Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

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.

Nuggets recall Sonny Weems from D-League

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

Weems was assigned to the 14ers on Dec. 10 and averaged 18.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 2.3 apg in 10 appearances with Colorado.

Weems was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the second round (39th overall) of the 2008 NBA Draft before being traded to Denver for a 2009 second-round draft pick.

In five games for the Nuggets entry in the 2008 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas this summer, Weems averaged 9.2 ppg and 3.0 rpg in 22.2 mpg.

Carmelo Anthony out 3-4 weeks

After visiting with Denver-based hand specialist Dr. Carlton Clinkscales today, it was confirmed that Nuggets F Carmelo Anthony has a non-displaced 3rd metacarpal fracture on his right hand.  Anthony’s hand will be placed in a splint and he will be sidelined for 3-4 weeks.

Anthony’s injury occurred at the 9:44 mark of the third quarter last night against Indiana.

Violent fans harrass an Israel-league team in Turkey

A EuroCup basketball game in Turkey between Israeli team Bnei Hasharon and a Turkish team  was suspended after violent fans started making both verbal and physical threats towards the players on the Israeli team.

Two American players on the team are Shawn James, who attended Duquesne University and Sean Munson, who attended Wagner.
The Bnei team players had to flee under police protection to their locker room, and have had to stay there for a length of time for their own safety as uncivilized, violent fans took political anger and applied it towards innocent basketball players who are simply trying to engage in friendly sports competition.

The team from Turkey also left for their locker room, to avoid getting caught in any violence.

UPDATE: My source who is at the game tells me the players are now safe and back at their hotel.

UPDATE: Sean S. Munson exclusively to InsideHoops.com: “We are all good and safe.  We are in the hotel right now with police out side protecting us… We were in the locker room for 3 hours waiting for the police escort to clear the street back to our hotel.  They were throwing coins, pens, lighters, and one shoe during the warmups.  We finished the introduction of players and shook the other team’s hands and then it got quiet in the gym for about a minute.  Then the crowd rushed the court.  The game was seconds from starting.”

–InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner

Jazz assign Kyrylo Fesenko to D-League

Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today that the team has assigned second-year center Kyrylo Fesenko to the Utah Flash of the NBA Development League (D-League). He is expected to be in uniform tonight as the Flash hosts the Anaheim Arsenal at 7:15 p.m. as part of the D-League Showcase.

In 10 games this season (one start) the 7-1, 278 pound Fesenko has averages of 2.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.3 assists. Fesenko has been inactive 13 times this season and DNP-CD 12 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.

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.

Suns release Dee Brown

The Phoenix Suns have released guard Daniel “Dee” Brown, the club announced today.

The 6-0, 181-pound guard appeared in two games for Phoenix in a reserve role, averaging 2.5 points and 1.5 assists in 14.0 minutes.  Brown hit a three-pointer in his first action with Phoenix on Dec. 29 at Oklahoma City and also finished with one assist in 13 minutes.  A night later in Memphis, the Illinois product scored two points, dished two assists and grabbed a rebound in 15 minutes.  The two-year NBA performer was signed by the Suns on Dec. 24 after appearing in 17 games (11 starts) with the Washington Wizards to begin 2008-09.

The Suns roster now stands at 12.

A season-high seven games above .500, the Suns return to action tomorrow night, Wed., Jan. 7, hosting the Indiana Pacers at 7 p.m. at US Airways Center.

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