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National Basketball Association roundup
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 [July 22, 2017]
July 21 (The Sports Xchange) - Kyrie Irving would like to be more of
a focal point on a team, but not with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
According to a report by ESPN on Friday and confirmed by
Cleveland.com, Irving asked the Cavaliers to trade him during a
meeting with team owner Dan Gilbert last week.
Irving, 25, reportedly has stated a desire to be a top scoring
option and does not want to play with LeBron James after being
teammates with the superstar for three seasons.
The point guard's request is a continuation of a turbulent offseason
for the three-time Eastern Conference champions.
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The Atlanta Hawks made a pair of moves to help their frontcourt by
signing center Dewayne Dedmon and re-signing forward Ersan Ilyasova.
Terms of the deals were not announced by the team, but Dedmon
reportedly signed a two-year, $14 million contract while Ilyasova
inked a one-year, $6 million deal.
Dedmon is coming off the best season of his career when he averaged
career highs of 5.1 points and 6.5 rebounds in 17.5 minutes in 76
games for the San Antonio Spurs. He shot 62.2 percent, grabbed at
least 10 rebounds 13 times and led the Spurs in rebounds and blocked
shots 21 times.
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In 26 games (12 starts) with Atlanta last season, Ilyasova averaged
10.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 24.3 minutes. He also
appeared in 53 games with Philadelphia and three contests with
Oklahoma City last season, playing in 82 games for the first time in
his career.
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At some point, the Houston Rockets will be under new ownership but
former center Yao Ming will not be involved.
The Hall of Fame center ended speculation that he could be involved
with a group looking to purchase the team by issuing a statement
through China's Xinhua news agency.
"I have no time to consider anything else (including buying the
Houston Rockets)," Yao said.
Since retiring from the Rockets in 2011, Yao has been involved with
the China Basketball Association, initially as an owner of his
hometown Shanghai Sharks. He was elected Thursday as the chairman of
the company that runs the league and was named league president in
February. (Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina) [© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All
rights reserved.]
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