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Nuggets Claim Ian Clark Off Waivers

March 28th, 2015 at 6:50pm CST by Eddie Scarito

6:50pm: The move is official, the Nuggets announced.

4:30pm: The Nuggets have claimed Ian Clark off of waivers, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). Clark was waived by the Jazz on Thursday in order for the team to ink Chris Johnson for the remainder of the season. The addition of Clark will raise the Nuggets’ roster count to 14 players.

Denver will have to pay the remainder of his $816,482 one-year veteran’s minimum salary once the move becomes official. That’ll amount to a small fraction of that number for the Nuggets, but the entire salary goes on the team’s cap figure. That helps the team move closer to the $56.759MM team salary floor without costing Denver more than a few weeks of pay on his minimum salary deal. The Nuggets have been carrying only about $54.1MM against the cap, so the move wouldn’t bring the team all the way to the floor, but even if Denver doesn’t make up the rest of the difference, the team wouldn’t have to distribute quite as much among its players as penalty for failing to meet the minimum payroll.

The Jazz are also under the cap, but not far enough that the subtraction of Clark from their team salary would bring them under salary floor. So, Utah simply benefits from not having to pay Clark for the final weeks of the season.

Clark’s contract is set to expire at season’s end. The waiver claim would give the Nuggets a chance to tender Clark a qualifying offer worth slightly more than $1.147MM, which would make him a restricted free agent, allowing the team to match any offer he receives this summer. In the short term, the 24-year-old would presumably be behind Randy Foye and Gary Harris on the team’s depth chart.

The guard appeared in 23 contests for the Jazz this season, averaging 1.9 points in 7.0 minutes per game. Clark has made seven appearances this season for the Idaho Stampede, Utah’s D-League affiliate, averaging 14.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 32.0 minutes per contest.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Wizards Sign Will Bynum To 10-Day Contract

March 27th, 2015 at 11:00am CST by Chuck Myron

The Wizards have officially signed Will Bynum to a 10-day contract, the team announced via press release, a statement that also formalized the termination of Toure’ Murry‘s second 10-day contract with the club. Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post originally reported both moves late Thursday. Bynum and the Wizards have been linked for quite some time as the point guard had seemingly been the team’s top target since at least the beginning of February. Shams Charania of RealGM first reported in January about Washington’s interest in Bynum, who’d been playing for China’s Guangdong Southern Tigers.

Bynum, 32, signed his Chinese deal, a guaranteed arrangement reportedly worth more than a $1MM, in December after spending about a month as a free agent following his release from the Celtics just before opening night. Boston had acquired the seven-year NBA veteran from the Pistons, his longtime team, via trade earlier that month. He put up 22.3 points, 7.0 assists and 3.2 turnovers in 32.1 minutes per game for Guangdong, which strung together the majority of its 26-game winning streak with Bynum on the roster. There was reportedly mutual interest that developed between the Cavs and Bynum while he was overseas, but Cleveland’s addition of Kendrick Perkins, who filled the team’s last open roster spot, seemingly put the Cavs out of the mix. A hamstring injury had Washington looking at Bobby Brown and eventually led the Wizards to Murry, but the team never lost interest in Bynum.

Washington slides Bynum into its only roster spot not occupied by a player who has a contract that runs through at least the end of the season. It’s somewhat surprising to see the Wizards give the point guard only a 10-day deal, given the team’s longstanding interest, but it allows for maximum flexibility, and it seems likely that the team will retain Bynum once his short-term deal is up, though that’s just my speculation.

Wizards Release Toure’ Murry

March 27th, 2015 at 10:59am CST by Eddie Scarito

FRIDAY, 10:59am: Murry’s subtraction is official, the team announced via press release.

THURSDAY, 8:20pm: The Wizards intend to ink Bynum to a deal, Castillo tweets.

8:13pm: The Wizards intend to release Toure’ Murry, who is on his second 10-day deal with the club, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post tweets. Murry has a sprained ankle and Bradley Beal is expected to miss time with ankle woes of his own, so Washington will need to add some backcourt depth as a result, Castillo adds. The Wizards’ roster count currently sits at the league maximum of 15 players.

There’s a possibility that Washington will try to add free agent Will Bynum to its roster, Castillo adds. The Wizards will look to the D-League for help if Bynum isn’t signed, the Washington Post scribe notes. Bynum came free from his Chinese team at the beginning of March following the club’s playoff elimination. In 353 career NBA games the 32-year-old has averaged 8.2 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. His last appearance in the league came with the Pistons during the 2013/14 campaign.

