Grizzlies Acquire Nick Calathes From Mavs
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
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
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
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
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, 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.
Mavs Sign Samuel Dalembert
FRIDAY, 7:01pm: The Mavs have officially signed Dalembert, the team announced in a press release.
THURSDAY, 2:03pm: Dalembert will ink a two-year, $7.5MM deal with the Mavs, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. According to Wojnarowski, the second year will only be partially guaranteed.
WEDNESDAY, 6:58pm: The Mavs have reached a verbal agreement on a deal with Samuel Dalembert, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein reported earlier this evening that the two sides were close to an accord. Dallas and Dalembert's representatives from Pinnacle Management are continuing to hammer out the final details of his contract, and presumably that includes the financial specifics. The Mavs appear to have about $3.3MM of cap space available, and they can also use their $2.652MM room exception.
GM Donnie Nelson and company have thought about adding Dalembert for years, believing him to be an ideal fit with power forward Dirk Nowitzki. Dalembert is best on the defensive end, where he's averaged 2.6 blocks per 36 minutes for his career. His rate last season was virtually the same, even though he saw spotty playing time in Milwaukee.
The Mavs made Dalembert their primary target after missing out on Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum, but he's not the only free agent they've been eyeing. Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News wrote earlier today that the team was expected to reach an agreement to re-sign Brandan Wright once it struck a deal with Dalembert. The team would like to sign Greg Oden as well, and Dallas remains high on Bernard James, who agreed to postpone the deadline for the Mavs to decide whether to guarantee his contract for this coming season. The Mavs are also discussing a new deal with Devin Harris, who consented to call off his initial three-year, $9MM deal with the team after suffering a toe injury.
Knicks, Jeremy Tyler Agree To Deal
Jeremy Tyler tells Jonah Ballow of Knicks.com that the team has invited him to training camp (Twitter link). Most training camp invitations entail non-guaranteed minimum-salary contracts that cover one season, so it seems that's what Tyler's getting. Still, it's a chance to make the club and duplicate the success that Chris Copeland, a camp invitee last year, had en route to signing a two-year, $6.135MM deal with the Pacers this month.
Tyler's agent, Gabe Giordano, said this week that he was hopeful he'd be able to strike a deal with the Knicks within the next few weeks that at the very least entailed an invitation to camp. That the two sides agreed so quickly may indicate some kind of guaranteed money is involved, though that's just my speculation. Mark Berman of the New York Post also surmised that Tyler could get a partial guarantee, when he wrote this weekend that there was a "big chance" that the 22-year-old center would draw a camp invitation.
Tyler was a second-round pick of the Bobcats in 2011, but he made his NBA debut that fall with the Warriors, who traded for his rights on draft night. He made 23 late-season starts for a depleted Golden State squad his rookie year, but he averaged just 20.9 minutes per game as a starter, notching 7.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest. He played sparingly this past season, when the Warriors sent him to the Hawks at the trade deadline in a move to get under the tax line. The Hawks waived him two weeks later, but he's resurfaced with the Knicks summer league team, averaging 12.8 PPG and 6.4 RPG.
Drew Gooden Clears Amnesty Waivers
The final amnesty victim of 2013 has cleared waivers and is now an unrestricted free agent, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein tweets that teams have been notified that no bids were placed on Drew Gooden, who was amnestied by the Bucks on Tuesday night.
After starting 46 games and averaging 13.7 PPG and 6.5 RPG for the Bucks in 2011/12, Gooden wasn't a part of the team's rotation last season. The 31-year-old only appeared in 16 contests in 2012/13, recording about 150 total minutes for the year.
Milwaukee is still on the hook for about $13.37MM for Gooden over the next two seasons, so salary likely won't be the top priority for the former fourth overall pick as he seeks another NBA roster spot. While his career appears to be on the decline, Gooden could still be a decent bench piece for the veteran's minimum, so I'd expect him to receive a little interest.
Rockets Sign Aaron Brooks
FRIDAY, 11:02am: The Rockets have made Brooks' signing official, announcing the new deal today in a press release.
THURSDAY, 11:28pm: Brooks tells Berman he had other offers, but he felt most comfortable taking the one from the Rockets (Twitter link). It appears from Brooks' comment that he signed for the minimum, but that's not entirely clear.
11:02pm: It appears Aaron Brooks is re-signing with the Rockets, as Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweets that the point guard is returning to the team after inking a one-year deal. Houston waived Brooks on June 30th in a move to clear cap space. The five-year veteran's previous contract for 2013/14 would have become fully guaranteed if he wasn't waived by the end of last month.
Brooks was set to make $2.508MM this season before the Rockets cut him loose, but he seems unlikely to make that much this year in his new deal. Houston attempted to trade him before waiving him, but no team appeared willing to take on his old contract. The Rockets waived Carlos Delfino at the same time they waived Brooks, but Delfino has already moved on, having signed with the Bucks.
The Rockets have the $2.652MM room exception available, but I won't be surprised if the Creative Artists Agency client's new deal is for the minimum. He saw just 38 minutes of action in the regular season with Houston after signing March 5th, following his buyout from the Kings. Brooks got more run in the playoffs, averaging 11.2 minutes per contest in Houston's six-game defeat to the Thunder in the first round, but he wasn't nearly the integral part of the team that he was in 2009/10. That's when he struck for 19.6 points and 5.3 assists per game, both career highs by wide margins.