Clippers Sign Jeff Ayres To Second 10-Day Deal
TUESDAY, 5:18pm: The signing is official, the team announced.
SUNDAY, 12:52pm: The Clippers will sign Jeff Ayres to a second 10-day deal, Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter link). The Arizona State product will cost the Clippers $55,722 in payroll over the length of this deal. The 28-year-old played in two games for Los Angeles during his first 10-day stint with the team, tallying just seven minutes of action.
Ayres filled the roster spot left vacant by Josh Smith after Smith was dealt to the Rockets and with the latest report on Blake Griffin‘s hand sounding pessimistic, Los Angeles has a need for an additional big man. Coach/executive Doc Rivers told reporters last week that Griffin’s timetable of returning in four to six weeks was unrealistic.
Ayres was having an excellent season with the Idaho Stampede before signing with the Clippers, notching a D-League All-Star selection in the process. However, he won’t be eligible to participate in the festivities unless he’s in the D-League at the time of the February 13th game.
Suns Name Earl Watson Interim Coach
5:40pm: The move is official, the team announced.
5:04pm: The Suns have decided to name assistant coach Earl Watson as interim head coach, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Watson beat out other reported candidates Corey Gaines and Nate Bjorkgren for the temporary position that came open when the team fired Jeff Hornacek on Monday.
Watson, 36, is not far removed from his playing career. He was in the league as recently as the 2013/14 season, when he appeared in 24 games with the Trail Blazers. He will make his head coaching debut on Tuesday against the Raptors.
Watson’s first coaching job was last season, when he was hired by the Spurs’ D-League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, as an assistant. He joined Hornacek’s staff prior to this season. Watson appeared in 878 games during his 13-year playing career with six different franchises, averaging 6.4 points and 4.4 assists.
The Suns added a veteran coach to help out Watson by hiring four-time NBA head coach Bob Hill as an assistant, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical tweets.
Watson will hire agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group as his agent, league sources informed Chris Haynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Twitter link). Paul also represents several prominent players, including LeBron James and John Wall, as well as Suns point guard Eric Bledsoe.
(Dana Gauruder contributed to this report.)
Grizzlies Sign Ryan Hollins To Second 10-Day Pact
The Grizzlies have signed Ryan Hollins to a second 10-day contract, the team announced via press release. His first 10-day deal expired at the end of Saturday. The latest arrangement covers all five of the games remaining on the Memphis schedule prior to the All-Star break and the February 18th trade deadline. The Grizzlies will play the Pelicans, Knicks, Mavericks, Trail Blazers and Nets during the next 10 days.
Hollins, a 10th-year veteran, begins his fifth NBA contract this season and his fourth with the Grizzlies. He was a preseason signee but lost a battle for an opening night roster spot despite a strong performance in exhibitions. Memphis re-signed him in late December after he spent about a month with the Wizards, but the Grizzlies once more waived him early last month, only to bring him back two weeks later on the first of his 10-day contracts. He’s averaged 3.1 points and 2.6 rebounds in 10.6 minutes per game across nine appearances for the Grizzlies this season.
Memphis has 14 other players on contracts that carry through at least the rest of the season. That the sort of deal the Grizzlies would have to give Hollins if they sign him again once his latest 10-day pact runs to term.
Pelicans Sign Dejean-Jones To Second 10-Day Deal
MONDAY, 12:32pm: The signing is official, the team announced. New Orleans plays six games in the next 10 days, against the Grizzlies, Spurs, Lakers, Cavs, Timberwolves and Jazz.
SUNDAY, 2:51pm: The Pelicans will sign combo guard Bryce Dejean-Jones to a second 10-day contract on Monday, Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate reports. Dejean-Jones’ original 10-day pact expired at the end of Saturday.
In his last two games as a starter filling in for Tyreke Evans, Dejean-Jones has averaged 11 points and 5.5 rebounds, as John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune notes. It is also worth noting that shooting guard Eric Gordon is still out because of a broken finger. Dejean-Jones’ second 10-day contract would be set to expire on February 10th and the Pelicans would then have to either sign him for the rest of the season or simply let him go. The sides are working toward a long-term pact, according to Kushner.
Dejean-Jones had signed with the Pelicans in August as an undrafted free agent after earning a spot on New Orleans’ summer league team. He averaged 8.8 points in 18.2 minutes per game during the preseason, but the Pelicans waived him prior to opening night.
Knicks Signing Thanasis Antetokounmpo To 10-Day
FRIDAY, 2:45pm: Antetokounmpo signed today, the team announced (on Twitter). New York plays six games, against the Suns, Warriors, Celtics, Pistons, Grizzlies and Nuggets, in the next 10 days.
2:25pm: The signing won’t happen until Friday, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post (Twitter link). That means he won’t be available for tonight’s game against the Raptors but would still be under contract for a February 7th game against the Nuggets.
THURSDAY, 1:22pm: The Knicks have added Thanasis Antetokounmpo on a 10-day contract, league sources told Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Charania indicates the signing has already taken place, though the team has yet to make announcement. The older brother of Bucks phenom Giannis Antetokounmpo was a somewhat surprising cut at the end of the preseason, when the Knicks elected to keep an open roster spot, and it appears he’ll go right back into that spot, which New York has left vacant all season.
Thanasis has been playing for New York’s D-League affiliate in the meantime, though his offensive production has lagged. The 23-year-old is averaging just 10.3 points in 27.8 minutes per game for the D-League Westchester Knicks. However, the D-League has twice named him to one of its yearly All-Defensive teams, and he’s quietly shown plenty of improvement this season, according to Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (Twitter link).
New York drafted the small forward 51st overall in 2014 after he’d spent the previous season as a draft-eligible player with the Sixers D-League affiliate. He spent 2014/15 as a draft-and-stash player with the Westchester Knicks, and the Knicks added him to the NBA roster this past summer with a deal that included a partial guarantee of $75K. The Knicks gave up his draft rights when they waived him in October, but he opted to return to their D-League team even though it seemed he would have preferred to go overseas instead. He’s in line to receive $30,888 on his 10-day deal.
Suns Sign Jordan McRae To 10-Day Pact
FRIDAY, 12:54pm: The signing is official, the team announced. Phoenix plays five games, against the Knicks, Mavs, Raptors, Rockets and Jazz, in the next 10 days.
WEDNESDAY, 9:20pm: The Suns intend to sign free agent shooting guard Jordan McRae to a 10-day contract, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports (via Twitter). The Suns currently possess 15 players on their roster but Lorenzo Brown‘s second 10-day deal is set to expire on tonight, thus clearing a spot for McRae. Teams can only ink players to a maximum of two 10-day deals per campaign and Phoenix would have had to ink Brown for the remainder of the season if it wished to retain him.
McRae was the 58th overall pick out of Tennessee back in 2014, though the Spurs promptly traded his rights to the Sixers. The now 24-year-old played for Philadelphia’s D-League affiliate late last season after spending the first part of 2014/15 playing overseas in Australia. In September, he signed the required tender of a one-year, non-guaranteed, minimum-salary deal that Philadelphia had to offer to retain his draft rights.
The Sixers waived him during the preseason this year after he averaged 7.1 points over seven appearances. In 28 games for the Sixers D-League affiliate in Delaware this season, McRae has averaged 23.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists. His shooting line is .452/.310/.798.
Magic Sign Keith Appling To Second 10-Day Deal
9:37am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release. It’s set to cover six games — two against the Celtics, plus the Spurs, Thunder, Clippers and Hawks.
FRIDAY, 9:16am: The signing has taken place, team officials told Robbins (Twitter link), though the club hasn’t made a formal public announcement.
TUESDAY, 1:13pm: The Magic will re-sign Keith Appling to a second 10-day contract once his existing pact expires, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). The second signing will take place Friday, according to Robbins, shortly after his first 10-day term runs out at the end of Wednesday.
The former Michigan State mainstay has played sparingly in his brief time with Orlando, totaling six points on 2 of 6 shooting in 15 minutes of play combined over two games. Still, he has a history with the Magic, having joined the team for the preseason before a late October release, and he’s played for Orlando’s D-League team across parts of the past two seasons.
Appling, technically an NBA rookie, is in line for another $30,888 on this deal to go with the same amount he’s making from 10-day No. 1 and the $100K partial guarantee he had on his training camp contract. Orlando has 14 other players on deals that run through at least the end of the season, and the team will face a decision about what to do with its last flexible roster spot when Appling’s second set of 10 days runs out. The Magic would have to either sign him for the balance of the season or let him go at that point.
Jazz Sign Erick Green To 10-Day Contract
12:03pm: The deal is official, the team announced. Utah plays four games over the next 10 days.
8:16am: The Jazz will sign former Nuggets point guard Erick Green to a 10-day contract, league sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. The move will compensate for the loss of Raul Neto, who suffered a concussion in Monday’s game. Utah has an open roster spot following the expiration of J.J. O’Brien‘s 10-day contract Monday, so no corresponding move is necessary.
Green has been impressive since joining the D-League affiliate of the Kings in November. The 24-year-old has averaged 26.7 points, 4.4 assists and 1.6 turnovers in 39.0 minutes per contest across 23 games. He’s also nailed 48.1% of his 154 3-point attempts, showing off a long-distance stroke that didn’t register in his time in the NBA with the Nuggets. Green is a 29.2% 3-point shooter in the NBA, though he’s attempted only 48 shots in limited playing time. The 46th overall pick from 2013 signed with Denver before last season after spending a year playing with Mens Sana Siena of Italy, but the Nuggets waived him in early November to sign Kostas Papanikolaou, who’s no longer with Denver.
The 10-day deal will be worth $49,709. Green already pocketed $100K from his partial guarantee with the Nuggets. It’s unclear how long Neto will be out, or whether the Jazz have any intention of keeping Green past the expiration of his 10-day if Neto returns to action quickly. Utah has shown reluctance to add to its point guard depth all season in the wake of Dante Exum‘s offseason injury, preferring to give significant minutes to a lineup with three wing players.
Should the Jazz keep Green even after Neto returns? Leave a comment to tell us.
Clippers Sign Jeff Ayres To 10-Day Contract
SATURDAY, 4:55pm: The Clippers have officially announced the signing.
FRIDAY, 11:18am: The Clippers will sign Jeff Ayres to a 10-day contract, filling the roster spot they’re poised to open with the Josh Smith deal, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Ayres spent the past two seasons with the Spurs and has been playing this year with the D-League affiliate of the Jazz, who made him the No. 1 pick of the D-League draft in the fall.
Ayres, formerly known as Jeff Pendergraph, has averaged 16.3 points and 9.5 rebounds in 32.7 minutes per game with the D-League Idaho Stampede this season. He’s otherwise carved out a modest five-year NBA career, averaging 3.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 10.1 minutes per contest over 220 total appearances with the Spurs, Pacers and Trail Blazers. He’ll give the Clippers depth on the front line with Smith headed back to Houston via trade.
The signing temporarily mitigates the tax savings the Clippers are achieving in the Smith swap. Ayres will cost the Clippers $55,722 in payroll, the same amount Smith would over the 10-day period, plus tax penalties if they’re still above the $84.74MM threshold at season’s end. However, the Clippers, who’ll be at about $95.5MM in team salary following the trade and prior to the Ayres signing, aren’t obligated to re-sign Ayres after the 10 days are up, a luxury that Smith’s contract didn’t afford them.
Nuggets Sign Sean Kilpatrick To Second 10-Day
SATURDAY, 10:34am: Denver officially announced via press release that Kilpatrick was inked to a second 10-day pact.
FRIDAY, 2:46pm: The Nuggets are expected to bring back Sean Kilpatrick on another 10-day contract, reports Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post (Twitter link). His first 10-day pact expired Thursday. Denver will face a decision about whether to keep Kilpatrick for the balance of the season when his second 10-day stint expires, since teams can’t sign any player to more than a pair of 10-day contracts in a single season.
The second-year pro has totaled nine points on 2 of 9 shooting in 24 minutes over the course of four appearances thus far with the Nuggets. All of his shot attempts have been 3-pointers, which isn’t entirely surprising, given the 44.5% clip at which he hit treys while with the D-League affiliate of the Sixers earlier this season. He averaged 27.1 points in 38.5 minutes per contest in the D-League, staking his position as a prime contender for a call-up.
Denver has 14 players on contracts that run through at least the end of the season, leaving one open spot for Kilpatrick to re-sign. Kostas Papanikolaou, who was previously in that roster spot, signed this week with Olympiacos of Greece.