LeBron James' King For Kids Bike-a-thon

AKRON -- It was a parade fit for a king. Lebron James and the LeBron James family foundation spent Saturday in James' hometown of Akron to host the 2009 State Farm "King for Kids Bike-a-thon."

LeBron's mother, Gloria, was there to kick-off the event.

The event is held each year to recognize and reward Akron-area children who have contributed to the community.

James' teammate Mo Williams, along with celebrities Chris Paul, Nick Cannon, and Lil J.J., strapped on their helmets and took to a one-mile ride through the city.

Hundreds of children received free bikes.

Proceeds from the bike-a-thon will benefit the Akron area YMCA and the Akron Urban League.

NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner Fred Jones signs italian Biella

Ex-Clipper Jones signs with Italian club
From the NBA to Europe.

The 6-2, 225-pound guard Fred Jones has agreed to terms with the Italian team Biella Angelico. The American has officially agreed to a one-year deal.

In 2004 Jones won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, beating out ex-champion Jason Richardson.

Jones was a member of the Indiana Pacers, the Toronto Raptors, the Portland Trail Blazers, the New York Knicks and last season he played in Los Angeles for the Clippers.

Last season Jones appeared in 52 games for the Clippers and totalled 7.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.

Orlando Magic sign point guard Jason Williams

After a year out of the game to spend more time with his family, Jason Williams will be making his NBA comeback as close to his family as possible.

The veteran point guard on Wednesday signed a one-year deal with the Orlando Magic believed to be worth the league's veteran minimum of $1.3 million, choosing the opportunity to play behind Jameer Nelson with a championship contender over a return to the Memphis Grizzlies.

"You couldn't paint a better picture," Williams said in a phone interview.

Williams signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers in August 2008 but walked away from the contract before ever playing a game for the Clippers, partly because of complications his wife faced when pregnant with their third child. The 33-year-old wound up sitting out the entire 2008-09 season when his February attempt to be reinstated -- which requires unanimous approval from the league's 30 teams to avoid a mandatory one-year waiting period -- was voted down by 24 teams to six.

The Clippers held exclusive negotiating rights with Williams through July 24 but ultimately elected to relinquish them. The New York Knicks then inherited those exclusive negotiating rights by claiming him off waivers, but Williams soon became an unrestricted free agent when the Knicks passed on him. That led to immediate interest from the Grizzlies and the Magic.

Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley has long maintained a deep fondness for Williams and urged him to come back to the team he spent four seasons with from 2001-05. Yet the chance to stay in Orlando -- having maintained a residence in the nearby community of Isleworth for nearly a decade -- was too attractive to the 10-year vet.

"We're moving forward," Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "I think Jason was serious about us. I just don't think he wanted to move his family. He gets to stay at home and contend for a championship."

Said Magic general manager Otis Smith: "Jason provides depth and leadership to our backcourt. He is a veteran point guard that knows what it takes to help us reach our ultimate goal."

Williams told ESPN.com that he feels "rejuvenated" physically from the year away and grateful to be making his return to the game in Florida after helping the Miami Heat win a championship in 2005-06 in a season that began with Orlando's Stan Van Gundy as his head coach.

In 10 seasons with Sacramento, Memphis and Miami, Williams has averaged 11.4 points and 6.3 assists, gradually delivering steadiness on a consistent basis as he got older after breaking in with a flashy but risky floor game that earned him the nickname of "White Chocolate."

Asked to reflect on his career to date, factoring in the highs in Miami and his status as an instant darling in Sacramento as well as his multiple suspensions in college and occasional controversies in the NBA, Williams said: "Let me tell you this: If I could go all the way back [to the beginning], I wouldn't do a damn thing different. I know I messed up here and there along the way, but those things I didn't do right helped me become the person I am now."

Williams is merely the latest new arrival in an active offseason for the reigning Eastern Conference champions, with Smith clearly unafraid to tinker with the supporting cast around his All-Star trio of Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Nelson.

Since reaching the NBA Finals for just the second time in franchise history, Orlando has traded for former All-Star swingman Vince Carter, signed free-agent forward Brandon Bass, matched a five-year, $34 million offer sheet to restricted free agent Marcin Gortat and added Matt Barnes, Williams and Ryan Anderson (acquired in the Carter trade) in place of the exiting Hedo Turkoglu, Courtney Lee, Tony Battie and Rafer Alston.

source: espn

Artest thinks the Lakers are like the 90's Bulls...

Ron Artest believes that the Lakers can be like the Bulls of the late 1990s.

Artest, who signed a free-agent deal with Los Angeles this summer, grew up as a fan of Michael Jordan.

"The opportunity was unbelievable. I get a chance to play with Kobe, Michael Jordan's my favorite player, Kobe's probably the closest person to Michael Jordan, so I get to kind of relive that whole Chicago Bulls thing growing up, that was my favorite team," Artest told 790 The Ticket in Miami.

"So, Phil Jackson, you got Kobe Bryant, you got myself at the three like Scottie Pippen, you have a clutch shooter in Derek Fisher like a Steve Kerr, you have Lamar Odom like a Toni Kukoc, it's just fun, it's a dream. I thank God so much to be in this situation, get a chance to win, playing with the defending champs, and I'm in LA 'cause you know I love the spotlight."

Nate Robinson arrested...

New York Knicks star and "diminutive slam-dunk expert" Nate Robinson has been arrested for driving on a suspended license, according to the New York Post.

Tuesday afternoon, the unrestricted free agent guard — whose license was suspended in June for the fifth time! — had his vehicle pulled over by the NYPD in The Bronx on suspicion of having illegally tinted windows. Well, at least that was Nate's tweet reasoning. We're still not exactly sure.

"Cops pulled me over cuz my windows were 2 dark (but my windows were down) lol how funny is that," the 5-foot, 7-inch guard posted on Twitter while waiting on his Big Wheel in his car with Nets' rookie Terrence Williams(notes).

Robinson also tweeted that the cops kept him waiting too long for his liking while they processed his papers: "I am still pulled over and its been 35 min they have me sit in my truck like i dnt have s#*+2 do lol," he wrote.

The tweets have since been removed from Robinson's feed, but Tweleted, an online program which recovers deleted messages Twitter messages for good or evil, confirms they were indeed there.

The arrest is the latest in a long list of motor-vehicle-related troubles for Robinson. According to DMV records dug up by The Post, Nate has been cited and/or ticketed over the last three years for disobeying a traffic signal, failing to signal, driving without his seat belt on and talking on a cell phone.

Roko Leni Ukic in Bucks

Just when Interbasket was getting all excited the Toronto Raptors and all the international players they had on their roster…

Now comes this rumour that the Canadian NBA franchise is trading away Argentinian Carlos Delfino and Croatian backup point guard Roko Ukić to the Milwukee Bucks for Amir Johnson.

If true, Toronto will no longer have as many international players.

However the Raps still have the potential for the first ever (?), all-international NBA lineup with José Calderón running the point, Marco Belinelli at shooting guard, Hedo Türkoğlu at small forward, Andrea Bargnani at the four, and veteran backup center Rasho Nesterović.

Belinelli and Nesterović would be backups, but as long as all five remain healthy, the situation is highly-likely this next season.

Delfino left the NBA at the beginning of the 2008-09 season to sign with Russian club Khimki. Delfino has since left Russia because the club could no longer afford to pay the 6-6 shooting guard. The Raptors owned Delfino’s NBA rights.

The 6-5 point guard Ukic played 12 minutes a game for the Raptors and averaged 4.2 points and 2.1 assists in his first NBA season. Ukic is 24 years old.

Amir Johnson is a 22-year old, 6-9 forward that was drafted by the Detroit Pistons #56 overall in 2005. Johnson played his entire career with the Pistons before being traded to the Bucks this offseason as a part of a three-team trade that sent Richard Jefferson to the San Antonio Spurs.

Denver Nuggets Re-sign Anthony Carter

Aging point guard stays put.

Anthony Carter has spent the last few seasons in Denver and was used as a starter quite sparingly last season. As a backup guard he was valuable last year while contributing almost 23 minutes per game. He assists contributions of 4.7 per game were surprisingly high given his limited playing time and his presence on the bench next season should help keep the Nuggets competitive (although Carter is not a significant difference maker).

Sixers signed free agent Primoz Brezec

The Philadelphia 76ers signed free agent center Primoz Brezec on Thursday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Brezec last played in the NBA during the 2007-08 season, splitting time between the Bobcats, Pistons and Raptors. He spent last year in the Italian League. "We feel that Primoz will provide us with additional size and depth in the front court, but just as beneficial is the wealth of experience he brings to the team not only on the NBA level, but internationally as well." The 27th-overall pick of Indiana in the 2000 draft, Brezec is a native of Slovenia. In seven NBA seasons with four clubs, he has posted averages of 7.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest, while shooting 50 percent from the field.

Clippers signed deal with Butler from New Orleans

The Clippers have acquired shooting guard Rasual Butler(notes) and cash from the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for a conditional second-round draft pick in 2016.

Butler had the most productive season of his seven-year career in 2008-09, averaging 11.2 points and 3.3 rebounds while playing in all 82 games for the Hornets, who made the playoffs. He shot 40 percent from the floor and 37 percent from 3-point range to match his career averages.

“We believe he is another piece who will help us get back to being a competitive playoff team,” Clippers coach and general manager Mike Dunleavy said.

The move will save the Hornets about $3.9 million while opening opportunities for competition at guard between 2007 first-round pick Julian Wright(notes), veteran Morris Peterson(notes) and rookie Marcus Thornton(notes), a former LSU star who the Hornets acquired through a trade with Miami during the second round of the draft.

“One chapter ends and another begins! Gonna MISS the Hornets,” Butler said on his Twitter feed. “I am excited about being a Clipper! Thanks N.O. for all the support u guys gave me! Thank u to all those who have welcomed me to L.A.!!!!”

Butler played three seasons in Miami before being traded to the Hornets in 2005.

The Hornets have been trying to lower payroll to reduce their exposure to the NBA’s punitive luxury tax.

The league has a dollar-for-dollar tax on teams with payrolls that exceed a certain threshold set every summer. When the NBA set that mark at $69.9 million last month, New Orleans’ payroll was around $78 million, meaning the small-market Hornets faced the prospect of having to pay about $8 million in luxury taxes back to the league if they didn’t make any deals by next winter’s trading deadline.

When the Hornets traded Tyson Chandler(notes) to Charlotte for Emeka Okafor(notes) in late July, they lowered payroll by about $1.3 million. By trading Butler, they have now cut total payroll by about $5.2 million this summer, and their savings effectively could be double that amount because their exposure to the luxury tax also has been lowered.

source: yahoo sports

Cleveland signs Leon Powe

There were a half-dozen playoff-caliber teams willing to sign Leon Powe and wait for his surgically reconstructed left knee to heal, but the forward who had been such a big hit in Boston ultimately decided he wanted to team up with an old AAU buddy -- LeBron James.

Powe traveled to Cleveland on Tuesday to have his knee examined by Cavaliers team medical personnel and signed a contract Wednesday. The deal was for two years and $1.77 million, a source said.

A source told ESPN.com Tuesday that Powe would sign for the league minimum for players with three years of service -- $855,189. Cleveland will hold a team option for a second season at $915,852.

"Leon is a high-quality player and person. His tough, gritty play has already contributed in big playoff games during his young career," Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry said in a statement. "As he continues to work rehabilitating his injury, we would look to hopefully see him return toward the end of the season."

Powe, who re-tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Game 2 of the Celtics' first-round playoff loss to the Chicago Bulls, is not expected to be ready to play until sometime around February.

But if he returns healthy, he will bolster a Cleveland big man rotation that already includes Shaquille O'Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao along with youngsters Darnell Jackson, J.J. Hickson and Jawad Williams and recently signed Jamario Moon.

"A lot of teams will tell a guy, 'Come see us when you're healthy,'" Powe's agent Aaron Goodwin said. "The Cavs were saying, 'Come here now and we'll help you get healthy.'"

The Celtics forfeited their exclusive negotiating rights to Powe when they declined to tender him a contract offer in June. He had spent the past two years sharing time with Glen Davis as the backup power forward behind Kevin Garnett, averaging 7.7 points and 4.9 rebounds last season, and had a huge performance in Game 2 of the 2008 NBA Finals when he scored 21 points in just 15 minutes as the Celtics took a 2-0 lead over the Lakers.

Los Angeles, Portland, Dallas, Orlando and Miami also expressed interest in Powe, whose preference was to remain in the Eastern Conference and to sign with the team most capable of giving him his best shot to exact some revenge on the Celtics after they effectively gave up on him by declining to tender him a qualifying offer.

Powe had a huge game against Cleveland last March 6, going for 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting with 11 rebounds. But he injured his right knee five games later, sat out the next 12 games, then returned for the final two games of the 2008-09 regular season before tearing up his left knee (which had already undergone previous reconstructive surgery) in the playoffs against the Bulls.

source: espn

Forward Oberto joins Wizards as free agent

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11
A 34 year old forward Fabricio Oberto, formerly a regular starter of the San Antonio Spurs' title winning team in 2007, has joined the Washington Wizards as a free agent, said the NBA team on Tuesday.

The 2.02-meter Argentine has career averages of 3.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game during four seasons with the Spurs.

He was traded to Detroit in a five-player deal earlier this summer but was subsequently waived by the Pistons.

No detail of Oberto's contract with the Wizards has been released.

Back in 80's

Kleiza signs deal with Olympiakos

DENVER -- The Denver Nuggets have lost another player who helped them reach the Western Conference finals.

Forward Linas Kleiza who played four years in Denver, is taking his game to Europe.

Nuggets executive Mark Warkentien said Kleiza has chosen to play for Olympiakos, agreeing to a two-year deal worth $12.2 million. Warkentien said Kleiza's agent, Bill Duffy, informed him of the signing Monday. Duffy was flying back from Europe and unavailable for comment.

He's the second free agent to bolt Denver this summer, joining starter Dahntay Jones, the pesky defensive stopper who signed a four-year, $11 million contract with the Indiana Pacers.

Kleiza, who provided the Nuggets with an outside shooting prowess off the bench, was extended a qualifying offer by the Nuggets in June, making him a restricted free agent and guaranteeing him a $2.7 million salary this season.

That's an 80 percent raise from the $1.5 million he earned last season but nowhere near what Olympiakos was willing to pay the Lithuanian forward who played at the University of Missouri.

Kleiza averaged 9.9 points and four rebounds last season. He got off to a sluggish start after the Nuggets pulled a four-year, $25 million contract extension off the table the night before the season started but came on strong down the stretch and was a key contributor off the bench in the playoffs along with J.R. Smith and Chris "Birdman" Andersen.

He averaged 6.9 points and 3.2 rebounds in the playoffs, after which he said he hoped to stay in Denver, although he was keeping all options open.

"I would like to come back. I had a lot of fun here. It was a good four years," Kleiza said after cleaning out his locker on May 30.

The Nuggets and their fans have watched other teams, notably the champion Lakers, Spurs and Trail Blazers, all get better via free agency this summer while they've stood pat and actually lost players.

The Nuggets retain Kleiza's NBA rights.

"His road back to the NBA goes through Denver," Warkentien said. "The simple thing is we move on, we'll replace him."

NBA Asia Tour: Kobe Bryant

Kobe VS. Shaq on christmas

On Tuesday it's announced NBA League timetable for the new season. It is especially interesting that Kobe Bryant, the leader of the current champion LA Lakers, will meet with his former club team-mate Shaquille O'Neal on Christmas evening, 25th December.

L.A. Lakers will host Cleveland Cavaliers, who signed joined 37-year old Shaquille O'Neal at the end of June. Since Bryant and O'Neal ended their partnership in LA Lakers, this will be the fourth time in five years that they meet on Christmas on the opposite sides.

O'Neal will play his first match of season with his new team-mate LeBron James on 27th October against the Boston Celtics. Lakers will play the same evening, 27 October, to conclude the program of four matches at the opening of the new season of NBA League against city rivals Clippers.

Orlando Magic, last seasons NBA finalists, will start their adventure in the new NBA season on 28th October at home against Philadephia. Magic will play at Lakers on 18th January next year and in Orlando on the 7th March. Orlando will also play on Christmas against the Boston Celtics at home.

