Sixers Cut Rodney Williams, Gani Lawal
SUNDAY, 9:34am: The Sixers officially announced the moves, via Twitter.
SATURDAY, 2:49pm: The Sixers have let go of Rodney Williams and Gani Lawal, a source tells Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News (Twitter links). The team will absorb Lawal’s $100K partial guarantee and the $35K partial guarantee on Williams’ contract. Their subtraction leaves the Sixers with 14 players, one under the regular season max and one more than the minimum.
Williams and Lawal appeared to be the most vulnerable among the team’s remaining non-guaranteed players, and Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer predicted yesterday that the last roster spot would come down to one of them (Twitter link). That assumed Philly would carry 15 players, but the team apparently will go with fewer. Cooney speculates on Twitter that Kwame Brown could be next to go, though he’s on a fully guaranteed deal for nearly $3MM and would likely have to agree to a buyout.
Raptors Waive Carlos Morais, Chris Wright
The Raptors have released Carlos Morais and Chris Wright, the team announced today in a press release. That will leave Julyan Stone as Toronto’s 15th man, and the only non-guaranteed player on the roster.
Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun had reported (via Twitter) that Stone was expected to survive this weekend’s roster cuts. The former Nuggets guard reached an agreement with Toronto earlier this summer, which was nixed when he failed a physical. It seems the team, and new GM Masai Ujiri, still liked him enough to offer a non-guaranteed contract and a regular season roster spot.
Mavericks Waive Mickey McConnell
The Mavs have released camp invitee Mickey McConnell, the team announced via press release. The move, which had been expected, reduces Dallas’ roster count to 15, so no further cuts will be required before opening night.
McConnell, 24, spent last season playing for Tezenis Verona in Italy, averaging 13.6 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 2.7 APG in 32 games. He appeared in five contests for the Mavs during the preseason, but was on a non-guaranteed contract, on a club which already had 15 players on guaranteed deals. As such, he was a long shot to make the NBA roster, but could end up with Dallas’ D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends.
Nuggets Cut Damion James
The Nuggets have waived small forward Damion James, the team announced on its website. The move takes the club’s roster down to 15 players, the regular season maximum.
He had the only non-guaranteed contract remaining on the team, and though he played Jordan Hamilton to a draw, according to Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post, Hamilton’s fully guaranteed $1.169MM salary gave him a decided advantage. The move to cut James had been expected, as Dempsey tweeted earlier today.
Quincy Miller, whose deal is guaranteed for $150K, remains on the team, and assuming he makes it to opening night, his contract will become fully guaranteed. Most deals that aren’t fully guaranteed don’t become so until January 10th, but Miller is among several players who have earlier dates written into their contracts.
Rockets Waive Troy Daniels
The Rockets have placed Troy Daniels on waivers, tweets Jason Friedman of Rockets.com. The move leaves Houston with 17 players, meaning the team will have to make two more cuts to get down to the 15-man regular season limit.
Daniels seemed the most likely casualty among the Rockets with non-guaranteed contracts. Reggie Williams has the largest partial guarantee, at $474K, but he’s up against Ronnie Brewer, whose deal is guaranteed for $100K, and Greg Smith and Patrick Beverley, who are on non-guaranteed deals. All four have been NBA rotation-level players, so Rockets GM Daryl Morey has a few tough calls on his hands, though Beverley, who has alternated at point guard with Jeremy Lin, seems safe.
The Rockets didn’t use Daniels in any of their preseason games. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reported yesterday that the team was expected to let him go, and it appears Daniels will wind up signing with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s D-League affiliate.
Suns Pick Up Options On Plumlee, Morris Twins
The Suns have exercised their 2014/15 options on center Miles Plumlee and forwards Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Markieff Morris will make $2,989,239 next season, slightly more than his twin brother Marcus, who’ll earn $2,943,221. The option covers the fourth season for both Morrises, while Plumlee’s $1,169,880 option is for his third, as our rookie contract option tracker shows.
Plumlee has impressed in the preseason after arriving over the summer via trade from the Pacers, and his improvement made the Suns more comfortable with trading Marcin Gortat to the Wizards. Marcus Morris also came to the Suns in a trade, as the Rockets shipped him to Phoenix at the deadline in February. Houston drafted him 14th overall in 2011, one pick before the Suns took his brother at No. 15, which accounts for the slight difference in salary between the two.
The more than $7.1MM the exercised options add to Phoenix’s books still leave the team with ample projected cap space next summer. The Suns will have only about $22.1MM in commitments for 2014/15, about $40MM beneath the cap.
Timberwolves Waive Chris Johnson
2:40pm: The Wolves have officially announced the moves, according to the team’s Twitter account.
1:19pm: The Timberwolves have waived big man Chris Johnson, a source tells Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). The former LSU Tiger is not to be confused with the Chris Johnson from Dayton whom the Nets waived earlier today. The Wolves will be on the hook for Johnson’s guaranteed $916,099 salary this season. The move likely means Robbie Hummel and A.J. Price, both of whom are on non-guaranteed deals, have made the opening-night roster, since the subtraction of Johnson leaves Minnesota with 15 players.
Multiple reports this month indicated Johnson’s spot on the team was vulnerable in spite of the guaranteed money on the contract he signed with the team last season after a pair of 10-day deals. He appeared in just two games for a total of nine minutes during preseason action. He averaged 3.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in 9.5 minutes per game across 30 contests for the Wolves last year.
Wolves Pick Up Options On Rubio, Williams
SATURDAY, 2:38pm: The team has officially announced, via Twitter, that it’s exercising the options on Rubio and Williams.
TUESDAY, 1:16pm: The Wolves will exercise their team option on Ricky Rubio for 2014/15, a source tells Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, and it’s a move that comes as no surprise. The source also confirms that the team will exercise its option on Derrick Williams, as owner Glen Taylor told Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities last night. Rubio’s option adds another $5,070,686 to the team’s payroll for next season, as our rookie contract option tracker shows.
I listed Rubio among the “no brainers” last month when I examined rookie option decisions, and there was never any doubt that Minnesota would ensure team control over the former No. 5 overall pick through his fourth season. A trickier decision involving Rubio looms next offseason, when the Wolves must decide whether to grant him a lucrative extension.
Picking up the options on Rubio and Williams will push the team’s commitments for 2014/15 to $68,403,149, ensuring the Wolves will be well over the cap unless they can move some salary via trade. Once these option pickups become official, Minnesota will trail only the Nets for the most amount of guaranteed money on the books for 2014/15.
Hawks Release Eric Dawson
The Hawks have cut Eric Dawson, according to a press release from the team. The move brings Atlanta’s roster down to 15 players, but there’s still some uncertainty, since only 12 of them have fully guaranteed deals. Mike Scott seems likely to stick on his $100K guaranteed deal, and Shelvin Mack seems to slot in as the third point guard. If the Hawks do carry 15 players at the start of the regular season, it’s likely that Cartier Martin, on a non-guaranteed deal, beat out Dawson for a spot.
The 29-year-old Dawson came to camp with the Hawks hoping to add to an NBA resume that includes just four regular season games with the Spurs in 2011/12. Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was an assistant on that San Antonio team, but the connection wasn’t enough to earn Dawson an opening-night roster spot. He notched 3.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per game over three preseason contests.
Atlanta won’t be on the hook for Dawson’s non-guaranteed salary. If the Hawks keep just 13 players, they’ll retain about $3MM worth of wiggle room under the cap, as well as their $2.652MM room exception to use to acquire players later in the season.
Magic Exercise 2014/15 Options On Four
SATURDAY, 1:59pm: The Magic have officially announced the moves.
FRIDAY, 10:12pm: Having just made their camp cuts this evening, the Magic will pick up their rookie-scale options on four players tomorrow, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. The team is set to guarantee the 2014/15 salaries of Maurice Harkless, Tobias Harris, Andrew Nicholson and Nikola Vucevic.
Robbins first reported that the team had decided on the option pickups back in July, well ahead of the October 31st deadline and long before most teams make these kinds of moves. Together the exercised options will add $8,565,534 to the team’s 2014/15 commitments, bringing the total to about $33.4MM — the 11th lowest amount of guaranteed salary in the league when I ran the numbers and projected next summer’s cap space for every team earlier this month.
Vucevic and Harris, who’ll be playing their fourth NBA seasons in 2014/15, will receive about $2.75MM and $2.4MM, respectively, while Harkless and Nicholson, who’ll be third-year guys that season, are set to make around $1.9MM and $1.5MM. Check out our tracker for details on 2014/15 rookie contract options for each team as the October 31st deadline to exercise them draws near.