Warriors Sign Zaza Pachulia
JULY 12: More than a week after agreeing to terms with him, the Warriors have officially announced their new deal with Pachulia, via a team release.
JULY 4: The Warriors have reached a one-year contract agreement with Mavericks free agent center Zaza Pachulia, sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Pachulia will receive $2.9MM, Charania adds. That puts him in line for Golden State’s mini mid-level exception.
The addition of Pachulia contributes to an already historic day for the franchise, which reached an agreement with top free agent Kevin Durant. Pachulia takes over the starting spot previously held by Andrew Bogut, who was dealt to the Mavs once Durant chose the two-time defending Western Conference champions.
Pachulia could have taken a much bigger offer in this free agent climate. The lure of playing for a team that will be heavily favored to regain the crown next season was too great for him to pass up. The Hornets were reportedly in hot pursuit for Pachulia’s services. The 32-year-old Pachulia had a very productive season with Dallas, averaging 8.6 points and a career-high 9.4 rebounds in 76 games.
Bogut will make $12.68MM next season, so Pachulia’s decision to take a pay cut — he made $5.2MM a year ago — gives them a huge bargain for a rotation player. The biggest downgrade for the Warriors is that Pachulia, unlike Bogut, is not a shot blocker. He has averaged 0.3 blocks per game during his career.
Clippers Sign Brice Johnson
The Clippers have locked up their 2016 first-round pick, according to Dan Woike of The Orange County Register, who tweets that the team has signed Brice Johnson to his rookie contract. The team held a presser earlier today to introduce Johnson along with second-rounders David Michineau and Diamond Stone.
The 25th overall pick in last month’s draft, Johnson averaged 17.0 PPG during his senior season at North Carolina, contributing 10.5 RPG and 1.5 BPG as well. He also shot 61.4% from the field for the Tar Heels, and was ranked 34th overall among this year’s prospects by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com.
While terms of Johnson’s deal weren’t announced, it’s a safe bet that he signed for the maximum allowable 120% of his rookie-scale amount. Such a deal would put him in line for a first-year salary of $1,273,920. Over the course of his four-year rookie contract, Johnson will make nearly $6.5MM, as our breakdown of 2016 first-round rookie salaries shows.
Clippers Sign Marreese Speights To One-Year Deal
JULY 12: The Clippers have formally announced their deal with Speights and officially introduced him as a Clipper (Twitter link).
JULY 8: Veteran big man Marreese Speights will be moving from Western Conference contender to another, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who reports that Speights has reached an agreement to sign with the Clippers. It’s a one-year deal, per Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
Speights, who turns 29 in August, spent the last three seasons with the Warriors, appearing in a total of 227 regular-season games – and another 41 playoff contests – for Golden State. Although Speights didn’t average more than 16 minutes per game in any of his three years with the Dubs, his production in limited action was very solid. In 11.6 minutes per game in 2015/16, the veteran big man averaged 7.1 PPG and 3.3 RPG, and even shot 38.7% from three-point range.
[RELATED: Clippers’ free agent signings via our Free Agent Tracker]
Having stayed over the cap to re-sign some of their own free agents, the Clippers are also using their mid-level exception on Wesley Johnson, which doesn’t leave the team with much spending flexibility. As such, it’s no surprise that Zach Lowe of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter) that Speights is signing with the Clippers for the veteran’s minimum. For a player with Speights’ experience, that will work out to a $1,403,611 salary for the 2016/17 season.
The Warriors, of course, would also have been able to offer Speights a minimum-salary deal, though it’s not entirely clear whether such an offer was on the table. If the former Florida Gator chose the Clippers over the Warriors, he’s likely seeking a bigger role — in Los Angeles, there’s an opening in the frontcourt rotation following Cole Aldrich‘s departure.
[RELATED: Clippers’ depth chart at RosterResource.com]
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Grizzlies Sign Second-Rounder Deyonta Davis
TUESDAY, 12:12pm: The Grizzles have officially issued a press release announcing their deal with Davis.
SUNDAY, 2:34pm: The Grizzlies and Deyonta Davis, who was the 31st pick in this year’s draft, have agreed to a three-year, $4MM deal, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical. It is the largest guaranteed salary for an American-born second-round pick, Charania notes.
The deals allows Memphis to retain Davis’ Bird rights and eliminate the Arenas provision, leaving him without restrictions on how much he could earn on a second deal while entering free agency one year earlier than if he had been selected in the first round, Charania points out. The Celtics dealt Davis to the Grizzlies.
The 19-year-old Davis averaged 7.5 points and 5,5 rebounds during his lone season with Michigan State. He has NBA size, but scouts said before the draft that he needs to get stronger and become a better finisher in the lane. The Grizzlies have made a few moves this summer, re-signing Mike Conley and adding Chandler Parsons, James Ennis and Troy Daniels.
Tim Duncan Announces Retirement
TUESDAY, 11:42am: According to ESPN’s Marc Stein (via Twitter), the Spurs have officially waived Duncan for salary-cap purposes. The veteran big man had been on the team’s books for $6,393,750 this year, so assuming San Antonio stretched his salary, that figure will now be $2,131,250 annually over the next three seasons.
MONDAY, 9:16am: For many basketball fans around the world, it is extremely difficult to imagine the NBA without Tim Duncan a part of it. But that’s the reality we face with the surefire Hall-of-Famer officially announcing his retirement today via the team’s website. This marks the conclusion of one of the most impressive professional careers the league has seen.
Since drafting Duncan with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, San Antonio won five championships and posted a 1,072-438 regular season record, good for a .710 winning percentage, which is the best 19-year stretch in NBA history and was the best in all of the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB over that span.
Duncan totaled 15 All-NBA Team selections, which is tied for most all-time, and 15 NBA All-Defensive Team honors, the most all-time, earning both honors in the same season 15 times, the most in league history. The 1998 Rookie of the Year was named NBA MVP twice (2002, 2003) and NBA Finals MVP three times (1999, 2003 and 2005), per the team’s release.
The 40-year-old had opted in for 2016/17, but was reportedly on the fence about continuing his career. Duncan saw his production decline this past season, as he averaged a career-low 8.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 blocks in 25.2 minutes per contest over 61 regular-season appearances. He also shot just 48.8% from the floor, his lowest mark in 10 years. Duncan finishes his career with marks of 19.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 blocks per contest. He owns a career shooting line of .506/.179/.696.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Grizzlies Sign Andrew Harrison To 3-Year Deal
TUESDAY, 11:36am: The Grizzlies have officially signed Harrison, the club announced today in a press release.
SUNDAY, 12:14pm: Andrew Harrison has agreed to a three-year, $3MM deal with the Grizzlies, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. The third season of the contract is partially guaranteed, Wojnarowski reports.
Harrison was highly regarded coming out of Kentucky in 2015, but slipped to 44th in the draft and spent this season in the D-League. He played with the Grizzlies’ affiliate in Iowa, where he averaged 14 points per game.
A 6-6 shooting guard, Harrison will compete for playing time with new addition Troy Daniels, whom the Grizzlies acquired Saturday in a sign-and-trade with Charlotte.
Pistons Sign Boban Marjanovic
JULY 12: The Pistons have officially signed Marjanovic, the team announced today in a press release. We heard on Sunday that San Antonio wouldn’t be matching Detroit’s offer sheet for the big center.
JULY 7: The Pistons are set to sign Spurs restricted free agent Boban Marjanovic to an offer sheet worth $21MM over three years, league sources tell ESPN’s Marc Stein (Twitter link). Once Marjanovic officially puts pen to paper and the Spurs receive the offer sheet, San Antonio will have three days to match it.
Marjanovic, who turns 28 in August, joined the Spurs a year ago, and saw a little action during his first year as an NBA player. Appearing in 54 game, the 7’3″ center averaged 9.4 minutes per contest, making the most of that playing time by averaging 5.5 PPG and 3.6 RPG to go along with a .603 FG%. The sample size was small, but Marjanovic’s production worked out to 21.0 PPG and 13.7 RPG per 36 minutes.
The Pistons’ reported contract agreements will use up all their salary cap space, but because the team’s deal with Andre Drummond is not yet official, the team still has some room to fit in Marjanovic’s offer sheet. Drummond will earn a maximum salary of $22MM+ in 2016/17, but for now, he’s still on Detroit’s books for cap hold worth just over $8MM.
As for the Spurs, they had to move Boris Diaw just to clear cap room for Pau Gasol‘s new contract, so it seems unlikely that they’ll match the Pistons’ offer sheet for Marjanovic. ESPN’s Marc Stein tweets that San Antonio is resigned to losing the Serbian center. The Spurs appear to have found a replacement already, reportedly agreeing to terms with free agent center Dewayne Dedmon.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nets, Justin Hamilton Agree To Deal
JULY 10, 7:36pm: The signing is official, the team announced on its website.
JULY 1, 7:44pm: The Nets and Justin Hamilton have agreed to a two-year deal worth $6MM, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports on Twitter. The contract is fully guaranteed as Hamilton’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, tells Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).
Hamilton is a 7’0″ center who last played in the NBA for the Wolves during the 2014/15 campaign. He spent last season playing for Valencia Basket of the Liga ACB in Europe.
Before signing the big man, Brooklyn only had nine players under contract, as the team’s depth chart at Roster Resource indicates. Hamilton is the second player whom the team has agreed to a deal with since free agency began. The team agreed to terms with Jeremy Lin early today.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pacers Sign Second-Rounder Georges Niang
The Pacers have formally added another player to their roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed second-round pick Georges Niang to his first NBA contract. Although the club didn’t disclose terms of the deal, Scott Agness of VigilantSports.com writes that it’s a three-year pact, with a full guarantee in year one and a partial guarantee in year two.
[RELATED: 2016 Draft Pick Signings]
Niang, the 50th overall pick in last month’s draft, averaged 20.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game during his final year at Iowa State. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com described Niang, his 69th-ranked prospect overall, as one of the more “polished’ players in this year’s draft class, and Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard suggested on draft night that the former Cyclone could earn a spot in Indiana’s rotation this season.
Because the Pacers traded their first-round pick to the Nets for Thaddeus Young, Niang was the only player drafted by the team this year. As the Pacers’ roster breakdown at RosterResource.com shows, Young will also be one of the players who figures to start the year ahead of Niang on the depth chart.
Indiana has plenty of forward depth, so it will be interesting to see how the team’s rotation shakes out in the regular season. Niang, 23, is probably capable of playing both forward spots, depending on the lineup, but he’ll have to battle a handful of frontcourt players for minutes.
In addition to big men Myles Turner and Al Jefferson, the Pacers also currently employ forwards like C.J. Miles, Lavoy Allen, Jeremy Evans, Glenn Robinson III, Shayne Whittington, and – of course – Paul George.
Pacers May Sign Aaron Brooks
Aaron Brooks is in “advanced discussions” on a one-year contract with the Pacers, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. Brooks, 31, has spent the last two seasons with the Bulls.
Brooks appeared in 69 games this season, all as a reserve. He averaged 7.1 points and 2.6 rebounds per night while shooting 36% from 3-point range.
If the Pacers sign Brooks, he will likely be used as a backup to Jeff Teague, who was acquired from the Hawks in a three-team trade last month.