August 2017 – Page 4 – NBA Blog

Nuggets hire Calvin Booth as Assistant General Manager

The Denver Nuggets have named Calvin Booth their Assistant General Manager, President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.

Booth, 41, joins the Nuggets after spending the past four seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves front office, most recently serving as the Director of Pro Personnel. Prior to his promotion last season, Booth was a scout for the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2012-13 season before transitioning to the same position in Minnesota for the start of the 2013-14 season. While in Minnesota Booth continued his rise as a basketball executive as he worked his way from a scout, to the Director of Player Programs and then to the Director of Player Personnel.

Before beginning his front office career, Booth played for seven different teams over a 10-year career in the NBA. He appeared in 366 games (83 starts), averaging 3.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.00 blocks per game. The Reynoldsburg, OH native was drafted by the Washington Wizards in the second round (35th overall) of the 1999 NBA Draft after playing four years at Penn State University.

Booth and Connelly are no strangers, having worked together on two separate occasions with the Washington Wizards and also later with the New Orleans Pelicans. Booth had two separate stints as a player with the Wizards, first between 1999-01 while Connelly was a scout and again from 2005-07 while Connelly was the Director of Pro Personnel. Most recently the pair came together in the Pelicans front office where Booth was a scout during the 2012-13 season and Tim Connelly was finishing his last year as New Orleans’ Assistant General Manager before being hired as the Nuggets General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations.

Nuggets hire Bob Weiss as assistant coach

The Denver Nuggets have hired veteran NBA coach and player Bob Weiss to join Head Coach Michael Malone’s staff as an assistant coach, President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.

Bob Weiss brings 34 years of coaching experience to Denver, including 31 at the NBA level. Weiss, who spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Hornets, has been a head coach on four occasions, compiling a 223-299 career record (.427) with the San Antonio Spurs (1986-88), Atlanta Hawks (1990-93), Los Angeles Clippers (1993-94) and Seattle SuperSonics (2005-06). Along with the last four seasons in Charlotte, his tenure as an assistant coach includes stops with the San Diego Clippers (1977-80), Dallas Mavericks (1980-86), Orlando Magic (1989-90) SuperSonics (1994-2005) and Atlanta Hawks (2012-13).

In 2008, Weiss became the first former NBA head coach to be a head coach in China, where he spent two seasons leading the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons (2008-10) and one season with the Shandong Lions (2010-11).

Prior to coaching, Weiss played 12 seasons in the NBA. Drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers as the 22nd overall pick in the 1965 NBA Draft, he averaged 7.6 points, 3.7 assists and 1.8 rebounds in 783 career games for the 76ers, Seattle SuperSonics, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, Buffalo Braves and Washington Bullets. Weiss also saw action in 53 playoff games, including winning the 1967 NBA Championship with the 76ers.

Utah Jazz hire Eric Waters as Head Athletic Trainer

The Utah Jazz have hired Eric Waters as Head Athletic Trainer.

A veteran in the athletic training field, Waters comes to the Jazz after spending 12 seasons (2004-16) as the head athletic trainer for the Washington Wizards, where was selected as the NBA’s Athletic Trainer of the Year by the National Basketball Athletic Trainers Association (NBATA) following the 2009-10 season. He has also served as an athletic trainer for the USA Men’s National Team since 2014.

Certified and licensed as an athletic trainer (ATC), strength and conditioning coach (CSCS), corrective exercise specialist (CES) and performance enhancement specialist (PES), Waters previously served as both Secretary of the NBATA, as well as the association’s Eastern Conference representative, and was a featured speaker at the 2010 National Athletic Trainers Association Conference in Philadelphia.

Prior to joining the Wizards, Waters spent four years as the assistant athletic trainer of the Chicago Bulls from 2000-2004. His career has also included assistantships within the athletic departments of Northwestern University and the University of Iowa, and he spent two seasons with NFL Europe working as the head athletic trainer for the London Monarchs and the assistant athletic trainer for the Rhein Fire, following an internship with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.

