Western Notes: Blair, Durant, ‘Wolves
With Brandan Wright out indefinitely after a left shoulder injury, free agent signee DeJuan Blair, is learning both the power forward and center assignments with the Mavs, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.
The 6’7″ Blair is under-sized for a center, but as he told Sefko, “I’ve been playing five all my life against 7-footers.” Blair was largely relegated to the Spurs bench the last season. He only started 16 games and played only 76 minutes during their run to the Finals last year. So look for him to be extra motivated if given a significant opportunity in Dallas.
Here’s more from around the West tonight:
- As mentioned previously, the Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry spoke with Thunder coach Scott Brooks about Kevin Durant‘s minutes with Russell Westbrook expected to miss the first quarter of the season.
- Assuming Durant appears in at least 79 games this season, at 38 minutes a night, that would have him playing over 3,000 regular season minutes for the fourth time in five seasons. Ben Wallace in 2004/05 was the last player to win a title after playing over 3,000 minutes during the regular season.
- But it’s a workload Brooks plans to manage with off days and practice time and Durant appears up to the challenge, as long as it helps them win.
- Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman is looking for more continuity from his starters in preseason despite the second straight game without Kevin Martin, he tells Jerry Zgoda of the Star-Tribune.
- But, Zgoda tweets that Adelman has no idea if a week of rest will get Martin back on the court, though he certainly hopes so.
- Zgoda goes on to say that Othyus Jeffers, A.J. Price, Robbie Hummel and Lorenzo Brown are battling for what will likely be two spots when the team waives Chris Johnson.
- But Adelman says the Wolves could add players cut from other training camps once teams pare down their rosters in the final week of preseason.
- Adelman is also happy former ‘Wolves assistant Bill Bayno was hired as lead assistant for the Raptors (Twitter).
Southeast Notes: Jefferson, Bosh, Oden, Magic
The Bobcats made their first big splash in free agency this summer by signing Al Jefferson to a 3-year, $40.5MM contract to helm the post for one of the league’s most disappointing teams over the last half decade. The Bobcats announced today that Jefferson sprained his ankle against Miami in last night’s preseason action, and will be in a walking boot for several days:
“[Jefferson] suffered a sprained right ankle in the second half of last night’s preseason game vs. Miami. X-rays taken at the arena proved to be normal. As a precaution, Jefferson is expected to be in a walking boot for several days in an effort to contain the swelling and not put any pressure on the joint. Once out of the walking boot, he will be re-evaluated and will begin the rehab process.”
Here are a few more notes tonight from around the Southeast division, including more on Jefferson:
- Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets that Jefferson was in extensive pain and because it’s preseason the Bobcats are likely to treat the sprain conservatively so as not to endanger the health of their new big man.
- With so much speculation about what LeBron James and Dwyane Wade will do this coming summer when they can opt-out of their contracts with the Heat and become unrestricted free agents, Chris Bosh will have the same opportunity. But he’s grown comfortable with his role on the team as the third wheel of a champion, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel.
- Winderman also reports that Magic CEO Alex Martins said before their preseason matchup against the Heat, that he’d like the Magic to have their own D-League affiliate in Jacksonville.
- Sources say Heat center Greg Oden will be cleared to practice next week, and could see action for the first time in four years in one of the Heat’s final preseason games, reports Michael Wallace of ESPN (by way of the Toronto Sun).
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel profiles Magic camp invitees, Mickell Gladness, Manny Harris, Solomon Jones and Kris Joseph. None of the four will see a dime unless they make the Magic’s final roster, which means overcoming the long odds against them, Robbins adds.
Western Rumors: Ibaka, Blazers, Kings,
The Thunder surprised many when they traded star sixth man James Harden to the Rockets right before the 2012/13 season start. Serge Ibaka was awarded a 4-year, $48MM contract earlier in the summer of 2012 and tells Jeff Caplan at the NBA’s Hang Time Blog that he’s worked on his ball handling and offensive game this season.
After Russell Westbrook went down with a torn meniscus against the Rockets in last year’s opening round of the Western Conference playoffs, the Thunder struggled without their playmaking point guard. Kevin Durant had to carry a heavier offensive burden, and Ibaka’s play suffered without Westbrook to alleviate defensive pressure.
The Thunder will need Ibaka to inherit a more substantial offensive workload to begin this season with Westbrook expected to miss the first couple of months recovering from a second surgery to fix issues stemming from the original surgery on his meniscus.
Here are some notes from around the Western Conference tonight:
- With Westbrook out, there are concerns about how much Durant will have to do for the Thunder to survive Westbrook’s absence in the first part of the season. Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman tweets that head coach Scott Brooks says KD will play between 38-40 minutes this season.
- Mayberry adds, via Twitter, that no player within the last 9 seasons has gone on to win a title after logging more than 3000 minutes in the regular season, but Brooks doesn’t place much stock in that info.
- Dee Bost, Richard Howell and E.J. Singler are likely headed to the Blazers’ D-League affiliate after camp, according to Gino Pilato of D-League Digest. That’s no surprise, since they’re the only three players on Portland’s roster without fully guaranteed deals.
- New Kings coach Michael Malone says rookies Ben McLemore and Ray McCallum are making the most of their minutes during the preseason (Twitter).
- Malone also said, via the Kings‘ official Twitter account, that playing defense as a cohesive 5-man group is the key for this year’s Kings team to be successful.
- The Clippers Blake Griffin will play tonight against the Jazz after suffering a bruised knee in practice on Tuesday, reports ESPN LA. MRI results showed no structural damage and Griffin returned to practice on Friday.
Eastern Rumors: Nets, Irving, Hawks
Deron Williams has yet to appear in a preseason game for the Nets, despite being the fulcrum for their $102.211MM payroll this season. If he’s kept out of the rest of the preseason, Nets coach Jason Kidd tells Rod Boone at Newsday that Deron might not be ready, conditioning wise, for the start of the season (Twitter).
Boone added, via Twitter, that Williams hasn’t had any setback with his rehabilitation, Kidd and team officials are just being cautious by keeping him out.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving is coming up on the end of his rookie-scale contract, and Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal notes that staying healthy this season – Irving hasn’t played more than 60 games in either of this first two seasons – will go a long way towards the Cavs offering him the maximum allowable 5-year, $80MM contract next summer when he becomes eligible.
- Hawks GM Danny Ferry was in Spain today to check up on 44th overall pick Mike Muscala, according to Chema De Lucas of Gigantes.com (Twitter link; hat tip to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution). Muscala signed with Spanish club Obradoiro in the offseason, as our International Player Movement Tracker shows. Atlanta retains his NBA rights.
- The AP reports Bulls point guard Derrick Rose sat out today’s preseason action against the Wizards due to “left knee soreness.”
- Keith Bogans will be out “a couple weeks,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens told media today (Twitter). A. Sherrod Blakeley of CSNNE.com reports, via Twitter, Bogans had an MRI this morning that confirmed a right thumb strain. He’ll be re-evaluated this Monday.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Odds & Ends: Adelman, Lakers, Knicks, Stevens
Here are a few links from around the NBA on a slow Saturday night that also saw a lot of interesting preseason action…
- Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman told Jerry Zgoda of the Minnesota Star Tribune, via Twitter, that he’s not too happy about playing 4 preseason games in 6 days, but Zgoda tweets that Adelman will play a lot of young guys on Monday against CSKA Moscow.
- Adelman would rather play an NBA team, Zgoda rehashes on Twitter, but he’s anxious to play a game because “I think we need one. You really don’t get a good feel for where you are until you play another team” (Twitter).
- The Wolves' coach also called Robbie Hummel a “ tough kid,” who he could see being a lottery selection if not for the knee injuries (Twitter).
- Lakers assistant coach and "de facto defensive coach" Kurt Rambis tells Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times that defense is a team effort. "Everybody's got to be connected. Everybody's got responsibilities and duties and they have to adhere to those."
- Defense was also the theme on the other coast as Knicks coach Mike Woodson tried to familiarize the Knicks youngsters on Saturday with the proper defensive technique for various offensive looks, writes George Willis of the New York Post.
- Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com spoke with Celtics coach Brad Stevens about his team and getting enough sleep during a hectic NBA schedule Stevens has yet to experience.
Western Rumors: Evans, Jazz, Nuggets
New Pelicans wing Tyreke Evans landed hard on his left ankle tonight during their preseason game against the Rockets. John Reid of Times-Picayune reports that he was helped off the court.
Fellow Times-Picayune beat reporter Jimmy Smith tweets that X-Rays were negative on Evans' left ankle. But the team will do an MRI later tonight to be sure there's no structural damage. Evans signed with the Pelicans after a three-team trade involving the Blazers and Kings in July.
Here's more from around the West as preseason games started today…
- Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets that Jazz guard Ian Clark has been underwhelming in training camp. The undrafted rookie performed spectacularly for the Heat and Warriors in summer league, winning the summer league championship MVP in Vegas.
- The Jazz signed Clark to a partially guaranteed two-year minimum deal with the Jazz. Still, he's been pressing, Oram adds in a tweet. Though the Salt Lake Tribune scribe doesn't believe he'll be waived (Twitter).
- Oram continued to update on the Jazz training camp roster tonight, tweeting that with Marvin Williams and Brandon Rush hurt, many believe the Jazz will keep 15 on their roster with Scott Machado or Lester Hudson likely to claim one of the remaining spots for opening night.
- JaVale McGee and Kenneth Faried must improve their one-on-one defense as stressed by new Nuggets coach Brian Shaw, writes Benjamin Hochman in his mailbag column for the Denver Post.
Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Martin, Kidd
There's not much hangover from the offseason Andrea Bargnani trade in Raptors camp, where the former No. 1 overall pick is "out of sight and out of mind," as Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes in his latest mailbag column.
Here's more from around the Atlantic, including a lot on the team who traded for Barganani this offseason…
- After playing almost 30 minutes a night last season, Knicks forward Kenyon Martin shouldn't expect as much run this season. Coach Mike Woodson hopes K-Mart won't be playing as much this season, writes ESPN New York's Ian Begley.
- Fred Kerber of the New York Post adds that Martin is totally OK with the Knicks' plan to limit the 35-year-old's minutes this season and hold him out of some preseason games.
- Martin tells Al Iannazzone at Newsday that if he was younger, the decision to rest him during the preseason might bother him.
- While Martin is O.K. with less playing time leading up to the regular season, Ex-Net Chris Douglas-Roberts is hoping to make the Knicks roster despite being a long shot with so many guards already signed, writes the Post's Kerber.
- Lenn Robbins of Nets.com notes that training camp for the Nets and new head coach Jason Kidd has been mostly about defense.
- Kidd tells the New York Daily News' Stefan Bondy that this older Nets team, is also wiser. "(The media) use a different word. I use wisdom – and wisdom has won championships. So, hopefully we can do that, too." The former point guard turned coach adds that the biggest problem from last season was poor transition defense.
Central Notes: Cavs, Granger, Zeller
The Cavs went through their Wine & Gold scrimmage today and it appears No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett is struggling with his conditioning, reports the Akron Beacon Journal's Jason Lloyd. He was winded after playing just four minutes in the scrimmage.
The scrimmage ended early after second-year center Tyler Zeller took a nasty fall and Anderson Varejao landed him on, adds Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Zeller suffered a strained left hip, which is not considered serious, but he was impressing coach Mike Brown before the scary fall.
Here's more on the Cavs and some notes on the Pacers' possible new sixth man while most fans are taking in all the early preseason action tonight…
- Kyrie Irving dominated the Wine & Gold game writes Boyer, with some flashy moves on his way to scoring a game-high 17 points during the intra-squad scrimmage.
- Bennett looks to be 10-15 pounds overweight writes the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto, echoing Lloyd's report from above. But Pluto also relays Brown's belief that Bennett has NBA 3-point range; although, he still needs to work on his defense.
- Pacers coach Frank Vogel alluded to James Harden and Manu Ginobili when talking about the possibility of Danny Granger coming off the bench, tweets the Indianapolis Star's Candace Buckner. But she adds, via Twitter, that Granger would share starters' minutes with Lance Stephenson.
C.J. McCollum Fractures Left Foot
The Blazers report, via Twitter, that X-Rays confirmed rookie C.J. McCollum fractured his 5th metatarsal bone in his left foot during practice on Saturday. Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com tweets that McCollum will need surgery, but a date for the surgery has not been provided.
The Blazers say that McCollum's recovery timetable will not be available until after surgery (Twitter). McCollum broke the same foot in January last year playing for Lehigh University, ESPN Insider Jeff Goodman tweets. Haynes adds, via Twitter, that the 5th metatarsal bone in his left foot is the same one he broke in January.
CSNNW.com tweets that several media outlets believe the 5th metatarsal fracture will require extensive rehab and the recovery period is expected to be 8-10 weeks. Mike Tokito of the Oregonian writes that it took 8-10 weeks for McCollum to recover from the injury in January, which ended his season. Tokito adds that Damian Lillard suffered the same injury during his 2010/11 season at Weber State.
Vladimir Radmanovic To Retire
Former Lakers sweet-shooting forward Vladimir Radmanovic is retiring, reports InSerbia.info (by way of Eric Pincus at the Los Angeles Times). The 6-10 forward signed with the Lakers in 2006 and was part of the squad when they lost to the Celtics in the 2008 NBA finals. He was traded to the Bobcats in 2009 and missed out on the Lakers' back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010.
Born in Serbia, the 32-year-old was drafted with the No. 12 pick in the 2001 draft by the Supersonics. Most recently, Radmanovic played for the Bulls last season, appearing in 30 games off the bench.
He retires from a 12-year NBA career having averaged 8.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 21.9 MPG. According to Basketball-Reference, Radmanovic earned over $43 million during his career.