Pistons Sign Justin Harper To Second 10-Day
SATURDAY, 11:58am: The signing is official, the Pistons announced today.
FRIDAY, 11:38am: The Pistons will sign Justin Harper to another 10-day contract, coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said today, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com (Twitter link). That’s no surprise, since Van Gundy remarked two days ago that he was leaning toward another 10-day deal with the power forward, as Rod Beard of The Detroit News wrote. Harper’s first 10-day deal expires tonight. The latest pact will represent a tiny investment of $49,709 with a larger decision looming afterward, since Detroit will have to either re-sign him for the season or let him walk.
Harper, 26, has averaged 3.3 points in 7.7 minutes per game across three appearances so far with the Pistons, who’ve given him his first regular season NBA action in four years. He played at a handful of stops overseas and in the D-League in between, and he was with the Nets for the preseason this past fall.
The collapse of Detroit’s trade for power forward Donatas Motiejunas and injuries to power forward Anthony Tolliver and small forward Stanley Johnson prompted the Pistons to turn to Harper. Tolliver is liable to miss two more weeks while Johnson is out through at least the weekend, Langlois tweets.
Thunder Ink Nazr Mohammed
SATURDAY, 11:13pm: The signing is official, the Thunder announced today.
FRIDAY, 9:12pm: The Thunder intend to sign free agent Nazr Mohammed for the remainder of the season, Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports reports (on Twitter). Oklahoma City has an available roster spot, so no other moves would be required to bring the center into the fold. The team intends to ink the veteran on Saturday, Charania adds. It’s not entirely clear whether it’ll be a minimum-salary contract or one that eats into the roughly $2MM Oklahoma City has left on its taxpayer’s mid-level exception.
The move to ink Mohammed comes as a bit of a surprise as the big man had not been mentioned in any recent chatter. He last appeared in the NBA during the 2014/15 season, making 23 appearances for the Bulls and notching 1.2 points and 1.7 rebounds in 5.6 minutes per contest. Mohammed’s career numbers since entering the league as the No. 29 overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft are 5.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.6 blocks to accompany a slash line of .486/.000/.639.
Mohammed was contemplating retirement in October, saying he would be OK with never playing again.“Truth is, I still love this game, I still have that competitor in me and I still feel like I can help a team. And regardless of what happens, I plan on staying in basketball shape,” Mohammed wrote at the time. “But at this moment, I am comfortable and confident saying that I’m cool with it being over. I am really at peace. I realize how big of an accomplishment it is to have played as long as I’ve played. It’s an unbelievable feat. I’m cool with not playing ever again and choosing which path to take at this fork in the road that leads me away from my first love.”
The Mike Higgins client said then that he didn’t want to merely be a locker room mentor and would only sign with a team that planned a legitimate on-court role for him. He also suggested that he’d like to join a team in a front office capacity at some point. It remains to be seen if the Thunder promised him significant playing time or if Mohammed simply had a change of heart. He’ll presumably compete for minutes at the pivot with Steven Adams, Mitch McGary and Enes Kanter.
Sixers Sign Christian Wood To 10-Day Deal
3:41pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
1:18pm: The Sixers will re-sign first-year pro Christian Wood, whom they waived earlier this season to make room for Elton Brand, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). It’ll be a 10-day contract, a source tells Jake Fischer of SI Now (Twitter link). Philadelphia has kept an open roster spot in the wake of losing JaKarr Sampson because of a failed three-team trade at the deadline, so no corresponding move is necessary. Wood has been playing with Philly’s D-League affiliate since shortly after the Sixers cut him from the NBA roster in January.
The 20-year-old power forward was a well-regarded prospect coming out of UNLV last spring whose failure to get drafted was a mild surprise. He said this past November that he didn’t think he’d fall past pick No. 25 but pointed to concerns teams had about his level of motivation as a major reason his stock slipped. He reportedly agreed to sign with the Rockets shortly after the draft, but evidently that deal fell through, and he wound up joining the Sixers instead on a four-year contract with just $50K guaranteed. He’ll make $30,888 on his new 10-day with Philly.
Wood has put up 15.8 points and 8.8 rebounds in 26.8 minutes per game across 26 D-League appearances this season, starting in just 17 of those games. He nonetheless saw a decent-sized chunk of playing time in 14 games at the NBA level before his release, averaging 3.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in 8.1 minutes contest.
Rockets Sign Michael Beasley
FRIDAY, 10:39am: The signing is official, the team announced.
9:00pm: The contract will be a minimum salary arrangement, Stein relays in a full-length story.
WEDNESDAY, 4:28pm: The Rockets are close to signing free agent combo forward Michael Beasley, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links). The deal would cover the remainder of the season and include a team option for 2016/17, Stein notes. The contract details are still unknown, though I would speculate that is likely a minimum salary arrangement. Houston, which recently waived both Marcus Thornton and Ty Lawson, still has one open roster spot. The team is also reportedly set to ink Andrew Goudelock.
