Week in Review News & Rumors

Injuries were a major part of this past week’s news, with Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler and Pacers 2015 lottery pick Myles Turner both being knocked out of action. Chandler was diagnosed with a labral tear and will undergo hip surgery early next week, ending his 2015/16 season, while Turner will miss at least the next four weeks after suffering a chip fracture in his left thumb. Chandler signed a four-year, $46.5MM extension with Denver during the offseason and he was expected to play a major role for the team, while Turner’s play has been solid thus far, earning him a spot in Indiana’s rotation.

Here’s more from the week that was…

Trades

• The Grizzlies acquired Mario Chalmers and James Ennis from the Heat in exchange for Beno Udrih and Jarnell Stokes.

Free Agent Signings

• The Pelicans signed Jimmer Fredette using the hardship provision for a 16th roster spot.

International

• Jabari Brown agreed to a deal with the Foshan Long Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association.

Waivers

• The Rockets waived Chuck Hayes.

D-League News

• Five-year NBA veteran and Hornets camp cut Elliot Williams signed with the D-League affiliate of the Warriors.
• The Warriors named Chris Murphy as the team president of the Santa Cruz Warriors, their D-League affiliate.
• Henry Sims and Lorenzo Brown signed with the Pistons’ D-League affiliate.
• The Bulls formally announced that they will establish a D-League affiliate that will begin play during the 2016/17 season.

You can stay up to date on all the D-League assignments and recalls for the season here.

Miscellaneous News

• The Heat suspended swingman Gerald Green for two games for what was termed “detrimental conduct.”
• Indiana’s Capital Improvement Board unanimously approved a contract to allow the Pacers to build a $50MM practice facility.
• Hedo Turkoglu officially announced his retirement.

The Mavericks and head coach Rick Carlisle reached an agreement on a five-year, $35MM contract extension this week. Carlisle will finish out his current deal covering both this season as well as 2016/17, which is a team option, and his extension will run through the 2021/22 campaign. The 56-year-old is the president of the NBA Coaches Association and is widely respected around the league. Carlisle led the Mavs to the NBA title in 2011 and has been with the franchise since May 2008, making him the third longest-tenured head coach in the NBA. He won Coach of the Year honors for the Pistons in 2002, which was his first season as an NBA coach. Carlisle led Detroit to back-to-back 50-win seasons before beginning a four-year tenure with the Pacers. He’s 619-431 over 13 full seasons as an NBA head coach, and he owns a 57-58 postseason record. For Dallas, he’s gone 338-220 in the regular season and 27-26 in the playoffs.

Here’s the rest of the happenings from the week that was…

Free Agent Signings

• The Rockets signed Chuck Hayes.
• The Sixers signed Phil Pressey via the hardship provision.
• The Nuggets signed Kostas Papanikolaou.

International

• Nikoloz Tskitishvili signed with Tochigi Brex in Japan.
• Four-year NBA veteran and Grizzlies camp cut Yakhouba Diawara signed with CSP Limoges of France.
• Mavericks camp cut Jarrid Famous signed with Fujian of China.
• Jason Washburn, who was in training camp with the Hornets this season, signed a deal in Kosovo with Sigal Prishtina.
• Henry Walker signed with Cedevita Zagreb of the Croatian League.

You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.

Waivers

• The Nuggets waived Erick Green.

Contract Options

• The Rockets exercised their 2016/17 team option on Clint Capela.
• The Hornets exercised their 2016/17 team option on Cody Zeller.

Contract Extensions

• The Hornets signed Jeremy Lamb to a three-year extension worth approximately $21MM.
• The Raptors signed Terrence Ross to a three-year extension worth nearly $33MM.

D-League News

• The annual D-League Draft was held, and you can view the list of draftees here. You can view the list of players with NBA ties who were eligible for the 2015/16 D-League draft here.
• The Sixers traded their D-League rights to guard J.P. Tokoto to Oklahoma City.
• The Cavs named former player Damon Jones an assistant coach for their D-League team.
• The league released the complete list of affiliate players, which can be viewed here.
• The Nets are establishing a D-League team to serve as their one-to-one affiliate for the 2016/17 season.

You can stay up to date on all the D-League assignments and recalls for the season here.

Miscellaneous News

• Pelicans center Kendrick Perkins is expected to miss three months of action while rehabilitating a right pectoral injury.
• The Nets officially added Randy Ayers and Bob Bender to their player personnel scouting staff.
• Jabari Parker left the Wasserman Media Group and agent B.J. Armstrong, and reportedly agreed to sign with Dr. Charles Tucker for his representation, while Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol are also reportedly looking for new agents.

Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders passed away at the age of 60. Saunders had been battling the effects of cancer treatment and his health situation became dire earlier this month. Changes to way that Saunders‘ body had responded to chemotherapy for Hodgkins’ Lymphoma placed him in a life-threatening situation.

The Wolves had called the ailment a “very treatable and curable form of cancer” in August, when they announced his diagnosis along with the news that Saunders would continue his duties as head coach and president of basketball operations. A shift occurred last month, when Saunders took a leave of absence. Sam Mitchell has been coaching the team and GM Milt Newton running the team’s basketball operations since Saunders took his leave of absence. The team said at that point that he’d experienced complications related to the treatments he was receiving and that he was undergoing tests and further treatment at a hospital.

Saunders coached the Wizards, Pistons and Wolves in a career that spanned 17 seasons and included 654 victories. Saunders’ death was shocking and saddening to many around the league. Saunders was both well-liked and well-respected for a variety of reasons.

Here’s more from the week that was:

Free Agent Signings

•  The Sixers signed Jordan Railey.
• The Pacers signed Terran Petteway.
• The Jazz signed Eric Atkins.
• The Pelicans signed Toney Douglas.

International

• Damien Wilkins, who was recently waived by the Hornets, signed a deal to play for Guaros de Lara of Venezuela.
• Ike Diogu signed with Guangdong Southern Tigers of Chinese Basketball Association.
• Thunder camp cut Julyan Stone signed with Gaziantep of Turkey.
• Scottie Wilbekin, who was waived by the Sixers, signed a two-year, $780K deal with the Turkish club Darussafaka.

You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.

Waivers

Eastern Conference

• The Hawks waived Earl Barron and DeQuan Jones.
• The Cavaliers waived Quinn Cook.
• The Sixers waived J.P. Tokoto.
• The Heat waived John Lucas III, Keith Benson, Tre Kelley, Briante Weber and Greg Whittington.
• The Raptors waived Shannon Scott, Axel Toupane, Michale Kyser, and Ronald Roberts.
• The Pacers waived Kadeem Jack and C.J. Fair.
• The Sixers waived Pierre Jackson.
• The Wizards waived Josh Harrellson, Ish Smith, Jaron Johnson, Jaleel Roberts and Toure Murry.
• The Celtics waived Perry Jones III and Corey Walden.
• The Pistons waived Ryan Boatright.
• The Sixers waived Jordan Railey.
• The Pacers waived Terran Petteway.
• The Pacers waived Toney Douglas.
• The Sixers waived Jordan McRae.
• The Nets waived Justin Harper and Dahntay Jones.
• The Sixers waived Furkan Aldemir.
• The Pistons waived Danny Granger.
• The Sixers waived Scottie Wilbekin.

Western Conference

• The Timberwolves waived Lorenzo Brown, Kleon Penn, and Nick Wiggins.
• The Mavericks waived Samuel Dalembert.
• The Thunder waived Michael Cobbins and Mustapha Farrakhan.
• The Pelicans waived Jeff Adrien, as well as Bryce Dejean-Jones and Bo McCalebb.
• The Mavericks waived Brandon Ashley, Tu Holloway, and Jamil Wilson.
• The Spurs waived Julian Washburn.
• The Grizzlies waived Ryan Hollins.
• The Suns waived Henry Sims.
• The Rockets waived Joshua Smith and Arsalan Kazemi.
• The Nuggets waived Nick Johnson, Oleksiy Pecherov and Devin Sweetney.
• The Grizzlies waived Yakhouba Diawara, Sampson Carter, Lazeric Jones and Alex Stepheson.
• The Jazz waived Phil Pressey and Eric Atkins.
• The Mavericks waived Maurice Ndour.
• The Lakers waived Jabari Brown.
• The Pelicans waived Nate Robinson.

Claims

• The Jazz claimed Phil Pressey off waivers.

Contract Options

• The Magic exercised their rookie scale options on Aaron Gordon, Victor Oladipo, Shabazz Napier and Elfrid Payton.
• The Pistons exercised team options on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Bullock.
• The Clippers exercised their third-year option on C.J. Wilcox.
• The Grizzlies exercised their third-year option on Jordan Adams.
• The Hawks exercised their rookie scale options on Tim Hardaway Jr. and Dennis Schröder.
• The Suns exercised their 2016/17 options on Archie Goodwin, Alex Len and T.J. Warren.
• The Bucks exercised their rookie scale options for 2016/17 on Tyler Ennis, Jabari Parker, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Michael Carter-Williams.
• The Spurs exercised their 2016/17 team option on Kyle Anderson.
• The Bulls exercised their third-year team option on Doug McDermott and fourth-year team option on Tony Snell.
• The Sixers exercised their team options for 2016/17 on Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel and Nik Stauskas.
• The Celtics exercised their third-year options on Marcus Smart and James Young, and their fourth-year option on Kelly Olynyk.

D-League News

• Toure’ Murry will start the season in the D-League.
• The Hornets‘ new D-League team will be located in Greensboro, North Carolina, and it will begin play in 2016/17.
• Coby Karl and Derrick Alston were officially hired by the Knicks‘ D-League affiliate in Westchester as assistant coaches.
• Cady Lalanne, who was selected by the Spurs with the No. 55 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, signed with San Antonio’s D-League affiliate.
• Knicks 2014 second-rounder Thanasis Antetokounmpo signed with the Westchester Knicks, New York’s D-League affiliate.
• Jimmer Fredette signed a D-League contract and will be eligible for the D-League draft.
• Perry Jones III and Jeff Ayres signed D-League contracts and entered the D-League draft.
• Michael Frazier, who was waived by the Lakers last week, signed with the team’s D-League affiliate.
• Jarell Eddie will rejoin the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s D-League affiliate.
• The Bulls are looking to start up their own D-League affiliate that would play in the Sears Center, which is located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Miscellaneous News

• Harrison Barnes decided against an extension with the Warriors and the sides called off talks. Barnes heads to restricted free agency in the summer of 2016.
• Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas are passing on signing rookie scale extensions with the Rockets and will instead set themselves up for restricted free agency this coming summer.
• The Pistons expect Jodie Meeks to miss the next 12 to 16 weeks as he recovers from a broken right foot.
• Kentucky freshman Skal Labissiere has received NCAA eligibility to play the 2015/16 season.
• The YES Network and the Nets reportedly reached a new local television rights deal, the team announced. The agreement, which will kick in for the 2017/18 season, will give the team “substantially more” than $40MM a year and repair a revenue stream that lagged far behind local TV deals for other large-market teams.
• Hawks shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha will file a civil lawsuit against New York City, its police department and the officers involved for injuries suffered during his arrest outside a Manhattan night club in April.
• Agent Michael Tellem, the son of former agent turned Pistons organization executive Arn Tellem, is leaving the Wasserman Media Group for the Creative Artists Agency and taking high-profile client Danilo Gallinari with him.
• Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the company that owns the Raptors, hired Air Canada executive Michael Friisdahl as the new president and CEO.
• The Jazz named Linda Luchetti the team’s vice president of basketball operations.
• Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is close to acquiring majority control of the Nassau Coliseum.

The Cavaliers and restricted free agent power forward Tristan Thompson signed a five-year, $82MM deal, finally ending the power forward’s holdout. Cleveland had held the upper hand in these negotiations since Thompson’s choices were limited to signing a long term deal with the Cavs, signing an offer sheet with another team, or continuing to sit out. March 1st would have been the last day for him to sign an offer sheet this season, if the drama dragged on that long, and if he held out all season, Cleveland would have had the chance to issue another qualifying offer to renew his restricted free agency next July. The 24-year-old becomes the sixth highest paid power forward in the league behind Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap, and David Lee.

Here’s more from the week that was…

Free Agent Signings

Eastern Conference

• The Cavaliers signed Jack Cooley.
• The Heat signed Briante Weber.
• The Thunder signed Michael Cobbins and Mustapha Farrakhan.
• The Pistons signed Ryan Boatright.

Western Conference

• The Jazz signed E.J. Singler.
• The Warriors signed Xavier Henry.
• The Spurs signed Julian Washburn.

Overseas

•  Quincy Miller signed with the Serbian team Red Star Belgrade.

