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The Chicago Bulls announced today they have re-signed forward Chris Richard to a second 10-day contract. Richard, a 6-9, 256-pound forward, originally signed a 10-day contract with the Bulls on February 5, 2010.
In three appearances with Chicago, Richard has averaged 2.0 ppg and 5.7 rpg in 17.3 mpg.
The 25-26 Bulls are currently the no.8 seed in the Eastern conference, with the same record as the Miami Heat and just ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Dave D’Alessandro of the Newark Star-Ledger reports:
Rod Thorn’s demise has been greatly exaggerated — if not invented entirely, by some NBA executives with vivid imaginations and agendas that remain hard to discern.
That much was made clear by the Nets president’s meeting in Dallas on Sunday with two Onexim executives, who represented the only obstacle between Thorn heading north to Vancouver to meet with Mikhail Prokhorov for a series of appointments Monday and Tuesday.
And the Russian businessman, whose purchase of the Nets is pending league approval, “is not bringing the guy all the way to British Columbia just to fire him,” according to one person familiar with content and tone of the meeting, who required anonymity to speak candidly. “They love Rod.”
The meeting was held by Onexim CEO Dmitry Razumov and deputy CEO Christophe Charlier, who spoke enthusiastically with Thorn and Nets CEO Brett Yormark at length about the team’s future.
Reuters reports:
The NBA could lose around $400 million this year because of the flagging economy and a crippling labor agreement, according to commissioner David Stern.
Stern told a news conference Saturday that players’ union representatives negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement had been shown figures outlining the NBA’s current economic circumstances.
“And basically what those numbers showed, give or take, was this year we are projecting a league-wide loss of about $400 million,” he said.”
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Forward Caron Butler is having a rough year on the struggling Washington Wizards. And forward Josh Howard is having an even rougher year on the very solid Dallas Mavericks. Both players could use a change of scenery, and that’s reportedly going to happen tonight.
UPDATE: The trade is official. Click here.
According to at least four media outlets, including the Washington Post (Michael Lee), the Mavericks will trade Howard, forward/center Drew Gooden, guard Quinton Ross and forward James Singleton to the Wizards for Butler, center Brendan Haywood and guard DeShawn Stevenson.
Howard this season is averaging just 12.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists on 40.1% shooting in 26.7 minutes per game. His role on the Mavs has been in decline.
Butler averages 16.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.45 steals on 42.2% shooting in 39.4 minutes per game.
In the view of InsideHoops.com, this seems like a good deal for both teams. Butler gets to join a winning team he can contribute to, though he’ll be asked to be more of a role player than he may be used to. And Howard gains more responsibility, something that may do him good.
The most important player in this trade other than those two guys is Haywood, a solid center having a good season. He should definitely help Dallas.
More coming tonight when the deal actually becomes official.
Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee reports:
Eitan Casspi had the right idea.
No media obligations, no autographs to sign and no high-profile games to play – unless table tennis inside the Nike suite qualifies.
The brother of Kings small forward Omri Casspi had his slice of All-Star Weekend paradise Friday afternoon, when he alternated between the pingpong table and the massage station inside the swank setup at the Hyatt Regency. As for his brother and fellow fan and media favorite Tyreke Evans? It was quite a different experience.
They were Kings of the room in the morning, when reporters still surrounded them long after every other Rookie team member was done with those duties. They were embraced by children while visiting area schools in the early afternoon. They commanded the most attention in the hotel lobby, where fans of all sizes came in from the snow to have them sign pictures, balls and even T-shirt sleeves. Both players graciously obliged.
And when they made their way to Nike’s four-star hideaway that was fitted with snacks and drinks, music and dartboards, a paid barber on site, video games and even a scenic view of Texas’ winter wonderland, even that setting wasn’t relaxing enough. By the time the late afternoon arrived, Evans and Casspi poked their heads in and proceeded to head the other way. It was nap time.
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Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose will not defend his Skills Challenge title Saturday night at 2010 NBA All-Star weekend in Dallas, Texas.
Rose has a bruised hip and has been considered “probable” for the weekend’s events. But Saturday afternoon, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook was named as a replacement for the tonight’s competition.
Rose still hopes to participate in Sunday’s NBA All-Star game.
According to K.C. Johnson of Chicago Breaking Sports News, “Bulls physician Brian Cole re-examined Rose’s bruised right hip and back following Saturday morning’s Eastern Conference All-Star practice, and Rose dropped out of the competition Saturday afternoon. The NBA announced that Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook would replace his close friend and summer workout partner in the competition. Bucks guard Brandon Jennings, Suns guard Steve Nash and Jazz guard Deron Williams also will compete.”
The AP reports:
Former NBA player Juan Dixon has tested positive for the steroid nandrolone, his Spanish team Unicaja announced.
The player gave the drug test in Greece in November, before he joined the Malaga-based team, Unicaja said on its Web site.
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The Nuggets and head coach George Karl have agreed to a contract extension through the 2010-11 NBA season, the team announced today.
As per team policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. We’ll post info on it tonight.
Since taking over as Nuggets coach on Jan. 27, 2005, Karl has guided Denver to the playoffs in each of the past five years, including a trip to the 2009 Western Conference finals.
At 35-18, the Nuggets currently are second in the West, earning Karl the honor of coaching the Western Conference team at the NBA All-Star Game Sunday in Arlington, Texas.
“We are pleased with the progress the Nuggets have made over the last five years. George has played a pivotal role in our success. His extension is well-deserved,” Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke said. “George and our entire organization remain focused on one goal: Bringing an NBA championship to Denver.”
Now in his 22nd season as an NBA head coach, Karl has taken his teams to the playoffs 18 times, and he has not had a losing season since 1987-88. His 260 victories with the Nuggets rank second in franchise history (Doug Moe, 432), while his .618 winning percentage is unmatched.
“I’ve always said Denver is the only place I want to coach,” Karl said. “Mr. Kroenke’s leadership and his commitment to my staff, players and Nuggets fans are second to none. I have a great deal of respect for Stan, personally and professionally. I look forward to working with him as we pursue our common goal of winning an NBA title.”
Overall, Karl has as a career regular-season record of 968-660 with Cleveland, Golden State, Seattle, Milwaukee and Denver. His victories rank seventh in NBA history.
Hit the InsideHoops.com NBA rumors page right now for the latest.
Multiple media outlets report that the Mavericks and Wizards may be swapping Caron Butler and Josh Howard.
And the Plain Dealer reports that the Cavs are chasing Amar’e Stoudemire.
I hate to keep talking about snow and slush at Dallas NBA All-Star weekend — and don’t worry, the actual events start tonight, and then everything will probably be all about basketball and fun — but here’s another All-Start party story of note.
TMZ reports:
Shaquille O’Neal was supposed to host a party last night in Dallas for NBA All-Star Weekend — that is, until the biggest blizzard in the city’s history got in the way.
TMZ spoke to a manager of Aura Nightclub in uptown Dallas who told us that before Shaq arrived at the club, the record-setting snowfall blew out some electrical transformers … leaving everyone standing in the dark.
Sounds like this happened to lots of people.
But, that was just Thursday. The weekend really kicks into gear tonight (Friday). And while there’s slush all over Dallas, it’s done snowing, so all should go well for everyone from now on.
