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D-League Will Hold Draft Today

October 30th, 2016 at 9:49am CST by Arthur Hill

Anthony Brown, who was the last player cut by the Lakers on Monday, is expected to be the top pick in today’s D-League draft. The event will get under way via teleconference at 2 p.m. Eastern, with the Erie BayHawks, Orlando’s affiliate, holding the first selection.

Brown, a 24-year-old forward, was taken in the second round of the 2015 NBA draft by the Lakers and played in 29 games during his rookie season. He was in the starting lineup 11 times and averaged 4.0 points and 2.4 rebounds per night. L.A. parted ways with Brown despite a guaranteed salary of $874,636.

Big men will be a draft priority in a guard-heavy league, writes Adam Johnson of D-League Digest, but the Santa Cruz Warriors may be tempted to use the second pick to bring back a former Warrior, 6’4″ shooting guard Travis Leslie. Johnson also projects center/power forward Will Davis of UC Irvine, center/power forward Chris Horton of Austin Peay and 7-foot center Jaleel Roberts of UNC Asheville to be taken early.

The draft has been reduced from eight rounds to six this year, and the number of eligible players has dropped from 290 to 182. Three expansion teams, the Long Island Nets, Greensboro Swarm and Windy City Bulls, will be joining the draft.

In his mock draft, Johnson lists Brown, Horton, Leslie, Davis and Roberts as the top five picks, followed by 6’7″ forward Shonn Miller of Connecticut, 6’7″ forward Jarelle Reischel of Eastern Kentucky, 6’9″ forward Markus Kennedy of Southern Methodist, 6’4″ guard Keith Hornsby of LSU and 6’3″ guard DaVonte Lacy of Washington State.

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Bucks To Waive Roberts, Johnson, O’Brien

October 22nd, 2016 at 3:04pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Bucks intend to waive Jaleel Roberts, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders reports (via Twitter).  The Bucks will also waive Orlando Johnson and J.J. O’Brien, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated adds (on Twitter). None of the players have any guaranteed money included in their deals, so Milwaukee won’t be responsible for any money to the trio.

Roberts, 25, played his college ball for UNC-Asheville, going undrafted in 2015 after averaging 7.0 PPG and 5.0 RPG in his senior season. Despite his modest college stats, Roberts received a training camp invite from the Wizards last season, and after being waived by Washington last fall, the seven-footer rejoined the club for Summer League play this July. The big man will likely look to join the NBA D-League, though, since the Bucks do not have an affiliate in the league, they won’t be able to hold onto his rights.

Johnson, 27, has been with four teams in four seasons after being drafted in the second round by the Kings in 2012. He signed two 10-day contracts last season, one with the Suns in February and one with the Pelicans in March. He appeared in two games with Phoenix and five with New Orleans.

An undrafted 24-year-old out of San Diego State, O’Brien played for the Jazz in Summer League action a year ago, then later signed a 10-day contract with the team. However, he only appeared in two regular season contests for Utah. O’Brien spent the majority of the 2015/16 season with the Idaho Stampede, averaging 14.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 2.8 APG, and 1.5 SPG for the D-League squad.

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Contract Details: Brand, Rockets, Thunder, Pacers

September 30th, 2016 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

With training camps underway, teams have now officially finalized the contract agreements with various camp invitees that had been reported over the past several weeks, meaning we have plenty of contract details to round up. As usual, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders has been busy reporting those details, updating his salary pages for teams around the NBA.

Because we have so many updates to pass along from Pincus, we’ll divide them up by players who received some guaranteed money from their teams, and those who didn’t. All of the links below point to the Basketball Insiders team salary pages, so be sure to click through for additional information.

Here are the latest salary updates from across the league, via Pincus:

Players receiving guaranteed money:

These players aren’t necessarily assured of regular-season roster spots. In fact, many of them likely received guarantees as an incentive to accept a D-League assignment. Still, for some players, larger guarantees should increase their odds of making 15-man rosters.

  • Thomas Walkup (Bulls): One year, minimum salary. $69.5K guaranteed.
  • Keith Benson (Heat): Two years, minimum salary. $75K guaranteed.
  • Henry Sims (Jazz): One year, minimum salary. $75K guaranteed.
  • Alex Poythress (Pacers): One year, minimum salary. $35,381 guaranteed.
  • Kevin Seraphin (Pacers): Two years, $3.681MM. First year ($1.8MM) guaranteed.
  • Julyan Stone (Pacers): One year, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
  • Gary Payton II (Rockets): Two years, minimum salary. First year ($543,471) guaranteed.
  • Isaiah Taylor (Rockets): Two years, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
  • Kyle Wiltjer (Rockets): Two years, minimum salary. $275K guaranteed.
  • Cat Barber (Sixers): One year, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
  • Elton Brand (Sixers): One year, minimum salary. $1MM guaranteed.
  • Derrick Jones (Suns): Three years, minimum salary. $42.5K guaranteed.
  • Alex Caruso (Thunder): One year, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
  • Kaleb Tarczewski (Thunder): One year, minimum salary. $75K guaranteed.
  • Chris Wright (Thunder): One year, minimum salary. $100K guaranteed.

Players receiving no guaranteed money:

The following players all signed one-year, minimum salary contracts with no guaranteed money. Many of these deals are “summer contracts,” which won’t count against a team’s cap unless the player earns a spot on the 15-man roster.

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Bucks To Sign Jaleel Roberts

September 22nd, 2016 at 1:42pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks are reportedly looking for help on the wing after losing Khris Middleton to a torn hamstring, but in the meantime, the team has made another move that’s not connected to Middleton’s injury. According to RealGM’s staff report, Milwaukee is signing free agent center Jaleel Roberts to a deal for training camp.

Roberts, who will turn 24 next month, played his college ball for UNC-Asheville, going undrafted in 2015 after averaging 7.0 PPG and 5.0 RPG in his senior season. Despite his modest college stats, Roberts received a training camp invite from the Wizards last season, and after being waived by Washington last fall, the seven-footer rejoined the club for Summer League play this July.

For training camp this fall though, it appears Roberts will be joining a Bucks squad that is still reeling from the news of Middleton’s potential six-month absence. In addition to its 15 players currently on guaranteed contracts, Milwaukee is also bringing Orlando Johnson and J.J. O’Brien to camp on non-guaranteed deals, and reportedly agreed to terms with Jabari Brown this week, along with Roberts.

Xavier Henry recently signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Bucks, but NBA.com’s transactions log suggests the club waived him on Tuesday — that move has yet to be announced by the team. Ronald Roberts was also rumored to be heading to camp with Milwaukee, but that deal hasn’t come to fruition, so there should be one opening on the Bucks’ 20-man offseason roster as they explore replacements for Middleton.

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Wizards Release Five Players

October 24th, 2015 at 4:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:39pm: The moves are official, the Wizards announced via press release.

4:30pm: The Wizards are releasing Josh Harrellson, Ish Smith, Jaron Johnson, Jaleel Roberts and Toure’ Murry, reports Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post (Twitter link). The team has yet to make a public announcement, but Castillo indicates the moves have indeed taken place. All were on non-guaranteed deals except Roberts, who had a $10K partial guarantee. The subtractions leave Washington with 15 players, all of whom have fully guaranteed salaries.

The players hitting waivers today faced long odds to make it to opening night, including Harrellson, who acknowledged he was likely auditioning for 29 other teams with his preseason performance. He averaged 3.9 points in 7.3 minutes per game over seven preseason appearances. The 26-year-old big man was making his return after 2014 back surgery that forced him to miss all of last season.

It was surprising to see Smith on a non-guaranteed deal with little chance to crack the opening night roster, given his strong performance down the stretch with the Sixers last season. The 27-year-old point guard averaged 12.1 points, 6.1 assists and 2.8 turnovers in 27.1 minutes per game in 25 contests for Philaelphia. He was again an efficient ball-distributor despite lower scoring in the preseason with Washington this month, notching 2.2 points, 4.0 assists and 1.0 turnover in 11.5 minutes per game over five preseason contests.

Murry, 25, rejoined the Wizards during the offseason after he was briefly with the team on a pair of 10-day contracts last season. The two-year NBA veteran combo guard averaged 3.5 points in 7.5 minutes per game during four preseason contests.

Johnson spent last season with the Rockets D-League team after going undrafted out of Louisiana Tech in 2014. The 23-year-old shooting guard posted 2.0 points in 4.7 minutes per game over six preseason appearances for Washington.

The Wizards signed Roberts in August after he went undrafted out of UNC Asheville in June and played for Washington’s summer league team in July. The 23-year-old center put up 3.3 points in 6.9 minutes per game in three preseason contests.

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Southeast Notes: Ferry, Budenholzer, Dragic

October 6th, 2015 at 10:19am CST by Chuck Myron

Mike Budenholzer and former Hawks GM Danny Ferry are close, but Budenholzer encouraged Ferry to resign in September 2014 so that the Hawks could more easily put their racism scandal behind them before the opening of training camp last season, report Kevin Arnovitz and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Their piece goes deep into the downfall of Ferry, who instead went on a leave of absence that extended until he took a buyout this past summer, and the team’s previous ownership group, one that had lost money each year since it purchased the franchise in 2004, Arnovitz and Windhorst reveal. Former controlling owner Bruce Levenson had nonetheless structured a long-term deal for Ferry when he hired the executive, one that other GMs called the “Golden Ticket” for its favorability to the former Spurs and Cavs executive, Arnovitz and Windhorst write. Prominent co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. opposed that deal and never saw eye-to-eye with Ferry, who upset him on several occasions, such as when Ferry had harsh words for former coach Larry Drew, according to Arnovitz and Windhorst.

See more on the Hawks amid the latest from the Southeast Division:

  • Gearon didn’t initially take issue with the tenor of Levenson’s racially charged 2012 email — the one that ultimately led to his decision to sell the team, as Arnovitz and Windhorst detail in the same piece. Gearon instead put pressure on Levenson when the email again came up amid an internal investigation that Ferry’s racial comments touched off, and when a reporter was coming close to breaking the story of the scandal, Levenson decided to take a proactive step and announce his intention to sell, the ESPN scribes recount. Levenson remained a fan of Ferry and nearly brought him back before the sale took place, but the team’s renaissance worked against that, as Levenson decided too much was going right to risk disruption.
  • Goran Dragic is wistful about no longer playing with his brother, but he re-signed with the Heat without assurances they would keep Zoran Dragic and was on board when the team traded him, as he explains to Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post. “I was sad, of course,” Goran said of the trade. “I know how much he wants to be part of a team in the NBA, but I understand this is a business. That’s a better situation for him right now. He’s gonna get playing time. He signed a good deal in Russia. He’s happy. That’s a good thing. Sometimes, for me, when you play with your brother, sometimes it’s a little bit stressful because if he’s not getting playing time, it affects you too. But everything’s good now.”
  • Jaleel Roberts didn’t think he would end up in training camp with the Wizards after he failed to wow them with his summer league performance, but he’s grateful for the opportunity after an overseas offer didn’t pan out as he expected it to, writes J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.
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Southeast Notes: Bazemore, Heat, Wizards

September 29th, 2015 at 9:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Hawks guard Kent Bazemore is entering the final season of his current deal, but there is mutual interest between the team and the 26-year-old in reaching an agreement on a new contract next offseason, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution writes. Speaking about his feelings for Atlanta, Bazemore said, “I’ve come to love Atlanta. Of the whole summer, I was probably only gone two weeks. I’ve spent a lot of time here. I just moved into a new house. I’m renting it. Maybe I can buy it next year.” Bazemore and the Hawks will have to wait until next summer to work out a new deal since his current deal was signed for less than four years, meaning Bazemore is ineligible to sign an extension during the season, Vivlamore adds.

