Sixers Sign Adonis Thomas
11:15am: The team has formally announced the deal. The release states that it’s a 10-day contract, so it’ll go down as one officially, even though he’ll be with the club for the balance of the regular season.
7:53am: The Sixers will sign former Magic small forward Adonis Thomas, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Pompey refers to it as a 10-day deal, though it would be tantamount to a contract for the rest of the season, since the final regular season games are April 16th. Philadelphia gained an open roster spot when James Nunnally‘s second 10-day contract expired over the weekend, and the team isn’t planning to bring him back.
Thomas made his NBA debut on a pair of 10-day contracts with the Magic shortly after the trade deadline, but he saw limited action, scoring seven points in 24 total minutes over four games. The Magic signed him at the same time that they inked center Dewayne Dedmon, as our 10-Day Tracker shows, but they chose to keep Dedmon for the season and let Thomas go. The former Memphis Tiger returned to the D-League affiliate of the Nets upon his departure from Orlando. Thomas has displayed a keen stroke from behind the arc in the D-League, nailing 46.6% of his 3.5 three-point attempts per game this year and averaging 16.6 points per contest.
The addition of the Relativity Sports client could bring an end to a maddening carousel of players on the Sixers this season. He’s in line to become the 31st player on Philadelphia’s payroll for 2013/14.
Bulls Sign Ronnie Brewer
The Bulls have signed Ronnie Brewer for the rest of the season, the team announced via press release. He and Mike James have been the leading contenders to fill the roster spot vacated when the team waived Erik Murphy last week, though over the weekend it appeared as though the addition of James was somewhat more likely. There’s a decent chance the team signs both, especially now that the Jazz have claimed Murphy off waivers, taking his cap hit off Chicago’s books and making it less likely the team would have to pay the luxury tax if Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah trigger bonuses this year.
Brewer, 29, worked out for the team at its practice facility Thursday, but the Bulls are quite familiar with him, having employed him as a key reserve on a pair of teams that finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference in 2010/11 and 2011/12. The swingman left for the Knicks last season and started 34 games in New York, which dealt him to Oklahoma City at the 2013 trade deadline. His minutes declined sharply from that point on, and the Rockets waived his minimum-salary contract shortly after the trade deadline this year.
The Bulls are back up to the NBA-minimum 13 players with the addition of the Creative Artists Agency client. The release simply says the contract covers the remainder of the season, so presumably there isn’t a non-guaranteed year tacked on for 2014/15.
Jazz Claim Erik Murphy, Waive Andris Biedrins
The Jazz have claimed Erik Murphy off of waivers, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Murphy was waived by the Bulls on Thursday, presumably to make room for a perimeter player. We had originally heard that the Bucks might be interested in claiming Murphy, but instead it’s the Jazz who have laid claim to the rookie big man out of Florida. Since the Jazz have a league maximum 15 players on their roster, they’ve opted to waive Andris Biedrins to make room, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.
Murphy, the 49th overall pick in last year’s draft, has played only 62 minutes in 24 contests for Chicago this season. His $490K salary will be wiped from the Bulls’ books and added on to the Jazz’s cap total. By getting Murphy’s contract off their books, the Bulls are now going to be able to remain under the luxury tax, even if Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah reach their earn bonuses. Waiver claims are a rare occurrence in the NBA, but the Jazz must be intrigued enough by Murphy’s size and skillset to take on the extra cap hit. He’ll be on a non-guaranteed, minimum salary deal next season.
To make the move work, the Jazz have waived Biedrins and his $9MM salary. Biedrins was acquired when the Jazz acted as a third-party in the trade that sent Andre Iguodala to the Warriors, but the veteran big man has faced injury problems and played sparingly during his tenure with the team. Utah will continue to be on the hook for his entire salary, providing he clears waivers, which is a near-certainty.
The Bulls catch a break with Utah’s claim of Murphy, whose cap hit will now come off Chicago’s books. This should give them enough room to sign multiple players to prorated minimum-salary contracts and remain beneath the luxury tax threshold even if Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah trigger bonus clauses in their contracts.
Bucks Sign Chris Wright To 10-Day Contract
11:32am: The Bucks PR account officially announced the signing, which is indeed for a 10-day contract (Twitter link).
11:24am: The Bucks will sign Chris Wright, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com (Twitter link). Wright was considered a candidate to return to the Bucks following the team’s decision not to re-sign D.J. Stephens, whose 10-day contract just expired.
It hasn’t been reported what kind of contract is involved. Milwaukee could sign Wright for the remainder of the season or beyond, but it seems more likely this would be another 10-day deal. Milwaukee has the flexibility to give him another short-term audition, since they declined to ink him to a second 10-day agreement when his first expired two weeks ago.
Wright has spent most of this season with the Maine Red Claws in the D-League. The small forward played 24 games for the Warriors in the 2011/12 season, but didn’t see any NBA action last year. He has career averages of 3.2 points in 8.4 minutes played per game on 51.9% shooting.
Sixers Re-Sign Casper Ware To 10-Day Contract
FRIDAY, 7:57am: The Sixers have officially announced the deal, via press release.
WEDNESDAY, 4:51pm: Ware hasn’t received confirmation from the team about whether he’ll receive another 10-day deal, as he told reporters, including Tom Moore of Calkins Media (Twitter link).
8:09am: The Sixers will sign point guard Casper Ware to a second 10-day contract, tweets Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. His first deal with the team is set to expire after Philadelphia’s game against the Bobcats tonight.
Philadelphia’s decision to bring aboard the 5’10” Ware was a surprise, since he was by no means a dominant figure for Virtus Bologna of Italy, where he had been playing. The Sixers have nonetheless plugged him into their rotation, as he’s averaged 16.0 minutes per game over four NBA contests. He’s notched 3.8 points, 1.3 assists and 0.8 turnovers, and he’s made just five of his 23 attempts from the floor.
The 24-year-old Rize Management client will get at least a few more games to try to find his stroke. He and fellow 10-day signee James Nunnally occupy the final two spots on the Sixers roster.
Bulls Waive Erik Murphy, Target James, Brewer
The Bulls have waived rookie Erik Murphy, the team announced via press release. The move drops Chicago’s roster to 12 players, which means the team has to add someone before the playoffs. That’s the plan, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, who says the team has had conversations with Mike James and Ronnie Brewer recently (Twitter links). Brewer worked out for the team at its practice facility today, tweets Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com.
Murphy, 23, joined the Bulls after they drafted him 49th overall this past summer and signed him to a partially guaranteed deal for the minimum salary. The contract became fully guaranteed when the team elected not to waive him by January 7th, so he’ll receive his full salary of $490,180. He, like A.J. Price, whom the Wolves waived today, is ineligible to play for another team in the postseason.
The Bulls called on the former University of Florida big man sparingly this season, as he totaled just 62 minutes in 24 games. It seems Chicago wants a veteran who can make a larger impact for the playoffs, and James and Brewer have track records of postseason success. The 38-year-old James was with the Bulls to begin the season, and they brought him back on a 10-day contract in January after waiving him in December. He nonetheless averaged just 7.0 MPG in 11 appearances. Brewer played a much larger role for the Bulls in 2010/11 and 2011/12, and he became a free agent after the Rockets waived him in February.
Wolves Waive A.J. Price
The Wolves have waived A.J. Price, the team announced. The point guard was on a minimum-salary contract, which will remain on the team’s books. The timing is unusual, since there are fewer than two weeks remaining before the end of the season. It’s not tied to Dante Cunningham‘s arrest this morning on suspicion of domestic assault, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, who notes that the team made its decision to cut ties with Price prior to the arrest. Price’s release brings the team down to 14 players, and presumably the Wolves will add someone before the season is through.
Price had an appendectomy in early March and hasn’t played since. He saw just 3.5 minutes per game this season in 28 appearances, but the Wolves nonetheless decided to keep him through December 8th, when his contract became fully guaranteed. The Excel Sports Management client inked the deal coming off of a career year with the Wizards, for whom he started 22 games, averaging 9.0 points and 4.7 assists in those starts.
The 27-year-old is ineligible to take part in the postseason this year if he ends up with a team that’s playoff-bound, since Minnesota waived him after March 1st. I imagine the Wolves have their eyes on a free agent prospect whom they’d like to sign to a contract that runs through the end of the season with a non-guaranteed year tacked on for 2014/15, though that’s just my speculation. Zgoda suggests that player would likely be a forward like Cunningham, whose absence, however long it might be, creates a more significant hole than Price’s.
Spurs Sign Damion James To 10-Day Deal
THURSDAY, 10:13am: The deal is official, the team announced.
WEDNESDAY, 1:59pm: The Spurs are set to sign former first-round pick Damion James to a 10-day contract, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Nuggets brought him to preseason camp on a non-guaranteed deal, and while he seemed to play Jordan Hamilton to a draw, Denver opted to cut him and keep Hamilton’s guaranteed contract instead. James has spent most of the season in the D-League, splitting time between the Bakersfield Jam and his current team, the Texas Legends, which is the one-to-one affiliate of the Mavs.
The Mark Bartelstein client reportedly drew interest from other NBA teams soon after the Nuggets let him go, but no team had been identified as a suitor. His last official NBA action came last season on a 10-day contract with the Nets, the only team for which he’s played a regular season game. He started nine games for the team as a rookie in 2010/11, but he broke his right foot, and persistent trouble with that foot derailed his career. He appeared in only 34 games on his rookie scale contract.
The Spurs have been carrying an open roster spot, so they don’t need to make a corresponding move before their deal with James becomes official. The 26-year-old has been averaging 21.1 points and 11.3 rebounds in 14 games since joining the Texas Legends, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get significant minutes in a couple of games for the Spurs as they rest players in preparation for the postseason.
Kings Sign Jared Cunningham To 10-Day Deal
1:01pm: The signing is official, the team announced.
8:01am: The Kings will sign 2012 first-round pick Jared Cunningham to a 10-day contract, reports Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). The team is still high on Royce White, whom Sacramento has been considering for another contract, but a shortage of healthy guards has prompted GM Pete D’Alessandro and company to temporarily fill their final roster spot with Cunningham, Jones tweets.
Injuries had left rookies Ben McLemore and Ray McCallum as the only available guards for Sacramento, so Cunningham, a shooting guard, figures to see plenty of minutes. It’ll be a stark contrast from Cunningham’s experience on NBA rosters so far, as he’s played more games on D-League assignment than in the NBA in both seasons since turning pro. The Hawks waived him in late February to address their shortage of bodies in the frontcourt. Cunningham said shortly thereafter that he would sign with an NBA team within the week, but he wound up waiting almost a month for his return to the Association.
The Sam Goldfeder client was the 24th overall pick in 2012, but he’s seen action in just 13 NBA games so far between the Mavs and Hawks, putting up 18 points on 7 for 16 shooting in 48 total minutes. He’s played in 37 D-League games, averaging 16.1 points on 36.9% shooting from the field in 32.5 minutes per contest.
Cavs Sign Scotty Hopson
12:11pm: Hopson’s salary will be about $1.44MM next season, rather than $2.5MM, Lloyd now says (Twitter link).
10:45am: The Cavs have signed Turkish league swingman Scotty Hopson, the team announced. The deal was originally reported by Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). It’ll run through the rest of the season, and it’s non-guaranteed for 2014/15, Lloyd tweets.
The Cavs used their room exception to accommodate the contract, which is worth $2.5MM next season, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). He’ll receive a prorated portion of the room exception this year. The room exception actually allows for a salary of up to $2,743,125 next season, but it’s unclear if he’s receiving that much. In any case, the inflated contract creates some trade flexibility for the summer, as Lloyd explains in a full piece. Hopson’s contract can be used as trade ballast to allow the Cavs to acquire a larger contract, and since the deal is non-guaranteed, Hopson’s new team could simply waive him in that scenario.
The 6’6″ Hopson went undrafted out of Tennessee in 2011, and he’s conducted his pro career almost entirely overseas. He hooked on with the Heat’s summer league team this past offseason, but he didn’t wind up in an NBA preseason camp. He’s averaged 10.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 24.9 minutes per game with Anadolu Efes in Turkey this season.
The signing fills what had been Cleveland’s final open roster spot. The team cycled through three players on 10-day contracts before settling on Hopson, as our 10-Day Tracker shows. Seth Curry‘s 10-day deal with the team ended just last night, and Lloyd reported that the team didn’t intend to re-sign him.