Raptors Sign Dwight Buycks
JULY 16TH: The Raptors have officially signed Buycks, according to the team (via Twitter).
JULY 12TH: The Raptors have reached a contract agreement with point guard Dwight Buycks, according to Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman (via Twitter). Buycks will have a chance to earn the backup point guard job with the Raptors, says Mayberry, while Shams Charania of RealGM.com reports it will be a multiyear contract.
Buycks spent last season with BCM Gravelines in France, averaging 18.0 PPG on 48.6% shooting. Prior to playing in France, the 24-year-old played in Belgium and spent time with the Thunder's D-League team, the Tulsa 66ers. The Marquette product also had been playing well for Oklahoma City in Summer League play in Orlando this month, prompting Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside to wonder if he'd earn an NBA contract.
The Raptors figure to head into 2013/14 with Kyle Lowry as the starting point guard, but may not have a veteran backing up, with Sebastian Telfair and John Lucas III on the open market. In addition to Buycks, the Raptors have also agreed to terms with Julyan Stone.
The Trail Blazers, Thunder, and Heat were also interested in Buycks before he agreed to sign with the Raptors, says Charania.
Northwest Notes: McCollum, Thunder, ‘Wolves
The Blazers' first round draft choice C.J. McCollum has impressed at Las Vegas' Summer League tonight, going 6-for-10 from the field for 15 points in the first half. CSNNW.com's Chris Haynes spoke with the Blazers' ROY last season, Damian Lillard, about teaming with McCollum in the back-court next season.
Lillard was happy the Blazers selected him, since they've been friends for a long time (Twitter link). Haynes tweets further praise for McCollum and alludes to a possible ROY nod.
Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld mimics Haynes' reports with his own tweet on the Lilliard-McCollum friendship, and 95.7 The Game's Ric Bucher applauds McCollum's steady hand during his first Summer League action in Vegas (Twitter link).
Here are a few more notes on the Blazers as well as the Thunder and Timberwolves:
- Joe Freeman of the Oregonian spoke with new Blazers center Robin Lopez who told him he’s a little atypical for the NBA.
- Freeman also has an update, via Twitter, on the leg injury suffered by rookie Victor Claver in his first Vegas Summer League game. It appears to be a quad contusion per Freeman's Tweet.
- Rookie Steven Adams was really impressed with the Thunder’s coaching staff last week, tweets the Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry
- CBSSports.com’s Royce Young on why the Thunder seem to have taken a step back by not making many moves this offseason.
- The Minnesota Star-Tribune’s Jerry Zgoda tweets that Corey Brewer’s Timberwolves’ recruitment was impressive. When majority owner Glen Taylor called, said Brewer, "I was like, 'Ok, they really do want me.'"
- Zgoda also writes that despite Brewer returning to the 'Wolves, they don't look anything like they did when Brewer sat on the bench after being drafted by them in 2007.
- Jim Souhan of the Star-Tribune opines that new GM Flip Saunders has set them up for success after all his moves this summer.
- Chase Budinger told Bruce Brothers of the Pioneer Press that the 'Wolves will be "very good."
Odds & Ends: Clippers, Heat, Blazers, Pistons
Here’s today’s look around the Association..
- Eric Patten of NBA.com sat down with colleague Scott Howard-Cooper and chatted about the Clippers. So far, Howard-Cooper gives the club high marks for the offseason that they’ve had. Their sole objective this summer was to retain Chris Paul, and they got him to sign by landing Doc Rivers as coach. While J.J. Redick is getting a lot of attention, he also notes that Darren Collison is a smart signing at a very reasonable price.
- Even though the Heat say that they don’t plan to use the amnesty clause on anyone, their stated openness to using the taxpayer mid-level exception makes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel think that they might amnesty someone. Adding a player at the taxpayer midlevel right now would cost around $15MM total for next season, so they’d likely look to ease their tax bill if they went that route.
- Trail Blazers General Manager Neil Olshey told reporters that Dorell Wright was the top wing the team targeted in free agency, writes Mike Richman of OregonLive.com. Portland signed Wright to a two-year, $6MM deal earlier this month.
- The Pistons wisely showed restraint during this summer’s free agent frenzy, writes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
Northwest Notes: Mozgov, Iggy, Splitter, Wolves
With the Thunder and Nuggets still looking strong, and the Timberwolves and Trail Blazers adding reinforcements, the Northwest could have four playoff contenders in 2013/14. Here's the latest out of the division:
- The Nuggets are getting "increasingly close" to an agreement with restricted free agent big man Timofey Mozgov, according to GM Tim Connelly (link via Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post).
- The Nuggets' failure to re-sign Andre Iguodala wasn't for lack of trying. Within a piece about the Warriors' newest acquisition, Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle says Iguodala passed on a front-loaded five-year, $60MM offer from the Nuggets, and nearly agreed to sign a lucrative deal with the Mavericks just an hour before reaching a deal with the Warriors.
- According to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com, the Trail Blazers reached an agreement with Tiago Splitter on a four-year, $36MM offer sheet. However, the team backed off when it became apparent that the Spurs would match.
- Now that the Timberwolves have traded Luke Ridnour, agents for free agent point guards will begin reaching out to the team, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Nate Robinson's camp figures to be among those in contact with the Wolves, though Wolfson doesn't see a fit there.
- The Jazz hope to use their remaining cap space to take on another contract and pick up another draft pick, as they did in their deal with the Warriors, tweets Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune.
Western Notes: Pekovic, Warriors, Blazers, Mavs
As teams continue to finalize trade and free agent agreements, and peruse the market for hidden value, let's round up a few links related to Western Conference clubs….
- Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link) still fully expects Nikola Pekovic to be back with the Timberwolves, and hears the big man isn't in contact with the Mavericks.
- The Warriors never called the Lakers to discuss a sign-and-trade for Dwight Howard, since they were never told they were a real contender, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. That aligns with comments owner Joe Lacob made to Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News earlier today.
- Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey indicated today to media, including Mike Tokito of the Oregonian (Twitter link), that he prefers to keep an open roster spot during the season, so the team could waive Terrel Harris before November.
- According to Sam Amick of USA Today, the Grizzlies considered Brad Stevens before he was hired by the Celtics, and a third unknown team was interested in the former Butler coach as well (Twitter links).
- Having lost last season's D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, to a single-affiliation partnership with the Kings, the Jazz will now align with the Bakersfield Jam, tweets Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune.
- Jose Calderon doesn't believe the Mavericks necessarily need a star center to compete, as he told 103.3 FM in Dallas (link via Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com).
Trail Blazers Sign C.J. McCollum
The Trail Blazers have officially signed first-round pick C.J. McCollum to a rookie-scale deal, the team announced today in a press release.
McCollum, 21, averaged 23.9 PPG and shot 51.6% on three-pointers during his senior year at Lehigh, and will provide the Blazers with a scorer and outside shooter off the bench. Having been drafted 10th overall, McCollum will earn a salary of about $2.32MM in his rookie season, as our salary chart for first-round picks shows.
The Blazers have also officially signed second-round pick Allen Crabbe, acquired Robin Lopez and Thomas Robinson, and signed free agent swingman Dorell Wright.
Odds & Ends: Wolves, Turiaf, Williams, Webster
The Timberwolves appear ready to finalize deals bringing Kevin Martin and Corey Brewer on board, but those aren't the only outside free agents the team targeted. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter), Minnesota has emerged as the frontrunner to sign Ronny Turiaf. I can't imagine Turiaf will earn more than the veteran's minimum, so he shouldn't affect the Wolves' cap outlook if a deal is reached. Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:
- Martin, who trains with Brewer in Florida, was very involved in lobbying Brewer to sign with the Timberwolves, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (via Twitter).
- Several teams are courting Mo Williams, so there's no guarantee he lands with the Hawks if Atlanta declines to match Jeff Teague's offer sheet, tweets Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times.
- According to Martell Webster, he received interest from the Cavaliers, Bucks, Knicks, Clippers, Blazers, and Pelicans ("big-time") before re-signing with the Wizards (Twitter link via Michael Lee of the Washington Post).
- Grantland's Zach Lowe examines seven teams that could use their amnesty provision within the next few days.
- Brandon Bass brushed off questions about a potentially uncertain future with the Celtics, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com writes.
Renounced Players: Wednesday
As teams clear cap space to finalize signings and trades, it may mean renouncing Early Bird or Bird rights to their own free agents, in order to remove cap holds from the books. Once a player is renounced, his previous team has no more claim to him that any other team — he could still be re-signed, but it would have to be done using cap space or an exception. Some of those decisions are more notable than others, but for completion's sake, we'll track the latest of these cap-clearing moves right here:
- Mo Williams is the most prominent name among the several whose rights the Jazz renounced today, according to the RealGM transaction log. Al Jefferson, DeMarre Carroll and Earl Watson, who already have deals to join other teams, are also on the list, as are the long-retired Brevin Knight and Greg Ostertag.
- Bobcats are set to re-sign Josh McRoberts, but they won't be using their Early Bird rights to do so, as they've renounced his rights, RealGM shows. The team also renounced their rights to Reggie Williams, who's heading to the Rockets, and it cut ties with DeSagana Diop, Byron Mullens and Jannero Pargo, too.
- Golden State will sign Jermaine O'Neal, so the Suns have renounced his rights, as well as their rights to Wesley Johnson and Diante Garrett, as RealGM notes.
Earlier updates:
- The Hawks have cleared out unwanted cap holds from their books, renouncing their rights to Hilton Armstrong, Erick Dampier, Devin Harris, Dahntay Jones, Randolph Morris, Zaza Pachulia, Johan Petro, Josh Smith, and Etan Thomas, according to RealGM.com's transactions log.
- RealGM.com also has the Trail Blazers renouncing multiple players, including Luke Babbitt, J.J. Hickson, Eric Maynor, and Nolan Smith.
- Most interestingly, according to RealGM.com, the Bucks have renounced their rights to Monta Ellis. That doesn't necessarily preclude a sign-and-trade, but it would mean the team would have to use cap space rather than Ellis' Bird rights to accommodate a deal.
