Hello and welcome to the Evening News.
As the offseason continues, we’ll keep you updated every night.
What’s happening today?
Mavericks will sign Dejuan Blair
According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Dallas Mavericks are nearing a deal with Dejuan Blair.
While no contract has been officially signed, Blair certainly looks prepared to team up with Dirk Nowitzki:
Dallas!!!!! Now lets have some fun!!!!
— DeJuan Blair (@DeJuan45) July 30, 2013
After losing out on the Dwight Howard, Dallas has moved forward by retaining Brandan Wright and Bernard James while also signing Sam Dalembert to start at center. 
With the addition of Blair, the Mavericks should have one of the deepest frontcourts in the NBA.
The deal is expected to be for one year at the $1.4 million minimum.
Draft 37th overall by San Antonio in 2009, Blair became one of the draft’s biggest steals in his rookie season. By his sophomore campaign, the undersized big man was the Spurs’ starting center. He averaged 8.3 points and 7.0 rebounds for San Antonio in 2010-2011.
However, with Tiago Splitter’s maturation and Boris Diaw’s diverse skill set, Gregg Popovich found it harder and harder to find playing time for Blair. He appeared in only three games in the NBA Finals and averaged just under six minutes per game in those appearances.
As one of the toughest players in the league, Blair should receive quality minutes playing for Rick Carlisle.
Thunder sign Ryan Gomes
In need of perimeter shooting, the Oklahoma City Thunder have signed Ryan Gomes. 
Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the deal will be for one year at the veteran’s minimum.
Gomes is a career 35% three point shooter and has career averages of 10.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. In 2008-2009, his best year, Gomes averaged 13.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in 76 starts for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
He was amnestied in 2012 by the Los Angeles Clippers after having the worst season of his career. After failing to latch on with a team last season, Gomes spent part of 2012-2013 playing overseas in Germany.
At only 30 years old, Gomes still has the potential to bounce back and become a quality rotation player for the Thunder.
Luol Deng says his life was in danger after spinal tap
As the Chicago Bulls were fighting a tough battle with the Brooklyn Nets in the opening round of last year’s playoffs, Luol Deng was fighting an even tougher battle with his own body. 
Pawel Weszka of NBA Africa reports that Deng’s playoff illness was even more serious than we were being told at the time.
“The end of the season was disappointing,” said Deng:
“I worked hard all season, played in the All-Star, and wanted to take the team as far as possible in the playoffs. But then, when I got sick, I think that we could have handled the situation better. Obviously there are some things that you can’t handle. You can’t really handle getting sick, being taken to the ER or going to the hospital. I got the spinal tap and that’s where it went all wrong. My body didn’t react well to the spinal tap, I had some serious side effects that not only didn’t allow me to play basketball, but really put my life in danger.”
Deng was reported as having meningitis and a 103 degree fever in the playoffs. Even still, fans hoped Deng would make a heroic comeback in the second round against the Heat. Deng, however, never believed he’d get healthy enough to be able to contribute.
“It’s something that I wouldn’t want anyone to go through, but when I went through it, I think that basketball became second – especially that because what I went through health wise, my family was very worried. I never want to experience something like that again.”
