Jazz Ink Chris Johnson To Multiyear Deal
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Suns Sign A.J. Price To 10-Day Contract
SATURDAY, 6:44pm: The Price signing is official, tweets Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Price will be on the Suns’ active roster for tonight’s game in Houston.
FRIDAY, 5:34pm: The Suns will release Seth Curry and sign A.J. Price to a 10-day contract, a league source told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Price played for the Pacers and Cavaliers this season. He appeared in 10 games with Indiana, averaging 10.5 points, 2.7 assists and 19.3 minutes, before the club waived him in late November. Cleveland claimed him off waivers and he appeared in 11 games with the Cavs, averaging just 2.0 points, 1.2 assists and 7.9 minutes, until they waived him in early January.
The former University of Connecticut guard played 28 games for the Timberwolves last season. He played 57 games, including 22 starts, with the Wizards during the 2012-13 season.
Curry appeared in just two games with the Suns after signing a 10-day contract earlier this month. The younger brother of Warriors star Stephen Curry had been playing for the Magic’s D-League affiliate. His first tie to the Suns came when he joined the team for summer league action this past July. Curry averaged 23.5 points in 37.0 minutes per game with the Erie BayHawks before joining Phoenix.
Lakers Sign Jabari Brown To Second 10-Day
SATURDAY, 12:43pm: The signing is official, the Lakers have announced.
FRIDAY, 8:36am: The Lakers will re-sign Jabari Brown to a second 10-day contract on Saturday, reports Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Brown said he spoke with GM Mitch Kupchak and confirmed that’s the plan to reporters, including Mike Trudell of Lakers.com (Twitter link). Coach Byron Scott had said minutes earlier that he anticipated Brown would be back, according to Pincus (on Twitter). Scott expressed his desire on Thursday afternoon for the team to re-sign the shooting guard.
A second deal for Brown presumably means the NBA has granted the Lakers another 10-day hardship exception to carry a 16th man on the roster. That was the allowance the league provided when the Lakers inked Brown to his first 10-day contract even though they already had 15 players. Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Julius Randle are all out for the season and Ronnie Price is probably in the same situation, giving the Lakers enough injured players to qualify to apply for the extra roster spot. Nick Young also remains out with a small fracture in his left kneecap.
Brown’s initial contract expired after Thursday’s game. Waiting until Saturday to sign a second 10-day deal enables the Lakers to have him for their game on March 30th against the Sixers without having to sign him for the balance of the season. The rookie has played a prominent role, averaging 7.0 points in 20.0 minutes per contest over four games on his first 10-day contract.
Clippers Sign Jordan Hamilton To Multiyear Deal
2:24pm: The deal also covers next season with non-guaranteed salary, Woike adds (on Twitter).
2:22pm: The signing is official, the Clippers announced via press release.
2:12pm: The Clippers will sign Jordan Hamilton for the rest of the season in a move that’s expected to take place today, reports Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers had told reporters Sunday that the move would take place, but it appeared as though the team changed course amid concern over Hamilton’s ankle injury. Now, it looks like the Clippers are once more ready to commit to the former 26th overall pick.
Hamilton earlier signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Clippers, the last of which expired Sunday night. The 24-year-old has averaged 4.0 points in 9.5 minutes per game across eight appearances with the team, draining eight of 14 three-point attempts. He was originally with the Raptors for training camp, earning a $25K partial guarantee, and he briefly spent time with the Jazz at the beginning of the season after Utah claimed him off waivers, though he didn’t see any action there.
The Clippers are limited to the prorated minimum salary for the Aaron Mintz client, though they have the flexibility to tack on an additional season. The move will give the Clippers a full 15-man roster, though the team will retain a modicum of flexibility since Nate Robinson is on a 10-day contract.
Sean Kilpatrick Signs 10-Day With Timberwolves
Sean Kilpatrick has been signed to a 10-day contract by the Timberwolves, the team’s public relations staff tweets. Minnesota had a full roster but was granted an NBA hardship exception for a 16th roster spot in order to add Kilpatrick, the tweet adds. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities reported the deal minutes before the announcement (Twitter link).
The Timberwolves applied for the hardship exception after a dealing with a number of injuries. Shabazz Muhammad required season-ending finger surgery last month and Robbie Hummel and Anthony Bennett have also been out for an extended period. The deadline to apply for a disabled player exception expired in January, so Minnesota did not receive any extra salary flexibility to replace the second-year swingman.
Kilpatrick, an undrafted rookie guard out of Cincinnati, was playing for the D-League’s Delaware 87ers and could give the Timberwolves a perimeter boost. He was averaging 15.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals for the 87ers in a 20-game stint while shooting 48.7% from the field and 42.1% on 3-point attempts. Kilpatrick told HoopsRumors.com during the draft process that he could defend as well as score.
Kilpatrick passed through two other organizations before the Timberwolves signed him. He was on the Sixers’ summer-league team, then was signed by the Warriors during training camp. He was released before the start of the season and hooked on with Golden State’s D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, where he remained until he was traded to the 87ers in January.