Spurs Sign Marco Belinelli To Two-Year Deal
JULY 11TH: The Spurs have officially signed Belinelli, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 4TH: The Spurs have reached an agreement on a two-year deal with Marco Belinelli, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (via Twitter). Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported that the two sides were engaged in serious discussions.
Belinelli, an Excel Sports client, is coming off a one-year deal with the Bulls, having averaged 9.6 PPG while shooting 35.7% on three-pointers in 2012/13. The 27-year-old signed for the bi-annual exception last summer, and will receive a slight raise this year. According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the two-year deal will pay Belinelli about $6MM.
Having reached agreements to bring back Tiago Splitter and Manu Ginobili, the Spurs almost certainly won't have any cap space available during the offseason, though the club should have the full $5.15MM mid-level exception at its disposal. Presumably, part of that MLE will be allocated to Belinelli, but there still should be $2MM+ left to use another player. Alternately, Belinelli could be signed using cap room if the club decides to amnesty Matt Bonner and let Gary Neal walk, but I think that scenario is probably less likely.
Still, it's unclear where the agreement with Belinelli will leave Neal. The Spurs hold the free agent guard's Bird rights, so they have the flexibility to bring him back if they so choose, but Belinelli may be in line to receive many of the minutes that otherwise would have gone to Neal.
Spurs Re-Sign Manu Ginobili
JULY 11TH, 1:55pm: The Spurs have officially re-signed Ginobili, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 3RD, 2:10pm: Ginobili's two-year deal with the Spurs will be worth $14MM, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
10:35am: While no reporters have the details of the deal yet, Manu Ginobili appears to have reached an agreement with the Spurs to remain in San Antonio. Ginobili, an Interperformances client, announced the news himself on his Twitter account, tweeting: "Thrilled to announce that as I always hoped, I'm gonna stay with the @spurs for two more years. #gospursgo."
We heard just yesterday that Ginobili and the Spurs were in no rush to negotiate a new contract, since there didn't seem to be any interest from either side in exploring alternative options. Perhaps after reaching a long-term agreement with Tiago Splitter, the Spurs decided to move on and lock up Ginobili as well.
Ginobili, 35, is coming off a three-year extension that paid him more than $14MM in 2012/13, so he figures to take a significant pay cut on his new deal. His salary, along with Splitter's first-year salary, will essentially determine whether the Spurs have any cap space available this summer, or whether the club just has the mid-level exception to spend. I expect it will be the latter.
After reaching agreements with Splitter and Ginobili, the Spurs will likely attempt to re-sign Gary Neal, as well as weighing potential uses for their MLE.
Trail Blazers Sign C.J. McCollum
The Trail Blazers have officially signed first-round pick C.J. McCollum to a rookie-scale deal, the team announced today in a press release.
McCollum, 21, averaged 23.9 PPG and shot 51.6% on three-pointers during his senior year at Lehigh, and will provide the Blazers with a scorer and outside shooter off the bench. Having been drafted 10th overall, McCollum will earn a salary of about $2.32MM in his rookie season, as our salary chart for first-round picks shows.
The Blazers have also officially signed second-round pick Allen Crabbe, acquired Robin Lopez and Thomas Robinson, and signed free agent swingman Dorell Wright.
Hawks Sign Dennis Schröder
11:35am: Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution confirms (via Twitter) that the Hawks' rookie point guard will now be referred to by the name Dennis Schröder, rather than Schroeder.
10:45am: The Hawks have officially signed 17th overall pick Dennis Schroeder to a rookie-scale contract, the team announced today in a press release. As our salary chart for first-rounders shows, Schroeder should be in line for a 2013/14 salary worth about $1.62MM.
Although the news was expected, there are a couple of noteworthy details related to the team's press release. For one, a club's rookie signings are often announced simultaneously, so the fact that the Hawks announced Schroeder's deal and haven't said anything about 16th overall pick Lucas Nogueira may mean that the Brazilian big man isn't coming stateside this season — or it could simply mean that a separate announcement is coming at a later date.
Additionally, the Hawks spell Dennis' last name as Schröder in their release, which is the same way the point guard spells it on his Twitter account, where he announced his signing yesterday. We'll wait for confirmation on which spelling will be used for NBA purposes.
Nets Sign Shaun Livingston
JULY 11TH, 11:33am: The Nets have officially signed Livingston, according to a team release.
JULY 6TH, 5:40pm: League sources reveal to Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo! Sports (Twitter) that the Nets have reached an agreement for a one-year, minimum deal with Shaun Livingston. As shown in the Hoops Rumors Agency Database, Livingston is repped by CAA's Henry Thomas.
- Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, confirms via Twitter. The move to grab the Cavs' back-up point guard this past year, means that the Nets' guaranteed salary equals close to $100.5MM for the coming 2013/14 season. Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld says that adding in the $80.2MM in taxes, the total Nets team payroll next season equals $180.7MM, which is an NBA record (Sulia link).
- The acqusition of the point guard Livingston comes on the heels of the Pacers signing last year's Deron Williams back-up, C.J. Watson. Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal tweets that with combo guard Jack headed to the Cavs, and Livingston now gone to the Nets, the next player to leave the Cavs will be C.J. Miles.
- Livingston averaged 7.2 PPG and 3.6 APG in 49 outings for the Cavaliers last season in primarily a back-up role for Kyrie Irving.
