September 2013 – Page 14 – NBA Blog

Derrick Rose thinks he is 100 percent healthy

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose repeated what he said in July by declaring he is fully healthy for the upcoming season.

Rose missed all of last season recovering from a torn ACL.

“I think I am 100 percent,” Rose told CSNChicago.com Friday. “I’m doing almost everything. I’m squatting, running, lifting almost every other day. Just being back on the court after you have an ACL injury, you’re kind of hesitant at first about how you step, what way you should step, learning how to run, accelerate, accelerate while you run and while you’re slowing down.”

“For me, I’m reacting right now where all I have to think about is if I have to get to a spot, I’m going to get there no matter what. It kind of feels good having that feeling again.”

Reported by the Sports Xchange

Warriors center Andrew Bogut is healthy, ready to go

Andrew Bogut walked around the Golden State Warriors’ practice facility in flip-flops Friday, smiling and cracking jokes with reporters he had not seen since May.

Back then, Bogut hobbled around with heavily taped ankles. He winced in pain every time he took a step, and he brushed off the constant questions about his health.

Now?

”I’m excited, man,” he said.

After splitting time this summer with family in Australia and Croatia, Bogut said he’s ”100 percent” healthy and feeling the best he has since fracturing his left ankle in January 2012. He also said he has not been limited in any workouts since July and expects ”to play a lot of minutes” this season – the final year of his five-year, $60 million contract.

”The most important thing is not having a trainer or coach tell you that there are restrictions on what you’re doing,” Bogut said. ”I can come in here and do what I want. I can come in here and run. I can condition. I can lift. I can shoot. I can play five-on-five and nobody can tell me I can only do one set or play 20 minutes. I have none of that right now and I’m not going to have any of that during the season.”

Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press

Phoenix Suns sign guard Dionte Christmas

The Phoenix Suns today signed guard Dionte Christmas, who averaged 10.1 points for the Suns’ Las Vegas Summer League entry this summer.

“We’re excited to add Dionte to our roster,” said Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough. “He was a key contributor for our Las Vegas Summer League team and his scoring ability, leadership and toughness will help us this season.”

Christmas, a 6-5, 205-pound guard, joins the Suns after spending the last four seasons playing internationally in some of the top leagues around the world after going undrafted in the 2009 NBA Draft. Christmas has gained professional experience in Israel (Hapoel Afula), Turkey (Mersin), Czech Republic (Nymburk), Greece (PAOK, Rethymno), Russia (CSKA Moscow) and Italy (Montepaschi Siena). In 2011-12, with Rethymno of the Greece A-1 League, Christmas averaged 18.6 points to lead the league in scoring.

Christmas, a member of the Suns’ 2013 Las Vegas Summer League squad, averaged 10.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 20.8 minutes while coming off the bench in all seven contests. He shot 46.3 percent from the field in Summer League play and had four games scoring in double figures, including three with at least 15 points.

A four-year standout at Temple University, Christmas averaged 15.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in 130 career games (98 starts), and posted at least 19.5 points per game in each of his final three seasons with the Owls. He was named All-Atlantic 10 First Team in both 2008 and 2009, and also earned Atlantic 10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors in 2008 and 2009 as he led the Owls to consecutive conference tournament titles.

The Suns’ roster now stands at 17.

Dallas Mavericks sign Devin Ebanks

The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have signed forward Devin Ebanks. We assume it is just a non-guaranteed deal that merely brings Ebanks to training camp, where he will have to compete to earn an actual regular season contract.

Ebanks (6-9, 215) was the 43rd overall selection in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. In three seasons with the Lakers, he holds career averages of 3.6 points and 1.9 rebounds in 63 games with 15 starts. Ebanks also saw action in 9 postseason contests (starting 6) in 2012 and averaged 4.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 14.0 minutes.

The Brooklyn, N.Y., native was an early-entry candidate in the 2010 Draft after a standout career at West Virginia University. In his final year with the Mountaineers, Ebanks averaged 12.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals in 34.1 minutes per game.

With the signing the Mavericks’ current roster stands at 19 players.

Philadelphia 76ers add Brandon D. Williams to front office

The Philadelphia 76ers announced today that they have added Brandon D. Williams to the front office. Williams will also oversee the Delaware 87ers as General Manager, the first in team history. The Sevens begin their inaugural NBA Development League season in late November.

Williams joins the clubs after serving eight seasons in the NBA’s League Office, most recently as the NBA’s Associate Vice President of Basketball Operations. Prior to that position, Williams served as the Director of Player Development in the NBA’s Community and Player Programs department. He worked closely with teams across the league in helping prepare players for the demands of being a professional athlete as well as aiding their eventual transition away from the game to a second career.

Williams is well versed in the challenges a young player faces in his pursuit of making the NBA. A standout player at Davidson, Williams earned All-Southern Conference First Team honors as a senior in 1996. After going undrafted, Williams played both overseas and in the Continental Basketball Association before appearing in his first NBA game as a member of the Golden State Warriors in 1998. The following season, Williams was picked up by the San Antonio Spurs, who went onto win the NBA Championship. All totaled for his career, Williams played internationally in six countries. He also experienced the D-League up close as an Honorable Mention All D-League player for the Huntsville Flight in 2003.

In addition to a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Davidson, Williams received his Juris Doctorate from Rutgers University School of Law-Newark in 2012. While enrolled at Davidson, Williams interned at the White House for the Domestic Policy Council during President Bill Clinton’s first term.

Trail Blazers sign forward Richard Howell

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed rookie forward Richard Howell, it was announced today by General Manager Neil Olshey. We assume that this is a non-guaranteed contract that merely brings Howell to Blazers training camp and gives him a chance to prove himself worthy of a regular season contract.

Howell, 22, averaged 12.7 points (51.8% FG, 63.3% FT), 10.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 31.6 minutes his senior 2012-13 season at North Carolina State. A First Team All-ACC selection last season, Howell ranks fifth all-time in school history with 1,055 rebounds.

He appeared in three games for the Denver Nuggets 2013 NBA Summer League entry in Las Vegas, averaging 1.7 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.30 blocked shots and 10.7 minutes.

With the addition of Howell (6-8, 257), the Trail Blazers roster stands at 19 players.

Wizards hiring Marc Eversley as VP of scouting

The Wizards front office is less empty now.

Washington hired former Raptors executive as Marc Eversley as Vice President of Scouting, Yahoo! Sports’ Marc Spears reported on Thursday.

Eversley enters the front office along with former Oklahoma City Thunder scout Frank Ross. Going the other way, former director of player personnel Pat Connelly, ex-VP of player personnel Milt Newton and Mike Wilson, who headed the organization’s college scouting.

Reported by Ben Standig of CSN Washington

Cavaliers are signing undrafted rookie Matthew Dellavedova

Undrafted rookie Matthew Dellavedova has signed a two-year contract with the Cavaliers for about $1.3 million, but only a small portion of this season’s deal is guaranteed, a league source confirmed. The source was speaking on the condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the signing. The signing was first reported by Australian media.

Dellavedova averaged 2.8 points and three assists in five summer league games with the Cavaliers after leaving St. Mary’s as the school’s all-time leader in scoring, assists, games played, free-throw percentage and 3-pointers. The biggest knock against him is a lack of athleticism.

Dellavedova has an excellent chance to make the Cavs as a third point guard. The Cavs still have one roster spot open. Camp opens Oct. 1.

Reported by Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal

Khalif Wyatt agrees to terms with Sixers

Khalif Wyatt will become a 76er. The undrafted rookie free agent out of Temple agreed to terms with the team Thursday night.

Wyatt will sign a partially guaranteed, multiyear contract on Friday. The guard will be on the team’s roster when it opens the season against the Miami Heat on Oct. 30. However, there is a chance that Wyatt will spend part of the season with the Delaware 87ers, the Sixers’ NBA Development League affiliate.

Reported by Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Blog)

Mexico wins 2013 FIBA Americas tournament

Mexico completed its unlikely run in the FIBA Americas tournament, beating Puerto Rico 91-89 in the title game on Wednesday. It was the first time Mexico has won the championship of North, Central and South America, which serves as a qualification stage for next summer’s World Cup of Basketball in Spain.

(The United States did not have to participate as champions of last year’s Olympics, earning an automatic birth to the World Cup. Mexico will participate for the first time since 1974.)

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

Gustavo Ayón scored 20 points and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds to complete a magnificent individual tournament performance that crowned him MVP.

Ayón also made the all-tournament team, averaging 17.2 points and 8.4 rebounds.

Puerto Rico and Mexico exchanged leads throughout the fourth quarter, and the Puerto Ricans missed an open three-pointer at the buzzer that would have won it.

Reported by Jaryd Wilson of HawksBasketBlog