Inside Hoops – Page 479 – NBA Blog

Knicks sign guard Billy Garrett

The New York Knicks have signed guard Billy Garrett.

Garrett, 6-6, 210-pounds, appeared in three games for New York’s 2018 Summer League entry in Las Vegas and averaged 2.3 points over 9.4 minutes. He spent the 2017-18 season with the Westchester Knicks where he averaged 11.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals over 27.2 minutes in 50 games (14 starts). Garrett played four seasons (2013-17) at DePaul, posting 13.1 points, 3.5 assists and 2.7 rebounds over 29.2 minutes in 125 games (119 starts). He was named 2014 Big East Rookie of the Year.

Courtney Lee dealing with neck strain

Courtney Lee right now is dealing with a neck strain, but in general his future with the Knicks appears uncertain. It would not be a surprise to see him included in a trade. Not necessarily tomorrow or this week, but certainly in the next month or two. But for now, he’s a Knick. Here’s the New York Post on his current status:

Courtney Lee entered training camp having to prove he’s worth a rotation spot despite not being a big part of the team’s future.

Lee celebrated his 33rd birthday Wednesday and he’s had better ones. Still suffering from a neck strain he picked up on the third day of training camp practices last Thursday night, Lee sat out his second straight preseason game.

Lee hasn’t practiced since the injury occurred following a hard foul by Ron Baker that threw him into the basket stanchion.

The Knicks are still in a state of rebuild. They do have some talented rookies worth keeping an eye on, and we’ll be doing exactly that.

Arena in Detroit no longer accepts paper tickets

Paper tickets are apparently now as worthless as the paper they’re printed on, at least for Detroit pro basketball and hockey games, according to the Detroit Free Press, as quoted below:

If you’re going to a Detroit Red Wings or Detroit Pistons game at Little Caesars Arena, whoever has your tickets better not forget their phone.

That’s because the LCA, which opened a season ago, will no longer accept paper tickets for Wings or Pistons games.

This announcement came during the summer and may have flown under the radar, but now as the NHL and NBA have returned, you need to know that Ticketmaster’s mobile ticketing technology will be used at the doors of the new arena.

Regardless of how any of us feel about this move, it’s the wave of the future and is bound to happen sooner or later at other arenas in the coming years. Ideally, some sort of safeguard comes to exist in case somebody does forget their phone, or if their phone battery dies, etc, though.

Sixers flight overseas took almost 22 hours

The Sixers just spent a tremendous amount of time on airplanes. Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting:

The team’s flight from Philadelphia to the world’s most populated city took 21 hours, 38 minutes because of a snow storm in Calgary. The plane made a scheduled stop in the Canadian city for gas. However, the Sixers were delayed three hours there because of the weather.

The Sixers were scheduled to arrive at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, Shanghai time. However, they didn’t get here until midday.

“As crazy as it was for others, I was actually doing work and fell asleep,” coach Brett Brown said of the flight. “And I was a bit surprised when you felt the plane take off again, and I did wake up and saw a Sunoco sign when I thought we were over the South Pacific.

“Other than that, it was a long trip.”

China is an important basketball market for the entire world and especially the NBA, but I have to wonder how it affects players to take a trip like that. Obviously there’s no long term effect, so it’s not a huge deal. And on the positive side, aside from promoting the league in general, the teams that do make the trip, and of course some of the individual stars on those teams, probably gain a nice amount of new international fans.

Knicks sign forward Phillip Carr

The New York Knicks have signed forward Phillip Carr.

It’s probably just a non-guaranteed deal that will end during or at the conclusion of preseason.

Carr, 6-8, 190-pounds, played three seasons (2015-18) at Morgan State University, posting 13.4 points and 8.5 rebounds over 32.9 minutes in 87 games (85 starts). Carr was named to the All-MEAC First Team, twice (2017-18) and was named MEAC Defensive Player of the Year during his junior season.

Hawks waive Cole Aldrich

The Atlanta Hawks waived center Cole Aldrich today.

The team originally signed him on September 18, 2018. He was signed for training camp purposes and was a longshot to make the regular season roster.

The 6-foot-11, 253-pound center, a lottery pick in the 2010 NBA draft, has played for the Thunder, Rockets, Kings, Knicks, Clippers and Timberwolves. In the 2017-18 season for Minnesota, Aldrich received just 2.3 minutes per game of playing time. He could latch on with another team, but that’s no guarantee.

Jerryd Bayless out with knee sprain

Philadelphia 76ers guard Jerryd Bayless suffered a sprain of the posterolateral corner in his left knee during practice on Sunday, September 30. He is out and will begin treatment immediately.

The clinical evolution of rehabilitation will determine his return to competition, and he will be re-evaluated in approximately three to four weeks.

