Trent Lockett

Kings Waive Trent Lockett

Sacramento has become the latest team to pare its roster down to 15 players, with the Kings announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived Trent Lockett. Lockett had a $35K guarantee on his deal, so the team will be on the hook for that amount.

Lockett, a 6’5″ shooting guard, played for Sacramento’s Summer League team after going undrafted in June out of Marquette. After recording 7.0 PPG in five Summer League games, he appeared in just two preseason contests with the Kings, scoring four total points. The guarantee on his contract was set to increase to $100K if he had earned a spot on the opening night roster, but he’ll likely end up with the D-League’s Reno Bighorns instead, according to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee (via Twitter).

With 15 players now on the roster, the Kings don’t necessarily have to make any more moves before the regular season gets underway. If the club stands pat, it would mean that Hamady N’Diaye, who is on a non-guaranteed deal, would be Sacramento’s 15th man.

Roster Battles: Knicks, Kings, Cavs, Spurs

Just 10 days from now, teams will have to finalize their rosters for the regular season, which means we can expect to see a flurry of cuts in the next week. While some clubs have likely already made their decisions about which players will and won’t make the cut, others continue to evaluate camp invitees as they work to figure out their regular-season rosters. Here’s the latest on a few NBA hopefuls:

  • Knicks coach Mike Woodson “tipped his hand” last night, suggesting that combo guard Toure Murry is close to securing a roster spot for the regular season, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post (Sulia link).
  • Undrafted rookie Trent Lockett is a perfect fit for Sacramento’s culture and has a chance to earn a place on the Kings, coach Michael Malone tells Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. Added Malone: “If he doesn’t make the team, obviously we would love for him to be in our D-League system so we could continue to monitor his progress as he continues to mature and get better.
  • Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio examines the Cavaliers‘ roster crunch, with coach Mike Brown noting that the upcoming cuts will be tough since “everybody’s showing their worth.”
  • Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is enjoying giving crunch-time preseason minutes to bench players and camp invitees, such as Daniel Nwaelele and Courtney Fells. Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News has the details.

Contract Details: Warriors, Lakers, Davies, Lockett

Most of the contracts being signed these days are non-guaranteed and worth the minimum salary, essentially amounting to make-good deals for camp. However, a few players who recently joined NBA clubs received modest guarantees, ensuring they'll make some money whether or not they earn a roster spot. Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com has the details, so let's round them up….

  • The Warriors will pay partial guarantees to two recent signees, Seth Curry and DeWayne Dedmon. Both players inked one-year rookie minimum contracts, but Curry received the larger guarantee — $75K to Dedmon's $25K.
  • The Lakers guaranteed $100K of Shawne Williams' one-year, minimum-salary deal.
  • Brandon Davies' two-year deal with the Clippers is partially guaranteed for $50K in 2013/14.
  • Trent Lockett's two-year contract with the Kings is currently guaranteed for $35K, but he can increase that amount by earning a spot on the team's regular-season roster. Lockett's guarantee will become $100K if he's not waived by opening night, and if he keeps a roster spot all year, his 2014/15 salary will become guaranteed for $100K on the last day of the '13/14 season.
  • The Pelicans cut Lance Thomas in July to clear cap space for their new additions, then re-signed him to a new deal. Thomas received a guarantee of $15K for his trouble — his previous contract had been fully non-guaranteed.

Kings Sign Trent Lockett

THURSDAY, 10:33am: Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities reports (via Twitter) that Lockett's deal with the Kings is a two-year pact, and includes a partial guarantee, as we speculated below.

WEDNESDAY, 7:10pm: The Kings have signed Trent Lockett, the team announced on its website. The 6'5" shooting guard played for Sacramento's summer league team after going undrafted in June out of Marquette. The deal likely amounts to just a training camp invitation, but the formal announcement from the club suggests there may be a partial guarantee involved.

Lockett wasn't a highly rated draft prospect, but we heard that he performed predraft workouts for the Bucks and Knicks, and today's release for the Kings says he worked out for them prior to the draft, too. He averaged 7.0 points and 20.2 minutes per game in five summer league contests for Sacramento last month. 

That 7.0 PPG is the same number he put up in 26.6 MPG for Marquette last season, little more than half of his 13.0 PPG output as a junior at Arizona State, where he played three seasons before transferring. ESPN's Chad Ford, who rated him the 132nd-best prospect in the draft, pointed to athleticism and rebounding as his strengths (Insider link). He put up more than five rebounds per game in each of his last three seasons in college.

Lockett is the 15th player under contract with the Kings, as our updated roster counts show. The 14 other players all have fully guaranteed contracts. NBA teams are limited to 15 players during the season, but they can carry as many as 20 players into training camp, so Lockett figures to receive more competition for the final spot on the regular season roster.

Draft Notes: Wyatt, Jazz, Foster

It's tough when you dominate at your college, but fail to see any interest from the professional ranks. That's what Santa Clara's all-time leading scorer, Kevin Foster, is facing as he prepares to possibly be snubbed later this month in the draft.

Foster told the San Jose Mercury News' Curtis Pashelka "it would be a dream come true" to play for the Warriors, who are so close to his adopted hometown. Foster participated in a predraft workout with six other hopefuls including five guards this morning.

Even after workouts with the Rockets and Bucks, Foster said the Warriors are his "preference" because of their locale, but followed that up by saying, "I just want to get drafted somewhere." Here are some more notes surrounding the upcoming draft. 

  • Former Temple guard, Khalif Wyatt, worked out for the Sixers today, writes Keith Pompey at the Philadelphia Inquirer. But what wasn't reported was that Wyatt was joined by Shane Larkin, DeShaun Thomas and Glen Rice Jr. in the unannounced workout.
  • Tom Moore of Phillyburbs.com notes that Wyatt spent six weeks at Impact Basketball in Las Vegas, eating better and getting stronger while dropping from 223 lbs. to 210 on his 6'4" frame.
  • Keith Schlosser of SB Nation's Ridiculous Upside breaks down the intriguing prospects at the NBA's only 2012 National D-League Tryout next Saturday.  
  • The Jazz had a big day of workouts highlighted by Gonzaga University center Kelly Olynyk, writes the Salt Lake Tribune's Bill Oram, but it's his connection to Hall of Famer John Stockton, who is also a Gonzaga alum, that made the workout so enjoyable.
  • The Salt Lake Tribune's Steve Luhm said the Jazz also worked out three other likely first round selections today: Gorgui Dieng, Rudy Gobert, and Jamaal Franklin (Twitter).
  • About Franklin, SB Nation's Mountain West Connection profiled the San Diego State shooting guard.
  • Oram said the Jazz will work out Will Clyburn, Robert Covington, Troy Daniels, Rodney McGruder, E.J. Singler and Adonis Thomas tomorrow (Twitter).
  • Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic said the Suns worked out Steven Adams, Lorenzo BrownMyck Kabongo, Mike Muscala, Alex Oriakhi and Brandon Paul today (Twitter)
  • Nerlens Noel was featured in a courtside report video by Monumental Network.
  • The Knicks will work out Archie Goodwin, Jordan Henriquez, Trent Lockett, Dejan Musli, Stan Okoye and Josiah Turner on Monday, reports ESPNNewYork.com's Ian Begley (Twitter).
  • Sportando.net reports Janis Timma will work out with five NBA teams before the draft and then head to the Las Vegas. After the draft, he may play in the NBA's summer league.  
  • Charles F. Gardner of the Journal-Sentinel profiled 6'6" Providence prospect, Ricky Ledo, who is receiving interest from NBA teams after workouts despite being deemed ineligible to play as a freshman for the Friars.

Draft Updates: Karasev, Saric, Workouts

With two teams still standing in the 2013 NBA playoffs, most of the Association's franchises have turned their attention to this month's draft. We're probably still a week or two away from seeing any draft picks change hands via trades, but prospects continue to jockey for draft position, working out for teams, or perhaps pulling out of workouts in the case of at least one international prospect. Here are Wednesday's latest draft-related items:

  • Sergey Karasev has returned to Moscow and plans to remain in Russia until the draft, fueling speculation that he has been given a first-round promise, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. With agents Andy Miller and Justin Zanik telling teams their client won't be available for predraft workouts, Wojnarowski think Karasev probably received a guarantee from a team between Nos. 14 and 24.
  • Appearing on the Taking the Charge podcast, Croatian forward Dario Saric said he still may withdraw his name from this year's draft, though he expects to be selected in the first round. If he stays in the draft and is selected, he still plans to play in Europe for at least one more year, according to HeinNews.com.
  • The Suns have yet to confirm the participants of today's workouts, but it appears they've brought in a star-studded group that includes Ben McLemore, Victor Oladipo, Cody Zeller, Rudy Gobert, and Shabazz Muhammad, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic outlines.
  • It's unclear where Muhammad will land in the draft, since his stock seems to be on the decline, says Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
  • Peyton Silva, Archie Goodwin, and Scootie Randall worked out for the Sixers on Tuesday, according to John N. Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer. None of those prospects are likely to land in the lottery, so Philadelphia appears to be weighing its second-round options.
  • Working out for the Jazz today, according to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News: Shane Larkin, Tony Mitchell, Reggie Bullock, Lorenzo Brown, Amath M'Baye, and Malik Story.
  • The Bucks officially announced (via Twitter) that they'll be working out the following prospects today: Trent Lockett, D.J. Stephens, Dewayne Dedmon, Jack Cooley, Korie Lucious, and D.J. Seeley.
  • Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com and Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe have the details on yesterday's Celtics workout, which included Mason Plumlee, Reggie Johnson, Ian Clark, and Jonathan Lee. It was the second workout with the C's for Lee.