Nuggets Claim Shavlik Randolph
11:59pm: The team still hasn’t made an official announcement, but the move indeed took place, according to the RealGM transactions log.
3:54pm: The Nuggets have claimed forward Shavlik Randolph off of waivers, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). The 31-year-old was waived by the Celtics to accommodate the signing of Chris Babb to a multiyear deal. The addition of Randolph will increase Denver’s roster count to the league maximum of 15 players. No official announcement has been made by the team as of yet regarding the waiver claim.
The logic of why Denver would claim Randolph was posited earlier today by Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Nuggets are close to $1.864MM shy of the salary floor, but claiming Randolph and his $1,227,985 salary will count toward that salary floor, lessening the amount of shortfall the franchise would need to distribute amongst its players. Denver will only be responsible to pay out the last prorated portion of salary that Randolph was due to receive this season. This could mean a savings of roughly $1MM for the organization, certainly worth claiming Randolph and carrying him on the roster for the remaining five contests.
Randolph has appeared in a total of 21 games this season for the Suns and Celtics. His career averages through 146 appearances are 2.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 0.2 assists. Randolph’s career slash line is .449/.167/.544.
Knicks Sign Ricky Ledo For Season
The Knicks have signed Ricky Ledo for the remainder of the season, the team announced (Twitter link). Ledo’s second 10-day contract with the team expired overnight. It’s not immediately clear if the pact carries into next season, but either way, New York has control over the point guard’s NBA destination for 2015/16. A deal that covers only the rest of this season would allow the Knicks to make him a restricted free agent with a qualifying offer of $1,147,276.
The 22-year-old shooting guard has played a more prominent role in his brief time with the lottery-bound Knicks than he did with the playoff-contending Mavericks during his season and a half with them. Ledo is averaging 9.5 points and 3.4 rebounds in 21.1 minutes per night across eight games with New York. He’s made nine of 21 total attempts from behind the three-point line.
Ledo gives the Knicks a full roster of 15 players signed through at least the end of the season. He’s the fourth Knick to have wound up with a deal that covers the balance of 2014/15 after having initially joined New York on a 10-day contract this year, as our 10-Day Contract Tracker shows.
Timberwolves Sign Arinze Onuaku
5:10pm: Minnesota has been granted a hardship exception by the league and has officially inked Onuaku, the team announced.
1:34pm: The Timberwolves are bringing in Arinze Onuaku to help their injury-depleted roster, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press. Minnesota already has 15 players on contracts that run until at least the end of the season, but with Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic and Shabazz Muhammad out for the season and four other injured players, it seems as though the team is a candidate for a 16th roster spot via hardship exception. Minnesota added Jeff Adrien and Sean Kilpatrick earlier this season using that mechanism. In any case, a deal for Onuaku would have to cover the balance of 2014/15 and couldn’t be a 10-day contract, since there are fewer than 10 days left in the regular season.
Onuaku has spent this season with the D-League affiliate of the Cavs after the Pacers had him on their NBA roster for the preseason. The 27-year-old power forward was briefly with Cleveland and New Orleans during the regular season in 2013/14, and those teams gave him his first official NBA action, though he appeared in only five games for both the Cavs and Pelicans put together. Onuaku went undrafted out of Syracuse in 2010, but at 6’9″, he’s looked strong on the boards for the D-League Canton Charge this year, racking up 12.2 rebounds in 34.6 minutes per game across 41 appearances. He’s also averaged 17.5 points on 11.5 shots per game.
Kevin Garnett, Anthony Bennett, Gorgui Dieng and Gary Neal are also injured for Minnesota, leaving the team with only Justin Hamilton, Adreian Payne and Robbie Hummel as inside players. So, Onuaku would help in that regard, and he’d also keep the team from scrambling to find a player to meet the minimum of eight healthy guys for the start of a game. The Wolves were down to seven healthy players when they signed Kilpatrick to be their eighth last month for a game against the Knicks, choosing him in part because he was a only short distance away.
