Powe relishes opportunity to remain in Eastern Conference

Posted Aug 13 2009 6:02PM
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Leon Powe once thought he was the nation's top 10th-grade basketball player. Then he saw one of his AAU teammates play: LeBron James.

Powe asked his coach if James was in his graduating class. He was.
"Aww man," Powe said. "There goes my No. 1 spot."
He'll gladly take a backup role to James again, as soon as his repaired left knee allows it. Powe signed a two-year deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, even though he isn't expected back on the court until sometime around the All-Star break. The Cavaliers are paying Powe the league minimum for a three-year veteran.
"The money is not the issue with me," Powe said. "The issue is I want to get my knee back healthy and go out there and play basketball. The money will come."
The Celtics let the 6-foot-8 forward leave following a third surgery on his left knee, this time to repair a torn ACL suffered in the Playoffs. Powe is strengthening the knee in Los Angeles and should begin running in about a month. He is expected in Cleveland in two weeks to continue his rehab.
"It's always tough leaving the place you started," Powe said in a conference call on Thursday. "I gave them every opportunity to have me over there, which didn't work out. It wasn't my fault. I had to move on."
Powe averaged 7.7 points and 4.9 rebounds in 70 games last season.
He is reuniting with James after the two stormed the country on AAU teams and at summer camps during their high school years. Powe, 25, watched James take over games long before he became an NBA superstar.
After Powe broke into the NBA alongside stars such as Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, Powe now joins James and Shaquille O'Neal.
"Shaq is one of the greatest players of all time and 'Bron is going to be right there in that category," Powe said. "Those are two great personalities. That's the fun thing about playing with guys like them. They're easy to get along with and it's easy to play with them."
By remaining in the Eastern Conference, Powe might not have to wait long for a reunion against his old team. The Cavaliers and Celtics are likely to again be two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, and Powe admits he's already dreaming of a postseason meeting.
"If that happens, that's going to be fun for me," he said. "I know Boston is a challenge, but our team, the Cavaliers got better and we'll take on all challengers."

Celtics get deal done with Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis

Glen Davis could sign a new contract with the Celtics [team stats] as early as today or tomorrow, according to a source close to negotiations between the restricted free agent and the team.
Davis agreed to a two-year contract worth approximately $6.3 million, including a starting point of approximately $3 million next season, during talks Friday and yesterday. He was in town and expected to take a physical today before officially signing the deal.
The Celtics, who backed off their request for a third year at a team option, also hope to wrap up business with free agent swingman Marquis Daniels by the end of the week, according to a league source....Read more here

Source: Wallace returning to Detroit

Free-agent center Ben Wallace agreed to terms with the Detroit Pistons on Friday, according to a league source.

The contract is for one year at the veteran's minimum of $1.3 million, according to sources.

Wallace is expected to sign the deal early next week.

Wallace became a free agent this summer after the Phoenix Suns bought him out of the last year of his contract. Wallace was traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to Phoenix earlier this summer for Shaquille O'Neal.

The move is a bittersweet reunion of sorts. Wallace bolted from the Pistons for the Chicago Bulls in summer 2006 after the Pistons balked at matching the Bulls' four-year, $60 million offer.

Wallace's move from Detroit to Chicago was a bit of a bust. He never regained his defensive dominance and was traded away two years later to Cleveland.

In Detroit, the Pistons plan on using Wallace as a backup to Kwame Brown. The Pistons were especially thin on their front line last season and still believe that Wallace can defend and rebound -- albeit not at the same pace as his last stint with the Pistons.

Maybe more importantly to the Pistons, Wallace can provide veteran leadership. Only two other Pistons, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, remain from the 2003-04 championship team.

With younger, offensive-oriented players such as Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon joining the team, the Pistons are trying to find ways to preserve their blue-collar approach to defense they've been known for under Joe Dumars, the former Piston who is the team's president of basketball operations.

Adding Wallace as a vocal proponent of the "Pistons Way" should help that effort in the locker room.

On Friday, Dumars announced that the team has signed 2009 draft selections Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers and Jonas Jerebko to contracts.

Daye was drafted by Detroit with the 15th overall pick in the first round of the draft. The 6-foot-11 sophomore forward from Gonzaga averaged 12.7 points and 6.8 rebounds in 34 games last season.

Summers was selected with the 35th overall pick in the second round. He started 98 of his 101 games at Georgetown and finished his collegiate career with averages of 11.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

Jerebko was selected with the 39th overall pick in the second round of the draft. He played professionally in Italy the last two seasons.

Chad Ford is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Rashard Lewis tests positive for performance-enhancing substance...

Tania Ganguli
Sentinel Staff Writer
6:35 PM EDT, August 6, 2009

Orlando Magic All-Star forward Rashard Lewis tested positive for a testosterone-producing substance, dehydroepiandrosterone, which is commonly known as DHEA, and will be suspended without pay 10 games at the beginning of the season.

The Sentinel's Mike Bianchi first reported the news.

Lewis's suspension will begin on the first game of the regular season in which he is eligible and physically able to play.

"I hope this unintentional mistake will not reflect poorly on our team and its great character," Lewis said in a statement.

Lewis, who will turn 30 on Saturday, said he took an over-the-counter supplement near the end of last season which he did not know contained the banned substance. He told the Sentinel the substance was in powder form and he mixed it into smoothies. He got it at a nutritional store, but did not specify the name of the store.

According to an NBA source, Lewis failed one drug test during the playoffs last season and was so surprised by the outcome he asked to be tested again during the Finals. Lewis also failed that test.

"The biggest thing I told him is we're a team, we're a family, we all do crazy stupid things and sometimes we have to make adjustments," Magic General Manager Otis Smith said. "That's what kids do, sometimes they make mistakes. I don't know if it was a knowing mistake, I don't think it was."

Dr. Gary Wadler, Chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency's Prohibited List and Methods Sub-Committee, said whether or not DHEA is categorized as a steroid depends on the governing body. The NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Agreement classifies DHEA as a steroid.

"DHEA is a compound which converts to androstenedione, Andro from the McGwire days, and that in turn converts into testosterone," Wadler said. "...It is very widely used in supplemental and complementary kind of medicines and it's in food stores."

As for DHEA's performance-enhancing capabilities, Wadler said the drug is "not very effective."

According to the Mayo Clinic, the human body naturally produces the drug and that natural production degreases after age 30. In addition to its muscle-building effects, DHEA is also used to treat adrenal insufficiency, depression and in the induction of labor.

Per the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Agreement, players are randomly tested without notice four times each season by a third-party entity. The NBA or NBPA can also request a player be tested upon suspicion.

A first positive test for steroids or performance enhancing drugs results in a 10-game suspension. The second offense results in a 25-game suspension and a third violation will garner a one-year suspension.

Reach Tania Ganguli at tganguli@orlandosentinel.com. Mike Bianchi and Josh Robbins contributed to this report.

Orlando Sentinal