Celtics Waive Phil Pressey
12:22pm: The move is official, the team announced.
11:39am: Ainge confirmed that he’s about to put Pressey on waivers, tweets Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald, though the executive doesn’t sound excited about it. “It’s really tough for us to waive Phil,” Ainge said.
11:00am: The Celtics have chosen to waive Phil Pressey rather than guarantee the minimum salary for the two-year veteran, reports Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). Today is the last day the team can release Pressey before his $947,276 salary, currently non-guaranteed, locks in. Pressey was also reportedly a candidate to go to the Warriors in the David Lee trade, which has still yet to become official, so it would appear more likely that Boston will include Chris Babb in that swap.
Pressey saw 11 starts as a rookie, averaging 15.1 minutes per game that season, but he saw less playing time this year even though he was a more efficient scorer. President of basketball operations Danny Ainge liked his perimeter defense, but the point guard position is crowded in Boston, with Marcus Smart, Isaiah Thomas, Evan Turner and this year’s No. 16 overall pick, Terry Rozier, among the team’s options.
Boston’s acquisition of Perry Jones III from the Thunder on Tuesday spelled further trouble for Pressey, since it added another already-guaranteed deal to the roster. The Celtics seemingly remain a work in progress, and while teams don’t have to cut down to 15 players until the end of training camp, it appears that Boston doesn’t want to commit to Pressey at this point. He’d be eligible to re-sign with the Celtics if he clears waivers.
Clippers Sign Branden Dawson
WEDNESDAY, 11:31am: Dawson has officially signed with the Clippers, the team announced.
TUESDAY, 2:22pm: The Clippers are expected to sign Branden Dawson, this year’s No. 56 overall pick, within the week, reports Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). The former Michigan State forward’s strong showing in the summer league is fueling the Clippers’ desire for a deal, Bolch indicates. It would likely be a minimum-salary deal covering no more than two seasons for Dawson, since that’s all the Clippers are limited to after re-signing DeAndre Jordan and spending their taxpayer’s mid-level exception on Paul Pierce.
New Orleans originally drafted Dawson, quickly trading him to the Clippers in return for cash. Early returns on the $630K investment are positive for the Clips, as the 22-year-old averaged 12.8 points and 10.3 rebounds across 25.6 minutes per game in his first four summer league appearances.
Defense is Dawson’s calling card, but he’s been working on a jump shot, as he told Zach Links of Hoops Rumors before the draft. The 22-year-old mentioned the Clippers and the Pelicans among the teams that liked him.
Raptors Sign Luis Scola
JULY 15TH, 9:32am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
“Luis is an accomplished NBA and international player. We are thrilled to add his experience and leadership to our team and our locker room,” Raptors GM Masai Ujiri said in the team’s statement. “Luis is a winner wherever he goes.”
11:59pm: The agreement is for one year and approximately $3MM, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (on Twitter).
JULY 8TH, 11:29pm: The Raptors and unrestricted free agent Luis Scola have agreed to a deal, Scola announced via his Twitter account (h/t Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun). The length and terms of the deal have not yet been announced.
Scola spent the 2014/15 campaign with the Pacers, appearing in 81 games, including 16 as a starter, where he averaged 9.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 20.5 minutes per contest. His slash line was .467/.250/.699. Through eight NBA seasons, the 35-year-old has notched averages of 12.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG, and 1.7 APG, with a shooting line of .497/.167/.742.
It was reported back in May that there was mutual interest in the forward returning to Indiana, but with the Pacers revamping their roster and aiming for a faster-paced offense, the Argentinian likely fell out of the organization’s plans. Instead he’ll head North to the Raptors where he’ll likely compete for minutes at the four spot with Patrick Patterson.
