Mavs Waive Ricky Ledo
WEDNESDAY, 4:20pm: The Mavs have officially waived Ledo, the team announced in a press release.
TUESDAY, 3:20pm: The Mavericks have told Ricky Ledo that they are releasing him to make way for Amar’e Stoudemire, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Stoudemire has committed to joining the Mavs should he clear waivers, as expected, following his buyout deal with the Knicks. The move is a signal that the team intends to keep Bernard James, who’s with the team on a 10-day contract. Ledo is one of 14 other Mavericks with deals guaranteed through the end of the season. The guard is making the minimum this season and has non-guaranteed minimum salaries for 2015/16 and 2016/17.
It’s not altogether surprising that the Mavs would cut ties with Ledo, even with Rajon Rondo out indefinitely with facial injuries. Ledo, the 43rd overall pick in 2013, has played in only five NBA games this season and has spent significant time on D-League assignment. The Mavs have sent him down eight times this year, as our D-League assignments log shows, and he hasn’t put up dominant numbers for the Texas legends, averaging 16.0 in 33.4 minutes per game.
Dallas chose to keep Ledo over James and fellow backup guard Gal Mekel earlier this season, though it appears at least for now that James has become the greater priority. The Mavs’ 10-day contract with James lapses after Friday, two days after Stoudemire is set to clear waivers, but Dallas could have terminated the 10-day deal early if it wanted to.
Pelicans Sign Toney Douglas To Second 10-Day
FEBRUARY 18TH: The deal is official, the team announced.
FEBRUARY 13TH: The Pelicans and Toney Douglas have reached agreement on what will be the guard’s second 10-day contract with the team this season, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM. His first expires tonight. New Orleans still has an open roster spot even with Douglas on the roster. The signing will come after the All-Star break, Charania notes.
The 28-year-old point guard has seen plenty of action for the Pelicans so far, averaging 9.0 points, 4.0 assists and 1.7 turnovers in 22.0 minutes per game across three appearances. The team is short at the point with Jrue Holiday out indefinitely because of a stress reaction in his right leg. The stint with the Pelicans represents a return to the NBA for Douglas, who’s spent most of the season playing in China.
This will be the last short-term arrangement the sides can make between now and the end of the season, so New Orleans would have to sign the sixth-year veteran for the balance of 2014/15 if the team is to keep him beyond his latest deal. The Pelicans had brought in guard Nate Wolters on a pair of 10-day contracts earlier this year but declined to sign him for the rest of the season.
Kings Remove Tyrone Corbin, Hire George Karl
FEBRUARY 17TH: The team has followed with a formal announcement of Karl’s hiring after acknowledging the agreement earlier.
“We’re fortunate to be taking a step towards returning this franchise to prominence with one of the best coaches in basketball on our sideline,” D’Alessandro said in the statement. “George knows how to win, as evidenced by a lifetime track record of success and ability to maintain consistency throughout his three decades in the game. We’re excited to welcome him to Sacramento.”
FEBRUARY 12TH: The Kings have acknowledged that they’ve reached an agreement in principle with George Karl for their head coaching position, as the team announced in a statement. Sacramento has reassigned Tyrone Corbin, who had occupied the position since the Kings fired Michael Malone in December, the team also announced. Corbin will serve as an adviser to the front office, the Kings say.
“I have the utmost respect for Tyrone as a coach and person,” D’Alessandro said in the statement regarding Corbin. “He’s a man of great integrity, a consummate professional that managed a difficult situation with class and professionalism. I look forward to continuing to work with Tyrone moving forward.”
D’Alessandro didn’t address Karl in either of the team’s statements. Sources told Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee on Wednesday that Karl had struck a deal to become the team’s next head coach, at about the same time that Bee colleague Ailene Voisin indicated the deal was done (All Twitter links here). Sources later that day insisted to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that there was no deal as the sides haggled over terms including potential compensation in case of a lockout in 2017 (Twitter link). A source told Antonio Gonzalez of The Associated Press that there was an agreement in principle even though the sides were still negotiating, and Wojnarowski reported early Thursday that the sides had finally struck a deal.
