December 2011 – Page 10 – NBA Blog

Antonio McDyess will not return to Spurs

The Spurs had until the end of business Monday to guarantee the other half of veteran big man Antonio McDyess’ $5.2 million contract, but they won’t drag the process to the end of the day.

The teams acknowledged that McDyess won’t be back, and the club will get to remove $2.6 million, the non=guaranteed portion of his contract, off its player payroll for the 2011-12 season.

McDyess, a former All-Star and an Olympic gold medal winner i n 2000, started all six playoff games last season.

— Reported by Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News Blog

Pacers trade Brandon Rush to Warriors for Lou Amundson

The Golden State Warriors have acquired guard Brandon Rush from the Indiana Pacers in exchange for forward Lou Amundson, the team announced today.

“We’re very happy to get Lou,” said Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird. “He gives us another big guy who rebounds and plays extremely hard. He gives us more depth up front and will be a player who gives us energy off the bench.”

“I want to thank Brandon for his three seasons with us,” said Bird. “Anytime you make a trade, especially when it’s a guy such as Brandon who you’ve come to know and like, it’s tough, but he’ll get a good opportunity and a fresh start with Golden State.”

Rush, 26, appeared in 67 games (21 starts) for the Pacers last season, averaging 9.1 points and 3.2 rebounds in 26.2 minutes per contest. In 21 starting assignments, the 6’6” guard averaged 11.2 points and 4.1 rebounds in 31.1 minutes per contest. For the season, he shot a career-best 41.7% (93-223 3FG) from three-point range.

Originally selected by Portland in the first round (#13) of the 2008 NBA Draft, Rush was acquired by Indiana via trade on July 9, 2008. He has appeared in 224 regular-season games during his three-year career, averaging 8.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per contest. In 2009-10, he appeared in all 82 games (64 starts) for Indiana and averaged career highs in points (9.4), rebounds (4.2), assists (1.4) and minutes (30.4).

Amundson, 29, appeared in 46 games (seven starts) for the Warriors last season, averaging 4.3 points and 4.0 rebounds in a career-high 15.0 minutes per contest. A five-year NBA veteran, he was originally signed by the Warriors as a free agent on September 13, 2010.

Wizards re-sign guard Nick Young

The Washington Wizards announced today that they have re-signed guard Nick Young. According to the Washington Post, the deal a one-year, $3.7 million qualifying offer, and “by signing his qualifying offer, Young will become an unrestricted free agent next season, when the market is expected to be better. Several teams are expected to have considerable salary cap room and few young guards will be available.”

“Nick is a very good scorer who has continually developed and shown steady improvement over his four years with us,” said Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld. “His size, shooting ability and athleticism allow him to get his own shot and compliment our other backcourt players, making him a valuable part of our young core.”

Young led the Wizards in scoring last season with a career-high 17.4 points over 64 games. He scored a career-high 43 points on Jan. 11 vs. Sacramento and posted the second-highest scoring increase in the NBA from 2009-10 to 2010-11 (8.6 ppg – 17.4 ppg) behind Golden State’s Dorell Wright.

Young holds career averages of 10.9 points and 1.8 rebounds with career marks of .437 from the field, .383 from three-point range and .822 from the free throw line in 295 games with the Wizards. He was originally selected by the team with the 16th overall pick of the 2007 NBA Draft.

Knicks sign guard Baron Davis

New York Knickerbockers Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations and Interim General Manager Glen Grunwald announced today that the team has signed free agent guard Baron Davis. It is widely reported to be a one-year deal for $2.5 million. Though, Howard Beck of the New York Times reports that the deal is actually for the veteran’s minimum ($1.4 million), which means the Knicks still have their $2.5 million exception to spend.

Davis, 6-3, 212-pounds, holds career averages of 16.5 points, 7.3 assists, 1.86 steals and 34.7 minutes in 806 games (677 starts) over 12 NBA seasons with the Hornets, Golden State, L.A. Clippers and Cleveland. The two-time NBA All-Star averaged 13.1 points, 6.7 assists and 1.34 steals over 28.4 minutes in 58 games (44 starts) with Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland last season.

The Los Angeles, CA-native was originally selected by Charlotte Hornets in the first round (third overall) of 1999 NBA Draft. He appeared in 46 postseason games (42 starts) to average 19.8 points, 6.5 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.50 steals over 38.1 minutes.

According to ESPN New York, “Davis has a herniated disk in his back that he said on Monday could sideline him for 8-10 weeks. But a source close to Davis told ESPNNewYork.com that 8-10 weeks is a conservative estimate and, if his rehabilitation goes well, he could return in 4-6 weeks “if not sooner.” Said Davis: “For me, it’s taking it one day at a time and … getting as close as I possibly can to practicing to practicing as soon as I possibly can.”

