NBA News Blog – Page 1568 – NBA Blog

Jazz assign two to D-League

Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced Saturday that the team has assigned second-year guard Morris Almond and second-year center Kyrylo Fesenko to the Utah Flash of the NBA Development League (D-League). The two are expected to be in uniform as the Flash host the Idaho Stampede on Monday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m.

In 25 games this season (one start) the 6-6, 215 pound Almond has averages of 3.7 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists. Almond has been inactive 19 times this season and DNP-CD 18 games. The guard notched a career-high 12 points and six rebounds in a 99-94 win on December 2 at Sacramento.

Selected by the Jazz out of Rice in the first round (25th overall selection) of the 2007 NBA Draft, Almond secured his place in the D-League record books last season when he broke the league single-game scoring record with a 53-point performance on Jan. 30 at Bakersfield. Almond also earned the inaugural NBA Development League Impact Player of the Year Award which is given to a player who joins a D-League team following the start of the season. The award honors an athlete who made the greatest contribution following his in-season acquisition.

In 18 games this season (one start) the 7-1, 278 pound Fesenko has averages of 2.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists. Fesenko has been inactive 30 times this season and DNP-CD 14 games. His best outing of the season came at Houston on December 12 when he picked up his first career double-double, scoring 12 points with 11 rebounds in 34 minutes of action. Fesenko, who makes his second trip to the D-League this season, was last assigned to the Flash on January 6 and appeared in eight games (all starts), averaging 12.5 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 27.3 minutes per contest.

Originally selected by Philadelphia in the second round (38th overall selection) of the 2007 NBA Draft, the Jazz acquired Fesenko’s rights in a draft night deal that sent the draft rights to Herbert Hill (55th overall pick) and trade considerations to the 76ers.

Shaun Livingston joins Tulsa in D-League

The Tulsa 66ers announced today they have acquired the fourth overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, point guard Shaun Livingston.

Livingston, at 6 foot 7 inches, has played in 149 regular season NBA games, including 60 starts for the Los Angeles Clippers from 2004-07. He played in four games for the Miami Heat earlier this season. He has career averages of 7.3 points, 4.7 assists, 3.1 rebounds while shooting 44 percent from the field and 71 percent from the free throw line.

The Peoria, Illinois native led Peoria Central High to Class AA state titles in both 2003 and 2004 and was named Illinois Mr. Basketball as a senior in 2003-04, while also named to the 2004 McDonald’s All-America Team. Livingston became the fourth Illinois Mr. Basketball to jump directly from high school to the NBA, joining Darius Miles, Kevin Garnett and Eddy Curry.

Livingston will wear jersey number 14, and will be in uniform for tonight’s game against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. In order to make room on the roster for Livingston, the 66ers released guard Derrick Dial due to an injury.

Tyrus Thomas sets a Bulls blocks record

The Chicago Tribune reports on Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas: The third-year forward set a franchise record Friday night by blocking at least one shot in his 24th consecutive game. The previous record of 23 had been shared with Ben Wallace (Jan.-March 2007) and Jawann Oldham (March-April 1985). Thomas set the mark with a second-quarter block of Luc Mbah a Moute’s layup attempt. During the streak, Thomas, who had two blocks Friday, has 49 overall.

Eddy Curry returns to practice

The New York Post (Marc Berman) reports: Knicks center Eddy Curry was back on the practice court for the first time in nearly two months yesterday, but Mike D’Antoni made it clear he likely won’t be back in the rotation. Curry, who last practiced Jan. 9 in Houston because of a lack of conditioning and two sore knees, has played two minutes and 38 seconds this season. He could suit up tonight versus the Bobcats. But his role now – and for the forseeable future – is to play garbage time as the Knicks immerse themselves in a playoff race, two games out of eighth place in the Eastern Conference. They have no time to experiment with their 6-foot-11, 300-pound former franchise player, who has become an albatross – by far Isiah Thomas’ worst personnel move.

Glen Davis ejected after hard foul on Anderson Varejao

A flagrant-2 foul was called on Celtics power forward Glen Davis Friday night in Boston in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Early in the third quarter, Cavs forward/center Anderson Varejao had the ball and drove at the rim, coming alongside the left baseline.

As Varejao went up for his shot, Davis jumped with both his arms up, but brought both arms down, making contact with Varjao’s neck and shoulder area. There was enough of a follow-through motion for the refs to call it a flagrant-2.

