More on Training Camp Cuts
Oliver Maroney: Andrew Andrews has been waived from the Charlotte Hornets, league sources have informed me.
David Locke: The Utah Jazz have waived Henry Sims the roster now stands at 16. Must be 15 for start of season
Marc J. Spears: The Thunder has waived guard Reggie Williams.
Eric Pincus: The Thunder waived Reggie Williams - presumably they are paying him that $50k to go play for the Blue? @BBallInsiders
Eric Pincus: The Sacramento Kings have waived Lamar Patterson - originally was waived by Atlanta Hawks but claimed by Sacramento @BBallInsiders
When Erik Spoelstra was asked Monday about the battle for the final roster spot between Beno Udrih and Briante Weber, he gave a very interesting answer. “It’s not a competition just between those two,” Spoelstra said. It turns out that Udrih and Weber aren’t just competing against each other for Miami’s 15th roster spot. The pair of point guards are also competing against 25-year-old shooting guard Rodney McGruder. “Yeah, he is,” Spoelstra said Wednesday when asked if McGruder is still in the race for a roster spot. With the Heat’s roster still at the NBA preseason maximum of 20 players, Miami must cut its roster to the regular-season maximum of 15 players by Monday’s deadline. With 14 players pretty much guaranteed a spot on the roster, that leaves Udrih, Weber and McGruder fighting for the final opening.
Scott Souza: #Celtics coach Brad Stevens: Final cuts will be made in next couple of days. Everything factors in re: present/future potential.
Manny Navarro: Erik Spoelstra says Rodney McGruder is competing for 15th spot on the roster. Says yes and he reminds him of Winslow in terms of making winning plays
The Hawks released forward Ryan Kelly Tuesday night. The move brings the training camp roster to 18 players.
That means the competition between Lorenzo Brown and Ray McCallum could be decided during a closed scrimmage on Saturday at the Pistons' practice facility. "I mean, we certainly haven't made a decision yet," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said earlier this week. "I would say in our coaches' meetings — our coaches' room — I think there's been a lot of back and forth."
The Miami HEAT announced today that they have signed guard Luis Montero and waived Keith Benson. As per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Brooklyn Nets have requested waivers on Beau Beech, Chase Budinger, Jorge Gutierrez and Egidijus Mockevicius. Beech, who originally signed with Brooklyn on August 5, appeared in one preseason game with the Nets, scoring three points in eight minutes. Budinger saw action in four preseason games, averaging 3.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in 10.4 minutes per game. He originally signed with the Nets on September 26.
Miami must cut its roster to the regular-season maximum of 15 players by Monday’s deadline. With 15 guaranteed contracts and five non-guaranteed contracts on the roster, the easy route for the Heat would be to keep their 15 guaranteed players to avoid spending any dead money. But coach Erik Spoelstra insists it’s not that easy. “I’m not looking forward to this weekend,” Spoelstra said after Monday’s practice. Who are Miami’s five non-guaranteed players? Guards Rodney McGruder and Briante Weber, centers Keith Benson and Vashil Fernandez, and forward Okaro White.
Weber’s contract with the Heat is worth $874,636 this season, but only $218,659 is guaranteed if he is cut before the start of the regular season, according to Spotrac. That guaranteed number goes up to $437,319 if Weber is on the roster for the first game of the regular season, $655,978 if he is still on the roster on Dec. 1, and the full $874,636 is guaranteed if he is still on the roster on Jan. 10. But Udrih’s full one-year, $1.6 million contract is guaranteed. If Miami opts to cut Udrih, his full $1.6 million salary will count toward the Heat’s cap as dead money.
Vincent Ellis: #Pistons announce waiving of center Nikola Jovanovic. Roster now at 17.
Earl K. Sneed: Rick Carlisle says the priority the last 2 preseason games is to get starters more time together & figure out a rotation, not roster spots. "The priority is the guys that are going to be the rotation guys. The end of the roster, you know, we'll figure that out. We want to have a pretty good idea what our rotation is going to be & the next couple of games is going to be key for that."
Mailson: Who will be cut, along with McGary before October ending? Erik Horne: I'd imagine Semaj Christon since his contract is partially guaranteed. He's really shown some poise and scoring in preseason, so I'd like to see the Thunder keep him, but with Oladipo being able to play point, Price guaranteed for two years, and Payne eventually coming back, I think Semaj is the odd man out. But he'll get an NBA chance somewhere if not with the Thunder.
The Heat made a roster move on Monday waiving rookie forward Stefan Jankovic and adding center Vashil Fernandez to the roster. The all-time leading shot blocker at Valparaiso, Fernandez (6-10, 260) was the NCAA leader in blocks last season (3.31 per game) and was named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row.
Albert Nahmad: Miami Heat announces it has signed center Vashil Fernandez and waived power forward Stefan Jankovic, who had a $100K partial guarantee.
Chris Vivlamore: The Atlanta Hawks have waived Matt Costello. Training camp roster now at 19 players.
Earl K. Sneed: Per @MavsPR, the @dallasmavs have made their 1st roster cut by waiving Jameel Warney.
The general consensus is that Boston's battle essentially comes down to Hunter versus Young. Veteran Gerald Green, signed to a minimum contract this summer, has proved he can help Boston's bench more than either player, securing his spot. (Plus, it would look bad if Boston let go a player who could have found other offers this summer.) Some have wondered if the team could find a way to move Tyler Zeller, but he's Boston's only pure big man and his salary -- nonguaranteed $8 million next year -- makes him a valuable trade asset further down the road. Jordan Mickey, a 2015 second-round pick, has shown enough -- at least last season in the D-League -- to be spared from the cutdown conversation.
Remember, too, Boston could always punt on the Hunter/Young decision and simply waive Jackson while hoping no one else leaps on him at a time when the market will be saturated with available bodies after final cutdowns.
Even if they waived Bentil, the Celtics would still have three young players vying for two spots in third-year swingman James Young, second-year guard R.J. Hunter and rookie guard Demetrius Jackson. Boston knowingly put itself in this bind when it signed Jackson, the No. 45 pick in June's draft, to a four-year, $5.5 million contract in which the first year is fully guaranteed. The Celtics like Jackson, who is perceived to have slid on draft night, and would love to keep him in the sort of emergency ball-handler role that Phil Pressey held down in recent seasons.
The Celtics don't just have 16 fully guaranteed contracts, they also have a pretty sizable chunk of change ($250,000) committed to second-round draft pick Ben Bentil. Considering a $94.1 million salary cap, that partial guarantee ultimately amounts to pocket change and is the sort of money a team comfortably below the luxury tax can commit to help encourage a fringe roster player to accept the low wages associated with joining the team's D-League affiliate in Maine.
Calvin Watkins: The Rockets waived guard Isaiah Taylor on Sunday. The six-foot-three Taylor played in three preseason games for the Rockets. Taylor played just five minutes of Saturday's double overtime loss to Memphis.
Mo Williams is still taking up a roster spot. The Cavs are trying to work out a contract settlement. Williams just had knee surgery. But that stalemate means DeAndre Liggins and Dahntay Jones and are probably batting for the last spot on the roster. Liggins was the D-League Defensive Player of the Year. My guess is he has the edge.
The Portland Trail Blazers have waived guard Luis Montero, it was announced today by president of basketball operations Neil Olshey. Signed as an undrafted free agent on July 9, 2015, Montero played in 12 games for the Trail Blazers as a rookie in 2015-16, averaging 1.2 points (26.3% FG, 11.1% 3-PT, 75.0% FT), 0.3 rebounds and 0.1 assists.
The Denver Nuggets have waived G D.J. Kennedy, F JaKarr Sampson and F Axel Toupane, General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today. Kennedy, was signed by Denver on Aug. 16, 2016 and has appeared in one preseason game for the Nuggets, posting four points, two rebounds, three assists and three steals in 12 minutes of play.
Over his 12-year NBA career, Smith owns averages of 13.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.02 steals in 26.9 minutes over 839 regular season games (295 starts) with New Orleans, Denver, New York and Cleveland. He currently ranks 17th in league history in three-pointers made with 1,679. His 28 career regular season games with at least seven three-pointers and 14 contests with eight or more three-pointers both rank second in NBA history. Smith has made the most three-pointers in the Eastern Conference since the Cavs acquired him in a three-team trade on Jan. 5, 2015 (335 three-pointers). In a related move, the Cavaliers have waived guard Toney Douglas.
Jody Genessy: From Jazz PR: The Jazz waived Eric Dawson, Quincy Ford and Marcus Paige. Utah's roster now stands at 17 players.
