Golden State Warriors hire Ellen Warner as Vice President of Development

The Golden State Warriors have hired Ellen Warner as Vice President of Development, it was announced today.  In this role, she will serve as the development manager for the team’s proposed privately financed sports and entertainment complex on Piers 30-32 and Seawall Lot 330 in San Francisco and will oversee planning, design and construction of the project.

“We are thrilled to add Ellen to the Warriors organization in this critical role,” said Joe Lacob, the team’s Co-Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.  “Her skills and experience make her a perfect choice to lead our project.”

A San Francisco resident, Warner has more than three decades of experience successfully managing large and complex real estate projects, with budgets totaling $1 billion, including public buildings, hospitals, medical campuses, and office buildings.

“Joining the Warriors organization at this pivotal time is incredibly exciting,” said Warner.  “I look forward to helping the organization bring a new world-class sports and entertainment complex to San Francisco.”

Prior to joining the Warriors, Warner was a partner at David S. Taylor Interests, Inc. in Sacramento, where she was directly responsible for the development of several of Sacramento’s most prominent buildings.  Her portfolio includes Sacramento City Hall, which was named “Best Public Project” in 2005 by the Sacramento Business Journal, and US Bank Tower at 621 Capitol Mall, which the SBJ named “Best Office Project” in 2009.

Warner is a licensed architect and a licensed general contractor, with LEED accreditation.  Her experience in the real estate development industry also includes nine years as the Assistant Manager of Facilities Design and Construction at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where she and her staff of architects, engineers and construction inspectors managed a $500 million capital improvement program for the hospital campus.  Warner also previously served as the Regional Project Director for National Medical Enterprises, an international health care company. She began her career in various architecture offices, including the San Francisco firm Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz.

In 2007, the SBJ honored Warner with their “Women Who Mean Business” award, which recognizes Sacramento-area women for their exemplary career achievements and entrepreneurial accomplishments.  From 2008-2012, Warner served on the Board of Directors for WEAVE, a non-profit agency in Sacramento with a mission to end domestic violence.  Warner attended Cornell University and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis.

Baron Davis will likely stay involved with Knicks

Baron Davis to stay involved with Knicks

Knicks unrestricted free agent Baron Davis will remain with the team in “some capacity,” his agent Todd Ramasar told ESPNNewYork.com on Thursday.

The Knicks won’t re-sign Davis as a player because the 33-year-old point guard suffered a horrific right knee injury in last season’s playoffs, and it’s likely he could miss the entire 2012-13 campaign. But since the spring, the Knicks have treated Davis like one of their own. The team has allowed him to do physical therapy with their training staff, and most recently, management has approached him about staying on board this season.

Ramasar said Davis is very excited about the opportunity, but it won’t involve a job title or him sitting on the bench during games. Instead, it will likely be more of a mentorship role behind the scenes and during practices.

— Reported by Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York

Nets are signing Donte Greene

Nets are signing Donte Greene

Donte Greene will soon be the latest player to join the Nets, as their massive roster overhaul this summer continues.

The 6-foot-11 forward tweeted, “HELLO BROOKLYN” along with a picture of the Nets logo inside the team’s facility in Brooklyn yesterday. That came shortly after Yahoo! Sports reported the Nets had agreed in principle with Greene. A league source said the deal will be non-guaranteed.

Greene’s agent, Chris Luchey, told The Post it was premature to say a deal had been signed, but that all signs point to Greene officially joining the Nets in the near future.

— Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post

Jay Triano named head coach of Canada`s basketball team

As Canada Basketball moves towards an intriguing future, it has turned to its past.

As expected, Jay Triano was named head coach of the senior men’s program on Thursday, his second go-around at the position after previous management bungled his dismissal in 2005.

His replacement, Leo Rautins, resigned last summer and it was quickly clear that Triano was the organization’s top choice to take over, especially if Steve Nash agreed to come on board as well.

In fact, Nash said on Thursday that the hiring of Triano was a requirement of his doing so.

“I know that Jay is the right man for this job” Nash said.

— Reported by Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun

Hornets center Robin Lopez hopes to finally stay healthy

Robin Lopez hopes to finally stay healthy

New Orleans Hornets newly acquired center Robin Lopez is hoping for a fresh start in the Big Easy that hopefully won’t include a repeat of injury problems that has limited him in two of the previous three seasons.

Since 2009, Lopez has had a foot fracture, a bulging disk and knee problems. A week after the Hornets acquired Lopez last month in a trade with the Phoenix Suns, he underwent successful surgery to correct a tear of his medial meniscus in his left knee.

Lopez, however, has been doing his rehabilitation work at the Alario Center and is on schedule to be fully recovered before training camp begins this October, according to the Hornets.

— Reported by John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune

Heat bring in Josh Harrellson for workout

Looking to fill their final spot on the roster, the Miami Heat hosted a workout for free agent center Josh Harrellson on Thursday morning, a league source told ESPN.com. The 6-foot-10 big man was waived last week by the Houston Rockets in order to make room for newly signed guard Carlos Delfino.

Harrellson averaged 4.4 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 33.9 percent from downtown last season as a reserve big man for the Knicks before being traded this offseason to the Rockets in a package for center Marcus Camby.

— Reported by Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com

Michael Jordan`s son Marcus fined $250 for disturbing peace in Omaha

Marcus Jordan, a son of Michael Jordan, was fined $250 and court costs Thursday after pleading no contest to disturbing the peace during an argument with a woman outside a Nebraska hotel last month.

Marcus Jordan, 21, also had been charged with obstructing a police officer, but that was dropped as part of a plea agreement.

He was in Omaha for the U.S. Olympic swim trials July 1 and arrested after police responded to an early-morning call at an Embassy Suites hotel. According to a police report, an off-duty officer working security for the hotel was trying to subdue Jordan as he argued with two women in the driveway. Jordan was “very animated, intoxicated and uncooperative.”

— Reported by the Associated Press

Damir Markota signs in Turkey

Besiktas JK Istanbul added to its frontcourt by signing experienced big man Damir Markota to a one-year contract. Markota (2.08 meters, 26 years old) is a veteran of seven Euroleague seasons with three different teams. Last season he averaged 4.7 points and 6 rebounds in seven Euroleague appearances for Union Olimpija. He ranked third in the regular season with his 76.9% two-point shooting percentage and his 15 rebounds pulled against Montepaschi Siena represented the third most of any player in a game all season. He left Olimpija midway through the season and finished the campaign with KK Zagreb in Croatia. Markota made his Euroleague debut – a 20-second appearance with Cibona Zagreb in the 2001-02 season – when he was 16.

— Reported by Euroleague.net

Marcus Slaughter signs in Madrid

One of the best rebounders in last season’s Turkish Airlines Euroleague switched teams with the news that Real Madrid signed Marcus Slaughter. The athletic big man signed a two-year deal with Los Blancos. Slaughter (2.03 meters, 27 years old) arrives from Brose Baskets, where he averaged 11.8 points on 56.4% two-point shooting, 7.2 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.4 blocks in 10 Euroleague games last season. He ranked sixth in performance index ranking (17.7 per game), third in rebounding, second in blocks and tied for third in steals in the 2011-12 Euroleague regular season.

— Reported by Euroleague.net

Washington Wizards work out Martell Webster

Washington Wizards work out Martell Webster

The Washington Wizards aren’t desperately in need of making any roster additions, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t searching through the remaining free agent pool to find a possible fit – financially and personnel-wise – with the team.

Free agent small forward Martell Webster worked out for the Wizards at Verizon Center this week, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation. The former No. 6 pick of the NBA draft in 2005, Webster has averaged 8.4 points and shot 37.4 percent from beyond three-point range throughout his career in Portland and Minnesota.

— Reported by Michael Lee of the Washington Post (Blog)