Bucks Sign Jorge Gutierrez To Multiyear Deal
The Bucks have signed Jorge Gutierrez to a multiyear contract, as Josh Weir of The Repository reports (Twitter link) and as the team confirms in a press release. The signing will increase Milwaukee’s roster count to the league maximum of 15 players. It’s unclear if the deal contains any guaranteed salary for 2015/16, though it’s likely a minimum salary arrangement with little or no guaranteed funds.
Gutierrez had inked two 10-day deals with the Bucks earlier this season, appearing in seven games and averaging 3.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists. He signed his initial 10-day contact on January 28th and a second 10-day pact on February 7th. In 10 NBA appearances for Brooklyn, where he began the season, Gutierrez averaged 1.6 points in 4.4 minutes per game.
The guard also played 15 games this season for the Canton Charge, the Cavs’ D-League affiliate, and averaged 13.5 points, 5.1 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 29.8 minutes per contest. Gutierrez opted to enter the D-League after being waived by the Sixers earlier in the season. This was shortly after Philadelphia had acquired him from the Nets in the deal for Andrei Kirilenko.
Celtics Sign Chris Babb, Waive Shavlik Randolph
The Celtics have signed Chris Babb to a multiyear contract and waived Shavlik Randolph, the team announced. Boston is immediately assigning Babb to the D-League, the statement adds. The C’s were carrying 15 players, so that’s why they needed to let someone go to bring Babb onto their roster. He’s been playing on a D-League contract with Boston’s affiliate, but even though he’ll continue to play for the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics have secured his NBA rights going into next season.
Randolph was set for unrestricted free agency this summer, so the move allows the C’s control over one extra player. Boston had given Randolph only 25 minutes total across five appearances since acquiring him in January as part of the Austin Rivers trade. It’s no surprise to see Randolph as the Celtic to go, since there were hints that he would have been the player released if the team had signed JaVale McGee, as the C’s were close to doing. Boston scheduled a meeting with Randolph when the McGee deal was close and canceled when it became clear a McGee signing wouldn’t take place, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald reported last month.
Babb is a familiar face to the Celtics, who’ve had him on the NBA roster on multiple occasions the past two seasons. The shooting guard was with the C’s for training camp in 2013, and he saw brief regular season action last season after the C’s signed him to pair of 10-day contracts followed by a three-year deal. That three-year deal didn’t involve any guaranteed salary for the final two seasons, and Boston waived him just before training camp began this past fall. It’s possible that Babb once more has a contract for three or even four years, since the Celtics have a portion of their mid-level exception available, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
The 25-year-old Babb, who went undrafted out of Iowa State in 2013, has played 78 games for Boston’s D-League affiliate over the past two years, and he upped his offensive output from 12.0 points per game last season to 15.4 PPG this year, thanks in part to improved shooting. He’s lifted his shooting percentage from 38.1% to 43.2%, and he’s nailed 37.5% of his three-point attempts this year.
Wizards Sign Will Bynum For Rest Of Season
MONDAY, 2:13pm: The deal is official, the Wizards announced via press release.
SUNDAY, 8:34pm: The Wizards will retain Will Bynum, who signed a 10-day deal with the team on March 27th, for the rest of the season and playoffs, J. Michael of CSNWashington.com reports. Michael cited sources with knowledge of the situation.
Bynum is still battling a left hamstring strain, as Michael notes, but he provides the Wizards a serviceable option in a backcourt that relies heavily on John Wall and Ramon Sessions. Bynum has appeared for a total of eight minutes in three games since landing the prior deal. The seven-year veteran hasn’t scored and has taken only two shots. Bynum developed the hamstring injury while playing overseas, but Michael writes that he is “rounding into form physically and should be ready for the postseason.”
In December, Bynum, 32, signed with China’s Guangdong Southern Tigers. It was a guaranteed arrangement reportedly worth more than a $1MM. That deal came following his release from the Celtics before the season. Bynum carved a name for himself in the league while spending six seasons with the Pistons.
Nets Sign Earl Clark To Two-Year Deal
9:32am: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
MONDAY, 7:54am: Clark’s salary for next season is non-guaranteed, a league source tells NetsDaily (Twitter link). It’s a minimum-salary deal, since that’s all the Nets can hand out.
