And-Ones: Union, Ariza, Wizards, O’Neal, Nets
Players union executive director Michele Roberts is making $1.2MM this year, the first of a four-year contract, reports Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg.com. Roberts, who officially began the job this week, tells Soshnick that she can earn an additional $600K each year of the pact via bonuses. Either way, it’s significantly less than the $3MM that predecessor Billy Hunter was making per year. Still, Roberts’ salary is on par with what first-year executive directors for the NFL and Major League Baseball players unions have made of late, as Soshnick points out. There’s more on Roberts amid the latest from around the league, as we pass along:
- Roberts didn’t mince words with Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News in declaring her intention to establish credibility with players and not follow the path of Hunter, whose tenure ended amid allegations of corruption. “I’m sure there are people thinking, ‘Ahh, another politician-like person coming in trying to sell us a bunch of bull,’” Roberts said. “And that’s my job to win them over, to tell them, ‘No, this time it will be different or fire me. I want you to if I even dare replicate my predecessor.’”
- Trevor Ariza was asking for $10MM salaries from the Wizards, but GM Ernie Grunfeld wouldn’t go that high in part because he was pursuing Paul Pierce, writes J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.
- Rasual Butler‘s similarities to Pierce helped him earn a spot on the Wizards preseason roster, but Xavier Silas and Damion James each has a better shot at making it to opening night, as Michael adds in the same piece.
- Warriors GM Bob Myers spoke with veteran center Jermaine O’Neal on Monday, but Myers tells Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle that he still doesn’t have much clarity about whether O’Neal will retire or re-sign with Golden State.
- Jerome Jordan‘s deal with the Nets becomes partially guaranteed for $100K should he remain on the roster through October 25th, not $150K as previously reported, a source tells Robert Windrem of Nets Daily (Twitter link).
- Spurs assistant coach Sean Marks is moving off the bench and returning to the front office in a new role as assistant GM, the team announced. Marks spent two years as an executive before San Antonio made him an assistant coach last season.
Cray Allred contributed to this post.
Wizards, Thunder, Jazz Audition David Stockton
TUESDAY, 11:31pm: Stockton is also scheduled to work out for the Wizards, reports J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Michael cites a hamstring injury to third-string point guard Garrett Temple as a development that has opened the door for Stockton. Washington has 14 of the maximum 15 regular season roster spots occupied with players on fully guaranteed salaries, a group that includes Temple.
MONDAY, 10:13am: The Thunder worked out David Stockton last week, and the undrafted rookie guard will try out for the Jazz this week, sources tell Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. It’ll be the second time the son of Hall-of-Famer John Stockton will work out for Utah, since the Jazz reportedly took a look at him before the draft.
David Stockton was a regular starter this past season for the first time in his four years at Gonzaga, averaging 7.4 points and 4.2 assists in 27.8 minutes per game. He saw sparing action in the summer league with the Suns in July, putting up six points, one assist and three steals in nearly 19 total minutes of action across two games.
It would seemingly be a surprise if Stockton made an opening-night roster, but Oklahoma looks like more fertile territory for him to do so than Utah does, in spite of his connections with the Jazz. The Thunder only have deals with 15 players, though all but Lance Thomas have fully guaranteed salaries. The Jazz have 13 fully guaranteed pacts and four partially guaranteed deals among the 18 they already possess, according to our roster counts.
Wizards Sign Xavier Silas
SEPTEMBER 29TH: The deal is official, the team announced.
SEPTEMBER 23RD: While the team hasn’t announced Silas’ deal, it has been signed, as the RealGM transaction log shows.
SEPTEMBER 15TH, 2:03pm: Silas has put pen to paper on a contract with the Wizards, as he tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link), though there’s been no official announcement from the team yet.
1:03pm: Xavier Silas has committed to a camp deal with the Wizards, reports J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Washington is also close to an agreement that would bring Damion James to camp, Michael adds. Silas is almost certainly getting the minimum salary, and James assuredly would, too, since the Wizards can’t give out any more than that. It’s unclear whether either is in line for any sort of guaranteed salary.
Silas, a 6’5″ shooting guard, is joining the Wizards for the second straight preseason. Washington cut him before opening night last year, and he went on to play in Israel and Argentina. The 26-year-old’s only official NBA experience came in a pair of regular season games and a pair of playoff games for the Sixers in 2011/12.
James has a more extensive NBA track record, having been the 24th pick in the 2010 draft out of Texas. Still, the 6’7″ small forward made it into only 34 games in his first three NBA seasons, all with the Nets. James inked a 10-day contract followed by a deal for the rest of the season with the Spurs in April of this year, but he played in just five regular season games and didn’t appear in the postseason for San Antonio as the team made its championship run.
The Wizards are carrying 13 guaranteed deals plus a $400K partial guarantee on their contract with Glen Rice Jr., so it appears as though Silas and perhaps James would have decent chances to make it to opening night. Washington, which like so many teams is in the Ray Allen sweepstakes, would ideally round out the regular season roster with a wing player, but there’s a strong chance the Wizards will carry fewer than the maximum of 15 players when the regular season begins, according to Michael.
Wizards Sign Daniel Orton For Camp
SEPTEMBER 29TH: The deal is official, the team announced.
SEPTEMBER 23RD: The Wizards are close to signing Daniel Orton for training camp, reports J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Orton is expected to sign a summer contract within the next few days, and it will be non-guaranteed.
Michael reports that Orton also worked out for the Pistons and Lakers, and canceled another workout with the Clippers once they signed Ekpe Udoh. Orton’s conditioning is better than it was during summer league, and Washington was the best fit for the third-year center because they covet frontcourt pieces more than his other suitors, Michael tweets.
The Vartanian/Simmons Sports Management client has played a total of 50 games in parts of the last three seasons with the Magic, Thunder, and Sixers. The big man has averaged 2.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game for his career.
Franklin, Blue Work Out For Wizards
Free agent shooting guards Jamaal Franklin and Vander Blue are working out today at the Verizon Center in Washington, the home court of the Wizards, as Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post observes (Twitter link). It’s not entirely clear whether the Wizards are putting Franklin and Blue through their paces or if they’re working out on their own, but it nonetheless seems as though they’re auditioning for the club one way or another.
Franklin was reportedly in San Antonio last week to work out for the Spurs, with whom he presumably has an in thanks to his connection with former San Diego State teammate Kawhi Leonard. Rumors have been sparse surrounding Blue since the Celtics elected not to re-sign the former Marquette standout following the expiration of his 10-day contract with the team this past season. Blue was in camp last fall with the Sixers, who cut him before opening night, while Franklin spent the season on the Grizzlies roster after Memphis made him the 41st overall pick in 2013. Franklin saw only 165 total minutes in the regular season and playoffs combined, and the Grizzlies waived him in August, using the stretch provision to defray the immediate cost of his guaranteed salary.
The Wizards struck camp deals with Xavier Silas and Damion James last week, bringing their roster to 16. Washington has fully guaranteed deals with 13 players and a partially guaranteed arrangement with Glen Rice Jr., but J. Michael of CSNWashington.com wrote last week that there’s a strong chance that Washington will open the regular season with fewer than 15 players. Even so, Silas told Michael that the Wizards are giving him a “legitimate chance” to make it to opening night, so GM Ernie Grunfeld is apparently in no rush to make decisions.
Eastern Notes: Allen, Chandler, Sixers, Celtics
The Wizards have reached out to Ray Allen once again, J. Michael of CSNWashington.com reports. Washington is still waiting to get a concrete answer from Allen as to whether or not he’s returning for another season, but one possible note of encouragement is that Allen’s agent Jim Tanner hasn’t told the Wizards that they wouldn’t be a free agency option for the veteran shooting guard.
Here’s what else is happening in the Eastern Conference:
- Tyson Chandler takes exception to the rumors that he was traded because he was causing chemistry issues in the Knicks locker room, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com writes. “I did nothing but try to help the culture there the three years I was there,” Chandler said. “You can say I didn’t live up to whatever or you didn’t like the way I played or anything. But to ever question who I am and the type of leader I am in the locker room, I don’t even know where that came from. I honestly don’t know where that came from. I don’t know if Phil put that out there or who put that out there, but to me, that was the ultimate shock. And you don’t have to say that to get rid of me or to trade me. The trade is over. So to judge my character and what I’ve done, you can go look at all my teammates and ask all of my teammates in the past, and the coaches I’ve played for, and I’ve never been a problem and never had a problem. So that was a shock to me that I didn’t appreciate.”
- The 2014/15 season is all about player development for the Sixers and not the won-loss record, Michael Kaskey-Blomain of Philly.com opines. This development includes their unsigned overseas talent like Dario Saric, Jordan McRae, and Vasilije Micic as well, notes Kaskey-Blomain.
- The crew over at HoopsHype previews the Celtics‘ 2014/15 campaign, projecting Boston to finish 4th in the Atlantic Division, and 12th overall in the Eastern Conference.
Wizards Sign Damion James
SEPTEMBER 29TH: The deal is official, the team announced.
SEPTEMBER 18TH: The Wizards have signed small forward Damion James, according to the RealGM transactions log, though the team has yet to make an official announcement. J. Michael of CSNWashington.com reported earlier this week that an agreement was close. It’s almost certainly for the minimum salary, since that’s all the Wizards can give, though it’s unclear whether it involves any guaranteed salary.
It’s the third straight September that James has signed a new deal, and the former 24th overall pick is surely hoping for better luck this time after he failed to make it to opening night on non-guaranteed contracts with the Hawks and Nuggets. The Mark Bartelstein client has nonetheless found his way onto NBA rosters in each of the past two seasons via 10-day contracts, and the Spurs signed him for the final few days of the regular season and the playoffs this spring, though he failed to appear in a postseason game.
Washington has been carrying 13 guaranteed deals, and the team’s contract with Glen Rice Jr. is partially guaranteed, so that seemingly sets up a battle between James and Xavier Silas, both wing players, for the team’s 15th regular season roster spot. Still, it would be somewhat surprising to see the Wizards leave four open spots beneath the 20-man preseason roster limit, and Michael indicated in his report this week that there’s a strong chance the Wizards won’t carry 15 players on opening night.
And-Ones: Rush, Jeter, Terry, Wizards
After a difficult 2013/14 season in which he was granted sporadic playing time while returning from knee surgery in Utah, Brandon Rush tells Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle that he’s feeling positive about his upcoming season with the Warriors. “This is a great situation for me to be able to come back and to be with a winning team,” said Rush. “I’m just going to try to help the team out with little things: rebounding, shooting and playing defense. I’m in a good mood. My head is in on straight. I’m happy with where I’m at…Coming back [to Golden State] was a no-brainer.” Here’s more from around the league:
- Pooh Jeter has no intentions of leaving his Chinese team, despite having a workout lined up with the Lakers, as he tells Hupu (translation via Enea Trapani of Sportando).
- Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders expects the deal in place between the Rockets and Kings, which will send Jason Terry to Houston and Alonzo Gee and Scotty Hopson to Sacramento, will finally transpire within the next 24 hours (Twitter link). Pincus does not expect the Kings to retain either Gee or Hopson, whose contracts are non-guaranteed. The teams initially struck an unofficial agreement on August 31.
- The Wizards are still working out additional players to bring to camp, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Washington will have 16 of the maximum 20 contracts on the books for training camp after the new additions of Xavier Silas and Damion James.
- Brett Koremenos of RealGM looks at the careers of Milos Teodosic, Ante Tomic, and Emir Preldzic, three players caught in the “limbo” between European starring roles and NBA backup spots. While these players shine in international play, their advanced age, on-court shortcomings, and comfort level overseas are barriers to their likehood of signing in the NBA.
Eastern Rumors: James, Chalmers, Nets, Bosh
The Wizards struck a deal with one wing player for training camp, as Xavier Silas has agreed to spend the preseason with Washington for the second year in a row, and the team is nearing a deal with Damion James, another wingman, as Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post confirms, echoing the report we passed along earlier today from J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Here’s more from the East:
- Heat GM Andy Elisburg called Mario Chalmers before he re-signed with the team this summer to assure him that he was still in their plans and that they just needed to see what LeBron James would decide before circling back to them, as Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick writes. Before that, Chalmers had been full of doubt about his free agency, as he tells Skolnick. “I didn’t think I’d be back,” Chalmers said. “I didn’t think that at all. I didn’t even think the Heat would want me back, to be honest. That’s how I felt like my playoff performance was, that they didn’t want me back, they wanted to go another direction. So that was in my mind, too, but I was, like, if it happens, it happens.”
- Deron Williams told reporters including Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News that he hasn’t spoken with Jason Kidd since the former Nets coach left Brooklyn for Milwaukee. “I think it surprised everybody,” Williams said. “I don’t think anybody saw that coming. It was out of nowhere. I don’t even know enough about the situation. I’ve heard a lot of things, as you guys probably have, so I don’t know exactly what happened, but we’re excited about Lionel Hollins being our next coach and we wish J-Kidd the best of luck in Milwaukee, but we’re excited about Lionel.”
- Hollins told reporters including Tim Bontemps of the New York Post that Kevin Garnett will be the Nets‘ starting power forward this season (Twitter link). All indications have been that the veteran big will play this season, and this should put to bed rumblings of an early retirement for good. The coach said that retirement hasn’t even been a point of discussion with Garnett, tweets Bondy.
- In a mailbag answer, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel suggests that the Heat will have overpaid for Chris Bosh if he doesn’t return to the player he was in Toronto. Miami inked Bosh to the second-biggest contract of the summer once LeBron decided to head back to Cleveland.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: Williams, Heat, Bucks
Lou Williams has a renewed sense of purpose this season after being traded to the Raptors, Holly MacKenzie of NBA.com writes. On joining Toronto, Williams said, “I think one of the best benefits of it is being in a position where you feel wanted. When they traded for me and had the conversation, they want me here. It wasn’t a money thing. It wasn’t just something to do. They felt they had a void they needed to fill coming off the bench and I’m excited to help. I feel wanted. I feel like I have a responsibility with this basketball team and that’s the best way I can operate.”
Here’s more from around the east:
- The Heat announced that former head coach and longtime assistant coach Ron Rothstein has retired from coaching. Miami also announced that assistant coach Bob McAdoo will become a scout for the team as well as a community liaison. “Both Ron and Bob were instrumental in the success of the Heat and their contributions to our three championships cannot be overstated,” said team President Pat Riley. “They are Heat lifers and I’m happy that they will continue to be an important part of the organization as they evolve into their new roles within the Heat family.”
- Howard Eisley will be joining coach Randy Wittman‘s staff with the Wizards, the team announced. Eisley has spent the last four seasons as an assistant for the Clippers.
- Marc Lasry, the co-owner of the Bucks, thinks that it will take three to five years to turn around the franchise’s fortunes, Don Walker of the Journal-Sentinel writes.