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Warriors Waive Ben Gordon

October 14th, 2015 at 3:56pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Warriors have waived shooting guard Ben Gordon, the team announced via a press release. Gordon’s minimum salary deal was non-guaranteed, so Golden State won’t be on the hook for any money as a result of this move. The veteran’s pact would have become partially guaranteed for $749,493 if he remained on the team’s roster past October 27th.

It doesn’t come as a shock that Gordon didn’t stick with the Warriors given their backcourt depth. The 32-year-old didn’t do much to impress during his two preseason appearances for the team, averaging just 1.0 points and 1.0 assists in 8.3 minutes per contest. By waiving Gordon, Golden State reduces its preseason roster count to 18 players, including 13 with full guarantees on their deals.

Gordon has appeared in 744 regular season games over the course of his NBA career, averaging 14.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists to accompany a slash line of .432/.401/.857. He has played for the Magic, Bulls, Pistons, and Hornets since joining the league as the No. 3 overall pick back in 2004.

Pelicans Sign Mirza Begić

October 14th, 2015 at 11:45am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pelicans have signed Mirza Begić, a 7’1″ center from Bosnia and Herzegovina who split last season between clubs in Spain and Slovenia, New Orleans announced via press release. Injuries to Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca, the top two centers for the Pelicans, have sent the team scrambling. The Pelicans signed Jerome Jordan this weekend, and though they’d signed Greg Smith just days earlier, Smith failed his physical, prompting the team to void his contract. Begić becomes the 20th player on the team’s roster, bringing the Pelicans to the preseason roster limit.

It’s the first brush with the NBA for the 30-year-old Begić, who went undrafted in 2007. He averaged 7.3 points and 4.6 rebounds in 17.8 minutes per game across a combined 58 appearances for Spanish powerhouse Laboral Kuxta and Slovenia’s Union Olimpija. He spent 2013/14 with Olympiakos of Greece after several years with Real Madrid, so he’s been a part of some of Europe’s most well-known and heavily scouted clubs.

Anthony Davis and Kendrick Perkins are the only fully guaranteed Pelicans who’d offer any sort of conventional fit at center among the 13 healthy Pelicans with fully guaranteed contracts, while Jordan and power forward Jeff Adrien are the only big men among the team’s camp invitees, aside from Begić. The Pelicans announced last week that Ajinca would miss four to six weeks and Asik three weeks, throwing into question whether either will be ready for opening night against the Warriors on October 27th.

Bulls Waive Jake Anderson, Stefhon Hannah

October 13th, 2015 at 4:14pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Bulls have waived point guards Jake Anderson and Stefhon Hannah, the team announced via a press release. Both players were in camp on non-guaranteed deals, so Chicago won’t be on the hook for any funds as a result of these moves. The Bulls’ roster count now stands at 17 players, including 13 with full guarantees.

Anderson, 28, began his professional career in the NBA D-League after going undrafted back in 2009. He spent 2014/15 with the Gateway Steam for the inaugural season of the Midwest Professional Basketball Association. In 21 games for the Steam Anderson averaged 16.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

The 6’1″ Hannah averaged 5.9 points, 2.1 assists and 2.0 turnovers per game in 22 D-League appearances last season, when he split time between the affiliates of the Kings and the Pistons. The 30-year-old had won back-to-back D-League Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2012 and 2013.

Jazz Waive J.J. O’Brien, Jack Cooley

October 13th, 2015 at 2:25pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:25pm: The moves are official, the team announced.

1:21pm: The Jazz are waiving J.J. O’Brien and Jack Cooley, according to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (Twitter link). O’Brien has a $75K partial guarantee that Utah will be responsible for if he clears waivers, while Cooley’s pact is non-guaranteed. They’re the first cuts from the Jazz preseason roster, which shrinks to 18 players, including 13 with fully guaranteed salaries, as our roster count shows.

Neither had seen much playing time in preseason, with Cooley scoring a single basket in six and a half minutes of play spread over two games and O’Brien going scoreless in less than two minutes during his one-game cameo. The 6’9,” 24-year-old Cooley was also with the Jazz last season, when he signed a pair of 10-day contracts followed by a multiyear deal, while the 6’7″ O’Brien, 23, went undrafted this June out of San Diego State.

