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Sunday, December 9

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» 07:56 PM ET Update » 06:43 PM ET Update » 03:33 PM ET Update » 09:03 AM ET Update

» Update: 07:56 PM ET

Karl was asked if Anthony wasn't focused enough on winning and defense when he had him in Denver. "I can say that about everybody I’ve coached in my career except Chauncey Billups and Nate McMillan,'' Karl said in deflecting the truism of the statement. "I can say that about Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp and a lot of great young guys I’ve had the fortune of coaching. Ray Allen is a better player than when I had him in Milwaukee. The defense he’s playing now is not the defense he played in Milwaukee. Michael Jordan didn’t win any championships his first six years. I don’t know if he won (a lot) of playoff series his first six years.’’ In other words, yes, yes, yes. Sulia

Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, George Karl, Carmelo Anthony 

I’m going to say this up-front: There were people who call themselves Charlotte Bobcats fans who were cruel to Cory Higgins. Whatever snarky is, Cory took it: “Daddy’s boy,’’ “Nepotism child.’ It wasn’t his fault. Cory’s dad runs the Bobcats’ player-personnel department. And this idea he had a job only because of the family tie is laughable. Charlotte Observer

Charlotte Bobcats, Cory Higgins 

The mistake was holding onto Cory from the start of last season to now. He was in over his head. If it wasn’t apparent at the end of last nseason, it was obvious this preseason: There was nothing about Cory’s performance or potential that would make you not give someone else a chance to see what he could do. Charlotte Observer

Charlotte Bobcats, Cory Higgins 
 

» Update: 06:43 PM ET

Evans is one of the most effective rebounders of the last 10 years, and one of the league’s grittiest defenders. But he is also viewed as one of the most shameless floppers, a reputation he sort of half-embraces, even as he tries to evade scrutiny in this new era of flopping prohibition. “It seems like there’s a magnifier on me right now,” Evans said last week, during a lengthy interview about his career. “I’m real cautious this year. It seems like everybody’s watching me on the court.” New York Times

Brooklyn Nets, Reggie Evans, David Stern, Referees 

Mickael Pietrus sat out Sunday afternoon’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers with knee tendinitis, but the condition is not serious, agent Bill McCandless told RealGM. The tendinitis is in Pietrus’ left knee – not the right knee on which he had surgery over the offseason – McCandless said. Pietrus is day-to-day. Pietrus signed with the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 30 and has swiftly climbed the team’s depth chart, starting in three of his four games. He has averaged 10.8 points and three rebounds in 31.6 minutes per game as a Raptor. RealGM

Toronto Raptors, Mickael Pietrus, Injuries 

Tracy McGrady was welcomed almost like a conquering hero when he landed to play in China — this is the guy who stared next to Yao Ming. When they could stay healthy. Now he had come to play in the Chinese Basketball Association. Now his Qingdao Eagles are 0-7. At the bottom of the standings. And when Beijing’s Ji Zhe drained a three over him to put Beijing up by 22, then gave McGrady a finger wag, it was too much. McGrady answered with the cheap elbow. And it all got caught on television. Apparently McGrady was not ejected. NBCSports.com

Tracy McGrady, China 
 

» Update: 03:33 PM ET

Yahoo! Sports first reported that the Wizards worked out Uzoh on Sunday, which was later confirmed by a league source. Uzoh is averaging 17.8 points for the Springfield Armor of the NBA Development League but spent the past two seasons averaging four points and 2.2 assists in 60 games for New Jersey, Cleveland and Toronto. Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Free Agency, D-League, Ben Uzoh 

Charlotte Bobcats President of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins announced today that the team has signed forward Jeff Adrien and waived guard Cory Higgins. Adrien will wear No. 4. The Bobcats roster remains at 14 players. The 6-7 Adrien joins the Bobcats from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA D-League, where he averaged 17.6 points on .563 shooting, 11.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 blocks in five games played so far this season. He becomes the fourth Gatorade Call-Up of the season. NBA.com

Charlotte Bobcats, Jeff Adrien, Cory Higgins 

Then, prior to a Nov. 24 home date with the Thunder, Collins was asked about not having Andre Iguodala to guard other teams’ top perimeter scorer. “Andre’s one of the better defenders in the NBA,” Collins said. “We knew that. Giving him up, we thought we were going to have one of the best post defenders (Bynum).” Zing. Finally, Collins answered a question about the Sixers’ lack of inside scoring Tuesday by saying “it’s hard to evaluate us because we were counting on 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds) there, so ...” He didn’t finish the sentence. Double zing. phillyburbs.com

Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers, Andre Iguodala, Trade, Andrew Bynum, Doug Collins 

One theory is that with each of Bynum’s numerous setbacks, Collins realized the chances that Bynum won’t play at all this season kept increasing. The games won’t stop until Bynum can begin practicing, which could still be months away. Collins doesn’t have time to focus on Bynum’s rehab and slow progress. Collins has to figure out a way to ring up as many wins as possible without the big man his team was built around. It’s not an ideal situation. phillyburbs.com

Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers, Andre Iguodala, Trade, Andrew Bynum, Doug Collins 

They ended up giving Curry a four-year, $44-million extension just before the 2012-13 season began. That made Golden State fans happy but likely ended Bobcat fans’ dreams of Curry, 24, ever playing for Charlotte while in his prime. And Curry has rewarded the Warriors’ faith, playing in every game and averaging 37 minutes this season. “This is probably the best stretch I’ve put together in my career,” Curry said, “and on top of it we’re winning. With all the injuries I’ve had on my ankle – or really the one injury I had repeatedly – my patience was really tested. I never doubted I’d be able to get back healthy and have a long career, but it was a frustrating process. So this has been a lot of fun.” Charlotte Observer

Golden State Warriors, Stephen Curry 

Equally impressive is the Thunder's offensive efficiency, or points scored per 100 possessions. The Thunder through Friday ranked second with an Oklahoma City-era best 111.1 points per 100 possessions, just 0.1 points behind league leader New York. When searching for what gives with the offense, the answer begins with maturity. “I think it's the growth of our players,” said Nick Collison. “Our guys are making better decisions. We're not having those long stretches where we don't get good shots like we used to have at times. I just think it's a maturity and growth of our team.” Oklahoman

Oklahoma City Thunder, Nick Collison 

Q: Hi Doug. All signs point to Valanciunas eventually becoming a solid contributor for the Raps (I would be happy with 18 and 10). What do you think should be the team's approach during the off-season? Encourage him to see one of the experts such as Grgurich or Olajuwon, or let him develop at his own pace through gameplay with his national team? Anson B, Ottawa. Doug Smith: Dwane actually mentioned this week the possibility of having him work with Olajuwon this summer and as long as someone write a check big enough, it’ll happen. Guess it can’t hurt. And I’m not sure what’s up this summer for the Lithuanian team outside of qualifying for the 2014 worlds but I’m sure Jonas will be part of that team. Toronto Star

Toronto Raptors, Hakeem Olajuwon, Jonas Valanciunas 

The Oklahoma City Thunder has high aspirations for rookie shooting guard Jeremy Lamb. Lamb, a lottery selection in the 2012 NBA Draft and a key piece in the package they received in exchange for James Harden, has a tremendous amount of upside, but there currently isn’t much playing time available for him. So, the team sent him to the Tulsa 66ers, their D-League affiliate, to get some extensive in-game work in. “It means a lot,” Lamb said of his time in the D-League to HOOPSWORLD. “ I met some new guys, being able to play with them, work on the stuff that I’ve been working on in OKC, being able to play and get some minutes and do it on the court has been good. “When I first got down here it’s always tough to meet new people. Daniel [Orton] was here. I was able to talk to him about, he introduced me to people. Everyone was real welcoming. DeAndre Liggins, I could talk to him. Now the whole team is like a little family, having fun playing games, working hard together. It’s good having some people that you already know in a new environment with you.” HoopsWorld

Oklahoma City Thunder, D-League, Jeremy Lamb 

Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol will miss his fourth straight game because of knee tendinitis Sunday against the Utah Jazz, but whenever he is able to return he won't be coming off the bench. "Not yet, that's not what we need to be doing right now," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said of the possibility of using Gasol in a sixth man role. "We need to find him and Steve (Nash) in there together and look at it and make a good assessment. I envision him being really good at what he does at the four, so I don't see that." ESPN.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol, Injuries 

Right hand covered by what looked like a duffle bag of ice, A.J. Price walked from the locker room, in uniform and a warm-up jacket, to the Wizards’ bench to sit with his teammates for the finish of their 101-97 loss to the Golden State Warriors. Price was well aware that his hand was broken, and that the injury would keep him sidelined for four-to-six weeks, but that wasn’t the point. “It was important in my eyes to let the guys know my morale wasn’t down,” Price said. “Even though I was injured and I’ll be out, I’m still with them 100 percent – as I know they would be for me if the shoe was on the other foot.” The Wizards are already without Trevor Booker (right knee), Trevor Ariza (left calf) and point guard John Wall, whose continued absence 10 weeks after his diagnosis with a stress injury in his left knee has raised concerns. And now they have added another player to a steadily-growing list of well-dressed wounded on Saturday, when Price said he attempted to poke away a rebound from Warriors forward Harrison Barnes and immediately “felt something go wrong.” Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Injuries, AJ Price 

This season D-League basketball became easier to watch than it ever has been. The league formed a partnership with YouTube that features over 350 of their games lived and viewable afterwards on demand. Select games are also airing on CBS Sports Network and NBA TV, but the league is really embracing being available digitally. “We have our YouTube deal, which we’re thrilled about,” Reed said. “Fans are too. Our views are up 300% from where they were last year. You also have 20 games on CBS Sports Network, where those games will be live and nationally televised, 40 more games on NBA TV. If you look at our media strategy going forward, it will continue to be a combination of games on nationally, well-distributed television and also digital. We think that’s the area of the future. That’s where people are increasingly watching games and digital distributors are interested in live content, so we think that’s a great opportunity for us to expose how great these players are and educate NBA fans on why they should follow our league.” HoopsWorld

Media, D-League 
 

» Update: 09:03 AM ET

“It’s something you don’t control, so there’s no purpose in being prepared for it or getting prepared for it,” he said. “The only thing you really care about is trying to play good for yourself and for the team. That’s what you have to prepare for. A trade? Be prepared or not prepared, it doesn’t make you a better player or a worse player. If it’s going to happen, it happens. If it doesn’t, I mean it’s not something you really think about, at least I don’t think about it. “Maybe you have more chance of being traded when you’re playing good, right? Because your value is up ... I don’t panic, honestly. So all these rumours and the talking? What does thinking about rumours get you at the end of the day?” Toronto Sun

Toronto Raptors, Trade, Andrea Bargnani 

Brewer will be an unrestricted free agent next summer and figures to be one of the more coveted wings due to his strong ability to defend the perimeter. However, Brewer’s first choice is to sign a multi-year deal with the Nuggets and remain with the franchise long-term. “You know I’d love to be here,” Brewer said to HOOPSWORLD. “But you never know what’s going to happen, because it’s the NBA. I just take it day by day and hopefully this will be home.” HoopsWorld

Denver Nuggets, Free Agency, Corey Brewer 

Brewer is playing the best basketball of his pro career, averaging 11 points and three rebounds per game this season. The forward quickly credits Karl with his on-court development and helping him to carve out his role in the league. “I love playing under Coach Karl,” Brewer admitted. “He has helped me expand my game. He just lets me play. This was the first opportunity I had to actually run up and down the court and play basketball like I did in college.” HoopsWorld

Denver Nuggets, Free Agency, Corey Brewer 

(Reggie) Williams will be an unrestricted free agent next summer and one of his goals entering this season was to prove to the Bobcats and other teams around the league that his knee is fully healed. “I want to definitely prove that my knee is 100 percent,” Williams said to HOOPSWORLD on his goal heading into free agency next summer. “I want to show why [the Bobcats] signed me to score, shoot and do the things I used to do in Golden State. It’s just a bad time for me because I got injured and had to do the surgery. Coming into this season, I felt really good.” HoopsWorld

Charlotte Bobcats, Free Agency, Reggie Williams 

On the sun-baked campus of UCLA, with the players and coaches wandering to the bus after a couple of hours of practice, Bryan Colangelo summed up the state of the Raptors with little equivocation. “This situation is, from all standards, unacceptable,” the team’s president and general manager said. “It’s disappointing, it’s embarrassing but this is where we find ourselves.” Toronto Star

Toronto Raptors, Bryan Colangelo 

Colangelo, who had long planned to join the team here at the end of a season-long road trip, was going to continue his fact-finding mission with a series of private sessions with some players and the coaching staff Saturday night. “There’s been a lot of dialogue, a lot of discussion,” he said. “It’s constant evaluation of what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and why we’re doing it.” Toronto Star

Toronto Raptors, Bryan Colangelo 

The Clippers beat the Suns, turned a two-point lead after three quarters into an 18-point thumping, without their starters playing a minute of the fourth quarter. That's how good this team can be. That, too, should concern the rest of the Western Conference. "He's coming," Del Negro said of Odom. "He wants it. I believe in him. I'm going to keep pushing him, making him work, and he's going to do the work. His teammates support him because we know that he gives us an element that we need." Orange County Register

Los Angeles Clippers, Vinny Del Negro, Lamar Odom 

But on Saturday against the Phoenix Suns, the Clippers, as they have a number of times this year, worked to get DeAndre Jordan the ball on the right side of the paint. Jordan threw a slight fake toward his right shoulder, spun back and put up a soft, right-handed hook for the team's first two points in a 117-99 victory over the Suns. "It makes me super confident," Jordan said. "I know it's a move I can go to. I know I can make that shot if I set up the right way." Jordan's evolution as a post scorer this season has forced defenses to add him to the list of players they need to pay attention to when they play the Clippers. "He merited (the attention) anyway, I think he's made great improvements," Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said. "I think overall, just his footwork and what he's done offensively. And, he's got the best guy in the world (Chris Paul) throwing lob passes to him." Orange County Register

Los Angeles Clippers, DeAndre Jordan 

With Dirk Nowitzki still on the mend from knee surgery, O.J. Mayo has been driving the Mavericks offense all season. So it wasn’t as if dropping 40 on the heads of the Rockets Saturday night was a revelation. “What he’s showing over the first 20 games is he has the ability to carry a team at times,” said coach Rick Carlisle. “He’s showing a strong-willed mentality and he’s really hungry to win.” NBA.com

Dallas Mavericks, OJ Mayo 

“O.J. [Mayo] is definitely on the kind of roll where he’s putting the team on his back,” said Derek Fisher. “He’s playing at an unbelievable level. It sounds simple, but I think O.J. just wants to win.” NBA.com

Dallas Mavericks, OJ Mayo 

This season, Evans is averaging 16.7 rebounds per 40 minutes for the Nets, second only to Anderson Varejao (16.8) among everyday players. Evans joined the Nets in July, but he is already a fan favorite at Barclays Center. The crowd chanted his name during a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, though he scored just 6 points that night. Eleven years into an N.B.A. career that nearly wasn’t, Evans still has not developed any sort of offensive game. He is averaging 3 points per game and rarely even looks to score. When the ball hits his hands, Evans’s first instinct is to pass it to someone who can, as quickly as possible. (“It’s like the first time someone holds a really small infant,” Barry said. “ ‘O.K., here, take it back.’ ”) New York Times

Brooklyn Nets, Reggie Evans 

Even as a rookie, Evans had a knack for irritating his opponents, some of them his teammates. Most players will downshift a bit in practice, to conserve energy and to avoid bruising anyone. Not Evans. “I remember getting on the practice court with him at times and him literally just bowling people over,” Barry said. “To the point where midway through the season, at times, Gary Payton didn’t practice — because, one, he is Gary Payton, and two, because Reggie didn’t care whether it was the practice court or the game court. He was going to do what he did, no matter who it was that was in front of him.” Nate McMillan, who coached the Sonics then, saw a player who was “strong as an ox” and “tough as nails,” who kept running while his teammates stopped for water breaks in a September minicamp. “Reggie only knows one way to play, and that is hard,” McMillan said. “And if you’re not playing hard, he’s going to beat you up even more.” New York Times

Brooklyn Nets, Reggie Evans 

It is June 1998, and Evans is 18 years old. He is sitting on the public side of a glass partition. On the other side is his cousin Devalaus Marquis Rome, who has been arrested twice in eight days for dealing crack cocaine. This was not unusual. Drugs were prevalent in the neighborhood surrounding the Pensacola Village housing projects, where Evans lived. His family was huge — his mother had 10 siblings — and Evans had many cousins who were running the streets. Evans hardly knew his father, who was in and out of jail. “I could have strayed away, a lot of different times,” Evans recalled, speaking in a soft Southern drawl. “My family’s so big, so you’re still around it. There’s no way of avoiding it.” New York Times

Brooklyn Nets, Reggie Evans 

Evans preferred the relative safety of the basketball court, just outside his apartment in Building M. But for a time, Evans began dealing too. Until his cousin, the one everyone affectionately called “Ba-ba” (pronounced bay-bay), went to jail. “I went to go see him in the jailhouse,” Evans said, “and I was like, ‘Man, I think you went to jail for me, just to kind of wake my eyes up, open my eyes.’ So I quit.” New York Times

