September 2013 – Page 9 – NBA Blog

Shaq joins Sacramento Kings ownership group

Shaquille O’Neal

Wealthy, retired players like to buy stuff

Shaquille O’Neal will be introduced as the newest member of the Sacramento Kings ownership group Tuesday morning at the Kings practice facility.

O’Neal, the four-time NBA Champion and 2000 league MVP, is best known for tormenting the Kings during his run of dominance with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The future Hall of Famer retired prior to the 2011-12 season and has worked as an analyst for TNT the last two seasons. He met with majority owner Vivek Ranadive in June and offered to tutor DeMarcus Cousins, who he believes has the talent to be the best center in basketball.

Reported by Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee (Blog)

During the height of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, O’Neal fueled the rivalry with the Kings with his play on the court and his personality off of it.

O’Neal handed Sacramento its biggest blow by rallying the Lakers from a 3-2 deficit to win the 2002 Western Conference finals, which is still a sore spot for Kings fans. The 7-foot-1 center even labeled the franchise the “Sacramento Queens” and accused fan favorite Vlade Divac — whom he referred to as “she” at one point during the series — of flopping.

Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press

Detroit Pistons have some trade pieces

If the Pistons plan on being dealers before the February 2014 trade deadline, they have a glut of small forwards and guards to possibly offer, if that’s team president Joe Dumars’ plan.

“We have a lot of flexibility,” newly acquired Josh Smith said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if guys played different positions in the backcourt or along the front line, depending on matchups.”

Smith is expected to start at small forward and also see time at power forward. Also on the roster are Kyle Singler, Jonas Jerebko and rookie Luigi Datome, who made a splash overseas with his shot-making ability and athleticism.

That’s four small forwards, and there aren’t enough minutes to play them all.

Reported by Perry A. Farrell of the Detroit Free Press

Pacers, Paul George finalizing huge contract extension

Paul George

Must get even better to validate this huge contract

All-Star forward Paul George and the Indiana Pacers are finalizing a five-year, $90 million-plus maximum contract extension, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

A deal is expected to be signed this week, league sources told Yahoo.

For the Pacers and George, who was voted the 2013 NBA Most Improved Player, the five-year deal will cement the gifted young forward as Indiana’s designated franchise player. George’s extension will begin with the 2014-15 season. He will make $3.2 million this season.

In three NBA seasons, George has developed into one of the league’s most thrilling young talents, blossoming into a starring role in the Pacers’ march to a Game 7 against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

Reported by Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports

France wins 2013 EuroBasket championship

France finally captured their elusive first continental crown by beating Lithuania 80-66 to win EuroBasket 2013 and will head to the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup as European champions.

Nicolas Batum led the way for the French with 17 points, six rebounds and two steals while Boris Diaw added 15 points, six rebounds and four assists and Tony Parker finished with 12 points.

“It’s hard to describe how I feel. The journey was unbelievable. I wouldn’t change a thing,” Parker said afterward.

“I won the title. I’m a little tired. I felt it in the Quarters and Semis. And before the game coach (Vincent Collet) said ‘trust your teammates’. If you score 10 points we will win the Final. And he was right.”

Lithuania’s veteran big man Robertas Javtokas said his team let their opportunity slip.

“Today we had a chance to win but they were better than us,” he said…

Parker was named the tournament’s MVP and headlined the All-Tournament Team that also included Lithuania’s Kleiza, Slovenia guard Goran Dragic, Marc Gasol of Spain and Croatia’s Bojan Bogdanovic.

Reported by FIBA.com

France broke open a close game by finishing the third quarter with a 14-0 run that kept Lithuania scoreless for four minutes. The French lead grew to 22 points with three minutes remaining in the third and Lithuania never came close to a comeback.

Batum had 17 points and Diaw added 15, while Linas Kleiza led Lithuania with 20.

Parker finished with 12 points, after scoring just four through the first three quarters. But his scoring and leadership during the run to the final – including 32 points against defending champion Spain in the semifinals – earned him the tournament MVP award.

“We had a perfect plan, the coach said they would double-team me and that I had to trust my teammates and not to worry if I don’t score much,” Parker said.

After finally capturing that elusive gold – in France’s record 36th appearance in the tournament – Parker led the French team into the stands to celebrate with their fans after the final buzzer.

