NBA News Wire
NBA roundup: Hawks sign Brand, Bazemore
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 HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
The Atlanta Hawks re-signed forward/center Elton Brand and also signed free-agent guard Kent Bazemore on Tuesday.
Brand played in 73 games and started 15 for the Hawks last season. He averaged 5.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.0 assists and a team-leading 1.2 blocked shots per game. A 15-year NBA veteran, Brand has started 863 of 1,005 career games with the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, Dallas Mavericks and the Hawks. The two-time All-Star’s career averages are 16.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.8 blocks.
Bazemore spent last season with the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers. Between the two teams, he averaged 6.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 67 games. He started 15 of 23 games for the Lakers after he was acquired on Feb. 19 and averaged 13.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals.
The Dallas Mavericks signed free agent forward Charlie Villanueva on Tuesday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the team. Earlier reports indicated that it was a non-guaranteed contract.
The 6-foot-11 Villanueva joins the Mavericks after completing a five-year, $35 million deal with the Detroit Pistons. He has career averages of 11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 530 games with the Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks and the Toronto Raptors, who drafted him No. 7 overall in 2005. Last season with the Pistons, the 30-year-old Villanueva averaged 4.6 points and 1.7 rebounds and shot 38 percent from the field in just 20 games.
—The Houston Rockets signed forward Kostas Papanikolaou on Tuesday
The team did not disclose terms of the contract, but previous reports indicated that it was a two-year deal worth $4.8 million guaranteed and $4.6 million for the second year.
The 6-foot-9 Papanikolaou was drafted No. 48 overall by the Rockets in 2012 and then traded to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Rockets acquired his rights in another deal for Thomas Robinson. Since being drafted, Papanikolauo has spent all of his time in Europe.
—The Miami Heat added two players to their roster on Tuesday, signing guard Andre Dawkins and forward Shawn Jones.
Dawkins averaged 12.3 points and 1.3 assists in five games for the Heat’s team in the Orlando Summer League, including a 27-point game with seven 3-pointers against Oklahoma City on July 11. The former Duke standout also played for the Houston Rockets in the Las Vegas Summer League and averaged 8.6 points.
Jones averaged 5.0 points and 5.2 rebounds in five games for the Los Angeles Clippers in the Las Vegas Summer League in July.
