Grizzlies Re-Sign Tony Allen
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, 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
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, 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: 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?
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.
Metta World Peace Clears Waivers
6:46pm: World Peace is set to meet with Knicks officials in Vegas, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
6:15pm: World Peace texted Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter) and expressed that he is interested the Clippers, but has to "meet them first".
5:31pm: At least four teams have contacted MWP already, a source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post (via Twitter).
4:03pm: Metta World Peace has gone unclaimed on the amnesty waiver process and is now a free agent, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Teams had until 4pm central to claim the forward.
While World Peace was rumored to be eyeing a move to China, it now appears that he wasn't entirely serious about that notion. A source told Chris Broussard of ESPN.com earlier today that his top preference is to sign with the Knicks with the Clippers as a fairly distant second and China in third. The interest between MWP and the Knicks is believed to be mutual.
Pacers Sign Chris Copeland
Chris Copeland is officially a member of the Pacers after the Knicks did not match his offer sheet, the Pacers announced. Copeland signed a two-year, $6.2MM offer sheet with Indiana last week and the Knicks did not have the cap space to match. Still, three days had to pass before the agreement could become official.
There were several teams in play for the John Spencer client, including the Lakers, Bucks, Jazz, and Pelicans. The Nuggets and Cavs were also among the teams involved, though their level of interest was not quite known.
The Knicks probably would have liked to keep Copeland, but they had only $1.75MM left on their mini mid-level exception after giving a portion of it to Pablo Prigioni. Copeland averaged 8.7 PPG and shot nearly 48% from the floor in 15.4 minutes per night in 2012/13.
Before signing with the Knicks in 2012, Copeland played overseas with Okapi Aalstar in Belgium, TBB Trier in Germany, and Torrons Vicens in Spain. He also played one season in the NBA Developmental League with the Fort Worth Flyers and averaged 10.1 PPG.
Suns Sign Archie Goodwin
The Suns announced they've signed No. 29 overall pick Archie Goodwin. He's in line for slightly more than $1MM, as our chart of likely first-round salaries shows. Phoenix acquired the rights to the No. 29 pick from the Thunder, via the Warriors, as part of a complex draft-night trade.
Goodwin was a highly ranked recruit entering his freshman year at Kentucky in 2012, though his lone season there was something of a disappointment. The shooting guard put up 14.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, but he shot just 26.6% from three-point range. He was widely seen as a second-round prospect as the draft approached, but he sneaked into the first-round, ensuring a guaranteed contract when he signed.
Last year's 29th overall pick, Marquis Teague, was the only first-rounder to receive less than 120% of his scale amount, so it's possible Goodwin is getting less than expected, but given that he was fairly quick to sign, I don't think that's the case.
Timberwolves Sign Gorgui Dieng
The Timberwolves have signed Gorgui Dieng to a rookie-scale contract, according to the teams official PR Twitter account. (Twitter link). An official release will come shortly.
The rookie Dieng was selected 21st overall in June's draft as part of the deal sending 14th pick, Shabazz Muhammad, and Dieng to the Jazz in exchange for 9th pick, Trey Burke. Dieng's likely first year salary, according to our salary chart, will be $1,352,640.
The 6'10" 240 pound center from Senegal, was initially ruled ineligible to play for the Louisville Cardinals, but after they appealed the NCAA's decision, it was reversed and he helped them win the 2013 NCAA championship.