Cooley was also a training camp cut for the Jazz last fall, and he spent much of the season with Utah’s D-League affiliate before rejoining the NBA roster. It wouldn’t be shocking to see him return to the D-League Idaho Stampede or for O’Brien to follow in his footsteps, though that’s just my speculation. NBA teams can retain the D-League rights to as many as four of the players they waive, but Utah doesn’t need to use one of those four spots on Cooley since the Stampede already have his D-League rights.

Today’s moves will leave the Jazz with a five-man battle for two regular season roster spots, assuming Utah carries a full 15-man roster on opening night. Jeff Withey and Treveon Graham, with partial guarantees, are up against non-guaranteed holdovers Bryce Cotton, Chris Johnson and Elijah Millsap. I looked at the battle for regular season roster spots on the Jazz in more detail here.

Who do you think the Jazz will end up keeping for opening night? Leave a comment to tell us.

Rockets Claim Arsalan Kazemi From Hawks

October 12th, 2015 at 4:13pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Rockets have claimed Arsalan Kazemi off waivers from the Hawks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Houston becomes the third team within the past month to have a hold on Kazemi after the Sixers relinquished their draft rights to the Iranian power forward so he could sign with Atlanta. Houston inherits the non-guaranteed contract he received from the Hawks. Kazemi becomes the 20th player on the Rockets, who have 14 signed to fully guaranteed pacts, as our roster count shows.

The former Rice and Oregon player didn’t appear in a preseason game in his brief time with the Hawks, who had him for less than two weeks when they released him Saturday. His deal only covers one year at the minimum salary without any guarantees, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reported, so the Rockets don’t assume much risk. It’s not altogether surprising to see him end up with Houston, since GM Daryl Morey is the former boss of Sixers GM Sam Hinkie, who had acquired his draft rights in a trade with the Wizards in 2013 on the same night that Washington drafted him 54th overall. The waiver claim is the first in the NBA since the calendar flipped to the 2015/16 season on July 1st.

It would nonetheless seem as though the 25-year-old Kazemi, who put up 15.0 points in 38.9 minutes per game for ChongQing AoLong of China last season, faces long odds to make the regular season roster in Houston, given the competition from five other camp invitees. The Rockets face a hard cap because they exceeded the taxpayer’s amount on the mid-level exception with their signings of K.J. McDaniels and Montrezl Harrell, so the distinct possibility exists that Houston won’t carry a 15th man for opening night. Still, the Rockets can keep the D-League rights to as many as four of the players they waive, so perhaps that’s what they have in mind for Kazemi.

Warriors Waive Tony Mitchell

October 12th, 2015 at 2:26pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Warriors have waived power forward Tony Mitchell, the team announced. The subtraction of his non-guaranteed deal leaves Golden State with 19 players, 13 of whom have full guarantees, as our roster count shows. Mitchell was the only Warriors camp invitee who didn’t pose much of a threat from beyond the arc, as I noted earlier today, so it’s not entirely surprising that he’s the first cut, given the team’s desire for more shooting.

The former Piston who was the 37th overall pick out of North Texas in 2013 is not to be confused with the ex-Bucks small forward of the same name. Mitchell, who didn’t see any preseason action for the Warriors, has expressed interest in playing for Golden State’s D-League affiliate, notes Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). Still, the 23-year-old had been giving it a go in Warriors camp to see if he could return to the NBA after a 2014/15 season in which he didn’t appear in a single regular season game for the Pistons even though he was on their roster for nearly two months. Detroit traded him to Phoenix in late December, but he didn’t see any playing time there either before the Suns waived him in conjunction with the Brandan Wright trade.

James Michael McAdoo appears to have a line on the 14th regular season spot for the Warriors, leaving Chris Babb, Ian Clark, Ben Gordon, Jarell Eddie and rookie Juwan Staten to battle over spot No. 15, assuming the taxpaying Warriors carry a full roster on opening night.

How would you handicap the battle for the last regular season spots on the Warriors? Leave a comment to tell us.

Nuggets Pick Up Options on Harris, Nurkic

October 11th, 2015 at 12:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Nuggets have picked up third-year team options on Gary Harris and Jusuf Nurkic for the 2016/17 season, the team announced today in a press release. Both players were acquired in a draft-night trade with Chicago in 2014.

Both moves were likely, as our rookie scale option page indicates. Nurkic’s option is for $1,921,320 while Harris’ is for $1,655,880.

Harris, the 19th pick of the 2014 draft, averaged 3.4 points and 1.2 rebounds per game last season in 13.1 minutes of playing time. He has averaged 11.3 points while making five of 10 three-pointers in the Nuggets’ first three preseason games.

Nurkic, the 16th overall pick in 2014, made the NBA’s All-Rookie Second Team, averaging 6.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. He started 27 games at center for the Nuggets last season.

Pelicans Sign Jerome Jordan

October 11th, 2015 at 12:40pm CST by Eddie Scarito

OCTOBER 11TH, 12:40pm: The signing is official, the team announced.

OCTOBER 10TH, 11:19am: The Pelicans have agreed to a deal with center Jerome Jordan, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter link). The length and terms of the deal are unclear, but Spears refers to it as a “make good contract,” so it’s likely a non-guaranteed training camp pact. The move will give New Orleans 19 players, 13 of whom have full guarantees, as our roster count shows.

This is New Orleans’ second attempt to add depth at the center position, after revealing that starting center Omer Asik is set to miss three weeks with a right calf strain, and they’re also without backup center Alexis Ajinca for about four to six weeks as he recovers from a strained right hamstring. The team had reached an agreement with four-year NBA veteran Greg Smith, but he reportedly failed his physical, so the deal was called off.

Jordan, 29, appeared in 44 contests for the Nets last season, averaging 3.1 points and 2.4 rebounds in 8.7 minutes per game. His slash line was .532/.000/.864.

Hawks Waive Edgar Sosa, Arsalan Kazemi

October 10th, 2015 at 3:35pm CST by Eddie Scarito

3:35pm: Both players have officially been waived, the team announced in a press release.

1:12pm: The Hawks have waived point guard Edgar Sosa and power forward Arsalan Kazemi, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (via Twitter). Both players were in training camp on non-guaranteed deals, so Atlanta won’t be on the hook for any funds as a result of these moves. This reduces the Hawks’ preseason roster count to 18 players, including 13 with full guarantees on their deals.

Sosa, 27, went undrafted out of Louisville back in 2010 after posting career NCAA numbers of 9.7 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. He joined the Pistons summer league entry that year, but he ended up signing overseas with the Italian club Angelico Biella. The point guard spent the 2014/15 campaign playing for Dinamo Sassari in Italy. Sosa’s numbers last season were 10.7 PPG, 1.5 RPG, and 3.5 APG to accompany a slash line of .387/.320/.789.

Kazemi, a native of Iran, played last season for ChongQing AoLong of China in his second year as a pro after he became the 54th overall pick of the 2013 draft. He spent the majority of his college career at Rice before transferring to Oregon for his senior season, when he notched averages of 9.4 points and 10.0 rebounds in 29.0 minutes per game.

Cavs Sign Dionte Christmas, Waive Dunigan

October 10th, 2015 at 11:30am CST by Eddie Scarito

SATURDAY, 11:30am: The signing is official, the team announced.

THURSDAY, 10:24pm: The Cavaliers are close to signing shooting guard Dionte Christmas, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter link). The deal is contingent on Christmas passing his physical, which will be administered on Friday, Spears adds. In order to clear a roster spot, the Cavs will release center Michael Dunigan, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). Cleveland currently has a roster count of 20 players, which is the preseason maximum.

Cleveland is limited to offering Christmas a minimum salary contract, and Spears termed the pending arrangement as a “make good deal,” which likely means that there will be no guaranteed money involved. Christmas, 29, last played in the NBA during the 2013/14 campaign when he made 31 appearances for the Suns, averaging 2.3 points and 1.2 rebounds in 6.4 minutes per contest. He spent last season with Paris-Levallois of France.

Dunigan, 26, was in training camp with the Grizzlies back in 2012, but he’s primarily played overseas since going undrafted in 2011. The Mike Naiditch client came to the U.S. to spend part of last season with Cleveland’s D-League affiliate, notching averages of 11.6 points and 7.1 rebounds in 30.4 minutes per game across 24 regular season appearances. It’s possible that the Cavs are eyeing Dunigan for a spot on the Canton Charge for 2015/16, though that is merely my speculation.