NBA News Blog – Page 1344 – NBA Blog

Spurs waive Bobby Simmons, sign Chris Quinn

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have signed point guard Chris Quinn. Per team policy, terms of the deal are not disclosed. At the same time, the Spurs announced that Bobby Simmons has been placed on waivers.

Quinn (#11, 6’2”, 175, 9/27/83) has appeared in 193 regular season games in his four-year NBA career, averaging 5.2 points, 2.1 assists and 1.2 rebounds in 15.2 minutes per game, while shooting .390 (150-385) from three-point range. He enjoyed his best campaign during the 2007-08 season, averaging 7.8 points, 3.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game in 22.3 minutes of play, including 25 starts for the Heat.

Originally signed as a free agent out of Notre Dame by Miami in 2006, Quinn was traded by the Heat to the Nets on January 5, 2010. He appeared in two preseason games with the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2010 preseason.

Simmons originally signed with the Spurs as a free agent on September 25, 2010. He had appeared in two games in the regular season.

Gilbert Arenas to make season debut tonight against Knicks

Sports Network reports:

Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas is set to make his season debut Friday against the New York Knicks, according to the team’s Twitter feed.

The post said, “A quick update from New York. Gilbert Arenas will play tonight!” Arenas practiced Friday morning and was earlier considered a game- time decision.

Arenas has missed the Wizards’ first three games of the regular season with a strained tendon in his right ankle and strained right groin.

Coach Stan Van Gundy, Mickael Pietrus spar over playing time

Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reports:

Coach Stan Van Gundy and General Manager Otis Smith met Thursday before the Magic’s practice. The topic, in a nutshell:

Dealing with changes that are good for the team … but not so good for players involved.

Their meeting came in the wake of small forward Mickael Pietrus’ shouting match with Van Gundy near the bench on Wednesday night.

Frustrated with his dwindling role, Pietrus was pulled out of the game by Van Gundy after just three minutes into the final period during the Magic’s blow-out victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Amway Center.

Teammates, including co-captain Dwight Howard, tried to calm Pietrus. One player said that MP wanted to be traded if he’s not playing regularly, although MP told me he didn’t want to leave a contender.

Blazers center Fabricio Oberto retires

Portland Trail Blazers center Fabricio Oberto has announced today that he has retired from the game of basketball due to recurrent palpitations related to a prior cardiac condition.

Oberto experienced lightheadedness and dizziness during the first half of Portland’s game at Milwaukee on Nov. 2.

“I made this decision to put my health and my family in front of basketball,” said Oberto. “It was a tough decision to make after playing for so many years, but it was the right one.”

In his sixth season in the NBA, Oberto appeared in each of Portland’s first five games, averaging 1.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 9.0 minutes.

“We want to thank Fabricio for his professionalism and hard work during his short time here,” said Trail Blazers General Manager Rich Cho. “It’s unfortunate to lose him, but we respect his decision to do what’s best for his health and his family.”

A native of Las Varillas, Argentina, Oberto played four seasons for the San Antonio Spurs (2005-09), winning an NBA Championship as the starting center in 2007, before spending last season with the Washington Wizards.

Oberto, 35, ends his career with NBA averages of 3.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 14.5 minutes in 336 games (128 starts).

A veteran of international play, Oberto was a member of the Argentine National Team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, took home the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and won the silver medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championships.

The Trail Blazers roster currently stands at 14 players.

Elliot Williams needs knee surgery, likely out for season

Trail Blazers guard Elliot Williams will undergo surgery to repair a dislocated right patella, the Trail Blazers announced today.

The injury occurred Wednesday, Nov. 3, during court conditioning drills at the team’s Practice Facility. Williams will be re-evaluated after surgery but will likely miss the rest of the regular season.

Portland selected Williams with the 22nd overall pick in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft. He has not appeared in a game for the Trail Blazers this season.

Williams, 21, posted averages of 17.9 points (45.9% FG, 36.6% 3-PT, 75.8% FT), 4.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.32 steals in 34 games (all starts) as a sophomore at Memphis in 2009-10, earning All-Conference USA First Team and Conference USA Newcomer of the Year honors.

The 6-5, 183-pound guard played his freshman year at Duke in 2008-09, where he averaged 4.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 34 games before transferring to Memphis.

Timberwolves suffer worst loss in franchise history

Jerry Zgodda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

Tonight’s 42-point blowout loss set a franchise record, by one point over a 1996 game at Miami (Kevin Garnett’s rookie year) and last November’s unforgettable 146-105 loss at Golden State.

That’s the only Wolves record that fell, although a couple dropped for the Magic.

The 78 first-half points scored was one shy of the 79 the Wolves allowed Phoenix in the first half last March in Phoenix.

But it was the most a Magic team has ever scored in a first half, three more than the 75 they put on Sacramento in January 2009.

Dwight Howard, who got into foul trouble and left the game for a good stretch after just two minutes, set a franchise record for most blocks in a quarter, blocking six in the third.

