Wolves To Exercise Options On Three For 2015/16
OCTOBER 19TH, 2:10pm: The Wolves confirmed the exercising of the options via Twitter.
OCTOBER 16TH: The Wolves are set to pick up their 2015/16 rookie scale team options on Anthony Bennett. Gorgui Dieng and Shabazz Muhammad, as Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities hears (Twitter link). Bennett’s option will add more than $5.8MM to the team’s books for that season, while Muhammad will make in excess of $2MM and Dieng will be due nearly $1.5MM, as seen on our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker. Minnesota has until October 31st to make the decisions official.
Bennett, the No. 1 overall pick from 2013, came to the team in the Kevin Love trade after a thoroughly disappointing rookie campaign. He went 0 for 15 from the floor over his first four games, and the 6’8″ forward wound up shooting just 35.6% in 12.8 minutes per game across 52 appearances last season. Still, he holds promise, as does Muhammad, the 2012 McDonald’s All-American MVP who was the 14th pick in that same 2013 draft. Muhammad saw just 7.8 MPG in 37 contests for Minnesota, which sent him on D-League assignment during the season. Dieng was the lowest pick among the three, at No. 21, but he probably had the best rookie campaign, grabbing 5.0 rebounds per night in 13.6 MPG over 60 games.
The options on all three would bring the team’s commitments to more than $36.4MM for 2015/16, but there are several decisions that stand to make that figure go up. The team is reportedly willing to shell out at least $48MM over four years in an extension for Ricky Rubio, while player options for Thaddeus Young, Chase Budinger and Corey Brewer total nearly $20MM put together.
Kings Exercise Option On Ben McLemore
The Kings announced that they have picked up the 2015/16 option on guard Ben McLemore‘s contract. The move was something of a formality as it was widely expected.
The guard averaged 8.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 26.7 minutes per contest as a rookie last season. On the surface, the two guard didn’t have a hard time adjusting to the pros as he saw time in all 82 games in 2013/14. McLemore’s name was brought up in trade rumors more than once last year, particularly in connection with Celtics star Rajon Rondo. Nothing came from those talks, however, and McLemore could prove to be an integral part of the Kings’ future.
Cavs Waive Chris Crawford, Stephen Holt
The Cavs announced that they have waived guards Chris Crawford and Stephen Holt. The Cavs’ roster now stands at 16.
Crawford appeared in five preseason games for the Cavs, averaging 2.4 points and 1.6 assists in 7.6 minutes per game. Cleveland signed Crawford late last month to a one-year, non-guaranteed pact. The Memphis product, who was with the Rockets in summer league, averaged just 8.7 PPG as a senior after putting up 10.4 PPG in his junior season.
Holt’s release was expected as David Pick of Eurobasket.com reported yesterday that he was headed to the Cavs’ D-League affiliate. Holt, also signed in late September, played in two preseason games and averaged 3.0 points in 2.3 minutes per game. The 23-year-old went undrafted out of Saint Mary’s back in 2012 after averaging 10.8 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 2.4 APG for his collegiate career.
This marks the second time in the past few weeks that the Cavs have waived Crawford. The guard was waived to make room for the club’s acquisition of Keith Bogans and collected on his $20K partial guarantee. When Bogans was traded to the Sixers, he was then re-signed to the non-guaranteed deal that was terminated today.
Bulls Waive English, Hansbrough, Jones
The Bulls have officially waived Kim English, Ben Hansbrough, and Solomon Jones, the team announced in a press release. All three players were in training camp on non-guaranteed minimum salary arrangements, so the Bulls aren’t on the hook for any money. All three players signed with Chicago back on September 26th, and were considered longshots to make the final cut on a deep and talented Bulls roster.
These moves reduce Chicago’s preseason roster count to 14 players, with 12 of those deals being fully guaranteed. The lone player remaining with a non-guaranteed arrangement is Nazr Mohammed, but with the Bulls one under the 15 player regular season limit, Mohammed’s spot isn’t in any immediate danger.
Jones appeared in 11 games with the Magic last season, averaging 1.3 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 7.7 minutes per game before Orlando waived him. The 30-year-old also played for the Knicks D-League affiliate, and also traveled to play in a Chinese league during the summer.
The 2012/13 season is the only campaign that Hansbrough and English spent any time on an NBA regular season roster. Hansbrough averaged 7.2 minutes per game for the Pacers that year and contributed 2.0 PPG. English logged 9.9 MPG in 41 games for the Pistons, averaging 2.9 PPG. Both players have spent time overseas, Hansbrough with Gran Canaria in Spain, while English was with Montepaschi Siena in Italy.
Pelicans Waive Dionte Christmas
The Pelicans have waived Dionte Christmas, the team announced. The one-year veteran came to training camp on a non-guaranteed contract, so New Orleans isn’t stuck paying him any salary. The move brings the team’s roster to 17, with at least two more subtractions to come in the 10 days before the October 27th deadline to set the opening-night roster.
Christmas appeared in just one preseason game for four minutes this month, and he didn’t see much playing time with the Suns last season, even though the favorite of GM Ryan McDonough stuck on the Phoenix roster for all of 2013/14. The 28-year-old swingman totaled just 198 minutes last year, though he recorded a 11.1 PER that’s not too shabby for a player at the end of a team’s bench.
New Orleans has 12 fully guaranteed deals plus partially guaranteed salary for three more. Darius Miller has the largest partial guarantee at $400K, but neither Luke Babbitt nor Patric Young is assured of more than $100K as they attempt to keep Kevin Jones and D.J. Stephens, who have non-guaranteed contracts, from grabbing their spots.
Celtics, Pistons Swap Joel Anthony, Will Bynum
The Celtics have officially sent Joel Anthony to the Pistons for Will Bynum, the teams announced in separate press releases. Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com originally reported the deal (Twitter link). It’s a money-saving arrangement for Boston, as Forsberg points out (on Twitter), since Bynum’s salary of slightly more than $2.9MM is less than Anthony’s $3.8MM take. Both are in the final seasons of their respective contracts. Detroit and Boston have 16 fully guaranteed contracts apiece, so they make odd trade partners as the October 27th deadline for teams to pare down to 15 players looms, and the salaries for Anthony and Bynum are both fully guaranteed.
The swap helps the Celtics forge some breathing room beneath the $76.829MM tax threshold, as Forsberg alludes to in his full story, since the guaranteed money they have on the books leaves them only about $1.2MM shy of that line. Substituting Bynum for Anthony gives Boston about $2MM in flexibility beneath that threshold. The Pistons are under the cap and are in no danger of paying the tax, but their motivation is less clear. It’s conceivable that the acquisition of Anthony is related to other moves the team is seeking, since Detroit is reportedly interested in trading for Wolves small forward Chase Budinger. Sending Bynum away leaves the Pistons with just two point guards in Brandon Jennings and D.J. Augustin unless they intend to keep Lorenzo Brown‘s non-guaranteed deal.
The 31-year-old Bynum averaged 18.8 minutes per game across 56 appearances last season, but he didn’t figure to receive that much playing time again this season after the Pistons added Augustin in the offseason. Still, the veteran who’s spent the past six seasons in Detroit expressed pleasure with Stan Van Gundy last month, so it doesn’t appear that he’s pushed his way out of the Motor City. Bynum doesn’t figure to find many minutes to go around in Boston, either, with Rajon Rondo, Marcus Smart and Phil Pressey at his position, though he’d probably be in line for significant playing time if the Celtics trade Rondo without bringing in another point guard in return.
Anthony unsurprisingly exercised his player option this past summer to stay under contract after a season in which he played fewer than 200 total minutes. Anthony was an important defender off the bench for the Heat when Miami signed him to his five-year, $18.25MM deal in 2010, and he started the majority of the regular season for the Heat’s 2011/12 championship team, but his role shrank as Miami moved to a small-ball attack. The Heat sought to rid themselves of his salary when they sent him to Boston in a January trade, and Celtics coach Brad Stevens largely kept Anthony planted to the bench. The 32-year-old will be no better than third on the center depth chart behind Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe in Detroit, but he will at least provide some insurance with Aaron Gray out indefinitely with heart trouble.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Daniel Orton To Play In China
9:45pm: Orton has signed with Shanxi Zhongyu of the Chinese Basketball Association, Shams Charania of RealGM notes (Twitter link).
3:20pm: Daniel Orton will sign with a Chinese team after the Wizards released him earlier today, reports J. Michael of CSNWashington (on Twitter). The 24-year-old asked the Wizards to release him so that he would be free to head overseas, Michael also hears (Twitter link). It’s unclear which Chinese team he’s set to join. The deal isn’t yet official and can’t be until he clears NBA waivers Saturday, but Orton is traveling to China this weekend, Michael adds.
It’ll be the first overseas venture for the Ara Vartanian client, who’s spent his pro career in the NBA and the D-League since the Magic made him the 29th overall pick in 2010. The 6’10” center failed to find his footing in the NBA, though his six career starts in the league are more than he made in his lone season at the University of Kentucky, where he backed up DeMarcus Cousins.
The length of the arrangement isn’t clear, but most NBA veterans who head to China do so on one-year deals that allow them to hit the market again during the stretch run of the NBA’s regular season, when the Chinese season is already over. That’s also the time of year when NBA teams can sign players to 10-day contracts, which might prove to be Orton’s path back to the Association.
Bucks Opt In With Antetokounmpo, Henson
The Bucks have exercised their options to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo and John Henson on their respective rookie scale contracts for 2015/16, the team announced. Antetokounmpo will make nearly $2MM that year, the third season of his deal, while Henson is due about $2.9MM for what will be year No. 4 in his pact, as our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker shows.
Neither move is surprising, and that’s especially so for Antetokounmpo, as I suggested in August. The phenom from Greece entered the NBA with many question marks surrounding his game after the Bucks took him 15th overall, but he dazzled with his athleticism even though his numbers, with 6.8 points in 24.6 minutes per game, weren’t nearly as eye-popping. Henson is part of a crowded frontcourt in Milwaukee and found his name in trade rumors this past year, but he’s been efficient when he’s hit the floor, having racked up a career 18.0 PER.
The decisions give the Bucks close to $47MM in guaranteed money on the books for 2015/16, though that doesn’t take into account a $4.25MM early termination option for Jared Dudley. Milwaukee would also reportedly like to reach an extension with Brandon Knight before the October 31st deadline to do so, and if they come to terms, there won’t be much room beneath a projected $66.5MM salary cap for next summer.
Bucks Waive Elijah Millsap, Chris Wright
The Bucks have waived Elijah Millsap and Chris Wright, the team announced. Both were on non-guaranteed deals. The move had been expected for Wright after coach Jason Kidd told reporters last week that the 26-year-old small forward was headed to play in Europe.
Panathinaikos of Greece had interest in Wright but reportedly decided against signing him, so it’s unclear just where he’ll end up. He was with Milwaukee last season on a pair of 10-day contracts before he signed a deal that carried through the rest of 2013/14 and included a non-guaranteed salary for this coming season. Millsap joined Milwaukee this fall for his first taste of NBA preseason action since he was in camp with the Thunder in 2010. The 27-year-old swingman shared his thoughts with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors last month as he readied for his shot with the Bucks.
The cuts leave the Bucks with 16 players, one more than they can have come opening night. Micheal Eric and Kendall Marshall remain as the team’s only non-guaranteed contracts, and with 14 fully guaranteed deals on the books, Marshall will almost certainly be the team’s choice for the final regular season spot.
Wizards Release Daniel Orton
The Wizards have waived Daniel Orton, the team announced (Twitter link). The center’s contract was non-guaranteed, so the team won’t be on the hook for any of what was to have been a minimum salary. The move leaves 17 players on Washington’s roster.
The 24-year-old former first-round pick inked his deal to join the Wizards for camp after working out for the Pistons and canceling another workout with the Clippers once they signed Ekpe Udoh. Orton also reportedly auditioned for the Lakers. The Ara Vartanian client made the Sixers out of camp last year, but Philadelphia waived him in January shortly before his salary was to have become guaranteed for the rest of the season. The 29th overall pick from the 2010 draft proceeded to sign with the D-League in January, and he played 24 games with the affiliate of the Celtics.
Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld still has decisions to make before the team finalizes its opening-night roster. Wing players Rasual Butler, Damion James and Xavier Silas are all on non-guaranteed deals and seemingly competing for the 15th spot, though it’s uncertain whether the team will carry the maximum 15 players when the regular season starts.