Lakers Waive Marcus Landry
The Lakers announced that they have waived forward Marcus Landry. Los Angeles’ roster is now down to the maximum of 15 players.
Landry signed on with the Lakers in mid-September and was thought to have a decent chance at making the club with second-round pick Ryan Kelly working his way back from injury.
Landry, who turns 28 next week, 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.
Terms of Landry’s deal were not disclosed at signing but it’s safe to assume that it was a non-guaranteed deal.
Wizards To Decline Options On Vesely, Singleton
The Wizards are set to decline their fourth-year options on Jan Vesely and Chris Singleton, according to J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. The team officially has until Oct. 31 to make the decision for the 2014/15 season, but it appears that their minds are already made up.
Singleton, who was chosen with the No. 18 pick in the 2011 draft, has missed the entire preseason after undergoing surgery on his left foot/toe. Vesely, who was the No. 6 overall pick in that draft, hasn’t progressed in the way that the club hoped he would at this stage. The big man has averaged just 3.6 PPG in 15.5 minutes per contest over his first two years in the league. Singleton hasn’t fulfilled his potential either, averaging 4.4 PPG and 3.4 RPG in 19.1 minutes per contest.
The Wizards could still re-sign both players following the 2013/14 season to less-than-scale contracts, but they won’t be back for the same amount, unless they truly break out this year. Vesely would have made $4.2MM while Singleton was set to make $2.5MM had their options been exercised.
Magic Cut Gladness, Harris, Joseph, Osby
The Magic have waived Mickell Gladness, Manny Harris, Kris Joseph and Romero Osby, the team announced via press release. That means camp invitee Solomon Jones appears to have made the team, since the moves pare Orlando’s roster down to 15 players. The move is also fortuitous news for Kyle O’Quinn, who has a non-guaranteed deal just like Jones and the four who got cut.
Osby may be the most notable subtraction, since he was the team’s second-round pick this past June. His deal called for him to make $682,180 this season, more than every other second-rounder from this year except one, despite the fact he was drafted 51st overall, closer to the end of the second-round than the beginning. It was fully non-guaranteed, but it would have become guaranteed for $100K had he made it to opening night. He appeared to have been battling Jones for a roster spot, and the seven-year veteran’s dependability and experience gave him the edge, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link).
Gladness, Harris and Joseph all have NBA experience, too, though the three of them put together have less than half as many NBA games under their belts as Jones does. All four of the players cut will become free agents once they clear waivers.
Warriors Sign Andrew Bogut To Extension
8:08pm: The Warriors have officially announced the extension, via press release.
6:32pm: The Warriors and Andrew Bogut have reached agreement on a contract extension, Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher tweets. It’s a three-year deal for approximately $42MM, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The team has a press conference scheduled for 8pm Central time, presumably to announce the pact.
The base salary is $36MM, reports USA Today’s Sam Amick (on Twitter). The rest is salary Bogut can unlock via incentive clauses, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Bogut can trigger the incentives if he plays in at least 65 games each season and win league honors, such as selection to the All-Star Game, All-Defensive Teams or the Defensive Player of the Year Award, Amick writes. The oft-injured center said earlier this month, shortly after he and agent David Bauman of the Lagardere Unlimited firm began talks with the Warriors, that he’d be willing to agree to incentives related to the number of games he plays. If Bogut can stay healthy and perform like a top-five or top-seven center in the league, he’s likely to get the full amount of his deal, Wojnarowski says (Twitter link).
Bogut said multiple Western Conference teams had already inquired about his plans for free agency, which he was set to hit after this season, when he’s due $14MM under what would have been the final year of his contract under its initial terms. Veterans rarely ink extensions, since they’re limited to three years instead of the four or five years they can get on the open market. Bogut, who’s played just 44 regular season games the past two seasons, took the unusual step, cashing in while the Warriors and other teams still value his ability.
Bogut’s deal starts at $14MM in 2014/15, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, with declining salaries in the remaining two seasons (Twitter link). That will give the Warriors added flexibility as Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes approach eligibility for extensions of their own, and reduce the team’s commitment to Bogut past his 30th birthday. A $14MM salary next season for Bogut would give the team about $65MM in commitments for next season, well above the projected $62.1MM cap but with plenty of wiggle room under the tax line.
Wizards Acquire Marcin Gortat From Suns
6:02pm: The Wizards have officially announced the trade on their website. The Suns have also made an announcement via their site.
5:23pm: TNT’s David Aldridge’s tweets more about the protection on the first-round pick the Wizards are sending to Phoenix: If it falls inside the top 12 for 2014, it’ll be top-10 protected from 2015 through 2019, and unprotected after that.
4:24pm: The Wizards will acquire Marcin Gortat from the Suns, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein (via Twitter). Stein reports that Emeka Okafor will head to Phoenix in the deal, while Shannon Brown and Kendall Marshall will join Gortat en route to Washington (Twitter link).
Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com fills in a couple more details, tweeting that the Suns will acquire a protected 2014 first-rounder, while Malcolm Lee will also head to Washington. According to Goodman (via Twitter), the first-round pick acquired by Phoenix will be top-12 protected in ’14. The Suns now hold the Pacers’, Wolves’, and Wizards’ first-round picks, in addition to their own.
For the Wizards, the move will provide more scoring punch in the frontcourt, not to mention a healthier center — Okafor is out indefinitely with a herniated disc, whereas Gortat can be plugged into the lineup immediately. Brown, Marshall and Lee appear to be salary throw-ins, as Michael Lee of the Washington Post tweets that they aren’t expected to stick in Washington.
By reaching an agreement before the season begins, the Wizards will be able to complete the four-for-one trade without waiving three players already on their roster. Once Washington finalizes the deal, it will have 18 players on guaranteed contracts, three of which will need to be dropped before opening night, and it looks like the three extra players in this swap are the prime candidates.
All five players involved in the trade are essentially on expiring contracts. Only Marshall has years on his deal beyond 2013/14, but the final two years on his contract are team options, which the Wizards could decline if they so choose.
For the Suns, the deal clears up their roster logjam. Phoenix had 17 players with full or partial guarantees, but now will be carrying just 14 players, giving the club the option of adding another free agent.
The salaries going in both directions nearly match up exactly, so neither team gains a significant amount of cap relief in the deal, but the Wizards should save about $370K in the move. Considering the team had less than $1MM in breathing room before hitting the tax line, that extra flexibility could come in handy by season’s end. Washington also should create a small trade exception in the transaction which, by my calculations, will be worth about $1.25MM.
Warriors Pick Up ’14/15 Options On Thompson, Barnes, Ezeli
The Warriors have officially exercised their team options for 2014/15 on three players, according to a release from the team. The contracts for Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, and Festus Ezeli are all now guaranteed for the ’14/15 season.
For Thompson, it’s his fourth-year option, meaning he’ll be eligible for a contract extension next July. Barnes and Ezeli will be entering their third season, so the Warriors will hold one more team option on both players for 2015/16. Thompson and Barnes will earn a little over $3MM in ’14/15, while Ezeli’s guaranteed salary will be about $1.11MM.
For the latest updates on rookie contract option decisions, check out our tracker right here.
T-Wolves Cut Othyus Jeffers, Lorenzo Brown
The Timberwolves have made a pair of roster cuts, releasing Othyus Jeffers and Lorenzo Brown, according to the club (via Twitter). Minnesota will still need to make at least one more move, as the team is now carrying 16 players.
Jeffers, who appeared in 31 total games for the Jazz, Spurs, and Wizards from 2010 to 2011, averaged 14.7 PPG and 5.4 RPG in 33 contests for the D-League’s Iowa Energy last season before inking a camp deal with the T-Wolves this fall. Brown, a point guard out of North Carolina State, was selected 52nd overall this past June by the Wolves. Minnesota will no longer hold his NBA rights, but could protect his D-League rights for the Energy. Both players were believed to be on fully non-guaranteed contracts.
As Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune tweets, A.J. Price, Robbie Hummel, and Chris Johnson remain on the roster bubble. Price looks like a good bet to earn a regular season roster spot, so the decision may come down to Hummel and his non-guaranteed contract vs. Johnson’s guaranteed minimum salary deal.
Spurs Sign Josh Howard
1:17pm: The Spurs have officially signed Howard, the team announced in a press release.
12:34pm: While most NBA teams are spending the day shedding players from their rosters, the Spurs will increase their roster count by one. According to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News, the club has reached an agreement to sign Josh Howard to a non-guaranteed contract.
McDonald writes that the deal is expected to be finalized later today, but Howard’s stint on the Spurs’ roster may not last long. According to the Express-News report, it looks as if Howard may be released in order to sign a D-League contract. The Spurs would then hold his D-League rights, allowing them to monitor the veteran forward’s progress with the Austin Toros as he recovers from a knee injury. It’s not clear yet whether Howard has agreed to such a plan, but if he’s quickly cut by the Spurs, he’d still be free to sign with any NBA team, even if he’s playing for the Toros.
The Timberwolves signed Howard a couple weeks into the 2012/13 season in order to provide depth on an injury-ravaged roster. However, the 33-year-old fell victim to that injury bug himself about a month later, suffering a torn ACL which required season-ending surgery. Prior to going down, Howard averaged 6.7 PPG and 3.3 RPG in 11 contests for Minnesota.
San Antonio had been carrying 14 players on its roster, so the club won’t have to waive anyone to clear room for Howard.
Knicks Waive Five Players
12:50pm: The Knicks have officially released C.J. Leslie, Josh Powell, and Ike Diogu, as well as Chris Douglas-Roberts and Jeremy Tyler, according to the team (Twitter link). So Chris Smith, Toure Murry, and Cole Aldrich have snagged the three open roster spots.
Tyler’s deal reportedly included a $100K guarantee, so the Knicks will owe both him and Leslie some money.
12:22pm: The Knicks have also cut Leslie, according to Zwerling (via Twitter). While the move had been telegraphed over the last few days, it’s still somewhat surprising, since nearly half of the rookie’s first-year salary was guaranteed.
Zwerling adds that Aldrich appears to have locked up a roster spot, meaning Smith, Tyler, and Murry are likely vying for the final two openings.
11:16am: The Knicks have begun to trim their roster down from the 20-man preseason maximum, according to Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report, who tweets that the club has released Josh Powell and Ike Diogu. The pair of cuts leaves New York with 18 players under contract, so three more will need to be released by Monday.
Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork, Al Iannazzone of Newsday, and Zwerling all hear that the Knicks are going young with their last few open roster spots. According to both Begley and Iannazzone (Twitter links), Toure Murry, Chris Smith, and Jeremy Tyler are likely to make the regular season roster. Presumably, that would mean that the Knicks would waive Cole Aldrich, C.J. Leslie, and Chris Douglas-Roberts, though Begley adds (via Twitter) that it’s not clear if the club will be making all its moves today.
As for Powell and Diogu, neither player appeared in an regular season NBA game in 2012/13, but they earned camp invites from the Knicks after working out for the team this fall. New York won’t be on the hook for any salary for either player, since they were on non-guaranteed contracts.
Cavs Waive DeSagana Diop, Three Others
The Cavaliers appear to have finalized their roster for opening night, having released four players to reduce their roster count to 15 players. The team announced today in a press release that it has waived DeSagana Diop, Kenny Kadji, Jermaine Taylor, and Elliot Williams.
The roster decisions aren’t a huge surprise for the Cavs, who were expected to hang on to camp invitees Henry Sims and Matthew Dellavedova. Diop, Kadji, Taylor, and Williams were all believed to be on fully non-guaranteed contracts, so they won’t affect Cleveland’s books at all this season.