Mavs Sign Deron Williams
The Mavericks have signed unrestricted free agent Deron Williams, the team announced in a press release. Williams became a free agent Monday when he cleared waivers from the Nets as part of a much-publicized buyout deal. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported Friday that Williams, a Dallas-area native, was expected to sign a two-year contract worth about $10MM, though Stein later said the deal would be worth between $10MM and $12MM (Twitter link).
The deal with the Mavs will set off a portion of the money that Brooklyn still owes the Jeff Schwartz client. Set-off rights absolve Brooklyn from paying half the difference between what Williams will make each year with Dallas and the one-year veteran’s minimum salary each of those years. The terms of Williams’ buyout, in which he forfeited all but about $27.5MM of the nearly $43.374MM left on his contract, call for the Nets to pay him about $5.5MM a year for the next five seasons. The contract only covered this season and next, but Brooklyn used the stretch provision to spread out its remaining commitment to him.
Nets coach Lionel Hollins denies that Williams’ failure to see eye-to-eye with him, which reportedly led to an altercation in which the point guard had to be restrained from going after his coach, was the reason Brooklyn saw fit to move on. Williams doesn’t figure to find a more sympathetic coach in Dallas, where Rick Carlisle clashed with Rajon Rondo this past season. The deal with Williams helps offset the void at point guard that Rondo left when he and the team essentially parted ways during the playoffs during the playoffs, and it also helps salve some of the wounds from DeAndre Jordan‘s reversal of his decision to sign with the Mavs.
Yet Williams is no longer the top-flight point guard he was when the Mavs courted him in free agency during the summer of 2012, when he spurned Dallas to instead re-sign with the Nets. The now 31-year-old Williams scored fewer points per game and saw fewer minutes per game this past season than any year since he was a rookie. Still, he was more efficient in his time on the floor than fellow former Nets All-Star Devin Harris, who’d otherwise be in line for the starting job in Dallas, and Williams comes without the cost of assets that trading for Ty Lawson or Brandon Jennings probably would.
Hornets Sign Aaron Harrison To Two-Year Deal
JULY 14TH, 5:45pm: The signing is official, the Hornets announced.
JULY 11TH, 9:48pm: The Hornets have signed former Kentucky guard Aaron Harrison to a two-year contract, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The contract includes a partial guarantee for this season and a team option for 2016/17 (Twitter link).
Harrison was passed over in the draft, but has made a strong impression on Charlotte coach Steve Clifford, Wojnarowski reports. He has put up impressive numbers while playing for the Hornets’ summer league team in Orlando.
Harrison spent two years at Kentucky and made two trips to the Final Four. He was named preseason SEC Player of the Year prior to his sophomore season.
Spurs Sign Danny Green
JULY 14TH, 5:33pm: The deal is official, the Spurs announced in a press release.
JULY 1ST, 10:33am: The Spurs and Danny Green have agreed to a four-year, $45MM deal in a surprising development, reports Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Sources who spoke with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com had referred to the swingman as a “goner,” but he’s instead apparently staying, rebuffing interest from several other teams. Green confirmed to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News that he is indeed re-signing after the July Moratorium (Twitter link).
The news is likely a disappointment for the Pistons, Mavericks, Blazers, Knicks and especially the Kings, who’d reportedly made Green their top target. The Bill Duffy client had said it would be “crazy” not to meet with New York, but apparently the Spurs, his preferred team, made him an offer to enticing to turn down.
The move allows San Antonio to retain its starting shooting guard, though the Spurs have reportedly agreed to trade starting center Tiago Splitter to the Hawks to clear room for a push toward signing LaMarcus Aldridge or another marquee free agent.
Bulls Sign Aaron Brooks
JULY 14TH, 5:26pm: The deal is official, the Bulls announced in a press release.
JULY 9TH, 10:47am: The deal won’t be for the minimum, but instead for slightly more than $2MM, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter). Chicago will use a portion of its $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception, Johnson adds.
