Suns To Add Three Players To Camp Roster
The Suns are adding three players to their training camp roster, according to Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic, who reports that Mike Moser, Shaquille Harrison, and Derrick Jones Jr. will join the team. It’s not clear whether or not any of the three players will receive any guaranteed money, but their deals won’t be fully guaranteed.
Moser, who played his college ball at UCLA, UNLV, and Oregon, went undrafted in 2014 and has been playing overseas since then, spending time with teams in Lithuania and Israel. In 2015/16, the 25-year-old power forward appeared in 19 games for Hapoel Holon, averaging 11.5 PPG and 7.9 RPG for the club.
Harrison, who turns 23 next month, went undrafted out of Tulsa earlier this year. A point guard, Harrison averaged 15.1 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 4.1 APG during his senior year, but failed to improve his outside shooting, making less than 20% of his three-point attempts.
Jones, a small forward out of UNLV, played just one college season before entering the NBA draft. He wasn’t selected in June, after a freshman year in which he averaged 10.9 PPG and 4.3 RPG in 28 games. Jones was ruled academically ineligible for the final four games of his first and only college season because his ACT results were called into question by the NCAA, which is believed to have contributed to his decision to go pro.
All three players will have a chance to earn a spot on the Suns’ roster, but Phoenix currently has 14 players on guaranteed contract, and incumbent guard John Jenkins likely has a leg up for the 15th spot. It’s possible that Moser, Harrison, and Jones will all ultimately land with the Northern Arizona Suns, Phoenix’s D-League affiliate.
Kings Sign Jordan Farmar
SEPTEMBER 14th: The signing is official, the team announced.
SEPTEMBER 13th: After finishing the 2015/16 season with the Grizzlies, veteran guard Jordan Farmar will reunite with head coach Dave Joerger in Sacramento. According to international basketball reporter David Pick (via Twitter), Farmer has agreed to sign with the Kings, who are now being coached by Joerger.
Farmar, who will turn 30 in November, has played more than 500 regular-season games over the course of his nine-year NBA career, though he appeared in just 12 games last season. Farmar joined the Grizzlies in March when Memphis’ roster was hit hardest by injuries, and was the club’s starting point guard down the stretch and in the postseason.
Farmar played well in the regular season with the Grizzlies, averaging 9.2 PPG, 3.1 APG, 1.3 SPG, and 1.3 3PT. However, his production dipped in the playoffs, as he shot just 32.3% from the floor during the club’s first-round loss to San Antonio.
Having lost Rajon Rondo in free agency, and facing the possibility of a Darren Collison suspension, Sacramento has made an effort to add some point guard depth to the roster. In addition to bringing in Farmar, the Kings also recently signed Ty Lawson.
The Kings currently have 14 guaranteed salaries on their books for the 2016/17 season, and that total doesn’t include Lawson’s non-guaranteed deal, so it’s not clear yet whether there will be room on the 15-man regular-season roster for Farmar. The ex-Laker, who played his college ball at UCLA, has spent time playing in Israel and Turkey in past seasons, so he may head back overseas if things don’t work out in Sacramento.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pelicans Sign Lance Stephenson
SEPTEMBER 14th: The signing is official, the team announced.
SEPTEMBER 9th: The Pelicans have agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent Lance Stephenson, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (via Twitter). The length and terms of the arrangement were not relayed, but with New Orleans over the salary cap, it is likely for the league minimum.
New Orleans already has 15 fully guaranteed deals on the books, so Stephenson will need to impress the coaching staff if he hopes to remain on the roster through opening night. While he is certainly a talented player, his immaturity has derailed what was once a promising career. He’ll need to prove that he can gel with the other players in the locker room, and not just on the hardwood. The Pelicans’ roster situation is made more complicated because of Jrue Holiday, who is slated to miss an “indefinite” period of time during the regular season to take care of his wife and newborn child.
Stephenson, 26, appeared in a combined 69 games in 2015/16 split between the Clippers and Grizzlies. He averaged 8.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 19.9 minutes per outing. His slash line was .481/.385/.784.
Cavaliers, Eric Moreland Agree To Deal
The Cavaliers continue to fill out their roster for training camp, according to international basketball journalist David Pick, who reports (via Twitter) that Eric Moreland has agreed to a camp deal with the team. Pick first indicated two weeks ago that the Cavs were eyeing Moreland as a potential target.
Moreland, 24, spent most of the last two seasons with the Kings, but didn’t get a qualifying offer from Sacramento this summer, making him an unrestricted free agent. In his first two NBA seasons, the former Oregon State forward appeared in just 11 games with the Kings and only 12 contests with the D-League’s Reno Bighorns.
Moreland has shown promise and racked up double-doubles in the D-League, averaging 12.0 PPG and 13.3 RPG in Reno. However, each of his last two seasons was shortened by injuries. Moreland suffered a labral tear in 2014/15, then fractured a bone in his foot in 2015/16.
The Cavaliers only have 12 guaranteed contracts on their books for 2016/17, so there should be a couple roster spots available even if – and when – J.R. Smith re-signs with the team. Cleveland has invited several players with NBA experience to training camp to vie for those openings, including DeAndre Liggins, Markel Brown, and Cory Jefferson.
Bucks Sign Xavier Henry
SEPTEMBER 12th: The signing is official, the Bucks announced.
AUGUST 30th: The Bucks have added a well-traveled NBA veteran to their offseason roster, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical, who reports (via Twitter) that Xavier Henry has agreed to a training camp deal with Milwaukee. Henry worked out for the Lakers earlier this month and had been considering his options, per Charania.
Having recently signed Jason Terry and Steve Novak, the Bucks now appear to have 15 players on guaranteed salaries for the 2016/17 season, assuming Novak’s contract is guaranteed. That will make it an uphill battle for Henry as he attempts to earn a regular-season roster spot. However, if he has a strong preseason, he could attract interest from other teams and may become a 10-day contract candidate later in the season.
Henry, 25, was the 12th overall pick in the 2010 draft, and has since appeared in 185 total regular-season NBA games. Henry’s best season came in 2013/14 with the Lakers, when he averaged 10.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG, and 1.0 SPG in 43 contests (21.1 MPG). He previously spent time with Memphis and New Orleans, and last year played for the Warriors’ D-League affiliate.
Henry is now nearly two years removed from suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon, an injury that required a long recovery period. The 6’6″ wing said earlier this month that he’s healthy and feels “blessed” that he’s even able to play basketball again.
Trail Blazers Sign Greg Stiemsma
1:40pm: The Blazers have officially signed Stiemsma, the team announced today in a press release.
10:47am: The Trail Blazers have added another veteran free agent to their offseason roster, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who reports (via Twitter) that the team is signing center Greg Stiemsma to a training camp deal.
Stiemsma, who will turn 31 later this month, has four years of NBA experience under his belt, having appeared in regular-season games for the Celtics, Timberwolves, Pelicans, and Raptors from 2011 to 2015. In 203 total games, the former Wisconsin big man has averaged 3.2 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 1.1 BPG in a part-time role, shooting 50.9% from the field.
Last fall, Stiemsma participated in training camp with the Magic, but was ultimately waived during the team’s preseason roster cutdowns. The veteran center may face a similar fate this year in Portland, but the team does currently have at least one potential open roster spot. The Blazers have 14 guaranteed contracts on their books for 2016/17, with Grant Jerrett, Luis Montero, and Tim Quarterman on non-guaranteed or partially-guaranteed deals.
[RELATED: Portland Trail Blazers’ depth chart at RosterResource.com]
Exact deails on Stiemsma’s new pact aren’t known, but Wojnarowski describes it as a training camp contract. It will likely be a minimum-salary deal with little to no guaranteed money.
DeAndre Daniels To Play In Italy
Former second-round pick DeAndre Daniels appears ticketed for Italy for the upcoming season, according to international basketball reporter David Pick. Pick reports (via Twitter) that Daniels has agreed to terms with Italian team Stings Mantova (Pallacanestro Mantovana).
Daniels, 24, was a key member of the 2014 UConn squad that won a national championship. After declaring for the draft that year, the 6’9″ forward was selected in the second round – 37th overall – by the Raptors.
Since being drafted, Daniels has honed his game elsewhere, spending a year in Australia and playing for Toronto’s D-League team last season. A Jones fracture in his right foot derailed Daniels’ 2015/16 season, limiting him to just eight games for the Raptors 905 in the spring. After playing for the Raptors’ in Summer League play this July, Daniels will head to Europe in the hopes of logging a healthy, productive season overseas.
While Toronto continues to hold Daniels’ NBA rights, the Raptors added two more rookies to their roster this year and have several young players in the mix. The team also holds an extra first-round pick next year, so it remains to be seen if there will be room for Daniels on the roster anytime soon — the Raps could potentially include the forward’s rights in a trade if they make a move at the deadline.
Tibor Pleiss To Play In Turkey
Less than two weeks after being waived by the Sixers, German big man Tibor Pleiss has found a new home for the upcoming season. Pleiss will head to Turkey for the 2016/17 campaign, having signed a one-year contract with Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul. The team issued a press release announcing the deal, with Pleiss confirming it on his Facebook page as well.
Pleiss, a former second-round pick who signed with the Jazz last summer, barely saw any action in his first and only NBA season, playing just 82 total minutes for Utah in 2015/16. The German big man was assigned to the D-League for a good chunk of the year, and he performed well for the Idaho Stampede, averaging 12.3 PPG and 10.4 RPG in 28 contests.
In August, the Jazz sent Pleiss to the Sixers in exchange for Kendall Marshall in a cost-cutting trade. Philadelphia, armed with a ton of cap room, had the flexibility to take on Pleiss’ $3MM guaranteed salary even though he wasn’t in the club’s plans, picking up a couple second-round picks in the process. The 76ers waived the 26-year-old less than a week after acquiring him.
Over the weekend, international basketball reporter David Pick indicated that the Nets had invited Pleiss to come to training camp with them, but that the free agent center turned down that offer, with an eye toward playing in Turkey. According to NetsDaily.com (via Twitter), Brooklyn had interest in bringing in Pleiss for a workout, and so did the Spurs, but he passed on both invitations.
Ryan Richards Agrees To Camp Deal With Spurs
The Spurs will sign 2010 second-round draft choice Ryan Richards to a training camp deal, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. The 7’0″ British native played with teams in Iran, Lebanon and Bahrain last season.
Richards, a forward, was the 49th player drafted in 2010. He has also played in Poland, Austria, China and several other countries.
The Spurs are already above the salary cap for the upcoming season, so Richards will probably receive a minimum deal.
Cavaliers To Sign John Holland
The Cavaliers will sign John Holland, who was recently waived by the Celtics, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. Holland will be given a legitimate shot to earn a roster spot in Cleveland, a source tells Pick.
The 27-year-old spent most of last season with the Cavaliers’ D-League affiliate in Canton before signing with Boston in April. He didn’t play for the Celtics in the regular season, but appeared in one playoff game. His contract for the upcoming season was not guaranteed, and Boston released him on August 31st.
A 6’5″ small forward, Holland averaged 16.0 points and 3.1 rebounds in the D-League last year. The Cavs are far over the salary cap and have used almost their entire room exception, so Holland is expected to receive a minimum-salary contract, possibly with a small guarantee.