4:50pm: The Nets are nearing an agreement with backup point guard Shaun Livingston, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The client of Henry Thomas at Creative Artists Agency split last season between the Wizards and Cavs, and multiple reports have linked him to the Nets in the past week. Brooklyn is seeking point guard depth with C.J. Watson heading to the Pacers.
If they can't convince him to take the minimum salary, the Nets would have to use part of their taxpayer's mid-level exception to bring the 27-year-old Livingston aboard. Cleveland picked him up off waivers in December, and he exceled in a backup role behind Kyrie Irving, and even started a dozen games. He averaged 7.2 points with a 3.6/1.2 assists-to-turnover ratio in 23.2 minutes per game in Cleveland.
Spencer Lund contributed to this post.
Nets Re-Sign Andray Blatche
JULY 11TH, 11:32am: The Nets have officially re-signed Blatche, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 2ND, 8:20pm: Blatche's deal includes a player option for 2014/15 worth $1.43MM, tweets Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
JULY 1ST, 8:51pm: Andray Blatche has agreed to re-sign with the Nets, according to the New York Times' Howard Beck. The deal is only for one-year at $1.4MM, a relative surprise given Blatche's consistent bench contribution with the team last season.
The timing and price are both curious, especially when factoring in Blatche had other suitors. As reported by ESPN's Chris Broussard, the Warriors and Clippers both had their eye on his services.
Money may not have been a factor, though, as Blatche is still being compensated by the Wizards after they used their amnesty clause on him last year. He averaged 10.3 PPG in just 19 MPG, appearing in all 82 of Brooklyn's regular season games last season.
Bulls Re-Sign Nazr Mohammed To One-Year Deal
JULY 11TH: The Bulls have officially confirmed their deal with Mohammed, announcing the move in a press release.
JULY 2ND: The Bulls and Nazr Mohammed have reached a verbal agreement on a one-year deal that will bring Mohammed back to Chicago, according to Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com (via Twitter). Sam reports that the new contract for the Excel Sports client is worth the veteran's minimum, which will be $1,399,507.
After signing the same one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Bulls last summer, Mohammed appeared in 63 games for the club, averaging 2.6 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 11.0 minutes per contest. Of all the Bulls' free agents this summer, Mohammed always appeared to be the most likely to return to Chicago for another season.
Now that they have an agreement in place with Mohammed, the Bulls have filled two spots on their bench through free agency. The team also agreed to terms on a two-year contract with Mike Dunleavy yesterday.
Mavericks Sign Gal Mekel
JULY 11TH: The Mavericks have officially signed Mekel, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 1ST: The Mavericks have reached a verbal agreement on a multiyear deal with Israeli point guard Gal Mekel, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Once the July moratorium is lifted, Mekel will sign a guaranteed minimum-salary contract with the Mavs, according to Stein. Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com reports (via Twitter) that the pact will be for three years.
Stein reported a week ago that the Mavs were leading the charge among the NBA teams interested in Mekel, with the Raptors, Bucks, Hawks, Pacers, Grizzlies, and Jazz also registering some level of interest. At the time, Stein wrote that the 25-year-old had begun to convince NBA talent evaluators that he could immediately produce as a rotation player, especially after Pablo Prigioni successfully made the leap to the Association last season after a career overseas.
Mekel, a former Wichita State guard, averaged 13.3 PPG and 5.4 APG in Israel in 2012/13, leading Maccabi Haifa to a championship and earning league MVP honors for the second time in the last four years. For the Mavs, agreeing to add Mekel doesn't get in the way of a pursuit of Dwight Howard, since the point guard will be signing for the minimum.
Chris Copeland Signs Pacers’ Offer Sheet
JULY 11TH, 10:22am: Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com tweets that Copeland officially signed his offer sheet with the Pacers yesterday. I assume that even though the Knicks can't legally match the offer, the three-day period still must expire before Copeland formally becomes a Pacer.
JULY 5TH, 9:05pm: The precise figure of Copeland's two year deal is close to $6.2MM, a source tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com, who also hears that no other team offered nearly as much as the Pacers (Twitter link).
7:27pm: The deal is fully guaranteed, Begley also tweets. Presumably, the Pacers are using a portion of their mid-level to get the deal done.
7:13pm: The deal is a two-year agreement worth $6MM, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, so the Knicks can't match.
7:00pm: The Pacers and Chris Copeland are finalizing an agreement on a two-year deal, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Since he's a restricted free agent, the Knicks will have three days to match once the deal becomes final next week, following the end of the league's July Moratorium. However, since the Knicks only have about $1.75MM left on their mini mid-level exception after committing a portion of it to Pablo Prigioni, the Pacers have the ability to make Copeland an offer New York can't match.
There were several teams in play for the John Spencer client. Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com today added the Grizzlies to the list of suitors for Copeland, tweeting that the Lakers, Bucks, Jazz, and Pelicans all remained in the mix along with the Pacers. The Nuggets and Cavs were also among the teams involved, Spencer tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
Trail Blazers Sign Earl Watson
JULY 10TH: The Blazers have officially signed Watson, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 6TH: Citing agent Mark Bartelstein, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Trail Blazers have agreed to terms for a one-year veteran's minimum deal with unrestricted free agent Earl Watson (Twitter links).
Watson averaged 2.0 PPG and 4.0 APG in 17.3 MPG during 48 contests with the Jazz last year. He'll make $1.4MM in the one-year deal. Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune adds (Twitter) that Watson was suffering from a sports hernia even after coming back from knee surgery during the first part of the 2012/13 season.