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Grizzlies Exercise 2017/18 Option On Jarell Martin

October 28th, 2016 at 3:21pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies have exercised their third-year team option on Jarell Martin, locking in his salary for the 2017/18 season, the team announced today in a press release. The move comes three days before the October 31 deadline for decisions on ’17/18 rookie-scale options.

Martin, 22, was the 25th overall pick in the 2015 draft, and appeared in just 27 games for the Grizzlies in his rookie season. The 6’10” power forward averaged 5.7 PPG and 3.2 RPG in 14.1 minutes per contest for the Grizzlies, upping those marks to 15.0 PPG and 6.0 RPG (in 28.9 MPG) in 10 games for the D-League’s Iowa Energy.

Despite Martin’s modest production in his rookie season, it makes sense for the Grizzlies to exercise his 2017/18 option, given its price. The LSU product will make just $1.342MM, after earning $1.286MM this season. He’ll have another team option for 2018/19, and would be eligible for restricted free agency in the summer of 2019 if he plays out his rookie contract.

Martin’s option was one of two the Grizzlies had to exercise or decline this fall, but the team made its other decision early — Jordan Adams was waived by the club during its preseason cutdown, eliminating his 2017/18 option from his contract.

The full breakdown of this year’s rookie scale option decisions can be found right here.

D-League Notes: Brown, Magette, Patterson

October 27th, 2016 at 7:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Forward Anthony Brown has signed a D-League contract and will be eligible for its draft on Sunday, a league source told the D-League Digest (Twitter link). Brown was the final training-camp cut by the Lakers. Los Angeles ate his guaranteed $874,636 contract, opting to keep two more experienced forwards on the bubble, Thomas Robinson and Metta World Peace. Brown, 24, was selected 34th overall in the 2015 draft by the Lakers, and appeared in 29 games during his rookie season, including 11 starts. The Stanford product averaged 4.0 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 20.7 minutes but shot just 31.0% from the field.

In other D-League developments:

Point guard Josh Magette has signed an NBADL contract, the D-League Digest tweets. Magette was a late training-camp cut by the Hawks. The Lakers’ D-League affiliate, the D-Fenders, owns his rights. Magette, 26, made three preseason appearances for Atlanta, spanning 17 minutes. He averaged 11.5 points and 9.1 assists in 45 games last season for the D-Fenders, with whom he has played the past two seasons.
Shooting guard Lamar Patterson has signed a D-League contract and will be an affiliate player for the Kings’ Reno Bighorns, according to another tweet from the D-League Digest. Patterson appeared in four preseason games for the Kings, averaging 5.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game, before he was waived. He spent much of the 2015/16 season playing in the D-League and the Hawks waived him in July.
Yogi Ferrell plans to open the season with the D-League’s Long Island Nets, according to Jeff Rabjohns of Scout.com. The former Indiana University standout was Brooklyn’s final training-camp cut. He appeared in three exhibition games, logging 28 minutes.
Forward C.J. Leslie has signed a contract with the Raptors’ D-League affiliate, the Raptors 905, Chris Reichert of The Step Back tweets.

NBA Vet Chase Budinger Headed To Europe

October 27th, 2016 at 5:13pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Forward Chase Budinger, the final training-camp cut by the Nets, has signed with Baskonia of Spain, international journalist David Pick tweets. The news was also reported by Sportando and Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Budinger will join two other former NBA players who previously signed with Baskonia in the Euroleague, center Andrea Bargnani and point guard Shane Larkin.

Budinger signed a non-guaranteed contract with Brooklyn just prior to camp. The 6’7” Budinger, who was originally drafted in 2009 by the Pistons and then immediately shipped to the Rockets, has bounced around the league in recent years. After playing three seasons in Houston, he was a reserve for the Timberwolves for three consecutive campaigns.

He appeared in 49 games with the Pacers last season before he was waived in early March. He was quickly snapped up by the Suns and came off the bench in 17 games for them as the season wound down.

