Here’s a look at 6-3, 207-pound Washington Wizards rookie guard Bradley Beal, who the team selected in the 2012 NBA Draft.
Category: NBA Teams
NBA teams blog
Nets owner takes jab at Knicks owner
Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov referred to his new cross-town counterpart James Dolan of the Knicks as “that little man” in New York Magazine.
In the article describing the Nets marketing plan and approach to their brand accompanying a move from New Jersey to Brooklyn for the 2012 season, the focus is on whether the Nets can consistently fill the Barclays Center and establish Brooklyn as a glimmering borough of basketball hope.
The article reads: “Prokhorov told me back in December that he plans on attending a quarter of the regular-season games and ‘all the playoff ones.’ He also made sure that I heard him call Dolan ‘that little man.'”
— Reported by The Sports Xchange
Jason Terry hopes his Dallas Mavericks jersey will be retired
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For Jason Terry, winning an NBA title was the ultimate as far as personal team achievements are concerned. But what could happen next would be sheer euphoria.
“The bow was winning the championship, but the icing on the cake will be putting that jersey up in the rafters,’’ Terry told the Star-Telegram on Monday. “If it happens, I’ll be grateful.’’
Terry was referring to the possibility of having his Dallas Maverick No. 31 jersey retired in the American Airlines Center rafters.
— Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Blog)
Houston Rockets sign Carlos Delfino
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Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed guard/forward Carlos Delfino. The unrestricted free agent recently competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, averaging 15.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists with Argentina.
Delfino (6-6, 230, Argentina) has played in seven NBA seasons, averaging 7.7 points (.362, 520-1435 3FG), 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 440 career games (165 starts) with Detroit, Toronto and Milwaukee. His most productive years have come the past three seasons with the Bucks, where he has averaged 10.6 points, 4.5 boards, 2.5 assists and 1.32 steals in 30.4 minutes per outing over 178 games (159 starts). Delfino also connected on a career-best 134 3-pointers in 2009-10 and averaged 2.1 3-point field goals per game in 2010-11, which ranked fifth in the league.
Drafted by the Pistons with the 25th overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, Delfino spent three seasons with Detroit before joining the Raptors in a trade. He was acquired by Milwaukee along with Roko Ukic from Toronto in exchange for Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems on Aug. 18, 2009. In addition to the NBA, Delfino has played a key role on Argentina’s gold-medal-winning teams at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece and at the 2011 FIBA Americas Tournament. Delfino began his career internationally with Reggio Calabria (2000-02) and Skipper Bologna (2002-04). He also averaged 13.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 10 games with Khimki Moscow in the Russian Superleague in 2008-09.
Andrew Bogut expects to be ready for Warriors opener
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Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut fully expects to be in the lineup for the season opener Oct. 31 at Phoenix after undergoing surgery this spring on his troublesome ankle.
How much he plays during the exhibition schedule, he’s still not sure. Bogut believes he will be nearly full strength by the start of training camp Oct. 3, but might still be limited during the preseason as a precaution.
“I definitely want to be ready for training camp. I think it will be close,” Bogut said Sunday before heading to a Monday morning workout in Australia.
“The immediate goal with all of this is to make sure I’m ready for the first game. Whether that means playing only half the preseason games, it’s just about being smart with my ankle. There’s no point in trying to get ready for Oct. 1 when an extra week could significantly help. It’s just a matter of monitoring it very smartly and not doing anything stupid.”
— Reported by the Associated Press
Sixers have plenty of expiring contracts over next two years
There will be a grand total of nine Sixers whose contracts will expire within the next two years.
Five of those contracts — Bynum, Jrue Holiday, Nick Young, Dorell Wright and Royal Ivey — are up at the end of next season. Four more — Evan Turner, Spencer Hawes, Kwame Brown and Lavoy Allen — expire at the end of the 2013-14 season. For reference, Brown’s is technically for one season with a player option for a second, though his agent has called it a two-year deal.
Starting with the five due to end next summer, the Sixers could very well walk into free agency with roughly $30 million off their books. Of course, should they re-sign Bynum, his max-deal will take up about two-thirds of that space. Then there’s Holiday, to whom the team can extend a qualifying offer for one more year, but Holiday is reportedly seeking a max-contract instead. Go figure.
— Reported by Nick Menta of CSN Philly
Kevin Durant goes from gold medal to red carpet
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Kevin Durant is going from representing the red, white and blue to walking the red carpet.
Adding to a resume that already includes being a three-time NBA scoring champion and Olympic gold medalist, Durant was the star as his movie ”Thunderstruck” premiered in Oklahoma City’s Bricktown entertainment district Sunday night. It opens in other theaters Friday.
Durant strolled down a red carpet in a black T-shirt, grey vest, white jeans and black sneakers to answer questions about his acting skills instead of the deadly shooting ability that propelled the Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA Finals last season.
”Of course, people are going to look at it a little different because I’m a basketball player and I’m doing something different,” Durant said. ”A basketball player is what I do. It’s not really just solely who I am. I like to do other things.
”It’s all about conquering your fears. That’s one thing I did with this, stepping in front of a camera and people yelling ‘Action!’ It’s not the norm for me. I did something outside the box, and I’m glad it turned out pretty well.”
— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press
Brandon Jennings seeks contract extension from Bucks
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Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings is hoping to have a contract extension in his pocket by the time the regular season opens on Nov. 2 in Boston.
Jennings is entering his fourth NBA season and is in line for an extension that could keep him with Milwaukee for four additional seasons.
But the 23-year-old had more than his contract on his mind during an interview Sunday morning at Homestead High School. Jennings was on hand to supervise a group of 200 youngsters on the second day of the Brandon Jennings Basketball ProCamp.
“It would be something I’d love to get done with and over with so I don’t have to worry about it,” Jennings said of the contract extension. “But the main thing is just to come into training camp a better player, a better leader … just lead the team to the playoffs.”
— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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New Orleans Hornets sign coach Monty Williams to contract extension
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The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have signed head coach Monty Williams to a new multi-year contract extension. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, it’s a four-year deal that will keep Williams with the team through 2016.
“We are proud to announce that Monty Williams will be the head coach of the New Orleans Hornets for years to come,” said Hornets Owner Tom Benson. “We could not be any happier to have someone of Monty’s quality – both professionally and personally – involved in the resurgence of this franchise.”
“The Hornets have a promising future and an exciting young nucleus,” said Hornets Executive Vice President Mickey Loomis. “It is our opinion that Monty is the perfect coach to develop and lead this group of talent going forward.”
“I would like to thank Mr. Benson, his family, Mickey and Dell for putting their trust in me and showing me their commitment,” said Williams. “The love and support the city and its fans have shown me and my family in the time we have been here has been incredible and I look forward to continuing to work to make the city and the Benson family proud of the Hornets.”
Williams, hired by the Hornets on June 7, 2010 as the ninth coach in franchise history, is entering his third season at the helm with a career record of 67-81 (.453), including his debut season with the club in 2010-11 where he led New Orleans to a 46-36 record and earned the team a playoff appearance. Williams placed seventh in Coach of the Year voting after that season and was named the NBA’s Western Conference Coach of the Month for January 2011. Last season, Williams’ squad improved its win total each month and finished the 2011-12 campaign with a 6-1 stretch at the New Orleans Arena.
A native of Fredericksburg, Va., Williams came to the Hornets after five seasons as the assistant coach under Nate McMillan of the Portland Trail Blazers, including serving as the head coach for the Blazers summer league team in the NBA Summer League in both 2007 and 2008. Prior to his time in Portland, Williams spent one season as a coaching intern under Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs in 2004-05, helping the Spurs capture the NBA Championship. He was also the head coach for the Spurs summer league entry team in the 2005 Rocky Mountain Revue.
Williams played in the NBA for 10 seasons before chronic knee problems forced him into retirement in 2003. Selected by the New York Knicks in the first round (24th pick overall) of the 1994 NBA Draft out of Notre Dame, Williams played for the Knicks, Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers. His best season was with the Spurs in 1996-97, when he averaged 9.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 65 games. For his career, Williams averaged 6.3 points in 456 games. Williams was an honorable mention All-American at Notre Dame after averaging 22.4 points and 8.4 rebounds during his senior season.
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JaVale McGee learns from Hakeem Olajuwon
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And so, the Nuggets center is spending some of his summer at the home of Hakeem, which for McGee is, pun intended, a dream.
“It’s definitely an honor to be working with him,” McGee said.
McGee has spent a couple of weeks on Olajuwon’s ranch near Houston, where Denver teammate Kenneth Faried is expected to work out as well this month.
Olajuwon has become sort of a hoops whisperer, teaching his intricate moves to some of the NBA’s best bigs, including Dwight Howard and Amar’e Stoudemire.
“No question, I see him as another star,” Olajuwon said to the Fox affiliate in Houston about McGee. “That guy should dominate the league.
— Reported by Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post