Glen Davis: Stays With Celtics

Davis has agreed to a two-year contract worth approximately $6.3 million to stay with the Celtics, the Boston Herald reports. The deal could be signed as early as Sunday or Monday. He will make approximately $3 million this season and $3.3 million the next. Davis was hoping to get the mid-level exception from a number of other teams, but did not garner any significant interest. He will be Kevin Garnet's primary backup at power forward this season.

Marvin Williams to stay a Hawk

Marvin Williams will remain Hawk, according to a report by Marc Spears on Yahoo! Sports. Hawks general manager Rick Sund would not confirm a deal had been reached Wednesday night, but the sides seem very close to a signed contract.

(Indeed, that’s the word Williams used in a text message to AJC colleague Sekou Smith on Wednesday — “close.” And Williams told Sekou via text he’s hopeful something works out.)

The proposed contract, Spears reported, is for “about $40 million over five seasons,” although that $40 million is believed to include incentives. As a restricted free agent, Williams could have accepted the Hawks’ qualifying offer of $7.5 million and become an unrestricted free agent in July 2010. A long-term agreement would mean the Hawks have locked up a 23-year-old who averaged 13.9 points last season and is still regarded as a developing talent — and have done for essentially the qualifying offer times five.

If Williams does stay, the Hawks will have retained three of their four key free agents — Mike Bibby and Zaza Pachulia have re-signed, and Flip Murray now seems surplus to requirements — and added guard Jamal Crawford in the same offseason. And that would make this just about the greatest summer in Hawks history.

Assuming Williams re-signs, the Hawks would enter the 2009-2010 season having kept seven of their top eight players from a team that won 47 games and finished fourth in the NBA East. At a time when the three teams that finished above the Hawks — Cleveland, Boston and Orlando — have made major offseason acquisitions, Sund had to hold his core together if the Hawks were to stand any chance of moving upward. And it appears he has.

The belief here was that the Hawks would consider this summer a success if they re-upped two of the four free agents and a windfall if they could keep three. They’re close to doing that now, and this city is that much closer to having a NBA team that we can view as a team capable of reaching the Eastern Conference finals, something the Hawks have never done.

The work doesn’t end here. Joe Johnson will become an unrestricted free agent and Al Horford a restricted free agent next summer. But Sund, who was hired 13 months ago, is within one signature of having not just passed a difficult test but aced it. And when last could we say that about any Hawks GM? Like, ever?

Ex-Pistons center Ben Wallace back to Detroit?

Now that he is a free agent, former Detroit Pistons center Ben Wallace might finish his NBA career with the franchise by which many fans still associate him.

Wallace, who recently was traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Phoenix Suns, reached a $10 million buyout with the Suns and is an unrestricted free agent.

It remains to be seen how many teams are interested in the four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

One thing is clear: Detroit is among them.

The Pistons have about $3.5 million to spend on free agents. Some or all of that could go to Wallace.

Detroit likely would use just a portion of that for him, or the Pistons could sign the 34-year-old to a contract for the veteran's minimum, which is $1.3 million next season.

With starters Rasheed Wallace (Boston) and Antonio McDyess (San Antonio) signing elsewhere, the Pistons lack an established veteran presence in the frontcourt.

By using the bulk of their salary cap space this summer to sign Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, the Pistons are limited to a much smaller pool of free-agent targets.

Gaining additional salary-cap space to target free agents was at the heart of the team's decision this week to trade guard Arron Afflalo and forward Walter Sharpe to Denver for a future second-round pick.

As for Ben Wallace's incentive to come back to Detroit, his career has taken a nosedive since he left after signing a four-year, $60 million contract with the Chicago Bulls.

Wallace was named to the All-NBA second or third team his final five seasons in Detroit. A four-time all-star (2002-06), he also was a five-time all-defensive player.

But in the three seasons since he left Detroit, Wallace has battled injuries. That, coupled with teams (including Detroit) being more cost-conscious this summer, might limit his options.

But with a limited role, which is what he would have with Detroit, Wallace might be an effective player off the bench.

In addition to Wallace, other free-agent big men Detroit might consider include Glen Davis, Chris Wilcox, Drew Gooden and former Piston Joe Smith.