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Mavericks re-sign Dirk Nowitzki

The Mavericks on Wednesday re-signed 13-time NBA All-Star Dirk Nowitzki.

Dirk is past his prime, but still a serious player and scorer. He can’t be counted on to carry a team anymore, but he’s still a starter-worthy player with a lifetime experience of winning.

The Mavs this upcoming season are built around PG Deron Williams, SG Wesley Matthews, new well-paid SF Harrison Barnes, Dirk at PF, and new C Andrew Bogut.

During his 18-year tenure in Dallas, Nowitzki has guided the Mavericks toward many of the franchise’s greatest achievements. Nowitzki led Dallas to its first-ever 60 win season in 2002-03, first NBA Finals appearance in 2006, a franchise-high 67 wins in 2006-07 and to the organization’s first World Championship when the Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals. He is currently the longest-tenured player in the NBA with one team.

Nowitzki (7-0, 245), the most decorated Dallas Maverick in franchise history, is a 13-time NBA All-Star, earned All-NBA Team honors 12 consecutive years (2000-12), was named Most Valuable Player of the 2006-07 season and was MVP of the 2011 NBA Finals. He is a six-time Western Conference Player of the Month, a 17-time Western Conference Player of the Week, has competed in the All-Star Saturday Night Three-Point Contest four times and was the 2014 Magic Johnson Award recipient.

The career Maverick holds averages of 22.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 35.3 minutes in 1,340 career games (1,309 starts) and holds the franchise’s top-spot in several categories including points, rebounds, field goals, three-point field goals, free throws, games, starts and minutes.

In the NBA Playoffs, Nowitzki’s game elevates to average 25.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 40.6 minutes in 145 postseason games (145 starts). He has led the Mavericks to three Western Conference Finals and two NBA Finals while moving into first place in several of the franchise’s postseason categories including points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, field goals, free throws and games.

No international play for Dennis Schroder this summer

Here’s the Atlanta Journal Constitution with an update on point guard Dennis Schroder, who will have a huge role on the Hawks next season since Jeff Teague was traded to the Pacers:

Dennis Schroder will not compete for Germany’s national team this summer, the German Basketball Federation announced Wednesday.

Germany was to begin qualification play for next year’s EuroBasket 2017 tournament in August. The team made the announcement of Schroder’s withdrawal on social media.

Schroder will assume the starting point guard position for the Hawks next season after the team traded Jeff Teague this summer.

Cavs, Tyronn Lue agree to new contract

The Cavaliers and head coach Tyronn Lue have agreed to a new, multi-year contract, the team announced today.

“Ty took over our team under very trying circumstances and his calm, confident approach was invaluable as we found our way to success,” said General Manager David Griffin. “His vision, leadership and tactical acumen were fundamental to us reaching our goals. We couldn’t be happier to have Ty continue to lead our group into the future.”

According to The Vertical, it’s a five-year deal worth $35 million.

“The opportunity to continue coaching the Cavaliers and this very special group of players is tremendous,” said Lue. “I am extremely appreciative of the effort and commitment that Dan Gilbert, Jeff Cohen, Nate Forbes, and David Griffin showed in extending my contract. Cleveland fans are the best in sports and I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this very special community. I am focused on helping this organization continue to grow and look forward to more success for our team and our fans.”

According to ESPN.com, “Lue did not sign a new contract when he was promoted from associate head coach to take over for David Blatt in January, sources previously told ESPN.”

Lue was promoted from associate head coach to head coach on January 22, 2016, thus becoming the 20th head coach in franchise history. The Cavs went on to finish the 2015-16 season with the best record in the Eastern Conference (57-25) and the franchise’s first ever NBA Championship.

During the 2016 Playoffs, Lue became the first head coach in league history to win his first 10 postseason games, as Cleveland would go on to finish a franchise-best 16-5 in their title run. After the Cavaliers defeated Golden State 4-3 in the 2016 NBA Finals, Lue became the fourth-youngest head coach to win an NBA title and just the third coach to win a championship after taking over a team mid-season, joining Pat Riley (2006 and 1982) and Paul Westhead (1980). The Cavaliers also became the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in Finals history and the fourth team to win an NBA Finals Game 7 on the road.

Hornets sign Treveon Graham

The Hornets have signed guard/forward Treveon Graham.

“We were impressed by Treveon’s play last season in the D-League and followed him closely during his four-year career at VCU,” said Hornets General Manager Rich Cho. “We are excited to add someone with Treveon’s ability on both sides of the ball to our training camp roster.”

The Hornets have Nic Batum at shooting guard, Marco Belinelli as a backup, and the often-injured Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at small forward.

The 6-5 Graham appeared in 46 games (20 starts) for the Idaho Stampede in the NBA D-League last season, averaging 15.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 30.4 minutes per contest. He recorded four double-doubles and tallied 11 games with 20-plus points, including four games with 30-or-more. Graham most recently competed with the Utah Jazz at the 2016 Samsung NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and with the Orlando Magic at the 2016 Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League, earning 2016 All-Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League honors.

The Washington, D.C. native spent four seasons at Virginia Commonwealth (2011-15), where he posted career averages of 13.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 25.4 minutes per game. Graham earned consecutive All-Atlantic 10 First Team accolades in 2014-15 and 2013-14, while also being named the 2015 Atlantic 10 Tournament MVP. He was also selected to the 2013 All-Atlantic 10 Second Team as a sophomore. He left VCU ranked fifth all-time in scoring with 1,667 career points.

Pistons sign Ray McCallum Jr

The Pistons on Tuesday signed free-agent guard Ray McCallum Jr.

McCallum, 25, played 41 games last season with the Spurs and the Grizzlies, averaging 3.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 11.6 minutes per game. The 36th overall pick in the 2013 Draft by Sacramento, McCallum spent his first two seasons with the Kings where he averaged 6.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 20.6 minutes in 113 games (40 starts).

In 2014-15, he averaged 7.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 21.1 minutes in 68 games (30 starts) – all career highs.

Hawks sign forward Matt Costello

The Hawks on Tuesday signed free agent forward Matt Costello.

Until we hear otherwise, we will assume this deal merely brings Costello to Hawks training camp.

Costello, a four-year player at Michigan State, was an All-Big Ten selection as a senior after averaging 10.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.2 blocks in 22.9 minutes in 35 games (.561 FG%, .752 FT%). He played in 138 career games for the Spartans (2012-16) and is the school’s all-time leader in blocked shots with 146.

The 6’9 Costello was a member of the Hawks’ 2016 Summer League in Las Vegas, where he averaged 5.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists while playing in all six games.

Heat sign Dion Waiters

The Heat on Tuesday signed guard Dion Waiters.

According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the deal is a two-year, $6 million contract with a player option for the second season.

“Dion is not a Room Exception player,” said HEAT President Pat Riley. “He wanted to play for the Miami HEAT and chose to forgo other more lucrative financial opportunities to be a part of our championship organization. We are very honored that he made the commitment to come to South Florida and sign with us. Dion is young, athletic and explosive, which fits in with our roster. He will add a great dimension for us at the off-guard spot. I really like the depth and versatility that we now have in our perimeter positions. Welcome aboard Dion!”

According to the Sun Sentinel, “Waiters previously had bypassed the Oklahoma City Thunder’s since-rescinded $6.8 million qualifying offer for 2016-17 and took a pay cut from last season’s $5.1 million salary at a time when several teams have in excess of $10 million remaining in salary-cap space.”

Waiters has appeared in 289 games (110 starts) over his four-year NBA career and averaged 12.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.01 steals and 28.3 minutes while shooting 41.1 percent from the field, 33.4 percent from three-point range and 70.7 percent from the foul line. The former fourth overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft was named to the 2012-13 NBA All-Rookie First Team and earned NBA Rookie of the Month honors in February of 2013.

Wizards re-sign Bradley Beal

The Wizards on Tuesday re-signed shooting guard Bradley Beal.

According to CSN Mid-Atlantic, the deal is a five-year max contract worth $128 million.

“Bradley has proven himself as one of the top young shooting guards in the league, and we feel that he has the potential to rise to an elite level as he enters the prime of his career as one of the cornerstones of our team,” Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld said. “He is an outstanding member of the community and a great example of the type of player and person we want to represent our franchise.”

Beal has averaged 16.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting .426 from the field and .397 from three-point range in 247 games (213 starts) in his four seasons with the Wizards.

Last season, he averaged a career-high 17.4 points and shot a career-high .449 from the field to go along with 3.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and a .387 three-point percentage in 55 games (35 starts) for Washington. In 2014-15, he finished ninth in the NBA in three-point percentage (.409) and he set the Wizards rookie record with 91 threes made in 2012-13. He currently ranks fourth among the team’s all-time leaders in threes made (440) and fifth all-time in three-point percentage (.397).

In 21 playoff appearances, Beal holds averages of 21.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.6 steals and has led the team in scoring during both of his playoff runs (19.2 ppg over 11 games in 2014 and 23.4 ppg over 10 games in 2015). He joins Magic Johnson as the only other player in NBA history to average at least 19 points, five rebounds and 4.5 assists in multiple playoff appearances before the age of 22 and ranks fourth in NBA history with 10 games of 20+ points before the age of 22 (behind LeBron James, Tony Parker and Kobe Bryant).

Michael Jordan donates money for good cause

NBA legend and Hornets majority owner Michael Jordan is trying to do some good. Here’s the Charlotte Observer reporting:

Michael Jordan speaks out, donates money

Charlotte Hornets majority owner Michael Jordan is once again in the news for giving away money, this time in response to the racial unrest between African-Americans and the law enforcement community.

In a lengthy letter published Monday on the The Undefeated website, Jordan said he is giving $1 million each to two organizations that he says are working to build trust between blacks and law enforcement: the Institute for Community-Police Relations, launched in May by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Cameron Payne undergoes foot surgery

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cameron Payne had a procedure today to fix a fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot, team Executive VP and General Manager Sam Presti announced.

Selected in the lottery of the 2015 NBA Draft (No. 14 overall) out of Murray State, Payne averaged 5.0 points, 1.9 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 57 games during his rookie season. Payne recently topped all scorers in the Orlando Summer League, averaging 18.8 points to go along with 4.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds in four games.

Payne is expected to be ready for the start of 2016-17 season.