Hooped Up

Sun Yue and Gabe Pruitt were two interesting names added to the Knicks training camp roster, but neither stuck longer than a week. The Knicks today announced four cuts to the roster that included Yue, Pruitt, forward Warren Carter and Ron Howard.

The roster is now at 16, counting Cuttino Mobley, who is retired but has not been officially waived by the team.

Newsday

The Knicks have been on a signing tear over the last few days preparing for training camp which starts in a couple of weeks, and now they’ve added Sun Yue aka The Money King to the backcourt mix.

The Knicks, searching for more size in the backcourt, have signed Sun Yue, a 6-foot-9 point guard, to a partly guaranteed contract, his agent, Charles Bonsignore, said. Sun spent last season as a reserve for the Los Angeles Lakers, who drafted him in the second round in 2007. The Knicks signed two other players to partly guaranteed deals: point guard Gabe Pruitt, who spent the last two seasons with Boston; and forward Warren Carter, who played overseas the last two years. All three will be invited to training camp, which begins Sept. 29 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Man, the Knicks went from backcourt options of Allen Iverson, Jason Williams, or Ramon Sessions. To landing Gabe Pruitt and Sun Yue? How in the name of Taylor Swift did that happen???

Via New York Times

“Even Tiger Woods has an opinion on one of the NBA’s hottest topics—the MVP race. In Woods’ mind, Miami’s Dwyane Wade merits consideration for the top NBA individual honor, but the world’s No. 1 golfer expects either Cleveland’s LeBron James or the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant to actually win the award. “D-Wade has now gotten himself into the conversation,” Woods said after finishing his final round in the CA Championship at Doral, only a few miles from the Heat’s arena. “He’s doing more with less, obviously. But I think it’s probably going to come down to LeBron and Kobe.” Woods’ opinion is an educated one: He’s an avid basketball fan and sees plenty of Orlando Magic games when he’s at his central Florida home.”
Yahoo 

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Monkey King sounds like the title of a classic Shaw Brothers film, but it’s what Lakers hopeful Sun Yue would like to be called. 

“Los Angeles-bound guard Sun Yue has said he does not want to be known as “China’s Magic Johnson” as he seeks a spot on the Laker’s roster, but is happy to be known as the “Monkey King.”

Sun is expected to depart for the Laker’s training camp as soon as the US Embassy here issues his visa, and he is confident that he can make a roster that is led by superstars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.”

Press Release

The Lakers and point guard Sun Yue have agreed to terms on a two-season contract, the team confirmed Thursday. The Lakers hope to sign Sun formally within the next few days, team spokesman John Black said.

“Hopefully, it will get done soon,” Black said.

Sun, known as the Chinese Magic Johnson because of his eye-catching playmaking ability, will face his future teammate Kobe Bryant when China plays the United States on Sunday in the Olympic Games opener in Beijing.

The Lakers drafted the 6-foot-9, 212-pound Sun in the second round in 2007. He spent last season with Aoshen, his Beijing club team, and also played with the Chinese National team in preparation for the Olympics.

Long Beach Press-Telegram