Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment President and CEO Tim Leiweke announced Tuesday that he has revamped the senior leadership of the Toronto Raptors in preparation for next season. Bryan Colangelo has had his contract extended as the team’s President and will report directly to Mr. Leiweke. The club has also created a new position of General Manager that will have final authority on all basketball-related decisions. At this time, with input from Colangelo, Leiweke is conducting a search to identify candidates and expects to name the new GM in the next 30 days.

“After thorough evaluation and considering all the options, we have concluded that these changes will be in the best interest of the organization,” said Leiweke. “By splitting the roles and having both men report directly to me, we are adding depth to the basketball operations group and giving the Toronto Raptors the best chance of competing for championships in the future. The new GM will inherit a great situation in Toronto, as all of my due diligence around the League indicates that we have a fine, young core and a few key moves will make us a playoff contender next season.”

While the General Manager will have autonomy over basketball decisions, Colangelo will continue to advise Leiweke on basketball-related matters while also broadening his involvement with the business side of the franchise. “The future of this team and this organization excites me more than ever, and I am looking forward to being part of our future success,” said Colangelo. “I will add whatever is necessary to help improve our basketball team while also expanding my efforts to increase brand awareness and influence growth of the game across this great country.”

“Bryan is skilled, knowledgeable and respected across the NBA and will be a resource that we count on to help build the Raptors into Canada’s team,” said Leiweke.

MLSE also announced that Leiweke would move up his official start date from July 1 to June 3 at the suggestion of the Board.

The Toronto Raptors are moving executive Bryan Colangelo out of basketball operations and into a corporate position with the team.

Yahoo! Sports reported Monday that the Raptors are making the move because they are interested in hiring Denver Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri to take over their front office.

Colangelo has run the team’s basketball operations for seven years but the team has only made the playoffs twice during that span and is coming off a 34-48 season.

– Reported by the Sports Xchange

Four ties among teams that finished the 2012-13 NBA regular season with identical records were broken today through random drawings to help determine the order of selection for the 2013 NBA Draft, which will be held on Thursday, June 27.

The drawings were conducted earlier today in New York City by Jason Cahilly, NBA executive vice president, strategy and chief financial officer, and Dan Rube, NBA senior vice president and deputy general counsel. The tiebreaker process was overseen by Denise Pelli, a partner in the accounting firm of Ernst & Young.

The results of the drawings:

• Detroit (29-53) won a tiebreaker with Washington.

• Philadelphia (34-48) won a tiebreaker with Toronto.

• Houston (45-37) won a tiebreaker with Chicago and the L.A. Lakers; the Lakers then won a tiebreaker with Chicago.

• L.A. Clippers (56-26) won a tiebreaker with Memphis.

Ousted NBA players’ association executive director Billy Hunter alleges in a lawsuit that president Derek Fisher had a secret deal with owners during the 2011 lockout that benefited himself, his publicist and certain players.

Hunter contends that Fisher undermined Hunter’s efforts to make an agreement and interfered with his position by secretly negotiating with select owners in violation of union bylaws.

Filed Thursday in California Superior Court, the suit seeks unspecified damages for defamation and breach of contract. It also names the National Basketball Players Association and Jamie Wior, Fisher’s publicist, and says Fisher and Wior worked after the lockout ended ”to terminate his employment without cause and in violation of his contract.”

”Wior harbored aspirations to assume a position of responsibility with the NBPA,” the suit says. ”She set out to craft a new public persona for Fisher, taking control of his media appearances and public statements and encouraging him to overreach his authority.”

– Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Top prep basketball prospect Andrew Wiggins told a small gathering of family and friends at his high school gym Tuesday that he will play at Kansas.

Then the Huntington Prep star signed his letter-of-intent and officially became a Jayhawk. No big speech. No bands, live TV coverage or props.

Just the way Wiggins wanted it.

And just like that, Lawrence, Kan., became more of a focal point for the upcoming college basketball season.

