Month: July 2009

Milwaukee Bucks sign Hakim Warrick

Milwaukee Bucks sign Hakim Warrick

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed forward Hakim Warrick (pronounced ha-KEEM) to a contract, General Manager John Hammond announced today.  Warrick, 27, was the 19th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft by Memphis and spent all four of his NBA seasons with the Grizzlies.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that the contract was expected to be a one-year deal in the $3 million to $3.5 million range.

Warrick (6-9, 219) owns career averages of 10.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game over 307 NBA contests.  He is a career 50 percent shooter from the field while connecting on 72.5 percent from the free throw line.

Last season, Warrick, averaged 11.6 points and 5.0 rebounds in 24.7 minutes per game.  He appeared in all 82 games (7 starts) for the second time in his career (2006-07) and recorded career-highs in both steals (48) and blocked shots (39).

Warrick played four seasons at Syracuse University (2001-05), and as a sophomore started in all 35 games for the NCAA Champion Orange.  As a senior, he was named First Team All-America by the Associated Press, awarded Big East Conference Player of the Year and named First Team All-Big East after averaging 21.4 points and 8.6 rebounds in 34 games.  He finished his degree in three-and-one-half years and left Syracuse ranked second in free throws made (529) and attempted (803), and fourth in scoring (2,073 points) and rebounds (1,025).

Read fan reaction to the news and discuss your opinion in this forum topic.

Milwaukee Bucks waive Bruce Bowen

Milwaukee Bucks waive Bruce Bowen

The Milwaukee Bucks have requested waivers on guard/forward Bruce Bowen, General Manager John Hammond announced today.

Bowen was acquired from San Antonio on June 23 as part of the three-team trade that also brought the Bucks Kurt Thomas from San Antonio and Amir Johnson from Detroit. Richard Jefferson was sent to San Antonio while Fabricio Oberto went to Detroit to complete the trade.

Bowen, 38, is a 13-year NBA veteran who spent the previous eight seasons with San Antonio.

Read NBA fan reaction and discuss the news yourself in this forum topic.

Milwaukee Bucks waive Salim Stoudamire

The Milwaukee Bucks have requested waivers on guard Salim Stoudamire, General Manager John Hammond announced today.

Stoudamire, 26, was signed as a free agent on April 3, but did not appear in a game with Milwaukee.  He appeared in 157 games with Atlanta from 2005-08 with career averages of 8.0 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist.  Stoudamire was selected by the Hawks with the 31st pick in the 2005 NBA Draft.

Read NBA fan opinion and discuss your own view in this forum topic.

Lakers waive Sun Yue

Lakers waive Sun Yue

The Los Angeles Lakers have waived guard Sun Yue, it was announced today.

“With the talent level and depth of our roster, the situation simply doesn’t provide an opportunity for Sun Yue to get the chance to play that he deserves,” said General Manager Mitch Kupchak.  “We feel it is in Sun’s best interests to be able to go to a team where he can get the minutes to play and showcase his considerable talents.  We appreciate Sun’s contributions to last season’s championship team, and wish him the best of luck with the rest of his career.”

“I want to thank Sun Yue for his professionalism and for the contributions he made to our team last season,” said Lakers Head Coach Phil Jackson.  “Although Sun did not get an opportunity to play many minutes, he worked hard in practice and was a joy to be around.  We also enjoyed the cultural influence he brought to our players, coaches and organization.  Sun is a young player who will no doubt continue to improve in the coming years, and I wish him the best of luck.”

Originally selected by the Lakers in the second round (40th overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft, Sun signed with the Lakers the following summer (August 25, 2008) shortly after representing China as a member of the Men’s Olympic Basketball Team in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Making his NBA debut on December 7 versus Milwaukee with four points on 2-of-3 shooting in five minutes, Sun appeared in 10 games with the Lakers last season, totaling six points, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot in 28 minutes.

Sun, who became the 25th NBA player assigned to a D-League affiliate last season, also played 6 games in two stints with the D-Fenders, averaging 9.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.33 blocks in 33.3 minutes.

InsideHoops.com editor says: The Sun Yue era was a dominant one for the Lakers. That it has come to an end is indeed sad, especially for players like Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, who Sun carried on his back. How the Lakers can move on from this difficult time is unknown, but hopefully they can pull together… But seriously folks: The kid is young and will simply have to keep working hard and claw his way onto another team’s bench and prove to the league that he is worth having on a roster. He’s versatile.

