Archie Goodwin

FA Rumors: Ferrell, Goodwin, Muhammad

After having seemingly reached a two-year contract agreement with the Mavericks, Yogi Ferrell elected this morning to re-enter free agency. However, he doesn’t intend to drag out the process. According to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), Ferrell plans to make a decision within the next day or so.

Ferrell has received some interest from a handful of teams, including the Cavaliers and Pelicans, Charania reports, though a source tells Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that Cleveland’s interest came early in free agency. The Cavs haven’t had contact with Ferrell’s agent during the last couple weeks, says MacMahon.

As for New Orleans, the Pelicans used their full mid-level exception on Julius Randle and spent most of their bi-annual exception on Elfrid Payton. As such, the club couldn’t offer Ferrell more than the minimum. An offer that modest seems unlikely to win out, though it’s worth noting that a fully guaranteed two-year minimum contract would feature more guaranteed money than the Mavs’ offer did.

As we wait to see where Ferrell lands, here are a few more notes and rumors on free agents:

  • Multiple NBA teams have expressed interest in former first-round pick Archie Goodwin, tweets Michael Scotto of The Athletic. However, Goodwin is seriously considering a lucrative contract offer from a Chinese team and is expected to head overseas unless an NBA team offers him a fully guaranteed salary for 2018/19, per Scotto.
  • In a conversation with Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype, free agent wing Shabazz Muhammad – another former first-round pick – says he’s in the best shape of his life. Muhammed, who remains on the lookout for a new NBA home, is also trying to improve his outside shooting, telling Kalbrosky that he’s shooting hundreds of corner threes every day.
  • Veteran NBA point guard Tyler Ennis, who was waived by the Lakers in June, has signed a two-year deal with Fenerbahce Istanbul, according to the EuroLeague’s official site. Before heading to Europe, Ennis appeared in 186 NBA games over the last four seasons, spending time with the Suns, Bucks, Rockets, and Lakers.

And-Ones: G League Mini Camp, Combine, Balls

A number of NBA players with recent big league experience have been named to the G League’s Elite Mini Camp roster. In mid-May, about 40 players from the developmental league will get the chance to strut their stuff in front of NBA personnel.

A total of 13 players from the initial roster have had at least some NBA experience, including the always intriguing likes of K.J. McDaniels and Archie Goodwin.

Other players, like Marcus Thornton and Naz Mitrou-Long who signed 10-day contracts in 2017/18 will look to prove that they deserve another crack at a rotation spot.

While it will be tough for a significant number of these players to make final rosters next season, there are plenty of opportunities between training camp and the regular season, especially now with the introduction of two-way contracts last season.

Jonathon Simmons, the G League is quick to mention, once participated in this event, prior to latching on with the Spurs and spinning that into a role with the Magic last summer.

There’s more from around the league this afternoon:

  • While it’s become commonplace for highly regarded draft prospects to skip out on the combine, a number of reputable players from last year’s class were in attendance, including Donovan Mitchell and Bam Adebayo. Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype broke down some of the best players from this year’s rookie crop that are actually expected to participate in the pre-draft event later this month.
  • The dust has settled after LaVar Ball‘s decision to move his non-Lonzo sons to Lithuania. According to Donatas Urbonas of 15min.It, LiAngelo Ball may have been slightly underrated prior to arriving in Europe while LaMelo Ball isn’t prepared to perform at the pro level yet. Urbonas connected with USA Today’s Andrew Joseph to discuss the Ball family’s Lithuanian adventure.
  • The NBA offseason is a lot closer than you might think. In fact, players like Cory Joseph and Wesley Johnson have already made key decisions on contract options for the 2018/19 campaign. For a rundown of what we expect from each team’s pending free agents, check out your respective team’s recap in our Free Agent Stock Watch series. Similarly, Hoops Rumors writers have ranked who we think the top available 2018 NBA free agents are.

And-Ones: BIG3, G League, Quarterman, J. Brown

Two more former NBA players have signed on with the BIG3, including one that just formally announced his retirement from the NBA this past summer. Veteran big man Jason Maxiell was one of those players joining the BIG3 player pool this week, according to the league (Twitter link). After playing more than 600 NBA regular season games and another 35 postseason contests, Maxiell signed a one-day contract in August and retired as a Piston. Now, he’ll have a chance to compete against – or team up with – former teammate Chauncey Billups in the BIG3.

Veteran forward Jamario Moon, who played in 286 total games for the Raptors, Heat, Cavaliers, Clippers, and Hornets from 2007 to 2012, also signed a BIG3 contract this week, according to an announcement from the league (Twitter link).

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Multiple 2018 NBA draft prospects who aren’t currently playing NCAA ball have been informed that they’re ineligible to play in the G League this season, a league source tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN. As Givony explains, players who were enrolled in college during an academic calendar year are ineligible to sign a G League contract in the same season unless they’ve been ruled permanently NCAA-ineligible. Mitchell Robinson, De’Anthony Melton, and Brian Bowen are among the potential 2018 first-rounders currently in limbo.
  • Former Trail Blazers guard Tim Quarterman had been set to join the Jiangsu Dragons in China, but passport complications prevented him from finalizing his deal, per international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link). According to Pick, the Chinese club signed ex-Lakers guard Jabari Brown instead.
  • Former first-round pick Archie Goodwin is back in the Suns‘ system, having been traded to Phoenix’s G League affiliate, the Northern Arizona Suns, earlier this week. Northern Arizona sent out a first-round pick and a second-round pick for the 2018 G League draft in the three-team deal.
  • The NBA’s next wave of international stars appears to have arrived, Michael Lee writes in an interesting feature for Yahoo Sports.

Archie Goodwin Rejoins Hornets’ G League Affiliate

Former first-round pick Archie Goodwin is headed back to the G League. The Greensboro Swarm, the Hornets’ G League affiliate, announced today in a press release that they’ve added Goodwin to their roster as a returning rights player.

The 29th overall pick in the 2013 draft, Goodwin spent the first three years of his NBA career in Phoenix, then played sparingly last season for the Pelicans and Nets. The 23-year-old guard, who has averaged 6.3 PPG and 2.0 RPG in 165 career NBA games, was in camp with the Trail Blazers this fall, but Portland waived him at the end of the preseason.

Now that he has signed a new G League contract, Goodwin will return to Greensboro, where he spent much of last season. In 2016/17, the former Kentucky Wildcat put up 17.0 PPG and 5.2 RPG in 34 games (32.7 MPG) for Charlotte’s affiliate, which still held his G League rights.

Goodwin parlayed his solid G League performance last season into a pair of 10-day contracts and then a rest-of-season deal with Brooklyn down the stretch. He likely hopes to take a similar path back to the NBA this year — because he’s not on a two-way contract, he’ll be free to sign with any of the 30 NBA teams if he makes a strong impression with the Swarm.

Trail Blazers Waive Anthony Morrow, Two Others

The Trail Blazers have made their roster cuts in advance of the regular season, according to beat reporter Casey Holdahl, who tweets that Anthony Morrow, Archie Goodwin, and Isaiah Briscoe have been waived by the team.

The cuts of Briscoe and Goodwin were anticipated. Although they received training camp invitations from the Blazers, Briscoe and Goodwin were viewed as long shots to make the team’s regular season roster, with 14 players on guaranteed salaries already under contract.

Morrow, however, was the favorite to earn the 15th and final spot on Portland’s regular season roster. The veteran sharpshooter has a career .417 3PT%, and was viewed as a good fit to become an outside threat off the bench for a team that lost Allen Crabbe over the summer. Still, Morrow struggled last season, shooting just 30.8% from three-point range, and with the exception of a 12-point game against Toronto last week, didn’t do much in the preseason.

Rather than carrying Morrow on the regular season roster, it appears Portland will open the season with a 14-man squad. That makes some sense, considering the Blazers are currently over the tax line; any extra contract would increase the club’s projected year-end tax bill.

Portland is now carrying 15 total players — 14 on NBA deals and one on a two-way contract.

Trail Blazers Sign Archie Goodwin

SEPTEMBER 11: The Blazers have officially announced their deal with Goodwin, issuing a press release to confirm the signing.

SEPTEMBER 7: The Trail Blazers have agreed to a training camp deal with guard Archie Goodwin, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The 23-year-old last played for the Nets prior to being waived over the summer.

While Goodwin has shown flashes of modest potential at various points throughout his career, he hasn’t been able to thrive with a big league club just yet.

With one roster spot available, however, Goodwin stands a chance of sticking with the the Blazers into the regular season.

If he does, expect to see the combo guard in direct competition with reserves Shabazz Napier and Pat Connaughton for reps behind the team’s All-Star backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.

Trey Burke, 15 Other FAs Attend Bucks’ Mini-Camp

The Bucks are hosting a free agent mini-camp on Tuesday and Wednesday this week as they look to fill out their training camp roster and identify candidates to play for their G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, according to Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The mini-camp, which will give the club a chance to evaluate possible camp invitees, includes a handful of notable names among its 16 participants.

Former lottery picks Trey Burke and Hasheem Thabeet are among the first-rounders who will be in attendance at the mini-camp, as Velazquez details. MarShon Brooks, Toney Douglas, Archie Goodwin, R.J. Hunter, John Jenkins, Perry Jones, and James Young are also set to get a look from the Bucks.

The Bucks don’t have a ton of flexibility to add more players to their offseason roster, having already locked up 16 players to NBA deals and two more to two-way contracts. That leaves just a pair of openings on the team’s 20-man training camp roster. Still, two of those roster players – Gary Payton II and JeQuan Lewis – are on non-guaranteed contracts, so Milwaukee has some flexibility if it wants to make changes at the back of its roster.