You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.

Waivers

Eastern Conference

• The Cavaliers waived Chris Johnson.
• The Bucks waived Jorge Gutierrez, Marcus Landry and Josh Powell.
• The Celtics waived Coty Clarke, Malcolm Miller and Levi Randolph.
• The Nets waived Ryan Boatright, Quincy Miller and Chris Daniels.
• The Heat waived Corey Hawkins.
• The Pistons waived Cartier Martin, Adonis Thomas and Jordan Bachynski.
• The Magic waived Keith Appling and Jordan Sibert.
• The Cavs waived Nick Minnerath.
• The Hawks waived Terran Petteway.
• The Bulls waived Jordan Crawford and Marcus Simmons.
• The Magic waived Greg Stiemsma.
• The Magic waived Melvin Ejim.
• The Hornets waived Jason Washburn, Damien Wilkins, Sam Thompson, and Elliot Williams.
• The Cavs waived Jack Cooley, Dionte Christmas, Austin Daye and D.J. Stephens.
• The Knicks waived Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Darion Atkins and DaJuan Summers, Travis Trice and Wesley Saunders.
• The Magic waived Nnanna Egwu.

Western Conference

• The Spurs waived Keifer Sykes.
• The Lakers waived Robert Upshaw and Michael Frazier.
• The Spurs waived Jimmer Fredette.
• The Jazz waived Bryce Cotton and Treveon Graham.
• The Spurs waived Deshaun Thomas and Youssou Ndoye.
• The Kings waived David Stockton.
• The Jazz waived E.J. Singler.
• The Thunder waived Michael Qualls, Talib Zanna, Julyan Stone, and Dez Wells.
• The Mavs waived Jarrid Famous.
• The Warriors waived Chris Babb, Jarell Eddie, Xavier Henry and Chris Udofia.
• The Blazers waived Phil Pressey and Omari Johnson.
• The Lakers waived Jonathan Holmes.
• The Rockets waived Jeremy Tyler, Chris Walker, Will Cummings and Denzel Livingston.

Contract Options

• The Jazz exercised third-year options on Dante Exum and Rodney Hood and fourth-year options on Trey Burke and Rudy Gobert.
• The Wolves exercised their options on Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Dieng and Adreian Payne.
• The Magic exercised their options on Aaron Gordon, Victor Oladipo, Shabazz Napier and Elfrid Payton.
• The Thunder exercised the fourth-year options on Steven Adams and Andre Roberson in addition to their third-year option on Mitch McGary.

D-League News

• Combo forward Coty Clarke, who was waived by the Celtics on Tuesday, will play this season for Boston’s D-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.

Miscellaneous News

• Pelicans swingman Tyreke Evans underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and he is expected to be out of action for six to eight weeks.
• Al Horford hired BDA Sports founder Bill Duffy as his agent.
• Vanderbilt junior center/forward Damian Jones says he plans to enter the 2016 draft.
• Spurs coach/president Gregg Popovich will succeed Mike Krzyzewski as head coach of Team USA.

The Cavs reportedly withdrew their five-year, $80MM offer to Tristan Thompson when his qualifying offer expired on October 1st. The sides were reportedly close to a deal for those terms on the first day of free agency in July, but instead they’ve been locked into a stalemate ever since, with Thompson’s camp apparently insistent on a max deal of either five years or three.

Thompson remains a restricted free agent, but only the Trail Blazers have the cap flexibility to sign him to a max offer sheet, and aside from them, only the Sixers can come close. The last day for Thompson to accept an offer sheet would be March 1st, if he still remains unsigned at that point. Should his free agency linger into next summer, the Cavaliers would have the opportunity to make a new qualifying offer by June 30th to continue his restricted free agency.

Here’s more from the week that was…

Free Agent Signings

Eastern Conference

• The Cavaliers signed Dionte Christmas.

Western Conference

• The Pelicans signed Jerome Jordan.
• The Pelicans signed Mirza Begić.
• The Pelicans signed Nate Robinson.
• The Pelicans signed Bo McCalebb.
• The Warriors agreed to a deal with Chris Udofia.

Overseas

• Nikoloz Tskitishvili signed a deal to play in China.
• Matt Janning signed with Hapoel Jerusalem.

You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.

Waivers

Eastern Conference

• The Hawks waived Edgar Sosa and Arsalan Kazemi.
• The Bulls waived Jake Anderson and Stefhon Hannah.

Western Conference

• The Warriors waived Tony Mitchell.
• The Rockets claimed Arsalan Kazemi off waivers from the Hawks.
• The Jazz waived J.J. O’Brien and Jack Cooley.
• The Warriors waived Ben Gordon.
• The Kings waived Marshall Henderson and Vince Hunter.
• The Suns waived Terrico White and Kyle Casey.
• The Nuggets waived Matt Janning.
• The Pelicans waived Corey Webster.
• The Jazz waived Grant Jerrett.
• The Warriors waived Juwan Staten.
• The Pelicans waived Mirza Begić.
• The Pelicans waived Jerome Jordan.

Contract Options

• The Nuggets picked up third-year team options on Gary Harris and Jusuf Nurkic for the 2016/17 season.
• The Lakers exercised their team option for the 2016/17 season on Julius Randle‘s rookie scale contract.

D-League News

• The NBA is reportedly exploring the possibility of having a D-League team in Omaha, Nebraska.

Miscellaneous News

• Vaunted European coach Panagiotis Giannakis is reportedly looking for an NBA bench opportunity.
• Former NBA player Pops Mensah-Bonsu officially retired.
• Blazers power forward Ed Davis switched representation from Relativity Sports to IT Sports Management and agent Paolo Zamorano.

Knicks coach Derek Fisher and Grizzlies small forward Matt Barnes reportedly had a physical confrontation last Saturday in Los Angeles and Fisher is considering legal action for the incident, but has not yet filed any charges. The Knicks, Grizzlies and NBA security have been made aware of the incident and are expected to soon start working together on a probe of the events. “We are aware and currently gathering information regarding today’s report involving Matt Barnes,” the Grizzlies said in a press release. The conflict stemmed from Fisher’s romantic involvement with the estranged wife of Barnes, a former teammate, and when Barnes found out, he allegedly attacked Fisher. Fisher and Barnes’ ex, Gloria Govan, have reportedly been dating for a few months,  a relationship that began after Fisher filed to divorce his wife of 10 years, Candace, this past March.

Here’s more from the week that was…

Free Agent Signings

Eastern Conference

• The Hornets signed Damien Wilkins.
• The Pacers signed Kadeem Jack.
• The Cavaliers reached an agreement with Dionte Christmas.

Western Conference

• The Grizzlies signed Sampson Carter.
• The Grizzlies signed Alex Stepheson.
• The Pelicans agreed to a deal with Greg Smith, but Smith failed his physical.

Overseas

• Travis Wear signed with Gipuzkoa Basket of Spain.
• Arinze Onuaku signed with Israeli powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv.

You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.

Waivers

Eastern Conference

• The Pistons waived Eric Griffin.
• The Bucks waived Jon Horford and Charlie Westbrook.

Western Conference

• The Clippers waived center Nikoloz Tskitishvili.
• The Grizzlies waived Daniel Nwaelele.
• The Suns waived Deonte Burton.
• The Grizzlies waived Michael Holyfield.

Contract Options

• The Kings exercised their $4,008,882 team option on Ben McLemore‘s rookie scale deal for 2016/17.

D-League News

• The Pacers officially named Steve Gansey as the head coach of their new D-League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
• The Knicks hired Mike Miller as the coach of their D-League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks.
• The Spurs hired Patrick Mutombo and A.J. Diggs as assistant coaches for their D-League affiliate, the Austin Spurs.

Miscellaneous News

• Hornets small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder and underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair the damage. He is expected to miss the entire 2015/16 campaign as a result.
• Free agent center Nazr Mohammed is considering retiring.
• Prominent NBA agent Happy Walters left Relativity Media and its Relativity Sports offshoot.
• Top 2016 draft prospect Skal Labissiere has reportedly not yet received NCAA clearance to play this season at Kentucky.
• The National Football League gave its OK to Stan Kroenke’s plan to transfer ownership of the Nuggets to his wife, Ann Walton Kroenke, satisfying an NFL rule barring its owners from also owning another pro sports team in an NFL city.
• A Manhattan Criminal Court jury found Thabo Sefolosha not guilty on all three charges levied against him for his involvement in an April incident with New York City police.

Markieff Morris surprisingly declared “I want to be here” as he addressed reporters at Suns media day earlier this week, declining to otherwise address his tumultuous offseason relationship with the team. Morris had demanded a trade in August, weeks after the team dealt his twin brother to the Pistons. Morris had said even as he made his trade demand that he would show up for camp, but it’s a bit surprising to see him seemingly put his frustration with the Suns behind him after not backing down in early September, tweeting that, “My future will not be in Phoenix.” That remark earned Morris a $10K fine from the league.

The former 13th overall pick had indicated that he planned not to talk to the Suns front office and to answer coach Jeff Hornacek only with one-word responses, but he appears to have changed that stance after making his media day declaration. In any case, he’s due $8MM this season in the first year of a four-year, $32MM extension that he signed at the same time his brother inked a four-year, $20MM extension with the team in the hopes that the pair would be together for the long term.

Here’s more from the week that was…

Free Agent Signings

Eastern Conference

• The Sixers signed J.P. Tokoto, T.J. McConnell, Jordan McRae and Christian Wood.
• The Raptors signed Anthony Bennett.
• The Hawks waived the retiring Jason Richardson.
• The Heat signed John Lucas III.
• The Heat signed Tre Kelley.
• The Bulls signed Marcus Simmons and Jake Anderson.
• The Cavaliers signed Michael Dunigan.
• The Hawks signed Arsalan Kazemi.
• The Bulls signed Stefhon Hannah.
• The Pacers agreed to a deal with Kadeem Jack.

Western Conference

• The Grizzlies signed Yakhouba Diawara, Ryan Hollins, Michael Holyfield, Lazeric Jones and Daniel Nwaelele.
• The Spurs signed Rasual Butler and Deshaun Thomas.
• The Warriors signed Ben Gordon.
• The Nuggets signed Mike Miller.

Overseas

• Michael Beasley signed with Shandong of the Chinese Basketball Association.

You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.

Waivers

• The Sixers waived Gerald Wallace.
• The Nuggets waived Kostas Papanikolaou.
• The Blazers waived Mike Miller after reaching an agreement on a buyout.

Contract Options

• The Rockets reportedly intend to exercise their team option to keep center Clint Capela on his rookie scale contract for the 2016/17 season.
• The Raptors exercised their team options for 2016/17 on the rookie scale contracts of Bruno Caboclo and Lucas Nogueira.
• The Trail Blazers exercised their rookie scale team options for the 2016/17 season with C.J. McCollum, Mason Plumlee and Noah Vonleh.
• The Wizards exercised their team option on Otto Porter‘s rookie scale deal for 2016/17.

D-League News

• Second-round pick Andrew Harrison will sign with the D-League affiliate of the Grizzlies.
• Heat assistant Dan Craig was officially named as head coach of the franchise’s D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

Miscellaneous News

• Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is taking a leave of absence from the team in order to focus on his recovery and rehabilitation from back surgery. Luke Walton will act as interim head coach.
• The Bucks signed John Henson to a four-year contract extension.
• The Bucks hired longtime NBA executive Rod Thorn as a special consultant.
• The Lakers hired Hall-of-Famer James Worthy to work with the team’s coaching staff.
• Cavaliers swingman Iman Shumpert will miss the next 12-14 weeks because of a wrist injury.

The Milwaukee Common Council voted to approve the city’s $47MM portion of the public funding for a new Bucks arena, meaning the funding plan for the project has crossed the final barrier. The $500MM building still needs the council’s approval for its design, with that matter likely to come to the table this fall. Still, it appears the arena is well on its way to becoming a reality, even though minority owner and team executive Mike Fascitelli recently admitted the arena might not open until the fall of 2018, one year after the NBA’s deadline. The state, Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee are ponying up half the cost of the arena, with current and former Bucks owners reportedly paying the other $250MM of the estimated cost.

