Youssou Ndoye, Spurs Agree To Camp Deal
The Spurs will sign Youssou Ndoye for training camp, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The expectation is that the center will play for San Antonio’s D-League affiliate, the Austin Spurs.
The St. Bonaventure product was reportedly willing to sign overseas and become a draft-and-stash prospect had an NBA team selected him in last month’s draft. He had worked out for several teams, including San Antonio, but he was not selected.
Ndoye has a lot of upside as former Nets executive Bobby Marks tweets. He played for the Spurs in this year’s summer league in Vegas. The big man averaged 3.17 points and 0.5 blocks in just 9.4 minutes per game. With such low minute totals, perhaps the Spurs didn’t want to showcase the center’s upside in the summer league and risk another team swooping in to offer him an NBA deal, although that is just my speculation.
Emmanuel Mudiay Signs With Nuggets
The Nuggets have signed No. 7 overall pick Emmanuel Mudiay, as Mudiay revealed on his Twitter account. The team hasn’t made a formal announcement, but it did tacitly acknowledge the signing on Twitter.
Mudiay can receive a maximum of $3,102,240 in the upcoming season and $3,241,800 in 2016/17 with a total of $14.02MM over the next four seasons, as our chart of likely salaries for first-round picks shows. The point guard, who played in China last season after originally committing to SMU, was expected to be a top-five pick leading up to the draft before he slipped to the Nuggets’ spot in the lottery.
With veteran Jameer Nelson the only other viable option on the roster, Mudiay is expected to be the team’s starting point guard in his rookie season. As GM Tim Connelly told Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post, the main concern with Mudiay is not playing him too much.
“I think it’s certainly a slippery slope,” Connelly said. “If you look at a lot of the elite players, they were thrown to the wolves early. Their early failures led to big-time success down the road. There’s going to be nights when Emmanuel is going to look like a 19-year old, and hopefully there’s nights where he looks like one of the elite point guards in the league. But we’re not going to put too much pressure on him. We’re going to kind of let it happen organically. And having a guy like Jameer [Nelson] behind him makes the transition that much easier.”
Rockets Sign Marcus Thornton To One-Year Deal
JULY 25TH, 2:30pm: The signing is official, Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweets.
JULY 12TH, 1:58pm: Thornton turned down larger offers to sign with the Rockets, his agent told Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “He needs to play to sort of re-invent himself in the league and this was a perfect fit,” Dutt said. “There were some teams trying to do some things for him, but this was right. He’s very excited. This is going to be fun.”
1:13pm: Marcus Thornton has agreed to a one-year contract with the Rockets, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. Thornton has signed for the minimum, his agent, Tony Dutt, tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. (Twitter link).
Dutt says Thornton called the Rockets a “perfect fit” for him, adding that his client is “excited” about going to Houston (Twitter link). Former NBA executive Bobby Marks sees Thornton as a younger version of Jason Terry (Twitter link), who is an unrestricted free agent after playing last season with the Rockets.
Thornton averaged 7.9 points per game in 2014/15 with the Celtics and Suns, but played sparingly in Phoenix after being part of the deal that brought Isaiah Thomas to Boston. Thornton appeared in just nine games for the Suns and averaged just nine minutes per contest. The Heat met with Thornton last week but didn’t offer him a deal, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports.
Because Thornton signed a minimum contract, Houston still has its full mid-level exception available. Some of that could be used to sign unrestricted free agent Josh Smith or restricted free agent K.J. McDaniels.
Cavs Re-Sign James Jones
SATURDAY, 9:44am: The deal is official, the Cavs announce in a press release.
THURSDAY, 6:00pm: The deal is for one-year and $1.45MM, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com notes (on Twitter). Windhorst is likely rounding down from the minimum salary, which for Jones would be $1,499,187.
MONDAY, 8:22am: The Cavaliers will re-sign James Jones, a league source confirmed to Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. Jones told Vardon on Sunday that he would “be back in Cleveland for sure.” The 12-year veteran forward who turns 35 in October spent last year with the Cavs on a one-year deal for the minimum salary.
