Joel Anthony

Odds & Ends: Gibson, Kirilenko, Hawks, Rockets

With just eight days until the NBA regular season officially gets underway in Cleveland, Miami, and Los Angeles, let's round up a few updates from around the league….

Odds & Ends: Fegan, Childress, Anthony, Gee

Prominent NBA agent Dan Fegan has confirmed that he's no longer with Lagardère Unlimited, according to Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal (via Twitter). Fegan, who had been serving as the president of basketball at the agency, represents a number of NBA players, including big names like Dwight Howard and Nene. It will be interesting to see how many of those clients he takes with him.

Here are a few more Monday odds and ends from around the NBA:

  • Josh Childress will meet with Nets GM Billy King and coach Avery Johnson and work out for the team on Tuesday, according to Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com. We heard last week that Childress and Dominic McGuire would work out for the Nets, but McGuire has since reached an agreement with the Raptors.
  • Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel thinks the Heat could be angling to find a way to move Joel Anthony's contract. Anthony has three years remaining on his deal (including a third-year player option) for about $3.8MM annually.
  • Sean Williams remains on the Timberwolves' radar, tweets Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500. Wolfson had reported late last month that the T-Wolves were eyeing the big man.
  • Alonzo Gee's new deal with the Cavaliers, which was finally completed earlier today, was held up because Gee switched agents during the negotiations, says Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Sulia link). The Cavs wing is now represented by Happy Walters.
  • After the Kings, Cavaliers, Wizards, Bobcats, and Hornets drafted in the top five in June, Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld examines whether any of last year's NBA bottom-dwellers are ready to contend for the postseason in 2012/13.

Odds & Ends: Team Canada, Harrellson, Magic

A handful of players with NBA ties have been invited to a weekend training camp that will take place soon to give Team Canada officials a first glimpse at candidates for their national team, as Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun reports (Sulia link). Tristan Thompson of the Cavs, Joel Anthony of the Heat, Cory Joseph of the Spurs, Andrew Nicholson of the Magic and Kris Joseph of the Celtics are on the list. Robert Sacre, the 60th pick in this year's draft by the Lakers, remains unsigned, but he's been invited as well. The team has officially named former Raptors head coach and current Blazers assistant Jay Triano as head coach, Wolstat also writes, and Rockets assistant coach Kelvin Sampson will also be an assistant with Team Canada. Lakers guard Steve Nash, serving as Team Canada's GM, said he wouldn't have accepted the position if Triano wasn't coming aboard, too, Wolstat notes. Here's more from around the Association this afternoon:

  • The Heat conducted a workout with Josh Harrellson today, as we heard earlier, but the Timberwolves have no interest in the 6'10" University of Kentucky product, as they prefer a center with more length, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News in Minneapolis. Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel notes that Harrellson is just one of several big men the Heat are considering (Sulia link). 
  • Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel looks at the options the Magic have at power forward to replace Ryan Anderson
  • The Bulls, Lakers, Clippers, Timberwolves and Warriors all have some significant injury issues with training camp about a month away, and Sam Amick of SI.com checks in on the status of Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard and others.
  • Robin Lopez is recovering from left knee surgery that took place a week after the Hornets acquired him in a sign-and-trade, but he's expected to be ready for training camp, as John Reid of The Times-Picayune reports. Lopez expressed his enthusiasm about coming to New Orleans, saying, "I’m excited to be here. We’ve got a young, energetic group. The good thing is we’ve got some youth that has a little bit of experience as well. Hopefully we can parlay that into something special.’’
  • Joe Dumars, Pistons president of basketball operations, traveled overseas with assistant GM George David to watch Jonas Jerebko and Slava Kravtsov in FIBA Eurobasket qualifying, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press writes.

Reactions To The Ronny Turiaf Signing

On Wednesday, the Miami Heat signed center Ronny Turiaf for the remainder of the 2011/12 season. Here's a roundup of reactions to the signing from around the media:

  • Fox Sports Florida's Chris Tomasson thinks Turiaf could help the Heat, who needed frontcourt depth.
  • ESPN.com's Tom Haberstroh points out how low-risk the signing was, and believes Turiaf is an offensive upgrade over Joel Anthony.