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Tim Frazier Re-Signs With Pelicans

July 22nd, 2016 at 3:26pm CST by Arthur Hill

Apr 5, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Tim Frazier (2) dribbles against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 107-93. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Bill Streicher / USA TODAY Sports Images

JULY 22, 3:26pm: The signing is official, per team release.

JULY 10, 12pm: Free agent point guard Tim Frazier is close to re-signing with the Pelicans, posts Marc Stein on ESPN Now. Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (via Twitter) that it’ll be a two-year, $4.1MM agreement for Frazier and the Pelicans.

Frazier first signed with New Orleans in March after being waived in February by the Trail Blazers. He averaged 13.1 points and 7.5 assists in 16 games with the Pelicans. He has also played briefly for the Sixers during his two years in the NBA.

Frazier is expected to serve as a backup to Jrue Holiday, who is entering the final year of his contract.

Pelicans, Terrence Jones Agree To Deal

July 22nd, 2016 at 3:23pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 22, 3:23pm: The signing is official, per team release.

JULY 14, 4:57pm: Stein has amended his report, tweeting that New Orleans and Jones have agreed to a one-year deal at the minimum salary. The Pelicans are trying to create a bit more cap room, so Jones may see that salary increase, Stein adds.

4:43pm: Jones has at least one offer on the table that will pay him more than the Pelicans offered, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. New Orleans is still hopeful of landing the forward, Stein adds. Charania has a different take, tweeting that Jones and the Pelicans are in the process of finalizing a deal.

12:26am: The Pelicans are nearing a deal with free agent power forward Terrence Jones, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). Charania reports that New Orleans is expected to sign Jones to a one-year contract.

Jones, 24, had an impressive sophomore season for the Rockets back in 2013/14, starting 71 of his 76 games played, and averaging 12.1 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 1.3 BPG to go along with a .542 FG%. Since then, however, he has battled injuries and his production has been inconsistent. Jones had been eligible for restricted free agency this summer, but Houston opted not to extend him a qualifying offer, allowing him to hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent.

The Pelicans haven’t made a huge splash in free agency this summer, but the team has been steadily adding solid rotation pieces to its roster. New Orleans has previously reached agreements with Solomon Hill, E’Twaun Moore, Langston Galloway, and Tim Frazier.

Jones has likely received interest from teams interested in locking him up for more than one season, but given his up-and-down performance over the last two seasons, it makes sense that he’d be looking to rebuild his value on a one-year contract. If he has a strong year with the Pelicans, the Kentucky product could parlay that showing into a longer-term – and more lucrative – deal in free agency next summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pelicans Sign First-Rounder Buddy Hield

July 22nd, 2016 at 1:09pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans are finalizing several contract agreements this week as they get their roster and cap in order for the coming season, and the latest player to sign his deal with the team is sixth overall pick Buddy Hield. New Orleans announced today in a press release that Hield his signed his rookie contract with the club.

“We could not be more excited to add a player and person like Buddy Hield to the New Orleans Pelicans,” GM Dell Demps said in a statement. “He embodies all the traits we care about in our organization. His work ethic, energy and confidence have been on full display since he stepped foot in New Orleans. We look forward to helping him grow as a player as he will help us become a better team.”

Hield, who was the first senior to come off the board in last month’s draft, was one of the best players in the nation during his final year at Oklahoma. The 22-year-old averaged 25.0 PPG and 5.7 RPG to go along with a sizzling 45.7% mark from three-point range (4.0 3PG).

As our breakdown of salaries for 2016 first-round picks shows, Hield should be in line for a first-year salary of $3,517,200, and he’ll earn $15,887,648 if he plays out his full rookie contract. With Hield locked up, only five 2016 first-rounders have yet to either sign their rookie contracts or reach an agreement to play overseas.

Clippers’ David Michineau To Remain Overseas

July 22nd, 2016 at 11:46am CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers locked up one of their second-round picks – Diamond Stone – to an NBA contract earlier this month, but the team won’t do the same for fellow second-rounder David Michineau. According to reports from BeBasket (translation via Sportando) and Eurobasket.com, Michineau will play for French team Hyeres-Toulon Var Basket for the 2016/17 season.

