D-League Moves: Pittman, Lamb
We'll track today's D-League assignments and recalls here, with any additional movement at the top of the page:
- The Heat announced they've re-assigned center Dexter Pittman to the D-League's Sioux Falls Skyforce. The 6'11" third-year man has seen the vast majority of his playing time with Sioux Falls instead of Miami this season, as he's appeared in 12 D-League games but has logged just 12 NBA minutes. Pittman is averaging 13.3 points and 9.2 rebounds for the Skyforce this year.
- The Bucks are sending rookie Doron Lamb to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League, Milwaukee announced via Twitter. Lamb, the 42nd overall pick this past June, has seen a fair amount of playing time with the big club this year, averaging 3.4 points in 12.2 minutes per contest in 23 games this season. He's fallen out of favor since Jim Boylan took over as coach for Scott Skiles, however, and hasn't appeared in a game for the Bucks since January 5th. The 6'4" shooting guard took part in two games for the Mad Ants last month, averaging 7.5 points in 24.5 minutes.
Hawks Re-Sign Jannero Pargo
The Atlanta Hawks have re-signed guard Jannero Pargo to a second 10-day contract, the team announced Saturday in a press release. In his first deal, Pargo averaged 5.2 PPG and 2.6 APG, appearing in five games.
With Pargo playing well and Louis Williams out for the season with a torn ACL, it would appear likely that, following this second 10-day contract, the Hawks will guarantee Pargo for the rest of the 2012/13 season, although there has been no indication of that.
D-League Moves: Machado, Jones, Baynes
We'll track today's D-League assignments and recalls here along with signings, with the latest transactions added to the top of the page throughout the day:
- Scott Machado has signed with the Rockets' D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, writes Keith Schosser of Ridiculous Upside. The former Iona point guard played for the Vipers earlier in the season where he averaged 12 PPG and 7.1 APG in 11 contests.
- Terrence Jones has been re-assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers by the Rockets, the team announced today in a press release. In 12 games with the Vipers this season, Jones ranks among the D-League leaders in PPG (19.1) and RPG (9.8).
- The Spurs have assigned the newest member of the team, Aron Baynes, to the D-League, according to a press release. The Australian big man had appeared in two games for San Antonio since signing with the club last week. He'll join the Austin Toros in time for the team's game against the Bakersfield Jam tonight.
D-League Moves: Miles Plumlee, Kevin Jones
Here are Thursday's D-League assignments and recalls, with the latest moves at the top of the page:
- The Pacers have re-assigned Miles Plumlee to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team announced today in a press release. Plumlee has averaged a double-double for Indiana's D-League affiliate in 11 games with the Mad Ants this year, posting 12.8 PPG and 11.2 RPG.
- A day after assigning him to the D-League, the Cavaliers have recalled Kevin Jones, the team announced in a press release. Jones recorded 18 points and 14 rebounds in the Canton Charge's loss to the Erie BayHawks last night, and will rejoin the Cavs for their game tomorrow in Detroit.
Grizzlies, Raptors, Pistons Finalize Rudy Gay Deal
8:23pm: The Raptors sent out a press release confirming the deal for all three teams. The second-rounder headed to the Grizzlies is Toronto's own 2013 pick, and Memphis is receiving cash from the Raptors as part of the deal, the statement notes.
8:20pm: Keith Langlois of Pistons.com tweets that Detroit's side of the deal is official, and that Calderon will join the team in time for Friday's game. Since it was the Pistons-Grizzlies part that seemed to have hit a snag earlier, rather than the Raptors-Grizzlies end of it, the swap appears to be squared away. Pistons GM Joe Dumars has released a statement, as Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News passes along (All Twitter links).
7:28pm: The trade call has ended, meaning the deal is now official, a source tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).
6:55pm: The trade call has been delayed slightly, but it's still going on, tweets Doug Smith of the Toronto Star, who adds that the deal is still going to happen.
6:18pm: Goodwill now hears from a source who says the trade will indeed go down (Twitter link).
6:06pm: A source tells Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News there's "one hangup" in the deal, though Goodwill doesn't specify what it could be (Twitter link).
5:56pm: The Pistons' side of the trade has not yet been finalized, Aldridge notes via Twitter, though with the trade call scheduled in a few minutes from now, it's likely we'll soon have official word. Both Prince and Daye are inactive for Detroit's game tonight.
5:33pm: The Raptors will likely waive and buy out the rest of Haddadi's two-year contract, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Haddadi is making $1.3MM this year and is due a partial guarantee of $200K on his fully $1.398MM salary next year. Under terms of the new CBA, the Grizzlies will not be allowed to sign Haddadi again for one year.
5:13pm: The Grizzlies, Raptors and Pistons have all reached agreement on a three-team trade. ESPN's Marc Stein reported the Grizzlies have acquired Jose Calderon and Ed Davis from the Raptors in exchange for Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi. TNT's David Aldridge reports the Pistons will receive Calderon from the Grizzlies in exchange for Tayshaun Prince (Twitter link). Stein added that Austin Daye is also headed to Memphis, and noted the Grizzlies will get a second-round pick from the Raptors as well.
