Knicks Sign Jordan Vandenberg
The Knicks have signed center Jordan Vandenberg, the team announced (on Twitter). New York is limited to the minimum salary for the Australian native who went undrafted out of North Carolina State this June, though it’s unclear if he’ll receive any guaranteed salary. The 7’1″ Vandenberg becomes the 20th player on the Knicks roster.
New York is familiar with the 24-year-old from his stint with the team’s summer league squad. He played just 10 minutes total in a pair of summer league games, and he only averaged more than 12 minutes a night once during his five seasons at N.C. State, where he received a medical redshirt in his third year despite appearing in seven contests. Vandenberg averaged 4.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 22.3 minutes per game as a senior this past season.
The Knicks likely have their opening night roster set with 14 fully guaranteed contracts plus a partial guarantee with Samuel Dalembert, so it seems they’re making this move with the D-League in mind, although that’s just my speculation. New York can keep the D-League rights to as many as four of the players it cuts during the preseason, but veterans like D.J. Mbenga, who’s with the Knicks on a non-guaranteed deal, rarely wind up in the D-League, which is usually the domain of younger players like Vandenberg.
Magic Sign Nikola Vucevic To Extension
THURSDAY, 3:43pm: Vucevic has signed the extension and the deal is official, the team has announced.
7:11pm: The base salary of the deal is for $48MM with incentives that could push it to $53MM, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (via Twitter).
TUESDAY, 6:21pm: The Magic are finalizing a four-year, $53MM contract extension with Nikola Vucevic, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. The year-by-year salary breakdown is the only detail still up in the air, according to Robbins (via Twitter). The pact does not include any opt out clauses and will thus keep him in Orlando through the 2018/19 season. The 23-year-old Montenegrin is a former first round pick entering his fourth season in the NBA, which gave the Magic until October 31 to come to an agreement that would prevent him from becoming a restricted free agent next summer. Vucevic is scheduled to make $2.751MM this season in the final year of his rookie deal.
Vucevic exploded in 2012/13 after coming over from Philadelphia in the Dwight Howard blockbuster. He averaged 13.1 points and 11.9 rebounds per game in his sophomore season, making him the league’s second leading rebounder behind Howard. While Vucevic was again excellent last season, his overall numbers seemed to plateau more than an improving young player’s should in his third year, as our Chuck Myron pointed out in Vucevic’s entry in our Extension Candidate series. Chuck also predicted a four-year, $48MM pact for the center in our 2014 Rookie Scale Extension Primer.
We heard in July that the Magic would prioritize extending Vucevic and teammate Tobias Harris, also entering his fourth season, once the season approached. Those rumors proved true even before tonight’s news broke, as there was neutral interest reported last month and just last week there was word that Vucevic and the Magic were in talks.
Spurs Waive Bryce Cotton, Josh Davis
1:09pm: Both players have officially been waived, the team announced.
12:57pm: The Spurs intend to waive Josh Davis and Bryce Cotton, Mike Monroe of The San Antonio Express-News reports (Twitter link). Both players’ deals carry partial guarantees, with Cotton set to receive $50K, and Davis due $20K if they are not claimed on waivers. These moves will reduce San Antonio’s preseason roster count to 16, with JaMychal Green and his partially guaranteed deal being the lone one on the Spurs’ books that isn’t fully guaranteed.
The 23-year-old Davis played for three colleges, first for North Carolina State as a freshman, where he averaged 2.6 PPG and 1.7 RPG in 10.4 minutes a night. During his sophomore and junior seasons at Tulane, Davis averaged 17.6 PPG and 10.7 RPG. For his senior campaign with the San Diego State Aztecs, his numbers were 7.7 PPG and 10.1 RPG. His slash line for this past season was .455/.000/.472.
Cotton went undrafted out of Providence where he notched 21.8 points, 5.8 assists and 2.4 turnovers per game during his senior season with the Friars. Several teams offered to draft him if he agreed to play overseas next season, but he rejected those offers for a shot at the NBA. The NBA D-League is a possibility for both players, as teams can retain the D-League rights for up to four players that they waive.
Nets Waive Willie Reed
The Nets have waived power forward Willie Reed, the team announced via press release. The 24-year-old had signed a non-guaranteed contract, so Brooklyn isn’t on the hook for any of his salary. The move takes the Nets down to 16 players, with one more subtraction required before opening night.
Reed is technically a two-year veteran, even though he’s never played an NBA regular season game. He’s signed at the end of the regular season each of the last two years with the Grizzlies and Kings, respectively, but those teams cut him loose before he saw any action. The 6’10” Reed averaged 4.0 rebounds in 16.6 minutes per game in two preseason contests this month, but it wasn’t enough to win a spot for opening night.
Brooklyn has 13 fully guaranteed contracts plus $75K guaranteed for Cory Jefferson and $25K for Jorge Gutierrez, but Jerome Jordan has impressed on his non-guaranteed deal. Coach Lionel Hollins admitted he’s rooting for Jordan to stick with the team.
Rockets Sign Geron Johnson, Waive Akil Mitchell
The Rockets have signed former University of Memphis shooting guard Geron Johnson and waived power forward Akil Mitchell, the team announced via press release. The terms of the deal for Johnson aren’t immediately clear, but it’s probably a minimum-salary arrangement, perhaps with a nominal guarantee. Houston will be stuck with the $150K partial guarantee on Mitchell’s contract unless another team claims him off waivers.
Johnson went undrafted this past June, but he’s been on Houston’s radar for a while. The Rockets were among the teams that worked him out prior to the draft, and he joined Houston’s summer league team in July. The now 22-year-old Johnson averaged just 8.9 points in 27.9 minutes per game as a senior with the Memphis Tigers last season, but he grabbed 4.9 rebounds per contest even though he’s only 6’3″.
Mitchell also went undrafted this summer and scored his deal with the Rockets shortly before training camp began. Still, he didn’t play in any of the team’s preseason games and a report last week indicated he hadn’t been with the Rockets for several days.
Houston still has 20 players on its roster, and with 15 fully guaranteed contracts plus a non-guaranteed pact with starting point guard Patrick Beverley, the Rockets have a logjam they must resolve by Monday’s deadline for teams to set their opening-night rosters. Johnson seems unlikely to remain with the team into the regular season, so it appears the Rockets are signing him chiefly to be able to claim his D-League rights, though that’s just my speculation.
Jazz Waive Dahntay Jones, Jack Cooley
10:37pm: Both players have indeed been waived, the team has officially announced.
4:41pm: The Jazz have waived Dahntay Jones and Jack Cooley, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). The team has yet to make an official announcement, but these moves would reduce Utah’s preseason roster count to 15 players, which is the regular season maximum. Jones was in camp on a non-guaranteed minimum salary deal, but Cooley’s arrangement came with a partial guarantee for $65K, so he won’t walk away empty-handed. Cooley is likely headed to the NBA D-League, notes Pincus.
The 6’9″ Cooley went undrafted following his senior year at Notre Dame in 2013, but performed well in summer league action that year. Still, he didn’t catch on with an NBA team for camp or the regular season. Instead, the big man headed overseas, averaging 12.6 points and 6.9 rebounds in 22.9 minutes per game in Turkey.
Jones spent last season out of the NBA, which was the first time he went without a deal in the league since he went 20th overall in the 2003 draft. Jones’ numbers in 589 career games are 5.6 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 0.9 APG. His career slash line is .441/.334/.751. Jones doesn’t seem like a candidate for the D-League, but he probably hopes to catch on with another team prior to the regular season. He could also try sign with a team on a 10-day contract later in the season.
Thunder Pick Up 2015/16 Options On Four
The Thunder have picked up the third-year team options for Steven Adams and Andre Roberson, as well as the fourth-year options for Perry Jones III and Jeremy Lamb, the team has announced. These moves are not unexpected as all of the players figure to be a big part of Oklahoma City’s rotation going forward.
Lamb has the largest contract of the group, and is scheduled to make $3,034,356, while Adams will make $2,279,040, Jones will earn $2,038,206, and Roberson will rake in $1,210,800. These moves will increase Oklahoma City’s cap commitment for the 2015/16 campaign to approximately $63.6MM. That figure doesn’t include Reggie Jackson, who can become a restricted free agent next summer and is expected to receive significant interest from other teams.
During his rookie season with Oklahoma City after being selected 12th overall in the 2013 NBA draft, Adams appeared in 81 games and averaged 3.3 PPG and 4.1 RPG while logging 14.8 minutes per night. His slash line was .503/.000/.581. Roberson was originally drafted by the Wolves with the No. 26 pick in the 2013 draft, and was subsequently traded to the Thunder. He appeared in 40 contests last season, including 16 starts, and he averaged 1.9 PPG and 2.4 RPG. Roberson figures to see increased playing time to start the season with Kevin Durant expected to miss a minimum of six-to-eight weeks after breaking his foot.
In his two seasons in the NBA, Jones has appeared in 100 games and averaged 3.0 points and 1.8 rebounds in 10.4 minutes per game. He was originally drafted 28th overall back in 2012 by the Thunder. Lamb has also been with the team for two seasons after being selected by the Rockets back in 2012. He was included in the James Harden trade, but hasn’t quite developed into the scoring threat off the bench that Oklahoma City envisioned. Lamb’s career numbers are 7.3 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and 1.2 APG.
Grizzlies Waive Earl Clark, Hassan Whiteside
4:15pm: Both players have been officially waived, the team announced in a press release.
2:08pm: The Grizzlies have waived Earl Clark and Hassan Whiteside, according to the RealGM transactions log, though the team has yet to make a formal announcement. They possessed two of the team’s four remaining non-guaranteed contracts, and their subtraction leaves Memphis at 16 players, one more than the team can carry on opening night.
Clark was a hot commodity a year ago, when he signed a two-year, $8.5MM deal with the Cavs. However, only the first season was guaranteed, and the forward couldn’t duplicate what had been a career year with the Lakers in 2012/13. The Cavs sent him to the Sixers, who quickly cut him loose, and aside from a pair of 10-day contracts with the Knicks, he spent the second half of last season out of the league. The Spurs auditioned him before he inked with the Grizzlies, but it seems he didn’t make enough of an impression on the Memphis brass to stick into the regular season.
Whiteside was also attempting to return to the NBA, though the former 33rd overall pick’s regular season experience consists of just 19 games over two seasons with the Kings from 2010-12. He was with the Raptors in summer league this year and spent time playing in Lebanon last season.
Patrick Christopher and Kalin Lucas remain as the only players without full guarantees on the Memphis roster, and ostensibly one, if not both, will go by Monday’s deadline for teams to cut down to no more than 15 players. The Grizzlies have only carried 13 players on opening night the last two years.
League Rejects Lottery Reform
The NBA Board of Governors has voted against changing the draft lottery, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Only 17 teams voted to approve reform, short of the 23 needed for it to pass, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe (Twitter links). The Sixers, Suns, Thunder, Pelicans, Pistons, Heat, Bucks, Spurs, Jazz, Wizards, Hawks, Hornets and Bulls were the “no” votes, Wojnarowski tweets. The news is quite a shock, even though momentum seemed to be gathering to block the change, as most reports indicated that reform was likely to pass easily. Lowe heard from ownership sources as recently as 36 hours ago who expected only one or two teams to vote against the proposal (Twitter link), and the NBA was confident as of 24 hours ago the measure would pass, according to Wojnarowski (on Twitter).
Doubt crept in even for at least one team that voted for the changes that would have given the three teams with the poorest records longer odds at the top pick each year, as the Raptors had mixed feelings, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). An owner told Wojnarowski that concern about unintended consequences influenced the thinking of several teams, who want to buy time to study the idea further (Twitter link). That echoes a pair of tweets from Lowe, who wouldn’t be surprised if the Board of Governors revisted lottery reform later this season.
The impetus for change came from leaguewide distaste for the drastic rebuilding effort of the Sixers, who’ve stripped their roster of virtually all of its serviceable veterans and whose losing threatens to drive paying customers away in one of the NBA’s large East Coast markets. Such a downturn in interest would affect revenue sharing leaguewide, though many fans have shown their support for the team’s plan to try for greater success later at the cost of middling success in the near term. The Sixers showed opposition to changes from the start, but Thunder GM Sam Presti this week campaigned to stress to league decision-makers the effects that lottery reform would have on small-market franchises. He argued that reducing the odds that inferior teams have of grabbing the No. 1 overall pick would serve as a further disadvantage to small-market teams that already have a handicap in free agency and trades, as Wojnarowski explained Tuesday.
The primary proposal the Board of Governors considered would have given 12% chances at the top pick to each of the teams with the four worst records. A report Tuesday indicated that other ideas, including one that would give each lottery team equal odds at the No. 1 pick, were in play, but it’s unclear if they drew any significant support. Changes, if they had passed, likely would have taken effect for the 2015 lottery, but instead it appears the current system will remain in place for at least one more lottery.
Warriors Sign Sean Kilpatrick
TUESDAY, 5:08pm: Kilpatrick’s deal with Golden State is for the minimum but contains only $35K in guaranteed salary, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter).
MONDAY, 4:59pm: The Warriors have signed shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick, the team announced. The team is limited to giving the minimum salary, but it’s unclear if there’s any guarantee involved for the 24-year-old who went undrafted this summer out of the University of Cincinnati. The addition gives Golden State a full 20-man preseason roster and also allows the Warriors to keep Kilpatrick’s D-League rights should the Warriors turn around and waive him before opening night.
The 6’4″ Kilpatrick poured in 20.6 points in 33.8 minutes per game for the Bearcats this season, though he rejects the idea that he’s merely a scorer, as he told Zach Links of Hoops Rumors before the draft. He averaged 4.3 rebounds in his four-year college career in spite of his height. Kilpatrick was in summer league with the Sixers this year.
Golden State has 13 fully guaranteed deals, partial guarantees with five others, and a non-guaranteed pact with Jason Kapono. The Warriors, like every other team in the league, must trim down to no more than 15 players a week from today.