Waters received bachelor’s degrees in both exercise science and psychology from the University of Iowa in 1995 and a master’s in exercise science from Boise State University in 1998. Waters has continued to enhance his skillset throughout his career by traveling abroad to study the latest high performance sport and sports medicine techniques and practices, and is currently pursuing a master’s in high performance sport (MPHS) degree from Australian Catholic University located in Australia.

Very involved in community efforts, Waters has made multiple international trips in support of the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders efforts, and is also active in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program among others.

Raptors sign Kyle Wiltjer

The Toronto Raptors signed forward Kyle Wiltjer (pronunciation: WILT-jer) today.

Wiltjer, 6-foot-10, 240 pounds, appeared in 14 games for the Houston Rockets last season, totaling 13 points and 10 rebounds in 44 minutes of action. He also averaged 20.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 35.9 minutes in 22 contests for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League. He shot .379 (81-for-214) from three-point range with the Vipers.

Wiltjer signed with the Rockets as an undrafted free agent in September 2016. He played two collegiate seasons at Kentucky (2011-13) before transferring to Gonzaga (2014-16), where he averaged a team-high 20.4 points during his senior season. Wiltjer was named All-West Coast Conference First Team as a junior and senior.

Pacers sign Damien Wilkins and Ben Moore

The Indiana Pacers have signed free agents Damien Wilkins and Ben Moore.

The 6-6 Wilkins is a 37-year old veteran who last played in the NBA with Philadelphia in 2012-13, averaging 6.3 points and 2.4 rebounds. Since then he has played in China, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and with NBA Development League franchises in Iowa and Greensboro. Before joining the 76ers, Wilkins played with Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Atlanta and Detroit.

Moore is a 6-8 rookie forward who played at SMU. His senior season, he averaged 11.4 points and 7.8 rebounds. He will be designated as an affiliate player and play with the Pacers’ Gatorade League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Moore played five games with the Pacers’ summer league team in Orlando, averaging 3.8 points and 3.0 rebounds.

Pelicans have national TV 14 games this season

The New Orleans Pelicans today announced their schedule for the 2017-18 regular season. The Pelicans will open the season at the FedEx Forum against division rival Memphis on Wednesday, October 18, before returning to New Orleans for the team’s home opener against the defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors on Friday, October 20 on ESPN at the Smoothie King Center.

The Pelicans will head to the west coast for a three-game road trip before returning home to face the defending Eastern Conference Champion Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, October 28.

New Orleans is scheduled to appear on national television 14 times this season. In addition to the home opener against Golden State, ESPN is scheduled to broadcast the Pelicans’ matchups Nov. 17 at Denver, Jan. 26 vs. Houston, Mar. 30 at Cleveland, Apr. 4 vs. Memphis and Apr. 9 at the L.A. Clippers. TNT is scheduled to air the Pelicans’ road contests at Sacramento on Oct. 26 and Mar. 6 against the L.A. Clippers. NBATV is set to broadcast six Pelicans games – Oct. 24 at Portland, Dec. 11 at Houston, Jan. 16 at Boston, Feb. 5 vs. Utah, Mar. 9 vs. Washington and Mar. 24 at Houston.

The Pelicans will play 17 of their 41 home games on Friday (7), Saturday (5), or Sunday (5).

All home games will tip off at 7:00 p.m., with the exception of the five Saturday night home contests, as well as the home game vs. Philadelphia on Dec. 10, tipping off at 6:00 p.m.; two Sunday contests that will tip-off at 3:00 p.m. (Jan. 28 vs. L.A. Clippers, Mar. 11 vs. Utah); two Sunday contests that will tip-off at 5:00 p.m. (Mar. 18 vs. Boston, Apr. 1 vs. Oklahoma City); and the matchups against Golden State on Oct. 20 and Memphis on Apr. 4, which will tip-off at 8:30 p.m. as part of ESPN’s national double-header on those evenings.

