RSS

New Orleans Hornets sign Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers – NBA News Roundup


    New Orleans Hornets sign Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers, New York Knicks add South American flavour, Wizards bring in A.J. Price while Boston Celtics re-sign Keyon Dooling
New Orleans Hornets sign Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers – NBA News RoundupAnthony Davis and Austin Rivers sign rookie contracts with New Orleans Hornets
In what was the best possible night for the New Orleans Hornets in recent times, the franchise landed two top ten picks on June 28 in the NBA draft. They acquired Anthony Davis with the number one selection and chose to pick Austin Rivers with their number 10 pick.
Almost a month after draft night, both first round choices have signed their rookie contracts with the Hornets. The details of the both contracts have been outlined by NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. Both Davis and Rivers are guaranteed three seasons; with the number one selection getting the total income of about $16 million while Rivers has secured $5.9 million.
The second round selection and Kentucky team mate of Davis, Darius Miller is yet to negotiate his contract.
New York Knicks sign Pablo Prigioni
In order to fill up the back court void left after the departure of Jeremy Lin, New York Knicks have included quite a few options. The latest signing made in that department has been of Argentinean point guard Pablo Prigioni. The details of the agreement have not been revealed yet but the Argentinean is set to take on the bench role behind Jason Kidd and starting point guard Raymond Felton.
Washington Wizards secure the signature of A.J. Price
As part of the rebuilding plan, another change taking place in the Washington Wizards roster is the addition of A.J. Price who comes in as a free agent. According to club president Ernie Grunfeld, Price has been brought in to play back-up to John Wall.
A second round draft pick from 2009, Price had spent his first three years playing for the Indiana Pacers. He held an average of 6 points, 2 assists and 1.5 rebounds over the course of three seasons during which he managed to take part in 150 games.
Boston Celtics re-sign Keyon Dooling
The Boston Celtics have reached an agreement with Keyon Dooling to come back for next season. In a deal highly beneficial for the Boston franchise, Dooling will be coming in on a veteran’s exception.
Even though Dooling did not receive much playing time last season and no significant change in his playing minutes is expected with the arrival of Jason Terry and Courtney Lee as well. However he is excited to be back in Boston – a fact confirmed by his agent.
“He’s excited to be back,” said, Kenge Stevenson (Dooling’s agent). “He loves Doc (Rivers), his teammates. It’s a good situation for him.”

source:  http://blogs.bettor.com/New-Orleans-Hornets-sign-Anthony-Davis-and-Austin-Rivers-NBA-News-Roundup-a174657

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

NBA Sunday: Scott Shrugs Off Trade Rumors

Byron Scott Shrugs Off Trade Rumors, Wants to Develop Young Core
The year following LeBron James’ taking of the talents to South Beach, the Cleveland Cavaliers were neither good nor even entertaining. The rebuilding effort, however, has been relatively fast and pretty successful only two short years later.
Of course, a lot of that has to do with Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving, someone Cavs head coach Byron Scott admits is the future of his franchise.
“The kid only had eleven games in college, he had sixty games in the pros and he’s developed into one of the better young point guards in this league,” Scott told HOOPSWORLD while watching his Summer League team in Las Vegas. “People saw what he did with the Olympic team in some of those practices. He can be a very special player. We expect big things from Kyrie Irving, putting a lot of pressure on him to come out there and deliver, and that’s only from within.
“We’re looking at this guy as being one of the premier point guards in the league.”
Of course, he’s not the only egg in the Cavaliers’ basket right now. Cleveland GM Chris Grant wrapped up a long draft process in June, with rookies Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller to show for his troubles.
Scott is understandably excited about coaching these young talents as well, and in Summer League he was able to get a look at his frontcourt of the future—Zeller and second-year forward Tristan Thompson.
“I like the fact that Tyler can play four and five. He can stretch the floor because he can shoot it from about seventeen/eighteen feet,” he said. “Tristan did a heck of a job this summer in getting down there in the post and making some post moves that we wanted him to work on. I really envision those two guys along with Andy Varejao being three guys that you can kind of rotate in and out. They can all play the four and the five so it makes us a little bit more versatile.”
Of course, trade rumors have swirled lately that Cleveland might be looking to move Varejao in a deal that would net the team Lakers center Andrew Bynum, but Scott actually downplayed those rumblings and instead put the focus on the talent they’ve acquired in the last two drafts. That, according to Scott, is the way he’s currently focused on restoring his team to respectability.
“I’m looking at a nice young core of guys,” Scott said. “If we add some guys to that core, more power to us, and if we don’t we’ll go with what we got because I think right now the future of our team is pretty bright.”

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS