Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Cavs sign Marcus Thornton to 10-day contract

The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed guard Marcus Thornton to a 10-day contract, Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced today.

Thornton will be assigned to the Canton Charge before tomorrow night’s Charge game against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in Canton.

Thornton (6-4, 190) has played in 37 games (32 starts) this season with the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers’ exclusively owned and operated NBA G League team, averaging 18.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists while shooting .408 from three-point range in 36.1 minutes per game. He was recently selected to the USA Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team that will participate in the upcoming FIBA World Cup Qualifying first round.

Thornton spent the 2016-17 season with Consultinvest VL Pesaro in the Italian LBA, averaging 13.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 28.5 minutes over 30 games (21 starts). He also appeared in 12 contests with the Maine Red Claws of the NBA G League and 28 games with the Sydney Kings of the Australian NBL in 2015-16.

The 6-4 guard played four years collegiately at William & Mary and was originally selected by the Boston Celtics with the 45th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

Hawks sign Antonius Cleveland to 10-day contract

The Atlanta Hawks today signed guard Antonius Cleveland to a 10-day contract.

Earlier this season, Cleveland was on a two-way contract with Dallas, appearing in 13 games with the Mavericks. In seven NBA G League games this season (six with the Austin Spurs and one with the Texas Legends), he’s averaged 13.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 steals in 26.6 minutes (.547 FG%, .500 3FG%, .826 FT%).

Cleveland played four years at Southeast Missouri State (2013-17) and in 33 starts as a senior, put in 16.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals in 32.9 minutes. He finished his high school career at Faith Baptist Christian Academy in Ludowici, GA after beginning at Overton High School in his hometown of Memphis, TN.

He will wear jersey No. 0.

Pacers sign Trey McKinney Jones to 10-day contract

The Indiana Pacers today signed Trey McKinney Jones to a 10-day contract.

The 6-5, 220-pound guard was in the Pacers’ training camp before joining the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers’ G League affiliate. He played in 26 games for the Mad Ants, averaging 11.4 points per game.

The Pacers are 33-25 so far this season, which is the 5th best record in the Eastern conference. They’re being led in scoring this season by All-Star shooting guard Victor Oladipo at 24.4 ppg. Six Pacers players, including Oladipo, are averaging double-digit scoring.

According to Bobby Marks of ESPN, “McKinney-Jones was a training camp casualty in 2013 with Milwaukee and this past October with the Pacers. The 27 year-old will earn $46K.”

Pelicans sign Walter Lemon Jr. to 10-day contract

The New Orleans Pelicans today signed free agent guard Walter Lemon Jr. to a 10-day contract.

Lemon, Jr., 6-3, 180, has appeared in 36 games this season with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA G League, posting averages of 22.7 points while shooting .495 from the field, 4.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.1 steals.

Undrafted out of Bradley University of 2014, Lemon, Jr. has also played internationally in Hungary, Germany, Turkey and Greece.

Lemon, Jr. will wear #25 for the Pelicans.

New Orleans’ roster stands at 16, including one two-way player (Charles Cooke).

Blazers sign Brandon Rush to 10-day contract

The Portland Trail Blazers signed guard/forward Brandon Rush to a 10-day contract today.

A nine-year NBA veteran, Rush (6-6, 220) holds career averages of 6.8 points (42.6% FG, 40.2% 3-PT, 70.6% FT), 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 481 games (163 starts) playing for Indiana, Golden State, Utah and Minnesota. Rush played 47 games (33 starts) for the Timberwolves during the 2016-17 season, averaging 4.2 points (37.4% FG, 38.6% 3-PT, 72.2% FT), 2.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 21.9 minutes.

Rush was originally selected by the Trail Blazers with the 13th pick of the 2008 NBA draft before being traded to the Indiana Pacers.

He will wear No. 21 for the Trail Blazers.

Suns sign Shaquille Harrison to 10-day contract, and release Josh Gray

The Phoenix Suns have signed guard Shaquille Harrison to a 10-day contract, calling him up from the Northern Arizona Suns of the NBA G League.

Phoenix has also released guard Josh Gray.

The team’s roster remains at 17 players.

Harrison, a 6-4, 190-pound guard, will be making his NBA debut when he first appears for the Suns. In 36 games with the NAZ Suns this season he averaged 11.0 points, shooting 46.4 percent from the field, 4.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals (10th in G League). In five games after taking over the starting point guard role on February 2, Harrison averaged 14.0 points on 48.3 percent shooting, 9.2 assists, 7.0 rebounds and 2.4 steals, guiding the NAZ Suns to a 4-1 record in those games. On February 9 at the South Bay Lakers, Harrison scored 25 points and dished out a career-high 12 assists.

