Celtics Sign Micah Downs
SEPTEMBER 28TH: The Celtics have officially signed Downs, according to a team release. The team also officially announced the signing of Rob Kurz, within the same press release.
SEPTEMBER 20TH: Micah Downs will sign with the Celtics and will be present at the team's training camp next month, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. After agreeing to sign Darko Milicic earlier today, the Celtics have now reached agreements with 19 players, giving them space to sign one more player in addition to Downs and Milicic, if they so choose.
Downs, 26, played his college ball for Kansas and Gonzaga before going undrafted in 2009. He has spent his playing career primarily overseas since then, playing last season for Assignia Manresa in Spain. The 6'8" swingman appeared to be headed to Russia for the coming season, but he and Nizhny Novgorod broke off their contract agreement earlier this month.
While terms of Downs' deal aren't known, it's almost certainly a non-guaranteed pact, making it very unlikely he'll earn a spot on the Celtics. He could be a candidate to play for the team's D-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.
Heat Sign Carney, Dozier
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel reports that the Heat have signed guard Rodney Carney and forward Robert Dozier to their training camp roster, which now stands at the maximum of 20 players (Twitter link).
Dozier had reportedly agreed to terms with Miami earlier this month and was working out with the team, although nothing had been officially announced until today. Carney, a former first round pick of the 76ers, had also drawn interest from the Bucks in recent weeks.
Spurs Sign Josh Powell
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports tweets that the Spurs have added veteran big man Josh Powell to their training camp roster. Powell joins Derrick Brown, Wesley Witherspoon, Tre Kelley and Tyler Wilkerson as recent signings that will compete for a roster spot in San Antonio.
Powell had most recently played in Puerto Rico and was last seen in the NBA with the Hawks during the 2010-11 season. The Spurs' roster currently stands at 18.
Sixers Sign Four For Training Camp
The 76ers have added four players to their roster for training camp, the team announced today in a press release. Dan Gadzuric, Devin Searcy, Xavier Silas and Damien Wilkins will be in camp with the Sixers, bringing the team's roster count to 17 players.
Of the four, Gadzuric, Silas, and Wilkins all played for NBA teams in 2011/12. Gadzuric's and Silas' appearances were brief, with Gadzuric playing just two games for the Knicks and Silas appearing in a pair of games for the Sixers. Wilkins, however, spent the season with the Pistons, averaging 15.4 MPG in 60 contests, though he posted a career-low 6.9 PER.
As for Searcy, the 6'10" big man went undrafted out of Dayton a year ago and spent the 2011/12 season in Japan, averaging a double-double (13.8 PPG, 10.8 RPG) for the Toyama Grouses. He was also part of the Sixers' summer league squad in Orlando this July.
If all four players are on non-guaranteed deals, which is likely, they'll be competing for the team's final couple roster spots. The Sixers currently have 12 players on fully guaranteed contract, plus Maalik Wayns on a partial guarantee.
Timberwolves To Sign Seth Tarver
The Timberwolves will add former Oregon State shooting guard Seth Tarver to their training camp roster, according to Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500 (via Twitter). Terms of the deal aren't known, but it will almost certainly be a non-guaranteed summer contract.
Tarver, 24, graduated from Oregon State in 2010 after posting 10.2 PPG and 4.6 RPG in his senior year. His numbers since then, in 94 games over two seasons for the D-League's Idaho Stampede, have been nearly identical (10.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG).
The move will bring the Timberwolves' roster to 16 players when it becomes official. Of those 16, 14 have fully guaranteed deals. Will Conroy's contract is partially guaranteed for just $100K.
Mavericks Sign Akognon, Mbenga, Holloway
The Mavericks have officially added three players to their training camp roster, according to a press release from the team. Dallas finalized its deals with Josh Akognon and D.J. Mbenga, which had been previously reported, and also added former Xavier guard Tu Holloway.
Akognon, who graduated from Cal State Fullerton in 2009, averaged 23.9 PPG in his senior year, earning Big West Conference Player of the Year honors. Since going undrafted, he has played primarily overseas, including an impressive 2011/12 season with the CBA's DongGuan New Century Leopards. In 37 games for DongGuan, the 26-year-old was a top-five scorer in the league, averaging 28.2 PPG on 51% shooting.
Mbenga, 31, began his NBA career with the Mavericks in 2004, having been signed as a rookie free agent by Dallas. The seven-footer played three seasons in Dallas before spending time with the Warriors, Lakers, and Hornets. Mbenga, who has appeared in 234 career games, last played in the NBA in 2010/11, with New Orleans.
Holloway, 23, was ranked as this year's 68th-best prospect by ESPN.com's Chad Ford but went undrafted. In his senior year at Xavier, the 6'0" point guard averaged 17.5 PPG and 4.9 APG. Holloway was originally slated to join the Raptors' summer league roster in Las Vegas, but ended up playing for Dallas' squad instead.
All three players figure to be on non-guaranteed deals, bringing the Mavericks' roster to 18 players. We've previously heard that Mbenga has agreed to join Dallas' D-League affiliate if he doesn't earn a spot on the team, while Akognon appears ready to head back to China if he fails to make the regular-season cut.
Jazz Sign Quinn, Gilder, Jackson
10:16pm: The contract of second-round pick Kevin Murphy isn't guaranteed, Smith writes, so that means the Jazz only have 14 fully guaranteed contracts, including Raja Bell's. That provides a little extra room for one of the camp invitees to make the team.
8:54pm: The Jazz will bring point guard Chris Quinn to training camp, reports Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). The addition of Quinn, likely on a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary deal, brings the team's roster to 19 players. Quinn will likely compete for the final regular season roster spot with Trey Gilder, Darnell Jackson and Brian Butch, whose signings were officially announced via press release, as Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld notes via Twitter. Gilder and Jackson appeared close to invites earlier this month, while the signing of Butch was reportedly confirmed a few days ago.
