Miami Heat sign Keith Benson

Miami Heat sign Keith Benson

The Miami HEAT announced today that they have signed center Keith Benson.

Benson has spent the past two seasons playing professionally in Belarus, China, Lithuania and Estonia while previously playing in Italy and the Philippines. He split last season between Neptunas Klaipeda of the Lithuanian Basketball League and BC Kalev/Cramo Tallinn of the Estonian Basketball League. He appeared in 26 games (eight starts) for Neptunas, averaging 5.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 11.8 minutes while shooting 52.3 percent from the field and 80.9 percent from the line. He also appeared in 21 games (all starts) for BC Kalev/Cramo Tallinn last season and averaged 15.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.67 blocks and 27.6 minutes while shooting 54.3 percent from the field and 72.9 percent from the line where he was named to the All-Estonian Third Team.

Benson has appeared in three NBA games, all with Golden State, totaling three rebounds in nine minutes of action. He also has appeared in 44 NBA Development League games (37 starts) while playing for the Sioux Falls Skyforce (2011-12) and Erie BayHawks (2012-13), averaging 12.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.59 blocks and 26.0 minutes while shooting 48.3 percent from the field. In his 20 games with the Skyforce, he posted seven double-doubles while scoring in double-figures 18 times. Additionally, he has made appearances in the last three NBA Summer Leagues, mostly recently with the Orlando Magic this season, where he helped the team to the championship game after averaging 12.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.40 blocks and 23.4 minutes in five appearances (two starts). He lead the team blocks (12) and field goals made (24) while placing second in points (64), rebounds (31) and free throws made (16).

Benson was originally drafted in the second round (48th overall) in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks.

Lakers sign Michael Frazier

Lakers sign Michael Frazier

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed guard Michael Frazier to a multi-year contract, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

The 21-year-old Frazier, a 6’4’’ shooting guard, most recently played for the Golden State Warriors in the 2015 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, averaging 4.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 15.8 minutes per game over six contests (all starts).

In his three collegiate seasons at the University of Florida (2012-15), Frazier averaged 9.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 25.7 minutes per game while shooting 44.3% from the field and 43.2% from beyond-the-arc. As a sophomore in 2013-14, Frazier made 118 three-pointers (a Florida single-season record) on an impressive 44.5% clip from deep, while averaging 12.4 points and 30.5 minutes per game, playing a key role in Florida’s run to the 2014 Final Four. That season, Frazier was both an All-SEC Tournament and All-NCAA Tournament South Regional team selection, in addition to his SEC Academic Honor Roll accolades. The Tampa, FL native went undrafted as an early entry in the 2015 NBA Draft.

NBA fines Clippers $250,000 due to unauthorized DeAndre Jordan endorsement opportunity offer

The NBA announced today that it has fined the Los Angeles Clippers $250,000 for violating NBA rules prohibiting teams from offering players unauthorized business or investment opportunities.

The violation involved a presentation made by the Clippers to free agent DeAndre Jordan on July 2 that improperly included a potential third-party endorsement opportunity for the player. While the NBA’s investigation ultimately concluded that the presentation of this opportunity had no impact on Jordan’s decision to re-sign with the Clippers (especially since he reportedly then agreed to sign with the Dallas Mavericks before later changing his mind), the team’s conduct nevertheless violated the league’s anti-circumvention rules.

The NBA’s anti-circumvention rules prohibit teams from, among other things, providing or arranging for others to provide any form of compensation to a player unless such compensation is included in a player contract or otherwise expressly permitted under the CBA.