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Jazz Sign Ian Clark

July 29th, 2013 at 3:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 29TH: The Jazz have officially signed Clark, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 24TH: The Jazz have agreed to sign Las Vegas Summer League title game MVP Ian Clark, agent Bill Duffy tells USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt (Twitter link). It's a two-year deal with a team option on the final season. Zillgitt reported yesterday that the Jazz, as well as the Warriors and Trail Blazers, had their eye on Clark after his 33-point performance for Golden State in Monday's Vegas summer league championship game.

Clark averaged 12.4 points on 48.5% shooting from behind the arc for the Warriors in Las Vegas, while putting up 16.4 PPG and 42.9% three-point shooting for the Heat's team in the Orlando Summer League. The Heat wanted to have him on their Vegas team, too, but the Warriors scooped him up, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Twitter link).

The accuracy was no fluke for the 6'3" shooting guard, who knocked down 42.6% of his three-point attempts in four years at Belmont. Still, he went undrafted, and he used the summer leagues to boost his stock. Clark probably won't earn much more than the minimum, but the Jazz still have some cap space available, so perhaps they simply outbid his other suitors.

Rockets Sign Marcus Camby

July 29th, 2013 at 12:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

MONDAY, 12:50pm: The Rockets have officially signed Camby, the team announced today in a press release.

SUNDAY, 12:23pm: Camby will sign for one year at the minimum salary, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).

11:59am: The Rockets will sign Marcus Camby today, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston reported just moments earlier that the move was expected to take place (Twitter link). Camby already passed a physical with Rockets team doctors, and agent Rick Kaplan recently told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle that the Rockets were at the top of Camby's list of suitors.

Camby, a resident of nearby Pearland, Texas, had a desire to play at home and with a contender, Feigen tweets, giving the Rockets the edge over the Bulls and Heat, the other leading candidates for the 39-year-old. The Bulls appear to be the first runner-up, as talks between Camby and Chicago were reportedly going "extremely well" on Friday. The Heat's interest appeared to be on the wane.

The 17-year veteran will probably receive a minimum-salary deal, though the capped-out Rockets have their full $2.652MM room exception available. Camby has had one prior stint with the Rockets, who acquired him at the trade deadline in 2012 before participating in a sign-and-trade last summer with the Knicks. Camby inked a three-year, $13.151MM contract to go to New York, but injuries kept him from living up to it, limiting him to just 42 points in 24 games this past season.

The Knicks shipped him to the Raptors in the Andrea Bargnani trade this month, and Toronto accepted Camby's request that they buy him out. The Raptors reportedly recouped $2MM of the guaranteed portion of Camby's deal.

Hawks Claim Gustavo Ayon

July 29th, 2013 at 9:10am CST by Zachary Links

MONDAY, 9:10am: The Hawks have confirmed the move in a press release.

SUNDAY, 7:02pm: The Hawks have claimed Gustavo Ayon off of waivers, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM. Ayon tipped the signing earlier in the afternoon, writing "Go Atlanta Hawks" on his Facebook page earlier in the afternoon.

The Bucks released Ayon on Thursday due to their glut in the frontcourt, but the 6'10" big man received heavy interest due to his inside presence and affordable $1.5MM contract. Ayon is expected to get a fair trial to earn a spot in a Hawks rotation that has lacked a young, developing center alongside Al Horford, Charania writes. The 28-year-old has averaged 4.8 PPG and 4.3 RPG in two NBA seasons for three different clubs.

Pacers Acquire Luis Scola From Suns

July 27th, 2013 at 2:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:31pm: The Suns have also confirmed that the trade is official, via their website.

2:06pm: The Pacers have announced the trade in a press release.

"I’m very, very excited to play for the Pacers," Scola said, as part of the Pacers statement. "They are one of the top three teams in the NBA with a good shot to win a championship. I think it’s a great team and this is a great opportunity. I can’t wait."

