Jazz Sign Diante Garrett
The Jazz have officially signed Diante Garrett, the team announced today in a press release. ESPN.com’s Marc Stein was the first to identify Garrett as Utah’s primary target, while Jody Genessy of the Deseret News reported that an agreement had been reached.
Garrett, 25, made his NBA debut for the Suns last season, appearing in 19 games for the club, and averaging 17.3 PPG and 7.3 APG in eight contests with Phoenix’s D-League affiliate, the Bakersfield Jam. His rights had been obtained by the Iowa Energy for the upcoming D-League season, before he landed an NBA deal with the Jazz.
For the Jazz, the addition of Garrett comes on the heels of the team’s release of Jamaal Tinsley. Tinsley, who was ineffective in his eight games with Utah this season, was on a non-guaranteed deal and I’d imagine Garrett will get a similar minimum-salary, non-guaranteed contract. He should get a chance to earn some minutes at the point, with Trey Burke still sidelined due to a broken finger.
Jazz Release Jamaal Tinsley
The Jazz have reduced their roster to 14 players, announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived point guard Jamaal Tinsley. The team now has a roster spot available to add a replacement, though no corresponding move has been reported or announced.
Tinsley was signed by the Jazz shortly before the regular season got underway, following the announcement that Trey Burke would be sidelined for several weeks with a broken finger. However, the 35-year-old was ineffective in his eight games with the team, averaging just 1.1 PPG and a 2.3 PER, as well as making only one of 15 three-point attempts.
The Jazz won’t be on the hook for Tinsley’s full salary, since his contract was non-guaranteed, but a pro-rated portion of his minimum salary will count against the cap. According to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (via Twitter), Utah will likely sign a player out of the D-League to replace Tinsley.
Pelicans Sign Lou Amundson
TUESDAY, 1:19pm: The Pelicans have signed Amundson, the team officially announced today in a press release.
MONDAY, 11:39pm: The Pelicans will sign big man Lou Amundson, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). New Orleans has 15 players on its roster, so the team will have to waive one of them before the Amundson signing becomes official. The likeliest candidate would appear to be Arinze Onuaku, the only Pelican on a non-guaranteed deal, though Lance Thomas, who has the smallest partial guarantee in the league at $15K, could also be in danger.
The 30-year-old Amundson drew interest from the Knicks last week after the Clippers waived him at the end of the preseason. He finished last season with New Orleans after stops in Minnesota and Chicago, averaging 2.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per contest in 18 games wearing the uniform of the then-Hornets. The seven-year vet has done better than I thought when I examined his free agent stock in late September, predicting that his best path back to the NBA would involve playing overseas.
It’s unclear whether Amundson’s deal will include any sort of guarantee, but I’d be surprised if it were for more than the minimum salary, even though the Pelicans have their $2.652MM room exception available. The move could indicate that Ryan Anderson, who hasn’t played in the regular season because of a chip fracture in his right middle toe, might not return for a while.
Pelicans Sign Josh Childress
1:18pm: The Pelicans have officially signed Childress, the team announced today in a press release.
11:36am: The Pelicans have reached an agreement to sign free agent forward Josh Childress, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Childress has been on the open market since being released by the Wizards last month.
ESPN.com’s Marc Stein reported last night that New Orleans was set to sign another veteran free agent, Louis Amundson, so it’s not clear if that deal fell through, or if the team is bringing both players aboard. The Pelicans currently have 15 players on their roster, so if they plan to officially sign both Childress and Amundson, they’ll have to cut two players to make room.
Childress, 30, auditioned for the Pelicans over the summer, so the team has some level of familiarity with him. The Stanford product appeared in 14 games for the Nets last season, and is still being paid by the Suns, who amnestied him back in 2012. That salary from Phoenix likely afforded Childress the flexibility to continue hunting for an NBA job this fall, rather than heading overseas.
Pelicans Waive Lance Thomas, Arinze Onuaku
The Pelicans have officially waived two players on non-guaranteed contracts, Lance Thomas and Arinze Onuaku, according to a press release from the team. The cuts clear two roster spots for the team to sign Josh Childress and Louis Amundson, who have now formally been added to the roster.
While Thomas’ contract had included a $15K guarantee, that partial guarantee was so small that the 25-year-old had already earned more than that. The Pelicans will be on the hook for about two weeks’ worth of salary for both Thomas and Onuaku. Terms of the team’s agreements haven’t been reported yet — we can assume they’re both minimum salary contracts, but it’s unclear whether or not they’re partially or fully guaranteed.
Neither Thomas nor Onuaku had played a significant role so far for the Pelicans. Thomas had appeared in five games, while Onuaku had played in three, and both players averaged just over eight minutes per contest. I imagine New Orleans will be expecting more consistent production off the bench from veterans Childress and Amundson, as the club looks to contend for a playoff spot.
Nets Notes: Garnett, Kirilenko, Pierce
It’s still early, but so far Kevin Garnett is off to a puzzling start, writes Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News. Too often in games, the 37-year-old can be seen settling for outside shots and drifting along the perimeter when he should be doing more inside. “I’ve just got to quit thinking so much and be more aggressive,” Garnett told reporters yesterday, following a 96-91 loss to the Pacers. “I’m trying to make things easier for (Brook) Lopez and cause opportunities for other people out there. I’ve got to be a little more aggressive and look for my offense a little bit.” Here’s more out of Brooklyn..
- One bright spot for the Nets has been the play of offseason acquisitions Andrei Kirilenko, backup point guard Shaun Livingston, and scrappy rookie Mason Plumlee, writes Beckley Mason of the New York Times. Mason also notes that the older Boston teams led by Garnett and Paul Pierce were notoriously slow starters.
