July 2017 – Page 20 – NBA Blog

Heat: Bam Adebayo NBA rookie bio

The Miami HEAT announced today that they have signed center/forward Bam Adebayo to his NBA rookie contract.

Adebayo appeared in 38 games (all starts) as a freshman at Kentucky and averaged 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.50 blocks and 30.1 minutes while shooting 59.9 percent from the field. He was selected to the All-SEC Second Team and the All-SEC All-Tournament Team after helping the Wildcats win the SEC Championship. He led the team in rebounds (304), blocks (57) and double-doubles (8) and finished second on the team in free throws made (154) and minutes (1,145) and third in points (494). He recorded 101 dunks, the most for a single-season by any Kentucky player under head coach John Calipari, surpassing Anthony Davis’ 92 in 2011-12 as it also ranked as the second-most in the NCAA last season. He tallied back-to-back 15-rebound games after posting a 22-point, 15-rebound double-double at Missouri on February 21 and then a 18-point, 15-rebound double-double vs. then #13 Florida on February 25, becoming the first Wildcat since Jared Prickett in 1994 to post consecutive 15-rebound games and the first time it was done during SEC games since Sam Bowie in 1984. Additionally, he grabbed 18 rebounds in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Northern Kentucky, the third-most ever by a Kentucky player during March Madness, helping the Wildcats advance to the Elite Eight.

Adebayo was selected in the first round (14th overall) by the HEAT in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Blake Griffin to re-sign with Clippers

Chris Paul is gone, but Blake Griffin is sticking around. The Clippers are without their floor general, but their versatile power forward will re-sign with the squad. Here’s the LA Times reporting:

Blake Griffin walked into Staples Center on Friday afternoon, his eyes quickly diverting to a video of the Clippers starting lineup that included him. A few seconds later, the video shifted to a museum in which it walked through different parts of his life during the seven years he wore No. 32 for the Clippers.

As soon as a smile crossed Griffin’s face upon entering the arena, one team executive who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter said the sense was that the power forward would return to the Clippers.

And Griffin will, agreeing to sign a maximum contract with the Clippers for five years and $175.74 million, according to an NBA official…

Griffin technically couldn’t agree to the deal until the NBA’s free-agency period opened at 9:01 PT Friday night, but the Clippers were allowed to talk with the power forward earlier in the day because he had spent the past seven years on the team.

Report: Jeff Teague to Timberwolves

Minnesota and Jeff Teague agreed to a 3-year, $57-million deal, with a player-option for the third year, on Friday night, a source confirmed. The deal was reported by the Associated Press just minutes after free agency’s official 11 p.m. central start time.

ASM Sports, Teague’s agency, tweeted just after 11 p.m. that Teague committed to signing with the Wolves. Teague can’t sign a deal with Minnesota until Thursday because of NBA rules.

The Timberwolves had to find a starting floor general after sending Ricky Rubio to Utah in exchange for a first-round pick Friday afternoon. Teague will make roughly $19 million a year over the three years. Rubio was set to make $14.2 million next season.

— St Paul Pioneer Press