NBA News Blog – Page 960 – NBA Blog

Mavericks re-up services of team doctor

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have extended the contract of long time Dallas Mavericks team physician, Dr. T.O. Souryal.

Souryal, in his 20th season with the Mavericks, signed a five-year extension with the team. He also serves as the medical director at Texas Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Group and was recently named by US News and World Report as one of the top 1% of all orthopaedic surgeons in the country.

“I am grateful to Mark Cuban and the entire Mavericks organization for giving me this opportunity to work with such an elite organization,” Souryal said. “The cutting edge technology that we use with the Mavericks players is a benefit to all my patients.”

Orlando Magic add Armon Johnson and DeQuan Jones to training camp roster

The Orlando Magic will hold their 2012 training camp at the Amway Center in Orlando, beginning Tuesday, October 2.

In addition, the Magic have signed free agents Armon Johnson (#1, 6-3, 195, 2/23/89, Nevada) and DeQuan Jones (#20, 6-8, 221, 6/20/90, Miami-FL). The roster currently stands at 19 players.

The Magic will also hold an open practice at Amway Center, which will be free to the public, on Monday, October 29. Doors will open to the general public at 6:30 p.m., with the practice beginning at 7 p.m.

Rasheed Wallace will join the Knicks

Rasheed Wallace will officially become a Knick on Monday.

Wallace has told the Knicks he has elected to come out of retirement and join their training camp, according to an NBA source.

The 6-foot-11 Wallace, who worked out with the Knicks over the weekend, retired two years ago after a disappointing season with the Celtics. The Knicks are expected to announce the signing Monday at Media Day. The first practices begin Tuesday.

The tempestuous Wallace, 38, will become the fifth Knick over the age of 35, joining Jason Kidd, Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas and Pablo Prigioni.

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

John Wall out 8 weeks due to stress injury to left patella

Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that guard John Wall will miss approximately eight weeks after being diagnosed with the early stages of a stress injury to his left patella. No surgery will be necessary, and his rehab will begin immediately.

“My teammates and I are all excited to build on the improvement we made at the end of last season, and I know they will continue to make great progress while I get through this setback,” said Wall. “I will work extremely hard to make sure I get back as soon as possible so I can re-join them and help our team continue to improve.”

Wall was examined yesterday in New York by orthopedic specialist Dr. David Altchek after experiencing discomfort in his left knee and underwent an MRI that revealed the early stages of a non-traumatic stress injury.

“We’re all disappointed for John after how hard he worked this summer and how excited he was to begin training camp, but we feel fortunate that we caught the injury early and that he will be able to return with the vast majority of the season still in front of us,” said Grunfeld. “In the meantime, we’re confident that the versatility and depth of our team will help us move forward and continue the positive momentum that we’ve seen over the past several months.”

The Wizards begin training camp on Oct. 2 at George Mason University and open the season on Oct. 30 at Cleveland.

ESPN might hire Isiah Thomas as TV analyst

Isiah Thomas , who had an undistinguished run as an NBA in-game analyst with NBC — and as a Knicks’ exec was successfully sued for sexual harassment — is a candidate for a studio position with ESPN.

Kelly Tripucka, a Pistons’ teammate of Thomas’s and a reasonable, credible MSG/Knicks’ studio man and backup in-game analyst the last four seasons, apparently won’t be re-hired. Figures.

— Reported by Phil Mushnick of the New York Post

Lakers sign center Ronnie Aguilar

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed center Ronnie Aguilar, it was announced today. We assume this is just a training camp signing.

Aguilar, a 7-1, 250 pound center, played two seasons at Colorado State University before transferring to California State University, Dominguez Hills. Most recently, Aguilar played in six games for the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League during the 2011-12 season, averaging 2.2 points and 4.2 rebounds in 11.5 minutes.

Jordan Hill avoids jail time for assault charge

Lakers backup power forward Jordan Hill avoided jail time and was sentenced to one year of probation Thursday after pleading no contest to assaulting his former girlfriend in February.

Hill, 25, agreed to pay a $500 fine, undergo domestic-violence counseling, make a $100 donation to the Harris County Violence Fund and avoid any contact with the alleged victim, Darlene Luna. The assault charge was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor before 339th District Criminal Judge Maria Jackson, according to a report by the Associated Press in Houston.

On Twitter on Thursday, Hill wrote: “Man I can’t wait for training camp to start…need to get dis show rolling boy!!!!”

Hill is charged with assaulting Luna on Feb. 29 at his apartment in Houston while the former first-round draft pick was playing for the Rockets.

— Reported by Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register

Tina Charles wins 2012 WNBA MVP award

Connecticut Sun center Tina Charles has been named the 2012 WNBA Most Valuable Player, the WNBA announced today. Charles received 345 points (25 first place votes) from a national panel of 41 sportswriters and broadcasters.

Los Angeles Sparks’ forward Candace Parker finished second with 253 points (seven first-place votes) and Indiana Fever forward Tamika Catchings finished third with 210 points (seven). A pair of Minnesota Lynx players, forward Maya Moore and guard Seimone Augustus, finished fourth and fifth with 128 points and 42 points, respectively.

In her third season, all with the Sun, Charles captured her first Most Valuable Player award after finishing second in 2011 (six first-place votes), and seventh in 2010 when she was named the league’s Rookie of the Year.

Charles, who earned All-WNBA First Team acclaim in 2011 and Second Team honors in 2010, finished the 2012 campaign with her third consecutive WNBA rebounding title (10.5 rpg). She also set a new Connecticut Sun single-season scoring record, averaging 18 points. In the process, Charles guided the Sun to the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 25-9 record, the league’s second best mark behind the defending champion Lynx (27-7).