- Even though Garnett and Pierce have moved on, they’re still not talking to former teammate and friend Ray Allen, writes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. “For them to be so upset with me is disappointing because of how everything happened,” said the Heat guard. “That banner in 2008 is still going to be there, and we’re still going to be tied to it.“
- The Nets announced earlier today that they have re-assigned Toko Shengelia to the Springfield Armor of the NBA Development League. The forward’s NBA stay lasted just one day as he was recalled on Saturday.
- Former Nets forward Kris Joseph signed with France’s Elan Chalon, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. To keep up with the global basketball scene, check out the Hoops Rumors international Player Movement Tracker, made with the help of Secret Rival’s Mark Porcaro.
- Earlier today, I recapped the Nets’ offseason.
Odds & Ends: Jackson, Fesenko, Clippers
As we look forward to a weekend full of NBA action, let’s round up a few odds and ends from around the Association….
- Veteran free agent Stephen Jackson has changed agents, according to Interperformances, who announced today that the ex-Spur has signed with the agency. Jackson had previously been represented by Dan Fegan and Relativity Sports, but it seems his lack of employment prompted him to make a change.
- Following an offseason that included a record 13 head coaching changes, one unnamed coach tells Sean Deveney of the Sporting News that “everyone’s scared s—less out there.” Added the anonymous coach: “There’s different criteria being measured on coaches and it is not just winning. You can win your ass off and still get fired.”
- Former NBA big man Kyrylo Fesenko has signed with Slask Wroclaw in Poland, according to the team (English link via Sportando). Fesenko, a second-round pick in 2007, played with the Jazz for four seasons before a brief stint with the Pacers in 2011/12.
- In the view of Lang Greene of HoopsWorld, the Clippers‘ offseason signing of Byron Mullens was an unheralded move that could pay long-term dividends.
- ESPN.com’s Chad Ford continues his week-long, Insider-only breakdown of top prospects by position, as he previews the best big men expected to be available in the 2014 draft.
Knicks Acquire D-League Rights To Jeremy Tyler
Earlier today, the Knicks’ D-League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, officially acquired the D-League rights to forward Jeremy Tyler in a deal with the Santa Cruz Warriors, according to Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside. In exchange for the big man, Santa Cruz will receive the rights to forward Ryan Evans and a pair of D-League draft choices.
The Knicks were high on the 22-year-old for much of the offseason until an injury took him out of action. After that, the Knicks decided to give their final three roster spots to Toure Murry, Cole Aldrich, and Chris Smith, the younger brother of standout guard J.R. Smith. Tyler is still rehabbing the stress fracture in his right foot, but today’s deal will allow the Knicks to closely monitor his progress. Given their enthusiasm about the once highly-touted prospect, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Knicks sign him later on in the season.
Scott Suggs and Shane Gibson will also be sent from the Warriors’ affiliate to the Knicks’ affiliate.
Odds & Ends: Mavs, D-League, Collins, Dragic
Dirk Nowitzki publicly questioned Mark Cuban‘s approach to retooling the Mavericks back in January, and the team struck out on its top target again this summer when Dwight Howard decided to join the Rockets. But Nowitzki tells Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com that he’s pleased with the roster Cuban and Donnie Nelson put together this offseason, and he’s encouraged by the club’s direction.
“I think as a franchise, we’ve moved on,” Nowitzki said of the failed attempts to recruit star free agents. “We didn’t go for the whole cap space deal again, like we did last year, so I was obviously pleased to see that.”
Here are a few more Friday afternoon odds and ends:
- With the D-League draft set to get underway at 6:00pm CT tonight, the Iowa Energy traded the third overall pick as part of a deal with the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Heat camp invitee and NBA champion Jarvis Varnado headed to Iowa in the move, as Keith Schlosser writes at Ridiculous Upside.
- One player who won’t be playing on a D-League squad anytime soon is free agent big man Jason Collins, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein. Stein hears from a source that Collins isn’t considering playing overseas or in the D-League, since he still believes he’s an NBA player and prefers to continue his workout regimen at home in Los Angeles.
- In a separate ESPN.com story, Stein writes that the Suns are comfortable with Eric Bledsoe heading into free agency next summer. However, it sounds like Phoenix hasn’t ruled out the possibility of facilitating a sign-and-trade involving Bledsoe in July if he gets too pricey, so the team likely won’t shop Goran Dragic for now.
- John Jenkins tells Lang Greene of HoopsWorld it “feels great” that the Hawks elected to exercise his third-year option for 2014/15 yesterday.
- $14MM over four years is a reasonable price for Quincy Pondexter, but he’ll have to continue to develop for his new contract to be a good investment for the Grizzlies, says Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com.
- DeShawn Sims, who was in camp with the Celtics in October, has signed with Galil Gilboa in Israel, agent Mike Silverman tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
- Since being released by the Rockets, Tim Ohlbrecht has remained in the U.S. in hopes of landing another NBA job, but continues to consider overseas offers, according to Schlosser at Ridiculous Upside.
Hawks Pick Up Option On Jenkins, Not Cunningham
The Hawks have announced via press release that they’ve exercised the 2014/15 option on second-year guard John Jenkins, who will make $1.31MM next season. Meanwhile, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the team will not pick up their third-year option on Jared Cunningham.
Atlanta selected the sharp shooting Jenkins out of Vanderbilt with the 23rd pick in the 2012 draft. He averaged 6.1 points and 1.5 rebounds in 14.8 minutes per game as a rookie, starting twice in 61 games. He also spent a brief amount of time in the D-League in December. The Hawks acquired Cunningham, taken the pick after Jenkins, in a draft day deal with Dallas. He will be an unrestricted free agent after this season.