Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Timberwolves sign Charlie Brown Jr. to a training camp contract

The Minnesota Timberwolves have signed guard Charlie Brown Jr. to a training camp contract.

Brown Jr., 6-6, totaled 20 points and 4 rebounds last season in 10 games with Atlanta. He was originally signed by the Hawks on July 1, 2019.

The 23-year-old played in 29 games in the G League for the College Park Skyhawks where he averaged 17.1 points on 42.2% shooting and 6.7 rebounds per game.

Brown Jr. played two seasons for Saint Joseph’s University, averaging 16.0 points and 5.6 rebounds in 63 games. As a sophomore, he was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team as well as won the A-10 scoring crown, averaging 19.0 points per game.

Mavericks waive Jose Juan Barea

The Dallas Mavericks have waived guard Jose Juan Barea.

Per the Dallas Morning News, “Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson on Thursday confirmed that the team will be releasing veteran guard Barea. ESPN on Wednesday reported the expected roster move. “A little bit of a sad day in Mavs-ville as we say goodbye to J.J. Barea,” Nelson told reporters via Zoom. “We’ve had an incredible, amazing ride with J.J. … He, in a lot of respects, has been the heart and soul of us for many, many years.”

Barea (5-10, 180) holds career averages of 8.9 points, 3.9 assists and 19.6 minutes in 831 games (107 starts) with Dallas and Minnesota. In an additional 50 playoff games (11 starts) for Dallas, Barea averaged 7.9 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 19.7 minutes. The point guard helped the Mavericks to their first NBA title in 2011, appearing in 21 games throughout the run.

And per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “the Mavericks re-signed Barea for one year and $2.6 million earlier this fall, but according to ESPN, Cuban was aware that the guard was going to be released and wanted to reward him for his 11 seasons with the team.”

Barea has played 11 of his 14 NBA seasons with the Mavericks. Among franchise leaders, he ranks fifth in games (637), seventh in 3-pointers made (596) and eighth in assists (2,441).

The Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, native went undrafted in the 2006 NBA Draft and was signed by Dallas as a rookie free agent on Aug. 17, 2006. Barea attended Northeastern University where, as a senior, he averaged 21.0 points, 8.4 assists and 4.4 rebounds for the Huskies.

Nuggets sign Monte Morris to contract extension

The Denver Nuggets have signed guard Monte Morris to a multi-year contract extension.

Morris’ contract extension is reportedly a three-year deal worth $27 million. Per the Denver Post, “the deal, which is fully guaranteed, offers incentives which could push it closer to $9.4 million annually, according to one source. The extension kicks in at the start of the 2021-22 season.”

Morris, listed at 6-foot-3, 185 lbs., averaged 9.0 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 22.4 minutes per game for the Nuggets last season.

And in 2018-19, Morris played all 82 games for the Nuggets, starting six of them, and averaged 10.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists, while shooting .414 from three-point range.

Over the last two seasons combined, Morris boasts the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the NBA at 5.29.

Morris spent most of the 2017-18 season on a two-way contract with the Denver Nuggets. In 37 G League games for Rio Grande Valley Vipers, he put up 17.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.5 assists, while shooting 47.2% from the field.

The Nuggets drafted Morris late second round (51st overall) in 2017. He played four seasons of college hoops at Iowa State University.

Thunder sign rookie forward Aleksej Pokusevski

The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed rookie forward Aleksej Pokuševski.

Drafted first round (17th overall) in the 2020 NBA draft, Pokuševski’s draft rights were acquired from the Timberwolves as part of a three-team trade on November 20.

According to the Oklahoman, “the Thunder now has 18 players under contract for this season, not counting its two players on two-way contracts.”

Pokuševski (7-0, 195) averaged 10.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.3 steals in 22.6 minutes in 11 games with Olympiacos B in the Greek Second Division, HEBA A2 during the 2019-20 season as the team went 17-4 and earned a second-place finish in A2. At the 2019 U18 European Championships, the Serbian native averaged 10.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.7 steals and led with event with 4.0 blocks per game.

Utah Jazz sign guard Shaquille Harrison

The Utah Jazz have signed guard Shaquille Harrison.

It’s reportedly a deal for the league minimum.

Listed at 6-foot-4, 190 lbs., this will be Harrison’s fourth NBA season.

Harrison played for the Chicago Bulls in 2019-20. In 43 games (10 starts), he averaged 4.9 points on 46.7 percent from the field, 2.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 11.3 minutes per game.

Per KSL.com, “He’s been an energy player on bad teams thus far, but his defensive metrics show he may have some true value. Last season, he was 15th in the NBA in Defensive Real Plus-Minus (for reference, Utah’s Rudy Gobert was first). Harrison’s 4.9 deflections per 36 minutes and 2.3 loose balls recovered per 36 minutes were among the league leaders according to NBA.com’s hustle stats. There are worse options for an end-of-the-bench player.”

Harrison has also played for the Suns, as well as in the G League for the Northern Arizona Suns.

Hornets hire Sam Farber as new radio play-by-play broadcaster

The Charlotte Hornets have hired Sam Farber as the team’s new radio play-by-play broadcaster.

“We are pleased to welcome Sam and his family to Charlotte,” said Hornets President & Vice Chairman Fred Whitfield. “He is a talented, young broadcaster who we feel will be a fantastic addition to our organization. We believe our fans will enjoy listening to him call our games and hearing his perspective across our digital platforms. We look forward to having him as part of our Hornets family.”

“I am incredibly excited to join the Hornets organization,” Farber said. “It is an honor to have the opportunity to be part of a great franchise with a passionate fan base. I cannot wait to get to Charlotte and begin to connect with the team and our fans, and along with my wife, Lauren, and our two kids, we look forward to building our lives in this incredible community.”

Per the team, “Farber comes to Charlotte from Southern California and brings a wide variety of broadcasting experience to the Hornets. He regularly calls play-by-play for college basketball, college baseball and high school football for both ESPN and FOX Sports West/Prime Ticket. Farber also serves as a Game Break Update anchor for college football games on FOX and FOX Sports 1, as well as the halftime and postgame host for University of Southern California football. Additionally, he has been a play-by-play announcer for the South Bay Lakers of the NBA G League on Spectrum SportsNet since 2016. From 2014-2016, Farber was the pregame host for the Los Angeles Clippers flagship station, The Beast 980, where he also was an anchor, reporter and host.”

Thunder sign rookie guard Theo Maledon

The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed rookie guard Theo Maledon.

Maledon entered the 2020 NBA draft, and was selected in the early second round (34th overall). His draft rights were acquired from the 76ers on December 8.

Listed at 6-foot-5, 180 lbs., Maledon in the 2019-20 season played in France’s Pro A league for ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne. He only started in half the games he played, and averaged 7.3 points, 2.7 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 17.3 minutes per game.

Over the course of his three seasons playing for ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, Maledon did play in an All-Star game. And in the 2018-19 season he won the Rising Star award.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis may not rush into NBA preseason

Starting Friday, we’ll have NBA games again. Sure, it’ll just be preseason. But just 11 days after that, the regular season tips off, and that’s real basketball right there.

This Friday, the Lakers are one of the team’s taking court. But some key stars may not participate. Via the OC Register:

While the team is slated for a preseason game against the Clippers on Friday night at Staples Center, they probably won’t be at full strength. And after Tuesday’s training camp session, the team’s third as a group, Coach Frank Vogel said of stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, “it’s probably unlikely that they play.”

It’s not a surprise: The team has pitched patience since returning to the court in the last week, given that the Lakers are just two months removed from winning the 2020 title. Normal offseason rhythms have been interrupted, and team trainers and medical staffers have cautioned coaches about diving too quickly into game-ready play.

While Davis said he’s not normally the kind of player who seeks out pick-up sessions in the offseason, he has a routine of working with trainers in smaller settings. After winning a championship with the Lakers in October then taking much of last month to sort out a new contract, he’s gotten little of his normal offseason plan accomplished – the Lakers’ four-game preseason, with just two weeks until the regular-season opener on Dec. 22, now serves as part of the ramp-up to playing shape.

Normally, all key players participate in preseason, but usually play very limited minute But this season’s training camp and preseason period is very brief, so teams will have to develop chemistry in a hurry.

Fortunately for the Lakers, they just won the NBA championship. So while they did make some offseason changes, they have no reason to rush.

Pelicans sign Naji Marshall to two-way contract

The New Orleans Pelicans have signed free agent Naji Marshall to a two-way contract.

Marshall, listed at 6-foot-7, 220 lbs., most recently played college basketball for Xavier (OH) University. After averaging 16.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game in the 2019-20 season, he was named to the All-Big East First Team.

Signing a two-way contract with the Pelicans means Marshall will mostly play for the Pelicans’ G League affiliate team, the Erie BayHawks this season.

The Pelicans’ training camp roster now stands at 20 players.

Three members of Raptors organization test positive for COVID-19

During the league-mandated testing period prior to NBA training camp, which began a few days ago, three members of the Toronto Raptors organization tested positive for COVID-19.

From the Raptors: “All three are, and will continue to, self-isolate away from the rest of the organization. Adherence to protocols, follow-up testing and contact tracing has so far revealed no spread to other members of the Raptors organization. We will continue to follow safety protocols, and will update the situation as appropriate.”

And per the Toronto Sun: The team held its first full practice a day earlier and afterward head coach Nick Nurse and point guard Fred VanVleet talked of the challenges of staying safe this season while they are located in Tampa Bay. Florida is, and has been, of course, a COVID hot spot. “My role is to, you know, just constantly be on them and be a reminder constantly of our actions and our behaviour, and how impactful it is not only themselves, their families, our team, the organization, there’s lots on the line if you’re not doing the best you can with the COVID-19 protocols,” Nurse said Sunday.”