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The Oklahoma City Thunder have re-signed forward/center Mike Muscala.
Last season with the Thunder, Muscala played in 43 games, averaging 8.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in 13.8 minutes per game, while shooting a career-high 42.9 percent from three-point range.
In nine NBA seasons with Oklahoma City, Atlanta, Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Lakers, the Bucknell product has appeared in 432 career games (30 starts) and posted averages of 6.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per game.
The Chicago Bulls yesterday signed guard Goran Dragić.
A native of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Dragić (6-3, 190) has appeared in 888 career games (530 starts) recording averages of 13.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.0 steals in 27.9 minutes per game while shooting 46.0 percent from the field, 36.2 from three-point range and 76.7 from the free-throw line. Over the course of his 14-year NBA career, Dragić has made stops in Brooklyn (2021-22), Toronto (2021-22), Miami (2015-21), Houston (2011-12) and Phoenix (2008-11, 2012-15).
Dragić has also appeared in 60 playoff games (37 starts) across six postseason appearances, recording averages of 14.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 26.9 minutes while shooting 44.2 percent from the field, 34.6 percent from three-point range and 76.3 percent from the free-throw line – helping lead the Heat to an NBA Finals appearance in 2020 and the Suns to the Western Conference Finals in 2010. During his 2017-18 season with the Heat, Dragić was named an NBA All-Star. He also earned All-NBA Third Team honors, as well as the NBA Most Improved Player Award with the Suns in the 2013-14 campaign. Dragić was originally drafted by the San Antonio Spurs with the 45th overall pick in the second round of the 2008 NBA Draft, and his draft rights were traded to Phoenix.
Prior to the NBA, Dragić competed professionally in Europe for four years (2004-08). He also has a decorated international career playing for Slovenia. In 2017, he led his home country to its first-ever FIBA European Championship at the 2017 EuroBasket. Dragić was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and earned Slovenia’s Sportsman of the Year award.
Dragić will wear No. 7.
The Milwaukee Bucks yesterday made the following updates to Mike Budenholzer’s coaching staff:
Charles Lee, who has served as an assistant coach with the Bucks the past four seasons, has been promoted to associate head coach. The 2022-23 season will mark Lee’s ninth on Budenholzer’s staff after he joined the Atlanta Hawks as an assistant coach in 2014. In addition to winning the 2021 NBA Championship with the Bucks, Lee has made the playoffs in seven of his eight seasons with Budenholzer in Atlanta and Milwaukee, including three Eastern Conference Finals appearances.
A native of Gaithersburg, Maryland, Lee got his start in coaching at his alma mater, Bucknell, where he served as an assistant coach for two seasons. As a player with the Bison, Lee was the 2006 Patriot League Player of the Year and won two Patriot League championships. After his playing career at Bucknell, Lee played professionally in Israel, Belgium and Germany.
Vince Legarza, who most recently served as an assistant coach with the Utah Jazz the past four seasons, has been hired as an assistant coach. Prior to his stint in Utah, he spent three seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves in their Player Development department. Legarza got his start in the NBA with the Hawks where he served two seasons in the team’s Basketball Operations and Player Development departments. The San Francisco native is a graduate of Miami University (OH) where he spent five seasons playing on the men’s basketball team, including three years as a captain.
Blaine Mueller, who is entering his fifth season with the Bucks, has been promoted to assistant coach. Mueller, a Watertown, Wisconsin native and University of Wisconsin graduate, spent the last three seasons as the Bucks head video coordinator. He started with the Bucks in 2018 as a video and player development assistant before being promoted to head video coordinator prior to the 2019-20 season. Before joining the Bucks, Mueller spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Lindenwood University.
DeMarre Carroll, an 11-year NBA veteran who appeared in 578 career games with Memphis, Houston, Denver, Utah, Atlanta, Toronto, Brooklyn and San Antonio, has also joined Budenholzer’s staff as an assistant coach. A former first round pick out of Missouri, Carroll most recently played with the Spurs and Rockets during the 2019-20 season. The Birmingham, Alabama native played under Budenholzer in Atlanta for two seasons from 2013-15, including the 2014-15 season when the Hawks won 60 games and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Sidney Dobner has been promoted to head video coordinator. Dobner is entering her fifth season with the Bucks organization, serving most recently as assistant video coordinator last season. After a collegiate and professional playing career, the Newbury Park, California native got her start with the Wisconsin Herd in 2018 as a video assistant/coaching associate before joining the Bucks Basketball Operations department for the 2019-20 season and then transitioning to a video and player development assistant for the 2020-21 season.
