Inside Hoops – Page 663 – NBA Blog

Bucks sign Axel Toupane to 10-day contract

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed guard Axel Toupane (tu-PON) to a 10-day contract, General Manager John Hammond announced today.

Toupane, 24, has appeared in 28 games with Raptors 905 of the NBA D-League this season and has posted averages of 16.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.2 steals in 27.6 minutes per game.

A native of France, Toupane also played with Raptors 905 for 32 games during the 2015-16 season and averaged 14.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists before signing a 10-day contract with the Denver Nuggets on March 3, 2016. He signed a second 10-day contract with the Nuggets on March 14 and then signed a multi-year contract on March 25. Toupane played in 21 games with Denver and averaged 3.6 points and 1.5 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game. He was waived by the Nuggets on Oct. 15.

Toupane played professionally for Strasbourg IG of the French Pro National Basketball League A from 2011 to 2015. He went undrafted in the 2014 NBA Draft.

Toupane will wear uniform number 6.

Milwaukee’s roster now stands at 15 players.

Pelicans sign Reggie Williams to 10-day contract

The New Orleans Pelicans, who waived injured forward Omri Casspi earlier today, have signed free agent guard Reggie Williams to a 10-day contract.

Williams, 6-6, 210, previously appeared in five games for New Orleans this season after being signed on December 10, averaging 5.0 points while shooting .500 from three-point range, and 1.2 rebounds in 12.6 minutes per game. Williams has appeared in 27 games this season for the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA Development League, averaging 18.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 33.3 minutes per contest.

Undrafted in 2008 out of Virginia Military Institute, Williams has appeared in 205 career regular season games with Golden State, Charlotte, Oklahoma City, San Antonio and New Orleans, averaging 7.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 18.1 minutes.

Williams will wear #5 and is available to play in tonight’s game at Dallas.

Pelicans waive Omri Casspi

The New Orleans Pelicans have waived forward Omri Casspi, who yesterday was diagnosed with a broken thumb and is out of action for the next 4-6 weeks.

Casspi, 6-9, 225, was acquired from Sacramento along with DeMarcus Cousins on February 20. In his Pelicans debut, Casspi recorded 12 points and two rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench. Casspi has appeared in 23 total games this season, averaging 6.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 18.3 minutes per contest.

Kristaps Porzingis ankle injury seems minor

Here’s NY Newsday with some good Knicks news:

After a disappointing trade deadline, Knicks fans got a little reprieve Friday afternoon when Kristaps Porzingis said doctors detected no structural damage to his sprained right ankle and that it’s possible he could play as soon as Monday.

“Feeling better,” he said. “There’s a lot of swelling, but I can walk around no problem and the swelling is going down, too.”

Asked about playing Monday, when the Knicks face the Raptors, he said he thought it was “a possibility.”

“Right now again, I don’t want to say anything that’s gonna get me in trouble,” Porzingis said. “I don’t want to say that I’ll play. But it all depends on them. If they see that I’m ready and I can go, then I’ll play, sure.”

Suns sign Ronnie Price for rest of season, waive Jared Sullinger and Mike Scott

The Phoenix Suns have signed guard Ronnie Price for the remainder of the season. The Suns have also waived forward Mike Scott and center/forward Jared Sullinger.

Currently in his third tenure with the Suns, Price has made two appearances since signing the first of two 10-day contracts with the team on Jan. 27.

A 12th-season NBA veteran, Price played with the Suns in 2015-16 and averaged a career-best 5.3 points while appearing in a career-high 62 games. In addition to last season, he averaged 3.6 points and 1.9 assists in 36 games with Phoenix in 2011-12. For his career, the 6-2, 190-pound point guard has averaged 3.8 points and 1.8 assists in 532 games with Sacramento, Utah, Phoenix, Portland, Orlando and the Los Angeles Lakers.

In the NBA’s 2016-17 GM Survey, the 33-year-old floor general tied with Suns forward Jared Dudley as each received the second-most votes in response to the question, “Which active player will make the best head coach someday?”

Undrafted out of college in 2005, the Friendswood, Texas native was a four-year performer at Utah Valley State College (now Utah Valley University) and the first player to enter the NBA directly from that school.

Scott and Sullinger were both acquired by the Suns in deals with Atlanta and Toronto, respectively, before the trade deadline yesterday.

The Suns’ roster now stands at 14 players

Hornets sign Johnny O`Bryant to 10-day contract

The Charlotte Hornets have signed forward Johnny O’Bryant to a 10-day contract. O’Bryant joins the Hornets from the NBA Development League’s Northern Arizona Suns, becoming the D-League’s 23rd Gatorade Call-Up this season. The Hornets roster now stands at 14 players.

This marks O’Bryant’s second Gatorade Call-Up of the year, after signing two consecutive 10-day contracts with the Nuggets on Jan. 26 and Feb. 6. The 6-9 O’Bryant saw action in seven games with Denver, averaging 2.9 points and 1.6 rebounds in 6.6 minutes per contest. He has also appeared in 25 games (all starts) for the D-League’s Northern Arizona Suns this season, owning averages of 18.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists, and was selected as a 2017 NBA D-League All-Star‎.

Originally selected with the 36th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, O’Bryant has appeared in 107 NBA games (19 starts) over three seasons with Milwaukee and Denver, with career averages of 3.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game.

A native of Cleveland, Miss., O’Bryant was a three-year collegiate player at Louisiana State (2011-14) and posted career averages of 12.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists. He earned All-SEC First Team accolades following the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

Omri Casspi out 4-6 weeks with thumb injury

New Orleans Pelicans forward Omri Casspi has been diagnosed with a right thumb fracture and will be sidelined 4-6 weeks. The injury occurred in the second half of New Orleans’ game against Houston last night at the Smoothie King Center.

Hawks suspend Dennis Schroder for one game

Atlanta Hawks guard Dennis Schröder has been suspended by the organization for one game without pay for failure to report to the team on time after the all-star break. He will serve his one-game suspension tonight when the Hawks host the Miami Heat.

“Dennis has played an important role for our team and been a significant contributor to our success this season,” President of Basketball Operations/Head Coach Mike Budenholzer said. “We are disappointed that he did not return to the team on time and we have discussed this with him. We look forward to him rejoining the team in Orlando tomorrow night.”

Hawks sign Ryan Kelly and Lamar Patterson to multi-year contracts

The Atlanta Hawks have signed forward Ryan Kelly and guard/forward Lamar Patterson to multi-year contracts, it was announced today by President of Basketball Operations/Head Coach Mike Budenholzer. Per team policy, terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

Kelly played in nine games earlier this season with the Hawks after signing on Oct. 31, 2016.

Patterson was signed to consecutive 10-day contracts on Jan. 29, 2017 and Feb. 8. He has appeared in four games with the Hawks this season.

Sixers trade Nerlens Noel to Mavericks for Andrew Bogut, Justin Anderson, pick

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have acquired forward-center Nerlens Noel from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for guard Justin Anderson, center Andrew Bogut and a 2017 protected first-round pick.

Noel (6-11, 220) holds career averages of 10.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.7 steals, 1.6 blocks and 28.3 minutes per game in 171 games (140 starts) with Philadelphia.

The third-year man out of Kentucky is averaging 8.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 0.9 blocks and 19.4 minutes per game in 29 games (seven starts) this season. He is shooting 61.1 percent (107-of-175) from the field this year.

A native of Malden, Mass., Noel was originally selected by the New Orleans Pelicans with the sixth overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. His rights were later traded to Philadelphia along with a future first-round pick in exchange for Jrue Holiday and Pierre Jackson.

In his lone season at Kentucky (2012-13), Noel averaged 10.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 2.1 steals, 4.4 blocks and 31.9 minutes per game en route to earning First Team All-SEC, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and SEC Rookie of the Year honors. On Jan. 29, 2013, Noel set the UK single-game record with 12 blocked shots in a victory over No. 16 Ole Miss.

Noel suffered a torn ACL in a game against the Florida Gators on Feb. 12, 2013, ending his 2012-13 season. Despite the injury, Noel declared for the 2013 NBA Draft following his freshman year. He missed the entire 2013-14 NBA season recovering from knee surgery.

As a rookie in 2014-15, Noel averaged 9.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.9 blocks and 30.8 minutes per game in 75 games (71 starts) while garnering NBA All-Rookie First Team honors.

The 22-year-old Noel was the top-rated player by both ESPNU recruiting and Scout.com coming out of high school and was rated the second-best prospect by Rivals.com. He will wear No. 3 with the Mavericks.

Anderson (6-6, 228) was drafted by Dallas with the 21st overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. In 106 games (11 starts) with the Mavericks, he averaged 5.1 points and 2.7 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game.

Bogut (7-0, 260) was acquired by Dallas along with a future second-round pick from the Golden State Warriors on July 7, 2016 in exchange for a future conditional second-round pick. He averaged 3.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.0 block and 22.4 minutes per game in 26 games (21 starts) with the Mavericks this season.