Here’s the latest from the Southeast Division:

  • Heat assistant Dan Craig was officially named as head coach of the franchise’s D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the team announced. The news of Craig’s hiring was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
  • Jaron Johnson‘s one-year deal with the Wizards is non-guaranteed and for the league minimum, while Jaleel Roberts‘ agreement is also for the minimum, but his includes a partial guarantee of $10K, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (Twitter links).
  • The Heat‘s deals with John Lucas III and Tre Kelley are one-year pacts for the league minimum and do not include any guaranteed salary, Pincus tweets.
  • Hawks coach/executive Mike Budenholzer said that it may make more sense for the team to carry the regular season maximum of 15 players rather than keeping a slot open, Vivlamore tweets. Atlanta currently has 13 players inked to fully guaranteed deals.
  • The Hornets are hoping that Jeremy Lamb will get off to a fresh start in Charlotte after not seeing much playing time during his three seasons with the Thunder, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes. Lamb was acquired back in June in exchange for for Luke Ridnour and a 2016 second-round pick.
  • Greg Stiemsma‘s and Nnanna Egwu‘s one-year, minimum salary deals with the Magic are non-guaranteed, while Keith Appling and Jordan Sibert‘s minimum salary arrangements include partial guarantees of $100K, Pincus relays in a series of tweets.
  • The presence of Goran Dragic, who re-signed with the Heat this offseason, was a big draw for Amar’e Stoudemire to join Miami as a free agent, Surya Fernandez of SB Nation tweets. Of Dragic, Stoudemire said, “If he would have stayed in Phoenix, I would have thought about going back to Phoenix.“
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Wizards Officially Sign Five For Camp

September 25th, 2015 at 2:13pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Wizards have officially signed Josh Harrellson, Jaron Johnson, Toure’ Murry, Jaleel Roberts and Ish Smith, the team announced. All five moves were expected, and none of them have any guaranteed salary, according to reports. The Wizards already have 15 fully guaranteed deals, so it would be tough for today’s camp additions to stick for opening night. All except Johnson are known to be on one-year contracts for the minimum, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, though it would be surprising if Johnson signed for terms that were any different.

Harrellson, a three-year veteran big man, is returning to the NBA after sitting out last season as he recovered from back surgery. Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports first reported the deal with the 26-year-old.

Charania also revealed that Johnson, a 23-year-old shooting guard, would attend Wizards camp. Johnson spent last season with the D-League affiliate of the Rockets after going undrafted out of Louisiana Tech in 2014.

The Wizards are familiar with Murry from his time on a pair of 10-day contracts with the team last season. J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic reported the deal between the Wizards and the 25-year-old combo guard.

Roberts is poised to celebrate his 23rd birthday next month in Wizards camp. Charania reported that the center who went undrafted out of UNC-Asheville this year would head to Washington.

Four teams had Smith at one point or another in 2014/15, and though he had a strong finishing kick with the Sixers, the 27-year-old point guard will have to fight to stay on the roster in Washington. Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post reported Smith’s deal with the Wizards.

Which Wizards camp invitee has the greatest potential to surprise and remain on the roster for the start of the regular season? Leave a comment to tell us.

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Wizards To Bring Ish Smith To Camp

September 9th, 2015 at 10:56pm CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 9TH, 10:56pm: The signing is official, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (via Twitter).

SEPTEMBER 8TH, 11:27am: The Wizards have a non-guaranteed pact with Ish Smith for training camp, reports Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post (Twitter link). Castillo also confirms an earlier report from J. Michael of CSNWashington.com that Washington will bring Toure’ Murry to camp on a non-guaranteed contract, too. Smith and Murry have already put pen to paper, according to Castillo, though the team has yet to make a formal announcement.

