Inside Hoops – Page 1185 – NBA Blog

Memphis Grizzlies sign forward James Johnson

The Memphis Grizzlies signed forward James Johnson of the NBA Development League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team announced today.

Johnson (6-9, 245) joins the Grizzlies after averaging 18.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.90 steals and 3.40 blocks on .496 shooting in 29.9 minutes in 10 games (all starts) for Rio Grande Valley this season. The 26-year-old is the only D-League player this season to rank in the top 15 in scoring (14th), rebounding (12th) and assists (14th) by average. He also places third in the D-League in blocks per game and is tied for seventh in steals per game.

Johnson owns NBA career averages of 6.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 0.98 blocks on .443 shooting in 18.3 minutes in 219 games (87 starts) in four seasons with the Chicago Bulls (2009-10 to 2010-11), Toronto Raptors (2010-11 to 2011-12) and Sacramento Kings (2012-13). He played the 2013 preseason with the Atlanta Hawks but was waived on Oct. 21, 2013.

The Cheyenne, Wyo. native’s best season as a pro came in 2011-12 with Toronto when he averaged career highs across the board with 9.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.15 steals and 1.35 blocks in 25.2 minutes. He was one of just seven qualifying NBA players that season to average at least one steal and one block per game, joining Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade, Josh Smith, DeMarcus Cousins and Kenyon Martin.

He holds career D-League averages of 18.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.50 steals and 3.00 blocks on .513 shooting in 30.9 minutes in 18 games (all starts) for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and Iowa Energy.

Johnson was drafted by Chicago in the first round (16th overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft after two seasons at Wake Forest University. He led the Demon Deacons in rebounding each year and as a sophomore guided the team to a 24-5 record and a No. 1 ranking during the 2008-09 season.

Marcin Gortat hoping for more inside looks

Here’s the Washington Post Blog on Wizards center Marcin Gortat, who hopes to play more to his offensive strengths, which reside close to the basket:

Marcin Gortat watched John Wall’s corner three-pointer bounce high off the rim, curled around Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap and hammered home a furious one-handed jam. As his Wizards teammates hopped from their seats to applaud, Gortat angrily strutted back.

Gortat embraces being big, loves banging inside, and isn’t caught up in following other 6-foot-11 or taller players who would prefer to parade around the perimeter shooting jumpers rather than mixing it up and throwing people around. For that reason, Gortat has grown frustrated with a lack of touches near the basket and said he would speak to Coach Randy Wittman about his role in the offense after a lackluster outing against the Los Angeles Clippers.

“I don’t like the position I play,” Gortat said after scoring just six points on 3-of-10 shooting in the Wizards’ 113-96 loss on Saturday at Verizon Center. “I’m constantly drifting more and more away from the basket. That’s not my game. I’m capable of making one or two plays like that away from the basket, but I feel more comfortable underneath the basket.”

Paul Pierce will keep coming off bench for Nets

The Brooklyn Nets have put together a few wins lately, losing on Friday in Detroit but winning their three previous games before that. Here’s ESPN New York with an update on the rotation:

Paul Pierce will continue to come off bench for Nets

Brooklyn Nets coach Jason Kidd said that small forward Paul Pierce will continue to come off the bench.

“For right now, yes,” Kidd said Sunday.

Pierce has come off the bench since coming back from a broken bone in his right hand. Over that three-game span, he’s averaging 8.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 25.7 minutes, while shooting 36.8 percent from the field.

“[Paul]’s selfless,” Nets point guard Deron Williams said. “That shows what kind of person he is. He can be a guy that says, ‘I’m Paul Pierce, I’m a starter in this league,’ you know? Like some guys have done. He’s just worried about winning right now, and he’s trying to get back healthy and get back into a rhythm and I think he’s doing whatever the team needs right now.”

Victor Oladipo received advice from Kevin Durant before the season

Here’s the Orlando Sentinel with a cool item about Magic rookie Victor Oladipo getting some useful career tips from someone who knows things:

Victor Oladipo admired Kevin Durant from afar for a long time, and now Oladipo is happy and honored to call Durant a friend.

They grew up in the Washington, D.C., area, so Oladipo always was attuned to Durant’s accomplishments. But since Oladipo is four years younger than Durant, they hadn’t met face-to-face until this past summer when Oladipo visited a basketball camp that Durant was running in Washington.

“For him to be able to talk to me and for him to give me advice was kind of crazy,” Oladipo said. “But at the same time, it definitely was humbling and definitely nice for him to do — a credit to him for doing that. He didn’t have to, but he did it anyway.”

Both Oladipo and Durant were selected second overall in the NBA Draft — Durant in 2007 and Oladipo in 2013.

Former Vol basketball player Dyron Nix dead at 46

Here is WATE in Knoxville, Tennessee reporting on a known player passing away:

Former Tennessee basketball player Dyron Nix has passed away in Atlanta at the age of 46.

