Cavaliers Sign Earl Clark
JULY 12TH: The Cavaliers have officially signed Clark, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 4TH: The Cavaliers and Earl Clark have reached a two-year contract agreement, according to Sean Deveney of the Sporting News (via Twitter). Deveney reports that the deal will pay Clark $9MM over the two next seasons, while TNT's David Aldridge tweets that the second year will be a team option.
After three years of limited playing time in Phoenix and Orlando, Clark had a bit of a breakout season for the Lakers last year, averaging 7.3 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 59 contests (36 starts), while playing significant minutes in place of the clubs' injured bigs.
Cleveland had been in hot pursuit of Clark all week, with Deveney joking yesterday (via Twitter) that the Cavs seemed to be giving Clark a more aggressive pitch than they gave LeBron James three years ago. While the 25-year-old expressed some interest in returning to Los Angeles, the Lakers had limited cap flexibility to offer Clark a new deal, since the club is already well into tax territory.
For the Cavs, a $4.5MM annual salary for Clark shouldn't put much of a dent in the team's summer cap space. Taking into account cap holds for Anthony Bennett and Sergey Karasev, Cleveland had about $33MM in guaranteed salary on its books prior to the agreement with Clark. Depending on whether the team intends to guarantee C.J. Miles' salary, or keep cap holds on the books for players such as Wayne Ellington and Marreese Speights, there still could be close to $20MM available in cap room.
Clark is represented by BDA Sports Management, as the Hoops Rumors agency database shows.
Lakers Re-Sign Robert Sacre
FRIDAY, 8:59am: Larry Coon of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter) that Sacre's minimum-salary contract will actually be for three years, rather than two, though only the first two years are guaranteed.
WEDNESDAY, 1:29pm: Sacre will get a fully guaranteed, multiyear deal from the Lakers, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com (via Twitter). I'd expect it to be for the minimum salary, but that's still a little unexpected, considering Sacre's limited role and the Lakers' reluctance to add guaranteed salary for 2014/15.
1:15pm: The Lakers have re-signed 2012 second-round pick Robert Sacre, according to Mike Trudell of Lakers.com (via Twitter). The team had extended a qualifying offer to Sacre in June, so I wouldn't be surprised if the 24-year-old simply accepted that one-year offer, worth $988,872.
During his rookie season in 2012/13, Sacre split time between the Lakers and the D-League's D-Fenders. In 32 NBA games, the seven-footer averaged 1.3 PPG and 0.8 RPG, appearing in just 6.3 minutes per contest. In his seven D-League appearances, Sacre's averages increased to 11.4 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 32.7 MPG.
Wolves To Sign-And-Trade For Kevin Martin
JULY 11TH 9:13pm: The Timberwolves have officially announced, via the team's Twitter feed, that they've acquired Martin and cash from the Thunder and will send Ridnour and a 2014 second-round pick to the Bucks. The Wolves own the Lakers 2014 second rounder, which is the selection that will go to Milwaukee. Regarding the addition of Martin, Wolves president Flip Saunders said, "He is familiar with Coach Adelman's style of play and had success playing for him in Sacramento and Houston. We expect that to continue in Minnesota." (Twitter link)
The Bucks will send the draft rights to 2003 second round pick Szymon Szewczyk to Oklahoma City in the deal and get cash back from the Thunder, the team tweeted. The Thunder will have until July 11 of next year to acquire a player via the trade exception they picked up in the deal, tweets Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman.
JULY 11TH 10:18am: The Thunder will send cash to the T-Wolves as part of the sign-and-trade for Martin, and create a $7MM TPE, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). It's still not entirely clear what the Wolves are sending out in the trade — either that missing piece has yet to be reported, or the team intends to fold its Luke Ridnour deal into this one.
JULY 10TH: Marc Stein of ESPN.com pegs the deal in the $30MM range, noting that the Wolves and Thunder will roll the agreement into a sign-and-trade that will net Oklahoma City a trade exception. It's unclear exactly what the Thunder are getting in the trade, but presumably, draft picks and/or cash will be headed OKC's way.
JULY 2ND: Kevin Martin has reached agreement with the Wolves on a four-year, $28MM deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter) reported earlier tonight that Minnesota offered Kevin Martin a four-year deal in that vicinity. Martin is represented by Dan Fegan of Relativity Sports, according to the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.
Martin, of course, spent last season with the Thunder after coming over from Houston in the James Harden trade. The guard averaged 14.0 PPG while shooting 45% from the floor in 27.7 minutes per contest last season. Martin was a hot commodity this summer and the Blazers and Grizzlies were said to have serious interest in signing him.
It has been a busy day for the Timberwolves, who re-signed Chase Budinger just hours ago. The forward will get a $16MM, three-year deal from Flip Saunders & Co. Martin will pair with Ricky Rubio in the Wolves' backcourt, giving the club one of the more intriguing guard combos in the league.
The Thunder were said to be seeking a sign-and-trade for Martin if they could not retain him, but they'll now watch the guard leave without anything in return.
Rockets Sign Isaiah Canaan
The Rockets and second round pick Isaiah Canaan have agreed to a three-year contract with the third year being a team option, according to agent Reggie Brown (Twitter link and story via Fox Houston's Mark Berman). Canaan was said to be drawing first round interest in June's draft, but dropped to No. 34 where the Rockets jumped on him.
Canaan averaged 21.8 points and 4.3 assists per game as a senior at Murray State. He figures to be ready to score at the NBA level, and should be an offensive asset off the bench for the new-look Rockets sooner rather than later. If the rumors that the team is shopping Jeremy Lin prove true, Canaan could be thrust into a significant role on a team with title aspirations.
