Hamady Ndiaye

D-League Moves: Westbrook, N’Diaye, Hawks

Let’s take a look at today’s D-League moves from around the NBA:

  • Charlie Westbrook has been claimed by the Heat‘s D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. We heard Wednesday night that Westbrook had entered the D-League’s waiver process.
  • Kings center Hamady N’Diaye has been assigned to the club’s D-League affiliate in Reno, the team announced today in an official press release. Ndiaye has played 52 minutes in nine games for Sacramento his season.
  • The Hawks have swapped out two shooting guards today, assigning John Jenkins to the Bakersfield Jam of the D-League while subsequently recalling Jared Cunningham. A press release earlier today revealed the pair of moves.

Pacific Notes: Dragic, Bogut, Kings, Iguodala

Many around the NBA believe Goran Dragic will be the next player the Suns trade away after Friday’s Marcin Gortat deal, but Phoenix GM Ryan McDonough insists that won’t be the case, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic notes. “He’s a good player on a good contract and a great guy,” McDonough said. “So, no, we’re not looking to move Goran Dragic.” Andrew Bogut is another player who probably won’t be traded this year now that he’s signed his extension, and he’s glad to stick around the Warriors, as we explain amid our look around the Pacific:

  • Andrew Bogut understands he could have snagged a better payday if he had held off on an extension and performed well this season, but he tells Sam Amick of USA Today that he didn’t want to play the season as a trade candidate on an expiring contract. Bogut says he’s put his anger about the Warriors‘ pursuit of Dwight Howard behind him and encourages his teammates to take discounts on their next deals so the team can stay together.
  • The Kings face a Thursday deadline for decisions on Jimmer Fredette‘s fourth-year option and extensions for Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson, and GM Pete D’Alessandro remains circumspect, observes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. “We’re still looking at things and evaluating before making a decision. … I think there’s some spirited conversations going on about all the guys near the deadline,” D’Alessandro said.
  • The moves that D’Alessandro and company have made so far during their brief tenure aren’t above reproach, but the key is whether their long-term investment in DeMarcus Cousins works out, The Bee’s Ailene Voisin opines.
  • Carl Landry should be out a few more months with his hip injury, so camp invitee Hamady N’Diaye could remain with the Kings for a while, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.com.
  • Andre Iguodala‘s arrival to Golden State raises the expectations for the Warriors, as Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle examines.

Pacific Rumors: Wayns, Bogut, Suns, Kings

The left knee injury sustained by Maalik Wayns may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the young guard, who had been vying for a roster spot with the Clippers. As Steve Perrin of Clips Nation explains, players on non-guaranteed, non-summer contracts who suffer an on-court injury can’t be released while they’re recovering, or else their deals will become guaranteed.

As such, Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld tweets that Wayns now looks like a lock to make L.A.’s opening night roster. Wayns’ deal was already set to become fully guaranteed if he wasn’t waived on or before December 1st, so assuming his recovery extends into December, it appears he’ll earn a full salary for 2013/14.

Here’s more from around the Pacific Division:

  • Grantland’s Zach Lowe takes an in-depth look at Andrew Bogut‘s extension talks with the Warriors, noting that it’s very hard to pin down Bogut’s value, not just in terms of annual salary, but also on the trade market. Lowe attempts to brainstorm a few trade possibilities involving Bogut, but writes that the Warriors aren’t open to deals that would include Klay Thompson as a sweetener.
  • Asked by Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News for a comment on the Bogut extension talks, Warriors owner Joe Lacob was fairly noncommittal, but said the team likes him “a lot,” and that he hopes Bogut remains in Golden State “for a long time.”
  • Suns coach Jeff Hornacek spoke to Matt Peterson of Suns.com about the tough decisions ahead for a team that needs to cut its roster down from 18 players. Phoenix is also the only NBA team currently carrying more than 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts, meaning at least one of the players released before opening night will still get paid.
  • The Kings have one potential opening on their roster, and while the team is still weighing its options, Hamady N’Diaye has a chance to grab that spot, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. “I’m not sure what [GM] Pete D’Alessandro‘s plan for that last spot is right now,” said coach Michael Malone. “But I think ‘H,’ as we call him, has done a lot to showcase his abilities as to why he should be on this team.”

Kings Bringing Hamady N’Diaye To Camp

Hamady N'Diaye will join the Kings in training camp for the second straight season. He's one of 17 players listed on the team's camp roster, as Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee passes along. The 7-footer has seen minimal regular season action in the NBA, logging a total of 83 minutes over two seasons for the Wizards.

