Rockets Sign Ish Smith
FRIDAY, 8:46pm: The signing is official, the team has announced (H/T Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle).
THURSDAY, 4:50pm: The Rockets and guard Ishmael Smith have agreement on a one-year deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The Suns waived Smith two days ago just before his non-guaranteed contract was to become fully guaranteed. Presumably, he’s cleared waivers, allowing the Rockets the chance to sign him. Smith’s new deal is fully guaranteed for the minimum salary, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter).
Smith played 28 games for the Rockets in 2010/11, making him the latest former Rocket to sign with the team this summer. All four free agents with whom the team has come to agreements this month have already played for the Rockets at some time during their careers. Since debuting with Houston, Smith bounced between four other NBA franchises (Memphis, Golden State, Orlando and Milwaukee) before finding a home in Phoenix last season. He played 70 games for the Suns, averaging 3.7 points and 2.6 assists in 14.4 minutes per game.
The 26-year-old Wake Forest product figures to compete with Isaiah Canaan and Troy Daniels next season in Houston for backup point guard duties. The Rockets, of course, traded Jeremy Lin to the Lakers last week in hopes that they could reach an agreement with then-free agent Chris Bosh. Without Lin (or Bosh, as it turned out), adding depth behind Patrick Beverley became a priority.
Rockets Sign Joey Dorsey
FRIDAY, 8:44pm: The signing is official, the Rockets have announced (hat tip to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle).
6:23pm: The deal is for the minimum salary, and it’s fully guaranteed, Feigen writes in his full story
11:50am: The deal is guaranteed, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, though it remains unclear if its fully so or just partially guaranteed (Twitter link).
11:28am: Agent Giorgios Dimitropoulos confirms the deal to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 11:14am: Center Joey Dorsey is returning to the NBA after agreeing to a two-year, $2MM deal with the Rockets, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The 30-year-old has been out of the NBA since the 2010/11 season after playing a total of 61 NBA games over three years with the Rockets, Kings and Raptors. He spent this past season playing for FC Barcelona Regal in Spain, a Euroleague Final Four team, as Wojnarowski points out. The minimum salary would provide $1,963,584 over two seasons for Dorsey, so it would appear that the Rockets are using the minimum-salary exception. It’s not clear how much guaranteed money is involved.
Dorsey started just 10 games and averaged 5.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 15.4 minutes per game for Barcelona this past season. He played with Olympiacos in Greece the season before, so his teammate the past two years has been Kostas Papanikolaou, with whom the Rockets have reportedly been engaged in advanced discussions about a deal. Houston’s agreement with Dorsey wouldn’t necessarily preclude a deal for Papanikolaou, particularly if Dorsey is only getting the minimum salary.
The Rockets were set to be without a legitimate backup center in the wake of their agreement to send Omer Asik to the Pelicans, though it remains to be seen whether Dorsey is capable of assuming a role in the team’s rotation. He’s nonetheless familiar to the Houston front office, which originally acquired him on draft night in 2008 after the Blazers drafted him 33rd overall.
Rockets Sign Jeff Adrien
FRIDAY, 8:43pm: Houston has officially announced the signing (H/T Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle).
TUESDAY, 12:16pm: The Rockets and Jeff Adrien have agreed to a one-year, minimum-salary deal, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). The 28-year-old power forward split last season between the Hornets and Bucks.
The Aaron Mintz client appeared in eight games for the Rockets during the 2011/12 season, so he joins Joey Dorsey as one-time Rockets returning to the team today. Milwaukee showcased Adrien down the stretch after acquiring him in a deadline trade, and he responded with 10.9 points and 7.8 rebounds in 25.2 minutes per game over 28 appearances down the stretch. Still, there didn’t appear to be that much interest in the 28-year-old who’d otherwise been a bit player during his four-year career.
Adrien would be undersized at center and has never made a three-pointer in his NBA career, so it’s tough to see where he’ll fit in with the Rockets, who like to feature shooters around a single big man. Still, it’s a fairly low-risk signing at the minimum salary for Houston, which receives a player who showed this past season that he has more upside than previously thought.
