Inside Hoops – Page 705 – NBA Blog

Bulls add J.J. Avila, Vince Hunter, D`Vauntes Smith-Rivera and Thomas Walkup to training camp

The Bulls have signed free agents J.J. Avila, Vince Hunter, D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera and Thomas Walkup to round out their 2016-17 training camp roster.

Avila (6-8, 250) played two seasons (2010-11, 2011-12) at Navy before transferring to Colorado State for his final two seasons (2013-14, 2014-15). He saw action in 115 games (103 starts) in his four-year career and posted 15.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.8 apg and 1.60 spg in 31.5 mpg. As a senior in 2014-15, he was the only player in NCAA Division I to average better than 16.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 2.5 apg and 2.00 spg while shooting better than .550 from the floor.

Hunter (6-8, 200) appeared in 32 games for the Reno Bighorns during his rookie season and averaged 21.8 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 1.4 apg and 1.00 spg in 31.9 mpg. During his college career at UTEP, he played in 67 games and averaged 13.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.5 apg and 1.00 spg in 27.1 mpg.

Smith-Rivera (6-3, 215) appeared in 120 games with Georgetown and posted averages of 14.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.0 apg and 1.27 spg in 32.7 mpg. In his final season, he scored in double digits 28 times, 20-plus points eight times and 30-plus points twice, and was named Second Team All-Big East.

Walkup (6-4, 195) appeared in 135 games with Stephen F. Austin and posted 12.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.9 apg and 1.30 spg in 26.2 mpg. In his senior season, he averaged 18.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 4.5 apg and 2.09 spg en route to being named an Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention.

Chicago’s roster now stands at 19.

Celtics add Marcus Georges-Hunt, Damion Lee, Jalen Jones to training camp

The Celtics have signed guards Marcus Georges-Hunt and Damion Lee, as well as forward Jalen Jones to their training camp roster.

Georges-Hunt played in four contests for the Brooklyn Nets in the 2016 Las Vegas Summer League and averaged 2.8 points and 1.0 rebound in 13.3 minutes per game. As a senior at Georgia Tech, the 6’5” guard averaged 16.7 points while shooting 45.4 percent from the field, 3.4 rebounds and a team-high 3.3 assists per game. Georges-Hunt rose to No. 11 on Tech’s all-time scoring list (1,728 points) during the 2015-16 season after beginning the year as 35th.

Lee appeared in six games for the Miami Heat during the Las Vegas Summer League and averaged 10.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in 21.3 minutes per game. The 6’6” guard played for the Louisville Cardinals during the 2015-16 season, where he averaged 15.9 points on 42.8 percent shooting from the field, 1.9 assists and 3.9 rebounds in 33.6 minutes per game. Prior to playing at Louisville, Lee attended Drexel University and was the nation’s fourth-leading scorer as a junior while averaging 21.4 points per game.

Jones played in five contests for the Toronto Raptors during the Las Vegas Summer League and averaged 3.2 points and 2.0 rebounds in 8.8 minutes per game. During his senior year at Texas A&M, the 6’7” forward averaged 15.3 points on 42.5 percent shooting from the field and 7.2 rebounds. Jones earned first-team All-SEC honors from both the league’s coaches and the Associated Press for the 2015-16 season.

A glance at the Grizzlies

Here’s the Memphis Commercial Appeal with the big picture on the 2016-17 Grizzlies, who as usual enter the season looking like a squad who should continue to make the playoffs, but not compete for a championship:

This week, the Grizzlies’ longtime “core four” of Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Zach Randolph and Tony Allen will embark upon their seventh season together, during which they’ve never missed the playoffs, an active post-season streak that only the San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks can top.

That continuity could be due for some disruption this season. Versatile, sweet-shooting forward Chandler Parsons, whom the Grizzlies lured over the summer with a four-year max contract, is the biggest free agent signing in franchise history and will immediately challenge the team’s pecking order. When he plays, that is.

Parsons will partner with Conley and Gasol in what the Grizzlies hope will be a new kind of core going forward, one predicated on more shooting, versatility and offensive skill level than that to which the “grit and grind” Grizzlies have grown accustomed.

This shifting style will be led by a new coach in David Fizdale, the former Miami Heat lead assistant, whom the team tapped after dismissing Dave Joerger, a successful coach who was never quite on the same page with the team’s front office.

Josh Richardson making progress in recovery

Here’s the Palm Beach Post Blog with an update on a key young member of the Heat:

Josh Richardson is making progress.

The 23-year-old guard suffered a partially torn MCL in his right knee in a voluntary workout on Sept. 9 and said he expected the injury to keep him out for six to eight weeks. Richardson is now entering the next phase of his recovery, as he had his knee brace removed Friday just in time to travel to Knoxville to watch Tennessee, his alma mater, defeat the Gators on Saturday.

“The update is his brace was removed on Friday and he was able to go to the Tennessee-Florida game on Saturday,” coach Erik Spoelstra said at media day on Monday. “After that win, I immediately texted him saying you better not even think about charging that field. But he was able to move around. He’s excited to get the brace off.”

Clippers sign Xavier Munford and Dorell Wright to training camp roster

The Clippers announced their 2016-17 training camp roster today. The team signed free agents Dorell Wright and Xavier Munford to complete the roster with 17 players.

Munford, a 2016 D-League All-Star, spent last season with the Bakersfield Jam and the Memphis Grizzlies. Undrafted in the 2014 NBA Draft out of Rhode Island, Munford appeared in 51 games for Bakersfield in 2014-15, averaging 11.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.0 steals per game.

Wright, the 19th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat, has spent 12 seasons in the NBA with Miami, Golden State, Philadelphia and Portland. In 549 career games (222 starts), the Los Angeles native has averages of 8.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists. Wright spent last season in the Chinese Basketball Association playing for the Beikong Fly Dragons before signing with the Heat to close the season. In 37 games for the Dragons, he averaged 24.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

Wright’s best statistical NBA season was in 2010-11 as a member of the Warriors when he averaged career-highs of 16.4 points, 5.3 rebounds. 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals in 82 games (all starts).

The Clippers’ training camp roster currently stands at 17 players.

Pistons enter season with very young roster

The Pistons are built around Reggie Jackson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Marcus Morris, Stanley Johnson, Tobias Harris and Andre Drummond. A good, fun group. And a very young squad. Here’s Michigan Live reporting:

The Detroit Pistons enter training camp Tuesday one of two NBA teams with everyone on the roster under the age of 30.

Now, there are benefits to that, like team-friendly contracts and getting players on the upswing of their careers. When it’s difficult to land a big-name free agent, like it is for Detroit, you go with youth.

But it also leaves a void in the locker room, one the Pistons are trying to figure out, president-coach Stan Van Gundy said Friday during a media luncheon at the Palace.

“We don’t have a guy that has ever been in that situation in the league, a guy that people look to,” Van Gundy said. “We don’t have the old, grizzled veterans.”

Timberwolves basketball staff hirings

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced additions to the team’s basketball staff for the 2016-17 NBA season, naming Noah Croom as Assistant General Manager, Brian Pauga as Director of Player Personnel and John Carideo, Jim Eyen, Drew Nicholas, Scott Roth and Jim Todd as Scouts. The team also named Matthew Duhamel as Director of Athletic Therapy, Pierre Nesbit as Assistant Athletic Trainer and Troy Sutton as Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach.

The team also announced the following staff have been appointed to various positions within the organization: Calvin Booth as Director of Pro Personnel, Matt Bollero as Pro Personnel Scout, David Crewe as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach/Assistant Athletic Trainer, Emmanuel Rohan as Director of Basketball Administration, Todd Checovich as Manager of Basketball Operations and Rachel Saunders as Manager of Team Services.

Croom comes to Minnesota after serving as Legal Counsel and Agent for Goodwin Sports Management (GSM) since 2002. Prior to joining GSM, Noah held positions at Latham & Watkins, a New York City based law firm, the National Basketball Association and the Vancouver Grizzlies. He served as Assistant General Manager and Legal Counsel for the Grizzlies, where he negotiated all player and coach contracts and represented the team in its dealings with the NBA league office.

Pauga spent the last nine seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, including taking over as Director of Scouting in 2012 and General Manager of the NBA D-League’s Austin Spurs in 2013. He started with the Spurs as a Basketball Operations Intern in July 2007 before earning a promotion to Basketball Operations Assistant in 2008. Before joining San Antonio, he worked as a student manager with the Michigan State men’s basketball team from 2003-07, including the Spartans’ 2005 Final Four squad.

Carideo has served as a Scout for NBA teams since 2001, including stops with the Denver Nuggets (2001-09), Charlotte Bobcats (2009-10) and New Orleans Pelicans (2010-16). Before joining the NBA, Carideo spent time as the Head Coach for the Trenton Shooting Stars of the IBL and was an Assistant Coach for various IBL and USBL teams, including winning the 1999 USBL Championship with the Atlantic City Seagulls.

Eyen has more than 26 years of NBA experience with over 30 years of combined coaching, consulting and scouting experience. He most recently served as an Assistant Coach for the Los Angeles Lakers from 2014-16, his second stint with the Lakers. He has also coached with the Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings.

Nicholas won the NCAA National Championship with Maryland in 2002 and reached the Final Four twice in his collegiate career. He played professionally for 10 years internationally, including winning the Euroleague Championship in both 2009 and 2011. His international career saw him play in a number of countries, including Greece, Italy, Russia, Spain and Turkey before his retirement in 2013. Since retiring as a player, Nicholas has served as an analyst for a variety of media outlets and coached youth basketball.

Roth returns to Minnesota as a Scout after playing for the Timberwolves in 1989-90, the team’s inaugural season. As a coach, he has served as an assistant on five NBA coaching staffs: Dallas, Detroit, Golden State, Memphis/Vancouver and Toronto as well as stints with four different national teams. Roth had a three-year NBA playing career with stops in Minnesota, San Antonio and Utah before playing internationally until 1994.

Todd has worked as an Assistant Coach for six different NBA teams over 15+ years, most recently as an Assistant to Mike Woodson with the New York Knicks from 2012-14. Todd’s career has also included stops with the Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors.

Duhamel joins Minnesota as Director of Athletic Therapy after spending six years with the Minnesota Vikings as an Assistant Athletic Trainer/Physical Therapist. Prior to his time with the Vikings, he worked as an Intern with the New England Patriots’ medical staff. Duhamel earned his undergraduate degree in Athletic Training from Northeastern University where he worked with the football and men’s basketball teams, before earning his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Boston University.

Nesbit begins his first season with the Timberwolves as Assistant Athletic Trainer. Prior to coming to Minnesota, he most recently worked as a Seasonal Assistant Athletic Trainer for the New England Patriots during the team’s run to the 2016 AFC Championship Game. Nesbit received his Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from Purdue University in 2013 before graduating from Auburn University with a Masters of Education in Exercise Science with an emphasis in Biomechanics in 2015.

Sutton enters his first year with Minnesota as Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach after most recently serving as the Assistant Director of Sports Performance at Northwestern University over the last four years. Sutton’s professional experience also includes time at Ohio State University, Arizona State University and Ohio University. Sutton received his Bachelor of Science in Sport and Leisure Studies from Ohio State University in 2004 before earning his Master of Science in Health and Human Sciences from Ohio University in 2005.

Timberwolves hire Andy Greer and Rick Brunson as assistant coaches

The Timberwolves on Sunday announced additions to the team’s coaching staff for the 2016-17 NBA season, naming Andy Greer and Rick Brunson as Assistant Coaches, Peter Patton as Shooting Coach, Daisuke Yoshimoto as Special Assistant to the President of Basketball Operations and promoting Vince Legarza to Player Development Coach. Ryan Saunders will also continue in his capacity as Assistant Coach.

Greer joins the Timberwolves after spending last season as an Assistant with the Toronto Raptors under Dwane Casey. Before joining the Raptors, Greer spent five seasons on Head Coach Tom Thibodeau’s staff in Chicago. Greer’s NBA resume also includes Assistant positions with the Memphis Grizzlies (2007-09), Houston Rockets (2003-07) and New York Knicks (2001-03), and Scout for the Portland Trail Blazers (2009-10).

Brunson is entering his third season coaching under Coach Thibodeau, previously serving as an Assistant Coach in Chicago from 2010-12. He got his start in the NBA coaching ranks as an Assistant with Denver in 2007 before stops in Chicago and Charlotte (2012-13). A nine-year NBA veteran, he played with seven different teams from 1997-2006, including playing in New York (1998-2000) and Houston (2005-06) when Thibodeau served as an Assistant Coach.

Legarza is entering his second season with the Timberwolves, originally joining the team prior to last season as Player Development Assistant/Player Development Video Coordinator. A San Francisco native, he spent two seasons in the Atlanta Hawks’ Basketball Operations/Player Development departments before coming to Minnesota. Prior to joining the NBA ranks, Legarza spent five years playing at Miami University, including serving as Captain of the squad for three seasons.

