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Patrick Sund and Jonnie West named associate general managers of Santa Cruz Warriors

The Golden State Warriors have named Patrick Sund and Jonnie West as associate general managers for the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA Development League, the team announced today. In these roles, Sund and West will co-manage all basketball operations activities for the Warriors D-League team.

Additionally, it was announced that Kirk Lacob will relinquish his duties as the D-League team’s GM, a position he held for the last three seasons. Lacob, who is the assistant general manager for the Golden State Warriors and was instrumental in moving the D-League team from Bismarck, ND, to its current home prior to the 2012-13 campaign, will continue to work with Santa Cruz in an advisory role.

“I’m extremely proud of what we have accomplished in Santa Cruz over the last two years and look forward to the future development of everyone involved with the organization,” said Lacob. “This is a terrific, and well-deserved, opportunity for both Pat and Jonnie. I believe that they will do a wonderful job and I am very excited to see them lead the Santa Cruz Warriors to even greater heights.”

Sund, 28, is entering his sixth season with the Golden State Warriors organization. During his first five years with the club, Sund has assisted with various aspects of the day-to-day basketball operations efforts, while also assisting with the team’s annual NBA Draft preparations. Last season, Sund served as the team’s Manager of Scouting and was responsible for developing and maintaining the team’s internal college scouting database and statistical analysis. Additionally, he served as a collegiate scout and also worked on special projects for basketball operations. Sund originally joined the organization as a basketball operations assistant prior to the 2009-10 campaign and spent the next three seasons as a basketball operations coordinator focusing on analytics, college scouting, and working to help implement the SportVu system. A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in Sports Marketing and Management, Sund worked with the IU basketball team under Tom Crean during the 2008-09 season before joining the Warriors. Patrick’s father, Rick Sund, is a longtime NBA executive and currently a senior advisor to basketball operations for the Atlanta Hawks.

West, 26, is entering his third season as a member of the Santa Cruz Warriors organization, having served last season as the team’s director of player personnel. In that role, he assisted in all player personnel matters for Santa Cruz, including decisions on the draft, trades and free agent signings. He joined the team prior to the 2012-13 season as director of basketball operations and also assisted with personnel and advance scouting duties. West, who played collegiately for four seasons at West Virginia and worked at Wasserman Media Group prior to joining the Warriors organization, has also served as a scout for Golden State in each of the past two seasons. Jonnie’s father, Jerry West, is a longtime NBA executive and currently an executive board member for the Golden State Warriors.

Utah Jazz sign guard Toure` Murry

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has signed free-agent guard Toure’ Murry.

Murry (6-5, 195, Wichita State) played his rookie season with the New York Knicks, averaging 2.7 points and 1.0 assists in 7.3 minutes in 51 games during the 2013-14 campaign. He shot 43.4 percent from the field (56-of-129), including 41.7 percent (5-of-12) from beyond the arc.

Undrafted in the 2012 NBA Draft, the 24-year-old guard was selected 15th overall by the Austin Toros in the 2012 NBA Development League Draft. His rights were eventually traded to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Murry helped the Vipers to the 2013 NBA D-League Championship, averaging 8.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals in 23.5 minutes in 46 games (30 starts) during the 2012-13 season.

Prior to the NBA, Murry played four seasons at Wichita State from 2008-12, including winning the 2011 NIT Tournament during his junior season. He averaged 12.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 29.3 minutes in 32 games during his senior campaign, helping the Shockers advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

A native of Houston, Texas, Murry’s first name is pronounced “TOU-Ray” and he will wear uniform #23.

Houston Rockets sign forward Tarik Black

Houston Rockets sign forward Tarik Black

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed forward Tarik Black, a participant on the team’s Orlando and Las Vegas Summer League squads.

Black (6-8, 253, Kansas), appeared in 135 contests and held career averages of 8.4 points on 61.4% FG shooting, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks over the course of his four-year NCAA career. In his lone season at Kansas, he was named Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and went on to average 15.0 points per game in the NCAA Tournament. In three years at Memphis, Black was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team, All-Defensive Team and All-Tournament Team.

In five contests at the 2014 Orlando Summer League with the Houston Rockets, Black averaged 10.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and a team-leading 1.0 blocks in 20.0 minutes per game. Black also appeared in eight games for the Rockets in the Las Vegas Summer League as the team reached the Samsung NBA Summer League Championship.