Starters for this upcoming season in the Sixers backcourt will definitely be Ben Simmons and probably JJ Redick. Bayless is in the mix for backup minutes, but it’s crowded in the guard spot on that bench.

The big question in regard to Sixers guard this season is if Markelle Fultz will emerge.

Timberwolves announce promotions and additions to basketball staff

The Minnesota Timberwolves have made some additions and promotions in their basketball staff, promoting Todd Checovich to Scout/General Manager of the Iowa Wolves, Nick Restifo to Senior Basketball Operations Analyst and Troy Sutton to Head Strength and Conditioning Coach.

The team has also named Cole Fisher as Basketball Operations Analyst, Kurt Joseph as Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach and Danny Wilson as Assistant Equipment Manager.

Checovich enters his sixth season with the Timberwolves after spending the last two years as Manager of Basketball Operations where he helped coordinate the team’s college scouting efforts in preparation for the NBA Draft. Prior to joining Minnesota, he spent one season as Basketball Operations Intern with the Maine Red Claws. Originally from New Hampshire, Checovich played four years of collegiate basketball at Colgate University before earning his law degree from Villanova University School of Law.

Restifo originally joined the Timberwolves in January 2017 as a Basketball Operations Analyst. Prior to joining the Wolves, he was an Associate Data Scientist, Advanced Analytics at Darden Restaurants while also spending time as a writer for NylonCalculus.com and as a Basketball Analytics Coordinator at the University of New Haven.

Sutton is entering his third season with the Timberwolves, first in his position as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach after serving as the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach the previous two seasons. His 14+ year career has included stops with Northwestern and Ohio State, most recently serving as the Assistant Director of Sports Performance at Northwestern under Head Strength Coach Jay Hooten.

Fisher joins Minnesota’s analytics staff after internships with the Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors over the last year. In addition, Fisher has also created a web application to help accurately predict future NBA success for current G League players, as well as other web applications.

Joseph joins the Timberwolves after spending last season as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s G League affiliate. Prior to joining the Wolves, Joseph was a weight room assistant with the New York Knicks, where his duties consisted of aiding in team practice, implementing the strength and conditioning program, implementing all prehab and corrective exercise protocols as directed.

Wilson spent the last two seasons as the Head Equipment/Clubhouse Manager for the Saint Paul Saints. Wilson has also served as a Locker Room Assistant during Timberwolves home games since 2000, assisting both the home and visiting teams and referees with their needs before, during and after games.

Nice preseason start for Knicks rookies

For NBA veterans, preseason is mostly a warmup. A time to loosen up and get the joints moving again. But for rookies, it’s a bit more serious. First-year players need to prove themselves worthy of regular season minutes, and until they do that most of them will be sitting watching the vets do their thing.

Here’s the New York Post with preseason debut notes on the Knicks rookies:

The Knicks went 3-for-3 in Washington D.C. during their preseason opener. Not from the field — but with their rookie showings, and that is what general manager Scott Perry’s 2018-19 vision is mostly about after running his first draft as chief operator.

Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson and Allonzo Trier all excelled in different ways.

Knox, their lottery pick who could make a bid for Rookie of the Year, hit the defensive glass with panache, after which he pushed the pace in point-forward fashion and wound up with a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds).

Robinson, in the center of the storm, didn’t back down from Wizards’ feisty veteran Markieff Morris. That led to Morris’ ejection and crybaby act in the locker room after the Knicks’ 124-118 overtime victory. A Knicks security man was seen entering the Wizards locker room with a Washington staffer, ostensibly to ensure Morris didn’t escalate matters.

And a usual yearly reminder is, don’t judge any rookies based on just a couple of games, let alone one game, let alone one preseason game. It’s all a process.

LeBron James makes Lakers preseason debut

LeBron James really is a Laker. It wasn’t all a dream.

In his first-ever preseason game in a Lakers jersey, James started alongside a backcourt of Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and frontcourt of Brandon Ingram and JaVale McGee. The Lakers lost, 124-107 to the Nuggets, but the far bigger story is simply that the Lakers’ LeBron era has begun.

As with all teams who underwent big offseason changes, the Lakers’ preseason will likely be filled with lineup and rotational experiments, and very limited playing time for James, who in this game played just 15 minutes, shooting 2-of-6 for nine points, three rebounds and three assists.

Standing out among Lakers starters was McGee, who shot 8-of-10 for 17 points and seven rebounds in just 20 minutes. The regular season starting center job could go to him, or to James or another forward. Right now, anything seems possible at that spot.

In the win for Denver, forward Juan Hernangomez came off the bench and put up 19 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Starting guard Jamal Murray scored 18. And Mason Plumlee contributed an impressive 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists in just 19 minutes.