Cavaliers, Cory Jefferson Agree To Deal
Former Baylor power forward Cory Jefferson will join the Cavaliers for training camp, reports international basketball journalist David Pick (via Twitter). According to Pick, Jefferson and the Cavs have agreed to terms on a deal.
A second-round pick in 2014, Jefferson appeared in 50 games for the Nets in his rookie season, but played in just eight games for the Suns last season. The 25-year-old saw more playing time in 2015/16 for the Bakersfield Jam, Phoenix’s D-League affiliate, averaging 17.3 PPG and 9.8 RPG in 19 games with the club.
With Jefferson poised to join the team, the Cavaliers are also eyeing Eric Moreland as a potential training camp target, says Pick. Moreland, who played his college ball at Oregon State, has spent some time with the Kings during the last two seasons, but didn’t get a qualifying offer from Sacramento this summer, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Kings Sign Ty Lawson To One-Year Deal
AUGUST 31: The Kings have officially signed Lawson, the team announced today in a press release. According to a report from CSNCalifornia.com, the point guard’s one-year deal isn’t guaranteed, so the team won’t be on the hook for his full salary if he’s cut before January 10.
AUGUST 28: The Kings have reached an agreement with free agent point guard Ty Lawson, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, Sacramento is signing Lawson to a one-year contract for the coming season.
Lawson visited the Kings on Saturday and ultimately decided to sign with the team despite having also received “serious interest” from the Pelicans, tweets Wojnarowski. The 28-year-old has seen his career trajectory change significantly within the last couple years, after he was arrested multiple times on DUI charges and spent time in rehab.
A 2009 first-round pick, Lawson became the Nuggets’ full-time starting point guard during the 2011/12 season, and averaged 16.4 PPG to go along with 8.0 APG over the next four years. However, Denver sent him to the Rockets last July, and Houston subsequently waived him. Over the course of the 2015/16 season, Lawson appeared in 66 total regular-season games, averaging 5.7 PPG and 3.6 APG in part-time roles for the Rockets and the Pacers, who signed him late in the season.
[RELATED: Sacramento Kings’ depth chart at RosterResource.com]
The Kings had been on the lookout for point guard help this offseason, having lost Rajon Rondo in free agency. Rondo’s departure left Darren Collison as the team’s de facto starter at the point, but Collison is facing domestic violence charges, which could eventually lead to a suspension depending on how the case plays out.
While Sacramento added Garrett Temple in free agency and Isaiah Cousins in the draft, Temple is more of a combo guard than a pure point guard, and Cousins was a late second-rounder who has yet to sign a contract.
The terms of Lawson’s contract aren’t yet known. Sacramento doesn’t have any cap room left, but the team has yet to use its $2.898MM room exception. So the veteran point guard could either get a minimum-salary deal or something slightly larger, if the Kings dip into that room exception.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nuggets Trade Joffrey Lauvergne To Thunder
12:48pm: The Thunder and Nuggets have each issued press releases confirming the deal.
12:25pm: The two draft picks heading to the Nuggets are 2017 second-rounders, according to Royce Young of ESPN.com (via Twitter). That means Denver will be receiving the Grizzlies’ pick and the Thunder’s pick.
12:01pm: The Nuggets and Thunder have agreed to terms on a trade, according to reports from Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post and Adrian Wojnarwoski of The Vertical. Per Dempsey and Wojnarowski, Denver has agreed to send Joffrey Lauvergne to Oklahoma City in exchange for two future second-round picks.
Lauvergne, who will turn 25 in a month, was a role player for the Nuggets last year, appearing in 59 contests and starting 15 of them. For the season, he averaged 17.6 MPG, chipping in 7.9 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 0.9 APG for Denver, while shooting 51.3% from the floor and 89.9% from the free-throw line. Lauvergne also played for France in the Olympics this summer.
The Thunder figure to work Lauvergne into their frontcourt rotation off the bench, with Serge Ibaka and Nazr Mohammed no longer on the roster. Steven Adams, Enes Kanter, Domantas Sabonis, Nick Collison, Andre Roberson, and Ersan Ilyasova are among the other players who will look to earn minutes at the four or five this season in OKC, while Mitch McGary may not end up on the regular-season roster, as ESPN’s Royce Young tweets. The Thunder already had 15 guaranteed salaries on their cap for 2016/17 prior to Lauvergne’s arrival.
