Phoenix Suns Blog – Page 46 – NBA Blog

Grant Hill leaning towards joining Knicks

The Knicks are on the verge of landing Grant Hill, according to two NBA sources.

Hill, the Suns free agent, deliberated for the past few days between making the jump to New York or staying with the Phoenix Suns, which are in rebuilding mode.

Hill is close to accepting the big challenge of the Big Apple.

“It’s not 100 percent done, but he’s leaning,’’ one source said.

Hill and his wife, Tamia, a recording artist, are enamored with New York but were concerned about uprooting their two kids in grade school. Hill also was worried about leaving the renowned Suns’ training staff.

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

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Phoenix Suns likely to waive Vince Carter

Vince Carter isn’t a free agent yet, but sources close to the situation say the eight-time All-Star will be thrust onto the open market shortly after the end of the lockout.

Based on an amendment in his contract obtained by ESPN.com, Carter must be waived by the Phoenix Suns within 72 hours of the official start of free agency or his $18 million salary for the 2011-12 season becomes fully guaranteed.

The Suns, sources said, have already decided to waive Carter within that window.

The Suns and Carter amended the contract in June to delay the guaranteed-salary date in Carter’s final contract year until after the lockout ended.

— Reported by Marc Stein and Chris Broussard of ESPN.com

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Suns want to re-sign Grant Hill

More than most NBA executives, Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby knows the importance of the impression that this morning’s calls to agents gave.

Babby was an agent. He was Grant Hill’s agent. But Wednesday, his Suns were the ones sending out a message to Hill’s current agent about how badly Phoenix wants to re-sign him.

At 7 a.m. Phoenix time, the Suns began talking to agents of players. That meant checking in on some of their own guys but the first calls needed to go to the agents of free-agent players to show the Suns’ interest. The Suns will be feeling out the market for a scoring wing player and a backup point guard but there will be no spending that disrupts the salary-cap space they have set up for the summer of 2012. The free agent priority is getting an agreement with Hill, who is still represented by Babby’s former firm with Jim Tanner acting as Hill’s agent.

“Grant is an absolute first order of business and top priority,” Babby said of Hill.

— Reported by Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic

Steve Nash and Jason Kidd planning charity basketball game in California

Steve Nash and Jason Kidd are planning to stage a star-studded Dec. 10 charity game at University of California-Berkeley, Kidd’s college, to benefit each player’s youth foundation.

“Excited to go back to the Bay Area with Jason to play for the fans and raise money for the children our foundations benefit,” Nash said. “We go way back to college so to see the distance we’ve both come and to take it back to those days will be a lot of fun and for a good cause.”

Yahoo! writer Marc Spears tweeted today that the rosters will include Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Stephen Curry, David Lee, DeMar DeRozan, Corey Maggette, Trevor Ariza, Ricky Rubio, Shawn Marion, Michael Beasley and likely Amar’e Stoudemire and Kevin Durant.

— Reported by Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic

Cedric Ceballos hospitalized after heart attacks

Former NBA All-Star Cedric Ceballos has been hospitalized after what his publicist called “a series of small heart attacks.”

Publicist Crystal Guy says Ceballos was scheduled to undergo surgery in Phoenix.

Ceballos averaged 21.3 points per game in 11 NBA seasons. In recent years, he served as the on-court master of ceremonies at Phoenix Suns home games.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Suns guard Aaron Brooks signs in China

Phoenix Suns restricted free-agent guard Aaron Brooks has agreed to a one-year deal with Guandong of the Chinese Basketball Association, sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Brooks is a popular player in China from his days of playing with Yao Ming in Houston. He’s been talking on and off with Chinese teams for several months, and finally agreed to a deal believed to be worth more than $2 million for the season…

Brooks will play with Washington Wizards free agent Yi Jianlian in Guangdong. The roster also includes Americans Fred Jones and Lester Hudson.

— Reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports

Shaq book places blame on Mitch Kupchak

O’Neal speaks of Kupchak in only six pages of the 281-page “Shaq Uncut: My Story,” co-written by Jackie MacMullan, slated for a Nov. 15 release. But that’s enough prose to label Kupchak as the main culprit behind Shaq’s hasty departure from the Lakers.

According to the book, Kupchak promised to grant Shaq a contract extension following the 2003-04 season and not to discuss their contract negotiations publicly. Once the 2003-04 season ended, however, O’Neal was disturbed by an apparent interview in which Kupchak revealed the Lakers’ plan to hold onto Bryant while keeping their options open with O’Neal.

“That was it. That was the end of me in a Lakers uniform. Mitch broke our agreement. How could I trust him again?” Shaq writes in the book. “For months, I kept waiting for Mitch to come to me and say, ‘Shaq, you’re getting older, we need some new players. Mr. Buss doesn’t want to pay you and Kobe doesn’t want you here.’ But that conversation never happened. So that was when I demanded a trade. I couldn’t trust Mitch anymore and it was clear Kobe was now the one with all the power.”

— Reported by Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times Blog

Shaq sues former IT employee over selling of personal emails

Shaquille O’Neal is suing a former information technology employee the former NBA great claims invaded his privacy by selling personal emails that damaged his reputation.

The lawsuit was filed against Shawn Darling in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. It seeks an injunction barring Darling from providing O’Neal’s emails to anyone, unspecified damages and the return of all O’Neal’s private electronic messages.

O’Neal paid Darling up to $150 an hour for IT work.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Oliver Miller pleads guilty to pistol whipping

A former professional basketball player has pleaded guilty to assaulting his girlfriend’s brother after a cookout in Maryland.

Oliver J. Miller, who played for the Phoenix Suns and other teams in the 1990s, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and carrying a handgun Tuesday in court in Anne Arundel County.

According to prosecutors, Miller and his girlfriend’s brother argued at the cookout in April and Miller later hit him repeatedly in the head with a gun. The man required 11 staples to close his wounds.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Amar`e Stoudemire pitching a TV sitcom

NBA players with time on their hands due to the league’s ongoing labor dispute are finding that showbiz offers an opportunity to fill their schedules. While some star athletes have long maintained production companies or record labels, the lockout has provided a chance for new business.

Earlier in October, New York Knicks star Amare Stoudemire pitched to a handful of major networks a half-hour scripted comedy that he is developing with producers Jeff Kwatinetz and Happy Walters, who is Stoudemire’s agent and president of Rogue Sports, Relativity Media’s sports business.

In September, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant decamped to Baton Rouge, La., to play himself opposite Brandon T. Jackson in Warner Premiere’s Switch, a family comedy centered on a magic twist that transfers Durant’s skills to an enthusiastic fan.

— Reported by Daniel Miller of the Hollywood Reporter