Central Notes: Vasquez, Harris, Harper, LeBron

Greivis Vasquez is determined to return to game action before season’s end, calling the Bucks a “class act” for their assistance as he rehabilitates from the right ankle surgery he had three months ago today, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel details. Vasquez, who hired agent Alex Saratsis of Octagon earlier this year, is headed for free agency this summer and argues the injury didn’t have a net effect on the contract he’ll be able to command.

“I feel I didn’t lose value, but I didn’t gain value,” Vasquez said. “I feel people know what I can do. My game is not based on athleticism. I’m not jumping over guys. It’s an IQ game. I wasn’t able to do what I usually do, being limited with my injury. Surgery was needed. Now I feel much better. The team I want to show that I’m healthy is this team. Because every team I’ve been with, I got that team better. I was in Toronto; we got better. New Orleans, we got better. Memphis, we got better.”

Vasquez, an offseason trade acquisition, has appeared in only 16 games for the disappointing Bucks this season. See more from the Central Division:

• Stan Van Gundy expected it would be challenging to integrate Tobias Harris into the Pistons, as the coach usually expects in the wake of a trade, but it’s been a smooth transition so far, Van Gundy told Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports. That’s been especially so after Van Gundy switched Harris to power forward after a brief experiment with him at small forward, the coach also said. “He’s unselfish. He’s been efficient,” Van Gundy told Zillgitt. “He hasn’t needed an inordinate amount of shots to get his stuff done. He moves the ball pretty well. It’s actually been pretty easy.”
• Justin Harper‘s second 10-day contract with the Pistons expired overnight, so the backup power forward is now a free agent. The Pistons would have to sign him for the rest of the season if they were to bring him back, since two 10-day deals are the limit.
• LeBron James usually doesn’t make comments that cast a harsh light on fellow members of the Klutch Sports Agency, but he praised Cavs deadline pickup Channing Frye for his willingness to tangle with Klutch client Trey Lyles in Monday’s game, an incident that prompted ejections for both Frye and Lyles, notes Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.