July 2010 – Page 5 – NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog

Karl Malone surprise Hall of Fame presenter pick is Willis Reed

Jody Genessy of the Deseret News reports:

You can bet John Stockton and Jerry Sloan will be at the Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony next month when Karl Malone and the original Dream Team are among the inductees.

Surprisingly, though, neither of them will be presenting The Mailman on his big night.

Per Malone’s request, that honor has been bestowed upon a fellow Louisiana legend.

“Willis Reed is presenting me at the Hall of Fame, which I think is pretty cool,” Malone said Friday night while visiting with Utah media at his auto dealership.

Though many people thought either Stockton or Sloan would be chosen as his presenter — a privilege only current Hall of Famers are allowed to do — Malone went back to his youth to make the selection.

Reed, who’s 21 years older than the 47-year-old birthday boy Malone, grew up in the town of Bernice, La.

Derrick Rose thinks Tracy McGrady would help Bulls

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

With the recent addition of Kurt Thomas, the Bulls have 11 players locked up and will be looking to add one more player — preferably a guard — to the roster in the next week or so.

Derrick Rose made it clear Friday he hopes that player is Tracy McGrady.

”I think that if he comes along he can help our team,” Rose said after the Team USA workout at the Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus. ”A player like him, with his experience and how he plays, I think he’ll help us.”

That depends on the health of McGrady, who has had multiple surgeries on his left knee, including microfracture surgery about a year and a half ago.

Tyreke Evans sentenced to informal probation for reckless driving

Cathy Locke of the Sacramento Bee reports:

Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans pleaded no contest Friday to reckless driving.

Tyreke Evans sentenced to informal probation for reckless driving

Evans, 20, was ordered to serve three years’ informal probation and 80 hours of alternative sentencing, Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully said in a written announcement. His driver’s license also was suspended for 30 days, and he was ordered to participate in two California Highway Patrol Start Smart Driving programs, educational programs targeting teenage drivers.

Evans was driving his black Mercedes S550 shortly before 7 p.m. May 31, when a Highway Patrol flight officer in a CHP Cessna airplane spotted the vehicle traveling more than 100 mph while crossing lanes on westbound Interstate 80. The vehicle at times reached speeds of up to 130 mph and continued at high speeds for several miles while passing vehicles in Memorial Day weekend traffic, Scully said.

Can Austin Daye be NBA shooting guard?

Perry A. Farrell of the Detroit Free Press reports:

Can Austin Daye play shooting guard in the NBA?

He certainly would be a matchup problem at 6-feet-11 — he’s taller than fellow second-year players Jonas Jerebko and DaJuan Summers. Daye spent plenty of time at the position last week during the Pistons’ Summer League in Las Vegas as the staff experimented with him at different positions.

He has the height of a power forward, the body of a small forward and the shooting range of a shooting guard, but at 22, he has plenty of room to grow physically and mentally.

The lanky shooter has the perimeter game to play the position, but whether he has the quickness to guard smaller shooting guards and the commitment to handle the defensive aspects of the position are yet to be determined.

Playing multiple positions would get him more time on the floor during the regular season.

WNBA: Tina Charles rocking the boards

The AP reports:

Tina Charles, who helped UConn win consecutive NCAA championships with undefeated records in her last two seasons, entered the weekend averaging 16.0 points and a league-best 12.0 rebounds. If she keeps it up, the 6-foot-4 center could top Chamique Holdsclaw’s single-season record average of 11.6 rebounds, set in 2002.

“The rebounding part has been the dominant part,” Sun coach Mike Thibault said. “It’s been better than I expected. I knew she was a good rebounder but she has been relentless about getting the ball.”

Charles also has 15 double-doubles in Connecticut’s 21 games this season, two behind the rookie record shared by Yolanda Griffith (1999) and Candace Parker (2008), and four behind the league mark set by Natalie Williams (2000).

Lorenzen Wright missing since Sunday

George Brown of WREG News channel 3 in Memphis reports:

Lorenzen Wright, a former Memphis Tiger and Memphis Grizzlies player, is missing.

The family of Wright says he’s been missing since Sunday.

Wright’s sister, Savia Archie, says her family is very concerned.

Archie said, Wright was last seen on sunday when he was expected to fly out of Memphis, but no one has heard from him since.

Kobe Bryant had right knee surgery

Kobe Bryant recently underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. The successful surgery was performed last week.

Bryant is currently undergoing rehab and is expected to be fully recovered prior to the start of the Lakers’ training camp on September 25.

There is no word on if Bryant plans to address lingering finger issues that he’s been playing with for quite some time.

NBA fines David Kahn, Timberwolves for remarks about Beasley

Minnesota Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations David Kahn has been fined $50,000 for inappropriate comments about Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley. In addition, the Timberwolves organization has been fined $50,000 for Kahn’s remarks.

Earlier today, the St. Paul Pioneer Press had reported: “Timberwolves President David Kahn said newly acquired Michael Beasley had issues with maturity and with smoking “too much marijuana,” but appears to have grown since then. “He’s a very young and immature kid who smoked too much marijuana and has told me that he’s not smoking anymore,” Kahn said Thursday in an interview with KSTP-AM 1500, “and I told him that I would trust him as long as that was the case.”

Kings sign Antoine Wright and Pooh Jeter

The Sacramento Kings today signed free agents Antoine Wright and Pooh Jeter to contracts, according to Kings’ Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Wayne Cooper. Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not disclosed.

“Antoine Wright and Pooh Jeter are two solid players at their respective positions who will add to our roster’s depth,” said Cooper. “Wright has five years of NBA experience under his belt and Jeter is coming off of a great summer league showing as he played for Cleveland’s team in Las Vegas.”

Kings sign Antoine Wright and Pooh Jeter

Wright, a 6-7, 215-pound forward-guard, who is currently entering his sixth NBA season, has recorded career averages of 5.6 points (.413 FGs, .306 3FGs, .674 FTs), 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game through 290 outings with New Jersey (2005-07), Dallas (2007-09) and Toronto (2009-10). He averaged 6.5 points (.406 FGs, .335 3FGs, .688 FTs), 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game over 67 contests last year with the Raptors. Wright has played in 28 career playoff games, averaging 3.9 points and 1.3 rebounds for the Nets (2005-07) and Mavericks (2007-09). He posted career averages of 15.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game through 87 outings over his three-year career at Texas A&M before being drafted in the first round (15th overall) of the 2005 NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets following his junior year.

Jeter, a 5-11, 175-pound guard, has played overseas for the last four seasons for BC Kiev (2007-08, Ukraine), ViveMenorca (2008-09, Spain), Unicaja Malaga (2009, Spain) and Hapoel Jerusalem (2009-10, Israel). His professional career began with the Colorado 14ers of the NBA D-League (2006-07) where he averaged 14.4 points (.486 FGs, .263 3FGs, .885 FTs), 7.1 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game through 50 contests. Jeter played for the Kings in the 2007 Summer League in Las Vegas, and most recently played for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2010 Summer League where he averaged 14.8 points (.482 FGs, .250 3FGs, .800 FTs), a team-leading 5.4 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game over five outings. He enjoyed a four-year career at the University of Portland, averaging 14.9 points (.550 FGs, .420 FTs), 3.0 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game through 115 career contests.

Spurs sign rookie James Anderson

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have signed James Anderson. The Spurs drafted Anderson with 20th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. Per team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed. Since he’s a first round selection, Anderson was guaranteed a contract from the Spurs if he wanted to play in the NBA immediately.

Anderson, an early entry candidate, spent the past three years playing at Oklahoma State University before declaring for the NBA Draft. Last season the 6-6 guard was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and a Second Team All-American by the Associated Press. Anderson ranked sixth in the nation and led the Big 12 in scoring (22.3 ppg) and averaged 5.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 steals in 33 games. He scored in double figures in all 33 games, including 20 or more points in 22 games and 30-plus in five games.

As a sophomore Anderson was named Second Team All-Big 12. He led the Cowboys in scoring (18.2 ppg), three-point percentage (.408, 84-206) and free throw percentage (.829, 136-164). He posted a career-high 37 points at Oklahoma on March 7, 2009. Anderson was named to the Big 12 All-Rookie Team in 2008 and earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention during his freshman season.

For his career Anderson started in 99 of 101 games for the Cowboys, averaging 17.9 points (second all-time in OSU history), 5.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.11 steals while shooting .460 (583-1,268) from the field, .375 (222-600) from three-point range and .797 (420-527) from the foul line.