Odds & Ends: Spurs, Perkins, Fields
Bulls Notes: Rose, Asik, Howard, Hinrich
Derrick Rose's road to recovery appears to be progressing along nicely according to his brother Reggie, who says that the Bulls superstar is "way ahead of schedule." Rose is now walking without a brace and is currently in California enjoying a quiet retreat from Chicago in the meantime (Scott Powers of ESPN Chicago has the report). Here's what else we've heard out of Chicago tonight, including more on Omer Asik, thoughts on Dwight Howard, and a returning Bull..
Griffin Injured During Team USA Scrimmage, Davis Recalled
10:15pm: Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reports that the injury is a meniscal tear that will require arthroscopic surgery.
9:15pm: Yahoo's Marc J. Spears says that although Blake is done with the Olympics, he should be ready for training camp (Twitter link).
4:32pm: Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports tweeted earlier that Blake Griffin hurt his knee during a scrimmage with Team USA and will return to Los Angeles for further examination by team doctors. Just yesterday, Griffin signed a five-year maximum extension to remain with the Clippers.
Team USA officials have summoned Anthony Davis back to Las Vegas immediately to fill in as Griffin's replacement, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Calderon Requests Trade From Raptors
Marc Stein of ESPN writes that Jose Calderon would like to be traded from the Raptors. Calderon is well aware that the team does not plan to waive him with their amnesty clause, but is likely seeking a change of scenery with Kyle Lowry appearing to be the team's new starting point guard. Calderon's agent, Mark Bartelstein, confirmed that he and Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo are now working to find a deal (Twitter link). Stein cites sources that believe the Raptors prefer to trade the Spanish guard to a team with cap space in order to acquire a trade exception.
Lakers Eyeing Jamison, Brand, Jermaine O’Neal
Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles reports that the Lakers are in the market for big men, with Antawn Jamison, Elton Brand, and Jermaine O'Neal on their short list of targets. While the team is still currently in negotiations with Jordan Hill, they also hope that the above listed players would be available for the veteran's minimum. Although the Lakers still have their $3MM mid-level exception to use, they would prefer to set it aside in the event that a deal for Dwight Howard gets done and a glaring void consequently arises.
Jerry Sloan Withdraws Interest In Trail Blazers
Nearly a day after interviewing for Portland's coaching position with GM Neil Olshey, Jerry Sloan decided to remove himself from the Trail Blazers' list of coaching candidates (Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida reports). Although he declined to give reasons why the job no longer interested him, Sloan conceded that "it just didn't work out on my part" during a phone interview.
Pacers Sign Gerald Green
The Pacers officially announced that they have signed guard/forward Gerald Green today. The former 18th overall pick of the 2005 draft averaged 12.9 PPG in 31 games with the Nets last season, shooting an exceptional 48.1% from the field and 39.1% from deep. Although terms of the deal were not disclosed, we relayed a report yesterday that the team was expected to make an offer worth $10MM over three years.
Hawks Sign Lou Williams
THURSDAY, 5:20pm: GM Danny Ferry announced today that the team has signed Williams to a multi-year contract (via an official press release).
TUESDAY, 4:04pm: The Hawks have reached an agreement on a multiyear contract with Lou Williams, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Atlanta has trades lined up to send Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams to the Nets and Jazz respectively, but still won't have much free cap space, so I would guess the deal is for the mid-level exception.
Wizards Re-Sign Cartier Martin
Via an official press release from NBA.com, GM Ernie Grunfeld has announced that the team has re-signed Cartier Martin. The 6'7 guard/forward averaged 23.0 MPG, 9.3 PPG, and shot 44.0% from the field for Washington last season, appearing in 17 games and starting twice.
Bobcats Rumors: Humphries, Sessions, Haywood
Antawn Jamison talked last week about the possibility of finishing his career with his hometown Bobcats, but it appears there's no shortage of options for the veteran forward. We learned last night that the Nets are discussing a sign-and-trade deal that would send Jamison to Brooklyn, and that the Lakers are in the mix too. As Jamison weighs his options, here are a few more Bobcats-related updates, courtesy of Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer….
- Charlotte appears re-engaged in trying to acquire Kris Humphries to upgrade their power forward spot (Twitter link). ESPN's John Hollinger tweets that DeSagana Diop would have to first be amnestied before Charlotte could offer Humphries a plausible salary.