Jazz make qualifying offer to Paul Millsap

Jazz make qualifying offer to Paul Millsap

Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today that the team has tendered a qualifying offer to forward Paul Millsap.  Per team policy, financial terms were not released.

In accordance with the league’s collective bargaining agreement, in order for a team to retain its right of first refusal with respect to a restricted free agent, the team must tender the player a qualifying offer prior to June 30. A restricted free agent may sign an offer sheet with any team, but is subject to a right of first refusal with the team for which the player last played.

Millsap (6-8, 250, Louisiana Tech), who finished fourth in voting for the league’s Most Improved Player award, had a career season in 2008-09, appearing in 76 games (38 starts) averaging 13.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 30.1 minutes.  He also collected 19-straight double-doubles at one point during the season, the longest streak in the NBA since 2006. He finished the season with 29 overall.  Originally selected by the Jazz in the second round (47th overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft, Millsap has appeared in 240 of a possible 246 games over his first three seasons and owns career averages of 9.4 points and 6.4 rebounds in 22.8 minutes per game.

Pistons trade Chase Budinger to Rockets

The Detroit Pistons announced that the club has traded the draft rights to Chase Budinger to Houston Rockets for a future second round draft pick and cash considerations.

Budinger averaged 18.0 points last season at the University of Arizona.  In 100 collegiate games, he averaged 17.0 points and 5.8 rebodunds.  A First-Team All-Pac-10 selection as a junior, Budinger also earned Honorable Mention All-American Honors from The Associated Press both his junior and senior seasons.  His 1,697 points ranks 11th on the Wildcats’ all-time scoring list.

Timberwolves trade Nick Calathes to Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have selected forward Ahmad Nivins with the 56th overall selection of the 2009 NBA Draft and have acquired 45th pick Nick Calathes from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for the future second round pick of the Portland Trailblazers that the Mavericks obtained in a trade on June 24, 2009.

Nivins (6-9, 242) finished his career as the third-leading scorer in the history of Saint Josheph’s University with 1,789 points. He was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year following his senior season after averaging 19.2 points and 11.8 rebounds while shooting .612 from the field and starting all 32 games. Nivins was All-America honorable mention and became just the second player in A-10 history to lead the league in field goal percentage for three consecutive seasons.

Lakers trade Patrick Beverley to Heat

The Los Angeles Lakers have sent the draft rights to second round selection (42nd overall) Patrick Beverley to the Miami Heat in exchange for a 2011 second round draft pick and cash considerations, it was announced today.

Entering the 2009 NBA Draft, the Lakers held the 29th overall selection in the first round as well as two additional second round picks (42nd and 59th overall).

Warriors make operation staff moves

The Golden State Warriors announced several moves within the team’s basketball operations staff today.

Travis Schlenk, 35, has been named the team’s Director of Player Personnel.  Schlenk has spent the last five seasons with the Warriors, serving as an assistant coach for the last four seasons after joining the team as a video scout prior to the 2004-05 campaign.

Scott Pruneau, 43, has been named the team’s Director of Scouting.  Pruneau, who has worked for the Warriors organization in various capacities for the past 26 seasons, had served as a college scout for the past five years.  He also previously spent three seasons at the team’s advance scout.

Larry Harris, 46, will serve in a new capacity as a Consultant/Scout after joining the Warriors as an assistant coach in November of 2008.

Lee Mayberry, 39, joins the Warriors organization as a Scout.  A veteran of seven NBA seasons as a player from 1992-93 thru 1998-99, Mayberry joins Golden State’s scouting staff that includes Pruneau, Harris, Jim Mitchell and Kosta Jankov.

Trail Blazers trade Sergio Rodriguez, Jon Brockman to Kings for Jeff Pendergraph

The Portland Trail Blazers acquired the draft rights to forward Jeff Pendergraph (31st overall pick) from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for guard Sergio Rodriguez, the draft rights to forward Jon Brockman (38th overall pick) and cash considerations, it was announced today by General Manager Kevin Pritchard.

“Sergio was a big part of our turnaround and we’d like to thank him for his contributions to the Trail Blazers over the last three years. We wish him all the best going forward,” said Pritchard. “We’re excited to add a player like Jeff, who is a four-year starter, hard worker and has a strong athletic presence inside. We feel he can help this team.”

Pendergraph, 22, played four seasons at Arizona State, where he finished with career averages of 12.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.04 blocked shots and a 58.0 percent shooting percentage.

The 6-9, 240-pound forward set school records for games played (126) and started (120) and his 1,588 points are sixth best all-time.

As a senior, Pendergraph averaged 14.5 points and was named to the Pac-10’s First Team. His 66.0 percent shooting percentage led the nation.

Rodriguez, 23, averaged 3.6 points, 1.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 12.4 minutes over three seasons with the Trail Blazers. Portland originally acquired the draft rights to the Spanish guard from Phoenix for cash considerations in a 2006 draft day trade.

Wizards trade Jermaine Taylor to Rockets for cash

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the Washington Wizards have received cash considerations from the Houston Rockets in exchange for the draft rights to Jermaine Taylor.  Taylor was initially selected by Washington with the 32nd overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.

“Yesterday we added two solid, proven veterans in Mike Miller and Randy Foye to our roster,” said Grunfeld.  “We already had a great week, and by trading the rights to our second-round pick we were able to add to our flexibility going forward.”

Timberwolves trade Ty Lawson to Nuggets for future pick

The Denver Nuggets have acquired the draft rights to G Ty Lawson, the 18th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for a future protected first round draft pick of the Charlotte Bobcats, team Vice President of Basketball Operations Mark Warkentien announced today.

Lawson, 5-11, 195, averaged 13.1 ppg, 5.8 apg, 2.9 rpg and 1.8 spg in 105 career games in three seasons at the University of North Carolina. Lawson was named to the All-Tournament Team after helping lead the Tarheels to the 2009 NCAA Championship. An early entry candidate for the 2009 NBA Draft, Lawson was the winner of the 2009 Bob Cousy Award, which honors the nation’s top collegiate point guard. He was also selected as the ACC Player of the Year after his junior season. He finished his college career ranked seventh in UNC history with 608 assists, while his 2.78 career assist-to-turnover ratio marks the second-best in ACC history.

The Nuggets acquired the future protected first-round pick of the Bobcats last summer on June 25, 2008 in exchange for the Nuggets’ 2008 first round draft pick.

Grizzlies trade Darko Milicic to Knicks for Quentin Richardson, cash

The New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that center Darko Milicic has been acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for guard/forward Quentin Richardson and cash considerations.

“When building a team, it is invaluable to have a skilled big man such as Darko,” Walsh said. “He is the type of player with strong high-post play that will complement Eddy Curry’s low-post game. He will thrive in Coach D’Antoni’s system.

“It is very tough to lose such a great veteran like Quentin who has meant so much to this team,” Walsh added. “We thank him for all of his efforts over the past four seasons.”

Milicic, 7-0, 275-pounds, was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the second overall selection in the 2003 NBA Draft. The Serbian center has career averages of 5.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.20 blocks in 337 career games (98 starts) over six NBA seasons with Detroit, Orlando and Memphis. Milicic averaged 5.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in 61 games for the Grizzlies during the 2008-09 campaign.

“I am very excited about the possibilities with Darko. He has great size and the skills to really help us.” Head Coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He can run the floor really well, shoot and has a load of talent.”

Richardson, 6-6, 235-pounds, was acquired by New York from Phoenix along with the draft rights to Nate Robinson on June 28, 2005 and averaged 9.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in 241 games (206 starts) in four seasons with the Knicks. Originally selected by the L.A. Clippers out of DePaul with the 18th overall selection in the 2000 NBA Draft, Richardson has career averages of 11.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in 601 career games (389 starts) with L.A. Clippers, Phoenix and New York. The Chicago, IL-native averaged 10.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in 72 games last season.