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Rock Gaming Chairman Dan Gilbert announced Wednesday that he has acquired a majority interest of the Greektown Casino-Hotel in downtown Detroit.
Gilbert, founder of Quicken Loans and the Cleveland Cavaliers owner who triggered the building of the Horseshoe Casino in Cleveland, moved his Quicken Loans headquarters to downtown Detroit. His family of companies are expected to help lead a revitalization of the city’s urban core.
— Reported by Pat Galbincea of the Cleveland Plain Dealer
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As the uncertainty surrounding Rasheed Wallace’s left foot injury lingers, members of the New York Knicks organization fear Wallace will be out for an extended period of time, possibly for the entire season, two league sources told ESPNNewYork.com.
Wallace has been out since Dec. 15 with a stress reaction in his left foot.
Knicks coach Mike Woodson said last week that he hoped Wallace would begin running this week, but he told reporters in London on Wednesday that Wallace, 38, has yet to do so.
“He’ll be back — but when, I don’t know. We’re gradually trying to get him back where he can run again so he can get back in a uniform. But when, we don’t know when yet,” Woodson said.
— Reported by Ian Begley of ESPN New York
The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that guard Malcolm Lee underwent two successful surgeries this week. On Monday, January 14, Lee underwent a successful right knee cartilage repair. The surgery was performed by Dr. Jonathan Glashow at Midtown Surgical Center in New York. This afternoon Lee underwent successful surgery on his right hip. The surgery was performed by Dr. Bryan Kelly at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
Lee is expected to miss the remainder of the 2012-13 NBA season.
Lee, 6-5, played in 19 games for the Wolves this season, averaging 4.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 18.1 minutes per game. The Wolves originally acquired Lee from the Chicago Bulls on June 23, 2011.
Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has re-assigned forward Terrence Jones to Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
Jones (6-9, 252, Kentucky) has averaged 19.2 points and 11.0 rebounds in nine games (nine starts) with Rio Grande Valley this season. Re-assigned to the Vipers on Dec. 26 and recalled on Jan. 14, Jones helped Rio Grande Valley pull to within a half game of first place in D-League’s Central Division. Through Jan. 13, Jones stood second in the D-League in rebounds per game (11.0) and ninth in the league in scoring average (19.2). In his rookie campaign with the Rockets, Jones has averaged 3.1 points and 1.6 rebounds in 11 games with Houston in 2012-13.
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The Indiana Pacers today re-assigned Miles Plumlee to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Indiana’s NBA Development League affiliate. The assignment is the record 104th of the 2012-13 NBA and NBA D-League seasons, while Plumlee is one of the record 50 players who have been assigned to the NBA D-League this season.
Plumlee (6-11, 255, Duke) re-joins the Mad Ants following five previous assignments when he played in seven games and averaged 13.9 points, 10.9 rebounds and 32.1 minutes. He has appeared in six games for the Pacers this season, averaging 1.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 3.7 minutes.
Selected 26th overall by the Pacers in the first round of the 2012 NBA Draft, Plumlee was a four-year member of the Blue Devils, where he won an NCAA Championship in 2010.
Plumlee is expected to be in available tonight when the team travels to face the Los Angeles D-Fenders.
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The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that Kevin Love underwent successful surgery this morning to repair the third and fourth metacarpal in his right hand. The surgery was performed by Dr. Michelle Carson at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. He injured his hand during the third quarter of the Jan. 3 game at Denver.
Love is expected to be sidelined for 8-10 weeks.
For the season, Love has played in 18 games and leads the Wolves in scoring (18.3 ppg), rebounds (14.0 rpg) and double-doubles (14).
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is taking his fight to keep the Kings in California’s capital city to NBA owners.
Again.
Speaking at the annual State of Downtown breakfast on Tuesday, Johnson said he has received approval from NBA Commissioner David Stern to present a counteroffer to the league from buyers who would keep the team in Sacramento. He said the city is in a ”six-week sprint” to put together a proposal for the NBA’s Board of Governors to consider over a potential sale and relocation to Seattle.
The league’s deadline for teams to apply for a move for the next season is March 1, though that has been extended each of the last two years for the Kings. And both times, Johnson – a former NBA All-Star – has convinced the league that Sacramento could help fix the franchise’s financial woes and secure its long-term home in a new arena.
”We want this to be the final act of a saga that’s gone on for far too long,” Johnson said.
People with knowledge of the situation said last week that a group led by San Francisco-based investor Chris Hansen, who wants to return the NBA to Seattle, has contacted the Maloof family about buying the Kings. They spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because no deal has been reached.
— Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press
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Two days removed from playing for the first time in a week, Lakers center Dwight Howard provided a positive prognosis surrounding his right shoulder.
“It’s fine,” he said. “I haven’t had any issues.”
Howard will play tonight when the Lakers (16-21) host the Milwaukee Bucks (19-17) at Staples Center. But Howard missed Monday’s practice in favor of getting treatment on his right shoulder, which had a separated labrum. That injury stemmed last week from the Clippers’ Caron Butler and Denver’s Andre Miller fouling him on his shoulder. Howard then missed the next three games to restrengthen the shoulder before being susceptible to more contact inside.
— Reported by Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Blog)
Memo to the rest of the NBA: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is in “Let’s Make a Deal” mode.
“We’re letting everybody know that the “Bank of Cuban” is open,” Cuban said Monday night, a couple of days after declaring that there was a “100 percent chance” the Mavs would aggressively pursue trade opportunities before the Feb. 21 deadline.
“If it’s the right deal, we don’t mind taking back money. But we’re not going to do a trade just to do a trade. It’s got to be worthwhile.”
The Mavs have the ability to take back significantly more salary in trades because they are under the salary cap. Cuban has continually insisted that is a primary reason he opted for financial flexibility instead of re-signing several key contributors to the Mavs’ 2010-11 title team, not just because they wanted to have enough salary cap space to sign a superstar in free agency.
— Reported by Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas
Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has recalled guard Patrick Beverley from Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
Beverley (6-1, 185, Arkansas), who was signed by the Rockets on Jan. 7 and assigned Rio Grande Valley, averaged 13.7 points, 7.0 assists, 6.7 rebounds and 2.00 steals in three starts with the Vipers.
He came to the Rockets from Spartak St. Petersburg in Russia, where he earned Eurocup MVP for the 2011-12 season and 2012 All-Eurocup First-Team honors. He originally played two seasons at Arkansas before leaving school to sign a professional contract with BC Dnipro of the Ukrainian UBL for the 2008-09 season. Beverley was then drafted by the L.A. Lakers in the second round (42nd overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft and later traded to the Miami Heat. He decided to stay in Europe and signed with Olympiakos in Greece on Aug. 26, 2009. He again joined the Heat for the 2010 NBA Summer League and was signed by Miami on Aug. 2, 2010. Beverley was waived by the Heat at the end of training camp on Oct. 25, 2010.