Khalif Wyatt

Eastern Notes: Gilbert, Wyatt, Bobcats

The Cavs are still trying to pick up the pieces in the wake of the firing of GM Chris Grant. Team owner Dan Gilbert is determined to learn from past mistakes, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The team is 3 1/2 seasons removed from LeBron James‘ departure for Miami and have only Kyrie Irving to show for their troubles. Gilbert is ferocious in his determination not to lose Irving the way he lost LeBron, writes Begrer, and Gilbert says the lessons learned from James’ decision to go to Miami in 2010 will be the guiding force behind his search for an executive to lead the franchise forward.

More from around the East:

  • Also from the Berger article, he writes that the Bobcats will be aggressive buyers at the deadline, and their interest in the Sixers Evan Turner is real. Philadelphia GM Sam Hinkie wants a first-round pick for Turner (and the same for Spencer Hawes). The Bobcats can offer their Detroit pick (top eight protected) if they’re serious about making a push, opines Berger. The Bobcats could potentially have two other first-round picks, Portland‘s (top 12 protected), and their own, but that goes to the Bulls if it falls out of the top 10.
  • Sixers camp invitee Khalif Wyatt, who signed with the D-League earlier this week, will play for the the Springfield Armor, the affiliate of the Nets, Gino Pilato of D-League Digest reports. Wyatt entered the NBA D-League player pool after playing in China for Guangdong Southern. In 27 games, he averaged 15.0 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 4.9 APG.
  • With all the talk about whether or not Carmelo Anthony wants to remain with the Knicks, he seems to be sending mixed messages, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
  • Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.com (via twitter), asked the Raptors DeMar DeRozan if the team has campaigned to keep their core together, and DeRozan said no, but also that he “didn’t think they had to.
  • Larry Brown thinks that Knicks owner James Dolan likes Mike Woodson and will “do the right thing by him“, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Speaking further about the Dolan-Woodson relationship, Brown also stated, “I think he has a great relationship with him. Woody’s a strong human being, man. He just focuses on what he can do to make things better. He doesn’t look at the bad stuff.” Despite Brown’s feelings, Zagoria opines that even if Woodson remains as coach through this season, if the Knicks fail to make the postseason, it’s entirely possible he could lose his job over the summer.

Atlantic Rumors: Lowry, Sixers, Wyatt, Celtics

The Raptors continue to be aggressive in their search for the right Kyle Lowry trade, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who echoed his own late-January dispatch on the subject as he answered reader questions in a chat. Ford also says the Sixers are still leaning toward taking Andrew Wiggins over Jabari Parker if they have the opportunity at draft time. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • The Blazers had talks with the Sixers in December about Spencer Hawestweets Jake Fischer of Liberty Ballers, who wonders if Portland will reignite those discussions now that Joel Freeland is sidelined for at least the next month with a sprained right MCL.
  • Sixers camp invitee Khalif Wyatt has signed to play in the D-League, reports Gino Pilato of D-League Digest (Twitter link).
  • The Celtics are keeping an eye on Turkish league center Colton Iverson, whom they took 53rd overall this past June, as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia observes.
  • Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com goes over the likely scenarios for the Celtics at the deadline, writing that it’s more likely the team trades Keith Bogans in the summer than in the next eight days.
  • We rounded up news on the Knicks in a separate post.

Contract Details: Sixers, Price, Stone, Christmas

Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com has updated his salary database to account for every NBA team’s opening night roster, and in the process has provided several contract details that had previously been unreported. Let’s round up Deeks’ new info, which has now been incorporated into our list of non-guaranteed salaries and our schedule of guarantee dates….

  • Daniel Orton and Brandon Davies were late additions to the Sixers‘ roster, but they received the same kind of deals that many of the team’s other offseason signees did: Non-guaranteed four-year pacts. Hollis Thompson, meanwhile, landed a $35K guarantee for this season on his four-year contract.
  • When Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors listed the camp cuts who had been owed guaranteed money, he noted that the guarantees for Vander Blue, Khalif Wyatt, and Richard Howell were still unknown. Deeks fills in those amounts, reporting that the Sixers paid Blue $55K and Wyatt $35K. Howell received $50K from the Trail Blazers.
  • Unlike most players on non-guaranteed contracts, A.J. Price won’t have to wait until the new year for his salary to become fully guaranteed. He’ll get his full minimum salary as long as he’s not waived by the Timberwolves on or before December 8th.
  • Julyan Stone‘s two-year contract with the Raptors was initially guaranteed for $50K, but that amount was bumped up to $100K when he earned a spot on the regular season roster.
  • Dionte Christmas (Suns) and Henry Sims (Cavaliers) both received partial guarantees worth $50K.
  • The Hawksagreement with Cartier Martin is just for one year, for a fully non-guaranteed minimum salary.

Eastern Rumors: Granger, Raptors, Osby

After missing nearly the entire 2012/13 season, Danny Granger is off to an ominous start this season as well. Entering the final year of his contract, Granger will be sidelined for the next three weeks as he recovers from a calf injury, the Pacers announced today. Indiana held off on trading Granger this summer, optimistic that he’d bounce back from an injury-plagued season and help the team overcome the Heat on the way to a title. As we wonder whether that optimism remains for team president Larry Bird and company, here’s the latest out of the East:

  • Sources tell Bruce Arthur of the National Post that Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has talked about trading Rudy Gay, though it’s unclear whether those discussions were within the organization or involved other teams. Arthur also passes along thoughts from Ujiri about setting the Raptors on the right course toward contention.
  • HoopsWorld’s Eric Pincus confirms to Hoops Rumors that the Magic are paying Romero Osby $100K this year, despite his earlier report that Osby’s partial guarantee would only kick in if he made the opening-night roster. The team waived Osby on Friday. Pincus lists the $100K on the Magic’s updated salary page at HoopsWorld.
  • Khalif Wyatt, whom the Sixers released last week, has signed a one-year deal with the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association, reports Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
  • Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News speculates that Thaddeus Young would most likely be the centerpiece of any trade the Sixers make this year. Part of Cooney’s suspicion that an early-season trade might be in the works was based on the team’s roster standing at 14 players, but the Sixers got back up to the 15-man limit when they signed Brandon Davies today.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Sixers Release Wyatt, Koshwal, Blue, White

6:14pm: Bob Cooney of the Daily News and Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times report that Vander Blue and Royce White have also been released (Twitter links). Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer says there’s a chance that Blue, White, Wyatt, and Koshwal could be signed to Philadelphia’s D-League affiliate, the Delaware 87ers, if they clear waivers.

4:04pm: With at least five cuts to make by opening night, the Sixers began trimming down their roster today. Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the team has waived Khalif Wyatt and Mac Koshwal, leaving 18 players still under contract.

Wyatt, a 6’4″ guard out of Temple, joined the Sixers’ Summer League team after going undrafted in June, then inked a camp deal with the team that reportedly included a partial guarantee. Koshwal, a 6’10” forward/center, received a camp invite from Philadelphia after finishing last season with the PBL’s Rochester Razorsharks, as our international tracker shows.

Wyatt’s release could be good news for Vander Blue, since coach Brett Brown recently suggested the two players may have been vying for a single roster spot. It will also give Wyatt a chance to latch on with another team — Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News hears from a scout that there’s some interest in the 22-year-old (Twitter link).

The Sixers will need to release at least three more players by opening night to get down to the regular season maximum of 15 players.

Eastern Notes: Bulls, Celtics, Sixers, Bucks

Mike Dunleavy was one of the first free agents to come off the board this July, inking a two-year deal with the Bulls worth the taxpayer’s mid-level exception. And as he tells K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, he isn’t regretting his decision.

“Everything I was hoping for, whether it be playing for [Tom Thibodeau] or playing with Derrick [Rose], has been better than I expected,” Dunleavy said. “And I had heard great things.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • Within that same Tribune piece, Johnson suggests that Mike James is the probable frontrunner to be the Bulls‘ 13th man, while Dexter Pittman is also a candidate.
  • The Bulls are prepared to move on from Marquis Teague, who probably could be had for cheap, according to Mark Deeks at The Score. Deeks says that Teague’s increased playing time in the team’s most recent preseason game was meant to be a showcase for potential suitors.
  • Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld examines the Celtics and Rajon Rondo in his latest column, wondering if keeping Rondo through the 2013/14 season could slow down Boston’s rebuilding plan.
  • Hollis Thompson is a long shot to make the Sixers on his non-guaranteed deal, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who examines the former Georgetown Hoya’s quest to beat the odds.
  • Meanwhile, after tweeting yesterday that Vander Blue and Khalif Wyatt may be battling for a single Sixers roster spot, Tom Moore of Calkins Media goes into more depth on the competition, with quotes on both players from head coach Brett Brown.
  • Not only is Larry Drew in his first year on the Bucks‘ bench, but he’ll have to “bring a whole new team together,” as he tells Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The team has yet to finalize its 15-man roster, but when it does, 11 of Milwaukee’s 15 players figure to be new additions.
  • Julyan Stone is making a strong case to be the Raptors‘ 15th man, says Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.

