Category: General NBA insight

Dwight Howard Might be traded in March

Howard faced a swarm of media for 35 minutes during an Eastern Conference All-Star player availability session at the Hilton Orlando, and the Orlando Magic superstar said he would only discuss this weekend.

“The situation right now is All-Star weekend,” Howard said when he was asked whether the weekend will be bittersweet because of his trade request.

“That’s the only thing that matters right now. This is the moment. This is All-Star weekend. We’re going to have fun and we’re going to enjoy ourselves. All that stuff can go on after All-Star weekend. But for right now, my focus is on having a great time, being a great host to all these great players that you see around us. And this is Jeremy Lin’s first All-Star. So, I’m going to make sure I get with him and have some fun with Jeremy Lin.”

— Reported by Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel

CSN Bay Area reports:

In case you had any doubts about the Jeremy Lin phenomenon reaching new heights of “Linsanity,” (sorry, but at least one pun is obligatory) there’s new evidence it has yet to reach its peak.

Consider that Lin’s rookie player card, featuring him as a member of the Golden State Warriors and autographed by the former Palo Alto High star, sold for $21,580 on eBay Thursday.

The auction had 36 bids.The seller, Yair Rozmaryn of New York, reportedly purchased the card for $1,000. He made the buy after two starts by Lin.

Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas reports:

Mark Cuban likes this Mavericks roster a lot. He’s said he’s not actively looking to make any changes before the March 15 trade deadline.

However, Cuban and Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson will still take calls.

Cuban always says the Mavs will be “opportunistic” in the trade market. But unlike a couple of years ago, when he acknowledged that the Mavs wanted to make a major move weeks before shipping Josh Howard to Washington in a blockbuster deal, the Mavs’ front office isn’t planning to be aggressive over the next few weeks.

“We’re not looking to change unless someone makes us an offer we can’t refuse,” Cuban said. “We’re not looking to shake anything up. We think we’ve got a good team that hasn’t played its best basketball yet.”

Manu Ginobili Has played just 9 games this season

Manu Ginobili was examined by team physician Dr. David Schmidt today in San Antonio. An MRI confirmed that Ginobili suffered a left internal oblique strain. The injury occurred during the second half of the Spurs-Clippers game on 2/18. Ginobili will remain in San Antonio for the remainder of the Spurs road trip. He is expected to be approximately two weeks.

Tiago Splitter has been diagnosed with a right calf strain. The injury occurred during the first half of the Spurs-Clippers game on 2/18. Splitter started his rehab process today in Salt Lake City and will remain with the team for the balance of the road trip. He is expected to miss approximately two weeks.

Rajon Rondo Apparently pretty good at dodgeball

Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics has been suspended two games without pay for throwing a ball at an official and striking him in the chest,it was announced today by Stu Jackson,NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 3:00 remaining in the third quarter of the Celtics’96-81 loss to the Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Feb. 19.

Rondo will serve his suspension tonight when the Celtics play the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center and Wednesday,Feb. 22 when Boston plays the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

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Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that forward Marcus Morris has been recalled from Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner Rio Grande Valley. Morris had re-joined the Vipers on Feb. 3.

Morris (6-9, 235, Kansas), who was selected by Houston with the 14 th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, averaged 22.8 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.40 steals in the 10 full games he has played with Rio Grande Valley this season. He made his debut with the Vipers by posting 33 points (13-24 FG), 16 rebounds, five assists and two steals vs. Dakota (1/6/12).

The Portland Trail Blazers center was scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery to “remove debris” from his left knee. The team announced that the former No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft was to have the surgery Monday in Vail, Colo.

The often-injured 7-footer had the same procedure on his right knee earlier this month.

Over the course of his NBA career, Oden has had microfracture surgeries on both knees, surgery to repair a fractured left kneecap and now the two procedures this month.

Oden, who has hot played in an NBA game since Dec. 5, 2009, has appeared in 82 career games for the Blazers, averaging 9.4 points and 7.3 rebounds.It was expected that he might be able to play for the Blazers this season, but a checkup before the start of training camp in December reportedly revealed concerns about a non-weight-bearing ligament in the left knee, further setting back his rehabilitation. Since then, he has turned down repeated interview requests.

— Reported by the Associated Press

The Atlanta Hawks today signed center Erick Dampier to a second 10-day contract, according to Executive Vice President/General Manager Rick Sund.

The 15-year veteran has appeared in four games for the Hawks this season, after signing his first 10-day contract on February 9, averaging 2.5 rpg, 0.3 apg, 0.3 spg and 0.3 bpg in 6.5 mpg.

Mavericks guard Delonte West underwent surgery today at Texas Sports Medicine to stabilize the fracture to his right ring finger. He will have a subsequent procedure to remove the stabilizing pins prior to his return to basketball activity. There is no timetable for his return.

West (6-3, 180) has averaged 8.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 22.7 minutes per game in 29 games (20 starts) for Dallas this season.