NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog
NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
NBA news blog
The trade that sends Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons is now official. Click that link.
In return for Iverson, the Denver Nuggets get Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb.
Also, hit the insidehoops front page for more opinions on the trade and updated NBA depth charts.
The Denver Nuggets have waived F Juwan Howard, team Vice President of Basketball Operations Mark Warkentien announced today.
Howard appeared in all three games for the Nuggets this season, averaging 0.7 ppg and 1.3 rpg in 7.3 minutes.
The Nuggets are reportedly about to trade Allen Iverson to the Pistons for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess.
Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has waived point guard John Lucas III.
Lucas averaged 5.0 points and 2.7 assists in three preseason contests. He was inactive for all three of the Thunder regular season games.
The Thunder roster now stands at 14.
The Denver Nuggets don’t appear to be championship-bound with a core of Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson. The team is good, but may never be great. With Melo the younger player, the Nuggets are giving up on the combo and sending Iverson to Detroit. In return, the Pistons will send point guard Chauncey Billups and power forward/center Antonio McDyess to Denver.
InsideHoops.com first got wind this deal, which has been reported as a rumor in the past, would actually happen from Marc Spears’ Boston Globe blog.
Looking at the trade for the Pistons: Detroit gets a big-time scorer in Iverson who is a natural shooting guard but can pretend to be a point guard. Chances are, Iverson will start at PG, with Richard Hamilton staying at shooting guard, and young talented point guard Rodney Stuckey continuing to come off the bench. Hamilton is too undersized to play small forward for more than a few minutes. Billups is a better floor general than Iverson, but Iverson’s the quicker player and better scorer. As for Antonio McDyess, he was coming off the bench but still important for Detroit. Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell will have to step up more with Dice gone. And Kwame Brown becomes more important.
Detroit also gets tons of extra salary cap space in the deal.
Looking at the trade for the Nuggets: Gone is Iverson and in comes Billups, who is better than Iverson at running an total team offense. Billups is also a stronger, more physical defender. Billups doesn’t draw defensive attention like Iverson does, but he can do a better job setting up JR Smith, Carmelo Anthony (who can also create his own offense anytime he wants), Kenyon Martin and Nene.
Also, Billups is a Denver guy.
The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent forward Rob Kurz, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin announced today.
Kurz appeared in four of Golden State’s six preseason games, averaging 4.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 14 minutes per game. He was originally signed as a free agent training camp invitee on September 9 and subsequently waived on October 27.
To make room for Kurz on the 15-man roster, the Warriors have transferred guard Monta Ellis to the suspended list. Kurz will wear uniform #31.
The New York Post (Marc Berman): The Knicks announced Jerome James will be activated – and not Stephon Marbury – to replace injured Eddy Curry tonight vs. the Bucks. Curry is battling knee soreness from a drained knee but isn’t in the rotation anyway. Zach Randolph, who missed practice yesterday with knee soreness, will play.
The Indiana Pacers announced Friday that Danny Granger has signed a contract extension with the team. The Indianapolis Star reported that the extension is for five years and between $60 and $64 million, and that it will start next season.
“I’m very happy we were able to get an extension done,” said Granger. “I’d like to thank the Simons, Larry Bird, David Morway, Jim O’Brien, the assistant coaches, my teammates and the entire Pacers’ organization. I’m very excited about the direction our team is going and I’m glad that I can have a part in the future of this franchise. I think we can have something very special here.”
The 6-9 Granger, the Pacers’ first-round draft pick (17th overall) in the 2005 NBA Draft, has averaged 13.7 points per game in his three seasons. Last year, he registered career-best averages in points (19.6), rebounds (6.1), steals (1.1) and 3-point field goal percentage (.404).”
“Danny is a very good player and a great young man on and off the court,” said Bird, the Pacers’ President of Basketball. “He is a very important part of our future. Danny always keeps himself in top condition during the season and the off-season while always working to improve his game. He’s a player we feel very confident with going forward.”
The Rocky Mountain News (Chris Tomasson) reports: The Nuggets’ deal to sign Linas Kleiza to a contract extension has fallen apart and he will become a restricted free agent next summer, his agent said Friday.
Bill Duffy told the Rocky Mountain News that the Nuggets decided Friday not to offer Kleiza, a Nuggets forward, a deal in the range the two parties had been talking about that would start next season. The sides had been talking about a possible extension in the range of $25 million over four years which would have had to have been signed by the Friday deadline… Duffy said that while Kleiza likes Denver, other NBA teams will be looked at next summer. He’s also a candidate to go overseas.
InsideHoops.com editor says: Kleiza is a good bench player but not an essential part of the Nuggets future. He does make a team better.
The Portland Trail Blazers signed guard/forward Martell Webster to a multi-year contract extension, it was announced today by General Manager Kevin Pritchard. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Martell has worked extremely hard to become the talented player that he is,” said Pritchard. “He’s only 22, so we expect to see even more from him as he gains experience and continues to improve. Martell exhibits all the things we expect from a Trail Blazers player, both on and off the court.”
Webster averaged career highs of 10.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 28.4 minutes in 75 games (70 starts) last season. He was 123-for-317 (38.8%) from 3-point range in 2007-08, pacing the team in 3-pointers made.
“I’m so excited and honored,” said Webster. “Knowing that I’m going to be a part of the Trail Blazers family for many years to come is very important and special to me.”
Portland selected Webster in the first round (sixth pick overall) of the 2005 NBA Draft out of Seattle Prep. The fourth-year player holds career averages of 8.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists.
Webster ranks No. 7 on the Trail Blazers’ all-time list of 3-pointers made with 279.
The Golden State Warriors have exercised the third-year contract options on guard Marco Belinelli and forward Brandan Wright, and declined the fourth-year contract option on guard Marcus Williams, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin announced today.
Under the terms of the NBA’s current collective bargaining agreement, the first two years of a first round draft pick’s contract are guaranteed, while the third and fourth year of the contract are the team’s option. Belinelli was selected with the 18th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Warriors, while Wright was selected with the eighth overall selection in that same draft by the Charlotte Bobcats and later acquired by Golden State. The Warriors acquired Williams – the 22nd pick in the 2006 NBA Draft – from the New Jersey Nets on July 22, 2008.