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So the Suns have selected Dee Brown to back up Stevie Nash. Surprising that Damon didn’t come away with that role… but what inevitably occurs with the resurgence of old hat around you (read: Bibby babysitting in Atlanta and Peja’s new career in NO) is this: when you put older dudes in with younger… they either return to that energetic self of yesteryear or go on the Injured Reserve.
Is Nenad Kristic going to make a dent… only on the team bus or waiting in line to use the men’s room on the road… The guy tried coming back already and got booed off the continent. OKC sucks, to be sure, but does Kristic change that?
I like the Fort Worth article below, praising Cuban for his Maverick flexibility in 2010. Enough about 2010! Lebron and his Gold medal crew are all taking that money with their current ball clubs. Look at Starbury and his “gost to get mine” attitude… Why is that draft class less volatile than we might like to believe?? A) moving sucks B) they make more money by not moving.
BTW - The great ones (Jordan, Magic, Bird) don’t go looking for championships on other teams - they bring championships to their team.
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Glen Davis, who sustained a concussion in a Sunday auto accident, is expected to travel with the Celtics to Los Angeles after Tuesday night’s game against Philadelphia but is doubtful for Thursday’s game against the Lakers. Brian Scalabrine, who was among the Celtics’ first front-court options off the bench in a 124-105 win over New York Sunday, is expected to play an important role in the next two games. Boston Globe Blog
New Orlenas Hornets Coach Byron Scott was still being cautious Tuesday morning about the availability of forward Peja Stojakovic for tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers in New Orleans Arena. Stojakovic participated in all aspects of the Hornets’ game-day shootaround Tuesday morning, seemingly recovered from the back spasms that have caused him to miss New Orleans’ last two games. New Orleans Times Picayune
The Suns selected Dee Brown as the player they will sign Wednesday to fill the team’s vacant roster spot and provide depth at point guard. Brown, 24, was starting two weeks ago for the Washington Wizards until the Wizards made a three-team trade that acquired Mike James and Javaris Crittenton, leading to Brown being waived on Dec. 11. Arizona Republic
“We like his intensity, his quickness,” Suns General Manager Steve Kerr said. “He’s got some NBA experience and playoff experience with Utah. He’s also played at a high level, being in a championship game at Illinois (in 2005). He won’t be overwhelmed out on the court if he gets the chance. He’s a young guy so he’s got a chance to make a mark and improve.” Arizona Republic
Phoenix considered a veteran like Damon Stoudamire or Troy Hudson with an eye toward who it might want to fill in for Nash in a long-term situation. The call ultimately came down to Brown and Eddie Gill, a NBA-experienced point guard who now plays in the NBA Development League. The players participated in a six-man tryout Monday with Darrell Armstrong and Walker Russell too. Arizona Republic
Monday was a case of something old, something new, something borrowed (from the NBA Development League) and five guys who will end up blue after the Suns held auditions with six prospective point guards to fill the empty roster spot that must be filled by Wednesday. A final decision hasn’t been made, but it would figure that longtime NBA veteran Damon Stoudamire, journeyman Eddie Gill and young Dee Brown are the finalists for the position – with the final decision depending on whether the Suns will lean toward an insurance policy for Steve Nash or a change-of-pace player who can provide more defense. East Valley Tribune
Those three players joined 40-year-old Darrell Armstrong, ex-Minnesota Timberwolves starter Troy Hudson and D-Leaguer Walker Russell Jr. for the hourlong workout at US Airways Center following Phoenix’s regular practice. The Suns have only three games over the next 16 days – giving the new guard along with recent arrivals Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley plenty of time to bond with new teammates and soak up the system. East Valley Tribune
“It was a really highly competitive workout,” Suns Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin said. “The guys not playing games of late (Armstrong, Hudson and Stoudamire) were in amazing condition. We had a very healthy cross-section of guys.” Arizona Republic Blog
“There probably won’t be many minutes for him right now,” Suns coach Terry Porter said before the workout today, referring to whichever player the Suns pick. “We’ll just have to wait and see how that plays out. If I had to predict right now, I’d say there’s not many minutes for him just because LB (Leandro Barbosa) has been going really well and other things have been good.” Arizona Republic Blog