Karl will make his debut when the Kings return from the All-Star break on February 20th, and he’ll receive $1.25MM for the rest of this season, according to Wojnarowski. The contract calls for him to make $3.25MM in 2015/16 and $5MM in each of the final two seasons, with the last year of the deal partially guaranteed for $1.5MM, Wojnarowski hears.
It’s the second coaching change in two months for the Kings, who fired Michael Malone in mid-December. GM Pete D’Alessandro had said that he would keep Corbin, whom the team elevated from assistant coach to the head coaching position upon Malone’s dismissal for the season. The abrupt turnaround alarmed Dan Fegan and Jarinn Akana, the agents for DeMarcus Cousins, though Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that they weren’t opposed to the idea of bringing Karl aboard. Still, Cousins seemed upset with the turmoil as he spoke with reporters on Sunday, and issued a statement Tuesday saying that he would support Karl but hoped the team would quickly resolve the situation. Still, Jones heard Monday that multiple Kings players would oppose the hiring of Karl.
That same day, owner Vivek Ranadive reportedly gave D’Alessandro the authorization to make whatever coaching move he saw fit. Ranadive wanted to bring in a coach other than Corbin at the time of Malone’s dismissal, but the front office talked him out of it, as Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher reported last month, and the owner asked D’Alessandro to meet with Karl last week, Jones reported within the past couple of days. Still, D’Alessandro and Karl have close ties from their time together with the Nuggets.
Karl has been connected to the Kings job since the time that Malone was fired, and D’Alessandro admitted that he spoke to Karl around that time. Still, he was seemingly a secondary candidate at that point, as Wojnarowski wrote when the team was apparently considering the idea of shifting adviser Chris Mullin to coach, a move that Mullin proved reluctant to make. D’Alessandro denied that a meeting he had with Mullin, Cousins and Mark Jackson, another rumored candidate, had anything to do with the coaching position, and Jackson apparently had “no chance” at becoming coach, as Aaron Bruski of NBCSports.com reported in December.
Karl publicly campaigned for the Magic coaching job last week, and he’s kept a high profile as talks with the Kings have progressed, which perturbed some, according to Jones. It’s been a back-and-forth process for Karl and the Kings, spurred in part by the Magic’s opening, with opposition reportedly coming from owners who hold minority stakes in the team and negotiations seemingly petering out before picking up steam again. Alvin Gentry, Nate McMillan, Vinny Del Negro and Tom Thibodeau were other names connected to Sacramento’s opening.
Karl has been out of coaching since 2012/13, the 25th season that he spent at least part of as an NBA head coach and the only one in which he won the Coach of the Year award. He’s 63 and twice a cancer survivor, and Ranadive and D’Alessandro have sought assurances about his health. Still, Karl is one of only nine coaches to amass more than 1,000 regular season victories, compiling a record of 1,131-756 with the Cavs, Warriors, SuperSonics, Bucks and Nuggets. The Kings are expected to hire Sixers assistant Vance Walberg, who worked with Karl in Denver, for Karl’s staff, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group reported this week.
Corbin departs the coaching job after going 7-21 in his brief time in charge of the Kings. It’s the second time in less than 10 months that an NBA head coaching tenure has ended for Corbin, whom the Jazz elected not to re-sign after last season. The 52-year-old is 119-167 in parts of five seasons as an NBA head coach.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Knicks Poised To Sign Thanasis Antetokounmpo?
4:53pm: The Knicks appear unsure of whether to sign Antetokounmpo this season, as his European agent, Tim Lotsis, tells Berman for a full story. Knicks team president Phil Jackson told Antetokounmpo before he agreed to join New York’s D-League club that there was an outside chance he’d be on the NBA roster before this season was through, Berman writes.
