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Trail Blazers Sign Allen Crabbe

July 10th, 2013 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams

2:45pm: Crabbe's deal is a three-year contract with a team option on the third year, tweets Joe Freeman of the Oregonian.

WEDNESDAY, 10:52am: Crabbe has officially signed with the Blazers, according to team owner Paul Allen (via Twitter).

TUESDAY, 4:23pm: Allen Crabbe will sign his contract with the Trail Blazers tonight, reports Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge (via Twitter). Because he was the first pick of the second round in the draft, Crabbe isn't eligible for a standard rookie-scale deal.

Crabbe, 21, was regarded as one of the better shooters in the draft, having averaged 18.4 PPG during his junior year at California. It's not clear how many years or dollars he and the Blazers have agreed to, but a minimum-salary contract is one possibility. If Crabbe receives more than the minimum, Portland can use either its cap space or a portion of its room exception for the deal.

Eric Bledsoe To Suns, Redick To Clippers

July 10th, 2013 at 2:13pm CST by Zachary Links

JULY 10TH: The Bucks have officially announced that the three-way deal has been finalized (Twitter link). Milwaukee will receive Toronto's 2014 second-round pick (via the Suns), and the Clippers' 2015 second-rounder, which is protected in '15 and '16, but unprotected in '17 (Twitter link). That Raptors pick also has some unusual protection, the details of which can be found at RealGM.com.

JULY 2ND: The Clippers, Bucks, and Suns have reached agreement on a three-team deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler will go to the Suns, Jared Dudley and J.J. Redick (sign-and-trade) will head to the Clippers and two second-round picks will be sent to the Bucks, according to sources. The Clippers and Suns will each kick in a second-rounder, tweets Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times.

Redick's brand new deal will pay him $27MM over the next four years, Wojnarowski (link) hears from sources. The shooting guard will also get a trade kicker in his contract, Wojnarowski tweets.

The Clippers were in the market for a shooter this summer and they get a tremendous one in the former Bucks guard. Redick averaged 14.1 PPG last season for the Bucks and Magic, though his downtown shooting dipped to 36.6% versus his 40% clip from the previous six seasons. It's also worth noting that Redick attempted 5.8 threes per game, versus 3.1 prior to 2012/13.

Bledsoe is a major acquisition for the recently-crowned GM Ryan McDonough. The 23-year-old guard will team up with No. 5 overall pick Alex Len for the Suns who are hoping to recover from a rough 2012/13 campaign. The Clippers were extremely high on Bledsoe and his potential, but even ardent supporter Chris Paul acknowledged earlier this year that he would likely be traded to fill a greater need. Bledsoe was stellar last season, averaging 8.5 PPG and 3.1 APG in 20.4 minutes per contest, serving primarily as Paul's understudy. Bledsoe's addition figured to change things for point guard Goran Dragic and may also effect last year's first-round pick Kendall Marshall.

The Suns also get Butler in the swap and they'll pay him $8MM in his upcoming walk year. The veteran averaged 10.4 PPG last season, his lowest mark since his sophomore campaign in 2003/04. He started all 78 games that he played in for the Clippers last season but played just 24.1 minutes per contest. One has to imagine that he'll see a good amount of burn for the rebuilding Suns.

Dudley started 50 games (79 played in total) for the struggling Suns last season, averaging 10.9 PPG and 3.1 RPG. The 6'7" forward has a reasonable contract as he earns $4.25MM in each of the next two seasons and can make the same amount in 2015/16 if he triggers his player option. While he's not the centerpiece of the deal for L.A., he can certainly be a valuable addition to their bench.

As for the Bucks, this deal is something of a head-scratcher. Milwaukee parted ways with Tobias Harris in a six-player deal to acquire Redick back in February and five months later, they have just two second-round picks to show for it.

Pelicans To Acquire Jrue Holiday For Noel, ’14 Pick

July 10th, 2013 at 2:08pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 10TH, 2:08pm: The trade between the Pelicans and Sixers is now official, according to Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com (via Twitter). However, Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News says (via Twitter) that it won't be finalized until at least tomorrow, since Holiday is on his honeymoon and is unavailable to complete the paperwork.

JUNE 28TH, 6:17pm: Sixers GM Sam Hinkie has confirmed that the 2014 first-rounder headed from New Orleans to Philadelphia is top-five protected, reports Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com (Twitter link).

1:07am: The deal won't become official until July 10th, tweets Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press. That makes sense, since the Pelicans won't have room to absorb Holiday's salary until their cap room becomes available in July.

JUNE 27TH, 7:52pm: Ford now tweets that the pick headed to Philadelphia is top-five protected for 2014, and ESPN.com's Marc Stein backs up the report (via Twitter).

7:33pm: ESPN.com's Chad Ford tweets that the 2014 first-rounder headed to Philadelphia is top-three protected, while TNT's David Aldridge tweets it's lottery-protected. Given Wojnarowski's assertion that the protection is "light," Ford's report makes more sense, but we'll have to wait for confirmation.

7:26pm: The Pelicans will also receive this year's 42nd overall pick from the Sixers in the deal, tweets Wojnarowski.

7:22pm: After unexpectedly snagging Nerlens Noel sixth overall, the Pelicans will send him to the 76ers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (all Twitter links). The Pelicans will receive Jrue Holiday and will also send a 2014 first-round pick in 2014 to Philadelphia, Wojnarowski reports, adding that the pick is expected to have "light protection" (Twitter link). Chris Broussard of ESPN.com first tweeted that Noel would be on the move.

Pacers Re-Sign David West To Three-Year Deal

July 10th, 2013 at 1:50pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 10TH, 1:50pm: The Pacers have officially re-signed West, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 2ND, 12:01pm: West and the Pacers have agreed to terms, according to TNT's David Aldridge, who says the deal will be worth slightly more than $36MM (Twitter link).

11:46am: The Pacers are working to finalize a three-year contract agreement to bring David West back to Indiana, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). In recent weeks, Pacers brass had frequently referred to West as the team's top offseason priority, and there appeared to be a mutual interest in a new deal.

West, who is represented by Octagon Sports, is coming off a two-year, $20MM deal with the Pacers, and will be in line for an increased annual salary after two successful seasons in Indiana. According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the two sides are discussing a three-year, $36MM pact, which figures to include a third-year player option.

West, who will turn 33 in August, averaged 17.1 PPG and 7.7 RPG to go along with a 20.1 PER in 2012/13, anchoring a Pacers team that pushed the Heat to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals this spring.

We heard yesterday that the Pacers don't plan to become a taxpaying team "for any reason." The team headed into July with about $50MM in salary commitments for 2013/14, so assuming the club finalizes a deal with West that will pay him $11MM+ next season, and agreed to a modest salary for C.J. Watson (perhaps in the neighborhood of $2MM), the club should have about $7-8MM in wiggle room below the tax line.

Bobcats Amnesty Tyrus Thomas

July 10th, 2013 at 1:06pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 10TH: The Bobcats have officially amnestied Thomas, according to Bonnell (via Twitter).

JULY 4TH: The Bobcats will amnesty Tyrus Thomas' contract in order to make room to sign Al Jefferson, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. As I noted in our story on the Jefferson signing, since cap holds for Gerald Henderson and Cody Zeller ensure the Bobcats only have about $10MM in cap space, amnestying Thomas will create the necessary room to bring Jefferson aboard.

NBA teams will have the opportunity to amnesty players during the seven-day period beginning on July 10th, so the move won't become official until at least next week. When it's finalized, the Bobcats will eliminate Thomas' $8.69MM salary for 2013/14 and his $9.39MM salary for 2014/15 from their books. Charlotte will still have to pay Thomas all or most of that money, depending on whether he's picked up by another team, but the Bobcats will no longer take the cap hit.

Charlotte is one of 15 NBA teams that has yet to use its amnesty provision under the new CBA. While the Pelicans don't have any amnesty-eligible players left on their roster, 13 other clubs will still have the opportunity to use the amnesty clause starting next Wednesday. For the Bobcats, Thomas was the only player on the roster still eligible to be amnestied.

Bobcats Sign Al Jefferson

July 10th, 2013 at 12:34pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 10TH: The Bobcats signing of Jefferson has been finalized, tweets Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. The team confirmed the move in a press release.

JULY 4TH: The Bobcats have reached an agreement on a three-year deal with Al Jefferson, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter). According to Stein, the contract will be worth about $41MM, and the third year will be a player option. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer pegs Jefferson's average annual salary at $13.5MM, while Sam Amick of USA Today confirms (via Twitter) that the overall value will be $40.5MM.

Jefferson, 28, spent two days visiting with the Bobcats, but it still comes as something of a surprise that Charlotte would land him. When I explored the team's potential to add a max-salary free agent earlier this year, I noted that overpaying for an impact free agent may not be the best use of the Bobcats' resources, since they're more than one player from contention. As Grantland's Zach Lowe tweets, Charlotte's agreement with Jefferson isn't very damaging long-term, but an annual salary of $13.5MM is a significant price to pay.

The Bobcats' agreement with Jefferson is even more unexpected since we heard just last night that the big man intended to wait until after Dwight Howard signed, in case that resulted in more interest from the losers of the Howard sweepstakes. Jefferson was also reportedly seeking a four-year deal worth around $15MM annually.

While Jefferson isn't considered a strong defender, he's a very effective offensive post player, having averaged 18.5 PPG and 9.5 RPG for the Jazz over the last three seasons. The Excel Sports client will join a frontcourt in Charlotte that already features a pair of defense-first players in Brendan Haywood and Bismack Biyombo.

Assuming no sign-and-trade agreement with the Jazz is on the table, Jefferson's deal with Charlotte will remove his maximum-salary cap hold from Utah's books when the July moratorium is lifted. The Jazz could still decide to re-sign Paul Millsap, but if they don't bring back either of their free agent bigs, they'll have a ton of cap room available this month.

As for the Bobcats, with cap holds for Gerald Henderson and Cody Zeller on their books, the team only has about $10MM in cap space. Assuming Charlotte doesn't intend to renounce its rights to Henderson, clearing the room for Jefferson's first-year salary will likely require amnestying Tyrus Thomas, as Lowe notes (via Twitter).

Bobcats Sign Cody Zeller

July 10th, 2013 at 12:31pm CST by Luke Adams

Fourth overall pick Cody Zeller has signed his rookie contract with the Bobcats, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter).

Zeller's selection at No. 4 was one of the biggest surprises on draft night. The 20-year-old big man had a productive sophomore season at Indiana, averaging 16.5 PPG and 8.1 RPG, but he was behind Alex Len, Nerlens Noel, and Ben McLemore on most boards. All three of those prospects were still on the board when the Bobcats grabbed Zeller.

Assuming Zeller signs for 120% of his cap hold, as most rookies do, he'll earn about $3.86MM in his first season in the NBA, as our chart shows.

Pistons Sign Josh Smith To Four-Year Deal

July 10th, 2013 at 12:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 10TH, 12:11pm: The Pistons have officially signed Smith, the team announced today (Twitter link).

JULY 6TH, 3:47pm: Smith's deal includes $54MM in base salary, but the value could rise to $56MM if he reaches performance incentives, writes Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News.

2:54pm: No sign-and-trade is planned at the moment between the Pistons and Hawks, so the Smith acquisition figures to be an outright signing, notes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Windhorst also says the Rockets never engaged in sign-and-trade discussions about Smith with the Hawks.

2:34pm: Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press hears the deal totals just $54MM (Twitter links).

2:01pm: Josh Smith and the Pistons have agreed to terms on a four-year, $56MM deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Detroit lands perhaps the most enticing name on the free agent market now that Dwight Howard and Chris Paul are locked up, using its cap space to reel in the athletic forward. The Rockets appeared to be pursuing a sign-and-trade for Smith as recently as last night, but couldn't get any traction on a move that would have reunited Howard with his AAU teammate.

The deal falls short of the maximum contract Smith was looking for, and gives him just a slight bump from the $13.2MM he made last season with the Hawks. The Warriors and Hawks also had interest, and the Celtics reportedly were set to target Smith in the wake of having traded Paul Pierce, but no team pursued him with as much vigor as Detroit, as Wojnarowski writes. The Pistons met with the client of Wallace Prather and Brian Dyke in the first hours of free agency, and though an offer didn't come out of that encounter, it was clear the team regarded him as more than the "Plan B" he appeared to be for other suitors who were waiting to hear from Howard.

The Pistons also had their sights on Andre Iguodala, and would like to have re-signed Jose Calderon, but with both of them agreeing on deals with other teams, it looks like president of basketball operations Joe Dumars and company circled back to their No. 1 option. The team should still have close to $10MM in cap room to complement an impressive front line of Smith, Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond.

The 27-year-old Smith saw his numbers dip a bit from his career year in 2011/12, averaging 17.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists this past season. Though Smith is multitalented, the hole in his game is three-point shooting. He took more shots from behind the arc than ever in 2012/13, but he connected on just 30.3% of his 2.6 long-range attempts per game.

Wizards Re-Sign Garrett Temple

July 10th, 2013 at 12:08pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 10TH, 12:08pm: Temple's signing has been finalized, according to the team (Twitter link).

JULY 3RD, 3:30pm: Lee confirms that Temple will indeed sign for the minimum salary ($916,099), as I speculated below.

11:21am: The Wizards and Garrett Temple have reached an agreement on a one-year deal, reports Michael Lee of the Washington Post (via Twitter). According to J. Michael of CSNWashington.com, Temple's contract will be worth a little less than $1MM.

Temple, 27, appeared in 51 contests for the Wizards last season, starting 36 of them. The John Hamilton client averaged 5.1 PPG and 2.3 APG in part-time duty for Washington, and figures to be the third-string point guard next season, behind John Wall and Eric Maynor.

As our free agent tracker shows, the Wizards have already been busy this week, agreeing to sign Maynor to a deal likely worth the bi-annual exception and bringing back Martell Webster using their mid-level exception. Having used those exceptions, the Wizards likely will sign Temple to a minimum-salary deal, which would be worth about $916K for a player with his experience.

Pacers Sign C.J. Watson

July 10th, 2013 at 12:02pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 10TH: The Pacers have officially signed Watson, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 1ST: C.J. Watson has reached an agreement on a two-year contract with the Pacers, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter). Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld first reported the agreement (via Twitter) after noting that the two sides were closing in on a deal. It was actually Watson himself who first broke the news, though his tweet was somewhat cryptic.

Watson, who turned down a player option that would have kept him in Brooklyn for 2013/14, averaged 6.8 PPG with 2.0 APG and a 13.9 PER in 80 contests for the Nets last season. According to Kennedy, Watson's new deal is expected to pay him more than the minimum salary he made in Brooklyn on his previous contract.

The Pacers headed into the offseason in the market for a point guard to play behind George Hill, with backup D.J. Augustin and third-stringer Ben Hansbrough ticketed for free agency.