JULY 7TH, 1:08pm: The Bulls will re-sign Aaron Brooks for one year at the minimum salary, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Brooks could have signed for 20% more than the minimum via Non-Bird rights, but Chicago gets a break as its poised to pay the tax thanks in large measure to its deals with Jimmy Butler and Mike Dunleavy.
The 30-year-old Brooks served as Chicago’s primary backup point guard this past season, even starting 21 games, but little chatter surrounded his free agency, surprisingly, as his sparse rumors page shows. The Bulls thus keep their primary backcourt contributors in house, with Derrick Rose and Tony Snell under contract, Butler having agreed to re-sign and Kirk Hinrich having opted in.
Butler, a seven-year veteran, will nonetheless see a slight raise, from $1,145,685 to $1,270,964. The Bulls need only pay $947,276, the equivalent of the two-year veteran’s minimum, with the league picking up the rest. The disadvantage of the one-year deal is that Chicago can’t trade him without his consent, as he’d lose his Early Bird rights if he were traded, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
Bulls Re-Sign Mike Dunleavy
JULY 14TH, 5:21pm: The deal is official, the Bulls announced via a press release.
9:08am: The sides have reached agreement, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). It’ll be $14.4MM over the course of the three years with a partial guarantee on the final season, Wojnarowski also tweets.
JULY 1ST, 8:16am: The Bulls and Mike Dunleavy are close to a three-year, $15MM deal, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Chicago has remained the favorite even as other teams were poised to give chase. LeBron James apparently prompted the Cavaliers to pursue the client of outgoing Wasserman agent Arn Tellem, while the Wizards and Clippers also reportedly had interest.
Chicago has Early Bird rights on Dunleavy, and it would seem they’re putting them to use here. The Cavs were likely limited to no more than the taxpayer’s mid-level of $3.376MM, and while the Wizards could have spent their $5.464MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level, the Bulls appear to have come up with a comparable figure. That’s even though Chicago is poised to pay the tax, too.
Jazz Sign Tibor Pleiss
JULY 14TH, 5:15pm: The Jazz have officially signed Pleiss to a multiyear deal, the team announced.
JULY 11TH, 8:27pm: Utah is close to reaching a deal with center Tibor Pleiss, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The three-year deal worth nearly $10MM is expected to be finalized next week after his buyout with Barcelona of the Spanish ACB League is completed. The terms of the buyout have been agreed upon, and only paperwork stands in the way.
The Jazz acquired Pleiss’ NBA rights as part of the Enes Kanter trade at last year’s deadline. He was the 31st pick of the 2010 NBA draft and his rights have been traded three times.
The 25-year-old is considered one of the ACB League’s top centers and has become one of the world’s best passers at that position. The Thunder tried to lure him to the NBA last summer, but the buyout was considered too high.
Rockets Re-Sign Corey Brewer
JULY 14TH, 4:35pm: The Rockets have officially announced the deal.
JULY 9TH, 11:59pm: The Rockets have yet to make an official announcement, but the signing has indeed taken place, according to the RealGM transactions log.
JULY 3RD, 5:11pm: Free agent swingman Corey Brewer has reached an agreement with the Rockets on a multiyear deal to return to the team, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). The deal is for three years and $24MM, Wojnarowski notes. The deal contains no options, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com relays (via Twitter).
The Lakers, Pistons and the Knicks were reportedly interested in the Happy Walters client. New York sat down with Brewer today, though no contract offer was said to be made. Brewer, who once played for George Karl, had piqued the interest of some members of the Kings brass, and the Celtics also reportedly spoke with him. However, the 29-year-old out of Florida’s preference was to remain in Houston. Brewer had waived his player option upon the completion of the trade that sent him to Houston this past season with the thought that the Rockets would use Early Bird rights to re-sign him, noted Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
Brewer made 56 appearances for Houston after being acquired from the Timberwolves, averaging 11.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists with a slash line of .429/.284/.764. His career numbers are 10.2 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 1.7 APG. His shooting numbers are .428/.290/.708.