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Celtics Waive Kris Joseph

July 15th, 2013 at 3:41pm CST by Luke Adams

One of the five players acquired by the Celtics in their trade with the Nets has already been released. The Celtics announced today in a press release that they've waived Kris Joseph.

For Joseph, it's the second time in the last year that he has been cut by the Celtics. The team drafted him in the second round of the 2012 draft, but elected to release him last season before his '12/13 contract became fully guaranteed. Boston is doing the same thing this year — Joseph's deal was set to start becoming guaranteed if he remained on the roster beyond August 1st.

Joseph, 24, had been a part of the Nets/Celtics blockbuster for salary-matching purposes. Assuming he isn't claimed on waivers, the former Syracuse forward figures to seek out a training camp invite with another NBA team for the fall. Failing that, he could return to the D-League, where he earned All-NBDL Second Team honors last season.

Lakers Sign Wesley Johnson

July 15th, 2013 at 3:30pm CST by Spencer Lund

MONDAY, 3:30pm: The Lakers have officially signed Johnson, the team announced today in a press release.

SUNDAY, 12:09am: The Lakers agreed to a one-year deal with shooting guard Wesley Johnson, tweets Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. The fourth pick in the 2010 draft signed for the veteran's minimum, which is about $916K for a player with Johnson's experience.

The 6'7" Johnson played for the Suns last season and averaged 8.0 PPG in 19.1 MPG. Johnson was drafted by the Timberwolves and played limited minutes with the Wolves through his first two seasons.

According to our Agency Database, Johnson is represented by Landmark Sports Agency, Inc. Bresnahan mentions, via Twitter, that Johnson's length allows him to play a little small forward as well as his more natural shooting guard position.

Grizzlies Re-Sign Jon Leuer

July 15th, 2013 at 1:30pm CST by Zachary Links

JULT 15TH: The Grizzlies' re-signing of Leuer is now official, tweets Tillery.

JULY 2ND: Right on the heels of their extension agreement with Tony Allen, the Grizzlies have agreed to re-sign Jon Leuer, according to Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). It'll be a three-year, $3MM deal, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The 6'10" forward is a client of Mark Bartelstein, according to the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.

Leuer came to the Grizzlies in a trade with the Cavs back in January that sent Wayne Ellington, Josh Selby, Marreese Speights, and a future first-round pick to Cleveland. The 6'10" forward has moved around quite a bit over the course of his young career.

After being drafted by the Bucks heading into the lockout year, he signed up to play in Germany, but came back in time for the start of the 2011/12 season. The 2012 Samuel Dalembert draft night deal brought him to the Rockets, who waived him shortly thereafter, paving the way for him to hook up with Cleveland.

Leuer has averaged 3.7 PPG in ten minutes per contest over the last two years.

Hawks Sign Elton Brand

July 15th, 2013 at 1:14pm CST by Luke Adams

1:14pm: The Hawks have formally announced Brand's signing in a press release, making it official. The veteran's one-year pact with the team will be worth $4MM, reports Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. While that's an increase over the $2.1MM Dallas paid him last season, it's a significant pay cut from the $18MM+ overall salary he was earning after being amnestied by the Sixers.

12:20pm: The Hawks have reached an agreement on a one-year deal with Elton Brand, agent David Falk tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. Terms of the contract have yet to be reported, but Brand figures to sign for a portion of Atlanta's cap space, rather than the minimum salary.

Brand, 34, is coming off a season with the Mavericks in which he established new career-lows in a number of categories, including PPG (7.2) and RPG (6.0). Still, he remained relatively efficient (15.2 PER), and Falk tells HoopsHype that he believes his client could play another four or five years.

The Mavs were believed to be in the hunt for Brand, who also drew interest from the Knicks, Lakers, and Cavs, among other teams. For the Hawks, the former first overall pick becomes the latest addition to a revamped frontcourt that lost Josh Smith and Zaza Pachulia, but has gained Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll.

Grizzlies Re-Sign Tony Allen

July 15th, 2013 at 1:05pm CST by Zachary Links

JULY 15TH: The Grizzlies have officially announced Allen's new deal in a press release.

JULY 2ND: The Grizzlies have reached agreement on a contract extension with Tony Allen, according to Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal (via Twitter). The deal will pay Allen $20MM over four years, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).

There were a number of teams gunning for Allen this summer, including the Nuggets, Mavericks, Knicks, Trail Blazers, Pacers, and Bucks. Allen's last contract paid him $9.45MM over three years, so this new deal gives the 31-year-old a solid raise coupled with security to take him through the 2016/17 season.

Allen has never been a tremendous scorer but he has blossomed into one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. The veteran made 79 starts for the Grizzlies last season and averaged 8.9 PPG with 4.6 RPG in 26.7 minutes per game, a career high.

Allen is represented by Raymond Brothers of I AM Sports, as shown in the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.

Kings Sign Carl Landry

July 15th, 2013 at 12:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 15TH, 12:58pm: The Kings have officially signed Landry, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 6TH, 3:35pm: The value of Landry's deal has yet to be finalized, but it will be between $26MM and $27MM, and it will likely include a player option as well, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.com.

3:23pm: Carl Landry will sign with the Kings, agent Mark Bartelstein tells TNT's David Aldridge (Twitter link). The power forward will get a four-year, $26MM package, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The 29-year-old had been in serious talks with the Clippers, but it appears they were outbid, as Marc Stein notes on Twitter, pegging the value of Landry's deal at $27MM. Either way, the Clippers were limited to their mid-level exception, and the Kings were willing to surpass that.

Landry spent last season with the Warriors, but declined his $4MM player option. He said his first priority was to re-sign with Golden State, and even though the W's recent moves appear to have enabled the team to have the flexibility to re-sign him and Jarrett Jack, the prospect of a tidy raise appears to have been too tempting for Landry.

The Blazers and Bucks appeared to be in the mix as well, and Landry expected a half dozen teams to pursue him. The former second-round pick averaged 10.8 points and a career-high 6.0 rebounds this past season, but his value has shown up better in advanced metrics, as his career PER is 17.7, well above average.

The Kings had been angling for more expensive targets this summer, but withdrew their four-year, $56MM offer to Andre Iguodala, and gave up on retaining Tyreke Evans, sending the restricted free agent out in a sign-and-trade that netted Greivis Vasquez. The team could use the money it's saved on another complementary piece to go along with Landry.

Rockets Sign Robert Covington, B.J. Young

July 15th, 2013 at 12:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

MONDAY, 12:11pm: The Rockets have officially announced the signings of both Covington and Young in a press release. Isaiah Canaan's signing was formally announced within the same release.

SUNDAY, 12:40pm: Robert Covington went undrafted out of Tennessee State last month, but he reportedly reached an agreement on a partially guaranteed two-year deal with the Rockets soon after the draft. It appears the deal has been finalized, as Covington tweets that he's signed his contract, and GM Daryl Morey also took to Twitter to welcome him to the team. Morey also welcomed former Arkansas point guard B.J. Young in the same tweet, though no official announcement has been made.

The 6'7" Covington averaged 17.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game as a senior last season for Tennessee State, which competes in the Ohio Valley Conference. The 22-year-old saw fewer minutes per outing for the Rockets summer league team in Orlando this past week, but he still managed 12.4 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 23.4 MPG.

The partial guarantee on Covington's deal is likely around $150K, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress noted when he broke the story of his agreement last month. Presumably, the full amount is equivalent to the minimum salary.

Pistons Sign Gigi Datome

July 15th, 2013 at 10:50am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 15TH, 10:50am: The Pistons have officially signed Datome, according to the team's official Twitter feed.

JULY 9TH, 10:54am: Datome's deal with the Pistons will be for two years and $3.5MM, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). That means he'll be signed using either cap space or a portion of the team's room exception.

10:42am: Italian forward Luigi "Gigi" Datome has announced via Facebook that he has decided to sign with the Pistons (hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). It's not clear what the terms of the agreement are, but Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press says the news is "legit," and suggests a two-year deal is likely (Twitter links). Here's Datome's Facebook post, converted to English via Google Translate, so there may be a few details lost in translation:

"I decided to become a player for the Detroit Pistons. I think it may be the right place for me to make a quantum leap in my career and to fulfill the dream of a lifetime. I am very excited to join the group of players in Detroit. I want to thank my family, the President Toti, all Virtus Roma and with it his fans for their continued support and wish to Virtus the best for the future."

Datome, 25, has spent the last several seasons playing for Virtus Roma in Italy. In 48 games during the 2012/13 season, the small forward averaged 16.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and shot 51.5% from the field, earning MVP honors in the Italian League.

Even after reaching agreements with Josh Smith and Will Bynum, the Pistons should still have some room under the cap, so I'd expect Datome to be signed using a portion of that space, rather than on a minimum-salary deal.

Pistons Re-Sign Will Bynum

July 15th, 2013 at 10:48am CST by Zachary Links

JULY 15TH: The Pistons have made the Bynum signing official, the club announced today on Twitter.

JULY 8TH: The Pistons are set to re-sign Will Bynum, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The deal is worth $5.75MM in total over two seasons, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com (via Twitter).

Earlier today, we learned that Detroit put an offer out to the point guard and it would appear that both sides decided to move quickly towards an agreement. The 30-year-old has spent the last five years of his career with the Pistons and is coming off of a season in which he averaged 9.8 PPG and 3.6 APG in 18.8 minutes per contest.

Detroit has been targeting a number of free agent point guards, including Bynum, Jose Calderon (who has signed with the Mavs), and Chauncey Billups. The Knicks were also eyeing Bynum, but they'll have to look elsewhere for a one guard.

Metta World Peace To Play In China?

July 14th, 2013 at 8:39pm CST by Zachary Links

8:39pm: Agent Marc Cornstein told Marc Berman of the New York Post (via Twitter) that he will meet with his client tonight to go over all of his options. Cornstein said that a meeting with the Knicks is possible, indicating that nothing is a done deal yet with the enigmatic forward.

7:16pm: Metta World Peace said that he is going to play in China next season in a text to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (via Twitter). Peace's desire to play in China was reported shortly after he was amnestied by the Lakers,

A source close to the forward told Chris Broussard of ESPN.com earlier today that World Peace's top preference was to join up with the Knicks with the Clippers as a distant second and China third on his wishlist. It now appears that Peace got a tremendous offer to play overseas or was throwing some misdirection to the media in advance of his decision.

World Peace was set to make $7.73MM in 2013/14 and carrying his salary on the books for 2013/14 would have carried major luxury tax implications. The veteran is, of course, known for his tenacious defense, but his play has declined considerably in Los Angeles in recent years. Last season, World Peace averaged 12.4 PPG with 5.0 RPG in 33.7 minutes per contest.