Basketball Blog

Denver Nuggets guard Anthony Carter had successful surgery on his right hand today.  Carter, who suffered a fractured 3rd metacarpal in his right hand during practice on Oct. 6, had three screws inserted into the bone to stabilize the fracture and expedite the healing process.

Carter is expected to return to action in 4-6 weeks.

The Chicago Bulls announced today the team has waived forward/center Joseph Blair.

Blair (6-10, 265) a 10-year veteran of international play, signed with the Bulls on October 2.  Last evening, in his lone preseason appearance with Chicago, Blair scored one point and grabbed three rebounds in 11:10 of play against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Chicago’s roster now stands at 17.

Charlotte Bobcats forward Sean May on Tuesday underwent successful microfracture surgery on his right knee.

Dr. David W. Altchek performed the procedure at the Sports Medicine and Shoulder facility at the Hospital of Special Surgery in New York City. May is expected to be on crutches for up to eight weeks. Full recovery likely will take six to 12 months, according to previously performed procedures such as this.

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that after further evaluation it was determined that center Etan Thomas will require surgery to repair a leak of the aortic valve.

Thomas’ surgery will be performed on Thursday, October 11th, and the Wizards will provide an update regarding Thomas’ condition following his surgery tomorrow.

Thomas, a six-year veteran, was not cleared to play after a routine physical revealed an abnormality.

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Isiah Thomas announced today that guard Allan Houston has been re-signed as a free agent after a two-season absence from the court.

“After much thought and prayer, I have decided to return to the NBA as a member of the New York Knicks. I have worked extremely hard in the last year and a half to accomplish my dream of playing in the NBA again,” Houston said.

“After my wife and I were blessed with the birth of our fourth child last week, I realized that New York is where I am supposed to be, and the Knick uniform is the one I want to wear. I have seen the Garden in some of its best moments, and I truly believe that this team is on the verge of experiencing that again. This team is hungry and energetic. I hope to contribute in the weeks and months ahead.

“Thank you to all of the Knick fans and those that have supported me. I will always be a Knick, and I am committed to helping this team compete for a championship.”

Originally retiring on Oct. 17, 2005 following training camp two seasons ago, Houston is the team’s fourth leading scorer in franchise history during the regular season (11,165) and eighth leading scorer during the playoffs (1,139). Only NBA legends Patrick Ewing, Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Willis Reed have scored more points during their regular season careers with the orange and blue. On Oct. 4, 1999, he was named a team captain, and held that title for six seasons. He was selected to be a member of the 2000 and 2001 NBA All-Star teams and was a member of the Gold medal-winning United States team at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney.

On May 16, 1999, the Louisville, KY native authored one of the most memorable shots in club history with a game-winning runner at Miami in the closing seconds of Game Five in the first round of the 1999 NBA Playoffs. After defeating the Heat, the Knicks went on to defeat the Atlanta Hawks in the conference semifinals and Indiana Pacers in the conference finals to make their first NBA Finals appearance since 1994.

The preseason roster is now at 20.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I expect Houston to be something like a lesser Jason Kapono, at this point. But I’m sure during some possessions — especially when standing still in three-point range and catching a pass — he’ll look a bit like the old H20. This is mostly a nostalgia signing.

Denver Nuggets guard Anthony Carter will undergo surgery on his right hand on Wednesday.  During this procedure, he will have screws inserted into his fractured 3rd metacarpal which will stabilize the fracture and expedite the healing process.  Carter suffered the injury during practice on Oct. 6.

A timeline for his return will be known following the surgery.

The Chicago Bulls announced today the team has waived forward/guard Justin Cage.

Cage (6-6, 225) is an undrafted rookie out of Xavier University. In 2006-07, he averaged 10.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg and 1.4 apg and shot .567 from the floor and .750 from the free throw line. He guided the Musketeers to a 25-9 season and to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and was also named to the Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team for the third straight year.