In addition to the players listed above, the following free agents are attending the Bucks’ mini-camp, per Velazquez: Cliff Alexander, Gracin Bakumanya, Trahson Burrell, Jeremy Evans, Aaron Harrison, Luke Petrasek, and Jacob Pullen.

Any player that signs with the Bucks figures to get a minimum salary deal that is non-guaranteed or features a very modest guarantee, since the Bucks are currently slightly above the luxury tax line.

Knicks Consider Jarrett Jack, Archie Goodwin

In their quest for depth at point guard, the Knicks are considering both Jarrett Jack and Archie Goodwin, posts Ohm Youngmisuk on ESPN Now.

Jack, 33, would bring another veteran presence to a position currently occupied by Ron Baker, rookie Frank Ntilikina and journeyman Ramon Sessions, who signed with the team earlier this month. Jack is trying to rebound from two season-ending injuries, a torn ACL in his right knee in January of 2016 and a torn right meniscus in March of this year. His only NBA action last season was two games with the Pelicans after signing a 10-day contract in late February.

At 23, Goodwin fits in better with New York’s youth movement. He played briefly last season with the Pelicans and Nets, amassing a combined 15 games, and spent most of the year with the Greensboro Swarm in the G League. A late first-round pick in 2013, Goodwin played his first three NBA seasons with the Suns, where his coach was current Knicks mentor Jeff Hornacek.

New York has 19 players headed to camp, one under the league maximum. The Knicks are over the cap, so any offer would have to be for the veteran’s minimum.

Nets Waive Archie Goodwin

The Nets have waived guard Archie Goodwin, the team announced today in a press release. Goodwin will become an unrestricted free agent on Sunday if and when he clears waivers.

Goodwin, who will turn 23 next month, has had trouble finding a permanent home since being waived by the Suns prior to the start of the 2016/17 season. A former first-round pick, Goodwin appeared in 150 games over the course of three seasons in Phoenix, but bounced around last year, spending some time with the Pelicans and Nets. He also appeared in 34 games for the G League’s Greensboro Swarm, averaging 17.0 PPG and 5.2 RPG for the club.

Goodwin’s minimum salary contract with the Nets for 2017/18 was non-guaranteed, per Basketball Insiders, so Brooklyn won’t be on the hook for any of his salary. For the Nets, the move creates a little extra cap room, though the club used most of its remaining space to accommodate its acquisition of Allen Crabbe earlier this week. If the Nets were to renounce Randy Foye‘s cap hold, they’d have about $5.1MM in cap room after releasing Goodwin.

The Nets have one more non-guaranteed contract on their books for ’17/18, but that deal belongs to Spencer Dinwiddie. Dinwiddie had a stronger audition with Brooklyn last season than Goodwin did, so I’d be surprised if the team cuts him.

Atlantic Notes: Ntilikina, Lowry, Pasecniks, Goodwin

Clarence Gaines Jr., the closest advisor to Knicks president Phil Jackson, is the latest team official to get a first-hand look at Frank Ntilikina, reports Marc Berman of The New York Post. Jackson’s preference for big guards may be enough for New York to draft Ntilikina at No. 8, although Berman notes that North Carolina State’s Dennis Smith Jr.  and Kentucky’s Malik Monk both have supporters in the front office. Ntilikina is 6’5″ with a 7-foot wingspan, a reputation for defensive intensity and a high basketball IQ. Jackson has developed a liking for European prospects after his success with Kristaps Porzingis and Willy Hernangomez. Ntilikina’s case isn’t helped by his modest numbers — 5.2 points and 1.2 assists in about 18 minutes per game in the French League — but he says he is becoming a more aggressive player.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Saturday’s trade between the Sixers and Celtics removes a potential destination for Raptors free agent Kyle Lowry, writes Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. Philadelphia had been considered a threat to sign Lowry because it’s his hometown and the Sixers have considerable cap space. But with point guard Markelle Fultz headed to Philadelphia, there’s no need to spend money on Lowry.
  • The Nets may gamble on Latvian star Anzejs Pasecniks with one of their two picks late in the first round, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. A former teammate of Porzingis, the 7-foot-2, 226-pound center will have to develop his body to handle the NBA game. “Pasecniks is one of those guys that’d be perfect for a team with multiple [first-round] picks. Brooklyn’s got multiple picks,” said ESPN international analyst Fran Fraschilla. “Portland, and maybe even Utah may have multiple picks. He’s one of those guys that you could draft [and stash] him. Although he’s 21 and he’s anxious to get over here and start his NBA career.”
  • Brooklyn guard Archie Goodwin is a rare player with four years of experience who is volunteering for Summer League, tweets NetsDaily. Goodwin played briefly for the Pelicans and Nets this season, but spent most of the year in the D-League. He is hoping to secure a spot on the team after signing a two-year deal in April that contains several guarantee dates.