Clippers Sign Darius Morris
8:30pm: The Clippers offically announced the signing. The 23-year-old’s jersey was made in “record time,” tweets Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com, and he’ll be in action for tonight’s game against the Magic.
7:41pm: The Clippers will sign Darius Morris to a 10-day deal today, according to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). The guard has picked up the interest of multiple clubs in recent days but Doc Rivers & Co. came out on top.
Morris was cut loose by the Sixers earlier this season along with Kwame Brown. The guard, 23 in January, has an offer in hand from Turkey but he’ll instead ply his craft in the NBA, at least for the next week and change. He auditioned for the Grizzlies along with Reggie Williams, but Seth Curry wound up getting that spot.
Kings Waive Hamady N’Diaye
The Kings have released big man Hamady N’Diaye, the team announced today in a press release. N’Diaye had been on a non-guaranteed contract, so Sacramento will avoid paying him a full-season salary by waiving him before tomorrow’s guarantee deadline.
N’Diaye, a former Rutgers center, appeared in 14 games this season for the Kings, though he averaged only 5.3 minutes per contest, limiting his production. In two games for Sacramento’s D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, the 26-year-old received more playing time (28.0 MPG), but still didn’t make a significant impact, averaging 6.5 PPG and 6.0 RPG.
The Kings now have 13 contracts on their books, leaving two openings on the roster to add players via trade or free agency.
Grizzlies Waive Seth Curry
TUESDAY, 4:29pm: Curry has cleared waivers, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
SUNDAY, 6:13pm: The Grizzlies announced that Curry has been waived.
4:19pm: The Grizzlies have waived Seth Curry, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Curry, the younger brother of Warriors star Stephen Curry, impressed in workouts with Memphis in December and formally inked a contract on Christmas Eve. Terms weren’t disclosed at the time, but it was reported late last week that his deal was non-guaranteed, putting him on the chopping block in advance of the Tuesday deadline.
Curry, 23, went undrafted out of Duke this past June and spent training camp this fall with his older brother and the Warriors. He was playing with the Santa Cruz Warriors of the D-League since before getting picked up by the Grizzlies, averaging 21.3 points and 7.8 assists in 12 games.
Clippers Release Maalik Wayns
4:28pm: The Clippers formally announced that Wayns has been released. The club’s roster now stands at 14.
4:18pm: The Clippers have released Maalik Wayns, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Wayns’ contract would have been guaranteed for the remainder of the season if he were still on the Clippers’ roster past Tuesday.
Wayns’ contract initially called for a guarantee date of December 1st, but it was pushed back to Tuesday, January 7th following surgery to repair a torn meniscus in mid-October. Had the Clippers kept him on the roster, his $788K deal would have been guaranteed for the remainder of the season. Wayns has recovered from his injury, but he couldn’t survive the numbers crunch.
The 22-year-old hooked on with L.A. last season on a pair of ten-day contracts and while he didn’t play all that much, he showed enough to stay on the roster heading into 2012/13. He’ll now be looking for a new home for the remainder of the year.
Odds & Ends: Gasol, Muhammad, Burke
Pau Gasol has been in trade rumors for years, and he’s once more bracing for the possibility that the Lakers could ship him away, as he tells Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
“I’m ready for it,” Gasol said. “I can’t control what they’re going to do as a team. But I’m going to try to play as well as I can for as long as I’m here. If I’m somewhere else, I’ll try to continue to do that.”
We figure to have at least some resolution to the latest Gasol saga today, and in the meantime, here’s more from around the league:
- With Shabazz Muhammad headed to the D-League and Trey Burke of the Jazz the reigning Western Conference Rookie of the Month, Timberwolves boss Flip Saunders says it’s still too early to judge the result of their draft night swap. The Wolves officially sent Shabazz Muhammad to the Iowa Energy today, according to a press release. Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune originally reported the move Friday.
- Matt Moore of CBSSports.com breaks down the game of potential No. 1 pick Joel Embiid.
- D.J. Kennedy is headed to Israel to play for Hapoel Holon, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia reports. The swingman was in camp with the Mavs this fall and played with Gravelines in France earlier this season. Italy’s Reggio Emilia was also reportedly interested.
- The Grizzlies have assigned Jamaal Franklin to the D-League, the team announced. The 41st overall pick this past June has averaged just 9.2 minutes in 14 games for Memphis this year. I identified him earlier this week as a player who could see time in the D-League.
Magic Waive Solomon Jones
TUESDAY, 4:29pm: Jones has cleared waivers, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
SATURDAY, 9:04pm: According to a team announcement, the Magic have waived center Solomon Jones. Jones had not seen much time this season due to tearing his meniscus in late October. He only had the chance to play in 11 games for the Magic and averaged 7.7 minutes in those games, averaging 1.3 points and 1.5 rebounds.
It appears the Magic did not need until Tuesday’s deadline to decide how they would handle their non-guaranteed contracts. Orlando’s roster is now down to 13 players, all on guaranteed contracts.
Lakers Rumors: Bynum, Gasol, Marshall
The Cavs are zeroing in on the Lakers as a potential trade partner for an Andrew Bynum deal, but it doesn’t appear as though the Lakers seem eager to play along. They believe there are ways of avoiding the luxury tax that don’t involve unloading Pau Gasol, and according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com, they feel like it’s increasingly unlikely they’ll find middle ground with Cleveland (Twitter link). Here’s the latest from Lakerland as the team surveys its position:
- “Marshall Madness,” has lifted the Lakers, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. D-League pickup Kendall Marshall wasn’t seeing much playing time in his first five games on the roster, but injuries to Xavier Henry and Jordan Farmar forced coach Mike D’Antoni to call his number. Since then, he’s responded quite well and showed the kind of potential that made him a lottery pick just a couple of years ago. The point guard racked up 20 points and 15 assists in the Lakers’ 110-99 win over the Jazz on Friday.
- Marshall took notice when the Jazz cut Jamaal Tinsley and replaced him with Diante Garrett. “I know that the Jazz let go of a guard earlier this year and I didn’t get a call, so I kind of felt a certain way about that,” Marshall said, according to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register (on Twitter).
- Six-year NBA veteran and former Laker Von Wafer is headed to the D-League, a source tells Gino Pilato of D-League Digest. Wafer last played in the NBA D-League in 2006, when the Lakers assigned him to the Fort Worth Flyers. He most recently played for the Shanghai Sharks, and averaged 27.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists in five games. The 28-year-old will likely play during the NBA D-League Showcase, which is scheduled to begin Sunday.
- Pau-Orthez of France announced the signing of Eric Boateng, who spent camp with the Lakers this fall (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The 28-year-old center had been playing with La Union in Argentina, Carchia notes.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Chris Smith Signs To Play In D-League
Chris Smith has signed with the D-League, a source tells Gino Pilato of D-League Digest. Smith reportedly wanted to take some time before deciding on his next move after the Knicks waived him this week, but apparently he made his choice quickly.
Smith appeared in six games this season for the Erie Bayhawks, the D-League affiliate of the Knicks, while he was under contract with New York, but he won’t necessarily wind up with Erie again. He’ll go through the league’s waiver process, meaning several clubs will have a shot at him. Regardless of where he ends up, he’ll be free to jump to the Knicks or any other NBA team at any time if he shows promise.
Of course, that seems an unlikely proposition for Smith, whom an NBA GM referred to as “maybe the worst player in the history of the Summer League,” according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Smith, a 6’2″ guard, put up 11.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 24.7 minutes per game during his time with Erie this year.
Smith is the brother of Knicks swingman J.R. Smith, who appears to have gotten over his frustration with the team for releasing his brother.
Magic Waive Hedo Turkoglu
4:03pm: The Magic officially announced that Turkoglu has been waived.
12:30pm: The Magic will waive Hedo Turkoglu today at 4pm CT, according to John Denton of NBA.com (on Twitter). The move has been long expected for the veteran, who is on a $12MM contract that is only partially guaranteed for $6MM.
There was some speculation that Turkoglu could serve as a trade chip for the Magic, not unlike Andrew Bynum and the Cavs. However, unlike the Cavs, the Magic were mostly unwilling to take on salary in a trade and, of course, Turkoglu offers much less upside than Bynum.
According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, the 34-year-old badly wants to return to the NBA and prove himself once again. Back in the fall, the Wolves were said to have interest in Turkoglu if he was cut loose by Orlando. If the interest is still there and the former offensive standout wants to come aboard, Minnesota can cut Robbie Hummel loose to make room. Hummel’s contract doesn’t become guaranteed until January 10th (next Friday).
The small forward, who turns 35 in March, played in only eleven games last season because of injury and a 10-game suspension that stemmed from a positive test for methenolone. He’s spent seven and a half seasons with the Magic over two separate stints. Across 13 seasons with the Kings, Spurs, Magic, Raptors, and Suns, the native of Turkey owns averages of 11.9 PPG and 4.2 RPG with a 42.6% field goal percentage. He also boasts a career 38.1% rate of success from downtown and if he can find his stroke once again, he could find himself with multiple suitors in the New Year.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pelicans Waive Lou Amundson
The Pelicans have waived big man Lou Amundson, the team announced. The move frees up a roster spot, since New Orleans had been at the 15-man limit. His contract was non-guaranteed, so the Pelicans won’t be on the hook for the remainder of his minimum salary.
The move wasn’t unexpected, especially given comments coach Monty Williams made shortly after Amundson signed along with Josh Childress in mid-November. Williams deemed the moves “nothing to write home about” and said, “We’re just taking a look” at the veterans. New Orleans released Childress earlier this month.
It’s the third time Amundson has hit waivers in the past 11 months. He had stints with the Timberwolves, Bulls and then-Hornets last season, and spent camp with the Clippers this fall.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.