“We had a discussion with [GM] Steve Mills [within] the past week,” Lotsis said. There was no clear indication about whether he’ll be there for the remainder of the season or if they are thinking next season. He said he’s thinking seriously about Thanasis for the team’s future. I don’t think it’s clear how the season finishes.’’
2:40pm: The Knicks are sticking to their plan to sign Antetokounmpo next season, as Shams Charania of RealGM hears (Twitter links), which seemingly conflicts with the report that the Knicks are prepared to sign him sooner.
1:28pm: Antetokounmpo’s European agent told Marc Berman of the New York Post that the Knicks are “thinking seriously” about his client for the team’s future, but the agent added that he hadn’t heard from the Knicks today (Twitter link).
9:03am: The Knicks are “ready” to sign second-round pick Thanasis Antetokounmpo, a source tells Keith Schlosser of SNY.tv. New York’s buyout agreement with Amar’e Stoudemire will open a spot on the roster, and it appears the Knicks intend to fill it with Antetokounmpo, the older brother of Bucks phenom Giannis Antetokounmpo and the 51st overall pick this past summer.
The Antetokounmpo set to join the Knicks has spent the season with New York’s D-League affiliate. His numbers haven’t been eye-popping, with 13.7 points and 6.0 rebounds in 31.7 minutes per game, with the exception of his 1.5 blocks per contest, which he’s achieved despite standing only 6’7″. It’s the second straight season in the D-League for Antetokounmpo, who spent last season with the Sixers affiliate but was ineligible to sign an NBA contract because he had not yet gone through the NBA draft.
It’s not clear whether New York plans to sign him to a 10-day contract or a longer arrangement. New York would risk losing his rights if the team only signed him for 10 days, since he’d be a free agent at the end of the deal, so I’d expect a contract that carries through next season, though that’s just my speculation. The Knicks are limited to paying him no more than the minimum salary and giving him a deal that stretches no longer than the end of next season.
Knicks Waive Amar’e Stoudemire In Buyout Deal
12:33pm: The Knicks have waived Stoudemire, the team announced via press release, making the buyout deal official. It’s still unknown just how much Stoudemire gave back.
“Amar’e’s period as a Knickerbocker has come to pass, at his request. His time here should be marked by recognizing his effort – it was 100%,” Knicks team president Phil Jackson said in the statement. “As we move forward in structuring this team, we will look for players that exhibit his desire to win.”
The Knicks are left with 14 players on their roster. GM Steve Mills said in the team’s release that he and Stoudemire had developed a “long-term friendship” that would remain in place as they parted ways, and Stoudemire, in his quote as part of the statement, expressed gratitude to the organization, saying, “Once a Knick, always a Knick.”
MONDAY, 7:35am: The Blazers aren’t in the mix, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com hears (Twitter link).
SUNDAY, 11:15pm: The Clippers, Blazers, Suns, and Raptors are expected to pursue Stoudemire, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
11:04pm: Stein (link) adds the Cavs to the list of teams that are not actively pursuing the veteran.
11:00pm: The Grizzlies and Warriors are not pushing to sign Stoudemire, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links).
10:40pm: The Clippers and Mavericks have strong interest in Stoudemire but the Spurs are a dark horse “with [a] level of intrigue,” according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
10:12pm: The Knicks and Amar’e Stoudemire reached a buyout agreement on Sunday night, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (on Twitter). The big man’s camp has been discussing a buyout with the club for quite some time.
Stoudemire, 32, is in the final year of a massive five-year contract worth nearly $99.744MM that pays him almost $23.411MM this season. The veteran has averaged 12.0 PPG and 6.8 RPG in 36 games (14 starts) for the blue and orange this season. Stoudemire has a rather respectable 19.7 PER on the year and his 6.8 boards per game is a good improvement over his averages from the previous two campaigns.
Even though he has not found individual success with the Knicks, STAT was said to be conflicted about the idea of a buyout. Still, Stoudemire’s reps were pushing for a deal and the Knicks had no intention of re-signing him this summer as they look to push their resources towards younger talent.
