The Globe and Mail reports: Toronto Raptors president Bryan Colangelo was probably on the phone, too, but he only had one call to make above all others: to offer Raptors point guard Jose Calderon the best deal he can afford and hope it’s enough to convince the emerging Spanish star that his future is in Toronto.
Category: NBA Teams
NBA teams blog
Rockets want Brent Barry
The Houston Chronicle reports: The Rockets began free agent recruiting period with an 11 p.m. call to Spurs guard Brent Barry, but the team could have already hit a snag in its hopes to bring back forward Carl Landry. The Rockets called Barry as quickly as NBA rules allow in an effort to land the free agent that got away during the season when Barry was released by the Seattle SuperSonics but chose to return to the San Antonio Spurs.
InsideHoops.com says: Barry is 94 years old.
LeBron loves Brooklyn
New York Newsday (Ken Berger) reports: “My favorite cities are New York; Washington, D.C.; Dallas, Texas; Los Angeles, California, and Akron, Ohio,” LeBron James said, pausing only before offering his hometown of Akron, which was suggested by me. “What’s your favorite borough?” LBJ was asked. “My favorite borough?” he said, without a hint of hesitation. “Brooklyn.”
Baron Davis opts out
The Contra Costa Times reports: What promised to be a tumultuous offseason for the Warriors was kicked into overdrive Monday when point guard Baron Davis left $17.8 million on the table and opted out of the final year of his contract, becoming an unrestricted free agent and throwing Golden State’s immediate plans into confusion. Davis has maintained for months that he wants to remain a Warrior, and according to one team source was telling teammates last week that he would not opt out, but with mere hours to spare the man most responsible for breaking Golden State’s 12-season playoff drought reversed course dramatically.
Rockets pick up Steve Novak option
Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has picked up the option on the contract for forward Steve Novak. Per team policy, financial terms were not released.
InsideHoops.com says: Novak is likeable, very tall, and able to hit open outside jumpers. That’s about it.
Brand and Maggette both opt out
The Los Angeles Daily News reports: In a surprise move Monday afternoon, Clippers forward Elton Brand opted out of the final year of his four-year, $16.4-million contract. Brand announced his decision to the Daily News. Brand will be an unrestricted free agent as of 9 p.m. Monday night and will join teammate Corey Maggette, who also opted out of the final year of his contract Monday.
Wizards sign Antawn Jamison to contract extension
Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed forward Antawn Jamison to a contract extension. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released.
“Signing Antawn to a contract extension was a top priority for us this summer,” said Grunfeld. “He has been a leader for us both on and off the court over the last four seasons, and we’re proud to reward his efforts by bringing him back.”
Jamison led the Wizards in scoring (21.4 ppg) and rebounding (a career-high 10.2 rpg) last season to earn his second career All-Star appearance. He was one of only five players in the NBA to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds and posted a career-high 44 double-doubles.
The 6-9 forward has averaged 20.4 points and 8.9 rebounds in 299 career games with the Wizards. Jamison has been a captain and led the Wizards to the playoffs in each of his four seasons with the club. In 2006, Jamison represented the United States at the FIBA World Championships in Japan. He was originally acquired by the Wizards (along with cash considerations) from Dallas in exchange for Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner and the draft rights to Devin Harris on June 24, 2004.
Pistons summer league team roster
The Detroit Pistons announced today their roster for the NBA Summer League presented by EA Sports in Las Vegas, NV. The Pistons will play five games versus L.A. Lakers, L.A. Clippers, Milwaukee, Dallas and Charlotte from July 11 through July 18. All games will be played at the Thomas & Mack Center or Cox Pavilion located on the campus of UNLV.
InsideHoops.com will have full summer league info and coverage. Our initial info update comes tonight or Tuesday.
Following is the Pistons Summer League Roster:
NO PLAYER POS HT WT COLLEGE/COUNTRY BIRTHDATE NBA EXP.
6 Alex Acker G 6-5 185 Pepperdine 1/21/83 1 year
28 Arron Afflalo G 6-5 215 UCLA 10/15/85 1 year
23 Derrick Allen F 6-8 238 Mississippi 7/17/80 R
7 Will Bynum G 6-0 185 Georgia Tech 1/4/83 1 year
34 Ryvon Coville F 6-9 250 Detroit 3/1/84 R
20 Kentrell Gransberry F/C 6-9 270 South Florida 8/1/85 R
25 Amir Johnson F 6-9 210 Westchester HS (L.A.) 5/1/87 3 years
44 Trent Plaisted F 6-11 245 BYU 10/20/86 R
35 Cheikh Samb C 7-1 195 Senegal 10/22/84 1 year
14 Walter Sharpe F 6-9 245 Alabama-Birmingham 7/16/86 R
12 Marcus Stout G 6-4 195 Fordham 6/20/86 R
3 Rodney Stuckey G 6-5 205 Eastern Washington 4/21/86 1 year
8 Deron Washington G/F 6-7 210 Virginia Tech 12/12/85 R
Sixers want to swipe Josh Smith
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Sekou Smith) blogs the following report: “Josh Smith is being targeted by Philadelphia with their $11 million-plus in available cap space. I know there is a small segment of people out there that think the Sixers might be using all this hype as a smokescreen and really be interested in making a sneak attack for Corey Maggette or even Elton Brand (if he does indeed opt out of his deal, we’ll know later today if he does or not). But Smith is the guy. And if the offer to Smith is frontloaded (think of the structure of the Hawks’ offer to Joe Johnson three years ago), things will get really complicated. The worst part is the Hawks had a 6-7, 235-pound cautionary tale on the roster in Johnson the last three years and still ignored it so they could dip their toes into the shark-infested waters this summer. It’s crazy.”
Chris Douglas-Roberts got bad draft advice
The Detroit News (Chris McCosky) reports: “Chris Douglas-Roberts was never an option for the Pistons, and the fact that he fell to No. 40 in the draft was like a reality check from the basketball gods. The Pistons were the first team to call him. Even before official workouts began, the Pistons asked Douglas-Roberts, a kid from Detroit, if he wanted to begin his workouts with them. He refused. They asked him again the Monday of draft week if he wanted to conclude his workouts with the Pistons. He refused again. Douglas-Roberts got some bad advice. He thought he would be picked a lot higher than No. 29. Instead, by refusing to work out for the last 10 teams in the draft, he cost himself first-round guaranteed money.”