Toronto Raptors Blog – Page 61 – NBA Blog

Raptors sign second-round rookie Solomon Alabi

The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday they have signed centre Solomon Alabi (all-AH-bee). Per team policy, financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. The Raptors acquired the draft rights to Alabi (50th overall selection) from the Dallas Mavericks on June 24 for a 2013 conditional second-round pick and cash considerations.

Alabi, 7-foot-1, 250 pounds, was named All-ACC Defensive Team in his two full seasons at FSU. He started all 67 games, leading the Seminoles to the NCAA Tournament twice and the ACC Tournament Championship Game as a redshirt freshman. He averaged a school record 2.1 blocked shots per game for his career. He also shot .534 per cent from the field in his two-plus seasons with the Seminoles.

A native of Nigeria, Alabi averaged a team-best 11.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 32 games in 2009-10 campaign. He scored in double figures 18 times, including a career-high 22 points twice, in back-to-back games against Georgia State and Auburn. He also blocked a career-best seven shots against Boston College.

As a redshirt freshman in 2008-09, Alabi averaged 8.4 points and team bests of 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. He had a season-best 17 points with nine rebounds versus Clemson and rejected a season-high six shots against Charleston Southern.

Alabi played nine games as a freshman in 2007-08 before being sidelined with a stress fracture in his leg.

Linas Kleiza signs Toronto offer sheet

The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday they have signed restricted free-agent forward Linas Kleiza (LYNN-as CLAY-za) to an offer sheet. Per team policy, financial details were not disclosed. We’ll post contract details tonight.

The Denver Nuggets are expected to receive the offer sheet Friday. Under the terms of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, beginning Saturday they will have seven days to match the Raptors’ offer.

Kleiza played last season in Greece with Olympiakos after four seasons (2005-09) with the Nuggets. He averaged 14.0 points and 5.1 rebounds in 31 regular season games with Olympiakos. He shot .596 from the field, .374 from three-point range and .800 from the foul line.

In 22 Euroleague outings, Kleiza contributed 17.1 points and 6.5 rebounds. In the regular season he finished second in the Euroleague in scoring at 19.7 points per contest. He led Olympiakos to the Euroleague Championship game in Paris.

Kleiza averaged 8.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in 301 career games with Denver. He saw action in 26 postseason games, where he averaged 6.4 points and 3.2 rebounds. He averaged 14.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in the 2008 NBA Playoffs.

Kleiza, 6-foot-8, 245 pounds, was born in Lithuanian, attended high school in Maryland and played collegiately at the University of Missouri. He was selected 27th overall by Portland in the first round of the 2005 NBA Draft.

Raptors re-sign Amir Johnson

The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday they have re-signed free-agent forward Amir Johnson. Per team policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Johnson, 6-foot-9, 210 pounds, averaged career highs in points (6.2), rebounds (4.8) and minutes (17.7) while appearing in a career-best 82 games in the 2009-10 season. He upped his averages to 17.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 33.0 minutes during five games in a starting role. He also recorded a franchise single-season record by shooting .623 from the field (min. 200 shots).

Johnson scored in double-figures 21 times and posted double-digit totals on the glass on five occasions in his first season with the Raptors. He set a career high with 26 points April 12 at Detroit and grabbed a season-best 13 rebounds, including a career-high nine defensive boards, April 9 at Atlanta.

Johnson was acquired from Milwaukee with guard-forward Sonny Weems on August 18, 2009 after spending his previous four seasons in the NBA with the Detroit Pistons.

In 2008-09, Johnson averaged 3.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 14.7 minutes in 62 games. In 24 games as a starter, he averaged 4.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.04 blocks in 19.6 minutes. He recorded 17 games with two or more blocks shots and led the Pistons in field goal percentage at .595. He had a career-high 14 rebounds versus Sacramento on January 2, 2009.

The 23-year-old was selected out of Westchester (Los Angeles) High School by the Pistons in the second round of the 2005 NBA Draft.

Raptors sign Linas Kleiza to offer sheet

Doug Smith of the Toronto Star reports (via blog):

The Raptors have dipped a foot in to the NBA free agent waters but it’s not a move that should cause too many ripples.

As we mentioned here the other day, the chance to get Linas Kleiza in the fold a year after an earlier dalliance was too much to resist and the Raptors have signed the restricted free agent to an offer sheet.

Seeing how my very good spies tell me Kleiza was actually spotted in Toronto last night, I’m sure he’ll stop by the Raptors office and sign the offer sheet today…

The Denver Nuggets have seven days to match the contract – which is four years and $20 million.

Raptors sign rookie Ed Davis

The Toronto Raptors announced Tuesday they have signed forward Ed Davis from North Carolina to his rookie scale contract. He is under contract through the 2011-12 season, with two team option years to follow. The Raptors selected Davis with the 13th overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft. Per team policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Davis, 6-foot-10, 225 pounds averaged 9.2 points and 7.7 rebounds in 61 total outings in his two-year career at North Carolina. He ranked as the third-fastest player in school history to record 100 blocked shots (51 games) behind Rasheed Wallace (47) and Sam Perkins (50). He finished with 129 rejections (2.1 per game).