The Pelicans’ longest homestand will be four games, which will take place twice during the season – Dec. 4-10 when New Orleans plays host to Golden State, Denver, Sacramento and Philadelphia; and Mar. 17-22 with matchups against Houston, Boston, Dallas and the L.A. Lakers. The Pelicans have three, four-game road trips – Nov. 3-9 with games in Dallas, Chicago, Indiana and Toronto; Dec. 15-23 with stops in Denver, Washington, Orlando and Miami; and Feb. 28-Mar. 7 with contests against San Antonio, Dallas, the L.A. Clippers and Sacramento.

The Pelicans will play Southwest Division rivals (Dallas, Houston, Memphis and San Antonio) four times each (twice at home/twice on the road). The same holds true for Pacific and Northwest Division foes, with the exception of the Los Angeles Lakers (one road game on Oct. 22), the Oklahoma City Thunder (one road game Feb. 2), the Denver Nuggets (one home game Dec. 6) and the Phoenix Suns (one home game Feb. 26). New Orleans will also play each team in the Eastern Conference once at home and once on the road.

Pistons move downtown this NBA season

The Detroit Pistons will make their downtown Detroit debut and open the 2017-18 NBA Season at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday, October 18 (7:00 p.m. EST) against the Charlotte Hornets.

The sparkling new state-of-the-art Little Caesars Arena features a dramatic arena bowl with close proximity to the action, great sight lines, a 5,100 square-foot overhead scoreboard with seamless display and some of the most advanced technology and fan amenities in the NBA.

Highlights of the Pistons’ home schedule include two appearances by LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and the Eastern Conference Champion Cleveland Cavaliers (November 20 and January 30) and two visits from Isaiah Thomas, Gordon Hayward and the Eastern Conference finalists, the Boston Celtics (December 10 and February 23). The NBA Champion Golden State Warriors featuring Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Michigan-native Draymond Green visit December 8, all-star point guard Chris Paul, MVP runner-up James Harden and the Houston Rockets come to Little Caesars Arena on January 6 and reigning NBA MVP Russell Westbrook, all-star forward Paul George and the Oklahoma City Thunder visit January 27.

Other intriguing Eastern Conference home contests include two meetings with John Wall, Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards (January 19 and March 29), who pushed Boston to seven games in last year’s Eastern Conference Semi-finals. Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and the Toronto Raptors visit Little Caesars Arena on March 7 and April 9 while NBA Most Improved Player of the Year Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks make stops in Detroit on November 3 and February 28. Joel Embiid, 2017 first overall pick Markelle Fultz, Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers appear on October 23 and April 4.

Enticing Western Conference home matchups include meetings with Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge and the San Antonio Spurs on December 30 and Jimmy Butler, Karl-Anthony Towns and the re-vamped Minnesota Timberwolves on October 25. Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and the Portland Trail Blazers make their lone stop to the Motor City on February 5 and rookie guard Lonzo Ball and the new-look Los Angeles Lakers come to Detroit on March 26.

The Pistons begin the first of two five-plus game home stands with match-ups vs. Milwaukee (November 3), Sacramento (November 4), Indiana (November 8), Atlanta (November 10) and Miami (November 12). Detroit then hits the road for five of their next six games: at Milwaukee (November 15), at Indiana (November 17), at Minnesota (November 19), vs. Cleveland (November 20), at Oklahoma City (November 24) and at Boston (November 27). From January 30 to February 28, the Pistons enjoy 10-of-13 games at home including a season-high six-game home stretch with games against Cleveland (January 30), Memphis (February 1), Miami (February 3), Portland (February 5), Brooklyn (February 7) and L.A. Clippers (February 9). Detroit embarks on their longest road trip, a six-game stint, with meetings at Utah (March 13), at Denver (March 15), at Portland (March 17), at Sacramento (March 19), at Phoenix (March 20) and at Houston (March 22).

Detroit will make eight appearances on national television with three on ESPN, one on TNT and four games on NBATV. ESPN’s broadcasts include games vs. Golden State on Friday, December 6 (7:00 p.m. EST), vs. Washington on Friday, January 19 (8:00 p.m. EST) and vs. Toronto on Wednesday, March 7 (8:00 p.m. EST). TNT’s broadcast will be on Tuesday, January 30 at 8:00 p.m. EST against Central Division rival Cleveland Cavaliers. NBATV will broadcast Pistons games at L.A. Lakers on Tuesday, October 31 (10:30 p.m. EST), Monday, January 15 vs. Charlotte (12:30 p.m. EST), Monday, March 5 at Cleveland (7:00 p.m. EST) and Sunday, April 8 at Memphis (2:30 p.m. EST). The club’s local television schedule on Fox Sports Detroit will be announced at a later date. All games will be broadcasted on radio at 97.1 FM The Ticket or WWJ NewsRadio 950.

The Pistons’ schedule features 14 sets of back-to-back games this season. Four of the team’s back-to-back sets begin on the road and end at home, eight back-to-backs are on the road, one begin at home and conclude on the road and one back-to-back is at home.

Thunder will play on Christmas Day for 8th straight season

The Oklahoma City Thunder have announced its 2017-18 regular-season schedule. The team will start its 10th season on Thursday, Oct. 19, at home versus New York, followed by a road contest at Utah on Saturday, Oct. 21.

Regionally, 70 of the Thunder’s 82 regular-season games will be broadcast on FOX Sports Oklahoma, which reaches viewers in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. All games can be heard via the Thunder Radio Network, led by flagship station WWLS-The Sports Animal (98.1 FM) in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City is scheduled to appear on national television at least 36 times during the 2017-18 season. ABC will feature the Thunder on six occasions, TNT 12 times and ESPN nine times. NBA TV will also feature the Thunder on at least nine occasions during the regular season.

The Thunder will play 19 home weekend dates comprised of 10 Fridays, one Saturday and eight Sundays. Six of the eight Sunday contests will be played at 6 p.m., while the Thunder contest versus the 76ers on Jan. 28 will start at 5 p.m. and its Feb. 4 matchup with the L.A. Lakers commencing at 1 p.m.

As previously announced, Oklahoma City will play on Christmas Day for the eighth straight season and third consecutive at home when it welcomes Houston to Chesapeake Energy Arena on Monday, Dec. 25. For the 10th time, the Thunder will be at home on the final night of the year when Dallas visits Oklahoma City on Sunday, Dec. 31. The Thunder will host the Kings in a 2 p.m. matinee on Martin Luther King Day, Monday, Jan. 15.

The Thunder month-by-month breakdown includes seven games in October (three home, four road), 13 games in November (six home, seven road), 17 games in December (11 home, six away), 14 games in January (six home, eight road), 12 games in February (five home, seven road), 14 games in March (eight home, six road) and five games in April (two home, three road).

Oklahoma City’s schedule includes six three-game road trips, with three lasting five days away from home. The club will also compete in seven one-game and eight two-game trips, including its first-ever contest in Mexico City versus Brooklyn on Thursday, Dec. 7. The game counts as a home game for the Nets.

The Thunder will compete in 14 back-to-back sets during the 2017-18 season, consisting of four road/road, five home/road and five road/home back-to-backs.

Kings season to begin vs Rockets

The Sacramento Kings will host MVP finalist James Harden, nine-time NBA All-Star Chris Paul and the Houston Rockets in their season opener from Golden 1 Center on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.

For most Kings games this season, tip-off will return to the traditional 7 p.m. start time. Basketball fans have an opportunity to access pre-paid parking spots, ride public transportation and download the dual-mode Kings + Golden 1 Center app to enhance the game-day experience with on-demand information regarding parking and more.

