Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Lakers may name new assistant GM

After parting ways with several longtime employees last summer because of the NBA lockout, the Los Angeles Lakers are continuing to restock their cupboard with new staff.

The Lakers are in discussions to promote Glenn Carraro from general manager of the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers’ D-League affiliate, to assistant general manager for the Lakers, according to multiple sources.

Carraro would fill the position of assistant GM that has been unoccupied since the Lakers did not renew Ronnie Lester’s contract last year. Lester spent 10 seasons as assistant GM after working his way up the organization from being hired as a regional scout in 1987.

“Ronnie was a dear friend and I thought we really worked well together, but the people that I work with now I have a great relationship with and you have to move on,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak told reporters after the team’s exit interviews last week.

— Reported by Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles

Trail Blazers and Idaho Stampede enter single-affiliation partnership

The Portland Trail Blazers, the Idaho Stampede, and the NBA Development League announced today that the Trail Blazers and Stampede have entered into a single affiliation partnership beginning with the 2012-13 season.  Portland will be Idaho’s sole NBA affiliate and will have full control over the team’s basketball operations.

This partnership, also referred to as the “hybrid affiliation,” allows for NBA teams to secure control of, and cover the expenses related to, the basketball operations of an NBA D-League team while partnering with existing local ownership, which maintains responsibility for the team’s off-the-court business operations.

The Trail Blazers are the fourth NBA team to enter into a hybrid affiliation with an NBA D-League team, joining the Houston Rockets with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Brooklyn Nets with the Springfield Armor, and the New York Knicks with the Erie BayHawks.

Six other NBA teams are singly affiliated with their NBA D-League affiliates.  The Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs fully own and operate the Canton Charge, Dakota Wizards, L.A. D-Fenders, Tulsa 66ers and Austin Toros, respectively, while the Dallas Mavericks and Texas Legends are one-to-one affiliates.

“In establishing this exciting relationship with the Idaho Stampede, the Trail Blazers become the record 10th NBA team to acquire an exclusive ‘one-to-one’ relationship with its NBA Development League affiliate next season,” said NBA D-League President Dan Reed. “Having one-third of NBA teams invested in their NBA D-League affiliates is a strong testament to our league’s ability to help NBA teams find and develop top talent.”

The Stampede and Trail Blazers have been affiliated since the 2007-08 season, sharing the affiliation with the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz during the 2011-12 season.  New affiliates for the Jazz and Nuggets will be announced at a later date.

“This investment in the development of our young players will pay dividends on the court and we’re excited about working with the Stampede,” said Trail Blazers President Larry Miller. ”The hybrid partnership is closer in structure to minor league baseball with a parent club and affiliate relationship, so we feel this is an arrangement that will help us utilize the NBA D-League system more effectively.”

Portland’s partnership with Idaho follows the NBA D-League’s 11th and most successful season, where records were set with 60 GATORADE Call-Ups and 67 assignments, while 27 percent of players on 2011-12 NBA end-of-season rosters spent time in the NBA D-League. For the third consecutive year, the NBA D-League saw more than one million fans attend games across its 16 cities.

“The partnership with Portland is another large step toward the Idaho Stampede becoming more involved with the NBA and one of its premier teams in the Trail Blazers,” said Stampede Managing Investor Bill Ilett. “It will add to the experience on and off the court for our community and basketball fans throughout the Treasure Valley.”

Doc Rivers considering sitting Ray Allen for a game

ray allen

Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday he was considering sitting ailing shooting guard Ray Allen for a game during the Eastern Conference finals.

In an interview with ESPNBoston.com’s Jackie MacMullan, Rivers acknowledged the dilemma the team was facing with Allen, who has painful bone spurs in his ankles and has struggled mightily this postseason because of them.

“It’s a tough call with him,” Rivers said Tuesday afternoon. “We’re trying to figure out a different minute rotation for him, maybe that will help him. We’re even considering sitting him for a game, getting him a longer rest and then playing him, and then sitting him for a game. We don’t know what the right thing is.”

