Sixers Claim Chris Johnson Off Waivers
9:11pm: The claim is official, according to the RealGM transactions log.
4:37pm: The Sixers have claimed Chris Johnson off of waivers, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Johnson, not to be confused with the player of the same name on the Heat, was waived by the Celtics on Thursday as Boston began paring down their roster to the maximum of 20 players. This move brings Philadelphia’s roster count to 21, so they will have to release someone in order to add Johnson.
This move continues the trend of the Sixers adding young, minimum salary players for their season-long quest for the No. 1 overall draft pick. Johnson will compete for minutes at small forward, and with a strong training camp it’s conceivable that Johnson could end up contributing as a rotation piece during the regular season.
In 48 career games Johnson’s numbers are 5.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 0.7 APG. His career slash line is .402/.338/.844.
Cavs Sign Chris Crawford, Shane Edwards
SUNDAY, 11:00am: The signings are official, the team announced.
SATURDAY, 6:22pm: The Cavs are set to sign Chris Crawford and Shane Edwards for training camp, reports Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. Lloyd also confirms an earlier report that team will ink Stephen Holt. It’s a non-guaranteed one-year deal for Crawford, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. Crawford had a partial guarantee of $20K on his original two-year deal that Cleveland waived on Thursday amid the team’s acquisition of Keith Bogans, one that threatened to push the team into tax territory. With Bogans off to Philadelphia, it appears Cleveland is circling back to the undrafted guard from the University of Memphis. The team is limited to giving out only the minimum salary to any of its signees, but it’s unclear if there are any guarantees involved for Edwards and Holt.
Crawford, who’ll turn 22 next week, was with the Rockets in summer league after experiencing a dip in scoring in his senior year this season. He put up 10.4 points per game as a junior but just 8.7 PPG as a senior, despite seeing more minutes in his last year with Memphis. Edwards, 27, was briefly with the Cavs last season on a 10-day contract, and he made it into two games for about 12 minutes total. He spent most of last season with Cleveland’s D-League team, averaging 14.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 28.9 minutes per game.
The Cavs had been carrying 15 players, so the additions of Holt, Crawford and Edwards will put them over the regular season roster limit. Each will face an uphill battle to make it to opening night, though Cleveland only has guaranteed money on the books with 13 players, not including the partial guarantee in Crawford’s old contract.
Hornets Sign Jason Maxiell
SUNDAY, 10:02am: The signing is official, the team announced via a press release.
FRIDAY, 7:55pm: The signing has been completed, as is shown in the RealGM transactions log.
THURSDAY, 2:13pm: The Hornets will sign big man Jason Maxiell to a non-guaranteed contract, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter links). Charlotte has the capacity to give more than the minimum salary, though that seems unlikely if the nine-year vet isn’t receiving any guaranteed money.
The 31-year-old Andy Miller client has been a free agent since shortly after the Magic waived him in July rather than assure him of the $2.5MM non-guaranteed salary that was in his deal for the coming season. Maxiell saw significantly less playing time in Orlando than he had during most of his eight seasons with Detroit, and he didn’t seem to garner much attention on the market this summer, aside from a preliminary inquiry from the Heat.
I figured there was a decent chance that Maxiell would wind up looking overseas in search of guaranteed salary when I examined his free agent stock, but it looks like he’ll try to make the Hornets instead. Charlotte only has guaranteed money on the books for 14 players, so Maxiell appears to have a fairly clear path to opening night if he can beat out fellow camp invitees Justin Cobbs, Dallas Lauderdale and Brian Qvale.
Cavs Trade Keith Bogans To Sixers
2:07pm: The trade is official, the Cavs announced. The terms of the deal are that the Cavs send Bogans and their 2018 second round pick to the Sixers for Philly’s 2015 second-rounder (protected for picks 31-50 and 56-60), though Cleveland won’t see the pick if the Sixers have to give it to the Celtics to satisfy an existing debt from previous trades. Cleveland also announced the creation of a traded player exception worth approximately $5.3MM. It’ll be precisely $5,285,817, equivalent to the value of Bogans’ salary.
1:52pm: The second-rounder headed to Philadelphia is Cleveland’s 2018 pick, Lloyd writes. There is no mention of any protections being attached, though the second round pick headed the Cavs most likely will have heavy enough protections that Cleveland is unlikely to ever make that pick.
1:11pm: The Cavs will receive a future second-rounder from the Sixers with protections attached, Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal reports (Twitter link).
