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The New Jersey Nets have requested waivers on forward Shawne Williams, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.
Williams was acquired on January 11 via trade from Dallas along with Kris Humphris in exchange for Eduardo Najera. Currently in his fourth NBA season, Williams has career averages of 5.2 ppg and 2.4 rpg in 126 games with Indiana and Dallas. The former first round draft pick (17th overall) of the Pacers in 2006 has not played in a game this season.
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The New Jersey Nets have acquired forwards Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams from the from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Eduardo Najera, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.
Humphries, currently in his sixth NBA season, holds career averages of 4.3 ppg and 3.1 rpg in 313 games with Utah, Toronto and Dallas. The 6’9” forward out of the University of Minnesota was the first round pick (14th overall) of the Utah Jazz in the 2004 NBA Draft. After two seasons with the Jazz, Humphries was traded on 6/8/06 to the Toronto Raptors. Following three seasons in Toronto, Humphries was traded to Dallas this past offseason (7/9/09). This season, Humphries has played in 25 games for the Mavericks, averaging 5.6 ppg and 3.8 rpg in 12.6 mpg. He has season highs of 15 points on 11/20 vs. Sacramento and 11 rebounds on 11/27 at Indiana.
Williams, currently in his fourth NBA season has career averages of 7.6 ppg and 3.7 rpg in 15 games with Indiana and Dallas. The former first round draft pick (17th overall) of the Pacers in 2006 has been on the Mavericks inactive list every game this season.
Najera (6-8, 235) will be returning to Dallas after playing his first four professional seasons for the Mavericks. Dallas originally acquired the rights to Najera in a draft night trade with Houston on June 28, 2000. He played in 208 games (34 starts) as a Maverick averaging 4.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per contest. Najera also played in 39 postseason games with Dallas, including 19 games (5 starts) in 2003 when the Mavericks advanced to the Western Conference Finals.
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The New Jersey Nets have requested waivers on forward Sean Williams, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.
Williams, who was selected by the Nets in the first round (17th overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft, averaged 4.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 1.2 bpg in 126 career games. This season, Williams appeared in 20 games for New Jersey with averages of 2.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg and 1.0 bpg.
A terrific athlete with big hops, Williams is still developing his actual basketball skills.
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Several media outlets Friday night reported that the New Jersey Nets and Dallas Mavericks are close to agreeing on a trade that will send forward Eduardo Najera back to Dallas, and forward/center Kris Humphiries and forward Shawne Williams to New Jersey.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo and Marc Stein of ESPN are reporting that the deal, if it happens, will likely becoming official Monday.
Wojnarowski also reports something that InsideHoops.com has heard was in consideration for a long time now: The Nets are expected to waive forward Sean Williams.
Najera started his NBA career with the Mavericks in 2000-01, playing in Dallas for four years before bouncing around until he landed with the Nets in 2008. But he was injured last season and very ineffective in the 13 games he’s played this season.
Humphries averages 5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 12.6 minutes per game.
Williams is an outcast from Dallas. The team separated itself from the player and has not used him at all this season.
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The New Jersey Nets are winning about as often as I stretch my arms to the sky and, like Superman, fly up into the clouds. Which really isn’t too often.
You’d think that on a young team that barely snatches a victory, the team’s top rookie would have a shot at major minutes, at least as a prime backup.
But lately, Terrence Williams mostly sits on the bench, chillin.
Fred Kerber of the New York Post reports:
In his first 25 games, Williams averaged 24.4 minutes. He dropped to 10.3 minutes in his last eight games (attempting just 19 shots in 82 minutes). True, two other young guys, Courtney Lee and Chris Douglas-Roberts, eat up much of the minutes at two and three. And the return of Yi Jianlian has eliminated many of the small lineups that brought Williams time.
And Williams really hasn’t overwhelmed with his play when given the chance. But on the Nets, who has?
“He’s a rookie. And as a rookie he’s got to learn. We’ve got a lot of young players and it’s about finding minutes for everybody,” said interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe, who will tweak his rotation tonight by using earlier substitutions. “Right now, it’s his time to learn.”
It’s probably just temporary. And could change any day or week. But for now, T-Will does plenty of watching.
Howard Beck and Jonathan Abrams of the New York Times report:
There are indications that the N.B.A. is now considering new gambling restrictions for players. One team has already acted. On Wednesday, the Nets informed players that gambling was no longer permitted on team flights.
“We did,” Rod Thorn, the Nets’ president, said Thursday in a telephone interview in which he confirmed that the team had instituted a ban. “I think after this incident with the Wizards that we just decided that we would not have any on our planes. We’ve never had a problem with it. But obviously, you can see what can happen.”
Thorn, who was formerly the chief of discipline for the N.B.A., said he was not aware of any other teams instituting a prohibition on gambling. He declined to speculate on whether Commissioner David Stern would act. However, a number of team executives, agents and others with ties to the league said they believed the matter was under serious consideration…
Playing cards, dominoes and dice to pass the time on team flights is an entrenched part of N.B.A. culture. Players sometimes bet with $100 bills, and the stakes can quickly reach into the thousands, which can lead to bruised egos and hard feelings.
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The New Jersey Nets have acquired guard Chris Quinn from the Miami Heat along with the Heat’s second round draft pick in 2012 and cash considerations in exchange for the Nets’ 2010 second round draft pick (protected 31-50), Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.
In a separate transaction, the Nets have requested waivers on guard Rafer Alston.
According to ESPN.com, “the Nets used a trade exception to take on Quinn’s $1 million contract and complete the trade. Two league sources told ESPN.com’s Chris Sheridan that Alston agreed to give back nearly $1 million of his $5.25 million salary to gain his freedom from the Nets.”
“There has never been a better person that has played for the Miami Heat than Chris Quinn,” said Heat President Pat Riley. “He is one of the hardest working, most dedicated people that we’ve ever experienced. We want to wish Chris nothing but the very best as he moves on in his career.”
Quinn, currently in his fourth NBA season out of Notre Dame, holds career averages 5.6 ppg and 2.2 apg in 168 games. He has been inactive for each of the Heat’s games during the 2009-10 season.
Alston, who was originally acquired via trade on June 25, 2009 from Orlando, has played in 27 games (13 starts) for the Nets this season, with averages of 9.7 ppg, 3.9 apg and 2.8 rpg. Currently in his 11th NBA season, Alston holds career averages of 10.3 ppg, 4.8 apg, and 2.8 rpg in 646 games.
NBA players are celebrities. The league is seen by much of the world. Everybody knows who the stars are. With 30 teams and at most 15 players on a roster, only 450 human beings on the planet can claim to be NBA players at any given time.
The select few dozen stars are household names.
And, these guys need to protest themselves.
Dave D’Alessandro of the Newark Star-Ledger reports:
Harris estimates that “Seventy-five percent” of the players own weapons. He personally said he doesn’t have one, because, as he put it, “I have a pit bull.”
If Harris was referring to the human variety of pit bull (a bodyguard), who may in turn carry his own weapon, he didn’t say.
While the NBA wants its players to get over its obsession with firearms, most gun-owning players feel justified in carrying them because they are very tall and wealthy targets.
Sometimes, through no fault of their own whatsoever, violence finds them just because of what they drive.
Life can be complicated when random strangers passing by you all know who you are, but you don’t know them.
Jonathan Lehman of the New York Post reports:
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In the span of 30 minutes Wednesday night, forward Yi Jianlian might have played his way into the starting lineup. At 2-27, the moribund Nets have little to lose — except their ninth straight game.
Yi showed little rust in his return from a seven-week absence because of knee and lip injuries, scoring 22 points in the 103-99 home loss to the (almost) equally woeful Timberwolves. He hit 4 of 6 from 3-point range and 7 of 12 shots overall, giving the Nets — who shoot a league-worst 41.6 percent and 27.9 on threes — a sorely needed perimeter threat.
“He stretches the floor for us,” point guard Devin Harris said. “He came out ready to play and it shows how hard he’s been working. His stroke we’ll definitely need for the rest of the season.”
Fred Kerber of the New York Post reports:
All the tortures of a season of misery returned for the Nets. There was the mandatory lousy shooting (.378), a requisite injury as Chris Douglas-Roberts sprained his right ankle with 4:47 left, and the near-obligatory loss, though one far easier to accept with the effort but a loss all the same, the Nets’ seventh straight.
“We have to try to find a way to bring it every night. It’s as simple as that. For whatever reason, we aren’t,” said Douglas-Roberts, (20 points), who went for X-rays (negative) and was able to walk afterwards, which he found encouraging. “We don’t have the luxury to turn it on and off.”
Especially against the likes of the Lakers, who got a big night from Kobe Bryant, celebrating his waiting-to-be-signed extension with 29 points, 10 rebounds and five assists amid chants of “MVP” from a storm-thwarted announced crowd of 17,190. Pau Gasol (whose own three-year deal should be done before Bryant’s) had a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double.