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The Sacramento Kings today waived guard Scotty Hopson, according to Kings General Manager Pete D’Alessandro.
Hopson was recently acquired from the Houston Rockets along with Alonzo Gee and a pair of second-round draft picks in exchange for guard Jason Terry and a trade exception.
Undrafted out of the University of Tennessee, Hopson appeared in two contests for the Cleveland Cavaliers last season before being traded to Houston during the offseason.
The Oklahoma City Thunder announced today that its NBA Development League team will be called the Blue. The team will play the majority of its home games at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City, with four games to be held inside Chesapeake Energy Arena. The season begins on Friday, Nov. 14, when the Blue hosts the Maine Red Claws.
“Blue is one of our primary Thunder colors, but it has become more than just a color for us. It has come to represent the passion, loyalty and unity of our fans and our community in their support for our team. Our players wear it proudly on their uniforms, our fans sport Thunder blue shirts, Thunder blue flags fly across Oklahoma and our statewide Blue Alliance fan groups show their connection to our team and what it stands for,” said Brian Byrnes, Thunder senior vice president of Sales and Marketing.
“It is only fitting that our development team, which is such an integral part of our organization, be called the Blue to represent the cohesion it has with the Thunder. We think this new name accurately reflects the enhanced unity between the two teams, which are now geographically and philosophically aligned in Oklahoma City and focused on development.”
Here’s ESPN New York with a Nets update:
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Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez said Tuesday he participated in his first few games of five-on-five over the past two days and felt just fine afterward. It’s yet another encouraging step for Lopez, who is coming back from offseason foot and ankle surgeries.
“It was great,” Lopez said Tuesday at a community event in Harlem. “I got my second day of five-on-five in today. It’s been going well. It feels good to be back out there with the guys. Everyone’s been out there, and everyone looks good. It’s been good seeing Mase [Mason Plumlee] out there being vocal, doing his thing and seeing how much he learned over the summer [playing with Team USA].”
As Lopez eases his way back into playing form, patience is going to be important. Nets GM Billy King told reporters Monday that the 26-year-old All-Star would likely not be participating in both sessions of two-a-day practices at the start of training camp (Day 1 is Saturday).
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The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed free agent forward Charlie Villanueva. It is likely a non-guaranteed contract, giving Villanueva a chance to show that he’s worth holding on to.
Villanueva (6-11, 232) signs with the Mavericks after spending the last five seasons with the Detroit Pistons. He had a breakout year in 2008-09 when he averaged 16.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in his final season with the Milwaukee Bucks. Villanueva holds career averages of 11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 23.1 minutes in 530 career games (158 starts) with Toronto, Milwaukee and Detroit.
The former University of Connecticut standout was originally drafted by the Toronto Raptors with the 7th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. After two seasons in Storrs, Conn., Villanueva declared for the NBA Draft. He earned Big East All-Rookie Team honors and a NCAA National Championship as a freshman and was the team’s MVP as a sophomore averaging a team-high 13.6 points per game.
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The San Antonio Spurs today announced multiple promotions and additions to the basketball operations staff. Sean Marks returns to the front office as an assistant general manager and Brandon James has been promoted to director of basketball administration and legal affairs. Phil Coles has been hired as director of medical services and Marilyn Adams as director of rehabilitation. In addition, Xavi Schelling joins the Spurs as applied sports scientist and Paul West has been named assistant athletic trainer.
Marks makes the move back to the front office after spending last season on the Spurs bench as an assistant coach. The Auckland, New Zealand native completed a 12-year NBA career before joining the Silver and Black in 2011 as a basketball operations assistant. He was then promoted to director of basketball operations in September of 2012 before moving to the sidelines for the 2013-14 season.
James enters his third season in the Spurs front office, having spent the last two years as the manager of basketball administration. Prior to joining the Silver and Black, the University of Georgia graduate spent four years with IMG.
Coles comes to San Antonio from the Newcastle Knights, a professional rugby league team in Australia where he was the head of physiotherapy for the last two seasons. Prior to joining the Knights, the University of Sydney graduate served as the head of physical therapy for Liverpool Football Club from 2010-12 and as the head physiotherapist for the Australia National Soccer Team from 2007-10.
Adams has signed on with the Spurs after working independently with various elite athletes and serving as the team physiotherapist for Triathlon Canada at the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London. In addition, the University of Alberta graduate spent 2009-14 on the FIS Snowboard World Cup Tour with the Canada Snowboard Team.
Schelling previously served as the director of athletic performance for Bàsquet Manresa, a first-division ACB team in Spain from 2006-14. The University of Barcelona grad also spent the summer of 2014 as the strength and conditioning coach for the Spanish National Basketball Team at the U20 European Championships.
West joins the Silver and Black training staff after earning his Master’s degree in Kinesiology in 2014 from San Diego State University. The Maryland native previously interned with the Spurs during the 2012-13 season.
The Golden State Warriors finished last season with a 51-31 record. Enjoy these video highlights showcasing some of their best plays:
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Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed forward Kostas Papanikolaou.
