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Oklahoma City Thunder forward Perry Jones underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, the team announced today.
This past season, Jones appeared in 62 games and averaged 3.5 points and 1.8 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game.
Jones is expected to miss 4-6 weeks before returning to normal offseason activities.
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The Los Angeles Lakers have made a trade with the Houston Rockets, acquiring guard Jeremy Lin as well as a future first round draft pick and a second round draft pick in 2015 (acquired by Houston in an earlier deal with the L.A. Clippers) in exchange for the rights to Sergei Lishchuk, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.
“This trade allows us to acquire a solid player who will make us a better team, as well as draft picks to improve our team in the future, while at the same time allowing us to maintain financial flexibility,” said Kupchak. “In addition to what he’ll bring us on the court, we think Jeremy will be warmly embraced by our fans and our community.”
According to ESPN.com, “Lin will make about $15 million this season in the last year of a deal that counts only $8 million against the cap. He earned his big contract with the Rockets thanks to a fantastic midseason run with the New York Knicks in 2012, when the “Linsanity” phenomenon was born. He’s the kind of dynamic, shoot-first point guard that has become more and more popular in the league over the last few seasons, which should help the Lakers, who have pass-first Kendall Marshall and the oft-injured Steve Nash on the roster as well.”
Lin, a four-year NBA veteran with the Warriors, Knicks and Rockets, holds career averages of 11.9 points, 4.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 217 career games (140 starts). Last season, in 71 games with the Rockets, the 25-year-old averaged 12.5 points, 4.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds while shooting career-bests from the field (.446) and on three-point field goals (.358). Born in Los Angeles and raised in Northern California, Lin was named the NBA’s Player of the Week for February 12, 2012 and started all 82 games of the 2012-13 season. He became the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA in 2010-11, after four-year career at Harvard University.
Lishouk was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2004 NBA Draft and was traded to the Rockets in February 2008 before landing with the Lakers as part of a three-way trade with the Nets in December 2010. He played for Valencia of the Spanish ACB League in 2013-14 and appeared in the Eurocup.
New York Knicks President Phil Jackson announced today that the team has waived forward Lamar Odom.
Odom, 6-10, 221-pounds, was originally signed as a free agent on Apr. 16, 2014. The team really only signed him to see if he could turn his life and career in a positive direction and be worth keeping. But from the Knicks point of view, apparently this did not happen.
New York Knicks President Phil Jackson announced today that the team has re-signed center Cole Aldrich to a contract.
Aldrich, 6-11, 245-pounds, averaged 2.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 46 games for the Knicks this past season after originally signing as a free agent on Sep. 24, 2013. The four-year NBA professional is currently playing for New York’s entry at the 2014 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, NV.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired the Los Angeles Clippers 2016 Second Round Draft Pick from the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for forward Alonzo Gee, General Manager David Griffin announced today.
The pick is 1-55 protected in the 2016 Draft. In the event the pick is not conveyed in 2016, the Pelicans obligation to convey the pick will be extinguished. New Orleans acquired the pick from Los Angeles as part of 2009 trade.
Gee appeared in 65 games (24 starts) for the Cavs in 2013-14 with averages of 4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 15.7 minutes per game. In 277 career games (173 starts) for Cleveland, Washington and San Antonio, Gee has averaged 7.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 24.1 minutes per game.
The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has signed 2014 first-round draft picks guard Danté Exum (fifth overall) and forward Rodney Hood (23rd overall). All first round draft picks are guaranteed to receive a contract, so these signings are standard. Both players are expected to be available for the Jazz’s entry in NBA Summer League 2014, which begins play in Las Vegas on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. MT vs. Philadelphia (TV: KJZZ 14, Radio: 1280 AM/97.5 FM).
A native of Melbourne, Australia, Exum (6-6, 188, Australian Institute of Sport) averaged 18.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists with the Australian National Team at the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship in Prague. The 18-year-old led his team to the semifinals and was named to the 2013 U19 World Championship All-Tournament team. In 2013, Exum guided his high school, Lake Ginninderra College, to the Australian School Championship. In addition, he participated in the 2013 Nike Hoop Summit for the World Select Team.
Exum becomes the third international player on the current Jazz roster, joining centers Rudy Gobert and Enes Kanter, and is the sixth active Australian born player in the NBA.
Hood (6-8, 215, Duke) spent two seasons at Duke after starting his collegiate career at Mississippi State. A 2014 All-ACC Second Team selection, the Meridian, Miss., native averaged 16.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting .464 percent from the field and .420 (72-169) from three-point range in 35 games as a redshirt sophomore. He also earned a spot on the conference’s All-Academic Team.
Duke’s team captain in 2013-14, Hood redshirted the 2012-13 season after transferring from Mississippi State. While at Mississippi State, he was selected to the 2012 All-SEC Freshman Team.
The 21-year-old Hood became the first former Duke player ever to be drafted by the Jazz.
Here are video highlights of top plays from summer league Day 6 (Thursday, July 10) in Orlando:
Here are video highlights of top plays from summer league Day 5 (Wednesday, July 9) in Orlando:
Charlotte Hornets General Manager Rich Cho announced today that the team has named Chad Buchanan Assistant General Manager.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Chad to our organization,” Cho said. “He is extremely organized and well prepared and will add another dimension to our basketball operations department with his extensive scouting and player evaluation experience. Chad is well respected throughout the NBA and I look forward to working closely with him as we look to continue to build and improve our basketball team.”
Buchanan comes to the Hornets after spending the last 10 years with the Portland Trail Blazers, including the last seven seasons as director of college scouting. In that role, he focused on all college, international and high school scouting, while also managing the development of the team’s scouting database, organizing pre-draft workouts and assisting in NBA player evaluation. Buchanan also served as the team’s acting general manager from 2011-12, where he was responsible for all player transactions, including the 2011 NBA Draft and free agency. He initially joined the Trail Blazers in 2004 as a scout before becoming director of college scouting in 2007.
Prior to the Trail Blazers, Buchanan spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Simpson College, his alma mater, from 1997-2002 and one season as an assistant coach at Drake University in 2003-04. In between, he served as assistant coach and assistant director of player personnel for the ABA’s Kansas City Knights in 2002-03.
Charlotte Hornets General Manager Rich Cho announced today that the team has added Pat Delany as an assistant coach on the staff of Head Coach Steve Clifford.
Delany joins the Hornets after spending last season as head coach of the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the NBA D-League affiliate of the Miami Heat. In his first head coaching job, Delany led the team to a 31-19 record, which was tied for the second-best record in the D-League. The .620 winning percentage was the fifth-best in the franchise’s 25-year history and the second-best in its eight seasons in the D-League.
Prior to being named head coach of the Skyforce, Delany served as the Heat’s advance scout for six seasons from 2007-13. He also served as the team’s video coordinator for four seasons from 2003-07 following one season as a video intern.