Cameron Payne

After Perkins Drops Hints, Thunder Opens Roster Spot

... “It's a secret,” Kanter said. “I can't tell you. It's a surprise.”. Kanter felt “pretty good,” he said, in his first full-contact practice since he broke the ulna bone in his right forearm on Jan. 26, when he punched a bench chair in frustration. He's been doing extra conditioning in the weeks since the injury — “The one thing that's terrible about getting an injury,” he said — and Kanter said he feels in shape to play if he's cleared. Kanter was “scared” at first, he said, to put his forearm in an offensive player's back to play post defense on Wednesday, but he tried to get over those fears. The Thunder will evaluate Kanter on Friday to see how he responds to a physical practice. And there's a chance he could play, ahead of his original timetable. “People said eight weeks,” Kanter said. “I'm back in four weeks. The (training) staff's doing an unbelievable job.”. Open options. Perkins isn't the only option for the Thunder if it opts to fill the open roster spot. Since returning from a foot injury that cost him the first 37 games of ...

Russell Westbrook Got An Assist From Cameron Payne On Way To Triple-double

... 27 shot attempts in the game, 24 of them came when he had to create the shot on his own without a teammate's assist opportunity. He was 8-of-15 on those shots in the second half compared to 1-of-9 in the first half. The other key to the Thunder’s win was that they slowed Cleveland down. The Cavaliers scored 20 points on 8-of-11 in transition shooting in the first half, but only four points on 1-of-4 in transition in the last two quarters. Moving up the list. Westbrook’s 26 triple-doubles are the most by a player in a season since Wilt Chamberlain had 31 in 1967-68. Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson (41) are the only ones ahead of Westbrook on the all-time list. ESPN Stats & Information. Elias Sports Bureau notes of the night. Westbrook became the first player to record multiple triple-doubles in a season against the defending championship team since John Havlicek for the 1971-72 Celtics (against the defending champion Bucks). This marked the seventh time that he’s had a triple-double in consecutive games against a team within the same season. The last two times he’s done this were against the Grizzlies and the Cavaliers this season. In both instances, the first of his ...

Nba Trade Deadline Trades Disappoint

... sixth overall pick in the 2013 draft. He clashed with the Sixers at times during his stay due to a logjam in the frontcourt that also included Jahlil Okafor and Joel Embiid. He gives the Mavericks an athletic, defensive-minded power forward who will be a restricted free agent this summer. Yahoo Sports first reported the trade. ATLANTA (AP) – The Atlanta Hawks have received scoring help for their playoff push by acquiring forward Ersan Ilyasova from the Philadelphia 76 ers. The 76 ers announced Wednesday night they got center Tiago Splitter and a protected second-round draft pick from Atlanta. The 76 ers have the right to swap another 2017 second-round pick with the Hawks. The 6-foot-10 Ilyasova is expected to add scoring punch to Atlanta’s front line as the Hawks attempt to improve their playoff position. They will return from the All-Star break in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game behind Toronto. Ilyasova has career averages of 11 points and six rebounds. The 76 ers are 13 th ...

Latest Reports, Buzz

... for Mike Scott. (Brian Windhorst, ESPN ). • The Wolves walked away from the Ricky Rubio-Derrick Rose deal. (Stein, ESPN ). • Denver was close to a deal with Portland for Festus Ezeli, but opted instead to land a heathly Roy Hibbert from Milwaukee. (Chris Haynes, ESPN ). 2:55 p.m. ET. • The Rockets have traded Tyler Ennis to the Lakers for Marcelo Huertas, who will be bought out. (Adrian Wojnarowski, The Vertical ). • Deron Williams will be bought out by the Mavericks. (Alex Kennedy, Hoops Hype ). • The Sixers continue to search for a Jahlil Okafor trade. (Wojnarowski, The Vertical ). • Atlanta has traded Mike Scott to the Suns for cash considerations. (Wojnarowski, The Vertical ). 2:45 p.m. ET. • Paul George will remain a Pacer after Indiana turned down multiple trade offers. (Adrian ...