Papanikolaou (6-9 225, Greece) was drafted 48th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. On July 16th, 2012 his rights were acquired by Portland in a trade that sent Raymond Felton to New York. Houston later acquired his rights in a trade that sent Thomas Robinson to Portland on July 10, 2013.
The Greek forward spent last season overseas playing for FC Barcelona of the Spanish Liga ACB, where he won the 2013-14 Spanish National Champiosnhip. Papanikolaou averaged 6.9 points and 3.4 rebounds in 25 minutes per game with FC Barcelona during the 2013-14 season. The 24 year old spent the previous four seasons (2009-2013) with Olympiacos BC in his native Greece. In his stint there, Papanikolaou won two Euroleague Championships (2011-12, 2012-13), the Greek League Championship (2012) and two Greek Cup Championships (2010, 2011). He was also named Euroleague Rising Star (2013), Greek League All-Star (2013), two-time Greek League Best Five Team (2012, 2013), and two-time Greek League Best Young Player (2009, 2012).
Kostas Papanikolaou has played with two current Rockets in his time overseas. He shared the floor with Joey Dorsey during the 2013-14 campaign on FC Barcelona and played alongside Patrick Beverley in 2012-13 with the Olympiacos.
The Golden State Warriors announced today that Adonal Foyle will serve as a Community Ambassador for the team. Foyle, who is one of only six players in franchise history to play 10 seasons in a Warriors uniform (1997–2007), will join current Warriors Community Ambassadors and Legends, Alvin Attles and Nate Thurmond, to support community efforts throughout the Bay Area. Foyle will participate in a variety of Warriors-related initiatives to give back to the Bay Area community through programs focused on education, health & fitness, social responsibility and cultural diversity and the arts.
Foyle was originally drafted by the Warriors with the eighth pick in the 1997 NBA Draft. Over the next 10 seasons, he appeared in 641 games with Golden State, averaging 4.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.78 blocks per game. To this day, he remains the Warriors all-time leader in blocked shots (1,140), while ranking seventh on the team’s all-time games played list. After leaving the Warriors, Foyle played two more NBA seasons, appearing in 82 games with the Orlando Magic in 2007-08 and a total of 10 games combined between the Magic and Memphis Grizzlies in 2008-09. He finished his 12-year professional career with averages of 4.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.63 blocks over 733 regular-season games.
During the 2001-02 season, Foyle received the Warriors Community Service Award, which was presented to the player who best exemplified the spirit of community service through his outstanding commitment of time, dedication and financial support to children and families in the Bay Area community. Foyle also received the NBA’s Community Assist monthly award twice during his NBA career, earning the recognition in 2002 and 2004. In addition, Foyle has been recognized multiple times by The Sporting News as one of the “Good Guys” in sports, highlighting his outstanding character and exemplary civic responsibility.
In 2003, Foyle founded the Kerosene Lamp Foundation (KLF), whose mission is to empower youth to grow into healthy and well-educated adults. KLF uses basketball as a bridge to the next generation, promoting education and health awareness, providing free athletics and academics camps, mentoring at-risk student-athletes and building/refurbishing basketball courts. To date, KLF has directly reached over 5,000 children in the Caribbean and USA.
In 2009, Foyle was inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame for his work throughout his career, particularly for his work with the Kerosene Lamp Foundation.
Foyle, who has maintained a home in the East Bay since his playing days with the Warriors, most recently served as a Director of Player Development for the Orlando Magic for two seasons (2010-12).
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The Sacramento Kings today signed free agent guard Ramon Sessions, according to Kings General Manager Pete D’Alessandro.
Sessions was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round (56th overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft. He is averaging 11.7 points (.439 FG%, .311 3PT%, .800 FT%) and 4.7 assists in 25.8 minutes per game through 467 career contests in seven seasons with five teams – Milwaukee (2007-08 – 2008-09, 2013-14), Minnesota (2009-10), Cleveland (2010-11 – 2011-12), L.A. Lakers (2011-12), and Charlotte (2012-13 – 2013-14).
The former Nevada Wolf Pack guard averaged 12.3 points (.429 FG%, .282 3pt%, .807 FT%), 2.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 26.7 minutes per game in 83 contests last season with Charlotte and Milwaukee.
Here’s the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporting on a key Buck:
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Nothing went right for Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova last season.
It started in the opening preseason game when he suffered a severe right ankle sprain, an injury that hampered him throughout the 82-game schedule. His production and shooting suffered, and it wasn’t easy to keep his spirits up as the Bucks struggled to a league-worst 15-67 record.
But big changes happened over the summer. Enter coach Jason Kidd, new owners Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry and a bunch of new players, including No. 2 overall draft pick Jabari Parker.
Amazingly, the 27-year-old Ilyasova is still with the Bucks, the only NBA team he has played for after being drafted in the second round by Milwaukee in 2005. He did go to Barcelona to play two seasons before returning in 2009 to sign a new contract under new Bucks management. He currently is starting the third year of a four-year, $32 million deal signed in the summer of 2012.