Miami Heat sign Shannon Brown

Miami Heat sign Shannon Brown

The Miami HEAT announced today that they have signed guard Shannon Brown.

Brown, an eight-year NBA veteran, has appeared in 403 career NBA regular season games (58 starts) and averaged 7.7 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 18.0 minutes while shooting 42 percent from the field, 33.1 percent from three-point range and 80.7 percent from the foul line. He split the 2013-14 season between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks, appearing in 29 total games (one start) and averaging 2.2 points and 1.0 rebounds in 8.7 minutes of action while shooting 36.4 percent from the field. He scored a season-high 14 points, on 4-of-7 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line, in a 109-98 win vs. Brooklyn on April 15, 2014.

Brown, who won back-to-back NBA Championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and 2010, has appeared in 55 career postseason games and averaged 5.2 points, 1.3 rebounds and 13.9 minutes while shooting 42.2 percent from the field, 34.1 percent from three-point range and 72.7 percent from the foul line.

He was originally drafted in the first round (25th overall) by Cleveland in the 2006 NBA Draft.

The HEAT’s roster now stands at 16.

Utah Jazz sign guard Kevin Murphy

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has signed free-agent guard Kevin Murphy.

Murphy (6-6, 185, Tennessee Tech) finished the 2013-14 season with the Idaho Stampede, where he ranked second in the league in scoring and was named to the 2014 All-D-League First Team. He appeared in 34 games (24 starts) for the Stampede, averaging 25.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals in 35.9 minutes and scoring in double figures in 30 games, including 20-plus points in 27 contests and 30-or-more points 13 times. Murphy recorded a career-high 51 points on Feb. 1 vs. L.A. D-Fenders, finishing 21-for-33 from the field (.636). Prior to joining Idaho, Murphy played 13 games (seven starts) for Stasbourg IG of France and averaged 8.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 18.8 minutes per game.

Originally selected by the Jazz in the second round (47th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft, Murphy appeared in 17 games as a reserve for Utah during the 2012-13 season, averaging 0.9 points in 3.1 minutes. Following the season, he was traded to Golden State as part of a three-team trade on July 10, 2013.

The 24-year-old guard played four seasons at Tennessee Tech University (2008-12), amassing 2,019 points, 535 rebounds and 248 assists during his collegiate career and ranks second on the school’s all-time scoring list. He was twice named to the All-Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) First Team (2011, 2012) as well as the OVC All-Tournament Team (2011, 2012). During his senior season, he averaged 20.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 34.5 minutes, including a 50-point performance in a win over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville that marked the highest scoring game by a Division I player during the 2011-12 season.

A native of Atlanta, Ga., Murphy played high school basketball at Creekside High School in Fairburn, Ga., earning the Naismith Award following his senior season.

Doc Rivers, Clippers agree to long-term contract

The Los Angeles Clippers today announced that President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Doc Rivers has agreed to a contract that will keep him with the team through the end of the 2019 season.

“This is an important day for this organization,” Clippers owner Steve Ballmer said. “I am excited to work with Doc for a long time as we build a championship culture that will deliver results both on and off the court. Not only is Doc one of the best coaches and executives in the game, but he continually embodies the hard core, committed and resilient character and winning culture that the Clippers represent. It was one of my top priorities to ensure that he was firmly in place as the long-term leader of this team.”

According to the Orange County Register, “the deal will pay Rivers more than $50 million, a figure first reported by Yahoo! Sports. At more than $10 million per year, Rivers is believed to be the highest-paid coach in American professional sports, though he’s also the team’s primary basketball decision maker.”

Rivers took over as head coach of the Clippers in June 2013 and led Los Angeles to the best record in franchise history (57-25, .695) and a second straight Pacific Division title. He became President of Basketball Operations on June 16, 2014.

“Steve has shown a clear and determined desire to make the Clippers one of the most elite, first-class and championship organizations in all of professional sports,” Rivers said. “We know we have work to do to get there, but I am motivated by the challenge and thankful for the opportunity to stand together with Steve as we continue to move toward our goal of winning an NBA title.”

Entering his 16th season as a head coach, Rivers is one of just three active coaches (Gregg Popovich, Flip Saunders) to win at least 600 games and his 644 career regular season wins is second among active coaches in victories. The 1999-2000 NBA Coach of the Year, Rivers led the Boston Celtics to the 2008 NBA Championship. A former Clippers point guard (1991-92), Rivers coached in Boston from 2004-2013 and prior to that led the Orlando Magic from 1999-2003.