NBA News Blog – Page 898 – NBA Blog

Spurs recall Nando De Colo from D-League again

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have recalled guard Nando De Colo from the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League.

Assigned on Friday, De Colo finished with 15 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 steals in 34 minutes against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

In two games with the Toros this season, he is averaging 14.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.00 steals in 36.5 minutes.

De Colo has appeared in 30 games this season for the Spurs, averaging 3.9 points, 1.7 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 11.9 minutes.

Ekpe Udoh replaces Marquis Daniels in Bucks starting five

Bucks coach Scott Skiles said Ekpe Udoh will return to the starting lineup Friday night against the Houston Rockets.

Udoh will replace Marquis Daniels, who has started 16 games at small forward.

The Bucks will start Udoh, Larry Sanders and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute on the front line with Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings in the backcourt.

“It allows me to get Luc on (James) Harden,” Skiles said in his pre-game remarks. “And also with Beno coming back and maybe not being 100%, we may need Marquis a little more in the backcourt.”

Backup point guard Beno Udrih will be available after being held out of Wednesday’s game with a sprained right ankle.

— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Daequan Cook to sign with Bulls

Free-agent shooting specialist Daequan Cook will sign with the Chicago Bulls after clearing waivers Friday, according to his agent.

Agent Mike Conley Sr. of BDA Sports told ESPN.com that Cook has agreed to join the Bulls after going unclaimed through the NBA’s waiver process this week.

Despite a number of teams out there that could use an extra shooter — such as Minnesota and the Los Angeles Lakers, just to name two — Cook went unclaimed after being waived by Houston because any interested team would have had to have sufficient salary-cap space or a big enough cap exception to absorb Cook’s $3.1 million salary.

— Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com

Very possible Royce White never plays in NBA

Houston Rockets first-round pick Royce White would like to play for the team, but until Houston and the league come up with a protocol for treating mental health, White said his chances of never playing in the NBA are “very high.”

By the same token, White does not blame the Rockets for the mental health care impasse that has kept him from playing.

“The reality is that it is not Houston’s fault,” White said on SiriusXM’s “Off the Dribble” show. “As much as we always want to try and blame one side or the other … they’ve been thrown into a position now where they’re forced to make things up as they go because a protocol has not been put in place for mental health up until this point.”

White, the 16th overall pick in the June draft who played well in Summer League but has yet to play in a regular-season NBA game, has a well-known fear of flying, part of a larger anxiety disorder. He and the team have been working with experts to devise an appropriate treatment plan, likely to include some travel by bus or car instead of on the team plane. Repeatedly White has resisted the team’s directives to spend time with the Rockets’ D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

— Reported by Henry Abbott of ESPN.com

LeBron misses practice due to bruised knee

LeBron James sat out of Thursday’s practice to receive extensive treatment for his bruised right knee but hopes to play in Friday’s game against the Chicago Bulls.

It wasn’t initially clear whether James aggravated the slight knee injury during the Heat’s 119-109 overtime victory against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. But James has dealt with soreness in both knees for much of the season.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra didn’t reveal James’ latest injury during his session with reporters immediately after Thursday’s practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. But during the final stages of practice that were open to the media, James was seen riding a stationary bike.

— Reported by Michael Wallace of ESPN.com

Cavs assign forward Jon Leuer to D-League

The Cleveland Cavaliers toady re-assigned second-year forward Jon Leuer to the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers’ NBA Development League affiliate. The assignment is the record 90th of the 2012-13 NBA and NBA D-League seasons and the second for Leuer, who is one of a record 46 NBA players to be assigned to an NBA D-League affiliate this season.

Leuer (6-10, 228, Wisconsin) returns to the Charge following a six-game assignment earlier in the season, when he averaged 20.3 points, 12.3 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 35.8 minutes. He has appeared in five games for the Cavaliers this season, averaging 3.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 14.4 minutes. Originally selected in the second round (40th overall) of the 2011 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, Leuer played in 46 games for Milwaukee last season. In 51 career NBA games, Leuer has averaged 4.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 12.3 minutes.

A four-year contributor for the Badgers, Leuer averaged 11.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 123 career NCAA games (68 starts). As a senior, Leuer led Wisconsin with 18.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and was a First Team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches.

Leuer is expected to join the Charge today and be available tonight when they face the Springfield Armor in Massachusetts.

Mike James to audition for Dallas Mavericks

In an attempt to convince the Dallas Mavericks that he can help them, veteran point guard Mike James is joining the D-League’s Texas Legends in time for Saturday’s game against Tulsa, according to sources with knowledge of the deal.

After playing for 10 NBA teams, most recently last season with the Chicago Bulls, James has cleared the D-League waiver process to become eligible to sign with the Legends as a free agent.

James arrived in town Thursday with no guarantees from the Mavericks, sources said, but the 37-year-old has been lobbying them to let him audition for a roster spot by playing in a few games with the Legends to prove he can help stabilize their backcourt.

— Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com

Pacers re-assign Miles Plumlee and Orlando Johnson to D-League

The Indiana Pacers today re-assigned Miles Plumlee and Orlando Johnson to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Indiana’s NBA Development League affiliate. The assignments are the record 88th and 89th of the 2012-13 NBA and NBA D-League seasons, while Plumlee and Johnson are two of the 46 players who have been assigned to the NBA D-League this season.

Plumlee (6-11, 255, Duke) re-joins the Mad Ants following four previous assignments when he played in six games and averaged 14.7 points, 11.2 rebounds and 33.0 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.

Johnson (6-5, 220, UC-Santa Barbara) has appeared in three games for Indiana this season. In his previous two assignments with Fort Wayne, Johnson averaged 22.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals.

Selected in the second round (36th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings, Johnson was acquired by the Pacers via trade on June 28, 2012. In just three seasons at UC-Santa Barbara, Johnson became the Gauchos all-time leading scorer (1,825 points), and is the only player in school history to have scored 500 or more points in a season three times. His 674 points as a junior and 39 points in a game vs. Cal-Davis are also school records

Plumlee and Johnson are expected to be in available tonight when the team hosts Santa Cruz Warriors.

Fab Melo suffers concussion from running into a hotel door

Fab Melo was recalled from Maine of the Development League, but it was to get treatment for a concussion he received when he ran into a hotel door. Melo missed the Red Claws’ Dec. 31 win over Springfield and is questionable for Friday’s game with Erie.

Melo said he still feels concussion symptoms and is unsure when he can return.

“I still have a little headache sometimes. I can only focus on things for a certain time,” he said.

Melo, a first-round pick from Syracuse, has been making headlines, blocking 23 shots over a two-game period, including a league-record 14 Dec. 22 against Erie. In 12 games, the 7-footer is averaging 10.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks.

— Reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe

Chris Wilcox will not need surgery

Backup center Chris Wilcox is unsure when he will return from a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb and he will be reexamined next week. Wilcox has been wearing a brace on his hand since sustaining the injury Dec. 18 at Chicago.

He said doctors have informed him he will not need surgery.

“The doc told me I need to take some time off. I gotta let it heal; it’ll be a while,” he said. “Yesterday I got good news; they told me I didn’t have to have the surgery. Now I’m just trying to see what I’m comfortable with.”

Wilcox, who last season underwent surgery to repair an enlarged aorta, said he considers this injury a minor setback.

“It’s been tough for me,” he said. “But this is minor compared to what’s happened to me in the past. Anything other than that is nothing.”

— Reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe