NBA News Blog – Page 1621 – NBA Blog

Sixers home opener time change

The Philadelphia 76ers today officially moved the start time of their home opener against the Toronto Raptors at the Wachovia Center on Wednesday, October 29 to 6:00 p.m. ET (from the scheduled 7:00 p.m. ET time) in anticipation of a World Series game being played at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex on Wednesday, October 29.

“We moved the start time of our home opener to 6:00 p.m. to allow our fans an opportunity to attend our game and to be able to see the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series,” said Lara Price, Senior Vice President of Business Operations.

The AT&T Pavilion at the Wachovia Center will remain open after the Sixers game late into the evening for fans to watch the baseball game with half-price domestic beer specials and delicious food, including Chickie’s & Pete’s world famous Crab Fries and chicken tenders. After the Sixers game, access to the AT&T Pavilion will be free and open to the public.

Bobcats sign Linton Johnson

Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins announced today that the team has signed forward Linton Johnson III. The Bobcats roster now stands at 15 players.

Johnson (6-8, 205 pounds) appeared in four preseason games with Washington this season with averages of 1.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 12.8 minutes.

Over his five-year NBA career, Johnson has appeared in 147 games (27 starts) with averages of 4.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 14.6 minutes with Chicago, San Antonio, New Jersey, New Orleans, Toronto and Phoenix. Johnson went undrafted out of Tulane University in the 2003 NBA Draft, but was signed as a free agent by the Bulls before the start of the 2003-04 season.

The Bobcats will open the 2008-09 season on Thursday, Oct. 30 at Cleveland, with their home opener slated for Saturday, Nov. 1 against Miami.

Celtics promote Danny Ainge to president of basketball operations

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have promoted Celtics Executive Director of Basketball Operations/General Manager Danny Ainge to President of Basketball Operations. The team also announced that Ainge’s contract has been extended. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Danny has been a key part of building our World Championship team and basketball program,” Boston Celtics Managing Partner and Co-owner Stephen Pagliuca said. “He represents all that is the best of Celtics Pride and we applaud his success.”

Ainge, the 2007-08 NBA Executive of the Year, orchestrated the trades that brought Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to Boston that brought the Celtics their NBA record 17th Championship during the 2007-08 season. Ainge was named to the position of Executive Director of Basketball Operations after the 2002-03 season. Ainge is currently in his 6th year in the position and his 14th overall with the organization.

“Danny was visionary as he assembled the players who brought home our seventeenth banner,” Managing Partner and CEO Wyc Grousbeck said. “His work ethic, character and insight earned him Executive of the Year and earned us a world title.”

During his 14-year playing career, Ainge won two World Championships with Boston (1984, 1986) and appeared in six NBA Finals (four with Boston). He finished his career third in NBA playoff history for games played (193) and sixth in most three-pointers made (172). He also finished eighth in three-pointers attempted (433). Upon his retirement, Ainge was one of three players in NBA history to make 1,000 or more career three-pointers (1,002), along with Dale Ellis and Reggie Miller.

NBA opening night rosters

The NBA’s opening day rosters are official, and now posted on InsideHoops.com.

This evening was the deadline for NBA teams to trim their rosters down to 15 players or less.

The 2008-09 regular season starts Tuesday, October 28. InsideHoops is your online basketball home. We’re pumping out more content this season than ever.

Enjoy the season!

Lakers exercise option on Farmar

The Los Angeles Lakers have exercised a fourth year contract option for the 2009-10 season on Jordan Farmar, it was announced today. In accordance with the league’s collective bargaining agreement, the Lakers had until October 31 to exercise their option on Farmar. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

Selected by the Lakers with the 26th pick in the first round of the 2006 NBA draft, Farmar, a third year guard out of UCLA, averaged 9.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 20.6 minutes over 82 games last season (all career-highs).

A participant in the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge during the 2007 and 2008 All-Star Weekends as well as the first player in league history to play in both an NBA and NBA Development League game in the same day, Farmar led the Lakers in scoring (12.3 ppg) and assists (3.4 apg) this preseason.

Bucks waive Griffin and sign Croshere

The Milwaukee Bucks have acquired forward Austin Croshere (pronounced CROW-zhur) off of waivers, General Manager John Hammond announced today. In a subsequent move, the team requested waivers on forward Adrian Griffin.

Croshere (6-10, 235) comes to the Bucks with 11 years of NBA experience. He spent his first nine seasons with the Indiana Pacers, the team that drafted him with the 12th overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft. He followed up his Pacers career with one-year stints in Dallas (2006-07) and Golden State (2007-08). He averaged 3.9 points and 2.4 rebounds in 44 games with the Warriors last season. He comes to Milwaukee with 645 regular season games to his credit and career averages of 6.9 points and 4.1 rebounds. The 33-year-old has also appeared in 68 playoff games and owns postseason averages of 6.7 points and 3.6 rebounds.

Griffin (6-5, 230) appeared in two preseason games with the Bucks.

Bulls re-sign Michael Ruffin

The Chicago Bulls announced today that the team has re-signed forward/center Michael Ruffin to a contract. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Ruffin (6-8, 248) was a member of Chicago’s 2008 preseason roster but missed seven games due to a left ankle sprain.

Chicago’s roster now stands at 14.

Raptors exercise option on Bargnani

The Toronto Raptors announced Monday they have exercised the fourth year team option on the Rookie Scale Contract of forward Andrea Bargnani. Bargnani is now guaranteed through the 2009-10 season. In accordance with the league’s collective bargaining agreement, the Raptors had until October 31 to exercise their option on Bargnani. Per team policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Bargnani was selected by Toronto with the first overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. He has averaged 10.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 143 regular season games. He’s shot .832 (259-311) from the charity stripe in his two seasons with the club. He scored a career-high 28 points versus the Los Angeles Lakers on February 1, 2008 and grabbed a personal-best 11 rebounds on two occasions (November 11, 2007 versus Memphis and February 24, 2007 at Charlotte).

The 7-foot, 260 pounder was named to the 2007 NBA All-Rookie First Team, and participated in the T-Mobile Rookie-Sophomore Challenge during the 2007 and 2008 All-Star Weekend.

Wizards exercise options on O.Pecherov and N.Young

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has exercised the third-year option on both center/forward Oleksiy Pecherov and guard Nick Young. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released.

“Nick and ‘Pech’ both showed a great deal of potential as rookies and we’re counting on them to continue to progress and contribute,” said Grunfeld. “We like the fact that we have a group of promising young players behind our established veterans, and we’re excited to retain Nick and ‘Pech’ for their third seasons.”

Under the terms of the NBA’s 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. Pecherov was selected with the 18th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, while Young was selected with the 16th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.

Pecherov averaged 3.6 points and 1.9 rebounds in 35 games as a rookie with the Wizards last season. He was selected by the Wizards in the 2006 Draft (the franchise’s first-ever international first round pick), but played the 2006-07 season overseas before joining the team for the 2007-08 season.

Young averaged 7.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 75 games as rookie with the Wizards last season. His best game came on March 30 at the L.A. Lakers when he scored 27 points in 31 minutes.

Bobcats waive Jermareo Davidson

The Charlotte Bobcats today requested waivers on forward Jermareo Davidson. The Bobcats roster now stands at 14 players.

Davidson appeared in three preseason games with averages of 2.0 points, 0.7 rebounds and 1.0 blocked shot in 8.8 minutes.

Originally drafted by Golden State with the 36th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, Davidson’s draft rights were acquired from the Warriors, along with Jason Richardson, in exchange for Brandan Wright, whom the Bobcats selected with the eighth overall pick.

In his rookie season, he appeared in 38 games with averages of 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 8.4 minutes.