The Denver Nuggets have exercised the fourth-year option on guard Ty Lawson’s contract, team Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri announced today.

Lawson appeared in 80 games (31 starts) for the Nuggets during the 2010-11 season, averaging 11.7 points, 4.7 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.00 steals in 26.3 minutes. In his 31 starts, Lawson averaged 14.6 points, 6.7 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.35 steals in 32.1 minutes.

Lawson was acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for a future first-round pick in a draft night trade on June 25, 2009.

The former North Carolina Tar Heel was selected in the first round (18th overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft and has averaged 10.2 points, 4.0 assists and 2.3 rebounds in 23.6 minutes in two seasons with Denver.

The Denver Nuggets have made qualifying offers to restricted free agents Arron Afflalo, Wilson Chandler and Gary Forbes, Nuggets Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri announced today. Per team policy, terms of the offer were not released.

Afflalo, in his second season with the Nuggets, posted career highs in nearly every statistical category in 2010-11, including points (12.6), rebounds (3.6), assists (2.4), field-goal percentage (.498), three-point percentage (.423) and minutes (33.7).

In 21 games (19 starts) with the Nuggets after being acquired from New York on Feb. 22, Chandler averaged 12.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.14 blocks in 30.6 minutes.

Forbes, who made the Nuggets roster as a training camp invitee, finished his rookie season with averages of 5.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in 63 games (11 starts).

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

If you enjoy seeing the stars of VH1 Basketball Wives yell and scream at each other while attending parties and navigating through their lives, InsideHoops.com has good news for you.

VH1 is expanding their “Basketball Wives” franchise with a new series set in Los Angeles featuring the wives and girlfriends of players both the Lakers and their cross-town rivals, the Clippers. VH1 has also given the greenlight to a new dating series, “Siggy Flicker” (working title) featuring the dynamic matchmaker Siggy Flicker and her match-making service in New York teaching the lovelorn to be dating powerhouses.

VH1 Basketball Wives Los Angeles premieres on Monday, August 29 at 8pm ET/PT.

Elbow throwing, trash talking and in-your-face action: forget the NBA, we’re talking about their wives! (Or ex-wives. Or girlfriends. Or ex-girlfriends. Or something!)

The VH1 Basketball Wives L.A. cast includes: Kimsha Artest (wife of Ron Artest, Los Angeles Lakers), Gloria Govan (fiancée of Matt Barnes, Los Angeles Lakers), Laura Govan (sister of Gloria Govan) and Jackie Christie (wife of Doug Christie, former player for the Los Angeles Clippers) and Imani Showalter (fiancée of Stephen Jackson, Charlotte Bobcats) as well as others.

This 10 episode, hour-long series will dive into the real-life locker room of these leading ladies, giving viewers a never-before-seen look at what it takes to live in La La Land and be connected to a famous professional athlete. For the most part, these women live the life with the best cars, biggest mansions and hottest bling but living the high life is not all glamour and often there is a price to pay. Cameras will follow these women as they attempt to juggle their relationships, infidelity issues, children and friendships while trying to find the perfect balance between supporting their families and realizing their own career ambitions. “Basketball Wives LA” brings a full court press to VH1 Monday, August 29 at 8 PM ET/PT. InsideHoops.com will keep you updated if there are changes to the premiere episode.

Shed Media is producing the series. Executive producing for Shed Media are Nick Emmerson, Jennifer O’Connell, Sean Rankine and Alex Demyanenko. Tom Huffman is a consulting producer. Shaunie O’Neal is an executive producer. Executive producing for VH1 are Jeff Olde, Jill Holmes and Noah Pollack.

VH1 Basketball Wives Los Angeles Video Clip Intro

AFP reports:

Spanish forward Pau Gasol, who has been linked to a move to the Minnesota Timberwolves, said Monday he wants to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers for “as many years as I can”.

The Timberwolves have reportedly been strongly pursuing Gasol to pair with Barcelona guard Ricky Rubio, who will play for the NBA side next season.

“My desire is to stay with the Lakers. I don’t have control over it but I want to stay with the Lakers for as many years as I can to be able to remain eligible for the maximum possible championships,” Gasol told reporters in the northeastern city of Alicante.

Spurs guard George Hill is hosting George Hill’s Rising Stars Week with the Spurs & Silver Stars Basketball Camps this week at the University of the Incarnate Word gymnasium.

Hill will be running drills and interacting with campers to teach them the finer points of basketball during the afternoon session.

The Spurs & Silver Stars Basketball Camps develop boys and girls ages 7-18 to be better basketball players by teaching basketball fundamentals and practice drills, situational learning, positive values and encouraging fun.

Video of new Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio arriving at the airport in Minnesota.

Good news that Minnesota did not have any snowstorms on this fine June day to delay his arrival.

Tina Charles of the Connecticut Sun and Candice Dupree of the Phoenix Mercury, were named the WNBA’s Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for regular season games played Monday, June 13 through Sunday, June 19.

While leading the Sun to a 2-0 record, Charles ranked first in the league in scoring with 28.5 ppg, and among Eastern Conference players, ranked first in field goal percentage (.632), and third in rebounds (11.0 rpg).  This marks Charles’s second Player of the Week award in her career.

On June 16, Charles scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 79-71 win over the Washington Mystics.  Three days later, she also recorded a career-high 31 points, while tying a franchise-record with 13 field goals, to go along with 12 rebounds in notching her second consecutive double-double in an 83-68 victory over the Chicago Sky.  In her second season, the 2010 WNBA Rookie of the Year is averaging 20.4 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.

On the week, Dupree led the league with 15.0 rebounds per game.  She also recorded her third consecutive double-double, the longest such streak of her career, which ties for third in the WNBA this season.  Among Western Conference players, she ranked second in blocks (2.0 bpg) and sixth in scoring (19.5 ppg).

Her week was highlighted by setting a franchise record with 18 rebounds and scoring 21 points in a 93-89 victory over the Indiana Fever on June 19.  It was the second 20-15 performance of her career, both coming with the Mercury.  Dupree also scored 18 points and registered 12 rebounds, along with a block on June 17 against San Antonio.

The honor is Dupree’s fourth Player of the Week award in her career.

Other candidates for WNBA Players of the Week were Los Angeles’s Ebony Hoffman, Minnesota’s Seimone Augustus, San Antonio’s Sophia Young, Seattle’s Sue Bird, Tulsa’s Ivory Latta, and Washington’s Nicky Anosike.

Marc Stein of ESPN reports:

Dirk Nowitzki’s weeklong run of championship celebrations was capped by a surprise birthday party thrown for him Sunday night by girlfriend Jessica Olsson and lifelong coach/adviser Holger Geschwindner at the Dallas wine club Graileys.

The private event to commemorate Nowitzki’s 33rd birthday — dubbed “Dinner For 41” — featured exactly 41 guests, including Mavericks teammate Brian Cardinal, Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson and various team staffers and close friends. Also in attendance were former Stanley Cup-winning Dallas Star Mike Modano and three award-winning scientists who are also Mavs fans.

As part of the evening’s program, Nowitzki was presented with a Larry O’Brien championship trophy cake and treated to performances from a Dallas Symphony Orchestra string quartet (Christopher Adkins, Diane Kitzman, Gary Levinson and Ellen Rose) as well as Dallas-based comedian Paul Varghese.

Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News reports:

The Pistons’ coaching search goes on, and Mike Woodson is in town Monday to meet with team president Joe Dumars.

Woodson, the former Atlanta Hawks coach and one-time Pistons assistant, is considered the front-runner for the job due to his success with the Hawks…

The Pistons have already interviewed Lawrence Frank and Kelvin Sampson. Minnesota Timberwolves assistant and former Piston Bill Laimbeer will interview for the position Wednesday.

Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News reports:

It’s been a whirlwind the last several days for Dallas Mavericks’ lead assistant Dwane Casey.

Last week, the Mavericks claimed their first title. Casey helped celebrate with all of his team once they got back to Dallas later in the week.

And Casey also had what appears to be a successful job interview with Toronto general manager Bryan Colangelo.

Enough that the Dallas Morning News is reporting that Casey will be named the Raptors’ new head coach,  perhaps as soon as later this afternoon.

Casey interviewed with the Raptors twice over the last several days. He apparently has beaten out Boston lead assistant and former New Jersey head coach Lawrence Frank.

Euroleague.net reports:

Euroleague newcomer Unics Kazan (in Russia) loaded up its frontline with the signing of center Australian center Nathan Jawai, who comes off a strong Euroleague debut season with Partizan Belgrade. Jawai (208, 24) averaged 9.1 points and 5 rebounds in 16 Euroleague games with Partizan last season, which was his first in Europe. He contributed 10.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in the Adriatic League in helping Partizan lift that title as well as the Serbian League and Serbian Cup crowns. Before joining Partizan, Jawai spent two seasons in North America, suiting up for Minnesota and Toronto in the NBA and Sioux Falls and Idaho in the NBDL.

InsideHoops.com editor says: The 6-10, 280-pound Australia native is a likeable bloke who played for the Toronto Raptors and Minnesota Timberwolves between 2008 and 2010, averaging 2.8 points and 2.4 rebounds in 9.6 minutes per game during his brief NBA stint.

Euroleague.net reports:

One of the signature stars and true gentlemen of the Euroleague over the last decade, Trajan Langdon of CSKA Moscow, announced his retirement from basketball on the club’s website Saturday. Langdon was a two-time Euroleague champion, in 2006 and 2008, and a three-time runner-up. He was the 2008 Final Four MVP and leaves the competition ranked fifth all-time in three-pointers made (339) and sixth in both scoring (2,178 points) and steals (216). He made his announcement two days after helping CSKA to its ninth consecutive Russian League crown. “Eight out of my nine years in Europe, I have been able to end the season with a win, which means that I’ve been a champion, and in each of my six years here at CSKA, I have been able to end my season with a win, so being able to do so to end my career is very special,” Langdon said in an interview on the club website. “It’s been an incredible run here, my six years here with CSKA, and something I will never forget.”

Langdon, 35, joined CSKA in 2005 and was one of the team leaders since. He won the Euroleague in his very first season with CSKA, at Prague in 2006, ending the club’s 35-year drought without a continental trophy. They returned to win again in 2008 in Madrid, with Langdon raising the MVP trophy, too, a short time after he had become a father for the first time.

Euroleague.net reports:

The Turkish Airlines Euroleague runner-up Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv keeps adding to its roster for he 2011-12 season with the signing of promising guard Jon Scheyer on a two-year-contract. Sheyer (1.96 meters, 23 years old) made a name for himself as a college star at Duke University, which he led to the 2010 NCAA title. He was named a consensus second-team All-American after his senior season, when he averaged 18.2 points, 4.9 assists and 3.6 rebounds. He finished his career as Duke’s top-ranked player ever in games played, with 144. He also made Duke’s career top-ten list in scoring, three-pointers made, free throws made, steals and minutes played.