A.J. Price Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Contract Details: Sixers, Price, Stone, Christmas

November 5th, 2013 at 8:47am CST by Luke Adams

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 Hawks‘ agreement with Cartier Martin is just for one year, for a fully non-guaranteed minimum salary.

Timberwolves Waive Chris Johnson

October 26th, 2013 at 2:40pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:40pm: The Wolves have officially announced the moves, according to the team’s Twitter account.

1:19pm: The Timberwolves have waived big man Chris Johnson, a source tells Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). The former LSU Tiger is not to be confused with the Chris Johnson from Dayton whom the Nets waived earlier today. The Wolves will be on the hook for Johnson’s guaranteed $916,099 salary this season. The move likely means Robbie Hummel and A.J. Price, both of whom are on non-guaranteed deals, have made the opening-night roster, since the subtraction of Johnson leaves Minnesota with 15 players.

Multiple reports this month indicated Johnson’s spot on the team was vulnerable in spite of the guaranteed money on the contract he signed with the team last season after a pair of 10-day deals. He appeared in just two games for a total of nine minutes during preseason action. He averaged 3.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in 9.5 minutes per game across 30 contests for the Wolves last year.

T-Wolves Considering Richard Hamilton?

October 17th, 2013 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves are currently carrying 18 players, including 14 on guaranteed deals, but the team’s regular-season roster could still include an outside addition. According to Nate Sandell and Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500 Twin Cities, president Flip Saunders continues to keep an eye on free agents and possible trade targets in search of potential options.

“We’re looking at all the players we have and where are they going to fit in,” said head coach Rick Adelman. “It’s not just the guys who are here. Flip is constantly talking to people around the league who are evaluating everything. I think it’s something that is a process that you go through, and you make that decision sometime next week.”

One player the Wolves are considering is Richard Hamilton, who remains on the free agent market after being released by the Bulls over the summer. Wolfson reports that the idea of signing Hamilton has been “floated among the Wolves front office personnel.” The veteran guard has ties to Saunders, having played for him in Detroit, and would provide depth on the wing for a club that will be without Chase Budinger to start the season.

If the T-Wolves decide not to add any outside players, camp invitees Othyus Jeffers and A.J. Price look like strong bets to make the team, according to the ESPN 1500 report. While the Wolves have 14 players on guaranteed contracts, Chris Johnson‘s roster spot could be in danger, which would leave two openings for non-guaranteed players. Minnesota’s other two camp invitees, Robbie Hummel and Lorenzo Brown, may end up playing for the club’s D-League affiliate in Iowa.

Western Notes: Blair, Durant, ‘Wolves

October 12th, 2013 at 8:46pm CST by Spencer Lund

With Brandan Wright out indefinitely after a left shoulder injury, free agent signee DeJuan Blair, is learning both the power forward and center assignments with the Mavs, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.

The 6’7″ Blair is under-sized for a center, but as he told Sefko, “I’ve been playing five all my life against 7-footers.” Blair was largely relegated to the Spurs bench the last season. He only started 16 games and played only 76 minutes during their run to the Finals last year. So look for him to be extra motivated if given a significant opportunity in Dallas.

Here’s more from around the West tonight:

As mentioned previously, the Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry spoke with Thunder coach Scott Brooks about Kevin Durant‘s minutes with Russell Westbrook expected to miss the first quarter of the season.
Assuming Durant appears in at least 79 games this season, at 38 minutes a night, that would have him playing over 3,000 regular season minutes for the fourth time in five seasons. Ben Wallace in 2004/05 was the last player to win a title after playing over 3,000 minutes during the regular season.
But it’s a workload Brooks plans to manage with off days and practice time and Durant appears up to the challenge, as long as it helps them win.
Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman is looking for more continuity from his starters in preseason despite the second straight game without Kevin Martin, he tells Jerry Zgoda of the Star-Tribune.
But, Zgoda tweets that Adelman has no idea if a week of rest will get Martin back on the court, though he certainly hopes so.
Zgoda goes on to say that Othyus Jeffers, A.J. Price, Robbie Hummel and Lorenzo Brown are battling for what will likely be two spots when the team waives Chris Johnson.
But Adelman says the Wolves could add players cut from other training camps once teams pare down their rosters in the final week of preseason.
Adelman is also happy former ‘Wolves assistant Bill Bayno was hired as lead assistant for the Raptors (Twitter).

