Category: General NBA insight

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has signed 2013 second-round pick Lorenzo Brown. The Wolves also today signed Robbie Hummel and Othyus Jeffers.

Brown, a 6-5 guard, was selected by the Wolves with the 52nd overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft and appeared on the team’s 2013 Las Vegas Summer League team, averaging 8.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists. At North Carolina State, Brown started 95 of the 101 games he played during his three-year career and averaged 11.6 points. He left the Wolfpack as one of only three players in school history to record over 500 career assists (589). Brown was selected Second Team All-ACC as a junior and a Third-Team All-ACC as a sophomore. In 2012-13, he averaged 12.4 points and led the ACC in assists (7.2 apg – 6th in the nation) and ranked second in the conference in steals (2.0 spg).

Hummel, originally selected with the 59th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by Minnesota, heads to training camp with the Wolves after appearing on the team’s 2013 Las Vegas Summer League team, averaging 8.6 points and 5.8 rebounds. The 6-8 forward also spent time on the Wolves’ 2012 Las Vegas Summer League entry. He spent the 2012-13 season with Obradoiro CAB in the Spanish League where he averaged 10.1 points and 7.2 rebounds in 30 games. Hummel averaged 14.0 points and 6.8 rebounds in 127 games over his four-year collegiate career for the Purdue Boilermakers.

Jeffers, a 6-5 guard, played for the Wolves in the 2013 Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 8.2 points and 3.8 rebounds. Jeffers played for the Iowa Energy of the NBADL in 2012-13, averaging 14.7 points, on .486 shooting, 5.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists. In 2010-11, he played 16 games with the Washington Wizards, averaging 5.7 points and 4.1 rebounds, and saw action in one game with the San Antonio Spurs. That year, Jeffers played in 38 games for the Iowa Energy, averaging 21.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Jeffers split 2009-10 between Cantu in the Greek League, Iowa and the Utah Jazz. He appeared in 14 games with the Jazz, averaging 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds. He played in 47 games with Iowa in 2008-09, averaging 21.0 points, on .535 shooting, 9.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists en route to earning Rookie of the Year honors. He appeared in the 2009 and 2011 NBADL All-Star Games.

Today’s transactions bring the Wolves training camp roster to 17 players.

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed center Eric Boateng and guard Darius Johnson-Odom, it was announced today. 

Boateng, a free agent center out of Arizona State University, has split time over the last three seasons playing for the Idaho Stampede and the Austin Toros of the NBA’s Development League in addition to playing internationally for the Greek Basket League team Peristeri and the New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig in Germany. The 6-10 center, who played one year (2005-06) at Duke before transferring to Arizona State University (2007-10), finished his collegiate career averaging 4.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in 13.8 minutes over 116 games. Born in London, Boateng is also a member of the Great Britain national basketball team.

Johnson-Odom, the 55th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, was acquired by the Lakers from the Dallas Mavericks on draft night. The 6-2 guard out of Marquette appeared in four games for the Lakers last season, where he totaled four rebounds and one assist in six minutes. Johnson-Odom also played in 13 games for the Los Angeles D-Fenders where he averaged 21.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 39.8 minutes. After being waived by the Lakers in January, the Raleigh, North Carolina native spent the remainder of the 2012-13 season playing in Russia for BC Spartak Saint Petersburg.

Most recently, Johnson-Odom participated in the 2013 NBA Summer League games held in Orlando and Las Vegas. In three games as a member of the Boston Celtics summer league entry in Orlando, Johnson-Odom averaged 10.3 points and 1.3 assists in 23.7 minutes. In six games played as a member of Denver’s summer league team in Las Vegas, Johnson-Odom averaged 7.2 points and 3.0 assists in 15.8 minutes.

The Lakers training camp roster now stands at 18 players. 

Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the club has named Henry Bibby and Maz Trakh as assistant coaches joining John Loyer, who’s been on Detroit’s coaching staff the last two seasons. Additionally, Rasheed Wallace and Bernard Smith have been named player development coaches, Kamran Sufi has been hired as advance scout and Raman Sposato as video coordinator.

Bibby enters his first season with Detroit after spending the last five seasons on the Memphis Grizzlies coaching staff. During his stint in Memphis, Bibby helped coach the Grizzlies to the playoffs for three consecutive years (2011-13). Prior to joining the Grizzlies, Bibby served two-plus seasons (2005-08) as an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers under Maurice Cheeks. He served as the head coach of the men’s basketball team at the University of Southern California, where he was named the 2002 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 15 Co-Coach of the Year, along with Paul Westphal, and was a finalist for the 2002 Naismith Coach of the Year Award. He also had coaching stints in the CBA, IBA, WNBA, USBL and in overseas leagues. Bibby averaged 8.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 675 career games over nine NBA seasons (1972-81). He won an NBA championship with the Knicks as a rookie in 1973. Collegiately, he played three seasons (1969-72) at UCLA where, under head coach John Wooden, he was the starting point guard on three NCAA title teams, earning consensus All-American honors as a senior while serving as the team’s captain.

Trakh joins Detroit after serving the last three seasons as an assistant coach with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Prior to Oklahoma City, he spent five years in Asia as a head coach in the Jordan Basketball League. In 2005, he led Jordan Fastlink to the FIBA Asia Club Championship, marking the first time a Jordanian team won the Asia Club Championship. Trakh has also coached in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), American Basketball Association (ABA) and the collegiate level with Cabrillo College, UC Irvine, Riverside Community College and Long Beach State. Prior to his coaching career, Trakh played collegiately at Southern Utah University.

