Thunder Cut Jenkins, Solomon, Zanna
The Thunder have waived camp invitees Michael Jenkins, Richard Solomon and Talib Zanna, the team announced via press release. All three were on non-guaranteed contracts. The moves leave Oklahoma City with 15 players, including a non-guaranteed pact with Lance Thomas. A report earlier this week indicated the team planned to keep only 14 players for opening night, but it appears the Thunder have changed plans, as they’ll keep Thomas into the regular season, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. That’s perhaps because Anthony Morrow has a sprained left MCL, an injury that typically takes four to six weeks to heal, according to Royce Young of ESPN.com (Twitter links).
Jenkins joined the Thunder in late September after agent Daniel Moldovan had said earlier in the summer that the shooting guard would instead be in Nets camp. The 28-year-old who was on his first NBA contract after going undrafted out of Winthrop in 2008 put up 6.0 points in 17.5 minutes per game in seven preseason appearances with Oklahoma City.
Solomon, a power forward, put up 4.7 PPG in 11.9 MPG in three preseason appearances this month after going undrafted out of Cal in June. Zanna, another power forward, showed his strength on the boards, posting 4.4 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 17.4 MPG across seven exhibitions. He was an undrafted free agent who came out of Pittsburgh this year and played with the Sixers in summer league.
Pelicans Waive Kevin Jones, D.J. Stephens
The Pelicans have officially waived Kevin Jones and D.J. Stephens, the team announced. Both players were in camp on non-guaranteed deals so New Orleans won’t be on the hook for any cash if and when Jones and Stephens clear waivers. These moves reduce the Pelicans’ preseason roster count to 15, so the team wouldn’t be required to make any other moves prior to tomorrow’s deadline. New Orleans still has 12 fully guaranteed and three partially guaranteed deals on the books.
The 25-year-old Jones used a strong summer showing to earn an invite to the Pelicans training camp. He averaged 10.0 RPG for the Pacers summer squad, which was tops in the Orlando summer league. He saw fewer minutes with the D-League Select Team in the Las Vegas summer league, and his rebounding production was cut in half, to 5.0 RPG. Jones averaged 3.0 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 10.4 minutes per game across 32 appearances for the Cavs in 2012/13, and he split this past season between Cleveland’s D-League affiliate and playing in the Philippines.
Stephens appeared in three contests for the Bucks while on a 10-day contract last spring, logging totals of seven points and five rebounds in 15 minutes of action. He saw more playing time overseas last season, averaging 8.4 PPG and 7.0 RPG in 23.8 minutes a night over 25 combined games with Ilisiakos BC of Greece and Anadolu Efes of Turkey.
Nets, Sixers Swap Marquis Teague, Casper Ware
3:24pm: The Sixers have followed with a formal announcement of their own. The press release notes that Philly will receive the more favorable of Milwaukee’s and Sacramento’s second-round picks in 2019.
2:47pm: The Sixers have acquired Marquis Teague and a protected 2019 second-round pick from the Nets in exchange for Casper Ware, as Brooklyn announced via press release. The pick headed Philadelphia’s way originally comes from Milwaukee as compensation for the Bucks hiring of coach Jason Kidd. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported the clubs were in trade talks about Teague, and Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News wrote that the clubs were close to finalizing a deal.
Teague is entering the third year of his rookie scale contract, set to pay him more than $1.12MM this season, which is fully guaranteed. A decision is due by a week from today on his fourth-year team option worth in excess of $2.023MM, but a report during the offseason indicated that Brooklyn was unlikely to pick that up. It’s unclear if Philadelphia is similarly willing to pass on the option, though the Sixers have tens of millions more in terms of cap flexibility than the Nets do to keep the point guard on the books.
Ware, another point guard, has a much less decorated pedigree than the other player in the trade. He’s on a non-guaranteed contract for the minimum salary, and he seems a long shot, at best, to remain with Brooklyn until opening night. The now 24-year-old was playing in Italy last season before he signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Sixers, who followed up with a low-risk multiyear deal.
The Nets are likely to waive Ware, a source confirms to Andy Vasquez of The Record, who adds that the team is likely to keep the 15 remaining players on its roster for opening night. That’s a boon for Jorge Gutierrez and Cory Jefferson, who have partially guaranteed contracts, and Jerome Jordan, whom coach Lionel Hollins has advocated keeping in spite of the center’s non-guaranteed deal.
Teague heads to a Sixers team with an unsettled roster featuring 20 players just three days in advance of Monday’s deadline for teams to cut down to no more than 15 guys. He becomes just the 10th fully guaranteed contract on Philly’s books. It’s the second trade within the calendar year of 2014 for Teague, whom the Bulls shipped to Brooklyn in January.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pistons Opt In With Drummond, Caldwell-Pope
The Pistons have picked up their 2015/16 team options on Andre Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the club announced via press release. There was never any real doubt that Detroit wouldn’t keep Drummond around for that season at little more than $3.272MM, and the same was largely true of Caldwell-Pope, who’s set to receive nearly $2.892MM in 2015/16, as our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker shows.
Drummond has shown flashes of potential during his two seasons with the Pistons that suggest he can become an elite NBA center. He finished first in the league in total offensive rebounds and total rebounding percentage last season, but he also topped the NBA with 273 personal fouls. Caldwell-Pope was drafted at No. 8 in 2013, a spot higher than Drummond went in 2012, but he struggled to gain his footing in the NBA as a rookie last year, shooting just 31.9% from three-point territory and averaging 5.9 points in 19.8 minutes per game.
The moves give the Pistons about $38.1MM in commitments for 2015/16. That’s plenty of room beneath a projected $66.5MM cap to either retain Greg Monroe, who’ll be an unrestricted free agent in the summer, chase other significant free agents, or both.
Dee Bost Signs To Play In Turkey
FRIDAY, 2:33pm: The deal is official, the team announced (Twitter link; translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia).
THURSDAY, 8:25am: Former Jazz camp invitee Dee Bost has a one-year deal with Trabzonspor of Turkey, Sportando’s Enea Trapani reports. Utah had reportedly maintained interest in having the point guard play for its D-League affiliate, but it appears he’ll go overseas instead. It’s not clear what Bost will make with Trabzonspor, but it likely involves a greater salary than he would have made in the D-League.
The Jazz waived Bost nearly two weeks ago, and he didn’t appear in any preseason games, suggesting that he was a long way from making Utah’s regular season roster, even though the team guaranteed his salary for $65K. He had more extensive involvement with the Blazers last year, averaging 3.5 points in 10.4 minutes per game across four preseason contests before Portland let him go about a week before opening night.
Bost, now 25, spent much of last season with the Blazers one-to-one affiliate, the Idaho Stampede, which this year serves as the one-to-one affiliate of the Jazz. He also saw action with Trotamundos de Carabobo of Venezuela last year, and he’s no stranger to European competition, having played with Montenegro’s KK Buducnost VOLI in 2012/13.
Celtics Claim Jarell Eddie Off Waivers
FRIDAY, 11:23am: Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has confirmed the move, according to the team’s official Twitter account.
THURSDAY, 9:37pm: Boston has indeed claimed Eddie off of waivers, as is reflected in the RealGM transactions log. No announcement from the Celtics has been made yet.
5:34pm: The Celtics have claimed small forward Jarell Eddie off waivers from the Hawks, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Boston takes over Eddie’s one-year, non-guaranteed contract for the minimum salary, and the move ups Boston’s roster to 18 players, though that figure includes Tim Frazier, whom the Celtics are poised to release.
Boston has guaranteed contracts with 16 of its players, so it seems that the team will probably turn around and waive Eddie before opening night, though that’s just my speculation. The C’s have the ability to retain his D-League rights, an asset the Hawks lose as a result of the waiver claim, so I’ll also speculate that Boston is making the move with the D-League chiefly in mind.
The 6’7″ Eddie averaged 2.7 points in 13.1 minutes per game across three preseason appearances with Atlanta after going undrafted out of Virginia Tech in June. He posted 13.3 PPG and 5.4 RPG in 32.6 MPG as a senior with the Hokies last season.
Hornets Waive Dallas Lauderdale, Brian Qvale
The Hornets have waived big men Dallas Lauderdale and Brian Qvale, the team announced via press release. They were on non-guaranteed contracts, as was Justin Cobbs, whom the team also let go. The moves take Charlotte’s roster down to 15 players, and while they can carry as few as 13 for opening night if they choose, it appears as though Jason Maxiell is set to remain with the team into the regular season on his non-guaranteed deal.
Both Lauderdale and Qvale saw just three minutes of action during the preseason, going scoreless. It was Lauderdale’s second straight year in camp with an NBA team after he spent last fall with the Blazers. He played 39 games for Portland’s D-League affiliate last season, averaging 7.5 points and 8.7 rebounds in 29.3 minutes per contest.
Qvale has spent his professional career overseas since going undrafted out of the University of Montana in 2011. He’s played with teams in Turkey, Belgium and Germany, and while it’s conceivable that he’ll remain stateside to play in the D-League this year, the Hornets are without a one-to-one affiliate.