Training Camp Notes: Kobe, Marion, Price, Dedmon

October 3rd, 2013 at 5:42pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Kobe Bryant will be heading back to Germany over the next several days to have platelet-rich plasma therapy treatment on his right knee, which is the same procedure that the Lakers superstar underwent in 2011 and credited with rejuvenating his career (Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports). One source tells Wojnarowski and Spears that the thinking behind pushing back the procedure until now is to give Kobe maximum benefit once he's able to return to action this season. Here's some more of the buzz coming from NBA training camps this evening:

Mavericks forward Shawn Marion will become a free agent after this upcoming season, but there's no guarantee that the 35-year-old will continue his playing career beyond 2014, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.
Timberwolves training camp invitee A.J. Price is expected to make the team, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN in Minnesota.
Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle thinks that DeWayne Dedmon's size gives him a chance to make the Warriors' opening night roster.
Keith Schlosser of Knicks Journal explains why New York should keep recently-invited swingman Chris Douglas-Roberts on board for the regular season.

T-Wolves To Sign A.J. Price

September 27th, 2013 at 1:57pm CST by Ryan Raroque

FRIDAY, 1:57pm: Price's contract will be fully non-guaranteed, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, but Wolfson still believes the veteran guard should be able to stick with the team (Twitter link). Zgoda agrees that Price should have a fair shot, pointing out that the Wolves could waive Chris Johnson if they want to keep two of their camp invitees, rather than just one.

THURSDAY, 9:44pm: Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune reports (via Twitter) that the Timberwolves are expected to add guard A.J. Price to their training camp roster tomorrow. Earlier today, Zgoda mentioned that the team had been in talks with the UConn product about a training camp invite, and we had relayed the possibility from ESPN 1500's Darren Wolfson about a week ago.

Assuming that Price signs on with a non-guaranteed deal, Minnesota will have 14 guaranteed and four non-guaranteed contracts, leaving one spot potentially up for grabs. Based on what head of basketball operations Flip Saunders intimated last month about the team currently not having any needs, it's likely that the Timberwolves would only look to bring on another guaranteed or partially-guaranteed deal if one of the training camp invitees were to make a very strong impression. As we noted last week, Price has some familiarity with Minnesota GM Milt Newton, as the point guard had been somewhat of a steady rotation player for the Wizards while Newton had served as a team executive in Washington D.C. last season.

T-Wolves Mulling Offer To A.J. Price?

September 19th, 2013 at 8:44pm CST by Ryan Raroque

1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson reports, per a source, that the Timberwolves are discussing the possibility of bringing point guard A.J. Price into training camp, adding that the 6'2" guard had a nice year with the Wizards while current Minnesota GM Milt Newton had been a team executive in Washington. According to Wolfson, Price's agent Jeff Schwartz had also spent plenty of time speaking with president of basketball operations Flip Saunders this past summer (Twitter links).

In 57 games and 22 starts for the Wizards last season, Price put up career highs in minutes (22.4), points (7.7), assists (3.6), and three point field goal percentage (35.0%).

Odds & Ends: Tolliver, Bennett, Brewer, Price

August 19th, 2013 at 8:55pm CST by Zachary Links

The Bobcats officially signed Anthony Tolliver to a one-year deal today and the veteran knows exactly what is expected of him in Charlotte, writes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. “The thing I do that doesn’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet is I space the floor for everybody else,” said the forward. “When I’m out there, (defenders) usually don’t leave me. So that gives the guards larger driving lanes and gives Al [Jefferson] more space under the basket. I take pride in that. I know it’s important to a team.” Here's more from around the Association..

Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com conducted a Q&A with No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett about being picked first overall, his role with Team Canada and the Cavs, and his chances of winning the Rookie of the Year award. In a poll earlier today, Victor Oladipo, Kelly Olynyk, and others received more votes than Bennett as the ROY pick of Hoops Rumors readers.
With today's addition of Ronnie Brewer, Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter) notes that the Rockets now have more than 15 players with guaranteed or partially guaranteed deals. They'll have to cut some players between now the start of the season, but one would assume that Brewer is safe.
Excel Sports would love to steer another client, A.J. Price, over to the T-Wolves, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (on Twitter). However, the front office is reluctant to add a 15th player with a guaranteed deal. If Price doesn't get an NBA deal, he says that he's willing to explore his options overseas.

Luke Adams and Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Southeast Rumors: Oden, Tolliver, Price

August 10th, 2013 at 2:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

For the past two seasons, the Southeast Division has been home to both the NBA champs and the team with the worst record in the league. There's a decent chance that's the case for a third year in a row, as the Heat don't appear to be retreating from the title picture and the Magic continue to value the future over the present. Here's more from Florida and the rest of the Southeast:

Greg Oden isn't sure his body can withstand his comeback effort, but he is certain he made the right choice in signing with the Heat over a handful of other suitors. Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has more from Oden's conversations with the media today.
Shams Charania of RealGM.com adds the Clippers to the list of teams that pursued Anthony Tolliver before he agreed today to sign with the Bobcats (Twitter link). Charlotte assistants Stephen Silas and Bob Weiss have worked with Tolliver in the past, and both pushed him for a reunion, as Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida details.
A.J. Price isn't surprised that the Wizards haven't re-signed him, and believes the more punitive luxury tax in the latest collective bargaining agreement is making it more difficult for him to find NBA work, as he tells J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Price is open to playing overseas if that's the only option, and according to El Contraataque, FC Barcelona of Spain has interest in him (translation via HoopsHype).

Knicks Rumors: Martin, Robinson, Jordan, Tyler

July 14th, 2013 at 8:56am CST by Chuck Myron

It sounds like the Knicks will fall short of landing Samuel Dalembert, who's close to a deal with the Mavs. As Knicks GM Glen Grunwald and company search for free agent help, they're limited to handing out no more than the $1.7MM portion of their mini mid-level exception that remains after the team used part of it to re-sign Pablo Prigioni. Still, the team has plenty of targets, as we detail:

The Knicks are in the lead for Kenyon Martin, a source tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com. Since Martin played on the Knicks last season, the team can ink him using Non-Bird rights, but that would still provide a salary of no more than about $1.6MM.
Nate Robinson, Aaron Brooks, Daniel Gibson, Charles Jenkins, John Lucas III, A.J. Price, Nolan Smith, Sebastian Telfair and Toure Murry are all point guards the Knicks are considering, Zwerling writes.
Robinson would consider signing with the Knicks, but only if he doesn't receive a more lucrative offer from another team, reports Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. The team reached out to the diminuative point guard recently, but as we heard yesterday, a few other clubs have interest in him, too.
Jerome Jordan, Liam McMorrow and Jeremy Tyler will draw close attention from the Knicks during the Las Vegas summer league, according to Zwerling. There's a "big chance" Tyler will draw an invitation to Knicks training camp, perhaps with a partial guarantee, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Mike Woodson is intent on keeping Carmelo Anthony at power forward, prompting the club to search for a veteran small forward to use alongside him. Zwerling points to Raja Bell, Josh Childress, Dahntay Jones, Metta World Peace, Mickael Pietrus and Shawne Williams as some of the small forwards drawing the Knicks' eye.
Al Harrington, who seems to be drawing close to a buyout from the Magic, is another Knicks target, Berman adds.