NBA News Blog – Page 1235 – NBA Blog

Lakers hire Ettore Messina as coaching consultant

The Lakers have hired Ettore Messina, who will serve as a coaching consultant for the team, it was announced today by Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

“I am honored to have received this opportunity from one of the greatest basketball organizations in the world,” said Messina. “I have great respect for Coach Mike Brown and I’m excited to work with him and his staff.”

Messina joins the Lakers after spending the last two years as the head coach of the Spanish League Club, Real Madrid. Prior to his stint with Real Madrid, Messina was head coach of CSKA Moscow for four seasons (2005-2009) where he led the team to two Euroleague Championships (2006, 2008) and four Russian SuperLeague titles (2006-2009).

Before coaching in the Russian League, Messina served as a coach in the Italian League for over 15 years. He earned two Euroleague Championships (1998 and 2001) as well as several Italian championships with Virtus Bologna, where he had two stints as head coach (1989-1993, 1997-2002). After leaving Bologna, Messina went on to coach Benetton Treviso from 2002-2005, guiding the team to an Italian championship in 2003.

Named one of the Euroleague’s 10 Greatest All-Time Coaches in 2008, Messina has earned numerous coaching accolades throughout his career including European Coach of the Year in 1998, Euroleague Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2008, and Italian Coach of the Year in 1990, 1993, 1998, 2001 and 2005.

A native of Catania, Italy, Messina also served as head coach of the senior men’s Italian national basketball team (1993-1997), where he led Italy to the silver medal at the EuroBasket in 1997.

Yao Ming retires: Rockets center Yao Ming will reportedly retire from NBA

By Jeff Lenchiner

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, whose career has been constantly interrupted by injuries, is reportedly set to retire from the NBA.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Yao informed the league office within the past 48 hours of his decision.

The 7-6, 310-pound China native entered the NBA in 2002, and spent his entire career with the Houston Rockets.

His career average was 19.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.9 blocks per game. He only managed to play just five games for the Rockets in the 2010-11 season before again having to sit out and heal.

Armed with truly skillful basketball moves, Yao wasn’t just a big guy, but a terrific talent who was a pleasure to watch. InsideHoops.com and the whole pro basketball world will miss him.

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Raul Lopez signs in Spain

Euroleague.net reports:

Spanish runners-up Turkish Airlines Euroleague debutante Bizkaia Bilbao Basket announced on FRiday the addition of point guard Raul Lopez for the next two seaons. Lopez (1.82 meters, 31 years old) arrives from BC Khimki Moscow region where last year he averaged 8.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals in 10 Euroleague appearances. It was his second season with Khimki. Lopez grew up in Joventut Badalona of Spain and made his debut in 1997. He played there for three years until he was signed by Real Madrid in 2000. He was then drafted by the Utah Jazz of the NBA and was there for two seasons in 2003 and 2004. However, severe knee injuries kept his career from progressing as expected and he was back in Spain in 2005 when he joined Akasvayu Girona.

Hawks center Zaza Pachulia may play in Turkey during lockout

Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (blog) reports:

If the NBA lockout is not ended by the scheduled start of the 2011-12 season then Hawks reserve center Zaza Pachulia could end up playing in Turkey in the short term.

Pachulia, who is under contract with the Hawks for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons for a total of about $10 million, said he has a “verbal agreement” to play next season for Turkish club Besiktas.

“They have interest, I have interest and we have talked about price,” Pachulia said. “It’s not official now.”

Besiktas also has an agreement with New Jersey Nets guard Deron Williams.

Pachulia said the contract with Besiktas would immediately terminate when NBA owners and players agree on a new labor deal. The contract also would include some kind of insurance for Pachulia since his guaranteed contract with the Hawks would not be protected in case of an injury sustained while playing in another league.

Sonny Weems signs in Lithuania

Euroleague.net reports:

Zalgiris Kaunas added some athleticism on the wings with the signing of Sonny Weems to a one-year deal. Weems (1.98 meters, 25 years old) will make his European basketball debut this season with the Lithuanian champs. He arrives from Toronto of the NBA, where he averaged 9.2 points and 2.6 rebounds last season over 59 games as a part-time starter. It was Weems’s third season in the NBA, where he has also played for Denver.

InsideHoops.com editor says: A couple of bench-level NBA players in need of a better basketball job are slowly heading to Europe. The NBA lockout may cause a few players at the end of team benches to perhaps head to Europe a bit quicker than they might under normal circumstances, only because there is a limit on how many well-paying hoops jobs exist over there. The only big lockout-related surprise so far is that Nets guard Deron Williams is poised to temporarily take his talents to Turkey, but he’ll return to the NBA when the lockout is resolved. I do not expect many star or starter-level NBA players to follow D-Will’s lead. A couple might, but most likely won’t.

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Cavaliers acquire New Mexico Thunderbirds, who move to Canton, Ohio

The Cleveland Cavaliers will own and operate their new NBA Development League franchise in Canton, Ohio. The announcement was made today by NBA Development League President Dan Reed, Cavaliers/Quicken Loans Arena President Len Komoroski, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant and Canton Mayor William J. Healy II. The Cavaliers acquired the former New Mexico Thunderbirds franchise, which has ceased operations, and will now become the 5th NBA team to currently own and operate their own NBA D-League affiliate, joining Golden State, the Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City and San Antonio. As owner/operators, the Cavaliers will have exclusive control over all basketball and business elements for the franchise.

