Timberwolves Waive Will Conroy
12:46pm: The Wolves have officially released Conroy, according to the team (Twitter link). The club also confirmed it will sign Howard, pending a physical.
12:16pm: In order to clear a spot on the roster for Josh Howard, the Timberwolves will release Will Conroy, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Wolfson tweets that the team has informed Conroy he'll be let go.
With 15 players on the roster, the Wolves needed to release a player in order to make room for Howard, with whom they agreed to a one-year deal earlier today. As I wrote at the time, Conroy was the most logical candidate to go, since he's the only T-Wolves player without a fully guaranteed contract. If and when they officially cut Conroy, the Wolves will take a small cap hit of $100K, the amount of the 29-year-old's contract that was guaranteed.
As Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press noted yesterday, the Timberwolves could have signed a 16th man without releasing a player in the event of a hardship. However, four players would need to be sidelined for two or more weeks to constitute a hardship. Minnesota only has three players, in Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, and Chase Budinger, that meet those criteria.
Spurs Assign Cory Joseph To D-League
With the D-League season approaching, Cory Joseph is the latest NBA player to be assigned to a D-League affiliate. The Spurs announced today in a press release that Joseph will join the Austin Toros.
Joseph, 21, appeared in 29 games for the Spurs last season, averaging 2.0 PPG on 31.4% shooting in 9.2 minutes per contest. He played briefly in just one game for San Antonio this season. For Joseph, it won't be the first time he's played for the Toros. The Canadian guard had multiple stints in the D-League last season, recording 13.8 PPG, 5.1 APG, and 5.1 RPG in 14 games with Austin.
Joseph becomes the eighth player assigned to a D-League affiliate this year, a list that includes his second cousin, Kris Joseph of the Celtics.
Celtics Assign Fab Melo, Kris Joseph To D-League
The Celtics have assigned a pair of players to their D-League affiliate, the team announced today. Rookies Fab Melo and Kris Joseph are headed to the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics confirmed in a press release.
Seven games into the Celtics' season, Joseph has only earned three total minutes of playing time, in the team's November 2nd contest against the Bucks. Melo, meanwhile, has yet to make his regular-season NBA debut. With the Red Claws, both players will earn much-needed playing time and a chance to develop.
To keep tabs on all of this season's D-League assignments and recalls, check out our tracker.
Rockets Assign Motiejunas, Machado To D-League
WEDNESDAY, 10:02am: The Rockets have assigned Motiejunas and Machado to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, according to RealGM.com's transactions log. Given White's uncertain status, it appears he hasn't been officially signed to Houston's D-League affiliate at this point. As Hoops Rumors' Chuck Myron pointed out last night, NBA teams were previously limited to assigning two players at a time to D-League affiliates, so it's not clear whether that affects White's situation or if the rule has changed.
MONDAY, 10:47pm: The Rockets are sending Royce White, Donatas Motiejunas, and Scott Machado to their NBA D-League affiliate, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26 (via Twitter). Of the three players, Motiejunas is the only one to have logged NBA minutes with five minutes of play last night against the Pistons.
White, the 16th overall pick in the 2012 draft, picked up national attention for his unexpected absence from Rockets training camp over the summer. It turns out that the forward was struggling with anxiety issues, including a fear of flying. Later in the week, the two sides worked out an agreement in which White could travel to a portion of road games via bus rather than fly with the team.
Bobcats, Hornets Swap Carroll For Warrick
3:10pm: The Bobcats have officially acquired Warrick in exchange for Carroll, confirms B.J. Evans, the team's vice president of communications (Twitter link).
With Carroll not part of the Bobcats' rotation, president Rod Higgins viewed the move as a no-risk opportunity to upgrade the club's frontcourt depth, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).
3:02pm: There is a trade "in the works" between the Bobcats and Hornets, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Stein reports (via Twitter) that the two sides are negotiating a swap involving Matt Carroll and Hakim Warrick, though it's not clear if a deal is imminent or just being discussed.
Both Carroll and Warrick are playing on similar expiring contracts, with Carroll earning $3.5MM in the final year of his deal, while Warrick is earning $4MM for the Hornets. Warrick also has a team option for next season, but it's not believed to include any guaranteed money, and almost certainly won't be picked up. Either way, New Orleans would be saving a little salary in the event of a deal.
A change of scenery could be beneficial for both players, who aren't seeing much playing time this season. After appearing in 53 contests for the Bobcats last season, Carroll has played just six minutes in one game this season. Warrick, meanwhile, saw seven minutes of action in his lone game for the Hornets last week.
Warrick has already been part of one trade this year, having been included by the Suns in the Hornets' sign-and-trade deal for Robin Lopez back in July.