7:19pm: The Nets and Earl Clark have reached an agreement on a two-year deal, with a team option for 2015/16, Shams Charania of RealGM tweets citing league sources.
SUNDAY, 5:56pm: The Nets will likely re-sign combo forward Earl Clark after his 10-day contract with the team expires today, Tim Bontemps of the New York Post tweets. Clark has played in five of the Nets’ six games since the team signed him on March 27th. His best game was Saturday against the Hawks when he scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds. With guard Alan Anderson battling an ankle injury, Clark provides decent insurance off the bench.
The 27-year-old had been a free agent following a stint with China’s Shandong Lions before inking the prior 10-day deal with Brooklyn. The five-year veteran has seemingly seized the opportunity with the Nets after struggling to find work in the NBA this season. Clark had so much trouble that he told Rod Boone of Newsday he was surprised he landed with the Nets.
The Grizzlies cut ties with him after they signed him to a non-guaranteed contract for training camp. He was later grabbed off waivers in late October by the Rockets, only to be released by the team just a few days later. He played in six games for Houston’s D-League affiliate this year and averaged 26.2 points and 8.0 rebounds in 34.3 minutes. Clark bounced to China in mid-December and produced 26.4 PPG and 10.3 RPG in 32.6 MPG for Shandong.
His last NBA action before joining the Nets came last season with the Knicks after he signed a pair of 10-day contracts. His best season was the 2012/13 campaign with the Lakers when he scored 7.3 PPG in 23.1 MPG. That season netted him a two-year, $8.5MM deal with the Cavs, who traded him midway through the first year of that contract to the Sixers, who quickly waived him right after.
Atlantic Rumors: Anthony, Hardaway, Sixers
Unable to take the court because of knee surgery, the Knicks‘ Carmelo Anthony is doing a little front office work, according to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Anthony is offering his input into free agents he would like to see the team pursue with projected cap space of at least $25MM. “He is very much a part of the process of trying to understand what we’re looking for, how we’re going about it,” New York GM Steve Mills said of Anthony’s role in the process.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Knicks‘ Tim Hardaway Jr. is hoping to salvage what he can from a disappointing season, Begley writes in a separate story. Even though he has a wrist injury that hasn’t fully healed, Hardaway plans to be active for the team’s final six games. He offered a blunt assessment of his performance. “I’m not going to sugarcoat anything,” Hardaway said of his second season in the league. “It wasn’t the year I wanted to have. I know that, and I know the guys on my team know that, as well.” Still on his rookie deal, he is one of just five Knicks with guaranteed money for next season. He has been surrounded by trade speculation, as he is one of the few valuable trade pieces the Knicks have on their roster.
- The Sixers will have a difficult decision if they wind up with the second pick in the draft, writes Tom Moore of Calkins Media. While centers Jahlil Okafor of Duke and Karl-Anthony Towns of Kentucky are considered the top two prospects, Philadelphia seems to be set in the frontcourt with Nerlens Noel, injured rookie Joel Embiid and the rights to Dario Saric, who is expected to join the team in 2016. With a need for backcourt help, the Sixers could opt for Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell or international point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, or they could look to trade the pick.
- Malcolm Thomas, who was waived by the Sixers earlier this season, has signed with Piratas de Quebradillas in Puerto Rico, the team announced via Twitter (translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Thomas averaged 2.6 points and 3.3 rebounds in 17 games with Philadelphia this season.
Hawks Sign Austin Daye To Two-Year Deal
SATURDAY, 9:44am: The signing is official, the Hawks announced in a press release.
1:55pm: Next year’s salary will be non-guaranteed, according to Vivlamore (Twitter link).
12:53pm: Daye’s new contract will cover next season as well, Vivlamore also reports (on Twitter).
12:22pm: The Hawks will indeed sign Daye, Vivlamore confirms (Twitter link).
12:05pm: Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer didn’t confirm that the team would sign Daye for the season, but he dropped a hint, saying, “I would say he’s in a good place,” as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution relays.
