Milwaukee Bucks center John Henson had successful surgery Wednesday afternoon to repair his torn left wrist ligament. The surgery was performed by Dr. Michelle Carlson at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York under the supervision of Bucks team physician Dr. William Raasch of the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network.
In 14 games this season, Henson is averaging 5.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 13.4 minutes per game while shooting a career-high 35.5 percent from 3-point range.
Henson will be listed as out. There isn’t an estimated return date yet.
Here’s Euroleaguebasketball.net with an update on guard Alexey Shved, who played in the NBA from 2012-15:
Khimki Moscow Region suffered a big injury blow on Saturday, learning that it will be without services of its leader and this season’s most productive player Alexey Shved. This past week Shved earned back-to-back MVP of the Round performances in a span of just 48 hours, and led Khimki to a pair of important victories, but also injured his left pinkie finger during Round 9 road win against Zalgiris Kaunas.
During his NBA years, Shved played for the Timberwolves, Sixers, Rockets and Knicks, averaging 7.4 points per game over that stretch.
Meeks was acquired from the Washington Wizards on Oct. 15 along with a future second-round draft pick and cash in exchange for a future second-round draft pick.
The Washington Wizards signed free agent forward Okaro White today.
The 6-foot-8, 205-pound guard-forward averaged 2.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in 41 career games during the last two seasons (2016-18) with the Miami Heat. He played for Florida State between 2013-17, averaged 10.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game for the Seminoles, and went undrafted.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, White in 2016-17 played in 23 games in the G League for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, and averaged 18.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
There are now 14 players on the Wizards roster, not including Devin Robinson and Jordan McRae, who are signed to two-way contracts.
The Bulls could really use some good news, especially in the health department.
This isn’t big, but it’s something. It’s a step. Here’s the Chicago Tribune with an update on one of the team’s key young building blocks:
Lauri Markkanen had an individual shooting workout and participated in non-contact portions of Bulls practice Monday, the next step in his recovery from a right elbow injury.
Thursday marks eight weeks since Markkanen suffered a high-grade lateral sprain while battling for a rebound in the first week of training camp. The Bulls originally estimated Markkanen would miss six to eight weeks and later revised it to eight to 10 weeks.
“We’ll see how he responds and if we can up his activity level after that,” coach Fred Hoiberg said.
The Bulls through Sunday’s games have a 4-13 record and are the current East 12-seed. The team is off today and tomorrow, and on Wednesday has a chance to add to that win total as they host a struggling Suns squad.
Magic center Nikola Vucevic has been named the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week, and Pelicans forward-center Anthony Davis the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played between November 11-18, 2018.
It marks the second time that Vucevic has won the award during his career and the first time a Magic player has won the award since Vucevic earned it for the period ending Mar. 30, 2014.
During four games last week, Vucevic averaged 27.8 ppg., 10.5 rpg., 4.0 apg. and 1.25 stlpg., while shooting .581 (43-74) from the floor and .471 (8-17) from three-point range. He led Orlando to a 3-1 record with wins over Philadelphia, the L.A. Lakers and New York. Vucevic tallied three double-doubles and scored 28-or-more points in three consecutive games, becoming the first Magic player since Dwight Howard accomplished the feat Mar. 1-5, 2012.
Vucevic has played and started in all 17 games this season, averaging a team-high 20.4 ppg., a team-high 10.8 rpg., 3.6 apg., 1.12 stlpg. and 1.12 blkpg. in 30.5 minpg., while shooting a team-best .556 (144-259) from the floor, .452 (19-42) from three-point range and .813 (39-48) from the free throw line. He has led (or tied) the Magic in scoring seven times, in rebounding 13 times and in assists twice.
