Blazers Sign Dorell Wright
JULY 10TH: The Blazers have officially signed Wright, according to team owner Paul Allen (via Twitter).
JULY 6TH: The Blazers have reached agreement on a two-year deal with Dorell Wright, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The pact will give the small forward a total of $6MM, Wojnarowski adds, and USA Today's Sam Amick reports that it includes no options and is fully guaranteed (Twitter link).
The Oregonian's Jason Quick heard last night that the Blazers were among several teams pursuing the Greg Lawrence client. The Thunder reportedly offered Wright his pick of contracts for either one or two years, and the Blazers did something similar, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, who named the Spurs, Grizzlies and Mavericks as some of Wright's other suitors. The Wolves also appeared to be in the mix.
Wright spent last season with Philadelphia, where he came off the bench after spending two seasons as the starting small forward for the Warriors. His 37.4% three-point shooting was slightly above his career average of 36.7%, but his field goal shooting as a whole was just 39.6%, his lowest since a three-game cameo with the Heat as a 19-year-old rookie in 2004/05.
The free agent signing is the first of the summer for Portland, which has instead used its cap space to acquire Robin Lopez and Thomas Robinson via trade. The drafting of C.J. McCollum put together with these moves figures to boost the team's bench, which had been Portland's main weakness last year.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Hawks Sign Paul Millsap To Two-Year Deal
JULY 10TH: The Hawks have officially signed Millsap, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 5TH: The Hawks have agreed to a deal with power forward Paul Millsap, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It's a two-year deal, Vivlamore adds via Twitter. Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld first reported the two sides were in serious discussions. The pact will total $19MM, according to Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).
Millsap, a client of agent DeAngelo Simmons, gets a slight bump from his $8.6MM salary this past season, and presumably will be playing power forward next to Al Horford in Atlanta. Horford is one of just three returning Hawks players who entered the summer with guaranteed contracts, though Atlanta re-signed Kyle Korver earlier this week. The Hawks, armed with plenty of cap space, figure to be active now that Dwight Howard is heading to Houston instead of his hometown, and the team has already been linked to a possible sign-and-trade involving Josh Smith and Omer Asik.
The Jazz renounced their rights to Millsap earlier today after absorbing the expiring contracts of Richard Jefferson, Andris Biedrins and Brandon Rush. That rendered Utah unable to make a competitive bid to retain Millsap, since the Jazz are up against the cap.
Pelicans Waive Lance Thomas
The Pelicans have officially released Lance Thomas, the team announced today in a press release. Thomas had been on a non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract with New Orleans.
Thomas, 25, has appeared in 101 games for New Orleans over the last two seasons, including 59 in 2012/13. The 6'8" forward wasn't owed any guaranteed money yet for the coming season, so the Pelicans won't take a cap hit for releasing him. His contract would have become fully guaranteed if he had not been waived on or before September 1st.
For the Pelicans, waiving Thomas looks like a cap-clearing move, as the team prepares to make its deals for Tyreke Evans and others official.
Thunder Sign Andre Roberson
The Thunder have formally signed first-round pick Andre Roberson to a rookie-scale contract, according to RealGM.com's transactions log.
Roberson, 21, was selected 26th overall by Oklahoma City last month, after the club moved up three spots to snag him. The 6'7" forward averaged a double-double in his junior year at Colorado, recording 10.9 PPG to go along with 11.2 RPG.
Roberson will likely receive a first-year salary of about $1.11MM, 120% of his rookie-scale cap hold.
Clippers Sign Reggie Bullock
The Clippers have officially signed Reggie Bullock, according to RealGM.com's transactions log. Bullock, a 6'7" shooting guard out of UNC, was selected 25th overall by Los Angeles in last month's draft.
Assuming the club and Bullock agreed to the 120% max of the rookie-scale amount, the standard rate for first-round picks, the 22-year-old will be in line for a first-year salary of $1,149,000, as our chart shows.
Knicks Re-Sign Pablo Prigioni
JULY 10TH, 9:34am: The Knicks have officially re-signed Prigioni, the team announced today (Twitter link).
JULY 4TH, 12:01pm: Prigioni's starting salary will be around $1.5MM, with the possibility of an increase to $2MM based on incentives, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.
11:56am: Prigioni's deal with the Knicks will be for three years and $6MM, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com (via Twitter). Charania adds that the third year will be partially guaranteed.
If that $6MM overall figure is accurate, it means Prigioni's first-year salary will be close to $2MM, which will take a more significant chunk out of the team's MLE than was anticipated.
11:44am: Pablo Prigioni has reached an agreement with the Knicks that will see him return to New York, his agent tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). We had heard earlier today that the Knicks, who had an offer on the table for Prigioni, were likely to re-sign the veteran point guard.
According to that earlier report from Marc Berman of the New York Post, New York had offered Prigioni a two-year deal worth about $2.3MM. While it's not clear yet if those are the terms the two sides agreed to, such a deal would force the Knicks to use a portion of their mini mid-level exception. A first-year salary in the neighborhood of $1.15MM for Prigioni would leave the club with about $2MM of its $3.18MM MLE to use on another player.
The deal is the second of the day for the Knicks, who also reached an agreement on a four-year contract for J.R. Smith. Although the team was able to secure commitments from Prigioni and Smith, New York is unlikely to re-sign Chris Copeland. Copeland is believed to have at least three rival offers on the table, and the Knicks' only means of matching those offers would involve using their mid-level. Assuming just $2MM of that MLE remains, Copeland would almost certainly have to accept a discount to remain with the Knicks.
As for Prigioni, after spending most of his playing career overseas, the Argentinian guard joined the Knicks last season as a 35-year-old rookie. The AAI Sports client averaged 3.5 PPG and 3.0 APG in 78 contests (16.2 MPG) for the club.
Warriors Sign Nemanja Nedovic
WEDNESDAY, 7:58am: The Warriors announced in a press release that the team has officially signed Nedovic, so presumably a buyout agreeement was reached.
TUESDAY, 4:34pm: 30th overall pick Nemanja Nedovic is working on a buyout with his Lithuanian team, and will sign with the Warriors for the 2013/14 season, according to Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group (via Twitter).
Given the uncertainty surrounding Nedovic's buyout, the Warriors' cap situation, and the available roster spots in Golden State, there was no guarantee that the Serbian guard would come to the NBA immediately. However, it appears he'll be able to sign his rookie-scale contract in the near future. As our chart shows, that would put him in line for a first-year salary worth about $1.06MM.
When Nedovic finalizes his buyout and signs with the Warriors, he'll join a backcourt that will include Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Toney Douglas. Andre Iguodala is also capable of playing both backcourt positions, and non-guaranteed players like Scott Machado and Kent Bazemore will be vying for roster spots as well.
Clippers Re-Sign Chris Paul
JULY 10TH: The Clippers didn't waste any time once the moratorium ended, officially announcing Paul's new deal on the team's website.
JULY 1ST: Chris Paul took to Twitter to announce his return to the Clippers this morning, adding confirmation to news that's been expected for some time. His representatives had begun telling other teams this weekend not to bother making a pitch to him, since he had already committed to the Clips.
Agent Leon Rose confirms to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com that Paul has verbally agreed to a five-year, $107MM deal, with the ability to opt out after four seasons (Twitter links). Presumably, that means Paul is getting the maximum salary, as our Luke Adams projected Paul would be in line for $107MM when he looked at maximum scenarios this spring. That number, like the deal itself, won't become official until the July Moratorium is over next week.
With Blake Griffin's extension set to kick in this coming season and Doc Rivers coming aboard this summer, the Clippers employ the league's highest paid coach and have committed more than $200MM to a pair of stars, as Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com points out via Twitter. The deals for both Griffin and Paul will run through 2018, though Griffin, too, can opt out after 2016/17. Griffin has an early-termination option for 2017/18, and I'd imagine Paul's opt-out clause is in the form of an early-termination option, too.
Paul didn't speak to any other teams after free agency began late last night, notes Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, and if he had, it would have been surprising. The hiring of Rivers as coach and primary front office decision-maker appeared to clinch the deal for Paul, whom other teams, like the Mavericks, Rockets and Hawks, had hoped could be lured away.
Paul and Dwight Howard had been considered the top two free agents on the market, and CP3 was far and away the best point guard available. Teams looking for a free agent option who can run their offense must turn to a crop headlined by Jose Calderon, Brandon Jennings and Jeff Teague. The Clippers have been rumored to be pursuing Howard in a sign-and-trade, but that appears to be a longshot.
Raptors To Sign Julyan Stone
JULY 10TH: Stone's deal will be worth about $1.9MM over two years, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.com. A minimum-salary contract would be worth $1,832,456, so it's not clear whether Charania's figure is just slightly off, or whether the Raptors are signing Stone using a non-minimum exception.
JULY 4TH: The Raptors have agreed to sign free agent guard Julyan Stone to a two-year deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). The 24-year-old was eligible for restricted free agency this summer, but didn't receive a qualifying offer from the Nuggets, and became unrestricted.
With Sebastian Telfair and John Lucas III seemingly headed elsewhere in free agency, the Raptors are in the market for point guard help this summer. I doubt Stone will be Kyle Lowry's primary backup, but he could be a serviceable third-stringer at the point, and has played both backcourt positions in the past.
Presumably, new Raptors head of basketball operations and former Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri played a major role in luring Stone to Toronto. It's not clear if one or both of the years on Stone's deal will be guaranteed. Either way though, a multiyear contract for a player who has accumulated just over 200 NBA minutes in two seasons is rare.
While the level of guarantee on Stone's deal isn't yet known, I would assume it's for the minimum salary. Stone is represented by agent Giovanni Funiciello.
Clippers Waive DaJuan Summers
The Clippers have reduced their roster by one, releasing DaJuan Summers, according to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter). Summers, signed back in April for the rest of the 2012/13 season, had a non-guaranteed minimum salary for '13/14, so the Clips won't take a cap hit for the move.
Summers, 25, appeared in just a pair of contests for Los Angeles last season. He has previously spent time with the Pistons and Pelicans, averaging 3.3 PPG in 83 career games. The timing of the move seems a little unusual, since the Clippers confirmed today in a press release that Summers would be on their Summer League squad, and his contract wasn't scheduled to become guaranteed until January.
In any case, Summers will become an unrestricted free agent, assuming he clears waivers.