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The Portland Trail Blazers signed restricted free agent forward Paul Millsap to an offer sheet, it was announced Friday by General Manager Kevin Pritchard. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. We’ll post reported contract info later tonight.
The Utah Jazz have seven days upon receipt of the offer sheet to match Portland’s offer.
Millsap last season averaged 13.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 30.1 minutes per game, shooting 53.4% from the field.
The Portland Trail Blazers exercised their option on Head Coach Nate McMillan, extending his contract through the 2010-11 season, it was announced today by General Manager Kevin Pritchard.
“I’m excited that the option year on my contract has been picked up,” said McMillan. “We have a great team, first-class organization and the fan support has been incredible. I would also like to credit the coaching staff for their hard work, and we’re all looking forward to working towards our goal of bringing a championship back to the city of Portland.”
McMillan, 44, led the second youngest team in the NBA to the playoffs with a 54-28 record last season, which ranks as the sixth best mark in franchise history.
“Nate has proven himself one of the great coaches in the NBA,” said Pritchard. “The manner in which he’s developed and grown this young team is a testament to his hard work, intelligence and passion for the game. He’s done an amazing job, and we’re lucky to have him.”
He becomes just the second coach in NBA history to improve a team by at least nine or more wins in three consecutive seasons, as Portland has increased its win total by 33 games since McMillan’s first season in the Rose City.
With an all-time record of 360-363 (.498) over his nine-year coaching career with Portland and Seattle, McMillan stands as the third-youngest coach in NBA history to reach the 300 win mark.
Portland Trail Blazers rookie guard Patrick Mills fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot during Thursday evening’s NBA Summer League practice session.
X-rays taken Thursday night revealed the fracture. Mills will see a specialist today, at which point a timetable for his return will be determined.
“You never want to see a player get injured, but it is especially heart wrenching to see a young man go down on his first day of camp,” said General Manager Kevin Pritchard. “We’ll do everything we can to help Patty get back on track to realize his NBA future.
Mills, 20, was selected by Portland with the 55th overall pick in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft after playing two seasons at St. Mary’s (CA) College.
UPDATE: Portland Trail Blazers rookie guard Patrick Mills will undergo surgery on Monday morning to repair the fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot.
Dr. Jay Crary will perform the surgery, and a timetable for his return will be determined after its completion.
Mills sustained the injury during Thursday evening’s NBA Summer League practice session.
Mills, 20, was selected by Portland with the 55th overall pick in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft after playing two seasons at St. Mary’s (CA) College.
The Toronto Star (Doug Smith) reports: To the mercenary professional athletes who ply their trades here, Toronto’s cozy ethnic neighbourhoods may as well be on Mars and “living” in the city means going from condo to arena to airport to an off-season home. To the newest Raptor, the city’s charm is the attraction. Hedo Turkoglu and his wife, Banu, who grew up high school sweethearts in their native Istanbul, should arrive here this week to officially sign a five-year contract worth about $53 million (U.S.) and – in a departure from the norm – it wasn’t the money that attracted them. It was the city and what it had to offer… The Portland Trail Blazers originally thought they were going to get Turkoglu on a five-year, $50 million contract, but the couple reconsidered the offer overnight Thursday and turned it down late Friday.
The National Basketball Association and the NBA Development League, the official minor league of the NBA, today announced the affiliation system for the 2009-10 season, including the announcement of a direct single-affiliation partnership between the Houston Rockets and Rio Grande Valley Vipers. For the fifth consecutive year, each NBA team has one NBA D-League affiliate to which it may assign players in their first or second NBA season.
The Rockets became the first NBA team to enter into a direct single-affiliation partnership with an NBA D-League team, granting the Rockets full control over the basketball operations of the Vipers. With the move, the Rockets will be the only parent-club of the team.
In a structure similar to other minor leagues, this new partnership model, previously referred to as the “hybrid affiliation,” allows for NBA teams to secure control over and cover the expenses related to the basketball operations of an NBA D-League team, while partnering with existing local ownership, who maintain responsibility for the off-the-court business operations of the team.
The list of affiliations is on our NBA D-League page.
The Portland Trail Blazers acquired the draft rights to forward Jeff Pendergraph (31st overall pick) from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for guard Sergio Rodriguez, the draft rights to forward Jon Brockman (38th overall pick) and cash considerations, it was announced today by General Manager Kevin Pritchard.
