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The Indiana Pacers announced Sunday they have waived forward Sam Young, the fourth-year player out of Pitt, was signed as a free agent by the Pacers in September. He played in 28 games and averaged 3.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
Additionally, the Pacers announced Sunday they have recalled rookie center Miles Plumlee from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA D-League.
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The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has waived forward Lazar Hayward.
Hayward signed with the Timberwolves as a free agent on Dec. 31. The 6-6 forward appeared in two games for Minnesota and totaled 2 points, 2 assists and 1 rebound in 12 minutes.
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The Houston Rockets suspended first-round pick Royce White for ”refusing to provide services” required by his contract on Sunday.
General manager Daryl Morey said Sunday that the team will continue to work with White in hopes of finding a resolution.
White will not be paid during his suspension.
White refused his assignment to Houston’s D-League affiliate a week ago. The 16th overall pick in the June draft has spent most of the season on Houston’s inactive list while he and the team figure out how to handle his anxiety disorder and overall mental health.
White has been vocal on Twitter throughout this saga, and he continued to voice his opinions on the Web site after the announcement Sunday.
— Reported by the Associated Press
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The Cleveland Cavaliers have waived forward Samardo Samuels, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts. The Cavaliers roster now stands at 14.
Samuels played in 18 games (one start) this season for the Cavs, averaging 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per game. He was signed by the Cavs as a free agent prior to the 2010-11 season and has appeared in 109 games (11 starts) during his career, averaging 5.9 points and 3.4 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per game.
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Australian NBA star Andrew Bogut is confident he will overcome a serious ankle injury to play for the Golden State Warriors again this season.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob and the team’s coach Mark Jackson have refused to put a timeline on Bogut’s return to the court, raising the prospect that his season could be over.
However, the 28-year-old former No.1 draft pick was clear about his prospects despite missing the past 28 games.
“I’ll definitely play this season,” Bogut said on Saturday. “I think I’ll be ready to play this season. It’s just a matter of when.”
— Reported by AAP via The Age
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Amar’e Stoudemire went with the reliable “taken out of context” defense regarding his comments that indicated he was never taught defense before Mike Woodson was promoted to Knicks head coach.
The remarks appeared to be a thinly veiled shot at Mike D’Antoni, his former coach in Phoenix and New York. On Friday, D’Antoni called Stoudemire’s comments “mind-boggling.”
“It wasn’t meant to be as exaggerated as it was,” Stoudemire said on Saturday. “For the simple fact: Woodson is a defensive coach. He’s known to be a defensive coach. So his strategies he’s teaching me now is different from what I learned before. He puts a lot of emphasis on the defensive end — more than I ever had before.
“It wasn’t a knock on any of my previous coaches. I had great success with Coach D’Antoni. He had to be doing something right because we won many games. It was more a compliment to Coach Woodson.’’
— Reported by Frank Isola of the New York Daily News
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Raymond Felton is relieved that he didn’t need surgery on his right hand and believes he can return in late January, the week after the Knicks return from London.
Felton said if he had required surgery to repair the fracture in his right pinkie that he suffered Dec. 25 against the Lakers, he would have missed eight to 12 weeks because “they would have had to put in pins and screws.” No surgery made it four to six weeks. Felton is shooting for closer to four.
“Once my bone heals, it’s probably up to my comfort,” he said. “Hopefully the bone will heal before we leave for London.”
The Knicks are scheduled to fly to London Jan. 14. He’s targeting Boston on Jan. 24 or Philadelphia on Jan. 26.
— Reported by Al Iannazzone of New York Newsday
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The Chicago Bulls announced today the team has signed free agent guard Daequan Cook.
Cook (6-5, 210) is currently in his sixth year in the NBA. Drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 21st pick in the 2007 NBA Draft (his draft rights were traded by the 76ers along with their 2009 second-round draft pick and cash considerations to the Miami Heat for the draft rights to Jason Smith), Cook has played for the Heat, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets.
In five-plus seasons in the NBA, he has played in 295 regular season games (49 starts) and averaged 6.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg and 0.8 apg in 19.4 mpg, and shot .374 from the field, .365 from behind the arc and .814 from the line. The 25-year old Cook has also made three trips (40 games) to the NBA playoffs, where he has averaged 3.4 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 11.6 mpg, .363 field goal shooting, .330 from downtown and .750 from the free throw line. In 2009, Cook won the Foot Locker Three-point Shootout at NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix.
Chicago’s roster now stands at 14 players.
NBA legend Allen Iverson wants a new judge in his divorce case — claiming the current judge unethically does legal favors for campaign contributors, and he’s afraid she will screw him just like she did Usher’s estranged wife.
Iverson filed a motion for the judge to recuse herself last month, claiming she has accepted campaign donations from his estranged wife’s attorney — and has a track record of making biased decisions for contributors.
As for the Usher connection — the lawyer who repped the singer in his child custody showdown with Tameka Raymond is also repping Iverson’s ex.
— Reported by TMZ.com
With his team eight games under .500 for the first time since his first few months as the Dallas Mavericks’ owner, Mark Cuban is firing away at one of his favorite targets: NBA officials.
“Im sorry NBA fans. Ive tried for 13 yrs to fix the officiating in this league and I have failed miserably. Any Suggestions ? I need help,” Cuban tweeted after the Mavs’ 99-96 overtime loss Saturday night to the New Orleans Hornets, the team with the worst record in the Western Conference.
After Vince Carter’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the rim and to the hardwood, Cuban marched to midcourt and engaged in an animated discussion with referee Bill Kennedy.
Via email, Cuban declined to specify why he was upset with the officiating after the Mavs’ eighth loss in nine games or otherwise elaborate on the incident.
However, prior to the game, Cuban complained about the officiating late in regulation of the Mavs’ overtime loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday, a game he watched from his vacation home in the Cayman Islands.
— Reported by Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas