Marcus Morris fouled Larry Nance Jr. in Celtics-Cavaliers Game 5 tonight. Nance didn’t like that, got up and shoved Morris. Morris and Terry Rozier didn’t like that, and both shoved Morris.
All three received a technical foul, which seems fair.
Adam Silver defends penalty to Cuban for Mavericks’ misconduct
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says he didn’t suspend Mark Cuban because the Mavericks owner was never directly implicated in the misconduct toward women within his organization.
Silver acknowledged Friday that Cuban should have been more aware of what was going on, but felt a suspension wasn’t warranted being that Cuban wasn’t accused of anything by any of the more than 200 people interviewed in a report into the team’s workplace that was released this week.
Silver also cited Cuban’s response to the original “Sports Illustrated” report detailing years of examples of a hostile workplace for women on the business side of the team, and the organization’s cooperation with investigators afterward in choosing not to hand down further punishment.
Cuban agreed to contribute $10 million to help further the cause of women in sports and raise awareness about domestic violence. Silver could have only fined him $2.5 million under NBA rules.
Kings’ Bogdan Bogdanovic tweaks knee in FIBA qualifying, to have surgery
Getty Images
This is why NBA teams don’t love it when their players go off to the national team over the summer.
Sacramento’s Bogdan Bogdanovic tweaked his knee playing for Serbia Monday, and now is going to have to have surgery on his left knee. It’s described as minor, but it’s still surgery. Here is the Kings’ release:
Sacramento Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic exited Serbia’s 91-65 World Cup Qualifying victory over Estonia on Monday after experiencing left knee discomfort early in the first quarter. Further evaluation revealed a minor injury to his left knee. On Monday, a minor arthroscopic procedure is scheduled at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, to be performed by Dr. Riley Williams. Bogdanovic is expected to make a full recovery and an update will be provided when it is available.
Bogdanovic had surgery on this same knee just after the season, and while this is considered less serious it’s still something to watch. Don’t expect to see him on the court preseason. The Kings have media day Monday and open training camp on Tuesday.
Bogdanovic, a 6’6″ sharp-shooting wing, averaged 11.8 points a game and shot 39.2 percent from three last season, making second-team All-Rookie.
Suns officially sign De’Anthony Melton for two-years, $2.3 million
Getty Images
The Phoenix Suns are very high on De’Anthony Melton — he was the guy for the future they wanted when they took on Ryan Anderson‘s contract from Houston.
Friday, the Suns made it official and signed Melton.
If you’re wondering about the money…
Melton is a 6’4″ guard who could be a future backcourt mate with Devin Booker. Unless you’re a recruiting junkie, you probably first heard his name as the player in the middle of the NCAA/FBI recruiting scandal. He fell to 46th in the draft. However, at Summer League he showed why he was highly recruited and what he could become as a pro, averaging 16.4 points and 7.2 rebounds a game, showing potential as both a three-point shooter and defender. It’s just Summer League, and Melton looked like a guy who missed a season of play at times, but the potential is there.
The Suns are going to get to explore that potential at a reasonable price for a couple of seasons.
Markelle Fultz says last season was about injury, he’s back now with confidence
Associated Press
Philadelphia went big game hunting in free agency and came up empty. If they are going to seriously challenge Boston this season for the top of the East, it’s going to be because of internal improvement — Joel Embiid needs to get better, Ben Simmons needs to get better…
And Markelle Fultz needs to be on the court and look like a No. 1 pick.
We’ve seen glimpses that his shot looks better after spending the summer with the shot guru Drew Hanlen, and at Sixers media day he sounded confident. Courtesy Matt Haughton at NBC Sports Philadelphia:
“I think it was a mis-term in words, but me and Drew have talked (after Hanlen said Fults had the yips),” he said. “What happened last year was an injury. Let me get that straight. It was an injury that happened that didn’t allow me to go through the certain paths that I needed to, to shoot the ball.
“Just like any normal person, when you’re used to doing something the same way each and every day and something happens, of course, you’re going to start thinking about it. It’s just normal….
“Everybody knows what happened last year, so this summer was really just me working to get my mechanics back, my confidence back, my swagger back. It was a very productive summer,” Fultz said. “I’m happy with the work I put in with Drew (Hanlen). We put up a lot of shots, a lot of hours in the gym. I’m happy with where I’m at right now going into training camp.”
Fultz is saying all the right things. That and $4 will get you a pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks (although why you’d want it is beyond me).
The proof starts Saturday in training camp and runs through the season. It’s about results now. Expectations for Fultz are high, but welcome to the life of a No. 1 pick. His bolstered swagger will be tested, we’ll see how he handles it.
