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Celtics Sign Vitor Faverani

July 22nd, 2013 at 4:17pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 22nd, 4:17pm: The Celtics announced the deal, making it official.

JULY 15th, 2:23pm: The Celtics have reached an agreement in principle on a three-year deal with Brazilian big man Vitor Faverani, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Talks between the two sides had been reported last week by TuBasket.com, though there were some questions about whether the C's would be able to negotiate a buyout.

Faverani, 25, has spent the last several seasons overseas, including the 2012/13 season with Valencia. In 23 Spanish League contests, Favenari averaged 9.3 PPG and 4.6 RPG while shooting 59.4%.

If the Celtics agreed to sign Faverani to a three-year deal, the team won't be able to use the minimum salary exception, even if not all three years are fully guaranteed. So it appears likely that the team will use a portion of its mid-level exception to complete the signing, though contract terms aren't yet known.

Cavs Sign Sergey Karasev

July 22nd, 2013 at 4:10pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cavs have signed first-round pick Sergey Karasev, according to Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer (via Twitter). The No. 19 overall selection will be introduced in a press conference tomorrow.

There was speculation that the Russian forward might spend the 2013/14 campaign overseas, but he'll be with Cleveland next season. Prior to the draft, Karasev was talking to teams in his native country and reportedly came away confident that he would go inside of the top 15 picks. Several teams were said to be zeroing in on him and the Cavs even thought about trading up to No. 13 to guarantee that they'd get him.

Raptors Sign D.J. Augustin

July 22nd, 2013 at 3:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 22ND: The Raptors have officially signed Augustin, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 17TH: D.J. Augustin and the Raptors have reached agreement on a one-year deal, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. He'll make $1.26MM, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).

Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun wrote today that he expected the Raptors to use the $2.15MM left on their mid-level exception rather than their $2.016MM biannual exception, but Augustin's deal would fit within either. Augustin will likely become the primary backup to point guard Kyle Lowry, since the team's deal with Julyan Stone appears to be off.

Augustin's name hasn't been mentioned frequently this month, as our rumors page on him doesn't show any entries since February, except for today's. The Pacers shopped him at the trade deadline, but couldn't find any takers for his expiring contract as he struggled through a disappointing season. The Thad Foucher client notched career lows in points (4.7) and assists (2.2) per game, as well as field goal percentage (35%). Perhaps in Toronto he'll be able to find the form he showed in 2010/11, when he started all 82 games for the Bobcats and put up 14.1 PPG and 6.1 APG against just 1.9 turnovers per contest.

John Lucas III Signs With Jazz

July 22nd, 2013 at 2:37pm CST by Zachary Links

JULY 22ND, 2:37pm: The Jazz have officially announced the signing of Lucas in a press release.

JULY 15TH, 4:05pm: Free agent point guard John Lucas III has informed his other suitors that he will sign with the Jazz, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The deal with Utah is set to be wrapped up sometime this week. Lucas is represented by Lee Basketball Services, according to the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.

Lucas spent last season with the Raptors where he averaged 5.3 PPG and 1.7 APG in 13.1 minutes per contest. Recently, we heard that Lucas was among the many point guards that the Knicks were considering this summer. Lucas has spent parts of five seasons in the Association with a three year intermission that took him through Spain and the D-League.

Grizzlies Acquire Nick Calathes From Mavs

July 22nd, 2013 at 11:06am CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies have officially acquired the rights to Nick Calathes from the Mavericks, Memphis announced today in a press release. ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported last night that the two sides were close to a deal.

According to the Grizzlies' press release, the 2016 second-round pick Memphis already owed the Mavs is now unprotected. It had previously been top-55 protected.

Calathes, a second-round pick in 2009, has spent the last several seasons playing overseas, most recently for Lokomotiv Kuban in Russia. The 24-year-old guard was named the 2012/13 EuroCup MVP after averaging 12.9 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 6.7 APG while shooting 52.1% in 17 contests during the EuroCup competition.

Stein's original story suggested that although Calathes is under contract with Lokomotiv Kazan for the coming season, he has an NBA out clause in his deal, and is hoping to make the jump to the Association sooner rather than later.

Bernard James Clears Waivers

July 21st, 2013 at 8:12pm CST by Zachary Links

Center Bernard James has cleared waivers, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The Mavs were forced to waive James for cap reasons, but today's news clears the way for him to re-sign with Dallas.

James is an athletic big man entering his second season in the league and is thought to have a decent amount of upside potential. With a salary less than $1MM, it seemed like there was a good chance of James being picked up by another club. One possible deterrent with James was that claiming him off of waivers would have meant guaranteeing his salary for 2013/14.

The 28-year-old center saw just 9.9 minutes per contest last season and averaged 2.8 PPG.

Atlantic Links: Stone, Knicks, White, Celtics

July 21st, 2013 at 12:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

The battle for the Atlantic Division title in 2013/14 figures to be an intra-city affair between the Knicks and Nets. The Raptors don't appear to be on their level, and the Celtics and Sixers have taken clear steps back, so while we await a Big Apple showdown, here's the latest from the Atlantic:

As part of his mailbag column, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star confirms the Raptors' deal with Julyan Stone is off. Smith suggested as much earlier this week. Stone, who was reportedly in line for $1.9MM over two years, failed his physical, and the club doesn't have any plans to rekindle negotiations with him.
Frank Isola of the New York Daily News has plenty of criticism for the Knicks front office, and notes that there's mutual displeasure between Iman Shumpert and the team. The report he references about owner James Dolan's desire to trade Shumpert was an off-the-record remark from Stephen A. Smith of ESPN.com that remains unsubstantiated, but it's clear that all is not rosy in Madison Square Garden.
James White, whom the Knicks waived last month, appears to have no shortage of overseas opportunities. Chinese league teams arranged for him to fly to Las Vegas so they could explore the possibility of signing him, and the 30-year-old swingman has also met with Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv, reports David Pick of One.co.il. (All Twitter links).
The Celtics' agreement to sign Phil Pressey could push Colton Iverson, the team's second-round draft pick last month, to play in Europe this season. Iverson's camp has indicated they're willing to accept a deal with an overseas team to help the C's save roster space, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes amid his weekly league roundup.

Mavericks To Waive Josh Akognon

July 21st, 2013 at 11:42am CST by Chuck Myron

The same need for salary cap room that forced the Mavs to waive Bernard James is prompting them to do the same with Josh Akognon, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Akognon, who spent most of last season in China, will have lucrative offers to return there, but he'd prefer to stay in the NBA, as Stein also tweets. The Mavs would like to give him the opportunity to do so with a training camp invitation if he clears waivers, Stein adds (Twitter link).

Akognon has been on a non-guaranteed minimum-salary deal with Dallas, who originally signed him to a 10-day contract in April. Any team can claim him off waivers and short-circuit the Mavs' plans of bringing him back on board, just as is the case with James. He's the leading scorer on the summer-league Mavs at 17.5 points per game, so there could well be interest from other NBA clubs. The 5'11" 27-year-old also lit up scoreboards in China, pouring in 29.0 PPG this past season and 28.2 in 2011/12.

The Dallas front office is trying to accomodate several deals they've already agreed upon with free agents this summer. As our Free Agent Tracker shows, Dallas has landed five new players this month, and the Mavs are still chasing Greg Oden. The agreements with Monta Ellis and Wayne Ellington haven't become official yet, so it appears the releases of James and Akognon are to make room for them.

Akognon is a client of the Alpha Basketball Agency, according to the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.

Mavericks Waive Bernard James

July 20th, 2013 at 12:06pm CST by Zachary Links

The Mavericks have waived Bernard James, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Dallas tried hard to avoid losing James but were forced to in order to create enough cap room to sign guard Monta Ellis.

Dallas hopes to re-sign James, but that could prove to be difficult as he is an athletic, blossoming big man who earns less than $1MM per season. The left-handed center saw just 9.9 minutes per contest last season and averaged 2.8 PPG. Despite his limited burn, rival teams see decent potential in the Florida State product.

Raptors Sign Tyler Hansbrough

July 20th, 2013 at 9:16am CST by Michael Pina

JULY 20TH, 9:16am: The first year of Hansbrough's deal in Toronto is worth $3.2MM while the non-guaranteed 2014/15 season could pay $3.32MM, according to Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld (via Twitter).

JULY 15TH, 2:49pm: The Raptors have officially signed Hansbrough, the team announced today (Twitter link).

JULY 12TH, 9:46am: The second year of Hansbrough's deal will be partially guaranteed, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com (via Twitter).

JULY 10TH, 9:58am: Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun tweets that Hansbrough will earn about $3MM in his first year with the Raptors, while Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld writes that the forward will earn roughly $3MM per season with Toronto. So it sounds like the deal will be worth in the ballpark of $6MM overall.

JULY 9TH, 7:44pm: Tyler Hansbrough has agreed to terms on a contract with the Raptors, according to a tweet from Yahoo! NBA reporter Marc J. Spears. Rumblings of a possible deal were first reported by ESPN.com's Marc Stein.

After spending the first four years of his career in Indiana, the Pacers rescinded Hansbrough's qualifying offer this summer so they could afford re-signing David West. Hansbrough is a career 42.7% shooter who averaged a career-worst 7.0 PPG last season.

Hansbrough's deal will be for two years, and will come out of the team's mid-level exception, according to the Toronto Sun's Ryan Wolstat.