August 20, 2012 – NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog

Cleveland Cavaliers promote Mike Gansey

The Cleveland Cavaliers have promoted Mike Gansey to Director of Development League Operations and Cavaliers Basketball Operations Assistant, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

Gansey, 29, spent the 2011-12 season as the Cavaliers basketball operations assistant. In his new position as the Cavaliers’ Director of Development League Operations/Cavaliers Basketball Operations Assistant, he will work closely with Cavaliers Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin and Canton Charge Head Coach Alex Jensen in the basketball operations and personnel matters of the Cavaliers’ exclusively owned and operated NBA Development League affiliate, as well as other general NBA Development League areas and player personnel elements. The Charge’s basketball operations areas will continue to be overseen by Griffin, and Coach Jensen will now expand his leadership role to be more involved with player personnel matters, in addition to his head coaching duties.

A native of Olmsted Falls, Gansey played collegiately at West Virginia, where, as a senior, he led the Mountaineers to the Sweet 16 and was named a finalist for the Oscar Robertson Award, the Wooden Award as well as the Naismith Trophy. Following his college career, he played professionally overseas in Italy (2007-08), Germany (2008-09) and Spain (2010-11) and also played 57 games (27 starts) in the NBA Development League over two seasons (2007-08, 2009-10) with Anaheim, Idaho and Erie, averaging 11.5 points on .452 shooting, 5.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 27.9 minutes per game.

Houston Rockets sign Carlos Delfino

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed guard/forward Carlos Delfino. The unrestricted free agent recently competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, averaging 15.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists with Argentina.

Delfino (6-6, 230, Argentina) has played in seven NBA seasons, averaging 7.7 points (.362, 520-1435 3FG), 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 440 career games (165 starts) with Detroit, Toronto and Milwaukee. His most productive years have come the past three seasons with the Bucks, where he has averaged 10.6 points, 4.5 boards, 2.5 assists and 1.32 steals in 30.4 minutes per outing over 178 games (159 starts). Delfino also connected on a career-best 134 3-pointers in 2009-10 and averaged 2.1 3-point field goals per game in 2010-11, which ranked fifth in the league.

Drafted by the Pistons with the 25th overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, Delfino spent three seasons with Detroit before joining the Raptors in a trade. He was acquired by Milwaukee along with Roko Ukic from Toronto in exchange for Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems on Aug. 18, 2009. In addition to the NBA, Delfino has played a key role on Argentina’s gold-medal-winning teams at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece and at the 2011 FIBA Americas Tournament. Delfino began his career internationally with Reggio Calabria (2000-02) and Skipper Bologna (2002-04). He also averaged 13.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 10 games with Khimki Moscow in the Russian Superleague in 2008-09.

Mario Kasun signs in Siena, Italy

Italian champs Montepaschi Siena announced over the weekend the addition of big man Mario Kasun to a one-year deal with the option of another. Kasun (2.13 meters, 32 years old) arrives from KK Zagreb, where last season he averaged 12.2 points and 6.6 rebounds in 9 Turkish Airlines Euroleague games. He ranked 5th overall in Offensive Rebounds during the 2011-12 Regular Season. Kasun made his debut in 1997 in Gorica of his native Croatia and kept growing as a player until he signed in 2002 for the Frankfurt Skyliners of Germany, where he exploded in his game.

— Reported by Euroleague.net

Andrew Bogut expects to be ready for Warriors opener

Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut fully expects to be in the lineup for the season opener Oct. 31 at Phoenix after undergoing surgery this spring on his troublesome ankle.

How much he plays during the exhibition schedule, he’s still not sure. Bogut believes he will be nearly full strength by the start of training camp Oct. 3, but might still be limited during the preseason as a precaution.

“I definitely want to be ready for training camp. I think it will be close,” Bogut said Sunday before heading to a Monday morning workout in Australia.

“The immediate goal with all of this is to make sure I’m ready for the first game. Whether that means playing only half the preseason games, it’s just about being smart with my ankle. There’s no point in trying to get ready for Oct. 1 when an extra week could significantly help. It’s just a matter of monitoring it very smartly and not doing anything stupid.”

— Reported by the Associated Press

Sixers have plenty of expiring contracts over next two years

There will be a grand total of nine Sixers whose contracts will expire within the next two years.

Five of those contracts — Bynum, Jrue Holiday, Nick Young, Dorell Wright and Royal Ivey — are up at the end of next season. Four more — Evan Turner, Spencer Hawes, Kwame Brown and Lavoy Allen — expire at the end of the 2013-14 season. For reference, Brown’s is technically for one season with a player option for a second, though his agent has called it a two-year deal.

Starting with the five due to end next summer, the Sixers could very well walk into free agency with roughly $30 million off their books. Of course, should they re-sign Bynum, his max-deal will take up about two-thirds of that space. Then there’s Holiday, to whom the team can extend a qualifying offer for one more year, but Holiday is reportedly seeking a max-contract instead. Go figure.

— Reported by Nick Menta of CSN Philly

NBA and Ticketmaster develop ticketing service

The National Basketball Association selected Ticketmaster, a Live Nation Entertainment company (NYSE:LYV), to develop a comprehensive online ticketing destination for NBA fans. As the Official Ticketing Provider of the NBA, Ticketmaster will present buyers all of the available ticket options for upcoming games, including available tickets from the primary market, as well as tickets being resold by other fans. NBA fans will be able to buy with confidence, as Ticketmaster will validate every ticket purchased on the league’s site, making it the premier destination where fans are guaranteed authentic NBA tickets.

“Together with the NBA, we’re building the sports industry’s first comprehensive ticket destination that provides fans all of their ticketing options – from both primary and resale – in one place,” said Nathan Hubbard, CEO of Ticketmaster. “The NBA is determined to provide their fans a safe, convenient place to buy and sell game tickets, and we are delighted to be delivering this revolutionary solution.”

“We are committed to ensuring that our fans receive the best in service and selection when it comes to purchasing individual game tickets, and Ticketmaster’s proven ticketing solutions for both the primary and resale markets were the right fit for us,” said NBA Executive Vice President of Team Marketing & Business Operations Chris Granger. “On behalf of our teams, we also appreciate Ticketmaster’s commitment to analytics, data sharing, and marketing support. This partnership will be a winner for all involved.”

— Press Release

Kevin Durant goes from gold medal to red carpet

Kevin Durant is going from representing the red, white and blue to walking the red carpet.

Adding to a resume that already includes being a three-time NBA scoring champion and Olympic gold medalist, Durant was the star as his movie ”Thunderstruck” premiered in Oklahoma City’s Bricktown entertainment district Sunday night. It opens in other theaters Friday.

Durant strolled down a red carpet in a black T-shirt, grey vest, white jeans and black sneakers to answer questions about his acting skills instead of the deadly shooting ability that propelled the Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA Finals last season.

”Of course, people are going to look at it a little different because I’m a basketball player and I’m doing something different,” Durant said. ”A basketball player is what I do. It’s not really just solely who I am. I like to do other things.

”It’s all about conquering your fears. That’s one thing I did with this, stepping in front of a camera and people yelling ‘Action!’ It’s not the norm for me. I did something outside the box, and I’m glad it turned out pretty well.”

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press