The Phoenix Suns have signed free agent guard Duane Washington Jr.
Washington (6-3, 197 pounds) averaged 9.9 points on 40.5% shooting from the field, 37.7% from three-point range and 75.4% from the free throw line in 48 games as a rookie with the Indiana Pacers last season. Among qualified NBA rookies, he ranked 12th in points per game, third in three-point percentage and ninth with 81 made three-pointers. Washington set a Pacers rookie record by making seven three-pointers at New Orleans on Jan. 24. He also appeared in 11 games with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA G League last season, averaging 19.5 points, 4.4 assists and 3.4 rebounds.
The 22-year-old went undrafted in 2021 following a three-year career at Ohio State where he earned All-Big Ten honors in his final season after averaging a team-high 16.4 points. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Washington grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The New Orleans Pelicans today announced their 2022-23 preseason schedule.
The Pelicans will open preseason play with a road contest against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday, October 4. The team then returns home to face the Detroit Pistons at the Smoothie King Center on Friday, Oct. 7. New Orleans will go back on the road for matchups against the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat on Oct. 9 and 12, respectively, before concluding preseason play against the Atlanta Hawks at Legacy Arena – home of the Birmingham Squadron, the Pelicans’ NBA G League affiliate.
The complete 2022 Pelicans preseason schedule is below:
DATE DAY OPPONENT LOCATION TIME (CT)
Oct. 4 Tue. at Chicago, United Center (Chicago, IL) 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 7 Fri. vs. Detroit, Smoothie King Center (New Orleans, LA) 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 9 Sun. at San Antonio, AT&T Center (San Antonio, TX) 6:00 p.m.
Oct. 12 Wed. at Miami, FTX Arena (Miami, FL) 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 14 Fri. vs. Atlanta, Legacy Arena (Birmingham, AL) 7:00 p.m.
The Boston Celtics will open preseason action at TD Garden against the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, October 2, as part of the team’s four-game exhibition slate for the 2022-23 NBA season, the team announced today.
Boston’s preseason schedule continues at TD Garden when the Celtics face the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, October 5.
The Celtics will then travel to North Carolina’s Greensboro Coliseum for the team’s second matchup with the Hornets (Friday, October 7), before concluding the preseason in Montreal against the Raptors as part of the NBA’s Canada Series (Friday, October 14).
The Toronto Raptors have signed forward Gabe Brown.
Brown, 6-foot-8, 215 pounds, was selected to the All-Big Ten Third Team last season after averaging 11.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 28.9 minutes in 36 games (all starts) as a senior at Michigan State. He shot .428 (143-334) from the field, including .382 (73-191) from three-point range, and scored in double figures 26 times with three 20-point outings. Brown scored a season-high 24 points (7-17 FG, 6-13 3PT, 4-4 FT) Dec. 29 vs. High Point.
A native of Ypsilanti, Michigan, Brown averaged 7.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 20.1 minutes in 124 career games (57 starts) during four seasons (2018-22) with the Spartans.
The Detroit Pistons have signed forward Kevin Knox and re-signed guard Rodney McGruder.
Knox, 6-7, 215, suited up for the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks in 2021-22, totaling 3.1 points and 1.5 rebounds in 7.4 minutes over 30 games. Knox played in two games for the Hawks in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, recording double-digit scoring in both outings while shooting .636 from the floor and .600 from distance in postseason action.
The Phoenix native was traded on Jan. 13 of this previous season from New York to Atlanta after spending three-plus NBA seasons with the Knicks. In his rookie campaign with New York in 2018-19, Knox tallied clips of 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 28.8 minutes through 75 games (57 starts). He holds career averages of 7.7 points and 2.9 rebounds in 18.9 minutes over 212 NBA games (61 starts).
Drafted ninth overall by New York in the 2018 NBA Draft, Knox played collegiately for one season at Kentucky where he earned SEC Rookie of the Year while being named to the SEC All-Freshman and All-SEC Tournament First Team in 2017-18.
