Bobcats trade Kyle Weaver to Oklahoma City

The Oklahoma City NBA franchise acquired guard Kyle Weaver in a trade with the Charlotte Bobcats, it was announced today by the team’s General Manager Sam Presti. Weaver was selected 38th overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Bobcats. In exchange for Weaver, Oklahoma City sent New Jersey’s 2009 2nd round pick to Charlotte. Oklahoma City held New Jersey’s second round pick following a July 2006 trade which sent Mikki Moore to the Nets.

“We’re pleased to add Kyle Weaver to our organization,” Presti said. “He is a young player with a defensive mentality and team-first approach to the game. We are excited to add these qualities to our team in Oklahoma City.”

Weaver was named Second Team All-Pac 10 as a senior at Washington State University. He was also named to the conference All-Defensive team and earned All-Pac 10 honors as a junior. He is the first player in Pac-10 history to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists, 175 steals and 75 blocked shots in a career. He finished his collegiate career ranked second in assists in Washington State history with 465, third in steals with 188, seventh in blocked shots with 93 and 17th in scoring with 1,162 points. He also participated with USA Basketball in the 2007 Pan American Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In four years at Washington State University, Weaver led the Cougars to a 75-50 overall record. In his junior and senior seasons, the Cougars went 52-17 overall including two trips to the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars went to the Sweet Sixteen in his senior season in last year’s tournament where Weaver averaged 13.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists in three tournament games.

Pistons re-sign Walter Herrmann

The Pistons roster has looked incomplete all summer because it lacked a long-haired, thinner version of Fabio. However, as of yesterday, that need has been met. Here’s the news:

Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced Monday that the club has re-signed forward Walter Herrmann to a contract.  Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to re-sign Walter Herrmann,” said Dumars.  “Walter is a player with tremendous work ethic and showed last year that he is a player that can contribute to this team.”

Herrmann, 29, was acquired by the Pistons on December 14, 2007 along with Primoz Brezec in a trade that sent Nazr Mohammed to the Charlotte Bobcats.  He appeared in 45 games last season with Charlotte and Detroit, averaging 3.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists in 8.2 minutes per game.  In 17 games with Charlotte, Herrmann averaged 4.0 points and 2.1 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per game. He played in 28 games with Detroit (no starts) and averaged 3.0 points and 1.3 rebounds in 7.1 minutes per game.  The 6-9, 229-pound forward scored a season-high 16 points (6-15 FG, 2-5 3FG, 2-2 FT) in a season-high 33 minutes at Orlando (11/23).

Herrmann was not drafted by an NBA franchise and signed with Charlotte as a free agent on September 11, 2006.  He played six seasons of professional basketball in his native Argentina and four seasons in Spain.  Herrmann averaged 9.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 48 games during the 2006-07 season with the Bobcats.  He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team and was named Eastern Conference T-Mobile Rookie of the Month for games played in March.  He scored in double figures in 17 of the last 18 games of the season, averaging 17.9 points per game on 58.2% shooting over that span.

OKC team to play preseason game in Tulsa

Oklahoma’s first glimpse at its new NBA team comes on Oct. 13 when the team plays a preseason game against the Houston Rockets at the new BOK Center in downtown Tulsa. Although the Oklahoma City franchise will technically be the visiting team for the game against the Rockets, it will be the first time they will play in the state of Oklahoma. Oklahoma City’s full preseason schedule will be released later this week.

“Tulsa is an important part of Oklahoma’s NBA success and the BOK Center is an important part of Tulsa’s future,” said Clay Bennett, chairman of the Oklahoma City franchise. “We are thrilled that Tulsa and its new first class arena are able to host the first chance for fans in Oklahoma to see their new team on the court. The people of Tulsa have shown that they are committed to making the NBA work in Oklahoma, and having the chance to host a preseason game this year is a direct result of their commitment and excitement.”

Bennett made the announcement at the BOK Center joined by Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor and BOK Center General Manager John Bolton.

Team USA getting wild media attention

As an international sports media superstar and the founder of InsideHoops.com, I understand the lifestyle of an NBA player. Each day I’m forced to hide from millions of adoring fans as I spend my day with a revolving door of supermodel girlfriends. The biggest challenge I had this week was choosing which of my 37 cars to give away to the Victoria’s Secrets model I just had to break up with due to simply not having enough time to fit her into my busy schedule.

(Actually, my job does provide tons of lifestyle perks, but, needless to say, the above is a SLIGHT exaggeration. For example, I only have 24 cars, not 37.)

With all that accurate stuff said, here’s a picture of the media frenzy in Beijing, China as reporters interviewed some Team USA players. Click this picture link.

What’s wild is, there were probably tons of other TV camera guys and reporters looking to join those giant hurdles who were simply unable to, or else those groups would have been way bigger.

Melo not happy Nuggets gave Camby away

Carmelo Anthony finally had some comments on the Nuggets trading Marcus Camby, the team’s center and key rebounder, shot-blocker and defender, away to the Clippers for nothing more than salary cap flexibility. He isn’t too pleased.

The Rocky Mountain News (Chris Tomasson) reports: “Yeah, it was really disappointing,” Carmelo Anthony said at the Olympics in Beijing. “But I don’t really have no comment on the Nuggets right now. I’m here in Beijing.” … “I don’t know what they’re going to do,” Anthony said of the Nuggets having left him in the dark.

Hawks match offer and re-sign Josh Smith

As expected, Atlanta Hawks General Manager Rick Sund announced tonight that the club has retained forward Josh Smith and matched the offer sheet of the Memphis Grizzlies, which according to several newspapers was approximately a five-year, $58 million contract.

The offer is a good value for the ultra-versatile, still-improving Smith.

