Warriors Sign Stefhon Hannah
The Warriors have maxed out their training camp roster, signing Stefhon Hannah to fill the team's 20th roster spot. Golden State formally announced the signing today via a team release.
Hannah, 27, played for the Bucks' summer league squad in Las Vegas earlier this summer after spending last season with the Warriors' D-League affiliate. Hannah helped lead the Dakota Wizards to a postseason berth, averaging 18.4 PPG and earning D-League Defensive Player of the Year honors. The 6'1" guard out of Missouri has also played overseas since finishing his college career in 2008.
The Warriors now have five players on fully non-guaranteed contracts, plus Kent Bazemore on a partially-guaranteed deal. While Bazemore would appear to be the frontrunner for the final roster spot based on his partial guarantee, the buyout would only cost the Warriors $25K, so if Hannah or another of the Warriors' non-guaranteed players impresses in camp, they could be in the mix for that 15th roster spot.
Lakers Sign Chris Douglas-Roberts
The Lakers have signed Chris Douglas-Roberts to a training camp contract, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com (via Twitter). Douglas-Roberts likely won't earn a spot on the Lakers' 15-man roster, but the team is hoping he'll join the D-Fenders, L.A.'s D-League affiliate, says McMenamin.
D0uglas-Roberts, 24, was drafted 40th overall in 2008 after leaving the University of Memphis a year early. Although Douglas-Roberts excelled in his junior year as a Tiger, averaging 18.1 PPG on 54.1% shooting, he failed to find a long-term home in the NBA, spending time with the Nets and Bucks from 2008 to 2011. In 155 career games, he has averaged 7.7 points and 2.2 rebounds.
For the Lakers, Douglas-Roberts is the 20th player under contract, meaning the team can't add any more players to its training camp roster without waiving someone.
Sixers Exercise 2013/14 Option On Doug Collins
The Sixers have added one year to Doug Collins' contract, exercising the coach's option for the 2013/14 season, according to the team's director of public relations Michael Preston (Twitter link). Sixers owner Josh Harris announced the news today to media in Philadelphia, adding that he hopes Collins will stay longer than the two years he now has left on his deal (Twitter link via Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News).
Back in August, Collins expressed a desire to coach four or five more years in Philadelphia, though he hopes to eventually move to the front office, as Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com tweets. It appears as if the Sixers would be open to such a move, depending on how the next few seasons go — Collins has long been viewed as the de factor GM in Philadelphia, and has a hand in the team's basketball decisions.
Colling is entering his third season as the coach of the 76ers, having posted a 76-72 record in his first two years. He led the team to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs as a No. 8 seed in 2011/12.
Hawks Sign Isma’il Muhammad
The Hawks have added former Georgia Tech forward Isma'il Muhammad to their training camp roster, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Consitution (via Twitter). Muhammad is the 19th player under contract for the Hawks.
Muhammad was considered a solid defender and an outstanding dunker during his days at Georgia Tech. The 29-year-old graduated back in 2005, but was in an NBA camp as recently as last December — he was waived by the Bobcats just a few days before the season started.
With 14 players on fully or partially guaranteed contracts in Atlanta, and guys like Damion James and James Anderson expected to compete for the 15th spot, I'd expect Muhammad to be an extra body in camp, rather than a real candidate to earn a roster spot.
Bulls, Thibodeau Agree On Four-Year Extension
1:53pm: Thibodeau's four-year extension will pay him about $17.5MM, with bonuses that could increase the total value to $20MM, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
1:14pm: The Bulls and Tom Thibodeau have reached an agreement on a four-year extension for the head coach, GM Gar Forman announced today at a press conference in Chicago (Twitter link via Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com). Thibodeau's contract, which was set to expire at season's end, had been a hot topic of discussion over the offseason, but the 2011 Coach of the Year says he was never worried about his future.
"I'm thankful to Jerry [Reinsdorf] and Gar and John [Paxson]," Thibodeau said (Twitter link via K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune). "I never doubted it would work out. I love being here."
The Bulls initially elected to simply pick up Thibodeau's contract option for the 2012/13 rather than working out a long-term extension. However, we heard last month that the two sides had resumed negotiations on a new deal.