Washington also agreed to a non-guaranteed camp deal with undrafted UNC-Asheville center Jaleel Roberts, as Shams Charania reported at that point for RealGM, though Castillo refers to Roberts as a “possibility” for the Wizards (Twitter links). In any case, Smith, Murry and Roberts all seem to face long odds to make Washington’s roster, which includes 15 others who have fully guaranteed contracts.

Smith finished last season with the Sixers, and on a roster painfully short on point guard options, the five-year veteran had the most productive stretch of his career, averaging 12.0 points, 6.1 assists and 2.8 turnovers in 27.1 minutes per game across 25 appearances. He expressed interest at season’s end in a return to Philadelphia, but his unrestricted free agency this summer has been surprisingly quiet, with a lack of reports about any teams in pursuit. It’s possible that he was waiting on the Sixers, whose flurry of activity over Labor Day weekend left them with no more wiggle room for their camp roster, though that’s just my speculation.

The Raymond Brothers client signed a fully guaranteed contract for the minimum salary with the Rockets last summer, but Houston waived him before the start of the regular season. The Thunder added him as their 16th man via the hardship provision in November and kept him over Sebastian Telfair when they trimmed back down to 15 players. Oklahoma City nonetheless traded him to the Pelicans at the deadline, and New Orleans immediately released him. That’s when the Sixers jumped into the picture, claiming him off waivers two days later.

Do you think Ish Smith deserves to stick with the Wizards? If so, which of their 15 fully guaranteed contracts should go? Leave a comment to tell us.

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Eastern Notes: J.R. Smith, Wizards, Contracts

September 3rd, 2015 at 5:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

J.R. Smith‘s new two-year contract with the Cavaliers has an unusual structure that includes partial guarantees for both this season and next, sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter links). This year’s salary, worth $5MM, is guaranteed for only $2MM, and next year’s salary, a player option, has a $2.15MM partial guarantee on the full $5.4MM value, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (All four Twitter links). However, this season’s salary becomes fully guaranteed if the team keeps him through Monday, Pincus adds. That’s almost certain to happen, but the reason that clause is in the contract is so that his 2016/17 salary can become fully guaranteed if he sticks on the roster through the same date next year, in a structure similar to the deal that Kostas Papanikolaou signed with the Rockets last year, Pincus explains. The Cavs formally announced Smith’s signing Wednesday, nearly two weeks after Smith revealed that he would be rejoining the team.

See more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • Coach Randy Wittman likes the grit that Wizards camp signee Toure’ Murry has shown in the past, but the shooting guard will have to make quite a convincing case for the Wizards to keep him over one of the 15 players on their roster with a fully guaranteed contract, writes J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic. Jaleel Roberts, the other Wizard with a non-guaranteed deal, won his training camp roster spot more so by his performance at Tim Grgurich’s private camp than through his play with the Wizards summer league squad, Michael hears. Still, Roberts is more likely to make the regular season roster in 2016/17, when the team will ostensibly have greater flexibility, than he is this year, according to Michael.
  • Kelly Dwyer, Ben Rohrbach and Eric Freeman of Yahoo! Sports weighed in on which 2015 NBA draftee ended up in the best situation to succeed next season. Dwyer chose the Knicks‘ Kristaps Porzingis, while Rohrbach tabbed Justise Winslow of the Heat, and Freeman’s pick was the Nuggets’ Emmanuel Mudiay.
  • The Cavs had possessed one of the most tradeable contracts in the league in Brendan Haywood‘s non-guaranteed pact, which they had dealt to the Blazers at the end of July. Pincus, in a separate post, ran down some of the most desirable trade chip contracts around the NBA , including Amir Johnson and Jonas Jerebko of the Celtics, the Wizards‘ Kris Humphries and Martell Webster, as well as Ersan Ilyasova‘s deal with the Pistons.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

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