Basketball Blog

The Phoenix Suns today announced that center Amaré Stoudemire will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee tomorrow, Tuesday, October 2.

Team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Thomas Carter will perform the surgery to remove a loose body. Carter performed microfracture surgery on Stoudemire’s left knee in October 2005. The 24-year-old Stoudemire will miss 2-3 weeks and is expected to have a full recovery.

The two-time All-Star and 2007 All-NBA First Team selection averaged 20.4 points and a career-high 9.6 rebounds last season, playing a full 82-game season after missing all but three games of the 2005-06 campaign due to injury.

2007 Phoenix Suns training camp runs Oct. 2-7 at McKale Center on the campus of the University of Arizona.

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today the hiring of Kenny Atkinson as the team’s Director of Player Development, as well as the addition of Pat Zipfel as an advance scout.

Atkinson will focus on improving player performance through on-court one-on-one skill development and the use of video analysis.

From 2004-06 before joining the Rockets, Atkinson was an assistant coach/director of player development with Paris Basket Racing in France. In the summer of 2006, he served in the same capacity for the National Team of Georgia. During his stint with the team, he also coordinated the Paris Basket Racing junior program.

Atkinson played professionally throughout the world from 1991-2004. He has played in such countries as France, Holland, Germany, Italy and Spain. Domestically, Atkinson has played for the Long Island Surf of the USBL Pro Summer League and the Wichita Falls of the CBA, and has had tryouts with the New York Knicks, Utah Jazz, San Antonio Spurs and Orlando Magic.

During the summers of 2005 and 2007, Atkinson was a Reebok EuroCamp coach in Treviso, Italy. He also served as an NBA Cares Basketball Clinic Coach in Paris, France. He attended the University of Richmond, where he still ranks third all-time in assists, seventh all-time in scoring, and led his team to the Sweet Sixteen his sophomore year.

Zipfel worked the past three seasons as an advance scout with Portland, joining the Trail Blazers on Sept. 23, 2004. He also spent three seasons as an advance scout for the L.A. Clippers.

Prior to joining the Trail Blazers, Zipfel spent the 2003-04 season as head coach of the ABA’s Jersey Squires, leading the Squires into the ABA Quarterfinals where they were defeated by the Kansas City Knights. He was also head basketball coach and athletic director at Centenary College (NJ), as well as holding coaching positions at Bucks County Community College (PA) and at The Citadel.

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today the signing of Purdue forward Carl Landry, who was chosen by the SuperSonics in the second round (31st overall) with a pick previously acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies. Houston sent a future second-round selection and cash considerations to Seattle for his draft rights.

Landry (6-9, 248, Purdue) averaged 7.4 points and 6.6 rebounds in five games with Houston in the 2007 NBA Summer League presented by adidas. He finished his collegiate career at Purdue after playing his first two seasons at Vincennes University. Over his 64 career outings with the Boilermakers, averaged 18.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 0.81 blocks per game. In 2006-07, Landry led Purdue in scoring (18.9), rebounding (7.3) and total blocks (32), while finishing second in total steals (40). He was named First-Team All-Big Ten by the coaches as a senior. Landry also earned Big-Ten Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks during the 2006-07 season.

Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the team exercised its team option on the contract of forward Jason Maxiell.  Maxiell’s contract is now extended through the 2008-09 NBA season.

“We are pleased to have Jason Maxiell signed through the 2008-09 season,” said Dumars.  “Jason is a tough, physical player on the front-line who continues to grow and mature within our system.  We look forward to the contributions he will bring this season and beyond.”

Maxiell, 24, was drafted by Detroit with the 26th pick in the first round of the 2005 NBA Draft.  He has averaged 4.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 93 games with Detroit (eight as a starter).  In a career-high 67 games last season, Maxiell averaged 5.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.90 blocks in 14.1 minutes per game.  In eight games as a starter, he averaged 8.8 points (.574 FG), 5.6 rebounds and 2.25 blocks in 26.3 minutes per game.  Maxiell scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds at Milwaukee (3/25), led the team in rebounds four occasions and tallied two double-doubles on the season.

NBA Development League President Dan Reed announced today that former NBA guard Shawn Respert will assume the role of Director of Basketball Operations for the D-League. Respert joined the D-League last season as Manager of Player Development.

“We are thrilled make Shawn an even more important figure in our basketball operations department,” Reed said. “Shawn was a winner on the basketball court, he was a winner developing talent for us last year, and we are expecting a major contribution from him this upcoming season.”

