July 24, 2010 – NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog

Karl Malone surprise Hall of Fame presenter pick is Willis Reed

Jody Genessy of the Deseret News reports:

You can bet John Stockton and Jerry Sloan will be at the Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony next month when Karl Malone and the original Dream Team are among the inductees.

Surprisingly, though, neither of them will be presenting The Mailman on his big night.

Per Malone’s request, that honor has been bestowed upon a fellow Louisiana legend.

“Willis Reed is presenting me at the Hall of Fame, which I think is pretty cool,” Malone said Friday night while visiting with Utah media at his auto dealership.

Though many people thought either Stockton or Sloan would be chosen as his presenter — a privilege only current Hall of Famers are allowed to do — Malone went back to his youth to make the selection.

Reed, who’s 21 years older than the 47-year-old birthday boy Malone, grew up in the town of Bernice, La.

Derrick Rose thinks Tracy McGrady would help Bulls

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

With the recent addition of Kurt Thomas, the Bulls have 11 players locked up and will be looking to add one more player — preferably a guard — to the roster in the next week or so.

Derrick Rose made it clear Friday he hopes that player is Tracy McGrady.

”I think that if he comes along he can help our team,” Rose said after the Team USA workout at the Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus. ”A player like him, with his experience and how he plays, I think he’ll help us.”

That depends on the health of McGrady, who has had multiple surgeries on his left knee, including microfracture surgery about a year and a half ago.

Tyreke Evans sentenced to informal probation for reckless driving

Cathy Locke of the Sacramento Bee reports:

Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans pleaded no contest Friday to reckless driving.

Tyreke Evans sentenced to informal probation for reckless driving

Evans, 20, was ordered to serve three years’ informal probation and 80 hours of alternative sentencing, Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully said in a written announcement. His driver’s license also was suspended for 30 days, and he was ordered to participate in two California Highway Patrol Start Smart Driving programs, educational programs targeting teenage drivers.

Evans was driving his black Mercedes S550 shortly before 7 p.m. May 31, when a Highway Patrol flight officer in a CHP Cessna airplane spotted the vehicle traveling more than 100 mph while crossing lanes on westbound Interstate 80. The vehicle at times reached speeds of up to 130 mph and continued at high speeds for several miles while passing vehicles in Memorial Day weekend traffic, Scully said.

Can Austin Daye be NBA shooting guard?

Perry A. Farrell of the Detroit Free Press reports:

Can Austin Daye play shooting guard in the NBA?

He certainly would be a matchup problem at 6-feet-11 — he’s taller than fellow second-year players Jonas Jerebko and DaJuan Summers. Daye spent plenty of time at the position last week during the Pistons’ Summer League in Las Vegas as the staff experimented with him at different positions.

He has the height of a power forward, the body of a small forward and the shooting range of a shooting guard, but at 22, he has plenty of room to grow physically and mentally.

The lanky shooter has the perimeter game to play the position, but whether he has the quickness to guard smaller shooting guards and the commitment to handle the defensive aspects of the position are yet to be determined.

Playing multiple positions would get him more time on the floor during the regular season.

WNBA: Tina Charles rocking the boards

The AP reports:

Tina Charles, who helped UConn win consecutive NCAA championships with undefeated records in her last two seasons, entered the weekend averaging 16.0 points and a league-best 12.0 rebounds. If she keeps it up, the 6-foot-4 center could top Chamique Holdsclaw’s single-season record average of 11.6 rebounds, set in 2002.

“The rebounding part has been the dominant part,” Sun coach Mike Thibault said. “It’s been better than I expected. I knew she was a good rebounder but she has been relentless about getting the ball.”

Charles also has 15 double-doubles in Connecticut’s 21 games this season, two behind the rookie record shared by Yolanda Griffith (1999) and Candace Parker (2008), and four behind the league mark set by Natalie Williams (2000).