NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
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The Phoenix Suns have waived forward Anthony Bennett and guard/forward Peter Jok.
Bennett and Jok originally signed with the Suns on Sept. 22. Neither player appeared in any of the team’s first three preseason games.
The Suns’ roster now stands at 18 players.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have signed forward Andrew Wiggins to a multi-year contract extension.
According to the St Paul Pioneer Press, “Wiggins believes he’s worth the five-year extension worth nearly $150 million he signed with the Timberwolves on Wednesday, which comes into play following this season and theoretically keeps him in Minnesota through the 2022-23 campaign. He thinks his play has warranted that type of deal. The people who matter most tend to agree.”
Wiggins, 22, registered a career-high 23.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 37.2 minutes in 82 games last season, making a career-best 103 three-pointers on a career-high 35.6% shooting percentage from beyond the arc. Wiggins averaged 26.0 points over the final 30 games in 2016-17, including 28.3 ppg in eight April starts. The 6-8 forward registered five 40+ point games a season ago, including a career-best 47-point performance on November 13 vs. the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I’m pleased that we’ve reached an agreement with Andrew on a contract extension,” said Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor. “Andrew is one of the best young players in the NBA and he has the talent and work ethic to get even better and be a foundation for our franchise for many years.”
“I’m very excited to continue my career with the Timberwolves,” said Wiggins. “I love it here. The fans and organization have supported me from my first day here in Minnesota. I want to thank Glen Taylor, Tom Thibodeau, the entire coaching staff and my teammates for believing in me. We’ve had some good times over the last three seasons, but the best is yet to come. I look forward to doing right by them and bringing this team to the postseason.”
For his career, Wiggins has played in 245 of a possible 246 games, averaging 20.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 36.2 minutes per game. Only three players (LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony) scored more points before their 22nd birthday and Wiggins’ 4,995 career point total ranks sixth on the Wolves’ all-time scoring list. Wiggins won the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy as the NBA’s Rookie of the Year following the 2014-15 season in which he averaged 16.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists, becoming the first Wolves player to win Rookie of the Year honors.
“We’re very excited that Andrew has decided to commit his future to the Timberwolves,” said Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Tom Thibodeau. “We feel strongly that he is just scratching the surface of the player he will become. Andrew is among the elite young talents in our league and the sky is the limit for him. We look forward to watching his development in the coming years.”
More from the Pioneer Press: “Wiggins attributed the delay in the deal to the fact he was navigating the final stages of the contract without an agent after he parted ways with his agent, Bill Duffy, in August. Flying solo at the end of the process, Wiggins said he just wanted to take the time to make sure he did things correctly.”
Wiggins was selected first overall in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers and traded to the Wolves on Aug. 23, 2014.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed guard Isaac Hamilton, Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.
Hamilton (6-4, 194) played collegiately at UCLA for three years where he averaged 13.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists over 104 games (all starts). He went undrafted at this year’s NBA Draft and appeared in three games for the Indiana Pacers in the 2017 Orlando Pro Summer League, averaging 5.3 points in 14.2 minutes per game.
The Oklahoma City Thunder has waived guards Bryce Alford and Markel Brown and forward Rashawn Thomas, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.
Alford, Brown and Thomas, originally signed on Sept. 25, did not appear in a game this preseason.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have waived center Edy Tavares, Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.
Tavares (7-3, 265) appeared in two preseason games for the Cavs, averaging 2.0 points and 2.0 rebounds in 4.9 minutes. He originally signed with the Cavaliers on April 12, 2017 and played in one regular season game in 2016-17.
The Toronto Raptors have signed guard Davion Berry.
Berry, 6-foot-4, 185 pounds, has appeared in 56 career NBA G League games with the Maine Red Claws (2014-16) and Raptors 905 (2015-16), averaging 9.4 points, 2.9 assists and 24.0 minutes. He has also played professionally in Germany (2016-17), Greece (2016-17), South Korea (2015-16) and Italy (2014-15).
Berry played two collegiate seasons at Cal State Monterey Bay (2009-11) before transferring to Weber State (2012-14). He averaged 17.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 32.6 minutes in 68 career games with the Wildcats and twice earned Big Sky All-Conference First Team honours.
The New York Knicks have signed guard Trey Burke.
Burke, 6-1, 190-pounds, has averaged 10.6 points and 3.6 assists over 24.8 minutes in 267 career games with Utah and Washington from 2013 through 2017. The Columbus, OH-native was originally drafted by Minnesota out of the University of Michigan with the ninth overall selection in the 2013 NBA Draft and named to the 2013-14 NBA All-Rookie First Team as a member of the Jazz.
Last season, Burke appeared in 57 games for the Wizards to average 5.0 points and 1.8 assists over 12.3 minutes.
The Sacramento Kings have signed guards Reggie Hearn and David Stockton.
Hearn has spent the last three seasons with Sacramento’s G-League affiliate Reno Bighorns, where he accrued averages of 13.5 points (.453 FG%, .442 3pt%, .714 FT%) to accompany 5.3 rebounds per game during the 2016-17 campaign. Most recently, the Northwestern product appeared in three contests for the Kings Summer League team before winning a gold medal at the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup as a member of the U.S. National Team.
Stockton returned last season for his third stint with the Bighorns after a year overseas playing with Cedevita Zagreb (Croatian League) and the New Zealand Breakers (NBL), posting 16.4 points (.422 FG%, .388 3pt%, .787 FT%), 4.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.52 steals per contest in Reno. He holds the Bighorn’s single-game franchise record in assists, notching 22 against the Texas Legends as a rookie in 2014.
The Kings training camp roster now stands at 20.
The Sacramento Kings have requested waivers on guard Marcus Williams.
Williams appeared in two contests for Sacramento during the preseason, averaging 6.0 points (5-9 FG, 2-2 FT) and 3.0 assists in 15.7 minutes per game, including nine points (4-5 FG, 1-1 3pt) and one assist in 13 minutes off the bench at San Antonio (10/6).
Denver Nuggets President and Governor Josh Kroenke has announced that in conjunction with the season-long celebration of 50 years of Mile High Basketball, the Nuggets will be retiring legendary player Lafayette “Fat” Lever’s #12 jersey on Saturday, December 2, 2017 vs. the Los Angeles Lakers.
“With what Fat Lever has meant to this team, this city and our community for the past 30-plus years, it makes perfect sense to honor him by retiring his jersey during this special season,” Kroenke stated. “He is not only one of the best Nuggets in franchise history, but a great ambassador of Denver basketball as well. It is going to be an honor to have his jersey hanging in our arena.”
Lever was a member of the Nuggets from 1984 through 1990. In 474 games spanning six seasons with Denver, he averaged 17.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.46 steals per game. The Nuggets reached the postseason in all six of Lever’s years while playing under Head Coach Doug Moe and his up-tempo system, including a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 1985.
Lever earned an All-Star spot in both the 1988 and 1990 seasons and was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 1986-87 and the All-Defensive Second Team in 1987-88. He is scattered throughout the Nuggets’ all-time leaderboards, ranking 1st in steals (1,167), 2nd in assists (3,566), 7th in points (8,081), 7th in made field goals (3,304), 7th in minutes played (16,867) and 8th in rebounds (3,621).
The Pine Bluff, Arkansas native also earned the reputation as a prolific triple-double threat during his time in Denver. He registered 46 triple-doubles as a Nugget (including three in the playoffs), far and away the most in franchise history. He is currently one of only seven NBA players since 1983-84 to have registered a triple-double with steals and is the only Nugget in team history to ever do so. Lever led the NBA in triple-doubles (16) in 1986-87, tied for the most in the league (12) in 1987-88 and came in 3rd (10) in 1988-89. Over that three-year span, Lever ranked 2nd in the NBA in total triple-doubles with 38, trailing only Magic Johnson (43) and ahead of Michael Jordan (18).
Lever will become the sixth Nugget player to have his jersey retired and seventh member of the organization overall. He will join Byron Beck’s #40, David Thompson’s #33, Dan Issel’s #44, Alex English’s #2 and Dikembe Mutombo’s #55. Iconic head coach Doug Moe and his 432 career wins with the Nuggets are also memorialized with a banner in Pepsi Center’s rafters.