Read NBA fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Milwaukee Bucks trade Malik Allen to Denver Nuggets for Walter Sharpe, Sonny Weems and cash

The Milwaukee Bucks have acquired forward Walter Sharpe, guard/forward Sonny Weems and cash considerations from the Denver Nuggets for forward Malik Allen, General Manager John Hammond announced today.

Sharpe (6-9, 245) was originally drafted by Seattle (Oklahoma City Thunder) in the second round of the 2008 NBA Draft (32nd overall) and traded to Detroit along with Trent Plaisted (46th overall) for the draft rights to D.J. White (29th overall).  The 23-year-old appeared in eight games for the Pistons last season and averaged 1.0 point in 2.4 minutes per game.  He also played in four games for the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League and tallied 10.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.  Sharpe was traded to Denver with Arron Afflalo and cash considerations from Detroit for a future second round draft choice on July 13, 2009.

Weems (6-6, 203) appeared in 12 games for the Nuggets as a rookie and averaged 1.6 points in 4.6 minutes per game.  He also saw action in 21 contests for the Colorado 14ers of the D-League where he posted 20.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.  Weems was the 39th overall pick by Chicago in the 2008 NBA Draft and traded to Denver for a second round pick in the most recent 2009 Draft.

An eight-year NBA veteran, Allen (6-10, 255) played in 49 games (3 starts) for Milwaukee last season and averaged 3.2 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.  In 409 career NBA games, Allen has averages of 5.4 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 77.4 percent from the free throw line.

Read basketball fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Tyler Hansbrough out 6-8 weeks

The Indianapolis Star (Jeff Rabjohns) reports: Indiana Pacers first-round draft pick Tyler Hansbrough will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks due to a lingering shin injury from college, team officials said this morning. The 6-9, 250-pound forward won’t miss anything other than offseason conditioning and some individual drills. Training camp isn’t scheduled to start until late September. The Pacers said the shin injury occurred Hansbrough’s senior year at North Carolina when he led the Tar Heels to the NCAA title.

Read basketball fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

JR Smith out of jail

The Denver Post (Chris Dempsey) reports: J.R. Smith was released from Monmouth County (N.J.) jail on July 24, six days earlier than expected. According to his original sentence, Smith would have been released from jail either late Thursday night or today. He was incarcerated late June 30 after pleading guilty to reckless driving in connection with a 2007 car crash that killed his best friend, Andre Bell. Smith was originally sentenced to 90 days in jail, but 60 were suspended. He is also required to do 500 hours of community service.

Lynn Greer signs in Turkey

Euroleague.net reports: Fenerbahce Ulker (Turkey) signed guard Lynn Greer, giving the club one of the most lethal and exciting backcourts in Europe. Greer (188, 29) comes from Olympiacos, where he spent the past two seasons. Last year he averaged 12.2 points in 22 Euroleague games, helping the club reach the Euroleague Final Four for the first time in a decade.

Dallas Mavericks sign Drew Gooden

Dallas Mavericks sign Drew Gooden

The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have signed forward/center Drew Gooden. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. We’ll post contract details later today.

Gooden (6-10, 230) has seen action in 510 games with 396 starts. He holds career averages of 12.0 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 28.1 minutes per game while shooting .471 from the field and .732 from the foul line. Gooden played the final 19 games of last season with the San Antonio Spurs. He averaged 9.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in just 16.8 minutes per contest.

The seven-year veteran was originally selected in the first round (fourth overall pick) of the 2002 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies and has seen action with six different teams (Memphis, Orlando, Cleveland, Chicago, Sacramento and San Antonio). Statistically, Gooden saw his best season in 2004-05 when we nearly averaged a double-double for Cleveland generating 14.4 points and 9.2 rebounds while playing in all 82 games (80 starts).

A native of Oakland, Calif., Gooden is a former standout at the University of Kansas where he was named Big 12 Player of the Year and First Team All-America by The Associated Press as a junior. In just three seasons at KU, Gooden was only the second player in school history (Danny Manning) to record 1,500 points, 900 rebounds, 100 blocks and 100 steals.

“We are very pleased to add Drew to our front line for the upcoming season,” President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Donnie Nelson said. “Drew is a veteran player with NBA Finals experience that is entering the prime of his career at 27 years old. He will provide valuable minutes at both the center and power forward positions with his tenacity in the paint, rebounding and ability to knock down shots.”