Dion Waiters out Wednesday with flu

Dion Waiters out Wednesday with flu

Cavaliers starting rookie guard Dion Waiters will miss his second straight game with the flu.

Both Waiters and reserve guard Daniel Gibson are out for Wednesday’s game against Utah. Waiters, selected the Eastern Conference rookie of the month in February, also missed Monday’s game against New York along with rookie Tyler Zeller.

Zeller is feeling better. He practiced on Tuesday, took part in the shoot around and has been cleared to play. Wayne Ellington will make his second straight start for Waiters.

— Reported by the Associated Press

J.J. Redick fitting in well for Bucks

J.J. Redick fitting in well for Bucks

J.J. Redick has played five games with the Bucks and the team has won four, after losing by one point in his debut against Atlanta.

Not a bad start.

And Redick has made a big difference coming off the bench, averaging 15.4 points and providing another backcourt weapon to go along with Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings. Redick scored eight of the Bucks’ 10 points in overtime in their 109-108 victory over Utah on Monday night.

But Redick knows plenty of challenges await his new team, beginning Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center. The Bucks had a team meeting at the hotel Wednesday morning as they prepared for the opener of their three-game California trip.

— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Kris Humphries not in rotation for Nets

Kris Humphries not in rotation for Nets

Kris Humphries’ official divorce from Kim Kardashian is fast approaching, but his divorce from playing time will come much sooner.

According to a league source, Humphries was informed by coach P.J. Carlesimo Wednesday morning that he will no longer be part of the Nets’ shortened rotation.

Carlesimo has said in recent days that he wants to limit the rotation to nine or 10 players as the Nets head into the stretch run before the postseason.

The 6’9″ forward is averaging 18.4 minutes per game this season, a number that has dwindled substantially since the beginning of the year. He has grabbed 5.9 rebounds per game while scoring 5.5 points per contest.

The decision to bench Humphries is curious given how fervently the Nets have worked to keep him.

— Reported by Seth Walder and Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News

Hawks recall Mike Scott from D-League

The Atlanta Hawks have recalled rookie forward Mike Scott from the Bakersfield Jam, their NBA Development League affiliate, Hawks President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Danny Ferry announced today.

Scott was assigned on March 1st and started three games for the Jam, averaging 24.7 points, 11.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 37.3 minutes (.482 FG%, .909 FT%), recording at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in each contest. The three-game stretch was Scott’s second assignment to the Jam this season.

Scott, a second round pick (43rd overall) from Virginia in the 2012 NBA Draft, has seen action in 25 games for the Hawks this season, averaging 3.0 points and 2.1 rebounds in 7.5 minutes per game (.452 FG%, .750 FT%).

He will be available for tonight’s game against the 76ers.

Luke Babbitt barely playing for Blazers lately

Luke Babbitt barely playing for Blazers lately

Over the last five Blazers games, Babbitt has played a total of just 9 seconds. There have been four “DNP — Coach’s Decisions” etched next to Babbitt’s name in NBA box scores during this time as he has taken a back seat — along the Blazers’ bench — to emerging rookie forward Victor Claver.

It’s a sudden and emphatic role change for Babbitt, who earlier this season — particularly after that big outing against the Bobcats — was a semi-regular in coach Terry Stotts’ always-evolving rotation as a “stretch four.”

During a three-game run in December, when the Blazers defeated the San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Hornets and Denver Nuggets in consecutive games, Babbitt reached double figures in scoring each outing. He seemed poised for a consistent, impactful season.

— Reported by Joe Freeman of the Oregonian

Heat, Greg Oden will talk more over summer

greg oden

The Miami Heat considered center Greg Oden for their final roster spot before last week signing a guy who is 15 years older. But Oden will be back on the Heat’s radar this summer.

Mike Conley Sr., the agent for Oden, said Wednesday he had discussions with Miami president Pat Riley about the spot the Heat had open between Feb. 20 and last Saturday, when they signed 40-year-old Juwan Howard to a 10-day contract. But Conley Sr. said it was decided it’s best to wait until the summer before talking further about Oden, the NBA’s top draft choice in 2007 who is trying to make a comeback after not having played in the NBA since December 2009 due to knee injuries.

“The Heat are interested in him, and he’s interested in them,’’ Conley Sr. said in a phone interview with FOX Sports Florida. “In Miami’s situation, it just made sense to wait until after the season.’’

Oden, who is continuing to rehab in Columbus, Ohio, where he had played at Ohio State, isn’t ready yet to play this season anyway. Conley Sr. had looked into the possibility of Oden signing with a team for rehab purposes, but he said no team stepped up with an offer.

— Reported by Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports

Chris Kaman hopes to stick with Mavs

Chris Kaman hopes to stick with Mavs

For the Mavericks, that’s 60 percent of the team — nine of 15 players, assuming O.J. Mayo doesn’t exercise his player option for next season, which would seem unlikely.

Chris Kaman is one of those players. He signed a one-year deal last summer at $8 million and as far as he’s concerned, he’d like to stick around longer. But he knows now is not the time to make an issue of it.

“Hopefully, I’ll have an option to come back here next year,” he said. “I like Dallas. The people here do a real good job. It’s one of the most professional organizations I’ve ever been a part of. For me, the top one. I like how they do things and maintain their professionalism throughout the whole year, whether we’re up or down.”

— Reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News

Iman Shumpert still trying to regain form after torn ACL

Iman Shumpert still trying to regain form after torn ACL

He admittedly isn’t the player he was last season when he ranked seventh in the NBA in steals, made the All-Rookie first team and was the only first-year player to receive Defensive Player of the Year votes.

The explosiveness isn’t there. The lateral quickness isn’t the same. Things the athletic Shumpert would do easily, like finishing at the rim, aren’t happening nearly as much.

“It [ticks] me off,” he said.

In 20 games, Shumpert is averaging 4.7 points, shooting 30.8 percent from the field, 34 percent from three-point range and 64.7 percent from the foul line, and collecting 0.90 steals a game.

He’s playing fewer minutes and doesn’t have the ball as much. Most of his stats are markedly down from last year, when Shumpert averaged 9.5 points, converted 40.1 percent of his shots, 30.6 percent from three-point range and 79.8 percent from the line and averaged 1.71 steals.

— Reported by Al Iannazzone of New York Newsday

Former Knicks guard Ray Williams ailing from undisclosed illness

“Once a Knick, Always a Knick” is more than just a marketing slogan stitched inside the uniforms of each player who wears orange and blue.

For Ray Williams, it is a matter of life and death.

The ailing former Knicks guard, who has fallen on hard times, was transported by the Knicks last week from Florida to New York to receive treatment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in Manhattan for an undisclosed illness. Madison Square Garden Chairman James Dolan paid for the medical plane that allowed Williams, 58, to receive world-class care and to be near his mother.

A product of Mount Vernon, Williams played 10 seasons with six teams, including two tours of duty with both the Knicks and Nets. The Knicks drafted Williams, who played one season with current Knicks coach Mike Woodson, with the 10th pick of the 1977 draft.

— Reported by Frank Isola of the New York Daily News

Hawks sign Shelvin Mack to 10-day contract

The Atlanta Hawks have signed guard Shelvin Mack to a 10-day contract, Hawks President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Danny Ferry announced today.

In his second NBA season, Mack has played in 11 total games (two starts) with the Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers, averaging 3.6 points on .401 shooting, 1.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 13.7 minutes per game. In his seven games (two starts) with the Wizards, he averaged 5.3 points on .400 shooting, 2.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 20.4 minutes per contest. He appeared in four games and totaled eight minutes played with the 76ers.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound point guard from Butler most recently played with the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League. In 23 games (22 starts), he averaged 20.1 points on .454 shooting, 4.3 rebounds and 7.7 assists in 40.3 minutes per game. He was selected to participate in the 2013 NBA Development League All-Star Game.

As a rookie in 2011-12, Mack played in 64 of 66 games with the Wizards, averaging 3.6 points on .400 shooting, 1.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 12.1 minutes per game.

Mack will wear uniform No. 8, and will be available for tonight’s 7:30 p.m. game at Philips Arena versus the Philadelphia 76ers.