NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
Chicago Bulls center Aaron Gray developed lower leg pain over the last two days. He was examined by team physician Dr. Brian Cole of Midwest Orthopedics at Rush University Medical Center and it was determined that he has a stress fracture of his left fibula. The diagnosis was confirmed by MRI. He is likely out 6-8 weeks.
The 7-0, 270-pound Gray is entering his third NBA season, playing each year with the Bulls.
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The Phoenix Suns were a fun, super-fast, run-and-gun team back in the not-so-distant past. Then they made a bunch of trades, added Shaquille O’Neal, and became a regular squad that fast-breaked about as much as anyone else.
Now, Shaq is gone and Steve Nash has guys like Jason Richardson, Amar’e Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa to toss the rock to. Guys with quickness and athletic ability.
What this means is, the fun Suns may reappear.
The AP reports:
The Suns begin training camp with “a clear vision of how we’re going to play,” Steve Nash said at the team’s media day on Monday.
That would be fast and furious, just like in the days when Mike D’Antoni was coach.
“This year I think it’s going to be much clearer as to who we are and how we’re going to play,” Nash said, “and that’s going to allow us to build a chemistry and believe in one another.”
It’ll be interesting to see how aging Steve Nash performs in 2009-10.
Portland Trail Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge wants a contract extension, and apparently the team isn’t quite ready to offer what he may feel he’s worth.
Joe Freeman of The Oregonian reports:
LaMarcus Aldridge expressed displeasure and confusion Monday afternoon at the unresolved status of his contract negotiations with the Trail Blazers.
Speaking publicly for the first time since negotiations started in July, Aldridge said at the team’s annual media day that he was stunned the Blazers had not signed him to a long-term contract, particularly considering the prominent role he has played in helping transform the franchise into a Western Conference power.
“I didn’t think it would take this long,” Aldridge said. “I thought that after what we did last year, having 54 wins and after the big change that’s happened … here, I just felt like it wouldn’t be this hard to get it done. But it is. I can’t say that I’m happy about it.”
Nothing really to worry about just yet.
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Star point guard Chris Paul is the heart and soul of the New Orleans Hornets. While reducing his minutes during the season to keep him fresh for the playoffs and healthy long-term has been a regular goal, it’s been hard to do.
But maybe this is the season CP3 gets preserved a bit.
John DeShazier of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports:
“I think so,” Byron Scott said Monday at the New Orleans Arena hours before the team trekked to Lafayette to hold the first week of training camp, beginning today. “I’m really comfortable and more confident this year that I’ll be able to do it with Bobby (Brown) and Darren (Collison). They’re going to be fighting it out for the backup role.
“Both of those guys have had their moments in the scrimmages the last couple of weeks. So I feel really good that I’m going to be able to cut (Paul’s) minutes down to what I think he should be playing, which is about 34 to 35 minutes, not 39 minutes.”
Seeing Paul a bit less on the floor may not please his biggest fans live as the game happens, but perhaps they’ll get to enjoy his career a few extra seasons down the road as a result.
Remember the Washington Wizards? They were pretty good a while back, when Gilbert Arenas and various other key guys were fully healthy. The team has been forgotten about in recent seasons but they hope to place themselves back on the map in 2009-10.
Mike Jones of the Washington Times reports:
From new coach Flip Saunders to three-time All-Star/three-time surgery survivor Gilbert Arenas to free-agent-to-be Brendan Haywood down to aging backup point guard Mike James, every member of the Wizards has some individual criticism, fault or doubt to disprove.
But when the Wizards’ players held court during media day Monday at Verizon Center, the common theme – as cliche as it may sound – was Just win.
DeShawn Stevenson and offseason acquisitions Mike Miller and Randy Foye will compete for the starting spot at shooting guard, but all three said they’ll accept whomever Saunders chooses to start and do their part to contribute.
On paper, the Wizards should qualify for the playoffs in the East. Whether they’re a first-round-and-out team or something better remains to be seen.
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Eddy Curry showed nice potential offensively as an inside force with the Chicago Bulls and early on with the New York Knicks, but things have gone downhill since 2006-07. In 2007-08 Curry played just 59 games and averaged an unimpressive 13.2 points and 4.7 rebounds. Last season he didn’t really exist, registering a mere three games played and spending the season an injured, out of shape mess.
Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reports:
Curry is also one of the highest-paid Knicks despite never appearing in a playoff game. He has two years left on his contract and his future in New York is shaky at best. Curry was never in shape last season and quickly fell out of favor with D’Antoni. It began when he missed camp with a stomach virus. His year was further derailed by a series of events off the court, including the murder of his infant daughter, which set him back emotionally as well.
