76ers hire ex-coach Ayers as assistant
August 6, 2009
PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Former Philadelphia 76ers coach Randy Ayers has returned tothe organization as an assistant under Eddie Jordan.
Ayers was fired only 52 games into the 2003-04 season. He also was anassistant in Orlando and was on Jordan’s staff in Washington.
Ayers also was a head coach in college at Ohio State and led the Buckeyes toconsecutive Big Ten titles in 1991 and 1992.
Its game time — sign up for Fantasy Football 09 today!
Roy, Blazers agree on 5-year extension
August 6, 2009
Now that two-time All-Star Brandon Roy(notes) and the Portland Trail Blazers haveagreed to a five-year contract extension, his agent says it is possible Roy willstay in his native Northwest for his entire career.
Agent Bob Myers confirmed to The Associated Press late Wednesday night thatRoy has agreed in principle to a five-year contract at the NBA maximum salary.Myers said the fifth year, ending in 2015, is at Roy’s option.
Myers said he’s expecting the Blazers to hold a news conference on Friday toannounce the deal, which was first reported Wednesday by Yahoo! Sports.
The extension could be worth more than $80 million, depending on what theleague’s salary cap is for the 2010-11 season. That would be the second-richestin Portland’s history.
The 25-year-old Roy will earn just under $4 million this season, the finalyear of his rookie contract. The new deal is likely to net him around $14million for the 2010-11 season, and he will receive 10.5 percent raises on hisbase salary each season from 2011-2012 through the end of the deal.
Myers acknowledged it is rare for players today to remain with one team fortheir entire careers because of free agency and the salary cap, but said Roy“is one of the unique players to have a chance to have that sort ofrelationship with one team.”
“Both sides would benefit in that arrangement,” Myers said.
The 25-year-old Roy led the Blazers with 22.6 points and 5.1 assists pergame last season, his third in the league. The Seattle native and 2006 Pac-10player of the year at Washington was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2007 as theNo. 6 overall pick by Minnesota, who traded his rights to Portland.
The versatile, high-scoring guard helped the Blazers go 54-28 last season,which they began as the second-youngest team in the NBA and ended with theirfirst postseason appearance since 2003. Roy scored 52 points in a game againstPhoenix in December, the second-most points scored in a game by a Blazersplayer.
In the process, he and the team won back a fan base that had been jaded bythe so-called Jail Blazers of the recent past.
Portland was 21-61 in the season before Roy arrived.
Its game time — sign up for Fantasy Football 09 today!
NBA, players’ association discuss CBA
August 5, 2009
NEW YORK (AP)—The NBA and its players’ association held their first collectivebargaining talks Tuesday, meeting for 3 1/2 hours without exchanging any proposals.
The sides shared financial information and called the session “cordial andproductive.” They added they looked forward to sitting down again before thestart of the season.
The current collective bargaining agreement runs through the 2011 season,but NBA commissioner David Stern and union executive director Billy Hunterdecided on an early start to discussions with many teams struggling because ofthe economic crisis.
No deal is expected anytime soon. Stern has said the central issue will bethe split in revenues, with the players currently collecting 57 percent.
Its game time — sign up for Fantasy Football 09 today!
PG Jason Williams works out for Knicks
August 4, 2009
NEW YORK (AP)—Jason Williams(notes) has worked out for the New York Knicks, thoughthe team made no contract offer to the point guard.
Williams, who worked out Tuesday, is attempting a return from retirementthis summer and the Knicks claimed him off waivers last week. They will retainexclusive negotiating rights if they make a contract offer by Thursday.
Williams spent 10 seasons in the NBA before retiring last September, lessthan two months after signing with the Los Angeles Clippers. He said he retiredbecause his wife had complications during her pregnancy.
He could be a cheap option for the Knicks, who have been seeking point guardhelp. They lost out on Jason Kidd(notes) when he re-signed with Dallas, and have beenconsidering Milwaukee’s Ramon Sessions(notes) and former Indiana guard Jamaal Tinsley(notes).
Its game time — sign up for Fantasy Football 09 today!
Heat have yet to upgrade roster
August 4, 2009
MIAMI (AP)—So far this summer, the Miami Heat have been scorned by Lamar Odom(notes),been unable to add any veterans through free agency or trades, and listened toNBA scoring champion Dwyane Wade(notes) make a public request for some roster upgradesbefore deciding if his future will be in South Florida.
Somehow, Heat president Pat Riley doesn’t sound overly concerned.
Although the Heat made a serious and ultimately failed pitch to lure Odomaway from re-signing with the reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers, the thesisfor turning Miami back into an NBA championship contender hasn’t changed.
And if that means waiting for tons of salary cap space to open a year fromnow, then that’s what the Heat will do.
“I sort of characterize it this way: We set the table and everything is onthe table,” Riley said on a conference call. “We’re just waiting for thewaiter to come with the menu. I think that’s as simple as it’s going to be.”
There are some appetizers still out there, however.
