October 2012 – Page 19 – NBA Blog

Sixers issue Andrew Bynum health update

Philadelphia 76ers center Andrew Bynum will continue with conditioning drills as part of a previously announced precautionary measure related to the Orthokine treatment he received on September 15, 2012.

Bynum will also receive a Synvisc injection in his right knee from Dr. David Altchek of the Hospital of Special Surgery on Monday, October 22, 2012. The injection of Synvisc – a natural substance that lubricates and cushions the joint – has been a routine procedure for Bynum during the previous two seasons and is unrelated to the bone bruise of the medial femoral chondyle of his right knee.

Following the injection, Bynum will be examined by Dr. Jack McPhilemy of Main Line Health.

Ex-Bull Horace Grant in brokerage battle

Former Chicago Bulls forward Horace Grant said facing 7-foot-1, 325-pound Shaquille O’Neal on the basketball court would be preferable to the years-long legal struggle he has waged to collect $1.46 million that securities arbitrators say a brokerage owes him.

“I would rather play against a guy like Shaq any day than to chase something that is mine that was taken,” Grant told Reuters last week. Lawyers for brokerage Morgan Keegan & Co had just argued in a California appeals court that Grant’s award for losses tied to a group of troubled bond funds should be overturned.

Arbitrators awarded Grant $1.46 million in 2009. Since then he has had to battle Morgan Keegan’s efforts to overturn the ruling in court.

The years spent battling Morgan Keegan, a unit of Raymond James Financial, have been “some of the most frustrating in my life,” said Grant in a telephone interview.

— Reported by Suzanne Barlyn of Reuters

Sacramento Kings waive center Cyril Awere

The Sacramento Kings requested waivers on center Cyril Awere, it was announced by Kings’ President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie. The Kings’ updated preseason roster now stands at 17 players.

The 6-11, 268-pound center from Nigeria did not play in the Kings’ lone preseason game.

Lots of players signed for NBA training camps or preseason were not signed to regular season deals, and will be released in the coming weeks.

Nets set to play first-ever game at new Barclays Center

The Nets are ready to finally take the floor at Barclays Center.

After months of preparations, the team will play its first game inside its new home Monday night against the Wizards.

“Everybody’s super-excited, I think,” said Joe Johnson prior to the team’s shootaround Monday morning. “We all feel as if this is a fresh start, and we want to make the best of it.

“We want to get off to a great start. We’ve had a great training camp, and we want to keep working hard to get better.”

The Nets will have plenty of opportunities to get used to their new home this week, as they’ll play three games here in the next five days. But while that will allow them to feel a little more comfortable in their new digs, coach Avery Johnson admitted it’s going to take awhile before it feels like they belong here.

— Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post

Andrew Bynum to have another knee injection

Coach Doug Collins said Sunday that 76ers center Andrew Bynum will receive another injection in his right knee before the season begins.

Collins was not exactly sure of the specifics of the injection, but Bynum’s agent, David Lee, spoke about the treatment later in the day.

“Just look at it as lubrication for his knees,” Lee said of the Synvisc-One injection that Bynum will receive. The drug is used to treat knee osteoarthritis.

“He’s had them in previous years,” Lee said.

— Reported by John N. Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer

Pistons rookie Andre Drummond impressive through three exhibition games

Drummond capped off three games in four nights Saturday night with 19 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots in 25 minutes in a 108-91 loss at Milwaukee.

The performance comes behind a solid game in the exhibition opener Wednesday against the Raptors and a promising 6 minutes Friday night at Toronto.

“I can’t do it without the help of my teammates,” Drummond told Pistons.com after the loss to the Bucks.

— Reported by Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press

Lakers TV problems drag into preseason

Time Warner, the Lakers’ new $3 billion TV partner, is locked in negotiations with other area providers – including DirecTV, Charter, Dish, Cox, Verizon and AT&T U-verse – to pick up its two new Laker-centric channels, SportsNet and Deportes.

The asking price is reported to be $3.95 per subscriber per month. The providers, however, are holding out for a better deal in hopes of keeping rates low for customers.

This is still just the preseason – the Lakers play Utah on Tuesday night at Honda Center – but fans who can’t find their team on their TV are, in some cases, a bit uneasy and, in other cases, flat ornery.

During the Lakers exhibition Saturday at Staples Center, fans booed every time a Time Warner commercial was shown inside the arena.

— Reported by Jeff Miller of the Orange County Register

Cleveland Cavaliers waive Kelenna Azubuike

The Cleveland Cavaliers have waived guard Kelenna Azubuike, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

Azubuike appeared in one preseason game, scoring six points and adding three rebounds in 14 minutes.

The Cavaliers roster now stands at 17.

It’s NBA preseason, and lots of players around the league who were signed to “training camp” contracts will be let go between now and the start of the regular season.

Timberwolves waive training camp invitees Phil Jones and Seth Tarver

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has waived training camp invitees Phil Jones and Seth Tarver. Neither player saw action in the team’s three preseason games.

Jones, a 6-10 forward/center, played overseas for the past two years after playing collegiately at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has made stops in Uruguay, Brussels and spent the past season in Romania.

Tarver, a 6-5 guard, spent the last two seasons with the Idaho Stampede of the NBA D-League. Tarver averaged 11.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in 45 contests last season. Tarver went undrafted in 2010 after a four-year collegiate career at Oregon State.

The Wolves roster currently stands at 18 players.

Idea of NBA expansion to Europe seems unlikely for now

There was a time when Stern had dreams of a team or even a division in Europe, a first in American sports. He was determined to devise a way for a group of teams in London, Rome, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, and Berlin to compete with the 30 stateside NBA teams and even have a real world championship series.

Regardless of how uncomfortable the idea made fans who believe 30 teams was enough — and regardless of how inconceivable it might be to have a team in a time zone six hours ahead of the Eastern US — Stern was going to add the London Abbeys to the NBA.

But that idea seems to have fizzled along with the international economy and the lack of NBA-worthy venues overseas. What Stern realized is that many of the arenas that house Euroleague teams are not up to NBA standards.

For example, the Ulker Sports Arena in Istanbul, a sparkling new venue that houses Fenerbahce Ulker and features an adjacent practice facility, fits only 13,000, which would make it the smallest arena in the NBA.

“I don’t think having a single team in Europe is practical,” Stern said last week in Milan before watching the Celtics take on Emporio Armani Milano. “I never have… “What I’ve said is if we’re going to have an NBA presence here in terms of the league, it should be five teams. It’s safe to say that there aren’t enough buildings, there aren’t adequate TV arrangements, we don’t have owners, and I’m not sure we could charge the prices that would be necessary. I don’t think our fans are that avid yet.”

— Reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe