Rockets Sign Josh Powell
WEDNESDAY, 11:10am: The Rockets have officially announced the deal, via press release. The statement doesn’t mention the team’s reported release of Pittman, but presumably that’s taken place, as well.
10:57pm: Powell passed his physical, signed his contract, and is joining the team soon, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston.
12:31pm: It’ll be a multiyear deal that’s non-guaranteed beyond this season, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.
TUESDAY, 7:51am: Sources tell Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston that Powell has received his FIBA letter of clearance, and that he’ll sign with the team on Tuesday as long as he passes his physical.
MONDAY, 11:35am: The Rockets will make a move by Wednesday, but no decision regarding Powell has been finalized, Feigen tweets.
SUNDAY, 4:51pm: Reports out of the Philippines say the Rockets, who were earlier reported to be releasing Dexter Pittman, now intend to sign Josh Powell to take his place on the roster, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Powell had been playing with Barangay Ginebra in the Philippines after signing with the team on March 30th.
Powell was in camp with the Knicks prior to the start of the 2013/14 NBA season, but the team reportedly had no intention of retaining him for opening night, no matter how well he played in preseason. He was waived by the Knicks in October then penned a deal with Guangdong where he averaged 15.0 PPG and 9.9 RPG, before heading to the Philippines.
In six seasons in the NBA he has career averages of 3.9 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 0.5 APG in 12.5 minutes per contest, but Powell is best known for being a member of two championship winning Lakers teams in 2009 and 2010.
Bucks Re-Sign Chris Wright To Multiyear Deal
WEDNESDAY, 10:02am: The Bucks have officially announced the deal.
TUESDAY, 11:22pm: The Bucks have signed Chris Wright for the remainder of the regular season in addition to a non-guaranteed season in 2014/15, reports Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The 6’9 forward is now expected to participate with Milwaukee’s summer league team and be included in training camp. Gardner adds that the signing will give the Bucks some added flexibility in trade scenarios this summer.
Wright played on a pair of ten-day contracts with Milwaukee this year, one signed on March 14th and the other on April 5th, respectively. In his most recent stint, the Dayton native played 15 MPG in each of the team’s last five games, averaging 6.0 PPG, 2.2 RPG, and one steal per game to go along with 66.7% shooting from the field overall.
Sixers To Re-Sign Casper Ware
TUESDAY, 8:09am: Ware and the Sixers have agreed to a deal for the rest of the season, as Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News reports at the end of his latest piece.
MONDAY, 10:31am: Point guard Casper Ware is practicing with the Sixers today even though his second 10-day contract with the team expired Sunday night, as Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News note (Twitter links). That appears to signal that the Sixers are signing him for at least the rest of the season.
The former Long Beach State standout has averaged 12.6 minutes per game with the team in seven appearances after it signed him out of Italy. Ware’s posted 4.1 points and 1.1 assists per contest, though defense is his strong suit, and he’s notched an impressive 1.1 steals per game in his limited playing time.
Ware is one of a half-dozen players who’ve signed 10-day contracts with the Sixers this season, as our 10-Day Tracker shows. Jarvis Varnado is the only one who’s received a deal covering the rest of the season so far, though the team’s 10-day deal with Adonis Thomas carries through the final day of the regular season. Varnado received a four-year deal that isn’t fully guaranteed beyond this season, a contract structure that GM Sam Hinkie has employed liberally in his first season on the job. The Sixers probably have a similar long-term arrangement with Ware, though that’s just my speculation.
Bulls Sign Greg Smith
12:50pm: Smith’s contract is fully guaranteed for next season, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. It’s for the minimum salary both this year and next, since the capped-out Bulls are out of exceptions.
12:30pm: The Bulls have signed former Rockets center Greg Smith, the team announced. The move comes just a half hour after the team waived Tornike Shengelia, presumably to make room. Smith is likely out for the season after undergoing surgery on his right knee in January, and that motivated Houston to cut ties. He’s ineligible to play in the postseason for Chicago since the Rockets waived him last week, long after the March 1st deadline for him to retain the ability to take part in the playoffs with another team. Given his unavailability for this season, Chicago’s contract with Smith probably extends into next season.
Chicago strongly pursued the retired Kurt Thomas, but wound up inking Smith and, last week, Lou Amundson instead, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. That might have accounted for the lag between the team’s announcements today.
Smith appeared in only 11 games for the Rockets this year, in part because of injuries and in part because of a crowded frontcourt that includes Dwight Howard and Omer Asik. He was in the team’s rotation last season, averaging 6.0 points and 4.6 rebounds in 15.0 minutes per game across 70 appearances, 10 of which were starts.
Bulls Waive Tornike Shengelia
The Bulls have waived Tornike Shengelia, the team announced via press release. The team hasn’t announced a corresponding move, making Shengelia’s dismissal a bit curious even though he hasn’t been a part of Chicago’s rotation since coming over from the Nets in a January trade. Shengelia is on an expiring contract that pays him the one-year veteran’s minimum salary of $788,872, but unless a team claims him off waivers, that money will remain on Chicago’s books. It seems less likely that Shengelia, on an expiring deal, would warrant a waiver claim like former Bull Erik Murphy did, as Murphy’s contract includes a non-guaranteed 2014/15.
Shengelia saw a total of just 17 minutes for the Bulls, who acquired him in a cost-cutting move for Marquis Teague, who makes $1,074,720 this season. The difference was not insignificant to Chicago, which has struggled to create room beneath the luxury tax threshold in case Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah trigger bonuses that force the team into the tax for the second year in a row. That would set the team up for the league’s steep repeat offender tax rates if the team made it three straight taxpaying seasons in 2014/15.
The 22-year-old saw slightly more playing time while with the Nets, who acquired him shortly after the Sixers drafted him 54th overall in 2012. He averaged 1.5 points in 8.1 minutes per game in 17 appearances for Brooklyn this season, and 1.6 PPG in 4.9 MPG in 19 contests for the Nets as a rookie.
Pistons, Joe Dumars Part Ways
The Pistons have officially announced via press release that Joe Dumars “will step aside” from his job as president of basketball operations, effective immediately. That suggests that Dumars tendered his resignation, as he’d reportedly planned to do, though reports Sunday indicated the team had told Dumars they wouldn’t renew his contract, which was set to expire in the offseason. In any case, the move ends Dumars’ nearly 14-year tenure atop the Pistons basketball operations department. He’ll remain with the team as an adviser, as expected. Director of basketball operations Ken Catanella and assistant GM George David will assume the responsibilities that had been Dumars’ while the club searches for a formal replacement.
“Joe Dumars is a great champion who has meant so much to this franchise and this community,” Pistons owner Tom Gores said in the team’s statement. “We are turning the page with great respect for what he has accomplished not only as a player and a front office executive, but as a person who has represented this team and the NBA with extraordinary dignity.”
The 50-year-old Dumars was the longest-tenured executive in charge of day-to-day basketball operations in the league, with the possible exception of Pat Riley, who’s split much of his more than 18 years with the Heat between the front office and coaching. Dumars became president of basketball operations in Detroit in June of 2000, and he’s been with the Pistons in some capacity since 1985, when he began his Hall of Fame playing career with the club. His time as an executive included the 2004 championship and six straight conference finals appearances, but also the drafting of Darko Milicic at No. 2 overall in 2003 and an ongoing string of five non-playoff seasons.
“It’s time to turn the page on a wonderful chapter and begin writing a new one,” Dumars said as part of the press release. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with some great people throughout the last 29 years as both a player and executive, and I’m proud of our accomplishments. Tom Gores and ownership is committed to winning and they will continue to move the franchise forward.”
Dumars will reportedly have the ability to seek GM jobs with other NBA clubs, and he figures to be much sought after. A report earlier today indicated he already has a gig lined up with another team. The Pistons have already begun their search process for a new head of basketball operations as well as a new coach, since John Loyer is filling in only on an interim basis for Maurice Cheeks, whom the team fired in February.
Gores has appointed a pair of executives with Platinum Equity, his investment firm, to oversee the club’s searches. Those execs, Phil Norment and Bob Wentworth, will also supervise Catanella and David, and Norment, in the team release, says the club has developed a preliminary list of candidates to replace Dumars.
