July 2015 – Page 14 – NBA Blog

Mavs reportedly have interest in JaVale McGee

Mavs reportedly have interest in JaVale McGee

JaVale McGee has an interesting personality. He also makes lots of questionable decisions on the court during games. He does have talent, though. But nobody is sure what to make of him or if he’ll ever emerge as a player that can be relied upon whtn the stakes are high. The Dallas Mavericks reportedly felt that a conversation with the center was worth having. Here’s ESPN.com reporting:

The Dallas Mavericks are on the hunt for a rim protector in the wake of DeAndre Jordan’s decision to stay with the Los Angeles Clippers and interviewed former Washington and Denver big man JaVale McGee for the vacancy over the weekend, according to sources.

Sources told ESPN.com that the Mavericks’ interest in McGee, at this stage, is best described as “exploratory,” but McGee could potentially fill an undeniable void on the Dallas roster after Jordan’s about-face.

Suns sign first round draft pick Devin Booker

The Phoenix Suns have signed first-round pick Devin Booker, the 13th overall selection of the 2015 NBA Draft.

All first round draft picks are guaranteed to receive a contract. So, this signing is standard and was expected.

Booker has made his Suns debut as a member of Phoenix’s entry at NBA Summer League 2015 in Las Vegas where he has averaged 8.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals through two games. Booker and the Suns return to action tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. (Phoenix time) against the Utah Jazz with the game to be televised on NBA TV.

Booker, widely considered to be the best three-point shooter in this year’s draft, earned Southeastern Conference (SEC) Sixth Man of the Year, Second Team All-SEC and All-SEC Freshman Team honors following his one season at Kentucky in 2014-15. The 6-6, 206-pound marksman averaged 10.0 points for the Wildcats and displayed his fluid shooting stroke, connecting on 47.0 percent of his field goals, 41.1 percent of his three-pointers and 82.8 percent of his free throws.

A mature 18-year-old possessing a high basketball IQ, Booker helped the Wildcats to a 38-1 record this past season with the 38 wins tying for the most in NCAA history as Kentucky also won the SEC regular-season and tournament titles on its way to becoming the first undefeated team to reach the Final Four since UNLV in 1991. Booker ranked second on the Wildcats with 20 double-digit scoring games and led the conference by earning SEC Freshman of the Week honors on five occasions.

Booker, a native of Grand Rapids, Mich., was named a 2014 McDonald’s All-American after averaging 30.9 points as a senior at Moss Point High School in Moss Point, Miss. Booker’s father, Melvin, had a distinguished collegiate career at the University of Missouri before playing in 32 NBA games with the Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors over the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons followed by several seasons playing professionally in Italy, Turkey and Russia.

Clippers re-sign Austin Rivers, add Cole Aldrich

Clippers sign Austin Rivers and Cole Aldrich

The L.A. Clippers have signed guard Austin Rivers and center Cole Aldrich.

Rivers, 22, returns to the Clippers after appearing in 41 regular season games (two starts) with the team last season, averaging 7.1 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists following a Jan. 15, 2015 trade from the Boston Celtics. In the first Playoff action of his career, Rivers played in all 14 postseason games, averaging 8.4 points and 1.1 assists while providing 16 points in a crucial Game 4 win over San Antonio and leading the team with 25 points, six rebounds and two assists in a Game 3 victory over Houston.

The 10th selection in the 2012 NBA Draft by New Orleans, Rivers appeared in 165 career games for the Pelicans (33 starts), averaging 6.9 points, 2.3 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 21.4 minutes before being traded to Boston on Jan. 12.

A stand-out at Duke University for one season in 2011-12, Rivers averaged 15.5 points and 3.4 rebounds in 34 games.

Aldrich, 26, joins the Clippers after spending the last two seasons with the New York Knicks. Last season he averaged 5.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 61 games (16 starts). The 6-foot-11 center has appeared in 196 total games with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings and Knicks and has career averages of 3.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 196 games.

Originally drafted with the 11th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Hornets, Aldrich spent three seasons at the University of Kansas. The Bloomington, Minnesota native was a perfect 55-0 as a Jayhawk at home and was named the 2009 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus Second-Team All American in 2010.

Pacers sign rookie Myles Turner

The Indiana Pacers announced Monday they have signed first-round draft pick Myles Turner to a contract. Turner was the 11th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

All first round draft picks are guaranteed to receive a contract, assuming they wish to come to the league right away. So, this signing is standard and was expected.

Turner, a 6-11, 240-pound forward/center, played collegiately at Texas, averaging 10.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots per game.

The 2015 Big 12 Freshman of the Year recently played for the Pacers’ summer league team in Orlando where in three games he was the Pacers’ second-leading scorer at 18.7 ppg. Along with teammate Joe Young, he was named to NBA TV’s All-Tournament Team.

Thunder match offer sheet, retain Enes Kanter

The Oklahoma City Thunder has exercised its right of first refusal and matched the offer sheet extended to center Enes Kanter by the Portland Trail Blazers, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

“We traded for Enes last season with the intention of keeping him as a member of the Thunder for several years to come, and we are excited that he will continue with us,” said Presti. “He adds valuable depth to our roster, diversity to our frontcourt and the dimension that he brings offensively will positively impact our team.”

In 26 games this past season with the Thunder, Kanter averaged 18.7 points to go along with 11.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 31.1 minutes per contest. Since being acquired from the Utah Jazz on Feb. 19, the 23-year-old Kanter registered 17 double-doubles, including a Thunder record eight straight double-doubles in late March.

Originally selected third overall in the 2011 NBA draft, Kanter recorded at least 20 points and 10 rebounds 11 times with Oklahoma City this past season. Prior to Kanter’s arrival, no Thunder center had ever recorded a single 20-point/10-rebound game.

Including his career-high 30-point effort on Apr. 1 vs Dallas, Kanter scored 20 or more points in 12 of his 26 appearances this past season with the Thunder. On March 24 against the LA Lakers, Kanter became the only player in the NBA this past season to record 15+ points and 10+ rebounds in the first quarter alone.

Kanter has appeared in 291 career games and owns career averages of 10.2 points and 6.4 rebounds in 21.4 minutes.

Bulls sign Cristiano Felicio

The Chicago Bulls have signed free agent forward/center Cristiano Felicio (pronunciation: cree-STEE-YAHN-oh).

“We’ve been impressed with Cristiano’s work ethic and potential,” said Chicago Bulls General Manager Gar Forman. “We’re looking forward to working with him and having him come to camp with us this fall.”

Felicio (6-10, 275) played with C.R. Flamengo of the NBB (Novo Basquete Brasil) last season and is currently playing on Chicago’s 2015 Las Vegas Summer League team.

Wizards sign Alan Anderson

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed forward Alan Anderson.

According to the Associated Press, it is a $4 million, one-year contract.

“Alan has an all-around game that complements the other players on our roster and gives us another veteran at the small forward position,” said Grunfeld. “His energy, hustle and defensive ability have defined his career and we’re looking forward to him bringing those skills to our team.”

Anderson (6-6, 220) holds career averages of 7.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists while shooting .346 from three-point range. He has appeared in 287 career games, including 66 starts, over six seasons with Charlotte, Toronto and Brooklyn. In 74 games (19 starts) with Brooklyn last season, the Michigan State product averaged 7.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists while shooting .443 from the field and .348 from downtown. In Brooklyn’s first round series against Atlanta in the 2015 NBA Playoffs, Anderson averaged 11.1 points and 3.5 rebounds while shooting .610 from the floor and .625 from behind the arc.

After going undrafted in 2005, the Minnesota native was signed as a free agent by Charlotte and played with the Bobcats in parts of two seasons before playing overseas in Italy, Russia, Croatia, Israel, Spain and China. He returned to the NBA in 2011 when he signed with Toronto, and averaged 10.4 points and 2.2 rebounds over two seasons with the Raptors. He signed as a free agent with the Nets prior to the 2013-14 campaign.

Timberwolves trade Chase Budinger to Pacers

Timberwolves trade Chase Budinger to Pacers

The Indiana Pacers announced Sunday they have acquired forward Chase Budinger from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for forward Damjan Rudez.

