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The Orlando Sentinel reports:
The Orlando Magic have promoted longtime assistant athletic trainer and performance enhancement specialist Keon Weise to the head athletic trainer’s job.
Magic spokesman Joel Glass on Monday confirmed the move.
Weise, 31, will replace Tom Smith, who was let go after four seasons as the team’s head athletic trainer.
The Toronto Raptors announced Monday the addition of Scott Roth as an assistant coach. Roth brings 25 years of experience as a player, scout and coach in the professional and international ranks to head coach Jay Triano’s staff.
“Scott and I have a long history dating back to playing professionally at the same time in Turkey,” said Triano. “He is a coach who brings to us experience from many different levels of basketball – International, D-League and the NBA.”
Roth comes to Toronto following one season as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors. Prior to that he was the head coach of the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA D-League in 2008-09 and guided the team to its first post-season appearance with a 26-24 record.
Roth has served seven seasons in the NBA as an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks (1996-2000) and Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies (2000-02), and four seasons as a scout and advisor for the Milwaukee Bucks.
In 2000, Roth was the head coach of the Turkish National Team when they claimed a silver medal at the European Championships held in Istanbul. A year later he guided Turkey at the 2001 World Championships in Indianapolis. Most recently, he was the head coach of the Dominican Republic National Team in 2007 and 2008, earning a silver medal at the CBC Caribbean Championships in Puerto Rico.
Following a standout collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin, Roth was selected in the fourth round of the 1985 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs. He opted to begin his professional playing career overseas with Efes Pilsen in Turkey. He returned to North America in 1987 and appeared in 160 NBA games with the Utah Jazz (1987-88), San Antonio Spurs (1988-89) and Minnesota Timberwolves (1989-90) before returning to Europe to finish his career.
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Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the club has signed free agent guard/forward Tracy McGrady. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.
McGrady, 31, played 30 games last season with the Houston Rockets and New York Knicks averaging 8.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 22.4 minutes per game. He scored a season-high 26 points (10-17 FG) vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder (2/20) and recorded 21 points (6-12 FG, 2-2 3FG) and season-high-tying eight assists against the Pistons (3/3).
A seven-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA scoring champion, McGrady holds career averages of 21.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 814 games. He led the NBA in scoring in 2002-03 (32.1 ppg) and 2003-04 (28.0 ppg) and averaged 24-plus points in seven consecutive seasons from 2000-01 to 2006-07. He’s been named to the All-NBA First Team twice (2002, 2003), All-NBA Second Team three times (2001, 2004, 2007) and All-NBA Third Team twice (2005, 2008). McGrady was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2000-01 when he averaged 26.8 points with the Orlando Magic, an improvement from 15.4 points the previous season. He’s recorded 2,000-plus points in a season twice (2000-01, 2002-03) and has scored 1,000-plus points in nine of his 13 seasons. McGrady scored a career-high 62 points against the Washington Wizards (3/10/04) and has scored 40-plus points 45 times in his NBA career. He ranks 10th amongst active players in career points (17,534) and has appeared in 38 career playoff games, averaging 28.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists.
The 6-8, 223-pound native of Bartow, FL, was drafted by the Toronto Raptors in the first round (ninth overall) of the 1997 NBA Draft. Drafted out of Mount Zion Christian Academy High School (NC), McGrady was honored earlier in his career as one of the “Good Guys in Sports” by The Sporting News for his community relations efforts.
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The Toronto Raptors announced Monday they have waived forward-centre Dwayne Jones. Jones was acquired with guard Leandro Barbosa on July 14 from the Phoenix Suns.
For his career, Jones averages 1.3 points and 2.3 rebounds in 7.8 minute per game.
The Raptors roster now stands at 15.
The Orlando Magic have signed forward Stanley Robinson, President of Basketball Operations Otis Smith announced today.
Robinson was originally selected by Orlando during the second round (59th overall) of the 2010 NBA Draft. Per team policy, terms of the deal are not disclosed.
Robinson played on the Magic’s summer league team in the 2010 AirTran Airways Pro Summer League, where he averaged 5.4 points and 5.2 rebounds and shot 50 percent from the floor.
Robinson (6’9”, 210, 7/14/88) appeared in 126 career games (103 starts) at the University of Connecticut, averaging 9.8 ppg., 6.2 rpg., 1.0 apg. and 1.03 blkpg. during his four-year collegiate career. As a senior (2009-10), he averaged 14.5 ppg., a team-high 7.6 rpg., 1.0 apg. and 1.21 blkpg. for the Huskies. Robinson helped UConn reach the NCAA Final Four in 2009.
Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star reports:
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Just days after feeling good about making what they think is their best trade in years, the Pacers were knocked down Sunday when rookie guard Lance Stephenson was arrested and charged with third-degree assault after he allegedly pushed his girlfriend down a flight of stairs in Brooklyn, N.Y., early Sunday.
“We have been made aware of a situation involving Lance Stephenson early Sunday morning in Brooklyn,” Pacers president Larry Bird said in a statement released from the team. “We are currently in the process of gathering information and will have further comments as we learn more facts.” …
Stephenson was charged with sexual abuse for allegedly groping a girl at a bus stop near his high school in New York his senior year. The charge was dismissed and he ended up pleading to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct.
John Lauinger of the New York Daily News reports:
Stephenson, 19, a legendary player at Brooklyn’s Abraham Lincoln High School, roughed up Jasmine Williams, 21, at her Brooklyn apartment building about 5 a.m., police said.
The 6-foot-5 rookie point guard’s cowardly shove sent Williams – the mother of Stephenson’s child – tumbling headfirst down 10 steps, requiring her to be treated at a hospital for injuries to her head and neck, cops said…
He was also booked on charges of third-degree assault, harassment and menacing. Prosecutors added a charge of criminal possession of a weapon, but a spokesman could not specify what the weapon was.
The Denver Nuggets have waived C Brian Butch and G Coby Karl, the team announced today.
Both players were signed by the Nuggets on April 11 but did not appear in any games during the 2009-10 regular season or the playoffs.
Karl averaged 14.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in four games with Denver’s summer league team in Las Vegas. Butch appeared in two summer-league games, averaging 7.0 points and 6.0 rebounds.
Luisa Yanez of the Miami Herald reports:
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Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem was stopped by the Florida Highway Patrol Sunday and drugs were found by a trooper, FHP has confirmed.
The incident began as a traffic stop somewhere in Miami, said FHP spokesman Lt. Mark Wysocky. Details were sketchy Sunday. It’s unclear where Haslem was stopped or what type of drugs were found.
TMZ reports:
Haslem was pulled over by Florida Highway Patrol officers for, we’re told by sources, having tinted windows. We’re told there were three other guys in the car with Haslem.
According to sources, officers searched the car three times for drugs — an initial search and then a search with drug dogs yielded nothing. We’re told when officers searched the car a third time, they discovered less than 20 grams of marijuana.
August 16 update:
Miami Heat President Pat Riley released the following statement today concerning the incident involving Udonis Haslem yesterday afternoon. “We are aware of the incident involving Udonis Haslem yesterday afternoon, and while we fully support our players, since this is a pending legal matter we will have no further comment at this time.”
Another August 16 update:
Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem released the following statement today. “First and foremost, I’d like to thank the Arison family, Coach Riley, Coach Spoelstra, the HEAT organization and fans who have shown me their support during this incident. I am confident that once the judicial process runs its course, I will be cleared.”
The Los Angeles Lakers have signed forward Derrick Caracter, it was announced today. Per team policy terms of the agreement were not released.
Caracter, a 22 year-old early entry candidate selected by the Lakers with the 58th pick in the 2010 NBA draft, played two seasons at Louisville before transferring to the University of Texas at El Paso, where he averaged 14.1 points and 8.1 rebounds in 27 games as a junior with the Miners. Named Second Team All-Conference USA last season, the 6’9” forward ranked second in the conference and 16th nationally in field goal percentage (.567).
Ranked as the best player in the country by some recruiting services heading into his senior year of high school, Caracter averaged 8.2 points and 4.3 rebounds in 53 games (14 starts) over two seasons at Louisville. For his college career, Caracter averaged 10.2 points (.560 FG%) and 5.6 rebounds in 80 games (36 starts).
Most recently, Caracter started all five games for the Lakers 2010 Summer League entry in Las Vegas, averaging 15.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 33.3 minutes.
Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the club has signed its second round draft selection Terrico White to a contract. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.
White was drafted 36th overall in the second round of the 2010 NBA Draft. A 6-foot-5 guard from University of Mississippi, he ranked second on the team in scoring with 15.1 points and averaged 4.6 rebounds a game last season. He scored in double figures in 26 of 35 games and scored 20-plus points six times. White scored a career-high-tying 29 points (11-18 FG) against Jacksonville State (12/29/09) and scored 27 points (11-20 FG) vs. Troy (3/17/10) in the NIT Tournament.
A native of Memphis, TN, White earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors in 2009 when he averaged 13.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. He averaged 18.4 points in SEC play and scored 20-plus points nine times, including a career-high 29 points on 9-of-16 shooting against Arkansas (3/4/09). White was a member of the gold-medal winning United States under 19 National Team in the FIBA World Championship in the summer of 2009.