Budinger averaged 7.9 points, 3.0 rebounds in 19.7 minutes over 407 NBA games. A career 35.2% shooter from 3-point range, Budinger shot under 30% from beyond the arc last year for both Indiana and Phoenix, which cooled interest in him on the free-agent market. It’s possible now that Budinger, 28, has played his last NBA game.

Players Catch On With D-League Franchises

October 26th, 2016 at 8:43pm CST by Arthur Hill

Several players who were recently waived out of the NBA have reached agreements with D-League teams, according to Chris Reichert of The Step Back:

Spencer Dinwiddie, released on Friday by Chicago, has signed with the Windy City Bulls (Twitter link). Chicago, which acquired Dinwiddie in a deal with the Pistons, then waived and later re-signed him, parted ways with the guard again despite being at the roster limit of 15.
Johnny O’Bryant, who was waived by the Wizards on Friday, has signed a D-League contract and will be eligible for the draft (Twitter link). The 23-year-old power forward spent the past two seasons with the Bucks.
Vince Hunter, who was waived by the Bulls and Grizzlies this month, will return to the Reno Bighorns (Twitter link). Hunter, 22, is a 6’8″ forward out of Texas-El Paso who has yet to play in the NBA.
Cliff Alexander, who was released by the Magic, has signed with the Erie BayHawks (Twitter link). The 20-year-old power forward played eight games for the Trail Blazers last season.
Chris Douglas-Roberts will return to the Texas Legends, where he finished the 2015/16 season (Twitter link). The 29-year-old swingman last played in the NBA in 2014/15, when he spent 12 games with the Clippers.
Josh Childress, who has been out of the NBA for almost three full seasons, signed with the Texas Legends (Twitter link). The 33-year-old swingman’s last NBA experience was four games with New Orleans during the 2013/14 season. He finished last season with the Legends after playing in Australia. (Update: Report denied by Childress’ agent; Reichert has removed his tweet)

Also, from the D-League Digest:

Axel Toupane, who was waived by the Nuggets, will return to Raptors 905 (Twitter link). The 6’7″ small forward played 21 games for Denver last season.
Jarell Eddie, who was released by the Wizards on Friday, will return to the Austin Spurs (Twitter link). Eddie, 24, appeared in 26 games for Washington a year ago.
J.J. O’Brien, who was cut by the Bucks, has signed with the Salt Lake City Stars (Twitter link). A 24-year-old small forward, he got into two games with the Jazz last season.
Egidijus Mockevicius, who was waived last week by Brooklyn, will play for the Long Island Nets (Twitter link). The 24-year-old Lithuanian forward has no NBA experience.
Veteran point guard Jannero Pargo has signed with Oklahoma City Blue (Twitter link). The 37-year-old last played for the Hornets in 2014/15.

R.J. Hunter Signs With Bulls

October 26th, 2016 at 7:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

7:30pm: Hunter and the Bulls have reached agreement on a one-year deal, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.

WEDNESDAY, 7:15p.m: R.J. Hunter, who was waived Monday by the Celtics, is in “serious discussions” with the Bulls, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. A deal could be finalized by Thursday.

Chicago is the only team with a roster spot open after releasing Spencer Dinwiddie on Friday. Rookie Denzel Valentine is the backup shooting guard to Dwyane Wade right now, so the 6’5″ Hunter could find playing time with the Bulls.

Hunter was a bit of a surprise cut for the Celtics as he was thought to have a good shot at beating out James Young for the final spot on the roster. Hunter’s contract for this season is fully guaranteed, so he will still receive a $1.2MM salary from Boston. The 23-year-old appeared in 36 games for the Celtics last year and made frequent trips to the D-League.

Briante Weber Headed To The D-League

October 26th, 2016 at 6:23pm CST by Arthur Hill

Point guard Briante Weber, who was waived by the Heat on Saturday, will join the team’s D-League affiliate in Sioux Falls, according to D-League Digest (Twitter link).

