Sixers Sign Robert Covington, Waive Johnson
2:35pm: The deal with Covington is official, the team announced in a press release. Johnson has also been waived, the team relayed in the same announcement.
SATURDAY, 11:50am: The Sixers are going to waive Chris Johnson to make room for Covington, who is expected to join the team today, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Twitter link).
12:27pm: Covington will make $1MM this year, Pick writes in a full piece for Basketball Insiders.
THURSDAY, 12:17pm: The value of the contract will be $4.2MM, Pick tweets. That’s slightly more than the $3,925,706 that a four-year minimum-salary contract would entail for the one-year veteran if he signed today.
WEDNESDAY, 8:19am: It’ll be a four-year pact, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 7:08pm: The Sixers are intending to sign free agent Robert Covington this week, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Covington came close to inking a deal with the Sixers earlier, but decided to take the D-League route to begin the season. He was selected first overall by the Grand Rapids Drive in this year’s NBA D-League draft.
Covington spent much of last season with Houston’s D-League affiliate despite being on the team’s NBA roster the entire year. He earned himself a trip to the D-League’s All-Star game by averaging 23.2 PPG and 9.2 RPG in 34.1 minutes per game in 42 D-League appearances. He spent the preseason on Houston’s roster, though he was away from the team for weeks mulling offers to play in Europe before being waived.
Philadelphia had recently waived the injured Malcolm Thomas in order to clear a roster slot to ink Drew Gordon to a multi-year deal. With the Sixers current roster count sitting at the regular season maximum of 15 players, a corresponding move would need to be made in order to accommodate the addition of Covington. It’s unclear who the odd man out will be, but one of the non-guaranteed deals for Brandon Davies, Chris Johnson, Henry Sims, or Hollis Thompson seem likely candidates, though that is just my speculation.
Nemanja Nedovic Signs With Valencia
FRIDAY, 8:06am: The deal is official, the team announced (Twitter link). The pact runs through June 2016, according to the club. It’s unclear whether there are any NBA escape clauses involved.
THURSDAY, 5:01pm: Nemanja Nedovic has cleared waivers after being released by the Warriors and has signed a deal with Valencia of Spain, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando reports (Twitter link). The length and terms of the deal have not been released. Nedovic was also reportedly being pursued by Efes, Laboral Kuxta, and Fenerbahce Ulker.
Valencia had shown interest in Nedovic prior to his release from Golden State after the Warriors had declined his rookie scale team option for 2015/16. Golden State is still on the hook for Nedovic’s 2014/15 guaranteed salary, worth more than $1.1MM, though set-off rights could allow the Warriors to reduce that amount, depending on how much Nedovic makes in Europe this season.
Nedovic, 23, appeared in 24 games with the Warriors last season as a rookie, averaging 1.1 points in 5.9 minutes per contest. He didn’t see any regular season action this year after averaging 9.2 points, 2.6 assists and in 15.9 minutes in the preseason.
Dionte Christmas Signs To Play In France
Former Suns guard Dionte Christmas has signed with Paris-Levallois of France, the team announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Christmas was in training camp with the Pelicans last month, but he didn’t make the opening-night roster. The terms of the new deal for the 28-year-old are unclear.
Christmas was on Phoenix’s roster all season last year even though he played sparingly. He made it into 31 games and averaged 2.3 points in 6.4 minutes per contest. The Pelicans only used him in one preseason game for a little more than four minutes. It was nonetheless the third consecutive October he’s spent with an NBA team, following a camp stint with the Celtics in 2012 and the Suns the next year.
The former Temple standout has managed to stay on the radar of NBA front offices despite never having played in the D-League. He’s made stops in Israel, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Greece, Russia and Italy since going undrafted in 2009.
Warriors Waive Nemanja Nedovic
The Warriors have waived guard Nemanja Nedovic, the team announced via a press release. This comes on the heels of a report from Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group that relayed the team was in talks with Nedovic about a way to allow him to move on from the team. According to Leung, the Warriors were interested in a buyout or possible trade rather than an outright release. It is not yet clear if the two sides reached an agreement on a buyout prior to Nedovic being waived.
Unless Nedovic is claimed off waivers, which is unlikely, Golden State is on the hook for Nedovic’s $1.1MM salary for this season, and this move reduces the team’s roster count to 14 players. It was apparent that the point guard wasn’t in their long-term plans after the team declined to pick up their third-year team option for Nedovic last month. For his part, Nedovic has seemingly been the subject of attention from overseas. Valencia of Spain has targeted Nedovic as a replacement for Dwight Buycks, who reached a buyout arrangement with the Spanish club last week, according to PlazaDeportiva.com (Translation via HoopsHype).
Nedovic, 23, appeared in 24 games with the Warriors last season as a rookie, averaging 1.1 points in 5.9 minutes per contest. He hasn’t seen any regular season action this year after averaging 9.2 points, 2.6 assists and in 15.9 minutes in the preseason.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Sixers Re-Sign Gordon, Waive Malcolm Thomas
1:39pm: The team has officially re-signed Gordon, and in so doing, the Sixers have released Thomas, the team announced. That $474K partial guarantee for Thomas will remain on Philadelphia’s books for the rest of the season.
