Boris Diaw raises issue of trade or buyout from Bobcats

boris diaw

The chances of Boris Diaw not finishing the season with the Charlotte Bobcats are growing, with his agent inquiring about a buyout that would free Diaw to sign elsewhere.

Bobcats president of basketball operations Rod Higgins told the Observer Tuesday that he met with Diaw before the All-Star break about Diaw’s role and his expiring contract. Higgins said he has since had discussions with Diaw’s agent, Doug Neustadt.

“Boris and I had a meeting prior to the All-Star break, maybe Wednesday before. We talked about quite a few things,” Higgins said. “The issue with the buyout, it was raised on their side, from Doug. We haven’t gone down that road any further.”

Initial attempts to reach Neustadt by telephone and email Tuesday failed. The possibility of Diaw accepting a buyout was briefly raised in the French sports daily L’Equipe. Diaw is from France.

— Reported by Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer

Chris Bosh returns to Heat after family funeral

Chris Bosh

Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat were thrilled to see each other again Tuesday.

Bosh returned to the team after missing nearly a week to deal with his grandmother’s death, and is expected to be in the lineup Tuesday night when Miami plays host to the New Jersey Nets. Bosh missed Miami’s three-game trip to Portland, Utah and the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Heat were beaten in the last two of those contests.

“Very good to see him,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade said Tuesday morning after Miami’s game-day shootaround practice. “You realize how much you missed the guy. Had a little bromance moment for a minute. Wanted to hug him. But I didn’t. I kept it cool.”

Bosh was clearly missed in a lot of areas. In the losses to Utah and the Lakers, Miami was outrebounded 94-67, a staggering discrepancy for any team, especially one that had outrebounded its previous nine opponents by 7.8 per game.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Fran Vazquez still might someday join Magic

Fran Vazquez
Fran Vazquez
Apparently does exist

Remember Fran Vazquez?

The Magic haven’t forgotten the forgotten man of their 2005 draft.

Smith said Vazquez’ contractual situation will allow him to come over to the states and maybe finally attempt to make the Magic’s roster.

“That’s the plan,” Smith said of the Spanish power forward.

Vazquez is playing for FCB Regal in Spain. Smith said Assistant General Manager Dave Twardzik and scout Sam Foggin have seen and spoke with Vazquez.

The Magic still own the NBA rights to Vazquez. The club drafted Vazquez with the 11th pick, but he decided to remain in Spain.

— Reported by Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel

Odom says meeting with Carlisle before extended layoff was positive

Lamar Odom
lamar odom
Keeps up with the Kardashians

Lamar Odom said his meeting with Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle on Feb. 21 was positive despite the nature of the discussions.

The meeting came the day before the Mavs played the Lakers, a game Odom missed when he returned home to Los Angeles to tend to a personal issue.

“I had to make myself think it was a positive that he’s coming to talk to me,” Odom said before Monday’s game against Oklahoma City. “When you’re in this business and when they don’t talk to you is when it’s a problem.”

Odom said he knew he had a decision to make, but he didn’t inform Carlisle at the time.

“We had a great meeting with him to make sure that he understood that our expectation is not that he be concerned about his stats,” Carlisle said. “It’s that any time he steps on the floor he’s completely into the game playing full out with as much intensity and presence and energy as he can, and the other stuff will take are of itself.

“We had a very positive meeting that day and the next morning he got a phone call that there’s a serious thing going on and he had to leave us for a while.”

— Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Kyrie Irving won’t play for Australia in 2012 Olympics

kyrie irving

Cavaliers rookie Kyrie Irving won’t play for Australia in the London Olympics this summer.

Irving was born in Australia in 1992, while his father was playing professional basketball in Melbourne. He holds dual U.S. and Australian citizenship, making him eligible to play for either country under FIBA rules.

Irving said Monday night, after Cleveland lost to Utah 109-100, that he will remain with Team USA. He hopes to make the Olympic team in 2016 and play again for Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Irving said he received confirmation that Krzyzewski will coach Team USA in four years in the Rio Olympics. Irving played for Krzyzewski at Duke last season before becoming the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.

— Reported by ESPN.com with information from the Associated Press

Kevin Love drops 39 points on Clippers

kevin love

Another game won, another All-Star power forward dominated, Kevin Love stepped to the postgame television interview and delivered a bold statement.

“This is my time right now,” Love proclaimed.

It’s getting harder and harder to argue with that.

Love had 39 points and 17 rebounds to carry the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 95-94 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.

Darko Milicic had 13 points in a spot start for the injured Nikola Pekovic and Michael Beasley scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter for the Wolves. But it was Love, the All-Star, 3-point shootout champion and perhaps budding MVP candidate, who put this young improving team on his back and willed them over the .500 mark at 20-19.

He hit a jumper in Kenyon Martin’s face with 1:28 to play, then added what proved to be the game winner by bulling himself to the basket for a little flip shot that has become one of his staples…

Love went 8 for 11 at the line and 5 for 10 from 3-point range and scored nine points on 4-for-6 shooting with four rebounds in the fourth. The versatility and shot-making set him apart from Clippers star Blake Griffin, who had a heck of a game of his own.

Griffin had 26 points and 12 rebounds, but scored just four in the final period. He only took two shots in the period, went 0 for 4 at the line and picked up a costly technical foul when he jawed at referee Ken Mauer after pulling Luke Ridnour to the floor in one of the game’s many collisions near the basket.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Thunder rally late to beat Mavericks 95-91

westbrook

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s top trio struggled to make shots all night.

With one final flurry, they were still able to keep rolling at home.

Russell Westbrook scored 24 points, Kevin Durant added 22 and the Thunder scored the final eight points to escape with a 95-91 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night and run their home winning streak to 13 games.

Durant, Westbrook and top reserve James Harden went a combined 16 for 49 from the field as Oklahoma City managed to pull one out without needing to make a basket in the final 2 minutes.

“The thing is with us, we’ve just got to continue to just keep playing hard no matter if we’re making shots or not, and playing together on both ends,” said Durant, who missed 12 of his 18 shots.

“It was a sloppy game but I’m glad we came out on top.” …

Nowitzki finished with 27 points but didn’t touch the ball on a key possession when Dallas was down by two with 13 seconds left.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press