM Donnie Nelson doesn't think the Mavs will be bringing on any more guards, as Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram notes at the end of his roundup.
- Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com thinks the Mavs should have been more willing to take a risk on Andrew Bynum.
- An NBA GM from outside the Bulls organization tells Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com that Luol Deng could command between $11MM and $12MM on the open market next summer. Deng and the Bulls appear to be working toward an extension (Twitter link).
- The Jazz may have had "different conversations with Mo Williams" if the team hadn't wound up with Trey Burke on draft night, GM Dennis Lindsey told reporters today, including Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (Twitter link).
- Royce White, who's headed to the Sixers via trade, intends to play for the team, but is still reluctant to make frequent flights, as he tells Randy Peterson of the Des Moines Register (link via USA Today).
Renounced Players: Wednesday
As teams clear cap space to finalize signings and trades, it may mean renouncing Early Bird or Bird rights to their own free agents, in order to remove cap holds from the books. Once a player is renounced, his previous team has no more claim to him that any other team — he could still be re-signed, but it would have to be done using cap space or an exception. Some of those decisions are more notable than others, but for completion's sake, we'll track the latest of these cap-clearing moves right here:
- Mo Williams is the most prominent name among the several whose rights the Jazz renounced today, according to the RealGM transaction log. Al Jefferson, DeMarre Carroll and Earl Watson, who already have deals to join other teams, are also on the list, as are the long-retired Brevin Knight and Greg Ostertag.
- Bobcats are set to re-sign Josh McRoberts, but they won't be using their Early Bird rights to do so, as they've renounced his rights, RealGM shows. The team also renounced their rights to Reggie Williams, who's heading to the Rockets, and it cut ties with DeSagana Diop, Byron Mullens and Jannero Pargo, too.
- Golden State will sign Jermaine O'Neal, so the Suns have renounced his rights, as well as their rights to Wesley Johnson and Diante Garrett, as RealGM notes.
Earlier updates:
- The Hawks have cleared out unwanted cap holds from their books, renouncing their rights to Hilton Armstrong, Erick Dampier, Devin Harris, Dahntay Jones, Randolph Morris, Zaza Pachulia, Johan Petro, Josh Smith, and Etan Thomas, according to RealGM.com's transactions log.
- RealGM.com also has the Trail Blazers renouncing multiple players, including Luke Babbitt, J.J. Hickson, Eric Maynor, and Nolan Smith.
- Most interestingly, according to RealGM.com, the Bucks have renounced their rights to Monta Ellis. That doesn't necessarily preclude a sign-and-trade, but it would mean the team would have to use cap space rather than Ellis' Bird rights to accommodate a deal.
- The Pelicans have renounced their rights to Louis Amundson, Xavier Henry, and Roger Mason Jr., the team announced today in a press release.
- In order to clear cap room for their signings, the Pistons renounced Will Bynum, Jose Calderon, Vernon Macklin, Corey Maggette, Jason Maxiell, and Ben Wallace, according to RealGM's transactions log. The Pistons plan to re-sign Bynum, but removing his $6MM+ cap hold and signing him to a smaller figure using cap space makes the most sense.
- After renouncing their rights to Chauncey Billups and Lamar Odom, the Clippers have also renounced Bobby Simmons, according to RealGM.com's transactions log.
Pelicans, Kings, Blazers Agree To Three-Way Deal
7:15pm: The Kings press release on the deal has Sacramento acquiring Vasquez from the Pelicans in exchange for Evans. The Kings also say they wind up with a 2016 second-round pick and future second-round considerations, presumably from the Blazers.
6:43pm: The Blazers announced their part, with Lopez and Harris coming from the Pelicans in exchange for Jeff Withey, future second-round draft considerations, and cash.
JULY 10TH, 6:12pm: The Pelicans have confirmed their end of the trade, via press release. They acquire Evans and Withey, send Lopez and Harris to the Blazers, and ship Vasquez to the Kings.
JULY 4TH, 6:04pm: Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Portland will send Jeff Withey to the Pelicans and a future second round pick to the Kings as part of the three-team deal (Twitter links).
4:44pm: ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports (via Twitter) that Terrel Harris, who is on a non-guaranteed contract, will also be sent to the Blazers in the deal. Meanwhile, Portland will pay Lopez's 15% trade kicker, which will be worth about $1.57MM in total, spread equally across the next two seasons. Stein adds that Sacramento will be receiving two second-round picks from the Blazers, rather than one.
4:39pm: The Pelicans will receive cash and future draft picks from the Blazers in the deal, tweets John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Sam Amick of USA Today adds (via Twitter) that the Kings will also receive a future second-rounder from Portland.
3:55pm: The Pelicans, Kings, and Trail Blazers have verbally agreed to a three-way deal that will make Tyreke Evans a Pelican, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter). The deal will send Evans to the Pelicans, Robin Lopez to the Trail Blazers, and Greivis Vasquez to the Kings, with the Blazers sending out picks and cash, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
Evans had been preparing to sign a four-year, $44MM offer sheet with New Orleans, so rather than lose him for nothing, the Kings decided to negotiate a sign-and-trade deal. The Pelicans had been motivated to move Lopez in order to make room under the cap for their offer to Evans, so involving the two players in the same deal made sense. Meanwhile, with New Orleans putting together a backcourt that will feature Evans, Jrue Holiday, and Eric Gordon, Vasquez was the odd man out, making him expendable as well.
Sacramento agreed to complete the three-way deal with the Blazers and Pelicans after Jose Calderon passed on an opportunity to sign with the team. According to Wojnarowski, the Kings wanted to sign Calderon and flip Vasquez to another team, but the Spaniard decided he didn't want to be part of a full-blown rebuild in Sacramento. Calderon will continue to negotiate with other teams, including the Pistons, tweets Wojnarowski.
As for the Pelicans, they get their man in Evans and figure to use him off the bench in a Manu Ginobili-type role, behind a starting backcourt of Holiday and Gordon. It's not clear where the cash and picks coming from the Blazers are headed, but I would guess the Pelicans will acquire something from Portland, since New Orleans is sending out multiple players in the move.
For Sacramento, the deal gives the team the opportunity to regain some value for Evans, and Vasquez's modest $2.15MM salary will allow the club to retain plenty of cap space to pursue other players. The Kings previously withdrew a four-year offer for Andre Iguodala, but should still have the flexibility to pursue Iguodala again, if they so choose. Sacramento may also get in on those draft and cash considerations from Portland, though we'll have to wait for further word.
Meanwhile, the Blazers continue to make use of their summer cap space by making trades rather than signing free agents, as Lopez will be absorbed using the team's room under the cap. Portland also agreed to acquire Thomas Robinson from the Rockets without including any outgoing salary. At the moment, only $500K of Lopez's 2013/14 salary is guaranteed, but the next two years of his contract will become guaranteed this weekend, since he won't be waived by tomorrow. He'll earn $5.12MM next season and $5.34MM in '14/15.
The three teams will be able to finalize the transaction when the July moratorium lifts next Wednesday.