Kevin Jones

And-Ones: Early, Wanamaker, Munford, Bond

An apparent dispute over his diet has led to Cleanthony Early being stripped of his $150K deal with AEK Athens. International writer David Pick cited “disciplinary reasons” for the Greek club terminating the contract that Early agreed to last week (Twitter link). The Knicks fan site, Posting and Toasting, part of SB Nation, fleshed out the story with a few now-deleted screen shots of messages between Early and a team official. Early is a vegan and claims he couldn’t find the food he needs close to Athens. He added that he lost seven pounds since coming to Greece and told the team to release him if there wasn’t a way to solve the problem.

There’s more basketball news from around the world:

  • Brad Wanamaker, who was hoping to get an offer this summer from the Pelicans or Celtics, has accepted a deal with Fenerbahce in Turkey, according to Sportando (Twitter link).
  • After two successful G League seasons, Xavier Munford is hoping a team will give him an invitation to training camp, writes Chris Reichert of 2 Ways and 10 Days. The 25-year-old point guard, who was part of the gold-medal-winning Team USA squad at AmeriCup, played briefly for the Grizzlies at the end of the 2015/16 season and was in training camp with the Clippers last year.
  • Jaylen Bond, who spent last season with the Westchester Knicks in the G League, has signed with Flexx Pistoia in Italy, Reichert relays (Twitter link).
  • Kevin Jones, who has spent the past three seasons overseas but was involved in a G League trade in March, is in advanced talks with Crvena Zvezda in Serbia, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Jones’ only NBA experience came in 2012/13 with the Cavaliers.

Pelicans Waive Kevin Jones, D.J. Stephens

The Pelicans have officially waived Kevin Jones and D.J. Stephens, the team announced. Both players were in camp on non-guaranteed deals so New Orleans won’t be on the hook for any cash if and when Jones and Stephens clear waivers. These moves reduce the Pelicans’ preseason roster count to 15, so the team wouldn’t be required to make any other moves prior to tomorrow’s deadline. New Orleans still has 12 fully guaranteed and three partially guaranteed deals on the books.

The 25-year-old Jones used a strong summer showing to earn an invite to the Pelicans training camp. He averaged 10.0 RPG for the Pacers summer squad, which was tops in the Orlando summer league. He saw fewer minutes  with the D-League Select Team in the Las Vegas summer league, and his rebounding production was cut in half, to 5.0 RPG. Jones averaged 3.0 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 10.4 minutes per game across 32 appearances for the Cavs in 2012/13, and he split this past season between Cleveland’s D-League affiliate and playing in the Philippines.

Stephens appeared in three contests for the Bucks while on a 10-day contract last spring, logging totals of seven points and five rebounds in 15 minutes of action. He saw more playing time overseas last season, averaging 8.4 PPG and 7.0 RPG in 23.8 minutes a night over 25 combined games with Ilisiakos BC of Greece and Anadolu Efes of Turkey.

Pelicans Sign Kevin Jones For Camp

SEPTEMBER 26TH, 5:06pm: The deal is official, the team announced in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 12TH, 10:10am: The Pelicans and Jones have signed the deal, as the RealGM transactions log shows. The team hasn’t made an official announcement just yet, however.

9:34am: It’ll indeed be a non-guaranteed contract for Jones, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.

SEPTEMBER 8TH,9:27am: Former Cavs power forward Kevin Jones will attend training camp with the Pelicans, as he tells Caleb Wygal of The (Beckley. W.Va.) Register-Herald. The precise terms of the deal are unclear, but it seems likely to be a non-guaranteed arrangement, just like the one the Pelicans reportedly gave Vernon Macklin.

An impressive performance in summer league helped put the 25-year-old back on the NBA map, as he averaged 10.0 rebounds per game for the Pacers squad, more than anyone else in the Orlando summer league. He saw slightly fewer minutes per appearance with the D-League Select Team in the Las Vegas summer league, but his rebounding production was cut in half, to 5.0 per contest. Jones averaged 3.0 points and 2.4 rebounds in 10.4 minutes per game across 32 appearances for the Cavs in 2012/13, and he split this past season between Cleveland’s D-League affiliate and the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippines.

The additions of Jones and Macklin give the Pelicans agreements with 17 players, 12 of whom have fully guaranteed deals and three of whom have partial guarantees. Jones appears to be competing directly against Macklin and Patric Young, whose contract is partially guaranteed for $55K, for one of the final regular season roster spots.

Contract Details: Barbosa, Turkoglu, Roberts Jr.

Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders is always diligent in keeping us informed of the nitty gritty details for all of the contracts around the league, and after his latest round of updates, he figures there are 493 contracts in place, 400 of which are guaranteed, and at least 43 of which will have to be cut before the regular season begins (Twitter links). We’ll link to his team salary sheets, noting specific player revelations where they apply:

  • Leandro Barbosa‘s one-year pact for the minimum with the Warriors is partially guaranteed at $150K.
  • Hedo Turkoglu‘s one-year minimum deal with the Clippers is fully guaranteed.
  • Ronald Roberts Jr.‘s deal with the Sixers is for four years at the minimum salary, including a team option for the final year. This season is partially guaranteed at $35K.
  • Chris Crawford‘s two-year contract with the Cavs is indeed for the minimum, with a partial guarantee of $20K this year, and a fully non-guaranteed 2015/16.
  • Jerome Jordan‘s camp deal with the Nets is for the minimum, as expected. The one-year agreement will become partially guaranteed at $150K if he remains with Brooklyn through October 25.
  • Dionte Christmas, Vernon Macklin, and Kevin Jones have identical one-year deals with the Pelicans, each of which are non-guaranteed.

Southwest Notes: Lewis, Rockets, Terry

Here’s tonight’s look at the Southwest Division..

  • Charlie Villanueva signing with the Mavericks can’t be a good sign for Rashard Lewis and his chances of getting something done with Dallas, tweets Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.  The team recently 86’d their one-year, $1.4MM offer after learning that Lewis needed an operation on his right knee.
  • The Rockets certainly wanted his expiring contract, but they also had their eye on adding a veteran guard when they traded for Jason Terry, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.  With that in mind, Feigen wonders if the Rockets might want to add an experienced player at the center position.  Trouble is, Houston has 19 players under contract and 16 with guaranteed deals.  For now, it looks like Houston will hope to see some development out of Joey Dorsey, Donatas Motejunas, and Josh Powell.
  • Free agent forward Vernon Macklin, who signed a non-guaranteed training camp deal with the Pelicans, rejected overseas deals to hook on with New Orleans, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.  Kevin Jones, who also has a non-guaranteed deal with the Pelicans, had significant interest from the Pacers before Paul George‘s season-ending injury.

Josh Boone Signs With Iowa Energy

The Iowa Energy in the NBA D-League have signed center Josh Boone, the team has announced. Boone had previously signed a contract to play in the Philippines with Bangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings, but only appeared in two contests for the team. In an unusual move the Kings signed former NBA player Kevin Jones to take Boone’s place before he had even appeared in his first game for the team, writes Carlo Pamintuan of Yahoo! Sports.

Boone was the 23rd overall pick by the Nets in 2006. The former Connecticut Husky averaged 5.2 PPG and 4.9 RPG in his four years with the Nets. He played for the Wizards summer league team before they cut ties with him prior to this season.

Boone appeared in two games for the Energy last season, averaging 16.5 PPG and 7.5 RPG before an injury ended his season. Boone will wear number 33 and will available for tonight’s game.

D-League Notes: Cuban, West, Bowles

Mark Cuban continues to argue that the D-League is a more honest and effective developmental system than college hoops. SportsDayDFW quotes the owner’s response to Larry Brown‘s defense of the college system: “I don’t think it’s a coincidence when a dad, uncle, cousin, an AAU coach and six other relatives find themselves at a university. And it seems like there are a lot of guys taking the easiest classes they can to get through, or correspondence or on-line classes and then get to the second semester,” said Cuban. “It’s a business that, when you look at it, it’s ripe for disruption. When you look for a business to disrupt, you look for one that’s done the same thing for years and everybody knows it’s dysfunctional but nobody’s done anything about it. We happen to be in that industry.”

More from the D-League:

  • Count Jerry West amongst the fans of what the D-League can do for the future of the NBA game, writes Keith Schlosser of SBNation. Last month West criticized the quality of this year’s draft, as well as expressed his disdain for the one-and-done college system. In Schlosser’s article, West goes into detail on why the D-League is a crucial component for developing young players.
  • According to Gino Pilato of D-League Digest, Denzel Bowles has entered the D-League’s player pool. Bowles most recently played for the CBA’s Jilin Northeast Tigers. In 34 games for the Tigers, he averaged 26.0 PPG, and 8.5 RPG.  Bowles played on Pelicans’ Summer League team in 2012/2013. He averaged 7.2 PPG, and 6.6 RPG in 16.1 minutes.
  • Kevin Jones has accepted a buyout from the Canton Charge to go play in the Philippines, according to Bob Finnan of The News-Herald (Twitter link). Jones last saw NBA action in 32 games with the Cavs during the 2012/2013 season, and averaged 3.0 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 0.3 APG in 10.4 minutes. Jones was a 2013/14 NBA D-League All-Star with Canton, averaging 16.9 PPG, and 8.0 RPG in 30.5 minutes per game. The Charge will retain Jones’ player rights in the D-League for the next two seasons, according to Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer.

Cray Allred contributed to this post.

 

And-Ones: Bosh, Korver, Jones, Lakers

The NBA is always in flux, and Hoops Rumors isn’t afraid of change, either. Our roundups of news from around the league have been called Odds & Ends since our inception, but from now on, you’ll see the name “And-Ones” attached to these posts. It falls in line with “Quick Hits” on MLB Trade Rumors and “Extra Points” on Pro Football Rumors, our sister sites. While the name may have changed, our commitment to bringing you news from around the NBA hasn’t. Here’s our latest glance at the Association:

  • Chris Bosh, who turns 30 later this month, says he’ll play until he’s 36, observes Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald (on Twitter). Bosh, who occupies the third spot in our 2014 Free Agent Power Rankings, could re-sign with the Heat this summer on a five-year deal that would leave him less than a year shy of his 36th birthday, though he has plenty of time to change his retirement plans.
  • Kyle Korver‘s NBA record streak of 127 consecutive games with at least one made three-pointer ended Wednesday, but the accomplishment highlights the wisdom of his decision to re-sign with the Hawks last year, opines Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
  • Former Cavs power forward Kevin Jones is leaving Cleveland’s D-League affiliate to sign a deal with the San Miguel Beerman of the Philippines that covers the rest of the season, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Jones played 32 games in the NBA with the Cavs last season, but he wasn’t with any NBA club for training camp.
  • The Lakers have just three players on guaranteed contracts for next season, plus Nick Young, who has a player option. Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News examines the upsides and drawbacks of having so many others in their walk years.

Central Links: Pistons, Cavs, Copeland

There are a few surprise first-place teams in divisions around the NBA in the early going, but that’s not the case in the Central, where the 3-0 Pacers lead the way. In David Aldridge’s latest Morning Tip column at NBA.com, which also features an extended look at the Bulls, the Pacers sit atop Aldridge’s power rankings.

Here are a few more Monday morning Central items:

  • Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks conceded that a player’s contract situation is “always a topic of conversation for someone,” but suggested that it’s not necessarily a distraction for the player himself. As Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press details, if Cheeks is aware that players like Greg Monroe, Rodney Stuckey, and Charlie Villanueva are on expiring contracts, he didn’t let on.
  • Michael Lee, Kevin Jones, and Tyrell Biggs are on the Canton Charge’s camp roster, a source tells Bob Finnan of the News-Herald (Twitter link). Lee was in camp with the Cavs last month, while Jones was released by the team back in July. Both Jones and Biggs last played for Cleveland’s D-League affiliate, so the Charge still held their rights.
  • As our Free Agent Tracker shows, outside of returning free agent David West, Chris Copeland was the most significant signing for the Pacers this offseason. So why can’t the ex-Knick crack the rotation? Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star discusses that question with Copeland, who isn’t complaining about his lack of minutes.

Cavaliers Waive Kevin Jones, Chris Quinn

The Cavaliers have shed two non-guaranteed contracts from their books, waiving Kevin Jones and Chris Quinn, according to a team release. The moves coincide with the team's introduction of Andrew Bynum, so it appears a little extra cap space was required to squeeze in Bynum's salary.

Jones, 23, appeared in 32 contests with the Cavs last season, averaging 3.0 PPG and 2.4 RPG. He also played 12 games for the team's D-League affiliate, recording an impressive 22.4 PPG and 11.2 RPG for the Canton Charge. Quinn's stint with the Cavs was briefer, as he appeared in just seven games for the club. Both players' contracts were fully non-guaranteed, and weren't set to become guaranteed until January.

Jones' impressive D-League numbers could result in him drawing some interest around the NBA, at least as a training camp invitee. Meanwhile, Quinn is reportedly receiving some attention from foreign teams, according to a Thursday report. Both Jones and Quinn suffered concussions during Summer League action, so they may need to get healthy first before signing new deals anywhere.