Davis led the Pelicans to a 3-1 week behind averages of 34.3 points (ranked 2nd in the NBA), 14.0 rebounds (4th in the NBA) and 2.0 blocks (T-5th in the NBA). Davis helped lead the Pelicans to a win at Toronto – handing the Raptors just their second loss of the season, and their first loss at home, behind 25 points and a season-high 20 rebounds – a 19-point comeback victory against New York on Nov. 16, registering a season-high 43 points to go with 17 rebounds and five assists, and capped off the week with 40 points, eight rebounds and a career-high-tying eight assists, while shooting 20-of-21 at the free throw line, Nov. 17 vs. Denver. Davis finished the week as one of just five players (at least 50 field goal attempts) to shoot at least .500 from the floor, .400 from three-point range and .850 from the free throw line.
This marks the fifth time Davis has earned Player of the Week honors during his career, and the first time during the 2018-19 season, becoming the first player in franchise history to earn multiple Player of the Week honors in the same season since Chris Paul in 2008-09.
Davis is currently averaging 27.5 points (ranked fifth in the NBA), 12.7 rebounds (ranked tied for sixth in the NBA) and 2.8 blocks (ranked second in the NBA) on the season for the Pelicans.
Miami Heat guard Josh Richardson has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for throwing his shoe into the stands, according to Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations Kiki VanDeWeghe
The incident resulted in Richardson receiving a technical foul and an ejection from the game. It happened with 6:31 remaining in the fourth quarter during Miami’s game against Los Angeles Lakers on November 18 at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Heat lost the game, 113-97.
According to ESPN.com, Richardson had this to say after the game: “I don’t want to talk about it. It was a series of events… I got caught up.”
Chicago Bulls guard Denzel Valentine has been diagnosed with ongoing ankle instability. After being evaluated by Dr. Bob Anderson, a foot and ankle specialist in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Valentine will undergo a surgical reconstruction by Dr. Anderson the week of Nov. 26 with an anticipated recovery time of four-to-six months.
The team says that Valentine is expected to make a full recovery and have a normal summer of offseason training leading into training camp for the 2019-20 season.
According to the Chicago Tribune, “it’s the second ankle surgery in three seasons for Valentine, a critical reserve floor spacer, and playmaker and leader.”
The Denver Nuggets have added current WNBA Champion Sue Bird to their front office staff as a Basketball Operations Associate.
“We are very excited to have Sue join our organization,” said Nuggets President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly. “Her resume certainly speaks for itself and as a still active player she will offer an extremely unique perspective.”
Bird recently wrapped up her 16th season in the WNBA which saw her earn her 11th All-Star bid and third WNBA Championship, all with the Seattle Storm. The New York native attended the University of Connecticut where she won two National Championships before being selected first overall by Seattle in the 2002 WNBA Draft. Bird was named to the WNBA All-Decade team in 2006, has been All-WNBA First Team five times and All-WNBA Second Team three times and currently ranks first in the WNBA in career games (508), first in career minutes played (16,173), first in assists (2,831), third in points (6,154), third in made three-pointers (855) and fifth in steals (652).
“I’m really excited to join the Denver Nuggets organization. I’m thankful for the opportunity and look forward to learning from some of the best,” said Bird.
Former Nets GM Billy King, an experienced basketball executive who also traded years and years of Nets first round draft picks away in a deal that never should have happened, reportedly seeks a return to an NBA front office. Here’s the New York Post with details:
Billy King knows he’ll always have to answer for The Trade, but the ex-Nets general manager would to answer for it if another NBA franchise will give him the chance.
King, now president of a startup television network, occasionally appears as a guest on NBATV but remains infamous for mortgaging the Nets’ future in what is considered the worst trade in NBA history. By some measures, it is the worst trade in sports history…
King was the GM who spearheaded the disastrous 2013 deal that brought Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry to Brooklyn. In return, the Celtics received everything but the lighting fixtures.
Gerald Wallace, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries, Keith Bogans and Kris Joseph were sent to Boston, along with, most damagingly, first-round draft picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018, as well as swap rights in 2017.
King will have to work hard to overcome this, presumably by pointing to his other work spanning many years, and perhaps by sharing more about the mindset behind that big Nets deal, which even as it happened was obviously a very risky, massive gamble that came up craps. He certainly has the personality to win people over if given a shot.
He is a good guy. And has been fun to listen to as an analyst on TV.
