Shavlik Randolph

Atlantic Notes: Bargnani, Pietrus, Celtics, Felton

Following blowout losses in Golden State and Denver, the Knicks' current five-game road trip managed to get even worse when Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler left last night's game against the Nuggets with knee injuries. While Chandler downplayed the severity of his left knee contusion and could play tonight, Anthony will head back to New York to get his troublesome right knee drained. Here's more out of the Atlantic Division:

Celtics Re-Sign Shavlik Randolph

The Celtics announced that they have signed Shavlik Randolph to a second ten-day contract. Boston first inked Randolph the former Duke standout to a ten-day deal on March 1st.

Randolph, a 6’10” forward, has yet to appear in a game for the Celtics since joining the club.  Prior to making his NBA return, he appeared in 28 games for the Foshan Long Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association and averaged 32.0 PPG, 14.6 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks in 36.5 minutes per contest while shooting 53.1% from the floor.

Prior to this stint with the C's, Randolph's last NBA action came in 2009/10 when he appeared in three games each for the Heat and Trail Blazers.  The forward is still looking to see his first action in green and white and it could come tomorrow night if things get lopsided against the struggling Bobcats.

Celtics Re-Sign White; Randolph Expected Back

10:11am: White tells Blakely he signed a second 10-day contract with the Celtics this morning. Randolph said he hasn't re-upped yet, but is optimistic about his chances (Twitter links).

10:04am: D.J. White's 10-day contract with the Celtics expired last night, and Shavlik Randolph's is over after tonight, but the team is expected to announce soon that they're re-signing both of them, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. Boston brought the big men aboard along with guard Terrence Williams shortly after the trade deadline to bolster an injury-depleted roster.

White and Randolph have occupied the final two spots on Boston's 15-man roster. It's not clear whether White and Shavlik will be signed through the rest of the season or receive a second set of 10-day deals. After his first 10-day contract with the Celtics expired, Williams received a deal that runs through the season and includes a non-guaranteed second year in 2013/14. 

Neither White nor Randolph has seen much time on the floor for Boston. White has appeared in just one game so far, totaling four minutes, while Randolph has yet to see game action. Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com wrote yesterday that "all indications" were that White would be back with the team, since he accompanied them on their flight to Oklahoma City for today's game. Randolph is with the team as well, as Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe noted, though he'd be eligible to play against the Thunder either way, since his contract runs a day longer than White's.

Celtics Sign Shavlik Randolph

10:39am: The Celtics have officially announced the signing in a press release.

8:47am: Shavlik Randolph has received his letter of clearance from China and has signed a 10-day contract with the Celtics, agent Joel Bell tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com. According to Charania, Randolph is participating in the Celtics' morning shootaround today, so it sounds as if the team will announce the signing later today, making Randolph eligible for tonight's game against the Warriors.

Randolph, 29, has been out of the NBA since the 2009/10 season, when he briefly appeared in three games each with the Heat and Trail Blazers. However, as Ryan Raroque of Hoops Rumors noted last night, the former Duke Blue Devil had a tremendous season in the Chinese Basketball Association in 2012/13, averaging 32.0 PPG and 14.6 RPG in 28 games for the Foshan Long Lions.

The Celtics now have a full roster of 15 players, though three of those 15 are currently on 10-day contracts, as our 10-day tracker shows. Terrence Williams' deal is set to expire after tonight's game, while D.J. White and Randolph are locked up until next weekend. All three players landed in Boston after spending the season with Chinese clubs.

Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge first reported yesterday (via Twitter) that Randolph was seeking his letter of clearance from China and was close to signing with an NBA team.

Shavlik Randolph Returning To NBA?

Ben Golliver of the Blazers Edge tweets that Shavlik Randolph, formerly of the Trail Blazers, Heat, and 76ers, is trying to get a letter of clearance from the Chinese Basketball Association and plans to sign with an NBA team within the next coming days. The 6'10 power forward joined the Wizards last fall but was waived before the start of the regular season.  

Randolph has not appeared in an NBA game since April of 2010, and has since played in China and Puerto Rico. After three seasons at Duke, Randolph played 95 games across five NBA seasons, with career averages of 2.4 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 8.2 MPG. During the 2012-13 season for the Foshan Long Lions of the CBA, Randolph boasted averages of 32.0 PPG, 14.6 RPG, while shooting 49.5% from the field in 28 games.

While we've seen NBA-caliber players put up some inflated numbers in the CBA before, it should be noted that some of Randolph's competition have had significant NBA experience, including Eddy Curry, Ike Diogu, and Randolph Morris. One of Randolph's more notable performances was against newly-signed Celtics big man D.J. White (then with the Shanghai Sharks) earlier this month, putting up 38 points and 25 rebounds on 12-of-20 shooting from the field. With how well he's played in China, it isn't a surprise that some NBA teams would be interested in taking a look at what Randolph can bring to the table now.  

 

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Sixers, Shumpert, Kleiza

The Celtics are in the market for a free agent big man, and we heard this morning that the club is considering signing D.J. White to a 10-day contract. White isn't the only player Boston has its eye on, however. According to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, Jerome Jordan, Tim Ohlbrecht, Shavlik Randolph, and Louis Amundson are among the other players being considered by the Celtics.

Here are a few more post-trade-deadline notes out of the Atlantic Division:

  • 76ers GM Tony DiLeo spoke to the media about acquiring Charles Jenkins in what he calls a "no-risk" move, and said that he talked to every NBA team about potential trades before the deadline (video link via NBA.com).
  • As Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News tweets, DiLeo also said that re-signing Andrew Bynum remains "Plan A" for the Sixers, but that the team's cap flexibility allows for "Plan B"s as well.
  • Knicks GM Glen Grunwald told ESPN Radio that the Knicks had "a number of inquiries" on Iman Shumpert, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.
  • While Nets fans may be disappointed that the club couldn't land Josh Smith yesterday, Tim Bontemps of the New York Post thinks hanging on to assets will benefit the team in the long run.
  • Although a Lithuanian report suggested that injury woes could put Linas Kleiza's career in jeopardy, the forward told reporters today that's not true, and that he expects to return soon (Twitter link via Holly MacKenzie of Sportsnet).

Odds & Ends: Kirilenko, Draft, Mavs, Anderson

It's one of the busiest nights of the year on the hardwood in the Association, with a slate of 14 games before the league takes a one-day hiatus for Thanksgiving. There's plenty of off-court news as well, and we've got that covered here.  

Camp Rumors: Magic, Johnson-Odom, Heat

Perhaps the most surprising training camp cut was Quentin Richardson, whom the Magic waived despite $5.438MM worth of guaranteed money on his contract for the next two seasons. The surprising play of DeQuan Jones, who appears to have made the team on a non-guaranteed deal, pushed Richardson out the door, writes John Denton of Magic.com. There's plenty of other news about players coming and going today, in advance of the 4:00pm Central time deadline for teams to let go of camp invitees so that they clear waivers before rosters must be down to 15 players.

  • While an earlier report indicated the Lakers were expected to waive Darius Johnson-Odom, Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com believes the guard still has a shot to make the team (Twitter link).
  • The Heat are at the regular-season roster limit of 15 players, but Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel doesn't rule out the possibility that the team could pick up one of the guys that other teams let go in the past few days (Twitter link). 
  • John Rohde of The Oklahoman shares insight from Thunder coach Scott Brooks on the team's cuts and its decision to keep DeAndre Liggins"With DeAndre, we felt that his size, his athleticism, his defensive toughness is something we are intrigued with and we like," the coach said.
  • Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio saw Hollis Thompson play Thomas Robinson evenly while both were in college last season, and believes Thompson, whom the Thunder let go today, should wind up with another NBA team (Twitter link).
  • The Rockets still must waive three players, and Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle points to reasons why Jon Brockman, JaJuan Johnson and Gary Forbes could be the ones to go.
  • HoopsWorld's Derek Page checks in with Mavs waiver claim Eddy Curry, and wonders whether his 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in Friday's preseason game against the Bobcats might have been enough for him to win a roster spot.
  • Shavlik Randolph and Steven Gray are likely out of the discussion to make the Wizards opening night roster, but Earl Barron is making a late push for a spot, as Michael Lee of The Washington Post examines.

Wizards Sign Shavlik Randolph, Steven Gray

SEPTEMBER 19TH: The deals for Randolph and Gray are now official, per a Wizards press release.

SEPTEMBER 11TH: The Wizards have agreed to sign big man Shavlik Randolph and point guard Steven Gray, reports Michael Lee of The Washington Post. The pair will receive non-guaranteed deals, likely for the minimum, and join Earl Barron, who also reached an agreement with the team today.

The 6'10" Randolph has played in parts of five NBA seasons with the Sixers, Trail Blazers and Heat, averaging 2.4 points and 2.4 rebounds in 8.2 minutes per game for his career, but he hasn't appeared since 2009/10. He played last season in China and Puerto Rico, and hooked on with the Wizards summer league team this year. The 6'5" Gray was also a part of that summer league team, but he's still looking for his first official taste of NBA action after going undrafted out of Gonzaga and spending last year with BK Ventspils of Latvia.

Randolph, Gray and Barron stand a decent shot at making the regular season roster if the Wizards decide to carry 15 players, Lee says, since the team only has 13 fully guaranteed contracts, with point guard Shelvin Mack's minimum-salary deal partially guaranteed for $300K. 

Minor Moves: Selby, Jazz, Ahearn, Randolph

In a team statement, the Nets announced they have signed guard Armon Johnson to a 10-day contract (Twitter link). The move was likely made to help replace Jordan Farmar, who will miss the rest of the season with a groin injury. The 6’3″ Johnson has played just five minutes this season with the Trail Blazers.  

  • The Grizzlies recalled Josh Selby from the D-League, according to J. Michael Falgoust of USA Today (via Twitter).  If that sentence looks familiar, that’s because Memphis has sent the guard to Reno and recalled him three times this season.  That’s the maximum number of times that a player can be demoted in a year, so Selby won’t be sent down again.
  • The Jazz are expected to sign Blake Ahearn to a ten-day contract, according to Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune (via Twitter).  Ahearn is the D-League’s all-time leading scorer and led the league in scoring this season 23.8 PPG while shooting over 40% from three-point range.
  • Former NBA player Shavlik Randolph has officially signed with Puerto Rico’s Piratas de Quebradillas, according to Sportando. He spent the first part of this season in China.