Category: NBA Teams

NBA teams blog

Jazz players look to make an impact on world stage

Here’s the Salt Lake Tribune reporting on upcoming international summer bball:

Summer league is over. Training camp is still two months away. So, naturally, it’s time for basketball.

Basketball’s World Cup starts late next month in Spain, and a few members of the Utah Jazz are hoping to make their presence known on the global stage.

Dante Exum (and Jazz summer leaguer Brock Motum) have returned to Australia to prepare for the tournament. Center Rudy Gobert is back home in France.

And Utah’s new max-man, Gordon Hayward, will begin his quest to earn a spot on the United States’ 12-man roster starting Monday, when Team USA begins it’s camp in Las Vegas.

Exum, the Jazz’s first-round pick in last month’s draft, figures to have the most prominent role among his teammates. With point guard Patty Mills injured, the 19-year-old Exum should get heavy minutes in the Australia backcourt.

Team USA adds Paul Millsap to training camp roster

Here’s the Atlanta Journal-Constitution blog with an update on the Hawks and Team USA:

Team USA adds Paul Millsap to training camp roster

Paul Millsap has a new summer job.

The Hawks All-Star forward was added to the 2014-16 U.S. Men’s Basketball Team roster Sunday. He will one of 19 NBA players who will participate in the first of three training camp sessions to be held Monday-Friday in Las Vegas. The team will also hold sessions in Chicago and New York later this summer. The camps will be used to decide the 12-man U.S. roster that will compete in the FIBA Basketball World Cup that will be held in Spain starting Aug. 30. The U.S. will try to secure an automatic berth in the 2016 Olympics.

“I’m very excited about being added to the USA Men’s National Team roster,” Millsap said in a statement released by the Hawks. “I look forward to practicing with and competing against some of the NBA’s best for the honor of representing our country in Spain.”

Millsap joins teammate Kyle Korver on the roster.

Thunder may upgrade offense this season

Here’s the Oklahoman reporting on the Thunder:

Roll call on the Thunder summer.

Drafted Mitch McGary. Tried to sign Pau Gasol. Did sign Anthony Morrow. Re-signed Grant Jerrett.

Let’s see. A rookie with all kinds of offensive talent but probably not ready for NBA defensive assignments. A former superstar who isn’t the player he used to be but still has a great set of ball skills. The NBA’s second-best shooter, behind only Steph Curry. And a big man whose only discernible ability, albeit it strong, is deep shooting.

The trend is clear. The Thunder’s priority is to upgrade its offense. And the statistical trend says that’s smart.

The Thunder ranked second in NBA offense (points per possession) in both 2011-12 and 2012-13 but slipped to seventh last season. Points per possession is the best way to gauge an offense (or defense), and the Thunder slipped to 1.081 points per possession last season, after averaging 1.102 the year before.

Kevin Love withdraws from Team USA

Kevin Love has withdrawn from this summer’s USA Basketball roster because of his uncertain NBA status, leaving the Americans without one of their most experienced international players.

Team USA announced the decision on Saturday. Love, who won gold medals at the 2012 Olympics and 2010 world championship and was one of the first players to commit to play this summer, told USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo that he would be unavailable for training camp that starts Monday.

— Associated Press

Kings extend deadline on Quincy Acy option

Here’s the Sacramento Bee with an update on the Kings:

The Kings reached an agreement with third-year forward Quincy Acy and his agent to extend the deadline to guarantee his salary for next season until Aug. 15.

The deadline had been Saturday and without the extension the Kings were considering declining the option. The agreement allows the Kings to explore ways to shed salary and still retain Acy, who would be due $915,243 next season. His salary would put the Kings about $2 million from the luxury-tax line of $76.829 million.

Jeremy Lin introduced as new member of Lakers

Here’s ESPN Los Angeles reporting on the Lakers:

Jeremy Lin introduced as new member of Lakers

Jeremy Lin remains one of the most recognizable basketball players in the world, and he’s joined perhaps the most popular global brand of any basketball team in the Los Angeles Lakers.

But it doesn’t mean Lin is looking to use all that attention to replicate the same lightning-in-a-bottle situation he had with the New York Knicks four years ago when he burst onto the scene.

“I’m not trying to relive that banner season,” Lin said during his introductory news conference with the Lakers on Thursday. “I think that’s been a big weight off my shoulders and I think that’s very important for me as a player. I’m not trying to recreate a ‘Linsanity.’ I’m not trying to be that phenomenon that happened in New York. I think I just want to be myself more than ever.”

The player Lin is today in some respects is even better than the one who dropped a career-high 38 points on the Lakers at Madison Square Garden in February 2012. Even though Lin lost his starting point guard role to Patrick Beverly with the Houston Rockets last season, he still shot career bests from the field (44.6 percent), from 3-point range (35.8 percent) and from the free throw line (82.3 percent). He also limited his turnovers to just 2.5 per game after averaging 3.6 with the Knicks.