12:50pm: The Cavaliers have reached an agreement to trade newly acquired Keith Bogans to the Sixers, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports. The deal will send Bogans along with a future second-rounder to Philly and create a $5.3MM trade exception for the Cavs in the process. It’s unclear what Cleveland will receive in return, and it may just be the exception that they essentially net from this deal.
Cavs GM David Griffin had said yesterday that acquiring Bogans was about “contract flexibility,” and it didn’t take long for him to cash in the chip that Bogans’ non-guaranteed deal provided him. On Thursday Cleveland had traded the non-guaranteed contracts of Erik Murphy, John Lucas III and Malcolm Thomas, along with Cavs’ 2016 and 2017 second round picks, for Bogans and the Kings’ 2015 and 2017 second-rounders, both of which are top-55 protected.
Assuming the Cavs don’t have to take back a player from the Sixers in order to close the deal, this will leave Cleveland with 15 players on their roster, with 11 carrying full guarantees, and two with partials. Ray Allen is still a possibility to end up with the Cavaliers, though he has numerous other opportunities for work, and hasn’t stated whether or not he intends to play this coming season yet.
As for the Sixers, they get a veteran shooting guard who is capable of starting for them, along with more draft picks, something Philly places high value on. Since Bogans is on a non-guaranteed deal there is little to no risk at giving him a shot at a rotation spot this season. He shouldn’t complicate the Sixers’ quest to nab the top pick in next year’s draft. This move will max out Philadelphia’s roster count at 20.
Suns Sign Joe Jackson
SEPTEMBER 27TH, 11:36am: The signing is official, the team has announced.
SEPTEMBER 25TH, 11:02pm: The signing has taken place, as the RealGM transactions log indicates.
SEPTEMBER 8TH, 4:55pm: Joe Jackson, an undrafted point guard out of Memphis, is finalizing a free agent deal with the Suns, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM (via Twitter). Terms of the deal are not yet known.
Jackson worked out for the Wolves, Kings, Suns, Knicks, Rockets, Mavs, Grizzlies, and Jazz, but didn’t hear his name called in the 2014 Draft. Apparently, Jackson was able to step out in his June 3rd audition in front of Phoenix brass where he worked out alongside Jerami Grant, Ronald Roberts Jr. and Cam Bairstow.
The 6’0″ guard was ranked as the 49th best senior in his NCAA class by DraftExpreess. In 2013/14, Jackson averaged 14.4 PPG, 4.5 APG, and 3.6 RPG in 33.6 minutes per contest.
Suns Sign Barron, Prather
SEPTEMBER 27TH, 11:34am: The signings are official, the team has announced.
SEPTEMBER 25TH, 11:05pm: The signings have taken place, according to the RealGM transactions log.
AUGUST 26TH, 8:21am: The Suns have agreed to non-guaranteed deals with eight-year NBA veteran Earl Barron and undrafted rookie Casey Prather that will allow the pair to join the team for camp, reports Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. They’re almost certainly on minimum-salary arrangements in spite of Phoenix’s ample cap flexibility.
The deal is Barron’s first in the NBA after he signed with the Knicks for the final game of the regular season and the playoffs in 2013. He didn’t see any postseason action that year, appearing in just that lone regular season game, and while the Knicks were reportedly split on bringing him back for last year’s camp, they decided against it, and he spent the season playing in China and Lebanon instead.
Prather made his first contact with the Suns through a predraft workout, though he spent summer league with the Hawks. The small forward from Florida entered the draft as the 83rd-best prospect in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and No. 95 on Chad Ford’s ESPN.com board after a breakout senior season with the Gators. His 13.8 points in 27.9 minutes per game represented the first double-digit scoring average of his college career.
Barron and Prather will join 13 other Suns, all of whom have guaranteed deals, as our roster counts show. That doesn’t include Eric Bledsoe or second-round pick Alec Brown, though the Suns could make room for them if they cut Barron, Prather or both before opening night.
Suns, Jamil Wilson Reach Deal
SATURDAY, 11:17am: The signing is official, the Suns announced via a press release.
WEDNESDAY, 9:25pm: The Suns have reached agreement with Jamil Wilson, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). The exact length and terms of the deal are unknown for the Relativity Sports client who is represented by Steve McCaskill. Odds are this is a minimum salary camp deal, with little-to-no salary guaranteed, but that’s just my speculation.
