The Houston Rockets were fined a hefty amount for comments made about Dwight Howard, from Marc Stein of ESPN: “The Houston Rockets won the Dwight Howard sweepstakes, but it’ll cost them a bit more than they anticipated. An NBA spokesman confirms the team and its personnel were fined $150,000 by the league for unauthorized public comments about Howard during the league’s annual moratorium on player business. Howard verbally committed Friday to sign a four-year, $88 million contract with the Rockets, passing up a $118 million deal over five years to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers and likewise spurning interest from Dallas, Golden State and Atlanta. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey and coach Kevin McHale were both quoted extensively over the weekend after securing Howard’s verbal commitment. Teams are not allowed to publicly treat verbal agreements as done deals until the moratorium is lifted and contracts can be officially signed.
- A report from the NBA PR: Stu Jackson To Step Down as EVP, Basketball Operations; Rod Thorn Named President, Basketball Operations. According to Woj, Jackson has been looking to join an NBA team’s front office for some time:
Stu Jackson has been trying to get back into a team front office job for months. He wasn’t part of Adam Silver’s future in league office.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 10, 2013
Here are the full details of Jackson stepping down, from Yannis Koutroupis of Hoopsworld: “NBA Commissioner David Stern announced today that after more than 13 years, Stu Jackson, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations, will be leaving the NBA, and that longtime league and team executive Rod Thorn will be joining the league office as President, Basketball Operations, effective Aug. 1. “Stu has made enormous contributions to the NBA over the past 13 years,” said Stern. “He informed Adam Silver, Joel Litvin and me some months ago that after a long and distinguished career at the league he felt that this was the appropriate time to step down. We thank Stu for a job very well done, including assisting with the transition to Rod, and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
- Corey Brewer will join the Minnesota Timberwolves on a rather handsome deal for the guard, from Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports:
To clarify, free agent guard Corey Brewer has agreed in principle to sign a 3-year, $15 million contract with Timberwolves, source told Y!
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) July 10, 2013
Spears also has the report on Tyler Hansbrough signing with the Toronto Raptors: “The Toronto Raptors have agreed to terms on a two-year contract with free-agent forward Tyler Hansbrough, a league source told Yahoo! Sports. Hansbrough averaged seven points and 4.6 rebounds in 16.9 minutes per game as a reserve for theIndiana Pacers last season. The Pacers initially made a one-year, $4.1 million offer to Hansbrough, but rescinded it last week after reaching agreement to re-sign David West. Hansbrough, 27, will help fill some of the minutes at forward vacated when the Raptors agreed to trade Andrea Bargnani.”
Despite all the trade rumors over the past few seasons, Luol Deng is in negotiations to re-sign with the Chicago Bulls, according to Woj: “Chicago Bulls general manager Gar Forman met with the representatives of Luol Deng to continue discussions on parameters of a contract extension this week, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. Forman and Deng’s agents, Ron Shade and Herb Rudoy, met on Monday in Chicago to further dialogue on parameters for an extension, league sources said. Deng, 28, has one year, $14.3 million on his deal and could become part of the star-filled free-agent class of 2014 if he doesn’t reach a long-term agreement with the Bulls. The market has begun to be set for Deng’s contract in this summer’s free agency, with free agents Andre Iguodala and Josh Smith setting the standard for All-Star-caliber small forwards.”
Ray Allen says eating McDonalds made him realize how eating junk food can slow him down, from Helin: “There was a time in college where before practice I went to McDonald’s and I had a quarter pounder with cheese, I went to practice that day and I just remembered I felt so sluggish out there,” Allen told ProBasketballTalk. “And I was looking around thinking ‘Coach is just working us to hard’ because I just feel so tired. I ask the guys around me, ‘Do you guys feel tired? Because I just can’t move around like I want to” and everybody is like ‘no, I’m good.’ “And I was thinking about it all practice — wow I had a cheeseburger before I came to practice, I can’t do that anymore. From that day forward I started thinking about everything I put in my body that was preventing me from performing. I started realizing it is connected. “So when I got to the NBA I had a pregame routine, a game day routine. How I worked out affected how I ate.”
Monta Ellis will be looking for a new agent after letting of his previous one, from Broussard of ESPN: “Monta Ellis, one of the premier players remaining on the free agent market, parted ways with his longtime agent, Jeff Fried, on Wednesday. Ellis, who opted out of the final year of a six-year, $66 million deal, is frustrated that he has yet to receive a high-paying contract offer. Industry sources expect him to sign with agent Dan Fegan. “I only wish Monta and his family the very best,” Fried said. “He is a superstar on the court and a character individual with tremendous integrity off the court.” As of Tuesday, Ellis was hoping to have a deal in place within the next 36-48 hours. His split with Fried, however, may extend that timetable.”
