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Raptors sign team president Masai Ujiri to contract extension

The Raptors on Friday signed President Masai Ujiri to a multi-year contract extension and promoted Jeff Weltman to general manager and Bobby Webster to assistant general manager/vice-president basketball strategy. Ujiri will continue to oversee basketball operations as president of the club.

“I am grateful to the Board and Mr. Tanenbaum for the opportunity to continue our progress to build the Raptors into one of the top franchises in the NBA,” said Ujiri. “I’m also excited that Jeff and Bobby are being rewarded for their hard work and valuable contributions to our program.

“My family thanks the NBA, Raptors players and coaches, staff, Raptors fans, the city of Toronto and Canada for this opportunity. Toronto is home for us.”

In their three seasons with the Raptors, Ujiri, Weltman and Webster have helped to build a team that has won three consecutive Atlantic Division titles, advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, posted three straight seasons with franchise-high victories, including 56 wins this past season, and compiled a 153-93 (.622) mark – the best record in the Eastern Conference in that span.

“The gratitude and respect we hold for Masai and our Raptors senior management team are reflected in our Board’s action to extend Masai’s contract,” said Larry Tanenbaum, Chairman of the Board. “We are excited to build on our team’s success and to give Masai our full support in delivering to our fans and to our country the Toronto Raptors’ first NBA championship.”

Ujiri was named president and general manager May 31, 2013. In addition to his role with the Raptors, Ujiri has been tireless in his efforts to promote and develop the game of basketball throughout Africa. He is the founder of the Giants of Africa Foundation, which launched the Top 50 and Big Man camps in his homeland. He has also served as the director of the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program since 2002.

Sixers waive Carl Landry and Tibor Pleiss, sign Anthony Barber

The 76ers on Wednesday waived forward Carl Landry and center Tibor Pleiss, and signed guard Anthony ‘Cat’ Barber.

Barber played three seasons at North Carolina State University prior to declaring for the 2016 NBA Draft. This past season, he was named First Team All-ACC and led the conference with averages of 24 points and 39 minutes played per game. Over the course of his three seasons with the Wolfpack, the 2013 McDonald’s All-American appeared in 104 games and posted averages of 15 points, four assists and three rebounds in 31 minutes per game.

This past season, Landry appeared in 36 games (12 starts) and averaged 10 points and four rebounds in 16 minutes per game. A veteran of nine NBA seasons, Landry has played for five NBA teams since being selected by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 31st overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. In 513 games (93 starts), Landry holds career averages of 11 points and five rebounds in 23 minutes per game.

Pleiss, acquired from Utah on August 26, was originally selected with the 31st overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Brooklyn Nets and acquired by the Jazz as part of a three-team trade in February, 2015. In 12 career games with Utah, he posted averages of two points and one rebound in seven minutes per game.

Noah Vonleh out 3-4 weeks after surgery

Trail Blazers forward Noah Vonleh underwent a procedure today to remove a bone fragment from his right thigh musculature.

Dr. Evan Ellis performed the procedure at Rebound in Vancouver, Washington.

The expected recovery time is 3-4 weeks.

Vonheh played 15.1 minutes per game in the 2015-16 season for the Blazers, averaging 3.6 points and 3.9 rebounds. That is backup-level court time, though he started in 56 of 78 games played.

2016 NBA preseason games in Vancouver and Calgary

The Raptors will play a pair of 2016 NBA preseason games in Vancouver and Calgary.

Their opponents will be the Warriors and Nuggets.

Even though it’s just preseason, that Warriors game will be Kevin Durant’s debut on the squad and is therefore worth watching.

And as for Canada in general, any games outside of Toronto should certainly be attended by fans who don’t get to see NBA players with their own eyes on a regular basis.

Here’s more info: http://www.insidehoops.com/canada-nba-preseason-games-083016.shtml

Pacers sign Julyan Stone and Alex Poythress

The Pacers signed Julyan Stone and Alex Poythress today.

Stone is a 6-6 guard that is a three-year veteran of the NBA, spending time with both the Denver Nuggets and the Toronto Raptors. He has NBA career averages of 1.3 points and 1.1 assists per game. He also played in the D-League, where he averaged 4.7 points and 4.3 assists per game. He played collegiately at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).

Alex Poythress is a 6-8 forward from the University of Kentucky. Heplayed four seasons for the Wildcats and in his senior year he averaged 10.2 points and 6.0 rebounds. He also played for the Orlando Magic this past summer in Summer League.