Quinn has spent parts of five seasons in the NBA, with the Heat, Nets and finally the Spurs, with whom he made his last NBA appearance in 2010/11. The 6'2" 29-year-old averaged 4.6 points and 1.9 assists in 13.8 minutes per game with a 12.5 PER over his NBA career. He spent last season with Khimki BC in Russia, and put up 7.3 PPG and 2.9 APG in 19.4 MPG.
The Jazz have 15 fully guaranteed contracts, though one of them belongs to Raja Bell, who is attempting to negotiate a buyout. If he's successful, that would leave a spot open for Quinn, Gilder, Jackson or Butch, Teams aren't obligated to carry more than 13 players, though, so all of the recent signees must impress in order to stick around.
Bulls To Sign Kyrylo Fesenko
9:47pm: K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune notes that the Bulls, who have $758,550 left to spend, could sign another player at the veteran's minimum once it pro-rates to that amount in late November (Twitter link). Mark Deeks of ShamSports suggests via Twitter that the Bulls could waive Fesenko at the end of training camp and re-sign him once they're able. The Bulls could do the same with fellow camp invitee Andre Emmett, but another team, either in the NBA or overseas, would be free to snap up Fesenko and Emmett while they waited.
8:29pm: The Bulls will sign Kyrylo Fesenko by the end of the week, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. He was in Chicago on Monday for a workout after auditioning for the Spurs earlier this month, and reportedly had the Cavs tentatively on his workout schedule as well. He was also said to be in contact with the Hawks and the Heat.
Stein says the 7'1" center will receive a non-guaranteed contract, and Sam Amick of SI.com reports via Twitter that it will be for the minimum. The team doesn't have enough room under its $74.307MM hard cap to retain Fesenko for the regular season, even at the minimum salary, without waiving or trading another one of its players.
Fesenko signed with the Pacers in March for the balance of the 2011/12 season, and appeared in only three regular season games. He scored a total of eight points and grabbed nine rebounds in 17 minutes, and didn't see action in any of the team's playoff games. The Ukraine native averaged 2.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in 8.3 minutes per game during the previous four seasons with the Jazz, upping those numbers slightly when he started nine of the Jazz's 10 playoff games in 2009/10 for the injured Mehmet Okur.
Spurs To Sign Wesley Witherspoon, Tre Kelley
The Spurs will bring Wesley Witherspoon and Tre Kelley to training camp, reports Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News. They'll likely be on non-guaranteed, minimum-salary deals. While McCarney isn't high on their chances to make the team, they stand a relatively decent shot compared to many other training camp invitees around the league, since the Spurs only have 12 players on fully guaranteed deals.
Witherspoon, who ranked 91st on the list of top 100 prospects this year compiled by Chad Ford of ESPN.com, went undrafted in June out of the University of Memphis. The 6'9" small forward put up just 7.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 22.0 minutes per game this past season, though he did shoot 38.7% from behind the arc in his four years with the Tigers. He was with the Knicks' summer league team, and averaged 8.0 PPG and 2.2 RPG in 16.5 MPG.
Kelley is a 6'0" guard who has yet to make his NBA regular season debut despite training camp stints with the Heat, Thunder and Grizzlies. The 27-year-old spent 11 games with the Spurs' D-League affiliate in 2010/11, and split last season with teams in Italy and Venezuela, averaging 14.8 PPG and 3.5 APG in 27.7 MPG.
The moves will bring the Spurs' roster to 18 players, by my count. Aside from the dozen who have fully guaranteed deals, DeJuan Blair's deal is partially guaranteed for $1.05MM and the rest are believed to be non-guaranteed.
Warriors Sign Brown, Goulbourne, Jackson, Kinsey
The Warriors have officially signed four free agents, the team announced via press release. Carlon Brown, Lance Goulbourne, Rick Jackson and Tarence Kinsey will all be in camp, and though the team did not disclose the terms, it's likely they all have non-guaranteed minimum-salary deals. The moves put Golden State at 19 players, one short of the maximum number they can bring to camp, with a space left open if the team wishes to complete a deal with Alex Renfroe, who was reportedly close to signing with the team earlier this month.
We heard a report from HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy a week ago that the team had signed Kinsey, so this just makes that move official. Kinsey is the only one of the four with NBA experience, having played parts of three seasons with the Grizzlies and Cavs, the last coming in 2008/09. The 6'6" shooting guard has averaged 4.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per game in 109 NBA contests, with a PER of 11.0. He spent last season with Anadolu Efes in Turkey.
The 6'5" Brown went undrafted out of Colorado this June, averaging 12.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG and 2.0 APG in 28.5 minutes for the Buffaloes in 2011/12. The shooting guard played with the Bobcats in summer league, putting up 9.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG and 1.4 APG in 22.3 MPG. Goulbourne, a 6'8" swingman, also went undrafted out of Vanderbilt this past June, having put up 8.7 PPG and 6.9 RPG in 27.9 MPG in his final season for the Commodores. Neither Brown nor Goulbourne appeared in Chad Ford's list of the Top 100 draft prospects for ESPN.com (Insider only). Jackson, a 6'9" power forward from Syracuse, spent his first pro season last year with Chorale Roanne Basket in France, putting up 8.6 PPG and 5.6 RPG in 17.0 MPG.
The signees figure to compete against each other for the final spot on the regular season roster, since the team already has 14 contracts that are fully guaranteed. A 15th player, Kent Bazemore, has a deal that's partially guaranteed for $25K.