Thunder Waive Rautins, Orton, Thompson
The Thunder have let go of Andy Rautins, Daniel Orton and Hollis Thompson, reports Royce Young of DailyThunder.com. All were on partially guaranteed deals — Orton for $100K, Thompson for $75K, and Rautins for $25K. That means DeAndre Liggins, whose deal is also partially guaranteed for $25K, appears to have won the competition for the team's final regular season roster spot.
Young writes that the Thunder are expected to retain the rights to Rautins, Orton and Thompson for their D-League affiliate, the Tulsa 66ers, as long as they clear waivers. The Thunder signed the 6'8" Thompson, who went undrafted out of Georgetown in June, on the first day free agents could officially sign with teams this summer. Orton, a 6'10" native of Oklahoma City, was the 29th pick in the 2010 draft by the Magic, who didn't pick up his third-year option, allowing him to sign with his hometown team in August. The Thunder picked up Rautins and Liggins, both guards, on the same day in September. Both were former second-round picks with brief NBA action.
The Thunder now have 15 players on their roster, though they could decide to let Liggins go at any time before January 10th without having to pay more than his $25K partial guarantee.
Odds & Ends: Varejao, Harden, Chandler, Stoudemire
Here are a few bits of news on this Friday evening:
- Hoopsworld.com's Stephen Brotherston wonders if Anderson Varejao will play center for the Cavaliers this season.
- The Oklahoman's Darnell Mayberry tweets that he believes the chances of James Harden signing an extension with the Thunder are 0.2%.
- According to the New York Daily News' Frank Isola, Amare Stoudemire is seeking a second opinion on his knee injury, and could miss as much as a month of the season.
- On the other end of the spectrum, Knicks center Tyson Chandler is convinced he'll play on opening night after suffering a leg injury this week, writes Newsday's Al Iannazzone.
- Hornets guard Eric Gordon has spent his brief career on the sidelines with myriad of injuries. This season he looks forward to hopefully playing a full 82 games, writes Hoopsworld.com's Bill Ingram.
- The Thunder have one open position left on their opening day roster, and four players—Andy Rautins, Daniel Orton, DeAndre Liggins, and Hollis Thompson—are fighting for it, reports The Oklahoman's Darnell Mayberry.
Odds & Ends: Spurs, Thunder, Cavaliers, Deng
Darnell Mayberry of NewsOK lists Daniel Orton, DeAndre Liggins, Andy Rautins, and Hollis Thompson as the four Thunder hopefuls looking to earn the team's final roster spot. While he believes that Liggins has the best chance considering the bulk of minutes he's played during the pre-season, Mayberry also considers Orton as a strong candidate because of his potential. He adds that a popular idea would be for Oklahoma City to waive or trade a guaranteed contract in order to keep both Liggins and Orton, although such a possibility seems unlikely at this point. With that aside, you can find more of tonight's miscellaneous links below:
- Former Memphis Tiger Wesley Witherspoon believes that being around the veteran leadership in San Antonio would be a great place to start his career if he makes the team (Jason Smith of The Memphis Edge reports). On another note, Mike Monroe of Spurs Nation writes that Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard isn't worried about his pre-season shooting slump affecting his shot once the regular season starts.
- Fran Blinebury of NBA.com explains why it would be prudent for Oklahoma City to wait on a possible extension for James Harden, most notably to see if he can remain healthy this season and maintain a high level of play.
- Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio says that the Cavaliers are expected to send recently-signed D'Aundray Brown to the D-League, even though he would still take up a spot on the team's official season roster. He also speculates that three roster cuts are likely to be decided from a group that includes Jeremy Pargo, Kevin Jones, Luke Harangody, and Micheal Eric.
- Although Luol Deng dealt with a torn ligament in his left wrist last season and ultimately decided against surgery during the summer, the Bulls forward now feels confident enough to play at a high level and said that he hasn't been feeling any pain (Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago reports).
- Sean Deveney of the Sporting News explains some of the biggest responsibilities that current deputy commissioner Adam Silver will have once he is set to replace David Stern, including television contract negotiations, collective bargaining, European expansion, and development of the D-League.
- Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution engaged in a Q&A with Hawks forward Josh Smith about his expectations this season and the challenges he anticipates for the team. In a separate article, Daniel Christian of Sheridan Hoops discusses five reasons to be optimistic about Atlanta this year.
- Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com talks briefly about New Orleans' confidence in the versatility and scoring ability of Hornets rookie Austin Rivers.
Northwest Links: Jazz, Thunder, Harden, Karl
In a lengthy insider piece at ESPN.com, Chad Ford explains why the Jazz placed fourth in ESPN's recent Future Power Rankings, a position that surprised even team GM Dennis Lindsey. "We are a long way from No. 4 right now," Lindsey said. "I can understand on the future ratings why there's reason to be optimistic — with the cap flexibility Kevin has created and the young players that we do have — but cap room doesn't win you games. Young players, almost by definition, don't win you games."
Regardless of whether ESPN's optimistic ranking is justified, Jazz fans certainly have reason to be excited about the future of the team. In fact, most of the teams in the Northwest have solid young cores. Let's take a look at some other links from the division:
- Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman gives us his two cents on the Thunder's 15th roster spot, saying that DeAndre Liggins has been the surprise of training camp and has the inside track on the final job. Marberry says Liggins' toughness has made him stand out.
- Blazers general manager Neil Olshey says that will not make a decision on whether he will the exercise options on Luke Babbitt, Nolan Smith and Elliot Williams until much closer to the October 31 deadline, tweets Chris Haynes of CSN Northwest.
- Scott Brooks says that whoever plays the best will secure the Thunder's 15th roster spot, writes Royce Young of DailyThunder.com. It sounds like Brooks is comfortable enough with his top 14 to take the "best available" player that is left over. Young handicaps the potential candidates, from most to least likely: Daniel Orton, DeAndre Liggins, Andy Rautins, Hollis Thompson and longshot Walker Russell.
- Janni Carlson of the Oklahoman opines that while signing James Harden will certainly help the Thunder now, it may hinder the team's long-term future. If the Thunder choose to sign Harden and pay the luxury tax, Carlson says, they may get burned in the same fashion as other small markets have in Minnesota, Cleveland and Sacramento.
- In a lengthy feature, Candace Buckner of the Columbian highlights the relationship between George Karl and Portland head coach Terry Stotts, and how that long friendship landed Coby Karl in training camp with the Blazers.
Odds & Ends: Camby, Thompson, Cavs
Marcus Camby believes the Knicks have assembled all the pieces they need to dethrone the Heat and win a championship, writes Keldy Ortiz of Newsday.
Here are a few more links from around the league this Saturday evening.
- The Oklahoman's Darnell Mayberry talks with undrafted rookie forward Hollis Thompson as he gets acclimated with the Thunder organization, the team he signed with in July.
- How can the Raptors improve on their disappointing season last year? Hoopsworld.com's Stephen Brotherston gives six valid reasons why Toronto should make the playoffs this season.
- The Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer answers questions from readers regarding Luke Walton's contract and the Cavaliers' new gold colored home uniform.
- Dwyane Wade believes the work he put in this offseason on his jump shot should make him an even better offensive player for the rest of his career, writes Sun-Sentinel.com's Ira Winderman.
- NBA.com's Steve Aschburner makes the Hall of Fame case for longtime coach Johnny Bach.
Contract Details: Novak, Green, Miller, Thompson
While most players' contracts include annual raises, or at the very least, identical annual salaries, Steve Novak's new contract with the Knicks is a little different, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports explains (Twitter link). Novak's deal starts at a little over $4MM, dips to below $3.5MM by 2014/15, then rises back up to $3.75MM for 2015/16. The unusual structure of the deal provides the Knicks a small amount of savings in the years when the rest of the team's roster will get extremely expensive.
Deeks shared a number of other contract details from around the league, via Twitter, so let's round them up….
- The Spurs' deal with Danny Green is for three fully-guaranteed years and $11,287,500, with no options.
- Andre Miller will earn $5MM in each of the next two seasons with the Nuggets. The third year of his deal is partially guaranteed for $2MM of $4.625MM.
Earlier updates:
Thunder Sign Hollis Thompson
The Thunder have signed Hollis Thompson to a three-year deal, agent Seth Cohen tells Bobby Bancroft of 106.7 The Fan (Twitter link). Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman confirms the agreement, writing that Thompson will receive a partially-guaranteed contract worth the rookie minimum (about $473K) for 2012/13.
Thompson, a 6'8" junior out of Georgetown, went undrafted in June, but quickly found a spot at the back of the Thunder's roster. The 21-year-old becomes the 15th player under contract for next season for Oklahoma City, meaning players like Derek Fisher, Royal Ivey, and Nazr Mohammed almost certainly won't be back.
Draft Updates: Thursday
The countdown until the 2012 draft is down to two weeks, and this week has been heavy on workouts and trade speculation. We'll track the latest news and rumors on both fronts, along with a handful of other draft-related items, right here. New updates will be added to the top of the page throughout the day….
- According to their official website, the Pacers will work out Evan Fournier, Ashton Gibbs, Travis Hyman, John Jenkins, Josh Owens, and Tony Wroten Jr. on Friday.
Odds & Ends: James, Gibson, Draft, Stuckey
It's being reported by ESPN.com's Chris Broussard that early on in Miami's 105-90 loss against Indiana last night, LeBron James may have dislocated the ring finger on his left hand. In 41 minutes, James scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds in what was Miami's second straight loss.
- According to the Associated Press, Georgetown junior Hollis Thompson is planning on hiring an agent, and will enter the NBA draft. This year he shot 43% from behind the three-point line, which led the entire Big East. Thompson finished the season as the Hoyas' second leading scorer, and third leading rebounder.
- Cavaliers shooting guard Daniel Gibson has a torn tendon in his right foot and may miss the remainder of the season. Gibson is currently seeking multiple opinions pertaining to the injury's severity, but with only a month left in the season and Cleveland all but out of the playoff picture—not to mention the fact that they recently signed guards Donald Sloan and Manny Harris—it's more than likely he won't see the court again.
- In a recent USA Today article, Rodney Stuckey told writer Jeff Zillgitt that he saw a psychologist in order to cope with all the recent losing he's experienced with the Pistons. Stuckey is in the midst of a resurgent season that last saw him hit a game-winning shot against the Wizards last night.
- Since being traded to the Nets, Gerald Wallace has experienced loss after loss, but he's keeping a positive attitude, according to the Newark Star-Ledger's Colin Stephenson.
- The Bobcats haven't found the most success this season. The Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell writes that if they don't turn things around, they could go down as the worst team in NBA history.