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The Indiana Pacers announced Sunday they have waived forward Sam Young, the fourth-year player out of Pitt, was signed as a free agent by the Pacers in September. He played in 28 games and averaged 3.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
Additionally, the Pacers announced Sunday they have recalled rookie center Miles Plumlee from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA D-League.
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The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has waived forward Lazar Hayward.
Hayward signed with the Timberwolves as a free agent on Dec. 31. The 6-6 forward appeared in two games for Minnesota and totaled 2 points, 2 assists and 1 rebound in 12 minutes.
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Iman Shumpert is hoping to be cleared by doctors this week and could rejoin the lineup within one or two weeks.
“You’ve got to listen to the doctors because I’m just young and I just want to play,” Shumpert, the second year guard said on Saturday. “So part of it is me just being competitive and wanting to play. But I mean, we’re going to read the data and make sure everything is okay. If I feel any pain I’m not going to do no more.”
Shumpert suffered a devastating knee injury during Game 1 of the Knicks playoff series with the Miami Heat last May. Normally, it takes a player a calendar year to regain full strength which is clearly the case for Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio, who suffered a similar injury and has struggled since returning to the lineup.
— Reported by Frank Isola of the New York Daily News
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The Houston Rockets suspended first-round pick Royce White for ”refusing to provide services” required by his contract on Sunday.
General manager Daryl Morey said Sunday that the team will continue to work with White in hopes of finding a resolution.
White will not be paid during his suspension.
White refused his assignment to Houston’s D-League affiliate a week ago. The 16th overall pick in the June draft has spent most of the season on Houston’s inactive list while he and the team figure out how to handle his anxiety disorder and overall mental health.
White has been vocal on Twitter throughout this saga, and he continued to voice his opinions on the Web site after the announcement Sunday.
— Reported by the Associated Press
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The Cleveland Cavaliers have waived forward Samardo Samuels, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts. The Cavaliers roster now stands at 14.
Samuels played in 18 games (one start) this season for the Cavs, averaging 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per game. He was signed by the Cavs as a free agent prior to the 2010-11 season and has appeared in 109 games (11 starts) during his career, averaging 5.9 points and 3.4 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per game.
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Australian NBA star Andrew Bogut is confident he will overcome a serious ankle injury to play for the Golden State Warriors again this season.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob and the team’s coach Mark Jackson have refused to put a timeline on Bogut’s return to the court, raising the prospect that his season could be over.
However, the 28-year-old former No.1 draft pick was clear about his prospects despite missing the past 28 games.
“I’ll definitely play this season,” Bogut said on Saturday. “I think I’ll be ready to play this season. It’s just a matter of when.”
— Reported by AAP via The Age
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Amar’e Stoudemire went with the reliable “taken out of context” defense regarding his comments that indicated he was never taught defense before Mike Woodson was promoted to Knicks head coach.
The remarks appeared to be a thinly veiled shot at Mike D’Antoni, his former coach in Phoenix and New York. On Friday, D’Antoni called Stoudemire’s comments “mind-boggling.”
“It wasn’t meant to be as exaggerated as it was,” Stoudemire said on Saturday. “For the simple fact: Woodson is a defensive coach. He’s known to be a defensive coach. So his strategies he’s teaching me now is different from what I learned before. He puts a lot of emphasis on the defensive end — more than I ever had before.
“It wasn’t a knock on any of my previous coaches. I had great success with Coach D’Antoni. He had to be doing something right because we won many games. It was more a compliment to Coach Woodson.’’
— Reported by Frank Isola of the New York Daily News
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Raymond Felton is relieved that he didn’t need surgery on his right hand and believes he can return in late January, the week after the Knicks return from London.
Felton said if he had required surgery to repair the fracture in his right pinkie that he suffered Dec. 25 against the Lakers, he would have missed eight to 12 weeks because “they would have had to put in pins and screws.” No surgery made it four to six weeks. Felton is shooting for closer to four.
“Once my bone heals, it’s probably up to my comfort,” he said. “Hopefully the bone will heal before we leave for London.”
The Knicks are scheduled to fly to London Jan. 14. He’s targeting Boston on Jan. 24 or Philadelphia on Jan. 26.
— Reported by Al Iannazzone of New York Newsday
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The NBA’s most confident player showed insecurity on a night he almost single-handedly carried the Lakers to a win.
After posting 38 points in the Lakers’ 107-102 loss Friday to the Clippers, Bryant tweeted on his new account.
“Thoughts of self doubt-Am I done?” Bryant tweeted. “Is this how my career will end?? I REFUSE to give in to these thoughts.”
Bryant elaborated on self-doubt following Saturday’s practice.
“Everybody has it,” Bryant said. “The way I react to it is different than everybody else. I don’t feed into it. I’m able to face it. I’m able to deal with it and I’m able to get through it. That’s probably the difference between myself and other people.”
— Reported by Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News
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The Chicago Bulls announced today the team has signed free agent guard Daequan Cook.
Cook (6-5, 210) is currently in his sixth year in the NBA. Drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 21st pick in the 2007 NBA Draft (his draft rights were traded by the 76ers along with their 2009 second-round draft pick and cash considerations to the Miami Heat for the draft rights to Jason Smith), Cook has played for the Heat, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets.
In five-plus seasons in the NBA, he has played in 295 regular season games (49 starts) and averaged 6.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg and 0.8 apg in 19.4 mpg, and shot .374 from the field, .365 from behind the arc and .814 from the line. The 25-year old Cook has also made three trips (40 games) to the NBA playoffs, where he has averaged 3.4 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 11.6 mpg, .363 field goal shooting, .330 from downtown and .750 from the free throw line. In 2009, Cook won the Foot Locker Three-point Shootout at NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix.
Chicago’s roster now stands at 14 players.