Miami was reportedly intrigued with Weber’s performance during the preseason and believed he needed to go somewhere he could get regular playing time. The Heat gave him a $328K guarantee and were hoping to keep him close to the organization. Weber is still working his way back from a severe injury in January that saw him tear the ACL, MCL and meniscus in his right knee.

A defensive specialist, the 23-year old had 19 steals in 149 preseason minutes. However, he committed 20 turnovers and shot just 9 for 30 from the field, making 1 of 7 shots from 3-point range.

Hawks Sign Dennis Schroder To Extension

October 26th, 2016 at 4:58pm CST by Luke Adams

4:58pm: The Hawks have issued a press release officially confirming Schroder’s extension.

“I am excited to sign this long-term deal with the Hawks. Since coming from Germany as a rookie, this organization and the entire city of Atlanta has embraced me and watched me grow,” Schroder said in a statement. “I would like to thank my teammates, the coaching staff and the front office for having faith in me. I’m determined to keep improving as a player and I believe that our team has a chance to accomplish some special things together.”

4:16pm: Schroder’s new deal will include $62MM in guaranteed money over the next four years, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein (via Twitter). Based on the original report of $70MM, it appears that a portion of the total salary will either be non-guaranteed or available via incentives.

3:09pm: Dennis Schroder will be taking over as the Hawks’ full-time starting point guard this season, and the team has now ensured he’ll remain in Atlanta for several more years beyond that. According to Marc Stein and Zach Lowe of ESPN.com, Schroder and the Hawks have reached an agreement on a four-year, $70MM contract extension. Schroder confirmed the deal, tweeting out a photo that shows him signing his new pact.

Schroder has gradually taking on a larger role over the course of his three seasons with the Hawks, having seen his minutes per game increase from 13.1 in his rookie season to 20.3 in 2015/16. Last season, he established new career highs in PPG (11.0), APG (4.4), RPG (2.6), SPG (0.9), and several other categories.

During the summer, the Hawks agreed to a three-way trade that sent starting point guard Jeff Teague to the Pacers, opening the door for Schroder to take on a larger role in Atlanta. Both players had been set to enter contract years, but Schroder is younger and is still on his rookie contract, making him the more appealing option for the long term.

Schroder will earn a modest $2,708,582 salary in 2016/17, but rather than being eligible for restricted free agency next summer, he’ll now move on to his second contract, with his extension going into effect in July 2017. Assuming there are no options on the deal, it will keep the 23-year-old under team control through the 2020/21 season.

We’ll have to wait for the exact terms and details on Schroder’s new deal to properly evaluate it, but it looks awfully similar to the ones signed by a pair of free agent wings this summer — Evan Turner inked a four-year, $70MM contract with the Trail Blazers, while Schroder’s teammate Kent Bazemore got a four-year, $70MM deal from the Hawks, as our free agent tracker shows.

Although there’s some uncertainty about how the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement will look next summer if and when the league and the NBPA reach a new agreement, that hasn’t stopped extension-eligible players from signing new deals early — Schroder becomes the third player eligible for a rookie-scale extension to agree to terms with his team so far this offseason, just five days before the October 31 deadline. Previously, C.J. McCollum signed a four-year, $106MM+ extension with the Blazers, and Giannis Antetokounmpo agreed to a four-year, $100MM deal with the Bucks.

Earlier today, Schroder headlined our list of five rookie-scale extension candidates to watch before Monday’s deadline, so we’ll see if others on that list – such as Rudy Gobert, Steven Adams, and Gorgui Dieng – can reach agreements with their respective clubs as well.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Lakers Exercise Options For Russell, Randle, Nance

October 26th, 2016 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers are the latest team to exercise 2017/18 options for players on rookie scale contracts, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, who tweets that D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, and Larry Nance Jr. have had their options picked up by Los Angeles. The Lakers have formally confirmed the moves in a press release.

