Kings Sign Marco Belinelli
July 13th, 9:58pm: The signing is official, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
July 3rd, 4:05pm: The deal wouldn’t fit within the mid-level exception, Stein notes via Twitter. That exception would only allow for a total of $17,129,640 over three years, and while it’s not uncommon for initial reported figures on deals to be off, this appears to be confirm that the contract will exceed the exception amount. That means the Kings will likely use cap room and lose the ability to create trade exceptions for the three players they’ve agreed to trade to Philadelphia, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders points out (on Twitter).
1:36pm: The Kings and Marco Belinelli have reached agreement on a deal worth $19MM over three years, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The contract will include no option clauses, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Sacramento will likely use part of the cap space it’s set to clear in the wake of its trade agreement with the Sixers, though the deal is cheap enough to fit within the $5.464MM mid-level exception if the Kings choose to operate as an over-the-cap team.
The Hornets had reportedly planned a strong pursuit, and the Warriors had interest, too. The Heat put in a call to express their interest in the client of Sam Goldfeder and Jeff Schwartz, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link), but Miami, like the Warriors, is likely limited to no more than the $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception. The Bulls might have gone after him if they’d have failed to sign Mike Dunleavy, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune wrote, but they, too, would likely have been limited to the taxpayer’s mid-level.
Belinelli wanted to re-sign with the Spurs, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News heard (Twitter link). They were armed with Early Bird rights to bring him back on a deal comparable to the one he’s getting from the Kings, but they’re in hot pursuit of LaMarcus Aldridge, and may well have had to renounce Belinelli’s rights to squeeze Aldridge under the cap.
Sacramento moves on from having missed out on Monta Ellis and Wesley Matthews with a proven three-point marksman who’s nailed 39.2% of his attempts from behind the arc for his career. Still, outside of two seasons in New Orleans, he’s primarily been a reserve during his eight years in the NBA.
Kings Sign Kosta Koufos
July 13th, 9:58pm: The signing is official, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
July 4th, 10:01pm: The Kings will sign Kosta Koufos to a four-year deal worth $33MM, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The deal will include a player option after the third season that will allow him to return to free agency during the summer of 2018, Stein adds (Twitter link).
The center had previously received interest from the Mavs, Magic, Celtics and Lakers in addition to the Kings. Koufos is the second center the team has added this offseason. Sacramento drafted Willie Cauley-Stein with the No. 6 overall pick in this year’s draft. The moves seem to correspond with DeMarcus Cousins‘ insistence to play more minutes at the power forward position. The team now has the depth to accommodate such an arrangement. The signing also gives Sacramento a back-up plan if the Cousins-George Karl relationship is found to be unsalvageable and the team opts to trade the 24-year-old. Koufos previously played under coach Karl for two and a half seasons as a member of the Nuggets.
Koufos averaged 5.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game last season. The 26-year-old was the ninth best center defensively, according to ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus/Minus.
Kings Sign Rajon Rondo
July 13th, 9:38pm: The signing is official, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
July 3rd, 6:17pm: The Kings and Rajon Rondo have reached an agreement to bring the point guard to Sacramento for the 2015/16 campaign, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (on Twitter). It is a one-year, $10MM pact, adds Spears. Rondo agreed to a short-term deal with the expectation to cash in on a major raise in salaries and the salary cap when the league’s new television deal kicks in next summer, Spears adds.
Sacramento forward Rudy Gay played an instrumental role in the Kings landing Rondo, who is a close friend of his, Spears notes (Twitter links). Rondo also played a part in the team’s signing of Marco Belinelli, having asked the team to land a shooter, the Yahoo! scribe adds. The team is planning on using Rondo and Darren Collison in the same backcourt at times, according to Spears’ sources.
Things turned sour quickly for Rondo last season after being acquired by the Mavs. He made 46 appearances for the team, averaging 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists in 28.7 minutes per contest, with a slash line of .436/.352/.452. His career numbers are 10.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 8.3 APG, with a shooting line of .470/.263/.609.
It should be quite interesting to watch the relationship between Rondo and new Kings coach George Karl. Karl has had run-ins with star players before, including Kings center DeMarcus Cousins. Rondo, meanwhile, has had difficulties with virtually every coach he has played for in the league, including Mavs coach Rick Carlisle during the 2014/15 season, resulting in the point guard being benched in the playoffs.