Here’s more from the week that was…

Free Agent Signings

• The Knicks signed DaJuan Summers.
• The Warriors signed Tony Mitchell.
• The Thunder signed Julyan Stone.
• The Cavaliers agreed to a contract with Austin Daye.
• The Grizzlies and Ryan Hollins agreed to a deal.
• The Nets signed Chris Daniels.
• The Lakers signed Metta World Peace.
• The Clippers agreed to a deal with Luc Mbah a Moute.
• The Magic signed Greg Stiemsma and Nnanna Egwu.
• The Grizzlies signed Dan Nwaelele.
• The Wizards agreed to a contract with Jaron Johnson.
• The Grizzlies agreed to a deal with Yakhouba Diawara.
• The Trail Blazers signed forward Omari Johnson.
• The Rockets agreed to a deal with Jeremy Tyler.
• The Raptors agreed to sign Anthony Bennett.
• The Cavaliers agreed to sign center Chris Johnson.
• Jordan McRae reportedly signed his required tender from the Sixers.
• The Hawks signed Earl Barron.

You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.

Waivers

• The Timberwolves and Anthony Bennett reached an agreement on a buyout arrangement.
• The Grizzlies waived Patrick Christopher.
• The Nuggets waived Kostas Papanikolaou.

D-League News

• Former Kentucky center Dakari Johnson will sign with the Thunder’s D-League affiliate. Oklahoma City drafted the 7-footer 48th overall this past June.
• Magic second-round pick Tyler Harvey will spend the season with the D-League affiliate of the Magic, who drafted him 51st overall in June.
• Heat assistant Dan Craig was hired as head coach of the franchise’s D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

Miscellaneous News

• The Warriors reportedly offered Harrison Barnes a four-year, $64MM contract extension proposal, which was rejected by the forward’s camp.
• The Wizards reportedly offered an extension to Bradley Beal, but it was worth less than the maximum salary he’s seeking because the team wants to preserve cap flexibility for next summer.
• Veteran NBA shooting guard Jason Richardson announced his retirement.
• Luke Ridnour will reportedly sit out this season and it’s likely he won’t play in the league again.
• Bulls small forward Mike Dunleavy underwent a successful low back microdiscectomy procedure and he is expected to be out of action for 8-10 weeks.
• Thunder director of strategic planning Jason Ranne is headed back to the Wasserman Media Group, which used to employ him, for an executive position within the agency.
• The Blazers promoted associate video coordinator Jim Moran to assistant coach.
• Three-year NBA veteran Chris Singleton signed with Lokomotiv Kuban of Russia.
• The Spurs announced that they’ve hired former Magic head coach Jacque Vaughn as a pro scout.

A few NBA GMs reportedly believe that it’s possible that the NBA draft will expand by a round or two once the D-League has 30 teams. Such a move would require union approval and wouldn’t likely take place until every NBA team has a D-League affiliate. The Nets and Hornets have a goal of starting up one-to-one D-League affiliates in time for the 2016/17 season, and almost all of the 11 teams currently without a D-League affiliate have expressed interest in following suit within the next few years, according to TNT’s David Aldridge.

“With those independent teams, we’re in varying stages of expansion discussions,” D-League president Malcolm Turner said to Aldridge. “No question, it’s a process. Several months ago we added Toronto and they’ll start next season, and with the Indy purchase of Fort Wayne we’ll have all our teams affiliated. For 2016/17 we’re focused on adding two and perhaps three teams. Beyond that, while we haven’t written anything in stone, expansion and 30 for 30 is definitely in the discussions for us.”

Here’s more from the week that was…

Free Agent Signings

• The Wizards and Josh Harrellson agreed to a training camp deal.
• The Rockets agreed to a deal with No. 32 overall pick Montrezl Harrell.
• The Grizzlies signed Patrick Christopher.
• The Pelicans and Chris Douglas-Roberts agreed to a deal.
• The Pelicans agreed to a training camp deal with Corey Webster.
• The Timberwolves agreed to a training camp deal with center Kleon Penn.
• The Hawks agreed to a deal with small forward DeQuan Jones.
• The Pistons agreed to a deal with center Jordan Bachynski.
• The Rockets agreed to a deal with center Joshua Smith.
• The Timberwolves agreed to a deal with swingman Nick Wiggins.
• The Cavaliers agreed to a deal with forward Nick Minnerath.
• The Heat agreed to a training camp deal with John Lucas III.
• The Bulls agreed to a deal with Jordan Crawford.
• The Hawks agreed to a deal with point guard Edgar Sosa.
• The Nets signed Justin Harper.

You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.

Waivers

• The Rockets waived guard Remi Yusuf.

