:: Today's NBA Rumors (courtesy of Yahoo! Sports) ::
(Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:39:54 PST)
Magic coveting Clippers' Steve Blake?
It's hard to imagine anybody coveting any player on the 25-39 Los Angeles Clippers right now, but the Orlando Magic is apparently thinking that it would like to add Clips point guard Steve Blake(notes) this summer, according to FanHouse.
Blake stepped into the starting lineup Tuesday night to replace the hurting Baron Davis(notes) and ended up with 11 points, two rebounds, five assists and one steal. Nine of those points came through three-pointers.
The Magic need a point guard to play behind Jameer Nelson(notes) and the 30-year-old Blake is apparently the guy they'd like to have filling that role. Current Magic point-guard backups Jason Williams(notes) and Anthony Johnson(notes) become free agents this summer and the team apparently doesn't want to re-sign them.
"I have a lot of respect for the Magic and their coach [Stan Van Gundy],'' Blake told FanHouse. "But I'm not going to worry about that until this summer. I take pride in being able to give a team what it needs in any role.''
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(Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:41:46 PST)
Pistons' Stuckey out for season?
Detroit Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey(notes) collapsed on the bench Friday in the second half of a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Plenty of tests have been done on the 23-year-old since then and he may have to miss the rest of the season, according to the Detroit News.
"I'm good, everything is good," Stuckey told the paper, but also pointed out that nobody seemed to have an explanation as to what happened on Friday. The Pistons take on the Utah Jazz on Wednesday and it's not clear if Stuckey will be in that game or any other the rest of the season. "I got to talk to the doctors and figure that out," Stuckey said.
More tests are scheduled for Stuckey in Motor City.
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(Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:31:57 PST)
76ers planning to fire coach Jordan
The Philadelphia 76ers are very likely to fire coach Eddie Jordan when the season finally comes to a close, if not before, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The word is that team owner Comcast-Spectacor's chairman, Ed Snider, wanted to send Jordan packing earlier this season but didn't do it because he had already fired the head coach of another Philadelphia team his organization owns earlier this season. That firing was done to John Stevens, the former coach of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Snider also may fire 76ers GM Ed Stefanski when the season ends. Why not get it over with now, Ed? After all, the most-talented crop of free agents ever will be available this summer and you don't want to waste time groping around for new folks for the front office while everybody else is spending that same time making their plans on how to get some of this talent onto their squads.
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(Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:02:31 PST)
Knicks planning for Hawks' Joe Johnson
The New York Knicks are obviously going to do everything it can to convince LeBron James(notes) to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and make his way to the city that never sleeps. But the general consensus is that there is no way James will end up with the Knicks unless he's got some sort of martyr complex.
The word from the paper of record, the New York Times, is that it is far more likely that the Knicks will have Atlanta Hawks forward Joe Johnson(notes) on its roster next year. Johnson and Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni worked well together in Phoenix and the coach would supposedly love to have him back.
The eight-year pro guard is averaging 21.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. The Times says the Hawks are going to try and retain Johnson and the Los Angeles Clippers and Chicago Bulls are likely going to try and sign him as well.
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(Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:42:53 PST)
Rockets planning to keep Lowry
Since guard Kyle Lowry(notes) has been out with a hurt ankle, his Houston Rockets have won four games and lost nine. So GM Daryl Morey is apparently saying that he'll take care of the man who will be a restricted free agent this summer, according to the Houston Chronicle.
"He's a big part of it, maybe more so than everybody really realized," coach Rick Adelman said. "We knew what he gave us game in and game out. He always gave us energy. He was great to play with Chase [Budinger]. And he played with Aaron [Brooks] so well, and Aaron didn't have to play 40-something minutes. That was huge, too. We've really missed him."
The 23-year-old Lowry may return Tuesday night against the Washington Wizards.
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(Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:26:59 PST)
Kobe Bryant: Lakers 'edgy and upset'
The Los Angeles Lakers just lost three games in a row, the first such streak of the last two seasons, and Kobe Bryant(notes) says the team is "a little edgy" and "upset," according to the Los Angeles Times.
