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Detroit Pistons sign Ben Wallace

Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the club has signed free agent center Ben Wallace. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to announce Ben Wallace’s return to the Pistons organization,” said Dumars. “Ben played an integral part in the success of the franchise from 2001-2006 and we feel there is a role for him on our team this season. His size and experience will provide depth in the front court while his work ethic and commitment to winning will help our club throughout the year.”

Wallace, 34, has NBA career averages of 6.2 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 30.9 minutes in 903 games (785 starts) with Washington, Orlando, Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland. The 13-year veteran played in Detroit from 2000 to 2006 where he was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year and an NBA All-Star four times. Wallace was an All-NBA Second Team selection three times (2003, 2004, 2006), All-NBA Third Team selection twice (2002 and 2005) and an NBA All-Defensive First Team selection five times (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006). The Pistons made the playoffs in five of the six years he was in Detroit, winning Eastern Conference Championships in 2004 and 2005 and the NBA Championship in 2004. Wallace is the franchise’s all-time leader in regular-season and playoff blocks (1,297 and 215, respectively) and ranks first among all-time playoff leaders in rebounds (1,237). He holds franchise single-game records for blocks in a game (10 – twice), defensive rebounds in a quarter (10) and blocks in a quarter (6). During the 2006-07 season, he became just the fifth player in NBA history to record 100 blocks and 100 steals for seven consecutive seasons joining Hakeem Olajuwon (12 times), Julius Erving (seven times), Sam Lacey (seven times) and David Robinson (seven times). Wallace ranks fifth among active players in career blocks with 1,948 and led the NBA in blocks during the 2001-02 season (3.48 bpg).

Originally acquired by the Pistons along with Chucky Atkins in exchange for Grant Hill as part of a sign-and-trade deal with Orlando (8/3/00), Wallace signed with Chicago as a free agent on July 13, 2006. He was traded by Chicago to Cleveland as part of a three-team trade on February 21, 2008.

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Cavaliers sign Leon Powe

The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed free agent forward Leon Powe to a contract, Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry announced today. Per team and league policy, terms of the contract were not released. It may be a two year deal for the league minimum. We’ll post more info on that later today.

Powe, 25, played in 70 games (seven starts) this past season for the Boston Celtics and averaged 7.7 points on .524 shooting and a career-best 4.9 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per game. In his seven starts, he averaged 14.3 points on .576 shooting, 8.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 25.9 minutes per game. The 6-foot-8 forward recorded career highs in scoring (30), blocks (5) and assists (3) and added 11 rebounds in 41 minutes versus Memphis on March 13th. He scored in double figures on 25 occasions and notched five double-doubles during the season. He experienced a torn ACL and meniscus in his left knee during Game 2 against the Chicago Bulls in the First Round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs and missed the remainder of the playoffs. In 189 games (14 starts) during his three seasons in Boston, he has career averages of 6.6 points on .523 shooting and 4.2 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game.

“Leon is a high quality player and person. His tough, gritty play has already contributed in big playoff games during his young career,” Ferry said. “As he continues to work rehabilitating his injury, we would look to hopefully see him return towards the end of the season.”

The California native played 23 of his 25 career postseason games during the Celtics’ run to the 2008 NBA Championship. He averaged 5.0 points on .493 shooting and 2.7 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per game in the 2008 postseason, including a 21-point performance against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.InsideHoops.com editor says: Assuming he’s healthy, Powe is a fantastic addition to any bench in the league.

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Did Ben Wallace relatives encourage him to chase the money?

The Arlington Heights Daily Herald (Mike McGraw) reports (via blog): Ben Wallace agreed to rejoin the Pistons this week, returning three years after signing the $60 million free-agent deal with the Bulls. This would have been Wallace’s final season with that contract, but he agreed to a buyout with Phoenix. I doubt if Wallace ever wanted to leave Detroit in the first place, but he was encouraged by relatives to take the bigger payday. Once he got here, I think Wallace tried his best, but he was clearly uncomfortable in the spotlight. Then he just couldn’t keep up the pace of being a high-energy, undersized center and his body broke down. Wallace doesn’t figure to spend much time on the court this season. Will his mentoring help turn Charlie Villanueva and Chris Wilcox into all-stars? I doubt the Bulls should be worried.

Ira Newble to play in Greece

NBA free agent guard/forward Ira Newble will reportedly head overseas for the 2009-10 season.

According to a video posted on YouTube by Los Angeles-based reporter Elie Seckbach, Newble is signing with Aris BC in Greece.

Newble’s last NBA action was in the 2007-08 season, when he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Seattle SuperSonics and Los Angeles Lakers.

Over the course of his NBA career, the 6-7, 220-pound player averaged 5.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

AUGUST 10 UPDATE: Eurobasket.com is also reporting this news.

LeBron James unlikely to accept contract extension

The AP reports: LeBron James is unlikely to accept a contract extension from the Cleveland Cavaliers until after the 2009-10 season, when he can become a free agent… “I signed a contract in 2006 with an option,” he said. “It would make no sense for me to sign that contract if I didn’t keep my options open. I’ll let you fill in the blanks.”