Atlanta Hawks sign first-round draft pick Adreian Payne

Hawks sign first-round draft pick Adreian Payne

The Atlanta Hawks have signed rookie forward/center Adreian Payne, it was announced today by President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Danny Ferry.

Payne was selected 15th overall by Atlanta in the 2014 NBA Draft. And as a first-round draft pick, he was guaranteed to receive a contract. This signing is standard, and was expected.

Payne started all six games for the Hawks’ Las Vegas Summer League entry earlier this month, and averaged 12.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 steals in 29.0 minutes.

A four-year letterman at Michigan State, Payne finished his career as the Spartans’ all-time leader in blocked shots (141) while becoming one-of-nine players in school history with 1,200 career points (1,232) and 700 career rebounds (735). He was a two-time Second Team All-Big Ten honoree, as a junior and senior, while garnering Second Team NABC and USBWA All-District accolades last season. As a senior, Payne averaged 16.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 0.9 blocks in 28.1 minutes in 31 games (.503 FG%, .423 3FG%, .790 FT%). In 138 career games, the 6-10 forward/center averaged 8.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 20.0 minutes (.526 FG%, .409 3FG%, .755 FT%). Additionally, he played for USA Basketball in the summer of 2013 at the World University Games in Kazan, Russia.

Orlando Magic sign Luke Ridnour

Orlando Magic sign Luke Ridnour

The Orlando Magic have signed free agent guard Luke Ridnour, General Manager Rob Hennigan announced today.

“We’re extremely excited to welcome Luke (Ridnour) and his family to Orlando,” said Hennigan. “Luke is a proven player in this league who is well-respected as a teammate and competitor. The depth and veteran experience he will provide to our backcourt will help our team continue to grow.”

Ridnour (6’2”, 175, 2/13/81) played in 61 total regular season games (14 starts) last season with both Milwaukee and Charlotte, averaging 5.0 ppg., 2.9 apg. and 1.6 rpg. in 18.7 minpg. He appeared in 36 games (12 starts) with Milwaukee, averaging 5.7 ppg., 3.4 apg. and 1.7 rpg. in 21.2 minpg. Ridnour was traded to Charlotte, along with Gary Neal, in exchange for Jeff Adrien and Ramon Sessions on Feb. 20. With Charlotte, he played in 25 games (two starts), averaging 4.0 ppg., 2.2 apg. and 1.4 rpg in 15.1 minpg. Ridnour led (or tied) the Bucks in scoring twice and in assists 12 times. He led (or tied) the Bobcats (now Hornets) in assists once. Ridnour scored in double figures a total of ten times, including a season-high 16 points on Jan. 11 at Oklahoma City. He also appeared in four playoff outings, averaging 2.5 ppg., 3.0 apg. and 1.0 rpg. in 9.0 minpg.

Originally selected by Seattle in the first round (14th overall) of the 2003 NBA Draft, Ridnour has appeared in 783 career NBA regular season games (493 starts) during his 11-year career with Seattle, Minnesota, Milwaukee and Charlotte, averaging 9.6 ppg., 4.6 apg., 2.3 rpg. and 1.01 stlpg. in 26.7 minpg., while shooting .862 (1,272-1,475) from the free throw line. He also played in 22 career playoff games (11 starts), averaging 7.9 ppg., 3.3 apg. and 2.4 rpg. in 24.3 minpg. Ridnour ranks eighth among active players and 28th in NBA history in career free throw percentage. He finished seventh in the NBA in total assists (550) in 2005-06.

Hornets sign first-round draft pick Noah Vonleh

Hornets sign first-round draft pick Noah Vonleh

Charlotte Hornets General Manager Rich Cho announced today that the team has signed first-round draft pick Noah Vonleh. The Hornets selected Vonleh, a 6-10 forward, with the ninth overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.

All NBA first round draft picks are guaranteed to receive a contract, assuming they wish to come to the league right away. So, this signing is standard and was expected.

An early entry candidate, Vonleh was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Third Team All-Big Ten in 2013-14 at Indiana University after averaging 11.3 points, a Big Ten-high 9.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 26.5 minutes per game. The team’s leader in rebounding and blocks, Vonleh shot .523 from the field (113-216), .485 from beyond the three-point line (16-33) and .716 from the free-throw line (96-134). In 30 games played, he scored in double figures 19 times and grabbed double-figure rebounds on 13 occasions, tallying 10 double-doubles. In addition to leading the conference in rebounding, he ranked third in the Big Ten in field goal percentage and eighth in blocks.

Vonleh, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week seven times during the season, participated in the McDonald’s All-America game, the Jordan Brand Classic and for the U.S. team at the Nike Hoop Summit as a high school senior in 2012-13.