NBA News Blog – Page 943 – NBA Blog

Landry Fields no longer has the couch Jeremy Lin slept on

Everything has changed for Landry Fields as he took his fledgling career across the border. He now wears his black Raptors jersey proudly, changing from “6” to his college No. 2.

Worse, Fields no longer even has the famous couch that former Knicks teammate Jeremy Lin slept on in his apartment the night before his initial bust-out game vs. the Nets on Feb. 4 that spawned Linsanity.

“It was a rental couch,’’ Fields said at the morning shootaround before facing the Knicks Friday night at the Bell Centre. “I had to give it back. I wonder if they even know (the history). It’s probably boxed up.’’

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post (Blog)

Wizards exercise contract options on J.Wall, T.Booker, K.Seraphin, J.Crawford, J.Vesely, C.Singleton

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has exercised the fourth-year contract options on John Wall, Trevor Booker, Kevin Seraphin and Jordan Crawford while picking up the third-year contract options on Jan Vesely and Chris Singleton. Wall, Booker, Seraphin, Crawford, Vesely and Singleton are now signed through the 2013-14 season. Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not released.

“We have been able to bring in and develop this core group of talented, mature young players over the last several years, and we’re pleased to have them all signed through next season,” said Grunfeld. “Combining them with the veterans we’ve added gives us a solid foundation that can be competitive now while allowing us to continue to build towards future success.”

Wall was selected first overall by Washington in the 2010 NBA Draft. Last season, the 6-4 guard appeared in all 66 games and averaged 16.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.4 steals in 36.2 minutes per contest. He became the sixth fastest player in NBA history (124 games) to reach the 2,000 points/1,000 assists plateau. In 135 career games, including 130 starts, Wall has averaged 16.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.6 steals in 37.0 minutes per contest.

Booker was selected 23rd overall by Minnesota in 2010 before his rights were traded by the Timberwolves to Washington on draft night. In 50 games (32 starts during the 2011-12 season) the Clemson alum averaged career-highs with 8.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.0 steal in 25.2 minutes per game. He averaged 10.6 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting .518 from the floor over his last 29 games of the season. In 115 career games, including 46 starts, Booker has averaged 6.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in 20.2 minutes per contest while shooting .539 from the field and .639 from the stripe.

Seraphin, originally drafted 17th overall by Chicago in 2010, was traded to Washington along with Kirk Hinrich and cash considerations in exchange for the rights to Vladimir Veremeenko. Last season the native of Cayenne, French Guiana, appeared in 57 games while averaging 7.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 20.6 minutes per contest. In 21 games as a starter, he averaged 14.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. In 115 career games, including 22 starts, Seraphin has averaged 5.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 15.7 minutes.

Crawford was selected 27th overall by New Jersey in 2010 before his draft rights were traded to Atlanta along with the draft rights to Tibor Pleiss in exchange for the rights to Damion James on June 24, 2010. He was then traded to Washington along with Mike Bibby, Maurice Evans and first-round draft pick in exchange for Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong. In 2011-12, the Xavier product appeared in 64 games (32 starts) and averaged career-highs with 14.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 27.4 minutes. In 106 career games, including 50 starts, Crawford has averaged 13.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 26.2 minutes.

Vesely was drafted sixth overall in 2011 by Washington. The Ostrava, Czech Republic native appeared in 57 games as a rookie, including 20 starts. He posted averages of 4.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per contest. The 6-11 forward shot .537 from the field and .532 from the line on the season, including 8.5 points and 7.0 rebounds over the last 15 games of the season.

Singleton was selected by Washington with the 18th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. The Florida State alum appeared in all 66 games, becoming the first Wizards rookie to appear in every contest since the 1981-82 season. He averaged 4.6 points and 3.5 rebounds in 21.7 minutes per game.

Dirk Nowitzki out 6 weeks after knee surgery

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that Dirk Nowitzki underwent arthroscopic surgery to his right knee. The surgery was performed at Texas Sports Medicine by team orthopedic surgeon T.O. Souryal. Nowitzki is expected to resume on-court activities within approximately 6 weeks.

Nowitzki has missed the last three preseason games with right knee effusion. His lone preseason appearance took place in Berlin on Oct. 6 when Nowitzki scored 8 points in 34 minutes of action.

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No hand surgery needed for Kevin Love

The Minnesota Timberwolves got a bit of good news Thursday when doctors told All-Star Kevin Love that he wouldn’t need surgery on his broken right hand.

The bad news is they still have to figure out a way to replace his 26 points and 13 rebounds a game for the next six to eight weeks.