Multiple NBA teams had reportedly expressed interest in Beasley, who became a free agent at the completion of the Chinese Basketball Association season. The combo forward averaged 31.9 points in 36.5 minutes per game with 37.1% 3-point shooting against relatively weak competition this season playing for Shandong.
Beasley has appeared in 433 regular season NBA games over the course of his career and owns averages of 13.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists. His career slash line is .450/.343/.759.
Nuggets Sign Axel Toupane To 10-Day Deal
THURSDAY, 2:49pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release. The contract will cover five games, against the Nets, Mavs, Knicks, Suns Wizards.
TUESDAY, 9:36am: The Nuggets plan to sign Raptors affiliate player Axel Toupane to a 10-day contract, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The 23-year-old swingman has been playing for Toronto’s D-League team since the Raptors cut him from the NBA roster at the end of the preseason. Denver has an open roster spot and a need on the wing with Danilo Gallinari expected to miss the next month after tearing two ligaments in his right ankle, as The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported overnight.
Toupane is averaging 14.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 29.7 minutes per game for Raptors 905, Toronto’s D-League outpost. It’s his first season in North America, as he spent the past several years with Strasbourg IG in his native France. He went scoreless in about 22 minutes of preseason action spread over two games on the NBA roster this past fall.
He’ll bolster the team’s depth in the wake of the Gallinari injury, one that presents a serious challenge to Denver’s ability to compete, in part because fellow small forward Wilson Chandler was already out for the season. The 27-year-old Gallinari is in the midst of a career year, fresh off a renegotiation and extension that ties him to Denver until at least the summer of 2017, when he can opt out. The eighth-year veteran’s 19.5 points per game are by far a career high, and he’s the leading scorer for the Nuggets, who have faint playoff hopes as they sit six games back of the eighth-place Rockets.
The Nuggets can’t receive an additional disabled player exception and already spent the one they had for Chandler in their deadline-day trade for D.J. Augustin and Steve Novak. A wrist injury threatens to sideline Jameer Nelson for the season, but Denver is still one long-term injury shy of qualifying for a 16th roster spot via hardship.
Grizzlies Re-Sign Ryan Hollins
5:00pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
9:48am: The Grizzlies are expected to re-sign Ryan Hollins, a source told Marc J. Spears of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The contract couldn’t be worth more than the minimum salary, and it would have to cover at least the rest of the season because Hollins already signed a pair of 10-day contracts with Memphis earlier this year. It would require a corresponding move, since Memphis is at the 15-man roster limit, unless the Grizzlies qualify for a hardship exception. It’s unclear who would get the boot, but The Commercial Appeal’s Chris Herrington wrote this week that he believed James Ennis would be the most likely cut if the team were to make a signing.
Memphis is missing centers Marc Gasol and Brandan Wright because of injury, leaving the Grizzlies thin inside, where Hollins plays. Shooting guards Jordan Adams and Tony Allen are also hurt. Gasol is done for the season, but the timetable for Wright is unclear. Allen’s situation is similarly muddled, as a sore left knee has kept him from playing since February 19th. Adams is due back soon after undergoing right knee surgery in January. The team would need four players expected to be out for at least another two weeks to merit an extra roster spot.
Hollins has been a rotation player at times for the Grizzlies this year, averaging 3.3 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11.2 minutes per game spread over 14 appearances. He was also with Memphis for the preseason, so this would be his fourth contract with the team in 2015/16. He also spent a few weeks with the Wizards in November and December. The Grizzlies kept Ennis instead of Hollins when they needed to open a roster spot in January, but a reversal of fortune could be in the works.
Timberwolves Sign Greg Smith To 10-Day Deal
WEDNESDAY, 3:46pm: The signing is official, the team announced.
TUESDAY, 2:06pm: The Timberwolves plan to sign big man Greg Smith to a 10-day contract, a league source tells Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (Twitter link). The four-year veteran has been with the D-League affiliate of the Raptors since January, a couple of months after failing a physical that nixed his preseason contract with the Pelicans. Minnesota has an open roster spot in the wake of its buyout with Andre Miller, while talks have reportedly taken place about a buyout for Kevin Martin that would create a second roster vacancy.
It’s no surprise to see Minnesota strike a deal after interim coach Sam Mitchell complained the team was “awfully thin” up front, and while Mitchell also indicated a signing wouldn’t take place until well after today, adding a 10-day contract allows the team to preserve flexibility to sign others who might enter the market. The team also reportedly had internal discussion about signing Chris Copeland, another frontcourt player.
