Kings Sign Caron Butler
4:00pm: The signing is official, the Kings announced.
JULY 23RD, 3:09pm: Butler has already visited the Kings to sign his contract, and a formal announcement should come soon, tweets Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee.
2:25pm: The deal is worth a total of $3MM, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, though it appears he’s rounding down. The least he could make over two years would be $3,050,846. In any case, the deal is ostensibly for the minimum.
2:19pm: Year two is a player option, Wojnarowski writes.
JULY 10TH, 1:56pm: The Kings and Caron Butler have agreed on a two-year deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Butler recently became a free agent after the Bucks, who had just acquired him via trade from the Pistons, waived him rather than guarantee what would have been a $4.5MM salary.
The Thunder, Bulls, Clippers, Spurs, Lakers and Knicks were all reportedly eyeing him as July neared, and the Cavaliers apparently made consistent contact. Instead, Butler appears headed to Sacramento, which used the cap flexibility it’s secured in its trade with the Sixers to come to agreements with a handful of players already.
The Raymond Brothers client figures to provide depth behind Rudy Gay at small forward, and perhaps play alongside Gay in small-ball configurations. Butler, 35, has mostly been a reserve the past two seasons with the Bucks, Thunder and Pistons, though he started 21 games this year for Detroit.
And-Ones: Playoffs, Aldridge, Teletovic, Mekel
The NBA is leaning toward no longer guaranteeing a playoff spot to division winners, commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday, as Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press observes. It would be one more step away from a divisional structure that long ago ceased to have much relevance on roster building, though Pelicans GM Dell Demps recently cited the preponderance of strong post players in the Southwest Division as he spoke about the team’s decision to re-sign Omer Asik. Here’s more from around the NBA:
- LaMarcus Aldridge kept the Trail Blazers in the running for him right up until he committed to sign with the Spurs, as Aldridge said this week in an appearance on ESPN Radio’s The Russillo Show, as Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com relays. Aldridge also insisted that he didn’t exit Portland because of any jealousy toward Damian Lillard. “We got along very well during the season,” Aldridge said. “I thought we played well off of each other. So, all of that stuff is just rumors that I’ve dealt with before. Me leaving had nothing to do with any of that. It was just me feeling like being close to home, by my family, being able to see them more and just a change of scenery. I had been in Portland for nine years. I had been through a couple of rebuilds. So it was just time to try something new. It wasn’t anything toward Damian or the organization.”
- The decision to cancel the meeting between Aldridge and the Knicks was a mutual one, Aldridge also said in his radio appearance, notes Ian Begley of ESPN.com.
- The Nets wanted to keep Mirza Teletovic, offering him a two-year deal that included an option, and the Kings also offered him a two-year deal, but he thought the Suns were a better fit, as Teletovic said to Bosnian media and as Igor Marinovic and NetsDaily relay (Twitter links). Teletovic signed for one-year with Phoenix.
- Former Mavericks and Pelicans point guard Gal Mekel is in talks with three NBA teams, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears (Twitter links).
- Many scouts say Dragan Bender is the best international prospect, but whether Bender, who won’t turn 19 until November 2016, enters next year’s draft will depend on where he’d likely be drafted, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who looks the 2016 draft class.
Latest On Luc Mbah a Moute
The Kings still hold some level of interest in signing Luc Mbah a Moute, league sources have told James Ham of CowbellKingdom.com (Twitter link). The forward had previously agreed to a one-year, $1.55MM deal with Sacramento, but it was voided when Mbah a Moute failed his physical. The forward has an undisclosed shoulder issue according to team executive Vlade Divac, which is what caused Mbah a Moute to fail that exam, Rui Thomas of CowbellKingdom.com tweets.
While the Kings may indeed still have interest, there may not be a roster spot for the 28-year-old. Sacramento’s current roster count sits at 15, including 11 fully guaranteed deals. While teams can carry up to 20 players until opening night, franchises are required to pare down that number to 15 for the regular season. With the Kings officially signing Quincy Acy today, the addition of Mbah a Moute could be considered redundant since both players man the same position. The 2008 second-rounder out of UCLA has also expressed interest in returning to Philadelphia.
Mbah a Moute made 67 appearances for the Sixers last season, including 61 as a starter. He averaged 9.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assist to go along with a slash line of .395/.307/.589. His career numbers through seven NBA seasons, which include stints with the Kings and Bucks, are 6.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 1.0 APG.
Kings Sign Quincy Acy
WEDNESDAY, 8:08pm: The deal is official, the Kings announced.
10:19pm: Acy’s deal calls for the minimum salary, notes former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
MONDAY, 6:52pm: Unrestricted free agent forward Quincy Acy has agreed to a two-year deal with the Kings, reports RealGM’s Shams Charania, who cites league sources (Twitter link). The second year has a player option, Charania adds.
The Magic, Pelicans, Hawks and Spurs were teams who had shown interest in Acy, who became an unrestricted free agent after the Knicks declined to extend the qualifying offer of $1.181MM to the forward. The big man should add some front-court depth.
Acy, in his best season in the league, averaged 5.9 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game last year with the Knicks. Acy played for the Kings previously. He appeared in 56 games with Sacramento in the 2013/14 season.