Allen scored just 6 points on 1 of 7 shooting (including 1 for 4 beyond the arc) over 39 minutes against the Miami Heat in Game 1 on Monday and was 3 for 7 from the free-throw line.

— Reported by ESPN Boston

Celtics ready to use zone defense again

For most of Boston’s Game 1 loss to Miami, the Heat got any and every shot they wanted.

So as the fourth quarter rolled around and C’s coach Doc Rivers had seemingly exhausted just about every tweak and twist he could to his team’s leaky man-to-man coverage, he played his final card: the zone defense.

It didn’t provide the kind of game-changing impact the Celtics would have liked, but it did at the very least provide enough of a disruption to the Heat’s offensive flow to keep the game relatively close down the stretch.

So much so that Rivers made it clear afterward that the cameo appearance by the Celtics’ zone defense was not going to be a one-night only performance.

“You’ll see it,” Rivers said when asked about its use throughout this series. “We like it. We’ve been working on zone all year even though we’ve played it probably five times, six times all year.”

— Reported by A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE

Dennis Rodman to be sentenced in family court

Flamboyant former NBA star Dennis Rodman is due in family court Tuesday to be sentenced on four counts of contempt for failing to pay child support.

The retired professional basketball player will likely face a sentence of community service, said Mary Ann Noiroux, an attorney for Rodman’s ex-wife Michelle. He could also be ordered to pay more than $800,000 in back child support, Noiroux said.

”For somebody like that, they could even have him help out with a Boys and Girls Club teaching basketball,” she said.

Noiroux said Rodman also faces additional contempt charges for other missed payments, and another conviction could land him in jail.

— Reported by Amy Taxin of the Associated Press

James Augustine signs in Russia

Eurocup champion BC Khimki Moscow Region kept adding frontcourt strength for its Euroleague Basketball return by inking rebounding ace James Augustine to a two-year deal on Tuesday. Augustine (2.08 meters, 28 years old) arrives from UCAM Murcia of Spain, where he averaged 12.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in 34 Spanish League games last season. He led the Spanish League in performance index ranking (18.6) and rebounds, while also ranking fourth in two-point percentage (61.4%). Augustine played the 2010-11 Euroleague with Power Electronics Valencia, averaging 3.4 points and 3.1 rebounds and helping his team to reach the quarterfinals.

— Reported by Euroleague.net

Philadelphia 76ers may chase Kris Humphries

kris humphries

If the Sixers do agree to let Elton Brand walk under the NBA’s amnesty clause, they will be in position to add a power forward from the crop of potential free agents in the 2012 class. Amnesty allows a team to pay a player his salary – something even wealthy team owners don’t look upon favorably – while it comes off the team’s salary cap.

The power forward who has risen to the top of that list is believed to be New Jersey unrestricted free agent Kris Humphries. Just 27, the 6-9, 235-pound Humphries averaged 13.8 points and 11.0 rebounds for the Nets in the recently completed season.  He shot better than 48 percent from the field.

He is a very good offensive rebounder – something the Sixers sorely need – and he is an improving defender.

The Sixers will almost certainly have their name mentioned in connection with Humphries because, if Brand comes off the books, they’ll have plenty of cash below salary cap, which should be in the range of $58 million when it is determined later this summer.

— Reported by John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Blog)

Toronto Raptors may want guard Kyle Lowry

Kyle Lowry

The Raptors are extremely high on Lowry, so there is little doubt – despite Morey’s desire to keep Lowry in the fold – that he and Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo will discuss a Lowry deal. If that falls through the Raptors could instead pursue Dragic, though I do not know if he is a favourite of theirs like Lowry or not.

After Lowry burned the Raptors for a game-high 26 points (including 4-for-4 from three) in a three-point win in Houston, I asked Raptors head coach Dwane Casey what he thought of Lowry and Casey lauded the guard for his toughness and ability.

“He’s a hell of a competitor. He’s their heart and soul and spirit of their team and I love the way he plays,” Casey said.

Long-time Raptor Alvin Williams, now a scout with the team, is extremely close with Lowry and is one of his mentors. Both are from Philadelphia and both played for Villanova. “Alvin is my main man,” Lowry once said.

