Nuggets Team Report (Yahoo! Sports)
Here’s the twist. The “Birdman” won’t have any Bird rights.
Center Chris Andersen was the surprise of the Nuggets last season, if not the surprise of the entire league. After being picked up off the scrap heap not long after returning from a two-year drug suspension, he finished second in the NBA in blocked shots while playing for a minimum veteran contract worth $998,398.
But the “Birdman” becomes an unrestricted free agent July 1, and figures to get a raise perhaps for about five times what he made in 2008-09. But the Nuggets don’t have any Bird rights on Andersen because he only played one season for them, meaning any money they offer him this summer will have to come out of the team’s midlevel exception of about $5.5 million.
Andersen hasn’t wanted to talk…
Yao’s foot injury not healed
Yao Ming’s broken foot is not healed and the Houston Rockets say the All-Star center is out indefinitely. Yao suffered a hairline fracture in his left foot in the Rockets‘ second-round playoff loss to the Lakers on May 8. The team initially said Yao would miss eight to 12 weeks, but team doctor Tom Clanton examined Yao’s foot in Houston on Wednesday and said the injury has not responded to the treatment program. A bone scan conducted Wednesday night revealed the fracture had not healed.
Nuggets lack 1st-round pick, but willing to deal (AP)
The Denver Nuggets lack a first-round pick in the NBA draft for the fourth straight year. That doesn't mean they'll simply be spectators Thursday night. With the 34th overall pick in the second round, the Nuggets are willing to move up into the latter part of the first round if the right player falls to them and the right trade partner comes along.
Suns deal Shaq to Cavs for Wallace, Pavlovic
LeBron and Shaq: Two of the NBA’s biggest stars are now teammates.
Legacy on line
VIDEO: Hill previews NBA draft
Looking for a sleeper in the NBA draft? How about this Demon Deacon? Randy Hill sounds the alarm on underrated prospects.
Hey Shaq: It’s time to back up your talk
Everybody wins in the Shaq-to-Cleveland deal. Everybody but Shaq, that is. Mark Kriegel says the big man’s legacy is on the line.
Jefferson glad to be with ‘relevant’ Spurs
When Tim Duncan found out Richard Jefferson didn’t return a phone call from Gregg Popovich after the Spurs coach traded for the Bucks star, he fired a text message to his new teammate. “Don’t get traded twice in one day.” Popovich, gruff? Not after this sweet of a deal for San Antonio.
After Shaq trade, Suns could go big in draft
The impending trade of Shaquille O’Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers could have the Phoenix Suns looking to go big in Thursday night’s draft. Multiple sources told The Associated Press early Thursday that the Suns had agreed to trade O’Neal to Cleveland for center Ben Wallace, guard Sasha Pavlovic, a second-round draft pick and $500,000 in cash. With Wallace injury-plagued and nearing the end of his career, the Suns could go for a center in the first-round for the second year in a row.