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Knicks Sign Damien Inglis

October 11th, 2016 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have added another body to their preseason roster, with the team announced today (via Twitter) that free agent forward Damien Inglis has signed a contract with the team. Terms of the deal weren’t announced, but a non-guaranteed pact seems likely.

Inglis, 21, was selected by the Bucks in the second round of the 2014 draft and made his NBA debut last season, appearing in 20 contests for Milwaukee. He only averaged 7.8 minutes in those games, and became a roster casualty during the offseason, with the Bucks waiving him in late June, just before the new league year began. He suited up for the Pelicans in Summer League play in July.

The Knicks have 14 guaranteed salaries on their books for 2016/17, which means there may be a regular-season roster spot up for grabs. However, Inglis looks like a long shot for that opening. Other camp invitees like Chasson Randle, Ron Baker, and Maurice Ndour have been with the team longer and will have the leg up on that 15th spot.

Inglis could very well end up playing for the Knicks’ D-League affiliate though, as Ian Begley of ESPN.com tweets. Because the Bucks don’t have a D-League affiliate of their own, Inglis spent some time with the Westchester Knicks during the 2015/16 season, averaging 9.9 PPG and 4.9 RPG in 21.4 minutes per contest for the club.

Suns Waive Bakumanya, Cooke, Harrison

October 10th, 2016 at 4:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Suns trimmed their roster to 16 players by waiving center Gracin Bakumanya, forward Derek Cooke Jr. and guard Shaquille Harrison, the team announced today.

All three players signed with Phoenix on September 25th, but none saw any playing time during the team’s first three preseason games. They will all likely wind up with the Suns’ D-League affiliate, suggests Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. (Twitter link).

Bakumanya was an international early-entry candidate who hails from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was part of the Rockets’ summer league team and spent last season in France.

Cooke has a history with the organization. He played for the Suns’ D-League affiliate in Bakersfield last year and was part of the Phoenix entry in the summer league.

Harrison went undrafted after playing college ball at Tulsa and earning All-American Athletic Conference second team honors.

All teams must cut their rosters down to 15 players by October 24th.

Warriors Waive Elgin Cook, Scott Wood

October 9th, 2016 at 5:08pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors reduced their training camp roster to 18 today by waiving Elgin Cook and Scott Wood, the team announced in a press release.

Both players received $50K guarantees to come to camp, and both were considered long shots to make Golden State’s talent-laden roster. They may get a chance to prove themselves with the Warriors’ D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz.

Cook signed with Golden State in September after being undrafted out of Oregon. A 6’6″ small forward, he averaged 14.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game as a senior with the Ducks, and played for the Kings’ team in summer league.

Grizzlies Sign Vince Hunter To Training Camp Deal

October 9th, 2016 at 11:18am CST by Arthur Hill

After being waived by the Bulls on Tuesday, Vince Hunter has signed a training camp deal with the Grizzlies, tweets Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor. Terms of the contract for the 6’8″ forward have not been released, but he had a non-guaranteed deal with Chicago.

Memphis signed Hunter to give its front-line rotation a break until the season starts, tweets Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. “We want to make sure we don’t overload our veteran bigs during the remainder of preseason,” said GM Chris Wallace. “He’s in shape. He’s an easy player to assimilate. We need to protect ourselves upfront.” (Twitter link).

Hunter played for the Grizzlies’ team in summer league, so he is familiar with their system. The 22-year-old didn’t see any action in Chicago’s first preseason game on Monday.

Hunter spent last season with the Kings’ D-League affiliate in Reno, as well as Panathinaikos in the Greek League. He was in training camp with Sacramento a year ago after going undrafted out of UTEP.

It’s the second move of the weekend for the Grizzlies, who waived guard Tony Wroten on Friday.

Grizzlies Waive Tony Wroten

October 7th, 2016 at 4:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran point guard Tony Wroten finds his name on the NBA’s transaction wire once again, with the Grizzlies announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived him from their roster. It’s the third time since the end of the season that Wroten has been cut, including the second time by Memphis.

Wroten, the 25th overall pick in the 2012 draft, appeared in just eight games for the Sixers last season before Philadelphia waived him in December. The Knicks later signed Wroten to a two-year deal, minimum-salary deal that contained no guaranteed money for the 2016/17 campaign, but removed him from their roster in June when they acquired Derrick Rose from the Bulls. The Grizzlies claimed him off waivers at that point, cut him in July, and re-signed him in August.

When Memphis initially claimed, waived, and re-signed Wroten, it appeared the team just wanted to make sure he was under contract on modified terms, but it’s unlikely that’s the case this time around. The Grizzlies had guaranteed a small portion of the point guard’s salary for 2016/17, so the team will carry a cap hit of $25K after waiving Wroten, assuming he goes unclaimed.

With Wroten no longer on the roster, Wade Baldwin and Andrew Harrison will continue to vie for the backup point guard job behind Mike Conley. Check out the Grizzlies’ depth chart at RosterResource.com.

Greg Smith To Play In Turkey

October 7th, 2016 at 11:33am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran NBA big man Greg Smith will head overseas for the next few months, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, who writes that Smith has signed in Turkey with Istanbul BSB. The team has confirmed that Smith will be joining the roster on a three-month contract, replacing the injured Jarvis Varnado.

Smith, 25, has appeared in 149 total NBA regular-season games over the last five seasons, spending time with the Rockets, Mavericks, and Timberwolves. Last season, he played 18 games for Minnesota, averaging 2.4 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 10.7 minutes per contest. He was waived by the Wolves in June before his salary for 2016/17 became guaranteed.

Assuming Smith’s new team doesn’t extend his contract beyond its current three-month term, the Fresno State product should have the opportunity to catch on with an NBA team later in the season. His stint with the Wolves in 2015/16 began with a pair of 10-day contracts, so Smith could get a look once teams are permitted to hand out 10-day deals this season.

Smith’s new deal in Turkey removes another name from our list of 2016 NBA free agents, a list that is growing increasingly thin.

Jabari Brown, Richard Solomon To Play Overseas

October 6th, 2016 at 11:11am CST by Luke Adams

Jabari Brown and Richard Solomon were among the NBA’s first preseason roster cuts over the last few days, having been waived by the Bucks and Hawks, respectively. Brown’s release came on Wednesday, meaning he hasn’t even cleared waivers yet, but already both players have lined up new deals overseas.

According to international basketball reporter David Pick (via Twitter), Brown has agreed to a deal with the Jilin Northeast Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association, where he’ll replace Tony Crocker. Assuming the two sides finalize that agreement, it will be a return to China for Brown, who played for the Foshan Long Lions last season.

Brown, 23, averaged an impressive 32.4 PPG for Foshan in 27 games, also chipping in 3.8 RPG, 2.5 APG, and 1.1 SPG. Over the last two seasons, the young shooting guard has also spent time with the Lakers’ D-League affiliate, the Los Angeles D-Fenders, averaging 23.1 PPG and shooting .443/.374/.842 in 47 D-League contests.

As for Solomon, the forward has agreed to terms with Gravelines-Dunkerque in France, a source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The team has since confirmed the signing, announcing it via Twitter.

Solomon, who went undrafted out of the University of California in 2014, appeared in 59 games in the Japanese League last season and averaged 11.3 PPG and 8.9 RPG. Previously, he spent 28 games with Oklahoma City’s D-League affiliate in 2014/15, averaging 8.5 PPG and 6.9 RPG.

Bucks Waive Jabari Brown

October 5th, 2016 at 7:30pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Bucks have waived shooting guard Jabari Brown, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Brown signed with the team roughly two weeks ago.

If Brown opts to rejoin the D-League, he will play for he Los Angeles D-Fenders since the Lakers’ affiliate owns his rights, Chris Reichert of Upside Motor notes (Twitter link). The 23-year-old played 41 games with D-Fenders over the last two seasons.

The team entered the day with 19 players under contract, as the team’s depth chart at Roster Resource indicates. Brown had an opportunity for playing time in Milwaukee, as someone needed to fill Khris Middleton‘s void. Instead, it’s likely that new additions Matthew Dellavedova and Jason Terry will see increased usage.

Norris Cole To Play In China

October 5th, 2016 at 10:16am CST by Luke Adams

10:16am: Cole drew some NBA interest from the Cavs, Nuggets, and Suns, but no team was willing to offer him more than the minimum, according to Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net, who adds that Cole’s deal in China is believed to be worth about $5MM.

8:56am: Norris Cole is headed overseas for the coming season, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, who passes along a report from Zhang Duo (Twitter link). International basketball reporter David Pick confirms (via Twitter) that Cole has signed with the Shandong Golden Stars of the Chinese Basketball Association, per the guard’s agent.

Cole, who turns 28 this month, appeared in 45 games for the Pelicans last season, starting 23 of them. He set new career highs with 10.6 PPG, 3.7 APG, and 3.4 RPG, though his FG% (.405) and 3PT% (.324) were a little below his career marks. Before joining the Pelicans, the former first-round pick had spent three and a half seasons in Miami with the Heat.

A recent report suggested that Cole was drawing interest from Cleveland as the team considered adding point guard depth, but the Cavs ultimately decided to add Toney Douglas, perhaps prompting Cole to accept an offer elsewhere.

By signing with Shandong, Cole will be joining the team that signed NBA free agent Jason Thompson earlier in the offseason. According to Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net (via Twitter), Cole’s deal is believed to have an NBA out. The Chinese regular season typically ends in February, with the playoffs wrapping up in March, so assuming Cole didn’t sign a multiyear pact – which seems like a safe bet – he should have the opportunity to return to the NBA before the end of the 2016/17 campaign.

Bulls Waive Vince Hunter

October 4th, 2016 at 12:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls have reduced their preseason roster to 18 players, the team announced today in a press release. According to the club, forward Vince Hunter has been released. Assuming he clears waivers, he’ll become a free agent later this week.

Hunter, 22, went undrafted in 2015 after a 2014/15 season in which he averaged 14.9 PPG and 9.2 RPG for UTEP. He was in camp last fall with the Kings, but didn’t make Sacramento’s regular-season roster. Hunter did spend a good chunk of last season with the Kings’ D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, in addition to playing for Greek team Panathinaikos, before signing with the Bulls for training camp. He was one of five players who didn’t see the floor during Chicago’s preseason game against the Bucks on Monday.

Hunter had been on a non-guaranteed summer contract, so the Bulls won’t be on the hook for any money on their cap after cutting him loose.

We’ll see if the Bulls opt to bring aboard any players to fill the two openings currently on the roster, but for the time being, the team is carrying 13 players on guaranteed salaries, with five more players battling for a spot on the regular-season roster.