Inside Hoops – Page 712 – NBA Blog

Inducting Allen Iverson into Hall of Fame will be team effort

Allen Iverson will soon be a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, and just like it took a team effort to contain him on the court, several people will share the responsibility discussing his accomplishments right before he officially joins the Hall. Here’s CSN Philly reporting:

Former Sixers coach Larry Brown, former Georgetown coach John Thompson and Sixers legend Julius Erving will all present A.I. before he’s inducted this Friday night in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Brown (class of 2002) took over the Sixers in 1997, Iverson’s second year in the NBA, and stayed with the team until 2003. During that time, Brown was widely known as one of the few people who could get through to Iverson, a well-known explosive personality during those years. The two teamed up to lead the Sixers to their most successful stretch in recent memory. That stretch included a trip to the 2001 NBA Finals and the 2001 league MVP for Iverson. Brown is known as a mentor to Iverson and the two are still close to this day.

Kings sign rookie guard Isaiah Cousins

The Kings have signed rookie guard Isaiah Cousins.

Drafted in the second round (59th overall) in the 2016 Draft by Sacramento out of Oklahoma, the 6-5 guard averaged 9.7 points (.408 FG%, .407 3pt%, .711 FT%), 3.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 27.7 minutes per game over 137 career contests in four seasons with the Sooners (2012-13 – 2015-16).

Stat-wise, Cousins was at his best as a senior, averaging career-bests in points (12.6 ppg), assists (4.5 apg), steals (1.4 spg) and minutes (33.3 mpg) while grabbing 4.5 rebounds a game, shooting 40.6 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from three-point range.

Doc Rivers unsure if Paul Pierce will keep playing

Clippers coach Doc Rivers still isn’t positive that Paul Pierce will play next season. More should be known later this month, as training camps approach. Here’s ESPN.com reporting:

“If I don’t think they can play, then I tell them that. But I think Paul can play,” Rivers said. “I don’t know how much he’ll play, but he can play. I’ve always thought it’s easy for someone else to tell you to retire; I think that’s something that the player has to come to by himself.”

Rivers reaffirmed that, should Pierce choose to retire, he’ll encourage him to sign a one-day contract with the Boston Celtics in order to retire as a member of the Celtics organization.

Raptors sign team president Masai Ujiri to contract extension

The Raptors on Friday signed President Masai Ujiri to a multi-year contract extension and promoted Jeff Weltman to general manager and Bobby Webster to assistant general manager/vice-president basketball strategy. Ujiri will continue to oversee basketball operations as president of the club.

“I am grateful to the Board and Mr. Tanenbaum for the opportunity to continue our progress to build the Raptors into one of the top franchises in the NBA,” said Ujiri. “I’m also excited that Jeff and Bobby are being rewarded for their hard work and valuable contributions to our program.

“My family thanks the NBA, Raptors players and coaches, staff, Raptors fans, the city of Toronto and Canada for this opportunity. Toronto is home for us.”

In their three seasons with the Raptors, Ujiri, Weltman and Webster have helped to build a team that has won three consecutive Atlantic Division titles, advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, posted three straight seasons with franchise-high victories, including 56 wins this past season, and compiled a 153-93 (.622) mark – the best record in the Eastern Conference in that span.

“The gratitude and respect we hold for Masai and our Raptors senior management team are reflected in our Board’s action to extend Masai’s contract,” said Larry Tanenbaum, Chairman of the Board. “We are excited to build on our team’s success and to give Masai our full support in delivering to our fans and to our country the Toronto Raptors’ first NBA championship.”

Ujiri was named president and general manager May 31, 2013. In addition to his role with the Raptors, Ujiri has been tireless in his efforts to promote and develop the game of basketball throughout Africa. He is the founder of the Giants of Africa Foundation, which launched the Top 50 and Big Man camps in his homeland. He has also served as the director of the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program since 2002.

Sixers waive Carl Landry and Tibor Pleiss, sign Anthony Barber

The 76ers on Wednesday waived forward Carl Landry and center Tibor Pleiss, and signed guard Anthony ‘Cat’ Barber.