”I’m looking forward to getting there and just doing my thing,” Wiggins said.

The 6-foot-8 Toronto native chose Kansas over Kentucky, North Carolina and Florida State. Wiggins said there wasn’t one particular selling point, taking into account each school’s coaching staff, players and program.

”I just followed my heart,” he said.

– Reported by John Raby of the Associated Press

The Portland Trail Blazers have hired Nate Tibbetts as an assistant coach, it was announced today by General Manager Neil Olshey.

Tibbetts, 35, joins Head Coach Terry Stotts’ staff from the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he served as an assistant coach for the past two seasons.

“Nate is an exceptional addition to our staff and I am very excited to welcome him to the Trail Blazers,” said Stotts. “He possesses a strong work ethic and a passion for coaching. He has been instrumental in developing young players in the D-League and in the NBA. Additionally, his successful head coaching experience in the D-League provides a unique ability, which will complement our current staff.

“Along with the rest of the staff, he will also assist in game plan preparation and execution.”

Prior to joining the Cavaliers, Tibbetts spent two seasons as head coach of the NBA Development League’s Tulsa 66ers. He guided the Oklahoma City Thunder’s D-League affiliate to a 64-41 (.610) record and two trips to the playoffs during his tenure there.

Tibbetts was selected to be the United States head coach in the 2011 Pan American Games, where he led the group of D-League players to a bronze medal, USA’s first medal since 1999.

Tibbetts was a member of the D-League’s Sioux Falls Skyforce coaching staff for four seasons and was promoted to head coach after his first two campaigns. The former University of South Dakota standout was an assistant coach at the University of Sioux Falls from 2001-05.

He joins current assistants Jay Triano, David Vanterpool, Kim Hughes and Dale Osbourne on Portland’s coaching staff.

The Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard, the unanimous selection for the 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year, headlines the 2012-13 NBA All-Rookie First Team, the NBA announced today.

Lillard was the lone unanimous First Team selection (58 points, 29 First Team votes), while the Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal and the New Orleans Hornets’ Anthony Davis totaled 57 points each, including 28 First Team votes. Rounding out the 2012-13 NBA All-Rookie First Team are Dion Waiters of the Cleveland Cavaliers (50 points, 21 First Team) and Harrison Barnes of the Golden State Warriors (47 points, 18 First Team).

The voting panel consisted of the NBA’s 30 head coaches, who were asked to select five players for the first team and five players for the second team, regardless of position. Coaches were not permitted to vote for players on their own team. Two points were awarded for first team votes and one for second team votes.

Lillard, the sixth overall selection in the 2012 NBA Draft, made a clean sweep of the NBA Rookie of the Month Award in the Western Conference this season. Among first-year players, Lillard ranked first in scoring (19.0 ppg), assists (6.5 apg) and minutes (38.6 mpg). According to NBA.com/Stats, the Trail Blazers had an offensive rating of 105.0 points (per 100 possessions) when Lillard was on the court compared with 93.5 points when he was on the bench.

For the season, Beal averaged 13.9 points to go along with 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists. On the season, he recorded 13 games of 20-plus points and six games with a least four three-pointers made. The overall top selection in the 2012 NBA Draft, Davis excelled after the All-Star break, averaging 15.3 points on .520 shooting from the field and 9.3 rebounds. He posted 11 double-doubles. Overall, Davis averaged 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds 1.8 blocks and, 1.2 steals in 64 games.

Sporting averages of 14.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 28.8 minutes per game, Waiters scored in double figures 45 times, including 14 games of 20 points or more. While his 81 regular-season starts ranked second among rookies, (Lillard, 82 games), Barnes helped the Warriors secure a playoff spot by averaging 9.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 25.8 mpg.

The NBA All-Rookie Second Team consists of the Detroit Pistons’ Andre Drummond (35 points, 10 First Team), the Toronto Raptors’ Jonas Valanciunas (31 points, six First Team), the Charlotte Bobcats’ Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (29 points, three First Team), the Detroit Pistons’ Kyle Singler (17 points, one First Team), and the Cavaliers’ Tyler Zeller (15 points, three First Team).

