Mavericks sign Peja Stojakovic

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed forward Peja Stojakovic. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Stojakovic (6-10, 229) is a 12-year NBA veteran and joins the Mavericks as a free agent. He holds career averages of 17.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 34.0 minutes while shooting .450 from field goal range, .401 from behind-the-arc and .895 from the foul line. He has played in 779 career games (652 starts) with Sacramento, Indiana, New Orleans and Toronto.

The native of Belgrade, Yugoslavia is a three-time NBA All-Star (2002, 2003, 2004) and was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 2003-04. He ranks fifth all-time on the NBA’s three-point field goal list with 1,718 career made three-pointers, just one behind fourth-place Dale Ellis (1,719) and 14 behind teammate Jason Kidd (1,732) who is in third place. Stojakovic has made six or more three-point field goals in 32 career games which places him second in that category behind only Ray Allen’s 45 games with six or more from behind-the-arc.

Stojakovic has played in 76 career postseason games and reached the Western Conference Finals in 2002 with the Sacramento Kings when they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. He holds playoff averages of 16.2 points and 5.7 rebounds in 36.3 minutes per game.

Raptors sign Sundiata Gaines to second 10-day contract

The Toronto Raptors announced Monday they have signed guard Sundiata Gaines to a second 10-day contract.

Gaines was signed to his original 10-day contract on January 13. He appeared in five games with Toronto averaging 5.8 points, 2.0 assists and 14.6 minutes. He had a high of 10 points in back-to-back games January 19 at San Antonio and January 21 at Orlando.

Gaines, 6-foot-1,195 pounds has appeared in 45 regular season games with Minnesota, Utah and Toronto averaging 3.5 points, 1.2 assists and 7.9 minutes. He was signed by Minnesota on November 12 and saw action in eight games totaling 21 points, six assists and 65 minutes. He was released by the Timberwolves on January 4.

Gaines played in 32 games with Utah in the 2009-10 season. He signed two 10-day contracts with the Jazz in January before being inked for the remainder of the season on January 25. He averaged 3.3 points, 1.2 assists and 6.8 minutes. He appeared in five postseason games where he totaled 11 points (5-for-6 FG) in seven minutes.

Gaines also played in the NBDL last season with the Idaho Stampede. He averaged 23.9 points with 4.7 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 14 games.

A 2008 product of the University of Georgia, Gaines began his professional career with NGC Cantu in the Italian League in the 2008-09 season. He averaged 13.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 30 outings.

Toronto’s roster now stands at 15 players.

Mavericks trade Alexis Ajinca to Raptors

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have traded center Alexis Ajinca, a second round draft pick and cash considerations to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for the draft rights to forward Georgios Printezis.

Ajinca (7-2, 248) played in 10 games with 2 starts for Dallas this season. He averaged 2.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 7.5 minutes per game as a Maverick. Ajinca was originally acquired via trade from Charlotte on July 13, 2010.

Printezis (6-9, 230) was the 58th pick of the 2007 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs before Toronto acquired his rights from San Antonio for a future second round pick. Printezis is a native of Athens, Greece and plays professionally in Spain.

The Mavericks roster currently stands at 14 players.

Eric Gordon has sprained right wrist

Los Angeles Clippers guard Eric Gordon will not travel with the team to Dallas this afternoon due to a sprained right wrist.

Gordon, who suffered the injury in a fall during the second quarter of the Clippers 113-109 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, January 22 at STAPLES Center, will remain in Los Angeles to undergo further evaluation and treatment and is listed as a game time decision for tomorrow’s game against the Mavericks.

In 41 games played this season, Gordon has averaged a team-high 24.1 points per game.

Trail Blazers sign Chris Johnson to 10-day contract

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed center Chris Johnson of the NBA Development League’s Dakota Wizards to a 10-day contract, it was announced today by General Manager Rich Cho.

The NBA granted Portland a hardship exception, allowing the team to sign Johnson (6-11, 210 lbs) and expand its roster to 16 players. He is the fourth call-up of the 2010-11 NBA Development League season.

Johnson, 25, is averaging 17.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 3.07 blocked shots in 27 games (all starts) with Dakota this season.

The LSU product is shooting 51.0% from the field and scored a career-high 34 points to go with 14 rebounds Jan. 22 vs. Rio Grande Valley.

Rockets recall Ishmael Smith from D-League

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has recalled guard Ishmael Smith from Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner Rio Grande Valley.  Smith is expected to join the team in Minnesota in time for tonight’s game against the Timberwolves.

The rookie guard was originally assigned to the Vipers on 1/17, and averaged 12.8 points, 7.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds in four games (one start) with Rio Grande Valley.  During his assignment, Smith led Rio Grande Valley to a perfect 4-0 record, and in his last game with the Vipers against the Dakota Wizards on 1/22, posted his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 assists in 37 minutes to fuel a 114-101 Vipers win.  Smith is the second Rockets player to be assigned to the Vipers and recalled this season; following rookie forward Patrick Patterson, who played in nine games for Rio Grande Valley during a month-long assignment from 11/9-12/13.

Smith (6-0, 175, Wake Forest), who earned a roster spot a