Timberwolves Waive Lazar Hayward
The Minnesota Timberwolves have waived Lazar Hayward, the team announced on Sunday. Their roster now stands at 14, which gives them room to sign another player to compensate for Kevin Love's hand injury.
Hayward, 26, appeared in two games for the Timberwolves and averaged 1.0 PPG and 1.0 RPG.
Mavericks Waive Douglas-Roberts, Considering James?
The Dallas Mavericks have waived Chris Douglas-Roberts, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. The guard appeared in six games for the Mavs since being called up from the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League. He averaged 2.8 PPG in those games.
MacMahon reports that the Mavericks will look to sign a player to a 10-day contract with the roster spot created by releasing Douglas-Roberts. One player the team may look at is Mike James, who played for the Bulls last season.
Bulls Sign Daequan Cook
SUNDAY, 10:22am: The Bulls officially announced their signing of Cook, via press release. The move brings the team's roster to 14 players.
FRIDAY, 5:15pm: Cook has cleared waivers and will sign with the Bulls, according to his agent, Mike Conley Sr., Stein reports (Twitter link). Given Chicago's salary constraints, the deal will have to be for the minimum.
4:12pm: Cook has indeed cleared waivers, making him an unrestricted free agent, tweets Stein.
4:03pm: Daequan Cook was waived by the Rockets two days ago, which means he's set to clear waivers today. While it's possible that a team submitted a waiver claim for him, it's more likely that no club is willing to take on his guaranteed $3MM+ 2012/13 salary. Assuming Cook clears waivers, the Bulls are "firmly in the lead" to sign him, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter).
The Bulls' roster moves this season have been limited by the club's proximity to the hard cap, which doesn't allow for much flexibility. Still, Chicago has the room necessary to take on a minimum-salary player for the rest of the year. 10-day contracts can also be signed starting on Monday, though it's not clear if Cook would be open to a 10-day deal or whether he's seeking a full-season guarantee.
Cook, 25, headed to Houston in October's James Harden blockbuster, and averaged career-lows in minutes (10.3) and points (3.4) per game in his 16 appearances for the Rockets. He was still effective from three-point range, however, with his 36.7% mark this season right in line with his career average (36.5%).
Heat Waive Terrel Harris
The Heat announced that they have waived guard Terrel Harris. Harris' deal would have become guaranteed on Monday's deadline and the move could signal that the Heat are gearing up to sign a big man.
Harris appeared in seven games with the Heat this year, averaging 1.4 points and 1.3 rebounds in 4.1 minutes per contest. He was a bigger part of Miami's rotation in 2011/12 as he appeared in 22 games and averaged 3.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game.
The move leaves the Heat with 14 men on their roster. Josh Harrellson is the team's only remaining non-guaranteed player.
D-League Notes: Sacre, De Colo
Today's D-League assignments and recalls..
- The Lakers have re-assigned Robert Sacre to the Los Angeles D-Fenders, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Sacre was just recalled from the affiliate last month.
- The Spurs announced that they have recalled Nando De Colo from the D-League. The guard's second stint with the Austin Toros lasted less than 24 hours as he was assigned Friday afternoon. The 25-year-old has seen 11.9 minutes per contest for the Spurs and averaged 3.9 PPG this season.
Eastern Notes: Knicks, Magic, Vucevic, Carlesimo
Lakers coach and former Knicks boss Mike D'Antoni was a little thrown by Amare Stoudemire's recent assertion that he was never taught defense before this year, as Newsday's Al Iannazzone documents. D'Antoni, who coached Stoudemire in New York and Phoenix, said he didn't think Stoudemire meant to be malicious, but still found the comment "mind-boggling" and implied that Stoudemire threw him and his assistant coaches with the Knicks under the bus. Here's more from around the Eastern Conference.
- We heard earlier today that the Magic, unsurprisingly, will not try to sign Dwight Howard in the offseason, and Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reports that the team isn't interested in acquiring fellow Dan Fegan client DeMarcus Cousins, either.
- Schmitz also writes that Nikola Vucevic is off the market unless a team "blows away" the Magic with a proposal (and a Cousins offer wouldn't qualify). Still, Schmitz wonders if Orlando could swap him for a marquee talent when he gets closer to the end of his rookie deal in 2015.
- HoopsWorld's Yannis Koutroupis checks in with Nets interim coach and former Spurs assistant P.J. Carlesimo, who has admiration for the San Antonio model but doesn't think it's one that can be applied in Brooklyn.
- In a video attached to the same piece, Nets swingman MarShon Brooks, who's been seeing more playing time under Carlesimo, predictably gives the coach his stamp of approval, and brushes off trade rumors.
- Former Raptors small forward Gary Forbes had his sights set on an eventual return to the NBA when he signed with the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions in China in November, but his next move will be to Puerto Rico, where he'll play for Atleticos de San German, reports Manolo Rodriguez of Tiro Al Blanco (translation via Sportando).
Christian Eyenga Leaving D-League For China
Former first-round pick Christian Eyenga has bought out his contract with the Texas Legends of the D-League so he can sign with the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports. The former Cavs and Lakers swingman first hinted at the move on his own Twitter account a few hours ago. Eyenga will replace another former NBA player on Shanxi's roster, Marcus E. Williams, who a few days ago became the first Chinese league player suspended for drugs after testing positive for marijuana.
Eyenga appeared in 14 games for Texas this season, but started only one of them, averaging 16.1 points and 5.7 rebounds. He was let go at the end of training camp by the Magic, who got him from the Lakers as part of the Dwight Howard trade. L.A. had acquired him from the Cavs via the Ramon Sessions trade at the deadline last year. The Lakers reportedly had an affinity for the 6'5" swingman from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but they're ineligible to re-sign him until next July.
Cleveland drafted him with 30th overall pick in 2010, but after a rookie season in which he averaged 6.9 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 21.5 minutes per contest, including 18 starts, he's seen action in only 14 NBA games. Since the Chinese season ends in February, he could still find his way back to the NBA in 2012/13.
D-League Moves: C’s, Thunder, Pacers, Spurs
We'll follow Friday's D-League assignments and recalls below:
- Kris Joseph has been assigned to the D-League by the Celtics, the club announced in a press release. Joseph has averaged 19.5 PPG in eight games for the Maine Red Claws this season.
- After being recalled on Monday from the Tulsa 66ers, Perry Jones III, Jeremy Lamb, and Daniel Orton are all headed back to the D-League, the Thunder announced today in a press release.
- Orlando Johnson has been recalled from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers announced in a team release. Johnson scored 25 points last night to help lead the Mad Ants to a 102-86 victory over the Santa Cruz Warriors.
- The Spurs have assigned Nando De Colo to the D-League for the second time this season, the team announced in a press release. He'll rejoin the Austin Toros.
Hornets Release Dominic McGuire
The Hornets have officially waived forward Dominic McGuire, the team announced today in a press release. ESPN.com's Marc Stein first reported (via Twitter) that McGuire was expected to be released.
McGuire had signed a non-guaranteed deal with the Hornets back on December 16th. With the contract guarantee deadline fast approaching, McGuire's contract would have become guaranteed for the season if he had remained on the Hornets' roster through next Monday. Instead, New Orleans has saved itself from paying the 27-year-old a rest-of-season salary.
The Hornets now have 13 players left on their roster, leaving two open roster spots. If New Orleans employs a strategy similar to last season's, the club figures to use those open spots to audition players on 10-day contracts. In 2011/12, the Hornets signed six different players to at least one 10-day deal, as our tracker shows.
McGuire, who began the season with the Raptors, posted nearly identical numbers in nine games for the Hornets (2.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 16.1 MPG) as he did in 15 games with Toronto (2.1 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 15.3 MPG). McGuire has also played for the Wizards, Kings, Bobcats, and Warriors during his six-year NBA career.
Kyrylo Fesenko Signs In Ukraine
FRIDAY, 10:36am: BC Donetsk has officially announced the signing of Fesenko, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Charania writes that Fesenko's contract is "flexible," and while it's not clear if that means he could return to the NBA this season, it sounds as if he'll have the opportunity to earn a training camp invite stateside next summer.
TUESDAY, 2:11pm: After failing to catch on with an NBA team, Kyrylo Fesenko is working toward finalizing a contract to play in Ukraine, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com. According to Charania, Fesenko is close to signing with BC Donetsk.
Fesenko was a training camp invitee for the Bulls this fall, but the team didn't have the cap flexibility to keep him around into the regular season. There was some speculation that Chicago could re-sign Fesenko later in the season, and the big man worked out for the Hawks as well, but it appears he'll head overseas instead.
Fesenko, who last played in the NBA last season with the Pacers, has appeared in 135 regular-season games over the course of his five-year NBA career.