Clippers sign Ricky Davis

The Los Angeles Clippers today signed veteran free agent swingman Ricky Davis to a multi-year contract, it was announced by Vice President of Basketball Operations Elgin Baylor.  Per team policy, terms of the deal were not announced.

Carrying career averages of 14.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 31.1 minutes, Davis tallied 13.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 82 games played for the Miami Heat during the 2007-08 season.  The 6-foot-7-inch Iowa product also connected on 420-971 FG (.433), 135-333 3FG (.405) and 155-197 FT (.787) on the year.

“We believe he will be a good addition,” Clippers Vice President of Basketball Operations Elgin Baylor said. “His versatility and ability to shoot from the outside will spread the floor and help our low post players.”

Davis turned in his most productive NBA season in 2002-03 with the Cleveland Cavaliers, averaging 20.6 points, 5.5 assists and 4.9 rebounds in 79 games played.

Davis was originally selected by the Charlotte Hornets in the first round (21st overall) of the 1998 NBA Draft, after one season at Iowa where he tallied 15.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

Knicks trade Renaldo Balkman to Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets have acquired F Renaldo Balkman and cash considerations from the New York Knicks in exchange for G Taurean Green, F Bobby Jones and a 2010 second round draft pick, team Vice President of Basketball Operations Mark Warkentien announced today.

Balkman, 6-8, 208-pounds, averaged 3.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in 65 games for New York last season. Originally drafted by the Knicks after his junior season at the University of South Carolina in the first round (20th overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft, the Staten Island-native finishes his career in blue and orange having played in 133 career games, averaging 4.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 15.2 minutes over two seasons.

Green, 6-0, 177-pounds, averaged 1.6 points and 4.4 minutes in 17 games last season for both Portland and Denver. Originally drafted by the Trail Blazers after his junior season at the University of Florida in the second round (52nd overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft, Green was acquired by the Nuggets on Feb. 21 in exchange for guard Von Wafer. In addition the Fort Lauderdale, FL-native appeared in eight total games in the NBA Development League with the Idaho Stampede and Colorado 14ers.

Jones, 6-7, 215-pounds, averaged 3.8 points and 11.3 minutes in 47 games last season for San Antonio, Miami, Houston, Memphis and Denver. In addition, the Compton, CA-native appeared in fives games in the NBA Development League with the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Originally drafted by Minnesota out of the University of Washington in the second round (37th overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft, Jones was traded to Philadelphia and appeared in 44 games for the 76ers last season.

InsideHoops.com says: The Knicks just needed to clear some roster space and they apparently don’t feel that Balkman is going to really help a rotation on a winning team. The guys they’re trading for will wind up being cut. But both Green and Jones are good enough to play in the league, so if they do get released someone should sign them. Green is considered more valuable than Jones.

Sixers sign Royal Ivey

Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski announced today that the team has signed free agent guard Royal Ivey. Per team policy, terms of the agreement are not disclosed.

“We’re happy that we were able to add Royal Ivey to our roster,” said Sixers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski. “As we continue to add to our team, we feel that his versatility, ability to handle the point guard duties and defensive strength will bolster our depth and provide us with additional options in our backcourt.”

In four NBA seasons, Ivey (6-4/215) has appeared in 263 games with 109 starts, averaging 4.0 points, 1.5 assists and 1.3 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game while shooting 42.1% from the floor, 33.1% from 3-point range and 71.4% from the line.  He has averaged just 0.7 turnovers for his career.

Last season for Milwaukee, Ivey saw action in 75 games with 20 starts, averaging career-highs of 5.6 points, 2.1 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per game.  He hit 35 3-pointers in 2007-08 after having just 12 3FGM total his first three seasons combined.  Ivey scored in double-figures 15 times last season after doing so a total of 14 times his first three seasons.

Ivey was originally selected by Atlanta with the 37th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft.  He played his first three seasons with the Hawks and made 66 starts for them in 2005-06.  That season, Ivey committed just 23 turnovers in 73 games played.

A four-year starter at the University of Texas, Ivey helped guide the Longhorns to the NCAA Tournament each season, including three consecutive “Sweet 16” berths and one Final Four appearance.  He was a two-time Big 12 Conference All-Defensive team selection and was named third-team All-Big 12 by the media his senior season.

Lakers re-sign Sasha Vujacic

The Los Angeles Lakers have re-signed free agent guard Sasha Vujacic to a multi-year contract, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.  Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

The 6-7 guard played in 72 games last season, averaging a career-high 8.8 points and 2.1 rebounds in 17.8 minutes, while shooting .454 from the field and a Lakers single season franchise record .437 from three-point range. In four NBA seasons, Vujacic has posted career averages of 5.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 262 games.

The four-year NBA veteran was originally selected by the Lakers in the first round (27th overall) of the 2004 NBA draft after playing three seasons for Snaidero Udine of Italy’s top professional league.

Raptors sign Will Solomon

The Toronto Raptors announced Monday they have signed free-agent guard Will Solomon. Per team policy, financial details were not disclosed.

Solomon, 30, has played the past two seasons in Istanbul, Turkey for Fenerbahce Ulker. He averaged 17.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.3 steals in 13 regular season games last season. In Euroleague Top 16 play, he contributed 20.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in six games. He had a high of 28 points in 32 minutes versus Tau Ceramica.

Solomon, 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, was selected 33rd overall in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies. He appeared in 62 games with the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2001-02 season, averaging 5.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 14.2 minutes.

Solomon has played overseas since 2002. He spent the 2002-03 season in Greece with Aris Thessaloniki. He moved to Israel and Hapoel Jerusalem in 2003-04. In 2004-05, he played in Turkey for Efes Pilsen Istanbul. He joined current Raptor Anthony Parker on Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2005-06 and in 2006 he signed with his current club, Fenerbahce Ulker.

The native of East Hartford, Connecticut averaged 15.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 94 career games in three seasons at Clemson University. He entered the NBA Draft following his junior season. He earned first-team All-ACC honours as a sophomore and second-team as a junior. He led the ACC in scoring as a sophomore at 20.9 points. He finished fourth in the conference in his junior campaign at 19.7 points. Solomon finished his career second all-time in school history in made three-point field goals (214).

How to determine schedule for any team

The Oklahoman (Mike Baldwin) reports on a team’s 82-game regular season schedule: “Four games against division opponents. Four games against six out-of-division conference opponents. Three games against the remaining four conference teams. Two games against teams in the opposing conference. A five-year rotation determines which out-of-division conference teams are played only three times.”

Rumors Talk: Hawks need to keep Smith

July 27: It would be a real shame if the Hawks and Josh Smith are unable to work out a long-term contract and instead wind up having to sign-and-trade him, especially after the team made the playoffs last season. Not that qualifying for the postseason is hard when playing in the Eastern conference. Myself, a few other InsideHoops.com guys, Chuck Nevitt, JR Rider and Leon Smith could probably pull it off. Still, the Hawks are fun to watch, show promise to get a bit better, and have a squad that’s decent to cheer for. Losing Josh Childress to a faraway overseas land hurts, but if a bench guy or two steps up a bit and shows some improvement, he’ll only be missed a little. His afro, on the other hand, will be tougher to replace.

Anyway, imagine if a team like the Celtics were able to land Smith. If that happened I’d imagine they’d use him as a super-sixth man. They have championship chemistry in the starting lineup and shouldn’t mess with that. Imagine Smith getting 28-32 bench minutes on a 60-win Boston squad. Sweet, huh?

I’m just tossing Boston out there for the fun of it. Obviously every team in the league would love to have Smith, and he’d start for almost all of them.

Aside from being good and still young, Smith is also extremely exciting to watch. He sells tickets. The Hawks need to keep him, even if it means overspending a little.

Rumors Talk: InsideHoops on overseas signings

July 26: I don’t think it’s particularly big news that an overseas team offered Mike Finley a contract. Chances are, every player in the NBA who is either an aging veteran or a young guy who isn’t a lock to stay in the league gets multiple overseas offers. It’s just that now, with Bostjan Nachbar going overseas (a slight surprise) and Josh Childress going there as well (a pretty big surprise), overseas offers are getting more publicity, and writers and columnists are asking agents more about that stuff than before.

Chances are, Finley got overseas offers in the past, too, and he’ll get them in the future.

As has been reported by lots of outlets, and confirmed by people we at InsideHoops.com talk to, there isn’t a big reason to think tons of players on the level of Childress will ever wind up going overseas, because the money isn’t there. Teams in Europe don’t have massive TV deals and marketing profits that NBA teams do. They’re much smaller operations. So don’t expect lots of good NBA sixth men or prime bench guys to leave the league.

I’d guess there could be another couple of good NBA bench guys (probably not as good as Childress) that go overseas this or next year, but not much more than that. Nothing that would shake the league up in any real way.

Jazz keep CJ Miles

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has exercised its first right of refusal on guard C.J. Miles’s contract. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not announced.

Miles (6-6, 220, Skyline H.S. (TX)) has appeared in 120 games (26 starts) in three seasons with the Jazz, averaging 4.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 10.5 minutes per game. Miles appeared in 60 games (13 starts) for the Jazz in 2007-08, posting career highs of 5.0 points and 0.9 assists in 11.5 minutes per game. Originally selected by the Jazz in the second round (34th pick overall) of the 2005 NBA Draft, the then 18-year-old became the youngest player in Jazz franchise history.

Miles will be available via conference call in the Salt Lake Community College press room at 6:30 p.m. tonight, prior to the Utah Jazz game vs. the Dallas Mavericks in the finale of the 2008 Rocky Mountain Revue.

Heat promote Chad Kammerer to assistant coach

The Miami HEAT announced today that they have promoted Chad Kammerer to the role of assistant coach. Among his responsibilities in his new role he will be assisting in the areas of game planning, scouting, player development  and other duties assigned by Head Coach Erik Spolestra.

“Chad is a valuable addition to our coaching staff,” said Spoelstra. “He has a great basketball mind and comes from a family that has been around the game for years. He has worked hard for this organization the last seven years in our scouting department and has a great knowledge of the NBA.”

Kammerer, who originally joined the organization on a part-time basis during the 2001-02 season, has spent the past six years as the HEAT’s full-time advance scout. In addition to providing scouting reports and player evaluations to assist the HEAT coaching staff in their game preparations, Kammerer has also served as an assistant coach for the HEAT’s summer league team the past four years.

Prior to joining the HEAT, Kammerer served as an assistant coach at Valparasio University, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Concordia University (CA) and the University of Mississippi.

Kammerer graduated from Westmont College in 1990 with a degree in physical education and later went on to earn his masters degree at the University of Mississippi in 1993. He was born in Indiana and raised in California and is the son of HEAT Vice President, Player Personnel Chet Kammerer.