Murry, 25, saw one single minute of action for the Jazz earlier this season before he was waived, much to the chagrin of his agent Bernie Lee, who didn’t think Murry was given a fair chance in Utah. He appeared in four contests for the Wizards, averaging 1.5 points in 4.3 minutes per game. The Wizards could still look to ink Murry for the remainder of the season if his ankle heals and Bynum isn’t signed, Castillo notes.

Nets Sign Earl Clark To 10-Day Contract

March 27th, 2015 at 9:42am CST by Chuck Myron

The Nets have signed Earl Clark to a 10-day contract, the team announced via press release. The 27-year-old had been a free agent following a stint with China’s Shandong Lions. Brooklyn had an open roster spot, so there’s no need for a corresponding move.

The five-year veteran is poised to see his first action of the regular season with the Nets after failing to make it to opening night with either the Grizzlies, who signed him to a non-guaranteed contract for training camp, or the Rockets, who grabbed him off waivers in late October. Houston released him just a few days later.

The combo forward spent a brief time in the D-League with the affiliate of the Rockets, racking up 26.2 points and 8.0 rebounds in 34.3 minutes over six appearances. The Lakers appeared poised to sign him in late November, but they never did, and by the middle of December he was off to China, where the former 14th overall pick once more shined against weaker competition. He put up 26.4 PPG and 10.3 RPG in 32.6 MPG with impressive 44.7% three-point shooting for Shandong.

Clark struggled to find NBA work this season, little more than a year removed from having signed a two-year, $8.5MM deal with the Cavs after a strong season as a member of the Lakers. The Cavs traded him to the Sixers midway through year one of that contract, which was non-guaranteed for year two. That saved the Sixers some cash when they waived him right after the trade. He inked a pair of 10-day contracts soon thereafter with the Knicks, and it was on those brief deals that he saw his last official NBA action.

The Nets, fighting for a playoff berth, will be without Thaddeus Young tonight against the Cavs. There’s a distinct possibility that the injury led directly to the signing. Young is at shootaround this morning and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get into the game, tweets Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.

Jazz Ink Chris Johnson To Multiyear Deal

March 26th, 2015 at 7:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

7:01pm: The deal is official, the team announced. The signing is a multiyear contract, though the exact length has not been announced by the Jazz.

6:32pm: The Jazz intend to ink Chris Johnson for the remainder of the season, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). Johnson’s second 10-day deal with the Bucks expired today and the Milwaukee chose not to sign the forward for the remainder of this campaign. Utah currently has 14 players on its roster, including Jack Cooley, who was signed to a multiyear deal earlier today. The team has waived Ian Clark to accommodate the addition of Johnson. The player was with Utah earlier this season on a single 10-day deal, appearing in two contests.

Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd says the team has no plans to fill Johnson’s vacant roster spot for the time being, Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. The 24-year-old forward appeared in eight contests for Milwaukee, averaging 3.9 points and 1.4 rebounds in 16.0 minutes per game.

Johnson went undrafted out of Dayton back in 2012. He has appeared in a total of 67 NBA games for the Bucks, Grizzlies, Celtics, Sixers, and Jazz. Johnson’s career stats are 5.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.7 assists. His slash line is .391/.325/.836.

Clark, 24, was earning $816,482 for the year, which Utah will be on the hook for the remainder of. His contract was set to expire at season’s end. The guard appeared in 23 contests for the Jazz this season, averaging 1.9 points in 7.0 minutes per game.

Jazz Sign Jack Cooley To Multiyear Deal

March 26th, 2015 at 1:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Jazz have signed big man Jack Cooley to a deal that covers the rest of the season and beyond, the team announced. Cooley’s second 10-day contract with the team expired overnight. It’s not immediately clear whether the former Notre Dame standout’s latest deal includes any guaranteed salary beyond this season, or just how many years it covers.

Cooley has seen a total of just 26 minutes with the Jazz across six games this season, though he also spent time with the team during the preseason, with the Jazz floating him a $65K partial guarantee that he took with him even though Utah cut him before opening night. The 23-year-old, who turns 24 next month, spent most of 2014/15 with Utah’s D-League affiliate. The Jazz waited a while to sign him to his second 10-day deal after his first one expired, using the roster spot to sign Jerrelle Benimon to a 10-day pact of his own in between, as I noted Wednesday.

The new deal with Cooley, an Adam Pensack client, gives Utah 15 players signed through at least the end of the season, which limits the team’s flexibility to make another move in the season’s final three weeks. He’s the third Jazz player this year to go from a 10-day contract to a longer-term arrangement, as our 10-Day Contract Tracker shows.