I think the refs made the right call.

A few players from both teams rushed over to make sure no one started to fight, but nothing happened.

A flagrant-2 foul results in an ejection. So, Davis is gone from the game.

Doc Rivers became furious as the refs told him what was up. He must have not seen the replay.

And then pointless, silly technical fouls were called on LeBron James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ray Allen for rushing over and sort of holding on to each other for a few seconds.

–Jeff

Mike Dunleavy out after surgery

The Indiana Pacers announced Friday that guard Mike Dunleavy underwent successful surgery for removal of a bone spur and repair of his right patellar tendon.

At the direction of the team, the surgery was performed by Dr. Richard Steadman at the Steadman-Hawkins clinic in Vail, Co., with the Pacers’ medical staff, Dr. Tim Hupfer, physical therapist consultant Dan Dyrek and head physical therapist/athletic trainer Josh Corbeil, in attendance.

Recovery will be lengthy and no timetable has been set. Dunleavy will miss the remainder of this season. Rehabilitation will begin immediately and will be under the supervision of the Pacers’ medical staff in Indianapolis. Updates will be forthcoming when appropriate.

Chuck Daly has pancreatic cancer

Hall of Fame Coach Chuck Daly has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, family spokesman Matt Dobek said today.

“Chuck is being treated for the cancer and the family is requesting privacy,” Dobek said. “When he was coaching, Chuck was always known as the Prince of Pessimism, right now Chuck Daly is the King of Optimism.”

Daly, who coached the Detroit Pistons to NBA Championships in 1989 and 1990, was dubbed by his Pistons’ players as “Daddy Rich,” for his dapper wardrobe. Daly served as head coach of the Dream Team, the 1992 Gold-Medal winning USA Basketball Olympic Team, which has been acknowledged by many as the greatest basketball team ever assembled. Daly was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994. The number 2 (for those 2 NBA Championships) was retired in his honor by the Detroit Pistons in 1997.

“Chuck was one of the most accessible sports figures ever, but right now he’s asking for privacy,” Dobek said. “His family is hopeful that friends, fans and the media will respect those wishes at this time.”

Lakers assign Sun Yue to D-League

The Los Angeles Lakers have assigned guard Sun Yue to the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

“This is a great opportunity for Sun to gain additional playing time while still being able to continue on the NBA level,” said head coach Phil Jackson. “Your rookie year is a learning process and the more time you get on the court, the better you will be for it in the long run. I am impressed with Sun’s basketball talents and am hopeful that he will play for the Lakers for many years to come.”

Originally selected by the Lakers in the second round (40th overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft, Sun signed with the Lakers the following summer (August 25, 2008) shortly after representing China as a member of the Men’s Olympic Basketball Team in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Making his NBA debut on December 7 versus Milwaukee with four points on 2-of-3 shooting in five minutes, Sun has appeared in 10 games with the Lakers this season, totaling six points, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot in 28 minutes.

Nuggets assign Sonny Weems to D-League

The Denver Nuggets have assigned G/F Sonny Weems to the Colorado 14ers of the NBA Development League, team Vice President of Basketball Operations Mark Warkentien announced today.

Weems, 6-6, 203, has averaged 1.3 ppg in 10 games with the Nuggets this season. In his previous stint with the 14ers from Dec. 10- Jan. 6, Weems averaged 18.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 2.3 apg in 10 games.

This assignment marks the 27th player assignment to the NBA Development League this season and the Nuggets’ third to the 14ers in 2008-09.

Weems was acquired by Denver in a draft-night trade with the Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for a 2009 second round draft pick.

Knicks sign Demetris Nichols to 10-day contract

The New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that free agent guard Demetris Nichols has been signed to a 10-day contract. Nichols, a member of the Iowa Energy, became the 14th Call-Up of the 2008-09 NBA Development League season.

Nichols, 6-8, 215-pounds, was selected in the second round (53rd overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft by Portland and was traded to New York on draft night in exchange for a 2008 second-round pick. Nichols averaged 4.8 points in five preseason games with New York before being waived by the club on Oct. 25, 2007. The Boston, MA-native has career averages of 1.1 points, 0.3 rebounds and 3.1 minutes in 16 career games over two NBA seasons with Cleveland and Chicago. The Syracuse product was averaging 20.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game with Iowa of the NBA D-League this season after being released by Chicago on Nov. 17, 2008.

The Knicks roster now stands at 14 players.