Barber played three seasons at North Carolina State University prior to declaring for the 2016 NBA Draft. This past season, he was named First Team All-ACC and led the conference with averages of 24 points and 39 minutes played per game. Over the course of his three seasons with the Wolfpack, the 2013 McDonald’s All-American appeared in 104 games and posted averages of 15 points, four assists and three rebounds in 31 minutes per game.

This past season, Landry appeared in 36 games (12 starts) and averaged 10 points and four rebounds in 16 minutes per game. A veteran of nine NBA seasons, Landry has played for five NBA teams since being selected by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 31st overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. In 513 games (93 starts), Landry holds career averages of 11 points and five rebounds in 23 minutes per game.

Pleiss, acquired from Utah on August 26, was originally selected with the 31st overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Brooklyn Nets and acquired by the Jazz as part of a three-team trade in February, 2015. In 12 career games with Utah, he posted averages of two points and one rebound in seven minutes per game.

Noah Vonleh out 3-4 weeks after surgery

Trail Blazers forward Noah Vonleh underwent a procedure today to remove a bone fragment from his right thigh musculature.

Dr. Evan Ellis performed the procedure at Rebound in Vancouver, Washington.

The expected recovery time is 3-4 weeks.

Vonheh played 15.1 minutes per game in the 2015-16 season for the Blazers, averaging 3.6 points and 3.9 rebounds. That is backup-level court time, though he started in 56 of 78 games played.

2016 NBA preseason games in Vancouver and Calgary

The Raptors will play a pair of 2016 NBA preseason games in Vancouver and Calgary.

Their opponents will be the Warriors and Nuggets.

Even though it’s just preseason, that Warriors game will be Kevin Durant’s debut on the squad and is therefore worth watching.

And as for Canada in general, any games outside of Toronto should certainly be attended by fans who don’t get to see NBA players with their own eyes on a regular basis.

Here’s more info: http://www.insidehoops.com/canada-nba-preseason-games-083016.shtml

Former MSU player Keith Appling arrested again

Here’s the Detroit Free Press with an unfortunate update on a former MSU player:

For the third time since May, former Michigan State University basketball player Keith Appling has been arrested and once again a gun is involved, police say.

Appling, 24, was arrested at about 9 p.m. Sunday on Detroit’s east side after first driving away from a traffic stop and then stopping his car following a short pursuit, Detroit police said in a news release this morning.

Expect an up-tempo Heat offense next season

Expect an up-tempo Heat offense this season

How will the Heat be different this upcoming season, their first in many years without star shooting guard Dwyane Wade? According to their head coach, they plan to speed things up. With Chris Bosh’s return still uncertain due to health reasons, the squad is built around Goran Dragic, Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow and Hassan Whiteside. Here’s the Palm Beach Post blog reporting:

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s latest video clip on the team’s website is a message to Heat fans to expect more of what you saw the second half of last season when the Heat, behind point guard Goran Dragic, scrapped its lumbering style for an up-tempo offense.

“The style of offense when you’re pushing the tempo and you’re attacking and you’re looking for opportunities in the open court, that’s a fun style of basketball,” Spoelstra said. “Our guys enjoy playing that style, they’re committed to the conditioning level and the work ethic. … they’re willing to do it because they want to have fun they want to express athleticism and I think that’s what Heat fans can expect from this team next year.”

Pacers sign Julyan Stone and Alex Poythress

The Pacers signed Julyan Stone and Alex Poythress today.

Stone is a 6-6 guard that is a three-year veteran of the NBA, spending time with both the Denver Nuggets and the Toronto Raptors. He has NBA career averages of 1.3 points and 1.1 assists per game. He also played in the D-League, where he averaged 4.7 points and 4.3 assists per game. He played collegiately at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).

Alex Poythress is a 6-8 forward from the University of Kentucky. Heplayed four seasons for the Wildcats and in his senior year he averaged 10.2 points and 6.0 rebounds. He also played for the Orlando Magic this past summer in Summer League.