Brooklyn Nets, Reggie Evans 

Matthews, who has never missed an NBA game in his four years, said he heard his left hip flexor pop during the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 99-80 home loss to Sacramento. That came after the same hip was hobbled a quarter earlier when John Salmons kneed him. He said if the Blazers had to play Sunday, he would have to sit out, ending his string of 250 consecutive appearances. It’s the second longest active streak in the NBA to Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook (332 games). Oregonian

Portland Trail Blazers, Wesley Matthews, Injuries 

While he admits his streak of games played means something to him - he even has the game operations staff play Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” during his introduction - he says his desire to play through pain is for more than a note in his bio. “It’s done not only out of stubborness, but out of sacrifice for the team,’’ Matthews said. “It’s not just an individual thing,I’m doing this so my team knows I’m going to fight for them regardless. As long as I can compete, I’m going to compete.’’ Oregonian

Portland Trail Blazers, Wesley Matthews, Injuries 

Marquee freshman Nerlens Noel cited tendinitis in a knee as the reason he limped in Kentucky's 74-46 victory over Portland on Saturday. "That just came up in the warmups," he said. "Just like soreness. I get it from time to time. Just through a lot of playing and stuff." With UK Coach John Calipari adding early-morning conditioning, dubbed "Camp Cal," to the players' workload last week, a question arose about aggravating Noel's tendinitis. A reporter noted that he would not have as much time to rest the knee. "Yeah, I'm not," he said. Lexington Herald-Leader

Draft, Injuries, Nerlens Noel 

McHale returned to the sidelines on Saturday night nearly one month since taking a leave of absence to be with his 23-year-old daughter in the last days of her life. Sasha McHale died of complications from Lupus on Nov. 24. “I feels good to be back,” McHale said in the hallway of the Toyota Center a short time before his Rockets played the Mavericks. “I’ve been gone a pretty long time. It’s good to rely on the players to make plays and the coaches to help me out a lot. “It’s been a while, but hopefully it’s the right time. I don’t know if there ever is a right time. Don’t know if there’s a playbook by this. I’m excited to be back. I think it’s gonna be good. It’s been, needless to say, a terrible month. But you know, it just felt like the time to come back and go to work and be around the guys.” NBA.com

Houston Rockets, Coaching, Kevin McHale 

“I thought Kelvin [Sampson] did a tremendous job, I really did,” McHale said. “I left after the Memphis game. We went there and got beat up pretty good by Memphis. We had a two-point game for a while, but they exposed some stuff and I had talked to Kelvin and the coaching staff about trying to do some other things. I thought they did a great job implementing that. NBA.com

Houston Rockets, Coaching, Kevin McHale, Kelvin Sampson 

Ralph Sampson is back in the NBA as a member of the Phoenix Suns player development team. When someone commented to Sean Rooks, another former NBA center and member of the Suns development team, that Sampson, now 52, doesn't look 7-4, Rooks put his arms up straight and said, "When he does this, he is 7-4, believe me." New York Daily News

Phoenix Suns, Ralph Sampson 

Former NBA star Allen Iverson isn't just gonna stand by and watch while his Atlanta mansion hits the foreclosure auction block -- TMZ has learned he's already filed legal docs to put a stop to the sale. TMZ broke the story ... Iverson's $4.5 million mansion was scheduled to go up for auction on December 4th after he allegedly defaulted on a $1.2 million mortgage. But before the sale took place, Iverson quickly filed a lawsuit against the lender that's trying to take the home, claiming he never consented to the loan. TMZ.com

Allen Iverson 

Utah State basketball player Danny Berger is recovering after collapsing at practice Wednesday and going into cardiac arrest. Berger has been slowly upgraded over the last two days and is now listed as in “fair” condition. However, if it weren’t for current German basketball player Ryan Gomes, Berger might not be here. Gomes, a New England native and alumnus of Providence College, played two seasons for the Celtics, from 2005 to 2007. His NBA career continued for five more years with the Timberwolves and Clippers. Gomes has also partnered with a charity called Hoops for Heart Health, which is where Berger comes in. NESN.com

Ryan Gomes, Danny Berger 

Gomes once saw a teammate pass away during a game, an event that may have been prevented had a defibrillator been available. Since then, Gomes and the charity have been donating defibrillators to teams and recreational centers around the country. In fact, the defibrillator that helped save Berger’s life was one directly donated by Gomes, according to USUStats.com The Hoops for Heart Health website contains a message from Gomes that reads in part: “If we can save just one life, it makes all of our efforts worthwhile.” NESN.com

Ryan Gomes, Danny Berger 
 

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