Inside Hoops – Page 973 – NBA Blog

Utah Jazz waive Toure` Murry

The Utah Jazz have waived guard Toure’ Murry.

Murry (6-5, 195, Wichita State) was originally signed as a free agent on Aug. 28 and appeared in one regular season game for the Jazz. He also had two assignments with Jazz’s exclusive NBA Development League affiliate, the Idaho Stampede (Nov. 13-Dec. 2 and Dec. 31-Jan. 3), where he saw action in seven games (six starts) and averaged 13.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.1 steals in 31.3 minutes of play.

Following the move, the Jazz roster now stands at 14 players.

The team is 12-22 so far this season. They’re being led by small forward Gordon Hayward (18.9 ppg), Derrick Favors (15.4 ppg), Enes Kanter and Alec Burks, who both average 13.9 ppg — though Burks is injured and will miss the rest of the season.

Lakers recall Tarik Black and Jordan Clarkson from D-League

Late Saturday night, the Los Angeles Lakers recalled center Tarik Black and guard Jordan Clarkson from the Los Angeles D-Fenders (D-League).

In his first appearance with the D-Fenders, Black recorded a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds in 33 minutes of action. Clarkson netted a game-high 35 points, handed out 11 assists and grabbed six rebounds in 44 minutes for Los Angeles. In five games with the D-Fenders this season, Clarkson is averaging 22.6 points, 7.8 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game.

Rajon Rondo says he had not played defense for several seasons

Here’s Boston.com reporting on former Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who now plays for the Dallas Mavericks:

Prior to his season-high 29-point performance Friday night against the Celtics, former team captain Rajon Rondo admitted to the media that his defense hadn’t been there during the last two years of rebuilding in Boston.

While addressing a question about the Mavericks’ improved defense since his arrival in a trade in mid-December, Rondo acknowledged what many Celtics fans had seen lately: his defensive effort was not his focus most nights in green.

“I haven’t played defense in a couple of years,” Rondo explained. “I’ve been able to hide it a lot with Avery Bradley on the ball. He’s helped me out, the young guy. But here [in Dallas] they expect me to play defense. And in the West, if you don’t play defense you’ll get embarrassed every night at the point guard position. I took it as a challenge [for] myself.”

Emeka Okafor may not return until next season

Emeka Okafor may not return until next season

Here’s CSN Washington reporting on veteran NBA big man Emeka Okafor:

Former Washington Wizards big man Emeka Okafor will consider holding off his return to the NBA until the 2015-16 season.

Okafor, 32, missed all of last season to recover from a herniated disk in his neck.

Now the veteran center is drawing attention from teams that need a little frontcourt help. However, he might wait until the summer before he commits to a new team to give himself more time to extend his strength and conditioning work.

Pistons playing better basketball lately

Here’s Michigan Live reporting on the Detroit Pistons, who through Friday’s games are on a four-game winning streak:

The impact of the Detroit Pistons’ bench has been undeniable during their four-game win streak.

The Pistons beat the New York Knicks 97-81 Friday, boosted by a 33-18 scoring advantage in the second quarter, when they typically play predominantly bench players.

“Our second group came on in the first half and set the tone again for us,” Pistons guard Brandon Jennings said.

The Pistons have outscored opponents in four of the last five second quarters. They have scored 33 or 34 points in four of the last five second quarters. Their second-quarter scoring average is 31.6 over the last five games.

Bojan Bogdanovic falls out of Nets rotation

Here’s ESPN New York reporting on the Nets, who are 16-16 for the season and on a three-game winning streak:

Much ballyhooed rookie Bojan Bogdanovic has fallen out of the rotation. In fact, he received his first DNP-coach’s decision Friday night. Granted, he didn’t play until garbage time in Chicago Tuesday night. He shot 38.8 percent in December. Hollins told reporters in Orlando: “It’s not what Bogie’s done, it’s what he’s not done. You’ve got to play and compete and go out and play well, and (Sergey) Karasev has shown me a lot in practice. We were struggling, I just gave (Sergey) a shot and he played well. It’s also a product of Bogie just hitting a wall and not being aggressive.” As a starter, Karasev is averaging 8.3 points on 41.7 percent shooting. His basketball IQ has been excellent, his defense competent.

