Josh Powell Signs In Greece
Shortly after failing to earn a spot on the Spurs' regular season roster, Josh Powell has signed with Greek's Olympiacos, according to the team's website (hat tip to Sportando). Powell was San Antonio's final cut of the offseason after spending the preseason in camp with the Spurs.
Powell, 29, has played 315 games with six teams over the course of his six-year NBA career. He last appeared in the league in 2010/11, when he averaged 4.1 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 54 contests for the Hawks.
For Olympiacos, Powell will take the place of Joey Dorsey, who recently published a frustrated post on his Facebook page indicating that he'd played his last game in Greece. Dorsey apologized for the post and said he hoped to remain with Olympiacos, but it appears the team has released him anyway.
Sixers, Jrue Holiday Agree To Extension
11:54pm: The team has sent out a press release confirming the deal.
"Jrue is both an outstanding player and an important part of our future," owner Josh Harris said. "We are very excited to keep a player of Jrue's caliber in Philadelphia and truly look forward to further building the 76ers legacy around his leadership."
11:13pm: The Sixers and Jrue Holiday have agreed to an extension, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Stein reports the deal is worth four years and $41MM, but Sam Amick of USA Today hears that incentives could bring the deal to $46MM (Twitter links).The extension appeared to be a 50-50 proposition earlier today, when Holiday was reportedly seeking $12-13MM annually, so it appears the team got him to make some concessions.
The deal was reached with seven minutes to spare before the 11pm Central deadline for rookie-scale extensions, tweets TNT's David Aldridge. It comes on the heels of extensions for fellow point guards Ty Lawson and Stephen Curry, and his could be the least lucrative of the three depending on whether he reaches the incentives. The Sixers will likely have about $45.5MM on the books for 2013/14, meaning a new max deal for Andrew Bynum would put them over the cap at about $63.5MM, giving them fairly limited flexibility next summer.
Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors predicted an offer worth $40MM over four years back in August, but said he wouldn't have been surprised if Holiday declined that offer and played out the season to show off for suitors in restricted free agency. The 22-year-old UCLA product saw his numbers decline virtually across the board last season, including a dip from 6.5 assists per game to 4.5 in less than two fewer minutes per contest. Still, his scoring per 36 minutes has increased with each season in the league, just as his turnovers per 36 minutes have gone down.
Taj Gibson Signs Extension With Bulls
11:43pm: The Bulls officially announced the extension in a press release.
"I’m very happy that I’m going to remain a Bull for the long haul," Gibson said. "The Bulls are like my second family and I’m excited to know that I’m going to continue to wear 'Bulls' across my chest."
11:19pm: The base pay comes to $32MM, but incentives could make the deal worth $38MM, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
10:52pm: Gibson said the money in the offer from the Bulls didn't change tonight, but contract language did, reports Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
10:39pm: Sam Amick of SI.com tweets that agent Mark Bartelstein says the incentives would only bring the deal up to $38MM, which was initially believed to be Gibson's base pay.
10:28pm: There are incentives in the extension that could bring it up to $40MM, the amount Gibson was asking for earlier tonight, Johnson tweets.
10:12pm: Taj Gibson and the Bulls have agreed to an extension, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports (Twitter link). The deal is for four years and $38MM, tweets Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com. The two sides bridged a reported $8MM gap, as Gibson was seeking $40MM while the team offered $32MM. He told Johnson before Chicago's win over the Kings tonight that he didn't think he'd change his mind an accept the team's offer, but evidently the Bulls upped the ante enough for his liking.
Assuming a $9.5MM salary for Gibson next year, the Bulls appear set up to be a luxury tax team again in 2013/14. They have about $74MM on the books for next year, a number they can knock down to $70MM if they waive Richard Hamilton, whose $5MM deal is only guaranteed for $1MM. The decision to extend Gibson's contract seemingly puts fellow power forward Carlos Boozer at greater risk of being waived via the amnesty clause next summer, since he's due $15.3MM in 2013/14 and $16.8MM the year after that.
Gibson has never averaged more than the 9.0 points per game he put up as a rookie in 2009/10, and has seen his minutes decrease in each of his three seasons. He's expected to take on a larger role this year as the lone remaining member of a well-regarded second unit that helped the Bulls to the league's best regular season record two years in a row. Though he scored only 7.7 PPG last season, his per-36-minutes point production was a career-high 13.6, and his PER has steadily climbed over his time in the league, reaching 16.9 last season.
Raptors Sign DeMar DeRozan To Extension
11:09pm: The Raptors confirmed the extension in a press release.
"DeMar has worked very hard and has been a significant part of the building process here in Toronto," team president Bryan Colangelo said. "We view DeMar as a young, athletic and talented basketball player whose character fits what we are putting together."
8:11pm: Michael Grange of Rogers Sportsnet confirms via Twitter that the base pay in the deal is $38MM (hat tip to John Hollinger of ESPN.com).
6:30pm: Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun hears the deal is actually for four years and $38MM (Twitter link). He's likely referring to the base pay and not the amount DeRozan could earn with the incentives, but that's just my speculation.
5:41pm: The Raptors and DeMar DeRozan have agreed to a four-year $40MM extension with incentives that could bring the value to as much as $42MM, reports Sam Amick of SI.com (Twitter link). Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported moments earlier that the two sides were close to a deal (Twitter link). After early indications today that a deal would not get done, there seemed to be a change of heart, presumably by the Raptors, who were reportedly already focused on what they wanted to see from DeRozan this season in advance of restricted free agency next summer. Instead, it appears they'll have the fourth-year swingman already locked up.
Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, who heard earlier today that an offer in the neighborhood of $34MM could get a deal done, quickly criticized the team's decision via Twitter, and Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times followed (Twitter link). Last year, DeRozan put up 16.7 PPG and 3.3 RPG on 42.2% shooting with a 12.8 PER, all numbers that declined from 2010/11.
The move means roughly $52MM in cap space is tied up for next season, assuming Linas Kleiza and Aaron Gray pick up their player options. That puts the Raptors out of the running for a max free agent they would have been able to afford if they passed on DeRozan.
Thunder Re-Sign Daniel Orton
6:41pm: The team officially announced the move in a press release.
10:27am: The Thunder have re-signed Orton to the NBA roster after he joined the D-League's Tulsa 66ers, according to the Oklahoman.
9:15am: Having waived him just a few days ago, the Thunder are expected to bring back Daniel Orton, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein (Twitter link). Oklahoma City released Orton, along with Andy Rautins and Hollis Thompson, prior to sending four players to Houston in exchange for Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb, which opened up a pair of roster spots.
When Orton was released by the Thunder on Saturday, Royce Young of DailyThunder.com wrote that the team was expected to retain the rights to the Oklahoma City native for its D-League affiliate. Assuming Orton officially re-signs with the Thunder, the club could still send him to the Tulsa 66ers, where he'd receive more playing time and a chance to develop.
If and when Orton's deal becomes finalized, Oklahoma City will have one open roster spot left, with 14 players under contract. Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman (Twitter link) doesn't expect the Thunder to fill that spot, given the flexibility it adds, not to mention how close to the tax threshold the team is.
Rockets Sign Harden To Five-Year Extension
6:08pm: The team has officially announced the signing via press release.
"James Harden is the foundational-type player we have been looking to add," owner Leslie Alexander said. "He is a tremendous, young player with the ability and skill set to be an All-Star. He is ready to make the next move up to join the elite players in the NBA. As I said when we traded for James, he along with the mix of young players we already have in place, such as Jeremy Lin, Chandler Parsons and Omer Asik, gives us a solid group of young, talented players who will help get us back to a championship level."
2:10pm: James Harden has agreed to a five-year contract extension with the Rockets, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Wojnarowski initially pegs the value of the extension at $80MM, though he adds in a second tweet that it's a maximum-salary deal, meaning the exact figures aren't yet set in stone.
Harden was, of course, acquired by the Rockets over the weekend, at which point it was reported that the two sides would reach an agreement on a five-year, maximum-salary contract. The Thunder, having already designated Russell Westbrook as their franchise player, could only offer Harden a four-year extension, and were said to be offering less than the maximum salary — something in the neighborhood of $53MM for four years.
With Harden under contract through 2018, the Rockets figure to build around a core that includes Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik, and the reigning Sixth Man of the Year. Those three players' salaries will amount to a cap hit of more than $30MM in 2013/14. However, the rest of the Rockets' team salary will be made up of rookie contracts or non-guaranteed deals, which should give them the cap space to be a major player in free agency.
As for Harden's new deal, the exact amount of the 2013/14 maximum salary for a player with his experience isn't yet known, but it will likely increase at least a little. Westbrook's five-year, max-salary extension, which uses 2012/13's figures, will pay him about $78.6MM, so Harden's deal is expected to exceed that.
Grizzlies Exercise 2013/14 Option On Pondexter
The Grizzlies have picked up their $2.23MM fourth-year option on Quincy Pondexter for 2013/14, Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal tweets. Pondexter was the last of the players eligible for rookie-scale contract extensions by tonight's 11pm Central deadline, as our tracker shows.
The Thunder took Pondexter with the 26th pick in the 2010 NBA draft, trading him that night to the Hornets. The 6'6" swingman averaged 2.8 points in 11.1 minutes per game as a rookie for New Orleans, which sent him in another trade to the Grizzlies before last season. Pondexter saw a little bit more time in Memphis, averaging 15.7 MPG while putting up 4.2 PPG.
Warriors Sign Curry To Four-Year Extension
3:26pm: The Warriors have officially signed Curry to a contract extension, the team confirmed in a press release.
"This is an exciting day for the Warriors and our fans and it certainly exemplifies the commitment of [owners] Joe Lacob and Peter Guber," said GM Bob Myers in the release. "We’re extremely pleased that we have reached an agreement that will enable Stephen to remain a vital part of our team long term. His contributions over the last three years, both on the floor and in the community, have been invaluable to our organization. We certainly expect him to be an integral part of our future success as he continues to evolve as a player in all facets of the game."
10:59am: Stephen Curry and the Warriors have reached an agreement on a contract extension for the fourth-year guard, a source tells Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group. According to Thompson, Curry's new deal, which will begin in 2013/14, will be worth $44MM over four years, and doesn't include any incentives or bonuses.
Curry himself confirmed the news on his Twitter account, tweeting: "#Dubs Gameday baby. And thanks to Joe Lacob & the Warriors hopefully I can say that for the next 4 yrs. agreed on extension."
The news is a little surprising, considering Curry was slowed during the preseason with ankle issues. After missing significant time last season with ankle injuries, it was assumed the Warriors wanted to take a long look at Curry's health this preseason to determine whether a long-term investment was worth the risk. Despite the fact that Curry missed some time last week with an ankle sprain, it seems the Warriors saw enough to convince them that they should lock up the 24-year-old now, rather than waiting until after the season.
Curry's deal comes on the heels of Ty Lawson signing a four-year, $48MM extension with the Nuggets. The Warriors point guard will earn an annual salary worth $1MM less than Lawson's, matching the $11MM annual salary Rajon Rondo is making on his five-year, $55MM deal with the Celtics.
As for the Warriors, they appear to be headed for luxury-tax territory in 2013/14, even if Curry's deal is backloaded. A $10MM salary for Curry in 2013/14 would put Golden State on the hook for about $58MM for its top five players (by salary) next season, assuming Richard Jefferson and Andris Biedrins pick up their options. Modest salaries for Harrison Barnes, Klay Thompson, Festus Ezeli, and Draymond Green, along with potential $4MM player options for Brandon Rush and Carl Landry, will make it extremely challenging for the Warriors to stay below the tax threshold.
Rockets To Decline Option On Cole Aldrich
The Rockets will not exercise their 2013/14 option on the recently-acquired Cole Aldrich, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston (Twitter link). Aldrich, who came over from the Thunder on the weekend, would have been in line for a $3.25MM next year, but will instead become an unrestricted free agent in the summer.
Faced with five decisions on 2013/14 options, the Rockets elected to exercise only Marcus Morris' and Patrick Patterson's. Besides turning down Aldrich's fourth-year option, Houston waived another player acquired from the Thunder, Lazar Hayward, meaning the team won't be on the hook for his '13/14 option. The Rockets also released JaJuan Johnson without picking up his third-year option.
With Aldrich's option set to be declined, there's now just one outstanding 2013/14 option decision remaining, according to Hoops Rumors' tracker: Quincy Pondexter of the Grizzlies.
Rautins, Thompson Sign With Tulsa 66ers
A pair of Thunder camp invitees, Andy Rautins and Hollis Thompson, have signed D-League contracts to join the Tulsa 66ers, reports Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman (via Twitter). Both players were released by the Thunder over the weekend, along with Daniel Orton, who is expected to re-sign with Oklahoma City.
Rautins, a second-round pick in 2010, has appeared in just five NBA games in his brief career, while Thompson, a Georgetown product, went undrafted in this year's draft despite having been ranked as a top-50 prospect by ESPN.com's Chad Ford.
Having carried Rautins and Thompson late into the preseason, the Thunder held their D-League rights, meaning the team will get a chance to develop the duo at its affiliate in Tulsa, which isn't shared with another NBA club. Another NBA team could sign either player away from the 66ers during the season, but the team would have to be willing to use a spot on its 15-man roster.