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Orlando Magic forward Glen Davis has been fined $35,000 for making an obscene gesture, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
The incident occurred with 7:49 remaining in the second quarter of the Magic’s 117-101 win over the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre on March 26.
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[Orlando Magic forward Ryan] Anderson has flourished to the point where he’s a candidate for the NBA’s Most Improved Player of the Year award.
“It’s an honor to even be in the talks and involved with those names,” he said. “I’m not really focused on that as a whole. It’s a cool thing. I’m just truly blessed to play consistently.”
Anderson shared the power-forward spot with Brandon Bass late last season after veteran Rashard Lewis was traded to the Washington Wizards for Gilbert Arenas.
This season, he took advantage of an opportunity when Orlando dealt Bass to the Boston Celtics, winning the job even after the Magic brought in Davis.
Anderson has started all 48 games, averaging 15.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game compared to 10.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in 68 games (14 starts) last season.
— Reported by Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel
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Once a beloved star in the NBA, free agent guard Gilbert Arenas has a new chance to prove to the basketball masses that he can help a team win.
The Memphis Grizzlies signed Arenas today, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced. According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, “Arenas, who was in Memphis the past two days, passed a physical and signed a one-year contract for the veteran’s minimum. Memphis will pay him a prorated salary worth about $300,000.”
A three-time All-Star (2004-07), Arenas holds career averages of 21.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.63 steals on .421 shooting in 35.8 minutes in 535 career games (455 starts) over 10 seasons (2001-11) with the Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards and Orlando Magic. Selected by Golden State in the second round (30th overall) of the 2001 NBA Draft, Arenas’ career scoring average ranks ninth among active players (34th in NBA history).
During his time with the Wizards, the Los Angeles native developed into one of the league’s most dynamic guards, averaging 27.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists over a three-year stretch (2004-07) in which he was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 2007 and the All-NBA Third Team in 2005 and 2006. The 2002-03 NBA Most Improved Player ranked third in the league in points per game during the 2006-07 season (28.4), fourth in 2005-06 (29.3) and seventh in 2004-05 (25.5).
Most recently, the 30-year-old former University of Arizona standout split the 2010-11 season with Washington and Orlando, averaging 10.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 25.7 minutes in 70 games (16 starts).
The Grizzlies’ roster currently stands at 14 players. Memphis begins a four-game West Coast road trip tonight at 9 p.m. CT against the Sacramento Kings at the Power Balance Pavilion.
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Dwight Howard has told several teammates, as well as members of the Orlando Magic organization, that he will not opt out of his contract at the end of this season, sources close to the situation said.
That would mean Howard would remain under contract in Orlando through the 2012-2013 season.
Howard has not signed a waiver of his early termination option at this point, which means nothing is guaranteed yet. Both Howard and his representation must sign the documentation.
This latest development comes one day after league sources with knowledge of the situation said Howard’s public plea late Tuesday to remain in Orlando for the rest of the season only served to anger the Magic and has pushed them closer than ever to trading their superstar center.
Convinced that Howard, on the advice of his agent, is trying to manipulate the situation, the Magic are telling teams they will trade Howard before Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline if he does not commit to them beyond this season, league sources said.
— Reported by Chris Broussard of ESPN the Magazine
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The Orlando Magic would like to seriously engage the Bulls in trade talks for Dwight Howard, but the All-Star center’s apparent reluctance to make a long-term commitment to Chicago has all but killed the discussions, league sources told CBSSports.com.
The feeling among rival executives remains that the Magic seem intent on rolling the dice and keeping Howard for the rest of the season, hoping a long playoff run, emotional ties to Orlando and an extra year and $29 million they could offer would persuade him to stay beyond this season. But the move would be highly risky, given that Howard has refused to publicly commit to the Magic — a stance that sources view as a strong sign that he’d leave as a free agent if he isn’t traded.
“He’s telling everyone he’s leaving,” one league source said Sunday.
Magic executives are said to be unimpressed with the assets Howard’s three preferred teams could provide in a trade, prompting them to engage in a calculated campaign to expand the field of potential suitors beyond the Nets, Mavericks and Lakers. But the team that can make the strongest case for Orlando to depart from its risky strategy of holding onto Howard are the Bulls, who could offer 7-footer Omer Asik, Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer for Howard and Hedo Turkoglu, sources said. The Bulls also could offer a valuable first-round pick from Charlotte — top-14 protected in this year’s draft but but unprotected by 2016.
— Reported by Ken Berger of CBS Sports
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If Dwight Howard is in town, that means questions about where he will be playing after the March 15 trade deadline are too.
“It definitely is getting old,” Derrick Rose said of being asked about the center before the Bulls lost to the Magic 99-94 Thursday night at United Center. “I’m sick and tired of hearing it. Chicago, marketing-wise is a great city. If someone chooses to come here, they definitely could.
“But I’m cool with the teammates I have. We have a winning record. It ain’t like we need to change anything. It’s not up to me. It’s up to the front office.”
There are zero indications Howard will add the Bulls to his list of teams with which he would sign an extension or that the Bulls are pursuing him.
“If it’s not about the Bulls, I really couldn’t care less about it,” Rose said.
— Reported by K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune
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Dwight Howard had 29 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Orlando Magic to a 99-94 win over the Bulls on Thursday, snapping Chicago’s eight-game winning streak.
Chicago twice overcame double-digit deficits and led 91-89 with 2:56 to play after Derrick Rose passed to Carlos Boozer for a jumper.
Orlando responded with an 8-1 run started by Jameer Nelson’s lob to Howard for a dunk. Ryan Anderson hit a 3 and a pair of free throws in the game-deciding rally.
The Magic bounced back from a 100-84 loss at Charlotte, beating the league-best Bulls two nights after losing to the last-place Bobcats.
Boozer led the Bulls with 26 points. Rose added 17 points and nine assists, but shot just 6 for 22 from the field.
Jason Richardson scored 18 points and hit four 3-pointers for the Magic. Orlando hit 11 3-pointers.
— Reported by the Associated Press
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Remember Fran Vazquez?
The Magic haven’t forgotten the forgotten man of their 2005 draft.
Smith said Vazquez’ contractual situation will allow him to come over to the states and maybe finally attempt to make the Magic’s roster.
“That’s the plan,” Smith said of the Spanish power forward.
Vazquez is playing for FCB Regal in Spain. Smith said Assistant General Manager Dave Twardzik and scout Sam Foggin have seen and spoke with Vazquez.
The Magic still own the NBA rights to Vazquez. The club drafted Vazquez with the 11th pick, but he decided to remain in Spain.
— Reported by Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Magic Chief Executive Officer Alex Martins said the franchise will bid to host the 2016 NBA All-Star Game at Amway Center if, as expected, city and county government officials support bringing the exhibition back to Central Florida for the second time in four years.
NBA Commissioner David Stern said during the recently completed All-Star weekend that Orlando is “a perfect city to host an All-Star Game with all things good, from the hotels to the golf courses to the spectacular Amway Center.”
Stern added: “We look forward to coming back, but I can’t say when.”
The league solicits bids for All-Star Games in two-year increments. The 2013 game already has been awarded to Houston, and the host city for the 2014 game will announced 12 to 18 months before the 2014 game is played.
In the next few months, the league will ask franchises to make bids to host the All-Star Game in either 2015 or 2016.
— Reported by Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel
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Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins apparently is not going to trade Dwight Howard until every last effort is exhausted to convince him to stay in Orlando.
Martins said on our radio show Thursday that he still believes the Magic can convince Howard that Orlando is the best place for him to win a championship.
“We have a couple of weeks until the trade deadline, which is a critical point on the calendar to determine how we can move forward together,” Martins said of the ongoing Dwight saga. “Our conversations with Dwight continue, and I feel good about the conversations we’ve had. … I’ve said all along our reason for not trading Dwight at the beginning of the season is that time would be on our side one way or another. Time would be on our side in the fact that we could work with Dwight to address his needs and ultimately convince him to stay. Or time would work on our side in that if Dwight made the decision that he didn’t want to stay, we would have more time to talk to other teams about what trade possibilities exist.”
— Reported by Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel (Blog)
