Eddy Curry will be last Knick to report for workouts

Marc Berman of the New York Post reports:

Eddy Curry will be last Knick to report for workouts

Eddy Curry has claimed another dubious distinction — last one in.

The Knicks’ 7-foot center still has not shown up at the team’s Westchester compound to participate in pre-training-camp voluntary workouts/scrimmages, according to multiple sources.

With new Russian center Timofey Mozgov arriving in New York last night, Curry will become the last Knick to report, according to sources. The official reporting date is Friday, with two-a-day practices starting Saturday.

Knicks brass hasn’t seen or heard from Curry in more than three months. Curry, in the final year of his contract, also blew off the July summer league in Las Vegas, where he was expected to work out. Curry has spent most of the summer in Chicago, where a warrant was out for his arrest for failure to pay a judgment. He’s also been seen at the Jersey Shore.


New York Knicks center Eddy Curry shoots a free throw against the Charlotte Bobcats in an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, North Carolina on December 15, 2009. UPI/Nell Redmond Photo via Newscom

Corey Maggette still healing

Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

Corey Maggette still healing

Bucks coach Scott Skiles said at the team’s annual golf outing Monday that Bogut will be ready for the start of training camp in one week.

But Maggette, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle during the off-season, will be brought along slowly at the start of camp.

“He’s not quite ready yet,” Skiles said of Maggette, whom the Bucks acquired in a trade with the Golden State Warriors. “He’s made great progress, but our camp is tough.

“We don’t want that to be his first action. We’ll ease him into it a little bit. We have the non-contact practices and we’ll have some days throughout October where we won’t go as hard based on our schedule. The first week of camp can be a shock to anybody’s system.


Feb 16, 2010; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Corey Maggette (50) dribbles the ball during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. The Lakers defeated the Warriors 104-94. Photo via Newscom

Hornets sign Joe Alexander

Hornets sign Joe Alexander

The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have signed free agent forward Joe Alexander.  Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released. The addition of Alexander puts the training camp roster at 15 thus far.

Alexander (6-8, 230), the eighth overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, has played in the NBA for two seasons. During his rookie season with the Bucks, Alexander appeared in 59 games, averaging 4.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 12.1 minutes per game. Alexander, the first-ever Taiwanese-born NBA player, missed the first 41 games of the 2009-10 season with a hamstring injury before being assigned to the NBA D-League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants in January. While in the D-League, he averaged 10.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 26.8 minutes per game over six D-League games (three starts). Shortly after his stint in Fort Wayne, Alexander was traded to the Chicago Bulls along with Hakim Warrick for John Salmons on February 8, 2010. Alexander played in eight games for the Bulls, registering 0.5 points and 0.6 rebounds per game in 3.6 minutes of play.

Alexander, 23 years old, played three seasons for West Virginia University before declaring early for the NBA Draft. He was named All-Big East First-Team and a All-American Honorable Mention his junior season for the Mountaineers after averaging team-highs of 16.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.


Oct 15, 2008 - Guangzhou, China - Milwaukee Bucks' JOE ALEXANDER (R #11) shoots against Golden State Warriors' BRANDAN WRIGHT Photo via Newscom

Ed Davis out six weeks after knee surgery

Ed Davis out six weeks after knee surgery

The Toronto Raptors announced Monday that rookie forward Ed Davis underwent arthroscopic surgery this morning to repair a meniscus tear to his right knee. He is expected to be participating in basketball-related activities within six weeks. Davis sustained the injury last Wednesday playing basketball.

The procedure was performed by team medical director/orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Paul Marks at Sunnybrook Hospital.

The Raptors’ first-round selection in the 2010 NBA Draft (13th overall), Davis finished third on the team in scoring (12.6) and second in rebounding (6.0) during the Las Vegas Summer League. He tied for the team lead with nine blocks. Davis had 15 points and eight rebounds in his professional debut vs. Phoenix.

WNBA: Carol Blazejowski leaving the Liberty

The New York Liberty announced today that Carol Blazejowski, the team’s President and General Manager will leave the team. The announcement was made by Scott O’Neil, President, MSG Sports.

“Carol has been an integral part of the Liberty from the very beginning. We thank her for her many years of passion, commitment and dedication to the team and the entire WNBA. Carol is a true professional and a class act and there is no doubt that she has more success ahead of her. We wish her the very best in her future endeavors,” said O’Neil.

A search for new leadership for the Liberty will begin immediately.

Following a playing career that included All American honors in 1976, 1977 and 1978 at Montclair State, Blazejowski began her professional career at Adidas where she worked for 10 years before moving to the National Basketball Association. At the NBA, she served as Director of Licensing, Director of Women’s Basketball Programs and finally as the WNBA’s Director of Basketball Development. Blazejowski joined the Liberty in January of 1997.

Kings to introduce variable ticket pricing

Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee reports:

The Kings will announce today they will introduce variable pricing when individual game tickets go on sale Oct. 2.

That means ticket prices will be market-driven. So games likely to be in high demand – the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat – will be priced higher than games not so high in demand – the Los Angeles Clippers or New Jersey Nets.

The Kings sought out consumers’ opinions on how to bring them back to Arco, and variable pricing is the latest response to fans’ concerns.

“We’ve talked to our season-ticket holders at length, both in person and through a lot of surveys, and the NBA,” said Kings vice president of marketing and communications Mitch Germann. “A lot of NBA teams are going to do (variable pricing), too. I know in Major League Baseball some teams have been doing it for a while.”

Hornets sign DJ Strawberry and Darryl Watkins

The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have signed free agent guard D.J. Strawberry and center Darryl Watkins.  Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not released. The addition of Strawberry and Watkins puts the training camp roster at 14 thus far.

Strawberry (6-5, 205) was drafted in the second round (59th overall) in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. He appeared in 33 games for the Suns during the 2007-08 season, averaging 2.2 points in 8.2 minutes of play. He was sent down to the NBA D-League for five games by the Suns to play for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds. In five games, Strawberry averaged 31.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 41.4 minutes of play and was named the D-League performer of the week for his play. After being traded to the Houston Rockets prior to the 2008-09 season, Strawberry was cut before the regular season and signed with Fortitudo Bologna of the Italian League. In Italy, he averaged 11.1 points and 3.2 rebounds in 19 games during the regular season and 14.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in six games during the Eurocup.

The son of former Major League Baseball player Darryl Strawberry, D.J. played for the Reno Bighorns of the D-League last season. In 26 games, he averaged 13.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 27.8 minutes of play. Most recently, the Mater Dei High School graduate (Santa Ana, Ca.) played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Summer League this past July in Las Vegas. In five games, he poured in 13.0 points and 2.2 assists in 26.2 minutes of play. Strawberry played four years at the University of Maryland, earning many honors including being elected second team All-ACC his senior season.

Watkins (6-11, 258) signed with the Sacramento Kings after being undrafted in the 2007 NBA Draft. Watkins appeared in nine games during the 2007-08 season with the Kings, averaging 1.3 points and 1.3 rebounds in 7.9 minutes of play. The Patterson, NJ native was waived by the Kings in December of 2007 and split the rest of the season with the Los Angeles D-Fenders and the Iowa Energy of the NBA D-League. In Los Angeles, he appeared in 18 games (16 starts), averaging 4.9 points and 5.7 rebounds in 19.8 minutes. In 22 games (11 starts), Watkins put up 8.5 points and 5.9 rebounds in 20.3 minutes of play for the Energy.

Watkins played for the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2008 Las Vegas Summer League and signed a two-year deal with the San Antonio Spurs in September of 2008. He was cut just before the 2008 season and signed with Tianjin of the Chinese Basketball League for the 2008-09 season. In China, he played in 43 games, averaging 20.7 points and 14.0 rebounds in 41.6 minutes of play. Last season, he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the preseason, but was cut just before the regular season. Most recently, he appeared for the Indiana Pacers in the Orlando Summer League and the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Summer League this past July. Watkins played four years at Syracuse University with career averages of 6.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game over 106 appearances (67 starts). He ranks fifth in Syracuse history with 263 career blocks.

Jon Brockman gets his own burger

Paul Imig, special to OnMilwaukee.com, reports:

Jon Brockman gets his own burger

It didn’t take long for Jon Brockman to make his mark in Milwaukee, and that was two weeks before even beginning his first training camp with the Bucks.

Brockman and AJ Bombers teamed up to create the Brockness Burger, with Milwaukee’s recently acquired power forward donating $10 to Special Olympics Wisconsin for every one of his signature burgers sold over the next week.

Despite moving to Milwaukee less than four weeks ago and still living out of a hotel, Brockman said he wanted to find a way to quickly become a part of the local community.

“The more stuff like this you do, it makes it more real and more fun,” Brockman said. “I knew I wanted to get plugged into something and be a part of something here in Milwaukee. I just decided to give this a try.”

See picture of the burger.