“I’ve made it well-known last year when I told them I was coming to help change the culture and do something special,” Jones said. “It wasn’t a situation where I was looking for a platform to move on. I was looking to be a part of something, to build something. And so I’m still in.”
Jones can receive up to $1,799,024 from the Cavs via Non-Bird rights, but it seems likely that Cleveland will push him to sign for the $1,499,187 minimum salary. If he takes the minimum on another one-year deal, the Cavs would only be responsible for $947,276, the equivalent of the two-year veteran’s minimum, with the league picking up the rest. That savings of $851,748 would allow Cleveland to avoid paying an additional amount of more than three times as much in tax penalties because of the team’s otherwise soaring payroll. So, a roughly $300K sacrifice for Jones would mean much for the Cavs.
The Joel Bell client, a Miami native, followed LeBron James from the Heat to the Cavs last summer. Jones played more total minutes this past season than he had in any of the previous three with Miami, averaging 4.4 points in 11.7 minutes per game with 36.0% three-point percentage across 57 appearances. His role increased in the playoffs, when he saw 15.5 MPG, but he averaged the same 4.4 PPG.
Nikola Milutinov Signs To Play In Greece
Nikola Milutinov, who the Spurs drafted with the No. 26 overall pick, has signed a three-year deal with Olympiacos of Greece, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia reports.
Carchia initially reported negotiations between Milutinov and Olympiacos on Friday. The Spurs were not going to sign him, anyway, this season. The Spurs have already filed paperwork with the NBA stating that he won’t sign this season so that the team could remove his cap hold.
The big man had reportedly been close to a deal with Panathinaikos, another Greek team, but Panathinaikos landed Miroslav Raduljica instead. Milutinov spent this past season with KK Partizan in his native Serbia.
Blazers Sign Cliff Alexander
6:07pm: The Blazers have officially announced the signing.
4:18pm: The Trail Blazers have signed undrafted free agent Cliff Alexander, the player announced via his Twitter account (h/t to Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com). The length and terms of the agreement are unknown, and it is likely a training camp deal, though that is merely my speculation. There has been no official announcement from the team as of yet.
The 6’8″ forward out of Kansas began the 2014/15 NCAA season as a top five recruit and a projected 2015 NBA lottery pick. But inconsistent play and effort saw Alexander’s stock rapidly fall, and his decision to leave school after a single campaign was directly tied to an NCAA investigation related to Alexander receiving improper benefits. The 19-year-old just completed a run playing Summer League ball for the Nets.
Alexander made 28 appearances for the Jayhawks last season, averaging 7.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks to go along with a slash line of .566/.000/.671.
Trail Blazers Sign Phil Pressey
6:05pm: The deal is official, the team announced.
5:21pm: The Trail Blazers have agreed to sign unrestricted free agent Phil Pressey, Chris Mannix of SI.com reports (Twitter link). The length and terms of the deal are unknown at this time.
Pressey was waived by the Celtics last week, though the team reportedly was reluctant to do so. “Phil may be my favorite player I’ve ever been around in the NBA, as a player, a coach or as an executive,” Celtics executive Danny Ainge said. “It was a very difficult morning for me today. He’s a player I’d want on my team all the time. Unfortunately, we just have an abundance of small guards already. It’s unfortunate. He’s helped us a lot in the last two years, and he’s a classy and hardworking player.”
The 24-year-old will compete to become the primary backup to Damian Lillard in Portland. Pressey made 50 appearances for Boston during the 2014/15 campaign, averaging 3.5 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 12.0 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .368/.246/.673.
Mavs Sign John Jenkins
FRIDAY, 2:33pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
MONDAY, 7:03pm: Unrestricted free agent guard John Jenkins has reached agreement on a three-year deal with the Mavs, reports RealGM’s Shams Charania (on Twitter). The contract is partially guaranteed in the final two seasons and is at minimum salaries, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com tweets.
The Hawks renounced their rights to Jenkins to clear cap space earlier this month. Jenkins was previously tied to the Spurs and Timberwolves. With Jenkins, the Mavs add a solid wing defender.
Jenkins, 24, a former first round pick, struggled for playing time in each of his three seasons in Atlanta, never averaging more than the 14.8 minutes per game he saw as a rookie in 2012/13. The Hawks declined their fourth-year option on his rookie scale contract this past fall, setting him up for unrestricted free agency this summer.
Mavs Sign Jarrid Famous
FRIDAY, 2:32pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
10:17pm: It’s now a three-year deal instead of just one, Charania tweets. That means the Mavs are using cap space.
MONDAY, 9:46am: The Mavericks and center Jarrid Famous have agreed to a one-year deal that carries a partial guarantee, league sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM. Just how much money he’ll see is unclear, and while Mavs have cap flexibility, it seems likely that it’s a minimum-salary arrangement. It’ll be the first official NBA contract for the four-year pro since the fall of 2012, when he was on the Grizzlies preseason roster. He was with the Pacers in preseason the year before.
Famous looked strong in summer league with the Wizards this month, putting up 10.2 points and 6.8 rebounds in 20.2 minutes per game. He saw action this past season for the D-League affiliates of the Grizzlies and Mavs and overseas in the Philippines.
The now 27-year-old has played in numerous locales since going undrafted out of South Florida in 2011, but he made the pursuit of an NBA deal a priority in the past year, as he detailed recently to Zach Links of Hoops Rumors. The 6’11” Daniel Hazan client will attempt to prove in camp that he’s worthy of a regular season roster spot in which he could help the Mavs fill their vacancy at center, where the departure of DeAndre Jordan left a major hole.
Hawks Sign Patterson, Petteway For Camp
10:09am: The deals are official, the team announced.
FRIDAY, 9:29am: The Hawks still haven’t made an announcement, but the signings have taken place, according to the RealGM transactions log. Patterson signed Wednesday and Petteway on Thursday, the log shows.
10:02am: The deals for Patterson and Petteway each cover two seasons, reports Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Vivlamore also deems Muscala a “lock” to make the opening-night roster, leaving no more than one spot open for Patterson, Petteway or anyone else the Hawks take to camp.
THURSDAY, 8:51am: The Hawks will have draft-and-stash shooting guard Lamar Patterson and undrafted swingman Terran Petteway in training camp, reports Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (All Twitter links). Vivlamore indicates that they’ve already signed their partially guaranteed minimum-salary contracts, though the team has yet to make an annoucement. Patterson’s deal will carry a partial guarantee while Petteway’s will be non-guaranteed, Vivlamore indicates (on Twitter).
Atlanta has held Patterson’s NBA rights since acquiring them from the Bucks shortly after Milwaukee drafted him 48th overall last year. The Hawks will lose those rights if they cut him. He spent last season with Tofas Bursa of Turkey, averaging 11.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 28.3 minutes per game. Patterson, who turns 24 next month, led the Hawks in scoring at the Las Vegas Summer League with 13.1 PPG to go along with 5.1 RPG in 25.8 MPG.
Petteway was a surprise entrant for this year’s draft after his junior season at Nebraska, and though he didn’t hear his name called on draft night, he also played a prominent role on Atlanta’s summer league team, averaging 10.9 PPG and 4.3 RPG in 26.0 MPG. He nonetheless struggles to shoot from the outside, having canned just 31.7% of his three-pointers in college. Patterson was better, though not a standout marksman, at 36.9% for his college career.
The Hawks have 13 fully guaranteed contracts and Mike Muscala on a partially guaranteed deal, so it would seem that Patterson, Petteway and Muscala are competing for no more than two spots. Atlanta also has its $2.814MM room exception available, and that would likely go for another guaranteed contract if the Hawks are to use it.
Who do you think has a better shot to make the team, Patterson or Petteway? Leave a comment to let us know.