Official Free Agent *News Only* Thread

[The Walker Wiggle]

And then both the most newsworthy signing of the day...

Josh Childress has signed a three year, $32.5-million contract with Greece’s Olympiakos. The Atlanta Hawks had last offered him a five year deal worth $33 million, which would have made him the team’s fourth highest paid player.

Childress averaged 11.8 points and 4.9 rebounds last season. He finished sixth in the voting for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award.

Atlanta will retain Childress's NBA rights for at least the next two years, provided they tender qualifying offers to him every summer. His qualifying offer for the upcoming season was $4.8 million, which will count against the Hawks’ salary cap.

Discussion thread here.

...and the least...

The San Antonio Spurs today announced the signing of forward Anthony Tolliver.  Per team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Last season Tolliver played for the Iowa Energy in the NBA Development League.  He appeared in 25 games averaging, 11.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in 27.4 minutes per game while shooting 50% from the field. Prior to joining the Energy, Tolliver was in training camp with the Cleveland Cavaliers and appeared in three games before being waived.

[The Walker Wiggle]

The Rocky Mountain News is reporting:

Chris Anderson, a fan favorite in Denver from 2001 to 2004, has agreed to sign a one-year contract with the Nuggets and the deal could be done within the next couple days, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

Discussion thread here.

[The Walker Wiggle]

The 76ers have agreed in principle to a two-year deal with guard Royal Ivey. The contract, which won't be officially signed until Monday, is expected to be at the league minimum for a four year player, $854,957.

Ivey, 26, spent last year with the Milwaukee Bucks; he averaged 5.6 points and 2.1 assists in 75 games.

"He's a very tough kid who is better offensively than people think," said Keith Glass, Ivey's agent. "His defense and aggressiveness tend to overshadow his offense, but he's gotten better offensively each year."

With this signing the Sixers now have nine players under contract.

[rondofan1255]

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/53734/20080725/nuggets_get_dahntay_jones/

The Denver Post: the Nuggets have signed Dahntay Jones.

[The Walker Wiggle]

Thursday night, the Golden State Warriors signed restricted free agent Monta Ellis to a six-year, $67 million contract.

Ellis, 22, is now the starting point guard and the team's highest-paid player. He has an early termination option that allows him to walk away from the contract before the final year.

Entering his fourth season, he has career averages of 15.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists.

Golden State also retained twenty-five year old, restricted-free-agent swingman Kelenna Azubuike by matching the three-year, $9 million offer sheet he received from the Los Angeles Clippers. This, after, twenty-nine year old Maurice Evans, who finished last season with the Orlando Magic, spurned the Warrior's three-year, $6.4 million offer in search of more money. Discussion thread here.

And finally, the team signed their Summer League standout from Georgia Tech, 6'5" guard, Anthony Morrow.

[The Walker Wiggle]

The Utah Jazz decided Friday to match the four-year, $15 million offer sheet restricted free-agent guard C.J. Miles signed last week with Oklahoma City. Miles, twenty-one, will remain with the Jazz, the team that drafted him out of high school in 2005.

[The Walker Wiggle]

After reportedly accepting a three-year, $6.4 million offer from Golden State on Wednesday, Maurice Evans has instead signed a three-year deal with the Atlanta Hawks, believed to be worth approximately  $7.5 million.

Thread here.

[The Walker Wiggle]

Lakers restricted free agent guard Sasha Vujacic agreed to a deal Friday afternoon, which, according to sources close to the player, is worth $15 million over three years.

Vujacic, 24, and his representatives actually sought a four-year, $24 million deal, but the Lakers weren't willing to go that long or that high.

Vujacic had been looking for a deal similar to those of Jason Kapono (4 years, $24 million from Toronto), James Posey (4 years, $25 million from New Orleans) and Mickael Pietrus (4 years, $25.1 million from Orlando).

Vujacic averaged a career-high 8.8 points last season and made 45.4 percent of his field goals, 43.7 percent of his three-pointers.

Both the negotiations and the outcome are being discussed here.

[The Walker Wiggle]

Charlotte Bobcats restricted free agent Ryan Hollins signed a one-year qualifying offer that will bring him back to the team next season. Under NBA collective-bargaining rules, Hollins will make almost $1 million in his third NBA season.

In '07-'08, the 7' forward-center out of UCLA appeared in 60 games with averages of 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds over 8.9 minutes per game.

[The Walker Wiggle]

After re-signing Monta Ellis on Thursday, the Golden State Warriors have now reached an agreement with Andris Biedrins on a six-year, $63 million deal.

Biedrins was the eleventh overall pick in the 2004 draft as an 18-year-old out of Latvia. Last season, he started 59 games and averaged 10.5 points and 9.8 rebounds... led the NBA in field-goal percentage at 62.6%... and blocked 1.2 shots a game.

The contract includes an option for Biedrins to become a free agent after five seasons if he so chooses.

Discussion thread is here.

[fairweatherfan06]

Balkman has officially been traded to Denver for Bobby Jones, Taurean Green and cash considerations.  I think Denver also gets an unprotected 2010 second round pick as well.

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/53776/20080728/knicks_trade_balkman_to_denver/

[The Walker Wiggle]

Kwame Brown has reached a verbal agreement on a new contract with the Detroit Pistons. The contract is believed to be a two-year deal worth $8 million.

Brown, 26, spent most of last season with the Los Angeles Lakers, before being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies on February 1st. He has career averages of 7.5 points and 5.7 rebounds.

Discussion thread here.

[The Walker Wiggle]

Monday afternoon, Ricky Davis agreed to terms with the Los Angeles Clippers on a two year deal worth $4.7 million. The second year of the contract is a player option.

Davis, an unrestricted free agent who turns 29 in September, averaged 13.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists while playing in all 82 games for the Miami Heat last season.

Discussion thread can be found here.

[The Walker Wiggle]

Also, the Toronto Raptors announced the signing of guard Will Solomon.

Solomon was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies with the 32nd pick in the 2001 NBA Draft. He played one season with the Grizzlies before heading overseas for stints in Greece (with Aris BC), Israel (Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv) and Turkey (Efes Pilsen and Fenerbahce Ulker).

The 30 year-old combo guard averaged 17.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists with Fenerbahce last season.

Toronto how has thirteen players under contract. Terms of the deal were not announced.

Discussion thread here.

[fairweatherfan06]

Kareem Rush is to sign with the Sixers tomorrow.