Month: July 2008

Raptors sign Will Solomon

The Toronto Raptors announced Monday they have signed free-agent guard Will Solomon. Per team policy, financial details were not disclosed.

Solomon, 30, has played the past two seasons in Istanbul, Turkey for Fenerbahce Ulker. He averaged 17.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.3 steals in 13 regular season games last season. In Euroleague Top 16 play, he contributed 20.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in six games. He had a high of 28 points in 32 minutes versus Tau Ceramica.

Solomon, 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, was selected 33rd overall in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies. He appeared in 62 games with the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2001-02 season, averaging 5.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 14.2 minutes.

Solomon has played overseas since 2002. He spent the 2002-03 season in Greece with Aris Thessaloniki. He moved to Israel and Hapoel Jerusalem in 2003-04. In 2004-05, he played in Turkey for Efes Pilsen Istanbul. He joined current Raptor Anthony Parker on Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2005-06 and in 2006 he signed with his current club, Fenerbahce Ulker.

The native of East Hartford, Connecticut averaged 15.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 94 career games in three seasons at Clemson University. He entered the NBA Draft following his junior season. He earned first-team All-ACC honours as a sophomore and second-team as a junior. He led the ACC in scoring as a sophomore at 20.9 points. He finished fourth in the conference in his junior campaign at 19.7 points. Solomon finished his career second all-time in school history in made three-point field goals (214).

How to determine schedule for any team

The Oklahoman (Mike Baldwin) reports on a team’s 82-game regular season schedule: “Four games against division opponents. Four games against six out-of-division conference opponents. Three games against the remaining four conference teams. Two games against teams in the opposing conference. A five-year rotation determines which out-of-division conference teams are played only three times.”

Rumors Talk: Hawks need to keep Smith

July 27: It would be a real shame if the Hawks and Josh Smith are unable to work out a long-term contract and instead wind up having to sign-and-trade him, especially after the team made the playoffs last season. Not that qualifying for the postseason is hard when playing in the Eastern conference. Myself, a few other InsideHoops.com guys, Chuck Nevitt, JR Rider and Leon Smith could probably pull it off. Still, the Hawks are fun to watch, show promise to get a bit better, and have a squad that’s decent to cheer for. Losing Josh Childress to a faraway overseas land hurts, but if a bench guy or two steps up a bit and shows some improvement, he’ll only be missed a little. His afro, on the other hand, will be tougher to replace.

Anyway, imagine if a team like the Celtics were able to land Smith. If that happened I’d imagine they’d use him as a super-sixth man. They have championship chemistry in the starting lineup and shouldn’t mess with that. Imagine Smith getting 28-32 bench minutes on a 60-win Boston squad. Sweet, huh?

I’m just tossing Boston out there for the fun of it. Obviously every team in the league would love to have Smith, and he’d start for almost all of them.

Aside from being good and still young, Smith is also extremely exciting to watch. He sells tickets. The Hawks need to keep him, even if it means overspending a little.

Rumors Talk: InsideHoops on overseas signings

July 26: I don’t think it’s particularly big news that an overseas team offered Mike Finley a contract. Chances are, every player in the NBA who is either an aging veteran or a young guy who isn’t a lock to stay in the league gets multiple overseas offers. It’s just that now, with Bostjan Nachbar going overseas (a slight surprise) and Josh Childress going there as well (a pretty big surprise), overseas offers are getting more publicity, and writers and columnists are asking agents more about that stuff than before.

Chances are, Finley got overseas offers in the past, too, and he’ll get them in the future.

As has been reported by lots of outlets, and confirmed by people we at InsideHoops.com talk to, there isn’t a big reason to think tons of players on the level of Childress will ever wind up going overseas, because the money isn’t there. Teams in Europe don’t have massive TV deals and marketing profits that NBA teams do. They’re much smaller operations. So don’t expect lots of good NBA sixth men or prime bench guys to leave the league.

I’d guess there could be another couple of good NBA bench guys (probably not as good as Childress) that go overseas this or next year, but not much more than that. Nothing that would shake the league up in any real way.

Jazz keep CJ Miles

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has exercised its first right of refusal on guard C.J. Miles’s contract. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not announced.

Miles (6-6, 220, Skyline H.S. (TX)) has appeared in 120 games (26 starts) in three seasons with the Jazz, averaging 4.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 10.5 minutes per game. Miles appeared in 60 games (13 starts) for the Jazz in 2007-08, posting career highs of 5.0 points and 0.9 assists in 11.5 minutes per game. Originally selected by the Jazz in the second round (34th pick overall) of the 2005 NBA Draft, the then 18-year-old became the youngest player in Jazz franchise history.

Miles will be available via conference call in the Salt Lake Community College press room at 6:30 p.m. tonight, prior to the Utah Jazz game vs. the Dallas Mavericks in the finale of the 2008 Rocky Mountain Revue.

Heat promote Chad Kammerer to assistant coach

The Miami HEAT announced today that they have promoted Chad Kammerer to the role of assistant coach. Among his responsibilities in his new role he will be assisting in the areas of game planning, scouting, player development  and other duties assigned by Head Coach Erik Spolestra.

“Chad is a valuable addition to our coaching staff,” said Spoelstra. “He has a great basketball mind and comes from a family that has been around the game for years. He has worked hard for this organization the last seven years in our scouting department and has a great knowledge of the NBA.”

Kammerer, who originally joined the organization on a part-time basis during the 2001-02 season, has spent the past six years as the HEAT’s full-time advance scout. In addition to providing scouting reports and player evaluations to assist the HEAT coaching staff in their game preparations, Kammerer has also served as an assistant coach for the HEAT’s summer league team the past four years.

