Toney Douglas Agrees To Play In China
TUESDAY, 8:06am: Douglas is set to ink with the Jiangsu Dragons for $1MM, according to Nick Bedard of Basketballbuddha.com. Presumably, the arrangement is for this season only.
MONDAY, 10:06am: Free agent guard Toney Douglas will play in China this season, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). The move is somewhat surprising, since the five-year NBA veteran and 2009 first-round pick was a contributor down the stretch for the Heat this past season, and he drew NBA interest this summer. The terms aren’t clear, and neither is the identity of the Chinese team that has the deal with Douglas, but most NBA veterans who go to China do so on one-year deals that allow them to return stateside well before the end of the NBA season, thanks to the Chinese Basketball Association’s abbreviated schedule.
The Bulls reportedly pursued the 28-year-old last month before coming to terms with Aaron Brooks. Douglas started 17 games for the Heat last season after a midseason trade brought him from Golden State, though he averaged just 4.2 points and 1.8 assists against 0.7 turnovers in 15.2 minutes per game for Miami. The Heat largely buried him on the bench during the postseason, putting him on the floor for a total of only 29 minutes in 10 playoff contests.
Still, the David Falk client was a regular part of the rotation for the Knicks, Rockets and Kings during the first four years of his career, averaging 20.3 MPG over that span. He’s set to join Al Harrington, Byron Mullens, Metta World Peace and top-notch 2015 draft prospect Emmanuel Mudiay among the noteworthy players who’ll play in China this year.
Jarnell Stokes Signs With Grizzlies
6:27pm: Stokes can become a restricted free agent at the end of the deal, reports Tillery in a separate article, since the third year of the deal is a team option.
5:49pm: Jarnell Stokes has signed his rookie contract with the Grizzlies, reports Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter links). The team has confirmed the deal via a press release. The agreement is for three years, and approximately $2.5MM, notes Tillery. Stokes had reportedly been waiting to finalize his contract to give Memphis more flexibility in pursing free agents this summer.
The 6’9″ power forward was selected by the Jazz with the No. 35 pick in this year’s NBA Draft, then was traded to the Grizzlies for a 2016 second-rounder that same night. Stokes was seen as a possible late first round selection leading up to the draft, and the Grizzlies may have gotten a steal by picking him up for a future second round pick. The 2016 pick that Memphis is sending to Utah is the more favorable of the second-round picks that the Raptors and Celtics sent to the Grizzlies in previous trades.
Stokes averaged 15.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per game for the Volunteers this past season. His career numbers were 13.0 PPG, 9.6 RPG, and 1.1 BPG. His career slash line was .530/.000/.628. Stokes had talked with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors for our Prospect Profile Series prior to the draft about his career goals and skills.
Pistons Sign Cartier Martin
AUGUST 18TH: The Pistons have finally followed up with an official announcement.
AUGUST 6TH: The team has yet to announce the deal, but the signing has occurred, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
JULY 14TH: It’ll be a minimum-salary contract, according to Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News (Twitter link).
JULY 2ND: The deal includes a second season that’s a player option, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.
JULY 1ST: The Pistons have struck a one-year deal with Cartier Martin, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The 29-year-old swingman spent most of last season with the Hawks, save for a pair of 10-day contracts with Chicago. It’s unclear just how much Martin will receive, but it seems likely to be a minimum-salary arrangement.
The addition of Martin, along with Jodie Meeks, seems like an attempt by new Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy to upgrade the team’s outside shooting. Martin is an above average three-point shooter, knocking down 39.1% of his treys last season and 38.3% for his career.
Martin, like Meeks, is a client of Andrew Vye, so it appears as though negotiations happened simultaneous. There weren’t reports of other suitors for the six-year veteran, who saw 15.5 minutes per game for Atlanta last season.
Pistons Sign Aaron Gray
AUGUST 18TH: The deal is official, the team announced.
JULY 14TH: It’s a minimum-salary arrangement, as Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News tweets.
JULY 7TH: The Pistons and Aaron Gray have reached agreement on a multiyear deal, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The terms aren’t immediately clear, but it’s presumably a minimum-salary deal for the backup center.
Gray finished last season with the Kings after coming over from Toronto in the Rudy Gay trade, averaging 1.8 points and 3.1 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per game. He started 40 games for the Raptors in the lockout-shortened 2011/12 season, but he’s spent the majority of his career as a backup.
The 7-foot client of ASM Sports will add bulk to the Pistons reserve unit, perhaps serving as an insurance policy for a spot in the rotation should the team be unable to bring back restricted free agent Greg Monroe. The agreement is an ominous sign for incumbent reserve big man Josh Harrellson, whose non-guaranteed contract becomes fully guaranteed if the Pistons don’t waive him by the end of July 20th. It’s a “safe bet” that the team will move on from Harrellson, tweets Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
Raptors Sign Jordan Hamilton
MONDAY, 1:54pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
FRIDAY, 11:50am: Hamilton’s deal is partially guaranteed, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (on Twitter). He adds that the odds of Hamilton making the team are long.
THURSDAY, 10:46am: The Raptors have reached agreement on a one-year deal with free agent Jordan Hamilton, according to Shams Charania of RealGM (on Twitter).
The Rockets acquired Hamilton from the Nuggets at the trade deadline in exchange for Aaron Brooks. The 23-year-old (24 in October) made eleven starts for the banged up Denver squad and also saw significant playing time with the Rockets. In total, Hamilton averaged 6.7 PPG and 3.2 RPG in 17 minutes per contest last season.
Hamilton drew a surprising amount of trade interest last season as the Knicks were also hot on his heels. The proposed trade would have sent Beno Udrih to Denver but the Nuggets wound up entertaining multiple offers for the youngster and chose to go with the Rockets’ pitch.
Hamilton auditioned for teams roughly one month ago and the Timberwolves were among those in attendance. However, he’ll be heading north of the border to join up with last year’s Atlantic Division champions.
Tony Mitchell To Play In Italy
Former Bucks small forward Tony Mitchell has signed with Italy’s Aquila Basket Trento, the team announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The terms aren’t immediately clear, but it appears as though the 25-year-old is electing to head overseas rather than try to make an NBA opening-night roster through training camp.
Mitchell’s NBA experience is brief, having appeared for a total of just 10 minutes over three games in March on a 10-day contract with Milwaukee. The Bucks didn’t re-sign him, though it seemed as though the team had at least some degree of interest in doing so. The former University of Alabama mainstay also saw time in the D-League and China this past season, and he was a prolific scorer with the D-League Select Team in summer league last month, averaging 19.0 points in 30.4 minutes per game across five contests.
The Todd Ramasar client joins more than a dozen others who played in the NBA last season and have agreed to ply their trade overseas for the coming year, as our Free Agent Tracker shows. Mitchell is not to be confused with the Tony Mitchell who has a fully guaranteed contract with the Pistons for this season.
Anthony Randolph Signs With Russian Team
Former NBA lottery pick Anthony Randolph has signed with Russia’s Locomotiv Kuban, the team announced (hat tip to Sportando’s Enea Trapani). It’s a two-year deal that includes an option on the final season, though the team’s statement doesn’t make it entirely clear whether that’s a team option or a player option.
Randolph had been a free agent ever since the Magic quietly waived him following the trade that sent him from Chicago to Orlando about a month ago. The Bulls had acquired him from the Nuggets as part of the draft-night swap that also brought Doug McDermott to Chicago.
The 14th overall pick from the 2008 draft was on the fringes of the rotation in Denver this past season, averaging 4.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per contest. That was nonetheless an upgrade on his role from the previous season, when he saw just 8.4 MPG for the Nuggets. The BDA Sports Management client didn’t appear to draw much NBA interest following his release from Orlando, but his salary for more than $1.8MM this season was guaranteed and remains on the Magic’s books.
