Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Suns sign guard Cameron Payne

The Phoenix Suns today signed guard Cameron Payne.

Payne has played four NBA seasons with Oklahoma City, Chicago and Cleveland since being selected 14th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft. The 6-3, 190-pound guard has spent the 2019-20 season with the Texas Legends of the NBA G League, averaging 23.2 points on 48.3% shooting, 8.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals in 15 games since making his season debut on Jan. 26. Payne was named NBA G League Player of the Week on March 2 after guiding the Legends to a 3-0 week including career highs of 19 assists and 10 rebounds plus 18 points to record a triple-double in a win over the NAZ Suns. Payne scored a career-high 43 points in a win over Iowa on Feb. 8.

Originally the 14th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Payne was selected directly between his now teammates Devin Booker and Kelly Oubre Jr. He holds career averages of 6.0 points and 2.5 assists over 16.0 minutes in 153 career regular-season games, also making 11 postseason appearances with the Thunder and Bulls.

A 25-year-old from Memphis, Tennessee, Payne played two seasons at Murray State University and was recipient of the 2014-15 Lute Olson National Player of the Year Award after leading the Racers to a 29-6 record. Murray State won the Ohio Valley Conference regular season title in both of Payne’s seasons as he was the OVC Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2014-15 and the OVC Freshman of the Year in 2013-14.

Nuggets sign Tyler Cook to a replacement two-way contract

The Denver Nuggets have signed forward Tyler Cook to a replacement two-way contract today.

Cook, listed at 6-foot-8, 255 pounds, most recently appeared in 11 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season, totaling 19 points and 10 rebounds in 35 minutes of action. He also played in 29 games (10 starts) for the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League, holding averages of 12.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists while shooting 58.2% from the field in 21.3 minutes per game.

Cook originally signed a two-way contract with the Nuggets on Aug. 13, 2019 after spending training camp in Denver. Cook went undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft out of the University of Iowa where he played three seasons, averaging 14.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 93 total games (92 starts).

Cook will wear #25 for the Nuggets.

In EuroLeague news, Alexey Shved signs contract extension in Russia

Here’s Euroleague.net with an update on guard Alexey Shved, who played in the NBA from 2012-15, spending time with the Timberwolves, Sixers, Rockets and Knicks:

One of the best scorers in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague history has pledged himself to his club for three more years with the announcement that Khimki Moscow Region and Alexey Shved have signed a contract extension. Shved (1.98 meters, 31 years old) averaged 21.4 points and 6.2 assists in 26 EuroLeague games with Khimki last season. He ranked second in scoring, trailing only Shane Larkin of Anadolu Efes Istanbul (22.2 ppg.). Shved’s 6.2 assists per game placed him third in the competition. Shved was the 2017-18 EuroLeague Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy winner after tallying 21.8 points over 34 games that season. His 740 points scored and 107 three-pointers made in that campaign remain single-season EuroLeague records.

Marv Albert will reportedly not be on site when NBA resumes at Disney

Everyone’s concern regarding the NBA restart this summer at Disney World in Orlando is safety. This is especially true of any coaches, executives or other staff who are high up in the years department. Here’s the New York Post reporting on an NBA broadcasting legend:

Marv Albert, arguably the greatest NBA play-by-player of all-time, will not be part of TNT’s on-site coverage when the NBA resumes its season in July at Disney World in Orlando, Fla., The Post has learned.

Albert, 79, has been the longtime lead voice for Turner, but will not be a part of the coverage with the NBA planning to have its national announcers on site in the league’s bubble.

COVID-19 has impacted people of all ages, but has been more dire for those 65 years and older.

It’ll be interesting to see how many broadcasters do go and what the setup is. Broadcasting can certainly be done remotely, but it’s tricky if the broadcaster is in their own home, as opposed to a professional studio. But of course, safety always comes first.

Nuggets convert contract of P.J. Dozier into standard deal

The Denver Nuggets have converted the two-way contract of guard P.J. Dozier to a multi-year NBA contract, President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.

Dozier, 6-6, 205, signed a two-way contract with the Nuggets on Oct. 18, 2019 and has appeared in 21 games this season, averaging 4.1 points, 1.4 assists and 1.4 rebounds in 11.1 minutes. Dozier posted a career-high 15 points in 21 minutes at Houston on Jan. 22, 2020.

In 18 games (16 starts), for the Windy City Bulls of the NBA G League this season, Dozier held averages of 21.4 points, 7.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals while shooting 44% from the field in 36.9 minutes. He scored 20 or more points in 12 games, including posting a triple-double with 27 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists vs. Capital City Go-Go on Dec. 29th.

Dozier spent last season on a two-way contract with the Boston Celtics, where he appeared in six games for the Celtics and averaged 3.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 6.8 minutes. He played in 46 games (all starts) for the Maine Red Claws of the G League where he posted 21.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 6.5 assists in 32.0 minutes per game. In 2017-18, he signed a two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder where he saw action in two games for the Thunder and 43 games for the Oklahoma City Blue of the G League. Dozier originally went undrafted in the 2017 NBA Draft after spending two years at the University of South Carolina.

Former NBA referee and current Senior VP of Referee Operations Joe Borgia retires

Joe Borgia, a former NBA official and current Senior Vice President, Referee Operations, announced his retirement today following a celebrated 32-year NBA career.

“I am grateful to have had the opportunity to officiate at the top of our profession and then transition to a role committed to the advancement and improvement of our officials,” said Borgia. “I am especially proud of the NBA Replay Center. Its continued evolution in improving our game is an example of the dedication the NBA’s Referee Operations department has to excellence and innovation.”

Borgia was instrumental in the design and development of the NBA Replay Center, which opened with the 2014-15 season. The state-of-the-art facility, based in Secaucus, N.J., has been a groundbreaking tool to enhance the performance of NBA referees and to accelerate the replay review process.

For five seasons from 2014-19, Borgia was the main point of contact for the NBA Replay Center. This season, he refocused his efforts on the newly created Coach’s Challenge. As he did with the Replay Center, Borgia developed the rules and handled the execution for the Coach’s Challenge, which was approved by the NBA Board of Governors for use during the 2019-20 season.

“Joe’s imprint on the NBA and contributions to a multitude of officiating platforms will be lasting,” said Byron Spruell, President, League Operations. “We thank him for his leadership, passion and committed service to the game, and wish him the best in his retirement.”

Borgia was hired to the NBA referee staff in 1988. He officiated 10 seasons before an injury forced him to retire in 1998. He joined the basketball and referee operations department in 1999.

He served as the NBA’s rules interpreter for more than 15 years, creating training videos and interpreting the rules of the game for officials, teams, broadcasters and media. Borgia made many in-game and postgame appearances on network television to give broadcasters and viewers clarity on rules interpretation and officiating calls. He was also instrumental in converting the NBA’s recruitment and development of officials from the Continental Basketball Association to the NBA’s D-League (currently the NBA G League).

On the court, Borgia worked two of the most famous games in NBA history: the highest-scoring game (Detroit Pistons at Denver Nuggets, 186-184 on Dec. 13, 1983) and the longest modern-day game (Seattle SuperSonics at Milwaukee Bucks, which lasted five overtimes, on Nov. 9, 1989).

Borgia is the son of the late Sid Borgia, a legendary referee who officiated in the NBA for 20 years beginning in 1946. Sid Borgia also served as supervisor of officials during the latter years of his career.

Cavs sign Dean Wade and Jordan Bell

The Cleveland Cavaliers today signed forwards Dean Wade and Jordan Bell to multi-year contracts, Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced.

The deals are low-paying and will have little impact on the Cavs salary chart. According to Cleveland.com, “sources say Wade, who was garnering interest from the Washington Wizards over the last few weeks, will receive a team-friendly four-year contract that pays him $375,000 for the rest of the 2019-20 season. The final three years, starting in 2020-21, are non-guaranteed. The fourth year is a team option. According to sources, Bell will get $250,000 for the rest of 2019-20. His second year is non-guaranteed.”

Wade (6-9, 219), who signed a Two-Way contract with Cleveland on July 9, 2019, appeared in 12 games for the Cavaliers this past season. He also played in 30 games (29 starts) with the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers’ exclusively owned and operated NBA G League team, averaging 14.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 blocks in 31.1 minutes per contest. Wade went undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft after playing four years collegiately at Kansas State, where he was a two-time All-Big 12 First Team selection and finished his career ranking among the Top 10 in school history in career starts (123, second), double-digit scoring games (81, seventh), rebounds (685, eighth), field goals made (548, eighth) and points (1,510, 10th).