FRIDAY, 11:42am: The Hawks are expected to sign Austin Daye through at least the end of the season, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Daye’s second 10-day contract with the team expires overnight tonight.
Daye’s playing time has been sparse during his time with Atlanta, as he’s averaged 3.0 points in 6.6 minutes per game across five appearances. He saw 10.3 MPG in 26 games with San Antonio earlier this season, but the last time he averaged double figures in that category was 2012/13, the season the Pistons traded him to the Grizzlies. That ended a tenure with Detroit that began when the team made him the 15th overall pick in 2009. The veteran small forward won’t offer the Hawks much in the way of playoff experience, since he’s only played a total of 26 postseason minutes.
Atlanta’s other 14 players already have contracts that carry through the end of this season or beyond, but the team has retained flexibility with its other roster spot since trading Adreian Payne, the No. 15 pick from 2014, to the Timberwolves in early February. It originally seemed as though the club had made the trade in part to clear room on the roster to ink sought-after free agent Ray Allen, but he decided against playing in the NBA this season. The Hawks have cycled through 10-day contracts with Daye and Jarell Eddie instead, as our 10-Day Contract Tracker shows, but now it appears they’ve settled on Daye.
Lakers Sign Dwight Buycks To 10-Day Contract
7:54pm: The Lakers have officially signed Buycks, the team announced.
1:47pm: Scott specified that it’s a D-Leaguer the team is close to signing, as Medina notes in a full story. So that’s seemingly further indication that Buycks is the guy, though it appears we’ll soon find out definitively one way or the other.
FRIDAY, 1:41pm: The Lakers are close to signing a player, according to coach Byron Scott, though he didn’t say who, Medina tweets. The Lakers announced Thursday that Ellington will miss the remainder of the season, so that’ll help the team’s case for a hardship exception.
THURSDAY, 2:05pm: The Lakers are waiting for approval from the NBA for a hardship exception, according to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times, who argues that it should be an open-and-shut case with Bryant, Randle, Young and Price all out of action (Twitter link). Wayne Ellington was also scheduled to undergo an MRI on his right shoulder, to which he suffered a mild separation during Wednesday’s game, according to Pincus and Medina (Twitter links).
12:46pm: There’s “nothing definitive” about any potential Lakers signing, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter link).
11:21am: The Lakers are signing point guard Dwight Buycks to a 10-day contract, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Charania’s tweet indicates that the signing has already taken place, though the team has yet to make a formal announcement. The team already has 15 players under contract, but there’s a chance the Lakers won’t have to clear another player to sign Buycks thanks to the hardship provision. The league had earlier granted the team an extra roster spot via hardship to carry Jabari Brown on a pair of 10-day deals. The Lakers couldn’t use that temporary roster relief to sign Brown to his two-year deal Wednesday, so the team waived Steve Nash to make room. Even without Nash, the Lakers have four players who’ve been out at least three games and who are seemingly expected to miss significantly more time, so the hardship remains a possibility.
Kobe Bryant and Julius Randle are done for the season, and there’s a decent chance that’s the case for Ronnie Price, too. Nick Young hasn’t played since February 22nd with a small fracture on his left kneecap. The Lakers are thin at the point with Jordan Clarkson and Jeremy Lin the team’s only healthy players at the position.
Buycks has been on the Lakers’ radar for the while, having reportedly worked out for the team in November in a head-to-head audition with Gal Mekel. The 26-year-old Buycks has since played for China’s Tianjin Steel and has been with the Thunder’s D-League affiliate for the past month. He’s a one-year NBA veteran thanks to having spent last season with the Raptors, though he played in only 14 games for Toronto, averaging 3.1 points and 0.7 assists in 10.4 minutes per contest. The 6’3″ Buycks, who went undrafted out of Marquette in 2011, has shown an all-around game in the D-League the past few weeks, adding 6.8 rebounds per game to go with averages of 18.2 PPG and 6.2 APG in 34.4 MPG. He was a scoring force in China, producing 26.9 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 5.1 APG in 37.4 MPG.