Jazz Sign Scott Machado
THURSDAY, 5:40pm: Both Jody Genessy of the Deseret News and Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune pass along that Machado's signing has become official (Twitter links).
TUESDAY, 8:28am: The Jazz have added another player to their training camp roster, having signed Scott Machado, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com (Twitter link). Machado had been waived by the Warriors earlier in the offseason.
Machado, 23, started last season with the Rockets, playing in six games for the team before being released in time for January's guarantee deadline. The Iona product signed with the Warriors late in the season but didn't appear in an NBA contest with Golden State. Machado spent most of the year playing for the two squads that eventually met in the D-League Finals, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and the Santa Cruz Warriors. In 28 games for the two clubs, he averaged 8.9 PPG and 5.1 APG in 24.0 minutes per contest.
The Jazz currently have 12 guaranteed contracts on their roster, along with a partially guaranteed deal for Ian Clark. Jerel McNeal also has a fully non-guaranteed contract, but it looks like Machado will become the first real camp invitee for the club. I expect more will follow, but with a couple regular-season roster spots potentially open, Machado should have a chance to compete for one in camp.
Jazz Waive Jerel McNeal
THURSDAY, 5:05pm: Oram hears that the Jazz waived McNeal because he received a big contract to play overseas (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 5:40pm: The Jazz have announced they have waived point guard Jerel McNeal, tweets Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune. As Oram indicated, McNeal signed two 10-day contracts with the Jazz last year and played with the team in the Orlando Summer League. McNeal, a Marquette product, has never actually appeared in an NBA game despite spending time on league rosters over the past couple of seasons.
As our Luke Adams wrote earlier this month, McNeal's contract with Utah would have guaranteed him at least $884,293 this season if he was not waived on or before October 31st. His release comes one day after the Jazz inked fellow point guard Scott Machado yesterday.
Because the move comes so close to the start of training camp, Steve Luhm of the Tribune can't help but wonder if the Machado signing led to McNeal and his agent requesting his release (Twitter links). However, David Locke of Locked on Jazz tweets that it may have been the late-July addition of Ian Clark that spelled the end for McNeal, since the guards are so similar. Along with Machado and Clark, the Jazz will now have Trey Burke, John Lucas and Alec Burks all capable of running the point in camp.
The Jazz currently have 12 guaranteed contracts on their roster, along with a partially guaranteed deal for Clark.
Jazz To Sign Justin Holiday
The Jazz are expected to sign Justin Holiday to a make-good contract, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Holiday was cut loose by the Sixers last month and waited roughly six weeks to hook on with another club.
The 24-year-old saw time in just nine games for Philly after being signed late last season. The University of Washington product, who is the brother of Jrue Holiday, averaged 17.3 PPG in 47 D-League contests.
Holiday picked up significant interest from Italy after being released by the Sixers, but it's not clear if he was ever giving that serious consideration. The guard also auditioned for the Heat, but he likely feels that his best chance at a roster spot will come from Utah.
Jazz Sign Dwayne Jones
The Jazz have signed free agent center Dwayne Jones to a non-guaranteed deal, tweets RealGM's Shams Charania. Jones last appeared in an NBA game in the 2009/10 season with the Suns, however the Saint Joseph's product did close out last year with Golden State before he was cut in July.
The Jazz have been busy of late, waiving Jerel McNeal earlier tonight only a day after signing Scott Machado, who was coincidentally waived by the Warriors along with Jones on July 24. Both would have received partial guarantees had they not been cut prior to August 1. The Jazz have 12 guaranteed contracts on their roster and a partially guaranteed deal for Ian Clark.
Jazz Sign Scott Machado
The Jazz have added another player to their training camp roster, having signed Scott Machado, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com (Twitter link). Machado had been waived by the Warriors earlier in the offseason.
Machado, 23, started last season with the Rockets, playing in six games for the team before being released in time for January's guarantee deadline. The Iona product signed with the Warriors late in the season but didn't appear in an NBA contest with Golden State. Machado spent most of the year playing for the two squads that eventually met in the D-League Finals, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and the Santa Cruz Warriors. In 28 games for the two clubs, he averaged 8.9 PPG and 5.1 APG in 24.0 minutes per contest.
The Jazz currently have 12 guaranteed contracts on their roster, along with a partially guaranteed deal for Ian Clark. Jerel McNeal also has a fully non-guaranteed contract, but it looks like Machado will become the first real camp invitee for the club. I expect more will follow, but with a couple regular-season roster spots potentially open, Machado should have a chance to compete for one in camp.
Odds & Ends: Jazz, Hawks, Nuggets, Grizzlies
The league and the NBPA are still far apart on a testing policy for human growth hormone (HGH), sources tell Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Stern wanted something in place before the start of the 2013/14 season, but that doesn't seem terribly likely at this point. Officials from the league office and the union met earlier this month to continue discussions on the matter, but a person familiar with the talks told Berger, "Nothing is anywhere near being agreed to." Here's tonight's look around the Association..
- Forward Joe Trapani is working out with the Jazz this week, a source told Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (on Twitter). The 25-year-old Boston College product has been playing in Italy for the last few years.
- Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution sat down with Al Horford of the Hawks for a wide-ranging interview. Atlanta is in a rebuilding phase, but the big man says that he trusts GM Danny Ferry.
- Andre Iguodala feels that he deserves a good amount of credit for the Nuggets' improved defense last season, writes Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post.
- The Grizzlies have officially finalized their coaching staff, announcing the hirings of four assistants, including Elston Turner.
Jazz Rumors: Offseason, Corbin, Burke, Leslie
The Jazz took a step back competitively this summer to open up playing time for their younger guys, and GM Dennis Lindsey promises Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune that the team won't reverse course.
"… We are not running away from the decisions we made," Lindsey said. "We are looking to embrace this and we will embrace it — all the challenges of being so young. I believe we have the talent and character to move forward — incrementally. We are very much looking forward to the start of the journey with this young core group."
Lindsey passed along a couple of other noteworthy tidbits in his conversation with Luhm, and we'll round them up here along with an update on a member of last year's Jazz team:
- The GM explained why the team abandoned its hunt for an annual playoff berth. "We were O.K. with being playoff-competitive as long as we had [salary cap] flexibility, too," he said. "But if we had invested in our veteran players, we were going to lose that flexibility, especially with some other [contract] extensions coming up."
- Lindsey emphasizes a collaborative approach in the front office, which also includes VP of basketball operations Kevin O'Connor and newly hired assistant GM Justin Zanik. Coach Tyrone Corbin has a say, too, and his input was critical in swaying the team to trade for Trey Burke on draft night, Lindsey says.
- Travis Leslie was briefly a member of the Jazz last season, though he didn't appear in a game. He signed with JSF Nanterre in France last month, but comments the team's head coach recently made suggest that Leslie could once more make a quick exit, notes Gabriel Pantel-Jouve of Catch & Shoot (translation via HoopsHype).
Western Notes: Jazz, Lakers, Iguodala, Spurs
Let's round up a few Thursday notes from around the Western Conference….
- In a piece for The Score, Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com explains how Utah's past has informed its present. As Deeks writes, the team is retooling by stocking up on draft picks rather than signing a slew of free agents. The Jazz did the same thing nearly a decade ago, but are doing it better this time around, says Deeks.
- Kobe Bryant's health and his ability to return to form in the 2013/14 season could play a significant role in next summer's free agent market, according to Sam Amick of USA Today, who explains that the Lakers' plans could be significantly affected by whether or not Kobe shows signs of slowing down.
- Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News spoke to Andre Iguodala about working out with his new teammates, as the swingman prepares to enter the first season of his four-year deal with the Warriors.
- The Spurs announced a number of front office promotions and hirings in a press release today. Among them: Director of scouting Brian Pauga has been named the new general manager of the Spurs' D-League affiliate, the Austin Toros.
Knicks Split On Signing Earl Barron
While the Knicks coaching staff would like to add free-agent big man Earl Barron, the team's front office is not in any hurry to do so, writes Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report. This is not the first time we have heard that the Knicks like Barron from Zwerling, who cites several sources in his story, presumably making Barron a solid candidate to land one of the last three Knicks roster spots should they bring him aboard.
Zwerling also confirms what we heard yesterday; that the Knicks have worked out a slew of free agents in preparation for training camp, which he says is contributing to the disagreement on Barron. Zwerling reports that center Hamed Haddadi, who worked out for the Knicks last month, hopes to find a team this week but that team is unlikely to be New York. Cole Aldrich and DeSagana Diop are another pair of free agent big men that have worked out with the Knicks.
Apparently, Barron shot the ball well in his Monday workout with the Jazz. According to Zwerling's source close to Barron, while the free agent hopes to land in New York and may use Utah's interest as leverage to speed up the process, he is not waiting on the Knicks.
Western Rumors: Richardson, Barron, Jazz, Lakers
With training camps set to open in less than two weeks, let's round up a few of the latest notable items out of the Western Conference….
- A report from CentralIllinoisProud.com suggests that former Illinois guard D.J. Richardson has earned a "tryout" with the Jazz. It's not clear whether that means Richardson has been invited to camp or that he's just auditioning for the team, since Utah has been working out plenty of players recently.
- Case in point: Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report tweets that free agent big man Earl Barron worked out for the Jazz yesterday.
- The Lakers intend to evaluate second-round pick Ryan Kelly in about a week to see how his recovery from right foot surgery is coming, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. It's still unclear whether Kelly will get a chance to earn a spot on the Lakers' roster for the coming season.
- There should be plenty of competition in Mavericks camp to see who deserves a look at the small forward position, writes Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. Vince Carter figures to play more at the three after the team signed a handful of guards in free agency, but Shawn Marion, Jae Crowder, and Devin Ebanks could also be in the mix, as Sneed notes.