Thunder trade Byron Mullens to Bobcats

Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has acquired a 2013 2nd round draft pick from the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for center Byron Mullens and cash considerations.

“While we believe that Byron will be a productive player in this league, it became apparent that in the near future it would be difficult for him to continue his development and have the opportunity to make a significant impact on our club because of the current make-up of our roster,” Presti said. “This trade allows us the opportunity to create both future financial and roster flexibility while providing us with an additional draft pick in 2013.”

In two seasons with the Thunder, Mullens has appeared in 26 games and posted averages of 1.5 points and 1.3 rebounds in 5.3 minutes per contest.

Oklahoma City originally acquired the draft rights to Mullens from the Dallas Mavericks on draft night after he was selected in the 1st round (No. 25 overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft.

The former Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year at Ohio State saw action in 41 games for the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA D-League during the past two seasons. With the 66ers, Mullens recorded averages of 15.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots in 30.2 minutes per game.

Los Angeles Lakers sign Troy Murphy

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed free agent forward/center Troy Murphy, it was announced today. According to the Los Angeles Times Blog, the deal is for one year and $1.4 million.

Murphy, who has averaged a double-double in five of his 10 NBA seasons, owns career averages of 11.6 points and 8.4 rebounds in 656 games (481 starts) with Golden State, Indiana, New Jersey and Boston.

Ranked 16th among active players in rebounds per game and 29th in three-point field goal percentage (.389), the 6’11” New Jersey native finished the 2008-09 season as the only player in NBA history to rank in the top five league-wide in both rebounds per game (2nd/11.8) and three-point field goal percentage (3rd/.450).

Selected by the Golden State Warriors in the first round (14th overall) of the 2001 NBA Draft, the two-time consensus All-American out of Notre Dame has finished among the NBA’s top-10 league leaders in rebounds per game five times and has recorded 218 career double-doubles.

Andrew Bynum unfazed by trade rumors

Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum made it clear that it does not take offense to hearing his name dangled in deals and he refuted a recent Yahoo! Sports report that stated, “Bynum has privately been heard to say this offseason that he wants his own team.”

“I never said anything like that,” Bynum told ESPNLosAngeles.com. “I don’t care … I’ll be happy anywhere I play, honestly. It doesn’t really matter to me. In Orlando, I’ll probably get more shots and more touches, but here, I think this year they’ll need me to step up here. So, it really doesn’t matter.”

What does matter to Bynum is changing his reputation as being a liability in the lineup because of his injury history. Bynum has played in just 204 out of a possible 328 games in the last four years because of various injuries, missing an average of 31 games a season.

— Reported by Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles

Rockets sign 2nd round pick Chandler Parsons

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed second-round draft pick Chandler Parsons. The Rockets selected the University of Florida forward with the 38th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Parsons is expected to dress out for tonight’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.

Parsons (6-9, 200, Florida), who also played with Cholet Basket (France) in 2011, completed his four-year career at Florida ranked 12th all-time in school history with 1,452 points. He was named SEC Player of the Year and First-Team All-SEC as a senior. In addition, Parsons earned SEC All-Freshman honors in 2007-08. His grandfather, Don Parsons, played basketball at Rutgers and was drafted by the New York Knicks.

Jamal Crawford buys jersey number from Luke Babbitt

When the Trail Blazers officially introduced newly-signed Jamal Crawford at a news conference, he held up a brand new white No. 11 Blazers uniform and beamed from ear to ear as photographers snapped photos.

Wait … No. 11? Doesn’t Luke Babbitt wear No. 11?

Not anymore.

Crawford bought the number from Babbitt after a series of playful back-and-forth negotiations that spanned multiple days and involved Blazers captain LaMarcus Aldridge as a mediator.

No. 11 cost Crawford $12,000.

“That was a hard bargain, a tough bargain to get it,” Crawford said, laughing, after the Blazers’ practice on Saturday. “Luke could have been a lawyer … he got me.”

— Reported by Joe Freeman. Full article on the Oregonian

Grizzlies forward Darrell Arthur injured in practice

Grizzlies forward Darrell Arthur left practice this morning with a serious Achilles injury and the fear is that he might be lost for the entire 2011-12 season, according to sources with knowledge of situation.

An early diagnosis by the team’s medical staff indicated that Arthur might have suffered a torn right Achilles. The 6-foot-9 reserve had just returned to practice after missing time with a sore left Achilles.

— Reported by Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal