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The Orlando Sentinel (Brian Schmitz) reports: Orlando Magic center-forward Tony Battie sustained a fractured ring finger on his left hand in Friday’s shootaround and will miss tonight’s exhibition against CSKA Moscow… He is expected to return to practice Sunday and play with it wrapped.
InsideHoops.com editor says: I once played with two broken arms and two broken legs. It’s all about toughness, folks.
The Portland Trail Blazers announced that guard Martell Webster underwent surgery today to repair a stress fracture in his left foot. He is expected to be sidelined for 8-10 weeks.
Dr. Jay Crary performed the surgery at Southwest Washington Regional Surgery Center in Vancouver, Wash. As part of the procedure, Webster had a screw inserted into his fifth metatarsal bone.
The injury occurred during Tuesday night’s preseason game against the Sacramento Kings.
InsideHoops.com editor says: The Blazers are pretty crowded at the swingman spots, so this opens a door for some other guys to get minutes they weren’t going to get while Webster heals up. Watch Travis Outlaw, Rudy Fernandez and Nicolas Batum and see who rises the most (chances are it’ll be Travis and Rudy). And on a hugely important side note, when Martell Webster lies down, he’s about as tall as TV’s Webster when he stands up.
The Minnesota Timberwolves today signed free-agent center David Harrison, bringing the team’s training camp roster to 19 players.
Harrison, a 7-0 center from Colorado, was selected by the Indiana Pacers in the first round (29th overall) of the 2004 NBA Draft. He has appeared in 189 games (33 starts) in four seasons with the Pacers, averaging 5.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per game while shooting over 50 percent from the field in each of his four NBA campaigns (53.0% for his career).
A three-year standout at Colorado, Harrison left as the school’s all-time leader in blocked shots (225; fourth all-time in the Big 12) and field goal percentage (60.2 percent). He earned First Team All-Big 12 and AP All-America Honorable Mention honors following his junior season.
Miami Heat center Jamaal Magloire suffered a fracture of the third metacarpal in his left hand during the third quarter of play in today’s preseason contest against the New Jersey Nets in Paris, France. Magloire was taken to a local Paris hospital for x-rays which confirmed the fracture.
Magloire will not accompany the team to London, England for their second of two preseason games against New Jersey in Europe and will be reevaluated upon his return to Miami.
Magloire was signed by Miami as a free agent on September 2, 2008.
The Golden State Warriors have waived guard/forward Dion Dowell and center Justin Williams, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin announced today.
Dowell, who was originally signed as a free agent training camp invitee on September 9, appeared in one of Golden State’s first two preseason games, registering one rebound, one assist and three blocks in 11 minutes last night at Portland.
Williams, who signed as a free agent training camp invitee on September 27, also appeared in one of Golden State’s first two preseason games, logging one point, one rebound and two blocks in five minutes at New Orleans on October 5.
Cavaliers guard Sasha Pavlovic did not travel with the team to Providence for the Cavaliers matchup versus the Celtics in order to continue treatment on his right ankle. He experienced a mild sprain during practice Wednesday, October 8. He is currently day-to-day.
The Rocky Mountain News (Chris Tomasson) reports: The Minnesota Timberwolves are coming to Denver, and center David Harrison will be with them. A source said Wednesday that Harrison, a former University of Colorado star, will sign with the Timberwolves (it’s for one year and nonguaranteed). But Harrison, a free agent who played the past four seasons with Indiana, won’t play in Friday’s preseason game against the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.
InsideHoops.com editor says: Harrison must prove himself worthy of being in the league. Right now he’s right on the bubble of sticking around for a while or falling out in a season or two. He’s 26, looked somewhat decent as a rookie (like a good future backup center), then in four seasons doesn’t seem to have improved at all. Time to show something.
Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that center Brendan Haywood will have surgery to repair a torn dorsal scapho-lunate ligament in his right wrist. He originally suffered the injury during last week’s training camp in Richmond, VA.
Haywood visited two hand specialists in New York earlier today who both concluded that surgery was necessary to repair the torn ligament. No timetable will be determined for Haywood’s return until after surgery, which has yet to be scheduled.
“Brendan worked extremely hard over the summer after having a career year last season,” said Grunfeld. “This is disappointing, but we’re confident that he will do everything necessary to recover from this injury and continue that progress.”
Haywood averaged career highs of 10.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks last season while shooting .528 (316-599) from the field.
Wizards forward Antawn Jamison has been diagnosed with a right knee contusion after an MRI today revealed no other damage. No timetable has been set for his return, but Jamison is expected to be ready for the start of the regular season.
Jamison left last night’s preseason game at Dallas at the 7:40 mark of the first quarter and did not return.
InsideHoops.com editor says: It’s great news for the Wizards that the injury is minor, especially with word about to come out that Brendan Haywood needs wrist surgery. Wizards star Gilbert Arenas is already out until maybe January, or later, leaving Jamison and small forward Caron Butler to once again carry the team for a long stretch of time.
The Los Angeles Lakers have waived free agent guard Dwayne Mitchell, it was announced Wednesday.
Mitchell, a 6’5” 220-pound guard out of Louisiana Lafayette, was a member of the Lakers 2008 Summer-Pro League team in Las Vegas, where he averaged 6.7 points and 1.5 rebounds in 15.0 minutes over six games.
The Lakers preseason roster now stands at 18.
There are going to be a ton of fringe players cut by NBA teams over the next week or so. Almost all of them have tiny, nonguaranteed contracts that basically only exist for training camp purposes.