Prior to joining the HEAT, Kammerer served as an assistant coach at Valparasio University, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Concordia University (CA) and the University of Mississippi.

Kammerer graduated from Westmont College in 1990 with a degree in physical education and later went on to earn his masters degree at the University of Mississippi in 1993. He was born in Indiana and raised in California and is the son of HEAT Vice President, Player Personnel Chet Kammerer.

Bobcats re-sign Ryan Hollins

Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins announced today that the team has re-signed restricted free agent center Ryan Hollins. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 50th overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft, Hollins appeared in 60 games with one start last season, averaging 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds in 8.9 minutes.

The 7-0, 230-pound Hollins has appeared in 87 career games for the Bobcats, averaging 2.4 points and 1.6 rebounds. Hollins was assigned to the Fort Worth Flyers of the NBA Development League from November 22, 2006 to December 19, 2006, averaging 12.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in six games.

Bobcats Sports & Entertainment owns and operates the Charlotte Bobcats (NBA) and operates the widely-acclaimed Time Warner Cable Arena, which opened in the fall of 2005.

Kings sign Bobby Brown

The Sacramento Kings today signed point guard Bobby Brown to a contract, it was announced by Kings’ President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.“We’re really excited to be able to sign Bobby Brown,” said Petrie. “He matured as a player in Europe last season and had an exceptional Summer League in Las Vegas. It gives us some additional depth and athleticism at the point. I think he’ll be a great complement to the rest of our roster as we go into training camp. We’re all looking forward to watching him play.”

At  6-2 and 175 pounds, Brown averaged 15.2 points (.424 FGs, .750 FTs), 6.3 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 35.0 minutes per game through six contests, all of which he started for the New Orleans Hornets during the 2008 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. He tallied double-figures in each game, including a 20-point effort versus Charlotte (7/13) and recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists against Portland (7/20).

After not being drafted in the 2007 NBA Draft, Brown helped Alba Berlin win the German club championship last season, averaging 14.5 points (.433 FGs, .319 3FGs, .810 FTs), 4.1 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game over 16 outings. He averaged 17.4 points (.444 FGs, .404 3FGs, .857 FTs), 4.4 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game through nine contests in the UELB Cup.

Brown enjoyed a four-year career at Cal State Fullerton where he averaged 16.9 points (.428 FGs, .377 3FGs, .789 FTs), 4.4 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.31 steals per game in 116 outings, of which he started 103 (2003-04 – 2007-08). He finished his career as the school’s leading scorer with 1,961 points (ninth in Big West history). As a senior, Brown was a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, presented to nation’s top point guard after averaging a career-best 20.2 points (.468 FGs, .388 3FGs, .789 FTs), 5.1 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.30 steals per game while starting in all 27 contests for the Titans. He was a two-time First Team All-Big West selection during his junior and senior seasons and ranks first in three-point field goals made (307) and third in assists (516) on the school’s all-time list. Brown scored a career-high and school record 47 points (17-20 FG, 11-13 3pt, 2-2 FT) against Bethune-Cookman (12/16/06). His 11 treys set a school record and matched the Big West Conference mark. Brown was named Big West Freshman of the Year in 2003-04.

Warriors re-sign Monta Ellis

The Golden State Warriors have re-signed guard Monta Ellis to a multi-year contract, it was announced today by Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin.  Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not announced.

“We are absolutely thrilled to have Monta under contract for the next several years,” said Mullin. “He has been one of the top young players in the NBA for the last two years and enjoyed a tremendous season last year.  The growth that he has demonstrated at such a young age is incredible and we look forward to him playing a big part in our future success.”

Ellis, 22, averaged a career-high 20.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.53 steals in 37.9 minutes in 81 games last season.   He ranked 14th in the NBA in field goal percentage (.531, 3rd among all guards), 15th in steals and 25th in scoring.  He became only the ninth guard in NBA history to shoot 60% from the floor for an entire month in February (.602).  The 6’3” Ellis scored a career-high 39 points on January 24 vs. New Jersey and scored 30-plus points on 12 occasions overall.

Originally selected (out of high school) in the second round of the 2005 NBA Draft by Golden State (#40 overall), Ellis was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player following the 2006-07 campaign, when his scoring average increased by nearly 10 points per game from the previous season (6.8 to 16.5).  The Jackson, Mississippi native has averaged 15.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists overall in 207 NBA games during his three-year career.  Additionally, his field goal percentage has increased by nearly 6% in each of his three campaigns (.415, .475, 531).

Knicks sign Anthony Roberson

The New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that free agent guard Anthony Roberson has been signed to a contract. As per club policy, terms of the deal will not be disclosed.

Roberson, 6-2, 195-pounds, has career averages of 4.1 points and 8.8 minutes in 36 career games with Memphis and Golden State. The 25-year-old Saginaw, MI-native averaged 2.2 points in 5.5 minutes per game with Memphis in 2005-06 before tallying 5.6 points in 11.4 minutes per game with Golden State the following season. Roberson spent last season playing overseas in Turkey and Israel.

The University of Florida product was undrafted and signed with Memphis as a free agent in August 2005. After splitting time with Grizzlies and their NBA Development League affiliate during the 2005-06 campaign, Roberson signed as a free agent with the Warriors prior to the 2006-07 season. In 28 career NBA D-League games, Roberson averaged 17.1 points.

Roberson averaged 14.8 points in five games with the Knicks’ entry in the 2008 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, NV.