Wallace begins his first year as a player development coach after a 16-year NBA playing career. He returns to the Pistons where he played five-plus seasons (2004-09) and helped the team to the 2004 NBA Championship. Wallace averaged 14.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.0 steals in 1,109 career games with Washington, Portland, Atlanta, Detroit, Boston and New York. He was acquired by the Pistons from the Hawks on February 19, 2004 and was a key member of the Pistons’ team that made back-to-back NBA Finals appearances in 2004 and 2005.

Smith enters his first season as a player development coach with the Pistons. He previously worked under Cheeks in both Portland and Philadelphia. He served as video coordinator for the Trail Blazers for two seasons (2002-04) and was promoted to assistant coach prior to the start of the 2004-05 season.

Sufi has spent the last three seasons working in the Chinese Basketball Association and served as an assistant coach with the Anaheim Arsenal of the NBA Development League from 2007-09. He played professional basketball in the ABA and overseas.

Sposato joins Detroit after spending the last eight seasons working for the L.A. Clippers organization where he started as a video coordinator in 2005. Prior to the Clippers, he spent 2003-05 as the video coordinator of the Portland Trail Blazers on Cheeks’ staff.

The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent center Dewayne Dedmon and free agent guard Cameron Jones to contracts, the team announced today.

Dedmon, 24, played the last two seasons at USC, averaging 7.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.67 blocks over 51 games (49 starts).  In 31 games (29 starts) this past season as a redshirt junior, the 7’0” center averaged 6.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.13 blocks and 1.10 steals in 22.3 minutes per contest.  Dedmon did not play organized basketball until his senior year of high school due to religious reasons and played one season at Antelope Valley College in his hometown of Lancaster, CA, before transferring to USC.  He will wear uniform #21.

Jones, 24, played last season for the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA Development League, averaging 12.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.26 steals in 27.0 minutes per contest.  The 6’4” guard also played for the Warriors Summer League squad in Las Vegas this past July, averaging 11.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals in seven games.  Prior to playing his rookie season with the D-League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants in 2011-12, Jones played four seasons at Northern Arizona University and ended his career as the school’s all-time leading scorer.  He will wear uniform #6.

The Warriors now have 16 players under contract.

NBA star DeAndre Liggins just surrendered after being charged with beating his girlfriend and throwing an Xbox at her.

Liggins allegedly ran into the bedroom he shared with his GF in Oklahoma City … then grabbed her by the hair, pulling her out of the bed. Then, for bad measure, he allegedly punched her 11 to 12 times and then hurled an Xbox and a box fan at her head — striking her. He then allegedly held her at bay.

Reported by TMZ.com

Note from InsideHoops.com: Just a reminder that this is all ALLEGED. Liggins may be completely innocent.

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed forward Marcus Landry, it was announced today.

Landry, a 6-7 forward out of Wisconsin, has spent time over the past three years with the Maine Red Claws and Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League and internationally with teams in Spain, China, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. During his two seasons (2010-11 and 2012-13) with the Bighorns, Landry played in 84 games (83 starts) averaging 16.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 36.0 minutes.

Signing with the New York Knicks as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2009, Landry played for both the Knicks and Celtics during the 2009-10 campaign averaging 2.4 points and 1.1 rebounds in 6.1 minutes over 18 games.

The Milwaukee, Wisconsin native and younger brother of NBA veteran Carl Landry, most recently was a member of the 2013 Lakers Summer League team where he played in all five games (4 starts) averaging 15.2 points and 4.2 rebounds in 26.5 minutes.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inducted its newest members Sunday, and two men with Bay Area ties figured prominently.

Gary Payton, who starred at Oakland’s Skyline High and Oregon State before a sterling NBA career, and former Warrior Bernard King headlined the class.

“I played hard because I wanted to win every time,” Payton said. “It was all for my crazy love for the game.”

Payton was known for his defensive prowess, aggressiveness and trash-talking. He is the only NBA player with 20,000 points, 8,000 assists, 5,000 rebounds and 2,000 steals.

“I don’t regret the way I went about it, and I’m a strong man today as a result, but I can’t help but think I could have given more to the game that gave so much to me,” Payton said. “My career is complete, Gary Payton is evolving, but GP is in the Hall of Fame.”

King spent two seasons with the Warriors, averaging 21.9 points per game in 1980-81 and earning an All-Star berth while averaging 23.1 points per game in 1981-82. In all, he averaged 22.5 points in 16 NBA seasons with five teams.

“Anything you dream of and set a goal for can be achieved through hard work, education, the desire to achieve and commitments,” King said.

Reported by the Associated Press

LeBron James apparently is ready for some football, especially when his beloved Dallas Cowboys are involved.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he expects the Heat forward to be in attendance when the Cowboys host the New York Giants for Sunday Night football.

“I just wish I could suit him out,” Jones told a Dallas radio station.

Reported by Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman returned to China from Pyongyang Saturday after a five-day trip when he met North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, but without jailed American Kenneth Bae.

The flamboyant ex-Chicago Bulls player arrived at Beijing airport on a flight from North Korea, an AFP photographer witnessed, with a cigar clamped in his mouth.

He showed a waiting crowd of reporters dozens of pictures, some of them of him with Kim, the roughly 30-year-old leader of the rogue nuclear-armed state who Rodman describes as his “friend”, but quickly became angry, throwing insults before rushing to the parking lot.

“It’s not my job to bring him back,” he said when asked about Bae.

Reported by the AFP

The Oklahoma City Thunder waived guard DeAndre Liggins, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

Liggins appeared in 39 games for the Thunder during the 2012-13 season, averaging 1.5 points and 1.4 rebounds in 7.4 minutes per contest. He holds career averages of 1.6 points and 1.2 rebounds in 56 career games.

Liggins is also currently dealing with unresolved legal woes, which may have played a factor in this move by the Thunder.