NBA News Blog – Page 464 – NBA Blog

Kyrie Irving out 3-6 weeks after knee procedure

Here’s what the Boston Celtics say about Kyrie Irving’s knee procedure:

Celtics guard Kyrie Irving today underwent a minimally-invasive procedure to remove a tension wire in his left knee. The wire was originally placed as part of the surgical repair of a fractured patella sustained during the 2015 NBA Finals. While removal of the wire should relieve irritation it was causing in Irving’s patellar tendon, the fractured patella has fully healed and Irving’s knee has been found to be completely structurally sound. Irving is expected to return to basketball activities in 3-6 weeks.

Lakers sign Travis Wear for rest of season

The Lakers signed forward Travis Wear for the remainder of the season today.

Wear has averaged 4.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 12.1 minutes in 10 games since signing the first of two 10-day contracts with the Lakers on March 2. Initially called up from the South Bay Lakers, the Huntington Beach native is shooting 40.0 percent from three-point range.

The Lakers roster stands at 16, including two two-way players.

Bulls guard Antonio Blakeney will miss remainder of season

Bulls guard Antonio Blakeney underwent an MRI today on his left wrist, followed by an examination by the team’s hand specialist, Dr. John Fernandez. Initially diagnosed with a left wrist sprain, the MRI confirmed that he sustained a non-displaced scaphoid fracture in his left wrist. As a result of the injury, Blakeney will miss the remainder of the season.

Blakeney incurred the injury in Chicago’s game at New York on Monday night. A two-way player who split time this season between the Bulls and the Windy City Bulls, Blakeney saw action in 19 games with Chicago and averaged 7.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 16.5 minutes.

Mavericks sign Aaron Harrison to 10-day contract

The Dallas Mavericks have signed guard Aaron Harrison to a 10-day contract.

Harrison (6-6, 210) went undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft and joined the Charlotte Hornets at the Orlando Pro Summer League. The Hornets signed him to a mulit-year contract on July 14, 2015. In two seasons with Charlotte, Harrison saw action in 26 games and averaged 0.7 points and 0.7 rebounds in 4.2 minutes per contest. He was waived by the Hornets on January 3, 2017.

This season, Harrison is averaging 18.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 26.9 minutes in 41 games while shooting .437 from the floor, .425 from behind-the- arc and .839 from the foul line with the Reno Bighorns of the NBA G-League. On Saturday, the shooting guard registered a 45-point effort in the Bighorns loss to the Oklahoma City Blue. In that game, Harrison knocked down 8 three-pointers while also collecting 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

The Richmond, Texas native was a two-year player at Kentucky and helped lead the Wildcats to back-to- back Final Four appearances. He played 79 games (78 starts) as a Wildcat and had career collegiate averages of 12.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 29.2 minutes per contest. As a senior at Fort Bend Travis High School, Harrison and his twin brother, Andrew, were both named McDonald’s All-Americans. Andrew currently plays for the Memphis Grizzlies.

Harrison will wear number 9 for the Mavericks.

Dwight Howard suspended due to techs

Charlotte Hornets center Dwight Howard has been suspended one game without pay for receiving his 16th technical foul of the 2017-18 season, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Under NBA rules, a player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game once he receives his 16th technical foul during a regular season. For every two additional technical fouls received during that regular season, the player or coach will be automatically suspended without pay for an additional game.

Howard received his most recent technical foul with 10:48 remaining in the third quarter of the Hornets’ 111-105 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on March 21 at Barclays Center. Howard will serve his suspension March 22 when the Hornets play host to the Memphis Grizzlies at Spectrum Center.

Hawks sign Jaylen Morris to multi-year contract

The Atlanta Hawks have signed rookie guard Jaylen Morris to a multi-year contract. He was previously signed to consecutive 10-day contracts on February 28 and March 11.

Morris is averaging 4.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 16.4 minutes in six games with Atlanta after posting 12.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 31.4 minutes in 39 appearances (all starts) earlier this season with Erie, the Hawks’ NBA G League affiliate.

Cavs sign Okaro White to 10-day contract

The Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday signed forward Okaro White to a 10-day contract.

White (6-8, 204) has played in six games (four starts) with the Miami Heat this season, averaging 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game. The second-year forward from Florida State has appeared in 41 career games (four starts) with the Heat with averages of 2.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in 13.4 minutes.

Prior to his stint with Miami, White was a NBA G League All-Star in 2016-17 after averaging 18.4 points and 8.7 rebounds in 33.0 minutes over his 23 appearances with the Sioux Falls Skyforce. He also played professionally with Aris B.C. of the Greek Basketball League where he was the Greek Basketball Player of the Year in 2015-16 and was a member of Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna in Italy in 2014-15.

Trail Blazers sign Georgios Papagiannis through next season

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed center Georgios Papagiannis to a contract through the 2018-19 season.

Originally signed to a 10-day contract on March 8, Papagiannis holds career averages of 4.2 points (51.0% FG, 85.7% FT), 3.2 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 12.4 minutes in 38 games over two seasons with the Sacramento Kings.

Selected by Phoenix with the 13th overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft out of Greece, Papagiannis, 20, was dealt to Sacramento in a draft day trade.

In 33 games over two seasons with the NBA G League’s Reno Bighorns, Papagiannis (7-2, 240) posted averages of 13.7 points (51.3% FG, 77.2% FT), 8.6 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 2.24 blocked shots and 30.6 minutes.

Magic sign Rodney Purvis to second 10-day contract

The Orlando Magic signed guard Rodney Purvis to a second 10-day contract today.

Purvis (6’4”, 205, 2/14/94) has played in five games with Orlando, averaging 3.8 ppg. in 11.5 minpg. He appeared and started in 37 games this season for the Lakeland Magic, Orlando’s NBA G League affiliate, averaging 20.5 ppg., 4.0 rpg., 3.5 apg. and 1.35 stlpg. in 38.5 minpg. Purvis led the team in scoring 17 times and in assists 10 times. He scored in double figures 34 times and had 30+ points four times, including a season-high 40 points on Dec. 21 @ Westchester.

Purvis was selected to participate in the USA World Cup Qualifying Team training camp Feb. 15-20 and the G League International Challenge on Feb 18. After camp, Purvis was then selected to the 12-man team for the USA’s World Cup Qualifying first round, second-window games, including Cuba on Feb. 23 and Puerto Rico on Feb. 26 in Santa Cruz, Calif., where he averaged 13 ppg. in 23.0 minpg., while shooting 50 percent from the field. The FIBA World Cup Qualifying games are being used to qualify 31 of the 32 nations that will compete in the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

Purvis played in 137 career games (100 starts) during four years at both North Carolina State (2012-13) and the University of Connecticut (2014-17), averaging 11.6 ppg., 3.0 rpg. and 1.8 apg. in 29.1 minpg. Last season, he appeared in 33 games (32 starts), averaging 13.8 ppg., 4.2 rpg., 2.5 apg. and 1.03 stlpg. in 36.9 minpg. As a sophomore (2014-15), Purvis led the Huskies in scoring during the postseason, averaging 17.8 ppg., and was named to the 2015 American Athletic Conference’s All-Tournament Team.

Omri Casspi out with ankle sprain

Warriors forward Omri Casspi is expected to miss roughly a week with a sprained right ankle, according to a Yahoo Sports report.

After draining a seven-foot hook shot early in the second quarter of Friday night’s loss to Sacramento, Casspi came down awkwardly, rolling his right ankle. He was tended to by a team trainer before leaving the floor on his own power, ending his night with six points in six minutes.

— SF Chronicle