Inside Hoops – Page 1142 – NBA Blog

Thunder sign Caron Butler

The rich get richer once again.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, already loaded with talent, have signed forward Caron Butler to a contract, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti. A team that really didn’t need any additional help now has an even stronger bench.

Butler (6-7, 217), a two-time NBA All-Star, has appeared in 764 career regular season games (710 starts) and recorded averages of 15.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.42 steals in 33.9 minutes per game during his 12-year NBA career.

“We are pleased to welcome Caron Butler to the Thunder organization and to Oklahoma City,” said Presti. “Caron represents what we look for in a Thunder player and will positively impact our team. His toughness, hard-nosed defense, resiliency and highly regarded professionalism will only enhance our depth and bring additional versatility to the roster.”

This move has been expected for days, but became official this evening.

The 10th overall selection in the 2002 NBA Draft, he has appeared in 47 career postseason games (all starts) and posted averages of 13.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.45 steals in 34.6 minutes per game.

The Thunder roster now stands at 14.

Mavericks re-assign Jae Crowder and Shane Larkin to D-League

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have reassigned Jae Crowder and Shane Larkin to the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.

Crowder (6-6, 235) and Larkin (5-11, 176) were both a part of Thursday night’s Legends’ victory. Crowder finished with 23 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists to record the Legends’ first triple-double of the season. Larkin chipped in 9 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds.

Both Mavericks will join the Legends and be available for tonight’s game when they take on the Los Angeles D-Fenders at 7:00 pm CT at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco.

Stephen Curry gets triple-double in Warriors win vs Knicks

Stephen Curry’s last Madison Square Garden performance was breathtaking, the most dazzling display of outside shooting ever at the famed arena.

It resulted in a loss, so Curry tried a different tactic Friday night — and ended up making more MSG history.

Curry had 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in three quarters, Klay Thompson added 25 points, and the Golden State Warriors sent the frustrated New York Knicks to a fifth straight loss with a 126-103 victory.

Returning to the site of his sensational shooting performance of a year ago, when he scored a career-high 54 points on 11-of-13 shooting from 3-point range, Curry showed off his entire skill set in this one.

— Associated Press

Goran Dragic scores 40 in Suns win vs Pelicans

Goran Dragic almost didn’t play Friday night.

On a bad ankle, with his Phoenix team needing to end a three-game skid, he decided to give it a try.

The result was a career-high 40-point performance in 42 minutes, leading the Suns past the New Orleans Pelicans 116-104.

“I think everybody knows about Goran Dragic now,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said, “or they should.”

A game-time decision because of a sore right ankle that had kept him out of Wednesday’s loss at Utah, Dragic played all but the last 10 seconds of the second half in the first 40-point game for a Phoenix player since Amar’e Stoudemire’s 44 on March 19, 2010.

— Associated Press

Kevin Garnett not playing Saturday

Brooklyn Nets center Kevin Garnett will not play Saturday night against the Milwaukee Bucks due to back spasms.

Mason Plumlee will start in Garnett’s place.

Garnett, 37, has appeared in 49 of the team’s first 56 games, though he’s missed just one game due to injury, resting the other six.

— ESPN New York

Sixers sign Jarvis Varnado to 10-day contract

The Philadelphia 76ers today announced that they have signed forward Jarvis Varnado to a 10-day contract. He is the 26th “Call-Up” of the 2013-14 NBA Development League season.

Varnado was originally the 41st overall pick by Miami in the 2010 NBA Draft. He began his professional career overseas and joined Boston briefly during the 2012-13 season before eventually signing with the Heat during its championship run.

This season, Varnado was named a D-League All-Star for the Iowa Energy and is averaging 14.1 points along with a league-high 4.7 blocks while also ranking second in rebounding with 11.0 rpg. He signed a 10-day contract with Chicago on February 18, 2014 and appeared in one game.

Varnado played collegiately at Mississippi State and joined David Robinson as the only players in NCAA history to record at least 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 blocks. He finished his career as the NCAA’s all-time leading shot blocker with 564.

Suns sign Shavlik Randolph, waive Slava Kravtsov

The Phoenix Suns have signed forward Shavlik Randolph for the remainder of the season and waived center Slava Kravtsov, the team announced today.

The 6-10, 240-pound Randolph is a six-year NBA veteran who has appeared in 111 career games (seven starts) with Philadelphia, Portland, Miami and Boston. Randolph, who competed collegiately at Duke, played with Philadelphia for three seasons from 2005-08, with Portland in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons and with Miami in 2009-10, as well. Most recently in the NBA, Randolph appeared in 16 games for Boston last season, in addition to seeing action in one playoff contest. Earlier this season, Randolph spent time with the Foshan Long Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association. Between his NBA appearances with the Heat and the Celtics, Randolph played professionally in China and Puerto Rico.

He will be available for tomorrow night’s game vs. Atlanta.

Kravtsov, in his second NBA season, appeared in 20 games for the Suns this season, averaging 1.0 points and 0.9 rebounds in 3.0 minutes.

The Suns continue a four-game home stand on Sunday night as they host the Hawks with tip-off scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (Phoenix time). The game will be televised on FOX Sports Arizona, and carried on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

The Suns’ roster still stands at 15.

NBA will donate Jason Collins Nets jersey sales to GLSEN and Matthew Shepard Foundation

The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced today that it will donate all proceeds – not to be less than $100,000 – from the sale of Jason Collins Brooklyn Nets jerseys to the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and the Matthew Shepard Foundation. In addition, the league will auction off Collins’ autographed, game-worn jerseys to benefit the same organizations.

Collins became the first openly gay, active male athlete from one of the four major North American professional team sports on Feb. 23, after signing with his original team, the Nets. Since he was added to the roster, Collins’ jersey rose to the No. 1 spot on the top-selling jersey list at NBAStore.com. Collins chose to wear the number “98” in honor of Matthew Shepard, a college student who was murdered in 1998 after being targeted for being openly gay.

“I’m thrilled to work with the league to support two fantastic organizations, both of which work tirelessly to ensure LGBT youth get the resources and assistance they need to be successful in life,” said Brooklyn Nets Center Jason Collins.

The NBA has a long history of supporting the LGBT community including partnerships with GLSEN, GLAAD and Athlete Ally and was the recipient of the 2012 Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion Award at the GLSEN Respect Awards. In addition, Jason Collins received the 2013 Courage Award at the 10th annual GLSEN Respect Awards and Denver Nuggets star Kenneth Faried was awarded the 2012 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, in part because of his relationship to Athlete Ally and his work championing equality and bringing awareness to the importance of respect and inclusion.

Dallas Mavericks have tough upcoming schedule

Here’s ESPN Dallas reporting on the Mavericks, who have enjoyed great success this month but have a tougher schedule going forward:

We might find out what the Mavs are made of over the next eight games, starting with Friday night’s home game against the rugged Chicago Bulls.

“The competition gets tougher,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “So it’s more physical, it’s harder to score, it’s harder to get stops. You’ve got to be that much more tied together, you’ve got to be that much more efficient and you’ve got to have that much more concentration on the boards.”

The Mavs will see only two sub-.500 opponents over that stretch, and both of those games are on the road. The other six games feature matchups against the top three teams in the West standings (Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers), a rematch with the Pacers and a visit to the Golden State Warriors that could have significant playoff-seeding implications.

“This stretch we’ve got coming up is pretty tough, a lot of good teams, some of them on the road, so it should be a good test,” Nowitzki said.

Celtics: Ainge, Rondo clear the air

Here’s the Boston Globe blog on the Celtics clearing up an issue that will apparently mostly stay internal:

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said he has cleared the air with point guard Rajon Rondo about his absence from the team trip to Sacramento to remain in Los Angeles and attend a birthday celebration in his honor.

Ainge would not reveal whether Rondo had been disciplined or fined but said the situation has been resolved. Rondo, who was not supposed to play against the Kings, did not travel to Sacramento with his teammates, instead meeting the team in Salt Lake City on Sunday. Rondo has played in the past two games and told reporters his plans were his “business. Not yours.”

“It was between Rondo and I and I learned some things that I didn’t know and we had a lot conversation about it and I’m satisfied with it,” he told the Globe. “He learned from it, too. Let’s move on.”