It was a tough market for free agency, though the same can be said for almost every season. Each year, only a few teams have enough space under the salary cap to make a big offer to a player that they aren’t re-signing from their own team. And for the last week or two now, the Grizzlies were the only team to make a real offer to any of the select-few remaining restricted free agents.

The really good unrestricted free agents all signed deals earlier on in the free agency period.

“Tonight, the Hawks organization received an offer sheet from the Memphis Grizzlies for Josh Smith,” said Sund. “We are happy to announce that we will match their offer sheet.  Ownership, management and the team are happy to have Josh return as a member of the Hawks.  We look forward to training camp in October and we will continue to look at additional opportunities to improve our roster.”

Smith, whom the Hawks drafted with the 17th pick overall in the first round of the 2004 NBA Draft, has finished second in the NBA in blocks per game in each of the past two years and averaged team-highs in blocks per game (2.80) and steals per game (1.57), while also ranking second on the Hawks in points per game (17.2), rebounds per game (8.2) and assists per game (3.4) in 81 appearances last season.

The 22-year-old forward from Oak Hill Academy (VA) and College Park (GA) has averaged 13.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.5 blocks in 307 career games with the Hawks, and during last May’s first round series, Smith recorded 15.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.86 blocks in helping the eighth-seeded Hawks to a decisive seventh game in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the eventual NBA world champion Boston Celtics.

Grizzlies sign Josh Smith to offer sheet

Memphis Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced Friday that the club has signed restricted free agent Josh Smith to an offer sheet.  Per team policy, terms of the offer sheet were not disclosed.

Under the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Atlanta Hawks will have seven days to match the Grizzlies’ offer to Smith, who has played all four years of his NBA career for the Hawks.

Smith, 22, has finished second in the NBA in blocks per game in each of the past two years and averaged team-highs in blocks per game (2.80) and steals per game (1.57) while also ranking second on the Hawks in points per game (17.2), rebounds per game (8.2) and assists per game (3.4) in 81 appearances last season.

The 6-9, 235-pound forward averaged 15.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.86 blocks in helping the eighth-seeded Hawks push the eventual NBA Champion Boston Celtics to a decisive seventh game in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk Champion in 2005, Smith owns career averages of 13.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.5 blocks in 307 career games over four seasons with Atlanta, who drafted Smith 17th overall in the first round of the 2004 NBA Draft out of Oak Hill Academy (VA).

Grizzlies renounce rights to Casey Jacobsen and Andre Brown

The Memphis Grizzlies have renounced their rights to free agents Casey Jacobsen and Andre Brown, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced Friday.

Jacobsen, a 6-6, 198-pound guard, averaged 2.0 points and 1.2 rebounds in 53 games last season with the Grizzlies. The four-year NBA veteran, who signed with Memphis on July 24, 2007, owns career averages of 5.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 287 games with the Phoenix Suns, the New Orleans Hornets and Memphis.

Brown, a 6-9, 245-pound forward, posted 3.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 33 games for Memphis last season. The two-year NBA veteran, who signed with Memphis on July 20, 2007, holds career averages of 2.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in 71 games with the Seattle SuperSonics and Memphis.

Per the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement, a renounced player no longer counts toward team salary, so teams use renouncement to gain additional cap room. After renouncing a player, the team is still permitted to re-sign such player, but the team must either have enough salary cap room to fit the salary, or sign the player using the Minimum Salary exception. After renouncing a player, a team can still trade the player in a sign-and-trade agreement.

Expect Hawks to match Grizzlies offer sheet to Josh Smith

By Jeff: The Memphis Commercial-Appeal reported that the Grizzlies gave Hawks free agent forward Josh Smith an offer sheet, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that he actually signed it. The deal, according to the AJC, is for five years and $58 million.

If that’s all true, once it’s official, the Hawks will have 7 days to match the offer, and I’d say they will definitely do it.

The Grizzlies are smart for doing this. Smith and Rudy Gay would make a talented, extremely athletic and very exciting frontcourt. And they didn’t overpay. So, the Hawks can’t be too upset that they’ll be forced to match the offer, because it’s less than a player like Smith would hope to get for his first big, long-term contract.

The Hawks aren’t sold on Smith as a true franchise player to build around. They see him more of a super-versatile, ultra-talented supporting player, which is why they weren’t offering him a big contract. With that said, they should match the offer, and again, I expect that they will.

Fan discussion about this news is here. Join in, or just read reactions.

Jason Smith tears ACL in left knee

Jason Smith, a very athletic big forward who definitely helped the 76ers a lot last season and was a very useful, but not absolutely essential piece of Philly’s success, has torn the ACL in his left knee. Usually, that means missing an entire season. It’s really too bad. Smith makes any roster better. Philly will have to replace him. Here’s the full news release:

Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski announced today that center Jason Smith suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee during normal basketball activity on Wednesday.

Smith was examined by team Physician Dr. Jack McPhilemy on Thursday evening and will receive a second opinion from Dr. Dave Altchek in the coming weeks.

No timetable has been set for his return. Additional updates will be provided when they become available.

A product of Colorado State University, Smith appeared in 76 games during his rookie season and averaged 4.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 14.5 minutes per game. In the playoffs, Smith appeared in all six games and posted averages of 3.3 points and 2.5 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per game. In the recently completed Las Vegas Summer League, Smith appeared in five games and averaged 18.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 30.6 minutes per game.

The following is a statement from Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski regarding the injury to Sixers center Jason Smith: “It’s unfortunate that this happened, but Jason is resilient and he’ll receive the best treatment available,” Stefanski said. “I was there, along with Coach Cheeks and Tony DiLeo, when the injury occurred, which was during a routine, five-on-five drill at an NBA-approved camp held in Las Vegas. There was no contact made with Jason when he suffered the injury. “At this point, we will continue to explore all available options in order to add an additional big man to our roster.”