NBA Teams – Page 571 – NBA Blog

Kings add Galen Duncan to staff

The Sacramento Kings have hired Galen Duncan as Vice President of the Kings Academy and Professional Development.

In his role with Sacramento, Duncan is responsible for implementation of the Kings Academy program, a developmental, player-centric curriculum aligning multi-faceted organizational philosophies and ideals to help athletes mature into well-rounded professionals. Under Duncan’s oversight, Kings Academy will augment on-court progress with access to practical material and experiences that help balance on-court priorities and personal responsibilities with opportunities to become impactful contributors in the community.

A Ph.D. in health psychology, Duncan joins the Kings organization after spending 10 years as Senior Director of Player Development with the National Football League’s Detroit Lions, where he advised players regarding housing options, financial education tools, counseling connections and off-field career opportunities. Additionally, Duncan assisted Football Operations with character evaluations for all draft eligible players and oversaw rookie transition and social media etiquette training programs while also serving as the Lions liaison between the League Office and NFLPA (NFL Players Association) and member of the Player Development Steering Committee. Duncan also spent six seasons as a treating clinician for the NFL’s Program for Abuse of Substances, providing one-on-one and group therapy for football players involved in the mandatory treatment program.

Duncan’s professional experience features consultancies with the NBA Rookie Transition Program and NBA Players Association, for which he presented psychologically instructive presentations and facilitated individual and group counseling sessions tailored to first and second year players. He remains an active therapist in both the Wayne State University and University of Detroit Mercy Athletic Departments, counseling collegiate teams and athletes across numerous sporting disciplines.

A retired United States Army Reserves officer, the Detroit native and Lake Superior State alumnus (’94) played collegiate basketball before securing his Master’s Degree in social work from Wayne State University (’97) and Ph.D. in health psychology from Walden University in 2006.

Bucks sign Kendall Marshall to training camp contract

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed free agent guard Kendall Marshall to a training camp contract.

Marshall, 26, appeared in 21 games (18 starts) last season for the Reno Bighorns of the NBA G League and averaged 15.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 9.0 assists in 36.2 minutes per contest. He started in all five games this summer for Team USA in the FIBA AmeriCup tournament and averaged 3.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.8 assists for the Gold Medal winning squad.

A four-year NBA veteran, Marshall was the 13th overall selection in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. He sports career averages of 5.0 points, 1.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists over 160 games (57 starts) with Phoenix, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.

Hawks sign Jeremy Evans and Jordan Mathews

The Atlanta Hawks have signed Jeremy Evans and Jordan Mathews.

The deals may just be training camp contracts. Not yet confirmed.

A six-year NBA veteran, Evans spent 2010-15 with the Utah Jazz, the 2015-16 season with the Dallas Mavericks and last year with Khimki (Russia). The 2012 NBA slam dunk contest champion, Evans has appeared in 249 career regular season games (nine starts), averaging 3.5 points and 2.6 rebounds in 10.5 minutes (.568 FG%). He’s also spent time with Utah and Texas in the NBA G League.

Evans, a 6’9 forward, was originally selected in the second round (55th overall) of the 2010 NBA Draft by Utah after a four-year career at Western Kentucky. Evans will wear jersey No. 22.

Mathews, who played three years at California before transferring to Gonzaga for his senior season, averaged 10.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 28.0 minutes (39 games, all starts) in 2016-17, helping lead the Zags to the National Championship game. His 85 three-pointers made last year tied for the seventh-highest single-season total in school history.

In three years at Cal (2013-16), the 6’4 guard appeared in 102 games (63 starting assignments) and put in 11.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 26.6 minutes. The native of Los Angeles attended Santa Monica High School. He will wear jersey No. 6.

Ben Simmons still likely to be used as PG

The 76ers have several players who on paper would appear to be ideal starting point guards for the squad this season. But, see, the way it works is, one starting guard plays PG. The other starting guard is more off the ball, and plays shooting guard. It’ll be interesting to see how the Sixers’ backcourt rotation develops, but as for now things look right now as training camp approaches, here’s CSN Philly:

Sixers coach Brett Brown reiterated Wednesday that he plans to use Ben Simmons as his point guard this season, while adding that Markelle Fultz will not be excluded from “decision-making and point guard-type of responsibilities” on occasion.

Brown also didn’t rule out using the 6-10 Simmons as a small-ball center.

Simmons and Fultz have been the top picks in each of the last two drafts, but Simmons missed last season while his broken right foot healed.

Simmons, who played a single season at LSU, is “an elite passer,” in Brown’s estimation, as well as a guy who has “jaw-dropping” speed.

Brown has also found that the 6-4 Fultz, selected after the Sixers engineered a trade with Boston for the most recent No. 1 choice, is very coachable. And his skill set is as advertised.

Micheal Beasley says he dropped lots of weight

The first thing we tend to learn as NBA training camps open up is seeing which players look visibly thinner, heavier, fitter, etc. And if the numbers below are accurate, Michael Beasley should look his thinnest in a very long tie. Here’s the NY Post reporting on the new Knicks forward:

Micheal Beasley says he has dropped a lot of weight

While Beasley complimented Joakim Noah for showing up at workouts “cut up with 25 abs,’’ their new small forward is proud of the offseason weight he lost on a vegan-oriented diet. Beasley cut out sugar and chicken fillet sandwiches and limited cheesesteaks to twice a month. Beasley said he’s dropped from the 235-240 range to 215.

“I’m the only guy you ever met 10 years removed from college that’s 20 pounds lighter,’’ Beasley said. “I got a lot more energy, my body fat is zero, so I feel great. Hopefully I get faster, jump higher and my wind is better. We’ll see.”

Nuggets re-sign Mason Plumlee

The Denver Nuggets have re-signed center Mason Plumlee, President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.

Acquired in a trade with Portland on February 13th, Plumlee, 6-11, 245, appeared in 27 games for Denver in 2016-17, averaging 9.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.10 blocks in 23.4 minutes per game.

Over four seasons, Plumlee has appeared in 315 career games (213 starts) for Brooklyn, Portland and Denver, averaging 9.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 23.0 minutes per game.

The Duke University product also won a Gold Medal alongside Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried at the FIBA World Cup with Team USA in 2014. The Indiana native was drafted by Brooklyn with the 22nd overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

Bucks sign Brandon Rush to training camp contract

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed free agent guard/forward Brandon Rush to a training camp contract.

Rush, 32, appeared in 47 games (33 starts) last season for the Minnesota Timberwolves and averaged 4.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 21.9 minutes per contest.

A nine-year NBA veteran, Rush was the 13th overall selection in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. He sports career averages of 6.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists over 481 games (163 starts) with Indiana, Golden State, Utah and Minnesota. Rush won an NBA Championship with Golden State in 2015.

Lakers sign Andrew Bogut

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed center Andrew Bogut, it was announced today by General Manager Rob Pelinka.

Bogut played 26 games (21 starts) with Dallas and one game with Cleveland last season, tallying 2.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 21.6 minutes. The seven-footer has played in 671 career games (651 starts) for Milwaukee, Golden State, Dallas and Cleveland, with averages of 10.0 points (.534 FG%), 8.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 blocks in 29.1 minutes.

A member of the 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors, Bogut earned NBA All-Defensive Second Team honors for the 2014-15 season. Drafted first overall by the Bucks in 2005, Bogut was named to the All-Rookie First Team in 2005-06 and earned Third Team All-NBA honors in 2009-10. The University of Utah product and native Australian led the NBA in blocks in 2010-11, with 2.6 blocks per game.

Nets hire Olivier Sedra as public address announcer

The Brooklyn Nets will have a new arena voice this season. Olivier Sedra has been hired as the public address announcer for Nets games at Barclays Center and will represent the team at community clinics and special events.

Sedra joins the Nets’ game presentation team after serving as PA announcer for the Cleveland Cavaliers for 11 NBA seasons. Sedra, a Canadian from Montreal who is fluent in French and English, also represented the Cavs internationally at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and the 2015 NBA Africa game in Johannesburg, South Africa, as well as the 2016 and 2017 NBA All-Star events.

“I’m really excited to get started with the Nets and Barclays Center,” said Sedra. “Brooklyn is building something special and I’m honored to be a part of it. With Barclays Center’s expansive programming, there is also tremendous opportunity to get involved in other events.”

“Olivier’s booming voice, impeccable timing, and high basketball IQ will be a great addition to the game experience at Barclays Center,” said Brett Yormark, Chief Executive Officer of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment. “His knowledge and passion will also help us elevate our other programming, including college basketball, boxing, and special events.”

Heat exercise contract option on Justise Winslow

The Miami Heat have exercised their fourth-year team option on Justise Winslow.

Winslow, who was originally selected by the HEAT in the first round (10th overall) in the 2015 NBA Draft, has appeared in 96 career games (23 starts) with Miami averaging 7.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 29.8 minutes while shooting 40 percent from the field. He was one of eight HEAT players to average double-figures in points (10.9) last season, marking the most for any team in the NBA. The former NBA All-Rookie Second Team selection appeared in 78 games in 2015-16, becoming just the fifth rookie to lead the HEAT in games played during a single-season. The former NCAA champion at Duke paired with Josh Richardson to become just the fourth set of Miami rookies to connect on at least 25 three-point field goals (32) and block at least 25 shots (26) during their rookie seasons. Additionally, Winslow was the third-youngest player in the league to start on Opening Night during the 2015-16 season at just 20 years, 216 days.