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Boston Celtics PG situation: Until Rajon Rondo returns, Avery Bradley is the man

Until Rajon Rondo returns, Avery Bradley the PG for Celtics

In the wake of Danny Ainge’s comments that Rajon Rondo may not be back until December, new Celtics coach Brad Stevens thinks he has an in-house candidate to fill the star point guard’s shoes.

Stevens said Avery Bradley may indeed see the bulk of the point guard duties until Rondo finds his way back from offseason knee surgery.

“I don’t think there is any doubt that Avery has elite ability in a lot of ways as a point guard,” Stevens said at TD Garden yesterday morning, where he was a guest at the breakfast to promote November’s Coaches vs. Cancer college basketball tripleheader. “He’s an elite defender at the position. He’s an elite athlete at the point guard position. I think he’s a guy that’s gotten better. I think he’s a guy with more confidence, and I think he’s excited about the challenge if Rajon is out.”

Reported by Tom Layman of the Boston Herald

Boston Celtics find new radio station home

The Boston Celtics and CBS RADIO Boston’s 98.5 The Sports Hub today announced a multi-year partnership in which the Boston Celtics games will be broadcast on the market’s leading sports station. Beginning this season, 98.5 The Sports Hub will feature select pre-season games, and all regular and post-season matchups, as well as produce extended pre and postgame shows focused entirely on the Celtics.

“We are excited to launch a new era of Celtics basketball with CBS RADIO Boston, extending our audience reach with Celtics fans throughout New England and providing an enhanced promotional platform for the Celtics, our team sponsors, and advertisers,” Celtics Team President Rich Gotham said. “In addition to enjoying the NBA’s best play by play with Grande and Max, Celtics fans will also have the opportunity to hear directly from Celtics executives, players, and coaches through interviews and features throughout the season.”

“98.5 The Sports Hub is thrilled to add Boston Celtics radio broadcasts to our line-up,” said Mark Hannon, Senior Vice President & Market Manager for CBS RADIO Boston. “The Celtics are a winning, world class organization and the perfect fit for 98.5 The Sports Hub. I look forward to growing the success of both organizations through this partnership.”

The Boston Celtics begin their new season on the road at Toronto on October 30. The Celtics will play their home opener on November 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks. The 2013 Champion Miami Heat visit the TD Garden just once this season on March 19 and the Celtics will host Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and the Brooklyn Nets on January 26 and March 7. Other highlights of the season include Doc Rivers’ return to Boston with the Los Angeles Clippers on December 11 and the Los Angeles Lakers’ arrival at the TD Garden on January 17.

Sixers forward Arnett Moultrie out for months after ankle surgery

Philadelphia 76ers forward Arnett Moultrie suffered an injury to the medial malleolus of his left ankle last week and underwent surgery on Thursday, September 26. Moultrie is not expected to return until some time in the new year.

The Sixers are rebuilding, and while their rotation for upcoming new season wasn’t quite clear yet, it was expected that Moultrie was going to play a solid role.

Sixers center Kwame Brown suffered a right hamstring strain during off-season workouts and will receive a second opinion.

DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings agree to contract extension

DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings agrees to contract extension

The Kings have reached an agreement on a contract extension with center DeMarcus Cousins for four years worth approximately $62 million.

The most Cousins was eligible for under the collective bargaining agreement was five years and $80 million.

The contract takes effect for the 2014-15 season.

The deadline for first-round draft picks from 2010 to agree to contract extensions is Oct. 31. If the Kings had not reached an agreement, they could not sign Cousins until an agreement until after this season.

Reported by Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee

Cousins deal will include no early termination option, which could’ve been possible after the third year of the deal, a source said.

After resisting the idea of giving Cousins a max deal without conditions in the contract, the Kings finally relented and gave the talented, but tempermental young center the offer he and his agent, Dan Fegan, had sought in negotiations.

Reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports

Steve Mills returns, Grunwald out as Knicks GM

Steve Mills is returning to the New York Knicks as president and general manager, replacing Glen Grunwald in a front-office shake-up just days before the start of training camp.

Mills spent a decade as an executive at Madison Square Garden and before that worked at the NBA for 16 years. He left MSG in 2009 after the arrival of Donnie Walsh as Knicks president.

Grunwald took over when Walsh left in 2011 and constructed much of the roster that helped the Knicks win a playoff series last season for the first time since 2000. He will remain with the organization as an adviser, the Knicks said in a release Thursday.

Madison Square Garden Chairman James Dolan called Mills ”a well-respected sports executive with a strong background in basketball, as well as a familiarity with NBA operations and our company.”

”We look forward to his leadership and believe he is the right person to help us reach our ultimate goal of winning an NBA championship,” Dolan said.

Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Timberwolves sign Lorenzo Brown, Robbie Hummel, Othyus Jeffers

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has signed 2013 second-round pick Lorenzo Brown. The Wolves also today signed Robbie Hummel and Othyus Jeffers.