The LA Clippers announced today that the team has waived guard Xavier Munford and forward Dorell Wright. The roster now stands at 15 players for the Clippers.
Serena Winters: The Lakers make their first set of cuts, waive Zach Auguste, Julian Jacobs & Travis Wear. The Lakers roster stands at 17. Will still need to make a couple more cuts by the start of the regular season (max of 15 allowed on roster).
Eric Pincus: Zach Auguste has a $60k guarantee from the Lakers, if he goes to the @nbadleague - he'll likely end up on @DFenders as an affiliate player
Adrian Wojnarowski: Clippers are waiving Dorell Wright and Xavier Munford today, league sources tell @The Vertical.
Marc J. Spears: The Warriors waive Elgin Cook & Scott Wood.
Eric Pincus: The Warriors paid Elgin Cook & Scott Wood $50,000 apiece to come to camp, now both waived - perhaps we'll see with Santa Cruz Warriors
Even if Ferrell doesn’t make the Nets’ 15-man roster, odds are he would be sent to the D-League Long Island Nets. With Atkinson and general manager Sean Marks preaching player development — and the D-League team practicing at the HSS Center and playing at Barclays Center — he could get plenty of minutes and mentoring. “I’m not worried about whether or not partial or D-League,” Ferrell said. “I’m just going to go out and do what I’ve always done the entire time I’ve played basketball. That’s just being a point guard, facilitator first, scorer second. I’m just going to go in and try to help my team win as much as possible.”
David 'Dubi' Pick: The Washington Wizards will soon waive Villanova's winning center Daniel Ochefu, according to source.
Sean Highkin: The Bulls have waived Vince Hunter from their training camp roster. Didn't play in preseason opener.
Paul Garcia: The New Orleans #Pelicans waived forward Chris Copeland. Their roster now has 19 players, 15 guaranteed.
Justin Verrier: Dell Demps on the competition(s) in camp with 15 guaranteed contracts plus Lance Stephenson: "We're going to have to make a hard decision in the coming weeks. I think that it's no secret. We're not trying to hide from it. Some guys are competing for roster spots. Some guys are competing for minutes. We're going to evaluate every practice, every game, every play. The key is not going to be who's the best player, but the key's going to be who's the best player for us to be a good team."
Moreland was not cleared by the Cavaliers to participate in training camp this past week. Cleveland will likely re-evaluate Moreland -- who re-aggravated the injury last April -- prior to the season. Moreland broke his foot last December. Moreland signed with Cleveland earlier this month, but doctors have told Moreland that he is approximately 6-8 weeks away from being 100 percent.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed point guard Toney Douglas to a contract, General Manager David Griffin announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts. Per league and team policy, terms of the contract were not released. In a related move, the Cavs have waived forward/center Eric Moreland.
The Hawks waived forward Richard Solomon on Saturday. The move trims the training camp roster to 19 players. However, the Hawks are likely to add a guard to the roster soon. They are thin at the guard position with Dennis Schroder nursing an ankle injury and Jarrett Jack being brought along slowly from a torn ACL. The Hawks had an excess of big men in camp knowing that Tiago Splitter was returning from hip surgery.
Chris Vivlamore: The Hawks have released Richard Solomon. Look for them to add another guard to training camp roster.
Ryan McDonald: That didn't take long: The Spurs announce they have waived camp invitee Ryan Richards, their former second-round pick
Ford went undrafted out of Northeastern, but impressed several teams including the Jazz. Ford is expected to join rookie point guard Marcus Paige with the Stars. The Jazz currently have 14 guaranteed contracts on their roster. The 15th spot is expected to go to center Jeff Withey, who has a contract that will become guaranteed in January.
The Dallas Mavericks waived forward Maurice Ndour on Monday to finalize their regular-season roster, league sources told Yahoo Sports. "It was a really tough decision," Mavs owner Mark Cuban told Yahoo. Ndour is sidelined indefinitely because of a stress reaction in his left leg, an injury that played a major role in the Mavericks’ decision. Dallas dealt with injuries throughout the preseason and opted to keep healthy center Salah Mjeri. Ndour had been a strong candidate to remain on the roster before his injury.
Ronald Tillery: Griz will waive journeyman center Ryan Hollins as 4 pm roster deadline looms, per source.