The Kings waived N'Diaye before the regular season last fall, and he agreed to a deal with Tianjin of China the same day. He averaged 11.0 points and 8.9 rebounds in 31 games with the Chinese club last season, parlaying that into a summer-league stint with the Mavericks this past July.

N'Diaye joins DeQuan Jones as Kings with non-guaranteed contracts. Trent Lockett, another camp hopeful, has a partial guarantee of $35K on his deal.

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N’diaye Signs In China

After being released by the Kings earlier today, center Hamady N'daiye has agreed to a deal with China's Tianjin, according to a tweet from Yahoo! NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski. After being drafted by the Timberwolves in 2010, the 7'0" center has spent time in the NBA's D-League with the Dakota Wizards, Iowa Energy, and Maine Red Claws. 

Kings Waive Mitchell, N’Diaye, Reed

The Kings are the latest team to make roster cuts, announcing today in a press release that they've released Tony Mitchell, Hamady N'Diaye, and Willie Reed. The moves leave the Kings with 14 players under contract.

None of the three players received much playing time in the preseason, each averaging under two points per game in less than six minutes per contest. Since Mitchell, N'Diaye, and Reed were the only three Kings on non-guaranteed contracts, it appears all but certain that Sacramento will head into the season with its current 14-man roster.

Kings Sign Willie Reed, Cyril Awere

The Kings have officially announced their roster for training camp, and there are a couple of new names on the list, in addition to signees like Tony Mitchell and Hamady N'Diaye, which we already knew about. The team has also added a pair of bigs, Willie Reed and Cyril Awere, on non-guaranteed contracts.

Reed, 22, is a 6'9" forward that played his college ball at St. Louis University. He was suspended by the school and entered the NBA draft pool early after sitting out a season, but went undrafted in 2011. ESPN.com's Chad Ford had ranked him as the 70th-best prospect of the class. Awere, meanwhile, is a 6'11" center from Nigeria. The 27-year-old had been playing for Stade Nabeulien in Tunisia.

The Kings head into camp with 18 players on their roster, including 14 on guaranteed deals, so it's unlikely that either Reed or Awere makes the cut. At least one of Mitchell and N'Diaye appears to be a decent bet to earn a roster spot in Sacramento, however.

Hamady N’Diaye Lands Deal With Kings

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo (via Twitter), free agent center Hamady N'Diaye has agreed to a non-guaranteed training camp deal with the Kings. N'Diaye, a 7-footer from Rutgers via Senegal, appeared in 19 games for the Wizards over the past two seasons. 

Wojnarowski tweets that N'Diaye has a "solid shot" to make the Kings opening day roster. He averaged 6 points and 4.3 rebounds in the NBDL last season with stops at the Iowa Energy and the Maine Red Claws.

Minor Moves: Wright, N’Diaye

The D-League All-Star game will be a part of festivities tomorrow in Orlando, and we'll track any news coming out of the lead-up tonight here:

  • Julian Wright, the 13th pick in the 2007 draft, has signed a D-League contract and will be assigned to a team by Monday, according to Scott Schroeder of Ridiculous Upside. Wright hasn't played in the NBA this year after spending his first three years with the Hornets and last year with the Raptors. The 6'8", 225-pound small forward was a part of the playoff rotation in New Orleans when the Hornets pushed the Spurs to seven games in the conference semifinals in 2008, but never developed beyond that point. He's averaged 3.9 PPG, 2.3 RPG and 14.7 MPG in his NBA career.
  • Schroeder says in the same piece that Hamady N'Diaye has signed with the D-League as well. N'Diaye was a second-round pick of the Timberwolves in 2010 who has spent time with the Wizards the last two seasons. He's played a total of 19 NBA games, averaging 0.7 PPG and 0.4 RPG in limited minutes. The Wizards waived the 7'0", 235-pound center earlier this month.

 

Decisions On Non-Guaranteed Contracts

February 10th marks the day that all players on non-guaranteed contracts will have their deals guaranteed for the remainder of the season. However, if a team wants to meet that Friday deadline, it will need to make its decisions today, allowing its player(s) to pass through waivers in time.

Some non-guaranteed players, such as DeJuan Blair and Jeremy Lin, are in no danger of being waived. However, with a few dozen players on non-guaranteed deals across the league, there will be plenty of cuts before the day is out. Some of those players will sign 10-day contracts shortly after being cut, while others could join the D-League or find a place on our list of current unrestricted free agents.

We'll track all the day's decisions on non-guaranteed contracts right here, with the latest news up top:

Zach Links contributed to this post.