Riley acknowledged Tuesday that he has had a phone conversation with freeagent point guard Jamaal Tinsley(notes), and that nothing has been ruled out regardinga possible pursuit of Allen Iverson(notes). If the Heat offered a contract to eitherplayer, Riley said, it wouldn’t be for more than one year—ensuring that Miamikeeps its maximum available cap space for the much-ballyhooed summer of 2010,which could be a free agent bonanza.
Miami’s master plan reads something like this: Sign Wade to a new contract,find another top-level star to play alongside him, and then consider makingmoves like ones that many title contenders around the league did this summer—moving past the luxury tax threshold to add the pieces of a potentiallychampionship-winning puzzle.
Trades have been discussed as well; by now, it’s no secret that forwardCarlos Boozer(notes), who is close friends with Wade, wouldn’t scoff at the notion ofgetting traded by the Utah Jazz to Miami.
But Riley said that it’s a strong possibility that the 13 players currentlyunder contract are the 13 players whom the Heat enter training camp with nextmonth.
“We hope we’re a very competitive team this year,” Riley said. “I’m notgoing to do something foolhardy now that’s going to hurt our chances to reallyput a franchise player around another franchise player that we have right now.We’re going to wait and see. We’re going to be very patient with it.”
If no changes—major or otherwise—come before the season, Heat forwardUdonis Haslem(notes) said that’s fine with him.
Miami won 15 games two seasons ago in an injury-marred debacle of a year,then bounced back to win 43 games last season and finish with the No. 5 seed forthe Eastern Conference playoffs, losing an opening-round series to Atlanta inseven games.
“To be honest with you, we went from 15 to 43 wins, and I can think of fouror five games where we should have won,” Haslem said. “There’s a lot of gamesyou look back on where you feel like you had an opportunity to win. Maybe if wewin those games, we might have the opportunity to be a 50-win team. I look at itdifferently than everybody else. I’m excited about our team.”
So is Riley.
He said he’s talking with Wade often, has seen Jermaine O’Neal(notes) several timesthis summer, and raved about the progress that Miami’s young core—point guardMario Chalmers(notes) (whom will be the starter again this coming year, Rileyinsisted), forward Michael Beasley(notes) and shooting guard Daequan Cook(notes), inparticular—have made this offseason.
Their development, he said, might be enough to move Miami closer to where itwants to be.
“It’s not an experimentation year,” Riley said. “It’s about finding outhow versatile your players are.”
Its game time — sign up for Fantasy Football 09 today!
Bryant, O’Neal to face off on Christmas
August 4, 2009
NEW YORK (AP)—The NBA is bringing Kobe Bryant(notes) and Shaquille O’Neal(notes) togetheragain for Christmas—this time joined by LeBron James(notes).
Bryant and the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers will host the ClevelandCavaliers on Dec. 25, one of the highlights of the 2009-10 NBA schedule releasedTuesday.
It will be the fourth time in the five years since their partnership endedthat Bryant and O’Neal will meet on Christmas. Traded to Cleveland in June,O’Neal will return to Los Angeles this year with James, who succeeded Bryant asMVP last season.
O’Neal and James will play their first game together in the NBA seasonopener, hosting the Boston Celtics on Oct. 27. The four-game slate that nightconcludes when the Lakers open their title defense against No. 1 draft pickBlake Griffin(notes) and the Clippers.
Defending Eastern Conference champion Orlando opens Oct. 28 againstPhiladelphia, then goes on the road two nights later to visit New Jersey, givingVince Carter(notes) a quick return to his former home.
The Magic will visit the Lakers for an NBA finals rematch Jan. 18 as part ofthe schedule on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Los Angeles will play at Orlandoon March 7 for the first time since winning the title in June.
Orlando also plays on Christmas, hosting Boston in a matchup of the last twoEast champions. Miami at New York, the Clippers at Phoenix and Denver atPortland round out that day’s action.
Its game time — sign up for Fantasy Football 09 today!
Wolves sign C Hollins to offer sheet
August 3, 2009
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)—The Minnesota Timberwolves have signed restrictedfree-agent center Ryan Hollins(notes) to an offer sheet and seem likely to get him.
The Dallas Mavericks have seven days to match the offer, but they don’t havemuch need for a third- or fourth-string center. The Mavs signed Drew Gooden(notes) lastweek and are counting on him to back up starter Erick Dampier(notes). Power forwardDirk Nowitzki(notes) also can log minutes at center.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban even posted this to his Twitter account Monday:“congrats to ryan hollins. wish him the best w twolves.”
Terms of Minnesota’s offer were not immediately available.
The 7-foot Hollins was selected from UCLA in the 2006 draft by Charlotte. Heplayed two-plus seasons with the Bobcats before being traded to Dallas inJanuary. Hollins has career averages of 2.7 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.
Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn calls Hollins anathletic center who should fit in well on the frontcourt with Kevin Love(notes) and AlJefferson(notes).
Its game time — sign up for Fantasy Football 09 today!
Hall of Fame adds Michael Jordan exhibit
August 2, 2009
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP)—The Basketball Hall of Fame has opened a MichaelJordan exhibit before his enshrinement next month.
