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Nate Robinson out 4-6 weeks after knee surgery

Nate Robinson out 4-6 weeks after knee surgery

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Nate Robinson underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right knee the team announced today.

The 5-9 guard first experienced discomfort in the knee following the team’s practice on Monday. After deliberation, Robinson and the team made the decision to proactively address the situation.

“After consulting with our medical team, we have decided this is the best course of action to resolve the issue with certainty, and have Nate back on the court as we enter into the final stages of the season,” said Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

Robinson is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

The University of Washington product has appeared in one game form the Thunder, since being acquired on February 24th, scoring six points in eight minutes of action.

Spurs sign Othyus Jeffers to 10-day contract

The San Antonio Spurs today announced they have signed guard/forward Othyus Jeffers (pronounced oh-THEE-us) from the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League to a 10-day contract.  Jeffers is the 11th call-up of the 2010-11 D-League season.

Jeffers, a 6-5 guard/forward, has appeared in 37 games with the Energy this season, averaging 21.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.95 steals in 38.4 minutes while shooting .480 (276-575) from the field, .295 (13-44) from three-point range and .741 (22-293) from the foul line.  He’s led the Energy to a D-League best 30-10 record, reaching double figures in scoring in all 37 games he’s appeared in.  Jeffers has registered 17 double-doubles on the season, including a 32 point, 18 rebound performance at Tulsa on Nov. 26.

Last season Jeffers started the year off with Iowa before getting called up by the Utah Jazz.  He spent the remainder of the season with Utah appearing in 14 games, averaging 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds in 5.1 minutes per game.  He also appeared in six playoff games for the Jazz seeing 14 minutes of action.  Prior to his call-up, Jeffers averaged 14.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.77 steals in 29.2 minutes while shooting .510 (124-243) from the field.

A native of Chicago, Jeffers was originally selected by the Iowa Energy in the third round (47th overall) of the 2008 D-League Draft. In his first year with Iowa (2008-09), he led the Energy to the playoffs and was named the 2009 D-League Rookie of the Year, in addition to being a D-League All-Star selection. Jeffers was also chosen to play for the D-League Select Team in the 2009 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, where he averaged 20.5 points and 7.0 rebounds.

Jeffers concluded his collegiate career at Robert Morris University in Chicago (24.0 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game) earning The Sporting News NAIA Player of the Year and Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors. He preceded his one season at RMU with two seasons at Illinois-Chicago (13.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game) and one season at Los Angeles Southwest College (22.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game).

Jeffers will wear No. 12 for the Silver and Black and will be available for tonight’s game vs. Miami.

Spurs sign Steve Novak for rest of season

The San Antonio Spurs today announced they have signed forward Steve Novak for the remainder of the season.  Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.  Novak originally joined the Silver and Black on February 8 signing a 10-day contract becoming the eighth call-up of the 2010-11 NBA Development League season.

Novak, a 6-10 forward, has appeared in eight games for the Spurs, averaging 2.5 points in 6.1 minutes per game, while shooting .462 (6-13) from the field and .444 (4-9) from three-point territory.

Prior to joining the Spurs, Novak appeared in two games with the Reno Bighorns, averaging 18.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in 29.5 minutes, while shooting .684 (13-19) from the field and .643 (9-14) from three-point range. Earlier this season, Novak averaged 1.6 points in 2.6 minutes in seven games with the Dallas Mavericks. Overall, he has appeared in 210 career games with Houston, the L.A. Clippers, Dallas and San Antonio with averages of 3.9 points in 9.7 minutes per game. For his career, he is shooting .436 (295-677) from the field and .406 (195-480) from three-point land.

Clippers re-assign Willie Warren to D-League

The Los Angeles Clippers today announced that they have re-assigned rookie guard Willie Warren to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League.

Warren, 21, has appeared in 19 games with the Clippers this season and is averaging 1.9 points and 1.4 assists in 7.1 minutes per game.

The former Oklahoma University standout was originally assigned to Bakersfield on Feb. 2 and appeared in six games with the Jam, averaging 21.0 points, 7.0 assists 5.3 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 46 percent from 3-point land. The Jam went 5-1 with Warren in the lineup from Feb. 4 – 16.

Warren was selected by the Clippers in the second round (54th overall pick) of the 2010 NBA Draft.

Leon Powe may join Grizzlies

Leon Powe may join Grizzlies

By Jeff Lenchiner

Free agent forward Leon Powe may soon become the newest member of the Memphis Grizzlies.