Bell (6-8, 224) played in 29 contests for Minnesota and Memphis during the 2019-20 regular season, averaging 3.2 points and 2.8 rebounds in 8.8 minutes per game. The three-year forward owns career averages of 3.8 points and 3.1 rebounds in 12.0 minutes over 154 games (16 starts) with Golden State, Minnesota and Memphis and was a member of the Warriors’ 2018 NBA Championship team. Bell, who played three years at the University of Oregon, was the 38th overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft by Chicago before being traded to Golden State on draft night.

Phoenix Suns ‘seeding games’ schedule at Disney begins July 31

The NBA recently announced the schedule for the league’s 22-team restart to the 2019-20 season, to be held on a single-site campus at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The Phoenix Suns will play eight “seeding games” at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, opening on July 31 against the Washington Wizards.

The Suns’ complete schedule for their final eight seeding games, selected from their remaining regular-season matchups, is listed below. All of the Suns’ first seven games will be televised on FOX Sports Arizona networks with the last game to be determined:

2019-20 NBA SEASON RESTART SEEDING GAMES (ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex)

Friday, July 31: Washington
Sunday, August 2: Dallas
Tuesday, August 4: LA Clippers
Thursday, August 6: Indiana
Saturday, August 8: Miami
Monday, August 10: Oklahoma City
Tuesday, August 11: Philadelphia
Thursday, August 13: Dallas

The Suns enter the restart 13th in the Western Conference standings with a 26-39 record, though they sit just 2 ½ games behind ninth place. At the conclusion of the seeding games, the seven teams in each conference with the highest combined winning percentages across regular-season games and seeding games will be the first through seventh seeds for the NBA Playoffs for that conference. If the team with the eighth-best combined winning percentage in a conference is four games or fewer ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined winning percentage in the same conference, then those two teams would compete in a play-in tournament to determine the eighth playoff seed in the conference. The play-in tournament will be double elimination for the eighth seed and single elimination for the ninth seed.

If the team with the eighth-best combined winning percentage (regular-season games and seeding games) in a conference is more than four games ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined winning percentage in the same conference, then the team with the eighth-best winning percentage would be the eighth playoff seed in that conference.

Once the NBA’s 16-team playoff field is set, the NBA Playoffs will proceed in a traditional conference-based format with four rounds of best-of-seven series. The 2020 NBA Finals will end no later than October 13.

2019-20 NBA All G League Teams announced

NBA G League Most Valuable Player Frank Mason III of the Wisconsin Herd headlines the 2019-20 All-NBA G League Teams, which were announced recently along with the All-Defensive Team and the All-Rookie Team.

Mason is joined on the All-NBA G League First Team by Herd guard Jaylen Adams, Salt Lake City Stars forward Jarrell Brantley, South Bay Lakers forward Devontae Cacok and Memphis Hustle forward Jarrod Uthoff. Brantley, Cacok, Mason and Uthoff have played in both the NBA G League and the NBA this season.

The All-NBA G League Second Team features Grand Rapids Drive forward Donta Hall, Lakeland Magic forward BJ Johnson and guard Josh Magette, Agua Caliente Clippers forward Johnathan Motley and Maine Red Claws guard Tremont Waters. All five players have seen action in the NBA this season.

The All-NBA G League Third Team is composed of Long Island Nets forward Justin Anderson, Memphis guard Dusty Hannahs, Wisconsin forward Jemerrio Jones, Lakeland forward Vic Law and Delaware Blue Coats guard-forward Marial Shayok. Anderson, Hannahs, Law and Shayok have played in the NBA this season, bringing the total to 13 of 15 players on the three NBA G League Teams who have competed in both leagues in 2019-20.

Waters, the 2019-20 NBA G League Rookie of the Year, leads the NBA G League All-Rookie Team. He is joined by Salt Lake City’s Brantley, South Bay’s Cacok, Grand Rapids’ Hall and Delaware’s Shayok.

Delaware center Christ Koumadje, the 2019-20 NBA G League Defensive Player of the Year, headlines the NBA G League All-Defensive Team. Joining Koumadje are Maine center Tacko Fall, Grand Rapids guard Tra-Deon Hollins, Canton Charge guard Sir’Dominic Pointer and Westchester Knicks forward Kenny Wooten.