Shams Charania: Center Ryan Hollins has been waived by the Grizzlies, source tells Y! Memphis attempted to clear spot for Hollins, who had strong preseason.
Orazio Cauchi: #Sixers have waived Furkan Aldemir, Scottie Wilbekin, Jordan McRae, JP Tokoto and Pierre Jackson. Roster now stands at 15. #NBA
Jake Fischer: Sixers were invested in Furkan Aldemir and sent a coach overseas to fix his jumper this summer. Shows how bullish they are on Christian Wood
Shams Charania: Philadlephia has released forward Furkan Aldemir, league sources tell Yahoo Sports. Aldemir had a contract guarantee of nearly $3 million.
Orazio Cauchi: Sixers are expected to cut Jordan McRae, per source.
Shams Charania: The 76ers are waiving guard Scottie Wilbekin and have informed rookie forward Christian Wood he has made team, league source talks Yahoo.
Shams Charania: The Dallas Mavericks have waived forward Maurice Ndour, who had a guaranteed contract through next year, league source tells Yahoo.
Mike Mazzeo: The #Nets have waived Justin Harper and Dahntay Jones. Roster now stands at 15 players.
Detroit Pistons: Roster update: The #Pistons have waived forward Danny Granger.
The Los Angeles Lakers have waived guard Jabari Brown, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak. Brown appeared in six games for the Lakers this preseason, averaging 6.0 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 14.3 minutes per game. In 19 games (five starts) for the Lakers last season, Brown, who was signed to a multi-year contract on April 1, averaged 11.9 points, 2.1 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 29.9 minutes per contest.
Shams Charania: The Indiana Pacers have waived guard Toney Douglas, league source tells Yahoo Sports. Douglas had made a case to earn roster spot.
Keith Pompey: #Sixers release J.P Tokoto.
Brad Turner: Lakers make it official that they waived Jabari Brown. Metta World Peace on 15 man roster. https://t.co/ZxsQHpqFt8
Shams Charania: The Los Angeles Lakers are waiving guard Jabari Brown, allowing Metta World Peace to make 15-man roster, league sources tell Yahoo.
Danny Granger is likely to be the last one cut, a decision that could come soon after Van Gundy said Sunday he remains at home in Arizona rehabbing his knee. About the possibility of trading him? "It's doubtful," he said. "We're probably sort of at the end of the road with him. We took it as far as we could, hoping to get a look at him, but he hasn't been ready to come back. So we'll go with the 15 guys that are here."
Bobby Marks: In regards to compensation for the non-guaran. players still under contract. If waived tomorrow their salary will count as a 2 day cap hit. However because they likely receive training camp compensation ($2k per week), the team only is responsible for the difference. If Jabari Brown is waived tomorrow his 2 day pay out is $9,972 (2 x $4,971) minus $8,000 (4 weeks x $2k). He will earn $1,972 from LAL.
Keith Langlois: SVG says #Pistons have waived Ryan Boatright, as expected. He'll head to @grdleague as an "affiliate player."
Under the NBA's "affiliate-player" rule with the D-League, Whittington, Benson and Weber are expected to be signed by the Skyforce. Recently released Heat guard Corey Hawkins also is expected to transition to the Skyforce as a designated Heat affiliate player, with NBA teams allowed to designate up to four such players. Such players must finalize their 2015-16 D-League commitments by Thursday. Because Kelley played with the Skyforce two seasons ago, he is considered a "returning-rights player" and also would be under Skyforce control if he were to elect to play in the D-League this season.
The Lakers will wait until at least Sunday to make their final roster trim, Scott said, keeping alive the battle between Metta World Peace and Jabari Brown. It could come down to Sunday's practice, Scott suggested. "Either way I go, it's going to be a very tough [decision], but I've got to do it," he said.
“We’re a better team with Metta,” said Randle, who praised World Peace for teaching him about offensive and defensive rotations, footwork, mental preparation and playing off the ball. “It’s not our decision if he’s on the team or not. But Metta’s knowledge and wisdom that he brings to this team is amazing. It’s fun playing with him.”
Marc Stein: Four NBA teams have one cut still to make: Mavericks, Pistons, Pacers and Lakers all have to get from 16 players to 15 by Monday afternoon
Eric Pincus: I count 457 NBA players under contract with 12 still to be cut - 4 teams w/ room to take in (Rockets, Pelicans, Suns, Knicks) @BBallInsiders