Bryant said even reporter questions were giving him a stomach virus.
Pau Gasol(notes) said the team needs better ball movement to regain its winning ways as well as an adjustment to play up to their own possibilities. "That's what's disappointing and frustrating," Gasol told the paper. "That's why I want us to get ourselves going and playing well and being confident and having that swagger of the best team in the league, and lately we haven't been carrying that with us."
Bryant said the team didn't play hard in losses to the Charlotte Bobcats and Miami Heat while just losing to a good team against the Orlando Magic.
Perhaps the return of Sasha Vujacic(notes), out since Feb. 18, will help change things around when he re-appears on the roster Wednesday night when the team takes on Chris Bosh(notes) and the Toronto Raptors.
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(Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:42:25 PST)
James Worthy and Michael Jordan were teammates at the University of North Carolina and now it's looking like they may be working together on a different basketball team in a totally different capacity.
The Gaston Gazette is reporting that new Charlotte Bobcats majority owner Jordan may be hiring Worthy for a job with the team. "He's really interested in helping some people I know," Worthy said of Jordan to the Gazette. "He's talked to myself. He's talked to [former UNC teammate] Sam Perkins. When he gets ready to hire, he has our numbers. And I'm sure he'll call people that are interested."
Worthy has done TV work for his former pro team, the Los Angeles Lakers, but he says that wouldn't be his bag in Charlotte: "It would be more front office-type stuff - player personnel, assistant GM, anything that he needs community-oriented," Worthy told the paper.
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(Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:25:05 PST)
New York Knicks forward David Lee(notes) is an unrestricted free agent this summer. And he sounds like he wouldn't mind heading to the 7-55 New Jersey Nets, according to the New York Post.
The team's dismal record is going to keep some free agents away. There are some - such as the Phoenix Suns Amar'e Stoudemire(notes), who could opt out of his contract this summer, and the Memphis Grizzlies' Rudy Gay(notes) - who seem attracted to the team that will someday supposedly move to Brooklyn.
Lee is thinking that if the team gets the No. 1 pick in the draft and picks up a good free agent, it could turn things around pretty quickly. "They have a great center in [Brook] Lopez, an All-Star point guard, Devin Harris(notes), great athleticism with wings Chris Douglas-Roberts(notes) and Terrence Williams(notes)."
The Nets will have $23.3 million in cap space to play with and Lee might just want to stay living in the New York area.
Brook Lopez(notes) is into the idea of adding Lee: "It would be great," he told the Post, "a guy who loves to crash the offensive glass for so many extra possessions. Then with Yi [Jianlian], if you had the three of us playing together, it would be a great situation."
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(Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:12:32 PST)
Heisley ready to sell Grizzlies?
Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley is 73 years old and he says that his family isn't going to take over the team whenever his time expires. So he tells the Memphis Commercial Appeal, "If the right person makes a reasonable offer for the team I will sell it."
His most ideal group to sell to are the team's current minority owners. "I think they would make great owners," he said. "If it's not to be, it's not to be."
Heisley says he's not in any financial trouble and doesn't have any real need to sell the team. He thinks the team has been very fiscally responsible. "Everybody says I'm cheap. But I've shown that it does you no good to just go out and spend huge amounts of money," he said.
He also pointed out that the Grizzlies have a contract that tie them to Memphis for 17 years and the team can't be moved before then so new ownership wouldn't mean the 32-31 team would be leaving town. "It's not possible," he said. " If somebody calls up, we tell them [moving] is not possible. Tell the people to wait about 10 years, let attendance never get any better and then they better start worrying. Right now, there's nothing to talk about."
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(Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:33:03 PST)
The San Antonio Spurs have seemingly lost its starting point guard for the rest of the season. Tony Parker(notes) has a fractured right hand and he isn't expected to be healed until the season ends, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
"We'll find a different way to play and hope we can bide our time until he's back [for the playoffs]," Tim Duncan(notes) told the paper. "Nobody's going to play like him, but we have to find a way to get it done."
The fracture is on his shooting hand and happened close to halftime of Saturday's game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
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