Heat Sign Shabazz Napier
The Heat have signed rookie Shabazz Napier, Miami announced in a team release.
“Shabazz is a proven winner and one of the most mature college players that I have ever met,” said president Pat Riley. “Not only did he help lead UConn to two NCAA Championships, but he also knows exactly what he needs to do to make an impact at the NBA level. I believe the experience he had during the Summer League is going to payoff in leaps and bounds when training camp begins.”
Miami traded for Napier on draft night, moving up two spots to select the point guard. At the time, the deal was rumored to be influenced by LeBron James, who believed the UConn senior was the best point guard in the draft. The Heat had reportedly considered moving on from one or both of Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole earlier this offseason, but Chalmers has re-signed and Cole’s contract is less in danger of being dealt for cap space since the team has executed their Plan B following James’ decision to return to Cleveland. It appears Napier will have to work to earn backcourt minutes for a team still angling to contend in the Eastern Conference.
Terms of the deal were unannounced, but it’s likely that Napier received 120% of the $1,032,200 rookie scale slot for the 24th pick. As Charlie Adams noted in the Hoops Rumors Prospect Profile for the Huskie guard, Napier will need to use his scoring abilities and quickness to offset some of the defensive limitations he will likely experience as a result of his 6’1″ size.
Knicks Sign Jason Smith
FRIDAY, 7:28pm: The deal has been officially announced by Knicks PR.
7:37pm: Smith’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, tells Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com that the deal will actually be worth the team’s taxpayer mid-level exception of $3.27MM (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 6:53pm: Jason Smith has signed a one-year contract with the Knicks worth $3.3MM, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. Smith’s representation – Priority Sports – acknowledged the deal on Twitter. New York inquired about the free agent big man earlier this month; the Pelicans renounced their rights to Smith last week.
In 31 games played and 27 starts last season, Smith averaged 9.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and nearly one block per game in 26.8 MPG for New Orleans. After hurting his knee in mid-January, Smith underwent knee surgery in February and did not play for the rest of the season.
Kevin Seraphin Signs Wizards Qualifying Offer
Kevin Seraphin has signed the Wizards $3.89MM qualifying offer, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The move will put Seraphin on a one-year contract and make him an unrestricted free agent once this season closes. It’s rare that a player accepts the one-year agreement, but not unheard of.
The four-year center was interested in returning to the Wizards, although in the hopes of receiving more playing time after seeing a career-low 10.1 MPG in 2013/14. Washington was only believed to be interested in bringing back Seraphin at salary below the qualifying offer’s value, which would indicate they anticipated matching another team’s offer sheet for more years at a lesser annual rate, or envisioned negotiating such a deal directly with Seraphin. There had been no reports of other teams showing interest in the big man’s services this offseason.
The Klutch Sports Group client has career averages of 6.4 PPG and 3.7 RPG, having come off the bench for the majority of his career. His sophomore campaign saw him at his most effective, when he turned in career-highs in PER (15.8) and true shooting percentage (54.9%). Seraphin will have his work cut out for him to earn meaningful minutes, as Marcin Gortat and Nene are set to return, along with newly acquired backups Kris Humphries and DeJuan Blair.
Heat Re-Sign Udonis Haslem
FRIDAY, 3:54pm: The deal is official, the team announced.
“Udonis Haslem has been a fixture in Miami over the last 11 years,” Heat president Pat Riley said in the team’s statement. “He’s a team player, an encompassing all-purpose player, that would play just about any position or role in order to win. It’s been such a privilege and honor to have him with the organization and I’m so happy that he decided to come back.”
TUESDAY, 2:57pm: The Heat and Udonis Haslem have agreed a deal, a source tells Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). Miami will use its $2.732MM room exception, Winderman adds, so presumably that will be Haslem’s first-year salary on the deal. The room exception allows for a contract of up to two years, but it’s unclear if Haslem’s getting a second season.
The 34-year-old Miami native had appeared close to a deal in recent days, but there always seemed little chance he would leave the Heat. He winds up with little more than half of the salary he would have made if he had opted in for $4.62MM in June, but he chose to opt out in an apparent attempt to give the Heat a better shot at re-signing LeBron James. That didn’t happen, but Haslem will return as the Heat welcome Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and others who were a part of the team during LeBron’s tenure in Miami.