Grizzlies assistant coach Barry Hecker left the team during the Western Conference semifinal against the Thunder for what Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said is a “personal matter.”

Hollins said after the team’s shootaround Monday morning that Hecker’s departure is “nothing that’s public consumption.”

Hecker was with the Grizzlies for their Game 2 win in Oklahoma City but was not with the team in Memphis for their Game 3 win Saturday night. Team officials said only that Hecker is no longer with the Grizzlies.

Hecker had been on Hollins’ staff in Memphis the past five seasons.

Reported by Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman

Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Steve Clifford is interviewing with the Milwaukee Bucks for their head-coaching job on Monday, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Milwaukee has interviewed Nate McMillan and Houston Rockets assistants Kelvin Sampson and J.B. Bickerstaff for its head-coaching job.

When Bucks general manager John Hammond reached out to gauge Stan Van Gundy’s interest in the job, Van Gundy declined but delivered a strong recommendation for Clifford, league sources said. Clifford spent five years on Van Gundy’s Orlando Magic staff before joining the Lakers in the summer of 2012.

– Reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports

Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson has been fined $25,000 for verbal abuse of a game official, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 10:13 remaining in the fourth quarter of Chicago’s 115-78 loss to the Miami Heat on May 8 at AmericanAirlines Arena.

According to the Associated Press, “The league announced the fine Friday. And Gibson was relieved the punishment wasn’t worse. “I knew I was going to get hit,” he said. “I was just hoping it wasn’t a suspension, but I deserved (the fine).” The Heat were well on their way to a 115-78 victory when Gibson went off at an official early in the fourth quarter. With 10:13 remaining, he did not leave the court in a timely fashion after he and teammate Joakim Noah were ejected by referee Scott Foster. Gibson continued to shout at Foster.”

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that the team has waived guard Brandon Roy.

“We wish Brandon and his family all the best in the future,” said Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Flip Saunders.

During the 2012-13 NBA season, Roy appeared in five games with the Timberwolves, and averaged 5.8 points, 4.6 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 24.4 minutes per game. Roy signed with the Timberwolves as a free agent on July 31.

The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that guard Eric Gordon underwent a successful arthroscopic procedure yesterday in his left ankle to alleviate pain caused by particles of scar tissue. The procedure was performed by Dr. Richard Ferkel of the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic in Los Angeles, CA.

Gordon is currently recovering from the procedure and will begin rehabilitation immediately while returning to basketball activities later in the summer.

According to the Associated Press, “Gordon missed the first two months of the 2012-13 season while recovering from a right knee injury, but still had the highest scoring average on the team after his return, with 17 points per game in 42 games. Gordon played in only nine games the previous season because of his knee injury, for which he also had arthroscopic surgery in February 2012. Last summer, he signed a four-year, $58 million contract.”

The NBA Executive of the Year award doesn’t excite fans like the MVP or Rookie of the Year or other such honors, but it’s still an official award, and it counts. And the people voting are other NBA executives, and most of them know what they’re talking about. So, respect it.

Anyway, with George Karl recently being named Coach of the Year,  Masai Ujiri, the Nuggets VP of basketball operations, won the executive award.

Complete info on this is here.

The Mavericks’ next order of business is to get ready for the draft lottery and president Donnie Nelson, who will represent the team in New York for the lottery along with longtime assistant GM Keith Grant, has a plan for the lottery.

“I’m going to wear the same outfit I wore for Game 6 in Miami,” he said, referring to the night that the Mavericks won the title against the Heat in 2011. “Same boots. Same shirt. Same cologne. Everything.”

– Reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News

Lakers forward Pau Gasol, who has been suffering from tendonosis in both knees, will undergo a FAST Technique procedure tomorrow.  The procedure uses a probe inserted into the knee which directs ultrasonic energy to eliminate scar tissue without damaging healthy tissue. The procedure will be performed by Dr. Steven Yoon of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Group.

A timeline for Gasol’s recovery will be issued at the conclusion of the procedure.

Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl is the recipient of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the 2012-13 NBA Coach of the Year, the NBA announced today. Under Karl’s stewardship, the Nuggets finished with a league-best 38-3 (.927) mark at home and the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference Playoffs.

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra finished second in the voting, followed by New York Knicks coach Mike Woodson who finished third, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich fourth, and Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel fifth.

In earning his first NBA Coach of the Year, Karl totaled 404 points, including 62 first-place votes, from a panel of 121 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote. The award was tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP.

The Nuggets went 57-25 (.695) – the league’s fourth-best record – despite beginning the season as the league’s third-youngest team with an average age of 24.9 years, and not having a player score more than 16.7 points per game during the regular season. According to NBA.com/Stats, the Nuggets ranked third in assists (24.4 apg), generating an assist on 60.0 percent of their made field goals. Denver ranked fifth in player impact estimate (53.8 percent), offensive rating (107.6) and net rating (+5.6).

The Nuggets’ 38-3 record at Pepsi Center was a franchise-best and tied for the 14th best home record in league annals. Additionally, their .927 winning percentage at home was the highest since 2008-09 when the Cleveland Cavaliers went 39-2 (.951) at Quicken Loans Arena.

In his 25th season as an NBA head coach (ninth with Denver), Karl earned two Western Conference Coach of the Month awards during the 2012-13 campaign. He won for March after leading Denver to a conference-best 13-2 (.867) mark, which included wins in the first 12 games of the month, feeding a 15-game, franchise-tying-best winning streak. He earned his first monthly nod in January after the Nuggets opened the New Year with a 12-3 (.800) record. During January, Karl passed Larry Brown for sixth place on the all-time coaching wins list and notched his 1,100th career win.

The sixth-winningest coach in NBA annals and the active wins leader, Karl has amassed 1,131 career victories in the NBA, including a streak of 21-straight non-losing seasons – tied with Phil Jackson (21, 1989-90-2010-11) for the most in NBA history.

The Coach of the Year Award is named after legendary coach and Hall of Famer Red Auerbach who guided the Celtics to nine NBA Championships. In 1996, Auerbach was honored as one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History as the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Read NBA fan reaction and share your opinion in this basketball forum topic.

The Phoenix Suns have named Ryan McDonough the team’s general manager, it was announced today.  He will be introduced in a press conference on Thursday, May 9, at US Airways Center.

“Ryan distinguished himself among an impressive group of candidates for our GM position,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby.  “His natural leadership and communication skills will serve the Suns well. And, his prodigious work ethic and ability to identify talent will enable us to take full advantage of the 10 draft choices, including six in the first round, that we have over the next three years.  We welcome his championship pedigree to our organization.”

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Also among the finalists were Bucks assistant general manager Jeff Weltman and San Antonio Spurs assistant general manager Scott Layden. Weltman also was a finalist for the Suns position three years ago when Lance Blanks was hired as general manager.”

The 33-year-old McDonough is considered one of the game’s brightest young minds, who combines a tireless work ethic with an expertise in player evaluation honed over the past 10 years at virtually every level of an NBA franchise’s basketball operations.

McDonough joins the Suns after most recently serving the past three seasons as the assistant general manager of the Boston Celtics, where he assisted Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge on all basketball-related matters, while being principally responsible for the draft evaluation of college and international players.  He combines the experience of nearly a decade of in-person scouting of prospects across the globe with an understanding of advanced metrics and statistical analysis.  During his tenure with the Celtics, Boston made two appearances in the NBA Finals, and claimed the 2008 title.

