Month: August 2014

Cavs hire Jim Boylan, Bret Brielmaier, Larry Drew, James Posey as assistant coaches

cavs

The Cavaliers have finalized their coaching staff and named Jim Boylan, Bret Brielmaier, Larry Drew and James Posey as assistant coaches on head coach David Blatt’s staff, Cavs General Manager David Griffin and Blatt announced today. They join Tyronn Lue, who was named associate head coach earlier this summer. Phil Handy will also serve as Director of Player Development and Assistant Coach, along with Vitaly Potapenko, who has been tabbed to continue as the team’s Assistant Director of Player Development.

Boylan joins Blatt’s staff after serving as an assistant for the Cavaliers during their 2013-14 campaign. Prior to joining the Cavaliers, he spent five seasons as the lead assistant coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, with the last 50 games of the 2012-13 season as the interim head coach. Boylan began his NBA coaching career with the Cavaliers as an assistant in 1992 under Lenny Wilkins and has since worked as an assistant with Chicago, Vancouver, Phoenix and Atlanta.

Brielmaier returns for his second season in Cleveland, having joined the team last July for the 2013-14 campaign. Prior to last year, Brielmaier spent four seasons in San Antonio, most recently as the team’s video coordinator. A graduate of the University of Arizona, he played four years for the Wildcats before starting his coaching career as the undergraduate assistant in 2008. In 2009, he joined the staff of the Spurs as a player development assistant and later promoted to video coordinator.

Drew joins the staff after one season as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. Prior to his stint with the Bucks, he spent three seasons as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, leading them to postseason appearances in each of those seasons. A first round selection by Detroit in the 1980 NBA Draft, Drew appeared in 714 career NBA games with averages of 11.4 points and 5.2 assists with the Pistons, Kansas City/Sacramento, L.A. Clipper and L.A. Lakers. The Kansas City native began his coaching career in 1992 and has served as an assistant coach with the Lakers, Pistons, Washington Wizards, New Jersey Nets and Hawks.

Posey joins the coaching staff after a successful first season as an assistant coach for the Cavaliers D-League affiliate, the Canton Charge. Posey, a 12-year NBA veteran, appeared in 864 career games with averages of 8.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals with the Nuggets, Houston, Memphis, Miami, Boston, New Orleans and Indiana. The Twinsburg, OH native also won two NBA Championships as a player with Miami (2005-06) and Boston (2007-08).

Handy returns to the staff after holding a similar role with the team last season. He joined the Cavaliers in 2013 after a two-year stint with the Lakers (2011-13). Prior to that, Handy spent five years as an AAU coach in Northern California. Over a 13-year period, he operated his own professional basketball training business, servicing NBA, European, college and many of the top-ranked high school players in the state. A former University of Hawaii basketball standout, Handy spent time in the NBA with Golden State and Portland, along with eight-years of playing experience overseas in Israel, France, England, Germany, Italy and Australia.

Potapenko returns to the staff as the Assistant Director of Player Development. Prior to joining the Cavs in July 2013, he spent the previous year as an assistant coach with the Santa Cruz Warriors of the D- League. That season, his team posted a 32-18 record en-route to their first NBADL Finals appearance. Potapenko was selected 12th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1996 NBA Draft and spent his first three seasons with the team. Potapenko went on to have an 11-year NBA career with the Cavaliers, Celtics, Seattle SuperSonics and Kings, with averages of 6.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Grizzlies sign second round pick Jarnell Stokes

Grizzlies sign second round pick Jarnell Stokes

The Memphis Grizzlies signed 2014 second round draft pick Jarnell Stokes to a multi-year contract, the team announced today.

Stokes (6-9, 263) was selected by the Utah Jazz in the second round (35th overall) of the 2014 NBA Draft and traded to Memphis on draft night for a 2016 second round draft pick.

Before entering the NBA Draft, Stokes played three years at the University of Tennessee (2011-14), averaging 13.0 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.08 blocks on .530 shooting in 29.7 minutes in 87 games. The 20-year-old left the Volunteers ranked fourth in school history in double-doubles (40), eighth in total rebounds (836) and 14th in blocks (94). He led the Southeastern Conference in offensive rebounding in each of his final two years in Knoxville.

A First Team All-SEC selection as a junior last season, Stokes posted 15.1 points and a conference-best 10.6 rebounds on .531 shooting in 32.4 minutes in 37 games, guiding Tennessee to three NCAA Tournament victories and a trip to the Sweet 16. He boosted his averages to 18.0 points and 12.8 rebounds in four tournament games, including a 26-point, 14-rebound performance on March 21, 2014 vs. Massachusetts. Stokes was named Second Team All-SEC as a sophomore and earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors in his first collegiate season.

The Memphis native and Southwind High School graduate averaged 12.2 points and 9.4 rebounds in 26.6 minutes and recorded three double-doubles in five games (four starts) last month for the Grizzlies during the 2014 Orlando Pro Summer League. He ranked second among all players in rebounds per game.

Pistons sign Cartier Martin and Aaron Gray

Pistons

The Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Stan Van Gundy announced today that the club has signed free agent forward Cartier Martin and center Aaron Gray to contracts.

Martin, a 6-7, 220-pound forward has career averages of 5.4 points, 1.6 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 14.3 minutes in 220 games for Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, Golden State and Charlotte. Martin played in a career-high 59 games last season with Atlanta and Chicago averaging 5.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 14.7 minutes. He played in 53 games for the Hawks, scoring a season-high 17 points in 17 minutes at Dallas (10/30) and finished the year averaging 5.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per game.

A native of Crockett, TX, Martin went undrafted in the 2007 NBA Draft out of Kansas State University after averaging 13.8 points (.399 3FG), 4.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 112 games during his four-year career. He had a breakout junior season, averaging career-highs in points (18.0) and rebounds (6.6) in 28 games and averaged 17.1 points and 4.4 rebounds in 35 games as a senior. He has played professionally in Turkey, Italy and China, while also spending time in the NBA Development League with the Iowa Energy, where he was selected as a NBA D-League All-Star in 2009.

Gray, a 7-0, 270-pound center holds career averages of 3.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 12.1 minutes in 318 career games with Chicago, New Orleans, Toronto and Sacramento. He split time between Toronto and Sacramento during 2013-14 season, appearing in 37 games and averaging 1.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 9.6 minutes.

A native of Tarzana, CA, the 29-year-old spent the majority of last season with the Kings after being traded in December. Gray averaged 1.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 10.2 minutes in 33 games with Sacramento.

Gray played collegiately at the University of Pittsburgh from 2003-07, where he averaged 9.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.2 blocks and 20.9 minutes in 113 games. During his junior year with the Panthers, Gray earned the Big-East 2005-06 Most Improved Player and was named to the All-Big East First Team after averaging 13.9 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 blocks in 33 games. He followed up his junior season with a solid senior year, averaging 13.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.7 blocks in 36 games and again, was named to the All-Big East First Team.

Raptors sign Jordan Hamilton

Raptors sign Jordan Hamilton

The Toronto Raptors announced Monday they have signed forward-guard Jordan Hamilton.

Hamilton, 6-foot-7, 220 pounds, averaged 6.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 17.0 minutes in 60 games (12 starts) last season with Denver and Houston. He scored in double figures 20 times, including a season-high 19 points November 8 at Phoenix. The Rockets acquired Hamilton from the Nuggets on February 20 in exchange for Aaron Brooks.

A product of University of Texas, Hamilton was selected 26th overall by Dallas in the 2011 NBA Draft. His rights were traded on draft night to Denver as part of a three-team deal involving Portland. In 126 career games (15 starts), he has averaged 5.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 13.3 minutes, while shooting .358 (114-for-318) from three-point range.

DeJuan Blair ready to bring energy and toughness to Wizards

Here’s CSN Washington reporting on the Wizards:

DeJuan Blair ready to bring energy and toughness to Wizards

How Randy Wittman intends on using his deep core of interior options remains uncertain. Granted, the start of training camp is still weeks away, though don’t expect many specifics out of the Washington Wizards head coach regardless.

