NBA Teams – Page 984 – NBA Blog

Statement from Larry Bird on Paul George after serious leg injury

Updated statement from Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird regarding Paul George:

“Our first thoughts are with Paul and his family. It is way too early to speculate on his return as the No. 1 priority for everyone will be his recovery. Our initial discussions with our doctors and the doctors in Las Vegas have us very optimistic. We are hopeful at some point next week Paul will return to Indianapolis to continue his recovery.

“There is no question about the impact on our team but our goal is to be as strong-willed and determined as Paul will be in coming back. Our franchise has had setbacks in its history but has demonstrated the abilities to recover. Paul will provide the example of that off the court and it is up to the rest of us to provide that example on the court. Any discussion regarding the future of our team would be inappropriate at this time. Our focus is solely on Paul and doing whatever we can to help.

”We still support USA Basketball and believe in the NBA’s goals of exposing our game, our teams and players worldwide. This is an extremely unfortunate injury that occurred on a highly-visible stage, but could also have occurred anytime, anywhere.

“Finally, the Pacers would like to thank our fans and the NBA community for their outreach of support in the brief amount of time since the injury occurred. It has been overwhelming and it is what makes Indiana and the NBA special.”

Paul George suffers horrible leg injury

Here’s ESPN.com reporting on a very nasty Paul George injury from Friday:

Indiana Pacers star Paul George suffered a gruesome lower right leg injury during the U.S. national team’s intrasquad scrimmage at UNLV and underwent surgery late Friday night.

The Indianapolis Star reported George suffered a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula, had a pin placed in his leg and is expected to remain hospitalized for two to three days. A USA Basketball spokesman who confirmed George was in surgery said the organization would not have any other information until the operation was complete and officials spoke with the doctor. Dr. Riley Williams, a Team USA orthopedist who also works with the Brooklyn Nets, was with George.

George’s leg landed and then buckled at the base of the basket stanchion after he fouled James Harden on a drive to the basket just 27 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Nearby teammates immediately reacted, with Harden doubling over as George recoiled on the baseline.

Medics, U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski and members of George’s family who were at the game rushed to his side.

His right leg was put in an air cast, and he was taken to a Las Vegas hospital after being treated for about 15 minutes on the court. His family members accompanied him there.

Spurs sign Tony Parker to contract extension

The San Antonio Spurs today announced guard Tony Parker has signed a multi-year contract extension. According to Yahoo Sports, it is a three year, $43.3 million extension

Parker has spent his entire 13-year NBA career with the Spurs after being selected by San Antonio with the 28th overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft. The 32-year-old Parker is one of the most decorated players in Spurs history, being named to four All-NBA Teams (second team in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and third team in 2009) while earning six All-Star appearances (2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014). The Spurs have captured four NBA Championships during Parker’s tenure in San Antonio.

During the 2013-14 season Parker averaged 16.7 points, 5.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds in 29.4 minutes. It marked the fourth consecutive season that Parker has led the Spurs in scoring. He earned All-NBA Second Team honors and was the Spurs lone representative in the 2014 NBA All-Star Game.

In his career, Parker has appeared in 940 regular season games averaging 17.1 points, 6.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 32.6 minutes. He has seen action in 196 playoff games averaging 18.9 points, 5.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 35.7 minutes.

Only two active NBA players, Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant, have appeared in more postseason games than Parker. Among all-time NBA Playoff career leaders he ranks 12th in points (with 3,705), eighth in assists (1,034) and eighth in games (196).

Parker, who was the MVP of the 2007 NBA Finals, is the Spurs all-time NBA career leader in assists in both regular season and playoff action.

Miami Heat sign Shawne Williams

The Miami Heat announced today that they have signed forward Shawne Williams.

Williams, a six-year NBA veteran, has appeared in 251 career regular season games (36 starts) averaging 5.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 17.1 minutes while shooting 40.3 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three-point range and 73.3 percent from the foul line. He has appeared in four career postseason games and averaged 8.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.00 steals, 1.00 blocks and 25.3 minutes while shooting 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from the field, 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from three-point range and 75 percent (6-of-8) from the foul line.

He split the 2013-14 season between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League. Williams appeared in 36 games (13 starts) with the Lakers last season and averaged 5.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 20.9 minutes. He also appeared in 23 games (21 starts) with the L.A. D-Fenders and averaged 20.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.09 blocks, 1.7 assists and 31.5 minutes while shooting 45.6 percent from the field, 41.8 percent from three-point range and 80.6 percent from the foul line. He was named the NBA D-League Performer of the Week on March 17 after averaging 26.3 points, including a 34-point game at Canton on March 15 while helping the team to a perfect 3-0 week. Additionally, he appeared in two postseason games with the D-Fenders, totaling 22 points, 20 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block.

Williams was originally drafted in the first round (17th overall) by Indiana in the 2006 NBA Draft.

Nuggets Sign guard Erick Green

The Denver Nuggets have signed guard Erick Green, General Manager/Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.

Green, 6-4, 185, was the 46th overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft after leading the NCAA in scoring (25.0 ppg) as a senior at Virginia Tech. He spent the 2013-14 season with Montepaschi Siena of the Italian League, averaging 11.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists.

Playing at the 2014 Samsung NBA Summer League, Green averaged 16.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists in five games (all starts) with the Nuggets. He shot 50 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free-throw line.

Bucks adding Greg Foster to coaching staff

Here’s the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blog with a Bucks update:

Coach Jason Kidd’s coaching staff is nearly complete with the addition of Greg Foster, who was a player development coach with the Philadelphia 76ers last season.

A source confirmed reports that Foster will join the Bucks staff and serve as one of the bench assistants.

“It is a great opportunity for Greg,” 76ers president and general manager Sam Hinkie told csnphilly,com. “We hate to lose him, but we don’t want to stand in the way of people when opportunities present themselves.”

Heat likely keeping Justin Hamilton

Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel reporting on the Heat:

Center Justin Hamilton is poised to become the 12th player under guaranteed contract to the Miami Heat, when his partial guarantee kicks in Friday.

Hamilton, an outside-shooting 7-footer who finished last season with the Heat, has an $816,000 contract for 2014-15 that becomes 50-percent guaranteed if not waived on or before Aug. 1, and 75-percent guarantee if he is on the roster on Dec. 1. All NBA contracts become guaranteed for the season the second week of January.

“I think we’re probably going to move forward,” Heat President Pat Riley said. “We like Justin and what he’s done in the summer league, from that standpoint. There have obviously been discussions with Justin and his agent. So he wants to be here and we want him to be here.”

Because of his Croatian lineage, Hamilton has drawn interest from European teams. He spent part of the 2012-13 season in Latvia, after he was acquired by the Heat in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft out of LSU, and then split this past season between the Heat’s NBA Development League franchise, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, and the Charlotte Bobcats and Heat.

Jerryd Bayless excited to play for Coach Kidd

Free agent Jerryd Bayless signed with the Milwaukee Bucks in large part because of Jason Kidd.

The 6-foot-3 guard played for Memphis and Boston last season, averaging 9.3 points in 72 games. Now he gets a chance to play for Kidd, who left the Brooklyn Nets this summer to coach the Bucks.

“The thing that was most intriguing was Kidd,” Bayless said Thursday at the Bucks’ training facility. “He can help me in a variety of different ways. There aren’t a lot of guys like him that come around.”

— Associated Press

Milwaukee Bucks sign Jerryd Bayless

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed free agent guard Jerryd Bayless, General Manager John Hammond announced today.

According to the Associated Press, “Bayless signed for two years at $3 million per season.”

Bayless, 25, split the 2013-14 season between the Memphis Grizzlies and Boston Celtics, and averaged 9.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 72 games (19 starts). He was acquired by the Celtics in exchange for Courtney Lee on Jan. 6, and while with Boston, set season highs of 29 points – including a career-high 12 field goals made – on Feb. 26 vs. Atlanta and nine assists vs. San Antonio on Feb. 12.

Originally selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 11th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Bayless was traded to the Trail Blazers prior to his rookie season. Over his six-year career, Bayless has spent time with Portland, New Orleans, Toronto, Memphis and Boston, and has recorded career averages of 8.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 381 games (59 starts). He has been to the playoffs three times with Portland (2009, 2010) and Memphis (2013), averaging 9.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 23 games (two starts).

Bayless played one season at Arizona in 2007-08 where he became the first freshman in school history to lead the team in both scoring (19.7 points) and assists (4.0). In 2007, he was named a McDonald’s All-American as a high school senior at St. Mary’s (Phoenix).

Sixers reportedly dislike possible NBA draft lottery changes

Here’s the Philadelphia Daily News reporting on the 76ers and possible league changes to the draft lottery:

The league is looking into changing how the draft works, so that the bottom feeders of the league aren’t assured a top pick. A source told the Daily News that the NBA “has a strong incentive to get this done this year” on changing how the draft works. The source also said that the move is directly related to what the Sixers did last season and what they are forecasted to do this season, with top pick Joel Embiid most likely sidelined for the season after foot surgery and 10th pick Dario Saric contractually bound for two more seasons of play in Turkey.

An ESPN.com report said the Sixers have objected to the possible overhauling of the lottery for 2015, as they possibly could be hurt the most by the proposed changes.

That will probably all be sorted out in October, when the NBA’s Board of Governors meets. In the meantime, it will be another year of some bad basketball, a lot of players hitting the floor that maybe shouldn’t even be in the NBA and a whole lot of losses for the Sixers.