Walter Lemon Jr. is making a strong early impression on the Bulls after signing a 10-day contract Friday, writes K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. Injuries to seven rotation players gave Lemon a chance to play 31 minutes last night and he responded with 19 points, six assists, four rebounds and four steals.
“If you would have told me a couple of days ago that I was going to play 30 minutes against the Raptors — the No. 2 team in the East — on the Bulls’ floor, let alone play 30 minutes in an NBA game, period, I wouldn’t believe you,” said Lemon, a Chicago native. “This is definitely a surreal moment for me. And I’m going to never forget it. I’m going to cherish this moment for the rest of my life.”
Lemon is making a push for a longer contract after signing with the Bulls for the rest of the season. The 26-year-old has been waiting for an opportunity since leaving Bradley in 2014, playing extensively in the G League and overseas.
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Jim Boylen is thrilled to see his predecessor back in the coaching ranks, relays Mark Strotman of NBC Sports Chicago. Fred Hoiberg was officially hired Saturday as the new coach at Nebraska, a little more than four months after his firing in Chicago. “I know he loves coaching college basketball. We’ve had many of those conversations,” Boylen said. “He did a terrific job at Iowa State. It looks like Nebraska is right in his wheelhouse and I’m sure he’ll take that program to the next level. Happy for him and his family.” The hiring is also good news for the Bulls, who can offset Hoiberg’s $3.57MM salary from the $5MM they owe him for next season.
- Injured Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon is getting around without the aid of crutches or a walking boot, tweets Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It’s an encouraging sign of progress for Brogdon, who has a minor plantar fascia tear in his right foot and is expected to miss at least the first round of the playoffs.
- The Cavaliers are hoping to trade away some salary so they can try their luck in the free agent market this summer, according to Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.
Wait so Hoiberg who is let go doesn’t get to keep his 5 Million because he looked for other work outside the NBA?
I mean I guess it’s still 5 Million in his pocket either way, but that doesn’t really seem fair to Hoiberg. The bulls should pay for signing him to that contract then ending the deal prematurely.
I’m confused by this as well. I could understand if he took another NBA job, but offsetting money from the salary when he’s not even employed by the same league seems crazy to me.
Sam is correct as usual. The lightbulb burns the brightest right before it burns out. Glad the Cavs and James moved on for all the reasons Sam wrote about.
Actually read the link. Amick did not address James except to say the Cavs miss him:
“Last year, when Love had a bad game, the Cavs still had LeBron James.”
Of course Amick does put down James elsewhere, but here, only Irving got dissed at the very end.
As for smarts, did you notice anything awry about Amick saying the Cavs were “hoping to trade away some salary”? They have been ACQUIRING salary for draft picks.
Geesch. Maybe a screwy link? B/c the link I read from Sam Amico had the issues listed and very well IMHO. The link listed above was just a bulleted link of things the cavs might be doing this summer.
Good catch X%sure
The Amick post appears to exist to serve Kevin Love’s needs. Amick kept personalizing the Cavs organization with a single voice, saying “the Cavs want ___” or “the Cavs know ___” but there’s no mention of GM Altman or boss Gilbert; his only source was Love. If you substitute all of “the Cavs” in the article with >Love<, you get a remarkably honest take on one player's opinion of what his team should be doing. (It sounds like what James wanted: forget picks, get another star.)
But this is not what the Cavs' FO has been doing the last couple of years: gunning for draft picks. This year they have been taking on salary for picks, not trading salary for capspace.
is reasonable that Love would want what Amick said the Cavs want, good or bad, but acting on that would mean an enormous change in direction. Amick with his unsupported claims showed no awareness of this. He has to know the company reality and that he sounds like an idiot carrying Love's water in such an artless way. I'm sure Gilbert/Altman got the message but I expect the Cavs to have 1 high and 2 low r1s coming up.
BTW, the guy’s name is Amico. As in Sam Amico.