“All possibilities at this point are still open,” Stoudemire said of his own buyout possibility. “The door is still open for that. But at the same time, I am with the Knicks now. I got to stay optimistic about things and what we are doing here. I can’t really focus on the future because it’s not here. We still have a couple weeks left before it’s all said and done. It’s a decision I have to make with my family to figure out the best scenario for the near future.”
The Mavs are reportedly the favorites to sign Stoudemire should he buy his way off the Knicks and clear waivers. Of course, with a $23MM+ salary, Stoudemire would be a mortal lock to pass through waivers unclaimed. Besides Dallas, the Clippers and Warriors are said to be interested as well. Marc Berman of the New York Post recently wrote that it’s “quite possible” that Stoudemire would return to the Suns this summer and speculated that the Magic would have interest in the central Florida native this summer, though it’s not clear what the interest level would be from either team if Stoudemire were to reach free agency mid-season.
Pistons Sign John Lucas III To Second 10-Day
FEBRUARY 12TH: The team has indeed inked Lucas to another 10-day deal, the Pistons announced via press release. His first expired Wednesday night. All 10-day deals must cover at least three games, and since the Pistons have already played for the last time before the All-Star break, the deal will extend longer than 10 days. It’ll run through February 24th, when Detroit plays its third game after the All-Star break, so it’s essentially a 13-day contract. The Pistons could always terminate the contract early if they wish, but they’ll be on the hook for a prorated minimum salary for each of the 13 days regardless. The deal will cost Detroit $69,989 instead of the $53,838 that a standard 10-day for Lucas would.
FEBRUARY 6TH: The Pistons will sign John Lucas III to a second 10-day contract, barring an unforeseen change of plans, coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy said today, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Lucas is on day No. 5 of his first 10-day deal. Van Gundy and company would have to decide whether to keep Lucas for the season once his second 10-day contract expires.
Detroit signed Lucas after GM Jeff Bower couldn’t find a point guard via trade who could offset the loss of the injured Brandon Jennings for the rest of the season. The 32-year-old Lucas, in his eighth NBA season, has performed well in limited minutes so far, scoring 13 points and dishing out seven assists without a single turnover in 22 total minutes of play over two games. Still, Van Gundy remains concerned about the workload of D.J. Augustin, who’s been starting in place of Jennings, as Brendan Savage of MLive notes.
Lucas holds down the 15th spot on the roster for the Pistons, who have 14 others signed through season’s end, as our roster counts show. The Bernie Lee client spent most of the season playing in China after canceling a workout he had planned with the Lakers.
Mavs Sign Bernard James To 10-Day Contract
WEDNESDAY, 10:20am: The deal is official, as Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com tweets. It’ll run just the standard 10 days, since the Mavs have a game tonight and return from the All-Star break with a back-to-back on December 19th and 20th, fulfilling the three-game requirement.
TUESDAY, 8:09am: The Mavericks will sign Bernard James to a 10-day contract once he receives his FIBA letter of clearance to make the jump back from China, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. James had been playing with the Yao Ming-owned Shanghai Sharks since shortly after the Mavs waived him at the end of the preseason, but the Sharks failed to make the Chinese Basketball Association playoffs, allowing the 30-year-old big man to become a free agent last week. The FIBA letter of clearance is a standard procedural step that players go through when they move between countries, and it’s unlikely that it serves as a stumbling block.
Stein and ESPN colleague Tim MacMahon reported this past weekend that Mavs GM Donnie Nelson and company would seek to add a big man on a 10-day contract while they waited for Jermaine O’Neal, for whom Dallas is by all accounts the front-runner, to ready himself to play. The Mavs have an open roster spot, as our roster counts show, though the team is prepared to clear a second spot to add Amar’e Stoudemire if he works a buyout with the Knicks, as Stein and MacMahon wrote.