Love said in a statement Thursday that he broke his right hand while doing knuckle push-ups the day before in a pre-practice workout. The injury means the Wolves will be without their two best players — point guard Ricky Rubio isn’t expected back until mid-December at the earliest because of a torn ACL in his left knee — for the first month of the regular season, and possibly longer.

“Although I’m disappointed that this injury happened, I will work extremely hard to stay in shape and return to the court as quickly as possible,” Love said.

The situation is similar to what Wolves coach Rick Adelman had to deal with in Houston, when he lost stars Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming for extended stretches.

“I was just shocked,” Adelman said when he was told of Love’s injury. “I couldn’t believe it. Here we’re trying to get ready and then we have something like this happen. I learned a long time ago. I’ve had so many injuries to good players, I’ve started to think maybe it’s me.”

— Reported by the Associated Press

Taj Gibson hopeful for Bulls extension

Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson said Thursday he remains optimistic a contract extension can be worked out before the Oct. 31 deadline for fourth-year players.

“I’m hopeful,” Gibson said. “I’m always hopeful. This is where I want to stay, this is where I hopefully want to retire one day. So we’ll have to wait and see.”

Gibson’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, told ESPNChicago.com on Thursday that talks are ongoing.

If a deal is not worked out by the deadline, Gibson would become a restricted free agent at the end of the season and be able to sign an offer sheet that the Bulls would have the option to match.

— Reported by Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago

Jordan Hill back in practice for Lakers

The Lakers’ reserves have been a disappointment so far in training camp, but the club got an encouraging boost when power forward Jordan Hill returned to practice.

Hill has a herniated disc in his back, though he said with core-strengthening work his situation shouldn’t prevent him from playing regular-season games. Hill took part in all but the contact portions of practice Thursday, and Brown was impressed by how Hill was able to run nearly full speed in one drill.

Brown said Hill will do more work today and be re-evaluated then. Hill projects to be the backup power forward, playing with either Howard or Gasol in the paint. Power forward is one of the more important positions in Brown’s new offense, so he said Hill needs practice work “to learn specific routes and reads.”

— Reported by Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register

Dwight Howard may play Sunday for Lakers

Exactly when Dwight Howard will debut with the Los Angeles Lakers is still a matter of debate within the organization, but Howard is eyeing Sunday evening’s game at Staples Center, according to a Lakers source.

The source explained to ESPNLosAngeles.com late Thursday night that Howard has told teammates and friends that he’s hoping to take the court in the Lakers’ exhibition game against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.

Yahoo! Sports reported late Thursday night that the Lakers have targeted Sunday for Howard’s debut and are hoping he’ll play in two of their final three exhibition games after Friday, barring any setbacks.

— Reported by Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles

Kyrie Irving likes posting up other point guards

In fact, Irving keeps telling Scott and reporters he wants to play inside more and post up other point guards. He did it, at times, last season with varying degrees of success but wants to do it more often this season.

It’s part of the reason he added a little muscle in the offseason. It wasn’t much — he says it was about five pounds — but it will give him a little more meat to withstand the punishment of a full season. It also gives him a few more pounds to bump around inside when necessary.

“I feel like I added another piece to my game,” Irving said. “Just adding that [weight] and being able to withstand a whole entire game without getting knocked down. Players are more physical in the NBA and I wanted to be more prepared this season.”

— Reported by Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal

Hall of Fame guard Slater Martin dies

Slater Martin, the Hall of Fame guard who won four NBA titles with the Minneapolis Lakers and one with the St. Louis Hawks, died Thursday. He was 86.

Martin died Thursday at a skilled nursing facility in Houston after a sudden illness, daughter-in-law Becky Martin said. She said he was admitted to the nursing home Monday.

Martin was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. He went into the University of Texas’ Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1962, entered the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1964, and the school retired his No. 15 in 2009.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Kevin Love releases statement on his injury

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love was examined today by hand specialist Dr. Andy Weiland of the Hospital of Special Surgery in New York for further evaluation of the fracture of the third and fourth metacarpal in his right hand. The evaluation revealed that surgery will not be required on his hand and confirmed that his expected return will be in 6-8 weeks.

The following is a statement from Wolves Kevin Love regarding his injury:

“Yesterday, I had a post-practice commitment and decided to work out at my home with my personal trainer before heading to Target Center. While doing various pushups, including knuckle pushups, which are part of my regular workout routine, I hurt my hand. I immediately knew something was wrong and called head athletic trainer Gregg Farnam.

“Although I’m disappointed that this injury happened, I will work extremely hard to stay in shape and return to the court as quickly as possible. We have added a lot of depth to our roster this season, and I have complete confidence in my teammates and coaching staff that they will step up and we will be successful during this time. I’m looking forward to supporting our team and helping out any way I can until I get back on the court.”