A quiet day in the NBA in terms of actually getting players to verbally to commit to things, with the Chicago Bulls signing Mike Dunleavy being the biggest thing worth mentioning, while the Brooklyn Nets re-signing Andry Blatche and the Washington Wizards adding Eric Maynor to the team also happening.
The deal can’t be signed until after July 10, when the league’s annual moratorium on signings and trades is lifted, so up until then, it’s all about verbal agreements.
Bulls Sign Dunleavy
Mike Dunelavy has never played for a winning team, although he has appeared in the playoffs with the Pacers and the Bucks over the years despite their losing records. He isn’t very strong defensively, and it’s not quite clear how many minutes he’ll be getting for the Bulls, who are pretty set at small forward.
And yet, the 11-year veteran signed a $6 million, 2-year contract, as the Bulls are hoping that their offense, with Derrick Rose, will look a lot less stagnant then it did last season, and Dunleavy’s shooting (hit 42.8% of his three pointers last season) should be quite helpful in that.
Nets Re-Sign Blatche
Blatche wasn’t looking to get a big contract. He is already owed $16 million for the next two seasons by the Washington Wizards for using the amnesty clause on him, and there wasn’t a huge threat he was going to skip on the Nets, eventually agreeing to a one year, $1.4 million deal with eight-year veteran.
Blatche mostly played as a backup center last season, averaging 10.3 points on 19 minutes a game. As the Nets sacrificed a lot of their depth to get Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, their lineup and overall quality might have gotten better, but they’ve become significantly older, which means having a capable player coming off the bench to replace the big man is a vital piece of their plans for next season.
Wizards Sign Eric Maynor
There hasn’t been a lot of playing time so far for Eric Maynor in his NBA career, but he did finally get over 20 minutes a night after being traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Portland Trail Blazers last season, averaging a career high 6.9 points and 4 assists per game in Portland.
It’s not quite clear just how many minutes he’ll be getting playing behind John Wall, but the Wizards added him to their roster, hoping he can become an integral piece as they hope to make the playoffs for the first time since 2008.