The Bulls will open preseason play tomorrow when they travel to LaCrosse, Wis., to face the host Milwaukee Bucks at 7:30 P.M. The game will be televised locally on Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

Chicago’s roster now stands at 18.

The Los Angeles Clippers today waived guard Donell Williams. Williams was signed as a free agent on Oct. 2 and participated in the Clippers training camp in Santa Barbara from Oct. 2 – Oct. 6. Williams, a Los Angeles native, starred at Fairfax High School and Fayetteville State.

Following a medical examination today, October 8, 2007, it has been determined that Nets guard/ forward Bernard Robinson suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee during the Nets practice on Saturday, October 6 at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.  There is no timetable for his return.

After being acquired by the Nets in exchange for Jeff McInnis and cash considerations on 1/3/07 Robinson went on to appear in 10 games for New Jersey during the 2006-07 season.  A three-year NBA veteran, the 45th overall selection out of Michigan in the 2005 NBA Draft holds career averages of 4.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 128 career games with Charlotte and New Jersey.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I certainly wish Robinson a speedy and full recovery. As for the Nets, he was very deep on their bench and this won’t really affect them.

Fan editorial by FatHoops93

Monday was media day for most NBA clubs, and a lot was revealed about where teams stand heading into training camp. The Suns’ Shawn Marion didn’t back down from his trade demand, but also refused to talk about it. “I don’t want to be bother by this no more. What’s done is done. (AP)” The Suns are probably thrilled to be getting the silent treatment from their disgruntled All-Star heading into a chemistry-building training camp…

The unease in Phoenix jumped several notches as the Suns announced later on Monday that Amare Stoudemire would be undergoing yet another knee operation on Tuesday. According to the Suns, it’s just a clean-up job much like Raja Bell’s knee job earlier in the summer. What’s up with waiting until literally the start of training camp to get this taken care of? New guys like Grant Hill, Alando Tucker and DJ Strawberry won’t learn the offense that fast with one if its main cogs missing…

Word leaked out at the end of the weekend that the reason the Cavs haven’t re-signed Anderson Varejao is because he’s requested a contract extension that would pay him $10-11 million per year. Obviously, GM Danny Ferry is waiting for Varejao’s sanity to come back from summer vacation. Ferry is probably thinking how is own grossly overpaid contract hindered the Cavs for years back in his playing days, and has vowed to not let the same thing happen under his watch…

Cleveland’s other restricted free agent, Sasha Pavlovic, is holding out for his own extension by remaining in Europe until the deal is done. Not only did the Cavs not make any notable roster improvements over the summer, but they also managed to alienate their two biggest contributors off the bench. Playoff hero Daniel “Boobie” Gibson can probably expect an increased role this season…

Houston decided to give the arguably 41-year-old Dikembe Mutombo another go for one more season. Mutombo himself stated it would be his last campaign in the NBA, although he had contemplated retirement after Houston’s first-round loss to Utah. After speaking to Hakeem Olajuwon, however, Mount Mutombo changed his mind. Rockets GM Daryl Morey expressed appreciation for Mutombo’s experience. “The Rockets are really fortunate to have him as we make our deeper playoff push this year (AP).” Hear that, T-Mac and Yao? Deeper playoff push…

C-Webb decided against a reported $10-12 million dollar 2-year contract with Greek club Olympiacos, stating that he wants to return to the Pistons, but adding the condition, “unless something crazy happens (AP).” What’s crazier than getting offered more than $5 mil a year by a Greek ball club (including it being tax free)? Assuming there’s no more craziness, we’ll see the last relevant member of the Fab Five in Pistons red, white and blue this year…

A lot of guys get tats for their moms, girlfriends, businesses, passions, etc. Not Stephen Jackson. Monday he showed off his new tat, which features two hands in the form of playing…holding a gun. “I pray I never have to use it again,” Jackson said in explanation (AP). Yeah, he’s definitely learned from his strip club gun incident at Indiana. Apparently his whole back features an unfinished tat of the jack of spades, with himself as the jack…