Complicating a potential deal would be the fact that Houston would have to be sure Dragic will re-sign long-term with the club to be its starter before opting to trade Lowry.

— Reported by Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Blog)

LeBron scores 32, Heat beat Celtics in Game 1

lebron james

A big early Miami lead was wasted. Once the Heat took control again, they simply ran away from the Boston Celtics.

And the NBA finals are now three wins away for LeBron James and the Heat.

James scored 32 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Dwyane Wade scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and the Heat beat the Celtics 93-79 on Monday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Shane Battier, playing in the conference finals for the first time, scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds for the Heat, who wasted an early 11-point first-half lead before running away to break a halftime tie. Miami outrebounded the Celtics 48-33, and blocked 11 Boston shots…

kevin garnett

Kevin Garnett scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Boston, which got 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists from Rajon Rondo and 12 points from Paul Pierce. Ray Allen shot just 1 for 7 from the floor for Boston, which was outscored by 10 in the first quarter and 11 in the third…

Boston scored 35 in the second quarter, erasing what was an 11-point deficit early in the period by scoring 27 points in the final 8:46 of the half to pull into a 46-all tie. Rondo, Garnett and Pierce combined to score 23 points in the quarter, looking absolutely vintage, near-perfect offensive execution getting to Miami time and time again. And the Celtics’ comeback happened even while they got hit with three technical fouls in the second quarter, plus Allen missing four first-half free throws – matching his career-worst for an entire game.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Rebounds continued to be a problem for the Celtics, who lost that battle, 48-33, in Game 1. The Heat forced the Celtics to work for every possession, limiting Boston to 40 percent shooting. There was a glimpse of hope — the Celtics wrapped two dismal offensive quarters around a brilliant second quarter — but the burst was short-lived. In a microcosm of their inconsistent season, the Celtics scored 11 points in the first quarter, 35 in the second, and 15 points in the third. By that time, the Celtics were down 11 points and were desperately trying to claw back.

LeBron James outscored the Celtics all by himself in the first quarter, 13-11. The 11 points the Celtics scored in the first quarter was a team low this postseason, and it wasn’t even close. Their previous low was 17 vs. Atlanta on May 4. Rondo was 0 for 3 with 2 assists and 4 turnovers in the first.

— Reported by Gary Dzen of Boston.com

dwyane wade

LeBron James scored 32 points, Dwyane Wade finished with a relatively modest 22, and the Celtics finished at one of their most offensively-challenged rates (39.5 percent) of the playoffs.

Beyond Kevin Garnett’s 23-point, 9-for-16 performance and a 16-point, nine-rebound, seven-assist finish by Rajon Rondo, no Celtic found a steady rhythm.

To wit, for the first time in his career, Ray Allen (3-for-7 from the line, 1-for-7 from the floor) missed four free throws in a single playoff game.

It was also game that didn’t do much for relations between the Celtics and the brotherhood of NBA officials. Allen, Doc Rivers, Garnett (delay of game) and Rondo were all T’d up, with referees Dan Crawford and Ed Malloy contributing two whistles each.

James had 27 points by the end of the third quarter, including six points in a tough 10-1 run in the last 4:18, staking Miami to a 72-61 lead.

— Reported by Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald

The Heat’s dynamic duo, which has now dominated four straight playoff games, was bolstered by a combined 19 points from starters Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers. Battier finished with 10 points, shooting 4 of 11 from the field and 2 of 9 from three-point range while playing superb defensively.

ray allen

Meanwhile, the Celtics seemed more concerned about the officiating than anything else. Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and coach Doc Rivers each received technical fouls before the fourth quarter for arguing with refs. In all, the Celtics were hit with five technicals.

“I don’t how long I’ve been in the league but that would rank as the worst one,” Rivers said of his technical after the game. “I would have liked to earn it.”

The Heat shot 20 percent from three-point range but Mike Miller was 2 of 2 from behind the arc and Battier added two three-pointers of his own on nine attempts. James Jones, who played 10 minutes off the bench, also had a three-pointer.

— Reported by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald