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Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard/forward Cartier Martin for the reminder of the season. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not announced.
Martin originally signed with Washington on March 30. In five games for the Wizards, Martin has averaged 8.0 points and 2.6 rebounds.
Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard Cedric Jackson to a ten-day contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not announced.
As the NBA’s 32nd GATORADE call-up from the D-League this season, Martin (6-3, 190 lbs.) has averaged 16.4 points and 7.4 assists (including a season-high effort of 34 points and 13 assists vs. Dakota on Feb. 26th) in 34 games (24 starts) for the Erie Bayhawks. Jackson also appeared in eight NBA games this season (three for San Antonio, five for Cleveland), and saw his teams go 8-0 in those contests. A rookie out of Cleveland State, Jackson is best remembered for connecting on a game-winning three-pointer from three-quarters court in a Cleveland St. upset win at Syracuse during the 2008-09 NCAA season.
Jackson will be in uniform tonight in New Orleans (8:00 pm on CSN, 106.7 The Fan, and 1370 Sports Radio in Baltimore) and will wear uniform #9.
Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard/forward Cartier Martin to a ten-day contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not announced.
As the NBA’s 30th call-up from the D-League this season, Martin (6-7, 220 lbs.) averaged 17.3 points (including a season-high 37 points vs. Erie on March 6th), along with 4.5 rebounds per game in 31 games (27 starts) for the Iowa Energy. In 10 games for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors this season, Martin averaged 9.0 points and 4.7 rebounds in 27.6 minutes per game. He has appeared in 43 career NBA games (three starts), including 33 games with the Charlotte Bobcats last season.
Martin will be in uniform tonight in Houston (8:30 pm on CSN+, 106.7 The Fan, and 1370 Sports Radio in Baltimore) and will wear uniform #20.
The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have signed forward Alonzo Gee from the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League. Per team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.
The 6-6, 220 lbs. Gee had previously been playing with the Washington Wizards where he signed his first of two 10-day contracts on 3/7. In 11 games -including two starts- with Washington he averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 16.5 minutes. He scored a career-high 19 points in his first career start on 3/26 at Charlotte. Prior to joining the Wizards, Gee had appeared in 36 games for the Austin Toros where he averaged 21.0 points and 6.6 rebounds in 38.2 minutes. Gee has recorded four double-doubles for the Toros this season and notched a season-high 34 points vs. Sioux Falls on 1/6.
In his four years at Alabama, Gee averaged 12.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 128 career games. Gee started 96 consecutive games with the Crimson Tide and finished his collegiate career 11th in school history in scoring (1,630) and 18th in rebounds (730). An All-SEC selection in both his junior and senior seasons, he is only the 11th player in Alabama history to score at least 1,500 points and grab 700 rebounds.
Gee will wear #23.
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Philadelphia 76ers coach Eddie Jordan may or may not have lost some or all of the team, but really, chances are at least a few of those guys have lost themselves. Certain players realize they aren’t having a great season and the team’s upside being so limited probably affects them just as much as not necessarily agreeing with everything Jordan does.
But, also, the triangle offense simply doesn’t work if a coach doesn’t have the right pieces for the puzzle.
Simply put, the 76ers have a limited roster and wouldn’t be doing much better than they are under another coach.
As for Real Madrid reportedly preparing to make Manu Ginobili a huge offer, the report came from Europe. And sorry to say, but a lot of reports from that continent regarding NBA players are either only partially true, or lost in translation. The offer may or may not come to exist. And chances are, he’ll re-sign with the Spurs.
Juwan Howard is right to not think about retiring yet. He can still help teams as a backup.
Shaquille O’Neal should keep playing, too. If he isn’t good on the court, he can help a team by acting as a security guard in the parking lot before and after each game, and occasionally breakdancing during timeouts.
Dwight Howard leads the league in technical fouls, with 15. He’s followed by Boston Celtics teammates Kendrick Perkins and Rasheed Wallace.
Andray Blatche finally said he was sorry for acting out of line the other day. With all the issues the Washington Wizards have had this season, it’ll be forgotten. He’s still raised his stock nicely over the last month.
As expected by people following the situation all along, the Washington Capitals owner will become the next Wizards owner. For fun, they should let the Capitals hockey team and the Wizards basketball team occasionally practice together, on the same floor at the same time. Hilarity will ensue.
Raptors struggles mean more articles coming out about Chris Bosh possibly leaving town this summer. There have only been 27,500,000 of those so far. More are needed.
Bosh should consider the attention a compliment. If we national media members stop talking about you, it probably means you don’t matter. Bosh matters.
Eddy Curry remains out. In equally shocking news, the sun is hot.
There’s no reason for Tyreke Evans to rush back until his head fully clears up. He and the Kings know this.
Tons of NBA games Friday night, but you should DVR your favorites and watch live NCAA Tournament instead, even if you don’t follow college hoops.