“Sergio was a big part of our turnaround and we’d like to thank him for his contributions to the Trail Blazers over the last three years. We wish him all the best going forward,” said Pritchard. “We’re excited to add a player like Jeff, who is a four-year starter, hard worker and has a strong athletic presence inside. We feel he can help this team.”
Pendergraph, 22, played four seasons at Arizona State, where he finished with career averages of 12.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.04 blocked shots and a 58.0 percent shooting percentage.
The 6-9, 240-pound forward set school records for games played (126) and started (120) and his 1,588 points are sixth best all-time.
As a senior, Pendergraph averaged 14.5 points and was named to the Pac-10’s First Team. His 66.0 percent shooting percentage led the nation.
Rodriguez, 23, averaged 3.6 points, 1.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 12.4 minutes over three seasons with the Trail Blazers. Portland originally acquired the draft rights to the Spanish guard from Phoenix for cash considerations in a 2006 draft day trade.
The Portland Trail Blazers moved up two spots in the 2009 NBA Draft, acquiring the 22nd overall selection from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for the 24th pick, 56th pick, and a second-round pick in 2010, it was announced today by General Manager Kevin Pritchard.
With Wednesday’s transaction, the Trail Blazers now hold the 22nd, 33rd, 38th and 55th overall selections in Thursday’s NBA Draft.
The 2010 second-round pick sent to Dallas will be the worse of the two picks Portland currently owns in next year’s NBA Draft, which are the team’s own selection and Chicago’s. The Trail Blazers acquired the Chicago pick in a three-way draft day trade in 2008.
“The depth of the second tier in this year’s draft has given us the opportunity to trade down, pick up two second round picks and not lose ground in terms of talent,” said Mavericks President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Donnie Nelson. “This will give us added flexibility for the future.”
Los Angeles, a city with a reputation for producing highly successful sequels, and STAPLES Center, considered one of the world’s best arenas for sports and entertainment, have been selected to host NBA All-Star 2011, marking the fifth time The City of Angels and the second time STAPLES Center will be the site of the annual celebration, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced at a press conference today in Los Angeles. AEG President and CEO Timothy J. Leiweke and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa joined Stern at the announcement.
The 60th NBA All-Star Game will be played on Sunday, February 20 at STAPLES Center which will also host the Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam and NBA All-Star Saturday Night. NBA All-Star Jam Session, the hugely successful interactive basketball celebration, will return to the Los Angeles Convention Center. Additionally, the NBA has the ability to activate the great hospitality and event spaces across the street from STAPLES Center within L.A. LIVE including the new Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels. Los Angeles becomes the first city to host five NBA All-Star Games.
“Its state-of-the-art facilities, passionate fans, and first-class hospitality and entertainment options make Los Angeles an ideal host for NBA All-Star,” said Commissioner Stern. “We thank the city and STAPLES Center for welcoming us once again.”
The 2010-11 season will mark the 27th year that Turner Sports will provide NBA All-Star coverage, and the ninth consecutive year the All-Star Game will be televised in primetime on TNT. The All-Star Game will be seen by a worldwide television audience in more than 200 countries and will be broadcast in more than 40 languages.
“L.A. LIVE was truly designed to be a home for great events like the NBA All-Star game,” said Leiweke, President & CEO AEG, owners of STAPLES Center and L.A. LIVE. “We are fortunate that this will be the second All-Star weekend STAPLES Center will host in the last ten years and our ability to incorporate one of the best weekends in all of sports into our 100-acre campus is exactly what L.A. LIVE was created for. We are privileged to be partners with the NBA and welcome them back to Los Angeles and L.A. LIVE.”
“There is no better place to host the action and drama of the NBA All-Star Game than the stage of so many award winning performances,” said Mayor Villaraigosa. “On behalf of the City of Los Angeles, we look forward to welcoming NBA fans and players from across the country and around the globe to the entertainment capital of the world.”
STAPLES Center last played host to NBA All-Star in 2004, when the Los Angeles Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant combined for 44 points as the West edged the East 136-132. O’Neal earned MVP honors with 24 points and 11 rebounds. L.A. also hosted the All-Star Game in 1963, 1972 and 1983. The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena hosted All-Star in 1963, while the Forum hosted the other ’72 and ’83 games. The 1972 classic saw the Lakers’ Jerry West thrill the hometown fans with a last-second jumper that gave the West a 112-110 victory and netted him MVP honors.
NBA All-Star competitions will get underway on Friday, Feb. 18, as the league’s top rookies and second-year players square off in the Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam. The following day’s festivities will feature an
all-inclusive skills showcase known as NBA All-Star Saturday Night, which is comprised of Haier Shooting Stars, a competition featuring NBA and WNBA players and NBA Legends; PlayStation® Skills Challenge, a contest of
top guards working against the clock to complete a series of passes, free throws, lay-ups and agility drills; the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout, a long-standing staple of the evening; and the ever-entertaining Sprite Slam Dunk Contest.
During NBA All-Star 2011, the NBA will continue to celebrate its tradition and commitment to social responsibility with a schedule of NBA Cares events. NBA Cares will partner with schools, government, and local non-profit organizations in Los Angeles and surrounding areas to highlight the league’s grassroots and community initiatives that reach millions of young people and their parents while providing critical resources to community-based programs.
One of the event’s most popular attractions is NBA All-Star Jam Session, which will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. At Jam Session, fans can have the once-in-a-lifetime experience of participating in the NBA All-Star excitement, with the chance to meet and collect free autographs from NBA Players and Legends. Jam Session is nonstop basketball action, as fans can shoot, slam, dribble, and drive all day; compete against their friends in skills challenges; or get basketball tips from NBA Players and Legends. Young fans can hang out at Kids Zone – with hoops and interactive activities that are the perfect size for kids’ slam dunks, three-pointers, and jump shots. For fans who want NBA entertainment, Jam Session features the NBA’s favorite players, celebrities, mascots, and dance teams as they hit Center Court in a variety of basketball competitions, including the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and the NBA All-Star Practice.
The Deseret News (Tim Buckley) reports: If the Jazz choose to wade into NBA luxury-tax territory — something they’ve said they’re willing to do if need be next season — they won’t be getting a bailout. League Commissioner David Stern told reporters covering the NBA Finals in Los Angeles this week that there are no plans to temporarily shelve the tax, even in light of the country’s current economic plight. “No,” Stern said when asked at his annual Finals news conference, “there’s no contemplation of eliminating or reducing luxury tax.” The tax — part of the current collective-bargaining agreement between the NBA and its players union — is levied upon teams that exceed the league’s maximum team-payroll threshold, which has not yet been determined for next season. It amounts to a fine of $1 for every dollar over the threshold, plus a ban from sharing with under-the-threshold teams in distribution of the taxes that are collected.
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), the nation’s leading provider of entertainment, information, and communications products and services, has entered into a long-term agreement with NBA Digital to expand its distribution of NBA TV, providing live games, original programming, and exciting video on demand (VOD) and broadband content to millions of customers.
Comcast will make NBA TV, the league’s 24-hour digital television network that offers more than 100 live NBA games, available to millions of Comcast’s Digital Classic customers before the 2009-10 NBA regular season. Additionally, these customers will have access to a wide array of NBA content On Demand, including Top 10 Plays of the Night, nightly game recaps, basketball news of the day, and NBA Entertainment-produced specials. Comcast will also offer NBA content on its online properties, including Comcast.net.
“We appreciate the commitment of our longtime and valued partner Comcast to expand NBA TV’s distribution and provide more of its customers with the network’s wall-to-wall NBA coverage and innovative programming,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner and COO Adam Silver. “Through this agreement, millions of additional fans will be able to experience NBA TV’s more than 100 live NBA games, its signature studio shows and Emmy award-winning on-air talent.”
“We are excited to bring more NBA action live, on demand, and online to our Digital Classic customers,” said Matt Bond, Executive Vice President of Content Acquisition at Comcast Cable. “Whether a fan of the hometown team or one of the NBA’s incredible players, our customers will have access to all of the great NBA moments in time for next season.”
Comcast will continue to offer NBA LEAGUE PASS, the league’s subscription package that provides subscribers with up to 40 out-of-market, live NBA games each week. As part of the package, subscribers will have access to NBA games online at no additional cost through NBA LEAGUE PASS BROADBAND.
“This is a perfect marriage of two multiplatform strategies,” said NBA Digital Senior Vice President and General Manager Bryan Perez. “Through this expanded agreement, NBA Digital and Comcast will deliver millions of fans the finest in NBA content via broadcast, VOD, and broadband distribution.”