The Sacramento Bee (Ailene Voisin) reports (via blog): Kings co-owner Joe Maloof confirmed that he did in fact have a stroke last week. “Just a mild one, a mild one,” the Kings co-owner informed me. “I’m fine. I just have to get back to working out consistently, which I wasn’t doing because of my knees. But I’m so much better now. I’m coming back to Sac in a few days, and I’ll be around. I’m feeling so good now I can hardly believe it.”
Category: NBA News Blog
NBA news blog
Nuggets assign two to D-League
The Denver Nuggets have assigned C Cheikh Samb and G/F Sonny Weems to the Colorado 14ers of the NBA Development League, team Vice President of Basketball Operations Mark Warkentien announced today.
Samb, 7-1, 245, has averaged 0.7 ppg, 1.5 rpg and 0.83 bpg in six appearances with the Nuggets. Samb spent two stints with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League last season posting averages of 10.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and a league-leading 4.0 blocks in 19 games.
Weems, 6-6, 203, has yet to play for the Nuggets this season but averaged 9.2 ppg and 3.0 rpg in 22.2 mpg in five games for the Nuggets summer league entry in Las Vegas this past summer.
Samb and Weems mark the 10th and 11th player assignments to the NBA Development League this season and the first assignments to the 14ers in 2008-09.
Samb was acquired by the Nuggets from Detroit along with G Chauncey Billups and F Antonio McDyess in exchange for G Allen Iverson on Nov. 3.
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 drat pick.
Daniel Gibson out 2 weeks
Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson left last night’s game versus the Toronto Raptors with 9:50 remaining in the second quarter with a sprained left great toe. He was seen by Dr. Jim Sferra at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health today. A MRI and x-rays were performed. He is estimated to be out two weeks and will continue to be reevaluated.
This season in 24.3 minutes per game Gibson has averaged 9.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Though coming off the bench and not shooting very well this season, he’s a key contributor.
3-team trade: Hornets get Antonio Daniels, Wizards get Javaris Crittenton, Mike James
The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have acquired guard Antonio Daniels and a future second round pick in a three-team deal with the Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards. As part of the trade, the Hornets send guard Mike James to the Wizards. The Hornets acquired a future second round pick from the Grizzlies and Daniels from the Wizards. Memphis sends guard Javaris Crittenton to Washington, while Washington sends Memphis a future first round pick that Washington originally acquired in the deal that gave Memphis Juan Carlos Navarro.
Read and join in fan discussion of the trade.
“We are excited to get a player of Antonio’s caliber,” said Hornets General Manager Jeff Bower. “He is a guard with excellent size, versatility and toughness. Daniels is also a proven veteran who has won a championship and we look forward to all of those attributes strengthening our bench.”
Daniels has averaged 5.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 22.2 minutes of play in 13 games (five starts) with the Wizards. He has scored in double figures twice and has had seven games of four or more assists.
“AD has always been a steady, proven guard in this league.” said Hornets Head Coach Byron Scott. “He has won at the highest level and is a clutch player; he also gives us a different look in the backcourt with his size.”
Daniels, the fourth overall pick out of Bowling Green University in the 1997 draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies, has spent time with five NBA teams – Grizzlies (1997-98), San Antonio Spurs (1998-2002), Portland Trail Blazers (2002-03), Seattle Sonics (2003-05) and the Wizards (2005-08).
He won an NBA Championship as a member of the Spurs during the 1998-99 season where he averaged 4.7 points, 2.3 assists and 1.1 rebounds in 13.1 minutes per game during his second season in the NBA. Daniels best season in the league came during the 2004-05 season while a member of the Sonics where he averaged a career-best in points (11.2) and rebounds (2.3), while adding 4.1 assists in 27.0 minutes.
Daniels has ranked in the top seven in the NBA in assist per turnover three times in his career, including leading the league during the 2003-04 season.
Martell Webster out 4 weeks
Trail Blazers guard/forward Martell Webster will be sidelined for approximately four weeks after experiencing acute pain in his left foot Sunday at Toronto.
Webster experienced pain Dec. 7 against the Raptors, his first game back after undergoing surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot on Oct. 9. An X-ray taken Monday revealed that the fracture has regressed from an X-ray taken late last month.
“The good news is that Martell is not experiencing pain at the fracture site,” said Kevin Pritchard, Trail Blazers General Manager. “He is, however, experiencing pain in his little toe joint (head of the fifth metatarsal bone). While it’s an unfortunate setback for Martell, we feel putting additional stress on the foot at this time is not conducive for complete healing.”
Webster will be placed in a walking boot for two weeks at which time he’ll be reevaluated and an updated treatment plan will be implemented.
A fourth-year Trail Blazer, Webster initially incurred the injury in an Oct. 7 preseason game vs. Sacramento.
Webster, 22, has career averages of 8.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.8 assists while averaging 37.2% (279-for-750) from 3-point range in 219 games (115 starts) with the Trail Blazers.