Reported by the Associated Press

Derrick Rose believes he can regain MVP form

Derrick Rose

Hopefully still has that crazy quickness

Rose believes he’s ready to dominate again and help his team contend for a championship.

With training camp set to open this week, the former MVP point guard said there are no lingering issues with his surgically repaired left knee.

”Who knows when I’m going to get my rhythm?” he said. ”It might take one game. It might take five games, 10 games. Who knows? I think me having that relationship with my teammates and them knowing that and not just depending on me right away, just knowing that I’m just trying to fit in with them, do my job where my job is to come in, run the game and get them open shots and play aggressive. I think the guys on the team know that. And me knowing that, too, I think it’s going to be a smooth year, a smooth process.”

Asked if he has any doubts he’ll regain his MVP form, Rose said, ”No.”

Reported by Andrew Seligman of the Associated Press

Atlanta Hawks invite James Johnson to training camp

The Hawks have extended a non-roster training camp invitation to forward James Johnson.

The agency Priority Sports tweeted the news of a contract earlier this week, but I have confirmed with the Hawks that Johnson received a camp invitation and not a guaranteed deal. He also reportedly had work outs with the Spurs and Jazz.

Johnson (6-foot-9, 248) played last season for the Kings. He averaged 5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 16.3 minutes in 54 games.

Reported by Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sacramento Kings to impose Sleep Train arena ticket surcharge

The price of admission to Sleep Train Arena has just gone up 5 percent.

As part of a complex deal between the city and the Sacramento Kings for a new downtown arena, the team this month added a 5percent fee on tickets to all arena events. The funds will be used to speed up payoff of a $74million loan the city issued to the Kings in 1997 to help previous team owners refinance arena debt. The Kings still owe the city $62million, after making a $2million July payment, City Treasurer Russ Fehr said.

The fee is expected to be in effect for upcoming events, including a Josh Grobin concert in two weeks, Disney on Ice and Kings pre-season and regular season games.

The surcharge is part of a series of expected agreements between the team and city as part of a joint plan to build a $448million arena at Downtown Plaza.

Reported by Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee

Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez declares himself 100 percent healthy

Brook Lopez has some good news for Brooklyn Nets fans.

With training camp a little over a week away, Lopez says his surgically repaired right foot is 100 percent healthy.

“It’s great, it’s back to 100 percent,” Lopez told ESPNNewYork.com Saturday from an NBA Cares event. “I’m out there doing everything.”

That’s great news for the Nets, who are expecting big things from Lopez and the rest of their star-studded starting five.

Reported by Ian Begley of ESPN New York

Hawks guard Lou Williams still recovering from injury

Hawks training camp begins in 11 days – on Oct. 1 – and the team has no timeline on the return of Lou Williams from a torn ACL. According to team officials, Williams is progressing well with his right knee injury. However, he has not yet been given medical clearance by doctors to participate in training camp.

While Williams still could be cleared in time for camp, he most likely will not be ready to immediately assume the role he had last season. It could take a month for him to be at full strength. Williams’ season ended after just 39 games last season when he tore the ACL Jan. 18 against Brooklyn. Such an injury typically takes about nine months to heal.

The shooting guard minutes will be split between Kyle Korver, John Jenkins and DeMarre Carroll but there is room for a fourth player in the rotation.

Reported by Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Blog)

Deron Williams thinks Andrei Kirilenko was a huge addition for Nets

One of the biggest moves the Nets made was convincing Andrei Kirilenko – one of the linchpins of those Utah teams alongside [Deron] Williams and [Carlos] Boozer – to sign for one year at the mini-midlevel exception, giving the Nets one of the league’s most versatile players as well as an excellent perimeter defender. Having Kirilenko will allow coach Jason Kidd to deploy all kinds of different and creative lineup combinations.

And Williams, who has remained friendly with Kirilenko since being traded from the Jazz in 2011, did his part to recruit his old running mate to Brooklyn.

“Once I saw that he had opted out and free agency was kind of drying up,” Williams said, “I was like, ‘Man, just come play for us for one year, and you can make more next year [in free agency].’

“[Kirilenko] has made a lot of money in his career, so it wasn’t about money. He wants to come to a team where he gets to have fun and has a chance to win, and I think he’s going to have a chance to play here and we’re excited about that addition. That’s as big of an addition as [Pierce and Garnett], if you ask me. “

Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post