Hornets Sign Justin Cobbs For Camp
SEPTEMBER 22ND: The deal is official, the team announced.
AUGUST 18TH: Point guard Justin Cobbs will be on the Hornets roster for training camp, according to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Cobbs, who went undrafted out of the University of California in June, will also take part in training camp with Laboral Kuxta of Spain, Pick adds. Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia first reported the unusual dual-camp arrangement, with Pick later filling in the identity of the teams. The arrangement would appear to give Cobbs a European fallback in case he doesn’t make it to opening night with Charlotte.
Cobbs went into the draft as the 92nd-best prospect in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com pegged him 131st. In any case, it was no surprise that he was passed over on draft night, and while he totaled just 12 minutes in two summer league games with the Grizzlies, it looks like Cobbs impressed during his predraft workout with the Hornets. His production in college wasn’t shabby, as he averaged 15.6 points, 5.8 assists and 2.4 turnovers in 34.5 minutes per game as a senior this past year.
It’s presumably a non-guaranteed deal for the minimum salary for the 6’3″ 23-year-old. Charlotte is only carrying 13 other players, all on guaranteed deals, and that number is poised to swell to 14 once 26th overall pick P.J. Hairston signs his rookie scale contract. Cobbs nonetheless faces an uphill battle on a roster that already includes point guards Kemba Walker, Brian Roberts and Jannero Pargo.
And-Ones: Rockets, Daniels, Wizards
There are a number of notable players waiting on a call from an NBA team and Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders runs them all down. Many of the best available players, including Ray Allen, Eric Bledsoe (restricted), Jermaine O’Neal, and Michael Beasley, have been featured in Hoops Rumors’ Free Agent Stock Watch series. Here’s more from around the Association..
- Alessandro Gentile‘s father Nando Gentile says that his son wants to play two more years in Italy before joining the Rockets in the NBA, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (on Twitter). Gentile’s rights are owned by Houston, who acquired the No. 53 pick in this year’s draft to snatch him. The 21-year-old wing recently re-signed with his Italian club for three seasons.
- Scott Rafferty of Ridiculous Upside looked at what Troy Daniels could bring to the Rockets next season. Daniels made a name for himself with a big shot in the first round of last year’s playoffs and he’ll now look to cement his role as a spark plug off of Houston’s bench. Daniels shattered the D-League’s record for threes made in a season and did it in just 27 games, so his future looks pretty bright.
- Kennedy (on Twitter) opines that Xavier Silas would be a great fit in the 15th roster spot for the Wizards. Silas, who went to training camp with Washington in October, was an undrafted rookie out of Northern Illinois leading into the lockout and has since traveled the globe.
- Forward DeShawn Sims has signed in South Korea, agent Daniel Moldovan tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter). Sims was in camp with the Celtics last October before taking a deal in Israel.
Thunder Sign Lance Thomas
SEPTEMBER 29TH: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
AUGUST 14TH: The Thunder have reached an agreement to sign Lance Thomas to a training camp deal, sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Oklahoma City currently has 14 guaranteed contracts on the books for next season and will have until September 1st to decide on Hasheem Thabeet‘s contract, which becomes fully guaranteed for 2014/15 if he isn’t waived by then.
Thomas spent his first two seasons in the league with the Pelicans and was waived after five games into the start of his third year. Over 106 games and 19 starts in New Orleans, the 26-year-old forward averaged 3.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 46.5% shooting from the field in 12.4 MPG. Last December, Thomas headed overseas to play for the Foshan Dralions of the Chinese Basketball Association.
The former Blue Devil reportedly drew interest from the Nets in June but would later drop out of a scheduled workout. In July, Thomas joined the Bulls for summer league play in Las Vegas, posting 7.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 58.3% shooting from the field in 21.8 MPG over a span of five games.