Wizards Re-Sign Drew Gooden
July 13th, 7:03pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release. “Drew has been an important part of our success the last two years and we are pleased to welcome him back,“ said team president Ernie Grunfeld. “His skills, leadership and outside shooting will continue to add value to our front court rotation.“
JULY 11TH, 6:01pm: The deal is for two years and $6MM, with a $3MM non-guaranteed salary in year two, according to former Nets executive Bobby Marks (on Twitter).
JULY 9TH, 5:56pm: The Wizards have reached an agreement to re-sign unrestricted free agent Drew Gooden, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). The deal is for one year, $3.3MM, David Aldridge of TNT tweets.
Gooden appeared in 51 contests for the Wizards last season, averaging 5.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.0 assist in 16.9 minutes of action per game, His slash line was .399/.390/.773. His career numbers through 13 NBA seasons are 11.3 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 1.2 APG, with a shooting line of .464/.269/.760.
The 33-year-old will likely see an uptick in his minutes next season with Kevin Seraphin expected to depart via free agency. Gooden had expressed his desire to return to Washington back in early June. “I would love for it to be here but if it is not, this is a business and I can swallow that pill too,” Gooden said of his future. “So we will see what happens.” The big man made more than $1.4MM this past season.
Gooden will be able to veto any trade this year, since he-resigned with the team on a one-year deal. He’d lose his Bird rights if he approved any swap.
Pistons Acquire Steve Blake
7:01pm: The trade is official, according to a Brooklyn press release.
6:37pm: The Pistons have acquired Steve Blake from the Nets in exchange for forward Quincy Miller, Shams Charania of RealGM tweets. Charania adds that Brooklyn is likely to release Miller, whose salary is non-guaranteed if waived before Wednesday.
The Nets acquired Blake during last month’s draft in the Mason Plumlee trade. It was reported last week that the Nets were contemplating whether or not to try to negotiate a buyout with the point guard. Blake salary is slightly more than $2.17MM this season. Detroit will absorb Blake’s salary into its cap space, since the team’s signing of Reggie Jackson has yet to become official, former Nets Executive Bobby Marks tweets.
The trade is another cost saving move for Brooklyn this offseason. The team waived forward Cory Jefferson earlier today and used the stretch provision to waive Deron Williams over the weekend.
Grizzlies Re-Sign Marc Gasol
JULY 13TH, 4:36pm: The deal is official, the team announced.
“Re-signing Marc Gasol was the No. 1 priority for our organization this offseason,” GM Chris Wallace said. “For many years, Marc has been a pillar of our franchise and in a Memphis community that has watched him become one of the best basketball players in the world, so this is a great day for our team, our city and our fans across the Mid-South and worldwide.”
JULY 6TH, 3:21pm: The Grizzlies will re-sign Marc Gasol to a five-year deal worth more than $100MM, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). That’s presumably the max coming Gasol’s way. The deal includes a player option after year four, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Gasol kept a degree of mystery in the proceedings, but this outcome has seemed the most likely one for months as the Spanish big man who went to high in Memphis time and again expressed his affection for the city. He was reportedly to have committed to the team a week ago, but the wait was simply a function of the big man’s methodical nature, a source tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
The Spurs were the team that Memphis reportedly feared the most when it came to Gasol’s free agency, and Gasol referred to San Antonio as a model franchise and expressed his admiration of Tim Duncan. Still, at about the same time, Gasol once more alluded to his strong connection to Memphis. The Arn Tellem client had no shortage of interested teams, including the Mavs, Spurs and Lakers, but he decided against meeting anyone aside from the Grizzlies.
Memphis assumes some risk as it commits to a deal that runs past Gasol’s 35th birthday, but this year’s All-NBA First Team center doesn’t show signs of slowing down yet. He focused more on offense this year than in the past, averaging career highs in points per game, with 17.4, and shots per game, with 13.2. He and fellow soon-to-be Memphis signee Brandan Wright are poised to become the first players to whom the Grizzlies have committed any salary past 2016/17, so the team will have the capacity to build a new cast around Gasol. However, Gasol’s deal essentially closes off any chance Memphis had to open cap room this summer, meaning Wright will likely stand as the Grizzlies’ most significant free agent pickup from outside the team.