1:39pm: The Pacers and Suns have reached an agreement on a trade that sends Luis Scola to Indiana, tweets USA Today's Sam Amick. Paul Coro notes that the framework of the deal, reported earlier by Amick and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, will send Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee and Indiana's lottery-protected 2014 first-round draft pick to Phoenix in exchange for Scola (Twitter link).

The move strengthens the Pacers as they attempt to overcome the Heat, who've knocked them out of the playoffs the past two seasons. Scola will be of particular help on the offensive end, where he's a career 14.2 points-per-game scorer, and he'll improve a second-unit that lagged far behind Indiana's starting lineup last season. The Suns claimed him off amnesty waivers from the Rockets last summer, and the inexpensive bid helped faciliate the deal with Indiana. Scola will make more than $4.5MM this year, with a non-guaranteed $4.868MM in 2014/15.

Suns GM Ryan McDonough reunites with Green, whom the Celtics drafted 18th overall in 2005, when McDonough was beginning to work his way up Boston's front office chain of command. Green will make $3.5MM this year and next as part of a three-year contract he signed with the Pacers last summer, before he wound up buried on coach Frank Vogel's bench. Plumlee, the 26th overall pick in 2012, was even farther down the Pacers depth chart, appearing in more D-League games (15) than NBA contests (14) last season.

The jewel of the deal for Phoenix appears to be the pick, which will almost certainly be at the back end of the first round. Still, the Suns are in line for three first-rounders in next year's talent-rich draft, including their own, as SB Nation's Paul Flannery points out (Twitter link). Sending the 33-year-old Scola out will allow the team to develop more of its young talent, and perhaps shave a few wins from its total, giving the team a better chance at the top overall pick.

Nuggets Re-Sign Timofey Mozgov

July 27th, 2013 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

SATURDAY, 2:02pm: The deal is official, according to the Nuggets website.

FRIDAY, 10:26am: The Nuggets and Timofey Mozgov have reached an agreement on a contract that will pay the restricted free agent $14MM over three years, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. According to Wojnarowski, the third year will be a team option, which likely means that salary is non-guaranteed.

Mozgov, 27, was sent to Denver by the Knicks in the blockbuster deal that landed Carmelo Anthony to New York. He has yet to log significant minutes in any of his three NBA seasons, and was behind Kosta Koufos and JaVale McGee at center for the Nuggets in 2012/13. However, with Koufos having been traded to Memphis, the door is open for Mozgov to earn more playing time going forward.

The Nuggets had long been expected to re-sign Mozgov, having begun negotiations with him on a multiyear deal shortly after the free agent period got underway. According to Wojnarowski, a few sign-and-trade scenarios were discussed, but both sides were ultimately committed to working out a new agreement that kept Mozgov in Denver. The seven-footer also reportedly drew interest from the Kings and Spurs.

When I examined Mozgov's free agent stock earlier in the year, I predicted that the Russian big man might be in line for a contract similar to Robin Lopez's three-year, $15MM+ deal. Mozgov is represented by ASM Sports, as our agency database shows.

Bucks Close To Signing Gary Neal

July 27th, 2013 at 8:40am CST by Zachary Links

The Bucks are close to finalizing a deal with free agent guard Gary Neal, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. (via Twitter). Sources tell Stein that Milwaukee took the lead after Neal's agent, David Bauman, broke off discussions with the Hawks.

The Bucks and Hawks were the leading pursuers of Neal after the Spurs withdrew their qualifying offer, which made Neal an unrestricted free agent. A deal is now expected to be completed today between Neal and Milwaukee.

Neal's one-year qualifying offer was worth about $1.12MM and would have allowed the Spurs to match any bids for him. The 28-year-old has posted nearly identical numbers in his three seasons in San Antonio, with his averages ranging from 9.5 to 9.9 PPG in 21.1 to 21.8 MPG. However, after posting a 41.9% three-point rate in each of his first two years, that mark fell to 35.5% in 2012/13.

Magic To Pick Up Options On Four Players

July 26th, 2013 at 4:39pm CST by Luke Adams

The Magic will exercise their 2014/15 options on Maurice Harkless, Andrew Nicholson, Nikola Vucevic, and Tobias Harris, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (via Twitter). For Harkless and Nicholson, the options are for their third years, while for Vucevic and Harris, they're fourth-year options.