A prolific scorer and rebounder, Charles ranked atop the WNBA in double-doubles for the third straight season, sharing the 2012 lead with the Sparks’ Parker. Charles previously set the league record in the category with 22 in her rookie campaign and topped that effort with 23 a year ago. In the process, Charles has dominated the rebounding leaderboard, finishing tops among WNBA players in each of her three seasons. She grabbed a WNBA record 398 rebounds in her first season, 374 in 2011, and 345 this season.

In the Sun’s win over Indiana on Sept. 19 – Charles’ 100th game – she became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 1,100 rebounds, surpassing the mark of Yolanda Griffith who reached the milestone in 104 games. Earlier this season she eclipsed the milestones previously owned by Griffith as the fastest to reach 900 and 1,000 boards. She also became the first player in WNBA history to post three 20-20 games in a career, registering her third such effort on June 6 at Atlanta, when she had 23 points and 22 rebounds.

For the year, Charles shot a career-best .499 percent from the field (250-of-501) and a career-best .802 from the free throw line (93-of-116). In addition to leading Connecticut in scoring and total rebounds, she paced Connecticut in defensive rebounds (6.7 drpg), offensive rebounds (3.7 orpg), blocks (1.42 bpg), and minutes (33.2 mpg).

Charles is the first Sun player and the second University of Connecticut product to earn the WNBA’s top honor. The Phoenix Mercury’s Diana Taurasi, also from UConn, earned both the league’s MVP and WNBA Finals MVP awards in 2009.

Players were awarded 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five for third, three for fourth and one for each fifth-place vote received. Additionally, for the second time in league history, fans were able to vote online and via mobile devices. The fan vote, counted as one vote and was compiled with the 41 media votes to determine the winner.

In honor of being named the WNBA Most Valuable Player, Charles will receive $15,000 and a specially-designed trophy.

Hawks add James Anderson, Keith Benson, Damion James, Carldell Johnson, Anthony Tolliver to training camp

The Atlanta Hawks today announced their 2012 training camp roster, which tips off Monday with Media Day activities at 2:45 p.m. on the Philips Arena practice court. With the additions of James Anderson, Keith Benson, Damion James, Carldell “Squeaky” Johnson and Anthony Tolliver, the team currently has an 18-man camp roster.

A former first round draft pick by San Antonio (20th overall in 2010), Anderson played in 77 games (four starts) over two seasons with the Spurs, averaging 3.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per game (.380 FG%, .757 FT%). Benson and James are both former Hawks draft picks, with Benson being taken in the second round (48th overall) of the 2011 NBA Draft prior to being waived on Dec. 23, 2011, and James in the first round (24th overall) in 2010 before his rights were traded to New Jersey on draft night. Benson saw action in three games with Golden State last season, while James has played in 32 career games (16 starts) with the Nets, averaging 4.5 points and 3.7 rebounds in 17.9 minutes per game (.428 FG%, .650 FT%).

In 15 games for New Orleans last year, Johnson put up 1.8 points and 1.5 assists in 7.9 minutes per game (.314 FG%, .333 FT%). A four-year NBA veteran, Tolliver played the last two seasons with Minnesota after previously seeing action with San Antonio, Portland and Golden State. He owns career averages of 6.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 21.5 minutes per game (.420 FG%, .320 3FG%, .770 FT%) in 181 career contests (33 starts).

Miami Heat add Rodney Carney and Robert Dozier to training camp

The Miami HEAT announced today that they have signed forwards Rodney Carney and Robert Dozier to their training camp roster.

Carney has appeared in 299 career NBA games (48 starts) with four different teams and averaged 5.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 15.4 minutes while shooting 42.2 percent from the field, 33.8 percent from three-point range and 70.4 percent from the foul line. Additionally, he has appeared in six career NBA postseason games, all with Philadelphia, averaging 5.0 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.17 steals in 14.0 minutes of action.

Carney, the 16th overall selection of the 2006 NBA Draft, played two seasons (2006-07 & 2007-08) with Philadelphia before playing with Minnesota during the 2008-09 season. He then re-joined the 76ers for the 2009-10 season before splitting 2011-12 between Memphis and Golden State. Last season, Carney appeared in 31 games for the Liaoning Jiebao Hunters of the Chinese Basketball Association and averaged 21.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.16 blocks, 1.13 steals, 1.0 assists and 31.4 minutes while shooting 44.2 percent from the field, 32.7 percent from three-point range and 80 percent from the foul line.

Dozier, originally drafted by Miami in the second round (60th overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft, appeared in three games (all starts) with the 2012 HEAT Summer League team totaling 11 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block in 54:35 minutes of action. He spent last season with Cholet Basket of the France ProA League appearing in 22 games and averaged 9.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 23.5 minutes while shooting 56.1 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three-point range and 72.1 percent from the foul line.

Dozier spent the 2010-11 season with PAOK Thessaloniki of the Greece A1 League and the 2009-10 season with VAP Kolossos of the Greece A1 League. Prior to that, he played four seasons at the University of Memphis appearing in 148 career games (111 starts) and averaged 9.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.54 blocks, 1.1 assists and 25.0 minutes. He became just the seventh player in school history to record at least 1,000 points and 900 rebounds. Among Memphis leaders, he finished third in games played, fifth in blocks (228), sixth in rebounds (961) and 13th in points (1,381).

The HEAT’s roster now stands at 20.