Patton has been teaching basketball for over 20 years, including learning the craft of shooting under San Antonio Spurs Assistant Coach Chip Engelland. A four-year graduate at DePaul, Patton never missed a game in college and set the DePaul single-season three-point percentage record as a junior (54.1%), a mark that still stands.

Yoshimoto joins the Timberwolves after spending last season in Denver as Video Coordinator. Before joining the Nuggets, he spent four seasons in Chicago as Video Coordinator under Thibodeau. Prior to starting his career with the New Jersey Nets, Yoshimoto served as Video Coordinator for the Ukraine National Team under the direction of Head Coach Mike Fratello.

Suns add four to training camp

The Suns on Sunday signed center Gracin Bakumanya (pronounced Gra-SOH BAH-koo-MAHN-yah), forward Derek Cooke Jr., guard Shaquille Harrison and forward Derrick Jones Jr., bringing the club’s roster to 19 players.

Bakumanya, a 6-11, 220-pound center, went undrafted in 2016 as an international early entry candidate. A native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the 19-year-old played the 2015-16 season with Antibes Espoirs, the training center for Antibes Sharks of LNB Pro A, the top-tier league in France. He averaged 14.3 points and 8.5 rebounds in 30 games with Antibes Espoirs, in addition to playing in two games with Antibes’ Pro A team. At NBA Summer League 2016, Bakumanya saw action in two contests with Houston.

Cooke, a 6-9, 220-pound forward, spent the 2015-16 season with the Suns’ NBA D League affiliate, then the Bakersfield Jam. In 47 games with the Jam, he averaged 4.8 points and 7.0 rebounds, including 3.1 offensive boards which tied for sixth in the league, in 23.4 minutes. Cooke was also a member of the Suns at NBA Summer League 2016, appearing in three games in Las Vegas. Prior to going undrafted in 2015, Cooke played three seasons at the University of Wyoming where he helped the Cowboys to a Mountain West Conference tournament title and NCAA tournament berth in 2014-15. As a senior in 2014-15, he averaged 8.1 points on 72.0 percent shooting and 5.8 rebounds.

Harrison, a 6-4, 185-pound guard, went undrafted this past summer following a successful four-year career at the University of Tulsa. A starter in all 133 games in his four years, he averaged 11.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals for his career, finishing second in program history with 461 career assists and third with 244 steals. As a senior in 2015-16, Harrison averaged career-highs of 15.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists as he was named the American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year. Harrison earned All-AAC Second Team honors in both his junior and senior seasons at Tulsa.

Jones, a 6-7, 190-pound forward, went undrafted in 2016 after playing one season at UNLV. The Runnin’ Rebels’ second-leading scorer in 2015-16, he averaged 11.5 points on 58.9 percent shooting and 4.5 rebounds in 30 games during his freshman season. Jones recorded four double-doubles at UNLV, including a career-high 26 points to go with 10 rebounds against Chaminade at the Maui Invitational. The 19-year-old was named the 2015 Southeastern Pennsylvania Player of the Year following his senior season at Archbishop John Carroll High School in Radnor, Pa.

Big expectations for Mavs this season

On paper, the Mavericks look pretty nice on both ends of the floor coming into the 2016-17 season. New small forward Harrison Barnes on offense is still learning his way, but on defense both he and new center Andrew Bogut know what they’re doing. Here’s the Fort Worth Star-Telegram with more:

Bogut and Barnes won an NBA title with Golden State in 2015, and were part of the Warriors’ contingent that set a single-season league record with 73 wins last season before ultimately losing to Cleveland in the NBA Finals. The Mavericks signed Barnes to a four-year, $94 million contract in July and acquired Bogut in a trade.

In effect, Bogut will replace Zaza Pachulia and Barnes will replace Chandler Parsons in the Mavericks’ starting lineup. Pachulia (one year, $2.9 million) and Parsons (four years, $94 million) eventually signed free-agent contracts with the Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies, respectively.

“Zaza and Chandler gave us a real nice presence at the center and small forward positions,” said Donnie Nelson, the Mavericks’ president of basketball operations. “But I think it was imperative for us to be younger and a little bit more athletic and defensive minded, and that’s certainly something that both Harrison and Andrew Bogut bring to the table.” …

Barnes (6-8, 225) will also have a refreshing change in that he’ll finally escape the shadows of Warriors’ All-Stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. The Mavericks are banking on that escape propelling Barnes — who won an Olympic gold medal last month — and his game to a new level.