The display features items from Jordan’s NBA career and from his time atNorth Carolina and with the 1992 Olympic Dream Team. There is also a battingglove from Jordan’s brief foray into baseball.
The exhibit is made possible in part by a $250,000 donation from Nike andfeatures several pair of the superstar’s Air Jordan shoes.
Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles and now runs basketballoperations for the Charlotte Bobcats. He will enter the Hall of Fame on Sept. 11with former NBA stars David Robinson and John Stockton and coaches Jerry Sloanand C. Vivian Stringer.
Its game time — sign up for Fantasy Football 09 today!
Wolves’ Taylor explains McHale’s exit
August 2, 2009
MANKATO, Minn. (AP)—While Minnesota Timberwolves president David Kahncontinues his methodical search for a new head coach, owner Glen Taylor says itnow should be clear why it didn’t work out with the old one.
Taylor told The Associated Press on Sunday that the financially motivatedtrades Kahn has made this summer that have jettisoned veterans Mike Miller(notes),Randy Foye(notes), Mark Madsen(notes), Craig Smith(notes) and Sebastian Telfair(notes) probably would nothave sat well with former coach Kevin McHale, who brought all those players toMinnesota when he was the boss.
Kahn told McHale in June that he would not return to coach next season, buthe refused to divulge his reasons for making the decision in a news conferenceafter it was announced.
“It’s probably a little bit more obvious why he would have had trouble withCoach McHale,” Taylor said Sunday after a visit to Vikings training camp in hishometown of Mankato. “Some of those guys were really his favorite guys.
“I think David knew he was going in that direction. I think he talked thatover with McHale. So I think now you have a better understanding why they bothagree that it probably wasn’t going to work out in the long run because Davidwas going in a different direction than probably McHale would want to go.”
The Timberwolves have been the only team in the NBA without a head coach forseven weeks now. But Taylor said on Sunday that he expects the job to be filledfairly soon.
“I’m under the assumption that, if things go good, that in the next week orso we’ll make a decision on the coaching,” Taylor said. “He’s nailed it downto a few guys. We actually haven’t made a decision on the final guy yet. But Ithink we’re close to doing that.”
Kahn has said that he is more interested in making the right decision than aquick one, and he has backed that up with an exhaustive search. He interviewedmore than a dozen candidates for the initial round and has whittled that down tothree finalists—ESPN analyst Mark Jackson, Los Angeles Lakers assistant KurtRambis and Houston assistant Elston Turner.
The process was delayed when Kahn traveled to Spain two weeks ago to discussdraft pick Ricky Rubio’s(notes) contract situation, but he began conducting the secondround of interviews late last week. Turner told Houston television stationKRIV-TV that he had a second interview.
Taylor said Sunday that he definitely will want to meet with the prospectivecoach before a decision is made.
“That’s why I can tell you that a decision has not been made,” Taylorsaid. “I can say that for sure.”
Taylor also spoke about Rubio’s sticky contract situation. The 18-year-oldpoint guard is under contract with DKV Joventut in Spain for another two years,a deal that has a buyout of around $6.6 million.
The Timberwolves can only offer $500,000 to help with the deal, so thefinancial strain it would put on Rubio is making him think twice about coming tothe NBA this season.
“It appears to be just a wait and see thing,” he said. “He wants to come,so that’s not a problem. It’s just that money deal. The team that he has playedfor is, so far, kind of held on to a higher figure than what his family feelsthey can afford to give him.”
When Kahn flew to Spain to meet with Rubio’s family and Joventut officials,he was hoping to help Rubio’s representatives reduce the buyout to a level thatwould make it easier for Rubio to pay. Kahn called the trip “productive” buthas not commented specifically on how things went.
The way Taylor sounded on Sunday, it doesn’t appear much headway was made inthat area.
“I don’t know what’s going to be his options or if they’re going to comedown a little bit,” Taylor said. “There’s nothing more we can do other than goover there and say, ‘I wish you guys would work it out.”’
The owner has been encouraged, however, by Rubio’s willingness to play forthe Wolves. When he was drafted fifth overall in June, there were some reportsthat he did not want to come to chilly Minnesota and preferred to play in alarger market.
“I communicated with them. I think we got all past that,” Taylor said.“I’m confident on his responses that he says this would really be neat to getin the NBA. I think it’s his goal and what he really wants. He just wants to beable to do it and be able to afford it.”
Its game time — sign up for Fantasy Football 09 today!
Spurs confirm Parker’s mild ankle sprain
August 1, 2009
SAN ANTONIO (AP)—Tony Parker(notes) will miss the next game for the French nationalteam after the Spurs confirmed a mild right ankle sprain in their star pointguard.
The Spurs brought Parker back to San Antonio for tests after their leadingscorer injured his ankle and thigh in a collision with an Austrian player lastweek. Parker is not expected to play when France plays Italy on Wednesday in aEuropean championship qualifier.
The Spurs said Parker will rejoin the French team this week, and that hisreturn will depend on how his ankle responds to treatment.
Parker has said earlier tests showed no signs of ligament tears or seriouscomplications.
Its game time — sign up for Fantasy Football 09 today!