Nets Waive Cory Jefferson
4:20pm: The release is official, the team announced via press release.
4:01pm: The Nets are releasing Cory Jefferson, a source tells Tim Bontemps of the New York Post (Twitter link). The team hasn’t made any announcement, but Bontemps indicates that the move has already taken place. An earlier report showed that Brooklyn had until Wednesday to release him without his non-guaranteed salary becoming partially guaranteed for $150K, but Bontemps says that the effective deadline is today, since his contract has to clear waivers no later than Wednesday if the Nets want to avoid the guaranteed money (on Twitter).
Jefferson, the last pick of the 2014 draft, made it into 50 games this past season, even making a start as he averaged 3.7 points in 10.6 minutes per game. Still, the 24-year-old power forward didn’t appear in any of Brooklyn’s playoff games, and the Nets are well-stocked at his position, with Thaddeus Young Andrea Bargnani, Thomas Robinson and Willie Reed.
The Nets paid cash to the Sixers for Jefferson’s rights on a draft-night trade. That followed Philadelphia’s acquisition of Jefferson from the Spurs, who originally drafted him.
Warriors Re-Sign Leandro Barbosa
JULY 13TH, 4:06pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
JULY 6TH, 6:08pm: Leandro Barbosa will re-sign with the Warriors on a one-year, $2.5MM contract, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com tweets. The veteran guard was a key reserve on Golden State’s championship team.
The signing comes as somewhat of a surprise, given that the Warriors have already pushed themselves into taxpayer territory by reaching a long-term commitment with restricted free agent Draymond Green. Currently, the Warriors have approximately $99.3MM in salary commitments when Green’s starting salary of $14.26MM is factored in.
The club only has Non-Bird rights on Barbosa and thus will have to use part of the $3,376MM taxpayer mid-level exception to re-sign him. The Warriors can ease their tax burden greatly if they can find a taker for David Lee‘s expiring contract. He’s owed nearly $15.5MM in his remaining year.
The 6’3” Barbosa, who will be entering his 13th season, averaged 7.1 points and 1.5 assists during 66 regular-season games last year and supplied 5.0 points and 0.9 assists per game in 21 postseason appearances. He’ll once again back up Klay Thompson and, at times, Stephen Curry.
Pacers Sign Myles Turner
The Pacers have signed this year’s No. 11 overall pick, Myles Turner, to his rookie scale contract, the team announced. The big man from Texas in line for a salary of nearly $2.358MM this season, with almost $10.802MM coming over the four-year span of the contract, presuming he signed for the standard 120% of the rookie scale.
A lack of eye-popping offensive numbers, including a scoring average of 10.1 points per game, and an awkward running style cloud Turner’s future, though his gait is apparently correctable. The 7-footer has shown impressive shooting range and played strong defense in his lone college season, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors wrote when he examined Turner’s prospect profile.
The Pacers traded Roy Hibbert and David West opted out and committed to the Spurs, so Indiana has room for fresh blood inside even as the team transitions to a more perimeter-oriented attack. Turner figures to compete for minutes with soon-to-be signee Jordan Hill, among others. It’s unclear just how much flexibility Indiana has, with the terms of Hill’s deal still unknown, but Turner’s signing, which raises his cap hit by nearly $400K, signals that the Pacers are done with major free agent deals this summer.
Clippers Re-Sign Austin Rivers
MONDAY, 3:21pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
SUNDAY, 12:40pm: Austin Rivers has agreed to return to the Clippers as the team’s backup point guard, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports tweets. It’s a two-year, $6.4MM deal, a league source told Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders had reported that Rivers would likely sign a short-team deal with the club (Twitter link). Other teams had offered him multiyear contracts, but he felt as though he could improve his stock if he stayed with the Clippers, Kennedy added (on Twitter).
Clippers coach Doc Rivers made it clear this spring that he wanted to re-sign his son.
Rivers could not receive more than $3,110,796 this coming season from the Clippers because the Pelicans declined the fourth-year option on his rookie scale contract before this past season. Thus, the Clippers were limited to no more than the amount of that option.
Rivers averaged 7.1 points, 1.7 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 41 regular-season games after joining the Clippers, and 8.4/1.1/1.7 in 14 postseason appearances.