Davis averaged 13.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and shot .578 per cent from the field in 23 games last season before sustaining a season-ending injury February 10 with a broken lunate bone in his left wrist. He led the Atlantic Coast Conference in field goal percentage and blocked shots (64), was second in rebounding and 15th in scoring. He shot better than 50 percent from the field in 18 of his 23 games. He totaled 20 or more points four times, including a high of 22 against Michigan State. He collected 15 or more rebounds four times, with a best of 16 at College of Charleston and at Maryland. He scored in double figures 17 times and grabbed 10 or more rebounds on 11 occasions.

Davis averaged 6.7 points and 6.6 rebounds as a freshman in 2008-09 helping the Tar Heels to the NCAA Championship. He averaged 8.2 points and 5.5 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament, making 20-of-35 shots from the floor (.571). He was North Carolina’s defensive player of the game in the team’s first three NCAA tournament wins. He earned ACC All-Freshman Team honours.

Davis’ father, Terry, played 10 seasons (1989-2001) in the NBA with Miami, Dallas, Denver and Washington.

Raptors will keep Amir Johnson

Doug Smith of the Toronto Star reports:

The Raptors aren’t waiting around for Chris Bosh.

While their highest-profile free agent meets with prospective suitors, the Raptors have locked up Amir Johnson on the first day of NBA free agency.

Teams are precluded from announcing any signings until July 8 but Johnson’s agent, the well-respected Bill Duffy, confirmed the signing.

Johnson, who broke out in an excellent 2009-10 season, has agreed to a five-year, $34 million contract.

“It was very important to him to get something done,” said Duffy. “He really wanted to be there, he loves the team, the city, the fans. It was a good fit.”

The 23-year-old Johnson, a 6-foot-9 power forward, averaged 6.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in 17.7 minutes per game with the Raptors last season. But it was his nightly effort and athleticism that endeared him to his coaches and teammates and led Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo to make signing him an off-season priority.

Dwyane Wade gives Heat a wish-list of free agent targets

Michael Wallace of the Miami Herald reports:

Dwyane Wade has given the Miami Heat his “wish list” of potential targets he wants team president Pat Riley to pursue when free agency opens at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.

Landing the services of LeBron James and either Amare Stoudemire or Chris Bosh in Miami would be the beginning of the kind of championship makeover Wade seeks this summer.

Wade stopped short of offering names of the marquee players he discussed with Riley in recent weeks. But the Heat’s star guard repeatedly mentioned James and Bosh when he talked about players who instantly could push a team to title contention.

Talk of James and Bosh coming to Miami intensified Monday amid national speculation the two were leaning toward joining Wade, with each taking slightly less money than the maximum they could command.

Mavericks trade Solomon Alabi draft rights to Raptors

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have traded the draft rights to center Solomon Alabi to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for the Raptors’ 2013 second round draft pick and cash. Alabi was the 50th overall selection of the 2010 NBA Draft.

Charlie Villanueva charged with domestic assault

The AP reports

The Toronto Star is reporting that Detroit Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva faces a charge of domestic assault after a May 19 incident in Burlington, Ontario.

The newspaper reported that the 25-year-old Villanueva was released by Halton Regional Police on a promise to appear in court on July 9. The name of complainant and other details about the incident weren’t available Tuesday.

His lawyer, Owen Wigderson, told the Toronto Star that Villanueva, “denies all allegations of wrongdoing and I’m very confident that he’ll be exonerated.”

InsideHoops.com says

Until there is real reason to think otherwise we will automatically assume and hope that Charlie is innocent.

Raptors hire P.J. Carlesimo

The Toronto Raptors announced Wednesday they have added veteran NBA coach P.J. Carlesimo as an assistant to head coach Jay Triano’s staff. Carlesimo brings 35 years of coaching experience to the Raptors, including 13 seasons in the NBA.

This will be the second time that Triano and Carlesimo have worked together. Carlesimo was the head coach and Triano his assistant of the USA Basketball Select Team in 2007 and 2008.

“I got to know P.J. and had the opportunity to watch him work with USA Basketball,” said Triano. “He is highly respected within the NBA coaching fraternity. He possesses experience at all levels of the game which will make him a great addition to our coaching staff.”

Carlesimo spent five seasons (2002-2007) as Gregg Popovich’s lead assistant with the San Antonio Spurs where they captured three NBA titles. He also served as the head coach in Portland (1994-97), Golden State (1996-2000) and Seattle/Oklahoma City (2007-09). Each of Carlesimo’s three teams in Portland finished in the top three in the NBA in rebounding totals. All three teams also held opponents to under 100 points, with each season lower than the previous year. His 1998-99 Golden State squad set franchise records for defensive field goal percentage (.420) and fewest points allowed (90.8).

Prior to joining the NBA in 1994, Carlesimo was the head coach at Seton Hall University for 12 seasons. He led the Pirates to the NCAA Tournament in six of his final seven campaigns. He was named NCAA Coach of the Year in 1989 after his squad finished 31-7, and advanced to the NCAA Championship Game. In addition, he was named Big East Coach of the Year in 1988 and 1989.