Curry dropped 40 pounds but he’s not 100% fit. He already has injured his left hamstring and right calf during scrimmages last week but plans to practice with his teammates today at Skidmore College. It’s not much but it’s something.
The Knicks, in full rebuild mode, still look to deal Curry for expiring contracts.
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The Memphis Grizzlies today announced that they have mutually agreed to allow guard Marko Jaric to not join the team for training camp and the preseason, and have provided permission for Jaric’s agent to seek a roster spot with another team.
“With the offseason additions of Allen Iverson, Marcus Williams and Sam Young, our backcourt has become crowded,” Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace said. “Therefore, we have agreed with Marko Jaric and his representatives that he is permitted to seek out another situation that will provide him with a better opportunity to play. Marko is a proven NBA player and is deserving of such an opportunity.”
Jaric, a seven-year NBA veteran, owns career averages of 7.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 25.2 minutes in 447 games with the Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves and last season with the Grizzlies. Memphis acquired the 6-7, 224-pound guard, along with the draft rights to O.J. Mayo, Greg Buckner and Antoine Walker in exchange for the draft rights to Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins on June 26, 2008. Jaric was originally selected by the Clippers in the second round of the 2000 NBA Draft (30th overall) and played six years professionally in Europe before making his NBA debut in 2002.
New Detroit Pistons guard Ben Gordon was a big part of the Bulls, on offense at least. Will Chicago miss him? Yes, but John Salmons is more than capable of easing the pain.
John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times reports:
The reason no one is sweating the loss of Gordon is the presence of Salmons.
Though he played almost exclusively at small forward since bring acquired from the Sacramento Kings in February last season because of the injury to Deng, Salmons actually has spent most of his career playing shooting guard.
He probably won’t lead the team in scoring like Gordon, but Salmons is more of an all-around player and at 6-6 gives the Bulls more size in the backcourt than they’ve had in years.
”[Salmons] gives you a little more versatility,” coach Vinny Del Negro said. ”We’ll have to wait and see how all that pans out, but you like that length.
Both the Bulls and Pistons will be fun to watch early on in the season as they adjust to summer roster changes.
Discuss the Bulls on the InsideHoops Chicago Bulls forum.
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The Orlando Magic aren’t really themselves anymore with Hedo Turkoglu gone and Vince Carter in his place. There are other changes too, of course, like rugged forward Brandon Bass coming on board.
But despite reaching the NBA Finals last season, the Magic weren’t truly themselves because point guard Jameer Nelson was injured.
Although the team will be different this season, fans should get to see the old Nelson again.
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reports:
Is Jameer Nelson back to being his old self?
“I feel good — normal now,” he said. “I worked harder this summer than I did any summer ever because I had to. I wanted to get back to the level I was at. I didn’t want to become just one of the guys.”
Nelson concedes that the little guy running around in the NBA Finals against the L.A. Lakers, making a surprise return just four months after major shoulder surgery, was an imposter.
“I was nowhere near 100 percent,” he said after a recent workout at RDV Sportsplex. “I’m not sure of where I was at. Because of who I am, I was really confident out there. I didn’t play with any lack of confidence. It was just me knowing the reality of the situation, knowing I couldn’t do certain things.
“I had to tone things down a little bit.”
The Magic will be interesting to watch in 2009-10. Even with Nelson playing like his old self, I can’t help but wonder if they’ll take a step backwards this season.
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Shaquille O’Neal is old but still good (and big) enough to contribute positively to a team. I worry that he’ll throw Cleveland Cavaliers chemistry off a bit this season, though. Even if he’s more effective than Zydrunas Ilgauskas for stretches, Big Z can hit open mid-range jumpers that Shaq can’t make.
Anyway, Cleveland welcomed Shaq to town in style. The AP reports:
Shaq got in one last party before training camp.
Shaquille O’Neal, the big man Cleveland is counting on to deliver this championship-starved city a title, was welcomed to town Sunday with a star-studded party that included sports celebrities and Average Joes looking to rub elbows with them.
Fashionably late, O’Neal arrived in an SUV at 11:15 p.m. as fans, one of them holding a life-size cardboard cutout of O’Neal in an Orlando Magic uniform, cheered on the sidewalks and took pictures of the town’s newest superstar, who will be teammates with reigning league MVP LeBron James.
O’Neal has had a good first impression of Cleveland.
”It’s a nice town,” he said. ”The entertainment is already here. Everything is here. The Browns are here, LeBron is here and now I’m here.”
NBA preseason begins this Thursday.