Hawks Sign Austin Daye To Second 10-Day

March 25th, 2015 at 9:01am CST by Chuck Myron

WEDNESDAY, 9:01am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

12:27pm: The team will indeed sign Daye to another 10-day contract, Vivlamore reports (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 10:19am: The Hawks haven’t made a final decision about whether to sign Austin Daye to a second 10-day contract, but “indications are” that the former 15th overall pick will be back for at least another short-term stint, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That’s in spite of a better-than-expected prognosis for Mike Scott, whose toe injury prompted the team to sign Daye to his first 10-day deal, which expires overnight tonight.

Daye has played just nine minutes across two games for Atlanta, draining a three-pointer for his only make in four shot attempts. Still, he spent nearly a calendar year in a similar system with San Antonio, and he averaged 4.0 points in 10.3 minutes per game during 26 appearances for the Spurs this season before the team waived him in January to sign JaMychal Green instead. It was nonetheless inefficient play, at least as his 7.3 PER with the Spurs this season would indicate, and he and San Antonio didn’t circle back to each other after the Spurs failed to re-sign Green upon the expiration of his 10-day deal. Daye instead spent a brief time with the Magic’s D-League team.

Atlanta has 14 players signed through at least the end of the season, so Daye occupies the team’s lone flexible roster spot. Jarell Eddie was in that spot on a 10-day contract that expired just before Daye joined the team.

Pelicans Re-Sign Toney Douglas For Season

March 24th, 2015 at 10:02am CST by Dana Gauruder

TUESDAY, 10:02am: The deal is official, the team announced.

MONDAY, 8:05pm: The Pelicans have signed Toney Douglas for the remainder of the season, a source told Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). The team has not made an official announcement.

Douglas was released last month by the club after he was signed to two 10-day contracts, though he did not finish out his second 10-day deal. Douglas appeared in three games for New Orleans in February, averaging 9.0 points, 4.0 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 22.0 minutes per game.

The Pelicans have been trying to get by without starting point guard Jrue Holiday for an extended period. Holiday has been sidelined since January 12 with a right leg injury. Tyreke Evans, who has run the point in Holiday’s absence, has been dealing with a sore ankle.

The Pelicans have an open roster spot and will gain another when Elliot Williams‘ 10-day contract expires overnight. Douglas had been playing in China earlier this season before New Orleans brought him in. He played a total of 58 games for the Warriors and Heat last season. The Pelicans also signed another point guard, Nate Wolters, to two 10-day contracts this season but opted not to sign him for the remainder of the season.

Kings Sign David Wear To 10-Day Deal

March 23rd, 2015 at 12:53pm CST by Will Joseph

MONDAY, 12:53pm: The signing is official, the team announced.

SUNDAY, 10:09pm: The Kings will call up big man David Wear from their D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, for a 10-day contract, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). In 43 games, Wear has averaged 16.3 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game for Reno. He is shooting 47.8% from the field and 39.4% from three-point range.

Sacramento currently has 14 players on its roster, as Hoops Rumors’ roster counts show, so signing Wear would not necessitate a corresponding move. Wear was one of the Kings’ final cuts before the preseason after he signed a non-guaranteed one-year contract for camp. He was acquired by Reno on November 2nd. Wear thrived in Reno’s run-and-gun system and participated in the Three-Point Contest during the 2015 D-League All-Star Weekend. He could provide the Kings some extra scoring and solid defense if given playing time with the Kings, who are 24-45.

Wear’s twin brother, Travis Wear, is a forward on the Knicks. The twins played together at UCLA for two seasons after they both transferred from North Carolina. UCLA gave David Wear the Irv Pohlmeyer Memorial Trophy for top defensive player after the 2013/14 season.

Wizards Sign Toure’ Murry To Second 10-Day

March 22nd, 2015 at 3:36pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Wizards have signed Toure’ Murry to a second 10-day contract, the team announced. Shams Charania of RealGM reported Thursday that the move was likely even as the team continues to eye Will Bynum, who’s recovering from a hamstring injury. Bynum remained the team’s top free agent target when Murry signed his first 10-day contract, as Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post wrote then. That first 10-day deal for Murry expired overnight Saturday.

It appears Washington’s primary motivation in keeping Murry around is depth. The second-year combo guard has only played in two games for a total of four minutes for the Wizards, even though fellow combo guard Garrett Temple hasn’t played since March 9th because of a hamstring injury of his own.

Washington has 14 other players signed through at least the end of the season, so Murry’s roster spot represents a measure of flexibility for the club. The team can’t sign him to a third 10-day contract, and with Bynum apparently still in the mix, it seems unlikely Murry will see a deal with the Wizards for the balance of 2014/15 once his latest 10-day contract expires.