Day: October 23, 2012

Bucks, Bradley Center agree to six-year lease

BMO Harris Bradley Center announced Monday that it has reached agreement with the Milwaukee Bucks on a new, six-year lease through Sept. 30, 2017.

The lease extension, which is backdated to Oct. 1 of last year and was expected, is the longest lease between the center and the franchise in more than 10 years and the first multiyear extension since 2007.

“This six-year lease extension represents a long-term commitment between the BMO Harris Bradley Center and the Bucks, offering security for the next five years as the community continues to determine its potential path to a new arena,” said Marc Marotta, BMO Harris Bradley Center board chairman.

The terms of the lease extension are substantially the same as in past years, arena officials said, and will not escalate during the six-year term.

— Reported by Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Orlando Magic waive Christian Eyenga and Armon Johnson

The Orlando Magic have waived guard-forward Christian Eyenga and guard Armon Johnson, General Manager Rob Hennigan announced today.

Eyenga (6’5”, 210, 6/22/89) did not play in any of Orlando’s six preseason outings.  He was acquired by the Magic from the L.A. Lakers as part of a four-team, 12-player deal on Aug. 10.  Johnson (6’3”, 195, 2/23/89) played in five preseason games with Orlando, averaging 3.2 ppg., 1.6 rpg. and 1.2 apg. in 13.0 minpg.  He was signed as a free agent on Sep. 28.

Orlando’s roster now stands at 18 players.

Pistons rookie Andre Drummond looking good in preseason

Pistons rookie Andre Drummond looking good in preseason

The Detroit Pistons are getting closer to finalizing the rotation they’ll use in next week’s season opener against the Houston Rockets and rookie Andre Drummond is making a strong case to be part of it.

The 6-foot-10 center from Connecticut has appeared in all six preseason games and has been arguably one of the Pistons top players.

In 18 minutes per game, he leads the Pistons in shooting percentage (.651), rebounds (5.8) and blocks (1.5) while ranking third in scoring (9.8).

Coach Lawrence Frank isn’t ready to commit to a rotation – or even how many players will be in it – but with only two preseason games remaining, time is running out for him to make some decisions.

— Reported by Brendan Savage of Michigan Live

Bill Walton is healthy and happy

Q: How bad was your injury?

Bill Walton: “I spent three years on the ground. I was in unrelenting, excruciating pain that can only be described as being submerged in a vat of acid with an electric current running through it that I couldn’t get out of. I was just a pitiful ball of flesh writhing on the floor, begging for the pain to stop. My life was over.”

Q: How did it compare to some of your other injuries?

Walton: “I spent a lifetime with bone and joint pain. There’s nothing like nerve pain. It never goes away and nothing can fix it. It destroys your life, it destroys the lives of everyone around you. It takes away the hope and the dream that tomorrow is going to be better. If you don’t have that, you don’t have much. You don’t have anything.”

Q: How do you feel today?

Walton: “I am busier than ever, happier than ever. I haven’t been this healthy since high school. No pain, no medication. I had no idea what life was like without back pain. It’s a miracle what’s happened to me. So with the privilege and good fortune of health comes responsibility, duty and obligation to help other people have their dreams comes true.”

— Reported by Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News (Blog)

Dwight Howard thought he deserved Defensive Player of Year award last season

Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard had a big smile on his face a day after making his debut for the Los Angeles Lakers, but he still feels the sting of how things ended in Orlando when he thinks about his trophy shelf.

Howard was recognized as the best defender in the league as well as the best interior defender when NBA.com announced the results of its annual survey of the league’s 30 general managers Monday, but Howard still wants to know why he isn’t the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

“I thought I should have won it last year, to be honest with you,” Howard told reporters after practice Monday. “I was a little bit upset about that.”

Tyson Chandler of the New York Knicks was named the league’s DPOY last season, ending Howard’s three-year run as the award winner. Chandler earned 45 first place votes and 311 total points to take home the trophy.

— Reported by Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles

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Dwight Howard makes good first impression for Lakers

dwight howard

Deconstructing Dwight, Part 1 of dozens of chapters to come, undoubtedly.

The Lakers center took the court Sunday for the first time with his new team and showed exactly why he was different from Andrew Bynum. Markedly.

Dwight Howard has instincts that his predecessor has rarely shown, scoring five times off alley-oop passes and teammates’ missed shots in an exhibition game against Sacramento. Unlike Bynum, Howard’s not a guy who needs the ball in the post, though he showed a left-handed hook shot against the Kings.

Howard is ambidextrous, the result of a childhood accident in which he broke the wrist of his dominant (left) hand and learned to shoot with his right. He passes with his right hand, shoots free throws right-handed and shoots from the post slightly more with his left hand. But only slightly.

“Dwight’s body is far more genetically gifted than Andrew. Andrew has had some issues obviously in his lower extremities in both knees,” said Lakers assistant coach Chuck Person, who worked with Bynum last season and now Howard.

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

Bid to buy Memphis Grizzlies on NBA agenda this week

Robert Pera’s bid to own the Grizzlies is on the agenda for consideration by the NBA’s Board of Governors at its meetings Wednesday and Thursday in New York City, sources familiar with the process told The Commercial Appeal.

If the board approves the deal, only one hurdle would remain before the completion of the first ownership transfer in the Grizzlies’ 11 years in Memphis: Pera’s group would then have to close the deal with current owner Michael Heisley. Pera agreed in June to buy the team from Heisley for what is believed to be $350 million.

Three-fourths of the board, which is made up of the majority owners for each of the 30 NBA teams, must vote in favor of Pera’s bid for the ownership transfer to be approved.

Pera will be the largest shareholder in the prospective ownership group but will own less than 50 percent of the franchise, two sources familiar with the deal said.

— Reported by Geoff Calkins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal

Austin Rivers leaves Hornets game with sprained ankle

Austin Rivers

New Orleans guard Austin Rivers said he expects to be ready for the start of the regular season after the Hornets rookie sprained his right ankle in a preseason game Monday night.

Rivers did not return after he landed awkwardly on a layup attempt in the second quarter of the Hornets’ 87-74 loss to Dallas. The Duke product, the 10th overall pick in this past summer’s draft, had X-rays on his ankle and those came back negative.

New Orleans coach Monty Williams said Rivers will undergo an MRI on Tuesday. Rivers had surgery on the same ankle in June to remove bone spurs.

— Reported by the Associated Press