Kings Sign Duje Dukan
WEDNESDAY, 8:00pm: The signing is official, the team announced.
MONDAY, 5:33pm: The Kings have agreed to a deal with undrafted Wisconsin forward Duje Dukan, reports RealGM’s Shams Charania, who cites league sources (Twitter link). Dukan’s deal with the Kings will contain guarantees, Charania adds in a full story, but it is not clear what they are yet.
Dukan, a big man who can create some floor spacing, averaged 4.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game during the 2014/15 season. He has been playing in summer league with the Kings. Dukan was a solid shooter and ball-handler in college.
Kings Sign Seth Curry
7:41pm: The signing is official, Sacramento announced.
WEDNESDAY, 7:50am: The deal is for the minimum, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link). That makes it worth $1,962,972, slightly less than $2MM, and more importantly, it means Sacramento doesn’t have to use its room exception on him, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks surmised (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 7:40pm: The Kings have reached an agreement with unrestricted free agent Seth Curry, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. It is going to be a two-year, $2MM pact, Wojnarowski adds. Both years will be fully guaranteed, and the second year is a player option, Wojnarowski tweets. ESPN’s Marc Stein first reported (on Twitter) that the two sides were nearing a deal.
The 24-year-old has spent most of his time in the NBA D-League, and has inked 10-day contracts with the Cavs, Grizzlies, and Suns over the past two seasons. Curry has only appeared in a total of four NBA contests, and his averages are 0.8 points, 0.8 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in 5.3 minutes per contest.
The Pelicans were rumored to be close to giving a guaranteed deal to Curry, who played extremely well in the Las Vegas Summer League. Curry played for New Orleans’ squad in Vegas, averaging 24.3 points per contest on 45.9% shooting.
Southwest Notes: Lawson, McCallum, Pelicans
Rockets GM Daryl Morey isn’t shy about gambling, and he acknowledges that trading four players for troubled point guard Ty Lawson carries with it some potential pitfalls, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com writes. “I think when you’re trying to get the best team out of 30, you got to take risk all over the place,” Morey said. “Again, it’s a playing risk, injury risk, character risk. We feel Ty is someone we wanted to add to our team.”
With Houston badly in need of a playmaker at the point, Morey believes he has filled that need with Lawson, Watkins notes. “He’s one of the best playmakers in the league,” Morey continued. “If you look at the leaderboard for assists in the last few years or since he’s been in the league, he’s near the top. I think, as we saw, especially when [Harden] played a couple of teams last year, we struggle against teams that really load on James Harden, and we feel Ty will be a lot more difficult for teams to do that.”
Here’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Recent Spurs trade acquisition Ray McCallum‘s minimum salary of $947,276 became fully guaranteed when San Antonio didn’t waive him by the end of Monday, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes (Twitter link). It had been partially guaranteed for $200K, as the schedule of salary guarantee dates shows.
- The Pelicans are looking into establishing their own D-League franchise, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. New Orleans GM Dell Demps acknowledged the franchise’s interest in the D-League, but he didn’t know the exact time frame for the process, Reid adds. ”A couple of years ago, we did not do it because our players were so young and growing and we figured we just throw them into the fire,” Demps said. ”But that is the next step for us. We’re looking at some options right now on the Gulf Coast and in the state of Louisiana. So we’re looking into that. We have some plans to add our own D-League team.”
- Danny Green surprised some when he elected to re-sign with the Spurs with a four-year, $45MM deal when numerous teams had expressed interest in his services, and he likely could have earned more elsewhere. But Green believes his annual salary is in line with his production, Dan McCarney of The San Antonio Express-News notes (Twitter links). “People keep saying that I took less. I think I took what I was worth,” said Green. Though, to get his full market value, Green would have likely had to go to a team like the Pistons or the Kings, who certainly don’t offer as good a chance to contend as San Antonio does, McCarney adds. The Pistons, Mavericks, Blazers, Knicks and the Kings, who’d reportedly made Green their top target, all had some degree of interest in the swingman.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Pacific Notes: Clippers, Contract Details, Chandler
The Clippers‘ offseason moves, which include re-signing DeAndre Jordan, signing unrestricted free agent Paul Pierce, and acquiring swingman Lance Stephenson, have added needed versatility to the team’s roster, Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders writes. With Stephenson, Pierce and Wesley Johnson joining the roster, the Clippers have more skill, length, defense and versatility on the perimeter than they did last season, Blancarte opines. The addition of forward Josh Smith also gives coach Doc Rivers some needed rotation flexibility in the frontcourt, notes Blancarte.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The four-year deal that Kosta Koufos signed with the Kings is worth precisely $32.879MM, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reveals (Twitter link). Marco Belinelli is getting $1 less than $19MM in his new three-year deal, Pincus adds. Sacramento gave Omri Casspi exactly $5.8MM on his two-year deal, Pincus also reports, adding that the James Anderson‘s contract is for two years at the minimum salary with a player option on year two.
- Tyson Chandler‘s four-year deal with the Suns will pay him $13MM this coming season, $12.415MM in 2016/17, $13MM in 2017/18, and $13.585MM the final season, tweets Pincus. Brandon Knight‘s five-year pact will see him earn $13.5MM in 2015/16, then pull down salaries of $12,606.250, $13,618,750, $14,631,250, and $15,643,750, Pincus notes.
- Instead of lamenting the Suns‘ signing of Chandler, who will be the team’s starting center, Alex Len is looking forward to learning from the veteran, Michael Lee of The Washington Post relays. “He’s one of the best defensive bigs in the league. The way he blocks shots, the way he communicates. I think I can learn just from watching, just from being around him, add it to my game. I think it’s going to be great,” Len said. “He’s a great leader. We needed a veteran last year. Somebody in the locker room, on the court, somebody we can look up to. So, I think it’s great for the team.” Len, 22, started 44 games for Phoenix during the 2014/15 campaign.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Fallout From/Reaction To Ty Lawson Deal
Ty Lawson‘s drinking habit had concerned teams even when he entered the NBA, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who hears from several sources who say that it helped dissuade the Celtics from trading for him while they were in talks with the Nuggets before the February deadline. The video that depicts him smoking from a hookah and predicting that the Nuggets would trade him to the Kings as he watched Denver select Emmanuel Mudiay in the draft was a turn-off for potential suitors, too, Lowe writes. Lowe and others have more on the trade agreement, as we’ll pass along here:
- The Lakers were the only team other than the Rockets to express interest in Lawson shortly before the deal, according to Lowe, though Chris Mannix of SI.com heard the Pistons also did.
- Nick Johnson, one of the players heading to the Nuggets, didn’t get along with the coaching staff at the Rockets D-League affiliate while on assignment last season, several league sources told Lowe.
- The Nuggets face a scramble to complete the trade before the close of business today so that they can waive Pablo Prigioni, as they reportedly intend to do, before his partial guarantee of $440K becomes a full guarantee of nearly $1.735MM, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks details. Teams can waive physicals and the requirement that the players report, but it would be up to the Rockets to do so with Lawson, Marks notes. Also, players in the final year of their respective contracts must certify a trade before it goes final, so Denver has to get in contact with Prigioni, Kostas Papanikolaou and Joey Dorsey, Marks explains (All four Twitter links).
- Lawson is on board with the trade, agent Happy Walters told Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. “He’s excited,” Walters said. “I spoke to him once about it. He’s close with James [Harden], tight with Corey [Brewer], knows Trevor [Ariza] and Dwight [Howard] and is real excited. It’s an opportunity for him. He’s been deep in the playoffs before, but this is something he feels really good about.”
- Houston’s new point guard has his baggage, but the Rockets didn’t relinquish much in the deal, making it a risk that the rigors of the Western Conference demand that they take, opines Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.
- Lawson might not be the third star the Rockets have been seeking to complement Harden and Howard, but Michael Lee of The Washington Post points out that he’s the sort of facilitator that Harden has said he’d welcome.
- What’s your reaction to the deal? Leave a comment to let us know.
And-Ones: Gallinari, Belinelli, Jazz, Harrellson
Danilo Gallinari confirmed to Italian media that he and the Nuggets are discussing an extension, as Dario Vismara of Rivista Ufficiale NBA tweets (translation via Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi). Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post reported last week that the team intended to begin talks. The Nuggets can open about $6MM in cap room if they waive both Pablo Prigioni and Kostas Papanikolaou, whom they’re reportedly about to acquire in the deal for Ty Lawson, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks points out (on Twitter). They could use the cap room to give Gallinari a renegotiation and extension, as they did with Wilson Chandler, a maneuver that would be more lucrative for Gallinari than a simple extension. While we wait to see if that’s the route the Nuggets take, here’s more from around the NBA:
- The Pelicans, Knicks, Clippers, Lakers, Spurs and Warriors all made offers to Marco Belinelli, who instead signed with the Kings, as he said at the same gathering of Italian media, Vismara notes (Twitter link).
- The salary cap is set to surge next summer, but the 2016 free agent class doesn’t have much depth beyond Kevin Durant and LeBron James, leaving many teams with a conundrum as they face the prospect of a salary floor of some $81MM, as Marks examines for HoopsHype.
- A work stoppage in 2017 is a “virtual certainty,” an executive from a team recently told Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com, in spite of commissioner Adam Silver’s suggestion to the contrary. Teams are worried that the new TV revenue somehow won’t allow them to keep up with surging payrolls, and clubs that have traditionally relied on revenue sharing figure to take a hit with fewer teams in line to pay into the luxury tax in seasons to come, as Arnovitz details.
- The Jazz are drawing raves from coaches and GM around the league for their home-grown approach to rebuilding and hesitance to sign mid-tier free agents who’d only help the team make incremental gains, Arnovitz writes in the same piece.
- Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press tells the story of a handful of summer leaguers who carry divergent credentials, including three-year NBA veteran Josh Harrellson, who’s willing to be flexible as he tries to make it back to the NBA now that he’s recovered from a career-threatening back injury. “I think I’ll get a camp invite,” Harrellson said. “My main goal is to get a contract out of this. Even if it’s a partial [guarantee], just something.”