As of Thursday, newly signed center DeJuan Blair had yet to get into details with Wittman about his role. No matter. Blair knows exactly how he will help.

“I plan on just bringing energy and toughness to the team,” Blair said during a teleconference with reporters on Thursday. “And being a veteran guy, helping the young guys do the right thing and just have fun at the same time.”

Anybody who watched Blair tangle with the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs knows he’s not underselling the energy and toughness angle.

Shawn Marion to reportedly join Cavs

Where LeBron James goes, other players wouldn’t mind going as well. That LeBron will be playing with Kyrie Irving, and possibly Kevin Love as well should a trade go through, certainly helps as well. Here’s ESPN.com reporting:

Free-agent forward Shawn Marion has committed to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to league sources.

Sources told ESPN.com that Marion informed the Cavaliers this weekend that he intends to sign with them this month despite the fact that Cleveland can only offer him a minimum deal.

The chance to play with LeBron James and immediately compete for a championship, sources said, clinched Marion’s decision to choose Cleveland in the face of a ramped-up pursuit by the Indiana Pacers.

As ESPN.com reported earlier this week, Pacers president Larry Bird invited Marion to Indianapolis earlier this week for a face-to-face recruiting pitch over dinner, with Indiana in desperate need of veteran help on the wing after the season-ending compound leg fracture suffered by star swingman Paul George on Aug. 1.

Derrick Rose says he has faith, not fear

Here’s the Chicago Sun-Times reporting on Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, who is currently in training camp with Team USA as they prepare for the FIBA World Cup tournament, which begins August 30:

Derrick Rose says he does not fear additional injury

After all, two season-ending knee surgeries for Rose since the 2012 postseason, as well as being on the court when Paul George went down with a horrific leg injury in Vegas, would be a spooky reminder for most players.

“No, I have no fears. I have faith,’’ Rose said defiantly, when asked about his own basketball mortality. “I know that I’m going to be fine. I know that I busted my ass the entire two summers. You can say two seasons to get back to where I am right now. And just try and keep it moving, stay positive every day, do everything consistent like I’ve been doing.’’

What he’s been doing has been an eye-opener for the Bulls, as well as Team USA, as the 2011 MVP continued to look like the guy who carried a franchise before his knees betrayed him.

“Every time I step on the floor it’s something to prove,’’ Rose said. “I have my own little goals in my head, I have my own little things that motivate me in my head that I keep to myself. But every time I step on the floor I try to produce.’’

Trail Blazers make bid to host 2017 or 2018 All-Star Game

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

trail blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers are one of three NBA teams that have never been given the opportunity to host the league’s All-Star Game. The franchise took a major step toward changing that Thursday, submitting a bid to host the 2017 or 2018 game at the Moda Center.

Team president Chris McGowan, who spearheaded the bid, said the game, along with the numerous activities that surround it, would be a major high point in the state’s sports history.

“It’s going to be the biggest event from a sports perspective hosted in Oregon’s history, I think,” McGowan said.

Earlier this year, the NBA sent out a memo saying it was opening bidding for the 2017 and ’18 All-Star games. The 2015 game will be played at New York’s Madison Square Garden, co-hosted by the Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, and the 2016 game has been awarded to Toronto, with the Raptors hosting for the first time.

DeMarcus Cousins knee injury is very minor

DeMarcus Cousins knee injury is very minor

DeMarcus Cousins had a big bag of ice on his right knee while he watched the end of practice Thursday. He briefly covered his face with a towel as trainers milled around his table next to the folded gym bleachers.

Just making it to the World Cup of Basketball is proving to be quite a chore for the U.S. national team.

Cousins was injured when he got tangled with Anthony Davis after both big men hit the floor going after a loose ball during a scrimmage. An MRI on Cousins’ knee showed no structural damage, and USA Basketball said the Sacramento Kings star was day to day.

— AP