Hawks Sign Richard Solomon
SEPTEMBER 20: The Hawks have officially announced the signing of Solomon, issuing a press release today to confirm the move.
SEPTEMBER 15: Power forward Richard Solomon will sign a non-guaranteed contract with the Hawks and join them for training camp, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
The 6’10” Solomon, who played college ball at California, obviously impressed the club enough during workouts on Wednesday and Thursday to receive an offer. He still faces long odds to make the opening-day roster. The Hawks already have 15 fully guaranteed contracts on the books, plus one more player with a partial guarantee. Vivlamore previously reported that the team wanted to add another point guard and a frontcourt player to bulk up its roster for the preseason.
Atlanta’s power forward spot looks crowded with Solomon joining Paul Millsap, Kris Humphries, Mike Scott and Mike Muscala. Though Muscala’s contract is not guaranteed, Solomon would probably need an injury or two to the players ahead of him on the depth chart to survive the final cut.
Solomon at least has a chance to make the team, unlike some of the other players the team recently inquired about or tried out. It was reportedly speaking with Bryce Cotton prior to the guard signing a one-year deal with the Turkish club, Anadolu Efes.
The Hawks also worked out forward Ryan Kelly and guards Xavier Munford and Dionte Christmas.
Solomon appeared in 59 games in the Japanese League last season and averaged 11.3 points, 8.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists. His shooting line was .536/.179/.660. In his senior season with the Bears, he averaged 11.0 points and 10.2 rebounds in 29.2 minutes.
In July, he played in Orlando for the Suns’ summer league squad and then in Las Vegas with the Thunder, according to Vivlamore. Solomon reportedly worked out for the Jazz on Monday and Tuesday.
Bulls Sign J.J. Avila, Vince Hunter
The Bulls continue to fill out their roster for training camp, having signed a pair of free agent forwards to contracts. According to RealGM’s transactions log, J.J. Avila and Vince Hunter have signed with Chicago. Terms of the deals aren’t known, but they will likely be one-year, minimum-salary summer contracts.
[RELATED: Bulls sign D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera]
Avila, who played his college ball at Navy and Colorado State, averaged 16.7 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 2.8 APG, and 2.0 SPG in his senior year for the Rams, shooting 55.2% from the floor. The 24-year-old went undrafted in 2015, but played for the Rockets in Las Vegas Summer League action last year before joining the Knicks for Summer League play in Orlando this year.
As for Hunter, he also went undrafted in 2015 after a 2014/15 season in which he averaged 14.9 PPG and 9.2 RPG for UTEP. The 22-year-old 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.
The Bulls currently have 13 players on guaranteed contracts for the 2016/17 campaign, and have now added five players on non-guaranteed deals, assuming that’s what Avila and Hunter received. The duo should have an opportunity to compete for one of Chicago’s open roster spots, though Spencer Dinwiddie, Cristiano Felicio, and D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera will also be in the mix, and the Bulls could still add two more players to their camp roster.
Trevor Cooney To Play In Spain
Trevor Cooney had been expected to join the Nets and play for the team’s D-League affiliate this season, but the undrafted free agent guard will instead head overseas for the 2016/17 campaign. According to international basketball journalist David Pick (Twitter link), Cooney has signed a Euroleague deal with Spanish team Baskonia.
It was Pick who reported last month that Cooney appeared ticketed for the Nets. Teams can sign a player to their 20-man offseason roster, then waive him prior to the regular season and designate him as an affiliate player for their D-League squad — Brooklyn intended to send Cooney to the Long Island Nets. However, the former Syracuse guard never made anything official with the Nets, and almost certainly received a more lucrative offer from Baskonia.
Cooney, 24, went undrafted this June after completing his collegiate career at Syracuse. In 37 games this past season as a fifth-year senior, Cooney averaged 12.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 36.4 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .348/.354/.806.
Knicks Re-Sign Lou Amundson
The Knicks are bringing a familiar face with them to training camp next week, announcing today (via Twitter) that they’ve re-signed free agent big man Lou Amundson to a new contract. Ian Begley of ESPN.com (Twitter link) hears from a source that the deal is fully guaranteed, while Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets that it’s for one year. It will be worth the minimum, since New York has already used all of its cap space and its room exception.
Amundson, 33, spent most of the last two seasons with the Knicks, though after averaging 20.9 MPG in 41 games (35 starts) with the club in 2014/15, he saw his playing time significantly reduced last season. In 2015/16, Amundson averaged just 1.8 PPG and 1.7 RPG in 7.0 minutes per contest (29 games).
Given his lack of role on the team last season, Amundson did well to earn a guaranteed salary from the Knicks. New York already had 14 players on guaranteed contracts, with J.P. Tokoto, Chasson Randle, and Ron Baker on non-guaranteed deals. Amundson’s deal suggests that he’s a good bet to be on the regular-season roster, with those younger players likely on the outside looking in.
Over the course of the last decade, Amundson has played for 10 different teams, never averaging more minutes per game for any of those clubs than he has for New York during the last two seasons (15.2). In 428 regular-season contests, the UNLV product has posted 3.7 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and a shooting line of .474/.000/.444.
Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo Agree To Extension
1:20pm: The Bucks have officially confirmed that they have an extension agreement in place with Antetokounmpo, announcing the deal in a press release. According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (via Twitter), there will be no player or team options on the contract. Windhorst adds (via Twitter) that Antetokounmpo was willing to take less than the max to help the Bucks retain talent going forward.
12:57pm: The Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo have agreed to a four-year extension worth $100MM, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. The deal will go into effect next year, keeping the 21-year-old under contract through the 2020/21 season.
Antetokounmpo had been on track to become a restricted free agent in the summer of 2017, at which point he likely would have commanded enough interest around the NBA to ensure that he landed a maximum-salary deal. By locking him up now, the Bucks appear to have avoided paying the max. Maximum salaries and cap figures for 2017/18 won’t be set until next July, but the NBA’s latest projection would mean a starting max salary of about $24MM for ’17/18, with subsequent raises of $1.8MM annually — Antetokounmpo will make a little less than that.
The 15th overall pick in the 2013 draft, Antetokounmpo was viewed as a raw talent with huge upside when the Bucks selected him, and has since adjusted to the NBA more rapidly than expected. He has increased his averages in nearly every meaningful category from year to year, enjoying the best season of his young career in 2015/16, when he averaged 16.9 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 4.3 APG, 1.4 BPG, and 1.2 SPG while shooting an impressive 50.6% from the field.
While Antetokounmpo’s traditional position is at forward, he’s also capable of handling the ball, and his versatility and his youth suggest that his best basketball should still be ahead of him. In the first installment of our free agent power rankings for 2017, he placed the Greek Freak third, behind only Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, and ahead of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. Of course, when we update those power rankings, Antetokounmpo’s name will no longer show up on the list.
Instead, Antetokounmpo will remain in Milwaukee as another key piece of the Bucks’ core, joining a handful of players who have already been locked up for the next several seasons. Khris Middleton and Mirza Teletovic are under team control through 2019, while Miles Plumlee, John Henson, Matthew Dellavedova, and Thon Maker are under control through 2020.
Antetokounmpo is the second player entering the final year of his rookie contract to reach an agreement on an extension this offseason, joining C.J. McCollum of the Trail Blazers. His Bucks teammate, Michael Carter-Williams, is also extension-eligible until October 31, though Carter-Williams isn’t considered as strong a candidate for an extension as Antetokounmpo had been. When our Arthur Hill examined Antetokounmpo’s case for an extension last month, he called it an easy decision for the Bucks to offer a lucrative, long-term deal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mavs Sign C.J. Williams, Finalize Camp Roster
The Mavericks have filled up their offseason roster, finalizing their 20-man unit for training camp, the team announced today in a press release. According to the release, the Mavs used their final open roster spot to sign free agent guard C.J. Williams.
Williams, who played his college ball at North Carolina State from 2008 to 2012, has spent time in various international leagues over the last several seasons, playing for teams in France, Italy, and Cyprus. The 26-year-old also had a stint with the D-League’s Los Angeles D-Fenders in 2013/14. Playing for JDA Dijon Bourgogne last season, Williams averaged 11.9 PPG, 27. RPG, and 1.5 APG in 34 French League contests.
Exact terms of Williams’ deal aren’t yet known, but it figures to be a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary pact. Assuming that’s the case, it would give Dallas six players without fully guaranteed salaries for 2016/17, with those six players likely competing for the 15th and final spot on the Mavs’ regular-season roster.
For the full breakdown of the other 19 players on the Mavs’ training camp roster, be sure to check out the club’s depth chart at RosterResource.com.
Alex Davis Will Return To D-League
Alex Davis, who played for one of the Magic’s summer league teams, has committed to return to the D-League this season, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. Davis will join Orlando’s D-League affiliate, the Erie Bay Hawks.
The 6’9″ forward appeared in 50 games for Erie last season, averaging 8.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per night.
The 24-year-old, who played college ball at Fresno State, was part of the Orlando White team in the Orlando Summer League. He averaged 5.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in five games.
Bulls Sign D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera
SEPTEMBER 16th: The signing is official, per the RealGM transactions log.
SEPTEMBER 15th: The Bulls have taken another step toward filling out their training camp roster, according to Scott Agness of VigilantSports.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the team has signed former Georgetown guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera to a training camp contract. The deal will likely be a minimum-salary pact featuring little or no guaranteed money.
Smith-Rivera, who will turn 24 in December, initially declared for the 2015 NBA draft, but withdrew his name and returned to his Georgetown for his senior year. In 2015/16, the 6’3″ guard saw his PPG (16.2), FG% (.413), and 3PT% (.330) slip for a third straight season, though he did dish out a career-high 4.5 APG. Smith-Rivera went undrafted this June.
While the Bulls may be planning on having Smith-Rivera join their new D-League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls, Chicago currently only has 13 guaranteed salaries on its books for 2016/17, so the Georgetown alum could get a chance to earn a regular-season roster spot. In addition to those 13 players on guaranteed contracts, the Bulls also have Spencer Dinwiddie and Cristiano Felicio on non-guaranteed deals.
Warriors Sign Elgin Cook
SEPTEMBER 16th: The signing is official, per the RealGM transactions log.
SEPTEMBER 14th: The Warriors have signed former Oregon star Elgin Cook, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Details were not released, but Golden State is far over the salary cap, so it is assumed to be a minimum-salary deal.
The signing of Cook brings the Warriors up to the maximum of 20 players for training camp. Golden State has just 14 guaranteed contracts, so there should be a camp battle for the final roster spot.
The 6’6″ small forward wasn’t selected in this year’s draft and played for the Kings’ entry in the summer league, averaging 6.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in four games. He averaged 14.7 points and 5.1 rebounds during his senior season with the Ducks.
Celtics Sign Jalen Jones, Damion Lee
SEPTEMBER 16th: The signing is official, according to the RealGM transactions log.
SEPTEMBER 14th: The Celtics have signed undrafted free agents Jalen Jones and Damion Lee, RealGM reports. The exact details of the arrangements are not yet known, but with Boston virtually out of cap room, they are almost assuredly one-year, minimum salary training camp pacts. The duo are far more likely to begin the season as a member of the Maine Red Claws in the D-League than in Boston.
Jones is a 23-year-old shooting guard out of Texas A&M. He appeared in 33 games as a senior, averaging 15.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 27.3 minutes per outing. His slash line on the campaign was .425/.324/.702. Jones participated in the Las Vegas summer league as part of the Raptors’ squad where he averaged 3.2 points on 35.3% shooting.
Lee, who is also 23 and a shooting guard, appeared in 30 games for Louisville in 2015/16, averaging 15.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 33.5 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .428/.341/.843. Lee participated in both the Orlando and Las Vegas summer leagues as a member of Miami’s squad, averaging a combined 7.5 points and 2.0 rebounds on 32.5% shooting.