Category: NBA Teams

NBA teams blog

Nikola Pekovic had Achilles surgery this morning

Nikola Pekovic had Achilles surgery this morning

The Minnesota Timberwolves announced that center Nikola Pekovic underwent a successful debridement and repair of his right Achilles this morning. The surgery was performed by Dr. Robert Anderson at Ortho Carolina in Charlotte, North Carolina. Pekovic will be sidelined indefinitely. An update on his progress will be provided when appropriate.

Pekovic played in 31 games this season, averaging 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest. The five-year veteran holds career averages of 12.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.

The Wolves are 16-61 through Tuesday’s games, which is the second worst record in the league. The NBA’s regular season ends in one week, on Wednesday, April 15.

Knicks sign Ricky Ledo for rest of season

Knicks sign Ricky Ledo for rest of season

Knicks sign Ricky Ledo for rest of season

New York Knicks President Phil Jackson announced today that the team has signed guard Ricky Ledo for the remainder of the season.

Ledo, 6-7, 195-pounds, is averaging 9.5 points and 3.4 rebounds over 21.1 minutes in eight games with the Knicks and 5.9 points and 2.2 rebounds over 13.9 minutes in 13 games with both Dallas and New York on the season. He signed the first of two consecutive 10-day contracts with the Knicks on Mar. 19.

More overseas games for Celtics next season

More overseas games for Celtics next season

Here’s the Boston Herald reporting on the Celtics, who are already one of the most famous basketball teams in the world and will get even more live-and-in-person overseas exposure next season:

The Celtics might not be among the better NBA teams in the United States these days, but the franchise continues to be a major brand beyond the borders.

As such, it will soon be announced that the club is playing a third international game outside of the league’s footprint. It was reported here in November that the Celts will play preseason games in Milan and Madrid against local teams next October, and sources now say they will play a regular-season game against Sacramento in Mexico City in late November or early December.

The Kings will be the home team in that game, meaning the Celtics still will have 41 dates at the Garden, not including the preseason and playoffs.

Bucks sign Jorge Gutierrez to multi-year contract

Bucks sign Jorge Gutierrez to multi-year contract

Bucks sign Jorge Gutierrez to multi-year contract

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed guard Jorge Gutierrez to a multi-year contract, General Manager John Hammond announced today. Gutierrez is the 60th Gatorade Call-Up of the 2014-15 NBA Development League season.

Gutierrez appeared in seven games for the Bucks earlier this season and averaged 3.6 points and 2.1 rebounds while playing 13.4 minutes per game. He made one start for Milwaukee on Feb. 2 at Toronto, and tied his career high for scoring with 13 points on Feb. 6 at Houston. He signed his initial 10-day contact on Jan. 28 and a second 10-day contract on Feb. 7.

Gutierrez has also played 15 games for the Canton Charge of the NBA D-League this season and averaged 13.5 points, 5.1 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 29.8 minutes per game.

Timberwolves sign Arinze Onuaku

Timberwolves sign Arinze Onuaku

The Minnesota Timberwolves have signed forward Arinze Onuaku (Ah-rin-zay On-ooh-ah-koo) for the remainder of this season. The Timberwolves were granted an NBA hardship exception for a 16th roster spot due to having four players out due to injury.

Onuaku, 27, averaged 17.5 points, on 62.2% shooting, and 12.2 rebounds in 41 games this season for the Canton Charge of the NBA D-League. He was named to the NBADL All-Star Game for the third consecutive season. Onuaku was signed by the Indiana Pacers on September 5, 2014 after playing with their NBA Summer League team. He was waived by the Pacers on October 25, 2014.

The 6-10 forward played in three games for the New Orleans Pelicans and two games for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2013-14, averaging 0.6 points and 1.6 rebounds in those five games. In May of 2014, he joined the Chongqing Flying Dragons for the 2014 Chinese NBL, and averaged 28.6 points and 14.8 rebounds in 19 games. Onuaku averaged 14.8 points, on 62.8% shooting, and 10.1 rebounds for Canton in 2013-14 and 12.6 points and 9.5 rebounds for the Charge in 2012-13.

Onuaku went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft after a four-year career with Syracuse University where he averaged 9.2 points and 6.0 rebounds in 134 games. He finished his collegiate career first on Syracuse’s all-time field goal percentage list at 64.8% (540-for-833).

Greg Monroe set to return for Pistons

Greg Monroe set to return for Pistons

Here’s Michigan Live reporting on the 30-47 Detroit Pistons, who have gotten 16 ppg, 10.4 rpg and 2.0 apg from Greg Monroe this season:

Greg Monroe set to return for Pistons

For the last five games this season, the Detroit Pistons will get one more look at playing Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe and Reggie Jackson together.

With Monroe on his way back into the lineup, and perhaps on his way out as a Piston via unrestricted free agency this summer, it’s an alignment head coach Stan Van Gundy said he wants to see more before some very important business decisions.

“Reggie will have to adjust, and I’ll have to adjust, and we’ll have to figure it out,” Van Gundy said. “We’ve seen Reggie play real, real, well; we’ve seen Greg play real, real well. So we’ve just got to make it all fit together.”

Monroe is expected to return after missing 11 games with a right knee strain when the Pistons host the Boston Celtics at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Knicks MSG TV ratings reportedly down

Knicks MSG TV ratings reportedly down

Here’s the New York Post reporting on the 15-62 Knicks. As you’d expect, TV ratings for the squad are down in dramatic fashion:

The Knicks’ worst season in history has taken a toll on MSG Network, and it bottomed out during Friday night’s telecast in Washington.

According to a source, the Knicks-Wizards matchup mustered a rating of 0.18 — which is believed to be the smallest number for a Knicks live telecast in many years. That rating represents 14,000 viewers for a game in which the Knicks fell behind 30-10 after one quarter…

Though the fans are still packing the Garden, the network’s ratings are down 39 percent, the spokesman said.

Brook Lopez and James Harden named NBA Players of Week through April 5

Brook Lopez, James Harden named NBA Players of Week through April 5

brook lopez

Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez and Houston Rockets guard James Harden today were named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, March 30, through Sunday, April 5.

Lopez led the Nets to a 3-1 week behind team-leading averages of 20.8 points (sixth in the conference), 10.3 rebounds (fourth in the conference) and 2.0 blocks (tied-fifth in the conference). Lopez shot better than 50 percent in all four contests, and ranked seventh in the East for the week with a field goal percentage of 59.4. He recorded two point-rebound double-doubles, including a 30-point, 17-rebound outing during a 114-109 win over the Toronto Raptors on April 3.

james harden

Harden helped the Rockets to a 3-1 week behind a league-leading 36.8 points. He scored 40-plus twice, raising his league-leading total of 40-point games this season to 10. Harden recorded his second 50-point game of the season when he netted a career-high 51 during a 115-111 win over the Sacramento Kings on April 1.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Atlanta’s DeMarre Carroll, Brooklyn’s Deron Williams, Cleveland’s LeBron James, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan, San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard, Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan and Washington’s John Wall.

Carl Landry suspended one game for leaving bench area during altercation

Carl Landry suspended one game for leaving bench area during altercation

Kings forward Carl Landry suspended one game for leaving bench area during altercation

Sacramento Kings forward Carl Landry has been suspended one game without pay for leaving the bench area during an altercation, it was announced today by Rod Thorn, President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 6:10 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Utah Jazz’s 101-95 win over the Kings on April 5 at Sleep Train Arena.

Landry will serve his suspension on April 7, when the Kings host the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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