July 26, 2013 – NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog

Dallas Mavericks sign guard Wayne Ellington

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed free agent guard Wayne Ellington.

According to ESPN Dallas, “Ellington signed a two-year deal worth $5.3 million. The Mavs used the “room” exception to sign him.”

Ellington (6-4, 200) is a four-year veteran shooting guard with career averages 6.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 19.5 minutes in 267 games (34 starts) with Minnesota, Memphis and Cleveland. He provides backcourt depth for the Mavs, who recently signed scoring guard Monta Ellis.

On January 22, 2013 Ellington was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, along with Marreese Speights, in exchange for Josh Selby and future first round draft pick. Once in Cleveland, Ellington put up career numbers averaging 10.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 25.9 minutes in 38 games (17 starts) with the Cavaliers.

The Wynnewood, Pa., native, was a standout at the University of North Carolina. As a junior, Ellington won a National Championship with the Tarheels and was named the 2009 Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player. He was drafted in the first round (28th overall) by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2009 NBA Draft.

Milwaukee Bucks sign center Miroslav Raduljica

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed free-agent center Miroslav Raduljica (7-1, 280; MEER-oh-slav rah-DOO-liht-zah), General Manager John Hammond announced today.

Raduljica, 25, enters the NBA after a successful seven-year career in various top pro leagues in Europe. The native of Serbia spent the 2012-13 season with the Ukrainian club Azovmash, leading the team to the Ukrainian Superleague Finals and earning Eurobasket.com All-Ukrainian Superleague Second Team honors after averaging 14.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 blocks in 53 league games. Raduljica has also spent time with professional teams in Serbia, Germany and Turkey, earning numerous awards and honors along the way including All-Serbian League Most Improved Player of the Year in 2010 and All-Serbian League Center of the Year in 2012.

A regular in the Serbian National Team program, Raduljica first represented his country in international competition at the European U16 Championships in 2004, and was later a member of the gold-medal-winning Serbian squads at the U19 World Championships in 2007 and European U20 Championship in 2008 (where he was named MVP of the tournament).

Memphis Grizzlies sign second round draft pick Jamaal Franklin

The Memphis Grizzlies signed 2013 second round draft selection Jamaal Franklin to a multi-year contract, the team announced today.

Franklin (6-5, 191) was selected by Memphis in the second round (41st overall) of the 2013 NBA Draft after leading San Diego State in scoring (17.0 points), rebounding (9.5), assists (3.3) and steals (1.61) last season as a junior. He was the only Division I player to pace his team in all four categories.

The 22-year-old was named the 2011-12 Mountain West Player of the Year after leading the conference in scoring (17.4 points) as a sophomore, becoming the first sophomore to win the award since Andrew Bogut in 2005. Franklin helped guide the Aztecs to three consecutive Mountain West titles and three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including the first three NCAA Tournament victories in program history.

The Moreno Valley, Calif. native finished his collegiate career ranked in the top 20 in SDSU history in points (1,181, 17th), rebounds (605, 14th), three-point field goals (100, 13th), free-throw percentage (.783, 10th) and blocks (51, T-16th).

Center Bernard James is back with the Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have re-signed center Bernard James.

James (6-10, 240) was originally waived by the Mavericks on July 19, 2013 and cleared waivers on July 21, 2013. He played in 46 games (11 starts) last season in his rookie year. He averaged 2.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 9.9 minutes per contest.

The former Florida State Seminole was the 33rd overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. The Mavericks acquired James’ draft rights, along with the draft rights to 24th overall pick Jared Cunningham and 34th overall pick Jae Crowder from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for guard Kelenna Azubuike and the draft rights to 17th overall pick Tyler Zeller.

The Savannah, Ga., native is a former Staff Sergeant who served six years in the Air Force including three tours to Iraq, Afghanistan and Qatar. In his senior season at Florida State, James averaged 10.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks while being named to the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Defensive team. James also won the Most Courageous Award by the United States Basketball Writers of America.

Sixers CEO apologizes to fans over Andrew Bynum

It’s no secret that the 76ers’ Andrew Bynum experiment was a disaster.

The acquisition of the 7-foot center in last summer’s four-team trade ultimately set the Sixers back several seasons. Bynum, who made $16.9 million last year, never played for the team because of chronically injured knees.

After being urged by WIP-FM (94.1) host Angelo Cataldi, new Sixers chief executive officer Scott O’Neil apologized Thursday morning to fans who bought tickets with the hope of seeing Bynum play.

“I apologize on behalf of the Sixers to any fan who invested and thought Bynum was going to be their guy and be the savior,” O’Neil said. “At the end of the day that’s our apology to every fan, not just to [Cataldi].

“However, we are going to take some chances when we can take some chances. And sometimes they’re not going to work. And sometimes they are.”

Reported by Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer

No Knicks vs Nets games in 2013-14 preseason

The Nets released their preseason schedule yesterday, and two things stood out: the first trip back to Boston for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry, and the absence of the Knicks.

The former Celtics are scheduled to make their first trip to Boston Oct. 23, a little more than a week after the players the Nets shipped to Boston in the blockbuster deal — Gerald Wallace, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries and Keith Bogans — make their return to Brooklyn Oct. 15.

But just as noteworthy is the fact the Nets won’t be facing their crosstown rivals during the preseason, something that hasn’t happened in recent memory. The two teams have faced each other at least once a year going back at least as far as 2002.

Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post