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Knicks Waive Solomon Jones

April 15th, 2013 at 12:22pm CST by Luke Adams

Just three days after officially signing him, the Knicks have waived Solomon Jones, the team announced today (Twitter link). The move opens up a roster spot for the Knicks, as they are now carrying 14 players.

Jones, 28, appeared in two games for the Knicks, playing 26 total minutes. He was fairly ineffective in his limited time, racking up as many fouls and turnovers as rebounds (three each). He also didn't score a single point in either contest.

Despite the fact that a few Knicks big men could be on their way back to the lineup soon, I would guess that the team will add another player to the roster before the regular season ends on Wednesday. James Singleton could be one option — he initially reached an agreement with the club last week before it fell through due to complications relating to his letter of clearance from China. If those issues get cleared up, he would be eligible to sign with the Knicks and play in the postseason.

Lakers Sign Andrew Goudelock

April 14th, 2013 at 7:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

7:29pm: The signing is now official, according to Mike Trudell of NBA.com (on Twitter).

7:18pm: The Lakers have not officially completed the paperwork to sign Goudelock and if they can't get his contract finalized in the next half hour, then he won't play tonight, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.

8:05am: The Lakers are expected to sign guard Andrew Goudelock this morning, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported last night that the Lakers were "lining up" a deal with Goudelock, their second-round draft pick in 2011. The 24-year-old could be with the team in time for tonight's game against the Spurs, according to Spears. Since the Lakers only have 14 players on their roster, they won't have to waive anyone to bring Goudelock on board.

Goudelock spent the 2011/12 season with the Lakers, appearing in 40 games and averaging 4.4 points and 10.5 minutes per contest, with 37.3% three-point shooting. His contract covered this season as well, but it was non-guaranteed, and L.A. waived him at the end of training camp. He turned to the D-League, and was a hot commodity in the D-League draft, going second overall. Goudelock wound up splitting the season between the Sioux Falls Skyforce and Rio Grande Valley Vipers, notching 21.1 PPG and 5.2 assists per game. His proficient three-point stroke remained, as he shot 36.9% from behind the arc.

The College of Charleston product hasn't spent time on an NBA roster since the Lakers let him go in training camp, so he'll be eligible for the postseason, unlike recently waived wing players like Stephen Jackson and Raja Bell. The Lakers had been looking for a swingman to replace Kobe Bryant, who's out six to nine months with a torn Achilles.

Grizzlies Waive Dexter Pittman

April 14th, 2013 at 4:43pm CST by Zachary Links

The Grizzlies announced that they have waived center Dexter Pittman. The big man totaled two points and five rebounds in 20 minutes in seven appearances with the Grizzlies. Pittman was cut loose to make room for the signing of Willie Reed.

Memphis acquired the 25-year-old along with a 2013 second round draft pick from the Heat in exchange for the draft rights to Ricky Sanchez on Feb. 21. The three-year veteran holds career averages of 2.4 points and 1.8 rebounds on .454 shooting in 7.2 minutes in 48 games with Miami and Memphis.

Mavs Re-Sign Josh Akognon

April 13th, 2013 at 1:52pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:52pm: The Mavericks officially announced the signing in a press release.

1:15pm: The Mavs and Josh Akognon are lining up a deal that would keep him on the team for the rest of the season and include a team option for 2013/14, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Akognon's 10-day contract with the team expired last night.

The 5'11" guard made just a single four-minute appearance for Dallas during his 10-day deal, but the Mavs have apparently seen enough to settle on the 27-year-old journeyman for their final roster spot heading into the offseason. Dallas also signed Chris Wright and Justin Dentmon to 10-day contracts in recent weeks, but didn't re-sign either player.

Akognon was in training camp with the Mavs this past fall, but spent the season in China with the Liaoning Jiebao Hunters, for whom he averaged a team-high 29.0 points per game. It was the second straight year Akognon made his mark in the Chinese league, after posting 28.2 PPG for the DongGuan New Century Leopards in 2011/12.

Knicks Sign Solomon Jones

April 12th, 2013 at 5:25pm CST by Luke Adams

5:25pm: The Knicks have announced the signing, tweets Howard Beck of The New York Times.

5:03pm: Jones' deal covers next season as well, and becomes guaranteed for 2013/14 if he's not waived by a certain date, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com (Twitter link).

1:40pm: The Knicks are signing Jones rather than Singleton because Singleton didn't receive FIBA clearance due to a procedural delay with his Chinese team, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.

11:12am: The Knicks will sign big man Solomon Jones to a contract for the remainder of the season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Jones, who played in China this year, received his FIBA letter of clearance today, Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter).

Unless the Knicks intend to waive a second player in addition to Kurt Thomas, the signing of Jones may indicate that the team's agreement with James Singleton fell apart, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News tweets. Jones, a 6'10" big man, would give New York a little more size than Singleton, a 6'8" forward, in what has become an injury-depleted frontcourt.

Jones, 28, played for the same CBA team as Josh Akognon, who is currently on a 10-day contract with the Mavericks. In 19 games for the Liaoning Jiebao Hunters, Jones averaged a double-double, recording 15.8 PPG and 10.4 RPG. The former second-round pick, who has appeared in 268 contests in parts of six NBA seasons, played for the Clippers and Hornets in 2011/12 and was in camp with the Suns in the fall.

Spurs Release Stephen Jackson

April 12th, 2013 at 5:13pm CST by Luke Adams

5:13pm: The Spurs have sent out a press release officially announcing that they've waived Jackson.

4:50pm: Jackson and head coach Gregg Popovich had been "sparring" about Jackson's role with the Spurs all season, according to Wojnarowski. The two sides discussed a potential release prior to the trade deadline, but agreed to move forward for the rest of the season. However, the disagreements resurfaced this week, says Wojnarowski (Twitter links).

