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The AP reports:
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Former NBA All-Star Allen Iverson has scored 15 points in his debut for Besiktas Cola Turka but failed to carry his team to victory against Hemofarm Stada.
Hemofarm Stada defeated Besiktas 94-91 in a European Cup game on Tuesday in Istanbul. Turkish fans shouted “Allen Iverson, the son of Besiktas Cola Turka” during the match.
The AP reports:
Former NBA All-Star Allen Iverson’s debut with Turkish basketball league team Besiktas has been postponed.
Team manager Murat Murtezaoglu told The Associated Press the 11-time NBA All-Star “did not feel ready” to play Friday and instead watched from the stands as his new team beat Oyak Renault 87-81.
Murtezaoglu said he expects Iverson to make his debut at Besiktas’ European Cup home game against Hemofarm Stada on Tuesday.
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The Denver Nuggets have exercised the third-year option on point guard Ty Lawson for 2011-12, team Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri announced today.
Lawson established himself as one of the NBA’s top rookies in 2009-10, averaging 8.3 points and 3.1 assists in 65 games while serving as the primary backup to veteran Chauncey Billups. He was one of only five rookies to average at least 20 minutes for a playoff team.
Acquired from Minnesota in a draft-night trade on June 25, 2009, Lawson also flourished in eight starts in place of the injured Billups. He averaged 17.0 points, 5.9 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.13 steals in those games.
Lawson, 25, is averaging 13.0 points and 5.3 assists in six preseason games.
The Nuggets open the 2010-11 regular season at home Wednesday against Utah.
The Denver Nuggets waived C Eric Boateng on Wednesday, bringing their training-camp roster to 14 players.
Boateng, an undrafted free agent, averaged 1.6 points and 4.2 rebounds in five preseason games. He had two points, 10 rebounds and two assists against the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 17.
The Nuggets (4-2) conclude their preseason schedule with back-to-back road games Thursday at Portland and Friday at Phoenix.
The Nuggets announced Thursday that they have hired Pete D’Alessandro as an advisor to executive vice president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri.
D’Alessandro, an attorney, brings more than four years of NBA experience to Denver after serving as assistant general manager and director of basketball operations for the Golden State Warriors from 2004-08.
While with Golden State, D’Alessandro was involved in all player-related basketball matters, including player contracts, salary-cap analysis, and Collective Bargaining Agreement rules and regulations.
Prior to joining the Warriors, he spent seven years as a business manager and representative for a number of NBA players.
D’Alessandro attended St. John’s University, where he worked for four years as video coordinator under Hall of Fame basketball coach and mentor Lou Carnesecca. He later earned his law degree at Nova Southeastern University in Florida.
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The Denver Nuggets reduced their training-camp roster to 15 players Monday by waiving forwards Shane Edwards and Courtney Sims.
Edwards played in one preseason game, going 0-for-2 from the field and blocking one shot in two minutes. Sims did not appear in a game.
The Nuggets continue their preseason schedule Tuesday at Minnesota.
The Denver Nuggets announced Monday that they have added Melvin Hunt as an assistant coach.
Hunt, 40, brings a winning pedigree and 11 years of NBA coaching and scouting experience to Denver, most recently serving as an assistant for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005-10.
“That’s a very good hire this late in the season,” Nuggets head coach George Karl said. “I’m very excited about it. I’ve got John Welch, Adrian Dantley and Chad Iske, who I have tremendous confidence in. Melvin will fit into that group very well. We have Stacey Augmon backing us up. We’re one of the top-five scouting teams, led by advance scout Jesse Mermuys. You’re going to see us continue to try to be one of the best staffs in basketball.”
While in Cleveland, Hunt helped lead the Cavaliers to one of the most successful stretches in franchise history. In 2008-09, the Cavs won a franchise and NBA-best 66 games, while Hunt and the coaching staff earned the honor of coaching the Eastern Conference in the 2009 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix.
Cleveland also enjoyed great postseason success during Hunt’s tenure, reaching the 2007 NBA Finals, the 2009 Eastern Conference finals and four consecutive appearances in the Eastern Conference semifinals from 2007-10.
Before joining the Cavaliers staff, Hunt spent one season (2004-05) as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers and five seasons with the Houston Rockets (1999-2004). While with the Rockets, he served two years as a video coordinator/scout and two years as an assistant coach before spending his final year as the team’s college and international scout.
Hunt was a four-year letterman at Baylor University from 1987-91 and played professionally in the Caribbean and Mexico before beginning his coaching as an assistant coach at Temple High School (TX). He later moved to the college ranks, where he was the lead assistant coach at University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio.
Kate Fagan of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports:
The 76ers have contacted the Denver Nuggets about a potential trade for star forward Carmelo Anthony, multiple NBA sources confirmed on Sunday.
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The centerpiece of the Sixers’ offer is swingman Andre Iguodala, although other players, including expiring contracts and young talent, would be needed to convince the Nuggets to part with their franchise player.
Anthony has only one season left on his contract and has made it clear he does not intend to re-sign with Denver, the team he joined as a rookie in 2003.
The Nuggets have offered Anthony a three-year, $65 million extension; the offer is still on the table. Iguodala agreed to a six-year, $80 million deal before the 2008-09 season; he has four years and approximately $55 million remaining on his deal.
Fred Kerber of the New York Post reports:
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The Nets may come out of all this discussing and proposing without Carmelo Anthony, but it won’t be from a lack of trying.
The Nets have been in steady discussions with the Nuggets and other teams, attempting to piece together a deal that would bring the 26-year-old All-Star to New Jersey through a sign and trade. The Nets have explored a straight Nuggets-Nets deal and have sought to bring in other teams, if necessary, to get it done.
Sources around the league insist the Nets have been persistent in their pursuit which has provided a roller coaster of optimism and say the Nets believe they have made progress. But as one rival executive stressed, “Denver has a new [management] team in place, and they are going to check, recheck and then delay any deal, especially anything involving their best player.”
Jonathan Abrams and Howard Beck of the New York Times report:
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The Denver Nuggets are lending an open ear to N.B.A. suitors clamoring for Carmelo Anthony, a potentially distressing development for the Knicks in their efforts to land the three-time All-Star.
In preliminary conversations, the Nuggets have told the Knicks that they do not possess the assets they are seeking if they decide to trade Anthony, according to a Knicks official. The official did not want to be identified because he was describing private conversations between the teams.
For the moment, the Knicks are left hoping that Anthony remains in Denver through this season, which would allow his contract to expire. If that happens, the Knicks could then pursue him in free agency with cap room that will be created by the departure of Eddy Curry.