By exercising the three options, the Lakers will guarantee Russell a $5.562MM salary in 2017/18, with Randle set to earn $4.149MM, and Nance to get $1.26MM. It’s a fourth-year option for Randle, who will subsequently be on track to reach restricted free agency in 2018. Russell and Nance, on the other hand, are one season behind Randle, so they had their third-year options picked up today.

Russell and Randle each averaged 28.2 minutes per game for the 2015/16 Lakers, and are poised to assume even larger roles for this year’s club. Russell was the second overall pick in the 2015 draft, while Randle was selected seventh overall in 2014, and both players are viewed as core pieces for this young L.A. team, along with 2016 No. 2 overall pick Brandon Ingram. Expectations aren’t quite so high for Nance, but the Wyoming product did have a solid rookie season, averaging 5.5 PPG and 5.0 RPG.

Sixers Exercise Options On Embiid, Okafor, Stauskas

October 26th, 2016 at 1:45pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers have exercised their 2017/18 team options on the rookie contracts of Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor, and Nik Stauskas, according to the RealGM.com transactions log. For Embiid and Stauskas, that means having their fourth-year options picked up. It’s a third-year option for Okafor.

While Embiid has missed his first two NBA seasons due to injuries, he’s set to finally make his regular-season debut, and the Sixers remain very excited about his long-term potential. The cost of his 2017/18 option is $6.1MM. He’ll be extension-eligible in 2017 and eligible for restricted free agency in 2018.

Okafor, meanwhile, is coming off a rookie season in which he averaged 17.5 PPG and 7.0 RPG in 53 contests. While Okafor’s offensive production was solid, he missed some time with injuries, didn’t mesh particularly well with Nerlens Noel, and needs to improve on the defensive end. Still, his $4.995MM salary for 2017/18 is extremely affordable.

As for Stauskas, his hold on a roster spot for 2016/17 appeared tenuous over the last few weeks, but now that he’s made the team, he’ll also have his $3.807MM salary for 2017/18 guaranteed. Given his struggles during his first two NBA seasons, that decision comes as a bit of a surprise. However, Philadelphia is well below the salary floor this year and only had about $20MM in guaranteed salary on its books for ’17/18 entering today, so it’s not as if the Sixers can’t afford to eat Stauskas’ salary if they decide to waive him.

The full breakdown of the 2016 decisions on 2017/18 team options can be found right here.

Rockets Exercise Clint Capela’s 2017/18 Option

October 26th, 2016 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 26: The Rockets have officially picked up Capela’s 2017/18 option, according to RealGM.com.

OCTOBER 24: The Rockets will exercise their 2017/18 team option on Clint Capela‘s rookie contract, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). Capela’s fourth-year option is one of three rookie-scale decisions the team has to make before October 31 — Tyler Ennis and Sam Dekker also have ’17/18 options to be picked up or turned down.

Capela, 22, enjoyed a modest breakout season in 2015/16 after playing sparingly in his rookie year. Capela averaged 7.0 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 1.2 BPG in 19.1 minutes per contest last season, starting 35 of the 77 games he played for Houston.

If Rockets management had their way, Capela would have had an opportunity to play even more in 2015/16. According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com, interim head coach J.B. Bickerstaff resisted complying with the wishes of GM Daryl Morey and owner Leslie Alexander, who wanted to see Capela receive more minutes at the expense of Dwight Howard.

With Howard and Bickerstaff no longer in Houston, new head coach Mike D’Antoni is presumably on board with the plan to give Capela an expanded role going forward. The young big man, who will earn a guaranteed $2,334,528 salary in 2017/18, will be extension-eligible during the 2017 offseason and eligible for restricted free agency during the 2018 offseason.

In other Rockets news, rookie guard Gary Payton II, who was waived by Houston earlier today, confirmed to Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston (Twitter link) that the team has expressed interest in having him join the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Payton said there are a couple other teams interested in his services, so he’ll talk to his agent to determine his next move — he’s open to the idea of joining the Rockets’ D-League squad, per Berman.