Jorge Gutierrez

Eastern Notes: Davies, Payton, Heat, D-League

Brandon Davies was asked about the perception that his former team, the Sixers, were tanking in a deliberate effort to land the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Davies denied that was the case amongst the players, and said, “One thing I can tell you in the locker room, we were set on winning. We were just going away. I think the games we played in showed that. We lost some close games against some really good teams.

Here’s more from the East:

  • Nets coach Lionel Hollins was disappointed that the Sixers waived Jorge Gutierrez, whom they had acquired along with Andrei Kirilenko on Wednesday, Pompey tweets.
  • When the Magic drafted Elfrid Payton with the No. 10 pick in this year’s draft it appeared the plan was to play him and Victor Oladipo alongside each other, which hasn’t occured much this season, Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com writes. But according to coach Jacque Vaughn, things can change as Payton continues to develop, notes Howard-Cooper. “I think overall we’ll see how this combination finds its way,” said Vaughn. “The great thing is I have my eyes, which I always listen to, and I also have stats these days, which I can look at and see how that pairing is doing. A lot of detail will go into it. But there’s no rush from the standpoint of ‘This has to happen now.’
  • The Heat‘s two young big men, Justin Hamilton and Hassan Whiteside, are beginning to impress coach Erik Spoelstra, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. “They both do some nice things and they both do it in a different way,” Spoelstra said. “Justin is a very intelligent, in-the-right-place type of weak-side defender. He does a lot of things that don’t show up in a box score. He reminds me a little bit of a Shane Battier, does a lot of those intangible things. Whiteside is big and he has that great gift of blocking shots, so you know somebody is in there.”
  • The Heat have assigned Whiteside and Shabazz Napier to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be the first trek of the season to the D-League for both players.
  • With both the Lakers and the Knicks struggling mightily this season, and both franchises’ future prospects looking equally bleak, Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony should find a way to become teammates, Paul Newberry of The Associated Press opines. Newberry does acknowledge that the players’ respective contracts would make this a difficult proposition.

Sixers Sign Ronald Roberts Jr., Waive Gutierrez

The Sixers have signed Ronald Roberts Jr. and waived Jorge Gutierrez, team spokesperson Michael Preston announced via Twitter. Philadelphia had acquired Gutierrez as part of the Andrei Kirilenko trade Thursday, though coach Brett Brown hinted today that the point guard’s situation with the team was “fluid.” Kirilenko nonetheless remains on the Sixers roster in spite of reports from prior to the trade indicating that Philadelphia intended to let him go, as the Sixers are apparently interested in keeping him as a potential trade chip for later this season. Gutierrez had a $25K partial guarantee on his contract, but he’d already earned more than that his season, so the portion of his minimum salary that he’d collected so far this season will remain on Philly’s books. It’s unclear what sort of contract Roberts is getting.

Roberts, 23, is well-known to the Sixers, having spent training camp with the team in October after going undrafted out of St. Joseph’s this past June. Philadelphia gave the Adam Pensack client a partial guarantee of $35K when it signed him for camp and retained his D-League rights after waiving him before opening night. The 6’8″ power forward has put up 17.5 points and 11.8 rebounds in 31.8 minutes per game for the D-League affiliate of the Sixers so far this season.

Gutierrez inked a pair of 10-day contracts late last season with the Nets before signing a contract that covered the rest of the season with a non-guaranteed salary for 2014/15 tacked on. Gutierrez earned his partial guarantee when the Nets declined to waive him before training camp, but he saw only 4.4 MPG in 10 appearances this season, much less playing time than the 16.3 MPG he saw in 15 games with Brooklyn last season.

Philly’s roster count remains at 15 players in the wake of today’s move. The team is as flexible as ever, with only nine fully guaranteed contracts.

Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Kirilenko, Nets, ‘Melo

Sixers coach Brett Brown referred today to a “fluid” situation, wouldn’t address questions regarding Andrei Kirilenko and Jorge Gutierrez, and said there’s “high probability” that the team will make a “subtle, small announcement” before tonight’s game, observes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Sixers on Thursday announced the acquisition of both Kirilenko and Gutierrez, and Philadelphia reportedly has held some interest in keeping as a potential asset for the trade deadline, even though reports prior to the trade indicated that Philly intended to waive him. While we wait to see what Philly’s plans are regarding Kirilenko, here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • The amount of cash the Nets sent the Sixers in the Kirilenko trade is $1MM, tweets Robert Windrem of NetsDaily. That leaves the Nets with a total of $2.3MM they can send out in trades between now and the end of June, as the NetsDaily scribe points out.
  • Carmelo Anthony was forceful in his insistence that he doesn’t want to leave the Knicks as he addressed an earlier report that he would be open to waiving his no-trade clause, one that both he and his agent denied. Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com has the details. “Come on, man. After all the work I did to get here and get back here? If I was to get up and want to leave now that would just make me weak, make me have a weak mind,” Anthony said. “I’ve never been a person to try to run from any adversity or anything like that so I’m not going to pick today to do that.”
  • Luc Mbah a Moute and K.J. McDaniels, both free agents at season’s end, join Michael Carter-Williams and Robert Covington as the Sixers whom the team should prioritize keeping, opines Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News.

