Hawks Reach Agreement With Damien Wilkins
Over two years removed from his last action for the Hawks, Damien Wilkins is set to rejoin the team, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Charania reports (via Twitter) that the Hawks have reached an agreement with Wilkins on a training camp contract.
Wilkins, 33, had a solid season off the Sixers bench in 2012/13, appearing in 61 games and recorded 6.4 PPG to go along with a 12.5 PER. Both marks were the highest he'd posted since his days with the Seattle SuperSonics. Nearly a week ago, we heard that Wilkins had been working out with the Hawks in Atlanta, and that he had worked out for the Spurs as well.
Earlier today, it was reported that the Hawks will bring Royal Ivey into camp next month, so it seems the club is targeting veteran NBA free agents with its latest camp invites, rather than undrafted rookies or players from overseas. With Ivey and Wilkins on board, Atlanta's roster count will be up to 18 players, though only 12 of them have fully guaranteed contracts.
Royal Ivey To Join Hawks For Camp
Despite never averaging more than 5.6 PPG or higher than an 11.0 PER, Royal Ivey has appeared in at least 25 games in every NBA season since he was drafted in 2004. He'll have a chance to try to earn a roster spot and continue that streak this fall, as he joins the Hawks for training camp, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (via Twitter).
Ivey, 31, appeared in 53 games for the Sixers last season, averaging 13.2 minutes per contest. The former second-round pick recorded 3.2 PPG, with most of his points coming from long-range — he shot 42.0% on three-pointers, scoring about 65% of his points from downtown.
We heard back in August that Ivey was set to work out for the Hawks, but Atlanta wasn't the only team to exhibit some interest in the veteran guard. The Spurs also reportedly worked him out, and Ivey drew interest from the Suns and Bucks as well.
Of those four teams, the Hawks have the fewest fully guaranteed contracts on their books, with just 12 so far. That should give Ivey an opening to earn a regular-season roster spot, though he'll have some competition. Shelvin Mack, David Lighty, and Eric Dawson all have non-guaranteed deals, while Mike Scott has a partial guarantee on his contract.
Grizzlies To Bring Tony Gaffney To Camp
The Grizzlies will add another contract to their books and bring Tony Gaffney to training camp, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter). Stein doesn't specify the details of the deal, but it sounds as if Gaffney will get a fully non-guaranteed camp invite, with a chance to earn a regular-season roster spot.
Gaffney, 28, went undrafted out of UMass in 2009, and has played primarily overseas since then. As our international tracker shows, he was already set to play for Telekom Bonn in Germany this season, but Stein tweets that the deal included an NBA out, allowing the veteran forward to accept a camp invite. In 23 games for Italy's Joventut Badalona last season, Gaffney averaged 11.5 PPG and 5.9 RPG.
After adding Gaffney to the roster, the Grizzlies will be carrying 16 players. However, only 13 of those contracts are guaranteed. Josh Akognon, Willie Reed, and Gaffney will be given the chance to compete for a roster spot in camp, assuming the team intends to carry 14 or 15 players into the season.
Olek Czyz To Attend Camp With Bucks
Olek Czyz will attend training camp with the Bucks next month, according to an announcement on the player's official website (hat tip to Sportando). As our international tracker shows, Czyz spent last season with Virtus Roma in Italy.
Playing for a Virtus Roma team that also included Gigi Datome, who signed with the Pistons this summer, Czyz appeared in 48 games last season, averaging 5.6 PPG and 3.7 RPG in just 14.5 minutes per contest. The 6'8" forward becomes the third Bucks camp invitee to be reported this week, as the club is set to bring in Trey McKinney Jones and Junior Cadougan as well.
The Bucks already have 15 players on guaranteed contracts, so their camp invitees won't have a great shot to make the regular-season roster. It's possible that Milwaukee is looking to retain the D-League rights to a few players, but the Bucks share their affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, with five other NBA teams, so their control over the D-League squad is limited.
Donte Greene Waived By C’s, Will Sign In China
WEDNESDAY, 7:45am: The Chinese team expected to sign Greene is the Dongguan Leopards, according to HoopsHype (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 3:06pm: The Celtics have officially waived Greene, the team announced today in a press release.
10:58am: A little over a month after they acquired him, the Celtics will waive Donte Greene, agent Chris Grier Luchey tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Twitter link). According to Luchey, Greene has a deal lined up with a club in China, which can be finalized once his release from the C's is official.
The swap that sent Greene to Boston and Fab Melo to Memphis was one of the more unusual trades of the summer, since Melo was also released by the Grizzlies following the deal. The Celtics included more than enough cash to cover Melo's $1.31MM salary in the trade, but the money they sent to the Grizz doesn't count for cap or tax purposes. Greene's salary, meanwhile, is non-guaranteed, so Boston won't be on the hook for any of it once the move is official, and should slip below the tax line in the process.
By waiving Greene, the C's will reduce their roster count to 18 players, including 14 on guaranteed contracts. For Greene, it won't be the first time he signs to play international ball. Before he reached an agreement with the Grizzlies last season, the 25-year-old forward briefly spent time with Atleticos de San German in Puerto Rico.
James White Signs In Italy
Just one year removed from playing for the Knicks, James White has reached an agreement with Reggio Emilia, a professional team in Italy, according to a tweet from Bleacher Report's Jared Zwerling.
Best known for his high flying aerial routine, which led to an appearance in the NBA Slam Dunk contest during last year's All-Star weekend, the 30-year-old White averaged 2.2 PPG in 57 appearances. He spent the previous two years playing in Italy, and was in Russia the year before that.
For more international moves, check out our international player movement tracker.
International Moves: Aminu, Summers, Head
Hoops Rumors' international player movement tracker continues to be added to daily by Mark Porcaro of Secret Rival, who updated more than two dozen entries today. As we've mentioned before, we won't pass along word of every single one of these international moves in posts on the site itself, but here are a few of the latest NBA-relevant signings:
- Alade Aminu, the older brother of Pelicans forward Al-Farouq Aminu, has agreed to terms with Italian club Enel Brindisi, a source told Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
- The Wollongong Hawks, of Australia's National Basketball League, have announced the signing of Durrell Summers, according to the team's website. Summers played for the D-League's Idaho Stampede last season, averaging 16.0 PPG in 50 games with the team.
- Illinois product and former first-round pick Luther Head is headed to Spain for the coming season, agreeing to sign with CB Valladolid (link via Sportando). As our tracker shows, Head, who last played in the NBA with the Kings in 2010/11, finished last season with the D-League's Texas Legends.
Jared Jeffries To Join Nuggets’ Front Office
After 11 seasons in the NBA, Jared Jeffries is transitioning from his playing career into an executive role, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who reports that Jeffries has accepted a front office job with the Nuggets. The 31-year-old will begin in a scouting role, a source tells Wojnarowski.
Last summer, Jeffries was part of the sign-and-trade deal that sent Raymond Felton from the Blazers to the Knicks. While sign-and-trade rules dictated that he had to sign for at least three years, only the first year of his contract was guaranteed, so Portland released him at season's end. Since then, we haven't heard any rumors connecting him to NBA teams, so it makes some sense that he would pursue an off-court position, even at age 31.
As Wojnarowski notes, Jeffries has a strong history with new Nuggets GM Tim Connelly. Jeffries played for the Wizards for the first four seasons of his career, from 2002 to 2006, when Connelly was in Washington's front office.
While the Yahoo! report doesn't technically mention retirement, it appears unlikely that the versatile veteran will return to the court for an NBA team. Assuming Jeffries has played his last game, he'll finish with averages of 4.8 PPG and 4.1 RPG in 629 career contests for the Wizards, Knicks, Rockets, and Blazers. According to Basketball-Reference, he earned a little over $40MM over the course of his NBA career.
Troy Daniels To Camp With Bobcats
Former VCU guard Troy Daniels has accepted a training camp invite from the Bobcats, a source tells Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report (Twitter). Contrary to a previous report, Daniels did not agree to a deal with Charlotte in late June.
Daniels averaged 12.3 PPG and shot 40.3% on three-pointers in his final season with the Rams. The guard auditioned for the Jazz and Pacers in June but wound up going undrafted. Daniels will be joined in camp by former lottery pick Patrick O’Bryant.
Patrick O’Bryant To Camp With Bobcats
The Bobcats have added another experienced NBA veteran to their training camp mix this fall. Sources close to the situation tell Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (on Twitter) that Patrick O'Bryant will be in camp with Charlotte.
O'Bryant made it known back in July that he was seeking an NBA opportunity but he wasn't getting any bites at that stage of the offseason. The ninth overall pick in the 2006 Draft, who last appeared in the NBA with the Raptors in 2009/10, was only getting interest from overseas teams at the time. Now, he'll at least have a puncher's chance of getting a job in the Association this year.
The 27-year-old spent last season with Lithuania's Lietuvos Rytas. In parts of four NBA seasons, the big man averaged 2.1 PPG and 1.4 RPG for the Warriors, Celtics, and Raptors.