McDonough joined the Celtics front office in 2003 as a 23-year-old special assistant to basketball operations, rapidly moving up the team’s ranks with increased responsibility at each stop, always with an emphasis in talent evaluation.  He spent four seasons as a special assistant, a role that included a great deal of video scouting work (2003-07), one season as director of amateur scouting (2007-08), one season as director of international scouting (2008-09), and two seasons as director of player personnel (2008-10) before his promotion to assistant general manager in Sept. 2010.

McDonough played a prominent role in the front office of a club that has kept a veteran-led roster in the playoffs the last six consecutive seasons thanks to an infusion of young talent acquired through quality late first-round draft picks and trades.  Included in that list are the draft-day acquisition of four-time All-Star Rajon Rondo in 2006, and the 2010 selection of Avery Bradley, who was one of the NBA’s most improved players in 2012-13.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, McDonough grew up in Hingham, Mass., the son of the late renowned Boston Globe columnist Will McDonough, and the brother of ESPN broadcaster Sean and NFL player personnel executive Terry.

As widely expected, LeBron James of the Miami Heat has won the Maurice Podoloff Trophy as the 2012-13 NBA Most Valuable Player, the NBA announced today. James earns the honor for the second consecutive year and the fourth time in five seasons. The only other player to win the award in four of five seasons is Bill Russell (1961, 62, 63, 65), and the only other players to win at least four regular-season MVPs are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Michael Jordan (five), Russell (five) and Wilt Chamberlain (four).

James totaled 1,207 points, including 120 first-place votes, from a panel of 121 voters that consisted of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada as well as an NBA.com MVP fan vote. For the fourth consecutive season, the NBA gave fans the opportunity to submit their votes by ranking their top five choices through a dedicated Web page on NBA.com. The fan vote counted as one vote and was compiled with the 120 media votes to determine the winner. Players were awarded 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five for each third-place vote, three for each fourth-place vote and one for each fifth-place vote received.

Rounding out the top five in voting are Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant (765 points), the New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony, (475 points, one first-place vote), the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul (289 points), and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (184 points).

James, who led the Heat to a league-best and franchise-record 66-16 mark, was the only player in the NBA to lead his team in scoring (26.8 ppg), rebounding (8.0 rpg) and assists (7.3 apg). He shot a career-high from the field (.565) and from three-point range (.406). He produced a record streak of six straight games with at least 30 points and a .600-or-better field goal percentage (Feb. 3-12). Additionally, James led the NBA score differential (+9.5) and player impact estimate (22.1 percent), according to NBA.com/Stats.

The Brooklyn Nets will not offer a new contract to interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo, Nets General Manager Billy King announced today.  A search for a new head coach will commence immediately.

One obvious candidate for the Nets is Phil Jackson, who may be willing to consider a return to coaching in the league.

“The Brooklyn Nets organization would like to thank P.J. for his efforts with the team in his roles as both head coach and assistant, and for his contributions to the team’s success both on and off the court.  We wish P.J. and his family only the best in the years to come.”

Carlesimo was named interim head coach of the Brooklyn Nets on December 27, 2012 and led the Nets to a 35-19 record in the final 54 games of the season.  Under Carlesimo, the Nets reached the postseason for the first time since 2007, losing to Chicago (4-3) in the first round. Including his previous stops as a head coach in Portland, Golden State and Seattle/OKC, Carlesimo has a lifetime NBA coaching record of 239-315 in the regular season and 6-13 in the playoffs.

Read NBA fan reaction and share your opinion in this basketball forum topic.

Glen Taylor has pulled the Minnesota Timberwolves off the market.

Taylor said Friday that he has stopped looking for a buyer for the team and will instead offer to buy out any limited partners who are looking to sell. Taylor put the team on the market last summer in hopes of finding a person or a group that would be willing to buy a minority stake to start with and then take control a few seasons down the road.

But Taylor says he couldn’t find a buyer who would guarantee the team will remain in Minnesota, and also says he felt some seller’s remorse when negotiating with several interested parties.

– Reported by the Associated Press