Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Los Angeles Lakers sign Troy Murphy

Troy Murphy

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed free agent forward/center Troy Murphy, it was announced today. According to the Los Angeles Times Blog, the deal is for one year and $1.4 million.

Murphy, who has averaged a double-double in five of his 10 NBA seasons, owns career averages of 11.6 points and 8.4 rebounds in 656 games (481 starts) with Golden State, Indiana, New Jersey and Boston.

Ranked 16th among active players in rebounds per game and 29th in three-point field goal percentage (.389), the 6’11” New Jersey native finished the 2008-09 season as the only player in NBA history to rank in the top five league-wide in both rebounds per game (2nd/11.8) and three-point field goal percentage (3rd/.450).

Selected by the Golden State Warriors in the first round (14th overall) of the 2001 NBA Draft, the two-time consensus All-American out of Notre Dame has finished among the NBA’s top-10 league leaders in rebounds per game five times and has recorded 218 career double-doubles.

Andrew Bynum unfazed by trade rumors

Andrew Bynum

Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum made it clear that it does not take offense to hearing his name dangled in deals and he refuted a recent Yahoo! Sports report that stated, “Bynum has privately been heard to say this offseason that he wants his own team.”

“I never said anything like that,” Bynum told ESPNLosAngeles.com. “I don’t care … I’ll be happy anywhere I play, honestly. It doesn’t really matter to me. In Orlando, I’ll probably get more shots and more touches, but here, I think this year they’ll need me to step up here. So, it really doesn’t matter.”

What does matter to Bynum is changing his reputation as being a liability in the lineup because of his injury history. Bynum has played in just 204 out of a possible 328 games in the last four years because of various injuries, missing an average of 31 games a season.

— Reported by Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles

Rockets sign 2nd round pick Chandler Parsons

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed second-round draft pick Chandler Parsons. The Rockets selected the University of Florida forward with the 38th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Parsons is expected to dress out for tonight’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.

Parsons (6-9, 200, Florida), who also played with Cholet Basket (France) in 2011, completed his four-year career at Florida ranked 12th all-time in school history with 1,452 points. He was named SEC Player of the Year and First-Team All-SEC as a senior. In addition, Parsons earned SEC All-Freshman honors in 2007-08. His grandfather, Don Parsons, played basketball at Rutgers and was drafted by the New York Knicks.

Jamal Crawford buys jersey number from Luke Babbitt

Jamal Crawford

When the Trail Blazers officially introduced newly-signed Jamal Crawford at a news conference, he held up a brand new white No. 11 Blazers uniform and beamed from ear to ear as photographers snapped photos.

Wait … No. 11? Doesn’t Luke Babbitt wear No. 11?

Not anymore.

Crawford bought the number from Babbitt after a series of playful back-and-forth negotiations that spanned multiple days and involved Blazers captain LaMarcus Aldridge as a mediator.

No. 11 cost Crawford $12,000.

“That was a hard bargain, a tough bargain to get it,” Crawford said, laughing, after the Blazers’ practice on Saturday. “Luke could have been a lawyer … he got me.”

— Reported by Joe Freeman. Full article on the Oregonian

Grizzlies forward Darrell Arthur injured in practice

Darrell Arthur

Grizzlies forward Darrell Arthur left practice this morning with a serious Achilles injury and the fear is that he might be lost for the entire 2011-12 season, according to sources with knowledge of situation.

An early diagnosis by the team’s medical staff indicated that Arthur might have suffered a torn right Achilles. The 6-foot-9 reserve had just returned to practice after missing time with a sore left Achilles.

— Reported by Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal

Pacers will send Brandon Rush to Warriors

Brandon Rush

The Indiana Pacers will trade guard Brandon Rush to the Golden State Warriors for forward Louis Amundson.

The Bay Area News Group first reported the deal. Mark Bartelstein, the agent for both players, confirmed the move on Sunday.

“This is a great fit for both guys,” Bartelstein said.

Rush averaged 8.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in three seasons for the Pacers.

— Reported by Cliff Brunt of the Associated Press

Hornets re-sign Jason Smith

The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have re-signed center-forward Jason Smith. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released. We’ll post details of the deal this evening.

“We are excited to have Jason back on our team this season,” Hornets General Manager Dell Demps said. “He provided us with solid play last season both off the bench and when he was called upon to start. He gives us depth in the frontcourt with his ability to play the center and power forward positions.”

Smith (7-0, 240) averaged 4.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.4 blocks with the Hornets last season in 77 games (six starts). In those six starts during the 2010-11 season, Smith averaged 9.3 points on 61 percent shooting and 3.7 rebounds over 21.8 minutes. Entering his fourth season in the NBA, Smith has career averages of 4.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.5 blocks over 209 games (nine starts). The Colorado State product was originally acquired by the Hornets along with Willie Green on September 23, 2010 from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Darius Songaila and Craig Brackens.

Hornets re-sign forward Carl Landry

Carl Landry

The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have re-signed forward Carl Landry. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released. We’ll post contract details this evening.

“Carl was a huge part of our success in making the playoffs last season and we couldn’t be more excited to have him back,” said Hornets GM Dell Demps. “Carl is a high character person that adds a scoring punch to our front court. We look forward to him being a huge part of our organization both on and off the court.”

Landry (6-9, 248), averaged 11.8 points on 53 percent shooting and 4.1 rebounds in 26.2 minutes of play over 23 games (10 starts) with the Hornets last season. The Purdue product was acquired by the Hornets in a mid-season trade with the Sacramento Kings for Marcus Thornton on February 23, 2011. Landry started the last 10 regular season games for the Hornets last season, averaging 14.9 points and 5.6 rebounds. Prior to the trade, he averaged 11.9 points and 4.8 rebounds in 53 games (16 starts) for the Kings in the 2010-11 season.

Originally drafted in the second round (31st overall) by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA Draft and then traded on draft night to the Houston Rockets, Landry played two and a half seasons for the Rockets before being dealt to the Rockets midway through the 2009-10 season in a three-team, nine-player deal that sent Kevin Martin to the Rockets.  Landry’s best season came in 2009-10, when he averaged career-highs of 16.8 points on 54 percent shooting, 5.9 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 30.9 minutes in 80 games (29 starts).

Detroit Pistons re-sign guard Rodney Stuckey

Rodney Stuckey

Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the team has re-signed guard Rodney Stuckey. According to the Detroit News, the deal is for three years and $25 million.

“We are pleased to re-sign Rodney Stuckey,” said Joe Dumars, Pistons President of Basketball Operations.  “Rodney led our team in scoring and assists last season and he’s part of the young core group of players that we are building around.  We look forward to watching his continued growth within our organization.”

Last season Stuckey appeared in 70 games (54 starts), leading Pistons in scoring (15.5 ppg) and assists (career-high 5.2 apg).  He also shot a career-high-tying 43.9% from the field and averaged 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 32.1 minutes per game.  Among NBA leaders, Stuckey ranked T-25 in assists and also shot a career-high 87 percent from the free-throw line (14th in the NBA).  He recorded his third consecutive 1,000-point season and dished out a career-high 14 assists twice, including a game vs. Toronto (3/16), when he became the first Piston to record 10 assists before attempting a field goal.

Stuckey, the 15th overall pick by the Pistons in the 2007 NBA Draft, owns career averages of 13.6 points (.423 FG), 3.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 29.7 minutes in 279 games.  In 73 games during the 2009-10 season, he averaged a career-high 16.6 points and led the team in total points (1,215).  Among NBA league leaders, Stuckey has ranked in the top-30 in assists per game each of the last three seasons and has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week twice [(12/29/08-1/4/09) and (12/7/09-12/13/09)].  He scored a career-high 40 points vs. Chicago (12/23/08) and participated in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge at NBA All-Star 2009 as part of the Sophomore Team.  Stuckey was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 2008 and became only the third Pistons rookie to start a playoff game [at Orlando (5/10/08)] joining Joe Dumars and Tayshaun Prince.