Michineau, who played for Chalon-Sur-Saone in France this past year, averaged 5.7 PPG in 13.6 minutes per contest in French League play. The 22-year-old point guard was selected with the 39th overall pick in last month’s draft, as the Pelicans sent the 39th and 40th selections to the Clippers in exchange for No. 33 (Cheick Diallo).

[RELATED: 2016 Draft Pick Signings]

The Clippers have an open roster spot, but with two rookies – Stone and Brice Johnson – joining the team this season, it makes sense for Michineau to get some more seasoning overseas as Los Angeles hangs onto his draft rights. The team’s current roster and depth chart can be found right here.

L.A. is also currently the only hard-capped team projected to be in tax territory, meaning the club doesn’t have a lot of spending flexibility for the rest of the league year. The Clips are hard-capped at $117.287MM and currently have an estimated $113.76MM on their books for the 2016/17 season, so they’ll have to be careful about their spending the rest of the way.

Pelicans Sign Second-Rounder Cheick Diallo

July 22nd, 2016 at 11:04am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 22: The Pelicans have made it official with Diallo, announcing the signing today in a press release.

JULY 20: The Pelicans have struck a deal with second-round pick Cheick Diallo, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the two sides have reached an agreement on a three-year contract. Terms of the agreement aren’t yet known, but other players who were drafted just before or just after Diallo last month have received at least two fully guaranteed years, along with a starting salary worth more than the minimum.

[RELATED: 2016 Draft Pick Signings]

Diallo, 19, was projected as a late first-round pick by several draft experts and was ranked as the year’s 24th-best prospect by both ESPN’s Chad Ford and DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony. The 6’9″ big man didn’t see much action during his only year at Kansas, averaging just 3.0 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 7.5 minutes per contest, but is viewed as having significant upside, particularly as a defender.

On draft night, the Pelicans agreed to a deal with the Clippers, sending the 39th and 40th overall picks to Los Angeles in order to move up to No. 33 to snatch Diallo.

The Pelicans also recently agreed to terms with Terrence Jones, and are said to be finalizing a deal with Alonzo Gee. New Orleans is the only team in the NBA that has to formally complete any of the contracts they’ve agreed to this month, but the mini-flurry of news related to the team today suggests that the Pelicans are likely close to making things official with those players.

Pelicans Re-Sign Alonzo Gee

July 22nd, 2016 at 11:03am CST by Will Joseph

JULY 22: The Pelicans have officially re-signed Gee, the team confirmed today in a press release.

JULY 21: The Pelicans and Alonzo Gee have agreed on a one-year deal worth $1.4MM, Michael Scotto of The Associated Press reports (on Twitter). Shams Charania of The Vertical recently reported that the two sides were close to striking an agreement.

Gee opted out of his previous contract with the Pelicans earlier this month. He would have earned about $1.379MM in 2016/17 if he had exercised his option, so this is only a slight increase. Still, judging by the amount of money tossed around this summer, it seemed like a logical decision for Gee.

Gee, 29, made 38 starts and appeared in 73 games for New Orleans last season. He averaged only 4.5 PPG and 3.4 RPG. Gee is a solid defender and a decent role player, however. His season ended after he suffered a ruptured right quadriceps muscle.

International Notes: Beaubois, Hernangomez, Harvey

July 22nd, 2016 at 8:59am CST by Luke Adams

After turning down the Mavericks‘ offer to sign a partially-guaranteed contract and compete in training camp for a regular-season roster spot, Rodrigue Beaubois has made it official with Baskonia, as Orazio Cauchi of Sportando details. Beaubois, a former NBA first-round pick who spent several seasons in Dallas, has inked a two-year deal with the Spanish team and will remain overseas rather than returning stateside.