“Having the ability to own and operate a D-League franchise in Canton once again illustrates our ownership’s outstanding commitment to creating a culture of success,” said Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant. “Player development is at the core of our process and being able to operate our own franchise so close to home will place us in the most strategic position to take an active part in the player development process.”

Jeff Lenchiner, the editor of InsideHoops.com, sees this as a positive move for the Cavs.

Entering its 11th season, the NBA Development League is the NBA’s official minor league. Canton becomes the 16th team in the league and will begin play in the upcoming 2011-12 season at the Canton Memorial Civic Center.

“We are thrilled to be the home of minor league basketball for the Cleveland Cavaliers. This is an incredible opportunity for the citizens of Canton to experience professional basketball in their hometown, and I am grateful that the Cavaliers recognized Canton as an ideal market for their next generation of basketball operations,” said Mayor Healy. “Thanks to the hard work of the Cavaliers, the NBADL, SMG, and the City of Canton, I believe that the Cavaliers have secured a fan base that is hungry to support minor league basketball for years to come.”

Last season, the Erie BayHawks were the Cavaliers’ D-League affiliate and that affiliation was shared with the Toronto Raptors. The New Mexico Thunderbirds served as the affiliate for the New Orleans Hornets and Orlando Magic.

“We’re very excited to welcome the Cleveland Cavaliers to a rapidly-expanding group of NBA teams realizing the advantages of an exclusive relationship with their NBA D-League affiliate,” said NBA D-League President Dan Reed. “The combination of supportive city leadership and an outstanding organization in the Cavs leads us to believe the future of the team in Canton is very bright.”

Leading the new Canton team’s local business operations as senior vice president and chief operating officer will be Scott Woodruff. Woodruff is a veteran of the Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena organization and spent the past two seasons with the American Hockey League’s Lake Erie Monsters as the vice president of ticket and corporate sales. The Monsters are part of the Dan Gilbert family of sports and entertainment interests. Business offices for the franchise will also be located in the Canton Memorial Civic Center.

“We are very excited and looking forward to a great partnership with the City of Canton, fans and the surrounding community,” said Cavaliers President Len Komoroski. “We have a strong connection with the Canton regional market and we are excited to further engage our fans with a first-class basketball and entertainment experience. We will be active in the community and will work hard to earn support from our fans here.”

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Deron Williams may play in Turkey

The New York Daily News reports:

With seemingly no end to the lockout, Nets guard Deron Williams has agreed in principal to a contract to play in Turkey, a source confirmed to the Daily News.

The signing was first reported by a Turkish TV station. The contract would pay the Nets star on a monthly basis.

The team, Besiktas, also signed Allen Iverson to a two-year, $4 million deal in October of last year.

“We are in talks with Williams. He is a bigger star than Iverson and would be the best player in Europe. We are close to an agreement,” the coach of Besiktas told Turkish TV.

Williams has an out clause in the event the NBA kicks off on time in late October, according to the Turkish TV report. Earlier this week, Dallas’ Rudy Fernandez considered playing in Spain, but decided not to go overseas, at this point.

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Indiana Pacers to hire Brian Shaw

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star reports:

Three of the pieces are in place, now all Frank Vogel has to do is find his final assistant to complete his coaching staff.

Vogel was introduced as coach of the Pacers on Wednesday during a press conference that didn’t reveal a lot since team officials are not permitted to talk about players due to the current NBA lockout.

Vogel and Larry Bird both said they hope to be able to announce the rest of the coaching staff next week. Brian Shaw will be the associate head coach and long time assistant Dan Burke will be on Vogel’s staff.

Vogel interviewed former University of Utah coach and NBA assistant Jim Boylen for the final assistant job earlier this week.

Maciej Lampe signs in Spain

Euroleague.net reports:

One day after its starting center transferred elsewhere, Caja Laboral reacted with a big signing of its own by grabbing Maciej Lampe for two seasons. Lampe (2.10 meters, 26 years old) arrives from Eurocup champion Unics Kazan, where he spent the past two seasons. Lampe averaged 15.6 points and a competition best 8.1 rebounds last season as he was named to the All- Eurocup First Team. For the season, Lampe ranked second in the Eurocup in average performance index rating at 19.6 per game.

David Lighty to play basketball in Italy

Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

Former Ohio State and Villa Angela-St. Joseph star David Lighty apparently will sign a two-year contract to play with Cantu, Italy, in the Euroleague next season, according to various sources.

The deal is believed to be worth $300,000 for the two seasons. It would also not allow him to return to the NBA this season, one NBA source said.

Lighty and his agent, Joel Bell, did not return phone calls to The Plain Dealer on Wednesday, but Lighty’s mother, Emily, confirmed that Lighty probably would sign with Cantu this week.

“We’re not giving up,” she said of her son’s dream to play in the NBA. “But it’s the Lord’s plan for him to take a different route. Everything happens for a reason.”