At his introductory press conference, Paul Pierce said that he would be a “glorified role player” for the Nets. Now, as the Nets ascend the standings without the services of Kevin Garnett, it’s clear that he’s much more than that, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. Here’s more from around the East:
- Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders suspects point guard Kyle Lowry will re-sign with the Raptors this summer for $7-$8MM per year (Twitter link).
- Luke Ridnour was happy to leave the Bucks and land with the Bobcats, he tells Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune. “I was glad to get out of Milwaukee,” said Ridnour. “It’s a good situation here. I’ve only played five, six games here so I’m trying to get used to it. It’s a good city and I’ve been in the playoffs before, and just to be back in the hunt where every game is big, it’s just a lot different feeling… This has been fun.”
- The Bobcats are looking to add a third center now that it appears Brendan Haywood is done for the season, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
- In the same tweet, Bonnell says the Heat‘s signing of Justin Hamilton was made due to coach Erik Spoelstra‘s faith in the big man.
- Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel writes that Hamilton’s two-year deal is about the future. Winderman sees Hamilton and 2013 first-rounder James Ennis as having a shot to make the Heat’s roster next year, and notes that Pat Riley is scouting college tournaments in looking ahead.
Zach Links contributed to this post.