Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Raptors recall Nathan Jawai from D-League

The Toronto Raptors announced Monday they have recalled rookie forward-centre Nathan Jawai from the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League. Jawai was assigned to the Raptors’ affiliate in the D-League on February 26.

Jawai appeared in 10 games with the Stampede, starting nine. He averaged 12.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 25.0 minutes. He posted two double-doubles, with personal bests of 21 points at Utah on March 16 and 10 rebounds on two occasions (versus Reno on March 21 and March 16 versus Rio Grande Valley).

Per NBA guidelines, Jawai remained on Toronto’s roster while in the NBDL and was put on the inactive list. At the current time, his status with the Raptors is unchanged.

Jawai, 22, has appeared in five games totaling two points and two rebounds in 18 minutes before his assignment to Idaho. He was cleared December 17 to begin physical activity after being sidelined since training camp for precautionary reasons as a result of an abnormality detected during normal procedural pre-season cardiac screening.

The club acquired the draft rights to Jawai from the Indiana Pacers on July 9. He was the 41st overall selection in the 2008 NBA Draft. He is the first indigenous player from Australia to be drafted by an NBA team.

The Raptors play host to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday at Air Canada Centre. Tip-off is 7 p.m. (The Score/FAN 590).

Rockets sign James White to multi-year deal

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed guard/forward James White to a multi-year deal. He was signed to an original 10-day contract by the Rockets on Mar. 3 and inked a second 10-day contract on Mar. 13. White joined Houston from the Anaheim Arsenal of the NBA D-League, becoming the 12th Call-Up of the season.

White (6-7, 200, Cincinnati) has appeared in one game with the Rockets since his Call-Up, notching five points (2-2 FG, 1-1 3FG), one assist, one steal and one blocked shot in 3:42 of action vs. Minnesota (3/20/09). He averaged 25.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.18 steals in 34 games (33 starts) for the Arsenal this season. At the time of his Call-Up, White was tied for first in the D-League in points per game and was ranked tied for 12th in the league in field goal percentage. White posted 30 or more points in 12 contests with the Arsenal in 2008-09, including a season-high 47-point performance against Houston’s D-League affiliate Rio Grande Valley Vipers (1/20/09).

Thunder recall D.J. White from D-League

Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has recalled forward D.J. White from the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League.

White was originally assigned to Tulsa on March 18.  He appeared in three games for the 66ers averaging 17.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.0 assist in 37.7 minutes.

Dwyane Wade done with practices this season

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Michael Cunningham) reports: The Heat isn’t likely to have many more practice sessions with 13 games during the final 22 days of the regular season. When the Heat does practice, don’t expect Dwyane Wade to participate in much more than noncontact work as the Heat tries to keep its star healthy. Wade, nursing a sore hip that forced him to miss Wednesday’s game at Boston, “didn’t feel as bad as we anticipated” after playing Friday at New Jersey, coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We are going to manage his body as best as we can,” Spoelstra said.

Magic re-sign Adonal Foyle

The Orlando Magic have re-signed free agent center Adonal Foyle, General Manager Otis Smith announced today.  Per team policy, terms of the deal are not disclosed.

Foyle played in five games this season with the Magic, averaging 1.2 ppg. and 2.2 rpg. in 5.8 minpg., before being traded to Memphis as part of the three-team deal that sent Rafer Alston to Orlando on Feb. 19.  He also played in one game with the Grizzlies and did not score in three minutes.  Foyle was waived by Memphis on Mar. 1.

Originally selected by Golden State in the first round (eighth overall) of the 1997 NBA Draft, Foyle (6’10”, 270, 3/9/75) has appeared in 729 regular season games during his 11-year NBA career with Golden State, Orlando and Memphis, averaging 4.1 ppg., 4.7 rpg. and 1.63 blkpg. in 17.9 minpg.  Foyle is Golden State’s all-time franchise leader in blocked shots with 1,140.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Foyle is basically good for swinging his arms at the basketball while others attempt to shoot it, and swinging his arms at the basketball after someone misses a shot in the hope of grabbing it, and not a heck of a lot more than that.

