If there is one thing athletes and celebrities can learn from the mistake Amare Stoudemire made over the past weekend, it’s to utilize the “block” button when encountering an unpleasant “fan” on twitter. In today’s news, you’ll find out just how much Stoudemire had to pay for his short-sighted decision, the Rockets grand plan and their subsequent trade with the Timberwolves, changes in the Pacers front office and much more.
Stoudemire was fined for the derogatory direct message he sent to a “fan” over the weekend on twitter, and apologized for the incident: “Amar’e Stoudemire was fined $50,000 Tuesday for using “offensive and derogatory language in a Twitter message. I am a huge supporter of civil rights for all people,” Stoudemire said in a statement. “I am disappointed in myself for my statement to a fan. I should have know better and there is no excuse.”
- Frank Isola went as far as to say the Knicks probably wish they could amnesty the power forward: “At the very least, Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan must be wondering today if using the one-time amnesty clause last December on Chauncey Billups was worth it. That transaction freed up salary cap space for the club to sign Tyson Chandler but it also eliminated the Knicks’ best chance of parting ways with Stoudemire.”
- LZ Granderson had a negative take on Stoudemire as well: “We love to see our best athletes show emotion because it tells us they care as much as we, the fans, do. But emotion that hinders a player’s or a team’s success is counterproductive. Stoudemire, nine years into his NBA career, has yet to connect those dots.”
- UPDATE: Adrian Wojnarowski reports a trade between the Bobcats and the Pistons: “The Detroit Pistons have traded Ben Gordon and a lottery-protected draft pick in 2013 to the Charlotte Bobcats for Corey Maggette, league sources told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday night. The deal will save the Pistons approximately $14.7 million on the two years remaining on Gordon’s contract. He’s slated to make $25.6 million over the term of his deal. Maggette has $10.9 million left on an expiring contract.”
- Back to news that should actually matter for the Knicks, Randy Foye has interest in becoming a Knick, by Jared Zwerling: “Foye, an unrestricted free agent, is interested in the Knicks and their mid-level exception of $3 million, which came about based on the early Bird rights ruling. “He will have multiple offers at that amount and more annually,” the source told ESPN New York. “New York would be a great fit for both [playing and financial reasons].”
Brandon Roy is on the comeback trail, and the Bulls, Mavericks, Pacers and Timberwolves are the strongest suitors, according to Adrian Wojnarowski: “Roy’s recovery from chronic knee problems has been recently spurred by undergoing the platelet rich plasma therapy procedure that Lakers star Kobe Bryant popularized with NBA players, sources said. The blood spinning procedure gave profound relief to the knees of Bryant, Tracy McGrady and baseball star Alex Rodriguez.”
- David Aldridge reported late last night that Dwight Howard would not stay with the Rockets if they traded for him: “Amid a report that stated the Houston Rockets are hoping to amass enough trade assets to make a deal with the Orlando Magic for Dwight Howard – even though Howard would only be in Houston for one season before becoming an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2013 — a source with knowledge of Howard’s thinking said Monday that there was “not a chance” Howard would be persuaded to remain in Houston if traded there, and would leave next summer to sign elsewhere.”
- What Howard may not know is that the Rockets are planning for more than just the gifted center, from Bill Ingram: “The Rockets have been linked to Dwight Howard in recent days, but sources close to the situation say that acquiring Howard would only be the first step in Houston’s master plan. The team would then try to acquire a second star player, with Deron Williams atop their wish list, to put next to Howard. If all goes as planned, Houston will have the resources to trade for Howard and sign Williams to a max contract.”
Adrian Wojnarowski reported early this morning of a trade between the Rockets and the Timberwolves: “As the Houston Rockets prepare for a run at Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, they’ve secured another top 20 pick in the NBA draft, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The Rockets traded forward Chase Budinger to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 18th overall pick in the draft, giving Houston the 14th, 16th and 18th picks in Thursday’s draft. The Rockets included the rights to Israeli Lior Eliyahu in the deal with Minnesota.”
- Larry Bird, who was expected to return as the president of the Pacers, will not be returning next season, from Mike Wells: Bird is “100 percent sure” he will not return as president of the team, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Star on Monday. Bird, 55, is expected to meet with owner Herb Simon today to finalize his departure.
- David Morway has resigned as general manager of the Pacers, reports Wells: “For the past year I have carefully and thoughtfully considered my personal, family and professional goals,” Morway said in a statement released by the team. “After discussing all of these issues with our owner Herb Simon and (president) Larry (Bird), I believe this is the right time to step away.”
- Rajon Rondo was traded for Tyreke Evans and the No. 5 draft pick, according to a fake Chris Broussard twitter account: “A fake account attributed to ESPN’s Chris Broussard tweeted Tuesday afternoon that the Celtics had traded Rajon Rondo and the Celtics’ two first-round draft picks to the Sacramento Kings for Tyreke Evans and the No. 5 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. The “report” was retweeted more than 1,000 times before most tweeters presumably realized it was a hoax.”
Here’s some real news about Tyreke Evans, from Jonathan Givony: “Sources say Houston has an offer of Lowry, the #14 and #16 picks for Tyreke Evans and the #5 pick on the table. Up to Sacramento to decide.”
- Meanwhile, some notable lottery-pick candidates declined to workout for the Kings, from Marc. J. Spears: “Kidd-Gilchrist, Beal, Barnes & Robinson declined to work out for Kings (5th pick). “I guess guys don’t want to go there,” an NBA exec said.”
- Anthony Davis, who recently joined Jimmy Fallon on his late night show, believes his unibrow will become a growing business if he doesn’t put a stop to it, from Darren Rovell: “Davis, known for his connected eyebrows, trademarked the phrases “Fear The Brow” and “Raise The Brow” earlier this month. “I don’t want anyone to try to grow a unibrow because of me and then try to make money off of it,” Davis told CNBC. “Me and my family decided to trademark it because it’s very unique.”
- As reported by Woj, the Thunder will have to give up a future draft pick to the Celtics as a compensation for Jeff Green’s heart condition: “After Green had season-ending surgery for an aortic aneurysm in December, Boston’s doctors constructed a case to take to the NBA trying to show proof that Oklahoma City owed the Celtics some kind of compensation, sources said. The Thunder had traded Green to the Celtics in February of 2011 as part of a package for center Kendrick Perkins.”
Steve Nash has shown interest in teams such as the Knicks and Raptors, but the Lakers are not on his list, from Mike Mazzeo: “The truth is I’m a bit old school. For me, it would be hard to put on a Lakers jersey. That’s just the way it is,” Nash said. “You play against them so many times in the playoffs, and I just use them as an example, and I have the utmost respect for them and their organization. “I kind of have that tendency (to try to beat the best teams), so it is strange, but as a free agent you’re free to go where you want, so I’d have to consider everything regardless of the past or the future.”
- According to Sam Amico, Metta World Peace may be on the trading block: “The Lakers are exploring all kinds of potential deals, having floated every name on the roster this side of Kobe Bryant. They are said to be open to trading Metta World Peace for a late first-rounder, with their eyes on Baylor forward Quincy Miller and Kentucky point guard Marquis Teague.”
- As you will learn from this excerpt from Deadspin, Clyde Drexler’s thought process of Magic Johnson is not the most pleasant: “But you have to have to understand what was going on then. Everybody kept waiting for Magic to die. Every time he’d run up the court everybody would feel sorry for the guy, and he’d get all that benefit of the doubt. Magic came across like, ‘All this is my stuff.’ Really? Get outta here, dude. He was on the declining end of his career.”