Sixers Acquire Andrei Kirilenko

NBA: Preseason-Boston Celtics at Brooklyn Nets

12:40pm: The Sixers also receive cash, as Philadelphia announced in its press release. The 2018 second-rounder that the Sixers would send to Brooklyn if the teams swapped second-round picks that year would be Cleveland’s pick, the Sixers also note.

THURSDAY, 12:28pm: The trade is official, the Nets announced via press release. The Sixers get Kirilenko, Gutierrez, Brooklyn’s 2020 second-round pick and the right to swap 2018 second-rounders. The Nets receive Davies, and Brooklyn’s statement also confirms the creation of a pair of trade exceptions. The statement values them at $3.4MM and $916K, respectively, but it would appear as though they’re actually worth precisely $3,326,235 and $816,482, the equivalents of the salaries for Kirilenko and Gutierrez, respectively. The Nets can use them to trade for players with salaries of up to $100K more than those amounts any time between now and a year from today.

WEDNESDAY, 8:18pm: The Sixers and Nets have agreed to a trade that would send Andrei Kirilenko to Philadelphia, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Also heading to the Sixers is the Nets’ 2020 second round pick, the right to swap second-rounders in 2018, and cash. In return the Nets will receive Brandon Davies. The deal is expected to be finalized on Thursday, and Brooklyn is also likely to send another minor player to the Sixers as well, Wojnarowski notes in a separate tweet. That player might be Jorge Gutierrez, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily reports (Twitter link).

Philadelphia is expected to waive Kirilenko and his guaranteed salary, worth more than $3.3MM. The Nets will save themselves nearly $12MM in salary and tax payments as a result of the deal, not counting Davies’ non-guaranteed salary of $816,482. Brooklyn isn’t planning on waiving him immediately, and will give Davies a look, reports Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News (Twitter links). The Nets are also working on signing a free agent wing player in addition to this trade, Bondy adds.

The 33-year-old Russian’s future is unclear, since Kirilenko has been dealing with undisclosed family issues that kept him away from the Nets, as well as clouded the trade talk surrounding him since it was unclear if he would be willing and able to report to any team that acquired him. The Jazz have been mentioned as potential suitors, though today’s signing of Patrick Christopher increased Utah’s roster count to the league-maximum fifteen players, which means the team would need to make a roster move to accommodate Kirilenko if it was still interested in his services. Wojnarowski’s article also lists the Cavs and the Clippers as teams that may be interested in signing Kirilenko.

In 12 NBA seasons, Kirilenko has averaged 11.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists. His career slash line is .474/.310/.754. He appeared in just seven games for Brooklyn this season, logging just 0.4 points in 5.1 minutes per contest.

The 23-year-old Davies is in his second season in the NBA after going undrafted out of BYU in 2013. His career numbers are 3.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game. His shooting numbers are .417/.225/.640.

Contract Details: Knicks, Pelicans, Heat, Bulls

August 1st will be a key date for many teams and players in the NBA, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports details in the latest update to his salary database. Knicks guard Shannon Brown and Melvin Ely of the Pelicans have their minimum-salary contracts fully guaranteed if their respective teams don’t waive them by the end of that day, Deeks reports. It’s also the day when Justin Hamilton of the Heat earns a partial guarantee of $408,241 and Bulls big man Lou Amundson has his deal partially guaranteed for $300K if they’re not waived, according to Deeks. The salary data guru has a few more revelations, as we note below:

  • Hamilton’s partial guarantee increases to $612,362 should the Heat elect not to waive by the end of December 1st.
  • Lamar Odom‘s deal becomes fully guaranteed if he remains on the Knicks roster past September 10th.
  • The Knicks have another deadline to consider on September 15th, the final day they can waive Jeremy Tyler without owing him a $100K partial guarantee.
  • Jorge Gutierrez receives a $25K partial guarantee if he sticks with the Nets past September 26th.
  • Jarvis Varnado‘s deal with the Sixers is already partially guaranteed for $75K.

Nets Re-Sign Jorge Gutierrez To Two-Year Deal

SATURDAY, 5:45pm: Gutierrez said Friday that his two-year contract isn’t guaranteed for next season, but a source tells Tim Bontemps of The New York Post that there is a “very nominal” guarantee involved (Twitter link).

9:22am: Gutierrez tells Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News that next season isn’t guaranteed, as I suspected (Twitter link).

FRIDAY, 8:51am: The Nets have re-signed Jorge Gutierrez to a deal that covers the rest of this season and beyond, the team announced via press release. The terms of the contract are unclear, but since Brooklyn is without cap space and possesses no exceptions that allow for a deal longer than two seasons, it has to be a pact for the minimum salary for the balance of 2013/14 and 2014/15. Next season is most likely not fully guaranteed.

Gutierrez had been on a pair of 10-day contracts with the club, the last of which expired Wednesday night. Earlier that evening he was ejected from Brooklyn’s overtime loss to the Bobcats for committing a flagrant-two foul. Still, the 6’3″ point guard saw more than 19 minutes in that contest, his most during his five-game stint. He’s averaged 3.4 points, 1.4 assists and 0.2 turnovers in 13.4 minutes per game for the Nets.

Brooklyn brought the Arn Tellem client to camp in the fall, but the team released him before opening night, and he spent most of this season with the D-League affiliate of the Cavs. The Nets circled back to him earlier this month when he beat Darius Johnson-Odom in an audition for a roster spot.

Gutierrez becomes the 15th player on the Nets with a guaranteed contract for this season, meaning the team is likely done making moves in 2013/14. They have a disabled player exception worth $5.15MM for Brook Lopez, but it looks like that will go unused. That exception would cover a contract that runs only through the end of the season, so for Gutierrez the Nets are instead using the minimum-salary exception, which provides for deals of up to two years.

Nets Re-Sign Jorge Gutierrez

8:50am: The Nets announced the deal via press release.

8:27am: It sounds like Jorge Gutierrez will be getting a second 10-day contract from the Nets, according to Tim Bontemps of the New York Post (on Twitter).  The former Cal star saw his first 10-day deal expire Saturday night.

Gutierrez, 25, has played in just one game for the Nets, logging five minutes versus the Kings last Sunday.  The guard was with the Nets during the preseason and even though he saw limited action in exhibition games, his performance during camp was key in the team’s decision to bring him back.

Gutierrez has spent time the past two seasons with the D-League affiliate of the Cavs, and he’s averaged 13.9 points and 6.9 assists in 32.7 minutes per game so far this year. The 6’3″ Gutierrez went undrafted in 2012 out of Cal, where he received Pac-12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors. He’s seen short minutes in summer league with the Nuggets and Kings the past two offseasons.

Nets Sign Jorge Gutierrez To 10-Day Deal

The Nets have signed Jorge Gutierrez to a 10-day contract, the team announced via Twitter. The move had appeared likely last night after Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported that the Nets preferred Gutierrez to Darius Johnson-Odom as they sought a 15th player. Brooklyn had been keeping an open roster spot, with 13 guaranteed contracts and Jason Collins on his second 10-day deal.

Gutierrez, who’s set to become the fourth Mexican-born player to take part in an official NBA game, was with the Nets during the preseason. Though he saw limited action in exhibition games, his performance during camp was key in the team’s decision to bring him back. The 25-year-old has spent time the past two seasons with the D-League affiliate of the Cavs, and he’s averaged 13.9 points and 6.9 assists in 32.7 minutes per game so far this year.

The 6’3″ Gutierrez went undrafted in 2012 out of Cal, where he received Pac-12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors. He’s seen short minutes in summer league with the Nuggets and Kings the past two offseasons.

Nets Likely To Sign Jorge Gutierrez

10:58pm: Stein tweets that he’s hearing Gutierrez is the player likely to be signed, his good training camp showing with the team giving him the edge.

7:06pm: The Nets, who just inked Jason Collins to his second 10-day contract may be planning on bringing in another body on a 10-day contract, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The team has just recently worked out both Jorge Gutierrez and Darius Johnson-Odom. The team currently has 14 players on the roster, with one open slot.

Gutierrez has been playing with the Canton Charge this year after being in camp with the Nets back in October. In 35 games in the D-League, he’s averaged 13.9 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 6.9 APG in 32.7 MPG. Gutierrez went undrafted in 2012, and has also played for the Nuggets Summer League team.

Johnson-Odom was selected 55th overall in the the 2012 draft by the Mavs, who immediately traded him to the Lakers. He was waived by the team after appearing in only four games, back in January of 2013. Johnson-Odom then spent the remainder of last year playing in Russia with Spartak St. Petersburg. He then played summer league ball for the Celtics, before signing and later being released by the Lakers. Johnson-Odom has been playing for the Springfield Armor since January 3rd. In 25 games he’s averaged 22.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 6.0 APG in 36.3 MPG.

 

Nets Waive Gutierrez, Johnson, Thomas

The Nets announced that they have waived guard Jorge Gutierrez and forwards Chris Johnson and Adonis Thomas.  Brooklyn’s roster now stands at the max of 15.

Gutierrez, who was signed to the training camp roster on September 30, appeared in five preseason games, averaging 1.8 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.  Johnson, who was also signed to the training camp roster on September 30, played in seven preseason games, averaging 5.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.  Thomas, who was signed to the training camp roster on October 18, did not appear in any preseason games for the Nets.