James, who turned 30 this past weekend, played the previous two seasons with Dallas, which first acquired the rights to the former Air Force staff sergeant the same night that Cleveland drafted him 33rd overall in 2012. James averaged just 4.9 minutes per game across 30 appearances last season after he started 11 games as a rookie, but Dallas saw fit to re-sign him to a fully guaranteed contract for the minimum salary this past summer. That commitment bit the team in October, when non-guaranteed camp invitee Charlie Villanueva beat James out for a spot on the opening-night roster. James proceeded to put up 19.1 points and 11.2 rebounds in 30.0 minutes per game for Shanghai.
The 10-day contract that James signs with the Mavs might last longer than 10 days depending on when he signs it. All 10-day deals must cover at least three games, a rule that normally doesn’t come into play. However, with the expanded All-Star break this year, it would last 11 days if James signed either today or on Thursday.
Hawks Trade Adreian Payne To Wolves
1:57pm: The pick going to Atlanta will become a second-rounder if it’s not conveyed within the protected years, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).
1:34pm: The Hawks have traded Adreian Payne to the Timberwolves for a first-round pick, the Wolves and have announced. The Hawks have also acknowledged the deal via press release. Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported that Payne would leave the Hawks, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune had him going to the Wolves, and Vivlamore noted the inclusion of the first-rounder (All Twitter links). It represents a sharp turnaround for the Hawks on Payne, whom the Hawks drafted 15th overall out of Michigan State just this past June. The first-rounder that Atlanta receives is for 2017, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Minnesota only had its own first-rounder for that year. The pick will be lottery protected through 2020, sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
“We are extremely excited to welcome Adreian to Minnesota,” Timberwolves coach/executive Flip Saunders said in the team’s statement. “Adreian fits the mold of a young, athletic and talented player who we believe will fit in well with our young and talented core. We’ve liked him for a while and look forward to seeing him grow with us in a Wolves uniform.”
The Wolves were indeed high on Payne going into last year’s draft, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press. The power forward has gone on D-League assignment four times this season and has appeared in only three NBA games as the Hawks haven’t found much use for him amid their ascent to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
The move opens a roster spot for Atlanta, which had been carrying a full 15-man roster. It’s possible, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), that the Hawks would fill it with Ray Allen, whom they’ve sought, or Gary Neal, who worked under Hawks coach and acting GM Mike Budenholzer when they were both with the Spurs. The Timberwolves are reportedly exploring the idea of a buyout or trade involving Neal, whom they just acquired earlier today from the Hornets. The move also helps make way for the Hawks to sign Edy Tavares, a center whom the team drafted 43rd overall in 2014, when the offseason rolls around, Wojnarowski notes (on Twitter).
The Wolves had immediate plans for the roster spot they opened up in their Mo Williams trade earlier today, as Krawczynski reported earlier today, and Payne restores the team to 15 players, including Lorenzo Brown, who’s on a 10-day contract. It represents a chance for the team to buy low on a highly regarded prospect, and the protection on the pick heading to Atlanta means Minnesota won’t give up a pick higher in the order than the one the Hawks used on Payne last year.
Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images.
Hornets Acquire Mo Williams
12:28pm: The Timberwolves have followed with a official announcement of their own (on Twitter).
12:09pm: The trade is official, the Hornets announced. Williams, Daniels and some cash go to Charlotte. Neal and the Heat’s 2019 second-round pick that the Hornets had acquired from a previous trade go to Minnesota, according to the statement. The Hornets have released Elliot Williams from his 10-day contract to make room on the roster, the Hornets also announced.
“We are excited to be adding two quality players to our organization,” Hornets GM Rich Cho said. “Mo Williams is a proven NBA player who gives us additional versatility and depth in the backcourt, both while Kemba Walker is out and after Kemba returns. Troy Daniels is an outstanding shooter who we are already familiar with from having had him in our training camp last season.”
11:50am: The Hornets and Wolves have reached agreement on a deal that would send Mo Williams and Troy Daniels to Charlotte and Gary Neal plus a second-round pick to Minnesota, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Shams Charania of RealGM originally reported the deal was close (Twitter link). The move represents Charlotte’s effort to make the playoffs and avoid having Lance Stephenson play point guard in the absence of the injured Kemba Walker, Wojnarowski tweets.
The Wolves acquired Daniels via trade from the Rockets on December 19th, so they can’t aggregate his salary in any deal until February 19th, the day of the trade deadline. However, since Williams’ salary of $3.75MM is within 150% plus $100K of Neal’s $3.25MM salary, that part of the swap can go as its own trade, and Charlotte can take in Daniels, who makes the minimum, using the minimum-salary exception. The Daniels part can function as its own trade, meaning he can go out on his own and the trade can become official before the deadline.
Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities on Monday identified the Hornets as a likely suitor for Williams, shortly before Wojnarowski reported that talks between the Wolves and Hornets regarding Williams and Daniels had reached an impasse after having taken place recently. It seems the sides worked out their differences within the past day, with Charlotte, coming off back-to-back losses to the Sixers and Pacers, likely the party that reignited talks, though that’s just my speculation.
Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported late last month that rival teams believed Wolves were making Williams available in exchange for a draft pick, and Wolfson identified the Cavs, Clippers and Heat among the “teams to watch” regarding the 32-year-old point guard. There was also a slight chance the Pistons would become involved, according to Wolfson. Ultimately it was the Hornets who emerged with him, and Williams tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that he can see himself finishing his career in Charlotte (Twitter link). However, Williams, who’ll be a free agent at season’s end, said earlier this week that he wouldn’t ask for a trade and wanted to sign a multiyear deal with Minnesota, as Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press wrote.
“This was a difficult decision because of what Mo brought to our team and the impact he had on our young guys,” Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders said of the move in the team’s statement. “As a coach, you wanted to keep him because of his professionalism and understanding of what you wanted out of him as a player. He scored 52 points against Indiana and did everything we asked him to do. On the other side, we knew we were moving in a different direction with our youth so we felt it was in our best interest to make the deal. We thank Mo and Troy for their contributions and wish them the best of luck in Charlotte.”
The Hornets were reluctant to give up future-focused assets for a short-term fix, GM Rich Cho told Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer shortly after the Walker injury, but Bonnell argues the 2019 second-rounder isn’t much of a compromise from that position (Twitter link). Daniels, who’s averaged just 2.8 points in 7.3 minutes per game split between Houston and Minnesota this season after a breakout performance in the playoffs last year, comes at the cost of a guaranteed minimum salary for next season, but that, too, isn’t much of a sacrifice.
Neal, who’s enduring the worst three-point shooting season of his five-year career, departs Charlotte almost a year after the then-Bobcats acquired him from the Bucks in part because of the long-range threat he represented. He’s set to hit free agency in the summer, though Minnesota appears ready to trade him or work a buyout, so there’s a decent chance his stay with the Wolves will be a brief one.
Elliot Williams was on day No. 7 of the 10-day contract that the Hornets waived Jannero Pargo in order to accommodate. Today’s trade leaves the Hornets with 15 contracts that are guaranteed through the end of the season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Heat Re-Sign Tyler Johnson For Season
2:26pm: The deal is official, the team announced.
12:07pm: Johnson’s deal will be a two year contract, Charania reports (Twitter link).
8:43am: The Heat will re-sign Tyler Johnson for the remainder of the season, according to Shams Charania of RealGM. Johnson signed his first 10-day deal with the team on January 12th and his second 10-day contract expired Saturday night.
Charania adds that multiple teams were prepared to engage in contract negotiations with the Pedro Power client if he would fail to reach an agreement with Miami. To date, Johnson is averaging 7.5 points and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 50.0% from the field during his six games playing for the team, including an 18 point performance against the Spurs on Friday night. The Heat could certainly use all the offense they can get, as they rank 29th in the league in scoring, averaging 92.4 points per game.
Miami now has a full 15-man roster. The Heat previously expressed their desire to keep an open roster spot in order to maintain flexibility. With Dwyane Wade‘s injury and the team losing five of its last six games, it appears flexibility has become a secondary concern.