September 2013 – Page 8 – NBA Blog

D-League news: Ken McDonald named head coach of Austin Toros

Spurs Sports & Entertainment today announced that they have named Ken McDonald as head coach of the Austin Toros.

McDonald served as an assistant last season for the Toros under head coach Taylor Jenkins, where he helped lead the team to a 27-23 overall record and to the semifinals of the 2013 NBA D-League Playoffs.

Prior to the Toros, McDonald served as head coach at Western Kentucky University from 2008-12 where he accumulated a 67-48 overall record. In his first season with the Hilltoppers, McDonald guided the school to the Sun Belt regular season and tournament championships, and to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Rhode Island native served as an assistant coach for the University of Texas (2004-08) where he helped guide the Longhorns to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances. During his four seasons on the Texas bench the Longhorns posted a 106-35 (.752) record. The 106 wins are still the most victories in a four-year period in school history. Texas captured Big 12 Conference regular-season championships in both 2005-06 and 2007-08 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament “Elite Eight” in both of those years as well.

McDonald also served as an assistant coach at the University of Georgia (2003-04), Western Kentucky University (1998-2003) and Clemson University (1994-98).

A Providence College graduate, McDonald played two seasons with the Friars before playing professionally for the St. Paul Revelles in Killarney, Ireland from 1993-94. Before transferring to Providence he played two seasons at the Community College of Rhode Island, where he was a first-team junior college All-American, setting school records for single season scoring as well as three-pointers made in a game, season and career.

The Toros are scheduled to open the 2013-14 NBA D-League season on the road Nov. 22 when they visit the Santa Cruz Warriors. The team will open its home slate on Dec. 1 against the Delaware 87ers at 3 p.m. inside Cedar Park Center.

New York Knicks sign center Cole Aldrich

New York Knicks Executive Vice President and General Manager Glen Grunwald announced today that the team has signed center Cole Aldrich. We assume this is a non-guaranteed contract that merely brings Aldrich to training camp, where he will then try to earn a regular season contract. He may have potential to be a decent NBA backup, though so far, early in his career, he’s been more of an end-of-the-bench type of player.

Aldrich, 6-11, 245-pounds, holds career averages of 2.0 points, on 54.-percent shooting, with 2.3 rebounds over 7.9 minutes in 89 games over three seasons with Oklahoma City, Houston and Sacramento. Last season, he averaged 2.2 points and 2.7 rebounds over 8.6 minutes in 45 games for the Rockets and Kings.

The Burnsville, MN native was originally selected by New Orleans in the first round (11th pick overall) of 2010 NBA Draft following his junior season at the University of Kansas, and then, had his draft rights traded to Oklahoma City. He was a member of the 2008 NCAA Championship team and finished his collegiate career with averages of 9.4 points and 7.7 rebounds.

Toronto will likely host 2016 NBA All-Star weekend

The basketball world is coming to Toronto in early 2016.

Multiple sources told the Toronto Sun Tuesday that the Raptors are on the verge of landing the 2016 NBA all-star weekend.

An official announcement is expected shortly that will reveal further details of how one of the sport’s biggest weekends will tie in to the Toronto Raptors’ 20th-anniversary season.

Tim Leiweke, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president and CEO, made it clear upon taking over the company that landing the prestigious event was one of his early goals.

Reported by Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun

2015 NBA All-Star weekend expected to be in New York City

The decision to bring the 2015 NBA All-Star Weekend to New York, an event that will be hosted jointly by the Knicks and Nets, will be announced this week, possibly as soon as Wednesday, multiple sources told The Post.

Plans to split the activities between the two teams were proposed openly last February, but the arrangements under which the Sunday All-Star Game would be staged at Madison Square Garden and other festivities — such as the dunk contest, 3-point shootout and skills competitions — would land at Barclays Center have not yet been publicly announced.

Reported by Fred Kerber of the New York Post

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Warriors add Dewayne Dedmon, Cameron Jones to training camp

The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent center Dewayne Dedmon and free agent guard Cameron Jones to contracts, the team announced today.

Dedmon, 24, played the last two seasons at USC, averaging 7.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.67 blocks over 51 games (49 starts). In 31 games (29 starts) this past season as a redshirt junior, the 7’0” center averaged 6.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.13 blocks and 1.10 steals in 22.3 minutes per contest. Dedmon did not play organized basketball until his senior year of high school due to religious reasons and played one season at Antelope Valley College in his hometown of Lancaster, CA, before transferring to USC. He will wear uniform #21.

Jones, 24, played last season for the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA Development League, averaging 12.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.26 steals in 27.0 minutes per contest. The 6’4” guard also played for the Warriors Summer League squad in Las Vegas this past July, averaging 11.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals in seven games. Prior to playing his rookie season with the D-League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants in 2011-12, Jones played four seasons at Northern Arizona University and ended his career as the school’s all-time leading scorer. He will wear uniform #6.

The Warriors now have 16 players under contract.

Wizards invite Josh Childress to training camp

Veteran swingman Josh Childress has accepted an invitation to attend Wizards training camp, a league source with knowledge of the situation confirmed Monday.

A versatile, 6-foot-8 swingman, Childress had a promising start to his career, averaging 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds in his first four seasons with the Atlanta Hawks before leaving the NBA to sign a more lucrative deal in Greece in 2008. The move was expected to open up a more competitive global market for NBA players, but the overseas exodus never followed, and within two years, Childress was eager to come back.

The Wizards expressed interest in Childress when he decided to leave Greece in 2010, but the Stanford product instead elected to sign a five-year deal for the full mid-level exception with the Phoenix Suns. The return hasn’t been very rewarding for Childress.

Reported by Michael Lee of the Washington Post (Blog)

Miami Heat sign guard Larry Drew II

The Miami Heat announced today that they have signed guard Larry Drew II. We assume it is a non-guaranteed contract that merely brings Drew to training camp, where he would then attempt to try to earn a regular season contract.

Drew, who played one season at UCLA after transferring from the University of North Carolina, appeared in 35 games (all starts) for the Bruins as a senior and averaged 7.5 points, 7.3 assists, 2.4 rebounds, 1.40 steals and 35.5 minutes while shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from three-point range. He dished out 256 assists, the most during a single-season in school history and the third-most during a single-season in Pac-12 history. He also played 1,243 minutes that season, the fourth-highest mark for a single-season in school history. Drew was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and was selected to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team. He led the conference in total assists, assists per game and assist-per-turnover average (2.98).

In his three seasons at UNC, he finished with 378 assists, the 17th-most in school history. He earned the Tar Heel’s Defensive Player of the Game award four times during his junior season and appeared in 38 games as a freshman during the school’s 2009 championship season.

Memphis Grizzlies hire Elston Turner, Duane Ticknor, Shawn Respert as assistant coaches

The Memphis Grizzlies today announced that the organization has hired Elston Turner, Duane Ticknor and Shawn Respert as assistant coaches to join returning assistant coach Bob Thornton on Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger’s staff.

Additionally, the Grizzlies have hired Chattin Hill as athletic performance coach, promoted Jason March to advance scout, promoted Steve Jones to video coordinator/player development and hired Mark Sanford as assistant video coordinator/player development.

Known in league circles for coaching defense on offensively-minded ball clubs, Turner joins the Grizzlies as the lead assistant with 17 seasons of experience as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns (2011-13), Houston Rockets (2007-11), Sacramento Kings (2000-06) and Portland Trail Blazers (1996-00).

Turner served as the lead assistant for Phoenix after spending six seasons in the same role in Houston under current Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Rick Adelman. He also worked under Adelman in Sacramento, where he was a part of two Western Conference All-Star coaching staffs (2001, 2003), and Portland.

Turner’s career coaching responsibilities have included handling the team’s game plan, individual skill work with players and advance scouting. He also served as the Rockets’ summer league head coach. His coaching career began in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) as an assistant coach for the Quad City Thunder and as a player/coach for the Chicago Rockers.

Drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round (43rd overall) of the 1981 NBA Draft, Turner played eight seasons in the NBA with the Mavericks (1981-84), Denver Nuggets (1984-86, 1988-89) and Chicago Bulls (1986-88) and spent five seasons in the CBA. He played three more years in Spain, Italy and Greece following his NBA career.

The Knoxville, Tenn. native played four seasons at Ole Miss, where as a senior he teamed with current Grizzlies TV analyst Sean Tuohy to lead the Rebels to the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1981. The university honored Turner’s collegiate accomplishments by inducting him into the Ole Miss M-Club Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.

A veteran on the minor league coaching circuit, Ticknor will rejoin Joerger on the sidelines after the latter worked as the former’s assistant for one season (1999-00) with the International Basketball Association’s (IBA) Dakota Wizards.

Ticknor spent last season as head coach of the NBA Development League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants, leading the club to a 27-23 record (.540) and an appearance in the 2013 D-League Playoffs.

Before his stint in Fort Wayne, Ticknor served two seasons as an assistant coach with the D-League’s Sioux Falls Skyforce (2009-11), two more as head coach of the Dakota Wizards (2007-09) and one season in Korea (2011-12). He also spent time in the CBA as head coach of the Gary Steelheads (2002-05) and as an assistant for the Rapid City Thrillers (1989-92) and the IBA as head coach of the Black Hills Posse (1995-99), Dakota Wizards (1999-00) and Siouxland Bombers (2000-01).

A four-time IBA Coach of the Year (1996-98, 2000), the Vermillion, S.D. native led his teams to the IBA Finals three times and won the 1997 IBA Championship while helming Black Hills.