The NBA G League canceled the remainder of its 2019-20 season on June 4. The regular season was suspended on March 12 and had been scheduled to conclude on March 28.

Below are the complete All-NBA G League Teams, the All-Rookie Team and the All-Defensive Team. The league’s 28 head coaches and general managers selected each team.

2019-20 ALL-NBA G LEAGUE TEAMS

FIRST TEAM

Jaylen Adams – Wisconsin Herd

Jarrell Brantley – Salt Lake City Stars^

Devontae Cacok – South Bay Lakers*^

Frank Mason III – Wisconsin Herd^

Jarrod Uthoff – Memphis Hustle*

SECOND TEAM

Donta Hall – Grand Rapids Drive*#

BJ Johnson – Lakeland Magic*^

Josh Magette – Lakeland Magic^

Johnathan Motley – Agua Caliente Clippers^

Tremont Waters – Maine Red Claws^

THIRD TEAM

Justin Anderson – Long Island Nets*

Dusty Hannahs – Memphis Hustle*

Jemerrio Jones – Wisconsin Herd

Vic Law – Lakeland Magic*^

Marial Shayok – Delaware Blue Coats^

2019-20 NBA G LEAGUE ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

Jarrell Brantley – Salt Lake City Stars^

Devontae Cacok – South Bay Lakers*^

Donta Hall – Grand Rapids Drive*#

Marial Shayok – Delaware Blue Coats^

Tremont Waters – Maine Red Claws^

2019-20 NBA G LEAGUE ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

Tacko Fall – Maine Red Claws^

Trae-Deon Hollins – Grand Rapids Drive

Christ Koumadje – Delaware Blue Coats

Sir’Dominic Pointer – Canton Charge*#

Kenny Wooten – Westchester Knicks*^

*Earned GATORADE Call-Up this season

^NBA Two-Way Player

#NBA Assignee

Trail Blazers will resume 2019-20 NBA season with game vs Grizzlies July 31

The Portland Trail Blazers will resume the 2019-20 season with a matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies on July 31, it was announced recently by the NBA.

The National Basketball Association and the National Basketball Players Association have finalized a comprehensive plan for a July 30 restart to the 2019-20 season, which includes stringent health and safety protocols, a single-site campus at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and the goal of taking collective action to combat systemic racism and promote social justice.

Under the competitive format for the restart, the 22 participating teams will be the eight teams in each conference with the highest current winning percentages and the six teams that are currently within six games of the eighth seed in either conference.

The restart will begin with each participating team playing eight “seeding games,” as selected from its remaining regular-season matchups. The schedule for the Trail Blazers eight seeding games is as follows:

Date Opponent Time (PT)

July 31 vs. Memphis 1:00 PM

Aug. 2 at Boston 12:30 PM

Aug. 4 vs. Houston 6:00 PM

Aug. 6 at Denver 5:00 PM

Aug. 8 vs. LA Clippers 10:00 AM

Aug. 9 vs. Philadelphia 3:30 PM

Aug. 11 at Dallas 2:00 PM

Aug. 13 vs. Brooklyn TBD

All eight seeding games will be televised by NBC Sports Northwest (NBCSNW) or national carriers and aired on flagship station NBCSNW Rip City Radio AM-620 and the Deschutes Brewery Trail Blazers Radio Network.

At the conclusion of the seeding games, the seven teams in each conference with the highest combined winning percentages across regular-season games and seeding games will be the first through seventh seeds for the NBA Playoffs for that conference. If the team with the eighth-best combined winning percentage (regular-season games and seeding games) in a conference is more than four games ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined winning percentage in the same conference, then the team with the eighth-best winning percentage would be the eighth playoff seed in that conference.

If the team with the eighth-best combined winning percentage in a conference (Team 8) is four games or fewer ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined winning percentage in the same conference (Team 9), then those two teams would compete in a play-in tournament to determine the eighth playoff seed in the conference. The play-in tournament will be double elimination for Team 8 and single elimination for Team 9.

The NBA’s standard playoff tiebreaker procedures will be used to break any ties on the basis of winning percentage. Once the 16-team playoff field is set, the NBA Playoffs will proceed in a traditional conference-based format with four rounds and best-of-seven series in each round. The 2020 NBA Finals will end no later than Oct. 13.