Hawks, Damion James Agree To Terms
4:28pm: James' deal will be non-guaranteed, tweets Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
1:43pm: The Hawks have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with Damion James, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). We had heard in late August that James was close to making a decision on where to sign, and it appears he has chosen Atlanta.
The 24th overall pick in 2010, James only appeared in 32 games for the Nets in his first two seasons due to foot injuries. Based on his performance and health history to date, it seems likely he'd command no more than a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary deal.
When James and the Hawks finalize their agreement, the 6'7" wing will become the 15th player under contract for the club. If Atlanta eventually agrees to terms with restricted free agent Ivan Johnson, James could find himself battling for the team's final roster spot with training camp invitee James Anderson.
Knicks Sign Sims, Bellfield, Thompson
The Knicks have officially signed four players to contracts that include training camp invites, according to a team press release. We heard yesterday about the team's deal with John Shurna, but the other three names are new — the Knicks have added center Henry Sims, guard Oscar Bellfield, and forward Mychel Thompson.
Sims, a seven-footer out of Georgetown, was ranked as the seventh-best center in this year's draft by ESPN.com's Chad Ford after averaging 11.6 PPG and 6.0 RPG in his senior year, but went undrafted. Bellfield, a senior out of UNLV, also went undrafted in 2012.
Thompson, meanwhile, is the only player of the four with any NBA experience, after a brief stint with the Cavaliers in 2011/12. Klay Thompson's older brother appeared in five games for Cleveland last season, starting three. He's a year removed from going undrafted out of Pepperdine, where he averaged 14.6 PPG in his senior year (2010/11).
According to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter), all four players worked out for the Knicks in the spring, and will be fighting to earn one of the team's final roster spots. The Knicks now have 19 players under contract heading into camp, including up to seven believed to be on non-guaranteed deals. For the players that don't earn an NBA roster spot, a place on the Erie BayHawks, New York's D-League affiliate, could be in the cards.
Mavericks To Sign D.J. Mbenga
Back in 2004/05, D.J. Mbenga began his NBA career with the Mavericks, spending the first of three seasons with the club. Now, it appears he'll be heading back to Dallas. According to an RTBF report (French link), Mbenga said he has been working out with the Mavs and has signed a one-year deal with the team (hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). ESPN.com's Marc Stein confirms that the Mavs will bring Mbenga to training camp.
Mbenga, 31, will likely receive no more than a non- or partially-guaranteed minimum-salary deal with a camp invite. The seven-footer has never been a serious contributor on an NBA team, but he has managed to stick around the league for seven seasons, most recently playing 41 games for the Hornets in 2010/11.
RTBF's report indicates that Mbenga turned down offers from teams in China and Greece in favor of joining the Mavericks. He may face an uphill battle making the Dallas roster, however, since the team already has 15 guaranteed contracts on its books. Still, according to Stein, the Mavs would like to find a way to add one more center to their roster for depth purposes.
Knicks Sign John Shurna
The Knicks have signed forward John Shurna to a one-year, partially guaranteed deal, according to Howard Beck of the New York Times (via Twitter). The former Northwestern star hooked on with the Hawks summer league team after going undrafted in June.
Shurna, 22, averaged 20 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.8 APG, and 1.7 BPG in his final season at Northwestern. Most impressively, Shurna shot 46.3% from the field while draining 44% of his shots from downtown. While he offers an impressive shooting stroke for a 6'8" forward, it remains to be seen what position he can best fill at the next level.
Heat Re-Sign Terrel Harris
SEPTEMBER 10TH: The Heat confirmed the signing via press release.
SEPTEMBER 8TH: The Heat have agreed to re-sign guard Terrel Harris, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Terms of the deal are not yet known but yesterday we learned that the Heat were planning to offer him a non-guaranteed contract.
Miami now has 13 guaranteed contracts heading into 2012/13, leaving them with two vacant roster spots. One spot will likely go to a big man such as Mickell Gladness or Jarvis Varnado, who each signed make-good contracts with the team yesterday. The remaining spot will likely go to a wing player such as Harris. The 25-year-old averaged 3.6 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 1.2 APG in 14.5 minutes per contest last season.
Cavaliers Re-Sign Alonzo Gee To Multiyear Deal
2:39pm: Gee's deal is for three years and $10MM, with a non-guaranteed third year, tweets Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.
1:06pm: The Cavaliers have officially re-signed Gee, the team announced in a press release.
12:13pm: The Cavaliers have reached an agreement on a multiyear contract with Alonzo Gee, according to Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (via Twitter). Years and dollars aren't yet known, but last month we heard that the two sides could be closing in on a three-year agreement.
Gee, 25, had been one of two restricted free agents left on the market. The Cavs had extended a one-year qualifying offer worth about $2.69MM, which Gee could have accepted at any time, but he and the team had been working on a multiyear deal for most of the summer. Given the lack of serious interest Gee drew from other teams, I wouldn't expect a huge payday, but something in the neighborhood of three years and $10MM, perhaps with a team option on the third year, could work for both sides.
