Category: NBA Teams

NBA teams blog

In EuroLeague, Brandon Davies signs contract extension with FC Barcelona

Here’s Eurocupbasketball.com reporting on a former NBA player:

FC Barcelona and center Brandon Davies reached an agreement to extend his contract through the end of the 2021-22 season, the club announced Wednesday. Davies (2.08 meters, 28 years old) was already under contract for one more season and this deal will keep him at the club for an additional year. He averaged 9.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 28 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague games last season, his first in Barcelona.

Davies, listed at 6-foot-10, 240 pounds, played briefly in the NBA between 2013-15, mostly for the Sixers, plus seven games with the Nets, for an NBA career average of 3.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game.

Detroit Pistons hire David Mincberg as assistant GM

The Detroit Pistons have named David Mincberg as assistant general manager.

Mincberg comes to Detroit from Milwaukee where he spent three seasons with the Bucks, including this past season as Vice President of Basketball Strategy. Prior to joining the Bucks, Mincberg spent five seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies where he started as Team Counsel before becoming the Grizzlies’ Director of Scouting.

A native of Washington, D.C., Mincberg holds an undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

In G League news, Tori Miller named General Manager of College Park Skyhawks

The Atlanta Hawks and their NBA G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks, today announced multiple promotions and a hire within the Basketball Operations group, including the promotion of Tori Miller to General Manager of the Skyhawks. Miller’s promotion establishes her as the first woman to hold the title of General Manager in the history of the NBA G League. Former Skyhawks General Manager Derek Pierce will continue to oversee Atlanta’s scouting department in his role as Vice President of Player Personnel for the Hawks.

In addition to Miller’s announcement, Atlanta has promoted Dwight Lutz to Senior Director of Basketball Strategy and Analytics, Zac Walsh to Director of Team Operations and Max Horowitz to Senior Data Scientist. The Hawks also announced the hiring of Justin Howe as Assistant Athletic Trainer/Physical Therapist.

Miller, who was named Assistant General Manager of the Skyhawks on July 30, 2019, began her tenure with the organization as Manager of Basketball Operations three seasons ago with the Erie BayHawks. A native of Decatur, GA, Miller is a University of Miami graduate and spent time as a Basketball Operations Intern for the Phoenix Suns prior to her time in the G League.

Lutz finished his second season as Atlanta’s Director of Basketball Strategy and Analytics in 2019-20. He joined the Hawks following an 18-month stint as a Basketball Operations Analyst for the Minnesota Timberwolves and a four-year stay with the NBA where he served as Senior Manager of Game Analytics and Strategy. Lutz played four years of basketball while earning a degree in Mathematics from Trinity University before receiving a graduate degree in statistics from the University of Florida.

Walsh has been with the Hawks since 2002, holding the successive titles of Basketball Operations Intern, Equipment Manager, and Travel and Equipment Manager prior to earning a promotion to Director of Team Operations. The Atlanta native received the David “D.H.” Nordstrom Equipment Manager of the Year award in 2014 from the National Basketball Athletic Equipment Managers Association. Walsh earned a Business Management degree from Georgia Tech.

Horowitz served as a Data Scientist for the Hawks during the two most recent seasons prior to earning a promotion to Senior Data Scientist. The New York City native attended Carnegie Mellon University where he graduated with a degree in Economics and Statistics. He joined the Hawks after working first as a Specialist and then as a Basketball Strategy Senior Analyst for the NBA from June 2016 until October 2018.

Howe joins the Hawks in a full-time capacity after working with the Hawks’ Athletic Performance and Sports Medicine team in a part-time role in 2019-20. He attended Sheridan College and earned an undergraduate degree in Athletic Therapy before receiving a graduate degree in Sports Medicine and a doctorate degree in Physical Therapy from Georgia State University.

In Nuggets news, team names Calvin Booth as General Manager

The Denver Nuggets have named Calvin Booth the team’s new General Manager, President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.

“Calvin is one of the brightest basketball minds in our league,” said Connelly. “We are very fortunate to have him as part of our organization and are extremely excited for his new role.”

Booth, 44, is in his third season with the Nuggets after being hired as Assistant General Manager in the summer of 2017. Since arriving in Denver, Booth has played an integral part in the scouting and drafting of Monte Morris, Michael Porter Jr., Bol Bol and Vlatko Cancar. The Nuggets saw improved records in each of Booth’s first two seasons, including a trip to the Western Conference Semi-Finals last season.