The Heat’s commitment to the client of Henry Thomas, who also represents Wade and Bosh, didn’t waver even as they renounced Haslem’s Bird Rights to clear cap room. Haslem had a reduced role for Miami this past season, averaging 3.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 14.2 minutes per game, but he made 18 starts in the regular season and six in the playoffs as coach Erik Spoelstra juggled his rotation.
Mavs Sign Eric Griffin
2:53pm: Shams Charania of RealGM has it as a three-year contract, so if that’s the case, the Mavs used a portion of the meager cap room they had left, leaving their $2.732MM room exception untouched, since room exception deals can run no longer than two seasons.
TUESDAY, 2:01pm: It’s a non-guaranteed one-year deal, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link).
1:47pm: The Mavs have signed Eric Griffin, the team announced via press release. Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside reported earlier this week that Dallas had offered the swingman a partially guaranteed deal. The 24-year-old Griffin, who’s yet to make his official NBA debut, has been playing for the Mavs in summer league this week. The amount of his partial guarantee isn’t clear, but he’ll likely receive no more than the minimum salary if he sticks with the team.
It’s the third straight summer that Griffin has taken part in NBA summer league play after going undrafted out of Campbell in 2012. He joined the Heat for training camp this past fall, and spent time playing overseas in Venezuela and Puerto Rico this past season.
Griffin averaged 9.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 19.1 minutes per game this week for the summer Mavs. He used his 6’8″ height to control the boards in college, grabbing 8.7 RPG in 30.3 MPG during his senior year.
Lakers Waive Kendall Marshall
2:30pm: The move is official, the team announced.
12:51pm: The Lakers have decided to waive the non-guaranteed contract of Kendall Marshall, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The team nonetheless has interest in re-signing him should he clear waivers, Wojnarowski adds. The move appears tied to the team’s deal with Xavier Henry, as dropping Marshall allows the Lakers to open $915,243 more in cap room after they used much of their available space on their winning amnesty bid for Carlos Boozer.
The move appears to signal that the team is prepared to make Jeremy Lin the starting point guard. Marshall would have provided stiff competition for Lin, having come off a strong performance for the Lakers, who signed him in December. The 22-year-old averaged 8.0 points and an impressive 8.8 assists in 29.0 minutes per game across 54 appearances, helping revive a career that had gone south seemingly ever since the Suns made him the 13th overall pick in the 2012 draft.
The addition of Boozer at $3.251MM against the cap for next season meant the Lakers didn’t have enough cap space to fulfill their agreement with Nick Young on a four-year, $21.5MM deal, as Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times noted late Thursday (Twitter link). That means the team would either have to renounce its rights to Ryan Kelly, whom the Lakers are interested in re-signing, or waive Marshall. I wouldn’t be surprised if another team picked his minimum-salary contract off waivers, given his cheap cost, youth, and production last season.
Wizards Re-Sign Drew Gooden
FRIDAY, 2:04pm: The deal is official, the team announced.
“The addition of Drew was a big part of our success late last season and we are excited to have him back with us,” Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld said. “His skills will help to solidify our front court rotation and his experience will help us continue to grow as a team.”
TUESDAY, 4:56pm: It’s a one-year deal for the minimum salary, according to J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.
2:34pm: Drew Gooden has agreed to remain with the Wizards, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, who believes the deal is for one year (Twitter link). It’s not clear just how much the veteran big man will receive, but Washington, which is capped out and has already committed its mid-level exception to Paul Pierce, has Gooden’s Non-Bird rights, so it can give him a 20% raise on his minimum salary from last season.
Gooden was a late-season revelation after signing a pair of 10-day contracts before inking a deal that covered the rest of the season. The Dan Fegan client averaged 8.3 points and 5.2 rebounds in 18.0 minutes per game for the Wizards in 22 regular season appearances after spending most of the season at home following Milwaukee’s decision to cut him via the amnesty provision last summer.