According to a tweet from David Aldridge of NBA.com and TNT/Turner, a source of Aldridge says Powe and the Grizzlies have come to an agreement.

The 6-8, 240-pound Powe has a career average of 6.3 points and 4.0 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game.

Injuries have hampered Powe throughout his NBA career, especially in recent years. He played just 20 games in 2009-10 and only 14 so far this season.

Patty Mills keeps pushing to raise money for Australian flood victims

Joe Freeman of The Oregonian reports:

The devastating floods that wreaked havoc throughout Australia have slowly disappeared from the daily news cycle, but Patty Mills’ efforts to raise money and awareness about the plight of his homeland is just hitting its stride.

Mills teamed with the Blazers to raise nearly $5,700 through a variety of fund-raising efforts in January. Now, through a grass roots campaign to sell T-shirts that Mills helped create, the Australian point guard has set a new goal of raising $50,000 to aid his battered country.

“When you’re on the other side of the world, when you’re far away from your family and friends, you really feel helpless,” Mills said. “So I’m trying to do all I can to help out.”

Mills came up with the idea to sell T-shirts with friend Josh Unruh, a former South Salem and St. Mary’s basketball player who owns a T-shirt company (WheresMyShirt.com) that raises money for charities. Mills designed the shirt and the two made an initial batch of about 300 to sell at a women’s basketball game at St. Mary’s during the NBA All-Star break.

The shirts sold out.

“So we made some more,” Mills said. “We’ve just been getting batch after batch because they just keep going out.”

Joining Heat was easy decision for Mike Bibby

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports:

Joining Heat was easy decision for Mike Bibby

As Mike Bibby mulled where he wanted to play, the decision quickly became obvious.

“It was a clean choice,” the Heat’s new point guard said Thursday morning after participating in his first shootaround with Miami. “They’re on TV a lot and you’re just in awe of the way they play. It looks like everybody has the right attitude. You can tell the guys here have a winning mentality. Great chance to win a championship. I feel I could help this team.”

Bibby, who was traded from Atlanta to Washington last week, was asked if friends or family questioned his decision to give up all of his $6.2 million salary for next season as part of buyout terms with the Wizards.

“It’s not their decision to make,” said Bibby, who signed for the rest of the season at a prorated share of the $1.2 million veteran’s minimum. “I make the money. I decide what to do with it. It’s always tough to give up money. [But] this part of my career I want to be happy. This was the best place as far as winning.”

Mavericks sign Corey Brewer

Mavericks sign Corey Brewer

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed forward Corey Brewer. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Brewer (6-9, 188) was originally the seventh overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. He holds career averages of 9.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 25.7 minutes in 232 career games (147 starts) with Minnesota.

Brewer played in 79 games (35 starts) as a rookie for the Timberwolves in 2007-08, but sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament 15 games into 2008-09 campaign that cost him the remainder of the season. He returned for the 2009-10 season to start all 82 games and average career highs in points (13.0), rebounds (3.4), assists (2.4) and minutes per game (30.4).

Brewer has played in 56 games this season averaging 8.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.6 steals in 24.3 minutes before being traded to the New York Knicks as a part of the 12-player deal that also landed Carmelo Anthony in New York. Brewer joins the Mavericks after the Knicks requested waivers on him on Mar. 1.

The former University of Florida standout was a two-time national champion with the Gators in 2006 and 2007 and was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. In three years at Florida, Brewer also won three Southeastern Conference Championships to go along with two national titles and recorded the first triple-double in Florida basketball history on Dec. 18, 2005.

The native of Portland, Tenn., was a 2004 McDonald’s All-American after averaging 24.9 points and 12.8 rebounds in his senior season at Portland High School.

Brewer is also active with both the American Diabetes Association and Juvenile Diabetes Association to create awareness for the disease that has impacted his family.

Brewer will wear number 13 for the Mavericks.

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Trail Blazers assign Luke Babbitt to D-League

The Portland Trail Blazers have assigned rookie forward Luke Babbitt to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by General Manager Rich Cho.

Babbitt, 21, is averaging 1.1 points, 0.9 rebounds and 4.8 minutes over 21 games with the Trail Blazers.

Babbitt was assigned to the Stampede earlier this season on Dec. 8, posting averages of 18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 27.3 minutes in four games before The Trail Blazers recalled him on Dec. 18.

Babbitt is the 41st NBA player assigned to the D-League this season, and is one of two players assigned by the Trail Blazers (Armon Johnson, Jan. 28 – Feb. 22).

Portland acquired the University of Nevada-Reno product from Minnesota in a draft day trade on June 24, 2010.