Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski announced today that the team has signed free agent guard Kareem Rush. Per team policy, terms of the agreement are not disclosed.
“As we continue to build our team, we’re fortunate that we were able to sign a player as talented as Kareem Rush,” Stefanski said. “We feel his abilities on both ends of the floor and his range as a three-point shooter will be assets to us this season.”
In five NBA seasons, Rush (6-6/215) has appeared in 314 games with 77 starts, averaging 6.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 18.1 minutes per game while shooting 40.2% from the floor, 36.0% from 3-point range and 69.8% from the line. Rush has also played a total of 31 playoff games, averaging 3.6 points while shooting 39.3% from 3-point range.
Last season, Rush saw action in 71 games with 15 starts for Indiana, averaging 8.3 points, a career-high 2.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 21.2 minutes per game. After not hitting more than 57 3-pointers in any of his first four NBA seasons, Rush drilled 102 3-pointers in 2007-08 on a career-high 38.9% shooting. He recorded at least two made three-pointers in 33 games, including three or more 13 times. Andre Iguodala led the Sixers in games with multiple three-pointers made last season with 30.
Rush was originally selected by Toronto with the 20th overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft before his rights were traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. In his second season, the Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals with Rush averaging 14.3 minutes per game playing alongside Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, Shaquille O’Neal and Gary Payton. In the deciding Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals vs. Minnesota, Rush hit six three-pointers en route to scoring a playoff career-high 18 points.
In December of 2004, the Lakers traded Rush to the expansion Charlotte Bobcats, where he would average 10.7 points over the next season and a half. Rush signed as a free agent with Seattle in October of 2006, but was hindered by a groin injury and was waived before appearing in a game. In January, he joined Lietuvos Rytas of Vilnius, Lithuania was later named the ULEB Cup’s Import Player of the Year and All-ULEB Cup First Team by Eurobasket.com.
Rush played all three of his collegiate seasons at the University of Missouri, earning All-American Honorable Mention his sophomore and junior seasons. His older brother, JaRon, played basketball at UCLA and his younger brother, Brandon, won the NCAA Championship with Kansas back in April and was the 13th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.

The Oklahoman (Mike Baldwin) reports on a team’s 82-game regular season schedule: “Four games against division opponents. Four games against six out-of-division conference opponents. Three games against the remaining four conference teams. Two games against teams in the opposing conference. A five-year rotation determines which out-of-division conference teams are played only three times.”

The Indianapolis Star (Phillip B. Wilson) reports: While ticket prices for an Indianapolis Colts game are skyrocketing with the arrival of Lucas Oil Stadium, the Indiana Pacers are bucking the national trend by not raising prices for a second consecutive season… The Pacers, meanwhile, have struggled to keep fans at Conseco Fieldhouse. Their $42.39 ticket average is down from $45.79 two years ago and below the NBA’s 2007 average of $48.83. Still, attendance suffered; the Pacers’ average of 12,221 last season was worst in the NBA.

“We’re very excited about the trades we made,” said Pacers President of Basketball Larry Bird. “We know we got some good character guys and good players. I just want to help the franchise move forward and we feel with the draft, we know we picked up two good guys that our fans are going to be very supportive of and excited about.”
Added Pacers Coach Jim O’Brien: “I think Larry and (General Manager) David Morway did an outstanding job in changing around our basketball team, both with the trades and the picks. Our team will have a completely different look next year. Overall, the seven new players we have give us a completely different look than we had last year and we have maintained the guys that got the majority of playing time at the end of last season.
“An area of particular concern for us last year was the point guard spot. We certainly feel with Travis (Diener) returning and the addition of T.J. Ford and Jarrett Jack we have solidified that position. We feel getting Maceo, Rasho and Josh really gives us solid depth up front. Brandon gives us a guy who can very quickly impact both ends of the court. Defensively, we think he can be a high-level stopper and we also think Brandon has the potential to create his own shot on a regular basis as well as give us spacing on the court. Roy gives us size and low-post scoring. At the end of every game, he’s still going to be 7-2, which is a real important factor for us.”
The deals:
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The  National  Basketball  Association today announced  that  the  Salary  Cap  for  the  2008-09 season will be $58.680 million.   The  new  Cap  goes  into  effect  immediately  as  the league’s “moratorium  period”  has ended and teams can begin signing free agents and making trades.
The  tax level for the 2008-09 season has been set at $71.150 million.  Any team whose team salary exceeds that figure will pay a $1 tax for each $1 by which it exceeds $71.150 million.
The  mid-level  exception  is $5.585 million for the 2008-09 season and the minimum  team  salary,  which  is  set at 75% of the Salary Cap, is $44.010 million.
For  the 2007-08 season, the Salary Cap was set at $55.630 million, the tax level was $67.865 million and the mid-level exception was $5.356 million.

The Indianapolis Star reports: Danny Granger’s long-range future with the Indiana Pacers could be settled later this summer. The 6-9 swingman, who was the Pacers’ leading scorer last season in his third year in the NBA, is eligible for a long-term extension. His agent, Mark Bartelstein, said he’ll likely begin talks with the Pacers in a few weeks… Granger is scheduled to make $2.3 million next season, after which he becomes a restricted free agent. The Pacers must at least make a qualifying offer of $3.3 million for 2009-10 to retain the right to match any free agent offer he receives.