Shooting guard Mike Miller, who sprained his right ankle for the second time this month in Saturday night’s 109-102 loss to Houston, did not accompany the Timberwolves to San Antonio for tonight’s game against the Spurs. Coach Kevin McHale said after the morning shootaround that Kevin Ollie will start at point guard, with Randy Foye moving to Miller’s two spot. St. Paul Pioneer Press
Tony Parker will appeal the technical foul he got from referee Zach Zarba for protesting a jump ball call with 2:33 left in the third quarter of the Spurs’ 101-85 victory over the Sacramento Kings. The two-time All-Star contends he neither cursed nor carried on an argument beyond an initial reaction of, “Come on.” Parker is confident league officials will rescind his technical, and the $1,000 fine that goes with it, citing the fact Zarba acknowledged it had been a mistake. San Antonio Express-News
“I didn’t say anything,” Parker said, “and he apologized to me. We’re allowed a reaction. They tell you that in training camp, that you’re allowed a reaction. I didn’t even curse at him. “All I said was, ‘Come on,’ because I felt like he (Kings guard Bobby Brown) was holding me, and he (Zarba) said it was a jump ball. He knew he was wrong, because he apologized.” San Antonio Express-News
Raptors: The mood around the club, in the midst of their current struggles, has been less jolly than the season might otherwise allow. Still, appearances were being kept up. Bryan Colangelo, the general manager who flew into Los Angeles Sunday night on the heels of a college scouting trip in Arizona, spent some pre-game time scoffing at a report on the Chicago Bulls’ website that quoted an NBA GM saying Colangelo “is in a panic.” “There is no panic,” said Colangelo. “We will make a trade if a trade presents itself that makes sense for the short-term and the longer-term picture.” Toronto Star
Colangelo acknowledged his participation in fervent discussions with his league-wide counterparts, and there have been on-court trends that would certainly inspire a hair-trigger dealer to action. When the Raptors sprinted to an early lead last night, for instance, there was built-in skepticism among some courtside observers. “These guys,” said one scout, “are a great first-quarter team.” Toronto Star
“It’s been tough,” Bosh said of a team that is the league’s biggest disappointment, with an 11-17 record even after beating the Clippers Monday night. “I’m not even going to lie to you. It’s been tough. Keep in mind, there’s a lot of basketball to play. You know how it is. You have one good run, everybody forgets about all the bad times and everything. I’ve just got to keep that in mind. I know that we’re going to be successful later on.” ESPN.com
And those could be the words that determine if Bosh will have a long-term future in Toronto. He likes it there, the “or-gone-eye-zation” (as the Canadian-born Triano pronounces it) does its best to accommodate him, and the Raptors can clear cap space to bring in a sidekick from the talent-rich free-agent class of 2010 if Bosh decides to stay. The Raptors will have the home-court advantage to guarantee him more money than any other team, but Bosh said feelings will outweigh finances. “I think happiness is key,” Bosh said. “Being comfortable. That has a lot to do with happiness.” ESPN.com
First-round pick Danilo Gallinari went through an individual workout Monday and Mike D’Antoni said that the rookie will be re-evaluated in two or three weeks. “We’ll see what his therapy does,” D’Antoni said. “If he’s ready to go in two or three weeks we’re doing it. If not, they’ll have to think about another strategy.” Gallinari, out with a back injury, has not played since Oct. 31. NY Daily News
Donnie Walsh revealed that Eddy Curry, who has not played this season due to a bruised knee, could return to practice next week. “I’m hopeful,” Walsh said. “In about a week he’ll get on the court and start to practice. Don’t hold me to that exact timeline. I talked to him and he said he wants to play. When he gets out there he’ll be helpful to us.” NY Daily News
Curry confirmed he is on track to join the team full tilt in practice in a little more than a week. After that, “It’s up to the coach when he thinks I’m ready to play,” he said. Because of a bruised right knee, Curry hasn’t practiced since the regular season began but may start doing on-court drills on Christmas Day, when the club returns to practice. NY Post
Curry’s season-long inactivity has been less dissected than Stephon Marbury’s banishment. Curry habitually dodges reporters. He rarely sits on the bench during games. Though he’s been their starting center for three seasons, it seemed fait accompli he didn’t fit D’Antoni’s program. NY Post
Also, Wilson Chandler is wearing down in his first full season. D’Antoni realizes a seven-, eight -man rotation is too taxing for his speedball style. Curry would give the Knicks a sturdy nine-man rotation and enough size where they won’t get as overpowered against bigger teams. NY Post
Donnie Walsh said he’s “continuing to see” if a buy-out can be worked out with Marbury, who is vacationing on the West Coast. “Nothing is imminent; I’ve been in touch with his representative,” Walsh said. “It’s in our best interests and his best interests.” NY Post
Lakers guard Jordan Farmar saw two doctors in Los Angeles on Monday and both confirmed the initial diagnosis of a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee and recommended surgery. Farmar is currently back in Los Angeles, deciding on the best course of action. If he has surgery, the recovery time could be up to eight weeks. “We’re not happy about it obviously but this is what we go through in an NBA season,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “That’s why we have a roster so guys can play and back up people can help. We hope that we get guys to support us now that Jordan’s gone and will be for a while.” LA Daily News
Farmar said his knee had been bothering him for a few weeks, but had begun to feel better until he re-aggravated it in the fourth quarter of Friday’s loss to the Miami Heat. He was examined in Orlando on Saturday and a tear was discovered. LA Daily News
Phil Jackson said the Lakers will discuss adding another point guard to help spell Fisher as they have one spot open on their roster. “I doubt that we’d bring in a two-guard because we’re really looking at someone who can help Fish manage his time,” Jackson said. “The numer of small gaurds in the league has increased significantly so we probably look at someone with that quickness and that speed and that size.” LA Daily News
There’s a slight chance Farmar would wait to see whether the injury felt better on its own, though team doctor Steve Lombardo and L.A.-area knee specialist Byron Patterson each said Farmar should undergo a surgery that could sideline him up to eight weeks. “We’re not happy about it, obviously, but this is what we go through in an NBA season,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “These timetables can be four to six [weeks], six to eight [weeks]. We’re looking at a time period that’s significant.” LA Times
The Lakers have the option of adding a 15th player to their roster, probably a veteran guard who would alleviate the extra minutes currently being heaped onto Derek Fisher. Fisher, 34, played another 41 minutes Monday against Memphis after logging 41 Saturday against Orlando. LA Times
Veteran possibilities include Tyronn Lue, who spent his first three NBA seasons with the Lakers and is logging only 11.7 minutes a game with the Milwaukee Bucks, and Jannero Pargo, who is playing in Russia and could be a challenge to sign because of his contract with Dynamo Moscow. LA Times
The Lakers are not expected to sign Coby Karl or Joe Crawford, Phil Jackson said. Both players were waived by the Lakers at the end of the exhibition season. LA Times
The Lakers could also stand pat and see how Sasha Vujacic does after moving from shooting guard to backup ballhandling guard. “I think Sasha can push that ball with a level that’s OK,” Jackson said. “Decision-making, that’s a different story.” LA Times
If the Nets want Nenad Krstic back they can get him, but it will cost them both money and a player, so they aren’t expected to do it. Krstic, who has been playing in Russia since the Nets let him go after last season, signed an offer sheet with the Oklahoma City Thunder Monday, believed to be for three years and a little more than $15 million. The Nets have seven days to match the offer and get their one-time center of the future back. But that would mean they would have to either cut one of their current players or make a two-for-one trade to free up a roster spot. Newark Star-Ledger
Also, re-signing Krstic for three years would mean committing salary into the 2010 season, which no team wants to do in order to maintain salary cap flexibility for the summer of 2010, when so many tantalizing free agents could be available. Newark Star-Ledger
Reports continue to come out of China that Yi is really 24 years old, and not 21 as stated on his birth certificate. The Nets dismiss the stories and Yi flatly denies them. “It’s not true,” he said before the game, “21 is the truth.” Newark Star-Ledger
The Nets announced a new marketing deal with a Chinese-based sportswear company, Peak. The deal includes courtside and balcony signs in Chinese characters. About 200 million people were expected to be watching the game in China. Newark Star-Ledger
