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More Mark Cuban Shark Tank season 3

Entertainment Weekly reports:

Shark Tank is giving Mark Cuban a promotion.

The Dallas Mavs owner stole the show during a trio of guest appearances on the business-based reality series last season. Now ABC and executive producer Mark Burnett have signed on Cuban for nearly all of season 3.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I actually watched and enjoyed this show last season. I’ve only seen four of five episodes of it, but it was fun. It isn’t the type of show that demands your full attention, but it made great background filler off DVR for me while doing some late night work some nights.

Sasha Vujacic signs in Turkey

Euroleague.net reports:

Anadolu Efes Istanbul improved its backcourt for the upcoming season by inking shooting guard Sasha Vujacic to a one-year deal and an option for another, the club announced on Friday. Vujacic (2.00 meters, 27 years old) arrives from New Jersey, where he averaged 11.4 points and 2.3 assists in 56 NBA games last season. He spent more than six seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, helping the team to win back-to-back NBA titles in 2009 and 2010, as well as reaching the finals in 2008.

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Mickael Pietrus to have minor knee surgery

Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports:

Phoenix Suns swingman Mickael Pietrus will undergo minor right knee surgery Tuesday, and as a result will not follow through with plans to play for France in the European Championship starting Aug. 31.

Pietrus missed the final 12 games of the season because of a quadriceps-tendon strain near the same knee, an issue that seemed to start when he landed after an attempted blocked shot on March 23. Pietrus’ agent, Bill McCandless, said Pietrus was mentioning discomfort with the knee before he was traded from Orlando in December. At his recent camp in Guadeloupe, friends were telling McCandless that Pietrus was not moving well.

“I’m looking at it extremely positively,” McCandless said. “I know the player well and I sensed something wasn’t right. He’s not a complainer.”

Pietrus took a physical upon arrival for France’s camp, but the national team recommended he undergo surgery to remove loose cartilage. He is expected to be out of basketball action for four weeks.

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Serge Ibaka nationalized by Spain, ready to play European championship

The AP reports:

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka has been granted Spanish nationality on Friday, clearing the way for him to help Spain defend its European championship this summer.

“Spain is a country that has given me a lot,” Ibaka said after Spain’s Council of Ministers approved his petition for nationality. “It will be an honor to give Spain back all that it has given me on the court.”

The 21-year-old was born in the Republic of Congo but played for Spanish clubs for three years before moving to the NBA in 2009. According to Spanish media reports, he maintains a residence in Barcelona.

Ibaka must swear loyalty to the Spanish crown and constitution to complete the nationalization process before he can team with Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol and brother Marc of the Memphis Grizzlies in a formidable front court for Spain.

InsideHoops.com editor says: This likely isn’t lockout-related. He was probably doing this anyway.

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NBA lays off about 114 league employees

The AP reports:

The NBA laid off about 114 people over the last two days, planned cost-cutting moves that a league spokesman said Thursday are “not a direct result of the lockout.”

The laid off employees represent about 11 percent of the league office workforce in New York, New Jersey and internationally.

Spokesman Mike Bass told The Associated Press the layoffs are “not a direct result of the lockout but rather a response to the same underlying issue; that is, the league’s expenses far outpace our revenues.”

“The roughly 11 percent reduction in headcount from the league office is part of larger cost-cutting measures to reduce our costs by $50 million across all areas of our business,” Bass said.

The league said it lost $300 million this season after losing hundreds of millions in each previous year of the collective bargaining agreement that expired at the end of the day June 30.

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Suns hire Elston Turner as assistant coach

The Phoenix Suns have added longtime NBA assistant and former player Elston Turner to the team’s coaching staff, the club announced today.

“Elston Turner has been a player and a coach in this league and we’re confident that he will bring a new voice to our team that will help us improve,” said Suns Head Coach Alvin Gentry. “What made Elston the right candidate is his experience working alongside offensive coaches and his willingness to be creative defensively. We have complete confidence in Bill Cartwright, Dan Majerle, Igor Kokoskov and Noel Gillespie, and adding a capable coach like Elston to our staff will make us that much better.”

Turner joins the Suns with 14 years experience as an NBA assistant coach with the Houston Rockets (2007-11), Sacramento Kings (2000-06) and Portland Trail Blazers (1996-00). No stranger to coaching defense on an offensive-minded club, the 52-year-old Turner has been tabbed by Gentry to serve as the club’s primary defensive coach after spending the last six seasons as the lead assistant under noted offensive coach Rick Adelman, the last four of which came with the Rockets. While working under Adelman, Turner was a part of two Western Conference All-Star coaching staffs (2001, 2003).

InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner feels Turner is a solid hire and that this is a good move by the Suns.

During Turner’s tenure with Houston, the Rockets surrendered an average opponent field goal mark of 45.5 percent overall (12,345-27,118), well below the league average. During Turner’s first two seasons in Houston, when the Rockets had a healthy Yao Ming, the club surrendered just 43.8 percent shooting to opponents (5,843-13,329) and were ranked in the top-five in the NBA both seasons. Turner’s 2007-08 Rockets owned the second-best mark in the league overall (.433). A native of Knoxville, Tenn., Turner will be charged with aiding in the improvement of a Phoenix defense that ranked 11th in the NBA in defensive field goal percentage in 2009-10 (.452) but fell to 25th in the league in 2010-11 (.472).

The 6-foot-5 Turner played eight NBA seasons with the Dallas Mavericks (1981-84), Denver Nuggets (1984-86, 1988-89) and Chicago Bulls (1986-88), developing a reputation as a tenacious defender. Turner averaged 4.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 505 career NBA games. He also played parts of five seasons in the CBA and three years in Europe following his NBA career.

The Mavericks’ 43rd overall selection (second round) of the 1981 NBA Draft, Turner entered the NBA after a stellar senior season at Ole Miss in which he led the school to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1980-81. The university honored Turner’s many collegiate accomplishments in 2000 when he was inducted into the Ole Miss M-Club Athletic Hall of Fame.

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Bobcats coach Paul Silas plans to use plenty of zone defense

Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports:

Charlotte Bobcats coach Paul Silas plans to install a zone defense next season, in part to allow him to play guards D.J. Augustin and Kemba Walker in the same backcourt.

Silas can’t talk specifically about players during the NBA lockout. But there’s no doubt who he meant when he said Thursday, “I’m going to have two little guys out there who I really think can hopefully play together. But it’s going to be hard for either of them to guard a 2-guard.

“But they could play in a zone…out-front.”

Augustin and Walker each is about 6-foot-1. Gerald Henderson figures to start at shooting guard, alongside Augustin. Silas needs to find ways to play rookie Walker, who averaged about 23 points at Connecticut last season, particularly considering how offensively-challenged this team should be.

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Agent says Bismack Biyombo will play for Bobcats next season

The AP reports:

The agent for Bobcats rookie Bismack Biyombo insists the seventh pick in the draft will play for Charlotte next season despite a buyout dispute with his Spanish team.

“At the time the lockout is over and the season starts, the player will be playing with the Bobcats,” Igor Crespo told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “Everything else is not relevant.”

A spokesman for Madrid-based Fuenlabrada said last month the team is fine in letting the 18-year-old Biyombo out of the last two years of his contract, but expects to receive a $1.4 million buyout.

The two sides held a mediation session earlier this month. Crespo declined to reveal the results, saying only he believed the buyout figure was made public to “put pressure on us.”

But he stressed the issue wouldn’t prevent the Congo native from reporting to Charlotte’s training camp on time.

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Jaycee Carroll signs in Spain

Euroleague.net reports:

Real Madrid added more fire power to its roster by inking last season’s Eurocup top scorer Jaycee Carroll to a three-year deal, the club announced Thursday. Carroll (1.88 meters, 28 years old) arrives from Gran Canaria, where he averaged 19 points on 42.3% three-pointers, 87.8% free throws, 2.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 12 Eurocup games last season. He helped Gran Canaria to finished fifth in the Spanish League regular season and reach the Eurocup Last 16. Carroll was chosen to the All-Spanish League first team last season and led the competition in scoring in his two years at Gran Canaria.

Jordan Farmar considering playing overseas, maybe Israel, during NBA lockout

Colin Stephenson of the Newark Star-Ledger reports:

Nets star Deron Williams may be the biggest name among locked out NBA players who has decided to play overseas, but he isn’t the only one who is considering the idea. His Nets teammate, Jordan Farmar, is also looking into the possibility of playing in another country during the NBA lockout, he told The Star-Ledger today.

Farmar, who is the backup point guard to Williams on the Nets, may end up playing in Israel. The Southern California native is Jewish, and his stepfather is Israeli, which would make him an attractive commodity for teams in the Israeli league.

“Yeah, I’d definitely consider that,” Farmar said in a text message when asked if he would be interested in playing in Israel.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Israel is one of the more popular places for players just outside the NBA to sign. I know bunches who have loved it there. Overall play there isn’t as good as in parts of Europe, but it’s in the mix.