Pelicans Sign Melvin Ely, Waive Greg Stiemsma
The Pelicans have signed Melvin Ely and waived Greg Stiemsma, the team announced. Ely, an eight-year NBA veteran who last saw regular season NBA action in 2010/11, has been playing with the D-League affiliate of the Mavs. Stiemsma’s one-year, $2.676MM contract was about to expire anyway, so the Pelicans won’t take much of a financial hit even if he goes unclaimed off waivers. It’s unclear whether Ely is joining the team simply for the final three days of the regular season or has a non-guaranteed 2014/15 tacked on to his deal.
Ely was the 12th overall pick in the 2002 draft, but he never averaged as many as 10 points per game in the NBA. The 35-year-old has averaged 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 16.0 minutes per contest with a 10.6 PER over his NBA career. The Byron Irvin client was with the Grizzlies in preseason this past fall and was briefly on the preseason roster of the Mavs in 2012. He produced 15.8 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 28.9 MPG for the D-League’s Texas Legends this season.
Stiemsma is something of a curious cut for the injury-ravaged Pelicans, who’ve been using him as a starter of late. The 28-year-old is averaging 2.9 PPG and 4.1 RPG in 18.3 MPG overall, but those numbers aren’t much different in games he’s started. New Orleans is carrying 16 players thanks to special permission from the league, as I detailed when the team signed James Southerland last week.
Rockets To Release Dexter Pittman
The Rockets are releasing Dexter Pittman, a source tells Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). It was an extremely quick stop in Houston for Pittman, who just signed with the club on Friday.
The reasons are unknown at this time, but Pittman was not on hand for last night’s 111-104 win over the Pelicans. The Rockets waived Greg Smith on Friday in order to make room for the 26-year-old but, for one reason or another, things just didn’t work out.
The former second-round pick, whose deal included a non-guaranteed 2014/15 season, has been out of the NBA this season aside from a five-day stint with the Hawks. The Bulls waived Pittman before opening night, and he’s spent most of the season with the D-League affiliate of the Spurs after having joined San Antonio for summer league action last year. Pittman has averaged 11.2 points and 6.8 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per contest for the D-League’s Austin Toros this season.
Spurs Sign Damion James For Rest Of Season
The Spurs have signed forward Damion James for the remainder of the season, the team announced via press release. James was originally signed by the team to a 10-day contract on April 3rd. He has appeared in three games for the Spurs and is averaging 1.0 RPG in 3.3 minutes a night.
Prior to joining the team, James played in the NBA D-League for the Texas Legends and Bakersfield Jam. In 85 career D-League contests, James averaged 16.1 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.9 APG, and 1.04 BPG in 31.8 minutes per game.
James was originally drafted 24th overall in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Hawks. He was then sent to the Nets in a draft-night trade. In three seasons with the Nets, in 34 games James averaged 4.2 PPG and 3.5 RPG in 16.9 minutes a night.
Pelicans Sign James Southerland
FRIDAY, 10:10am: New Orleans has formally announced the signing on the team’s website. The Pelicans haven’t announced a corresponding move, so the team has indeed taken advantage of the league’s permission to expand its roster to 16 players.
THURSDAY, 3:10pm: The Pelicans have received clearance from the league to add Southerland without waiving a player, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. The NBA lets teams carry 16 players on a temporary basis if they have four or more players who have missed the past three games and who will continue to be unavailable to play. The Wolves received the same allowance last season. Southerland’s deal won’t carry into 2014/15, Charania adds.
2:00pm: The Pelicans will sign James Southerland, a source tells Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). Southerland has been playing for the D-League affiliate of the Lakers. New Orleans has a full 15-man roster, so the team will have to waive someone to accommodate Southerland, who was with the Bobcats at the beginning of the season.
The 6’8″ small forward appeared in just one game for three minutes for the Bobcats, who waived him in December after carrying him through preseason and the first six weeks of the regular season. Charlotte let him go largely to clear room for Chris Douglas-Roberts, who could more readily step in for an injured Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and coach Steve Clifford spoke highly of Southerland, who once more drew NBA interest in early January.
Southerland went undrafted out of Syracuse this past summer, and he’s averaged 14.7 points and 6.5 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per game in the D-League. The Pelicans announced today that Anthony Davis and Eric Gordon will miss the rest of the season, so perhaps New Orleans is adding Southerland to bolster its roster for the final week. I think it’s more likely that the Pelicans have the future in mind, and that his deal will cover next season with non-guaranteed salary.