Here are a few more international updates on players with NBA ties:

Spanish forward Juan Hernangomez, who was selected 15th overall last month by the Nuggets, said prior to the draft that he’d love to come to the NBA immediately, and it seems he might get his wish. Nothing is official yet, but over at Sportando, Cauchi passes along a report from Gigantes del Basket indicating that Hernangomez is expected to sign with Denver. The Nuggets have reportedly reached agreements with their other first-round picks, Jamal Murray and Malik Beasley, but they’ve yet to formally confirm those signings — the team may be waiting for resolution with Hernangomez to make an official announcement.
Tyler Harvey, a 2015 second-rounder whose NBA rights are held by the Magic, announced on Instagram that he has signed with Italian team Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino for the upcoming season. Harvey spent last season playing for the Erie BayHawks, Orlando’s D-League affiliate, but it seems the Magic won’t be able to keep as close an eye on the 23-year-old guard in 2016/17.
Center Cady Lalanne is joining Chinese team Zhejiang Banks, sources tell international basketball journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Lalanne, a second-round pick in 2015, is one of many players whose draft rights are held by the Spurs.
Kings draft-and-stash prospect Alex Oriakhi, a second-round pick in 2013, has signed a deal with Turkey’s Socar Petkim, per Sportando. It will be the eighth team the well-traveled big man has spent time with since he was drafted out of Missouri three years ago.

Wizards Sign Tomas Satoransky

July 21st, 2016 at 5:08pm CST by Will Joseph

JULY 21: The Wizards have officially signed Satoransky, the team announced today. “We are very pleased to be able to bring Tomas to the organization after monitoring his development overseas for the last several years,” team president Ernie Grunfeld said in a statement. “He will provide energy and athleticism at both guard positions, giving us more depth and versatility in the backcourt.”

JULY 3: The Wizards and Tomas Satoransky, a 6-foot-7 guard and draft-and-stash prospect from Europe, have agreed to a deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical tweets. Satoransky was the 32nd pick of the 2012 draft. The deal is for three years and $9MM, David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets.

The deal has no options and is a solid value for the Wizards, Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post tweets. This is another bench piece for the Wizards, who have added enter Ian Mahinmi, power forward Andrew Nicholson and Trey Burke all in the last 24 hours.

The addition of Satoransky would give Washington another young player to develop behind backcourt mainstays John Wall and Bradley Beal. Satoransky averaged 9.5 points in 24.0 minutes per game with 38.8% 3-point shooting for his Spanish team this past season, and the year before he shot 43.5% from behind the arc.

Mavs Sign Kyle Collinsworth

July 21st, 2016 at 2:49pm CST by Will Joseph

2:49pm: The deal is official, the Mavs announced via press release.

8:46am: The Mavs signed undrafted rookie Kyle Collinsworth to a two-year deal, Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune reports. Collinsworth confirmed the news via Twitter.

It is unclear what the exact figures are, but it’s a partially guaranteed deal and Collinsworth has secured a training camp invite with a sum of guaranteed money, Jones relays. Collinsworth landed the contract after he shined in summer league play with Dallas.

Collinsworth set an NCAA record of 12 triple-doubles over the course of his career at BYU. His versatility helped him secure the contract and Dallas is a good fit because the Mavs are particularly thin at the wing spots with space on their roster, Jones writes. Collinsworth averaged 15.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game last year for BYU.

Grizzlies, D.J. Stephens Agree To Deal

July 21st, 2016 at 2:26pm CST by Will Joseph

The Grizzlies and swingman D.J. Stephens have agreed on a partially guaranteed two-year deal, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (on Twitter). Stephens played for the Grizzlies’ summer league team.

The 25-year-old Stephens has three games of NBA experience with Milwaukee in 2014. The Cavs signed Stephens to a training camp deal last September, but then waived him shortly before the season started. In the previous fall, Stephens inked a non-guaranteed minimum-salary camp deal with the Pelicans and was among the team’s final cuts about a week before Halloween in 2014.

Stephens went undrafted out of the University of Memphis in 2013, despite a 46-inch vertical leap. He never averaged double figures in points during his four years at Memphis, but he used his athleticism on the other end of the floor, winning the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year award in his senior season. He played overseas after his college career.