Toronto Raptors Blog – Page 56 – NBA Blog

Linas Kleiza out 9-12 months after knee surgery

The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday forward Linas Kleiza (LYNN-as CLAY-za) underwent arthroscopic surgery yesterday to address both a meniscal tear and chondral defect of his right knee. The surgery was performed by Dr. J. Richard Steadman in Vail, Colorado.

Due to the nature of the microfracture procedure performed, the recovery time is expected to be nine to 12 months.

Kleiza appeared in 39 games with 23 starts, averaging 11.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 26.5 minutes. He had six games of 20 or more points, including a season-best 26 December 10 versus Denver and December 19 versus the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Raptors play host to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Air Canada Centre on Friday at 7 p.m. (TSN/Sportsnet Radio The FAN 590).

Raptors stuck in Indianapolis because of storm

The AP reports:

The Toronto Raptors are staying in Indianapolis after their game against the Indiana Pacers on Monday night because a huge winter storm developing in the midwest caused their flight to be canceled.

Team spokesman Jim LaBumbard said the team is checking back into its hotel.

The Raptors, whose 104-93 loss was their 12th straight defeat, are scheduled to play the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday in Atlanta.

Raptors sign Trey Johnson to 10-day contract, release Sundiata Gaines

The Toronto Raptors announced Wednesday they have signed guard Trey Johnson to a 10-day contract. He is the sixth Call-Up of the 2010-11 NBA Development League season. To make room on the roster the Raptors released Sundiata Gaines early from his 10-day contract.

Johnson, 6-foot-5, 215 pounds is the leading scorer in the D-League this season averaging 25.8 points for the Bakersfield Jam. He has scored in double-digits in each of his 26 games, posting 20 or more points on 22 occasions and 30 or more in five games and a season-best 43 on December 15 at Austin. Johnson is also averaging 4.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists while shooting .510 percent from the field.

Johnson is in his fourth season with the Jam. He owns career D-League averages of 20.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 36.2 minutes. His head coach during the 2007-08 season was current Raptors assistant coach Scott Roth.

A product of Jackson State in Mississippi, Johnson played four games with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2008-09 campaign totaling four points and one rebound. In October he went to training camp with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Gaines was signed to a second 10-day contract Monday. He appeared in six contests with the Raptors averaging 5.8 points, 1.8 assists and 15.0 minutes.

Toronto’s roster stands at 15 players.

Mavericks sign Peja Stojakovic

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed forward Peja Stojakovic. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Stojakovic (6-10, 229) is a 12-year NBA veteran and joins the Mavericks as a free agent. He holds career averages of 17.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 34.0 minutes while shooting .450 from field goal range, .401 from behind-the-arc and .895 from the foul line. He has played in 779 career games (652 starts) with Sacramento, Indiana, New Orleans and Toronto.

The native of Belgrade, Yugoslavia is a three-time NBA All-Star (2002, 2003, 2004) and was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 2003-04. He ranks fifth all-time on the NBA’s three-point field goal list with 1,718 career made three-pointers, just one behind fourth-place Dale Ellis (1,719) and 14 behind teammate Jason Kidd (1,732) who is in third place. Stojakovic has made six or more three-point field goals in 32 career games which places him second in that category behind only Ray Allen’s 45 games with six or more from behind-the-arc.

Stojakovic has played in 76 career postseason games and reached the Western Conference Finals in 2002 with the Sacramento Kings when they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. He holds playoff averages of 16.2 points and 5.7 rebounds in 36.3 minutes per game.

Raptors sign Sundiata Gaines to second 10-day contract

The Toronto Raptors announced Monday they have signed guard Sundiata Gaines to a second 10-day contract.

Gaines was signed to his original 10-day contract on January 13. He appeared in five games with Toronto averaging 5.8 points, 2.0 assists and 14.6 minutes. He had a high of 10 points in back-to-back games January 19 at San Antonio and January 21 at Orlando.

Gaines, 6-foot-1,195 pounds has appeared in 45 regular season games with Minnesota, Utah and Toronto averaging 3.5 points, 1.2 assists and 7.9 minutes. He was signed by Minnesota on November 12 and saw action in eight games totaling 21 points, six assists and 65 minutes. He was released by the Timberwolves on January 4.

Gaines played in 32 games with Utah in the 2009-10 season. He signed two 10-day contracts with the Jazz in January before being inked for the remainder of the season on January 25. He averaged 3.3 points, 1.2 assists and 6.8 minutes. He appeared in five postseason games where he totaled 11 points (5-for-6 FG) in seven minutes.

Gaines also played in the NBDL last season with the Idaho Stampede. He averaged 23.9 points with 4.7 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 14 games.

A 2008 product of the University of Georgia, Gaines began his professional career with NGC Cantu in the Italian League in the 2008-09 season. He averaged 13.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 30 outings.

Toronto’s roster now stands at 15 players.

Mavericks trade Alexis Ajinca to Raptors

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have traded center Alexis Ajinca, a second round draft pick and cash considerations to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for the draft rights to forward Georgios Printezis.

Ajinca (7-2, 248) played in 10 games with 2 starts for Dallas this season. He averaged 2.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 7.5 minutes per game as a Maverick. Ajinca was originally acquired via trade from Charlotte on July 13, 2010.

Printezis (6-9, 230) was the 58th pick of the 2007 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs before Toronto acquired his rights from San Antonio for a future second round pick. Printezis is a native of Athens, Greece and plays professionally in Spain.

The Mavericks roster currently stands at 14 players.

Magic beat Raptors by 40

The Orlando Magic are better than the Toronto Raptors, but in case there was any confusion on the matter, Dwight Howard left no room for discussion.

The AP reports:

Dwight Howard kept getting easy baskets, so the Orlando Magic kept feeding him the ball.

It was just that simple against the lowly Toronto Raptors.

Howard had 31 points and 19 rebounds, helping the Magic rout the reeling Raptors 112-72 on Friday night…

Howard went 12 for 21 from the field and had nine offensive rebounds, almost as many as Toronto had as a team (14). He outrebounded the Raptors’ starting five (19-18) and dunked almost at will, scoring off what seemed like an endless stream of lobs from the Magic guards…

Ryan Anderson added 21 points for Orlando, which avenged a four-point home loss to the Raptors in November. J.J. Redick scored 12 points and Brandon Bass finished with 10.

DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 16 points. Andrea Bargnani scored all 11 of his points in the first half as Toronto picked up its sixth consecutive loss.

The Magic are now 28-15, the Raptors 13-30.

Raptors release Peja Stojakovic

The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday they have released forward Peja Stojakovic. Per team policy, financial details were not disclosed.

“We were clear from the beginning that our trade with New Orleans was made with the future in mind, so a buyout or trade of Peja’s contract was a likely option,” said Raptors President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo. “Although he did not fit into our plan of developing our young core talent, I’m sure that Peja will add significantly to any veteran team that signs him.”

Stojakovic was acquired with Jerryd Bayless from New Orleans on November 20. He appeared in two games with Toronto before being sidelined for the past 26 contests with a sore left knee.

The Raptors roster now stands at 14.

The Raptors continue their five-game road trip Friday at Orlando. Game time is 7 p.m. (TSN/Sportsnet Radio The FAN 590).

DeMar DeRozan to replace Brandon Jennings in 2011 dunk contest

NBA.com reports:

Brandon Jennings, the Milwaukee Bucks point guard who has missed 14 games with a fractured fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot, has withdrawn as a contestant in the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend, NBA.com has learned.

While Jennings is on track to return to the Bucks’ lineup within the next two weeks, the risk of re-injury while practicing for and participating in the dunk contest apparently caused the player and the Bucks to reconsider his involvement, sources said. A league spokesman declined to comment Wednesday and information on Jennings’ likely replacement could not be confirmed.

However, the NBA announced Thursday morning that Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan – the runner-up in last year’s Sprite Slam Dunk Contest — will replace Jennings this year in Los Angeles.

Jennings, 21, hurt his foot against in an awkward spill at San Antonio on Dec. 15 and struggled to play on it three nights later against Utah. The second-year guard had surgery on Dec. 20, with an expected layoff of four to six weeks. The Bucks, 10-15 when Jennings went down, are 5-9 since.

InsideHoops.com editor says: No knock on Brandon here but I have no idea why he was chosen in the first place. Obviously he’s super-athletic, but he rarely dunks. What are the odds he would suddenly turn out to have a 50-inch vertical leap when the dunk contest began? Anyway, DeRozan is a nice addition.

Raptors recall Solomon Alabi from D-League

The Toronto Raptors announced Friday rookie centre Solomon Alabi has been recalled from the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League.

Alabi was reassigned to the BayHawks on January 6. He appeared in four games during his latest stint with Erie, averaging 9.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 20.8 minutes. He posted his second double-double of the season with 20 points (9-11 FG) and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes January 9 versus the Maine Red Claws.

Alabi’s first assignment to the BayHawks was from November 15 – December 9. He has played a total of 11 games for Erie where he has contributed averages of 8.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 22.1 minutes.

Alabi has appeared in five games with the Raptors, totaling five rebounds in 15 minutes.

Alabi will be available for tonight’s game versus Detroit at Air Canada Centre. Game time is 7 p.m. (TSN/Sportsnet Radio FAN 590)