Budinger, 6-7, 218, has six seasons of NBA experience. He was originally drafted by Detroit in the second round (44th overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft. He was traded on draft night to Houston where he played three seasons before being traded to Minnesota in 2012. He has averaged 8.5 points per game in his NBA career.

“We’re very glad to have Chase,” said Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird. “He’s a guy we think will fit in our rotation. He can shoot and drive to the basket, which works with how we want to play. Damjan was a special guy. He was great to have as part of our team. He will be missed by all.”

Rudez, 29, played one season with the Pacers averaging 4.8 points on 45.2% shooting, including a 40.6% mark from the three-point line. The 6-10 Croatia native played in 68 contests, registering 15.4 minutes per game. The Pacers signed Rudez as a free agent on July 11, 2014. Prior to coming to the NBA, Rudez played parts of eight seasons internationally in Spain, Croatia and Slovenia.

Pistons sign Aron Baynes

The Detroit Pistons have signed center Aron Baynes to a multi-year contract.

Baynes will likely be used as a backup, playing limited minutes behind young talented starting center Andre Drummond.

Baynes, appeared in 70 games (17 starts) with San Antonio last season averaging career highs in points (6.6 ppg), rebounds (4.5 rpg) and minutes (16.0 mpg). He recorded more points, rebounds, assists and blocks last season than in his previous two NBA seasons combined. Baynes recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds at Houston (11/6). He also recorded back-to-back double-figure scoring games for the first time in his career with 12 points in 21 minutes vs. Minnesota (11/21) and 10 points in 21 minutes vs. Brooklyn (11/22). Baynes appeared in 22 career playoff games with the Spurs, averaging 2.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 7.5 minutes per game.

The 6-10, 255-pound center has tallied career NBA averages of 4.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 12.6 minutes in 139 games – all with San Antonio. Baynes began his professional career in 2009-10 playing for Lietuvos Rytas of the Lithuanian Basketball League, a squad that went on to win the Lithuanian National Championship. He went on to play in Germany for EWE Baskets Oldenburg in 2010-11 before joining Ikaros Kallitheas in Greece the following season. Baynes has been a member of the Australian National Team, most recently competing at the 2014 FIBA World Championship in Turkey where he averaged 16.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 27.0 minutes in five games. Representing Australia in the 2012 Olympic Games in London, he averaged 7.5 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 66% (21-32 FG) from the field.

The 28-year old New Zealand native was undrafted out of Washington State. He appeared in 122 games (86 starts), averaging 8.7 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 54.6% from the field and led WSU to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2008. Baynes ranks eighth on Cougars’ all-time field goal percentage list and became the first player in school history to shoot 100% from the field in a game with at least 10 field goal attempts (10-10 FG and a career-high 25 points vs. USC).

Joel Embiid injury run continues; Sixers center to miss 2015-16 NBA season

Joel Embiid injury run continues: out for 2015-16 NBA season

The following is a statement from Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Sam Hinkie:

“As we previously communicated, we have spent the last several weeks working closely with Joel and his representatives to further evaluate Joel’s foot following the results of the most recent CT scan. This included conference calls and in-person visits with renowned foot and ankle specialists from the United States (New York, North Carolina, Colorado, California and Pennsylvania) and internationally (Australia, the Netherlands and Qatar). This group of experts unanimously agreed that the routine CT scan in June did reveal less healing than anticipated, an unexpected result since Joel was not experiencing any foot pain.

“We have been consistent in our philosophy that our focus will be Joel’s long-term health and wellness to ensure he will have a long and impactful career in the NBA. After receiving the input of the aforementioned medical experts, as well as conversations with Joel and his representatives, there was careful consideration given to a number of options related to this particular situation. A collective decision has been made that the best approach to promote full healing would be to proceed with a bone graft of the fracture site. We anticipate the procedure will take place in the next 7-10 days and result in Joel missing the upcoming season.

“We are still in the process of determining the doctor who will perform the procedure, which should be finalized in the coming days. Sixers Director of Performance Research and Development Dr. David T. Martin will outline and lead Joel’s rehab and recovery plan, in collaboration with a worldwide network of experts and specialists.”