Smith, 25, has averaged 12.6 points and 8.0 rebounds in 28.1 minutes per game with Toronto’s D-League team, proving his health in the wake of the torpedoed deal with New Orleans. He’s shown efficiency on the boards in 131 NBA games with the Rockets and Mavs, averaging 3.4 in 12.5 minutes per game for his NBA career. The 10-day contract will pay him $59,731 and cost the Wolves $55,722. The league foots the bill for the difference.
Grizzlies Waive James Ennis
The Grizzlies have waived James Ennis, the team announced via press release. The move appears to be a precursor to a deal for the rest of the season with Ryan Hollins, who’s set to sign, according to Marc J. Spears of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. It’s tough luck for Ennis, the 50th pick in the 2013 draft, who won’t be able to participate in the playoffs for another team this season but would have been eligible for the postseason had his release come as late as Tuesday night.
Cutting Ennis gives Memphis an open spot beneath the 15-man roster limit. His deal is for the minimum salary this season and next, with no guarantee on his pay for next season, so Memphis is poised to eat only about $200K if he clears waivers. It’s a three-year contract he signed in the summer of 2014 with Miami, so only teams with trade exceptions or cap room can claim him, The Vertical’s Bobby Marks notes (Twitter link).
Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal wrote earlier this week that he believed Ennis would be the likeliest to go if the team wanted to sign someone, so today’s news proves him right. The 25-year-old Ennis totaled only 40 minutes spread over 10 appearances with the Grizzlies in the months since Memphis acquired him in the Mario Chalmers trade. He went on eight separate trips to the D-League in the meantime, racking up 16.7 points in 33.1 minutes per contest over 15 D-League games.
Ennis and agent Scott Nichols twice worked out amended terms with the Heat that helped him stay under contract prior to the trade. The changes pushed back the dates upon which salary guarantees would kick in for this season, but Ennis avoided getting cut before the end of January 7th, which locked in his full $845,059 salary.
Clippers Sign Alex Stepheson To Second 10-Day
WEDNESDAY, 12:55pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
TUESDAY, 11:46am: The Clippers will sign Alex Stepheson to a second 10-day contract, as Dan Woike of the Orange County Register reports and as a source confirms to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links). The rookie power forward’s first 10-day deal expired Monday night. Woike and Turner indicate the signing is set to take place Wednesday, which would allow the contract to cover five games, against the Thunder (twice), Hawks, Mavericks and Knicks.
The deal will give Stepheson $30,888 but cost the Clippers that plus $77,220 in additional projected tax penalties. It’s a smaller price than if the team signed a veteran, but Stepheson didn’t see much action in his first 10 days with the Clippers, logging just nine minutes across two games.
The Clippers reportedly turned to him when they couldn’t find a defensive-oriented guard they liked. The 28-year-old former USC player has spent most of his career overseas. His appeal is as a rebounder, and his 13.8 boards per game in 31 appearances this season for the D-League affiliate of the Grizzlies is tops in that league by a wide margin.
Wolves Waive Kevin Martin In Buyout Deal
11:28pm: The Wolves have waived Martin, the team announced (Twitter link). Presumably, the official transaction took place before the 11pm Central time deadline, as previous reports indicated it would.
11:11pm: Some pessimism exists about the Mavs’ chances at Martin once he clears waivers, according to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.
10:38pm: The Timberwolves and shooting guard Kevin Martin have come to an agreement on a buyout deal, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). The move comes prior to the 11pm Central time deadline, so Martin will be eligible for the playoffs with any postseason-bound team he might sign with before the end of the regular season. It’s not immediately clear just how much salary the shooting guard gave up to secure his release. Martin is scheduled to earn $7.085MM this season with a $7,377,500 player option for next year. The move will give Minnesota a roster count of 13 players, two under the league maximum.
Martin was available for a trade prior to the February trade deadline, as Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press first reported, but potential suitors were apparently reluctant to take him on without knowing what he’d do about his player option for 2016/17. GM Milt Newton said after the deadline passed without a Martin trade that a buyout discussion would probably take place between Martin and the team in the near future, and that’s apparently come to fruition.
The veteran scorer shouldn’t be out of work for long with a number of teams reportedly showing interest. The Mavericks, Cavaliers, Hawks, Heat, Rockets and Thunder are all potential suitors for the shooting guard, though the Spurs are reportedly the favorites to sign him, as Stein reported last week. The Spurs remain in front, with the Mavs, Rockets and Hawks in pursuit, according to Stein’s latest dispatch (Twitter link). San Antonio currently has the league maximum of 15 players on its roster, so a corresponding move would be required if the team inks Martin.
The 33-year-old has appeared in 39 games for Minnesota this season, including 12 starts. Martin is averaging 10.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 21.4 minutes of action per appearance. His career numbers through 698 games are 17.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists to go with a shooting line of .438/.385/.870.