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International Moves: Aminu, Summers, Head

September 17th, 2013 at 4:34pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors' international player movement tracker continues to be added to daily by Mark Porcaro of Secret Rival, who updated more than two dozen entries today. As we've mentioned before, we won't pass along word of every single one of these international moves in posts on the site itself, but here are a few of the latest NBA-relevant signings:

Alade Aminu, the older brother of Pelicans forward Al-Farouq Aminu, has agreed to terms with Italian club Enel Brindisi, a source told Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
The Wollongong Hawks, of Australia's National Basketball League, have announced the signing of Durrell Summers, according to the team's website. Summers played for the D-League's Idaho Stampede last season, averaging 16.0 PPG in 50 games with the team.
Illinois product and former first-round pick Luther Head is headed to Spain for the coming season, agreeing to sign with CB Valladolid (link via Sportando). As our tracker shows, Head, who last played in the NBA with the Kings in 2010/11, finished last season with the D-League's Texas Legends.

Jared Jeffries To Join Nuggets’ Front Office

September 17th, 2013 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

After 11 seasons in the NBA, Jared Jeffries is transitioning from his playing career into an executive role, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who reports that Jeffries has accepted a front office job with the Nuggets. The 31-year-old will begin in a scouting role, a source tells Wojnarowski.

Last summer, Jeffries was part of the sign-and-trade deal that sent Raymond Felton from the Blazers to the Knicks. While sign-and-trade rules dictated that he had to sign for at least three years, only the first year of his contract was guaranteed, so Portland released him at season's end. Since then, we haven't heard any rumors connecting him to NBA teams, so it makes some sense that he would pursue an off-court position, even at age 31.

As Wojnarowski notes, Jeffries has a strong history with new Nuggets GM Tim Connelly. Jeffries played for the Wizards for the first four seasons of his career, from 2002 to 2006, when Connelly was in Washington's front office.

While the Yahoo! report doesn't technically mention retirement, it appears unlikely that the versatile veteran will return to the court for an NBA team. Assuming Jeffries has played his last game, he'll finish with averages of 4.8 PPG and 4.1 RPG in 629 career contests for the Wizards, Knicks, Rockets, and Blazers. According to Basketball-Reference, he earned a little over $40MM over the course of his NBA career.

Troy Daniels To Camp With Bobcats

September 16th, 2013 at 9:35pm CST by Zachary Links

Former VCU guard Troy Daniels has accepted a training camp invite from the Bobcats, a source tells Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report (Twitter). Contrary to a previous report, Daniels did not agree to a deal with Charlotte in late June.

Daniels averaged 12.3 PPG and shot 40.3% on three-pointers in his final season with the Rams. The guard auditioned for the Jazz and Pacers in June but wound up going undrafted. Daniels will be joined in camp by former lottery pick Patrick O’Bryant.

Patrick O’Bryant To Camp With Bobcats

September 16th, 2013 at 8:37pm CST by Zachary Links

The Bobcats have added another experienced NBA veteran to their training camp mix this fall. Sources close to the situation tell Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (on Twitter) that Patrick O'Bryant will be in camp with Charlotte.

O'Bryant made it known back in July that he was seeking an NBA opportunity but he wasn't getting any bites at that stage of the offseason. The ninth overall pick in the 2006 Draft, who last appeared in the NBA with the Raptors in 2009/10, was only getting interest from overseas teams at the time. Now, he'll at least have a puncher's chance of getting a job in the Association this year.

The 27-year-old spent last season with Lithuania's Lietuvos Rytas. In parts of four NBA seasons, the big man averaged 2.1 PPG and 1.4 RPG for the Warriors, Celtics, and Raptors.

Lakers Sign Marcus Landry

September 16th, 2013 at 6:41pm CST by Zachary Links

The Lakers announced that they have officially signed forward Marcus Landry. Terms of the deal were not revealed, but the deal is likely a non-guaranteed pact.

It was first reported in late July that Landry, the younger brother of Carl, was likely to hook on with the Lakers on a deal that would essentially boil down to a camp invite. Landry appeared in 18 games in the 2009/10 season with the Knicks and Celtics. Since then, he's bounced between the D-League and Europe, and played with the Reno Bighorns of the D-League last season.

Landry may not have a guaranteed gig in L.A., but he has a good chance of making the roster thanks in large part to Ryan Kelly's foot injury. The soon-to-be 28-year-old is represented by Keith Kreiter of Edge Sports, according to the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.

Junior Cadougan To Join Bucks In Camp

September 16th, 2013 at 12:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

Undrafted Marquette point guard Junior Cadougan will be in training camp with the Bucks, agent Charles Briscoe tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Twitter link). He auditioned for the Bucks as well as the Wizards in advance of the draft, and was a part of Milwaukee's summer league team.

The 6'1" Cadougan didn't play much for the summer Bucks, scoring just two points as he appeared in two games for a total of 12 minutes. His stats weren't too impressive in college, where he averaged 8.5 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 turnovers per contest as a senior. The native of Canada got some seasoning as a member of the national team this summer in the FIBA Americas Championship, but he only notched 1.7 PPG in that event.

The 23-year-old becomes the 16th player on the Bucks, who already had 15 others on fully guaranteed contracts. That'll make it tough for Cadougan to win a spot on the opening-night roster. Even though the Bucks clearly want to evaluate him over the next month, they might not have too much interest in retaining his D-League rights, since they share their affiliate with five other NBA teams — something I pointed out when I examined every Eastern Conference team's pre-camp roster outlook this weekend.

Yi Jianlian Signs Two-Year Deal In China

September 14th, 2013 at 9:04am CST by Zachary Links

Former No. 6 overall pick Yi Jianlian won't be returning to the NBA anytime soon. The athletic big man has signed a two-year deal with the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The deal, according to the club, does not contain an NBA-out clause.

Jianlian had scouts drooling over his athletic ability and vertical leap during the 2007 draft and he wound up going No. 6 to the Bucks. However, the Chinese sensation came with a ton of question marks, not the least of which being his age. The big man listed his birthday as October 27, 1987, but it's more likely that he was actually born in 1984, meaning that he is on the cusp of his 30th birthday today.

Over the course of five NBA seasons with the Bucks, Nets, Wizards, and Mavericks, Yi averaged 7.9 PPG and 4.9 RPG in 22.2 minutes per contest. Statistically, his best season came in 2009/10 for New Jersey where he put up 12.0 PPG and 7.2 RPG.

To keep up on the latest international player movement, be sure to check out the brand new Hoops Rumors tracker.

Nuggets To Bring Reginald Becton To Camp

September 13th, 2013 at 7:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Nuggets have signed undrafted University of Mississippi power forward Reginald Becton, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports. Becton is an unexpected choice for a training camp addition, since Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress had him as only the 53rd best senior in the 2013 draft, and he didn’t take part in NBA summer league play.

The 6’9″ Becton made his mark as a shot-blocker for Ole Miss, recording 2.7 blocks in 28.4 minutes per game last season. He swatted away shots at an even better rate at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, a predraft gathering of many of the top college seniors where he recorded 2.3 BPG in 15 MPG.

Becton, who’s presumably on a non-guaranteed minimum-salary camp deal, gives the Nuggets 17 players, 14 of whom have fully guaranteed contracts. Quincy Miller‘s deal is partially guaranteed, while Damion James has a non-guaranteed pact, as Deeks reported this morning.

Suns Sign Dionte Christmas

September 13th, 2013 at 7:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Suns have signed Dionte Christmas, the team has announced on its website. The 6'5" guard averaged double figures in points for Phoenix's summer league team this year, and a report shortly thereafter indicated the Suns had interest in bringing the former Temple Owl aboard. It's a multi-year deal with a "small" guarantee for this season, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.

Christmas has yet to play in a regular season NBA game after going to camp with the Sixers in 2009 and the Celtics last year. He had a two-year contract that was 50% guaranteed for the first season with the C's, and with former Boston executive Ryan McDonough on board as the new Phoenix GM, Christmas is again getting more than the standard non-guaranteed training camp deal.

The move furthers a roster logjam for the Suns, who already had 16 players on fully guaranteed contracts. Still, it's the first free agent deal of the offseason for McDonough and company, who've instead concentrated on swinging three trades since July 1st.

Christmas notched 10.1 points in 20.8 minutes per game for the summer league Suns after splitting the 2012/13 regular season between Montepaschi Siena of Italy and CSKA Moscow in Russia. He put up just 5.5 PPG for his overseas teams last year after he was his league's leading scorer for Rethymno of Greece in 2011/12.

Sixers To Sign Rodney Williams

September 13th, 2013 at 6:23pm CST by Luke Adams

FRIDAY, 6:23pm: Agent Kevin Bradbury has informed Wolfson that Williams has signed his deal (Twitter link). The Sixers have yet to confirm it.

MONDAY, 2:10pm: The Sixers are expected to sign Rodney Williams to a multiyear contract tomorrow, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Wolfson tweets that the deal will likely include a partial guarantee.

Assuming his contract with the Sixers is only partially guaranteed, Williams won't necessarily have an inside track to a roster spot. Still, Philadelphia's camp is expected to be fairly wide open, which should give the 22-year-old a chance to earn a spot on the regular season roster. The club only has nine guaranteed contracts on its books for now, though that number will increase to 11 when Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams officially sign.

Williams, who went undrafted in June, averaged 10.1 PPG and 5.0 RPG in his senior year at Minnesota. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported way back on the morning after the draft that Williams had agreed to a deal with the Sixers, though at the time it wasn't clear if it would be for more than Summer League play. Williams recorded 8.0 PPG and 1.2 RPG in five contests for Philadelphia's Summer League squad.