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The Portland Trail Blazers have waived guard Tim Frazier, it was announced today by president of basketball operations Neil Olshey.
Frazier, 25, averaged 1.5 points, 1.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 7.8 minutes in 35 games (one start) for the Trail Blazers this season.
Signed as a free agent on March 30, 2015, Frazier posted averages of 1.9 points, 1.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 8.5 minutes in parts of two seasons with the Trail Blazers.
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The Clippers beat the trade deadline buzzer Thursday by sending Lance Stephenson and a lottery-protected first-round draft pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for Jeff Green in a move that bolsters their frontcourt.
Green can play both forward positions and could presumably fill in at power forward until Blake Griffin returns from a broken right hand and a four-game suspension that is expected to sideline him until next month.
Then Green, 29, could switch to small forward, one of the Clippers’ biggest needs in recent seasons as it started Matt Barnes and Luc Mbah a Moute.
The 6-foot-9, 235-pound Green, who is in the final season of a contract that pays him $9.4 million, was averaging 12.2 points and 4.5 rebounds for the Grizzlies. Green spent two seasons playing for Clippers Coach Doc Rivers in Boston while also sitting out the 2011-12 season because of a heart condition.
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The Phoenix Suns (14-40) have reportedly granted forward Markieff Morris his wish and traded him.
According to The Vertical/Yahoo Sports, Morris is being sent to the Washington Wizards.
And according to CBS Sports, the Wizards send Kris Humphries, DaJuan Blair and a future first to Phoenix for Morris.
The NBA trade deadline is today at 3 p.m. ET, though deals are often announced after the deadline.
Morris this season averaged 11.6 points (39.7% FG) and 5.2 rebounds in 24.8 minutes per game for the Suns, though ever since Earl Watson took over as head coach Morris had been playing a leading role on the team and putting up impressive stats.
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The New Orleans Pelicans have acquired forward Jarnell Stokes and cash considerations from the Miami HEAT in exchange for a future second round draft pick.
Stokes, 6-9, 255, has appeared in 26 career NBA games with Miami and Memphis, holding career averages on 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 5.5 minutes per game. Stokes has appeared in 16 games this season for Miami’s D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, averaging 20.6 points on .673 shooting from the floor to go along with 10.2 points, 1.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks in 30.9 minutes per game while earning a selection to the 2016 D-League All-Star Game in Toronto.
The Memphis native was selected with the 35th overall pick by Utah in the 2014 NBA Draft after a three-year career at the University of Tennessee.
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The Brooklyn Nets announced today that the team has named Sean Marks as General Manager.
“After an exhaustive vetting process, we are delighted to have Sean as our General Manager,” Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said. “His experience on the court, in coaching and management gives him a 360 degree view of the job at hand. His background helping to build one of the greatest teams in the NBA gives him an unparalleled frame of reference. And he impressed us all with his vision, his values, his personality and his enthusiasm for the club. The vote to select him from an incredible list of talent was unanimous. We welcome Sean into our Nets family and look forward to his strong leadership and independent thinking as we build our own success story.”
“I am very excited to be named the General Manager of the Brooklyn Nets, and to become a member of the vibrant and dynamic organization that represents Brooklyn,” Marks said. “I would like to thank Nets’ ownership for giving me this opportunity, and I look forward to the challenge of creating a unified culture and building a winning team.”
Marks joins the Nets after spending the past five years with the San Antonio Spurs, including the last two seasons as the team’s assistant general manager. Prior to serving as assistant general manager, Marks spent one season as an assistant coach on the Spurs’ 2014 NBA Championship team, one season as the team’s director of basketball operations and general manager of the Spurs’ NBA Development League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, and one season as a basketball operations assistant.
A veteran of 12 NBA seasons, Marks was originally selected with the 44th pick in the second round of the 1998 NBA draft by the New York Knicks. Over the course of his playing career, he suited up for six different franchises, including the Toronto Raptors (1998-00), Miami Heat (2001-03), Phoenix Suns (2006-08), New Orleans Hornets (2008-10) and Portland Trail Blazers (2010-11). He also spent two seasons with the Spurs (2004-06) and was a member of the 2005 NBA Championship team.
Prior to embarking on his NBA career, Marks spent played four seasons at the University of California, Berkeley, where he served as a captain during his senior season (1997-98). He earned his degree in political science from the school in 1998.
Marks is a native of Auckland, New Zealand, representing the country in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. He was also a part of the team that finished fourth at the 2002 FIBA World Championship.
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The Sacramento Kings announced today a change to its coaching staff, parting ways with assistant coach Vance Walberg, according to Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Vlade Divac.
“This was a tough decision made after consideration of what is best for the team moving forward,” Divac said. “We want to thank Vance for his contributions to the organization and wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”
Walberg joined the Sacramento bench on February 23, 2015.
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The Oklahoma City Thunder announced that assistant coach Maurice Cheeks underwent successful hip surgery today. Cheeks will return to the team in a week for practices and meetings, and will be back on the Thunder bench for games in approximately six weeks.
Oklahoma City Blue Head Coach Mark Daigneault will join Thunder Head Coach Billy Donovan’s staff as an assistant for the remainder of the season. Blue assistant coach Jarell Christian will assume Daigneault’s role with the Blue for the rest of their 2015-16 campaign.
Daigneault becomes the third coach to be called up to the Thunder from its D-League team. Darko Rajakovic was hired as Thunder assistant coach in July 2014 after serving two seasons as the head coach of the Thunder’s D-League team, and Royal Ivey was hired at the start of the 2015-16 campaign as a player development assistant following his stint as an assistant for the Blue during the 2014-15 season.
The Miami Heat are 29-24 this season and getting a team-high 19.1 points per game from forward Chris Bosh. But lately Bosh has a health concern — and here’s ESPN.com with the latest:
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Heat players and coaches have been in contact with Bosh in recent days. Guard Dwyane Wade suggested Wednesday that his teammate’s condition appears far less serious than when blood clots traveled to his lungs and ended his season days after the 2015 All-Star break.
“It’s not a health scare like it was last year at all,” Wade said after Wednesday’s practice. “None of us are overdoing it from that standpoint. So he’s fine. I’m not going to speculate anything. None of us are doctors. He’s in great spirits. He has a positive outlook on things. He’s showing us he’s in good spirits.”
Added former Heat teammate LeBron James: “Guy means so much to not only the Heat family but his personal family as well. Just a great guy, a professional, a great guy and for something like this to happen to him after he was cleared, it just sucks. It sucks big time. His health is the No. 1 care and obviously basketball comes secondary to what he’s going through right now. It’s just tough.”
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Charlotte Hornets forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist underwent successful surgery today to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. The procedure was completed by Dr. Gerald Williams at Methodist Hospital in Philadelphia. Kidd-Gilchrist will miss the remainder of the 2015-16 NBA season.
Kidd-Gilchrist is averaging 12.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 29.3 minutes per game in seven contests (all starts) for the Hornets this season. The fourth-year forward from Kentucky has averaged 9.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in 202 games (198 starts) with Charlotte.
Here’s the New York Post with an update on the Knicks trade deadline scene. Of course, trades can develop quietly and out of nowhere, but the general expectation is that nothing major (or even minor) will go down by Thursday’s trade deadline:
The NBA trading deadline is Thursday at 3 p.m. and Knicks fans await a move to reverse the recent fortunes that just before the All-Star break headed farther south than Key West.
If pervading thoughts from several executives around the league prevail, fans should simply anticipate the showdown between Kristaps Porzingis and Karl-Anthony Towns in Minnesota on Saturday.
“I have heard zero with the Knicks. And really, what can they do anyway? Their [tradeable] talent level isn’t that good,” one rival general manager said.
“I would think anything they do would probably be more cosmetic than anything,” said another exec. “They just don’t have the assets.”