The Purpose Of Waiving Deron Washington Was....I Don't Know.

Yesterday, the Detroit Pistons waived 2008 second draft pick and flopper extraordinaire, Deron Washington. They had initially signed him back in August to be their 14th and last man, giving him a two year minimum salary deal with $250,000 guaranteed in the first season. Yet after bringing in Chucky Atkins on an unguaranteed one year deal for training camp (a move that they won't have foreseen prior to the Washington signing), the Pistons began to feel that Atkins was more deserving of the 14th man spot, and so they waived Washington to allow them to keep Chucky.

That's the official line, at least. It doesn't really make a lot of sense though.

Disregarding the respective talent levels and fits on the roster of the two players, the finances of the situation seemed to dictate that Deron stayed on. Washington's large amount of guaranteed money (over 50% of his overall contract for this year) meant that the Pistons could have kept him on until the league-wide contract guarantee date of January 10th, without having to pay him a single extra penny outside of meal stipends. Waive him yesterday, and he'll cost $250,000; waive him on January 6th, and he'll still only cost $250,000.

Therefore, why waive him?

The Pistons aren't pressed for cash - after a summer of cap room, they rock a payroll of only $58,597,137, 25th in the league. They've run out of cap room and exceptions, hence the need for all the minimum salary deals, but they'll spend what they can anyway. They can afford to swallow Washington (giggidy) without any repercussions coming from it; they'll lose very little from it. They've lost a player that wasn't in the rotation, and no extra money than what they had already committed. But they'll also gain absolutely nothing from it. Even if Washington only played about 14 minutes between now and the guarantee date, it's 14 minutes more than an empty roster spot will fill.

Yet for some reason, they really want that extra spot.

Detroit said from the start, even before bringing in Atkins, that they only wanted to keep 14 players on the roster this year. They signed Washington with that in mind, and signed Atkins more in hope than expectation. Yet after Atkins (seemingly) showed that he had enough left in the tank at age 35 to be a more worthwhile investment than the 23 year old athletic project, they switched the two while sticking to that plan of keeping 14.

Why they're so staunch about keeping the fifteenth spot clear remains a mystery; even if they're planning to accommodate a midseason pick-up at some point, they don't need the spot until they need it, and they don't need it right now. (They don't need Washington, either. But he's a free player. How bad can that be?) So what they've done is open a roster spot for a possible move that isn't even scheduled, without saving any money in doing so.

I don't see it. Even if you really need Chucky Atkins - and they don't - why not keep Washington as well?

The only risk to keeping Washington would be if he were to get seriously injured, at which point Detroit is bound to keep paying him until he's healthy again. This annoying if justified stipulation caught out Miami and Orlando last year, who became stuck with paying fully guaranteed contracts to Jason Richards and Mike Wilks respectively after they both suffered bad knee injuries in training camp. But that risk is minimal, and it's even smaller if you consider that Washington was only scheduled to be an inactive list talent.

Now, since Washington has been waived, he can't be traded. He can't play for the team. They no longer have any rights on him of any sort. And they still have to pay him $250,000.


Maybe this could be a similar situation to the one that the San Antonio Spurs have going on with Malik Hairston and Marcus E. Williams. (Wink wink.) Maybe it's a precursor to a two-for-one trade in the next few days, as unlikely as that seems. Maybe Washington asked for his release for some reason, and the Pistons were feeling remarkably generous. Or maybe it's just not something that's been thought through.

Detroit used a draft pick on Washington, stashed him for a year, let him develop, then gave him some guaranteed money, yet now they've cut him before they see a single minute's return on that. They've not cut him for a salary saving, and they've not even cut him for Chucky Atkins; they've cut him for a roster spot that they don't need yet, and may never need.

It may have only been a 59th pick and $250,000, but it's all now gone to waste. And it needn't have done. Just think of what Deron Washington could achieved between now and early January.



(As always, if there's some logic or crucial information point here that I've missed, do please let me know. But if there is, I don't see it right now.)

More Creative Financing In The NBA

Here's a longer list of things that were not included in the original Creative Financing post, either because I forgot to include them, or (in one instance) because the sweet prince who called our hotline with the information had not yet come forward. Remember; all calls are anonymous and you could receive a cash reward for information.

(Wait, no you couldn't. That's the slogan they use on Crimewatch. Ignore that.)