Pistons Release Kim English
The Pistons have released second-year guard Kim English, tweets Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Detroit reached an agreement with Chauncey Billups earlier today, further maxing out the roster and making English the odd man out.
A 24-year-old Missouri product, English played 41 games for the Pistons last season and also spent some time in the D-League. Overall, he averaged 2.9 PPG over 9.9 minutes. English was drafted a year ago by Detroit with the 14th pick of the second round, which made the second year of his deal unguaranteed.
The 2013/14 season on English's contract would have become fully guaranteed had he not been waived on or before July 12th. Assuming he clears waivers, he'll become an unrestricted free agent.
Spurs Sign Jeff Pendergraph
JULY 11TH: The Spurs have officially signed Pendergraph, the team announced today in a press release. The deal is for two years and $4MM, tweets Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.
JULY 6TH: The Spurs have reached agreement with free agent forward Jeff Pendergraph on a two-year deal, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Pendergraph is a client of Impact Sports Basketball, according to the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.
The 6'9" forward saw 10 minutes per contest for the Pacers last season and put up 3.9 PPG with 2.8 RPG. Pendergraph spent his first season in the league with the Blazers and missed his sophomore year (2010/11) due to a knee injury.
Lakers Amnesty Metta World Peace
The Lakers have announced that they will use their amnesty provision on Metta World Peace, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPN LA (via Twitter). World Peace opted into his 2013/14 contact with the Lakers in late June, which was worth about $7.73MM, making this move all but inevitable. We heard earlier this week the move was likely to happen before July 16th, the deadline for NBA teams to utilize their amnesty provision.
The Lakers signed Nick Young earlier today, which ramped up speculation that World Peace would soon be amnestied. On Tuesday, we heard that World Peace is interested in joining the Knicks, Clippers, Nets, Bulls, Heat, Thunder, Spurs, and Pacers, in that order. Ian Begley of ESPN New York tweets that the Knicks will have interest. According to Ken Berger of CBS, teams with cap room can put in a waiver claim over the next 48 hours to pick up a portion of World Peace's salary, with the highest bid winning. If no team bids, he will become an unrestricted free agent and teams like the Knicks can sign him (Twitter links).
The move is just the latest in what has been a tumultuous offseason in Los Angeles. After the news broke, World Peace tweeted thanking Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak for calling him before he alerted the media. Kupchak released a statement regarding the move, tweeted by Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register:
"It's tough to say goodbye to a player such as Metta, who has been a significant part of our team the past four seasons. For anyone who’s had the opportunity to get to know him, it’s impossible not to love him. He has made many contributions to this organization, both in his community work as well as in our games; perhaps no more so than in his clutch play in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals in helping to lead us over the Celtics in one of the greatest playoff wins in Lakers history. We thank Metta for all his contributions and wish him the best of luck in the future."
Mavericks Sign Jose Calderon
JULY 11th: The Mavericks announced today, via press release, that they have officially signed Calderon.
JULY 5th: The Mavs and point guard Jose Calderon have agreed to a four-year deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Marc Stein of ESPN.com originally reported the two sides were closing in on the deal (Twitter link). Chris Broussard of ESPN.com hears that Calderon will get a total of $29MM (on Twitter). The move appears to be the team's first step along its "Plan B" after missing out on Dwight Howard.
Calderon is leaving the Pistons, who acquired him as part of the Rudy Gay trade in January. The team had sought to re-sign him, but his decision to go to Dallas was a matter of timing, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News (Twitter link). The deal is fully guaranteed, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com, who adds that Calderon seriously considered a pitch from the Kings as well. The veteran point guard also showed interest in the Lakers, though it's not clear whether L.A. reciprocated that interest.
The 31-year-old saw his assists per game fall to 7.1 this season after averaging close to nine per game the previous two years, but he remains one the league's canniest distributors. His 11.3 points per game in 2012/13 were the second most of his career, behind only the 12.8 PPG he notched in 2008/09.
Nuggets Sign J.J. Hickson
JULY 11TH: The Nuggets have officially announced the Hickson signing in a press release.
JULY 7TH: The Nuggets have reached agreement with J.J. Hickson on a three-year, $15MM deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The forward is a client of Andy Miller, according to the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.
The 24-year-old has had multiple stops in the league during his short career and after he was cut loose by the Kings in March of last year, his stock didn't look so hot. However, he was picked up by the Blazers and as a featured player for the final quarter of the season, he averaged 15.1 PPG and 8.3 RPG.
He had another strong season in 2012/13, putting up 12.7 PPG and 10.4 RPG in 80 games, all of which he started.
Bobcats Re-Sign Josh McRoberts
JULY 11TH: The Bobcats have officially signed McRoberts, according to a press release from the team.
JULY 5TH: The Bobcats have reached an agreement to re-sign Josh McRoberts to a two-year contract, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). According to Spears, the deal will be worth $6MM overall, with a player option in the second year. However, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer pegs the overall amount at $5.5MM (Twitter link).
After being acquired by the Bobcats at least year's trade deadline in exchange for Hakim Warrick, McRoberts started 19 of 26 games with the team, averaging 9.3 PPG and 7.2 RPG in 30.8 minutes per contest. All three of those averages would've been career-highs for the 26-year-old forward had he kept them up over a full season.
McRoberts has been on the move multiple times over the last year, having been acquired by the Magic from the Lakers in last August's Dwight Howard blockbuster before being sent to Charlotte in February. By agreeing to re-sign with the Bobcats, the BDA Sports client should have some stability for at least the 2013/14 season.
For the Bobcats, they'll bring back another piece of a frontcourt that has undergone some changes this week. Charlotte has also agreed to a lucrative deal for Al Jefferson, with the intention of amnestying Tyrus Thomas to clear the cap space necessary for the former Jazz center.