Jonathan Holmes To Play Overseas
Forward Jonathan Holmes is headed overseas, having agreed to a contract with FC Barcelona, the team announced (translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). The dollar amount of the arrangement is unknown, but the pact is for two months with an option for the remainder of the season, per the release.
Holmes spent the preseason with the Cavaliers, appearing in six contests and averaging 9.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 17.4 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .489/.333/1.000. The forward was waived by Cleveland on October 20th and was seemingly ticked for the Canton Charge of the NBA D-League after Cleveland named him as one of its affiliate players.
The 23-year-old, who played his college ball at Texas, went undrafted in 2015 after his final season with the Longhorns. He joined the Lakers for training camp, and suffered a dislocated right shoulder before the season began. While the injury sidelined him for the next several months, it did ensure that he earned his full salary for the 2015/16 from Los Angeles. Holmes’ minimum salary deal with the Cavs this season was non-guaranteed, so he’s not collecting any salary after being cut by the team.
NBA D-League Affiliate Players For 2016/17
Throughout the offseason, and in the weeks leading up to the start of the regular season, NBA teams are permitted to carry 20 players, but that total must be cut down to 15 in advance of opening night. However, up to four players waived by teams before the season can be designated as affiliate players and assigned to their D-League squads.
The players have some say in the decision — if they’d prefer to sign with a team overseas, or if they get an opportunity with another NBA club, they’re free to turn down their team’s request to have them play in the D-League. Most NBA and international teams have fairly set rosters by late October though, so having the opportunity to continue playing in the same system is appealing to many of those preseason cuts. Especially since they’ll maintain NBA free agency while they play in the D-League.
There are a few other rules related to D-League affiliate players. A player whose returning rights are held by a D-League team can’t be an affiliate player for another club, which is why undrafted free agents from the current year are commonly signed and assigned. Additionally, an affiliate player must have signed with his team during the current league year, which explains why we often see players signed and quickly waived in the days leading up to the regular season. And, of course, not every NBA team has a D-League affiliate, so clubs like the Hawks, Nuggets, or Clippers have no place to send affiliate players.
With all that in mind, here are the NBA D-League affiliate players to start the 2016/17 season:
Austin Spurs (San Antonio Spurs)
Canton Charge (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Delaware 87ers (Philadelphia 76ers)
Community Shootaround: NBA’s Undefeated Teams
The 2016/17 NBA season is now eight days old, and already 25 teams have suffered at least one loss, leaving just five undefeated teams. The Thunder, Clippers, Bulls, and Hawks are 3-0, while the Cavaliers are 4-0.
Of those five clubs, the Cavaliers and Clippers were expected to be title contenders this year, so their hot starts don’t come as a real surprise. However, the other three remaining undefeated franchises had more question marks entering the season. The Thunder and Hawks lost top free agents this summer, in Kevin Durant and Al Horford, and the Bulls’ roster construction led many observers to question whether they’d have enough shooting and spacing to be effective on offense.
While three or four games is hardly enough of a sample size to draw definitive conclusions about any NBA team, it’s worth keeping an eye out for early signs of potential surprises. So today’s Community Shootaround discussion questions center around these five clubs.
Which of the NBA’s five remaining undefeated teams do you think will continue to rank among the league’s elite? Are the Cavs and Clippers still the only safe bets among the group, or do the Thunder, Hawks, and Bulls have a good chance to keep up their hot starts and outperform expectations? Are any of these clubs mediocre squads that have been helped in the early going by soft schedules?
Weigh in below in our comments section with your thoughts on which of the NBA’s five remaining undefeated teams are for real, and which ones you expect to come back down to earth soon.
Potential Point Guard Targets
- Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net runs down some free agents to keep an eye on in case the Cavaliers decide they need more depth at point guard behind Kyrie Irving.
J.R. Smith Rounding Into Form After Contract Standoff
- Due to a contract stand-off between J.R. Smith and the Cavaliers, the veteran shooting guard missed most of the training camp and preseason. As Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal observes, it has taken some time for Smith to get his legs under him, but he’s starting to round into form.
And-Ones: Prigioni, Teague, Evans, Hummel
Pablo Prigioni, who was waived by Houston on Monday, is drawing interest from a team in Spain, according to Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. The 39-year-old point guard has an offer from Barcelona that he is reportedly considering. Prigioni played for the Knicks, Clippers and Rockets in four NBA seasons.
There’s more NBA-related news tonight:
- Former NBA guard Marquis Teague has been released by his Israeli team, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. The younger brother of Pacers guard Jeff Teague, Marquis Teague played 88 games for the Bulls and Nets but has been out of the league for the past two seasons.