- As a part of the new scheme of turning this website's salary information from a static exhibit into a working reconstruction of life in First World War France, there now exists a page that lists all remaining salary cap exceptions for every NBA team. Of note on this list is the curious case of Channing Frye, the former Blazers and Knicks forward whose transformation from the next Dirk Nowitzki to the next Malik Allen is almost complete. The Suns signed Frye last month to a 2 year, $4,139,200 contract; not coincidentally, that is the same amount as the full value of the Bi-Annual Exception. However, the Suns didn't actually use their Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. Knowing that they wouldn't be using the full MLE to sign somebody due to their payroll concerns, the Suns cleverly (and creatively) used an equivalent chick of their mid level exception instead. As the name would suggest, you get to use the Bi-Annual Exception a maximum of once every two years, so if the Suns used it this year, they wouldn't get it next year. But if they roll it over, they do. It's pretty shrewd, when you think about it.

(Teams that should have done this but didn't include Washington - who used their BAE on Fabricio Oberto, and who won't use their MLE - and Chicago - who used their BAE on Jannero Pargo and who also won't use their MLE; however, if their plan for 2010 cap space comes off, it won't matter.)


- Less shrewd is the fact that the Suns appear to have used most of the rest of their MLE on re-signing Grant Hill. The fact that he got only an 8% raise in the second year of his contract backs this up. Why would the Suns do this? They had Early Bird rights on him, meaning that they could re-sign him to a contract beginning at the value of the mid level exception, without using the actual mid level exception to do so. They would also have been able to give Hill a 10.5% increase from the first year to the second. But, as I've said above, they didn't. Indeed, it appears they used their MLE to re-sign him. So either the document I'm looking at is wrong, the Suns renounced Hill at some point for no reason whatsoever, or the Suns just used their MLE when they completely and totally didn't need to.

If you're a Suns executive, feel free to set me straight on this.


- The Blazers' offer sheet to restricted Jazz free agent Paul Millsap was oft described as "toxic". The four year offer sheet started at $7,692,932 - which represents every last dollar that Portland had under the salary cap - before dipping to an even $7,600,000 in the second year. The final two years were for $8,103,435 and $8,603,633 respectively, bringing the contract's total worth to an even $32 million.

Furthermore, the Blazers did something fairly rare when they included a maximum 17.5% signing bonus into the contract; put simply, this means that Millsap receives 17.5% ($5.6 million) of the entire value of the contract up front. They did this so that it might deter the Jazz (pressed financially this season) not to match it. But ballsily, they did so. And doing so will work in their favour in the long run; for the next three seasons of his deal, whichever team owns Millsap will have $1.4 million less in obligations to pay him than his listed salary will indicate. If ever they decide to trade him, this will be a welcome reprive for the recipient team.

You probably knew all that, but there it is again anyway.


- What you may not have known is a strange thang that happened afterwards. The Blazers had to go on a hell of a renouncing binge in order to be able to make that offer sheet, and they purged some of the game's all time greats from their salary cap in order to do so. [Note: for a fuller explanation of renouncing and cap holds and stuff, go here.] Finally cleans from Portland's page of the salary report were the seminal names of Chris Dudley, Channing Frye, Raef LaFrentz, Voshon Lenard, Shavlik Randolph, Michael Ruffin, Luke Schenscher and Detlef Schrempf, some of whom had been out of the league for years, and none of whom meant anything to the Blazers.

However, after the Jazz matched the offer sheet, the Blazers unrenounced Shavlik Randolph. [You're allowed to unrenounce people in only one circumstance; when your enounced them in order to sign a RFA to an offer sheet, which then gets matched.] This meant that Randolph was now put back onto their salary figure, once again available to be signed and traded, but most significantly eating into their cap space.

Why is this important? It isn't. It might have been had it meant that they couldn't then afford to sign Andre Miller, but they could, and thus the Randolph unrenouncement made no impact on anything ever. All it means is that, if they decide to re-sign Randolph, they now have non-Bird rights on him as opposed to no rights at all. This means next to nothing, though, since Non-Bird rights are about as much use as a paper condom. Randolph's previous salary was the minimum salary, and all the non-Bird rights allow is for the Blazers to re-sign him for 120% of next year's minimum salary, something which they aren't going to do. If they're going to bring back Randolph, it's going to be for the minimum, and since the internet currently contains unsubstantiated rumours which state that the Blazers will be bringing Juwan Howard to training camp this year, it doesn't sound like they're even going to bring Shavlik back for that.

So then, why did they do it? Well, why not, I say. I got a blog post out of it. Everyone's a winner.


- Would you like an example of how trade bonuses (kickers) work? Hope so, because you're about to get one. Feel free to skip it if you're easily bored.

The following is how John Salmons' trade bonus was calculated after his trade from Sacramento to Chicago back in February.

Salmons' 2008/09 salary before the trade was for $5,104,000, followed by $5,456,000 in 2009/10, and finally an extra season in 2011/12 for $5,808,000 that Salmons had an early termination option on. He was traded on February 18th, the 114th day of the season. Including the day of the trade, there were 57 days remaining in the season.

There are 170 days in an NBA regular season. If you don't believe me, count them yourself; since this is dull and boring to do, I implore you to believe me. As 113 days of the season gone, so had 113/170ths of Salmons' salary for that season; therefore, only 57/170ths of that season's salary was still "remaining".

Therefore, the amount of Salmons' remaining salary (including the option year) was for $12,975,341. That total breaks down as following:

Remaining salary, 2010/11 - $5,808,000
Remaining salary, 2009/10 - $5,456,000
Remaining salary, 2008/09 - $1,711,341 ($5,104,000 divided by 170, times 57)

(Note: salary that falls under option years is not normally to be included in "remaining salary" when calculating trade bonuses; however, Early Termination Option years are the exception.)

Salmons had a 15% trade kicker, the maximum allowed under the CBA. This means that, in the event that he was traded, he'd get an extra 15% of his remaining salary as a bonus, in order to ease the pain of having to move from one luxury privileged job to another. 15% of his remaining salary was $1,946,301; this was the amount of his trade kicker.

That trade bonus is spread across the cap evenly amongst the remaining amount of guaranteed years of the contract. Option years are NOT included, and the trade kicker is NOT prorated like the amount of remaining salary was above. Therefore, Salmons' $1,946,301 bonus was to be split evenly between the two remaining guaranteed non-option seasons of his contract; 2008/09 and 2009/10; $973,151 for each season.

As a result, Salmons' new salary numbers became $6,077,151 (2008/09), $6,429,151 (2009/10) and $5,808,000 (2010/11, ETO).

Just trust me that that was more boring to type than it was to read.



- Eddy Curry does not have conditional guarantees in his contract relating to his weight. Nor does Glen Davis. Nor does Jerome James. But perhaps they all should do, because it's entirely possible. Two such contracts have been signed this summer; the Grizzlies' contract of Marcus Williams is for the minimum salary of $855,189 ($825,497 on the Grizz's cap), with guaranteed compensation of $500,000. The remaining $355,189 becomes guaranteed in 15 different stages; on 15 separate dates throughout the season, Williams has to turn up weighing equal to or less than 207 pounds, and a body fat amount of less than 10%. Each time he does so, he's guaranteed an extra $23,679. Similarly, the Kings signed Sean May to a one year minimum salary contract of $884,881 ($825,497 on their cap); however, only $784,881 of it is guaranteed. The other $100,000 becomes guaranteed if May weighs equal to or less than 265 pounds on September 30th OR October 27th.

(The word "or" is an interesting qualifier there. It's not mine.)


- Ever since Kiki Vanderweghe cemented their future with the Kenyon Martin contract, his replacement Mark Warkentein has had to work very hard to avoid the luxury tax. When you commit a near-9 figure contract to a guy worth less than half of it, cap management becomes all the more important, particularly when you have a genuine max player to pay as well, and an owner who owns a brilliant football team,but who isn't too keen on the idea of tax.

Warkentein didn't start well, paying Nene $60 million that he hadn't earned on the premise that he might do one day, and giving Reggie Evans a completely unnecessary 5 year contract to be the backup to the backup. But since then, he and the Nuggets have turned it around. Nene has lived up to his presumptuous salary, and Denver was able to take advantage of the always generous Billy King when they dumped off Evans's salary for that of Steven Hunter, a slightly smaller one that was also one year shorter. They've since been able to move that deal onto the Grizzlies, for the cost of some cash and a first round pick, completely absolving themselves of the deal. They made a similar deal towards the deadline last year, when they were able to move Chucky Atkins' salary to Oklahoma City in exchange for Johan Petro's smaller deal. They gave up a first round pick to do so, but they received a second round pick in the deal too. (The first rounder they gave up was the 26th pick in last year's draft, and the pick they got back was the 34th; let it be known that I'd rather have an unsigned Sergio Llull than a signed Taj Gibson.) Warkentien also managed to create the fine Allen Iverson deal, where the Nuggets got the better player and saved a boatload of short term salary in doing so. The Nuggets have managed the rare but special feat of being able to save money and improve their basketball product at the same time, not letting the bad Martin deal cripple their short and long term improvements. We should look up to that.

Unfortunately, they're going to struggle to dodge the tax again. Even after the Hunter dump, the Nuggets are still awkwardly in the tax territory and with less than a full roster to speak of. It's already cost them Linas Kleiza, and they don't have any more basketball assets that they can really lose. As such, they've had to get creative. And that's where Ty Lawson comes in.

It's never really mentioned, because it's never really important, but most rookie scale contracts contain performance incentives. So widespread is it, in fact, that every first rounder signed this season has them except for Tyreke Evans, Jonny Flynn, Austin Daye, Eric Maynor, Darren Collison and Wayne Ellington. (Yes, even Blake Griffin has them.) Lawson has them, too, and his case gives us a fine example of quite what these incentives can be. To earn the full 120% of his rookie contract that he signed for, Lawson has got to make five promotional appearances for the Nuggets, play in summer league, play in another two week summer skills and conditioning program, and play 900 minutes next season. As well as do all that suitcase carrying and doughnut fetching that's considered mandatory for a rookie in the NBA. (Although the contract doesn't stipulate the suitcase and doughnuts bit.)

In signing Lawson to a deal like this, the Nuggets may have given themselves a small saving this season, which gets them one step closer to breaking even. Since all money saved by the Nuggets is all money that can potentially be spent by Arsenal, I'm all for this.


- And finally, another example of how not to creatively finance. Does it involve Otis Smith? Oh yes. Yes it does.

In the weeks leading up to the start of last season, the Magic decided they needed a third string point guard. They were right. They did. They only had two, and one of them was Anthony Johnson. One injury to Jameer Nelson, and Ol' Fatneck would suddenly become their only option. At that point, they might as well just fold the franchise. (Or trade for Rafer Alston. Same sort of thing.)

They hunt around, and eventually pick a good one. They decide upon signing Mike Wilks, a career journeyman who puts the journeyman into journeyman. Since leaving Rice University in 2001, Wilks has spent various amounts of time with the Kings, Bucks, Hawks, Timberwolves, Rockets, Bulls, Spurs, Cavaliers, Sonics, Nuggets and the Wizards. He has appeared in 229 games over parts of six seasons, and there's a reason he's been getting all these look-ins; he's all right. Wilks will always be disadvantaged by his 5'10 frame, but he's not bad.

With that in mind, the Magic signed Wilks to an unguaranteed contract for training camp, somewhat expecting him to make the team but absolving themselves of all liability if something better came along. However, during a preseason game on October 16th, Wilks tore his knee up. Badly. He completely tore his ACL, slightly tore his MCL, and badly sprained his meniscus, knocking him out for the season. Because he was under contract to the Magic at the time, the Magic were now liable for his salary until he returned to full health.(That's the rule. Same as any job, really.) And this meant his contract became guaranteed.

This is why the Magic kept Wilks on the roster for half a season, despite him not playing any games; they were stuck with paying him anyway, so they might as well keep him around. They only shifted him from the roster when they were able to include him as salary figure in the Alston trade, sending him to the Grizzies, with whom he stayed on the roster until the end of the year. That was Mike Wilks's year in a nutshell - two teams, 7 months, 1 injury, 0 minutes played, over a million dollars earned. Could have been worse, I suppose.

The same thing happened to the Heat. Always willing to play the training camp game, Miami obliged us once again last year by bringing in the full compliment of 20, even when most of the extra signings (Omar Barlett, Tre Kelley, Eddie Basden, Matt Walsh, David Padgett) had no real chance of making the team. Along with Padgett, they signed former Davidson point guard Jason Richards right after summer league, to a contract that had only $50,000 guaranteed. However, Richards too blew out his knee, and so the Heat were liable for his salary until the day he recovered. And that saw them have to pay him for the full season.

