Inside Hoops – Page 673 – NBA Blog

Nicolas Batum out with hyperextended knee

Charlotte Hornets guard Nicolas Batum underwent a Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) today which confirmed the previous diagnosis of a hyperextended right knee. The MRI also showed that Batum withstood no structural damage to his knee.

Batum will be out for Charlotte’s game tomorrow at San Antonio and his status moving forward will be day-to-day. He suffered the injury with 4:48 remaining in the third quarter of the Hornets game at Detroit last night.

The 6-8 shooting guard is averaging career highs of 15.1 points and 5.8 assists per game, along with 7.4 rebounds per game in 36 appearances (all starts) in the 2016-17 season. In nine seasons, Batum holds career averages of 11.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game in 587 contests (534 starts).

Cavaliers and Trail Blazers trade draft picks

The Portland Trail Blazers have acquired an unprotected first round draft pick from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for a 2018 first round pick, it was announced today by president of basketball operations Neil Olshey.

The 2018 pick sent to Cleveland was originally acquired from the Cavaliers along with Anderson Varejao in exchange for a future second round selection on Feb. 18, 2016.

Portland now holds two first round selections in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Mavericks waive Pierre Jackson

The Dallas Mavericks have requested waivers on guard Pierre Jackson.

Jackson (5-11, 176) was originally signed by the Mavericks on December 27 and made his NBA debut that night against the Houston Rockets where he registered 7 points, 2 assists and 1 rebound in 11 minutes of action. Jackson averaged 3.0 points, 1.8 assists and 7.1 minutes in his 4 games with Dallas.

The Texas Legends call-up had appeared in 10 games (all starts) for the Mavericks’ D-League affiliate this season. He averaged 29.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.9 steals and 35.7 minutes per game while in Frisco.

Jackson holds career D-League averages of 25.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.7 steals and 36.9 minutes in 49 games (37 starts) with the Idaho Stampede and Texas Legends. On Feb. 4, 2014, he set the D-League single-game scoring record with 58 points against the Legends (Jordan McRae later broke it with a 61-point game in January 2016 and Russ Smith topped that with 65-point night in March 2016). Jackson was named to the Futures All-Star roster for the 2014 NBA D-League All-Star Game.

Long Island Nets add R.J. Hunter

The Long Island Nets, the NBA Development League affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets, have acquired guard R.J. Hunter off waivers.

Hunter (6’5”, 185) appeared in three games for the Chicago Bulls this season before being waived on December 29. In 39 career NBA games with Boston (2015-16) and Chicago (2016), Hunter recorded averages of 2.5 points and 1.0 rebounds in 8.3 minutes per contest. He has also appeared in 13 NBA D-League games between Boston’s affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, and Chicago’s affiliate, the Windy City Bulls, averaging 15.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals in 32.2 minutes per game. Hunter was originally selected by the Boston Celtics with the 28th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

Matt Bonner joins Spurs TV broadcast team as a studio analyst

Matt Bonner retires, joins Spurs TV broadcast team as a studio analyst

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that former Spurs forward Matt Bonner will join the TV broadcast team as a studio analyst. Bonner will team up with Andrew Monaco in the studio for all Spurs produced home broadcasts and select road contests. The Spurs host the Milwaukee Bucks at the AT&T Center on Tuesday, Jan. 10 and Bonner will make his Spurs TV debut on FOX Sports Southwest’s “Spurs Live” pre-game show at 7 p.m.

In addition to his pre and post-game show duties, the two-time NBA Champion will have a presence on Spurs digital properties.

Nuggets waive Alonzo Gee

The Denver Nuggets have waived forward Alonzo Gee, it was announced today by General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly.

Gee, 6-6, 225, signed with Denver on Nov. 16, 2016, appearing in 13 games and averaging 1.1 rebounds in 6.9 minutes. The seven-year NBA veteran has appeared in 417 career games (213 starts) for Washington, San Antonio, Cleveland, Portland, New Orleans and Denver posting averages of 6.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 21.8 minutes.

Dirk Nowitzki open to come off bench for Mavs

The Mavs are having a mess of a season. With an 11-25 record, through Thursday’s games they have the fourth worst record in the NBA, and the worst in the Western conference. Dirk Nowitzki, as legendary as he is, has declined. Here’s ESPN.com with more:

The sixth-leading scorer in NBA history would have no problem accepting a sixth-man role if it could help the Dallas Mavericks salvage their season.

Dirk Nowitzki starting at center, as Dallas has done recently with coach Rick Carlisle opting to bring Andrew Bogut off the bench, has not proved to be a solution for the Mavs. That starting five has the worst plus-minus of any Dallas lineup this season, getting outscored by 49 points in 48 minutes. The Mavs’ lineup with the best plus-minus features Bogut with the other four starters (plus-27 in 54 minutes).

Without hesitation, Nowitzki said he would be on board with coming off the bench while Bogut started when asked about the situation following Thursday’s 102-95 home loss to the Phoenix Suns that dropped Dallas (11-25) to last place in the Western Conference standings.

NBL Australia hopes to play vs NBA teams in preseason

NBL boss Larry Kestelman will fly to the United States next month to ramp up discussions with NBA officials about Australian teams playing pre-season games in the US.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, Kestelman confirmed his ambitious proposal for the NBL to take on the NBA’s best was well advanced.

His goal is for teams like Sydney and Melbourne to play pre-season matches against some of the NBA’s biggest franchises.

“We are having dialogue with the NBA and I won’t rest until we see the Sydney Kings playing the Warriors or the Chicago Bulls,” Kestelman said.

— Daily Telegraph

Jazz vs Cavs NBA virtual reality game broadcast

The Utah Jazz vs Cleveland Cavaliers home game on Tuesday, Jan. 10 will be broadcast live in virtual reality, as part of NBA Digital and NextVR’s season-long initiative to deliver weekly games in VR through NBA LEAGUE PASS.

This programming marks the first regular schedule of live games delivered in VR by a professional sports league.

The VR broadcasts are fully produced with dedicated announcers, multiple unmanned camera angles and optimized graphics. Game breaks are filled with in-venue entertainment, behind-the-scenes footage from the arena and VR-specific commentary.

“The Utah Jazz are excited to be featured in two virtual reality broadcasts by the NBA this season,” said Utah Jazz President Steve Starks. “We support the NBA’s drive forward in VR innovation and the capability of giving our global fan base courtside seats for Jazz games through technology.”

For local viewers, the VR broadcast of Utah-Cleveland game will be blacked out. More information on the NBA LEAGUE PASS VR Game of the Week is available at http://www.nba.com/vr.

The Utah Jazz game at Oklahoma City on Feb. 28 is also on the NBA VR broadcast schedule.

Sixers waive Hollis Thompson

The Philadelphia 76ers waived Hollis Thompson today.

Thompson appeared in 31 games this season and averaged six points, three rebounds and one assist in 18 minutes per game.

Thompson was originally signed by the Sixers on September 24, 2013 and appeared in 256 games (82 starts), posting averages of eight points, three rebounds and one assist on 42% shooting from the field in 24 minutes per game.

With the move, the Sixers roster currently stands at 14 players.