In his new role, Respert will play an integral part in scouting players and coaches in college and on the pro level.  He replaces Terrance “Doc” Martin who was recently hired by the Portland Trail Blazers as a regional scout.

“Shawn’s experience as a player and his knowledge of the NBA will help us grow the D-League and improve our ability to identify and develop talent for the NBA,” said Chris Alpert, NBA Development League Vice President of Basketball Operations and Player Personnel.

Respert continues his D-League career with a wealth of playing and front-office experience. He enjoyed a standout college career at Michigan State that was highlighted by a senior season where he averaged 25.6 points and garnered unanimous All-America and Big Ten Player of the Year honors. He was selected eighth overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1995 NBA Draft and played four seasons in the league with the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns.

Respert also played professionally in Italy, Greece and Poland from 1999 through 2003. His best season came during the 2002 – 03 season when he averaged 20.5 points per game as a member of Stargard Szczecinski in Poland.

Two years after his playing career ended Respert announced that he had battled stomach cancer from the early stages of his rookie NBA season. He had suffered unbearable cramps and eventually noticed a lump growing beneath his belly button. In May 1996 he received the devastating diagnosis that he was in fact suffering the ill-affects of stomach cancer.

Respert was determined to keep the disease a secret in order to eliminate it as an excuse for any of his sub-par performances. The only people who knew what Shawn was up against were Bucks’ trainers, doctors and eventually head coach Mike Dunleavy. Not even his closest relatives or friends knew about it.

Despite losing 20 pounds during radiation treatments, Respert was hoping to rebound from a rookie season that saw him average 4.9 points. His play improved to a point where he trailed only Ray Allen, the Bucks first round selection in 1996, in scoring during the summer league. Respert was optimistic that he would regain the form which made him a college basketball icon.

Things looked up for the 24 year-old entering his second NBA campaign. His cancer went into remission and he was expecting a break-out season. But Respert wasn’t in the plans of new Bucks head coach Chris Ford. After playing in just 14 games, Respert was dealt to the Toronto Raptors where he averaged 5.6 points in 27 games, during the 1996 – 97 season.  He then embarked on an NBA journey which included stops in Dallas, Toronto for a second time, and it finished in Phoenix where he got into 12 games with the Suns during the 1998 – 99 season.

“I’m proud of what I accomplished during my NBA career. I persevered through some tough times and I know it made me a stronger person,” Respert said. “I learned a lot and I feel I can pass a long some of life’s most important lessons to young basketball players.”

Following his four year NBA career and four seasons playing overseas, Respert entered the coaching ranks as a volunteer assistant at Prairie View A&M during the 2003-04 season.

In 2004 Shawn became the Director of Basketball Operations at Rice University, where he stayed until 2006.

Shawn will now look to utilize his administrative experience, his knowledge of the pro game as well as his ability to overcome a devastating disease, to communicate to players the necessary characteristics to get to the D-League, and eventually the NBA. And like those D-Leaguer’s with NBA aspirations, Respert himself would like to eventually earn a call-up to the League. His ultimate goal is to work in an NBA teams’ front office, most likely as a team president or general manager.

“Shawn exemplifies exactly what our league is all about,” Reed said. “He is a tremendous role model for all of our players, and I know by speaking with him, our players will not only grow as athletes, but as human beings as well.”

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has re-signed free agent center Dikembe Mutombo.

Mutombo (7-2, 260, Georgetown) has averaged 10.1 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.81 blocks in 1,148 career games (970 starts) with Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York and Houston. Last season with the Rockets, Mutombo averaged 3.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.01 blocks in 75 games (33 starts). He reached double figures in boards 21 times, while leading the Rockets in rebounds in a team-high 24 games. Overall, he had four of the top five rebounding performances for the Rockets in 2006-07.

Mutombo also averaged 4.9 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.45 blocks over the 33 games (12/26/06-3/3/07; 4/6/07) he started for an injured Yao Ming. He posted double-digit rebounding totals in 11 consecutive games (12/27/06-1/16/07), which was the fourth longest such streak of his career (16 games: 3/22/93-4/21/93; 15 games: 3/24/99-4/16/99; 14 games: 12/9/92-1/8/93). Mutombo became the first Rockets player with a stretch of 11 or more consecutive double-figure rebounding performances since Charles Barkley (12 games: 11/28/97-12/22/97). He had 19 boards vs. the L.A. Lakers (1/10/07), while his fourth of a season-high five blocks moved him past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (3,189) into second on the NBA’s all-time blocked shots list.

Mutombo posted a season-best 22 boards (8 offensive) at Denver (3/2/07), becoming the oldest player in NBA history to grab 20 or more rebounds in a game.

The Phoenix Suns today signed unrestricted free-agent forward Brian Skinner to a one-year deal.

“Brian is a player who can help us,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr.  “He is an athletic shotblocker who runs the floor and fits our style very well.”

In Skinner, Phoenix adds a 6-9, 265-pound forward who last season averaged 4.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in 22.7 minutes in 67 games (44 starts) for the Milwaukee Bucks.  A nine-year NBA veteran, Skinner joins his seventh team after stints with Bucks, L.A. Clippers, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Sacramento and Portland.  In 2005 while with the Sixers, Skinner was a part of the blockbuster trade that sent All-Star Chris Webber to Philadelphia from Sacramento.

The Bucks’ third-leading rebounder a season ago, Skinner, 31, still holds the Baylor University record for career rebounds (915) and blocks (346). His best statistical season came in his first stint in Milwaukee in 2003-04 when he averaged a career-high 10.5 points and career-best 7.3 rebounds in 56 games (career-high 54 starts).  Including last season, Skinner has shot 49.0 percent or higher from the field in six consecutive seasons and eight of his nine NBA campaigns.

Originally the 22nd overall selection in the first round of the 1998 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, Skinner owns career averages of 5.1 points, 5.0 rebounds in 22.7 minutes in 472 games (175 starts).

2007 Phoenix Suns training camp runs October 2-7 at McKale Center on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson.

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Isiah Thomas announced today that the draft rights to guard Jared Jordan have been acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for cash considerations. Jordan was originally selected by the Clippers in the second round (45th overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft.

Jordan, 6-2, 190-pounds, averaged 13.1 points and 6.9 assists in 117 career games (108 starts) at Marist College. The 22-year old, Hartford, CT-native averaged 17.2 points and 8.7 assists as a senior in 2006-07 and became the first player since Avery Johnson to lead the nation in assists in NCAA Division 1 play for two consecutive seasons.

As a member of the Clippers’ entry in the 2007 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Jordan averaged 4.2 points and 4.8 assists in five games (all starts).

InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner says: Could a trade involving other Knicks guards be brewing?

The Toronto Raptors announced they signed free-agent guard Darrick Martin on Saturday. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Martin, five-foot-11,170 pounds has played 12 seasons in the NBA including time with Toronto, Minnesota, Vancouver, Sacramento, Dallas, and the Los Angeles Clippers. In 31 games last season with the Raptors, he averaged 3.0 points, 1.4 assists and 7.1 minutes. Martin has appeared in 71 regular season games with the Raptors from 2005-07.

The UCLA grad owns career averages of 7.0 points, 2.9 assists and 18.2 minutes in 497 games. In 25 playoff games, he has averaged 3.8 points, 1.7 assists and 11.8 minutes. He netted a career-best 38 points December 30, 1996 versus Utah as a member of the Clippers. While with the Timberwolves, Martin recorded a personal best of 13 assists January 19, 1996 versus San Antonio. He enjoyed his best offensive season during the 1996-97 campaign when he averaged 10.9 points and 4.1 assists in 82 games.

The former Harlem Globetrotter was named MVP of the 2003 CBA playoffs, leading the Yakima Sun Kings to a league championship.

The Toronto Raptors announced Saturday they have signed senior basketball advisor Wayne Embry to a contact extension through the completion of the 2009-10 season.

“Wayne has been an integral part of this franchise and we look forward to his continued contributions as we build towards a championship,” said Raptors president and general manger Bryan Colangelo.

Embry joined the Raptors on June 7, 2004 as senior basketball advisor. He took charge of the basketball operations area as Interim GM from January 26, 2006 – February 28, 2006. His career in the NBA spans more than 45 years as a player and front office executive. While Embry enjoyed a successful 11-year playing career, he will be forever remembered in professional sports circles for being the first African American to be general manager and a president of an NBA club.

Embry became the first NBA African American general manager in 1972 when he was named to the post by the Milwaukee Bucks. From 1985-92, Embry served as vice-president and general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He moved to an executive vice-president position with the club from 1992-94, and in 1994 once again made history by becoming the first African American NBA team president and chief operating officer. Embry earned The Sporting News Executive of the Year honours in 1992 and 1998, as well as being named Sports Illustrated’s Executive of the Year in 1998.

The 6-foot-8, 240-pound Embry was known as “The Wall” during his playing days for his ability to set solid picks. He appeared in 831 regular season NBA games, averaging 12.5 points and 9.1 rebounds.