The 33rd GATORADE Call-Up in the NBA this season and league-high fourth from the NAZ Suns, Harrison has averaged 10.3 points on 45.8 percent shooting, 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.6 steals in 84 career G League games, all with the NAZ Suns over the past two seasons.

The 24-year-old went unselected in the 2016 NBA Draft out of the University of Tulsa. In addition to two seasons with the Suns’ NBA G League affiliate, Harrison participated in Phoenix’s training camp prior to the 2016-17 season and played for the Suns’ Summer League team in 2017, averaging 10.3 points on 61.1 percent shooting in three games.

A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Harrison left Tulsa as the only player in Golden Hurricane basketball history to start every game in a four-year career. He averaged 11.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals in 133 games for his career, finishing second in program history with 461 career assists and third with 244 steals.

Gray first signed a 10-day contract with the Suns on February 2 and averaged 6.4 points, 2.4 assists and 1.6 steals in 17.2 minutes over five games.

Harrison will wear uniform No. 10

Reggie Jackson still recovering from ankle sprain

Detroit Pistons guard Reggie Jackson is entering the next stage of his rehabilitation this week in preparation for a return from a Grade 3 right ankle sprain suffered Tuesday, December 26 vs. Indiana.

Jackson has been cleared to begin light running, shooting and continued ankle strengthening exercises. The Detroit Pistons medical staff will monitor progress throughout the week in anticipation of beginning an escalation process towards resuming normal basketball activities.

No timeframe has been set for a return to practice or game action.

Magic sign Rashad Vaughn to 10-day contract

The Magic today signed guard Rashad Vaughn to a 10-day contract.

The 6’6”, 210-pound Vaughn, born 8/16/96, has played in a combined 23 games this season with both Mthe Bucks and Nets, averaging 2.6 points in 7.7 minutes per game. He was traded by Milwaukee to Brooklyn, along with a second round draft pick, in exchange for Tyler Zeller on Feb. 5. Vaughn was then traded by the Nets to New Orleans in exchange for Dante Cunningham on Feb. 8. He was waived by the Pelicans on Feb. 10.

Originally selected in the first round (17th overall) of the 2015 NBA Draft by Milwaukee, Vaughn has appeared in 134 career NBA regular season games (eight starts) with Milwaukee and Brooklyn, averaging 3.1 ppg. and 1.1 rpg. in 12.2 minpg. Prior to his NBA career, he spent one season at UNLV (2014-15), averaging 17.8 ppg., 4.8 rpg. and 1.6 apg. in 32.3 minpg., while shooting .383 (54-141) from three-point range. Vaughn was named 2014-15 Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year, as well as Honorable Mention All-MWC.

The Magic’s roster now stands at 16 players.

Vaughn will wear #20 with Orlando.

Rockets sign Joe Johnson, waive Troy Williams

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed free agent guard/forward Joe Johnson for the remainder of the season. Johnson will wear #7 for the Rockets.

In a related move, the Rockets have waived Troy Williams.

Johnson (6-7, 240) was originally the 10th overall pick by Boston in the 2001 NBA Draft and is in his 17th NBA season. In 1,253 games with 1,090 starts, Johnson is averaging 16.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists. He is one of 12 players in NBA history with at least 1,000 games played to have averaged at least 16.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg and 4.0 apg and one of three (Kobe Bryant and John Havlicek) with over 1,200.

Among active players, Johnson ranks fourth in games played, second in minutes played (43,729; 20th all-time), eighth in scoring (20,266), and sixth in 3-pointers made (1,960; 10th all-time). He has also appeared in 112 playoff games with 97 starts, averaging 16.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Johnson has been to the playoffs in each of the past 10 seasons and advanced to the Conference Semifinals six times over that span.

Johnson appeared in 32 games with three starts for Utah this season. He saw action in 78 games for the Jazz in 2016-17, and averaged 1.4 3-pointers made on 41.1% shooting, marking the second-highest percentage of his career.

The seven-time All-Star is reunited with Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni. In his final season playing for D’Antoni in Phoenix in 2004-05, Johnson averaged a career-high 2.2 3-pointers made on a career-best 47.8% shooting.