Aris interested in Dwayne Jones and Eric Boateng (updated)

They're the 2 likeliest candidates.

A good center is hard to find and an affordable center is even harder to find. In Aris they have some candidates in mind but it seems that these 2 are the likeliest candidates according to Athlitika Nea.

Dwayne Jones(2.11-C) is participating in the pre-season camp of the Phoenix Suns at the moment but rumor has it he will be waived soon by the Suns. Jones graduated from St Josephs. In 2004-05, Jones was the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year, and a member of the All-Defensive Team for the second consecutive year. He ranked fifth in rebounds (11.6) and blocks (3.0) in the nation, and led the Atlantic 10 in both categories. Although scoring was never his strongest skill he is a formidable presence in the low-post defensively. He was signed by the Timbewolves in 2005 and after a short pass via the Florida Flame he was traded to Boston and from there to Cleveland. He also tried his luck in Europe with Efes Pilsen and Red Star but it didn't work out.

The other candidate is Eric Boateng(2.08-C) who was recently offered to the team. Boateng will soon be released from the Denver Nuggets. He graduated from Arizona State last season and he is one of the biggest hopes of British basketball. He started in Duke but after one season he was transferred to Arizona State. He is also a member of the British National Team. In his last season with Arizona State he averaged 8.8 points and 7.2 rebounds in 33 games.

Latest information from Aris suggests that they are negotiating with the newly released Aaron Miles(1.85-PG), who was waived by the Golden State Warriors on the 20th. The president and the head coach of Aris are in negotiations with the Greek representative of the player to find out whether he will rejoin them. This means that both Pierre Pierce(1.92-PG) and Bryant Dunston(2.01-PF/C) could be replaced within a few days.

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Pops Mensah-Bonsu joins Hornets training camp

Former NBA Development League All-Star and NBA vagabond forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu will be in New Orleans' training camp on a make-good contract, a league source has told FanHouse.


Mensah-Bonsu, the 6-foot-9, 235-pound former George Washington talent who has logged a combined 54 games with four NBA teams in three seasons, played with CSKA Moscow last season after being cut by Toronto.

A member of Great Britain's national team, Menah-Bonsu averaged 19.3 points and 13.5 rebounds over eight games in August while helping his native country qualify for EuroBasket 2011.

Mensah-Bonsu signed with Caja Laboral of the Spanish ACB league this summer, but was unexpectedly available when the offer was reportedly withdrawn because of a lingering knee injury that some claim was widely known in hoops circles.

A key new member of the Hornets, however, saw what Mensah-Bonsu could do before and is hoping he does it again. New Orleans general manager Dell Demps was hired in July after spending five years in various roles with San Antonio, where one of his titles was general manager of the Spurs' NBA D-League team, the Austin Toros.

Mensah-Bonsu played eight games with the Toros in February of 2009, averaging 26.6 points, 13 rebounds and 2.5 blocks before he was signed to a 10-day contract with the Spurs. He will be fighting for time behind the Hornets' frontcourt of David West and Emeka Okafor.


source : nba.fanhouse.com

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Pops Mensah Bonsu to play for Baskonia(announced)

The British-Ghanese forward moves from Russia to Spain.


According to elcorreo.com, Pops Mensah-Bonsu(2.06-PF) will be the new player of Baskonia. Bonsu played for CSKA last season but his role was diminished and in Baskonia they have space in their front-line and money to spend since Tiago Splitter(2.11-C) moved to the NBA.

The article says that there are advanced negotiations between Baskonia and Bonsu but nothing is finalised yet. Other information suggests that the deal could be announced very soon. Bonsu has played in the ACB before. His first appearance was back in 2007 when he played a game for Granada beating Baskonia and saving the team from relegation. He also played briefly for Badalona and a whole season for Benetton before that. In the NBA he played for San Antonio, Toronto and Houston. Last season he averaged 6.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in 12 games of the Russian Superleague but with only 10 minutes of average playing time.

Editor : Baskonia, shortly after this article, announced the 1+1 season deal via their official website.

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