Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Clippers sign Fred Jones to 10-day contract

The Los Angeles Clippers today signed free agent guard Fred Jones to a 10-day contract.

A six-year NBA veteran, Jones averaged 6.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 19.6 minutes in five games with the Clippers this season after originally signing as a free agent on December 28th.  Jones was waived by Los Angeles on January 5th.

Jones played 70 games with the Knicks last season, averaging 7.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 25.1 minutes. The Clippers are the fifth NBA team for Jones, who has appeared in 378 total games and is averaging 7.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists in his NBA career.

A star at the University of Oregon, Jones helped lead the Ducks to the Elite Eight of the 2002 NCAA Tournament and was drafted by the Indiana Pacers with the 14th selection of the 2002 NBA Draft. Jones played four seasons with Indiana, winning the 2004 NBA Slam Dunk Contest as a Pacer before signing with the Raptors prior to the 2006-07 season.

Jones joined Portland midway through the 2006-07 season in a trade, teaming up with current Clipper Zach Randolph and then going to New York along with Randolph in a five-player deal on June 28, 2007.  Jones is expected to be in uniform tonight when the Clippers face the Spurs in San Antonio.

Nuggets trade Chucky Atkins to Thunder for Johan Petro

Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has acquired guard Chucky Atkins, a 2009 first round draft pick and cash considerations from the Denver Nuggets in exchange for center Johan Petro and the Thunder’s 2009 second round draft pick.

“We are excited to add Chucky to our team,” said Presti. “He brings a wealth of experience and a great work ethic to our program. We feel that he is someone who can bring an additional level of veteran leadership to the Thunder.”

Atkins (5-11/160), a nine-year NBA veteran, has played in 637 NBA games with seven teams averaging 10.4 points, 3.6 assists and 1.8 rebounds per contest. He has appeared in 14 games for the Denver Nuggets this season averaging 1.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in 8.2 minutes per game.

The Orlando, Florida native went undrafted in the 1996 NBA draft despite averaging 14.6 points, 4.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game in four seasons at the University of South Florida. Atkins spent one season with the La Crosse Bobcats of the Continental Basketball Association and two seasons with Cibona Zagreb of the Croatian Basketball League before entering the NBA

Atkins, who appeared in all 82 games for the Orlando Magic as an NBA rookie during the 1999-2000 season, averaged 9.5 points and 3.7 assists on his way to being named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. He had his best statistical year in 2004-05 as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers when he averaged 13.6 points, 4.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds in 35 minutes per contest.

Petro, 7-0, 247, has averaged 4.6 ppg and 4.3 rpg in 15.5 mpg in 22 contests (12 starts) with Oklahoma City this season.

A native of Paris, France, Petro was the 25th overall selection in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics and has posted career averages of 5.7 ppg and 4.5 rpg in 243 games over his three-plus seasons with the Oklahoma City franchise.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum thread.

Clippers waive Hassan Adams

The Los Angeles Clippers today waived guard/forward Hassan Adams it was announced by Clippers General Manager and Head Coach Mike Dunleavy.

The Clippers acquired Adams Jan. 7 in a trade from the Toronto Raptors along with cash considerations in exchange for a future conditional second round draft pick.

Adams has appeared in 12 games with the Raptors this season, averaging 0.9 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.1 assists in 4.3 minutes per game.

Grizzlies waive Shaun Livingston

The Memphis Grizzlies have waived guard Shaun Livingston, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

The 6-7, 185-pound guard was acquired today with cash considerations from the Miami Heat in exchange for a 2012 conditional second round draft pick.  Livingston averaged 2.3 points and 1.0 assists in 10.3 minutes in four games with Miami.  He signed with the Heat as a free agent on Oct. 3, 2008.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum thread.

–InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner

Heat trade Shaun Livingston to Grizzlies

The Miami Heat announced today that they have traded guard Shaun Livingston and cash considerations to the Memphis Grizzles for a 2012 conditional second round draft pick.

UPDATE: Mere minutes after making this trade, the Grizzlies waived Livingston.

In four games this season, Livingston averaged 2.3 points and 1.0 assists in 10.3 minutes. The 6’7” guard signed with the HEAT as a free agent on October 3, 2008. He was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers with the fourth overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft.

Over the last few days there were several local Miami reports suggesting the team was set to waive/release Livingston, rather than trade him.

With Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry and oversized point guard Marko Jaric the Grizzlies are overloaded at the position. It’ll be interesting to see how long the team holds on to Livingston. So far he’s been unable to show full recovery from injury.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum thread.

–InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner

Raptors trade Hassan Adams to Clippers

The Toronto Raptors announced Wednesday they have traded guard-forward Hassan Adams and cash considerations to the Los Angeles Clippers for a future conditional second-round draft pick.

UPDATE: The Clippers have now waived Adams.

Adams appeared in 12 games this season, totaling 11 points and seven rebounds in 52 minutes. He drew a DNP-CD in 14 games and was on the inactive list for eight contests.

Adams was signed by the Raptors as a free agent July 8. He was selected 54th overall in the 2006 NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets and spent the 2006-07 season with the club.

He played with two teams in Italy last season.

The Raptors roster currently stands at 13 players. The Raptors face the Washington Wizards tonight at the Verizon Center at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on TSN2 and The FAN 590.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum thread.

–InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner 

Lamar Odom out Wednesday

Lakers forward Lamar Odom was examined today by team physician Dr. Steve Lombardo and MRI results show that Odom has a bone bruise in his right knee.  Odom will not play in tonight’s game in Oakland against the Golden State Warriors, and his status beyond that is listed as day-to-day.

Odom suffered the injury in the 2nd quarter of last night’s game against the New Orleans Hornets at STAPLES Center.

Spurs waive Anthony Tolliver

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have waived forward Anthony Tolliver.

The 6-8, 240-pound Tolliver appeared in 19 games for the Spurs where he averaged 2.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10.9 minutes.  He also spent time with the Austin Toros, the Spurs affiliate in the NBA Development League.  In six games with the Toros, Tolliver averaged 17.8 points and 7.8 rebounds.

The Spurs roster stands at 14.

Grizzlies waive Darius Miles

The Memphis Grizzlies have waived forward Darius Miles, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

In two games with Memphis, Miles collected two rebounds and two blocked shots in a total of nine minutes of action.  The 6-9, 235-pound forward also served a 10-game league suspension, which concluded following the Jan. 2 game vs. San Antonio.

Miles was signed by the Grizzlies as a free agent on Dec. 13 after missing all of the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons following microfracture surgery on his right knee.  The 27-year-old signed a free-agent contract with the Boston Celtics on Aug. 22, 2008 and appeared in six preseason games, averaging 1.8 points and 1.3 rebounds in 10.4 minutes before his release on Oct. 20.

The third overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft became the first player in league history drafted straight out of high school (East St. Louis High School) to earn All-Rookie honors when he posted 9.4 points and 1.54 blocks for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2000-01.

The Bellville, Ill. native holds career averages of 10.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.15 blocks in 27.6 minutes in 414 career games (190 starts) with Memphis, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Portland Trail Blazers.

Memphis will play the New Jersey Nets tonight at 6:30 p.m. CST at the IZOD Center.  The Grizzlies’ current roster stands at 13 players.