Dwyane Wade`s cousin shot in Chicago

The violence in Chicago is out of control. Or rather, continues to be out of control — because this isn’t new. But once again, a relative of Dwyane Wade is a victim. Here’s CSN Chicago reporting:

On Thursday, Dwyane Wade appeared on an ESPN special for The Undefeated to talk about gun violence. The next day, Wade’s cousin was shot and killed in Chicago.

Nykea Aldridge was pushing a baby stroller in the Chicago neighborhood of Parkway Gardens when she was shot and killed. Aldridge was 32 and a mother of four.

Police said she was not the intended target and one person was taken into custody as a result of the incident.

A lot of people say all the right things about violent crime, but clear, direct, honest solutions on how to reduce it aren’t quite so common. Just our opinion.

Jazz waive Kendall Marshall

That was quick. The Jazz have waived guard Kendall Marshall, whose rights were acquired by trade from Philadelphia on Friday.

Marshall (6-4, 200, North Carolina) is a four-year NBA veteran who has appeared in 160 career games (57 starts) over four seasons with Phoenix, the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.

Sixers trade Kendall Marshall to Jazz for Tibor Pleiss

The 76ers have acquired center Tibor Pleiss (“TEE-bore Plice”), two 2017 second-round draft picks and cash considerations from the Jazz in exchange for Kendall Marshall.

The Sixers will receive the most and least favorable of the four 2017 second-round picks currently held by Utah (their own, in addition to those of Detroit, Golden State and New York).

Pleiss (7’3″, 256lbs) was originally selected with the 31st overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Brooklyn Nets and acquired by the Jazz as part of a three-team trade in February, 2015. He has appeared in 12 career games with Utah, averaging two points and one rebound in seven minutes per game.

Marshall (6-4, 200, North Carolina) is a four-year NBA veteran who has appeared in 160 career games (57 starts) over four seasons with Phoenix, the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.

Lakers re-sign Tarik Black

The Lakers have re-signed center Tarik Black, the team announced today.

New addition Timofey Mozgov will likely start at center for the Lakers. Black will be a reserve.

“Tarik is a player whose strengths are well-suited for the style of play we envision for our team going forward,” said General Manager Mitch Kupchak. “He plays the game with a mix of athleticism, energy, and physicality that make him a valuable frontcourt contributor in today’s NBA.”

In two seasons with the Lakers, Black has averaged 5.3 points and 5.2 rebounds in 16.9 per game while shooting 57.5% from the field over 77 games (27 starts). Awarded to the Lakers on a waiver claim on December 28, 2014, he also appeared in 25 games (12 starts) for the Houston Rockets to begin the 2014-15 season before being waived.

The 24-year-old Black averaged 9.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game on 60.5% shooting after being reinserted into the starting lineup at center in 2014-15, and finished his rookie season ranked second amongst all first year players in offensive rebounds per game and third in total rebounds per game. On April 12, 2015, he grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds, becoming the first Lakers rookie since Leroy Ellis in 1963 to record that many rebounds in a game.

Lakers sign rookie Brandon Ingram

The Lakers have finally signed rookie forward Brandon Ingram.

The team is hoping for big things from Ingram, who appears to have as much talent and upside as any rookie in his class.

How quickly he’ll be able to mature both physically and as a player to become effective will be worth watching, on a national level, not just in Los Angeles.

Drafted with the second overall selection of the 2016 NBA Draft in June, Ingram averaged 12.2 points (second on the team), 4.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists over his five games (all starts) at the 2016 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. Following his Summer League play, Ingram was selected by USA Basketball to participate as a member of the 2016 USA Men’s Select Team.

According to the Orange County Register, “Ingram remained unsigned while the Lakers tried to maximize flexibility in free agency to sign players. His rookie contract is expected to be worth about $23.8 million over four seasons, with Ingram set to make about $5.3 million this season.”

The 18-year-old was the consensus ACC Freshman of the year in his lone collegiate season at Duke, while also earning a consensus Second Team All-ACC selection. He finished the season ranked sixth in the ACC in scoring (17.3), seventh in three-point percentage (.410) and minutes played (34.6), ninth in three-pointers made per game (2.2), 10th in blocks (1.4), and 13th in rebounds (6.8).

The Kinston, NC native was Duke’s leading scorer in the NCAA Tournament, averaging 23.0 points per game to go along with 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists over the three games, scoring at least 20 points in each contest and playing in 119 of a possible 120 minutes of action.

The 6’9’’ Ingram was a member of USA Basketball’s 2015 United States Junior National Select Team and was a Parade All-American as a senior at Kinston High School. He won four straight 2A state championships, becoming one of two players in history to win four consecutive North Carolina State Championships, and was MVP of the state championship game as a senior.