NBA News Wire
NBA roundup: Knicks’ Bargnani will miss three games
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
New York Knicks forward Andrea Bargnani will miss at least the first three games of the regular season because of a hamstring injury, the team announced Sunday.
Bargnani is scheduled to miss the Knicks’ season opener October 29 against the Chicago Bulls, the October 30 game in Cleveland against the Cavaliers, and the November 2 home game against the Charlotte Hornets.
He might miss additional games as well.
Bargnani averaged 13.3 points and 5.3 rebounds last season, which was his first season with the Knicks. He played in just 42 games last season because of a torn ligament in his right elbow.
The 7-foot Bargnani, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft, is in the final year of a contract that will pay him $11.5 million.
–The Orlando Magic exercised their third-year team option on shooting guard Victor Oladipo’s contract while exercising fourth-year team options on the contracts of shooting guard Evan Fournier, small forward Maurice Harkless and power forward Andrew Nicholson.
Oladipo averaged 13.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists over 80 games as a rookie last season. He is expected to miss about a month after having surgery to repair facial injuries.
—The Dallas Mavericks made their final cuts in advance of Tuesday’s regular season opener against the San Antonio Spurs by releasing center Bernard James, guard Doron Lamb and forward Ivan Johnson.
The Mavericks decided to keep forward Charlie Villanueva on the roster.
James has a $915,243 contract — most of it guaranteed — for this season. illanueva’s $1.3 million deal is non-guaranteed.
–The Detroit Pistons waived 7-foot, 270-pound center Aaron Gray.
Gray missed training camp while rehabbing from a cardiac episode suffered following a voluntary workout in late August.
Gray signed with the Pistons as a free agent on July 10 and holds career NBA averages of 3.4 points and 3.7 rebounds.