Report: Patrick Ewing Jr to train with Knicks
The Knicks have two players who may not be with the team in the near future. Point guard Stephon Marbury is the ongoing subject of buyout talks. Shooting guard Cuttino Mobley, who has yet to play for the team, is undergoing heart tests and could retire.
Before being traded, Renaldo Balkman was a useful, energic garbageman off the Knicks bench. Hoping to fill that role has been Patrick Ewing Jr. He appears to literally be waiting around to get signed by New York, and there’s reason for him to believe it’ll happen, eventually. The New York Daily News (Frank Isola) reports:
Patrick Ewing Jr. is expected to begin training with the Knicks’ D-League affiliate in Reno this week, the Daily News has learned, and could eventually re-join the NBA club once the futures of Cuttino Mobley and/or Stephon Marbury are resolved. Ewing, who was released by the Knicks prior to the start of the season, has attended several Knicks games and has been a frequent visitor to the team’s training center in Greenburgh, N.Y.
Ewing seems like a fringe NBA player. He’s gotten a lot of attention considering it’s not clear that he’s actually good enough to stay in the league. Assuming he does eventually join the team, we’ll see if he justifies all this ink.
Pistons sign Antonio McDyess
Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the club has signed free agent forward/center Antonio McDyess. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.
McDyess played in the team’s first two regular-season games this season before being sent to Denver along with Chauncey Billups and Cheikh Samb as part of a trade for Allen Iverson. He was bought out of his contract in Denver and placed on waivers on November 6, 2008. In his two games this season, the former NBA All-Star averaged 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 19.0 minutes off the bench.
The Quitman, Mississippi native has led the Pistons’ bench in scoring in each of his four seasons with the club and finished fourth in the NBA Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2005-06. McDyess was an NBA All-Star in 2001, earned All-NBA Third Team in 1999 and NBA All-Rookie First Team honors in 1996.
36 players in China lied about age
The AP reports: A crackdown on “age shaving” has found 36 players in China’s professional basketball league were older than they originally stated, the official basketball association announced Tuesday. No individual players were named in a report published in the Sports Ministry’s official newspaper, China Sports Daily. Officials have turned over the data to world basketball’s governing body, FIBA, and the Asian Basketball Association in hopes of “winning their understanding,” said Liu Xiaonong, the head of the association’s Communist Party committee. “In the future we will take whatever measures to strictly monitor player registrations,” Liu said.
Rodney Stuckey now a starter
The Detroit Pistons have been pretty unimpressive recently, and head coach Michael Curry is making a change. The Detroit News (Ted Kulfan) reports:
Rodney Stuckey is moving into the Pistons’ starting lineup. After strongly hinting of a change after Sunday’s loss in New York, coach Michael Curry announced the move Monday after practice at the Verizon Center. Stuckey and Allen Iverson will start in the backcourt, with Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince at forward and Rasheed Wallace at center tonight when the Pistons take on the Wizards.
Coming off the bench, young Stuckey hasn’t quite burst into stardom as many hoped he would. That’s not a knock on him, though. We’re only a month and one week into the new season. He’s good, contributing 9.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, but has shot just 41.1% and an awful 22.2% from three-point range.
Stuckey’s future is bright. I’m not sure he’s ready to explode just yet, even with a bigger role. But he has the ability to. You can’t say that for most young point guards.
Australia: Player of Week is Justin Bowen
Gold Coast Blaze import Justin Bowen has taken out the National Basketball League (NBL) Player of the Week award for Round 12 after guiding his team to an upset victory over the Perth Wildcats.
Bowen exploded for a round-high 35 points for the Blaze in their emphatic 129-97 victory over the Perth Wildcats at the Gold Coast Convention Centre on Sunday afternoon. The 201cm forward had 20 points in the third period alone, helping the Blaze to a game-winning 45-17 edge in the quarter.
The former Illinois-Chicago University standout also racked up five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals. He shot the ball at an amazing 71% from the field (12-of-17), 75% from the three-point line (3-of-4) and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line.
The win was just the third for the cellar-dwelling Blaze this season, who improved to 3-13 with the victory, and came against a much higher-seeded opponent in the Wildcats (currently 9-9; fifth).
Bowen edged out Adelaide’s Luke Schenscher for the weekly honours. Schenscher was remarkable for the 36ers as they recorded an upset 102-94 win over the third-seeded Melbourne Tigers. The redhead had 17 points and an astonishing 22 rebounds, despite matching up against reigning league Most Valuable Player and fellow seven-footer Chris Anstey.
Others in consideration for Player of the Week included Kirk Penney (New Zealand), Luke Whitehead (Gold Coast), Chris Anstey (Melbourne), James Harvey (Gold Coast), Shawn Redhage (Perth), Julius Hodge (Adelaide), Alex Loughton (Perth), Matthew Knight (Sydney), Mark Worthington (South), Brad Hill (Adelaide), David Gruber (Sydney), Joe Ingles (South) Rod Grizzard (Melbourne), Brad Williamson (Townsville), Larry Abney (Cairns) and Glen Saville (Wollongong).