Josh Smith‘s father complimented the Rockets for welcoming his son, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 (second Twitter link). “I cannot speak too much about how well this organization has accepted us as a family and him as a player,” Pete Smith said. “It’s an awesome thing. Now I know what the NBA is all about.” Houston claimed Smith on waivers in December after he was let go by the Pistons. He will become a free agent this summer.
There’s more from around the world of basketball:
- The Rockets have cut ties with D-League coach Nevada Smith of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. The Vipers are coming off a 27-23 record in Smith’s second season running the team.
- Scott Skiles has tried to campaign a little for the Magic head coaching job, but he wants a measure of personnel control, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. He doesn’t want to replace GM Rob Hennigan, but rather seeks approval over player personnel moves, a job that currently rests with Magic CEO Alex Martins, Kyler explains. Meanwhile, Kyler figures that Michael Malone will interview for both the Magic and the Nuggets coaching jobs, but sources tell him that Malone isn’t as high on either team’s list as some other candidates are. Neither Vinny Del Negro nor Billy Donovan is expected to get serious consideration for either job, Kyler also writes.
- NBA owners refuse to address the problem of tanking, writes Bill Oram of The Orange County Register. He noted that owners passed on a chance to address the issue during a meeting in New York last week. They also nixed proposed reforms to the draft lottery process in October. He speculated that owners might be delaying action until they can study the effects of an upcoming $24 billion television deal and the escalation of the salary cap.