Chris Daniels

Nets Release Boatright, Miller, Daniels

The Nets have waived point guard Ryan Boatright, small forward Quincy Miller and center Chris Daniels, the team announced via press release. The moves take Brooklyn’s roster down to 17 players, including 13 with full guarantees. Boatright’s contract includes a partial guarantee of $75K and Miller’s has a $50K partial guarantee, while the salary for Daniels is non-guaranteed, so Brooklyn stands to be eat $125K in salary, barring waiver claims.

Boatight, 22, reached a two-year, minimum-salary agreement with Brooklyn shortly after he went undrafted out of Connecticut this year. He averaged 4.2 points, 3.8 assists and 1.0 turnover in 13.9 minutes per game, numbers that aren’t shabby but nonetheless inferior to those that free agent signee Donald Sloan put up, so it appears Sloan has won the third point guard job for the team.

The 22-year-old Miller came from the Pistons in the Steve Blake trade. He played in as many preseason games this fall as he did regular season games for the Pistons last season, scoring six points in nearly 30 total minutes of preseason play.

Daniels, who’s played in China the last two seasons, scored effectively for the Nets, averaging 7.4 points in 13.0 minutes per game, but despite injury concerns for fellow Nets big men Andrea Bargnani and Willie Reed, it wasn’t enough to save the 31-year-old’s job.

Reed and Sloan have partial guarantees of $500K and $50K, respectively, while Justin Harper and Dahntay Jones are on non-guaranteed contracts. Those four players are ostensibly competing for two regular season spots.

Who do you think the Nets will keep for opening night? Leave a comment to weigh in.

Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Sullinger, Sixers

Knicks president Phil Jackson‘s statement that he’d be more involved with coach Derek Fisher and the team this season could potentially send a confusing message to the locker room, Frank Isola of The New York Daily News writes. “I really don’t know what standpoint he’s coming from,” Carmelo Anthony said of Jackson’s increased role. “If I think I know Phil the way I know him, I think it’s more of being involved with coaching staff, being in with them, watching film with them, kind of opening up dialogue a little bit more, him sitting in the film room with us, after the games, going over the games, watching more tape, talking to the coaching staff.

Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

  • The minimum salary deal that the Knicks signed DaJuan Summers to is non-guaranteed, Darion Atkinspact includes a partial guarantee of $75K, Travis Trice‘s arrangement includes $50K in guaranteed money, and Wesley Saundersdeal includes a partial guarantee of $75K, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (on Twitter).
  • Celtics big man Jared Sullinger believes that his improved conditioning will elevate his game to the next level this season, CSNNE.com relays. “A lot of shots that I’ve missed is due to conditioning. A lot of rebounds I missed is due to conditioning. The defensive plays that I’ve missed – conditioning,” said Sullinger. “Now that my conditioning is at a level where I’m comfortable at but can still improve, I think I have a chance [to be an All-Star].
  • Even though Joe Johnson knew that the Nets were going to make some offseason changes, he was still caught by surprise by Deron Williamsbuyout arrangement, Tim Bontemps of The New York Post writes. “I honestly didn’t know what was going to happen,” said Johnson. “But I didn’t see [the buyout] coming. I don’t think [being here] was that bad. It’s not that bad here. To want to get bought out … I couldn’t really put my finger around that one. But I hear that he’s happy and that’s the most important thing. He’s back home, so good for him.
  • The contracts that the Nets signed Justin Harper and Chris Daniels to are both one-year, minimum salary arrangements that include no guaranteed money, Pincus tweets.
  • The success of Sixers big men Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel this season will depend on how effective the outside shooting of Nik Stauskas, Robert Covington and Hollis Thompson is, Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News writes. “You hear me say this all the time: My offensive world, how I see it, is pace, space and pass,” coach Brett Brown said. “Post spacing really comes with shooters. Maybe the best play that Jahlil has is Covington and Stauskas. He’s got space to do stuff. We experienced it [in San Antonio] all the time. So, these shooters will most definitely complement Nerlens, and especially Jahlil.
  • T.J. McConnell‘s four-year, minimum salary arrangement with the Sixers includes a partial guarantee of $100K for the 2015/16 season, Pincus tweets. The final three seasons are non-guaranteed, and the fourth year is both non-guaranteed and a team option.

