Month: July 2014

Pelicans sign rookie guard Russ Smith

The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has signed guard Russ Smith.

Smith, the 47th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, was acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers on June 27, 2014. He recently completed his senior season at the University of Louisville, becoming the only player in program history with at least 1,800 points, 350 assists and 250 steals. Over the course of his career, the 6’0” guard led the Cardinals to two Big East Tournament titles, the American Athletic Conference Tournament title, two NCAA Final Fours and a school-record 35 wins in 2012-13 en route to the NCAA Championship.

In his senior campaign, the unanimous all-AAC first team member averaged 18.2 points, 4.6 assists and 2.0 steals on his way to being named a consensus All-American. He guided Louisville to the AAC Championship and garnered AAC Championship Most Outstanding Player honors by averaging 25.7 points, 3.7 assists and 2.7 steals in the tournament.

As a junior, Smith helped Louisville win an NCAA Championship and earned All-Big East First Team accolades with averages of 18.7 points, 2.9 assists and 2.1 steals. He averaged 22.3 points and 2.5 steals per game in the Cardinals’ six NCAA Tournament contests.

Over the course of four seasons, Smith appeared in 133 games and averaged 14.3 points, 2.8 assists and 1.9 steals. He completed his career as the school’s all-time steals leader (256) and finished second in free throws (488).

Spurs re-sign Boris Diaw

The 2013-14 NBA champion San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have re-signed forward Boris Diaw. This agreement was reported earlier in July, but the signing is now official.

Diaw returns to the Silver and Black coming off his best season since 2010-11.  The Frenchman appeared in 79 games, averaging 9.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 25.0 minutes while shooting .521 (302-580) from the field and .402 (45-112) from three-point range.  During the 2014 playoffs Diaw averaged 9.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 26.3 minutes.  In the Finals vs. Miami, Diaw posted averages of 6.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 34.2 minutes.

Diaw originally joined the Spurs as a free agent on March 23, 2012 and re-signed with the Silver and Black on July 12, 2012.  In three seasons with the Silver and Black, Diaw has appeared in 174 games, averaging 7.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 23.5 minutes while shooting .532 (521-980) from the field and .409 (83-203) from beyond the arc.

An 11-year NBA veteran, Diaw was originally drafted by the Atlanta Hawks with the 21st overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. He was traded to the Phoenix Suns on Aug. 19, 2005. In his first season with the Suns, Diaw won the 2006 Most Improved Player Award after averaging 13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists in 35.5 minutes over 81 games.

For his career, Diaw has appeared in 834 NBA games, averaging 9.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and  3.7 assists in 28.9 minutes while shooting .497 (3,166-6,369) from the field, .344 (376-1,094) from three-point territory and .711 (900-1,266) from the foul line.  Diaw has seen action in 92 playoff games, averaging 9.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 28.1 minutes.

OKC Thunder sign Sebastian Telfair

The Oklahoma City Thunder has signed free agent guard Sebastian Telfair to a contract, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to welcome Sebastian to the Thunder organization and Oklahoma City community,” Presti said. “His competitiveness and work ethic have complimented his on-court leadership skills throughout his career, and we are excited to be able to integrate these qualities into our team.”

Telfair (6-0, 175) joins the Thunder after spending last season with Tianjin Ronggang in China where he averaged 26.1 points, 6.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 2.03 steals and 36.3 minutes in 35 games.

The 13th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, Telfair owns career averages of 7.4 points, 3.5 assists, 1.6 rebounds and 21.6 minutes in 548 games (192 starts) during nine seasons with Portland, Boston, Minnesota, LA Clippers, Cleveland, Phoenix and Toronto.

Heat not ready to write off Mario Chalmers

Here’s the Miami Herald discussing the recent news that the Heat decided to re-sign guard Mario Chalmers:

Heat not ready to write off Mario Chalmers

LeBron James barked at Mario Chalmers for four years. Then, in the end, Chalmers was sent to the bench with James’ blessing.

In other words, you can count one guy, at least, who has already gotten over the news of James’ move back to Cleveland.

Chalmers is probably the only one, of course.

Heat president Pat Riley said all along that Chalmers would be back for next season, but there was a strong assumption that if James returned to the Heat, then Chalmers would be searching for another team. With James now long gone, the Heat announced officially on Monday that it had re-signed Chalmers. Reports put the deal at two years.

“It’s great to have Mario back,” Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement. “We’re happy that he wants to continue his career in Miami, he’s one of our core players, and I believe he will have a great season.”

Phil Jackson says Andrea Bargnani can step up for Knicks

Here’s the New York Daily News reporting some optimistic thinking from Phil Jackson:

Phil Jackson says Andrea Bargnani can step up for Knicks

Unable to move the expiring contract of Andrea Bargnani so far this summer, Phil Jackson instead attempted to talk up the No. 1 overall pick from 2006 during a televised interview on Monday.

“He’s overlooked. We think he’s going to really do well in the system we have,” Jackson said of Bargnani on MSG Network during the second quarter of the Knicks’ 95-72 Summer League victory over Charlotte. “We have a couple of guards he likes to play with, Jose (Calderon) and Pablo (Prigioni), and I think he’s going to be a surprise and a pleasant one for our fans.”

Bargnani, obtained from Toronto last summer, averaged 13.3 points over 42 games with the Knicks last season before suffering a season-ending elbow injury in January. The seven-foot Italian is owed $12 million in the final year of his contract.

Yes, new Knicks coach Derek Fisher thinks team can make playoffs

Yes, any coach of an NBA team pretty much has to say that his team is a playoff squad. Still, it’s fun to see the exact response to such a question. Here’s the New York Post reporting:

derek fisher

With Carmelo Anthony officially on board, Knicks rookie coach Derek Fisher guaranteed the Knicks will be a playoff team this season, and will eventually compete for a championship with Anthony as the “anchor.’’

The Knicks missed the playoffs during a miserable 37-45 campaign last season that nearly led Anthony out the door. Anthony had told confidants he didn’t want to ever experience a season like that again.

“My opinion is, based on our roster and who we’re going to become, we can compete for playing in the playoffs and playing for a championship in the Eastern Conference,’’ Fisher said Monday after the Knicks’ summer-league victory over Charlotte, in his first remarks since Anthony’s signing became official. “When that happens, putting dates on it, that’s not my job.’’

Paul George working on post-up moves

Here’s ESPN.com reporting on Paul George:

Paul George working on post-up moves

Indiana Pacers forward Paul George says he plans on adding a more physical dimension to his play next season.

“I plan on being a lot more physical this year,” George said, according to the Indianapolis Star. “I really plan [on] taking contact and wanting to get contact and finishing through contact. That’s the next step for me.”

The All-Star forward averaged a career-high 21.7 points per game last season but he posted up just 5 percent of the time, ranked 74th out of 74 NBA forwards with at least 50 plays, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

George told the Star that he has worked a lot on his post-up game this offseason.

Magic excited to add Channing Frye

Here’s the Associated Press reporting on the Orlando Magic, who recently added tall shooter Channing Frye to their very young mix:

Magic excited to add Channing Frye

In the 6-foot-11 Frye, that direction instantly gains an eight-year veteran and a proven long-distance shooter with the ability to spread out defenses — a coveted commodity in the NBA.

He sat out the 2012-13 season after being diagnosed with an enlarged heart, and went through an intense eight-month stretch that included him wearing a heart monitor and having closely monitored activity in which he was able to do only minimal exercise.

But he eventually worked his way back to the court and played all 82 games for the first time in his career last season.

“When something’s taken away from you, you just take step back, and you really appreciate it,” Frye said. “It’s not so much a job. This is a blessing and opportunity. Win or lose, I’m always going to have a smile on my face, because any moment this can be taken away.”

Mavs and Rockets want Mike Miller

Here’s ESPN Dallas reporting on old veteran sharpshooter Mike Miller:

Mavs and Rockets want Mike Miller

Sources have told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein that the Mavs and Rockets have barged into the Mike Miller sweepstakes. The attempt is to acquire a perimeter oriented small forward and to keep LeBron James’ sharpshooting teammate from Miami away from Cleveland.

Last season, the Rockets preferred to keep Parsons on the floor as much as possible, playing him 37.6 minutes per game. That ranked as the seventh-most in the league and 1.1 minute per game shy of league-leader Carmelo Anthony.

Mavs guard Monta Ellis ranked eighth at 36.9 minutes per game.

“He’s the old Nellie (Don Nelson) point-forward, personified,” Cuban said regarding Parsons. “It gets us younger. The good news about all of the experience we had, it really allowed us to modify and give the Spurs a run for their money last year. The bad news is that we had to restrict minutes. Restricting minutes was the big challenge.

“He’s a guy that we can keep out there a lot longer. With Vince (Carter), ‘Trix (Shawn Marion) and Dirk (Nowitzki), we really had to balance minutes.”