4:24pm: With just over a week until the postseason gets underway, the Spurs have waived Stephen Jackson, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). It's not clear yet why the Spurs are parting ways with Jackson, but one source tells Wojnarowski that it's been "brewing for a few days" (Twitter link). Art Garcia of FOX Sports Southwest first tweeted word of the roster move.

Jackson, 35, hadn't been having a strong season on the court, with his averages of 6.2 PPG and 8.1 PER the lowest he has posted in over a decade. Nonetheless, given the timing of the move and his place in the Spurs' rotation, I would assume he's out of work for off-the-court rather than on-court reasons.

Jackson had been playing out the final year of his contract, earning more than $10MM this season. He won't lose any of that money by being waived, though he will hit free agency a few months earlier than expected. Since he was released after the March 1st buyout deadline though, he'd be ineligible for the postseason, making it unlikely that he catches on with another team next week.

As for the Spurs, they had been carrying a full roster of 15 players, so the move opens up a spot for a free agent, should they choose to make an addition.

Knicks Release Kurt Thomas

April 12th, 2013 at 1:25pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:25pm: The Knicks have officially waived Thomas, according to the team's PR Twitter account.

FRIDAY, 11:40am: Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has reported that the Knicks will waive Thomas to clear a spot to sign Solomon Jones. While Wojnarowski doesn't explicitly mention Singleton in his report, the implication seems to be that the Knicks' agreemeent with Singleton fell through, leading them to turn to Jones instead.

If the Knicks were to waive another player in addition to Thomas, they could clear room for both Singleton and Jones. It's possible that there were complications with Singleton's letter of clearance from China, though that's just my speculation.

WEDNESDAY, 6:38pm: The Knicks will waive Thomas, Isola tweets. Thomas, 40, will have surgery on his foot next week. Thomas has been the league's oldest player this season, a distinction that will fall to Grant Hill of the Clippers, who is one day younger.

5:52pm: The Knicks will sign free agent power forward James Singleton, a source confirms to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). Frank Isola of the New York Daily News first tweeted the news that a deal was close. Kurt Thomas, in the last season of a two-year contract for the minimum salary, will likely be waived to create room on the roster, according to Isola.

Singleton signed in November with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese league after turning down a minimum-salary offer last summer from the Wizards, with whom he played 12 games last season. The 6'8", 31-year-old Singleton averaged 15.2 points and 11.1 rebounds as a part-time starter in 21 games for Xinjiang this season, down slightly from the 17.8 PPG and 11.9 RPG he produced while playing in China during 2011/12. He's seen much more limited playing time with the Clippers, Mavs and Wizards in parts of five NBA seasons, notching 8.2 PPG and 6.8 RPG with Washington last year.

Begley reported earlier today that the Knicks were looking at free agent big men in the wake of Kenyon Martin's injury last night. The Knicks have been especially hard hit with ailments to their front line, Thomas included. He suffered a stress fracture in his right foot last month, and played with the injury in a game against the Jazz before shutting it down with hopes of returning for the playoffs. That game, Thomas' last appearance, was the first win in New York's current 13-game winning streak, Isola points out (Twitter link).

Nets Re-Sign Kris Joseph For Season

April 12th, 2013 at 9:47am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets have signed Kris Joseph for the remainder of the season following the expiration of his 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release. Because Joseph was released by the Celtics long before the March 1st buyout deadline, he'll be eligible to play for the Nets in the postseason.

During his first 10 games with the Nets, Joseph saw limited minutes in three of the team's five games, though he failed to record a single point, missing both of his shots from the field and a pair of free throws. Joseph, who was selected 51st overall last June by the Celtics, spent a good chunk of this season in the D-League, playing 27 games in total for the Springfield Armor and Maine Red Claws. The 24-year-old averaged 18.6 PPG in those D-League contests.

Now that they've locked up Joseph, the Nets have a full roster of 15 players on guaranteed contracts as the postseason approaches.

Suns Re-Assign Diante Garrett To D-League

April 11th, 2013 at 3:28pm CST by Luke Adams

With the NBA D-League postseason underway, here are today's D-League assignments and recalls. Any additional moves will be added to the top of the page throughout the day….

The Suns have re-assigned Diante Garrett to the Bakersfield Jam, according to the D-League's official Twitter account. The move comes as the Jam, who finished with the D-League's best record at 36-14, prepare to open up their first-round playoff series tonight against the Austin Toros. In seven games this season for Bakersfield, Garrett has averaged 17.3 PPG and 7.3 APG.

Celtics Rumors: Pierce, Garnett, Christmas

April 10th, 2013 at 7:25pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks have ended the Celtics' five-year reign as Atlantic Division champs, but it's looking increasingly like Boston will have a chance for revenge in the first round of the playoffs. The Celtics are a game and a half behind the Hawks for the sixth spot in the East, but otherwise they and the Knicks appear locked into the seventh and second seeds, respectively. While we wait to see if that matchup becomes reality, the Knicks are set to make a roster move, and there's plenty of news on the C's as well.

Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports speculated last night that the Clippers and Celtics, who explored a Kevin Garnett trade before the deadline, could revisit talks in the summer, this time centering around Paul Pierce (video link). Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com has a partial transcription of the video. Teams may be wary of trading for Garnett, who has a no-trade clause, because they fear he might retire rather than play anywhere but Boston, as Garnett has suggested.
Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com runs the numbers to examine the potential impact a Garnett trade could have had on the Clippers, concluding that the move would have given L.A. a better shot at the title (Insider only).
Dionte Christmas, a training camp invitee with the Celtics last fall, has officially signed to play in Italy with Montepaschi Siena, according to the Italian team (translation via Sportando). Christmas tweeted the news of his signing over the weekend.