Sundiata Gaines Signs In China
Just over three weeks after he was cut by the Pacers, Sundiata Gaines has found a new team, signing with the Fujian Sturgeons of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Carchia reported last week that Gaines had received an offer from a Chinese team in addition to drawing interest from Italy's Pallacanestro Cantu, so presumably that CBA club was Fujian.
Gaines, 26, has played in 113 NBA games over a three-year career for the Jazz, Timberwolves, Raptors, and Nets. The point guard appeared in a career-high 57 contests for New Jersey last season, averaging 5.1 PPG and 2.2 APG in 13.9 MPG. After attending training camp with the Pacers, he was released along with Blake Ahearn and Luke Nevill when Indiana made its roster cuts in anticipation of the regular season.
Since the CBA season ends before the NBA season, Gaines could still have a chance to catch on with an NBA team later in the year if he impresses in China.
Nuggets Assign Quincy Miller To D-League
The Nuggets have assigned Quincy Miller to their D-League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. The second-round pick will join the Iowa Energy in advance of the D-League's regular season.
Miller, 19, averaged 6.8 PPG and 5.2 RPG for Denver's Summer League squad, but didn't appear in a game for the Nuggets in the preseason, let alone the regular season. He'll get a chance to earn more playing time in Iowa, which was a possibility GM Masai Ujiri alluded to earlier this fall.
You can find this season's complete list of D-League assignments and recalls right here.
Lakers Hire Mike D’Antoni
3:17pm: The Lakers have officially announced their hiring of D'Antoni in a press release.
"After speaking with several excellent and well-respected coaching candidates, Dr. [Jerry] Buss, Jim [Buss] and I all agreed that Mike was the right person at this time to lead the Lakers forward," said GM Mitch Kupchak in the statement. "Knowing his style of play and given the current make-up of our roster, we feel Mike is a great fit, are excited to have him as our next head coach and hope he will help our team reach its full potential."
2:04am: The Los Angeles Lakers have officially hired their new coach, with the team confirming late Sunday night that Mike D'Antoni will replace Mike Brown on the Lakers' bench. Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links) first reported the news, adding (via Twitter) that D'Antoni's contract is for three guaranteed years and $12MM, plus a fourth-year team option. The club is expected to introduce its new head coach at a press conference later this week.
Following the firing of Brown on Friday, the Lakers had been pursuing Phil Jackson to return to the team for a third time after his 2011 retirement. According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com, Jackson was prepared to accept the job if negotiations progressed well on Monday, and was "stunned" to learn the Lakers had chosen D'Antoni (Twitter links).
While there were rumblings suggesting Jackson's demands were too high, ESPN.com's Chris Broussard hears from both sides that rumors of Jackson's exorbitant asking price were overblown (Twitter link). Broussard adds that the Lakers chose D'Antoni over Jackson in part because the team felt the Triangle offense would've been too complex for the team to learn on the fly, and that the system wasn't a great fit for the current roster (Twitter links).
Additionally, TNT's David Aldridge (Twitter link) notes that Jackson would have wanted total control over the franchise and all personnel decisions, an arrangement similar to Pat Riley's in Miami. ESPN.com's Arash Markazi also tweets that the Lakers wanted more stability than the year-to-year commitment Jackson would offer.
D'Antoni, who resigned as head coach of the New York Knicks in March of 2012, will be reunited in Los Angeles with Steve Nash, whom he coached as a member of the Phoenix Suns from 2004 to 2008. As Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports tweets, D'Antoni continues to recover from knee surgery in New York, and will require clearance before he can fly to Los Angeles later this week. When D'Antoni eventually takes over from interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff, he'll be bringing his brother Dan D'Antoni with him as an assistant, reports Aldridge (via Twitter).
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Lakers Assign Johnson-Odom To D-League
Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles (via Twitter) reports that the Lakers have assigned Darius Johnson-Odom to the D-Fenders, their D-League affiliate. The rookie guard has only appeared in one game through the team's first five contests, making a one minute appearance during last night's win against Golden State.
Mbenga To Play For McGrady’s Chinese Team
D.J. Mbenga has agreed to sign with the Qingdao Double Star Eagles, the same Chinese team that Tracy McGrady plays for, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Mbenga was waived by the Mavericks on the eve of camp last month, despite an agreement that he would join the Mavs' D-League affiliate after going through training camp with Dallas.
Mbenga reportedly turned down offers from teams in China and Greece to sign with the Mavs, though it's unclear whether that Chinese offer was from Qingdao. The 31-year-old Mbenga played seven seasons in the NBA, though he hasn't seen action in the league since 2010/11, despite drawing interest from the Bucks at midseason last year. He has career NBA averages of 1.8 points and 1.5 rebounds in 6.7 minutes per game.
Since the Chinese season ends before the NBA regular season does, there's a chance Mbenga, as well as McGrady, could latch on in the Association if he impresses overseas.