11:24am: The Sixers are set to bring back camp invitee Drew Gordon on a new deal, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). That means a corresponding move is on the way, since Philadelphia has been carrying the maximum 15 players, as our roster counts show. The 24-year-old has been playing for the Sixers D-League affiliate since Philly kept his D-League rights following his release from the NBA roster last month.
Gordon has played primarily overseas after going undrafted out of New Mexico in 2012. The power forward split last season between Italy and Turkey, showing efficiency on the boards in putting up 8.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per contest. He carried that sort of production over to the preseason this year, as he notched 6.7 PPG and 6.0 RPG in 20.3 MPG across six appearances. He’s the older brother of the Magic’s Aaron Gordon, the fourth overall pick from this past June.
It’s not easy to see who’ll be the Sixer to go, since they have five players on non-guaranteed contracts and another two with partial guarantees. All five of the non-guaranteed players have made at least one start for the team so far, with the exception of K.J. McDaniels, this year’s 32nd overall pick, who’d seem a most unlikely cut. JaKarr Sampson has made a pair of starts on his partially guaranteed deal, and while Malcolm Thomas has yet to make a start and is dealing with fluid in his left knee, his minimum salary is partially guaranteed for $474K, a larger guarantee than several of his teammates have.
Grizzlies Waive Kalin Lucas
The Grizzlies have waived guard Kalin Lucas, the team announced in a press release. This is now the second time this season that Lucas has been let go by Memphis. The 25-year-old was with the Grizzlies during the summer league and the preseason before the franchise cut him a few days shy of opening night.
Memphis later re-signed Lucas to provide depth behind starting point Mike Conley, who had been nursing a tender ankle. His latest deal was non-guaranteed, so the franchise isn’t on the hook for any additional funds as a result of letting Lucas go. This move reduces the Grizzlies’ roster count to 14 players, one shy of the league maximum. It is unclear if the team intends to sign another player to fill the now vacant slot. With Nick Calathes set to return from his drug-related suspension shortly, it’s possible the team deemed Lucas expendable and intends to keep the slot open in case of an injury, which has been an unfortunate trend in the league this season.
Lucas has not made a regular season appearance for Memphis after playing in all eight of the team’s preseason games, averaging 3.1 points and 1.0 assists in 8.0 minutes per contest. He contributed 17.0 PPG and 3.4 APG in 33.4 MPG during his senior year with the Michigan State Spartans in 2010/11 before logging time in Turkey, Greece and the D-League over the first three years of his pro career.
Thunder Sign Ish Smith
FRIDAY, 10:04am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
THURSDAY, 11:27am: The deal will be non-guaranteed, Mayberry writes.
WEDNESDAY, 11:58am: The Thunder have decided on Ish Smith as the player they’d like to sign once the league gives the go-ahead to add a 16th man, reports Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman (Twitter link). Smith took a physical for the team today and could be ready to play as soon as Friday presuming the physical turns up OK, Mayberry adds. The Thunder have been waiting for the league to approve their request for a hardship provision that would allow them to temporarily add another healthy body amid a rash of injuries. They finished last night’s game against the Raptors with six healthy players. The terms of the deal are unclear and the Thunder have the capacity to exceed the minimum salary, but it’s most likely for the minimum without a guarantee, since Oklahoma City would have to drop back to 15 players once they regain their health.
Smith will fill a void at point guard, where the Thunder are without Russell Westbrook, who’s out at least another month or so after undergoing surgery on his broken right hand. The 26-year-old Smith has spent his four seasons in the NBA on the fringe of his team’s rotation, at best, but he’s coming off a career year with the Suns that netted him a fully guaranteed minimum-salary contract with the Rockets this summer. Houston let him go before opening night amid a numbers crunch and strong play from Isaiah Canaan. A report earlier this week indicated that the Thunder had reached out to Smith, and Oklahoma City also apparently had interest in Gal Mekel that predated Westbrook’s injury.
The league provides for teams to sign an extra player if four or more players have missed at least three games and are expected to continue to miss time, according to Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ. The Pelicans received a 16th roster spot late last season, and the same benefit was accorded the Timberwolves in 2012/13. The Thunder have run up against difficulty in securing that provision because they first had to put three regular season games behind them, and because an independent physician reportedly believed Anthony Morrow would return sooner than expected. Once other players accrued their third missed game last night, it appeared the Thunder had satisfied the requirements to claim the hardship.
Pacers Sign A.J. Price
4:40pm: The deal is official, the team announced.
4:17pm: The Pacers have signed Price, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), though the team has yet to make any public announcement.
11:06am: Price is expected to sign with Indiana, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), so it appears the deal with Mekel is likely off.
10:22am: The Pacers would be likely to sign A.J. Price if the visa issues holding up the team’s deal with Gal Mekel derail that signing, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Indiana is “determined” to have a point guard on the roster in time for Friday’s game against the Celtics, as George Hill, C.J. Watson and Rodney Stuckey all deal with injuries. The NBA has given the Pacers a hardship provision to add a 16th player because of their injuries, but that provision expires after today, and it appears there’s a decent chance that Mekel’s visa won’t be ready until Friday, as Stein wrote earlier.
Price became a free agent earlier this week after the Cavs waived him over the weekend. The sixth-year veteran was on Cleveland’s roster for opening night after making the team on a non-guaranteed contract, but the Cavs opted to quickly replace him with Raptors camp cut Will Cherry. Price, who was as a member of the Pacers for the first three years of his NBA career, spent last season with the Timberwolves and saw just 3.5 minutes per game across 28 appearances. That was the first time that he didn’t average at least 12.9 MPG since the Pacers plucked him out of the University of Connecticut with the 52nd overall pick in 2009.
Indiana has the ability to sign a 16th player thanks to the injuries to Hill, Watson, Stuckey, Paul George and David West, though Stuckey’s sore left foot doesn’t seem likely to keep him out of action for long. To qualify for the hardship provision, teams must have at least four players who have missed three games already, and an independent physician must determine that they’re going to continue to miss time. The Pacers also have a $5.305MM disabled player exception at their disposal because George is expected to miss the entire season, but it’s unlikely they’ll need any more than the minimum salary to secure Price.
Jazz Waive Jordan Hamilton
The Jazz have waived swingman Jordan Hamilton, the team announced. Hamilton secured a partial guarantee of $25K when he signed his contract with the Raptors in the offseason, and that carried over when the Jazz claimed him off waivers before opening night. However, Hamilton has already earned more than $25K of his minimum salary by virtue of sticking on the roster for more than five days, so the Jazz aren’t eating any additional guaranteed salary with today’s move. Utah drops to 14 players with Hamilton off the roster.
The 24-year-old had been on the inactive list for each of the team’s first five games, so it seemed Utah simply didn’t have room for him on a roster that has no shortage of wing players. Hamilton was the 26th overall pick in 2011, but the Nuggets declined their fourth-year team option on his rookie scale contract last fall, setting him up for free agency this summer. He finished out last season with the Rockets after a deadline trade, and he made a strong push for a roster spot this fall in Toronto, averaging 9.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game across six preseason appearances.
The Heat worked out Hamilton over the summer, and the Timberwolves were among those in attendance for a work out Hamilton staged for multiple teams during the offseason, but it’s unclear if the interest from either Miami or Minnesota lingers. His release saves Utah from continuing to pay a player it wasn’t using and frees up a roster spot, though there’s no immediate indication as to whether or not the Jazz have plans to fill that opening in the near future. Coach Quin Snyder‘s comfort with Joe Ingles, whom the team claimed off waivers at the same time it did so with Hamilton, empowered the Jazz to make today’s move, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Pacers To Sign Gal Mekel?
THURSDAY, 9:10am: Visa issues surrounding the Israeli native have thrown the deal into question, Stein reports. The Pacers brought Mekel to Boston, where they play Friday, with the plan of signing him today. Indiana’s hardship provision to sign a 16th player expires today, but Mekel’s visa might not be ready until Friday, according to Stein (All Twitter links). That raises the possibility that the Pacers will sign a different player instead, as Stein notes, though the plan is still to sign Mekel, Buckner tweets.
WEDNESDAY, 2:53pm: The Pacers will indeed sign Mekel, as Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star confirms (Twitter link).
2:43pm: It’s likely that the Pacers will obtain a hardship provision because of their injuries that will allow them to sign Mekel without waiving anyone else, Stein writes in a full piece. The absences of George, Hill, Watson and Rodney Stuckey would give Indiana the four players required for the league to grant the 16th roster spot, Stein notes. All three have to have missed three regular games, and an independent physician must declare that they’re likely to continue to miss time before the NBA will OK the provision.
2:29pm: Indiana is “in the process of” signing former Mavs point guard Gal Mekel, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Pacers have been carrying 15 players, so they’d have to make a corresponding move, though it’s unclear whom the team plans to drop. The team has a $5.305MM disabled player exception thanks to Paul George‘s injury that it can use to give Mekel more than the minimum salary, though it seems unlikely the Pacers would use that in this case. Stein suggests the move is an effort to compensate for injuries in the backcourt, where point guard George Hill and C.J. Watson are nursing injuries, but neither is expected to miss more than a few weeks.
Indiana has 13 fully guaranteed contracts plus partially guaranteed arrangements with Luis Scola and rookie Shayne Whittington. Scola has been starting for the Pacers, and his guarantee is much greater than the mere $25K promised to Whittington.
Mekel was on the Mavs opening-night roster, but Dallas let go of him soon thereafter to sign J.J. Barea. The Thunder reportedly had the 26-year-old native of Israel on their radar, but they are instead poised to add Ish Smith to offset their own rash of injuries.