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The Phoenix Suns today waived center/forward DeJuan Blair. The Suns acquired Blair in a trade with Washington last Thursday, Feb. 18.
Blair, in his seventh NBA season, had averaged 2.1 points and 2.0 rebounds in 29 games with the Wizards prior to being traded.
The Suns’ roster now stands at 14 players.
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Roster-wise in the NBA, the rich just got richer.
The 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors have signed free agent center Anderson Varejao to a contract.
Varejao, 33, has spent all 12 of his NBA seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, posting career averages of 7.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 25.0 minutes over 591 games (208 starts). The 6’10” center appeared in 31 games for the Cavaliers this season, averaging 2.6 points and 2.9 rebounds in 10.0 minutes before being sent to Portland as part of a three-team trade on Feb. 18, where he was subsequently waived by the Trail Blazers.
Originally selected by the Orlando Magic with the 30th overall selection of the 2004 NBA Draft (first pick of the second round), Varejao has appeared in 71 career postseason games and was named to the All-Defensive Second Team in 2009-10, finishing third in Sixth Man of the Year voting that season. Prior to making his NBA debut in the 2004-05 campaign, he played professionally for three seasons with FC Barcelona in Spain’s top league, Liga ACB. A native of Santa Teresa, Brazil, Varejao joins fellow Brazilian Leandro Barbosa on the Warriors roster, making the pair one of two sets of Brazilian teammates on an NBA roster (Toronto’s Bruno Caboclo and Lucas Nogueira are the other).
Varejao will wear uniform #18 for the Warriors.
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The Detroit Pistons announced today that the team has rescinded a trade that acquired forward/center Donatas Motiejunas and guard Marcus Thornton from the Houston Rockets in exchange for center Joel Anthony and a protected 2016 first-round draft pick.
“Standard with all trades, medical clearance on all players involved is required for completion. Medical clearance was not given on all players and the trade is being rescinded,” said Jeff Bower, General Manager of the Detroit Pistons. “In view of privacy considerations relating to medical information, we will have no further comment.”
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Vander Blue of the Los Angeles D-Fenders was today named NBA Development League Performer of the Week for games played Monday, Feb. 15 through Sunday, Feb. 21. The honor is the first of Blue’s career.
Blue (6-4, 200, Marquette) helped Los Angeles to a 3-0 week, averaging 29.7 points (second in the league) on 46.7 percent shooting (28-for-60) to go with 7.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 steals. He connected on 28-of-31free throw attempts, good for 90.3 percent.
Other top performers considered include Austin’s Keifer Sykes, Erie’s Tyler Harvey, Idaho’s J.J. O’Brien, Iowa’s Andrew Harrison, Maine’s Coty Clarke and Malcolm Miller, Reno’s Ricky Ledo, Rio Grande Valley’s Will Cummings, Texas’ Brandon Ashley and Westchester’s Gani Lawal.
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The Denver Nuggets have signed forward JaKarr Sampson to a multi-year contract, General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.
Sampson, 6-9, 214, has appeared in 47 games (18 starts) for the Philadelphia 76ers this season, averaging 5.1 points and 2.7 rebounds in 14.7 minutes per game. The second-year forward has appeared in 121 career games (50 starts), all with Philadelphia, averaging 5.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 15.1 minutes.
Sampson, 22, went undrafted in the 2014 NBA Draft after spending two years at St. John’s University. In 66 total games (65 starts) in two seasons at St. John’s, Sampson averaged 13.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 30.3 minutes per game. He was named All-AAC Rookie of the Year and All-AAC Honorable Mention as a freshman in 2013.
The Nuggets roster now stands at 14 players.
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The Milwaukee Bucks have signed free agent forward Steve Novak, General Manager John Hammond announced today. In a related transaction, the Bucks requested waivers on forward Chris Copeland.
“Steve has always been a terrific shooter from distance,” said Hammond. “He’s a great teammate who can provide some veteran leadership to our young roster, and we’re excited to welcome him back to Milwaukee.”
Novak, 32, has appeared in seven games for the Oklahoma City Thunder this season prior to being traded to Denver on Feb. 18. He has appeared in 456 career games (six starts), averaging 4.7 points and 1.3 rebounds while shooting 43.2% from three-point range in 10 seasons with Houston, L.A. Clippers, Dallas, San Antonio, New York, Toronto, Utah and Oklahoma City. The Marquette University product was drafted by Houston with the 32nd overall pick of the 2006 NBA Draft.
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In 24 games (one start) for the Bucks this season, Copeland averaged 2.1 points and 0.5 assists in 6.5 minutes per game.
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The Golden State Warriors have waived forward Jason Thompson.
Although the Warriors didn’t have much use for Thompson, I would assume another NBA team will pick him up. He’s worthy of being in a rotation.
Thompson, 29, appeared in 28 games (one start) with the Warriors this season, posting averages of 2.1 points and 1.9 rebounds in 6.4 minutes per contest. The Rider University product owns career averages of 9.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 569 games over eight campaigns, having spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Sacramento Kings.
Originally selected by Sacramento with the 12th overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, Golden State acquired Thompson on July 31, 2015, from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for forward Gerald Wallace and cash and draft considerations.
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The New York Knicks have signed guard Jimmer Fredette from the NBA Development League’s Westchester Knicks to a 10-day contract. His signing marks the 20th D-League to NBA “call-up” of the season and the third Westchester player to New York over the past two seasons.
Fredette is still in the process of solidifying his long-term future in the NBA. He is clearly too good to play in the D-League. Now he’s got to prove he belongs in an NBA team’s rotation on a real contract. Or else we may see him rocking an overseas league in a year or two.
Fredette, 6-2, 195-pounds, holds career averages of 6.0 points, 1.4 assists and 1.0 rebounds over 13.5 minutes in 233 games (seven starts) over five seasons with Sacramento, Chicago and New Orleans. He rejoined the Westchester Knicks, after being waived by the Pelicans on Nov. 19, 2015, and has averaged 21.8 points (fifth in the D-League), 4.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds over 36.2 minutes in 30 games. He earned MVP honors after a game-high 35 points in the D-League All-Star game in Toronto, ONT last weekend.
The Glens Falls, New York-native, was originally selected by Milwaukee with the 10th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft following his senior season at Brigham Young University.
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The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed free agent forward/center David Lee.
In a related move, the Mavericks also requested waivers on guard John Jenkins.
Lee (6-9, 245) was originally drafted by the New York Knicks with the 30th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. He spent the first five years of his career as a Knick before signing as a free agent with the Golden State Warriors prior to the 2010-11 season. He played five seasons with the Warriors before being traded to the Boston Celtics this past offseason.
The two-time NBA All-Star (2010, 2013) holds career averages of 14.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 30.9 minutes in 725 career games (494 starts) with New York, Golden State and Boston. Lee was named All-NBA Third Team in 2013 and was a member of Golden State’s 2015 World Championship squad.
The Saint Louis, Mo., native was waived by the Celtics February 19 and cleared waivers before the Mavericks signed him as a free agent. Lee will wear number 42.
Jenkins was signed by the Mavericks as a free agent on July 24, 2015. He saw action in 21 games for Dallas this season (1 start) and averaged 3.3 points and 1.0 rebounds in 9.2 minutes per contest.
The Pelicans are having a mess of an NBA season, but their star Anthony Davis will make fans forget that for a day, unleashing an epic performance against the Pistons Sunday. Here’s Michigan Live reporting:
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Davis had a career-high 59 points, the highest-scoring game in the NBA this season, to go with 20 rebounds, and willed the New Orleans Pelicans to a 111-106 victory Sunday.
Davis became the first NBA player ever to record a 50-point game at The Palace of Auburn Hills, He also became just the third player in the last 30 years with a 50-20 game, along with Shaquille O’Neal in 2000 and Chris Webber in 2001.
The Pelicans’ power forward was 24 of 34 from the field, including making both his 3-point attempts, and 9 of 10 from the free-throw line.
Meantime, the Pistons (27-29) have major problems after slipping two games under .500 for the first time.