Dominique Jones

Mavericks Sign Troy Murphy

SATURDAY 6:39pm: The Mavericks made the signing official in a press release.

FRIDAY 8:04pm: The Mavericks, currently at the maximum roster limit of 15, are working to free up a spot for Murphy, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.  Dallas would like to make room for the 6'11" forward by trading guard Dominique Jones, but so far they have been unsuccessful.

7:00pm: The Mavericks have agreed to sign forward Troy Murphy to a one-year deal, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).  Murphy spent last season with the Lakers, but didn't make a tremendous impact in his time with the club.

Murphy wasn't drawing a tremendous amount of interest from NBA clubs this offseason and seemed likely to sign a contract overseas.  However, the Mavericks have decided to take a low-risk flier on the sharpshooting big man.  Of the remaining late-summer free agents, Murphy had the best 2011/12 three-point shooting percentage with 41.8%.

Last season, Murphy averaged 3.2 PPG and 3.2 RPG in 59 games with the Lakers.  For his career, the 32-year-old has averaged 10.9 PPG and 7.9 RPG across eleven seasons.

Odds & Ends: Allen, Pistons, Jazz, Curry, Lawson

While most of the night's news has centered around extensions for a flurry of fourth-year players before the 11pm Central deadline, there's sure to be fallout over the lack of extensions for Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans and Jeff Teague, who will headline a class of 2013 restricted free agents that won't be as strong as first expected. In the meantime, there are plenty of other interesting tidbits from around the league.

  • Before deciding on the Heat, Ray Allen was serious about joining the Clippers this summer, but believes the Clips thought he was using them as leverage, writes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald
  • Pistons owner Tom Gores, who won't rule out someday moving the team from the suburban Palace of Auburn Hills to a downtown venue, is anxious for his team to make the playoffs, but said the jobs of basketball operations president Joe Dumars and coach Lawrence Frank aren't necessarily riding on a postseason berth, as David Mayo of MLive.com observes.
  • Jazz executive vice president Kevin O'Connor says the team structured its contracts so most of them would end after this season, Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
  • Grantland's Zach Lowe examines the extensions for Stephen Curry and Ty Lawson, believing the Warriors could trade Curry if he gets off to a fast start next season, while wondering if the Nuggets will make a cost-cutting move some time next year to fit Lawson's deal into their budget.
  • Cavs forward Luke Walton, who played under Phil Jackson with the Lakers, believes his former coach won't return to the sidelines, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Sulia link).
  • Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson didn't dismiss the possibility that the team could re-sign Dominique Jones as an unrestricted free agent next summer after deciding against picking up his 2013/14 option, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News notes.

Mavs To Decline Option On Dominique Jones

The Mavericks won't pick up their $2.3MM fourth-year option on Dominique Jones by tomorrow's deadline, meaning he'll become an unrestricted free agent next summer, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports. The move doesn't come as too much of a surprise, since the team was reportedly shopping him in trades a few days ago in hopes of keeping a roster space open for the recently waived Delonte West.

Jones, who'll make $1.27MM this year, has played sparingly in the two seasons since the Mavs made him the 25th overall pick of the 2010 draft, averaging 2.5 points in 7.9 minutes for his career. He's struggled with his shot, connecting on only 36.4% of his field goal attempts. 

The move isn't official yet, but assuming it will be, that leaves just two other players with pending rookie-scale option decisions, as our tracker shows: Quincy Pondexter of the Grizzlies, and Cole Aldrich of the Rockets.

Mavs Likely To Waive Delonte West, Keep Curry

MONDAY, 9:36am: According to ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter), the Mavs have shopped Dominique Jones in hopes of trading him and buying more time to make a decision on West. However, there have been no takers so far. Dallas has until 4:00pm CT today to set its regular-season roster.

SUNDAY, 11:08am: Mavericks executives appear to have convinced owner Mark Cuban not to try to keep suspended guard Delonte West on the team's roster, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports, adding that West is likely to be waived before Monday's 4:00pm Central time deadline to finalize opening-night rosters. Cuban has hinted that the troubled West could remain with the team, but Eddy Curry looks to be in line to take his roster spot, according to Sefko.

The Mavs suspended West indefinitely Thursday, his second such punishment of the preseason for unspecified conduct detrimental to the team, and Sefko reports Dallas is wary of the influence West might have on its young players. The Mavs moved swiftly to claim Curry off waivers from the Spurs and sign Melvin Ely and Chris Douglas-Roberts, ostensibly to audition for a roster spot that would come open if West were to be let go. All three are on non-guaranteed contracts, but Curry seemed to distinguish himself with 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in Friday's preseason game against the Bobcats.

West is due a guaranteed $1.2MM this season, but the Mavs are only on the hook for $854,389 of it, since he's on a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum. His is one of 15 fully guaranteed deals on the team.

Western Notes: Rubio, Arthur, Babbitt, Jones

When the Timberwolves signed Kevin Love to a four-year extension, rather than a five-year deal, many assumed the team was saving its five-year franchise-player designation for Ricky Rubio. However, Britt Robson, who recently wrote about T-Wolves owner Glen Taylor for Twin Cities Business, hears from GM David Kahn that Rubio is likely to receive the same four-year offer Love did (Twitter link). Here are a few more links dealing with Western Conference clubs:

  • Darrell Arthur, who was re-signed by the Grizzlies this summer, has suffered a leg fracture and won't be ready for training camp, tweets Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. It's another bad break for Arthur, who torn his achilles tendon and missed all of last season.
  • Luke Babbitt isn't sure whether or not the Trail Blazers will pick up his fourth-year option for 2013/14, but he doesn't intend to let his contract become a distraction, as Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com writes.
  • Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News believes Dominique Jones, who also has a fourth-year option decision pending, could be a breakout candidate for the Mavericks.
  • Heading into the season with a newly rebuilt roster and virtually no veteran players, GM Daryl Morey thinks his Rockets will be perhaps the league's most difficult team to forecast. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle has the story.

Southwest Notes: Hornets, Carlisle, Jones, Spurs

A few Wednesday morning updates out of the Southwest Division:

  • The Hornets figure to draft the best players available rather than filling positional needs with their two lottery picks next month, according to Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com. "We don’t know where we’re going to be [drafting]," coach Monty Williams said. "We won’t find out until May 30th. So that will determine which positions we go after. We may go after a center or a power forward, but if we don’t get the pick we want, and the best player is a wing, then I’m pretty sure [GM] Dell [Demps] is going to be inclined to take that wing."
  • Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com is perplexed that Rick Carlisle doesn't have a deal yet to remain the Mavericks' coach for next season.
  • The fact that Kelenna Azubuike seems to have passed Dominique Jones on the Mavs' depth chart doesn't bode well for Jones' long-term future in Dallas, Caplan writes in a separate ESPNDallas.com piece.
  • If the Clippers are going to advance past the Grizzlies in the postseason, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich would prefer they do it sooner rather than later, says Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News. Popovich has some concern that, after playing so frequently in the lockout-shortened season, his players will lose their rhythm if they have to wait too long to resume game action.

Kyler On Rondo, Diaw, Mavs, Ellis, Scola

Over at HoopsWorld, Steve Kyler kicks off a quick look at trade possibilities for all 30 teams, running alphabetically from Atlanta through Houston. Let's check out a few of Kyler's notes….

  • The general belief is that Rajon Rondo will remain a Celtic past March 15th unless Boston is blown away by an offer.
  • Bobcats sources say the team has received inquiries on Boris Diaw, who has an expiring contract worth $9MM.
  • Sources close to the Mavericks say the team views Rodrigue Beaubois and Dominique Jones as "possible sweeteners" in an offseason sign-and-trade deal for Dwight Howard or Deron Williams.
  • If the Warriors decide to move Monta Ellis, any deal may have to include a contract like David Lee's or Andris Biedrins' as well. According to Kyler's sources, the Warriors offered Ellis to the 76ers for Andre Iguodala at the start of the season.
  • Concerns about Luis Scola's knees may make it tough for the Rockets to find full value for him on the trade market.
  • For more on the ten teams covered in Kyler's piece, check out our Assessing Stocks series, which, coincidentally, has covered the same ten clubs.