July 2014 – Page 23 – NBA Blog

Thunder sign rookie Mitch McGary

Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has signed forward Mitch McGary. As a first round draft pick, McGary was guaranteed to receive a contract. This signing is standard, and was expected.

Taken by the Thunder with the 21st selection in last month’s NBA Draft, McGary appeared in 47 games during his two years at Michigan where he averaged 7.8 points and 6.6 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game.

During his freshman season, McGary was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team after helping lead the Wolverines to the National Title game. During tournament play, McGary averaged 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.7 blocks while shooting .678 percent from the field.

Prior to his sophomore campaign, McGary was selected as a preseason Associated Press and USA Today First-Team All-American in addition to being named a preseason candidate for the John R. Wooden Award, Naismith Award and USBWA’s Oscar Robertson Award.

McGary is set to participate during this week’s Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League. The Thunder will tip-off summer league competition today at 4 pm CT in a match-up versus the Memphis Grizzlies.

New Sacramento Kings arena will have small seating capacity

Here’s the Sacramento Bee reporting on the Kings:

The Sacramento Kings are abandoning the arena that has the fewest seats in the NBA. They’re building a new arena … with the fewest seats in the NBA.

The $477 million arena at Downtown Plaza, set to begin construction later this month, will seat just 17,500 fans. That’s fewer than 200 additional seats compared to Sleep Train Arena, which is widely considered outmoded and inadequate for NBA use.

The Kings’ owners say their new building will be more lucrative than Sleep Train through the magic of modern arena design. There will be far more seats in the lower bowl, translating into higher ticket prices. There will be twice as many “premium” seats, including luxury suites and lofts, which will come with VIP perks and be among the most expensive tickets in the house. Those features will more than offset the relatively small total seating capacity, team officials say.

“There will be a massive change in comfort, in amenities, in concessions,” said Kings President Chris Granger, who is overseeing design and construction. “That’s why we’re doing it.”

At 745,000 square feet, including the practice facility, the new arena will be almost 70 percent bigger than Sleep Train.

But why so few seats? The designers are following a less-is-more revolution taking place in sports economics. Spacious arenas with 20,000-plus seats are giving way to cozier buildings that, paradoxically, can generate as much, if not more, profit than the big-box facilities. It’s no coincidence that the newest NBA arena, the 2-year-old Barclays Center in Brooklyn, is currently the league’s smallest with a capacity of 17,732.

Casper Ware hopes to prove himself at summer league

Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting on guard Casper Ware:

Casper Ware was impressive enough this past season to turn a 10-day contract into a season-ending roster spot with the 76ers.

The 5-foot-10 point guard will be looked upon to provide leadership during Saturday’s Orlando Summer League opener against the Magic at Amway Center.

But his earning a roster spot for the forthcoming season is far from guaranteed.

The Sixers acquired Pierre Jackson from the New Orleans Pelicans in a NBA draft-night trade for second-rounder Russ Smith.

Jackson and Ware are the same height. Both are scoring point guards.

Pre-NBA Jason Kidd basketball success

Here’s the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporting on new Bucks head coach Jason Kidd, with a look back at his pre-NBA days:

Kidd has been making basketball headlines since he played for Bay area youth teams and starred for St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda, Calif., in the early 1990s.

Frank LaPorte, Kidd’s high school coach, told the San Francisco Chronicle in 1991: “As an eighth-grader, Jason Kidd was the talk of the town.”

In his senior season, Kidd led his team to a second straight state championship, averaging 25 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and seven steals. He was named the Parade, USA Today and Naismith prep player of the year in 1992. In January 2012, he was selected as one of the 35 greatest McDonald’s All-American high school players.

Kidd was recruited by the top college programs in the country, including Kansas when Roy Williams was coach there.

“Jason was one of the three best high school guards I have seen in my 15 years in coaching,” Williams said in 1993. “Derek Harper, Kenny Anderson and Jason.”

But Kidd, who was born in San Francisco, turned away from the giants and signed with the University of California.

As a freshman, he averaged 13.0 points, 7.7 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 3.8 steals. He was chosen national college freshman of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and made the 10-player All-Pac-10 team. His 110 steals set an NCAA record for a freshman.

Cal made the NCAA Tournament field and beat Duke on the way to the Sweet 16 before losing to Kansas. Midway through that season, Cal coach Lou Campanelli was fired and replaced by assistant Todd Bozeman. Kidd reportedly was among the Cal players who complained about Campanelli’s sometimes abrasive style. Cal athletic director Bob Bockrath fired him with 10 games left in the 1992-’93 season.

As a sophomore, Kidd averaged 16.7 points, 9.1 assists, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 steals. He led the nation in assists with 272. He was chosen as a first-team All-American and Pac-10 player of the year.

Grant Jerrett injured, will not play in Summer League for OKC

Here’s the Oklahoman reporting on the Thunder:

The Oklahoma City Thunder will be without forward Grant Jerrett for the Orlando Summer League.

Jerrett sustained an ankle injury that will keep him out of Orlando, as reported by Darnell Mayberry. The 6-foot-10 Jerrett was a revelation in the Summer League for the Thunder last season, shooting 50 percent from 3-point range while averaging 10.8 points per game.

Mavs hope to keep Devin Harris

Here’s ESPN Dallas reporting on the Mas, who are still fond of veteran guard Devin Harris and don’t mind having him around:

Mavericks sources remain confident that they’ll figure out a way to keep Devin Harris.

The team’s point guard Plan A is just likely to cost the Mavs a little more than they anticipated.

Golden State gave Shaun Livingston a three-year, $16 million deal, using the full midlevel exception. Sacramento will sign Darren Collison to an identical deal. Harris is certainly in their class, so it’s reasonable for him to expect to be paid in the $5 million-per-year range. That’s a nice bump from the deal worth a little more than $3 million per year that Harris originally agreed to with the Mavs last summer, only to settle for the veteran’s minimum after the discovery that he needed complicated toe surgery.

Lots of interest in free agent Paul Pierce

Here’s ESPN New York reporting on veteran Nets free agent forward Paul Pierce, who presumably has another good season or two left of basketball in him:

The Brooklyn Nets, you would think, need Paul Pierce more than he needs them.

So it certainly came as a surprise Thursday, when Brooklyn GM Billy King, during an interview on ESPN New York 98.7 FM’s “The Michael Kay Show,” said the Nets would, all of a sudden, become fiscally responsible in their negotiations with the unrestricted free-agent forward.

Pierce has already drawn interest from several contenders, including the Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies, sources told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein.

Those are some extremely attractive options — especially L.A., where Pierce could be reunited with former coach Doc Rivers and get to play with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, two of the most dominant players in the league.

Chris Kaman talks about why he is signing with Blazers

Here’s the Oregonian reporting on center Chris Kaman, who is reportedly set to sign with the Portland Trail Blazers:

Chris Kaman discusses joining the Blazers

An array of reasons led Kaman’s to choose the Blazers, including his close relationship with general manager Neil Olshey and assistant coach Kim Hughes. Kaman played for the Los Angeles Clippers for eight seasons and both men were instrumental in his development when they were involved in the organization. After enduring what he described as a “rough couple of years” with the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers over the last two seasons, he wanted to be around people he trusted.

But an even bigger draw to Portland was winning. Kaman has played 11 NBA seasons and been a part of a winning team just once — in 2005-06 with the Clippers. The only other time he sniffed .500 was with the Mavericks in 2012-13.

“I want to be back in playoffs and help the team get back to wining the title,” Kaman said. “I think the Trail Blazers are right at that level.”

Back to the last two seasons … Kaman said his stint with the Mavericks just “didn’t pan out.” He signed with Dallas excited about the chance to play alongside All-Star Dirk Nowitzki and eager to “get a serious opportunity to win.” But Nowitzki was injured early in the season and played just 53 games. As a byproduct, the Mavericks did not make the playoffs for the first time in 12 seasons. All the while, Kaman’s relationship with coach Rick Carlisle soured.

Knicks, Lakers among teams that want Carmelo Anthony

Here’s the Associated Press, via Philly.com, reporting the latest on veteran star forward Carmelo Anthony:

The Knicks went coast to coast to let Carmelo Anthony know they want him to stay in New York.

Team officials traveled to Los Angeles on Thursday night to meet with the free agent and offered him the maximum contract allowable, a person with knowledge of the details said.

Team President Phil Jackson and general manager Steve Mills were part of the meeting but not Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan, an official with knowledge of the plans told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the meeting were to remain private.

The meeting was first reported by ESPN.

Anthony was in Los Angeles to meet with the Lakers, who are among the teams hoping to convince the All-Star forward to leave New York. Anthony already visited Chicago, Houston and Dallas this week.

Chris Kaman to join Trail Blazers

Here’s the Columbian reporting on the Portland Trail Blazers:

While the biggest dominos in the NBA landscape have yet to fall, the Portland Trail Blazers have reportedly used their biggest free agent bargaining chip.

The Blazers have agreed to a two-year $10 million deal with former Lakers big man and 11-year veteran center Chris Kaman.

Yahoo! Sports first reported the news. Multiple reports indicate the second year of the contract is only partially guaranteed.

Kaman played in 39 games for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2013-14, averaging 18.9 minutes per game, 10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds on 50.9 percent shooting.