Go INSIDE HOOPS every day. Talk to you Saturday.
This feature is an editorialized take on the day’s hot NBA rumors stories.
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Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas will not be going to jail.
The NBA star was in court Friday for his sentencing from gun-related charges, and is probably fairly happy with the outcome.
According to reporter Mike Jones (formerly of the Washington Times), Arenas was sentenced to 30 days in a Halfway House, two years of supervised probation, 400 hours of community service, plus he must contribute $5,000 to a Victims of Violent Crimes fund.
More on this later today.
It remains to be seen whether Arenas will ever play again for his current Wizards team. He’s currently suspended by the NBA for the rest of the season, but it’s quite possible he’ll be back on the court with them in 2010-11. It’ll probably be tough for the Wizards to void his contract based on today’s legal results. They can try to do that, or attempt to trade him, or maybe just mend fences and try to put all this in the past and use him as they would any other player.
UPDATE: STATEMENT FROM WIZARDS
“We believe today’s sentencing of Gilbert Arenas can help bring closure to the unfortunate situation that has played out over the last three months. Gilbert has admitted his mistakes and will now pay his debt to our community. We are confident that he has learned something significant from the experience and we now look forward to moving on and focusing on building this team into the contender that our outstanding fans deserve.”
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Since the Washington Wizards scrapped their team, two main things have happened that I can think of. First, Josh Howard’s season ended due to injury. And second, big-man Andray Blatche emerged as a legit talent. His stats in the last month or so are inflated because he tends to get the ball a heck of a lot, but still, he’s doing great.
But as you read on the rumors page today, he messed up yesterday, arguing with Flip Saunders and then reportedly refusing to play the rest of the game. By doing this, Blatche sent a message to the masses that he has maturity issues to work on. Hopefully he does the right thing, says sorry to his coach and team, and moves on positively from there. But the Wizards really don’t need any more nonsense from any players.
The Knicks don’t need Raja Bell at all this season. It’s pointless to add him. Bell should probably just hang out someplace cool, regain full health, and focus on joining a championship contender next season.
I definitely hope Don Nelson goes on to coach the Warriors in summer league play, as he reportedly plans. The more head coaches involved in those games, the better. It’ll just raise the level of everything and make the games that much better.
Madison Square Garden’s atmosphere is electric and amazing, even in losing seasons. Can’t wait to see what it’s like when they have an actual good team out there.
The Nuggets without Kenyon Martin probably aren’t a championship contender. He’s certainly not their best player, but they drop a half-rung down the ladder without him.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas returned to the Cavaliers! In equally shocking news, I ate food today, and will likely do so again tomorrow.
I laughed when hearing that Nets CEO Brett Yormark snapped at a fan. I have no followup comment. That’s just friggin funny on its own. Anyway, Yormark is a respected guy. He’s fine. Just a rough day. Or season. But the Nets should give that fan a signed jersey and a free basketball or something. Or a date with a Nets dancer.
On second thought, I’ll take the Nets dancer date. The fan can have the jersey.
Talk to you tomorrow.
This feature is an editorialized take on the day’s hot NBA rumors stories.
Michael Lee of the Washington Post reports (via blog):
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Mired in a 12-game slide and facing the distraction of supended guard Gilbert Arenas’s sentencing on Friday, the Washington Wizards have another potential mess on their hands with the benching of Andray Blatche in Tuesday’s 95-86 loss to Charlotte.
Wizards Coach Flip Saunders removed Blatche from the game after he played 7 minutes 31 seconds in the first quarter. Saunders said initially he wanted to talk to the power forward about not getting back on defense. Blatche, however, wanted no part of the discussion and essentially boycotted the rest of the game.
That left the Wizards short-handed in a game they may have won had Blatche been reinserted. With Blatche watching from the bench, Washington ended up getting outrebounded 61-42, including a 23-11 deficit offensively. Among players still with the team and eligible to participate, Blatche leads the Wizards in scoring at 12.7 points per game.
“Yeah I guess, just because of everything,” Saunders said when asked if this incident was the low point in a season filled with forgettable moments.
Michael Lee of the Washington Post reports:
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Gilbert Arenas’s troubles were magnified recently, when he discovered that his estranged mother, Mary Francis Robinson, died in Miami.
Robinson passed away on March 13, but Arenas didn’t find out until a few days later, according to multiple sources. The cause of her death is not known.
Arenas wasn’t close to his mother, who abandoned him at young age and left him to be raised by his father, Gilbert Sr., from the time that he was 3.
Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard Shaun Livingston for the remainder of the season. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not announced.
Livingston originally signed with Washington on February 26, and was signed to a second 10-day contract on March 9. In 10 games for the Wizards (two starts), Livingston has averaged 4.9 points and 3.3 assists in 15.5 minutes per game, including season-highs of 18 points and eight assists vs. ORL (3/13).