Prior to arriving in Denver, Booth spent four seasons (2013 – 2017) in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ front office, initially as a scout before rising through the ranks to Director of Player Personnel. Booth also served as a scout for the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2012-13 season before transitioning to Minnesota.

Before beginning his front office career, Booth played for seven different teams over a 10-year career in the NBA. He appeared in 366 games (83 starts), averaging 3.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.00 blocks per game. The Reynoldsburg, OH native was drafted by the Washington Wizards in the second round (35th overall) of the 1999 NBA Draft after playing four years at Penn State University where he was named Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year in 1998.

Wizards guard Bradley Beal will miss NBA restart at Disney in Orlando

Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal will not participate in the NBA’s 2019-20 season restart in Orlando due to a right rotator cuff injury.

The decision was made in full consultation with Wizards Chief of Athlete Care & Performance Daniel Medina, Wizards Orthopedist Dr. Wiemi Douoguih, Beal and his representation.

“Bradley did everything possible to be ready to play, but after closely monitoring his individual workouts we came to the conclusion that it was best for him to sit out the upcoming games in Orlando and avoid the risk of further injury,” said Wizards General Manager Tommy Sheppard. “Although he was able to play through the majority of the season with the injury, the layoff from March until now did not leave any of us feeling comfortable that he would have enough time to be ready to perform at the extremely high level we are all accustomed to seeing and agreed that not participating in the games in Orlando was the right decision.”

Per the Washington Post: “General Manager Tommy Sheppard said in an online news conference Tuesday that he does not think surgery is an option for Beal. Sheppard believes the guard initially injured himself during a game in Phoenix in November but was adamant that the injury won’t be a long-term problem. Sheppard was confident that on a normal offseason timeline Beal would have been ready to play, but having to be game-ready after such a long hiatus amid the novel coronavirus pandemic and then a short period of preparation posed issues.”

Beal experienced discomfort with his shoulder early in the season and worked with the team’s medical and performance staff to manage the injury. The symptoms worsened over the course of the hiatus and he began to rehabilitate the injury with the intent of returning to play. He will not travel with the team to Orlando and will continue his rehabilitation process over the summer.

“This was a difficult decision and one that I did not take lightly as the leader of this team,” said Beal. “I wanted to help my teammates compete for a playoff spot in Orlando, but also understand that this will be best for all of us in the long term. I appreciate the support of my teammates, the fans and the entire organization and look forward to returning next season to continue the progress we have made.”

At the postponement of the season on March 12, Beal was averaging 30.5 points per game (to go along with a career-high 6.1 assists), trailing only James Harden’s 36.7 points per game. He also led the NBA in points per game since January 1 at 33.6. Beal tallied back-to-back 50-point nights on February 23 (53 at Chicago) and 24 (55 vs. Milwaukee), becoming just the sixth player in NBA history with back-to-back 50-point nights and the first since Kobe Bryant in 2007. Beal has recorded 50 20-plus-point games, 31 30-plus-point games, 10 40-plus-point games and two 50-plus-point games, placing him in the top three in the league in each category.

With his current averages of 30.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game on 45.5% shooting from the field, Beal joins Stephen Curry, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Michael Jordan as the only players to post averages of at least 30.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game on 45.0% or better shooting in a single season since 1975. Beal scored 25-or-more points in 21-straight games from January 20 – March 6, the longest streak in franchise history and the second-longest NBA streak in the last 10 seasons. During the streak, Beal passed Jeff Malone for second place on the franchise’s all-time scoring list.

Rockets sign veteran forward Luc Mbah a Moute

The Houston Rockets signed free agent forward Luc Mbah a Moute today.

Mbah a Moute (6-foot-8, 230 pounds) was originally the 37th overall pick by Milwaukee in the 2008 NBA Draft. He hasn’t played much in recent seasons: no games so far in 2019-20, and in the 2018-19 season he played four games for the Los Angeles Clippers.

His overall NBA career average is 6.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 686 career games with 453 starts.

Mbah a Moute won’t score much, but should provide solid defense off the Houston bench.

Per the Houston Chronicle: “He hasn’t played in two years,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said of Mbah a Moute’s potential to crack the Rockets’ rotation. “I don’t know. I have no clue. That’s why the three weeks (of workouts) and the eight games will be highly important to get the rotation down. Whether it’s eight, nine or 10 guys, that’ll be determined. Hopefully we can make a good choice there.”

