NBA Rumors Round-Up
NBA Rumors: Carmelo Anthony Slims Down
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated16 Oct 2023
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via Instagram
Anthony’s picture comes just days after a new photo of LeBron James had him looking much leaner and slimmer. Anthony has apparently taken to the same diet on the heels of receiving a new five year, near max contract with the New York Knicks.
While Anthony has clearly lost a lot of weight, he was never overweight or out of shape. You don’t put up the numbers he has over the course of his career without great dedication to conditioning. Anthony did always look a little heavy, but there was a lot more muscle on his frame than he was given credit for. Opposing defenders knew just how strong he was, though.
This could signal a change in approach for Anthony, perhaps in preparation for how he is going to be used in the triangle offense. With a leaner frame, his quickness and ability to get by defenders should increase. He may not be able to physically overwhelm defenders in the low post like he used to, but expect to see plenty of him in the paint still. Both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant were utilized in the post extensively during their stints in the triangle offense, and Anthony’s post game is far too valuable of a weapon to go away from completely.
Hearing Raptors fined $25,000 for comments Drake made at a concert about Kevin Durant that were seen as violation of anti-tampering rules
via Marc Stein of ESPN on Twitter
This is a stern message sent from the league that if someone doing recruiting is associated with your franchise in any kind of way, there will be repercussions and it is a violation of the anti-tampering rules. Drake’s role with the Raptors is a bit vague, but he is an ambassador for the team, which makes his comments directed towards Kevin Durant during a concert about how good he’d fit with the Raptors fineable.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed free agent center Alex Kirk, Cavaliers General Manager David Griffin announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts. Per league policy, terms of the contract were not released.
An early entry candidate, the 7-0, 245-pound center went undrafted in the 2014 NBA Draft after appearing in 101 games (86 starts) over three seasons at the University of New Mexico. He averaged 10.0 points on .488 shooting, 6.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 25.3 minutes per game over his collegiate career, where he was also a two-time All-MWC Defensive Team selection. Last season, he averaged 13.3 points on .490 shooting from the field, 8.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks in 32.0 minutes per game, while receiving his second All-MWC Defensive Team honor.
During the 2014 Samsung NBA Summer in Las Vegas, Kirk played five games for the Cavaliers Summer League team entry and averaged 5.2 points on .524 shooting and 3.4 rebounds in 15.4 minutes per game.
via NBA Press Releases
Kirk’s decision to leave New Mexico early for the draft raised a lot of eyebrows, but if he ends up making the Cavaliers’ opening day roster then there’s no denying that he made the right decision.
Kirk will bring size and physicality to the Cavaliers’ frontline. The Cavaliers recently tried to trade for Timofey Mozgov, a sign that they’re looking for the kind of qualities that Kirk brings. He’ll have to prove himself in training camp, but if he doesn’t make it he could very likely be kept underneath the Cavaliers’ umbrella per say by playing with the D-League affiliate the Canton Charge.
