Category: NBA Teams

NBA teams blog

De`Aaron Fox replaces Lonzo Ball in Rising Stars game

Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox will replace injured Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball on the U.S. Team in the 2018 Rising Stars game, which will take place on Friday, Feb. 16.

Fox, the fifth pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, is averaging 11.3 points and 4.3 assists in 27.2 minutes while starting 37 of his 49 games in his rookie season. His selection gives the Kings three players in 2018 Rising Stars, with second-year guard Buddy Hield (Bahamas) and rookie guard Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia) representing the World Team.

Ball has missed the Lakers’ last 13 games after suffering a sprained MCL in his left knee on Jan. 13. The second pick in NBA Draft 2017 is averaging 10.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 7.1 assists in 36 games. The Lakers have second-year forward Brandon Ingram and rookie forward Kyle Kuzma playing for the U.S. Team.

The Rising Stars game is an annual showcase of premier young talent at NBA All-Star. For the fourth consecutive year, the game features 10 first- and second-year NBA players from the U.S. against 10 first- and second-year NBA players from around the world.

Past Sacramento Kings All-Star Rookie Game Participants
1994 Bobby Hurley – Honorary Coach
1995 Brian Grant, Michael Smith
1996 Tyus Edney
1998 Michael Stewart
2000 Jason Williams
2002 Hedo Turkoglu
2010 Tyreke Evans (MVP), Omri Casspi
2011 Tyreke Evans*, DeMarcus Cousins
2012 DeMarcus Cousins
2013 Isaiah Thomas
*Evans named to Sophomore Team but due to injury did not participate

Future of Bulls looks bright

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The Bulls are 20-36 this season, a record that is 12th best in the Eastern conference. They’re rebuilding, and little success was expected this season. Their main goal needed to be to find a bunch of young building blocks that have legitimate potential to do big things in the future. That mission has mostly been accomplished. Here’s NBC Sports Chicago on reporting on Zach Lavine and more:

Over his last five games, LaVine is averaging around 25 points while shooting 46 percent from the field and the 3 point line. He also has emerged as the team’s closer, scoring the Bulls’ last 11 points in the thrilling win over Jimmy Butler and the Timberwolves last week, then coming up with a late steal and breakaway dunk in the closing seconds to give the Bulls a win over Orlando on Monday.

Clearly, LaVine was the centerpiece of last summer’s draft night trade sending Butler to Minnesota. He was coming into his own as an NBA player in his 3rd season with the Timberwolves before the ACL injury, averaging nearly 19 points a game as the team’s third scoring option, while improving his 3 point shooting to right around 39 percent. There’s no way Tom Thibodeau would have included LaVine in the Butler deal if he hadn’t suffered the injury.

Now, the Bulls are able to center their rebuild around the talents of the 3 players they acquired from Minnesota. LaVine turns 23 next month, Kris Dunn turns 24 on March 18th, and Lauri Markkanen is only 20. Dunn has emerged as a quality NBA point guard whose defensive skills and toughness bring out the best in his teammates and the 7-foot Markkanen could be a future All-Star with his smooth shooting stroke and versatile offensive game.

Still, even after just a 13-game sample size, it’s clear LaVine is the player that figures to shine brightest on the NBA stage. The two-time slam dunk champion hasn’t lost any of that explosive leaping ability and he has the charisma and self-confidence necessary to accept the responsibility of being “the man” in a major market like Chicago. Going head to head with Butler down the stretch of a close game shows LaVine won’t back down from a challenge and isn’t afraid of his team’s fate resting on his shoulders.

With the Eastern Conference struggling to produce 12 All-Star worthy candidates this season, LaVine and Markkanen could inject themselves into that conversation as soon as next year.

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LeBron James to co-produce new House Party movie

Here’s HollywoodReporter.com on LeBron James, whose entertainment company will bring the House Party movie franchise back to life:

As Los Angeles hosts its first NBA All-Star shindig in seven years, LeBron James is prepping a Hollywood bash of his own.

The megastar and his SpringHill Entertainment partner, Maverick Carter, are producing a new House  Party, which will revive the Kid ’n Play–fronted New Line comedy franchise that started in 1990 and was followed by sequels in 1991 and 1994. Atlanta’s Stephen Glover and Jamal Olori will pen the screenplay.

“This is definitely not a reboot. It’s an entirely new look for a classic movie,” James tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Everyone I grew up with loved House Party. To partner with this creative team to bring a new House Party to a new generation is unbelievable.”

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Rockets sign Brandan Wright

Rockets sign Brandan Wright

The Houston Rockets today signed free agent forward/center Brandan Wright for the remainder of the season.

Wright joins the Rockets after appearing in 27 games for Memphis in 2017-18. He will wear #32 for Houston.

Wright (6-10, 235) was originally the eighth overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft and is in his 10th season. In 427 career games with 62 starts, Wright is averaging 7.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and nearly a block per game, while shooting 60.7% from the floor. He would have the second-highest field goal percentage among active players if he had enough attempts to qualify.

Dating back to 2012-13, Wright is the only player in the league to have averaged at least 7.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.00 blocks while playing fewer than 18.0 minutes per game. Wright is also averaging 1.5 offensive rebounds per game over that span and 3.0 orpg per 36 minutes played.

Wright is a former McDonald’s All-American and was named Second Team All-ACC and ACC Rookie of the Year in his only season at North Carolina.

Sixers sign Marco Belinelli

The Philadelphia 76ers signed guard-forward Marco Belinelli.

Belinelli appeared in 52 games (one start) with Atlanta this season, averaging 11.4 points and 2.0 assists in 23.3 minutes per game, while shooting .372 from three-point range on a career-high 4.8 attempts per contest. His .927 free-throw percentage ranks fourth-best in the NBA. He has scored in double figures 31 times this season and has five 20-point performances.

In his 11th NBA season, Belinelli has played in 696 career games (217 starts) with Atlanta, Charlotte, Sacramento, San Antonio, Chicago, New Orleans, Toronto and Golden State. All told, he holds averages of 9.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 23.2 minutes per game. A career .377 three-point shooter, Belinelli has connected on 945 threes over his 10-plus NBA seasons.

In 2013-14 with San Antonio, the Italy native enjoyed his most successful season from beyond the arc, finishing fifth in the NBA, shooting a .430 clip from long distance. At State Farm All-Star Saturday Night that year, Belinelli won the 2014 Foot Locker Three-Point Contest.

That season was capped off with a playoff run that would end with the Spurs defeating Miami in the 2014 NBA Finals. Belinelli appeared in 23 playoff games for San Antonio, posting 5.4 points per game, while shooting .421 from three-point range. In his career, Belinelli has appeared in 48 total playoff games (13 starts) with San Antonio, Chicago and New Orleans.

Originally selected by Golden State with the 18th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, the 6-foot-5 guard-forward played professionally in Italy before entering the NBA.

Belinelli will wear No. 18 for the 76ers. He will be the first native Italian to play for Philadelphia.

On J.R. Smith and the trade deadline

Here’s the Akron Beacon Journal on Cavs shooting guard J.R. Smith, who surely had an interesting experience on the day of the NBA trade deadline, as his squad made a dramatic shakeup that could very well have included him as well:

J.R. Smith said he had never heard his name mentioned so often before the NBA trade deadline.

But it wasn’t just the rumors leading up to Thursday that weighed on the 32-year-old Cavaliers guard. The final hour or two as the clocked ticked down to 3 p.m. may have been the most stressful.

“My name was being thrown around a lot out there, so it was nerve wracking for sure,” Smith said after Sunday’s 121-99 victory over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. “When you see six guys getting traded and there’s still more than an hour to the trade deadline, there’s no telling what can happen.”

But after three trades involving four teams as general manager Koby Altman orchestrated a total roster makeover, Smith survived.

After Smith scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting in Sunday’s rout of the Celtics, friend and teammate LeBron James observed, “J.R. gave us something tonight to let us know that he’s still here.”

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Nick Gilbert, son of Cavs owner, to undergo brain surgery

Wishing all the best to Nick Gilbert and the Cavs family. Here’s ESPN.com reporting:

Nick Gilbert, the 21-year-old son of Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, is scheduled to undergo major brain surgery at a Detroit-area hospital this week, according to a team spokesman.

Gilbert’s son was born with neurofibromatosis, commonly referred to as NF, a nerve disorder that causes tumors to grow anywhere in the body at any time. One out of 3,000 people on average is born with NF.

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Warriors CMO Chip Bowers leaving organization

Here’s an update on the Warriors that sports business-minded people would be interested in, from the San Jose Mercury News:

After stockpiling their staff in recent years, the Warriors have lost one of their top executives to another team. Warriors chief marketing offer Chip Bowers plans to take a job with the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball, Bay Area News Group confirmed. Bowers will serve as the Marlins’ president of business operations and report to part-owner and Chief Executive Officer Derek Jeter. Bloomberg first reported the news.

It is not immediately clear when Bowers will make the transition. Bowers was currently in his sixth season with the Warriors, where he has overseen broadcasting, marketing and corporate partnership sales for the organization.

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Suns sign Josh Gray to second 10-day contract

The Phoenix Suns have signed guard Josh Gray to a second 10-day contract after initially signing him on February 2.

Gray made his NBA debut against Utah on February 2 and has averaged 6.8 points, 3.0 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 17.5 minutes in four games with the Suns. He has eight steals, including four on Wednesday against San Antonio and three on Saturday against Denver, becoming the first Suns rookie to total at least eight steals through his first four career games since Richard Dumas in 1993.

A 6-1, 180-pound guard, Gray was originally called up him up from the Northern Arizona Suns of the NBA G League. In 31 games with the NAZ Suns this season he averaged 17.9 points, shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from three-point range, 6.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals (t-1st in G League). The NBA G League Player of the Week for games played Jan. 1-7, Gray has four games scoring 30-plus points this season including a career-high 32 points in a win over the Agua Caliente Clippers on Jan. 26.

The 29th GATORADE Call-Up in the NBA this season and sixth in NAZ Suns history, Gray is Northern Arizona’s all-time leader in points (1,228), assists (410), field goals made (474), field goals attempted (1,065), steals (148), games (81) and minutes (2,250). Overall in 81 career NBA G League games, all with Northern Arizona over the past two seasons, Gray has averaged 15.2 points, 5.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals. On Nov. 27, 2016, he recorded the only triple-double in NAZ Suns history with 24 points, 13 rebounds, 11 steals and five steals against Sioux Falls.

The 24-year-old went unselected in the 2016 NBA Draft out of Louisiana State University. Gray tried out for the NAZ Suns prior to their inaugural season in 2016-17, earning an invite to training camp where he made the team and went on to have one of the better seasons by a local tryout in G League history.

A native of Lake Charles, La., Gray began his collegiate career at Texas Tech University in 2012-13 before transferring to Odessa College for the 2013-14 season then completing his career with two seasons at LSU from 2014-2016.

Kings waive Joe Johnson

The Sacramento Kings, who are undergoing a youth movement and are building for the future, not the present, waived veteran guard/forward Joe Johnson today.

Johnson appeared in 32 games this season for the Utah Jazz and averaged 7.3 points (.420 FG%, .274 3pt%, .833 FT%), 3.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 21.9 minutes per game. Over the course of his 16-year career, the seven-time NBA All-Star has accrued averages of 16.2 points (.442 FG%, .372 3pt%, .802 FT%), 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 34.9 minutes per game through 1253 games (1090 starts) with six teams; Boston, Phoenix, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Miami and Utah.