Bobcats Pull Qualifying Offer To Derrick Brown
The Bobcats‬ have rescinded their qualifying offer to Derrick Brown, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter). The Bobcats extended the offer to Brown, valued at nearly $1.1MM, on the same day that they made D.J. Augustin a restricted free agent.
Brown, 24, enjoyed a career year for the Bobcats as he averaged 8.1 PPG with 3.6 RPG in just over 22 minutes per game. However, it wasn't likely that Brown would see that kind of playing time with the Bobcats this year with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Jeffery Taylor expected to see major minutes at the three.
The 6'7" forward was a second-round pick of the Bobcats in 2009 before being waived in 2011 and hooking on with the Knicks. Brown found his way back to Charlotte last winter for the minimum salary.
Trail Blazers To Sign Ronnie Price
4:40pm: The Blazers will sign Price to a minimum-salary deal, Olshey confirmed (Twitter link via Blazers' Edge).
4:31pm: The Trail Blazers will sign Ronnie Price to a contract, perhaps as soon as today, according to Portland GM Neil Olshey (Twitter link via Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge). After they matched the Timberwolves' offer sheet for Nicolas Batum, I don't believe the Blazers have any leftover cap space, so the team figures to sign Price using either the room exception or the minimum salary exception.
Price, a seven-year NBA veteran, played for the Suns in 2011/12 after spending time with the Kings and Jazz in previous years. The 6'2" guard averaged a career-high 14.4 minutes per game in Phoenix, but provided limited production, averaging 3.6 PPG and 1.9 APG to go along with .377/.295/.800 shooting.
The 29-year-old Price, who was an unrestricted free agent, will likely see time behind Damian Lillard at the point in Portland.
Rockets Waive Jon Leuer, Jerome Jordan
The Rockets have waived Jon Leuer and Jerome Jordan, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). When the two players clear waivers, the Rockets will have the necessary roster space to finalize their offer sheet for restricted free agent Omer Asik.
Both Leuer and Jordan were acquired by Houston in recent trades for salary-matching purposes. Leuer came from the Bucks in the June deal that sent Samuel Dalembert to Milwaukee, while Jordan arrived from New York in the Marcus Camby sign-and-trade.
I believe both players were on non-guaranteed contracts for 2012/13, so the Rockets shouldn't have to take a cap hit for releasing either one. The pair will become unrestricted free agents in 48 hours, assuming both of them clear waivers.
Raptors Sign Jonas Valanciunas
The Raptors have officially signed last year's fifth overall pick Jonas Valanciunas, the team announced today in a press release. Valanciunas appears to have finalized his buyout with Lithuanian team Lietuvos Rytas and inked a rookie scale contract to join the Raptors.
"We are very pleased to welcome Jonas to the organization," said Raptors president and GM Bryan Colangelo in a statement. "We are certain that Raptors fans will soon realize that the year-long process was worth the wait."
Because he signed just a year after he was drafted, Valanciunas will likely receive a first-year salary worth 120% of this year's rookie scale amount for the fifth overall pick. Such an agreement would pay him $3,374,640 in his rookie season.
Clippers Sign Grant Hill
WEDNESDAY, 2:05pm: The Clippers have officially signed Hill, the team announced in a press release. Los Angeles will use its bi-annual exception on Hill, putting his two-year contract in the neighborhood of $4MM.
TUESDAY, 12:21pm: The Clippers will add Hill using either the bi-annual exception or a sign-and-trade, meaning he'll make more than the minimum salary, tweets SI.com's Sam Amick. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports adds that it'll be a two-year contract.
11:40am: The Clippers have reached an agreement to sign Grant Hill, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). John Gambadoro of 620 KTAR Phoenix first tweeted that Hill was headed to the Clippers. Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter) that the two sides are still finalizing the details of the contract, but says Hill has committed to sign with Los Angeles.
Celtics Sign Jason Terry
JULY 18TH, 7:41am: The Celtics have officially signed Terry using their mid-level exception, reports Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (via Twitter).
JULY 17TH, 4:58pm: After spending nearly a week exploring a way to acquire Terry via sign-and-trade and save their $5MM mid-level exception, the Celtics have exausted the possibilities and are preparing to simply announce the Terry signing, tweets Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
Clippers Amnesty Ryan Gomes
Just before the 11:00pm CST amnesty deadline, the Clippers used the amnesty provision to waive Ryan Gomes, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. By amnestying Gomes, Los Angeles clears the final year of his deal, worth $4MM, from its cap, though the team will still have to pay him.
Wizards Amnesty Andray Blatche
4:04pm: The Wizards have officially amnestied Blatche, the team announced in a press release.
3:35pm: The Wizards will use the amnesty clause to waive Andray Blatche, according to TNT's David Aldridge (via Twitter). Michael Lee of the Washington Post confirms Aldridge's report, and adds that an official announcement is expected to come soon (Twitter link).
Hawks Acquire Kyle Korver
JULY 16: The Hawks have announced via a team press release that they have officially acquired Kyle Korver from the Bulls in exchange for cash. As noted on Twitter by ESPN.com's John Hollinger, the Bulls receive a $5MM trade exception in the deal, and the Timberwolves are no longer involved.
JULY 13: The trade will also include the Timberwolves, according to Johnson (via Twitter). Korver will be absorbed into the Hawks' $5MM trade exception, and the Bulls will receive a second-round pick from Minnesota, says Johnson. It sounds as if one more detail is required here.
2:18pm: The Bulls have agreed to trade Kyle Korver to the Hawks, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). The deal is pending a physical, and could become a sign-and-trade involving Kirk Hinrich, according to Johnson.
Kings Waive Hassan Whiteside
The Kings have waived Hassan Whiteside in order to clear a little more cap room to finalize the Aaron Brooks signing, tweets SI.com's Sam Amick. Whiteside's minimum-salary contract was non-guaranteed for this season.
While some contract databases suggest the deadline to waive Whiteside without guaranteeing his 2012/13 salary was yesterday, I would assume Sacramento let him go in time to avoid paying him for the coming season. The 23-year-old was drafted with the 33rd overall pick by the Kings in 2010, but barely saw any NBA playing time in his two seasons with the team, appearing in a total of just 19 games.