The Cameroonian native appeared in 61 games with 15 starts for Houston in 2017-18. The Rockets were 17-1 when he scored in double-figures. Since the start of 2016-17, Mbah a Moute has shot 49.3% from the floor and 37.4% from 3-point range.

Rodrigue Beaubois signs in Turkey with Anadolu Efes Istanbul

Here’s Euroleaguebasketball.net with an update on former NBA guard Rodrigue Beaubois, who is 6-foot-1, 170 pounds and played in the NBA from 2009-13, averaging 7.1 points per game for the Dallas Mavericks:

Anadolu Efes Istanbul moved towards keeping its team together by bringing back guard Rodrigue Beaubois, who signed on a two-year deal with the club on Monday. Beaubois (1.90 meters, 32 years old) has played the last two seasons with Efes, helping the club reach the 2019 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Championship Game. Last season he averaged 9.5 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 26 games in 2019-20. He joined Efes in 2018 after two years with KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz.

Pelicans sign Sindarius Thornwell as Substitute Player for NBA restart

The New Orleans Pelicans have signed free agent guard Sindarius Thornwell as a substitute player for the remainder of the 2019-20 season.

Thornwell, 6-4, 215, most recently played for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League, appearing in 40 games (26 starts) while averaging 9.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 29.0 minutes per contest. Selected 48th overall out of the University of South Carolina by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2017 NBA Draft, Thornwell has appeared in 137 career regular season games with the Los Angeles Clippers, holding averages of 2.5 points and 1.3 rebounds in 10.7 minutes.

Per the New Orleans Times-Picayune, “Pelicans forward Darius Miller will not travel with the team to Orlando as he recovers from a torn Achilles suffered before the season. Teams are allowed to bring a max total of 17 players.”

Thornwell will wear #12 for the Pelicans.

Grizzlies rookie Ja Morant says he got stronger during NBA break

Grizzlies rookie Ja Morant has reportedly added strength to his frame. Here’s ESPN.com reporting:

Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, the Rookie of the Year front-runner, feels like he’s ready to take off after making physical improvements during the NBA’s hiatus.

Morant, who is listed at 6-foot-3, 175 pounds, said he added 12 pounds during the three-plus-month break. He also believes his right knee, which was repaired in a minor arthroscopic surgery last June, is stronger now than it has been throughout a rookie campaign highlighted by spectacular dunks…

“I’m stronger, can absorb contact and those things,” Morant said.

Morant is still the favorite to win NBA Rookie of the Year. Zion Williamson is also a fantastic rookie but his season got off to a very late start due to injury, and now with league play shortened, Morant clearly deserves the award.

Seeing Morant stonger is just yet another fun thing to look forward to during the NBA’s restart, which if all goes according to plan is exactly four weeks away.

Wizards sign Jerian Grant, who played for Capital City Go-Go this season

The Washington Wizards have signed guard Jerian Grant.

Grant, a 6-4, 204-pound guard, appeared in 39 games (37 starts) with the Wizards’ NBA G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, this season, averaging 16.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. At the conclusion of the NBA G League season in March, Grant was shooting .469 from the field and .435 from three-point range, the fifth-best percentage in the league. Grant topped 20-plus points 12 times on the season and tallied five double-doubles (three point-assist and two point-rebound).

According to the Washington Post, Grant is a replacement player for “forward Davis Bertans, their best three-point shooter, who is opting to stay home when the NBA season resumes July 30 in Florida.”

Also from the Post: “As a replacement for Bertans, the point guard will make the league’s prorated minimum salary, and he will be a free agent when the season ends. His contract will not count against Washington’s salary cap.”

A native of Silver Spring, MD, and a DeMatha product, Grant has appeared in 273 games with 61 starts in his four-year NBA career with the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Orlando Magic. In 60 games with the Magic in 2018-19, Grant averaged 4.2 points and 2.6 assists per game and holds career averages of 6.1 points and 2.9 assists per game.

Grant, the son of former Washington Bullet Harvey Grant, played four seasons at Notre Dame, where he was twice named to all-conference teams and was a Consensus All-American in the 2014-15 season. He was originally selected by the Wizards with the 19th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, but was traded on draft night to the Atlanta Hawks and then again to the New York Knicks.