Gee enjoyed his most successful season in 2011/12, starting 31 of the 63 contests he appeared in for the Cavs. In 29 minutes per game, the 6'6" wing averaged 10.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and a 13.2 PER. When the Cavs officially finalize their deals with Gee and Kevin Jones, who is expected to sign later today, the team will have 18 players under contract.
International Notes: Ubiles, Ayon, Pistons
Many overseas leagues start earlier than the NBA does, so the international tipoff of the 2012/13 season is drawing near. That means plenty of player movement, so we'll round up the day's news from around the world here:
- The French club Cholet announced that it has signed former Wizards guard Edwin Ubiles, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando notes. Ubiles was with Washington briefly on a 10-day contract last year, but spent most of 2011/12 with the D-League's Dakota Wizards, averaging 19.6 points per game and winning the D-League Rookie of the Year award.
- Gustavo Ayon has a guaranteed contract with the Magic this season, and his deal includes another non-guaranteed season next year. Still, as he tells Marca.com (Spanish link), the 27-year-old big man won't rule out a return at some point to the Spanish league, where he played before his NBA debut last season.
- Brian Manzullo of the Detroit Free Press provides an update on Slava Kravtsov and Jonas Jerebko of the Pistons, both of whom are participating in the Eurobasket 2013 qualifying tournament. Earlier today we passed along a piece from David Mayo of MLive.com, who identified Kravtsov, a 6'11" Ukrainian big man who signed with Detroit for three years and $4.5MM this summer, as a gamble.
Rockets To Sign Scott Machado
SATURDAY, 11:36am: The contract is structured as a two-year deal with a team option in year three, tweets Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.
TUESDAY, 6:58pm: The Rockets will sign undrafted point guard Scott Machado, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Machado was a part of Houston's summer league team in Las Vegas after going undrafted out of Iona this June. The deal will be partially guaranteed and cover three years, and probably won't be for much more than the minimum.
Machado will join a crowded Rockets roster that will include 20 players once the signing becomes official, which most likely will take place on Thursday, Feigen says. The team waived Sean Williams last week, but Houston will have to make more moves before the regular season starts to get down to the 15-player limit. Since Machado's contract includes at least a partial guarantee, he's unlikely to be waived, and by rule he can't be traded until December 15th. He'll compete with Courtney Fortson, Toney Douglas and Shaun Livingston for minutes behind starting point guard Jeremy Lin.
Machado averaged 13.6 points and 9.9 assists for Iona this year, beating out Kendall Marshall's average of 9.7 to lead the nation in assists per game. In five summer league contests for the Rockets, he notched 8.0 PPG and 5.6 PPG, including 20 points in one game and 10 assists in another. Last week, a report indicated he was drawing overseas interest, but it looks like Machado will remain stateside for 2012/13.
Lakers Sign Robert Sacre
The Lakers have announced that they have signed second-round pick Robert Sacre, reports Mike Trudell of Lakers.com via Twitter. As we detailed earlier this week, Sacre was one of six players taken in the second round that remained unsigned. Sacre averaged 9.0 PPG and 6.2 RPG on the Lakers summer league squad, raising some front office eyebrows in the process.
Dave McMenamin from ESPN Los Angeles tweets that because the Lakers view Earl Clark as more of a small or power forward, that Sacre stands a decent chance at making the opening roster as big man insurance. The 7-foot Canadian center was the 60th and final pick in June's draft, after averaging 11.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game in his senior year at Gonzaga. He was the WCC Defensive Player of the Year. The terms of the contract are not yet known.
Heat Sign Mickell Gladness, Jarvis Varnado
The Heat have signed a pair of bigs to make-good contracts, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Mickell Gladness and Jarvis Varnado have received invitations to the team's training camp, with a chance to earn a spot on the regular-season roster.
Gladness, 26, made his NBA debut in 2011/12, spending time with both the Heat and Warriors in his rookie season. The Alabama A&M product saw very limited minutes in his eight games for the Heat, but is viewed as a low-cost project, and didn't require a guaranteed contract.
Varnado, meanwhile, was the Heat's 41st overall pick in 2010, and has played overseas for the last two seasons. We heard a month ago from Emiliano Carchia of Sportando that Varnado would be leaving his team in Italy to join Miami's training camp, but the Heat didn't make it official until now.
The Heat now have 15 players under contract, but can continue to add players on non-guaranteed deals, up to a total of 20. Miami may not bring that many players to camp, but according to Winderman, the club is expected to offer non-guaranteed contracts to Terrel Harris and Robert Dozier, a 2009 second-rounder. The Heat have also worked out Josh Harrellson and Jerome Dyson this week.