Charlie Villanueva wants to fight Kevin Garnett

Kevin Garnett is known for trash-talking, and every now and then he rubs someone the wrong way, in a big way. Such is the case now.

Chris Iott of Michigan Live reports:

Charlie Villanueva wants to fight Kevin Garnett

The Detroit Pistons’ Charlie Villanueva and Boston Celtics’ Kevin Garnett were whistled for technical fouls at the same point in the third quarter of Tuesday night’s game.

Villanueva Twitter quotes from after midnight Tuesday night

First: “KG talks a lot of crap, he’s prob never been in a fight, I would love to get in a ring with him, I will expose him.”

Then: “KG called me a cancer patient. I’m pissed because, u know how many people died from cancer, and he’s tossing it like it’s a joke.”

And then: “I wouldn’t even trip about that, but a cancer patient, I know way 2 many people who passed away from it, and I have a special place 4 those.”

InsideHoops.com editor says: Assuming KG really did say what’s quoted above, of course I gotta support Villanueva in this one, who is angry for the right reasons. Though as for KG, I’ll say that the purpose of trash-talking is to piss the other guy off and in this case it appears to have worked. Of course, there are ways to trash-talk that don’t involve mentioning diseases, death, etc. — and that’s what Villanueva is quite rightly annoyed about.

Blazers dedicate season to Maurice Lucas

The Portland Trail Blazers today announced plans to celebrate the life of Trail Blazers great Maurice Lucas throughout the 2010-11 NBA season.

The team will officially tip-off the season-long dedication to the “Enforcer” beginning with a moment of silence at the Trail Blazers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game Thursday night, November 4. Special team tributes honoring Lucas will be featured throughout the game, on Trail Blazers broadcasts and on a special tribute page on trailblazers.com.

Trail Blazers players will wear a memorial jersey patch for all games this season bearing Lucas’s jersey number No. 20. Replicas of the memorial patch will be available for fans to purchase beginning Thursday night at the Trail Blazers Fan Shop with proceeds going to The Maurice Lucas Foundation.

The team will also establish an award that will be given annually to a Trail Blazers player who best represents the true spirit of Maurice Lucas by being a Trail Blazer both on the court and in the community.

A public memorial service for Maurice Lucas will be held in the Memorial Coliseum on Monday, November 8th at noon. Doors will open at 11 a.m. The family has asked, in lieu of flowers, that donations be made to the Maurice Lucas Foundation, supporting youth sports and cancer awareness. For more information on the foundation or to make a donation, please visit the following link: http://lucasswoopesbasketball.com/maurice-lucas/

Grizzlies sign Mike Conley to contract extension

The Memphis Grizzlies signed point guard Mike Conley to a multi-year contract extension, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deal, which was completed minutes before the deadline last night, were not disclosed. Several reports said the contract is for five years and somewhere between $40-45 million.

“We are excited about completing a contract extension with our starting point guard Mike Conley,” Wallace said. “Mike has improved significantly during his brief time in the league, and we are optimistic that the best is yet to come for him. With the signing of Rudy Gay last summer and now Mike, the organization has shown that it is serious about keeping the Grizzlies’ core together into the future.”

Conley, who is posting career highs in scoring (15.0 points), assists (8.3, T-9th in the NBA) and steals (an NBA-high 3.67) through three games this season, has steadily increased those averages in all of his four professional seasons. The 6-1, 185-pound guard is also grabbing a career-best 5.7 rebounds this season, making him one of only four NBA players (Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Brandon Jennings) to average at least 15 points, eight assists and five rebounds in 2010-11.

The 23-year-old, who tied a career-high with 11 assists and matched his own franchise record with seven steals in Memphis’ first home win this season on Oct. 30 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, has led the Grizzlies in assists every season since entering the league.

Currently ranked sixth in franchise history in assists (1,026) and eighth in three-point percentage (.383), Conley holds career averages of 11.0 points, 4.7 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.17 steals in 30.1 minutes in 218 games (190 starts) with Memphis.

The Fayetteville, Ark. native was drafted fourth overall in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Grizzlies after helping lead Ohio State University to the NCAA National Championship Game as a freshman alongside current Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden.

Magic at Knicks game postponed due to MSG asbestos-related debris issue

The Orlando Magic at New York Knicks game scheduled for tonight (November 2) will instead be played another night, and it’s possible that additional games in Madison Square Garden may have to be relocated.

Here is the information sent out by the Knicks:

Following last night’s Rangers game, during overnight maintenance of Madison Square Garden, which included cleaning asbestos-related materials in the attic above the ceiling, some debris fell into the Arena.

Out of an abundance of caution, we are postponing tonight’s Knicks v. Magic game. We will be working with the city and independent experts, ATC Associates and GCI Environmental Advisory, to evaluate and determine the most appropriate course of action. As the safety of our customers and employees are our top priority, we will not reopen the Garden until we are absolutely assured the Arena is safe.

Ticketholders are advised to retain their tickets, and return to nyknicks.com for rescheduling information. We will announce information about future events as soon as they have been determined.

Madison Square Garden apologizes for any inconvenience.