NBA News Blog – Page 1107 – NBA Blog

Lakers assign Devin Ebanks to D-League

Devin Ebanks

Very lanky

The 17-12 Los Angeles Lakers have decided they don’t need Devin Ebanks and might as well provide him with some game minutes down in the D-League.

The team today assigned the second-year forward to the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers’ NBA Development League affiliate. The assignment marks the 37th time an NBA player has been assigned to his NBA D-League affiliate during the 2011-12 season and is the second assignment for Ebanks of his career.

According to the Los Angeles Daily News blog, “The moves comes a week after the Lakers waived backup power forward Derrick Caracter in a move to open a roster spot and also save the on payroll. Caracter’s contract of roughly $750,000 would have become guaranteed had he been on the roster as of last Friday.

Ebanks (6-9, 215, West Virginia) has appeared in 12 games for the Lakers this season, averaging 2.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 12.6 minutes.

Originally selected by the Lakers in the second round (43rd overall) in the 2010 NBA Draft, Ebanks appeared in 20 games for L.A. last season, averaging 3.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 5.9 minutes.

Ebanks returns to the NBA D-League following a six-game assignment to the Bakersfield Jam last season when he averaged 16.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.5 steals in 27.7 minutes.

Chauncey Billups undergoes surgery on left Achilles tendon

Chauncey Billups

No retirement plans at this time

Los Angeles Clippers guard Chauncey Billups underwent successful surgery today to repair a torn left Achilles tendon.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Thomas Clanton at The Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado. Billups is expected to remain in Colorado for approximately four weeks following the surgery before returning to Los Angeles to begin the rehabilitation process.

The injury occurred with 5:48 remaining in the fourth quarter in the Clippers’ 107-102 win in Orlando on February 6th and will sideline Billups for the remainder of the 2011-12 NBA season. In 20 games played this season (20 starts), Billups has tallied 14.9 points, 4.0 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 30.4 minutes per game.

He won’t play again during the 2011-12 NBA season. According to several reports, Billups does not plan on retiring and hopes to resume his pro career once he heals.

LaMarcus Aldridge suffers ankle injury

Trail Blazers All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge sprained his left ankle early in Portland’s loss to the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.

Aldridge let out a yell and fell to the floor after landing on Trevor Booker’s foot less than two minutes into the first quarter.

The Blazers said X-rays on the ankle were negative, but he did not return and will not travel with the team to Golden State on Wednesday.

“I’m going to get back as soon as I can!” Aldridge wrote on his Twitter account after the game.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Tom Thibodeau earns spot as East All-Star coach

Tom Thibodeau

Defensive-minded

Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau will coach the Eastern Conference All-Stars for the 2012 NBA All-Star Game, to be played on Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Amway Center in Orlando.

The Bulls (24-7, .774) clinched the best record in the conference through games played Feb. 15 with their 121-115 win over the Sacramento Kings tonight at the United Center.

Thibodeau, the NBA’s reigning Coach of the Year, is in his second season on the sidelines in Chicago. Last season, he guided the Bulls to an NBA-best 62-20 (.756) record and earned the top seed in the NBA Playoffs. Chicago advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Thibodeau earned Eastern Conference Coach of the Month honors for games played in December/January. He owns a career record of 86-27 (.761).

Oklahoma City’s Scott Brooks will coach the Western Conference All-Stars.

Boston’s Doc Rivers coached the East All-Stars last season, and San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich coached the West All-Stars.

The 2012 NBA All-Star Game will air live on TNT and ESPN Radio in the U.S., and reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages.

Shaq says Dwight Howard leaving Orlando would be a travesty

Shaquille O’Neal

Never leaves teams or pushes for trades

Shaquille O’Neal says it would be a “travesty” if Dwight Howard leaves the Orlando Magic.

O’Neal also says Howard’s situation is not like his was when he left for the Lakers in 1996, because he says he wanted to stay with the Magic but had a better option.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Caron Butler gets his Mavs championship ring

The pregame ceremony was brief but heartfelt for Caron Butler , as well as for his former team, the Mavericks.

Butler received his NBA championship ring prior to Monday night’s game between the Mavericks and his current team, the Clippers.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle took the public address microphone and reminded the American Airlines Center crowd of the “gruesome” patellar tendon injury in Milwaukee that sidelined Butler last January. Carlisle described how Butler pushed his kneecap back into place and hobbled off the court.

“At that moment, the guy was a legend for life, for me,” Carlisle told the crowd.

Carlisle then introduced Butler as “a Maverick for life” and handed him his ring. Butler was clearly emotional as he stared at the ring, kissed it and acknowledged the cheering crowd. Butler then hugged Carlisle and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

— Reported by Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News

Mark Cuban rips league over Chris Paul trade

Chris Paul

Was almost Kobe’s teammate

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who was vocal in his opposition to the proposed trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers, still doesn’t think the NBA-owned New Orleans Hornets ended up with a decent deal.

The right deal, in Cuban’s opinion, would have been none at all, even if that meant losing Paul for nothing at the end of the season.

“You’re better off just taking the cap room, or whatever,” Cuban said.

Paul ended up being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, who visited the Mavericks at the American Airlines Center on Monday night.

“I don’t think it was about the Lakers, per se,” Cuban said before the game. “I think it was just the way they did the deal, which was ridiculous. I don’t think it was about which team. I think it was the fact that, even with the Clippers, we just went through this whole (collective bargaining agreement) and said the incumbent team still has the advantage and then the team the league owns (wimps) out. And look how it’s worked out for them.

“Bad management gets you bad results.”

— Reported by Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas

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Nets sign Andre Emmett to 10-day contract, waive Keith Bogans

Andre Emmett

Plays basketball

The 8-21 New Jersey Nets saw no reason to keep guard Keith Bogans on the roster anymore, considering he’s out for the season. So they’ve wished him well and said goodbye while also adding some temporary help to their frontcourt.

The team today signed free agent forward Andre Emmett from the NBA D-League’s Reno Bighorns to a 10-day contract, Nets General Manager Billy King announced today. To make room on the roster, the Nets have requested waivers on Bogans.

Emmett is currently ranked 2nd in the D-League in scoring, averaging 23.7 ppg, while appearing in 24 games for Reno. The 6-5 forward is shooting .531 from the field this season and .459 from three-point range, while averaging 6.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 36.8 minutes per game. In four D-League seasons, Emmett posts career numbers of 15.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 105 games played. The Texas Tech product was drafted by Seattle in the second round (35th overall) of the 2004 NBA Draft. He played in eight games for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2004-5, scoring seven points in a total of 27 minutes of action.

Bogans, who signed with the Nets as a free agent on February 1, 2012, played in five games this season, averaging, 4.2 points and 2.2 rebounds in 18.8 minutes per game. He had surgery to repair a torn deltoid ligament and a fractured left ankle on February 13, 2012.

Eric Gordon having knee surgery, out six more weeks

Eric Gordon

Needs his knees

Anyone remember guard Eric Gordon playing basketball? If so, it was probably last season when he was on the Los Angeles Clippers. He’s only managed to play in two games since becoming a member of the Hornets.

The New Orleans Hornets announced today that Gordon will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee tomorrow. The surgery is needed to fully resolve an injury that was sustained earlier in the season during a Hornets game. After that point it did not fully heal with treatment and rest. The doctors expect that Eric will be fully recovered and able to return to playing in up to six weeks.

“After consulting with our medical staff, we concluded that surgery was the best route and in the best interest of Eric for the long term. We had hoped with rest and rehab, Eric’s knee would have healed.” General Manager Dell Demps said. “Eric is eager to return to the court and we are confident Hornet Fans will get to see him soon.”

With Chris Paul and David West gone, the Hornets have been a disaster this season. They’ve been led in the scoring department by guard Jarrett Jack and forwards Carl Landry and Trevor Ariza. Emeka Okafor provides some rebounding. Chris Kaman has been disappointing. And there’s not much else going on, other than lots of losing.

He sustained the injury to his knee in the first quarter of the team’s opening game in Phoenix on 12/26. In two games this season, Gordon averaged a team-best 21.0 points per game, including hitting the game-winning 20-foot jumper with 4.2 seconds remaining against the Suns on 12/26.

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Derrick Rose’s back has no structural damage

Derrick Rose

Quicker than the light emitting from your laptop

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose saw a back specialist on Monday who confirmed MRI results that there is no structural damage to Rose’s back, according to general manager Gar Forman.

“Derrick saw a specialist this morning,” Forman said. “And it reconfirmed what we had thought previously and what the MRI had shown in that there is nothing structurally wrong with his back. It’s muscular.

“So at this point, we will continue with what we’re doing, which is we’ll continue with his therapy, continue to get rest, and it will be day to day. Seeing how he responds to the therapy. And when we feel, he feels, that he’s well enough to go back on the floor [he’ll return].”

Rose, who underwent the MRI last week, has missed the past two games with back spasms. The Bulls have home games coming up Tuesday against the Sacramento Kings, Thursday against the Boston Celtics and Saturday against the New Jersey Nets.

— Reported by Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago

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