Nets Opt In For 2015/16 With Plumlee, Karasev
The Nets have exercised their team options to keep Mason Plumlee and Sergey Karasev on their rookie scale contracts through 2015/16, the team announced. The moves were expected for both, and particularly for Plumlee, who was a part of Team USA’s gold medal-winning squad in the FIBA World Cup this summer after a strong rookie season last year. Plumlee will make nearly $1.416MM in 2015/16, while Karasev is in line for almost $1.6MM that year, as our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker shows.
Plumlee, the 22nd overall pick in 2013, was efficient in his time on the floor last season, racking up a 19.0 PER, and he began to see more significant run after Brook Lopez went down to injury, averaging 9.1 points and 6.0 rebounds in 22.0 minutes per game after the All-Star break. Karasev came to Brooklyn via trade from the Cavs, who drafted him last year three picks before the Nets selected Plumlee. The small forward from Russia made it into just 22 NBA games for an average of 7.1 minutes per contest as a rookie, but Brooklyn, owned by fellow Russian Mikhail Prokhorov, insisted on receiving Karasev in the deal instead of a pair of second-round picks.
The moves give the Nets about $58.7MM in commitments against a projected $66.5MM salary cap for 2015/16, though that figure doesn’t include a player option worth more than $16.7MM for Lopez. It also doesn’t take into account a rookie scale team option worth more than $2MM for Marquis Teague, but the Nets are reportedly close to trading Teague to the Sixers.
Hornets Waive Justin Cobbs
10:26am: The move is official, the team announced via press release.
8:48am: The Hornets are waiving Justin Cobbs, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia reports. Carchia indicates that the move has already taken place, and while the team has yet to make an official announcement, Hornets assistant GM Chad Buchanan spoke of the 6’3″ point guard in the past tense in his remarks to the Sportando reporter. Dropping the non-guaranteed contract for Cobbs will reduce the Hornets roster to 17 players.
“Justin was really good for us,” Buchanan said. “He plays hard and is a very mature kid with a good work ethic. He makes shots, isn’t selfish and plays defense. He has a bright future.”
Cobbs played sparingly in two preseason games this month, scoring just two points in about nine total minutes of action. The 23-year-old joined Charlotte after going undrafted out of California and playing for the Grizzlies in summer league. He also attended preseason camp with Laboral Kuxta in Spain before joining Hornets camp, and while the Spanish team’s coach praised Cobbs in comments to Carchia, the coach also indicated that he’s still a year or two away from becoming ready for Euroleague action.
The move leaves the Hornets with 14 fully guaranteed contracts plus non-guaranteed pacts for Jason Maxiell, Dallas Lauderdale and Brian Qvale. Maxiell is the leading contender for the 15th spot on the regular season roster, should the team keep that many for opening night, and Hornets coach Steve Clifford appears to favor holding on to the former longtime Pistons big man, as reports indicated earlier this week.
Knicks Waive D.J. Mbenga, Orlando Sanchez
The Knicks are have waived center Didier Ilunga-Mbenga and power forward Orlando Sanchez, the team announced (Twitter link). Peter Botte of the New York Daily News and Newsday’s Al Iannazzone reported the team would make the moves minutes before the announcement (Twitter link). The news is no surprise, even though Sanchez has a partially guaranteed deal. Sanchez’s partial guarantee is only $15K, and that amount will stick on New York’s cap figure for the rest of the season unless another team claims him off waivers. Mbenga’s deal is non-guaranteed.
Mbenga was making his first foray back into the NBA since the 2010/11 season, save for a brief preseason stint with the Mavs in 2012. The 33-year-old reunited with Knicks team president Phil Jackson, who coached him on back-to-back Lakers championship teams in 2009 and 2010. The seven-year NBA veteran scored two points in less than five minutes of action in his lone preseason appearance this month. Sanchez saw just a single minute in his only preseason game. The 26-year-old went undrafted out of St. John’s this summer before competing for the Dominican Republican in FIBA World Cup action. Sanchez will sign to play for the Knicks D-League affiliate, agent B.J. Bass tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
The Knicks still have 18 players on their roster, though they probably won’t have much trouble deciding whom to cut to winnow down to 15 players in time for Monday’s opening-night roster deadline. They have 14 guaranteed contracts plus a partial guarantee for Samuel Dalembert, who’s expected to play a significant role. Langston Galloway and Travis Wear are long shots to make the club in spite of their nominal partial guarantees, as is new signee Jordan Vandenberg.