Nets Sign Chris Daniels

The Nets have signed 31-year-old center Chris Daniels, the team announced via press release. Daniels is poised to head to an NBA training camp for the second time in his seven-year NBA career, having done so with the Lakers in 2011, but he’s yet to play in an NBA regular season game. The Nets have signed contracts or verbal agreements with 20 players already, as our roster count shows, but one of them is the injured Yanick Moreira, who has yet to sign a contract, so it would appear that Daniels is replacing him.

Daniels spent this past season playing in China with the Guangdong Southern Tigers, who also featured Emmanuel Mudiay, Will Bynum, Jeff Adrien and Yi Jianlian. The 7’0″ Daniels put up 12.6 points and 7.7 rebounds in 25.6 minutes per game. He’s made multiple appearances in NBA summer league play over the years since going undrafted out of Texas A&M Corpus Christi in 2008, the last of which came with the summer Raptors in 2014.

Brooklyn figures to have an intriguing camp, with only 12 players signed to fully guaranteed contracts and five others on partially guaranteed deals. Two others, Dahntay Jones and Justin Harper, are without any guaranteed money. It’s not immediately clear if Daniels will have a guarantee on his salary.

And-Ones: Divac, Okafor, Knicks

The Kings have hired former NBA player Vlade Divac as their vice president of basketball and franchise operations, the team has announced. “With an unparalleled philanthropic track record that spans the globe, Vlade Divac is the epitome of our NBA 3.0 philosophy,” Sacramento owner Vivek Ranadive said. “He has a unique perspective and global stature that will only further elevate our organization around the world.” In a career that spanned 16 NBA seasons, Divac averaged 11.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game. Ranadive was the driving force behind hiring Divac, Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee tweets.

Here’s more from around the league and abroad:

  • With the Guangdong Southern Tigers having been eliminated from the Chinese Basketball Association playoffs, Will Bynum, Jeff Adrien and Chris Daniels have become free agents and are eligible to sign with NBA teams, Enea Trapani of Sportando tweets.
  • The NBA has fined the Knicks for team president Phil Jackson‘s public comments regarding Ohio State freshman D’Angelo Russell, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). Upon leaving Ohio State’s game last Thursday night, Jackson told reporters that Russell was a “great looking kid, [a] great prospect.” This is the second time in his brief career as an executive that Jackson has been fined for tampering. The first instance was for his comments regarding Derek Fisher last spring while Fisher was still a member of the Thunder.
  • Mike D’Antoni would be an excellent fit as the next coach of the Nuggets, Adi Joseph of USA Today opines. Joseph cites Denver’s personnel, who would be well-suited to D’Antoni’s style of play, as the main reason the former Knicks and Lakers coach could match up well with the Nuggets.
  • With the Knicks currently owning the worst record in the NBA according to Hoops Rumors’ Reverse Standings, New York has the best odds of snagging the top pick in June’s NBA draft. Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal examines the pros and cons of projected No. 1 overall pick Jahlil Okafor, and how the big man would fit in with the Knicks.
  • The Lakers intend to apply for a hardship exception once Ronnie Price misses his fourth consecutive game, Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times reports. Los Angeles has lost Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Julius Randle and Price for the season. The Lakers have discussed the matter internally, but haven’t decided if they will use the exception if granted, Pincus adds.

International Moves: Daniels, Mbenga, Emmett

It's a fairly quiet time of year for NBA transactions, but many former NBA players are still involved in the roster carousel with teams overseas. Here's the latest on a few of them:

  • According to Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Sulia link), it will be Chris Daniels, rather than Alabi, who replaces Mbenga for Qingdao. Daniels had been playing for Golden State's D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, averaging 7.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 2.3 BPG in three contests.

Earlier updates:

  • The Qingdao Double Star Eagles, Tracy McGrady's team in China, have waived NBA veteran D.J. Mbenga, according to a Sports.QQ.com report (English link via Sportando). Mbenga, who has played for the Mavericks, Lakers, Warriors, and Hornets, was replaced by Solomon Alabi, who spent the last two season with the Raptors and was in camp with the Hornets this fall.
  • Former Texas Tech standout Andre Emmett has signed in Lebanon with Amchit, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Emmett, 30, was drafted by the SuperSonics 35th overall in 2004, but has only played 14 career regular season games with the Grizzlies and Nets.