While it has become extremely popular in all parts of the NBA world to criticize Cuban and the Mavericks for trading Devin Harris, Mark Cuban remains steadfast in his belief that it was a good deal for Dallas. “There’s only one goal every year and that’s to win a championship,” Cuban said. “And if you’re not going to win it right now, what puts your team in the best position flexibility-wise going forward? That was the question and [the trade] was the answer.” Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The flexibility the Mavericks will have because of the trade has been overlooked. While it has become trendy to praise teams that make deals to free salary space for the free-agent class of 2010, the Mavericks are one team that has been overlooked. “We can do whatever we want to do [in 2010],” Cuban said. “We’ll basically have Dirk [Nowitzki] and Jet [Jason Terry] on the books. Other guys can opt out and we can sign them after the fact.” Fort Worth Star-Telegram
So the bottom line is, yes, Cuban and the Mavericks will have the opportunity to bid on LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Dallas native Chris Bosh. How would that Nowitzki-Bosh front line look? “Dirk is the type of guy where he’ll say, ‘I’ll redo my contract with less money kind of like they do in football and you can build a better team around me,’ ” Cuban said. Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Mavericks will have important decisions to make between now and 2010, including at the end of the season when Jason Kidd’s $21.3 million contract comes off the books. Depending on how the Mavericks fare in the playoffs, Cuban will have to decide how much he might want to offer Kidd, and Kidd could also test the free-agent market. Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Zach Randolph had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Clippers during a foul-plagued 28 minutes, and left the game with 10:44 to play after bruising his left knee in a collision with Jake Voskuhl on a layup by Bosh 16 seconds earlier. “That was tough,” Baron Davis said. “It shocked everybody that he was walking off the court. He’s our horse. He’s the guy we’re going to go to on the block, so we want him to have the ball because he scores on anybody and he makes good decisions. So anytime you lose your horse, your go-to guy, it’s tough.” AP/LA Daily News
Yi Jianlian: In a game that was broadcast live in China, the 7-footer came up woefully short against Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets, scoring 10 points on 4-for-13 shooting in the Nets’ 114-91 loss. Yao, who has set the standard for Chinese players in the NBA throughout his 6-1/2-year career with the Rockets, scored 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. He also had plenty of help as Aaron Brooks tied his career-high with 22 points and Tracy McGrady scored 12 points for Houston (19-9). NY Daily News
The Nets had buses shuttling fans in from Chinatown and were hoping for a large crowd for the Yi-Yao matchup. But attendance appeared to be far smaller than the officially announced 16,303. The game was the third of four in the heavily marketed “Yi ticket plan.” So far, Yi has scored a combined total of 19 points in those games. NY Daily News
Afterward, he tried keeping things in perspective while answering questions from some of the 40 or so Chinese reporters who covered the game. Asked how hard he was taking such a poor performance under the circumstances, Yi Jianlian replied in Chinese, “It’s not that serious. It’s just a game,” an answer that drew laughs from the contingent of foreign journalists. Nothing was funny for the Nets. Houston raced out to a 29-13 lead after the first quarter, out-shooting the Nets 58% to 24% in that time. NY Daily News
The record indicates that the Knicks are on a pace for another 33-win season, a modest total they’ve reached in two of the past four campaigns. But with one-third of the season complete, Mike D’Antoni believes that the Knicks are better than their 11-16 record and that they’ll get better results over the next four months. Not even an ugly loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday could curb D’Antoni’s optimism. While the defending NBA champs are a lock to make the playoffs, the Knicks, according to D’Antoni, have the next six weeks to demonstrate that they also can qualify for the first time in five years. NY Daily News
“I’m optimistic and happy to a certain point,” D’Antoni said. “I thought we played very well in some games that we did lose. I thought we didn’t come out with energy maybe one or two times all year and one happened to be (last Friday against) Milwaukee. Overall, we’re okay, but we need to make the playoffs. We need to understand what it’s going to take and have a little bit more dedication.” NY Daily News
After the game, Marc Gasol was asked about playing the Lakers and the match-up with his brother, and among his responses was this: “It’s hard to play when there are more fans in the stands for the Lakers than the Grizzlies, and people are chanting ‘MVP’ for Kobe.” With that, Marko Jaric, whose locker is right next to Gasol, chimed in. Looking at the gathered reporters but gesturing to Gasol, he said, “He’s just come over from Europe. In Europe, those things never happen. There would be a fight in the stands.” Memphis Flyer
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