Spurs Re-Sign Patty Mills
JULY 12TH, 11:37am: The signing is official, per a team release.
7:01pm: The deal is worth about $12MM over three years, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
JULY 2ND, 6:18pm: The Spurs and Patty Mills have reached agreement on a three-year contract, according to Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News (on Twitter). Mills, as we learned last night, could be out of action for up to seven months thanks to a shoulder injury. Financial terms of the deal are not yet known.
In the wake of the injury news, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported that a re-signing was likely for the Aussie guard. In a career-high 81 games this past season, Mills averaged 10.2 PPG and 2.1 RPG with a PER of 18.7. Mills proved to be especially vital in the postseason, including a 17 point performance (with five three pointers) in the deciding Game 5 of the Finals.
Jazz Match Gordon Hayward Offer Sheet
The Jazz have matched the Hornets maximum-salary offer sheet to Gordon Hayward, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). Hayward will sign with Utah today. The move was expected, as the Jazz had been planning to match any offer the restricted free agent would receive on the market.
Hayward will receive a total of $62,965,420 over the course of the deal, with a starting salary of $14.746MM. It’s the most that Charlotte or any team other than the Jazz could have given him in an offer sheet. He was eligible for as much as $84,789,500 over five seasons if he’d signed directly with Utah, which helps explain why the Jazz all along seemed content to let him negotiate with other teams, only to swoop in and match.
The 24-year-old secured the max offer from Charlotte amid interest from several teams. The Jazz were unable to sign Hayward to a rookie-scale extension last fall, which put in motion the process leading to him becoming a max player this offseason. Utah offered significantly less during extension negotiations, so Hayward’s choice to decline their offer and hit free agency has paid off for the small forward.
The Priority Sports & Entertainment client will look to lead an improved youth movement in Utah alongside new addition Dante Exum, whom the Jazz selected with the No. 5 pick in this year’s draft. Hayward turned in career-best averages in points, steals, assists, and rebounds per game in the 2013/14 season, but did so in the most inefficient year of his career on a Jazz team that struggled in only winning 25 games.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Vince Carter Signs With Grizzlies
SATURDAY, 8:00am: The signing is official, the team announced in a release.
SATURDAY, 12:15am: The final year is partially guaranteed for $2MM, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick (Twitter link).
FRIDAY, 11:18pm: Carter had told the Mavs that he would take a two-year, $8MM deal to stay in Dallas, but the team couldn’t go higher than $2.73MM per year due to the offer sheet they signed with Chandler Parsons, tweets MacMahon.
10:53pm: Vince Carter has agreed to a three-year, $12MM deal with Memphis, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The third year of the deal is partially guaranteed, tweets Wojnarowski. Carter looks to be taking the place of Mike Miller, who was informed this evening that the Grizzlies would not be bringing him back.
The Mavericks had renounced their rights to Carter yesterday, but still hoped to re-sign the veteran. Dallas had been confident they could keep Vince Carter, but all they could offer was a $2.73MM exception, notes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link). Carter had also reportedly been the subject of pitches from the Heat and others.
The 37 year old veteran had averaged 11.9 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 3.7 APG while averaging 24.4 minutes per night for Dallas last season. He has lifetime numbers of 20.2 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 3.7 APG.
Bogdan Bogdanovic Signs To Play In Turkey
10:14pm: Bogdanovic’s NBA escape clause for the summer of 2016 involves a buyout of 1 million euros, according to Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net. That’s the equivalent of more than $1.36MM at today’s exchange rate.
11:08am: Suns first-round pick Bogdan Bogdanovic has officially signed with Fenerbahce Ulker of Turkey, the team announced on Twitter (hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). NTV Spor’s Ismail Senol originally reported the deal (Twitter link; translation via Carchia), which runs four years. It’s worth $4.6MM, according to Croatia’s Sportske Novosti (hat tip to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic). The 21-year-old shooting guard, who was the 27th overall pick last month, won’t have a chance to get out of the contract and join the NBA for two years, as David Pick of Eurobasket.com reported earlier.
The Suns and Bogdanovic agreed in writing earlier this week that he wouldn’t sign an NBA contract this year, so his $930,500 cap hit was removed from Phoenix’s books. The Suns also drafted T.J. Warren 14th overall, Tyler Ennis 18th overall, and Alec Brown 50th overall this year, and there was little chance from the beginning that all of them would play for the team as rookies in 2014/15.
Bogdanovic played with Serbia’s KK Partizan last season and averaged 14.9 points and 3.7 assists in 30.2 minutes per game. If he doesn’t come to the NBA in 2016, he’ll no longer be bound by the rookie scale, so if he continues to develop, he might be in line for much more than NBA rookies are accustomed to, as Bulls prospect Nikola Mirotic seemingly will be. Bogdanovic is not to be confused with Nets draft-and-stash prospect Bojan Bogdanovic.
Knicks Re-Sign Cole Aldrich, Waive Odom
7:30pm: The signing is official, the team announced.
7:19pm: The Knicks have re-signed center Cole Aldrich reports Marc Berman of the New York Post (Twitter link). The length and terms of the contract have not been announced yet.
In 46 games last season for New York, Aldrich averaged 2.0 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 0.3 APG in 7.2 minutes per contest. His slash line was .541/.000/.867.
The team has also announced that they have waived Lamar Odom. In regards to Odom, the press release stated, “Unfortunately, Lamar was unable to uphold the standards to return as an NBA player.We found it necessary to free up the roster spot.” This move could mark the end of Odom’s NBA career.
Jazz Sign Rodney Hood
6:42pm: The signing is official, the team has announced.
1:20pm: The Jazz have signed No. 23 overall pick Rodney Hood, as Hood reveals on his verified Twitter account. He’ll likely receive slightly more than $1.29MM this coming season, as our chart of salaries for 2014 first-round picks shows.
The 6’8″ former Duke Blue Devil touted his versatility and readiness to play when he spoke to Zach Links of Hoops Rumors before the draft. He averaged 16.1 points per game with 42.0% three-point shooting this past season in his lone year at the school after transferring from Mississippi State.
The Jazz took Hood at the back end of the range into which Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors thought he would fall when he examined the 21-year-old’s prospect profile. That sets Utah up with the potential for strong value from the pick. The Jazz also have the rights to No. 5 overall pick Dante Exum, who remains unsigned but will likely ink soon.
Jazz Sign Dante Exum
6:40pm: The signing is official, the team has announced.
5:20pm: The Jazz have signed the No. 5 overall pick Dante Exum, reports Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (Twitter link). He’ll likely receive slightly more than $3,615,000 this coming season, as our chart of salaries for 2014 first-round picks shows, and confirmed by Gennesy via a second tweet. Exum joins No. 23 overall pick Rodney Hood, who signed earlier today, in Utah.
Exum will most likely begin his career as a shooting guard, but may eventually shift over to the point guard position, especially if last year’s first rounder, Trey Burke is unable to develop into an effective starter.
Cavs Trade Alonzo Gee To Pelicans
4:46pm: The deal is official, the Cavs announce. Gee goes to the Pelicans, and Cleveland will get the Clippers’ 2016 second-round pick, which New Orleans acquired in a previous trade, protected through pick No. 55. If it doesn’t fall within the final five selections in 2016, the Pelicans don’t owe the Cavs anything.
4:36pm: The Cavs will still acquire No. 45 overall pick Dwight Powell from Charlotte as part of a reworked Haywood deal, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).
3:09pm: The Pelicans will waive Gee upon receiving him from the Cavs, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).
2:57pm: The Cavs and Pelicans have struck agreement on a deal that sends Alonzo Gee to New Orleans, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Marc Stein of ESPN.com first reported the teams were close to a deal, which nullifies the agreement that Cleveland had to send Gee to the Hornets for Brendan Haywood. Cleveland apparently still plans to acquire Haywood from Charlotte via other means, as Stein reported. A source also told Stein that Gee could wind up as part of the Pelicans’ deal with the Rockets to acquire Omer Asik,
Gee’s $3MM salary for this season is non-guaranteed, so it’s conceivable that the Pelicans envision waiving him to create the necessary cap flexibility to accommodate their deal for Asik, though that assumes New Orleans is giving up salary as part of the trade. The Cavs are reportedly still trying to clear room for a max contract for LeBron James, as Stein wrote earlier, and losing Gee, whose salary can be taken off the books, wouldn’t advance Cleveland toward that end unless other deals are in the works.
The 27-year-old Gee has been a part of the rotation for Cleveland for the better part of the last two seasons, and he started all 82 games in 2012/13. He mostly came off the bench this past season, averaging 4.0 points in 15.7 minutes per game.
Cavs, Pelicans Close To Alonzo Gee Deal
2:48pm: The Cavaliers have other means to acquire Haywood from the Hornets as planned, and it’s also possible that Gee winds up in the Pelicans’ deal with the Rockets for Asik, according to Stein (Twitter links).
2:13pm: The Cavs and Pelicans are close to a deal that would send Alonzo Gee to the Pelicans, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein casts it as part of an effort from Cleveland to clear max cap room for LeBron James, but it was believed that Cleveland already had max cap room for James, and that the Cavs had agreed to a deal that would send Gee to the Hornets. Additionally, sending Gee away wouldn’t create any extra cap flexibility, because his $3MM is non-guaranteed. Gee indeed isn’t part of the Haywood deal, Stein adds (Twitter link).
Gee makes sense as an acquisition for the Pelicans, who are also trying to clear cap room to facilitate their deal to acquire Omer Asik from the Rockets. Ostensibly, it seems they would be sending salary to Cleveland, so perhaps the Cavs are in other talks to clear salary, though that’s just my speculation.
New Orleans has reportedly considered waiving former No. 10 overall pick Austin Rivers to make room for Asik, but if the Pelicans acquire Gee and give up salary, they might be able to create the requisite cap room by waiving Gee instead.
Pacers Sign C.J. Miles
JULY 11TH: The Pacers formally announced the signing via press release, making it official.
“We’re very glad to have C.J. and he really wanted to be here,” president of basketball operations Larry Bird said. “He brings versatility to the small forward and shooting guard positions. He’s a great shooter and scorer. We think he’ll fit nicely with the culture of our team.”
JULY 2ND: The Pacers have reached agreement with C.J. Miles on a multiyear deal, reports Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). It’s a four-year, $18MM pact, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). Wojnarowski wrote earlier that the Pacers envisioned using part of their $5.03MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception on Miles after committing a portion of it to Spanish league sharpshooter Damjan Rudez.
The Adrian Clark client and Pacers officials had been set to meet Tuesday as Indiana’s interest became clear. The Pacers moved quickly on the former Cavalier, and have been the league’s most active team in free agency so far, coming to terms with Rudez as well as the undrafted Shayne Whittington. The movement comes after news of an impasse between the club and Lance Stephenson, and money for Stephenson beneath the tax line for Indiana is quickly drying up. The team also reportedly has interest in Rodney Stuckey.
Miles, 27, averaged 9.9 points and 39.3% three-point shooting in 19.3 minutes per game for Cleveland this past season, starting 34 contests. The deal with Indiana is the most lucrative of his nine-year NBA career, as he topped out at $3.7MM annually with the Jazz, according to Basketball-Reference.
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