Rodney Hood out one week with foot injury

Rodney Hood was examined by the Utah Jazz medical staff and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) testing yesterday at the University of Utah. The MRI results showed inflammation in Hood’s left foot. As a result, Hood’s left foot will be placed in a boot and he will continue to participate in treatment, conditioning and restricted weight training for approximately one week at which time he will be reevaluated.

The 22-year-old Hood (6-8, 215, Duke) has appeared in 22 games (five starts) as a rookie, averaging 5.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 18.2 minutes. He was originally selected in the first round (23rd overall selection) of the 2014 NBA Draft, becoming the first former Duke player ever to be drafted by the Jazz.

Atlanta Hawks for sale

&lt;p&gt;allowtransparency=”true”&gt;

If you want to buy an NBA team, an opportunity is developing. Unfortunately, though, it could cost more than expected, and you can blame Donald Sterling for that. Ever since the Los Angeles Clippers sold for billions instead of millions, the value of almost every franchise probably flew up. Anyway, here’s the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting that the Hawks are for sale:

The Hawks are for sale – as in 100 percent of the franchise.

According to person familiar with the situation, agreements have been reached between all three ownership groups to sell their complete stakes in the team. Those agreements have been approved by the NBA.

The team will be officially on the market next week, according to a league source. The investment banking firm Goldman Sachs and Inner Circle Sports has been retained to handle the sale process. The firm can now begin the process of gathering and vetting prospective buyers. Estimations are the franchise could be sold for upwards of $600 million dollars.

The Washington-based group, led by controlling owner Bruce Levenson, announced in September that it would sell its 50.1 stake following the discovery of a racially inflammatory email that rocked the franchise. An independent investigation discovered an e-mail Levenson wrote in 2012 that included racist remarks about the fan base and game operations. Levenson’s partners Ed Peskowitz and Todd Foreman are also stakeholders in the original group known as the Atlanta Spirit.

That Kyle Korver jumpshot is special

Here’s the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting on shooting guard Kyle Korver, whose ability to shoot a basketball is something special:

Kyle Korver doing amazing jumpshot-things

Korver leads the NBA in 3-point percentage at .520 (91 of 175). He led the league last season at .472 (185 of 392). He also holds the record for best percentage in a season of .536 (59 of 110) set in the 2009-10 season with the Jazz.

The shooting guard is flirting with the 50/50/90 mark this season of shooting better than 50 percent from the field and 3-point range and 90 percent from the free-throw line. He is currently the only player in the NBA shooting at least 49 percent from the field (.498) and 3-point range (.520) and 90 percent from the free-throw line (.938). He ranks third in the league in effective field goal percentage at .679, which takes into account all three percentages.

Korver has made four or more 3-pointers in a game 12 times this season. He has made five or more five times already after accomplishing that feat seven times all of last season. Korver is still well over 50 percent from 3-point range despite going a combined 3 for 13 in games last week against the Bucks.

Pistons, Brandon Jennings playing well lately

The Detroit Pistons have won three games in a row, and are playing solid basketball. Looking good lately is point guard Brandon Jennings. Here’s Michigan Live reporting:

Pistons, Brandon Jennings doing well lately

When Josh Smith was abruptly released almost two weeks ago, the Detroit Pistons lost one of their most experienced players not to mention their most dominant personality both on and off the court.

That created a void that needed to be filled and Brandon Jennings has been up to the challenge.

Jennings has been the Pistons’ on-court leader since Smith was waived Dec. 22 and he’s also become more vocal off of it, according to coach Stan Van Gundy, who has seen a big difference in his veteran point guard over the past 10 days.

“Brandon has noticeably gotten back to probably what is his natural personality,” Van Gundy said Wednesday. “He’s really having fun. He’s talking a lot, joking with guys, things like that. I think he had been suffering. He hadn’t been playing real well, we hadn’t been winning. He had gotten really quiet.