The 6’7″ Wilson went undrafted this year out of Marquette despite being projected as a possible late second-round pick by some. His college numbers, which include his freshman season at Oregon, are 8.5 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 1.6 APG. His college shooting statistics are .447/.336/.708.
This signing brings Phoenix’s preseason roster count to 18 players. Out of those 18, 14 players have fully-guaranteed deals on the books. Wilson is a longhshot to make the team, and will compete with Marcus Morris, T.J. Warren, and P.J. Tucker for minutes.
Celtics Cut, Agree To Re-Sign Christian Watford
11:20pm: The release has taken place, according to the RealGM transactions log, but Watford and the team have agreed on a new deal that he would sign Monday, presuming he clears waivers, as Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). It’s an odd turn of events, particularly since the injury to Rajon Rondo would suggest the team would prioritize point guards rather than a big man like Watford. Boston hasn’t publicly acknowledged waiving Watford, just as the team never formally announced that he’d signed, making the situation even more strange. In any case, adding Watford again would force the C’s to cut ties with two other players before they can make their deal with Turner official.
3:39pm: The Celtics are waiving power forward Christian Watford, a source tells Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com (Twitter link). Forsberg’s tweet indicates the release has already taken place, but there’s been no formal announcement of such a move. Boston never officially announced his signing, either, but reports indicated that he put pen to paper last month. The C’s had to remove one player from their roster following Thursday’s Keith Bogans trade and the releases of Chris Johnson and Chris Babb, which left them with 21 contracts, one over the preseason limit.
Watford didn’t last long enough with Boston to suit up for the team, having spent summer league with the Pistons and Warriors instead. He played summer league with the Pacers and Mavs last year, but that’s been the extent of his NBA experience since he went undrafted out of Indiana University in June 2013. Watford, now 23, spent this past season playing with Hapoel Eilat in Israel, averaging 9.6 points and 5.2 rebounds in 26.1 minutes per game.
The Celtics still must clear one more player before they can turn their agreement with Evan Turner into an official contract. Tim Frazier, John Lucas III, Rodney McGruder and Malcolm Thomas are all on non-guaranteed deals, so it’s most likely that one of them will be cut.
Wizards Sign David Stockton For Camp
MONDAY, 9:22am: The deal is official, the team announced.
FRIDAY, 8:00pm: The signing has occurred, as is shown in the RealGM transactions log.
THURSDAY, 3:05pm: David Stockton is planning to sign a deal to join the Wizards for training camp, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Washington is limited to giving out only the minimum salary to the son of Hall-of-Famer John Stockton, though there’s a chance that his deal will include a nominal partial guarantee.
The Wizards had apparently been set to audition the younger Stockton earlier this week, and he’d also reportedly earned workouts with the Thunder and Jazz. The 5’11” guard went undrafted out of Gonzaga this past June, though he latched on with the Suns for summer league, scoring a total of six points in less than 19 minutes over two games. He put up 7.4 points and 4.2 assists in 27.8 minutes per game as a senior this past season.
Washington had been carrying 19 players, including 13 on fully guaranteed deals and a partially guaranteed pact with Glen Rice Jr. Stockton is set to become the lone player without NBA experience in camp with the Wizards, adding to the challenge of making it to opening night.
Wizards Sign Rasual Butler For Camp
SEPTEMBER 29TH: The deal is official, the team announced.
SEPTEMBER 26TH, 7:47pm: The signing has occurred, according to the RealGM transactions log.
SEPTEMBER 22ND, 3:42pm: The Wizards and Rasual Butler have struck agreement on a non-guaranteed deal, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). It’s almost certainly for the minimum salary, since that’s all the Wizards can give.
The 35-year-old veteran of 11 NBA seasons finds himself in a situation similar to a year ago, when he joined the Pacers on a non-guaranteed deal for the minimum salary. He stuck with the team for the entire season, so the Joel Bell client surely hopes the narrative continues along that course. Butler didn’t see much playing time with the Pacers, averaging 7.6 minutes in 50 regular season games, but he made it into 11 of Indiana’s 19 playoff games, averaging 6.4 minutes per postseason appearance. Helping him find a place on the floor was his three-point stroke. He shot 41.9% from behind the arc during the regular season and 41.7% during the playoffs.
Washington appeared to be auditioning Jamaal Franklin and Vander Blue, as we passed along earlier, so it looks like the Wizards are actively working toward their final additions for camp. They added Xavier Silas and Damion James last week to a roster than includes 13 fully guaranteed contracts and Glen Rice Jr. on a partially guaranteed deal.