Knicks sign Courtney Sims to 10-day contract

The New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that free agent center Courtney Sims has been signed to a 10-day contract. Sims, a member of the Iowa Energy, became the 16th Call-Up of the 2008-09 NBA Development League season.

Sims, 6-11, 245-pounds, was undrafted out of the University of Michigan and has played a total of 13 minutes in four NBA games with Indiana and Phoenix over the last two seasons. The Roslindale, MA-native was signed as a free agent by Indiana on Oct. 2, 2007 and played in three games last season with the Pacers before being waived on Dec. 19, 2007. Sims spent the remainder of the 2007-08 season and the beginning of this 2008-09 campaign with the NBA Development League’s Iowa Energy. He signed two 10-day contracts with the Phoenix Suns beginning on Jan. 20, 2009 and appeared in one game for the Suns this season.

Cheikh Samb’s 10-day contract had expired and the club elected not to re-sign him. The Knicks roster stands at 14 players.

LeBron James talks of playing with Dwyane Wade

Sunday evening in New Jersey the Nets are hosting LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Before the game, LeBron spoke with InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner and other reporters.

Dwyane Wade was brought up and it was mentioned (by our main man Ken Berger of CBS) to LeBron that as long as both he and Wade are in the Eastern conference the two can never meet in the Finals.

“I don’t know… it doesn’t matter,” said James. “Whatever happens, we go against each other. Maybe… we’ll play against each other in practice. I don’t know. That’d be fun, wouldn’t it?”

Now, LeBron paused after that “maybe” before the practice statement, as if he was thinking carefully about what he was going to say next, knowing full well media members lik me would relay it back to the entire fan world aned cause about a billion discussions to break out.

After the interview was over, LeBron yelled over to an inquisitive reporter that he did not say that he said he is headed for Miami, but then said that he is not saying Wade is coming to Cleveland.

Then, he left.

Enjoy discussing this, NBA fan world.

More Cavs stuff late tonight here on InsideHoops.com.

Uncertain future for Kyrylo Fesenko with Jazz

Utah Jazz big-man Kyrylo Fesenko is like a giant kid. I mean that in a good way. Each time I’ve talked with him, he just seems happy. But that doesn’t mean he’s going to stick around with the Jazz or even the NBA in the future. The Deseret News (Tim Buckley) reports:

Though he continues to toil with the Jazz’s NBA Development League affiliate Utah Flash, big man Kyrylo Fesenko isn’t out of mind with the Jazz brass. Asked if the verdict still remains out on Fesenko — the Jazz must decide shortly before the upcoming June NBA Draft whether to exercise their third-year contract option on the 2007 second-round pick — coach Jerry Sloan suggested it was. “He has the ability to play. It’s just what he does with that ability,” Sloan said late last week. “You know, you can talk and work with him, (but) he has to be the guy that comes out and does the work every day and gets in great shape so he can do those things. “But there’s no question he has skills to play.”

In 18 Jazz games this season Fesenko has averaged 2.4 points and 1.8 rebounds, playing just under 8 minutes per outing.

NBA hopes to avoid lockout

ESPN.com (Marc Stein) reports: NBA commissioner David Stern expressed cautious optimism this week that he can eventually broker a new labor agreement that pre-empts any threat of a work stoppage after the league’s current deal with its players expires in June 2011, telling ESPN.com that he and NBA Players Association chief Billy Hunter will meet as early as May or June for “substantive” talks… NBA owners have the right to extend the current collective bargaining agreement through the 2011-12 season, but are widely expected to reject that option either on or before the deadline of Dec. 15, 2010. There is growing dissatisfaction among many owners with issues such as contract lengths, average salary — roughly $5.4 million — and the 57 percent annual share of revenues guaranteed to the players during the most crippling worldwide economic slump in 80 years.