- The Pelicans have renounced their rights to Louis Amundson, Xavier Henry, and Roger Mason Jr., the team announced today in a press release.
- In order to clear cap room for their signings, the Pistons renounced Will Bynum, Jose Calderon, Vernon Macklin, Corey Maggette, Jason Maxiell, and Ben Wallace, according to RealGM's transactions log. The Pistons plan to re-sign Bynum, but removing his $6MM+ cap hold and signing him to a smaller figure using cap space makes the most sense.
- After renouncing their rights to Chauncey Billups and Lamar Odom, the Clippers have also renounced Bobby Simmons, according to RealGM.com's transactions log.
Trail Blazers Sign Earl Watson
JULY 10TH: The Blazers have officially signed Watson, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 6TH: Citing agent Mark Bartelstein, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Trail Blazers have agreed to terms for a one-year veteran's minimum deal with unrestricted free agent Earl Watson (Twitter links).
Watson averaged 2.0 PPG and 4.0 APG in 17.3 MPG during 48 contests with the Jazz last year. He'll make $1.4MM in the one-year deal. Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune adds (Twitter) that Watson was suffering from a sports hernia even after coming back from knee surgery during the first part of the 2012/13 season.
Pelicans, Kings, Blazers Agree To Three-Way Deal
7:15pm: The Kings press release on the deal has Sacramento acquiring Vasquez from the Pelicans in exchange for Evans. The Kings also say they wind up with a 2016 second-round pick and future second-round considerations, presumably from the Blazers.
6:43pm: The Blazers announced their part, with Lopez and Harris coming from the Pelicans in exchange for Jeff Withey, future second-round draft considerations, and cash.
JULY 10TH, 6:12pm: The Pelicans have confirmed their end of the trade, via press release. They acquire Evans and Withey, send Lopez and Harris to the Blazers, and ship Vasquez to the Kings.
JULY 4TH, 6:04pm: Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Portland will send Jeff Withey to the Pelicans and a future second round pick to the Kings as part of the three-team deal (Twitter links).
4:44pm: ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports (via Twitter) that Terrel Harris, who is on a non-guaranteed contract, will also be sent to the Blazers in the deal. Meanwhile, Portland will pay Lopez's 15% trade kicker, which will be worth about $1.57MM in total, spread equally across the next two seasons. Stein adds that Sacramento will be receiving two second-round picks from the Blazers, rather than one.
4:39pm: The Pelicans will receive cash and future draft picks from the Blazers in the deal, tweets John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Sam Amick of USA Today adds (via Twitter) that the Kings will also receive a future second-rounder from Portland.
3:55pm: The Pelicans, Kings, and Trail Blazers have verbally agreed to a three-way deal that will make Tyreke Evans a Pelican, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter). The deal will send Evans to the Pelicans, Robin Lopez to the Trail Blazers, and Greivis Vasquez to the Kings, with the Blazers sending out picks and cash, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
Evans had been preparing to sign a four-year, $44MM offer sheet with New Orleans, so rather than lose him for nothing, the Kings decided to negotiate a sign-and-trade deal. The Pelicans had been motivated to move Lopez in order to make room under the cap for their offer to Evans, so involving the two players in the same deal made sense. Meanwhile, with New Orleans putting together a backcourt that will feature Evans, Jrue Holiday, and Eric Gordon, Vasquez was the odd man out, making him expendable as well.
Sacramento agreed to complete the three-way deal with the Blazers and Pelicans after Jose Calderon passed on an opportunity to sign with the team. According to Wojnarowski, the Kings wanted to sign Calderon and flip Vasquez to another team, but the Spaniard decided he didn't want to be part of a full-blown rebuild in Sacramento. Calderon will continue to negotiate with other teams, including the Pistons, tweets Wojnarowski.
As for the Pelicans, they get their man in Evans and figure to use him off the bench in a Manu Ginobili-type role, behind a starting backcourt of Holiday and Gordon. It's not clear where the cash and picks coming from the Blazers are headed, but I would guess the Pelicans will acquire something from Portland, since New Orleans is sending out multiple players in the move.
For Sacramento, the deal gives the team the opportunity to regain some value for Evans, and Vasquez's modest $2.15MM salary will allow the club to retain plenty of cap space to pursue other players. The Kings previously withdrew a four-year offer for Andre Iguodala, but should still have the flexibility to pursue Iguodala again, if they so choose. Sacramento may also get in on those draft and cash considerations from Portland, though we'll have to wait for further word.
Meanwhile, the Blazers continue to make use of their summer cap space by making trades rather than signing free agents, as Lopez will be absorbed using the team's room under the cap. Portland also agreed to acquire Thomas Robinson from the Rockets without including any outgoing salary. At the moment, only $500K of Lopez's 2013/14 salary is guaranteed, but the next two years of his contract will become guaranteed this weekend, since he won't be waived by tomorrow. He'll earn $5.12MM next season and $5.34MM in '14/15.
The three teams will be able to finalize the transaction when the July moratorium lifts next Wednesday.