Former Vol and Nix teammate Clarence Swearengen confirmed the death through a member of the Nix family.

Swearengen said Nix had gone to an Atlanta hospital complaining of breathing difficulty and died a short time later.

Nix was a standout player on the Tennessee basketball team from 1985-89. He became a fan favorite for his athletic style of play– and was drafted by the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.

Clippers give super-sub Jamal Crawford a start

Here’s the Los Angeles Times reporting on Clippers scoring guard Jamal Crawford making a rare appearance in the starting lineup:

To his surprise, Jamal Crawford started for the Clippers when they played the Washington Wizards on Saturday night at the Verizon Center.

Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said he started Crawford in place of Willie Green because he wanted more spacing for the first unit and to take some of the ball handling pressure off Chris Paul.

It worked out, as Crawford scored 17 points in the Clippers’ victory over the Wizards.

Crawford started his first game since April 9, 2012, when he was with the Portland Trail Blazers.

“You can be a lot more patient when you’re a starter, because you know you’re going to be out there some,” Crawford said. “When you come off the bench, you kind of have to make a positive impact immediately, whether it’s scoring or assisting. But as a starter, you can pick your spots a lot.”

Utah Jazz assign Ian Clark and Rudy Gobert to D-League

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has assigned rookie guard Ian Clark and rookie center Rudy Gobert to its NBA Development League (D-League) affiliate, the Bakersfield Jam. Both are expected to be in uniform for the Jam’s game Sunday at the Reno Bighorns in Reno, Nev.

A 6-3, 173-pound guard out of Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., Clark was named 2013 NBA Summer League Championship Game Most Valuable Player and was signed by the Jazz as an undrafted rookie free agent on July 29. The 22-year-old has appeared in eight games as a reserve for the Jazz, averaging 2.8 points in 8.8 minutes.

Gobert, a 7-1, 245-pound center, was a 2013 first-round draft pick (27th overall) whose rights the Jazz acquired in a draft-night trade with Denver that sent the Nuggets the rights to the 46th overall pick and cash considerations. The 21-year-old native of Saint Quentin, France, has made 17 appearances for the Jazz in a reserve role, averaging 2.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.82 blocks in 10.7 minutes.

Clark and Gobert become the seventh and eighth different players in Jazz history to be assigned to the D-League. Other players on the current Jazz roster with D-League experience include Jeremy Evans, Diante Garrett, Mike Harris and John Lucas III.

Bucks guard Carlos Delfino out at least eight weeks after foot surgery

Milwaukee Bucks General Manager John Hammond announced that guard Carlos Delfino (6-6, 220) underwent successful surgery this morning on his right foot. The surgery was performed at Sanatorio de la Trinidad in San Isidro, Buenos Aires, by Dr. Donato Villani, Argentinian National Soccer Team physician, who specializes in orthopaedics and traumatology. Dr. Villani was assisted by Dr. Javier Swiatlo and Dr. Pablo Pechervsky, with Bucks team physicians Dr. Michael Gordon and Dr. Samuel Idarraga present.

Delfino, 31, will have his foot immobilized and be placed on non-weight bearing restrictions for a period of eight weeks. Updates on his recovery will be provided as appropriate.

Currently in his ninth NBA season, Delfino has career averages of 8.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He was signed to a free agent contract on July 17 and has not played in a game this season.

New Orleans Pelicans waive Josh Childress

The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has waived forward Josh Childress.

Childress, who originally signed with New Orleans on Nov. 12, 2013, appeared in four games with the Pelicans this season, tallying a total of three rebounds, two assists and a steal in 24 minutes. The Stanford product has appeared in 391 career games, including 70 starts, and holds career averages of 9.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 26.7 minutes per game.

New Orleans’ roster now stands at 14 players.

Omri Casspi loving NBA life with Houston Rockets

Here’s the Houston Chronicle on Israeli forward Omri Casspi, who has been a great fit as a supporting cast member of the Rockets this season:

A career that had gotten off to a promising start in Sacramento had seemed to hit bottom in Cleveland. He did not know where basketball would take him next but had begun to accept that he could be headed back to Europe, rather than back to Sacramento this weekend as such a vital part of the Rockets rotation.

Then with one voice message that he still won’t delete from his phone, everything changed. With that call, he not only knew where his career was headed, the confidence that had become so fractured, taking much of his game with it, was revived. All that had gone wrong seemed to have been made right again.

“Coach (Kevin) McHale left me a message over the summer when they started recruiting me and we started talking,” Casspi said. “I still have it. He said he wanted me to play the three and the four. He explained I could spread the floor and help the team win and that he liked the way I compete. That was one of the main reasons I came here. I still have that message and I still listen to it once in a while.

“It was the first time I really talked to a coach that really talked to me. This team was obviously was supposed to be good whether I was going to be here or not. But to be a part of the team that can compete and compete for a championship, after what I’d been through, and then he left me this message that said he loves me and wants me to come and play hard and help and do the things I do. That was just an emotional day, you know.”