In his two years on the Bulls' bench, Thibodeau has led the team to an extremely impressive 112-36 (.757) record. The team has yet to break through in the postseason, however, with the 2011/12 season coming to an end after a pair of devastating injuries to Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah.
Bucks Sign Four To Camp Roster
The Bucks have added four players to their training camp roster on non-guaranteed deals, according to various reports. Emiliano Carchia of Sportando first reported (via Twitter) that the team had signed Orien Greene, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reported (via Twitter) the signing of Mustapha Farrakhan, and Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel added Alando Tucker and Eddie Gill to the list of new Bucks (Twitter link).
We had previously heard that Greene, a four-year NBA veteran, and Tucker, a former Wisconsin standout and first-round pick, were auditioning for the Bucks in hopes of landing training camp invites. Farrakhan, meanwhile, played for the Knicks' summer league squad, while Gill hasn't appeared in an NBA game since he played for Milwaukee in the 2008/09 season.
The Bucks already have 15 players on guaranteed contracts, so it will be an uphill battle for any of these four players to earn a regular-season roster spot with the team. The team's roster now stands at 19 players.
Grizzlies Sign Kyle Weaver, Flip Murray
12:45pm: The Grizzlies have announced Weaver's signing in a press release, and confirmed Ronald "Flip" Murray's deal as well. Murray's agreement had been reported previously, but wasn't yet confirmed.
12:15pm: The Grizzlies have added Kyle Weaver to their training camp roster on a non-guaranteed deal, according to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). Based on the team's reported agreements to date, Weaver would be the 20th player under contract in Memphis.
Weaver, 26, was the 38th overall pick in the 2008 draft. He has since appeared in 73 games for the Thunder and Jazz, as well as playing in the D-League, in Germany, and in Belgium. The 6'6" wing has averaged 5.0 PPG and 2.2 RPG in his NBA career.
Spurs Sign Eddy Curry, Sherron Collins
The Spurs have officially unveiled their training camp roster, and there's at least one unexpected name on the list: Eddy Curry. Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News first reported that Curry was in camp with the Spurs (via Twitter).
Among the team's other additions, we'd previously heard about Tyler Wilkerson, Wesley Witherspoon, Josh Powell, and Derrick Brown. One new name on the training camp roster is Sherron Collins. It appears Collins may have taken the spot that previously appeared ticketed for fellow point guard Tre Kelley, whose name doesn't appear on the list.
While Brown, Powell, and the others should have a chance to earn a roster spot for the Spurs, Curry may be the most intriguing player among the new additions. According to Monroe, Curry has been playing all summer, looks fit, and has reportedly dropped 15 pounds (Twitter link). It would still be a little surprising to see the veteran big man earn a roster spot, but it appears he'll at least be given the opportunity.
Cavaliers Sign Justin Holiday
The Cavaliers have added Justin Holiday to their training camp roster, according to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Sulia link). The older brother of Jrue Holiday was part of the Cavs' summer league squad in July.
Holiday, 23, played his college ball at Washington, graduating in 2011. The 6'5" wing went undrafted despite being ranked as the 57th-best prospect in the class by ESPN.com's Chad Ford. He figures to be on a non-guaranteed summer contract with Cleveland and will be an extreme long shot to make the team's regular-season roster.
Bulls Sign Five To Finalize Camp Roster
The Bulls have officially signed five players to finalize their training camp roster, the team announced today in a press release. In addition to previously reported signees like Andre Emmett and Kyrylo Fesenko, the Bulls also added Marko Jaric, Ryan Allen, and Vance Cooksey, according to the team release.
With 13 players previously under contract, the Bulls were up against a hard cap, with only about $758K available to spend on players. However, since these five players were presumably signed to summer contracts, the salary won't count against Chicago's cap unless one of more of these guys makes the team. In that case, the Bulls would have to shed salary in another way, perhaps via trade, to clear room.
In addition to previously hearing about Emmett's and Fesenko's agreements, we also heard that Jaric and Allen were working out with the Bulls. Cooksey is the only new name — he spent last season playing in the D-League for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and the Texas Legends, averaging 8.8 PPG and 4.8 APG in 38 contests.