Get The Latest News And Rumors On Cleveland Cavaliers, Paul George And Andrew Bogut

... teams will be interested and others could offer more playing time than the Cavs, who are at their best when using smaller lineups. 12:29 p.m. What's the league's top team doing today. The Golden State Warriors, boasting the best record, are staying quiet this time of year. According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders , Golden State is most likely going to wait until the buyout and see which players get waived. 12:24 p.m. Here's an afternoon update on the George situation, which seems to be relatively confusing. It appears there's plenty of posturing going on at the moment. From what I understand, Boston has let teams with players it really likes know that its Brooklyn picks are in play __link__/HZJis IBUYj. - Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) February 23, 2017. The question is really whether Chicago and/or Indy are ready to part with Jimmy or PG. - Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) February 23, 2017. Say this about Boston: strong sense they're all-in on maximizing this current Isaiah Thomas-led group ...

At The Nba Trade Deadline, A Flurry Of Small-potatoes Moves

... struggled with his shot in the pros. Like Noel's contract, if Anderson can improve that jumper moving forward, it could improve the Philadelphia side of the trade. —  Atlanta Hawks get Ersan Ilyasova ; Philadelphia 76 ers get Tiago Splitter , Miami's 2017 protected second-round pick and a swap of Atlanta and Golden State's 2017 second-round picks. Grades: A for Philadelphia, B for Atlanta. Another trade that's hard not to like for either side. Atlanta gets another big man who can space the floor with the addition of Ilyasova, who has now been on five teams in the past 12 months, going from Detroit to Orlando to Oklahoma City to Philadelphia and now Atlanta since the end of last season. But he has played well for the 76 ers, averaging 14.3 points and 5.9 rebounds, and should provide some nice depth behind Paul Millsap for the rest of the regular season. Given that Splitter has been injured and hasn't played this season, getting Ilyasova for him — even at the cost of a second and a swap of another one — is a good one to make. For Philadelphia, this trade makes sense. The Sixers move on from Ilyasova, who was going to be a free agent ...

Nba Trade Deadline 2017

... there a team that had a better trade deadline than the Raptors, who added Tucker for what amounts to nothing after stealing Serge Ibaka from the Magic. There's a case to be made for the Pelicans following their De Marcus Cousins heist. But the Raptors are the clear winners in the "We didn't have the luxury of exploiting the Kings' rampant incompetence" division. Sullinger was expendable even before Ibaka's arrival. And with Terrence Ross in Orlando, Toronto needed another wing to help diminish the heavier burden placed upon Norman Powell. Tucker is someone head coach Dwane Casey can stick on the Eastern Conference's elite wings—cough, Le Bron James, cough—without worrying about a complete defensive implosion. There's no overstating this kind of an asset when De Marre Carroll's stopping power is nearing rock bottom. Most importantly, the Raptors now own Ibaka's and Tucker's Bird rights. They have some tough financial decisions to make with Kyle Lowry also ticketed for free agency, but Ibaka and Tucker are two additions they wouldn't have been ...

Thursday’s Roundup

... there’s things that we could do to improve our team, but nothing that is good enough to do,” Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said. Jimmy Butler stayed with the Bulls, and the Knicks held onto Rose and Anthony — the latter of whom would have had to waive his no-trade clause to make any deal occur anyway. “I wasn’t concerned,” George said. “At the end of the day, I’m in a good situation. … I heard the rumors, different rumors, but I can’t control what was going to happen one way or another.”. Perhaps the most interesting moves Thursday afternoon were not trades at all. Dallas put point guard Deron Williams on waivers, and when Williams clears he reportedly plans to sign with the Cavaliers. Another significant player who may get to choose his next spot is Andrew Bogut, who was traded by Dallas to Philadelphia — and figures to be a buyout candidate. Bogut’ cannot go to Golden State, however, since the Warriors traded him last seasonm. Of the 14 players traded Thursday, only Roy Hibbert has been an ...