The Kings will be featured on national television 12 times during the 2017-18 campaign, highlighted by a TNT Sports broadcast from Golden 1 Center as Sacramento plays host to DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday, Oct. 26. Lonzo Ball and the L.A. Lakers visit on Wednesday, Nov. 22 for the first of three ESPN telecasts originating from Sacramento. The other pair of ESPN matchups from Golden 1 Center include two-time MVP Stephen Curry and four-time scoring leader Kevin Durant as the 2017 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors make the short trip down I-80 on Friday, Feb. 2, and a Pacific Division clash with the Portland Trail Blazers a week later on Friday, Feb. 9. Sacramento plays to a national audience on eight occasions delivered by NBA TV, showcasing home contests versus reigning MVP Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder (Nov. 7), Jimmy Butler, Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves (Feb. 26) and an April Fools road installment with Ball and longtime rival Lakers (April 1).

Sacramento will play 20 of its first 33 contests on the road before returning to Golden 1 Center following the holidays. Marquee contests during this opening stanza include matchups against the Washington Wizards led by John Wall and Bradley Beal (Oct. 29), All-Stars Isaiah Thomas, Gordon Hayward and the Boston Celtics (Nov. 1), Philadelphia 76ers starring No. 1 draft selections Markelle Fultz and Ben Simmons alongside current Rookie of the Year Joel Embiid (Nov. 9), at Golden State Warriors (Nov. 27), a visit to face 4-time NBA MVP and 13-time All-Star LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers (Dec. 6), a rematch with Cousins and Davis in the Big Easy (Dec. 8) and perennial title-contending San Antonio Spurs led by 2016 MVP finalist Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and veteran addition Rudy Gay (Dec. 23).

Bucks schedule highlights

The Milwaukee Bucks will tip off their 50th Anniversary season on the road against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, Oct. 18, followed by a four-game homestand at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, beginning with a nationally televised game on ESPN against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, Oct. 20. The home opener, presented by BMO Harris Bank, is the first of 18 weekend home games for the Bucks in 2017-18 and the first of 10 nationally televised games on ESPN and TNT.

2017-18 BUCKS SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS

Eighteen games available to a national television audience, including six on ESPN (Oct. 20 vs. Cleveland, Nov. 10 at San Antonio, Jan. 18 vs. Golden State, March 4 vs. Philadelphia, March 19 at Cleveland and April 11 at Philadelphia), four on TNT (Oct. 26 vs. Boston, Feb. 27 vs. Washington, March 27 at L.A. Clippers and March 29 at Golden State) and the remaining eight on NBA TV (Oct. 31 vs. Oklahoma City, Nov. 7 at Cleveland, Nov. 30 at Portland, Dec. 4 at Boston, Dec. 9 vs. Utah, Dec. 19 vs. Cleveland, Dec. 26 vs. Chicago and Jan. 8 at Indiana)

A pair of home games against the three-time defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, Oct. 20, and Tuesday, Dec. 19

The lone visit from the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors on Friday, Jan. 12

Two December home matchups against the rival Chicago Bulls on Friday, Dec. 15, and Tuesday, Dec. 26

A Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee at the Washington Wizards on Jan. 15

Two Sunday afternoon home games against New Orleans on Feb. 25 and San Antonio on March 25

The 2017-18 regular season schedule for the 50th Anniversary season features two, season-long four-game road trips (Nov. 22-30 and Feb. 4-10) and the season-long four-game homestand at the beginning of the season against Cleveland, Portland (Oct. 21), Charlotte (Oct. 23) and Boston (Oct. 26).

BUCKS SCHEDULE NOTES

The Bucks will play each team in the Eastern Conference four times with the exception of Atlanta (2 home, 1 road), Brooklyn (2 home, 1 road), Miami (1 home/2 road) and Toronto (1 home/2 road) … They will play each Western Conference team twice … The Bucks have 15 back-to-back sets, down from 18 a season ago (7 home/road, 3 road/home, 3 road/road, 2 home/home) … SCHEDULE BY MONTH (HOME/ROAD): October (5/2), November (4/9), December (9/5), January (8/7), February (5/7), March (7/8), April (3/3) … SCHEDULE BY DAY OF THE WEEK (HOME/ROAD): Sunday (3/5), Monday (6/7), Tuesday (6/4), Wednesday (7/7), Thursday (4/3), Friday (10/7), Saturday (5/8).