Hawks Release Royal Ivey
The Hawks have waived veteran guard Royal Ivey, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). The move reduces Atlanta’s roster to 16 players, so at least one more cut is still on the way.
Earlier this week, Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio noted that the Hawks were expected to keep just one of Ivey and Shelvin Mack as their third point guard, but that the player who was released was likely to catch on with another club. That could be good news for Ivey, who has played in the NBA every year dating back to his debut in 2004.
The Hawks only have 12 players on fully guaranteed contracts, so it remains to be seen how many players they’ll carry into opening night. Mike Scott looks like a good bet to be the 13th man, and Mack is presumably safe, but Eric Dawson and Cartier Martin remain on the bubble.
Warriors Waive Alexander, Dedmon, Seth Curry
The Warriors have prepared their roster for opening night by making three cuts, according to a release from the team. The club announced that it has released Joe Alexander, Dewayne Dedmon, and Seth Curry, reducing its roster to 14 players.
While Alexander and Curry were expected to be waived, the release of Dedmon comes as a bit of a surprise, on the heels of coach Mark Jackson‘s positive comments about the big man. Following the three cuts, Golden State is now carrying 14 players, including 13 on fully guaranteed contracts — Kent Bazemore‘s deal isn’t guaranteed, but it looks like his roster spot is safe.
Dedmon averaged 3.4 PPG and 4.0 RPG in five preseason games, while Curry, Stephen Curry‘s younger brother, averaged 2.2 PPG in six preseason contests. Alexander, a 2008 lottery pick, was unable to participate in any game action this month due to a tibial stress reaction in his left leg.
Curry reportedly had a $75K guarantee on his contract, while Dedmon’s deal was guaranteed for $25K, so the Warriors will be on the hook for those amounts. Both players, along with Alexander, are expected to land with Golden State’s D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, according to Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group.
Thunder Cut Diante Garrett, Rodney McGruder
The Thunder have released camp invitees Diante Garrett and Rodney McGruder, the team announced today in a press release. The move reduces Oklahoma City’s roster count to 14 players, meaning the team doesn’t have to make additional cuts before opening night.
Garrett and McGruder signed camp deals with the Thunder last month, with no guaranteed money believed to be included in either player’s contract. Garrett, 24, 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. McGruder, meanwhile, averaged 15.6 PPG last season in his senior year at Kansas State. The 6’4″ guard went undrafted in June before playing for the Bobcats’ Summer League squad in July.
Of the Thunder’s 14 remaining players, 12 are on fully guaranteed deals, while Hasheem Thabeet and Ryan Gomes have partial guarantees.
Sixers Release Wyatt, Koshwal, Blue, White
6:14pm: Bob Cooney of the Daily News and Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times report that Vander Blue and Royce White have also been released (Twitter links). Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer says there’s a chance that Blue, White, Wyatt, and Koshwal could be signed to Philadelphia’s D-League affiliate, the Delaware 87ers, if they clear waivers.
4:04pm: With at least five cuts to make by opening night, the Sixers began trimming down their roster today. Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the team has waived Khalif Wyatt and Mac Koshwal, leaving 18 players still under contract.
Wyatt, a 6’4″ guard out of Temple, joined the Sixers’ Summer League team after going undrafted in June, then inked a camp deal with the team that reportedly included a partial guarantee. Koshwal, a 6’10” forward/center, received a camp invite from Philadelphia after finishing last season with the PBL’s Rochester Razorsharks, as our international tracker shows.
Wyatt’s release could be good news for Vander Blue, since coach Brett Brown recently suggested the two players may have been vying for a single roster spot. It will also give Wyatt a chance to latch on with another team — Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News hears from a scout that there’s some interest in the 22-year-old (Twitter link).
The Sixers will need to release at least three more players by opening night to get down to the regular season maximum of 15 players.
Raptors Exercise Team Options On Valanciunas, Ross
As per the team’s official PR Twitter account, the Raptors have exercised their third-year team options on center Jonas Valanciunas and swingman Terrence Ross, essentially guaranteeing their contracts through 2014/15. Though the terms of the deal were not officially released, Valanciunas and Ross are expected to earn roughly $3.7MM and $2.8MM respectively during that season.
The 6’11 Valanciunas, who averaged 8.9 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.3 BPG, and shooting 55.7% from the field in 24 minutes per contest in 2012/13, is arguably primed for a breakout season after winning the MVP award of the Las Vegas Summer League this year and some strong public support given by head coach Dwane Casey back in July:
“(The offense) will change quite a bit because (Jonas) has developed into the type of player that we can go to on a consistent basis far more than we did last year…He’s done a good job this summer not only scoring out of the low post, but of reading defences, understanding when to pass, when to score, when to attack…He’s going to get his big portion of the offence run through him, around him, not only just to score out of the low post, but to quarterback” (Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun).
As for Ross, who averaged 6.4 PPG in 17.0 MPG last year, there should be ample opportunities to continue to develop and see floor time, as he eventually became a trusted crunch-time defender in coach Casey’s rotation midway through last season. Through 7 pre-season games, Ross has come off the bench and emerged as the team’s third leading scorer, averaging 12,0 PPG in 21.0 MPG. The next step, according to Casey, is consistency:
“(He’s shown) that he can score the basketball, he can defend, but his key thing, like I’ve always said, is consistency, doing it over a long period of time…Youth is part of that, understanding what it takes to be an NBA player each and every night. It’s a grind, it’s a marathon — not a sprint. It’s not what you did on the last play, it’s what you do on the next play. He’s got to learn.”
Both Ross and Valanciunas will be eligible for fourth-year team options in 2015/16, and considering how much the Raptors appear to be committed to their development, it probably wasn’t likely that the two would have made it past this year’s deadline without having their options picked up.
Wizards Waive Silas, Childress, Mensah-Bonsu
5:07pm: The Wizards announce that they’ve also waived Childress and Mensah-Bonsu in addition to Silas (Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today via Twitter). The roster now stands at 15.
4:46pm: While the news has yet to be confirmed by the team, Xavier Silas has been released by the Wizards, according to an update on his Instagram account. J. Michael of CSNWashington.com reported last night that Washington was expected to cut Silas, Josh Childress, and Pops Mensah-Bonsu, so perhaps when the team makes an official announcement, it’ll include word on all three players.
Silas, 25, went undrafted out of Northern Illinois in 2011 after averaging 22.3 PPG in his senior year. Since then, he has had played overseas and in the D-League, and briefly saw NBA action for the Sixers during the 2011/12 season, appearing in two games for Philadelphia. As Silas noted in his Instagram update and as Michael Lee of the Washington Post detailed, the 6’5″ guard was impressive in his brief preseason audition with the Wizards, scoring 12 points in just 10 minutes.
Releasing Silas reduces Washington’s roster count to 17, while cutting Childress and Mensah-Bonsu as well would ensure that the team’s roster is regular-season-ready.
Kings Waive Trent Lockett
Sacramento has become the latest team to pare its roster down to 15 players, with the Kings announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived Trent Lockett. Lockett had a $35K guarantee on his deal, so the team will be on the hook for that amount.
Lockett, a 6’5″ shooting guard, played for Sacramento’s Summer League team after going undrafted in June out of Marquette. After recording 7.0 PPG in five Summer League games, he appeared in just two preseason contests with the Kings, scoring four total points. The guarantee on his contract was set to increase to $100K if he had earned a spot on the opening night roster, but he’ll likely end up with the D-League’s Reno Bighorns instead, according to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee (via Twitter).
With 15 players now on the roster, the Kings don’t necessarily have to make any more moves before the regular season gets underway. If the club stands pat, it would mean that Hamady N’Diaye, who is on a non-guaranteed deal, would be Sacramento’s 15th man.
Suns Waive James Nunnally
The Suns have waived camp invitee James Nunnally, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter). Nunnally represented the most obvious cut on the team’s roster, since he was the only player on a fully non-guaranteed contract.
Nunnally played for the Suns’ D-League affiliate, the Bakersfield Jam, last season, averaging 10.3 PPG in 49 contests. The 23-year-old also joined the Heat’s Summer League squad this July before eventually signing a camp deal with Phoenix.
With Nunnally no longer on their books, the Suns are down to 17 players, meaning they’ll have to cut at least two more before opening night. Phoenix is carrying 16 players on fully guaranteed contracts, along with Dionte Christmas on a partially guaranteed deal, so in all likelihood the team will have to eat some salary in order to get down to 15 players.
Celtics Release Sims, Taylor, Bell-Holter
The Celtics have trimmed their roster to 15 players, according to Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe, who tweets that the team has released camp invitees DeShawn Sims, Kammron Taylor, and Damen Bell-Holter. All three players were on fully non-guaranteed contracts and won’t count against the team’s cap.
We heard last night that the Celtics intend to carry a 14-man roster into the season, preferring to keep one spot open rather than filling it with a non-guaranteed player. So while Chris Babb, the team’s final non-guaranteed camp invitee, remains under contract for now, he’ll likely be waived as well within the next few days.
Sims, Taylor, and Bell-Holter are all candidates to land with the Celtics’ D-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.
International Updates: Williams, Thornton, Bremer
NBA teams are in the process of finalizing their rosters in advance of the regular season, and many clubs in other leagues around the world find themselves in the same boat. As such, we’ve got a few notable international signings to pass along today….
- Since Terrence Williams was cut by the Celtics in June, the only report we’ve heard on him involved a change in representation. Several months later, Williams has changed agents yet again, and has also signed with a team in Turkey. Guido Guida of Gazzetta dello Sport tweets the details on Williams’ change in agencies, while Obrad Fimic of Alti Sport confirms (via Twitter) that his new client has signed with Turk Telekom.
- Emiliano Carchia of Sportando passes along a tweet from Evan Wang indicating that former NBA lottery pick Al Thornton has signed with China’s Xinjiang Flying Tigers. Thornton, who spent four NBA seasons with the Clippers, Wizards, and Warriors, also played briefly in China last season, averaging 27.4 PPG and 9.5 RPG for the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions.
- J.R. Bremer, who appeared in 100 NBA games with the Celtics, Cavs, and Warriors, has signed with Gaziantep in Turkey, the team announced on Twitter (English translation via Sportando). As our international player movement tracker shows, Bremer finished last season with Italy’s EA7 Milano.