The worst part about it all was that Richards's now-guaranteed salary meant that the Heat were now going to be taxpayers, when previously they'd budgeted to be just under it. As a result, they had to salary dump Shaun Livingston, now the Thunder's premier backup. Bad times.

The lesson here; if you're a decent basketball player, but of only a fringe NBA talent, do your damndest to get a training camp gig somewhere. Accept $0 guaranteed money if you have to. Just sign the contract. And then take a dive. It's a particularly good idea if you're broke. Antoine Walker, take note.

(This isn't just an excuse to take cheap shots at Orlando, by the way. Wilks was a good signing, an NBA calibre third string point guard, with whom they just happened to get highly unlucky. They did nothing wrong; these things just happen sometimes. It is, however, an eye opener. These are things that you don't really consider a possibility until they happen. Dallas had better find an Erick Dampier-sized straight jacket next summer.)

Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 43

I suppose I ought really ask - are you enjoying these? Really? I'd like some feedback on this. I mean, even if you don't enjoy them I'm doing them anyway, because despite how tedious it can get trying to find new and exciting ways to list someone's rebounding averages, I've come too far to quit. And I'm also kind of enjoying doing it. But I need to know if you are too. If you're not, please say so, as your opinion is important to us, even if it will be largely ignored.

- Jason Richards is unsigned, perhaps unsurprising due to the knee injury he suffered in training camp that ended his season before it even began. Speaking of, if any Heat fans out there are wondering why Jason's getting a full $442,114 salary from the Heat this year (see salary page), it's not because the Heat signed him to a guaranteed deal. They actually signed him in July to a deal with a small $50,000 guarantee, enough to convince him to choose their training camp over anyone else's. However, because Richards was hurt while directly playing for the team, his contract is guaranteed until such time as he is able to return. And since he's out for the year, that means he's getting paid for the whole of this year. (The same has happened to Mike Wilks, formerly of Orlando and now of Memphis.) It's kind of a bugger for Jason that he's had such a serious knee injury in the first season of his professional career, but the $370,000 extra compensation that he got for his troubles will numb the pain a bit. I can only hope that this doesn't lead to a speight of fringe NBA players signing training camp contracts for nominal or no guaranteed money, just to then take a dive and pick up a fat check for a year. This would be bad, if alarmingly smart.

- Norm Richardson - a legend in my eyes for reasons not even I really understand - has already retired at least once from professional basketball. Clearly it didn't work out, though, because Norm is back and playing in Germany for the insatiable TBB Trier. N (it's like Q, only N) averages 10.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists, numbers that extol the virtues of his greatness better than my mere words ever could.

- Anthony Richardson's senior and junior years at Florida State were far less productive than his junior season, but he began his NBA career in earnest anyway. Richardson didn't play in his first professional season (if that makes sense), but for the 2006/07 season he signed with the fantastically named Butte Daredevils of the CBA. From there he played in the USBL for a bit, where he was a 20ppg scorer, and then went to 2007 training camp with the New Orleans Hornets. Richardson did sufficiently well there that he scooped a training camp spot with the team, although clearly he didn't make the regular season roster. Richardson then buggered off to Germany, where he scored 53 points in 7 games, and is signed this season with Eiffel Towers Den Bosch, a team which you may remember are deceptively located in Holland. Richardson averages 12.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in the Dutch league, along with 15.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in the EuroChallenge.

- Rick Rickert spent the year with the New Zealand Breakers, who equally confusingly play in the Australian NBL. It took me a while to figure this out. Rickert averaged 13.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in the Australian regular season, which has now finished. In the semi final game Friday, which saw the end of the Breakers' season, the Breakers lost 103-97 to the Melbourne Tigers, via 26 points by personal favourite Ebi Ere. Rickert had only 7 points and 10 rebounds.

- Former Cavaliers great Filiberto Rivera is in Germany, playing for Brose Baskets Bamberg. Rivera averages 10.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Per game. Obviously.

- Lawrence Roberts is averaging 11.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in the Eurocup for Crvena Zvezda, alongside 9.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in the Adriatic League. Unfortunately, despite the fact that I'm going to go and watch a Crvena Zvezda game as soon as I finish writing this post, Roberts won't be in it, for he injured himself back on the 7th Feb and is not active at the moment. Bugger. Might go back to bed instead then.

- Dennis Rodman is currently appearing on Celebrity Apprentice, where he has demonstrated a stubborn refusal to bake cakes.

- Rodney Rogers..... :(

- Jalen Rose....... :|

- Bryon Russell is reportedly wanting to mount a comeback at the age of 38. This seems odd, given that he was done at the age of about 32. But good luck with that. I just don't think it will happen.

- Finally, Walker Russell Texas Ranger has emerged from somewhere as being one of the best point guards in the D-League. Russell averages 15.9 points and a league leading 11.4 assists per game for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Is this further evidence of Isiah Thomas's ability to scout young talent? Seems so. Shame about his ability to scout old talent.

Summer signings, round 10

Not feeling any better at all thank you. Let's just get this over with.

- Andris Biedrins re-signed with the Golden State Warriors for 6 years and $63 million. This is not a bad price for Biedrins, a rare commodity as a 22 year old centre who doesn't suck. The Warriors may suck at rebounding and defense, but it's not his fault. It's the fault of everyone other than him.

The move rounds up Golden State's roster, one which could have been worse, but which remains inherently flawed. Who, for example, is to be the primary ballhandler? By default, it has to be Monta Ellis, but he's never shown the ability to do this. Who in the backcourt can shoot from outside? Ellis can't. Marcus Williams is OK. Corey Maggette has ben a poor shooter for his entire career, and I am labelling last year as the outlier until further notice. Marco Belinelli can, but he's the only "pure" shooter (and never again will you hear me use that adjective except when talking about women). Ellis also figures to be the team's second best rebounder, which can't be good.

It's a weirdly constructed team with massive question marks. Don Nelson tends to do better with weirdly constructed teams than most, but that doesn't make it advisable to build flawed roster. But, whatever. If Monta Ellis can learn to bring the ball up against pressure, they'll be fine.

(However, given that every point Andris Biedrins has scored in his lifetime has come from the pick and roll......he may never score again in his life.)


- The Cavaliers still haven't re-signed Delonte West, and reportedly they aren't offering more than the $4 million+ per year that they just gave to Daniel Gibson. West, as is seemingly everyone, is also reportedly considering European offers, which seems odd, given that $4 mil a year seems like the perfect ballpark for both him and the team. It's a strange market we're living in.

- Donnell Harvey left the Bobcats summer league team early due to a "family emergency". This hampered his already bleak chances of an NBA return, and he has since signed with Rieti in Italy, where he'll be sure to get flavoured from many bounces.

- J.R. Bremer, who disappeared from professional basketball for aaaaaaaaages, has signed with Triumph Lyubertsy in Russia, possibly the least Russian sounding Russian team to ever come out of Russia.

- In a move that should have been mentioned at the time, due to its unquestionable importance, the Miami Heat signed David Padgett and Jason Richards back during the moratorium. Unlike most teams, who sign scrubs just to waive them when training camp opens and not before, Miami likes to tie theirs in early. I don't know why.

- Stanford's finest Matt Haryasz has signed with Oostende in Belgium. From Stanford to Belgium, Matt Haryasz everyone.

- Nenad Krstic is the latest player that you have heard of to sign in Europe, signing for Triumph in Russia, the same team as J.R. Bremer above. This move makes a lot of sense - Krstic has value to almost any NBA team, but his value is very low due to his piis poor season last year, brought about by a severe knee injury. With this move - a move that allows him to return after only one season - Krstic will be able to prove his health, get his standard of play back to where it should be, earn a lot of money in doing so, before being able to leave and rejoin the NBA should he so wish. See, this is the problem I have with people denouncing the recent trend of players signing in Europe for competitive money - there's nothing wrong with it. Stop saying that there is.

- Pape Sow - whose name made a fleeting cameo in the last blog post - has left Procal Haram and signed for Armani Jeans in Alyssa Milano, Italy. I don't think Jumaine Jones will be joining him.

- Randolph Morris is rumoured to be about to sign a minimum salary contract with the Atlanta Hawks, which seems like a move too sensible to be true.

- ....and then there's the Renaldo Balkman deal. M'kay. Yeah. We'll get to that soon later.