Category: General NBA insight

More than the playoffs are on the line in Utah’s regular-season home finale Friday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The game could be the last in Salt Lake City for as many as nine Jazz players with expiring contracts, including starters Paul Millsap, Mo Williams, Al Jefferson and Randy Foye.

The Jazz have three games remaining as do the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom they are mired in a battle for the final Western Conference playoff spot.

— Reported by Lynn DeBruin of the Associated Press

Dwyane Wade plans to return to the Miami Heat lineup on Friday, when the reigning NBA champions play host to the Boston Celtics.

Wade has missed Miami’s last six games while dealing with knee and ankle issues. Wade tells The Associated Press that doctors eventually discovered three separate bone bruises around his right kneecap, but that rest and treatment has largely taken care of the problem.

Wade says he isn’t sure how much he will play against Boston.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

On the court after Monday’s national championship game, as the Louisville Cardinals cut down a net, Russ Smith Sr. told SI.com that his son Russ will turn pro. Russ Smith Jr., a junior, led Louisville in scoring this season.

“I told him, ‘Man, this is how you go out,'” Smith Sr. said. “All the people who doubted you since high school, you proved them wrong. You have back-to-back (Big East) championships, then you come back and win the national championship. All that hard work comes from working you out since you was three years old, running the beach, running the stairs, running with medicine balls, a boxing bag, it paid off.”

— Reported by Michael Rosenberg of SI.com

Brian Butch of the Bakersfield Jam was today named NBA Development League Performer of the Week for games played April 1-7.  The honor is the first for Butch of his career.

Butch (6-11, 240, Wisconsin) helped the Jam to a 3-0 week to close out the 2013 NBA D-League regular season and clinch the West Division title.  He played in two games, averaging 27.5 points while shooting 69 percent from the field, 15.0 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 34.5 minutes.

He led the team in both scoring and rebounding in both of his outings, including a season-high 28 points  in a 109-102 win over the Santa Cruz Warriors on April 5.  He tied a season high with 18 rebounds on April 1 in a 124-94 win over the Reno Bighorns.  In 47 games for the Jam this season, Butch is averaging 12.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1.0 blocks and 29.5 minutes.

Other top performers considered include Austin’s Lester Hudson, Canton’s Kyle Weaver, Erie’s Cory Higgins, Fort Wayne’s Tony Mitchell, Idaho’s Reggie Hamilton, Iowa’s Othyus Jeffers, Los Angeles’ Elijah Millsap, Maine’s Chris Wright, Rio Grande Valley’s Royce White, on assignment from the Houston Rockets, Reno’s Samardo Samuels, Santa Cruz’s Stefhon Hannah, Springfield’s Dennis Horner, Sioux Falls’ James Mays, Texas’ Justin Dentmon and Tulsa’s Rasual Butler.

The Miami Heat’s LeBron James and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month, respectively, for games played in March.

James captured his fifth straight Kia NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month award by helping the Heat to a league-best 17-1 record as the team chased history, winning 27 straight games before falling to the Chicago Bulls 101-97 on March 27. The 27 consecutive victories are the second most in NBA history, trailing only the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33), while the Heat’s 17 wins in a single month established a league record. James averaged 25.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists while shooting 53 percent from the field for the month. He scored at least 20 points 14 times and shot at least 50 percent from the field in 13 contests.

Durant guided Oklahoma City to a 12-5 mark in March, averaging 27.6 points (tops in the NBA), 8.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists while shooting 48 percent from the field and 90 percent from the free throw line. On pace to win his fourth consecutive scoring title, Durant scored 20-plus points 16 times and topped the 30-point plateau on seven occasions. Averaging a career-best 4.4 assists, Durant dished out at least five assists seven times. He also recorded two-plus blocks in eight games. 

Other nominees for NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month were Boston’s Jeff Green, Brooklyn’s Deron Williams, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Indiana’s Roy Hibbert, Miami’s Dwyane Wade, Memphis’ Mike Conley, New York’s J.R. Smith and San Antonio’s Tim Duncan. 

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he would consider drafting Baylor All-American Brittney Griner.

Cuban told reporters before Tuesday night’s game between the Mavericks and the Lakers that if Griner is the best player available, “I will take her.”

The 6-foot-8 Griner finished her college career as the NCAA leader in blocked shots and the second-leading scorer in women’s college basketball history.

Cuban says he has already thought about it and “Right now, I’d lean towards yes, just to see if she can do it. You never know unless you give somebody a chance.”

— Reported by the Associated Press

Cuban: “I’ve thought about it already,” he said. “Would I do it? And right now, I’d lean toward yes, just to see if she can do it.

“You never know until you give someone a chance. And it’s not like the likelihood of any late-50s draft pick has a good chance of making it. If we had tryouts, I would have no problem inviting her to work out and see how she did. No problem whatsoever.”

Cuban said he’s watched Griner play a lot, but hasn’t really been able to draw any conclusions. He said he’d like to see her against tougher competition.

— Reported by Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News

Minor nicks, as Heat coach Erik Spoelstra put it, will keep Miami starters LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers from playing against the New York Knicks.

Spoelstra ruled all three out for Tuesday night’s game, with James battling hamstring tightness and Wade and Chalmers dealing with right ankle sprains.

”Everybody’s human,” Spoelstra said.

It’s the second straight game in which Miami will miss those three starters. The Heat won in San Antonio 88-86 on Sunday without them. Spoelstra said all three players are improving, and none of them were available for comment after Miami’s shootaround Tuesday morning.
The Heat were expected to keep the same starting lineup from the Spurs game, with Rashard Lewis starting for James, Mike Miller for Wade and Norris Cole for Chalmers.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Greg Willard, a longtime NBA referee who worked more than 1,600 games before he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, has died. He was 54.

Willard died Monday night, according to the league. He was diagnosed with the illness during last season’s playoffs and worked only one more game, a preseason matchup in October not far from his Huntington Beach, Calif., home.

Some NBA players, including three-time MVP LeBron James of the Miami Heat, New Orleans guard Roger Mason and Sacramento center Cole Aldrich, tweeted condolences to Willard’s family, as did Golden State coach Mark Jackson. More tributes were expected in the coming days, including moments of silence in Willard’s memory at all NBA games Tuesday and Wednesday…

Willard officiated 1,494 regular-season games, 136 playoff games, two NBA Finals games, the 2006 All-Star game and Europe Live games in 2006 in Italy, France and Germany in a career that spanned nearly a quarter-century.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

The Phoenix Suns today announced that the club has reached an agreement with President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby on a new two-year contract.  The deal will keep Babby in his current position through 2014-15.

“Lon has led our front office during this important transition period for the organization and he has my full support as we continue to rebuild,” said Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver.

Babby was originally named just the fourth basketball president in franchise history on July 20, 2010, after almost 35 years as a practicing attorney with Washington, DC-based Williams & Connolly, LLP, where he was an industry leader in sports and contract negotiations.

Charged with guiding the Suns through a time of transition and building for the future, Babby and his basketball operations staff have placed a premium on building through the draft, demonstrated with the selections of Markieff Morris (2011) and Kendall Marshall (2012), and the acquisition of additional picks that will give Phoenix six first-round and four second-round selections for a total of 10 picks in the next three drafts.  In addition, through a series of transactions, the Suns have infused youth by adding Goran Dragic (26), Marcin Gortat (29), Wesley Johnson (25), PJ Tucker (27), Marcus Morris (23) and Michael Beasley (24).

“I greatly appreciate the faith that Robert Sarver and the entire Suns organization have demonstrated with this new contract,” said Babby.  “We have begun the heavy lifting needed to rebuild our team.  While the transition is often painful, I am entirely confident that we are taking the necessary steps to regain elite NBA status.  I fully embrace the opportunity to continue on that path.”

One of the industry’s most successful and well-regarded player agents, Babby began his career in sports representing first the NFL’s Washington Redskins (1977-84) and then MLB’s Baltimore Orioles (1979-94). For the Orioles, he was intimately involved in the senior management of the club. He first served as club counsel and then general counsel, overseeing player contract negotiations, advertising and marketing contracts, labor issues and general business matters, including the construction of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. During his tenure, the Redskins appeared in two Super Bowls, winning in 1983, and the Orioles appeared in two World Series, also winning in 1983.

The Philadelphia 76ers announced today that they have signed guard Justin Holiday.  Holiday is the 31st “Call-Up” of the 2012-13 NBA Development League season.  He will wear #14.  In order to make room on the roster for Holiday, the Sixers waived guard Jeremy Pargo.

Holiday (6-6, 180) appeared in 47 games with 42 starts for the Idaho Stampede in the D-League this season, averaging 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.43 steals and 1.17 blocks in 34.7 minutes per game while shooting 42.1% from the floor, 41.2% from 3-point range and 81.6% from the line.

At the time of his call-up, Holiday ranked tied for 14th in the D-League in scoring and first in steals.  In 15 games played in March, he averaged 23.3 points along with 2.5 3-pointers made on 46.3% shooting from behind-the-arc.

In 14 games played for the Sixers, Pargo averaged 4.9 points, 2.0 assists and 1.2 rebounds in 14.9 minutes per game.

Holiday was not selected in the 2011 NBA Draft following his collegiate career at Washington.  He spent the 2011-12 season playing overseas for Generali Okapi Aalstar in the Belgian League.

This past July, Holiday played for the Sixers in the AirTran Orlando Pro Summer League and was second on the team in scoring with 11.8 points per game.  He also played for Cleveland in the 2012 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

Holiday signed with the Cavaliers on Oct. 1 and took part in their training camp while appearing in one preseason game before being waived on Oct. 10.  He signed with Portland on Oct. 12 and played in two preseason games before being waived prior to the start of the regular season on Oct. 26.

Justin is the older brother of Sixers All-Star guard Jrue Holiday.  Justin was born on April 5, 1989 while Jrue was born on June 12, 1990.  The brothers played basketball together at Campbell Hall, a private school in North Hollywood, Calif.  In Justin’s senior season, which was Jrue’s junior season, Campbell went 33-1 and won the California Division IV state title.