Miscellaneous News

• Restricted free agent Norris Cole accepted his qualifying offer from the Pelicans.
• The Mavericks reportedly held out hope as recently as late June that they could convince Steve Nash to come out of retirement to play for them this coming season.
• The Bucks extended the contract of GM John Hammond through the 2016/17 season, the team announced.
• Pacers owner Herb Simon is pursuing legal means to keep the estate of his late brother and his brother’s widow from claiming part ownership of the team.
• Cavs draft-and-stash prospect Edin Bavcic signed with Sopron of Hungary.
• The Raptors officially named Tim Lewis, Nathaniel Mitchell, and David Gale as assistant coaches for their D-League affiliate.
• The Sixers reportedly don’t expect that draft-and-stash prospect Jordan McRae will be at training camp in spite of an August report that he would be.
• Harrison Barnes parted ways with agent Jeff Wechsler of 24/7 Sports Management. Barnes replaced him with Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports Management.
• Jerrelle Benimon agreed to play for the Foshan Long Lions of China, and he pulled out of his reported deal with the Cavaliers to do so.
• The Hawks officially named Michael Blackstone as assistant GM, John Treloar as Director of Player Personnel, Malik Rose as Manager of Basketball Operations, Dotun Akinwale as Manager of Scouting, Matt Elijah as Manager of Basketball Administration, Daniel Starkman as Coordinator of Basketball Operations and David Painter as Director of Basketball Facilities.

The NBA’s Board of Governors unanimously approved changes to how teams qualify for the playoffs and how they will be seeded. The eight playoff teams in each conference will now be seeded based on the order of their regular-season records. Previously, every division winner was guaranteed a top four seed in its conference regardless of record but did not receive home-court advantage if its playoff opponent had a better regular season mark. The new seeding structure will commence this season.

The Board also approved changes to tiebreaker criteria for playoff seeding and determining home-court advantage. Head-to-head results have become the first criteria to break ties for playoff seeding and home-court advantage between two teams with identical regular season records, with the second criteria being if a team won its division. Under the old system, a division winner was awarded the higher seed and received home-court advantage in series between two teams with identical records.

Here’s more from the week that was…

Free Agent Signings

• Jerrelle Benimon agreed to a training camp deal with the Cavaliers.
• The Nets signed Dahntay Jones.
• The Grizzlies signed a training camp deal with point guard Lazeric Jones.
• The Nuggets agreed to a training camp contract with Matt Janning.
• D.J. Stephens agreed to a training camp deal with the Cavaliers.
• The Wizards agreed to a deal with Ish Smith.
• The Pelicans signed shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick.
• The Nuggets agreed to training camp deals with unrestricted free agents Oleksiy Pecherov and Devin Sweetney.
• The Pacers agreed to a deal with small forward C.J. Fair.
• The Clippers agreed to a deal with 2002 No. 5 overall pick Nikoloz Tskitishvili.
• The Knicks agreed to a pact with undrafted Michigan State point guard Travis Trice.
• The Warriors and undrafted West Virginia point guard Juwan Staten agreed to a one-year deal.
• The Bucks are expected to sign power forward Jon Horford to a deal for training camp.

You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.

Miscellaneous News

• The Timberwolves named assistant coach Sam Mitchell as interim head coach while Flip Saunders continues to battle cancer.
• Several players and key figures within the Clippers organization reportedly feel that president of business operations Gillian Zucker is overstepping her bounds and usurping the authority of coach/president of basketball operations Doc Rivers.
• The Nets declined to extend the required tender necessary to keep the draft rights to Xavier Thames, the 59th overall pick from 2014, so he’s now free to negotiate a deal with any NBA team.
• Casper Ware, who last played in the league in 2013/14 as a member of the Sixers, signed a $350K deal with Tianjin Steel of China.
• Former Raptors and Lakers point guard Dwight Buycks has turned down multiple non-guaranteed offers from NBA teams and agreed to a deal to play in China for the 2015/16 season.
• Sixers 2015 second-round pick J.P. Tokoto signed a one-year, non-guaranteed deal with the team.
• The NBA hit Markieff Morris with a fine of $10K for publicly demanding a trade from the Suns.
• The Pacers purchased the D-League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
• Joe Johnson split with the Wasserman Media Group amid the departure of longtime agent Arn Tellem and signed with Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports Management.
• The Sixers made their required tender of a one-year, non-guaranteed, minimum salary offer to Jordan McRae that will allow the franchise to retain his draft rights.