Given the promise shown by Orlando's young players on rookie-scale contracts, none of these decisions comes as any surprise, and the moves may not become official for a while. The deadline to exercise team options on rookie-scale contracts is October 31st, so the Magic aren't in any rush. Still, Robbins says the moves could become formally completed prior to October 1st.

Picking up all four options will ensure that Vucevic (due $2.75MM in 2014/15), Harris ($2.38MM), Harkless ($1.89MM), and Nicholson ($1.55MM) will all remain under contract until at least the summer of 2015. In the 2014 offseason, the Magic will face decisions on fourth-year options for Harkless and Nicholson, and will have the opportunity to sign Vucevic and Harris to contract extensions.

Bucks Sign Miroslav Raduljica

July 26th, 2013 at 3:46pm CST by Luke Adams

3:46pm: Gardner is hearing that Raduljica's deal is for $3MM over two guaranteed seasons, with a third non-guaranteed year included as well (Twitter link).

12:01pm: A day after releasing one international big man, the Bucks have signed another. The team announced today (via Twitter) that it has signed Serbian free agent Miroslav Raduljica to a contract. According to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (via Twitter), it'll be a two-year deal.

Raduljica, 25, played last season for Ukraine's Azovmash Mariupol, averaging 14.2 PPG and 5.9 RPG in 53 Ukranian League contests, to go with 61.6% shooting from the floor. The seven-footer has also played professionally in Serbia, Turkey, and Germany.

Terms of the agreement aren't known, but the Bucks still have a solid chunk of cap space, so they'd be able to ink Radjuljica to a deal worth more than the minimum.

Mavericks Sign Wayne Ellington

July 26th, 2013 at 3:35pm CST by Michael Pina

JULY 26TH: The Mavericks have finally made the deal with Ellington official, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 9TH: Wayne Ellington has reached an agreement on a two-year, $5MM contract with the Mavericks, according to Yahoo! NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski.

His fourth team in five seasons, Ellington spent half of last year with the Grizzlies before getting traded to the Cavaliers. While in Cleveland, Ellington saw the most playing time of his career, running for 25.9MPG and averaging 10.4PPG.

With news earlier in the night that Mavericks free agent Anthony Morrow had signed a two-year deal with the Pelicans, it's probable that Dallas views Ellington as a replacement from the viewpoint that he can also shoot threes while providing more versatility with the ball.

Nuggets Sign Nate Robinson

July 26th, 2013 at 3:28pm CST by Luke Adams

FRIDAY, 3:28pm: The Nuggets have officially signed Robinson, the team announced today in a press release.

MONDAY, 2:47pm: The second year of Robinson's deal will be a player option, according to Amick. That will give the veteran point guard the chance to opt out in search of a larger or longer-term contract next summer.

2:26pm: The Nuggets and Nate Robinson have reached a contract agreement, reports Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post. According to Hochman, Robinson will ink a two-year deal with the Nuggets. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports and Sam Amick of USA Today reported earlier this afternoon that the two sides were moving toward an agreement.

According to Amick's previous update, the Nuggets were offering Robinson the bi-annual exception, since the team no longer has its mid-level exception, having used it to sign J.J. Hickson. Assuming Robinson signs for the full value of the BAE for two years, his deal would be worth about $2.02MM for the coming season, and $4.12MM in total.

Robinson appeared in all 82 regular season games for the Bulls last year, averaging 13.1 PPG and 4.4 APG in just 25.4 minutes per contest, good for a 17.4 PER. The Aaron Goodwin client also had some memorable performances in the playoffs, including scoring 34 points in a triple-overtime Bulls win against the Nets.

Once Robinson is locked up, the Nuggets will have three quality point guards on the roster, with Ty Lawson and Andre Miller also on board. At least one report earlier this month suggested the Nuggets were exploring trade options for Miller, so perhaps signing Robinson means the team will revisit that possibility.