McGruder, 6-4, 205, has averaged 5.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 14.1 minutes through 67 games (four starts) for Detroit from 2020-22. McGruder holds shooting clips of .458 from the field and .406 from 3-point range while with the Pistons over the last two seasons. His 3-point shooting percentage marks the fifth-highest in Pistons history by a player with a minimum of 150 3-point attempts. The six-year NBA veteran was originally acquired by Detroit from the L.A. Clippers via a three-team trade also involving the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 19, 2020.
Following a four-year career at Kansas State where he was selected to All-Big 12 teams three times, McGruder made his NBA debut for the Miami HEAT on Oct. 26, 2016. He went on to play three seasons for Miami before suiting up for the Clippers for the 2019-20 campaign. He has posted career averages of 5.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 19.8 minutes over 285 NBA games (120 starts) and has played in nine NBA Playoff contests across two playoff appearances, one with each of his former teams.
BOSTON CELTICS TEAM STATEMENT ON THE PASSING OF BILL RUSSELL
To be the greatest champion in your sport, to revolutionize the way the game is played, and to be a societal leader all at once seems unthinkable, but that is who Bill Russell was.
Bill was a champion unlike any other in the history of team sports – an 11-time NBA champion, including winning eight consecutive titles, a five-time MVP, an Olympic Gold Medalist and the NBA’s first Black head coach.
Bill Russell‘s DNA is woven through every element of the Celtics organization, from the relentless pursuit of excellence, to the celebration of team rewards over individual glory, to a commitment to social justice and civil rights off the court.
Our thoughts are with his family as we mourn his passing and celebrate his enormous legacy in basketball, Boston, and beyond.
STATEMENT FROM WYC GROUSBECK, STEVE PAGLIUCA AND THE BOSTON CELTICS OWNERSHIP GROUP
Bill embodied character and commitment and he was truly one of the finest people to ever live. He will be remembered forever and deservedly so.
STATEMENT FROM NBA COMMISSIONER ADAM SILVER
“Bill Russell was the greatest champion in all of team sports. The countless accolades that he earned for his storied career with the Boston Celtics – including a record 11 championships and five MVP awards – only begin to tell the story of Bill’s immense impact on our league and broader society.
“Bill stood for something much bigger than sports: the values of equality, respect and inclusion that he stamped into the DNA of our league. At the height of his athletic career, Bill advocated vigorously for civil rights and social justice, a legacy he passed down to generations of NBA players who followed in his footsteps. Through the taunts, threats and unthinkable adversity, Bill rose above it all and remained true to his belief that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity.
“For nearly 35 years since Bill completed his trailblazing career as the league’s first Black head coach, we were fortunate to see him at every major NBA event, including the NBA Finals, where he presented the Bill Russell Trophy to the Finals MVP.
“I cherished my friendship with Bill and was thrilled when he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I often called him basketball’s Babe Ruth for how he transcended time. Bill was the ultimate winner and consummate teammate, and his influence on the NBA will be felt forever. We send our deepest condolences to his wife, Jeannine, his family and his many friends.”
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Per ESPN.com, “a five-time MVP and 12-time All-Star, Russell was an uncanny shot blocker who revolutionized NBA defensive concepts. He finished with 21,620 career rebounds — an average of 22.5 per game — and led the league in rebounding four times. He had 51 rebounds in one game and 49 in two others and posted 12 straight seasons with 1,000 or more rebounds. Russell also averaged 15.1 points and 4.3 assists per game over his career.”
The Minnesota Timberwolves have signed forward Eric Paschall to a two-way contract.
Paschall, 6-6, spent last season with the Utah Jazz where he averaged 5.8 points on 48.5% shooting and 1.8 rebounds per game in 58 games (three starts). During his rookie campaign with the Golden State Warriors in 2019-20, he saw action in 60 games (26 starts) and averaged a career-best 14.0 points on 49.7% shooting, a career-high 4.6 rebounds and a career-best 2.1 assists. He was named to the 2019-20 NBA All-Rookie team following his play during his first season. In three seasons with the Jazz and Warriors, Paschall has tallied 1,552 points and 509 rebounds.
The North Tarrytown, N.Y. native spent his final three collegiate seasons at Villanova after beginning his career at Fordham University, winning the National Championship with the Wildcats in the 2017-18 season. Paschall ended his college career with averages of 12.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
Paschall was originally selected by the Warriors with the 41st overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Per the Minneapolis Star Tribune, “the Wolves used their first two-way slot to sign guard A.J. Lawson, who spent last season with Atlanta’s G-League team.”