The trade call will be placed to the league office at 7pm Eastern, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. When the trade becomes official, it will end several weeks of speculation about Gay's future in Memphis, as the Grizzlies look to avoid becoming a repeat taxpayer. It also ends months of chatter about Calderon in Toronto. The Pistons apparently beat out the Mavericks for the point guard, as Dallas refused to part with Vince Carter in any potential deal, Stein tweets.
The Grizzlies save significant money in the deal, as the combined salaries of Prince, Daye and Davis add up to $11.9MM, much less than the total of $17.8MM that Gay and Haddadi are getting. Daye can come off the books next season, as he's a restricted free agent this summer. Davis has one more season left on his rookie deal, at $3.15MM, and is set to hit restricted free agency in 2014 unless the Grizzlies extend his deal. Gay's contract runs through 2014/15, a player option season in which he's due to make $19.3MM. The Grizzlies are now $8MM under the luxury tax, which could give them more flexibility to make other moves this season, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com points out (Twitter link). The Grizzlies will pay out $37.2MM less as a result of the moves, Berger adds.
Technically, the deal is actually a pair of two-team trades, rather than one three-team trade, notes Mark Deeks of ShamSports (Twitter link). The Raptors, operating exclusively with the Grizzlies, wind up with Gay's sizable contract, adding roughly $5MM to their payroll, which was at about $61.2MM. They're still well below the $70.307MM tax line, and figure to remain that way even when DeMar DeRozan's four-year, $38MM extension kicks in next season.
The Pistons, meanwhile, part ways with the last remaining member of their 2004 championship team, bringing in a point guard to mentor second-year man Brandon Knight. It also clears cap room, since Calderon's expiring $10.56MM contract will come off the books this summer, while Prince is signed through 2015.
Lakers Get Disabled Player Exception For Hill
The league has granted the Lakers their request for a disabled player exception for power forward Jordan Hill, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. It will be worth $1.78MM, or half of Hill’s salary for this season. The Lakers aren’t likely to use the exception, as Medina notes via Twitter, but it does give them one more way to acquire help down the stretch in case they need it.
L.A. already had a prorated portion of their midlevel exception remaining, worth about $1.235MM at this point, so now they possess multiple tools other than the midlevel exception to bring someone aboard. They can add $100K to the disabled player exception to acquire a player via trade. The Lakers have 14 players on their roster, so a spot is open.
D-League Moves: Kevin Jones, Julyan Stone
We'll track today's D-League assignments and recalls right here, with any further moves added to the top of the page throughout the day:
- Rookie forward Kevin Jones has been re-assigned to the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers announced today in a press release. Jones didn't see any action during his recent stint with Cleveland, but has appeared in 15 NBA games so far. He has also excelled in his six contests with the Charge, averaging 23.8 PPG and 12.3 RPG.
- The Nuggets have assigned Julyan Stone to their D-League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. Stone, who missed more than two months of the season while recovering from right hip surgery, will join Quincy Miller, the other Nugget currently playing for the D-League's Iowa Energy.
Heat Re-Sign Chris Andersen
WEDNESDAY, 11:25am: The Heat have officially re-signed Andersen to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release. Andersen's initial deal expired overnight, while his new deal is set to expire on February 8th.
TUESDAY, 9:39pm: Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski tweets that Chris Andersen will sign another 10-day contract with the Heat on Wednesday. The 34-year-old veteran played his first game of the season with Miami last Friday, tallying two points and two rebounds in four minutes of play against the Pistons.
With Jarvis Varnado recently re-signed, the addition of Andersen will push the Heat's roster limit to the maximum of 15. Should Miami decide to keep the 10-year veteran beyond this next deal, they would have to offer him a guaranteed contract for the rest of the season.
The Heat now have a bigger sample size to evaluate Andersen's ability to contribute, as the team has six games over the span of the next ten days (compared to just three games during his first deal). Looking at his per game averages with Denver in 2011/12 (5.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 1.4 BPG in 15.2 MPG), it will be interesting to see if head coach Erik Spoelstra will give the 6'10 forward more minutes to showcase himself over the next week and a half.
Timberwolves Re-Sign Johnson, Gelabale
The Timberwolves have re-signed center Chris Johnson to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today (Twitter link). The Wolves have also inked Mickael Gelabale to a second 10-day deal (Twitter link). The initial contracts for both players expired last night.
Johnson, 27, had an excellent first 10 days with Minnesota, scoring 15 points in his debut and averaging 9.2 PPG on 72.0% shooting in five total games. He's not to be confused with the player with the same name who is currently on a 10-day contract with the Grizzlies.
Gelabale, meanwhile, got off to a strong start with the T-Wolves as well, posting 11 points and four rebounds in his first game with the club. The French forward also scored 15 in last Friday's loss in Washington.
With the signings, Minnesota's roster is back up to 16 players. The Wolves aren't required to waive anyone to get down to the usual maximum of 15, since they were granted an injury exception by the NBA earlier in the month, allowing them to carry an extra man.
Celtics Recall Fab Melo From D-League
Here are Tuesday's D-League assignments and recalls, with any additional moves added to the top of the page throughout the day:
- The Celtics have recalled Fab Melo from the Maine Red Claws, the team announced today in a press release. The last time Melo was recalled from the D-League, it was so his concussion could be treated by Celtics doctors. The rookie big man reportedly sat out Maine's most recent game with a quad strain, so the C's may have similar intentions this time around.