- Ex-NBA players Jeremy Evans and Robbie Hummel have signed with Khimki Moscow, Pick reports (Twitter link). Evans, who was waived by the Pacers last week, had a guaranteed $1,227,286 contract. Hummel had a $150K guarantee from the Nuggets, who released him last week.
- Three recently waived players were part of a D-League trade today, reports Chris Reichert of The Step Back (Twitter link). The Northern Arizona Suns dealt Xavier Munford, Cory Jefferson and Alec Brown to the Greensboro Swarm in exchange for three draft picks. Munford, a 24-year-old shooting guard, was released by the Clippers, Jefferson was cut by the Cavaliers and Brown was waived by the Suns.
McRae Unlikely To Ganrer More Than Second Round Pick
- Despite a strong preseason, Jordan McRae didn’t see any action in the Cavs‘ season opening rout of the Knicks. With the team reportedly looking for a taker for the shooting guard and having other roster needs to address, this will make it difficult for Cleveland to land more than a future second round pick for the player, as he is still an unknown quantity in the NBA, Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net writes.
Cavaliers Rumors: Shumpert, Point Guards, Jack
A report last Friday suggested that the Timberwolves and some other teams have inquired about the availability of Iman Shumpert, and weren’t exactly rebuffed by the Cavaliers. Although it’s true that Cleveland is answering the phone, the team isn’t actively looking to move Shumpert, a team source tells Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. Vardon adds that Shumpert would only be dealt for a player who improves the Cavs.
While it may simply be a matter of semantics, at least one NBA general manager was surprised to read that the Cavs aren’t “actively” shopping Shumpert, according to Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net, who says a GM texted him about the report. “Guess I’m not sure what actively means,” the GM said. “That’s news to me and probably about six other (team executives).”
While the Cavs mull their options with Shumpert, let’s check out a few more items out of Cleveland…
- Cleveland is believed to be in the market for a backup point guard, and veteran free agent Jarrett Jack looks like a decent fit, but the club only has a “passing interest” in Jack, a league source tells Amico.
- Within his previously-linked mailbag, Vardon is asked about free agent point guards Jameer Nelson and Andre Miller as possible targets for the Cavaliers. Per Vardon, there are no indications that either Nelson or Miller is receiving interest from the team. The Cleveland.com scribe suggests Rockets guard Patrick Beverley is a possible trade target worth keeping an eye on, but adds that the Cavs will play Shumpert and DeAndre Liggins behind Kyrie Irving for now.
- Having played for Canada this summer in a bid to earn a spot in the Olympics, Cavs big man Tristan Thompson was disappointed that several of his fellow countrymen weren’t on the roster, and hopes they’ll join the team for future competitions. Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal has the quotes from Thompson, along with the details on how the experience helped him.
Kevin Garnett Discusses Consultant Role With Cavs, Bucks
TNT’s Inside the NBA crew welcomed Kevin Garnett to the network last night, as the future Hall-of-Famer (Twitter link) joined Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal on the studio show. While Garnett has a new gig as a special contributor for TNT, he continues to explore other opportunities as well, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who reports (via Twitter) that KG is talking with multiple teams – including the Cavaliers and Bucks – about a “coaching consultant” role.
Following Garnett’s retirement announcement earlier this year, we heard that the longtime NBA big man was drawing interest from teams like the Cavs and Clippers for a potential coaching job. However, it sounds like any team that hires Garnett this year wouldn’t expect him to take on a full-time role, given his commitment to TNT.
As Wojnarowski details, it’s even possible that Garnett could be hired by more than one NBA team. In that scenario, KG would make “periodic stops” into various NBA cities to work with certain players, league sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Garnett, who turned 40 in May, had been under contract with the Timberwolves as a player for this season, but made the decision in September to call it a career. Minnesota waived him at that point, leaving his $8MM cap hit on the team’s books, but freeing him up to explore new opportunities.
During training camps, Garnett was spotted spending some time with the Clippers and old friend Doc Rivers. Though KG didn’t join the team in an official capacity, Rivers suggested at the time that he certainly had room for the former Celtic on his staff. “I’m going to offer him something,” Rivers said. “I don’t want to say too much right now. I just know he’d be a great asset to any team.”
Gilbert On Relationship With LeBron
- The relationship between LeBron James and Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert has come a long way over the past few seasons, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com notes. “I think everybody learns every day in the decisions they make and the things they do,” Gilbert said. “It was just a whole different feeling from Day 1 [when James came back in 2014]. Keep in mind that we just had one bad night in five years that we were here with LeBron — remember the first two [years James played in Cleveland], Gordon Gund ran and owned the team. But we never had a bad day until the way it ended. And as bad as it was, it was one day, it was one night and everybody is a grown man and obviously we focused on the job here. And sometimes things happen for a reason, right? You just never know it at the time.“