InsideHoops.com editor says: This is entirely unsurprising. Most other players would be advised to sign the extension. But LeBron is doing the right thing for himself. I still think he’s going to wind up staying with the Cavs, unless he and some other top 2010 free agent agree to play together on the Knicks or some other team.

NBA fines Cavs, Rockets, Wolves for leaking schedule info

The 2009-10 regular season NBA schedule comes out Tuesday, but it’s already having an impact on a few teams. The AP reports:

The NBA has fined three teams an undisclosed amount for leaking details of their schedules before the league released them. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves were penalized, an official with knowledge of the decisions told The Associated Press on Monday.

It would be interesting to find out how the league knew exactly which teams revealed the info. I’ll update this blog entry with more on that if it comes out.

Dallas Mavericks sign Drew Gooden

The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have signed forward/center Drew Gooden. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. We’ll post contract details later today.

Gooden (6-10, 230) has seen action in 510 games with 396 starts. He holds career averages of 12.0 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 28.1 minutes per game while shooting .471 from the field and .732 from the foul line. Gooden played the final 19 games of last season with the San Antonio Spurs. He averaged 9.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in just 16.8 minutes per contest.

The seven-year veteran was originally selected in the first round (fourth overall pick) of the 2002 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies and has seen action with six different teams (Memphis, Orlando, Cleveland, Chicago, Sacramento and San Antonio). Statistically, Gooden saw his best season in 2004-05 when we nearly averaged a double-double for Cleveland generating 14.4 points and 9.2 rebounds while playing in all 82 games (80 starts).

A native of Oakland, Calif., Gooden is a former standout at the University of Kansas where he was named Big 12 Player of the Year and First Team All-America by The Associated Press as a junior. In just three seasons at KU, Gooden was only the second player in school history (Danny Manning) to record 1,500 points, 900 rebounds, 100 blocks and 100 steals.

“We are very pleased to add Drew to our front line for the upcoming season,” President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Donnie Nelson said. “Drew is a veteran player with NBA Finals experience that is entering the prime of his career at 27 years old. He will provide valuable minutes at both the center and power forward positions with his tenacity in the paint, rebounding and ability to knock down shots.”

Cleveland Cavaliers waive Tarence Kinsey

The Cleveland Cavaliers have waived guard Tarence Kinsey, the team announced today.

Kinsey originally signed with the team as a free agent on August 1st, 2008. He played in 50 games (three starts) during the 2008-09 season with averages of 2.0 points and 0.8 rebounds in 5.5 minutes per game. In his three starts, Kinsey averaged 7.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 1.0 steal in 25.6 minutes per game. During the 2009 NBA Playoffs, he saw action in nine games and averaged 0.4 points in 1.2 minutes per game.

As a member of the Cavaliers 2009 NBA Summer League team playing in Las Vegas, Kinsey played in five games (all starts) averaging 12.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 24.2 minutes per game.

Shaq guest host on WWE wrestling show Monday Night Raw

NBA star Shaquille O’Neal is a guest host tonight on the famous WWE wrestling show “Monday Night Raw,” which is nationally televised. This week’s edition takes place in Washington D.C.

It began with wrestling legend Jerry Lawler introducing Shaq to fans, mistakenly calling him “a 15-time NBA MVP.”

Then, current wrestling star Chris Jericho came out, insulting Shaq, saying that he heard a top NBA superstar was coming out and naturally assumed it was Kobe Bryant, not Shaq.

Jericho’s friend (and tag team partner) “The Big Show” was introduced and stood face to face with Shaq. Big Show is about 7 feet tall and listed at 485 pounds. In all my years I’ve never seen Shaq as the smaller dude. (Yao Ming is taller than Shaq, but Shaq’s still the bigger dude.)

Big Show called Shaq a toothpick. Shaq called him “Fat Boy” in return.

Naturally, Shaq didn’t exchange blows with anyone. He’s just there to guest-host and stay healthy for the 2009-10 NBA season as a new member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

About 40 minutes into the show, Hornswoggle, a “little person” Irish wrestling character dressed like a tiny leprechaun came into a room Shaq was in backstage. Shaq joked that they went to high school together, then invited Hornswoggle to dunk on a lowered basket. “Come on, Nate Robinson” said Shaq, encouraging the little fellow.

The show began at 9 p.m. ET on USA network.

Video of Jordan Crawford dunk on LeBron James

By now you’ve all heard about LeBron James being dunked on in a meaningless, light scrimmage by college basketball player Jordan Crawford, of Xavier.

Today, TMZ posted a video clip, but it’s so fuzzy that I get nothing out of it. This clear video clip of what went down is much better. Press the play button:

Nice dunk. But it’s no big deal. Athletic college players can occasionally dunk on or near great NBA players in light scrimmages when given the opportunity.

There was no reason to for Nike to cover this video up.

Fun to finally see, though. Even if the actual event is nothing.

Maybe this was all a big marketing ploy by Nike to get lots of press for themselves. If so, it worked. This is the first time I’m mentioning them in a blog entry in months.

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