Atlantic Rumors: Knicks, Evans, Celtics

Knicks GM Steve Mills tells Grantland’s Zach Lowe that one of the reasons the team hired him was because he believed the team should preserve its cap room for the summer of 2015 and focus on developing young players rather than pursue Glen Grunwald‘s strategy of inking aging veterans. Lowe cautions that waiting around for free agents to come calling in two years is a risky strategy, and advocates for the Knicks to gauge the trade market for Carmelo Anthony. Mills has nonetheless made it clear that keeping Anthony is a priority, so it’s unlikely he’ll heed the Grantland scribe’s advice. Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

  • One of the deciding factors that led Kevin Garnett to waive his no-trade clause and OK his move to the Nets was Reggie Evans‘ continued presence in Brooklyn, tweets Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. Evans initially appeared headed for Boston, but the final version of the deal included MarShon Brooks instead.
  • The Celtics expressed interest in bringing swingman Omar Reed to camp, as he recently told Bob Redd of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, but the team got in touch with Reed two days after he’d signed to play in Japan. The Celtics will nonetheless keep tabs on the 26-year-old who spent last season with Boston’s D-League affiliate, as Ridiculous Upside’s Keith Schlosser details.
  • Sixers coach Brett Brown says shooting guards Vander Blue and Khalif Wyatt could be in a head-to-head battle for a roster spot, tweets Tom Moore of Calkins Media.
  • Julyan Stone might be the favorite to win the final spot on the Raptors roster, but the competition between him, Chris Wright and Carlos Morais will be a tight one, observes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (All Twitter links).

Roster Battles: Spurs, Warriors, Heat, Sixers

The Spurs have been searching for a backup small forward since releasing Stephen Jackson in the spring, and the team may have found its man in Sam Young. However, as Young competes for a roster spot in San Antonio, the veteran tells Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News that Spurs fans haven’t forgotten the role he played in the Grizzlies’ 2011 upset of the West’s No. 1 seed.

“That was one of the biggest moments in Grizzlies history, so when we beat them, a lot of Spurs fans were upset,” Young said. “When I got here, a couple people let me know on Twitter; a lot of people let me know on Facebook. Even a couple coaches talked about it, but it’s cool. They’ve embraced me.”

Here’s the latest on a few more players hoping to earn roster spots around the NBA:

Sixers Notes: White, Wyatt, Turner, Kuester

New 76ers head coach Brett Brown sat down with the media for a 35-minute press conference today.  Let's take a look at the reports coming out of Philly a day after they officially signed first round picks Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams:

  • Royce White, who the team acquired in July, is officially participating in pre-training camp workouts with the Sixers and is expected to be present for the team's Media Day on Friday, writes the Philadelphia Inquirer's Keith Pompey.  Based on Brown's comments, it sounds like the Sixers plan to try to bring him along slowly, and this news certainly qualifies as a step in the right direction considering his rocky stint with Houston.  
  • According to Pompey, Brown compared the scoring potential of Temple product Khalif Wyatt to that of Gary Neal, his former pupil in San Antonio.  Another thing Wyatt shares with Neal, according to Brown, is a body type for a guard that necessitates a concentration on fitness.  Pompey adds that Wyatt's conditioning was called into question in his time at Temple.
  • Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com writes that Brown's fixation on conditioning extends far beyond just Wyatt, adding that the new coach believes in the talent of Evan Turner, who is headed into the fourth and final year of his rookie contract. Brown will count on Turner as a team leader, writes Moore. 
  • Both Pompey and Moore report that Brown is still searching for another assistant coach. He has already hired Chad Iske, Lloyd Pierce, Greg Foster and Billy Lange.  Although Brown implied NBA experience is not an absolute necessity on a team this inexperienced, Moore lists former Sixers assistant and Pistons head coach John Kuester as a candidate due to a previous connection with Brown.  Last week there was a report that Kuester was the favorite to be hired as Brown's top assistant. 

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Khalif Wyatt Agrees To Terms With 76ers

According to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia InquirerKhalif Wyatt has agreed to terms to a multi-year, partially guaranteed contract with the 76ers. Tom Moore of Bucks County Courier Times (via Twitter) also received direct confirmation of the agreement from Wyatt's agent, Stephen Pina. After going undrafted in June, the 6'4 guard participated in five games for the Sixers' summer league team in Orlando, averaging 13.8 PPG and 1.6 SPG to go with 45.8% shooting from the field and 42.9% from long range in 19.8 MPG. Pompey adds that team brass had been impressed with Wyatt's ball-handling, passing, and leadership as well. 

Once the signings of Darius Morris, Rodney Williams, and Wyatt are made official, the current roster will stand at 16 (11 fully guaranteed, three partially guaranteed, and two non-guaranteed deals). Although the former Temple Owl is set to be in uniform on opening night, Pompey won't rule out the possibility of the Sixers sending him to their D-League affiliate – the Delaware 87ers – for a portion of the season.