NBA Capsules: Suns lure Blanks from Cleveland to be GM
PHOENIX (AP) — Lon Babby's first priority after being named president of basketball operations for the Phoenix Suns was to find a top-level talent assessor.
The former big-name sports agent knows the business side of the NBA and wanted someone who could complement his ledger skills by finding the right players to put on the court.
Babby got the man he wanted on Thursday, hiring Lance Blanks as general manager.
Considered one of the league's top up-and-coming executives, Blanks joins the Suns after consecutive five-year runs with two highly successful NBA teams and a short playing career.
"After a thorough search, we believe we have found the perfect choice to serve as our general manager," Babby said. "Lance Blanks is a first-rate talent evaluator, basketball executive and person. We are thrilled that he will be joining the Phoenix Suns."
A first-round pick out of Texas by the Detroit Pistons in 1990, Blanks had an undistinguished playing career. He played 142 games over two seasons with Detroit and Minnesota, then closed out his career with stints in the CBA and overseas.
Blanks, 43, had better luck in the front office, spending five years in the scouting department of the San Antonio Spurs, who won two NBA titles and drafted previously unheralded players Tony Parker and Luis Scola. He spent the past five seasons as vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who won 66 percent of their games during his tenure.
"Lance has been a great person to work with for the last five years," Cavaliers GM Chris Grant said. "He has been a key part of a special group that has helped establish a culture of success that our organization can be very proud of and continue to build off of into the future. He deserves this opportunity and we wish Lance the best as he moves on to the Suns."
Blanks will take over a team that has undergone drastic changes since reaching the Western Conference finals last season.
Vice president and general manager Steve Kerr left the team at the end of June to spend more time with family and return to his job as a basketball analyst for TNT. Assistant general manager David Griffin also stepped down after 13 years with the organization.
The roster has gone through upheaval, as well.
Five-time All-Star Amare Stoudemire opted out of the final year of his contract and signed with the New York Knicks. The Suns have tried to replace him by bringing in Hedo Turkoglu, Hakim Warrick and Josh Childress. They also re-signed shooting center Channing Frye.
Phoenix's boldest move of the offseason was hiring Babby, a longtime agent with no background in working in an NBA front office.
Now Blanks gets a chance to pull it all together.
Guard Shannon Brown to re-sign with Lakers
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shannon Brown is returning to the Los Angeles Lakers, turning down more lucrative offers for a shot at a third straight championship.
Brown's agent, Mark Bartelstein, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the high-flying free agent guard agreed to a two-year deal worth $4.6 million to return for his third season with Los Angeles.
"He's been there two years, and they've won two championships," Bartelstein said. "There's very few times you have a chance to go for a threepeat. When you have that opportunity, he couldn't pass it up."
The Lakers acquired Brown in a trade in early 2009, and he quickly earned a role in their rotation as a backup to Kobe Bryant. Brown also became a crowd favorite for his acrobatic dunks, earning an invitation to last season's dunk contest at All-Star weekend.
Brown averaged career highs of 8.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists last season while playing solid defense for the Lakers. His role could grow next season if Los Angeles attempts to reduce Bryant's minutes to keep him fresh for another postseason, although Brown again will be competing for minutes with Sasha Vujacic.
After opting out of his contract earlier this summer, Brown spent the past four weeks considering offers from several teams, including New York, Cleveland and New Orleans. Most offered longer deals with more security, but little shot at title contention.
After the Michigan State product bounced around the NBA with four teams in his first three seasons, comfort and championships were more important than a little extra cash — and if Brown has another strong season, he can opt out of the second year of his deal again next summer.
"He loves everything that's happened for him in L.A.," Bartelstein said. "He had more lucrative offers out there for sure, but he wanted to keep going with the Lakers."
The deal pushes the NBA's highest payroll even higher to almost $95 million — well over the likely threshold for the luxury tax, which owner Jerry Buss has been willing to pay while his team wins championships.
The Lakers signed Steve Blake, Matt Barnes and Theo Ratliff last month to bolster their bench, which had no consistent contributors beyond Lamar Odom and Brown last season.
Brown's signing will put 12 veterans under contract with the Lakers, who also are interested in signing second-round draft picks Devin Ebanks and Derrick Caracter. Los Angeles had 13 players last season.
-- Greg Beacham
Grizzlies sign guard Acie Law
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Memphis Grizzlies signed guard Acie Law on Thursday, adding yet another guard to the roster.
General manager Chris Wallace calls the former lottery pick a boost to the backcourt with his offensive skills, abilities to drive or set up teammates and with his defensive abilities.
Law was the 11th pick of the 2007 draft by Atlanta. The 6-foot-3, 202-pound guard has averaged 3.7 points and 1.6 assists in 12.1 minutes over 137 career games. He has played for the Hawks, Golden State, Charlotte and Chicago.
He played in 26 games last season and had a career-high 22 points with Chicago at Dallas on March 17.
The Grizzlies also signed guard Tony Allen earlier this offseason and drafted Xavier Henry and Greivis Vasquez in June.
Charlotte to face Detroit in preseason game in S.C.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Charlotte Bobcats will make another preseason appearance in South Carolina.
The website for Colonial Life Arena at the University of South Carolina announced on Thursday that the Bobcats and Detroit Pistons would play a preseason game at the arena on Saturday, Oct. 16.
It will be the Bobcats third preseason game ever in South Carolina and second in Columbia. Last year, Charlotte faced the Cleveland Cavaliers at the North Charleston Coliseum.
Arena officials said tickets will go on sale Wednesday.
Colonial Life Arena seats 18,000 people and is home for South Carolina's men's and women's basketball.
Jazz sign GM to extension
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah Jazz have signed general manager Kevin O'Connor to a contract extension.
The Jazz announced the move Thursday along with confirmation from coach Jerry Sloan that he will return as expected for a 23rd season. Sloan waits each summer before making the decision to come back to the post he's held since December 1988.
This will be O'Connor's 12th season overseeing Utah's personnel. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. CEO Greg Miller says O'Connor deserves much of the credit for the Jazz's continued success.
Elsewhere
Wright 911 call included sound like gunshots
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Noises that sounded like gunshots were heard by police dispatchers in suburban Memphis when they answered a 911 call from the cell phone of slain former NBA player Lorenzen Wright, authorities said Thursday.
Wright's body was found July 28 in woods outside Memphis after the 34-year-old had been missing for 10 days. No arrests have been made in the homicide and Memphis police will not discuss whether they have a motive or suspects in the shooting death.
The 911 hang-up call from Wright's cell phone in the early morning hours of July 19 has become an important part of the investigation. The call was received by dispatchers in suburban Germantown, but they didn't alert patrol officers or commanders because they couldn't confirm that it came from inside their jurisdiction.
The call came in at 12:05 a.m. on July 19, according to a report by Germantown Deputy Chief Rodney A. Bright released Thursday. That's shortly after Wright was last seen alive by his ex-wife.
The report said dispatchers thought the sound was either "gunshots or fireworks" before the call was disconnected. A dispatcher immediately redialed the phone number, but could not re-establish contact with the caller, the report said.
Top police officials in Germantown said they didn't learn of the call until July 27 — eight days after it was made and five days after Wright's family reported him missing.
In the days he was missing, police said they didn't expect foul play, and friends and family have accused authorities of a lack of urgency during the missing person investigation.
But Bright's report, which reviewed how the calls was handled, said all policies were followed and pointed out the call was received before Wright was reported missing.
Wright's funeral services were Wednesday. Hundreds of people attended the service at the FedEx Forum for the local sports star who averaged 8 points and 6.4 rebounds in 778 career NBA games.
-- Adrian Sainz