Brown, a 6-5 guard, was selected by the Wolves with the 52nd overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft and appeared on the team’s 2013 Las Vegas Summer League team, averaging 8.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists. At North Carolina State, Brown started 95 of the 101 games he played during his three-year career and averaged 11.6 points. He left the Wolfpack as one of only three players in school history to record over 500 career assists (589). Brown was selected Second Team All-ACC as a junior and a Third-Team All-ACC as a sophomore. In 2012-13, he averaged 12.4 points and led the ACC in assists (7.2 apg – 6th in the nation) and ranked second in the conference in steals (2.0 spg).

Hummel, originally selected with the 59th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by Minnesota, heads to training camp with the Wolves after appearing on the team’s 2013 Las Vegas Summer League team, averaging 8.6 points and 5.8 rebounds. The 6-8 forward also spent time on the Wolves’ 2012 Las Vegas Summer League entry. He spent the 2012-13 season with Obradoiro CAB in the Spanish League where he averaged 10.1 points and 7.2 rebounds in 30 games. Hummel averaged 14.0 points and 6.8 rebounds in 127 games over his four-year collegiate career for the Purdue Boilermakers.

Jeffers, a 6-5 guard, played for the Wolves in the 2013 Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 8.2 points and 3.8 rebounds. Jeffers played for the Iowa Energy of the NBADL in 2012-13, averaging 14.7 points, on .486 shooting, 5.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists. In 2010-11, he played 16 games with the Washington Wizards, averaging 5.7 points and 4.1 rebounds, and saw action in one game with the San Antonio Spurs. That year, Jeffers played in 38 games for the Iowa Energy, averaging 21.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Jeffers split 2009-10 between Cantu in the Greek League, Iowa and the Utah Jazz. He appeared in 14 games with the Jazz, averaging 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds. He played in 47 games with Iowa in 2008-09, averaging 21.0 points, on .535 shooting, 9.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists en route to earning Rookie of the Year honors. He appeared in the 2009 and 2011 NBADL All-Star Games.

Today’s transactions bring the Wolves training camp roster to 17 players.

Grizzlies owner Robert Pera will play Tony Allen 1-on-1, for charity

Memphis Grizzlies Chairman and Controlling Owner Robert Pera will play Grizzlies guard Tony Allen in an exhibition game of one-on-one in the Coventry Health Care Practice Facility at FedExForum on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 4 p.m. Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph will officiate.

Pera and Allen agreed to the exhibition contest and to donate $100,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® to tip-off the 2013-14 season. The event will be streamed live at grizzlies.com and broadcast live on ESPN Radio 92.9 FM.

This event is closed to the public.

Atlanta Hawks will host open practice on October 5, 2013

The entire Atlanta Hawks roster and coaching staff will be tipping-off the 2013-14 season with an open practice on October 5, 2013 at Philips Arena. The event is free to the general public with doors at the CNN entrance opening at 4:00pm for a 5:00pm tip-off.

Open practice will consist of two teams of current Hawks players scrimmaging during three, 12-minute quarters. In-game elements for the day include a Q&A with Coach Budenholzer, play-by-play from the voice of the Hawks, Steve Holman, appearances by Atlanta Hawks cheerleaders and Harry the Hawk, and a 50/50 jackpot raffle benefitting the Atlanta Hawks Foundation.

The Hawks’ open Practice will also be streamed live on Hawks.com.

Lakers add Eric Boateng and Darius Johnson-Odom to training camp

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed center Eric Boateng and guard Darius Johnson-Odom, it was announced today.

Boateng, a free agent center out of Arizona State University, has split time over the last three seasons playing for the Idaho Stampede and the Austin Toros of the NBA’s Development League in addition to playing internationally for the Greek Basket League team Peristeri and the New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig in Germany. The 6-10 center, who played one year (2005-06) at Duke before transferring to Arizona State University (2007-10), finished his collegiate career averaging 4.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in 13.8 minutes over 116 games. Born in London, Boateng is also a member of the Great Britain national basketball team.

Johnson-Odom, the 55th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, was acquired by the Lakers from the Dallas Mavericks on draft night. The 6-2 guard out of Marquette appeared in four games for the Lakers last season, where he totaled four rebounds and one assist in six minutes. Johnson-Odom also played in 13 games for the Los Angeles D-Fenders where he averaged 21.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 39.8 minutes. After being waived by the Lakers in January, the Raleigh, North Carolina native spent the remainder of the 2012-13 season playing in Russia for BC Spartak Saint Petersburg.

Most recently, Johnson-Odom participated in the 2013 NBA Summer League games held in Orlando and Las Vegas. In three games as a member of the Boston Celtics summer league entry in Orlando, Johnson-Odom averaged 10.3 points and 1.3 assists in 23.7 minutes. In six games played as a member of Denver’s summer league team in Las Vegas, Johnson-Odom averaged 7.2 points and 3.0 assists in 15.8 minutes.

The Lakers training camp roster now stands at 18 players.

Utah Jazz waive guard Jerel McNeal

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has waived guard Jerel McNeal. Following the move, Utah’s roster now stands at 13 players.

McNeal (6-3, 200, Marquette), whose first name is pronounced Jah-rell, was originally signed by the Jazz to a 10-day contract on March 27 from the NBA Development League’s Bakersfield Jam, then signed for the remainder of the 2012-13 season on April 6.

McNeal did not appear in a game for the Jazz.