Thornton returns for a third season on the Grizzlies sidelines after joining the organization prior to the 2011-12 season. Before joining the Grizzlies, Thornton spent the previous four seasons (2007-11) as the advance scout for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Los Angeles native has experience as an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls (2002-04) and Minnesota Timberwolves (2005-07) and served as the head coach for the CBA’s Quad City Thunder (2000-01) and the D-League’s Huntsville Flight (2001-02).

Drafted by the New York Knicks in the fourth round (87th overall) of the 1984 NBA Draft, Thornton played professionally for 11 years, including eight NBA seasons with the Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Timberwolves, Utah Jazz and Washington Bullets. He also played in Spain, Italy and the CBA.

Respert comes to Memphis after serving the previous two seasons (2011-13) as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves and three seasons (2008-11) as director of player development for the Houston Rockets. He also served two years (2007-08) as director of player development in the D-League offices in New York and two-and-a-half years (2005-07) as director of basketball operations at Rice University.

Named the 1995 NCAA Player of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) as a senior at Michigan State, Respert was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round (eighth overall) of the 1995 NBA Draft. After his draft rights were traded to Milwaukee, Respert played four NBA seasons (1995-99) with the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns before finishing his professional career playing in Italy, Greece and Poland.

The Detroit native was inducted into the Michigan State University Athletics Hall of Fame on Sept. 20, 2012.

Hill joins the Grizzlies as athletic performance coach after recently serving six seasons as the strength and conditioning coach for the Atlanta Hawks. He is responsible for the development and implementation of strength, conditioning and nutritional programs for the Grizzlies roster. The Washington State native also served one season as the assistant strength coach for the Seattle SuperSonics, two years as the head strength coach of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm and worked in a similar capacity at the University of Washington, where he focused his efforts primarily on the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Entering his seventh season with the organization, March now will serve as advance scout after spending last season as director of basketball information and technologies. Before joining the Grizzlies, he spent two seasons as the assistant video coordinator for the Phoenix Suns, where he was part of the team that advanced to the 2006 Western Conference Finals. A graduate of Florida State University, the Frostproof, Fla. native also spent two seasons as the video coordinator for the Phoenix Mercury, who won the 2007 WNBA championship.

Entering his third season with the club, Jones will take over the role of video coordinator/player development after working two seasons under March as basketball information and technologies associate. Jones, who played collegiately for UNLV and Arizona State University, will prepare scouting videos and game plans for upcoming opponents for the coaching staff. The Portland, Ore. native also will assemble a library of game action clips in preparation of the annual NBA Draft.

Sanford enters his first season with the Grizzlies as assistant video coordinator/player development after spending four years at Northwood University, where he served two years as an assistant to the men’s basketball team and his final two years as head coach of the women’s team. Drafted by the Heat in the second round (31st overall) of the 1997 NBA Draft, Sanford enjoyed an 11-year professional career that included NBA stints with Miami, Sacramento and New Jersey, appearances in the CBA and ABA, and international stints in Belgium, France, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Japan, Israel, Venezuela, Spain, the Philippines, Australia, Lebanon, South Korea and Chile. The Dallas native earned First Team All-Pac 10 honors twice at the University of Washington and declared for the NBA Draft following his junior season.

Lakers have massive salary cap space next summer

Bryant is entering the last nine months of his contract, a season worth $30.45 million before he can become a free agent in July.

He has known only one team in his 17-year career and often says he’ll be a Laker for life, but will that be the case?

The Lakers haven’t opened contract negotiations with Bryant, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, taking a wait-and-see approach as he recovers from his injury.

Bryant, 35, has done incredible things for the franchise, pushing it to five championships and two other NBA Finals appearances in his 17 seasons. His jersey is continually among the league’s top sellers, his first name easily recognizable even with non-sports fans.

But the Lakers are already salivating over their salary-cap space next summer. Only Steve Nash, Robert Sacre and Nick Young are on the books for 2014-15, meaning a spending spree awaits with potential free agents LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Zach Randolph, Rudy Gay, Luol Deng, Dirk Nowitzki, Danny Granger and Marcin Gortat. Restricted free agents next July include Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins and Greg Monroe.

Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

Bradley Beal vows smarter approach to playing with pain

With training camp less than a week away, and the Wizards missing Emeka Okafor and Chris Singleton because of injuries, rising second-year player Bradley Beal has some good advice: Be patient.

He cracks a smile when he says it, but his rookie season with the Wizards was ended prematurely as a result of him playing through sprains to both ankles.

It caused a stress reaction in his lower right leg that kept him from basketball-related activities for most of the off-season, including Las Vegas summer league tournament and competing at the USA Basketball mini-camp.

“Hopefully I can learn my lesson, stop being hard-headed and just sit down when I need to sit down,” said Beal, 20, who missed 26 games.

Reported by J. Michael of CSN Washington