Meanwhile, with Lauvergne no longer in the mix in Denver, the Nuggets now have 14 guaranteed salaries on their books for ’16/17, plus JaKarr Sampson, D.J. Kennedy, and Axel Toupane on non-guaranteed contracts.
The Thunder have just enough room to fit Lauvergne’s salary in under their cap without waiving or trading any other players. Per Basketball Insiders’ data, Oklahoma City’s team salary for 2016/17 was at $92,403,967 before the trade. Lauvergne is on the books for $1,709,719 this season, while the league-wide salary cap is $94,143,000 — the Thunder should be able to complete the deal with about $30K in cap space to spare.
Lauvergne’s salary for this season is only half guaranteed so far, with $854,859 still non-guaranteed. However, the fact that the Thunder were willing to give up two draft picks for him suggests that the team doesn’t intend to waive him before guaranteeing the rest of that salary.
It’s not clear yet which picks the Nuggets will be receiving in the swap, but OKC had extra second-rounders in 2017 (from Memphis; protected from 31-35) and 2018 (from Boston; protected from 31-55).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jason Thompson To Play In China
Unrestricted free agent big man Jason Thompson is headed overseas, having reached an agreement with Shandong of The Chinese Basketball Association, international journalist David Pick reports (on Twitter). The exact length and terms of the pact are unknown at this time.
With the majority of NBA teams having filled their preseason rosters, the odds were stacked against Thompson landing a spot to begin the NBA campaign. Heading over to China will allow him to earn a paycheck and still have the opportunity to catch on with an NBA team later in the season. The Chinese season concludes mid-February, but the playoffs can last until the beginning of March. Thompson would be free to pursue an NBA offer once his team’s playoff run ended, provided it qualifies for the postseason.
Thompson split time during the 2015/16 season between the Warriors and Raptors. In a combined 47 games the forward notched averages of 3.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 10.0 minutes per outing. His shooting line on the year was .481/.333/.704.
Lakers To Sign Travis Wear
The Lakers have reached an agreement with unrestricted free agent Travis Wear, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (via Twitter). The scribe refers to it as a training camp deal, so it’s likely a minimum salary pact that includes little or no guaranteed money.
Wear, a small forward, was out of the NBA last season after playing 61 games for the Knicks in 2014/15. He instead played overseas for the Spanish club RETAbet.es GBC, appearing in 26 games and averaging 7.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.7 steals in 20.5 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .448/.353/.737.
The 25-year-old has a total of 51 NBA contests under his belt, all with New York, and has career averages of 3.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 13.2 minutes per night. His career NBA slash line is .402/.367/.769.
Lakers Sign Zach Auguste
AUGUST 29th: The signing is official, the team announced.
AUGUST 21st: The Lakers have reached an agreement with former Notre Dame power forward Zach Auguste, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Auguste played for the Lakers’ summer league team in Las Vegas, averaging 5.0 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Terms of the deal were not available.
When Auguste signs, he will be the 16th player on the roster, and Pincus speculates that he could either be ticketed for the D-League or L.A. is planning to open a roster spot by getting rid of Nick Young (Twitter link).
The 6’10”, 240-pound Auguste was a double-double machine with the Irish, averaging 14.0 points and 10.8 rebounds during his senior season. He was rated as the 76th best prospect by DraftExpress and was not selected on draft night.
Bucks Re-Sign Steve Novak
The Bucks have re-signed unrestricted free agent Steve Novak, the team announced (via Twitter). The length and terms of the arrangement were not relayed, but with Milwaukee over the cap, it is likely for the veteran’s minimum. The team does still possess its Room Exception worth $2,898,000, but it would be surprising if it was used in this case. The team now has 15 players on its roster, which is the regular season maximum.
Novak had garnered some interest around the league from other teams, per his agent Mark Bartelstein, but the veteran had been holding off on making a decision because his clear preference was to remain in Milwaukee. “There have been a few teams that we’ve talked to; you always got to keep your doors open,’’ Bartelstein had said earlier this month. “But we’re still talking with the Bucks and, hopefully, we’ll make a deal with them. Steve would love to stay in Milwaukee. It’s a very special place for him.’’
The forward was the No. 32 overall pick in 2006. He has appeared in 459 career regular season games, averaging 4.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per outing. He owns a career shooting line of .438/.431/.877. Novak will provide the team with veteran leadership and some outside shooting off the bench.
Pacers Sign Julyan Stone, Alex Poythress
The Pacers have announced a pair of signings, revealing today in press release that they’ve added veteran guard Julyan Stone to their roster. The club also confirmed and formalized the previously-reported signing of undrafted free agent Alex Poythress.
Stone, 27, entered the NBA in 2012, and ultimately appeared in 47 total games over the course of three seasons for the Nuggets and Raptors. He didn’t see much action in those games, averaging just 1.3 PPG and 1.1 APG in 7.0 minutes per contest. Stone was in camp with the Thunder last fall, but was cut and signed with Gaziantep in Turkey — he averaged 4.4 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 1.8 APG in 25 games for the Turkish club.
As for Poythress, he missed the bulk of the 2014/15 campaign due to a torn left ACL. Returning to Kentucky as a senior, the forward made 31 appearances and averaged 10.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 0.6 steals in 23.6 minutes per contest. Poythress’ shooting line for the Wildcats was .601/.304/.706.
[RELATED: Indiana Pacers’ depth chart at RosterResource.com]
The Pacers already have 15 guaranteed contracts on their roster, so Stone and Poythress aren’t great bets to survive preseason cuts unless Indiana has injury problems heading into the season. Poythress could end up playing for the Pacers’ D-League affiliate in Fort Wayne, while Stone would be a candidate to head back overseas.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Bryce Cotton To Play Overseas
Unrestricted free agent point guard Bryce Cotton is headed overseas, having signed a deal with the Turkish club, Anadolu Efes, the team announced (translation via Orazio Cauchi of Sportando). It will be a one-year arrangement between Cotton and the team, the announcement notes.
The 24-year-old was not without NBA possibilities heading into the preseason, with Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting that Cotton was a potential training camp signee of the Hawks. Cotton played for Atlanta’s summer league team and reportedly impressed team officials by averaging 12.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in five games. The Russian club Khimiki was also reported as a potential suitor for the free agent’s services.
Cotton split time last season between Xinjiang Guanghui of China, averaging 21.2 points and 2.7 assists in 9 games, and in the NBA with the Suns and Grizzlies. In eight NBA contests, Cotton averaged 1.0 PPG on 40% shooting.
Jazz Waive Kendall Marshall
As expected, the Jazz have waived newly-acquired point guard Kendall Marshall, the team announced today in a press release. Utah’s tweets announcing the trade for Marshall and the point guard’s release came 25 minutes apart, so the former 13th overall pick was officially a member of the Jazz for less than a half-hour.
Marshall’s $2MM+ salary for 2016/17 would have become guaranteed within the next few days if he had remained on an NBA roster. By acquiring him in a deal for Tibor Pleiss, who has a guaranteed $3MM salary, Utah created $3MM in cap room and avoided paying any salary, though the team did send the Sixers some cash in the deal.
Marshall, who turned 25 last Friday, has played for the Suns, Lakers, Bucks, and Sixers since entering the NBA as a lottery pick in 2012, and will now be seeking a new home for the 2016/17 campaign. This is the third time he has been traded and subsequently waived — it also happened in 2013 and 2015.
Despite the fact that Marshall has failed to stick with an NBA team for more than a single season since his debut, several league executives believe there’s still a spot in the league for the former lottery pick as a backup point guard, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
Marshall’s best season as a pro came in 2013/14, when he averaged 29 minutes per game in 54 contests for the Lakers. The former UNC standout averaged a career-high 8.0 PPG and 8.8 APG that year, while shooting 39.9% on three-point attempts. Marshall has taken a step back since then, though he was off to a solid start as a backup for the Bucks in 2014/15 before he suffered a season-ending ACL injury.